So here I go again...

What I want more than almost anything in the world is to be healthy and fit. I'm tired of being skinny fat. The only reason why I'm not obese is because I have a good metabolism. I've never been an active and athletic person and I want that to change, but I have trouble finding the motivation to actually DO it.

I'm really good at shopping for fitness items. I have cute running shorts and tanks, a new Polar FT7 that I haven't taken out of the package yet (on sale at Best Buy, $55!) and a wishlist of things to buy "when I actually start getting fit". I'm awesome at following fitness people on twitter and instagram, and I recently started following a bunch of running blogs as well.

So isn't it ridiculous that I don't actually do anything to be fit? I know the season has a lot to do with motivation - I have no desire to be outside in the winter. Snow, ice, slush? No thanks. With that attitude I probably shouldn't live in Wisconsin, but this is my home and despite my dislike for winter weather conditions, I do love it here. The tiny town I live in has no gym, my boyfriend works second shift and I hate dumping my kid off with a sitter - so as you can see, I make a lot of excuses.

It is time to change that. I need to stop setting my expectations so high and take one day at a time. This won't happen overnight. I need to have this be my mantra:

I'm making a decent start. I've given up my precious Mountain Dew, AGAIN. All soda really, except Sprite if we go to a restaurant or something. I've drastically upped my water intake. I was never a big water drinker, and now I try to drink 100 oz. a day. It's easier for me to do this at work for some reason, but I've been doing okay at home, too. I have tried so many fancy water bottles and hated them all, but then I found these:

The Rubbermaid Chug bottles are awesome. Easy to clean and they don't leak. I love them. No, I'm not getting paid to say that. Maybe one day I'll have a fancy blog where they'll see me talking about their product and offer one for giveaway or something. But it's doubtful, so don't get too excited.

I don't deny myself treats, but I no longer buy them either. If a drug rep brings cookies to work, I'll eat one. But just one. With the exception of Subway and Cousins, I've been avoiding fast food restaurants. It's all baby steps but I'm hoping it will add up. I know that I overeat so something I *really* need to work on is portion control. If anyone has any tips on that I'd really appreciate it!

I've also started eating breakfast. I know, I just said I overeat and in the next paragraph I talk about eating more. But I get up early for work and I hate eating so early, so I usually skip breakfast (or grab cookies or something unhealthy from the gas station). Now I'm forcing myself to eat SOMETHING. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and it jump starts your metabolism so I need to remember that. Oatmeal, a "healthy" cereal choice (I like gluten free Corn Chex) with unsweetened almond milk, a banana, just something. Let's see if it makes a difference.

So how am I going to be active with no gym nearby and frigid weather outside? Well, I have some Jillian Michaels dvds that definitely do not suck - but they aren't doing me a whole lot of good just sitting around. I need to USE them. We have a Kinect for Xbox and I love Dance Central games and Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. They make me sweat, which is good, so I need to start using those again.

Best of all? Pete (the boyfriend) finally got on board about us getting a treadmill, and we ordered one. He's even looking forward to using it! We would be using it already but it arrived on Valentine's Day totally damaged. Talk about disappointment. Here's a picture of the box:

Sure enough, when we opened the box there was broken plastic and the whole base of it was bent. So we called, and luckily Best Buy was really nice about it and re-shipped a new one right away. They are also sending a return label so we can have someone pick up the damaged one. Whew. Also, the darn treadmill went on sale for $100 cheaper (no joke) right after we ordered it so they did a price adjustment for us too. That's called good customer service, people.

I'm beyond excited for the treadmill. This will not be something to throw clothes on. I can't promise that I'm going to be able to run on it right away, but it will definitely get me moving. I can see me power walking/jogging while listening to some tunes or watching Grey's Anatomy. I recently got myself a FitBit and it has been totally eye opening. On the days I work (as a receptionist), I'm lucky if I walk 5,000 steps a day. On my days off? Even less. It's horrifying. So I want to make sure I'm walking at least 10,000 steps/day, and start doing jogging spurts as I can handle it until eventually being able to jog a full 30 minutes.

I want to run (well, jog) a 5K. Start to finish. This is incredibly easy for lots of people but it seems like a dream for me. 

I should also confess something. I've gained a lot of weight this winter. We are doing a "Biggest Loser" contest at work so I weighed myself on their scale and it says I am four pounds heavier than my home scale. Oh home scale, how I love thee. The work scale says I weigh 169 lbs 4 oz. I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 145 pounds in 2009/2010 and I want to get there again. But in a healthy way this time, not just in a "I'm stressed and don't eat" way like last time.

So I have about 25 pounds to lose. I can do this, right? My tax return gift to myself is going to be an awesome pair of running shoes (like I said, I'm good at shopping for fitness stuff). I'm going to go to a running shoe store to get fitted for them and everything. I don't want crappy shoes or injuries getting in the way of me getting off my ass.

If anyone is actually reading this, welcome. This is a judgement free zone and if you comment, let's try to be encouraging. I need all the help I can get, and I know I'm more likely to stick to it if I have a good support system!