A month finished!

This was a really great month.  I have never felt so in control of what I was eating and how I was exercising.  And I lost 8 pounds!  That's a big deal over here where a good month is one where I lose 5 pounds (often just a pound or two a month, and sometimes zero).

First, lets talk sugar free.  That first week was very, very difficult, but once I got past through it wasn't so bad.  I had some "safe treats" that I could have if I was really struggling.  Sugar free pudding cups, sugar free fudgicles, and when I had a REALLY bad day, sugar free slow churned ice cream.  These were a total lifesaver.  Especially towards the end, I found just knowing they were there helped me, and I often didn't eat a treat at all.  I would go all day and say, "If I need it, I can have a fudgcicle tonight." But then I get to the evening, and be like, "Nah, I don't need it."  Some cool things happened too: I used to get shaky in the afternoon if I didn't eat something (and I often went to something sugary), and that feeling went away.  I usually ate a small snack anyway, but I found I didn't need it like I did before.  I would be lying if I said all my sugar cravings went away, because that's simply not true.  I still love sugar and will love frosting until my dying day.  But I learned I don't need it. I don't need it to be happy and I don't need it to give me comfort when things are hard.

My plan for the future is to do no sugar 6 days a week, and to have an "off" day once a week.  I like baking and I missed it this last month, and I want an outlet for that.  All through it I'm still following weight watchers and tracking my points so I don't binge on my day off.  We'll see how it goes.  Eventually, I want to be able to eat a cookie a day and not stress about it, but I don't think I'm there yet.

Fitness wise, I finished Insanity the first week into January, which was awesome.  I felt really good, but I was also pretty burned out by Insanity, I wanted to do something different.  And then, almost on a whim, I decided to train for a half marathon. What the what?  I know.  And here's the other kicker: I wanted to train for it outside, not on my (beloved) treadmill.  I really wanted to see how running outside would go.  I'm SO glad I tried, you guys, because I'm hooked.  I now realize some of my fitness struggles were me just being bored on a treadmill.  On the treadmill, I could go for about 30 minutes at 5mph, and I was pretty tired after that.  I would push on and get myself up to 3 miles, and sometimes 5 miles, but after 30 minutes it always had to be a mix of running/walking, and sometimes stopping.

I ran 5 miles in 1 hour today, outside.  That's a 12 minute mile without walking or stopping.  I have NEVER done that.  On my 3 mile days, I try to push my speed, and I have done a 5k in 33 minutes (which is a big deal for me, I've never been a fast runner).  It's been really exhilarating to figure this out.  I'm so happy I got brave and tried running outside.  Now, no matter where I go, I can always get a great workout in by running, and that's a very liberating feeling.  I should not, I'm not sure if I would have had so much success running if I hadn't done Insanity first.  Insanity really pushed my fitness up a couple (of dozen) notches, and I plan to do it again in a few months.  My Jillian Michael's DVDs are also super useful to add in a little strength training in a quick little workout with my running.