Slowly but Surely

So, it's time to write on here about some changes I am making in my life. One day about a month ago, I woke up and decided that I was tired of being overweight. I realize that I am not obese, but overweight enough that I don't like the way I look in, well, anything. And, since Annabelle is almost four years old and I have now gained back any weight I lost by giving birth to her, I decided it was time to do something. But, since I also know that if I do anything rash, my body will go into complete shock and I will throw my hands up in defeat faster than the French, I decided to do slowly. The first thing I decided I needed to give up was my complete dependence on caffeine and carbonated drinks. This was going to be a huge mountain for me to climb as I absolutely love Coke, Diet Coke and especially Diet Dr. Pepper. Actually, my mouth is watering right now just from typing the words. It was also going to be hard for me because Adam doesn't really feel the need to rid himself of these yet, which means they were going to be in my home. But, I did it. Here's what I did. I bought a 20 oz. bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper (mouth watering again) and drank the whole thing. (Um, how is this getting off of cokes?) Anyway, then I filled it with water. (after washing it out thoroughly) I discovered that I really don't like ice cold water. I like room temperature water straight from the tap. Call me crazy, gross, whatever you like, but I won't really drink water that is really cold. Anyway, I remembered reading somewhere that an apple in the morning did more to wake you up than coffee would do, so I started each morning with an apple. An apple, my bottle of water and yes, two Tylenol. The first three days, I must admit, were pretty terrible. I had killer headaches, which weren't necessarily relieved with the Tylenol, but Excedrin was the only other thing I had in my house and, of course, what does Excedrin contain? Say it with me-CAFFEINE!! So, since I was trying to get off caffeine, taking Excedrin seemed a little counter-productive.
Well, it has now been one month that I am caffeine free and I can honestly tell you that I have no regrets. In that one month period, I have only had a Sprite like twice. (I don't really like Sprite unless I am throwing up) I have really only had water and SoBe LifeWater. A big accomplishment.
So, earlier this week, encouraged by ability to actually stick to something, I decided my next phase to the healthier me was to exercise regularly. When it comes to exercise, I am sporadic, at best. I always use my kids as my excuse. Not a good example that I am setting. And, since the most convenient place I have to work out would charge me $12 for child care each time I go, I use that as an excuse. The apartment I live in has an exercise room with a convenient playroom for children next to it. So, Monday morning, the kids and I head to the exercise room and I told them we would go to the pool after that. I did the eliptical for 13 minutes (just couldn't make it to 15-sad) and then started lifting free weights. Well, after 10 minutes I realized that the playroom for children is only helpful if your children actually play in it. And, I was tired of telling Sebastian to get off the eliptical and Annabelle to get off the treadmill, so we went to the pool.
When we got to the pool, I decided to draw from my water aerobics experience (when Christine and I were pregnant with Lily and Annabelle, we did water aerobics at the Y-fun times) and run in the water. This was a perfect option. I was exercising and I was in the water and could watch the kids. I ran for 45 minutes straight! It felt great. Then Tuesday, I did the same thing (minus the insanity in the workout room). I ran for 45 minutes in the water.
So on Wednesday, it's supposed to rain, so I got up and, once all the kids were up, I left Zoe in charge and ran around our apartment building. This is nice because I'm still right there if they need me. I ran four laps and walked four laps. It felt great!! I did it again on Thursday and as soon as I get home today, I'm going to do it again.
I am hoping to keep this up. Once the exercising is a habit, then I will change my eating habits. Really my eating habits aren't terrible and I can tell you that these past few days I have eaten better because I don't want to ruin the exercise I did. At any rate, I will post any weight loss. We don't own a scale (ours broke and I wasn't really itching to get another one!) but we will purchase one so I can monitor my progress. Slow and steady...