and now for something different

I'm running out of time.

I've proven to myself lately that I can really lay it all on the line when I truly want something, and now it's going to be time to put that theory to the test.

December 27th is 12 weeks away from March 20th. And I need to be 100% disciplined during that time. Because I want to keep my $500. I'm doing a bad job, and I don't know why. I want nothing more in my life. But I've been weak, distracted.

I miss my clothes. I miss not being so self conscious. I miss a lot of things.

I have a 5K running program starting, which is a bit misleading. It's only a 3.12 mile race, but the program has you running 4 mile runs in week 1. The goal is to run in GREAT time, so you end up running up to 7 miles to build stamina, as well as sprints and hill runs. So that's building block 1. It's through nike.com and goes M-W-F to start with a few extra runs coming in the later weeks.

T-R-S are gonna be lifting days. With my body type, I can never really leave the gym for long periods of time, but I do. Lifting is the key to everything but for some reason I neglect it. I shouldn't even say that like I don't know what the reason is - I do. It takes a lot more time than running. Drive to the gym, get changed, lift for an hour, change again, drive home... you're looking at 2 hours. Tough to rationalize on weeknights, but I mean, really? So that's step 2.

You need to really work for anything worth having. ANYTHING. And I've been thinking about that a lot lately... covering a few different scenarios. Great things aren't just gonna come to you.

Step 3 is the one I never do, and that's the nutrition. Counting calories, every single day. No cheating. Limited processed foods. Last January, I did the whole 5 small meals a day thing, which was hard. I lost almost 15 pounds and that was without working out! Nuts.

Two cheat days. That's it. February 21st - my birthday. It's a holiday and I have it off from work. One day in January, which I guess I should make the 21st to keep it even. And then I can cheat March 21st, but the competition is over then. So it doesn't matter. It matters in a sense, because I want to ride this momentum into the spring and outdoor running season. I still want to run a half marathon next year. But since I want to keep my money I need to do this NOW.

Everything I currently want in life, minus one thing (major thing), is completely dependent on me doing this, so what could possibly prevent me from doing it the right way? And I've done it before.

I'm writing this here to keep myself accountable. They say put it out in the open and you're more likely to stick to it - so there you go.