I have always been an “If you can’t eat whatever you want, what’s the point?” person.  I hate to run.  HATE IT.  I don’t like working out for the sake of working out.  I have been in good shape twice in my life.  The first time was when I was on swim team in middle school.  I was working out to be able to compete.  The second was when I was training in ju jitsu.  To be honest, that one wasn’t about anything other than making my sensei proud.  Now, seven years and 50 pounds later, I get bored with exercise quickly, hate running on treadmills, and can’t run to save my life.

So, this is the story of why I, a self-proclaimed hater of exercise, am working out and eating/drinking healthy again.  Lets be honest, there are lots of reasons, but there are two that matter most to me.  First, there is an hourglass figure in my body that I want back.  Let’s be honest, I have rather large…  Tracts of land…  (Monty Python references, anyone?)  I don’t say this by way of bragging (I’m not sure what there is to brag about; it’s just genetics), but as explanation.  They’re there, and they used to contrast GORGEOUSLY with my tiny waist.  And I want that contrast back.  I want to look that way again.  Second, I teach and I youth minister.  Both of these jobs involve a lot of time spent with young people, with boundless energy.  They never stop moving and they love to run and play games that sound, to my out-of-shape self, a lot like exercise.  I want to be in a shape that doesn’t mind games of soccer of basketball with my high schoolers, a shape that has no problem chasing down little feet that run off after yelling “Catch me!”  I want to not worry about being winded by fun.

So, I’m drinking ALL THE WATER.  I’m working out daily, for 15 minutes at least, with a friend at my school.  I’m getting at least 7000 steps a day (and 10000 at least three days a week).  And I’m cutting down the sugar in my diet.  AND IT’S WORKING.  I can see my waist again!  I’m stubbornly refusing to weigh myself, because that isn’t the point for me, but I’m keeping an eye on how I look and how I feel.  And I’m turning into an hourglass again.  😉