Bringing July into Balance

A quick welcome to everyone who is visiting my little blog for the first time through the Fitness Friday Blog Hop.  It's great to see new faces :)

Wow!  The year is half done and I can't believe how fast it has flown.   Add to that that in only 99 days until I run my first full marathon!  Wow!  How did that happen?!?!

As of today, I am only 6.5lbs from my goal weight.   So close yet oh-so-far.   That last 10lbs really is the hardest to lose.  I think it's because you just want it so bad that you forget to focus on doing what you were doing to lose the first 50+lbs!  

Trying to plan my July is difficult.  I want to balance enjoying my life with sticking to my plan.  Isn't that always the most difficult part about this whole lifestyle change thing?   In the last year and a half, I've learned that it's entirely possible to  eat what you want and still drop 50lbs...you just need to choose what's more important to you.  I had that chocolate bar when I wanted it and I felt less deprived for letting myself have it.  Did it mean that I got a little less of something else?  Sure.  Maybe it meant I only got one piece of toast and one egg instead of two of each for breakfast (or dinner).   Balance.

Now the hot days of summer are here and I only work 4 days a week in the summer (a small trade off for working 15 extra minutes a day for the rest of the year).  This means I get to spend more time with my twins and I want to enjoy every second of it - and it will likely include going for ice cream cones and running around in the sun as much as it will mean snuggling on the sofa and watching Strawberry Shortcake cartoons.  Balance.

So - to plan my month of July in such a way that will help me reach my goals while still enjoying my life...I need to include a whole lot of balance.

This is the month where my marathon training starts to really ramp up.  My schedule calls for 3 weekday runs (2 slower, one race pace) and my long slow run on the weekend.  By the end of the month, I will be running further than I have ever run before in my life!   I am going to be so happy when my new shoes arrive next week :)  Nothing like new cushy shoes to make my feet happy as I pound out the miles.  Balance comes into play when I look at how I will keep my family commitments aligned with these running increases.   I will only have 2 days a week to cross train and I plan to do the majority of that cross training on the bike.   The instructor at my gym is away on vacation for most of the month so I am skipping the Boot camp class for the month of July and will hopefully pick it back up in August again.  This month will be more about running and building my mileage while having fun with my family.   I'd also like to see our family getting out and hiking a bit this summer - taking the dogs into the woods and sharing something we really enjoy with our girls.   I think if we can hit the mountains and put in one hike this month, that will be a happy thing :)  I'd aim for more, but I don't think it would happen because of other commitments we have (ie: one weekend I run a half, another, we are out of town).

I've done A LOT of thinking about the diet part for this month.  Hubby has been lamenting some of the things we eat lately and I think maybe it is a good month to shake up our grocery shopping with a little challenge (Shh - I don't remember if I've run it by him yet. LOL).   The growing season in Alberta is so short and we are right in the middle of it right now.   It would be a shame to not spend more of our time in the farmers market, buying fresh produce to eat.   Not only would the trip to the market be a wonderful family time full of new sights, smells and colours for our daughters developing senses and vocabularies, but it would also be a great way to buy fresh foods and support our local farming community.  It will also force us out of our comfort zone and get us out of the house more.  This month we will focus on eating fresh and eating local.   Experimenting with new recipes with new vegetables.   It will be fun AND it will be BALANCE :) 

I'm keeping it simple this month.  I want to get back to enjoying life and trying new things.   I'm still going to be logging my food on My Fitness Pal and I will  be logging my miles on Daily Mile.   Maybe taking a more relaxed attitude to life will help me chip away at the few remaining pounds :)  Here's hoping.