Feeling Better

Last week was tough. In case that wasn't clear in my previous post. I was stressed, work was full of drama and I had PMS. Not a good combination. This week, i'm better! Thank God. Let's face face it, when you feel that angry and frustrated and emotional, there's no way NOT to bring that home with you, no matter how hard you try to seperate the lives.
Anyways, I have been sticking to my goal of going to the gym and eating better. I still cheat on the weekends, and I haven't seen the numbers move on the scale much, if at all. But I had a moment of triumph yesterday.
I'd decided not to go to my regularly scheduled Zumba class (new instructor, long story). But instead of giving in to the excuses and laziness, I coaxed my colleague and she agreed that we'd go and work out on our own. So we did. Seems like a pretty silly thing to be proud of, but I really am proud of us and myself, because it would have been much easier to go home, sit on the couch, and do nothing. But instead, I went to the gym. I wanted to do my usual 20 minutes on the elliptical, but I pushed for 30. When I got to thirty (350 calories burned), i felt energized and ready to keep going! So I hopped on a treadmill next to my colleague, and did a brisk walk for about 20 minutes. THEN I RAN!!! (Are you picturing Forrest Gump?) I was just going to try to run for a minute or so straight, which has always been a challenge to me because a, I have asthma and b, I am really out of shape. But I ran a minute, and kept going and going, I realized that I was close to the 5 minute mark and set my mind on reaching it, and i did!! Again, I recognize that this sounds like a laughable accomplishment, but trust me, it never would have happened before that I could run for 5 minutes straight without having a heart attack and dropping dead on the spot (or at least wheeze uncontrollably for a good 15 minutes afterwards). But none of that happened! I felt great! I felt energized! I felt like I was doing something so right for my body!
I am trying on my wedding gown this weekend, and I am intrigued to see if these past several weeks of working out frequently has made a difference in the fit. We shall see...
Either way, I am quite proud of myself for kicking the little devil off my shoulder and convincing myself to do something that's so good for me, physically and mentally. I have every intention of keeping it up!
I am grateful today for boosts like that one. Little triumphs, little victories. They keep things going in the right direction. The task for me is to grasp on to those moments and utilize them to carry me through the tougher times. It's a good lesson learned.