A Journey of 1000 Miles

Hello Blogosphere. It's been almost exactly a year since my last post. Lots has happened since then; our family has settled into our new house, school, and ward. We're all making friends and finding our niche. I know I posted last year about fitness goals, and I failed spectacularly at them. This post will likely not be eloquent, as I'm feeling pretty emotional tonight.

June 2015, I ran a half marathon with my friend Amanda. We had trained together for 6 months, became very close friends (we call ourselves "sole" sisters) and Regan even calls Amanda her other mom! But we were both battling injuries after our race, and taking a month or two off to heal can do a number on your fitness level and motivation. So can moving - twice in one year. We had talked about doing more races this year, 2016, but never got into a consistent training routine. To be perfectly honest, I have been exceptionally lazy. It doesn't help that my depression and anxiety have kicked into high gear with the move, and with that comes fatigue. Bone-weary, draining, constant exhaustion. I'm working through some medication changes, and hopefully that will help me get past the worst of it this winter. Along with that, I'm starting a fitness routine again. I know that I feel better when I'm exercising regularly and eating well. But there's a large gap between knowing and doing.

Which brings me to my post tonight. I am setting aside time on each Sunday night, after my kids are all in bed, when I can write uninterrupted and update from the past week. This weekend I set some goals with Amanda, and we've decided to share our journey with you. As the title of this post says, we are embarking on a journey of 1,000 miles. One Thousand Miles. That's a lot. And the hardest mile is the first one. For me, anyway. But before even logging any miles, I needed a real look at myself. I took pictures and measurements, and I'm going to be very real and share the latter with you. You don't need pictures of me in my underwear though, trust me on that. :)

The plan this week is to increase water consumption, with the goal being 84 oz each day. I drink 12 oz Dr. Pepper a day to help keep migraines at bay, but I hope that I will be able to drop that with increased fitness. For now, the goal is 12 oz a day; I have had times where I will drink 48 oz a day, so this is already a big improvement over where I was a couple months ago. I signed up for a free 30 day workout course through Betty Rocker (you can find her here.) I will do the workout for Day 1 tomorrow, as well as reach my Fitbit goal of 6,000 steps per day.

So that is me, right now I am feeling pretty low and vulnerable, but also strangely optimistic. I'll update my measurements at the end of the 30 day Betty Rocker course, with the exception of weight, which I'll update weekly along with an analysis of the last week's goals, and declaration of the coming week's goals. I'll probably invite Amanda to write posts occasionally so you don't get tired of hearing me all the time (all 3 of you who read this!).

1,000 Mile Journey

Week 1: Oct. 16-Oct. 22

Height: 5'5"

Weight: 195.6 lb

Biceps:   L 13"     R 12.5"

Forearms:   L 11"     R 11.25"

Thighs:   L 27"     R 27"

Calves:   L 16.5"     R 17"

Waist: 41.5"

Hips: 44.5"

Bust: 43"