Inspiring

I've made no secret here that when I started this venture, my sole purpose was to lose weight. At 150 pounds and 5'5", I could stand to lose a good 25 pounds. That was January 2007.

I selected running as my goal activity because it was the most difficult thing for me, historically, so I reasoned that it would also be the activity that would get me in the best shape. But I wasn't going to be picky. No, my first goal was 21 days of exercise in a row, because I read that it took 21 days to form a habit, and I knew that I needed an actual lifestyle change. Any sort of exercise would do. Tae Bo, running, yoga, whatever. Just get off my butt and do something, anything, for at least 20 minutes per day. I succeeded in more ways than one. I streaked those 21 days and I did, indeed, form a habit.

Since then I've lost 23 of those 25 pounds. I've run up to 7.5 miles at a time. That's up from running 0 miles at a time. I've started biking. I've started swimming (again). I'm signed up for a triathlon!

But something else has happened along the way. I've fallen in love with my lifestyle. I love how it makes me feel. I love how it gives me goals. I love how the first thing I do every day is something just for me. And I've talked to people about it. And apparently, so has Preston.

The other day he told me how the wife of his co-worker has started working out after he told the co-worker my story and the man relayed it to his wife. How cool is that?? This morning a co-worker of mine stuck his head in my office and said, "I went to the gym this morning," despite a conversation the past week where he had asked me how I made time for it all and stated that he would never have the time for it!

I'm in this for my health (physical and mental), and that of my family. But what a wonderful thing to discover that I've inspired others to get into exercising too, for their health and that of their family.