I am back!

Tomorrow morning I go back to Weight Watchers - I went back for 2-3 weeks in June, but haven't been back since (and really hadn't been consistently since January) I am trying out a different location (and a different leader) - hopefully it will work out better. I am making Weight Watchers a priority again - no more running instead of WW on Saturday mornings. Plus we have been away 7 weekends since mid-June, so it was hard to get momentum and was not good on the waistline!

This morning my weight was 202.8 :( Immediate goal is to get back until 200. Would like to be 184 by the time we go on a cruise in April.

I have gained 20+ pounds since last September 20th - some of them have been big jumps, some gradual.

I was going through my pictures trying to find ones to post here and realize how few pictures there are of me in the last year - that is what happens when you start to gain weight!

Last September at the Diva Dash - I was 181 and feeling on top of the world.

Mid-April at the BAA 5K (2 days before the Boston Marathon) - I didn't PR the course (I had a PR the previous year) - the weight gain and the hard Boston winter were to blame

Easter 2015

What I don't have pictures from here is the 1/2 marathon that I was supposed to do over Memorial Day weekend - I trained for it and ran 13.1 miles 2 weeks prior, the weekend after my dad died. But I chose not the run the 1/2 on race day - I did the 5 miles instead. I am glad I did because it was hot! And I did PR the 5 miles with 55 minutes.

Mid-June at my dad's memorial service - I was so miserable that I couldn't wear any of the cute size 14 clothes from our honeymoon I had been able to wear the summer before

An all-women's 5K in mid-July - again, didn't PR the course and the year before had been 95 and 100% humidity

After Beach to Beach 10K - with Joan Benoit Samuelson. See me hide. I was happy with my results because it was the first hilly race and it was very hot - my time wasn't far off my 10K PR

Same weekend as previous picture - see me hide in the picture

My 45th birthday celebration at the Melting Pot

So here I am. A "new year". My schedule is quite different this school year - after 2+ years of planning I am now leaving in the afternoon to get the kids off the bus and working from home. Today is only the 7th day of school. Of the 7 days, 3-4 of them I have had way too much to eat for snack - almost mini-binges, so a rule needs to be 1) don't eat before the kids get home and 2) don't have more snack than I would at work.

I had signed up for a 1/2 on November 8th way back in January - but I have decided not to do it - I feel like that is the story of my life this year. I need to concentrate on weight loss, and I don't lose, I gain during 1/2 training. I will cut back my running even more or stop all together (temporarily) in order to re-lose the 20 lbs. Right now I am signed up for a 5K at the end of September, 2 10Ks in October, a Turkey Trot (November) and a Jingle Bell run (December) and will do the 5K or 10K on New Year's Day. I have been trying to run 15 miles a week - 2 4-milers during the week and 7 miles on the weekend. I had my highest monthly miles in August with 53. I've been doing my 2 weekly runs with my running group at 5 am and then the long run on the weekends on my own.

Things I need to do to lose weight:
--Drink more water
--Move more at work
--Get more sleep
--Cross train 1x a week and strength train
--No buying lunch at work
--No eating until the kids come home and then only my normal snack
--No snacking while making dinner
--Much less eating out
--Get back to meal planning
--Much smaller portions at dinner

If I can do the above, I will be a much better place!

So what has lit a spark this time? Hovering around 200 all summer, knowing my running has suffered, seeing my belly in pictures and knowing that is where a lot of the weight has gone, not wanting pictures taken of me, having to buy a new pair of jeans not because it was too small, but because it was almost worn out in the thigh area, knowing I want to feel good about myself on our cruise in 7 months - it was too hard to get motivated with all these trips this summer (which were for the most part fun, but exhausting and a lot of eating out). But we have no trips planned until April! I do have a lot to do this fall with 2 kids in soccer, and finally starting to pack up more of the stuff at my parent's house (my mom wants to downsize) after taking the summer off.

I can do this!!!!