So Out of Shape

We're going to Chicago for a family reunion in June – 8 weeks away. That's about the same time that I'll be finding out if I "won" the NY marathon lottery. I need to be building base miles and getting in shape ahead of seeing family and starting a training program and yet I am so out of shape that I despair that it will happen.

I stepped it up a bit this week: more, longer walks with occasional jogs, I rode my bike for the first time since October, and I got back in the gym. Yet, I am starting so far down the fitness ladder that it will take supreme effort to climb the next few steps. I am at a near high weight – including pregnancies and I really need to drop 50 pounds.

No excuses, but I've been working very long hours. When I finally get home and get dinner fixed and served and have downed a few glasses of wine, it is time to go to bed. My stress level is high and I comfort myself with food. Then, I feel bad about how fat I am so I have a little something to comfort myself.

It is a vicious cycle that I have decided to break. If a year from now, I haven't done anything about this situation, I'll be heavier and more out of shape. So today I am committing to working out at least 6 days a week for no less than 1 hour per day. I will do a variety of aerobic and weight training as well as work to build up base miles from which I can start my marathon training program,

In addition, I'm going to cut out the wine and cheese, my two biggest calorie busters. We've been experimenting with various wines over the last few years and we've easily slipped into splitting a bottle (or two) every night. Not only is it packing weight around my middle, it is also killing my initiative to exercise in the morning. Lately, we've been enjoying different varieties of cheeses. They taste so good, but they mostly fat calories.

Even starting today, it will take a lot of effort to overcome inertia and develop some kind of fitness level by the middle of June but I hereby declare that, come mid-June, I will be in better shape than today.