Mailing It In

Hey... Yo... How have you been?

For those of you that follow the Final Fifty on FB you know that I have been staying in touch via a semi-consistent stream of re-posts that I find insightful and applicable to our content here. I have not, however, given you guys the skinny (or not so skinny) on me these days. So, hold on to your Santa hats, we are gonna have a holiday recap.

I checked something off of my bucket list in the beginning of December. Actually a few somethings. First, I spent 4 fun filled days with some of the funniest and greatest people on the planet at NFR (National Finals Rodeo) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The western shopping there is un-freakin-believable and I did my best to spend my mason jar full of cash. That's right, the future accountant saved up her money in a mason jar in her nightstand. Thank you Pinterest. I have never been to Las Vegas and I have never been to NFR. It was an epic vacation and I loved every darn minute of it. I drank, I ate without abandon, and I even hauled my hiney to the gym at the MGM Grand and trotted on the treadmill. Yep, turns out you can exercise on vacation. As it also turns out you do a lot of walking in Las Vegas. My ability to judge distances was oddly skewed in that town. Maybe it a mirage in the desert?

Next, I finished my first term of my quest for an MBA with a 4.0 GPA. You can't see it, but I am patting myself on the back. Most of you that know me would quickly tell me that I am smart and that doing well in school was easy for me. Here is a little secret: I am only kind of smart and I have to work very hard at it. I spent endless hours studying and reading and writing papers. Way more than I had anticipated to accomplish that feat. What does this have to do with fitness and weight loss, you ask? Well, all that studying, reading, and writing equates to a good deal of time spent sitting on my hiney. It made my need and motivation for exercise that much stronger.

Third thing that I accomplished in December was running my very first 10k race. Before you get all excited and tell "good job" let me tell you why I failed terribly at my first 10k in epic Funny Fat Chic fashion. I had one goal, I wanted to run my first 10k in under an hour. I had been working really hard on my pace time while jogging. It was a good way for me to up my intensity while running and gave me a goal to work towards. Smart things to do to keep yourself motivated, FYI. So, here I am in my compression leggings, long-sleeve 1/4 zip running shirt, snazzy headband, and matching shoes. I've got my flipbelt (fanny pack) on and my iPhone is loaded with racing tunes and my running app. I have my number pinned on, I've walked around a few laps and stretched my quads. I've sized up my competition (everyone is competition to me) and I'm ready to get this race started. The dude at the start line gives a little speech about how the course has changed, blah, blah, blah. This doesn't really apply to me since I haven't run it before, I don't know what the old course is. No worries. Ready. Set. Race!! I'm off like a shot and after the first two miles I am slightly giddy because my race day jitters have me running half a minute faster than I have been running at home. I should reach my goal no problem. I'm clipping right along, passing people, getting passed by a few others. I blow by the first aid station, settle into my pace and go by the second one too. I notice that the herd is thinning out. The first aid station was the turnoff for the 5k racers so in my mind I am wondering if some of the 10k crew has broke to a walk. I trudge on for another 3/4 of a mile before I start to realize that I might be running with the half-marathoners. I let a group of ladies catch up to me and they confirm my fears. I turn around and head back for the finish line that is now nearly and extra mile and half away. I pick up my pace in an effort to make up for my mistake. I finish the race in 1 hour and 4 minutes. I missed my mark by 4 freakin minutes. I could have cried. I didn't, but I could have. I took my medal and skeedaddled. I decided to laugh about it and chalk it up to my horrible sense of direction honestly inherited from my mother.

I managed to lose weight over the holidays. Try not to hate me. I was very diligent about my exercise. I did indulge in some holiday food, but I tried to keep my choices smart, my portions in check, and saved what I could for drinking with friends. I got an email the other day from my calorie tracker that I have lost 60 pounds since I started tracking with it again in June. Boom. I consider myself to have 20 pounds to go. It would put me at 170. For those of you that are bad at math, that means I weigh 190 right now. Now, don't get all up in arms that I have a scale goal. It is at the bottom of my goals right now. I am weighing every two weeks. Why? I got selected to be apart of a test group for Beach Body's new work out program, Hammer and Chisel. So, I have to check in with my stats on a regular basis. I am much more worried about a few other things. For instance... I have signed up for two half-marathons two weeks apart at the end of March, start of April. I am full swing training for it now. That in addition to the Hammer and Chisel is keeping me on my twinkle toes. I am also more worried about getting into my next set of jeans. Getting into the last set was very satisfying. It feels good to fit into cute jeans. Really good. But the next set is even cuter. I am in a weird place where I am looking pretty good, but in my mind I am still fat as a house. That is the ugly plight of being an eternal fat kid. There is never enough. I'll probably never see what other people see. But, maybe that is ok. If that keeps me driven, that is a good thing. If it sabotages me into thinking that my efforts are for no good reason, that is not ok. I am trying to stay focused on my exercise goals and let the rest fall into place.

This is a tough time of year for all of us. Most people are starting to fall off of their New Year's resolution goals. The newness and excitement of beginning a new journey is wearing off and the reality of the routine and dedication is settling in. Here is my motivation Monday thought for you, Don't stop. Keep trying to build your habits. It has been a little over a year for me since I headed down this path of getting myself right again. I am not where I want to be, but I am a hell of a lot further than I was a year ago. Here is some picture proof (unedited, unfiltered, unphotoshopped)... The first photo is a camping trip a couple of summers ago. I am the one in the pink sweatshirt and shorts (WTH fashion faux pas) at the front of the ATV. It isn't a picture of me a year ago, but it might as well be, I was the same size/weight as I was in this picture. The second picture is me two weeks ago. I am wearing a sassy dress that I bought in Las Vegas and didn't even try on, so this was the first time I had seen it on me. I took the picture so my girlfriend (from Canada) that was with me when I bought it could see. I am not usually one for selfies. I don't even know who the girl who is in the first picture. I know that she couldn't run eight miles straight, or do two unassisted pull-ups, or hold her head up when she walked into a room. So, remember, duration, consistency, and habits are what makes the difference. Not fads, fast results, or starvation/deprivation diets.

Keepin it real over here at the fat farm!!