Ten Pounds Down!

March has been good to me. I set four goals at the beginning of the month: 1. Kneel to pray morning and night 2. Take a picture every day 3. Track everything I eat using Weight Watchers 4. Exercise for at least 15 minutes six days a week I had great success with 1, 3, and 4. Getting the camera out? I think I get a 30% on that one. My days have gone better with more meaningful prayers. I prayed before, but not always on my knees. Finding the quiet time morning and night to really think and pray has made a huge difference in the quality and tenor of my days. As for #3 and #4, I'm thrilled to report that I met both goals! With a little help from Weight Watchers and more self-control than I knew I had in me, I lost ten pounds this month.

Here's me at the beginning of March, two weeks after giving birth:

And here's me ten pounds lighter, just last week (aren't you impressed I'm dressed in the same outfit?):

Just four pounds to go and I'll be back where I was last summer, when I ran my marathon:

Then it's just 25 lbs or so until I'm where I want to be. It feels so great to have a plan and to be making progress.

As for goal #4, the exercise one, I have been so happy by my quick progress back into running. I hadn't run since November, and I thought it would likely take all month to build back up to three miles. When Cami was 2.5 weeks old, I was able to run a mile on the treadmill with just a few short walk breaks. Not long afterwards, when she was three weeks old, I was able to run a slow but steady three miles! I've been running between 3 and 4 miles four days a week ever since. I'm slower than I was, and my muscles feel out of practice, but it's feeling wonderful to be getting back in shape. I'm aiming for this half marathon in June (want to join me?). The main obstacle I'm worried about, ironically, is not the miles -- 13.1 seems like such an easy distance in my mind now, such a contrast from my fears last year. Rather, my main concern is Cami. I don't know if she'll be able to go four hours between feedings by June. But I'm training as if she will, and I suppose the back-up plan could be for me to take a quick "feed the baby" break halfway through (or maybe -- novel thought -- we could try a bottle?). I've set four more goals for April and I'm hoping to have more success on the scale. Wish me luck!