Happy New Year - 2023

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's January 1st, 2023! I had wanted to be much farther along than I am with my personal fitness. In fact, I ended up making things worse toward year's end. 

I had made a 90 Day Challenge for myself  back in August and when I finished at the end of October, I had lost 8 pounds. This was good, but my goal was 20+ lbs that I wanted to lose. But still a win in my book. Weight loss is weight loss. 

So then, I made a 60 Day Challenge which would take me to the end of the year. My goal was to lose more weight. But instead, traveling for work, Thanksgiving, birthdays, Christmas, vacations, etc...all had me doing whatever the hell I wanted and not making time for running or even eating right. I did a few little things with weights here and there, but nothing that could offset the junk I was eating. 

Now it's January 1st, 2023 and I am the heaviest I've ever been. Ever! I tried to run 4 miles today but had to walk after 3/4 of a mile because my shins were hurting and my legs felt like lead. My shins never hurt and yet they did today and yesterday when I tried to run on the last day of the year. What is so strange, is that before I left on vacation, I had run 5 miles without stopping. So is it mental? Physical? Just an off couple of days? I don't know. My sleep is the same. No better, no worse. 

Anyway, back to the run. I had to walk after 3/4 of a mile. But I was determined to go four miles today. So I ran/walked the whole distance. Coming back I was faster so I either ran more of it, or I ran faster when I did run. 

Upcoming Physical

I have my annual physical in the beginning of March so I have some real incentive to lose weight. No holidays coming up that call for tons of food. Work shouldn't be too crazy either. The one thing is weather, but I just need to suck it up and run no matter the cold. I used to live in Minnesota and ran all the time so I need to tap back into that inner animal or whatever mojo I had back in the day. 

My Plan Going Forward

I do not plan on running every day. Just every other day and then a long run on Sundays. I do want to start doing more with weights. I have the dumbbells I've been using and I got some pool noodles to try and fix my little bench. The padding on my bench got old, hard and crusty. So I got some pool noodles that I will cut to size and hopefully fix the issue.  

I'm not sure if you read my other blogs or not. Hopefully, if you're struggling with getting back in shape, you will see that no matter what, I kept trying - even if the effort wasn't the best. 

So what's my plan now? No more set challenges. Just taking it day by day. I will cut down on sodas and sweets now that the holidays are over. I will be more active. My job has me either sitting at a desk or sitting in the car driving to counties where I then sit and talk. My plan is to really make an effort to run or workout in the morning before work so that way it's done and I have no excuses.