Cook outs, family, and trying to lose weight????

Summer......a time filled with cookouts, great food, family visits, heat, and humidity. This is not the equation for successful weightless. Cookouts bring fabulous food and drinks, munching throughout the day, and sitting around to visit with friends and family. Family visits are outstanding, but it definitely changes my schedule which effects my eating and exercising. Then there is the heat and humidity. Running in 90+ degree heat with high humidity is not what I would call a cathartic and reenergizing run.

With this said, I have not been good about logging my food or exercising regularly. I have noticed I don't have quite as much energy, but I am not nearly as sluggish as I used to be. I prefer puttering around the house over sitting and watching TV. There was a time when all I did on my days off was sit on the couch and watch TV. Gratefully, that is not me anymore. Do I have lazy days? Of course, but they are few and far between.

On a positive note, I have kept up with my goals for progress monitoring. I have not weighed or measured myself since July 1. That means that I have no idea if I have been losing, gaining, or maintaining. I just know I feel pretty good. Even my mood has improved! The tough part is that I don't really know where I am.  Before, if I gained, I knew I had to be a little more cautious of my eating and exercising habits. Now, I really don't know what the scale and measuring tape will tell me on August 1, and that is kind of scary. I guess I will have to wait and see!

My newest goal is to train myself to be a morning runner.  The hard part is getting up earlier to run. I am an early riser, but I like to relax and enjoy my coffee before getting going for the day. I am hoping the benefits of morning running will outweigh the earlier alarm. First, I love how I feel for the rest of the day after starting with a good run. Second, there is less that can interrupt my plan to run. Finally, I make better food choices after exercising. So, it sounds like a no-brainer. My hope is to make this a routine before school starts, so that I can just continue it with my school schedule. Here is my plan.....

Week 1: Run whenever I get up for at least 3 days; walk and complete a weight routine on the other days.
Week 2: Set alarm for 1 hour earlier than natural wake up, run at least 3 days, then walk and complete a weight routine the other days
Weeks 3 and 4: Set alarm for 1 hour past work wake up and continue running, walking, and weight routine
Week 5: Go back to work. Get up a half our earlier than needed and arrive at work a half hour later. (for those of you who know me, I am an hour early to work every day and getting there only a half hour early will be a big adjustment!)

Now, this is a plan I made up. Who knows if it will work. I know I will be sure to have my workout clothes out and ready, my water bottle full and in the fridge, and breakfast planned for when I return. Anything that will make my morning routine easier and slightly shorter!

So, even though I may not have been tracking my food and exercising regularly lately, I have not let that dissuade me from continuing to work on this. I know I am a work in progress. I like who I am, and I am happy with my life. That is what matters the most!