Wrapping up the Week

We're just going to pretend that the Brittany who fussed at her mom for not posting on Wed. and the Brittany who didn't post on Wed. OR Thur. are two different people...okay? I know it...I'm a bad, bad daughter. But my mommy loves me anyway :D.

This week has been...amazing. Really hard, but amazing. It's helped that, with a summer off from work, I'm in a very self-contained environment. I've had a house all to myself and nothing incredibly pressing to do with it, so I've been able to really focus on beating the snot out of Bertha and her bad attitudes. The procrastination that comes naturally to me has been easier to overcome because (a) I don't have any easy excuses and (b) I have the time to fight myself up out of bed or off the couch and still do my workout. It feels almost like God set this time aside for me to have a safe, comfortable environment to learn in. Without other distractions, it's just Him, me, and the workout dvds (well, and sometimes Bertha - but she's getting easier to ignore).

I've got about two weeks of summer vacation left before the school year starts and I'm back at work. I'm hoping and praying that, during the time in-between, these new routines will become so ingrained into my life that I don't have a problem keeping with them once the busyness of two jobs kicks in.

I don't know how to describe what is different this time around...I've both been here before, and never seen this place in my life. I've dropped the amount of weight I've shed this week in the past, plus some. I'm only 5 days in, and while I've never worked out this consistently or intensely, I have "worked out." But this place I've found is totally new. I have absolutely no doubt that this is the last "diet" that I will ever be on...the last time I'll ever have to start over from square one. There's been some fundamental shift in my brain, and I know that, with time and God's grace, my lifestyle is going to be different from here on out.

I'm not saying that I'll suddenly become "the fitness queen" or that I'll never eat ice cream for dinner. It's just that somehow, someway, Bertha's grip on me has suddenly slipped a little. I'm still bombarded with "stinkin' thinkin'" as Flylady puts it, but it's getting easier to put those aside for better ones. It's like God finally wiggled His way into some hidden part of my sub-conscious that I didn't even know was there, and cracked it wide open. And as much as it hurts, boy does it feel good.

Which is exactly how the physical exercise feels, come to think of it. This statement won't sound radical to those who don't know me personally, but if you do, hold on to your hats: I like exercise.

There, I said it! Is anybody else shocked? I know I am. I'm not going to lie...I'm still having to fight Bertha to get my big butt off the couch and do it. But while I'm working - while my muscles are screaming "sit back down, sit back down, sit back down!" and while my arms are doing The Clap so loudly I'm surprised I can hear the instructor - that's when it kicks in that this is right. And afterwords, while I'm trying to put my lungs and stomach back in their proper places, that "I Did It!" moment hits and suddenly everything is right with the world. It's those moments that let me know that I could get used to this. They're addictive, and I find myself looking forward to them even as Bertha whines about how sore I am right now. In fact, they're so addictive that just talking about them has got me motivated to get off my rear and do something. So I'll stop talking your ear off and hit the play button. Our first official check in is just a weekend away, and I want to be ready when it gets here!

This entry is being included in the Fat to Fit Blog Hop. Check out these other blogs to find more people trekking along on their weight-loss journeys!