Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Now that the Nemo song is in your head.....

I have been a member at Freedom Fitness off and on for the past several years. (For those of you who don't know what FF is, it's a gym with no contracts and it's either 9.99 or 19.99 a month --the difference is the 19.99 one is a VIP membership & you can bring a friend and/or tan for free). The only down side to the FF is that there isn't a pool...and I'm a swimmer at heart.

I've been looking into joining a pool or a swim team for the summer, but really want a year round pool. Well, tonight, my cousins and I ate at B&Js Pizza (yum!) and there was a flier for Gold's Gym. It was a student discount flier--$0 down and no contract, just month-to-month--and since Gold's has a pool, I decided to check it out.

The guy said that the promotion ended on May 17th, but that he would go ahead and give me the discount. So, instead of paying like $60 like most people I know, I'm only paying 39.99 and there's a pool!!! It's double what I was paying at Freedom Fitness, but it's closer to the house and there's a pool...and I think that's worth it.

So, my goal is to be up by 630am tomorrow, swim from 7-745/8ish, then babysit for Sophie! :)

Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life!!!

Exercise has never been something I enjoyed (unless it was swimming). I've always had to push myself, and have never really had the motivation to do so. This last semester, I took to water courses (swimming and water aerobics) and I lost over 20 pounds....not sure where because I never went down in sizes in clothes, but the digital numbers on the scale don't lie, right? Well, in this last month or so since school let out, I've gained about 8 pounds of it back; which really depresses me. No, I haven't been working out. I haven't been eating right. In fact, I've done a lot of butt sitting & eating out.

So yesterday, I went to David's Bridal to try on a bridesmaid dress for my friends wedding in June. I expected it to be one size, but no, it was 4-6 sizes bigger than I expected. I knew that those dresses ran big, but I have never even tried on something in that size, and it just kinda freaked me out. I was almost immediately depressed and went home, determined to figure out how to squeeze into a smaller size. So, I went for a walk and came home and had 2 brownies, then went to dinner with my mom where I absolutely stuffed my face with salad, a huge baked potato (loaded with butter, cheese, and sour cream of course), and steak. After doing that, I of course felt horrible again.

So I was talking to my friend Zeke last night, and he made a really good point: God doesn't want us to feel like this. He doesn't want us to turn to food instead of Him. That when we're over-eating and not taking care of our bodies, we're letting Satan have that hold on us.

I never thought of me over-eating and not taking care of myself as sin or letting Satan have a grip on my life, but, if this is causing me to not focus myself on God, then it's a sin, right?

Zeke was so encouraging, and he asked me what I'm going to do about it, and, as I was eating a very large, yummy bowl of Cap'n Crunch...(lol), I told him I'm going to stop eating as much and so much junk and start working on exercise.

But, I really just needed to turn it over to God. To completely give him my body. I spent the late evening in prayer and just asking, begging God to help me overcome this sin. To help me to become healthier and to help me wake up in the morning on fire and ready to go.

So this morning, I woke up, before my alarm, and I was on fire and ready to go.

God, I just thank you. I thank you for always being here for me and for forgiving me of my sins. I ask that you keep me on fire...not just keeping me on fire for getting healthy. I long to be on fire for You. I long for you to use me in whatever way you want. Help me to bless others while blessing you. Help me to turn to you in all areas of my life, especially in this fight with Satan over my body. Help me to win this battle. Because with you, all things are possible...

8-25-08 to 12-8-08

I have always been self conscious about my weight. This semester, I took both water aerobics and swimming. I decided at the beginning of the semester I would write down my weight and do my best to get some of it off by now (the end of the semester). My (realistic) goal was to lose 10 pounds this semester.

So, like I said I was in Swimming and Water Aerobics all semester. In Water Aerobics, we were challenged to do the 100 mile challenge. Basically, walk, run, or swim 100 miles in the semester. I had about 3 weeks where I forgot to turn in my paper saying my mileage for the week, but I'm proud to say that I walked/ran/swam 168.5 miles this semester!

And...drumroll please...

I have lost 21.2 pounds!!!

I am super excited & am trying to continue to work and get some more weight off & shape up. :-)