Bye, Bye Comfort Zone

You know how people say that you have to break out of your comfort zone if you ever want to experience real change? Well, I'm here now, and guess what? It's scary as hell. I am in the midst of my full-blown training plan for the Disney Princess Half Marathon next month, and as I log my mileage on … [Read more...]

Five Years Later: In for the Long Haul

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At this time five years ago, I was embarking upon my most recent weight loss journey. I started Weight Watchers for the umpteenth time in November 2007 -- the weekend right after Thanksgiving, no less! This is, by far, the longest I have ever succeeded in sticking to a "diet," and it is absolutely … [Read more...]

The Thing You Think You Cannot Do

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There was a one-credit course I was required to take during my senior year in college -- "Personal Fitness" -- and as part of our final test at the end of the semester we were required to run one mile around the indoor track in the campus' recreation center. The humiliation of that day is seared … [Read more...]

Stop Making Excuses…and Cheating Yourself Out of Success

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If you want to ensure that you never reach your goals, do exactly what I've been doing: let your life be taken over by excuses. On July 4, I ran the local Firecracker 4-Miler race in my hometown for the second year. Despite the fact that last year's event was my very first race ever, and that it … [Read more...]

Letting Go of the “Old Me”

jenyoung

I have a confession to make. Prior to this weekend, I hadn't weighed myself since before the holidays. And by holidays, I mean Thanksgiving. These past few months have included some of the the most defining moments of my life -- not the least of which was finally moving out of my parents' … [Read more...]

Seeing Yourself as Others Do

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One of the (many) things about myself that I've been trying to "work on" lately is my inability to accept a compliment. From the "you look amazing!" screeches from friends and family when I started losing weight to the occassional compliments I receive on my wardrobe, I have never been able to … [Read more...]

Fighting Fear

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In the last couple of weeks, I've started to realize just how much fear has been holding me back. In my weight loss, in my career, in my relationships...in my life in general. Last night I earned my orange belt in Muy Thai kickboxing. For two weeks I fretted about not being able to remember the … [Read more...]

Committing to New Habits

jenrunning

We're less than three weeks into the new year. Raise your hand if you're already struggling to stick to your resolutions, and find yourself slipping back into some old habits. (Me me me)! The good news? I've already started accomplishing at least some of my goals for this year: I've found a new … [Read more...]

2011 Resolutions

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#1. To blog more. Okay, so beyond my genuine promises to spend more time writing on this blog (and to update that two-year-old banner photo of myself once and for all), I've assembled a list of ambitious -- yet, I think, still realistic -- health and fitness goals for this year. I recently posted … [Read more...]