Brushing off the crumbs

It's been over a year since I've last posted progress on my attempt to nix my potato chip addiction. As I brush the dust (and the crumbs) off this blog, I'm finding myself with mixed emotions. A sense of pride of some of the progress and accomplishments I've made over the last year. And a sense of frustration that I find myself still facing the same struggles.

Let's start with the positive. A year ago, I wanted to be able to change my lifestyle. The big thing I have discovered over this last year is that change takes time. And change comes in surprising forms. In my quest to give up one of my favorite junk foods, I found myself yearning to be more active. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone as I searched high and low for a fitness routine that suited my lifestyle and kept my interest.

I started out simple, signing up for an adult co-ed softball league to try and get more active, which also had the added bonus of meeting new people. And things started out great. I had a team full of great people I enjoyed getting together with two times a week. Then came Game Three. I pulled two thigh muscles just running to first base and had to crawl off the field. I couldn't believe that something I thought would be so easy - something I enjoyed as a kid - could be so difficult on my body. I vowed to change this.

So I grudgingly signed up for a Couch to 5K program at work. Running had never been anything that I enjoyed. Or excelled at. But I wanted to be strong. I wanted to be fit and healthy. And I had to start somewhere. And the best thing about this program was it came with a built in support group. I had a coach and I had friends struggling right along with me. And then I got that first runner's high.

To date, I've now run five different 5Ks. I've set a goal to run a 10K next year. I've lost some weight and I feel myself getting fitter, getting toner. But I still face that internal struggle, still hear that voice of something crunchy, something salty whispering sweet temptations in my ear.

I still can't say I eat very well. I know my choices are wrong. So as I pick this blog back up, I'm working now on holding myself accountable to change something I've constantly told myself I can't. I never thought I could be a runner a year ago. Now I can't imagine not being one. And if I can get off the couch and run laps around the person I was a year ago, I can make this last change that seems so impossible to become a much better me.