Sacrifices

I did get up this morning and get on the treadmill for a half an hour before getting ready for work. I'm so excited to be restarting, reinventing, renewing my life to be more healthy and fit. BUT, and of course there is always a BUT, it was HARD. It was hectic because I set my alarm for 5:30, so that only allowed me the exact half an hour to run before I had to get in the shower (it's definitely not easy to schedule morning routines between three girls and one bathroom!). So of course I was immediately stressing about one thing or another... can't find my Nexium pills (must be taken an hour before breakfast), where did I set my iPhone (for the music), hurry to change out of pjs and into workout clothes, get the dog out before he starts barking at the treadmill and wakes up my sleeping beauty hubby (oh heaven forbid)... AHHHH!! Finally, I was on, and then began the grumbling and whining. Are you freaking kidding me? It's only been FIVE minutes???? I HATE this, what the heck was I thinking?!?!? My feet are on freaking FIRE!

I DO hate running by the way. But, I made it through. Then, the rest of the day, I felt more energized and in a better mood than ever! Which is saying a lot because it was my first day back after spending a week in B-E-A-UTIFUL Florida. Not to mention, I'm a teacher at a Jr. High - good moods and energy during the day doesn't come too often. The only problem was the bottom of my feet, which did burn a little bit before the end of the day.

So anyways, I did one minute at 4mph/1% incline (to wake me up a little), 24 at 5mph/1% incline and finished it off with 4 minutes at 4mph/2% incline. I was a sweaty mess by the end and thank GOD I was showering because in the process of running around to get ready, I forgot deodorant. WOOOWEEEE!! Stinky! I figure after a full week of doing that, I'll add a minute to the time I do 5mph. Eventually I'd like to work up to doing the entire 30 minutes at 5mph and then I'll start upping the incline. I'm on my way to not running a marathon everybody!!

Well, now for the whole point of this post - sacrifices. I realized while I was on the treadmill and when I got off that even though it SUCKS to have to do it, I have to make sacrifices in order to have the body and health that I want. While I was in Florida drooling over other girls' bodies that I so badly wish were mine, I decided to change my life forever. Getting on that treadmill each morning for a half an hour is such a tiny sacrifice in the broad scheme of things. I mean, come on, it's a half an hour. 30 minutes. 180 seconds. That's a teeny tiny itty bitty portion of how many hours, minutes and seconds I'll live throughout my entire life. If I want to achieve my goals, I have to make sacrifices. I know that sometimes at night I'm exhausted from the day and don't feel like doing anything. So, if I make that half an hour sacrifice in the morning, I'll still get exercising in each day. Over the past year I stopped making sacrifices and the consequence is all this extra weight I'm carrying around now. I could be lazy. I could quit. I could go back to living how I did to gain all this weight, but I just don't want to - it's so not worth it!

Let's face it, I'll never be naturally thin, no matter what kind of diet I'm on. And I WANT to experience life and in doing so, experiencing the many tastes of foods and cuisines from around the world regardless of how many calories they contain. I WANT to eat cake on my birthday. I refuse to give up ice cream for the rest of my life. I'm sorry, but every couple of months, I want a freaking taco from Taco Bell (come on, I don't care if it's not real meat, it's so good - and I said every couple months or so, so give me a break on that one). So in order to have all that and a great body too, well, there comes those sacrifices again.

So in the end, exactly what are those sacrifices going to be? What sacrifices are you willing to make to get to where you want to be in life? This doesn't just apply to weight and health, but it's certainly a huge part of both.

Well, day one down, about a million freaking more to go. Have a good one :)