Day 35: The clouds are parting

I'm starting to feel like the funk I've been in is lifting. I'm C-ingTFU. (See day 34 post if you don't know what that means.) Just feeling more optimistic, more capable, and more motivated. I think this jump-rope-only day came at *just* the right time. I needed to have an easier exercise day before I dive into another week.

And here's what's amazing: 900 jumps felt like an "easier" day. (I'm still working my way up to where the rest of the group is, but adding 100 a day.) On the first day of the PCP, I struggled to get through 250 jumps. I did them in sets of 50 and I think it took me almost 20 minutes. Today, I did 900 jumps, in sets of 200 (last set of 300) and it took me about 20 minutes. I like seeing how I've come so far in a relatively short time.

What else is different? I've gone down a whole dress size, which is awesome. My whole body is thinner but I can see it especially in my face, shoulders, and torso. (My hips and thighs are smaller too, but I've got more to lose there.) I'm really enjoying my food these days, instead of scarfing it down and then feeling guilty about it. When I go to the farmers' market, I feel like I'm in a candy store -- look, eggplant! Green beans! Beets! Eggs! And when I get through that last set of leg-ups or bicep curls, I feel like a badass. A tired badass, but still.

This is going to be a challenging week as far as work and personal things. I'm filling in as the Morning Edition host on my local NPR News station tomorrow and Wednesday, which means being on the air from 5-9 am. (If you're up, click on over and listen!) Wednesday evening I'm going to a reception for the July issue of Louisville Magazine, which includes a story I wrote about a local farmer & sustainable food activist. (The article's not online yet but I'll post a link when it is!) Then on Saturday we're throwing a party to celebrate our daughter's 2nd birthday. The party means I'll be planning and preparing a lot of food that I'm not going to eat myself -- yikes! But I'm excited about seeing some friends & family who haven't seen me in a while, and that motivation is going to help carry me through the week.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who posted encouraging comments to me this week. It really helps! Hope you guys all enjoyed your weekend and are looking forward to heading into week 6. Can you believe we're almost halfway through??