time to get serious

My weight has gradually crept back up to 241. Granted, that isn't the 260+ pounds that i once peaked at, but it is still far, far, too high. i would like to say that some of it is muscle that i have developed from taking seven flights of stairs two times a week while hauling thirty extra pounds in the form of books, but i'm not sure that it's true. i think that my core has been getting stronger, but either way, my weight needs to go down.

i've been reading the blog Half of Me (just remodeled and renamed PastaQueen, which is really the nickname of the author) and procrastinating for months. i don't think that i want to go on the South Beach Diet (i have issues with not being allowed to eat food made by God and being required to substitute items such as fake sugar), but i know that i need to start working out again and lose lots and lots of weight. i love my body too much to stay this weight, i need to get back under 200 at the least, i've been hanging out up here way too long (nearly eight years ): ).

So today i looked into one of the things she did, which was start running, and set a goal to do that myself. Now i know that i am not going to be able to start running flat out right away (i'm not that stupid): what she did was the Couch to 5k program, and today i did too (at the worst time of the day, too: two in the afternoon). What i read is that you should really jog it, and i tried, i really did. i started out too energetic, speedwalking for my warmup when i should have started at a slower pace, and used up too much energy at the beginning. It was a good start, but i know i'm not there yet; for one thing, i couldn't run the full 60s straight, and had to slow down my walk periods, and for two or three of my run periods all i could do was speedwalk again. However, i did get a good workout, didn't injure myself, and God was kind enough to bless me with a cool breeze once i started getting overheated.

This is my beginning point. i don't want anyone to see me running, i don't want a work out partner to bounce along with, i just want to focus on breathing and not breaking an ankle (lol). With fifteen and a half weeks until the end of year i might be able to get to my ultimate goal (that would be losing five pounds a week) but i am going to aim for about half of that weighing in at 200 pounds. Giving up Coca-Cola didn't help me lose weight, but i am going to try to limit my intake. My goal is also to stop eating as much processed food and eat more natural and organic foods instead (which actually was also a goal for me last year, but i'm still working on it). Anyways, i need to take a shower, do some laundry, and get back to the homework.