BELIEVE - I sure do.

Well guess I have to boast...preen...and generally be super proud of myself. I am approximately 3lbs from my Weight Watchers goal. Which will be a whopping 91lb. weight loss! Yep. Four score plus eleven!

So in honor of my journey I have done a rude attempt at a self-motivating bit of prose with my apologies to all of my English and grammar teachers.

BELIEVE
Be the person you want to be.

Exercise smart choices and planning
what you put in your body and
how you move it.

Look for the opportunity to excel, change, and learn
whenever difficult challenges arise.

Invest time in yourself to -
(1) choose food that will make you successful;
(2) be accountable to track your choices; and
(3) exercise to improve your health,
because you are worth the effort.

Enjoy life and food with the flexibility of Points Plus so
you can indulge with confidence -
work the plan to work for you.

Victories, big and small, scale and non-scale,
all deserve celebrating.

Everyone has the power inside
to succeed with Weight Watchers,
just take control and BELIEVE.

Run baby run...

Well, its been a while. The 5K progress report: I ran (April 10), I ran again (April 17), I rested (shin splints) - then I ran again (May 30).

Here's me from the Memorial Day Classic in Weston, FL, on May 30th, "Throwing Up The "U"" as a nod to my University of Miami alma mater - GO CANES! My mom even referred to me as a runner today - which I quickly refuted... I run, but i'm no runner.

I may be working on being a runner though. My current style is that of run as far as I can (personal best is 21min 30ish seconds) then alternate walking & running until I reach my destination. And I am still planning to enter (and more importantly, finish) the Disney Princess Half Marathon - Feb 2012.

My overall goal of getting healthy is going well also. Still loving Weight Watchers - I am now 71 lbs. gone since September last year! That's pretty amazing. Just a few pounds away from the big 75. Oooh. Gotta stay strong. The running is an efficient way of burning calories & toning the bod.

Well, that's a lot of progress since I last posted in January.

As an unrelated aside, how much do I love my kids preschool & their teachers. If only I could keep them in this loving environment FOR ALL THEIR SCHOOL YEARS. Aye, I have a little tendency to be overprotective (not quite "helicopter-mom", but guilty of some trying to bubble wrap them against the ills of the world!).

My oldest 'graduated' from preschool today. (Cannot believe it!) And my middle man, he performed in his first end of year program - he was the prince from Little Mermaid. Que cutie! It was a proud parent day!

Certifiably Crazy

So... I just committed to a girlfriend to train for a 5K in slightly more than 10 weeks.

Am I a runner? Not unless there is a fire or my children need me.

Am I a regular walker or even someone who exercises? Not in any traditional sense.

Am I a former runner? Does running late to class/work count?, no then.

Am I crazy? YES.

Totally self-inspired by my current weight-loss (now over 42 lbs!). I thought it might be a good idea to start moving in a purposeful manner to tone the new & emerging body. So nothing like staring down the barrel of a race date, where I will pay real money to enter - as motivation to move my tucus.

Because I have a great love of research, and I value my ability to walk (walking being almost necessary as a stay-at-home mom), I have found a training plan called Couch to 5K.

It has a lot of anecdotal support among the Weight Watcher online community and on the web in general. Apparently there are slight variations of this walk/run training - but they all say you can successfully complete a 5K in little more than two months after hopping off the couch. We'll see!