Motivation Found?

Guys, I'm getting a nephew! I'm so elated, words could never express my joy! This little boy will be the first in a long series of girls, (my parents had three daughters). This is the first born of the next generation in our immediate family, of the extended family he'll be number seven. I'm so proud of my big sister for taking this step in her life and I wish her all the joy and happiness, as well as my brother-in-law.

I think the idea of not being able to keep up with my nephew has helped to kick start my butt into action. I want to be that fun aunt who plays ball, that he can go on runs with, and go hiking in the mountains when he comes to visit. I want to be able to hold that little bundle of energy until he falls asleep without my arms feeling like they're going to fall off.  I want to be able to sit on the floor with him and not be horrible sore and uncomfortable when I stand up.

The holidays were hard on the wallet and waistline, as to be expected.  But two weeks after all the festivities have been done I'm getting back in the habit of making food instead of ordering it, not having cookies as snacks, drinking more water and less of everything else (especially soda!). Time to get back on the wagon and start this long road toward healthy again.

I stopped running after the Color5K in September and I want to get that back. This summer I want to be able to run outside with only shorts and a sports bra so I can work on my tan and work out at the same time but two things need to happen before I can do that. One, be able to run for any extended period of time. I'm currently only able to run in sprints of 60 seconds with walking 90 seconds in between for a total of 25 minutes or so. Second, I need to feel comfortable in my body enough to strip down to that level. I'm only 20, I should be able to do this without fear of judgement and ridicule. I need to realize that the hardest critic that I have is myself and when I become comfortable with myself that will be the true achievement. It won't be all the fat that I lost, it won't be the inches gone, it'll be the self-acceptance and the emotional relief from all this time of putting myself down.