Dust Yourself Off...

Ok. My blogs, along with most of yours, have been pretty much non-existent for quite a while now. I really am not going to promise to blog everyday or even every week or month for that matter, but I do desire to blog more often. I also desire to get my act together. 

There really is so much to say, but I just don't have time so I'll just do the quick blog thing tonight. 

I was doing really well for a while there, but I just let the chaos weigh me down. I'm a wife, mother of 4, have a full-time job with a 1 hour commute each way, and I go to school pretty much full-time. My husband has worked evenings for as far back as I can really remember, but he lost his job in October (we're fine). I thought that once he was home in the evenings, either we'd start going to the gym together or it would be easier for me to just go by myself and not have to worry about the kids. That hasn't happened at all. First of all, this getting dark at 5:00 thing really sucks. I just don't seem to want to leave the house after I get home anymore. Second, my husband and I both seem busier than ever now, and it never seems like a good time to go to the gym. Finally, I obviously just don't want to go. I try to get back at it about every other week, but it just never "takes".

Well, the truth is that I've put on some weight - not a significant amount. This week, though, I've started to get that feeling that I'm about to start expanding rapidly if I don't do something about it. Honestly though, it's not really the weight that bothers me as much as the not feeling fit. I used to think it was all about being thin, but as I started working out over the past couple of years, I realized that it's that feeling of accomplishment and the firmer body that I love...regardless of the size. Sure I'd love to be a firm 6, but I would be almost just as satisfied as a firm 8. I loved when I didn't feel flabby. 

I have one more final left this semester, and then I have a few weeks off from school. Instead of enjoying the break, I'm going to focus my energy into getting back into the routine of going to the gym. I don't know what's going to happen next semester since I'll be taking 4 classes. It's going to be very busy, but I know that I can still find the time to workout periodically...even a few days a week. 

I went to the gym tonight and focused on strength training, along with 20 minutes of HIIT. Tomorrow I'd like to just run at a moderate pace for about 30 minutes. Then I'd like to alternate these two things. I plan on aiming for everyday, because it usually results in about 5 days per week, which is respectable.

I'm not going to even try to tackle my eating habits quite yet. The fact is that I don't need to lose much weight if any. I just want to firm up. That's all. Maybe I'll try to shed a few pounds or so in the Spring.

Ok. After reading some of your blogs today, I think some of the rest of you are starting to feel that itch to get back to this too. Let's do it. We've done it before. We can certainly do it again. That's what it's all about anyways. Most of us are going to struggle with this for life, and there's a high probability that we're going to fall off the wagon periodically. However, every day is a new day. Oh wait. I just read something like this in a book I just got. It states, "You are a success when you clearly understand that failure is an event, not a person - that yesterday ended last night, and today is a brand-new day." I love that. 

One more thing... remember that every pound you don't put on over the holidays is one less pound you'll want to take off after. Think of that when you want to have more than 1 or 2 Christmas cookies or the chips and dip. Since I am prone to binging, this thought does help me keep myself in check most of the time. 

Happy holidays, everyone!