Milepost #3: I don’t want to LOOK strong, I want to BE STRONG.

Man, is it easy to lose sight of what’s important when setting goals for yourself, or what? There are so many subtle and unsubtle ways that we are pressured to LOOK good that it’s easy to forget that looking good and actually BEING good are not the same thing. For instance, I saw an episode of Project Runway where they were designing outfits for Olympic athletes. The designers were cautioned to remember that these were muscular women and to be careful not to make them look too wide. REALLY? Really. Olympic athletes, people. Supposedly the definition of physical perfection. Strength, agility, stamina… but we wouldn’t want to LOOK WIDE, now would we ladies?

I have firmly grasped the tail of this. I have placed firmly before me that the physical shape I want to get back into is NOT the one that could wear size 5 jeans, but instead the one that could one-arm a 50 lb bag of dog food without getting out of breath. And if I happen to “look wide” while doing it, I Will Not Care. Because anyone who doesn’t like it will be challenged to arm wrestle. YEAH.

Oh, sorry, were you looking for some progress on that to make it qualify as a “milepost?” I have successfully implemented a total body freeweight routine. As my hero, Chris Freytag, so often says, “muscle burns more than fat!” And then, because she’s awesome, she smiles and says, “Yes, you can!”

Yes. Yes, I can.

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3.54 miles

Milepost #2

I am keeping a diet and exercise journal. This is helping me with the “mommy meal skip,” where you feed everyone else, change a diaper, do a task, look up at the clock and realize it’s 2:30 and you last ate at breakfast.

Here, at my house, this is the setup for eating everything in sight from that moment until bedtime. Okay, not quite everything. The kids are safe.

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1.6 miles