When my daughter, Kelsey, went to college, her biggest fear was gaining the famous "freshman five." So we made food goals, such as: no sugar, very little (if any) meat, cut down on the peanut butter, etc. etc. She did very well, I must say. I, however, am struggling. I have had several ladies tell me that they all gained weight after a hysterectomy. Others have told me that once they hit 40, the pounds just glommed on and stayed there, no matter how much exercising they did. Another friend let me in on a little secret of life that her sister shared with her when they were young: choose a weight that you would DIE if you ever gained that much, and you will not go past that. Well, I've had a hysterectomy, I'm over 40 and I have pretty much surpassed all of my pregnancy weight and then some and all this DESPITE running 6 marathons in the past four years, and riding/walking/running on a regular basis with my good friend, Jody. I am only 5'2" and I just about qualify for the "weight division" category for the St. George marathon--WHAT THE?! Now, I realize that you might be thinking, "well, Karen, you DO love the Big Suga," which is true, but I'm still not really sure what happened. I'm a little depressed by the state of my body, but I am determined to ride my bike more (Jody just got a bike and we are getting each other out there) and I am signed up to run the St. George Marathon again this year. Kelsey is going to run it as well, so I have the extra motivation I need because she wants to train together. I realize that I have a forty-year old body, not a twenty year old one anymore, but I would like to stay active and healthy. I will continue to run and ride, watch the Big Suga intake (sadly, it may have to go for a very long time:() I would REALLY love to lose about 25 lbs., but I know that I have to do it slowly and in a healthy way. My first goal will be: lose 5 lbs. Then reward myself with something cool. What should that "something cool" be? Then I'll lose another 5 lbs. and reward myself again. Repeat three more times. I would like a new outfit that I feel good in (first 5 lb. reward), an overnight romantic evening with my hubby (second 5 lb. reward), a spa day (third 5 lb. reward), a trip to the beach (fourth 5 lb. reward) and a new dining room table (goal weight loss: 25 lb.) Okay, the goal is written down. So let it be written, so let it be done!
