Challenges For Me

So I'm starting a few new things tomorrow, and I wanted to write about them to really get that motivation going.

{Part One}

When I got pregnant (almost 8 years ago, yikes!) I weighed 103lbs. I was little more than a twig. I wore a size 0 and I was comfortable in my own skin. Then came

pregnancy

complications

a 75lb weight gain

a baby

and an unsupportive husband

I wasn't happy with my physical appearance and neither was he. But I was also a depressed new mother trying to pass Senior English. I had also just left my family, friends and life to move across the country to be with said husband and had no one. Literally. It was months before I made a single friend after I moved here. So, let's just say that motivation was lacking.

And then we split up, and I actually started dancing a bit again. We split up while he was on a deployment. When he left I weighed around 155lbs. By the time he came back? 145. And I managed to do that just by eating right. I didn't go to the gym or anything.

The following year I actually did start going to the gym and working with a trainer. I got down to 140 after about two months of working with her, but then I went away for the summer and didn't get back into it when I came home. Enter plateau.

I really didn't do much for the next couple of years, but I did manage to maintain my weight. It wasn't all that hard, really. Limit my sugars and sweets and I was good to go!

But I still wasn't happy with the way I looked

About this time last year I decided that I had had enough. I didn't want to look like that anymore. I wanted to change my body and feel good about myself again. So I started working out at home and running.

In the past year I have actually been more dedicated to running than I have been to working out. And that's not really saying much because I still don't run as much as I know that I should. {I've still managed to lose weight in the past year, though. I'm down to 128lbs.} But I'm working on that. Or at least I will be by the end of this post.

Two weeks ago I decided again that it was time for a change. So I hopped online and ordered Insanity. I've done workouts from this program before but I've never really committed to it. Ever. And I definitely never purchased it. So this was a step in the right direction.

Now, having actually spent money on it, I have an entirely new motivation for starting the program. Why would I spend crazy amounts of money on a set of DVDs if I'm just going to let them sit around and collect dust while I stay unhappy with how I look?

I wouldn't.

I won't.

 

So, tomorrow PJP and I are beginning the first 60 days of Insanity. I'm really excited! He's not so thrilled. I told him tonight that the first day is a Fit Test. PJP is very physically unfit. He tried to convince me that he didn't need to take the Fit Test because he already knows he's not fit. But I'm going to make him do it anyways.



 

My plan is to write about my journey with Insanity every week on my "rest" days. So every Saturday I will write a blog about it so you can follow my journey. Hopefully I'll make it through this next 60 days alive and come out feeling stronger and happier than I have in a long time!

 

{Part Two}

 

Another thing I'm planning on starting tomorrow is running again. It's been a couple of weeks since I last ran and that's awful. I need to get back into it.

 

Partly because I have a 5K to run this upcoming Saturday.

 

Anyways. It's also good for me. And I enjoy it. I've been putting it off because I have this broken toe thing going on, but that's not getting me anywhere. Especially since I broke my toe about two months ago and have been dancing and running on it anyways.

 

So what if it doesn't heal right??

It's probably not going to anyways...

 

I need to just get myself motivated again. And what's better motivation than setting a goal? Tomorrow is April 14th. My goal is to run 30 miles in 30 days. And 30 days from tomorrow would be May 14th. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to break up my runs, but I'm going to get it done. I'm thinking I'll probably do two 2-mile runs each week (on Monday and Thursday), with a 3-mile run every Saturday. That would give me7 miles in a week which would make for a perfect 30 miles in 30 days.

 

Oh, and that picture over there? That's a great motivation right there! If only it would actually come true.... I guess I'll have to run until it happens!

 

via

 

I also have plans to write about my progress on this every Saturday with my Insanity journey updates. 

 

{Part Three}

 

 

So this part actually has absolutely nothing to do with personal fitness or running at all. It's a different sort of challenge that I happened across on Facebook tonight. A fellow blogger, Mama Lola, over at Bear & Lion posted about "The Orange Rhino Challenge" on her Facebook page.

 

Now, with a name like "The Orange Rhino Challenge" who wouldn't want to take a closer look? Maybe I'm crazy, but it intrigued me. So I got to researching.

 

The link she posted led to a Facebook page, which I then followed to a blog. Can anyone guess the name of the blog?

 

 

The Orange Rhino Challenge

Imagine that.....

 

So I took a look around the site, read through the various pages listed and found out what exactly The Orange Rhino Challenge is. This challenge is about family. This challenge is about creating a better relationship with your children. This challenge is about love and togetherness and bonding.

 

OK. Let's be honest. This challenge is all of those things, but really?

 

This challenge is about not yelling at your children.

 

Now, I know I'm not "Mom of the Year" or anything, but I do try my best. But sometimes my best just doesn't cut it and I snap. Who doesn't?

 

But maybe I do it a bit too often? Maybe I could work at it a bit harder than I already do? Maybe I could actually be that mother I've always wanted to be?

 

This challenge is going to be exactly that for me. A challenge. Because I tend to have a very quick temper and I don't always realize when I'm raising my voice. Thankfully, though, the creator of this challenge provided a Yelling Meter that tells when you have to restart the clock.

 

I think it will also be more of a challenge with KBug's ADHD. We tend to have very difficult mornings and evenings because those are the times of day when her medicine is either not yet in her system or worn off. It will be a struggle, but I'm really hoping we can manage.

 

The creator of this challenge has been going strong for over a year, but a year seems a bit overwhelming for me at the moment. So I'm going to follow my running challenge above and see how this goes for a month. 30 days from tomorrow, May 14th. And again, I'll go from there.

 

And, to follow suit, I will write about this challenge at least once a week as well. I may end up writing about this one more often, though, because writing is a huge outlet for me and I may use this blog to vent about what I wanted to yell about to keep me from yelling. We will have to see.

 

So I invite you to follow along in my adventures over the next month. It's sure to be a crazy ride when you add in everything else I have going on in my life! I'll check back in with updates next Saturday.