Running and fitness snobs don't want us fat people out there with them in the gym or in the race.  I suspect that they are afraid that if we chubbies can do it then anyone can.  Somehow this must lower their self-esteem as if they are wholly defined by their running time or their waist size.  To some degree, I understand though.  I know many who define themselves and their ability by their excess body fat.  That has never been a major obstacle for me.   Sometimes my fat gets in the way (figuratively and literally) when I want to accomplish something but not usually.  Having said that, there is no doubt that my life would have been different if my entire adult life hadn't had a fat body as the common denominator.

Enough about the past.  Today's training schedule was as follows:

2 minute walk

4X 6 minute run/ 1 minute walk

4 minute walk

10 minute run

2 walk

I am on course for my first half-marathon at the end of November. Because it is going so well,  I am going to do my first 5k at the end of October.  My time at the 3.1 mile mark today was 44:55.  I know that I can easily finish a 5k now I just want to see if I can run the entire race.  Many competitors are in the race to win it, not me.  I am running against myself and myself only.  I set a goal  and the reward is reaching MY goal.  The winners will have already received their awards and gone on with their day when I cross the finish line.  That is perfectly okay with me.  This is a very personal challenge.

I haven't written much about the weight-loss portion of my new life as a retiree.  There isn't really much to tell.  Magically, food is no longer the center of my universe.   Reading the book about metabolism by Jillian Michaels changed everything.  That sounds so simplistic but for me it is true.   I think about food only when I am hungry.  The cravings for sugary treats are gone.  There are no longer internal battles about wanting and eventually overeating cookies or cakes.  Now, that's not to say that I don't worry about starting again.  All it would take would be overeating refined sugar, pasta, and all of those bad for you foods, before the old cravings would begin again.  What a slippery slope.  

My word for the day:  Balance