The Next Treadmill Over

To run or not to run; that is the question. Well, that was the question that I always had in my mind. As I stated in an earlier post, I am currently training to run a 10K(that's 6.2 miles for the metrically challenged) race in January. January 28th to be exact. Here is the link to the race I will be running, for those of you who are curious. http://www.tartantrot.com/ That may sound like a great accomplishment to some of you. Believe me, for me, it is. It took a lot for me to get to this level.

Before joining Weight Watchers, I had a personal trainer that I worked with for about 9 weeks. He used to say to me all the time, "If you wanna really be in shape, become a runner." I could hear him saying this to me in my head over and over again. Running was something I desperately wanted to be able to do. But to no avail. I remember in the beginning I would get on the treadmill and walk. I would look over at the person on the next treadmill over and they would be running. Sometimes the person was heavier than me and they would STILL be running. I would try, but I just couldn't do it. So, I came to the conclusion that I just was NOT going to be a runner and I could still be in shape.

This conclusion is actually a true statement. There are many things that you can do to get in shape that don't involve regimented training. My inner Skinny Chick says that: you should find something you truly enjoy doing. That way you will be looking forward to being active, not dreading it.  If you don't have an idea about what it is you truly love to do, here's a rule of thumb. Think about what you loved to do as a kid. Chances are, you still love to do the same activity. My fun thing is DANCING! I absolutely love to dance. I am not really sure people would say that I am good at it, but I definitely have a great time doing it. Because my fun activity is dancing, I started to look into ways I could incorporate it into my week. My husband and I went out with friends and tried country line dancing, which is something I never thought I would do. To my surprise, we absolutely loved it and we both worked up a nice sweat! We started going once a week. Sometimes, I would just turn on my radio when I was at home and dance around the house. No one was there (except for my dogs) to see me looking crazy and I burned a lot of calories by simply having fun. Think of all the fun ways you can burn calories. If you have gone to the mall recently to do Christmas shopping, I am sure you burned some calories doing that! To find out other  fun ways to get activity in, visit a Weight Watchers meeting this week. Activity is the topic for the week. To find a location near you, visit www.weightwatchers.com.

So, I'm sure you are wondering how I went from dancing to training for a 10K race. Well, it was a gradual process. Like I said, I focused on things that I liked to do, like dancing. I also tried activities that I had never tried before, like kickboxing, which is now one of my new loves. I spent quality time with my husband (and dogs) and friends by walking in the park together. I tried to incorporate some type of activity into my day every day, even if it was just for a few minutes. My inner Skinny Chick says: Some activity is better than no activity. Research does show that doing short spurts of exercise throughout the day (like 10 minutes intervals) has the same effect as doing a lengthly workout.

Using this plan for activity (without running) I was able to lose 20 pounds! I felt so great about myself. Not just because of what I had accomplished, but I physically felt better. So much better that I thought I would give running another try. I still remember my first time back on the treadmill after I had sworn off running. I looked at the runners on the treadmills on either side of me. They were really in shape. They ran with ease as if they could literally run all day. I pledged to myself that day, "I am going to do this. I WILL be a runner." I started out slowly, running for a minute and walking for 4 minutes. Then I would run for 2 minutes and walk for 2 minutes until I would run for a full 5 minutes and walk for 2 minutes in between. I was becoming a runner. This was around April of this year. During this time Weight Watchers was promoting their annual Walk-iT event. This was a 5K (3.1 miles) race. The goal was for members to get out and walk the race. I committed to running the race. For 6 weeks I trained and on May, 22 2011, I ran my first 5K!! On May, 29 2011, I made my goal weight (35 pounds lost) and have maintained it ever since!

So now I am running almost every day. I run at least 3 miles. Hopefully, by January 28th, I will be running at least 6 miles almost every day. I am now the person on the next treadmill over that inspires others! A couple weeks ago, I was at the gym lifting weights. I had just finished running 3.5 miles, so as you can imagine, I was a bit sweaty. I overheard two guys talking to each other about me. One of them said, "I've never seen a GIRL sweat like that before!" I said to him, "You don't lose 35 pounds by not sweating." That posed a question in my mind, "Are some women afraid to sweat?" I remember having conversations with some of the women I know and a lot of them expressed that they would be more active, but they didn't like to sweat. My inner Skinny Chick is saying to you: Don't be afraid to sweat like a Skinny Chick!  I am definitely not afraid. In fact, here are a couple sweaty pictures of me today at the gym after running 3.5 miles!

 

If you are not afraid to sweat like a "Skinny Chick,"(even if you're a guy) email me your sweaty pics to skinnychicknotes@gmail.com and I will upload them so that everyone will see you sweat like a "Skinny Chick!" Be proud of your sweat. You worked hard for it!