Back on the Horse

My sincerest apologies to our few, beloved followers.

I have definitely been neglecting this blog, and I'm sorry to say it's because I fell off the wagon. I didn't balloon, and they don't have to roll me around in a wheel barrow quite yet. I did, however, put those five pounds back on, and that makes for a very sad panda.

I would love to be able to blame my lack of commitment on some injury or insurmountable extenuating circumstance. However, I'm ashamed to say that life just sort of got in the way. Work got crazy busy, which left little time or energy for working out; and what's worse, I tended to decompress from work by going out to the bar with friends (not itself a bad thing) and relaxing with a few beers and great food (tragic downfall). As my colleague in this challenge will attest, the Wink is pretty freaking delicious.

"This is the last of that sort of thing. Now I'm cleaning up and I'm moving on, going straight and choosing life. I'm looking forward to it already." Best advice I could think to get from a Scottish heroin addict. It's true, though. I started out with a goal but no plan, and that method failed me as soon as some teensy inconvenience threw off the non-existent plan.

My new method is a little more me I should think. My true goal throughout this process has never really been about weight; I just thought weight would be an easy indicator of progress for me (hogwash and poppycock). What I really want is athleticism. I want to be run faster, jump higher, and be stronger than the next girl. I want to be the epitome of Mark Twain's "size of the fight in the dog" bit. I want to push my body to do all the remarkable things I know it can.

So to kick off this new (hopefully successful) method of changing my body, I'm going on a 30-day challenge. I want to work my ass off (quite literally) through swimming, running, rock climbing, lifting, and frisbee and see how much I can accomplish in 30 days. It's probably going to mean some early mornings in the pool and mustering the energy to run after long days in the OR, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

I'll keep you posted on the progress and try to post more recipes over the next couple weeks. 'Before' photo to follow tomorrow.