Happy President's Day!

::UPDATE TIME::

2 weeks into my (very) slow going 8 week training "Couch to 5K" and my 3rd week of Phase 1 South Beach Diet

My average pace is a 15 minute mile, but I also didn't run at all last week. I did, however, do a couple hikes and push myself pretty hard in my exercise class on Thursday. I don't feel like a slacker, just flaky on the exercise that I promised my time to and I hate being a flake.

I am down 3 pounds with my South Beach Diet. I should be finished with Phase 1 today, but I am staying on for another week. The first week of Phase 1, I did more than cheat and ate more chocolate over the course of that week than I had in the last month due to stress and hormones. Also, for our hot date night on Friday, I didn't adhere to the constricts of the diet. So I am going for one more week of no carb and perfectly following the diet. Preferably, I will loose the estimated 5 pounds that most people loose on Phase 1.  I have 12 pounds to go until my wedding weight. As my co-worker put it, any loss is a gain!

Auntie Doctor and I were talking a great length about the battle with weight that has been and will be the rest of my life. While I understand what many fitness pros mean when they say things like "Beat your Genetics" and "Your Genetics don't control you", I also know that genetics do control how my body will process and store calories and fat. No, I can take control with diet and exercise, but I will have to be working harder than many people out there to keep control of it. This is just fine. While I am not inclined to by Skinny or even Thin, I can be healthy and keep weight off my internal organs and stay in a healthy weight range that isn't determined by a chart.

This brings me to that BMI bulls@%t. My BMI has always said I am overweight, I try my darndest to not believe it anymore. My BMI is currently 29.3 which is .6 off from being considered OBESE. Any one who knows me, and knows my body type, knows very well that I am not obese. My wedding weight BMI claims that I am still overweight with a BMI of 26.1. From my starting weight 2 weeks ago, I "need" to loose 21 pounds to be at the magical 24.9 BMI.

Needless to say, I am not concerned about my BMI. I am concerned about how my clothes fit me. I am concerned about my audacity to sign up for a 10k and I want to be able to finish it with my head up and a smile on my face. I am concerned that I want to be in the best shape I can be without it disrupting my work and personal life. I am concerned that I am fit and healthy for my Husband so he has someone with whom he can grow old. I am concerned for our someday maybe children, that I set a good example for them as well as my body being a great place for the gestation of them if we are so blessed with natural children. This is why I am concerned about my weight, health, and fitness. Not because I want to be as thin as that one movie star.

I hope that my quest to be healthy and slimmer inspires you (for the right reasons) to make the changes you have been thinking about accomplishing. Get out there, and live your life fully and do what you can to extend your life.

In 50 years, you will wish you started today.