My new project-me

I've been working on my Personal Improvement Projects (PIPs) since the beginning of January. I've been really happy with my progress and this blog has helped keep me accountable. I'm still working, but I like where I am. It's time to add a new project, though. I'm going to work on me. Really, I see all my PIPs as working on different aspects of me. This project is about my physical self.

Winter is a rotten time for me. I hate the dark, dreary days and the cold weather. I tend to slack on exercise. I've become a runner and I usually run outside. I just can't make myself run in this heinous weather. I can fool myself that my belly isn't any softer. When my jeans are a little tighter, I blame that on the fact that jeans shrink up a little in the dryer. (Right?) When my undies are tight, there is no denying I've put on a little weight. It's not surprising, I've been eating horribly lately. Eating Double Stuff Oreos and drinking sweet tea all day has finally caught up to me. I might be able to get away with those if I were running a lot, but I'm not.

So, here is what I want to do...
Run more. My half marathon is in less than a month. Yesterday, I looked at the training schedule I follow to prepare me for a half marathon. I saw that I was supposed to run 10 miles. Yikes! The most I've run lately is 5. I planned on running 8 and ran 8.5 instead. I felt so good when I was finished. Plus, my GPS watch said I burned over 800 calories.

Eat better. First, I need to get more fruits and veggies into my family. I'm sure we are not getting the necessary servings. That's important for our general health but, more specifically, I want to see what happens to my skin if I eat better. I've had skin issues lately and eating more fruits and veggies can only help.

Second, I've got to get off this sweet tea. I love my caffeine. I feel like I need my caffeine. I used to drink soda. I would keep it to one soda a day, in the morning. Then, I was introduced to sweet tea. Now, I drink Gold Peak sweet tea. I need to stop drinking that and drink water instead. I'm going to try to drink one glass in the morning and when this jug is gone, I'm going to try not to buy any more.

Third, I want to get processed, packaged food out of my family's diet. This is going to be really hard. I don't know how to do it. I make most of our meals from scratch. It's the snacks that usually come in a box or bag. During spring and summer it's easier to have fruits as snacks but I'm (and so are my kids--my son at least) getting really tired of apples.

I don't have a specific plan of action, yet. I'm throwing it out there and will figure it out as I go along.