Day 39 - So.... It's been a while...

Whoops again! Apparently blogging is just like working out - you give yourself permission to miss it just once, and all of a sudden it's a LOT easier to keep skipping (and skipping and skipping.... and I obviously don't mean with a jump rope). Lesson learned. Like anything else, a commitment only works if you stick with it.

So, here's a little catch-up on fast forward. Holiday season is pretty much upon us. That coupled with moving, unpacking, and a bit of brain drain trying to figure out what I could possibly have left to say that would still be interesting - led to a seriously major blog block.

But I'm back, for a little while anyway. And unbelievably, I'm down to my final 6 workouts of the challenge. If everything had been according to my original plan, tomorrow would actually be my last day, so I'm grateful for that bonus week, because I just don't feel done. I know for a fact I won't feel done next week either, but all good things must come to an end - or at least a pause. I fully intend to continue on this journey after the challenge, but it won't be quite so intense.

Rather unfortunately, two of the things that HAVEN'T been unpacked yet are: a tape measure and a scale. So I truly have no idea what my numbers are right now, but based on people's reactions who haven't seen me in a while - I'm doing okay. I can certainly tell in the way clothes fit and honestly, I feel like these have been the best forms of measurement I've come across. Watching people's eyes bug out of their head in surprise is ridiculously satisfying. Can't even pretend that I don't absolutely love it. It's a totally new thing to me though as I've always been terrible at accepting compliments, never feeling like I really deserved them, or that they were sincere - but now -- oh baby did I earn this!

If you're curious - 5am still sucks. I know right? People say "Oh you'll get used to it"... no, you don't. You never get used to it. At least I don't. I can't really explain what the feeling is at 5am when the alarm goes off - but it's sure not "well golly gee let's get this show on the road!". It doesn't make me want to burst into tears anymore though - but I think that's as close to "used to it" as I'm ever going to get. A gentle acceptance and a truce with the alarm clock. I'll take it.

One thing I am absolutely, positively, indubitably and irrevocably certain of - is that like the picture I posted above - I will never ever EVER let myself get back to the point I was at mid-September when this opportunity arose. I don't want to have to start over and fight tooth and nail to get back to where I am right now. Once upon a time, I was actually a somewhat elite athlete. That went to hell in a handbasket the moment I left home to go to college. Even with all the training I did back then - I'm pretty sure that I'm in the best shape of my life right now. At this very moment. And I never want to move backwards ever again. It just feels too good.

I will say this to you though. To you reading this who feels "I don't even know where to start". It's not a 'where' to start. It's a when. And that when, is NOW. Starting over sucks. But never starting at all is even worse. A year from now, you'll wish you started today - so do it. Invest in yourself. Your health. Your future. Do it now and never look back. Never start over again. Make sure that every step you take today, is taking you toward a positive goal, and then let inertia keep you moving, as long as it's in the right direction.