I recently did my first run outside in the real world, away from the comfy confines of my treadmill… and boy is it different!  I couldn’t believe the differences between the two!  Now, I’ve only done one outdoors run so far (and this was just around my neighborhood) so my perceptions will likely change over time but here are the differences I noticed right away.

First, my breathing is loud!  I got up super early and was out the door at 6:00am.  It was very calm and peaceful outside.  That is, until I started running!  All I could hear was the sound of my own breathing!  Apparently the loud drone of my treadmill had conveniently blocked it out for me at home.  I was seriously thinking, my goodness, I am going to wake up everyone in the neighborhood!  Does anybody else notice this?!  (Note to self: Learn to breath quieter!)

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Okay, now I know this is for real.  Check this out:  This morning on the treadmill, I ran for 21 straight minutes!  Unbelievable!  Crazy stuff going on here!  And the really amazing part is that I’m not sore or tired.  I feel invigorated!  Although as soon as I dropped to a walk after the 21 minutes, I started walking crooked for a second.  Not sure what that was all about!  Probably delirious excitement.  It translated to 1.75 miles.  WOW!

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Each week I allow myself one splurge.  I call it my “treat”.  My diet has always included a treat because I feel it is very important to still act like a human being while on a diet.  Seriously, I think that sometimes people cut out so much so fast and they lose it all so quickly that they forget that it’s not just a diet that we are on, but that it’s a lifestyle change.  I’m not knocking their strategies for losing weight but this is how I have to look at my own journey.  I found this article that helps explain this theory and why it’s important not to cut everything out completely.  It also provides tips on successful splurging.

I’m not just in this to lose weight so I can wear the clothes I like and look cute.  Don’t get me wrong, that is a huge reward, but it’s not my motivation.  My goal is to be a healthy person and make my older years a little easier than they might have otherwise been.  I don’t want to learn how to cut out all my favorite foods only to never have them again; I want to learn moderation.  My other goal is to teach my daughter how to live a healthy lifestyle through mine and my husband’s actions, not just our words.  I want her to grow up eating healthy foods and being active, and our hope is that with a solid foundation, she would continue that on her own. 

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Something amazing happened yesterday on the treadmill.  I ran for 10 minutes straight!!!  As in non-stop, 10 solid minutes!!  This is an absolutely amazing feat for me on so many levels and for so many reasons.  The main reason being that I used to hate running with a passion. 

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The other day I was running on the treadmill and having a particularly difficult time keeping up with my routine.  Some days I feel like I can run forever, but there are other days (particularly those back-to-back cardio days) where I feel as though I am running in quicksand.  Do you know what I mean?  It’s those days where you have to fight the entire time you are working out and each minute can feel like an eternity.  Those are the days where it feels like giving up might just be the best way to go, right? 

Well, I was in the middle of one of THOSE days when it occurred to me.  This is what tough love is all about.  Think about it.  What are the things we tell our kids when we are practicing tough love (or perhaps you remember your own parents telling you)?  Here are some I could think of:

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