I would walk 500 miles.

Everyone remember this song? And this post?


I suppose this story actually starts quite a while ago. I think I was on facebook or something, and I came across some lovely lady's blog. It's called Can You Stay for Dinner. I thought it was incredibly interesting and fascinating. If you don't want to go through and read it, you don't have to. To sum up: it's a girl's blog who has struggled with her weight her entire life. She weighed like 250 lbs or something, and then she decided to change her life and she lost 130 lbs. It was largely done by realizing she likes running, and so she did that and ate healthier. She moved to Italy for a semester or year or something and didn't try restricting herself food-wise, but if there was ever anywhere she wanted to go, she walked there. Anywhere at all, she would walk.

Anyway, after a while, running stopped being fun for her. She was down to this nice weight, and she felt like if she stopped running, she'd gain all 130 lbs back, so she forced herself to run to the point that she wasn't happy anymore. Then she realized that she'd rather be happy and gain 5, 10, 15 lbs than be unhappy and thin. So she stopped running, (she might have still gone on walks every night, I can't recall) and she didn't actually gain any weight back at all. Sweet deal.

Then, I had this friend in high school who had some medical problems, and her doctors switched her from one birth control to another to another and yet another. So she gained a ton of weight, something like 60 lbs. Yet while I was in China, she lost 40 lbs of it, and has lost the last 15/20 lbs since, all just by going on walks with this kid she babysits. It's amazing! I was particularly impressed with her, because when I got back from China, I probably weighed the most I ever have in my life.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I was reading through some old blogs, and I found the 4 sub-goals I made! I seriously completely forgot about them like two weeks after I wrote that blog. Which is sad, because I think they were good goals. I'll have to write them down somewhere that I can see them more often. Then sometime last week, I bought 500 Miles on my phone and I was listening to it on repeat.

Probably part of the reason I really like the Can You Stay for Dinner story and my friend's story is because I'm incredibly lazy. It's an art, really. I know I should be better, but I'm pretty happy with my life, and I'm not interested in changing a lot. It's probably best if I try to become less lazy, but I've tried to deny my laziness, and I've made the plans countless times to do P90X and eat 100% healthy and blah blah blah, and it's never worked out. I've made it work for about a month at a time, and then it all goes downhill. So instead of denying my laziness, I'm embracing it. :)

Since I started working at the rec center, I've tried to go in and "run" on the elliptical (the lazy man's workout. Seriously. You don't even have to lift up your feet) for an hour 3ish times a week. Once school started up, I would read my psych textbook at the same time. I've been alright with that. Not awesome, but better than I've ever been with any exercise program before. The reason I'd ever not go in is because it feels super ridiculous to drive 7.5 miles away to use an incredible amount of electricity for an hour, and then drive 7.5 miles back. I mean, why? Why drive somewhere and use my gas to workout for an hour on a machine, then drive back? I should just run to the rec center and call that good!

But I never would do that. I tried running back in November. It went like this: I left the house, ran down the street and to the other side of the elementary school, then turned around and came home. Haha. It was like that status update on facebook. "I went running today, but had to go home after two minutes because I forgot something. I forgot I'm fat and lazy and can't run for more than two minutes." Basically that was my exact experience. It was hilarious. And sad. At the same time.

It wasn't until last week when I was listening to 500 Miles on repeat (though no road trip; I was just sitting on my bed) that I realized a new goal! This will replace goal #3. Because I now realize I'm so lazy that I will never do P90X. Or if I do, it is not in the foreseeable future. (Speaking of, if anyone wants to borrow my copy indefinitely, I'd be happy to let someone get some use out of it. They really are good exercises.) What if I walked 500 miles. Right? I mean, right? I downloaded an app that will track how many miles I walk/run/bike/hike/whatever and how fast I do it, and it keeps track of personal goals for me. So I haven't set a date for when I want to walk 500 miles by, but I have the goal. Maybe by the end of the summer? I don't know. I'm trying to pick something reasonable. End of the year?

So my 4 goals, with slight tweaks, are now:
1- Eat things that make me feel good. I truly believe that eating out is not always the worst thing for you. I love eating at Five Guys and Chick Fil A and Chipotle because I never feel like I killed my soul and body after eating there. (I don't get the same impression from Wendy's or Taco Bell or Good Times, though.) And I do like to cook occasionally, but I can cook crap that's not really good for me as well. So there's a balance, and I don't believe it's as cut and dry as "fast food" or "homecooked." And I think I have to trust how I feel after I eat something to determine if it was a good choice or not.
2- Drink enough water everyday. Yes. Nothing new to report here. Same concept, just reiterated because, as mentioned before, I completely forgot about all these 4 goals about 2 weeks after posting this blog before.
3- Walk 500 miles.
4- Go to sleep at a consistent time every night. This one changed for a couple reasons. I've been going to Old Chicago every Thursday, and last night for instance, I didn't leave until 1 in the morning. I didn't get home until 1:30. I didn't go to bed until 2:15. I wasn't up all night on my computer or anything, but I just straight up don't get home early enough for this to be a good rule, especially with school being over and me not having to wake up at 5:30 anymore. And secondly, I want to start writing this summer. I've been reading a lot more since school ended (yesterday, ha), and if I want to start actually writing this amazing book that I've got planned out in my head, maybe I'll want to be on the computer writing until 10, 11, midnight. And I think that's fine. As long as I'm consistently going to bed and waking up throughout the week, and not selling my soul to facebook in the process, I think it's ok for me to write later in the night/evening or read my books on my phone. Since summer just started, I'm not sure what time it is that I'll be going to bed, but I'll figure it out.

The end. Any thoughts? Advice? Warnings? Stories?