Kickoff!

Today is the kickoff of my accountability. Today is May 29; it also happens to be three months to-the-day until my birthday, August 29. For nearly half my life I have enjoyed testing my willpower from May 29 until August 29. It has also served as something of a countdown for me. I eagerly anticipate my birthday each year, and basically begin thinking of myself as the next age, well, for longer than May 29! I'd say it's at May 29 that I would begin responding to an inquiry by saying, "I'll be __ at the end of August." Some might say that I must be quite young otherwise I wouldn't be trying to advance my age so quickly. I'm not so young; however, I look younger than my years and have quite a few freckles which tend to take a few extra years off me too.

This year my test of willpower goes back four year ago to early 2009. I had already owned my stationary bike for seven and a half years. In January 2009 I purchased two DVDs (although I hadn't intended to be the one using them!). I began waking up at 3:45 a.m. (yep, I'm an early bird!) and having the TV set to start the first DVD workout, the Biggest Loser Cardio Max at 4 a.m. At 4:30 a.m. I'd be finished with that half hour and switching over to the Biggest Loser Power Sculpt sort of making the Cardio Max something of an overall warm-up. At 5 a.m. when the Power Sculpt had finished I'd hop onto my bike and spend roughly 25 minutes pedaling. As each DVD loaded and before and after the bike workout, I'd down another 8 ounces of water. I was thirsty!

Needless to say, by this time of the year back in 2009 I not only fit into all of my clothes, I fit into them very well! I felt good, I slept well, and since my clothes fit as well as they did, I cut down a lot on the time it took me to figure out what I'd wear for the day as I wasn't spending any time determining whether or not something that matched also fit. I really miss having all that energy as well as the freedom with my clothes (I still own all of those clothes!) and I'm determined to get back there.

Getting away from there has been gradual and it's really only been nine months since it's been really bad. The last time I was able to comfortably and confidently wear those clothes was Christmas 2010, so it was a little more than two years of wavering away from where I really wanted to be and knew I should be (or, an even better place!).

I decided rather recently that if I kept a blog tracking my accountability it would also help me stick to it. I, like many others, think, "I'll get on it tomorrow.", and then never actually do. Many times when I finish a good, long run I think to myself, "I never want to forget how I feel right now." By remembering how awesome it feels, helps me to get back out there the next time.

I did what I set out for today. Today, three months until my next birthday, I got on my stationary bike and pedaled a 5K. This is the original length I had always biked and I know I'm welcome to increase my distance. 

Even though I believe part of the reason I fizzled out of my early morning routing back in mid-2009 was because I got tired of the same stuff happening on the Biggest Loser DVDs. There are lots of times when I put my head down for a position and therefore could only go by the trainer's voice to guide me on how long to remain in the position or what to do while in the position and I found the background music quite annoying, especially on its own. The DVDs only allowed me to cancel their voices and listen to the music; I did try muting them entirely and using my own music, that's where I got lost not knowing how long to hold my pose.

I plan to re-incorporate these two DVDs back in to my mornings (or whenever I fit in my calorie burning time). Hopefully they won't become too much of an annoyance too soon. They definitely helped me get-in-gear Spring 2009. I easily increased my hand weights during the few months I stayed with the course and could have increased them again. There were other levels of each DVD which I tried out once or twice. And, of course, in the past three and a half years I've also accumulated a few other related DVDs by Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels, and by other sources. 

I think our current DVD player loads slower. I also think I'll have to watch more opening credits and not be able to fast forward through them. I'm going to get over this though and reap the benefits of the DVD instead. Maybe I'll drink another glass of water during those minutes!

May 29 accountability: Biked 5K at 7 p.m.