wait... again?

In May, when I became fed up with being in such terrible shape (240 pounds), I put down some goals for the summer as far as fitness.  I started a 10 week workout program (more on this later), and was hoping to drop 25 lbs by the end of the program: July 12 (during the end of schools and a double-session of summer school… a very busy time for me). That would get me to 215 (math!), and the secondary goal was to keep chipping away at that extra 15 and get sub-200 before school starts: August 26.

In my mind, this would get me to where I ought to be (as sort of “Phase 1” of sorts), and I could move on from there to better goals than just weight loss.

I hit my first goal on schedule… and have been nearing my second in the past couple weeks. Well, Saturdays are weigh-in days, and I’m proud to say I cracked 200 a week ahead of schedule.

been about two years since that number started with a "1"

At this point, long time readers (or really those who have known me for a couple years) are thinking “wait – we’ve seen this before, haven’t we?”

It’s sort of like when you start watching Friday Night Lights and you’re like “wait, is this a mockumentary about Varsity Blues?” … because it’s the exact same thing. 

Yes, you’ve seen this before. And yes, it dulls the accomplishment that I’ve see it subsequently squandered in years past. So that brings us to “Phase 2” (talking about things in phases feels pretty lame… I’m not sure what better word to use. restricted by my own vocabulary. how ironical.)

Basically, I need to get off the see-saw. But how? 

If you’d excuse a poorly executed and clichéd football analogy: the “prevent defense” isn’t working, so I’m gonna keep calling blitzes. Essentially, I’m not going to sit back and celebrate my accomplishment… I’m going to continue to try to set and complete new fitness goals (varying from fitness goals of years past such as “try not to eat that”) 

For instance, being lighter helps you do things. Like, I can run faster (not fast, but fastER). Really, if this is a hard concept to grasp, next time you’re in the gym, pick up a 45lb plate (about how much I lost) and then imagine running with that strapped to your chest. See what I mean? 

So my next goal will be to run a fast (for me) 10k this fall. I already run 10k distances pretty regularly, but I'm training for speed now. Which is weird. It's the first time I've ever *actually* done that. 

Then I’ll need some sort of carrot to chase for the spring (to keep me working through winter – which is key). I’m thinking a destination half marathon. And then maybe I’ll try to run the Chicago Marathon the following fall. We’ll see how it goes… but either way, I’m not letting up. Who knows, maybe after a while I can even become not-embarrassingly-slow. 

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PS I'm not going to include much about *how* I lost the weight, mostly because it's a relatively boring and uncomplicated version of "eat healthy and work out a bunch"