Moving Right Along

So much has happened since I last wrote! I really feel that I am making progress. I'm really starting to get into the groove and realizing this isn't a diet, but my way of life now.

Since I last wrote, I got a lot of great feedback about fast food. If I want to eat it, I'll eat it. I won't restrict myself from it. But I am noticing how unhappy it makes my belly, so I am eating less of it already. I've been cooking a lot and really enjoying it. I have started eating rice and gravy again--something I couldn't do before while on my low-sodium diet. It's delightful. I'd forgotten how much I love it! I also made homemade sweet potato fries for dinner tonight and it was so flipping great. Wow, am I loving eating again!

On Friday after work, I got the crazy urge to run. The weather was delightful--warm and breezy. I just couldn't stay in the house. Plus, Kalem was out with his best friend. So, I decided to go for a run and then treat myself to a night at the movies. It felt really good to get out there. I hadn't run in at least a year! My calves were aching by the time I finished (same as before!). Afterwards, I decided that I may need to walk for a while before I'm able to really get back into it. My body was quite achy afterwards. But, I love the feeling I used to have! And I don't want to feel unable to because of my weight. So, I'm thinking about trying it again. I'm not sure yet. I'm aslo feeling really compelled to pick up strength-training. I've never been good about lifting, but I know it's helpful to being healthy, strong, and flexible. We're also talking about buying some big piece exercise equipment for the winter time, but we'll see. I used to love running in the winter, so we might hold off on that. I'll be writing about my workout plans soon.

On Saturday, the hubs and I went winter shopping on Saturday and had a great time, surprisingly. We both agreed to be completely honest when things were too tight and not even pretend we'd fit in items in the "normal" section. So, to the "plus-size" sections we went and bought a lot of great warm clothing. The next day was the real challenge. As we began to add our new clothes to our closets, we decided it was time to remove those that no longer fit in some way. It was really hard, because there were a lot of memories attached to some things. Of course, I kept my wedding dress, but the dress I got engaged in had to go. I even got rid of my "goal jeans"! We got rid of about half of our clothes and donated them. I thought about keeping some smaller clothes, but I am learning to be okay with the fact that I may not lose any weight as I learn to eat intuitively. Now, though, it feels great to get up and find something to wear. I know everything will fit and that I look nice wearing it. I feel so much more comfortable in my body right now. It feels so great!

I've been under the weather for about a week now. For the last two weeks or so, I've been a bit congested and didn't do anything about it because I thought it was just allergies. This week, though, I've been feeling a bit worse. I haven't taken a full day off, so I feel my cold's just been moseying along, not decreasing. I'm feeling a lot better now, but am still battling some dizziness. Hopefully it will be over soon!

I have had a crazy summer health-wise: a really bad cold during our second-anniversary celebration, a reaction to a tetanus shot, allergies, and now this thing. I normally have a really remarkable immune system--I barely ever get sick! I'm hoping that as I get further into IE and exercising again, it will build up again. I especially think that my getting active again will really help with that. I hate feeling sick and tired and really hope to feeling healthy again.

A few weeks ago, Kalem had some chest pain and it really scared my straight. We both talked about the fact that we both need to get active and decided that we could walk the dogs every morning before work. Well, we haven't done it one day yet! We absolutely hate waking up any earlier than we absolutely must! Still, it's the only time we have in common that we can exercise together. I'm really committed to getting this started, but it's so very hard. We're going to start this next week hopefully.

That's really all that's going on with me (I guess I'm not so busy!). I'm strongly considering combining this and daily life blog. I don't write very often and it just might make sense. We'll see!

Well, it's almost been a month since we started IE! Next Tuesday, I'll be writing on how I feel it's going!