All about working out!

Paul and I have finally started our exercise program! We've talked about this forever, but now we're finally doing it! We got racquetball equipment and now we're using the college's racquetball courts and weightroom to get in shape. We also went on a hike in Provo Canyon, trudging through miles of a snowy trail.

Consequently, I am really sore in the calves today. As I was walking around church, I was trying not to cringe with every step. It's odd because that's usually the place that never gets sore while everything else is aching. I think it has something to do with trying to step lightly on the snow to not break through (it was knee-deep in places that I DID break through). Normally, I can barely walk across smooth obstacle-free surfaces without tripping and hurting myself. Stepping carefully and especially lightly are not part of my genetic makeup! I think all my concentration to not fall down yesterday took its toll on my muscles.

But in this weird twisted way, I kind of enjoy soreness. When I wake up in the morning and simply moving makes me groan because of all my sore places, it satisfies me. It's proof that I actually worked out, proof that I'm being healthy and taking care of myself. In the semester before I met Paul, I worked out like a maniac and was in a perpetual state of pain and stiffness. But it was awesome because all my muscles hardened and toned and I lost about forty-five pounds.

I wasn't very kind to myself then. I completely threw aside how I felt and pushed myself constantly to run longer and faster and to lift heavier weights. If I wasn't in agony, I figured I wasn't working hard enough. I was so determined to be thin.

After I got married, I gained most of the weight back. Not of all of it, though... I want to be thin now and I'm willing to work for it. But not like I did then. I now think I was ludicrous and I don't plan to work out quite like that again.

This time, I will take it more slowly and gently, which I think will make it easier to KEEP off. If you lose weight too fast, your body can gain it again just as quickly.

But, hey. I don't kid myself about ever being a size 2. I'll be quite happy and content if I get down to a 12. That's the size I was in seventh grade. If I take it slowly, I still probably won't be able to get to that size for at least a year. (And that's without relapses.) Bring on the next year! I am SO ready for it!