Motivational

A while ago I wrote about my weighty changes. At that time I had lost 3 kg (6.6 lbs) by changing my diet, keeping track of my calories and exercising more. I wondered how long I would be able to keep it up, because in the past I've never been the dieting kind of person. That's turned out to go really well, because as I write this I'm happy to be able to say that I lost 5.2 kg (11.4 lbs) so far. Since I wanted to lose 6.2, I only have one more kg to go.

One of the ways I exercise is "Start to Run". One of my friends told me about this. It's a podcast from a Belgian sports show. The anchor lady tells you when to run and when to walk, and plays music. In the meantime she sometimes says motivational things in an adorable Flemish accent. "Aren't you proud of yourself? I'm very proud of you!" and "Are you enjoying the surroundings?" and "Keep it up, only two more minutes to go!" are some of the things she says. It's really weird how something that a lady in a studio recorded two years ago motivates me as I'm running, but it really works for me. I haven't written about it sooner, because I wasn't sure if I'd like it or if I'd keep it up. But yesterday I ran the 20th session (out of 27!). At the end of the sessions you're supposed to be able to run 5 km in half an hour. The first time I went, I had to run for a minute, walk for a minute, and so on. Yesterday I was able to run for eight minutes, walk for a minute, and I repeated that three times. That means I ran thirty-two minutes in total yesterday! I don't want to brag but it makes me pretty proud of myself.

And you know what helps a lot too? I've gone down two dress sizes and my stomach is a lot flatter. Instead of asking me if I'm pregnant (which happened weekly this past spring), people comment on my weight loss and congratulate me. Now that is motivational!