Next up in the ongoing weight loss battle...

I think what the experts say about weight loss and fitness is true: apparently you have to eat less and move more. Who’d have thought? So I guess this is why my whole lounge-on-the-sofa-eating-bon-bons-while-watching-TV plan hasn’t worked! As I’ve previously mentioned I follow the Weight Watcher’s plan all of the time, most of the time, when things get out of control and I have to reel it back in. And I do exercise every day for ninety minutes, everyday for thirty minutes, every other day for as long as baby will eat breakfast in his highchair while watching a DVD before whining he wants out. This translates into “not enough exercise to burn the calories I eat”. And frankly, I’m just not willing to eat any less than I already am [when following my eating plan]. I like my food. There are however too many times I veer off my WW eating plan. I get very angry with myself for "falling off the wagon" because I know that I need to stick to it and when I do I am able to lose weight and maintain it. I've done it before but sadly, Mother Nature's cruel joke seems to be that women past early thirties have more difficulty taking off the pounds. Currently, I am back on track with the eating plan [as of a week ago] and sticking to it faithfully. However, that's not enough. Now I need to add in more exercise than I have been getting. The other day a friend and I were talking about exercise and she suggested running. My response was; “You mean on purpose?!” Other than in my teenage years when forced to for PE [and let’s be honest, that was awhile ago] I have never run—on purpose—for exercise. Apparently this is something people do. (Again, who’d have thought?) After discussing the advantages, the main one being getting your exercise in a shorter period of time, I decided I’m actually going to give it a try. While I fear this won’t be pretty I’m still going to take a stab at it. Honestly, I have visions of resembling Phoebe on Friends when she went jogging with Rachel.

In preparation for this new adventure I went out this weekend in search of some basic running attire. I found shoes I like and naturally they didn’t have my size so they had to be ordered. Grrr. (Lest I use that as an excuse to delay starting I decided to use a pair of shoes I have that will work in the meantime.) I also went to try on clothes and was looking for some kind of bottoms that would be comfortable to run in. Yeah, trying on bottoms-that was fun - about one notch up from trying on swimsuits. Then I got brave and tried on actual “running shorts” (you know, the short, side vented, Richard Simmons kinda things) knowing full well there was no way on earth I’d buy them let alone appear in them in public. So, while standing there in the dressing room I had an idea. I decided it might serve as further motivation to photograph myself in the shorts, then if this whole running thing actually “works” [and my legs end up looking like something that could be seen in public] I could have a handy before and after photo set. So I pulled out my camera and shot a couple photos. You won’t find them here, naturally, but if things improve I’m not opposed to showing them as part of a B & A deal one day. Anyway, I found of a pair of running capri pants that were comfortable and didn't look completely horrible. I already have a heart rate monitor so I can be sure I am getting enough cardio without pushing the line of passing out. I know I need to begin by taking it slow, which means starting out at maybe a half mile, a quarter mile, around the block, to the mail box and maybe back. I’ll let you know how it goes.