Could it be? Is this progress?

I was surprised when this morning I woke up and felt fine.  After yesterday's long run, I was worried about being sore.  I could tell that I had worked out, but it was no different than any other morning.

This morning was another Monday weigh in.  I was excited because I may or may not have done a pre-weigh in yesterday.  I was down another 1.2 pounds, that puts my total at just about 10 pounds since I started the beginning of February.  Not too shabby if you ask me!  I will say, this 10 pounds has been much different than any I've lost before.  I'm not sure if it is because I'm running or the strength training I'm incorporating, but the weight is coming off very differently than it has in the past.

I did make it to the gym tonight.  I was going to take it easy, but then my dad was there.  I love working out with him.  Not because he is overly motivating or makes me work harder.  We barely even talk.  However, just working out next to someone is, to me, very motivating.  I tried to run a bit tonight, yeah that was a big mistake.  I made it about a mile before good ol' jellylegs came back.  So instead I walk/ran a total of 2.5 miles.  Then I worked on my arms.  I can definitely tell I'm getting stronger, and I added a bit more weight today.  I thought it was adorable that even though he finished up about 10 minutes earlier than I did, my dad waited for me to finish so that he could walk me out to my car.  Always daddy's little girl :)

So I've seen progress on the scale, in inches, and athletically.  I've also seen progress in the way I view food.  Before I saw food as the enemy.  It was something I had to have, but I knew in the end it would just make me fat.  This is how I gained so much to begin with.  Dieting is hard and by nature makes you hate the foods you tend to love.  I no longer view food like this.  I'm starting to enjoy my food and look forward to certain snacks or meals.  I've learned that it is ok to come home from the gym and have a pepperoni ball (like tonight).  It won't kill my progress, in fact it may help it.  Before I got in trouble because I denied myself foods that I loved.  Now, I know that denial only leads to an all out binge.  So I enjoyed my pepperoni ball (just the breading, Tim ate the pepperoni and cheese; I know I'm weird).

So I'm going into this week with a positive outlook.  I've got the St. Patty's Day 5k on Saturday and can't wait to see how I do.  I feel like I am much better prepared than I was at my last 5k on Thanksgiving (apparently I have a thing for holiday-based 5ks).