So I had a crazy day last Saturday. I had planned on getting to the gym early in the morning, but every time I thought about going something just seemed to come up at home. Fat Me would have put off the gym and just decided to workout extra hard on Monday, but Skinny Me fought and fought and I ended up getting to the gym at 11:30PM. Yeah, that right...I worked out until midnight. It was awesome. I felt so good to have been able to overcome my old habit and get to the gym. It's just one more sign that I am truly changing for the better.

So the results....In the first four weeks of my challenge I have lost 13 lbs. I am very happy with those results. My goal was to lose 14 lbs by now, but I would say I am close enough. :)

The goal that I'm more excited about is that I hit 2.24 miles on the treadmill. When I was trying to hit the goal I was doing it all wrong. I was doing the same speeds on the treadmill until I hit minutes 18 and 19 and then i tried to hit it even harder than ever. I was hitting the same mileage over and over again. You probably already noticed the problem with that philosophy...I was already maxing out on the treadmill so how would I be able to go further by doing the same thing each and every time. This last time I decided to bump up the pace on each of the phases of the run and by the time I got to the 18 and 19 minute marks it was obvious that I was going to hit the goal. It was awesome. I feel that 2.30 miles is only days away.

My key learning for the first 4 weeks is that I shouldn't be focusing on weightloss, but strength training is the ultimate goal. I believe this is what has caused me to crash and burn on so many attempts to drop the extra weight. I was constantly trying hours of cardio and no lifting at all. I was hurting my body more than I was helping it. Sure, I dropped weight at times, but I would gain it right back and I never felt like I was getting stronger or had more energy. I constantly got hurt...etc. You get the idea. But, in just four short weeks of focusing on strength combined with cardio I feel better than I have in years. It is really quite amazing.

I have tons of momentum carrying me into this new week. I can't wait until I can report on my next four week mark.