Gotta keep running

I gotta get my butt in gear. I have these grand plans to run in all these races, but at the moment, I have done little to bring these plans to fruition. On top of that, I want/need to loose 15-20 lbs. When Jon and I got married, I was 168. I worked hard for 10 months to get to that. My goal was to be down to 165, and I think i could have made it, but I quit working out so much about a month before the wedding because I had soooo much that I had to get done between preparing for being gone from work for 2 weeks and moving from my apartment to his house.

A marriage and 2 years later, I have put all that weight back on and a little more. Its so discouraging. Imagine your worst eating habits. They are manageable with some self control. But then your husband has his own set of bad eating habits. You end up developing a whole new set of bad eating habits. Now all those bad eating habits are harder to fight because you have someone influencing you (he isn't pressuring me, its just easier to do it if he is doing it). Argh!

I have been doing pretty good in the last 2 months. I have been fairly consistent in getting to the gym at least 3 days a week, running and attending cardio classes. My eating habits have been a little better, I've cut out a lot of the simple sugar (i.e. valentine and Easter candy) and cut way back on my Mt. Dew intake. I have also been drinking close to 2 Liters of water every day. Weight loss to date: 0 lbs! I don't understand. I hate this, no matter how hard I work or how healthy I eat, I'm not losing.

I recently read an article in Runners World about weight gain when starting a new workout regimen. When you push your muscles and they are sore the next day, your muscles are retaining fluid. So between that and gaining muscle mass, I guess I can understand why I haven't really lost weight. I have noticed a slight amount of firming, but not anywhere near where I would feel comfortable in a swim suit (another reason I HAVE to lose weight and slim down - beach vacation in June).

I have set a series of short term goals to keep myself from getting overwhelmed. 1st goal, be down to 185 lbs by March 24. That's about 4 lbs, 2 lbs per week. A little on the aggressive side, but totally doable. My long term goal is to be down to 170, and I want to be to that point by no later than June 6 (first day of vacation). That's a little less than 20 lbs. but for ease of calculating, lets just say 20 lbs. June 6 is 12 weeks away, so that is 1.67 lbs per week. Totally doable! I just have to do it...

Another motivation/challenge I am giving myself is running in the Peachtree Road Race on July 4, a 10k race that starts at Lenox Square Mall and ends at Piedmont Park. Ever since I have lived near Atlanta, I have wanted to run in it. The first year I lived here, I severely sprained my ankle at the end of May, so it was out that year. The second year I was preparing for my wedding, and the third year I didn't register in time (the race has a participant max and that fills up within a week). Registration opens this Sunday morning at 7. I am going to be on the computer at 6:50 with credit card in hand, ready to register as soon as it lets me. I am just worried that their system will crash as this is the first year they have online registration. Here's hoping!

If anyone has any running/diet/weight loss advice, please tell me! I need all the help I can get!