Forming a habit, and taking responsibility for myself...

So I ran the 2.9km again tonight (in 31 minutes, shaving 4 minutes off of my time!) - this time, my buddies included my Morrie, and then also these two - Shay and her labracollie, Psyche.

I won't lie - despite the fact that there are 8 years between us, Shay is one of my best friends. I think the age difference has helped me to appreciate watching her grow up and mature and develop into a member of society that I am proud to have had a hand in raising. Anyways - she's looking to loose a few pounds that crept on during her senior activities in school this spring, and having someone at home to do this with me is very helpful.

I was a wee bit apprehensive because it was almost dark by the time I finished visiting with my friend, Tiffany, who is visiting from out of town and got on my running duds. The stretch of road that I have chosen to run on is known to have a moose or two on it and there have been bear spotted there as well. Fortunately, we only saw four ducks (which made me scream) and a beaver (which made my Shay scream) and were not run down by any angry mama mooses, which, I would say, makes this a resounding success!

I did intend to run this morning before work as I had what amounts to possibly the worst meal ever (short of eating a half-dozen KFC Double Downs) at Pizza Delight last night and felt terrible afterwards (trust me, my body is still trying to dump all that grease and fat out of my system and I still don't feel quite right!) but didn't get the chance to run because we got home from town so late that the chores needed done and I didn't have any help - and well, by the time that the chores were done, it was so late and I was so caustic that bed was the best idea.

You see, I think that half the battle with this weight loss thing is the mind game. The emotions, the negative self talk, and the internal dialogue that you carry on inside without ever exposing can be the most damaging, not just slipping up and having McDonald's for supper one night on the way home from work. Once you start down the slippery, toxic slide of negative talk, you're pretty much a goner. Trust me, I false-started many a weight loss journey prompted by the negativity and ended up in a firey blaze at the end, without having lost any weight - or if I had lost it, without being able to keep it off. Interesting, huh?

So once I start down the path of the Sneaky Hate Spiral, the best thing for me to do is sleep it out. Or ride a horse. Since it was almost 10:30 at night, the best option was to sleep it out. I set my alarm so I could get up before work at 5 and run then, but once 5 rolled around, I reset my alarm for six and got more sleep than I have gotten in quite some time. It felt good, it was what I needed. Interesting thing about sleeping is that if you do it while you're trying to lose weight, it's easier to lose the weight. There are studies to back this up, I promise, I am just too lazy to find them on the internet!

Now I am looking forward to a second night run in a row with the boy-hereafter-known-as-"G" tomorrow night - again back to a flat spot, which is good because I'm experiencing some cramping in my left calf (this was originally a pain that was a blood clot scare back in March but could currently be a healing muscle tear, but no doctor can really give me a straight answer). I am looking forward to it!