Mamavation Monday: Hitting the Restart Button

As of today I am no longer a woman who just lost 15 pounds over the first half of the summer. I am a woman who needs to lose 15 pounds and is going to start from scratch preparing to run a 5K. While I’m thrilled with my progress so far, the fact is that I still have a long journey ahead of me, and honestly I am just now facing the hardest part.  The first 15 pounds was my body saying, “Oh my God, FINALLY!” but to lose the next 15 pounds I’m going to have to convince my body that it really is okay to let go.  I also need to convince myself – my whole self – that the reward for working out every day is not stopping work outs completely.  This is the problem with the way motivation works for most things.  You start a task, you work on a task, you complete a task, you stop.  And you reward yourself, often with chocolate.  Now the reward is having the energy to keep working on the task and continuing to feel good.  Knowing that the journey I started is going to last my entire life is a little daunting, so I decided to sit down and take a breather.  It’s time to step back up.

My biggest challenge right now is finding time to work out because I’ve switched from Wii games to the Couch to 5K program.  I started week 1 while the kids were in camp, and it went really well. Then I went to Disney for an anniversary trip with my husband, ate enough food to keep a small village alive, and decidedly did not work out.  I came back to the hottest temperatures in recorded history, which kept me from running.  They kept me from going outside at all, actually.  Suddenly I forgot that the Wii works in the air conditioning and that not being able to do Week 2 of Couch to 5K does not mean sitting on the couch and waiting for week 3.  So I’m hitting the restart button. I’m taking down the chart that shows that I lost 15 pounds. I’m erasing all those days that I worked out every single day.  I’m a blank canvas, and I’m ready to accomplish new goals.

Today is day 1 of Mamavation.  My goal is to lose 15 pounds and train to run a 5K by October 1st.  Who’s with me?


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29 Comments

  • God Bless You! You are so Real! I love your blog! It is refreshing 🙂
    Donna Riner Weber

    • Thanks, Donna, that’s so sweet to say! Can’t be anything else but me, right? 🙂

  • You go girl! If you can find a gym that has daycare or a center for kids, I’ve heard this really helps!

    • Come the fall, both of my kids will be in school so right now the plan is training for the 5K, in the fall/winter I may join a gym. I have a feeling I’ll need to constantly move the bar to hang with this.

      • You can totally do it! I find that once you put your intention out there and get to work making it happen (even if you have o move the bar), it gets easier and easier. Next it’ll be a 10K :).

  • Good luck!!

    I’m actually in the process of losing a total of 70 lbs (I’m currently down 30+) and I’m training for a full marathon on October 9th.

    Happy running!

    • That’s incredible! Here’s to continued success!

  • Woohoo! Love your attitude, Amy!! This will carry you far in this journey! Proud of you for being honest (with yourself and with us) that life gets in the way, but you still need to pick yourself back up. Awesome!

    • Thanks, Heather! I couldn’t do it without the Mamavation community.

  • Great way to get motivated! I lost 50 pounds in 2004. Exercise was definitely a huge part of it. I did great until I had major surgery and 12 pounds crept back while I was sidelined. Today…the rest of those pounds are back 🙁 I love your idea of erasing the beginning and using where you are as a starting point. I’m going to ponder this as I finish my mocha…then maybe I could head upstairs to the treadmill with a fresh attitude!

  • I’m right there with you – quite literally! We’re both running a 5K that day, so I’ll be with you through this straight through.

    I need a restart myself. I’ve lost 20 pounds so far, which is halfway to my goal. And, I’ve kind of stopped. I’ll have to find a bigger push to lose the next 20 pounds.

    Let’s do this thing!

  • Hey girl. I’m with ya. So glad your restarting and not giving up. Also glad, via twitter, I found out your running on October 1st too. It’s going to be a blast.

    I’m doing ok with the C25K but I need to motivate myself to do other stuff – like the wii on the days I’m not running.

    If you can run early in the morning, I’d try that. It’s hot in FL here and if I don’t get out by 7:30 – I’m not running.. plus you need to get used to running in the heat.. LOL. Oct. 1st can still be hot here in Fl.

    Keep up the good work!!

    • Mikki, I’m going to try a morning run tomorrow and see how that works. I’ve got to find a time when I’m really motivated to do it.

  • I would scale back to telling urself you need to lose 5 lbs. It’s less daunting that way.

    This happened to me. Yes, to me. Several times in fact, so I understand how u feel. What else I would suggest is not to wipe the slate clean in a sense that you walk away from what you have already accomplished. You lost 15 freaking pounds. You deserve to smile and keep that total running. When u are at 16, celebrate 16, so on and so forth so you can always SEE where u came from and are reminded where u don’t want to go again.

    And about the lifestyle being daunting. Yes, but you also went crazy when u started. There wasn’t a slow buildup, so ur feelings are normal. You need to do things that are manageable within ur lifestyle. So if u are training for a 5K here are some Qs. Do u gave the ability to run? Time to get out of house? Treadmill? Jogging stroller? Do u have the tools u need. If the answer is no, I’d consider something manageable instead. (although, don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see u run a 5k)…I’m all about setting ourselves up for success first so we can stay on the path of positivity.

    • Yay!! Leah is here! 🙂 You are SUCH an inspiration, including if not because of the times that you’ve struggled. And yes, I definitely went too hard out of the gate, which I knew :), so scaling back will hopefully be a good thing. I feel good about the 5K. I live on a jogging trail, I’ve got an elliptical to keep moving on rainy days, my husband is helping me find time to run, and I’ve got a supportive group checking in on my progress. I don’t know that running is going to be my thing, but I think it is going to be a good thing right now.

  • Judy

    I am with you and have the same goals..lose 15 pounds and get in shape to run a 5K. Although I won’t be able to do the one in Disney, I will sign up for one in here in Philly.

    I turn 40 in 2 weeks and this is the time to be my best!

    • I just saw something today about how Gen X has redefined 40. When is your run in Philly and what are you doing to train?

      • Judy

        I am starting Couch to 5K. Haven’t registered for one yet. Hoping to rope a few running friends in to doing with me first!

  • Love the positive attitude. Great that you’re just picking yourself up and starting again, without looking back. I think that’s probably the most important step to breaking any bad habit, knowing that even if you mess up, you can still keep going forward. Good luck!

  • princeescobar

    Wow! I salute you…you are inspiring! You can do it…keep it going. 🙂

  • Janet

    You can do it, Amy, I have faith in you! By the way, thank you for sharing your trials & tribulations. If October comes and you decide that your first 5K is going to be your last 5K, that’s okay. If running isn’t your thing (and goodness knows that it’s not mine), you’ll find something that is. Hang in there!

    • Thank you, Janet! I’m hoping I end up loving running because I know the health benefits are tough to beat (so is the price!). Crossing my fingers 🙂

  • I have to say I am super proud of what you have done so far and like I have said a million times before you are my motivator. Ready to hit restart right there with you.

  • Barbara C

    I’m with you in losing the 15 lbs., my knees can’t do the 5K yet, but I do ride my bike that far. GO AMY!

    Barbara
    @Goin2Carolina

  • […] summer everyone followed along as I joined the Mamavation community and finally worked on changing my sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle.  My kids were both headed to […]