the saga continues

days remaining:  31

it's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of august.  i want to ask "where did the summer go?" but truth be told we didn't really have one.  the weather has been very cool, and of late very rainy, although this weekend was quite sunny.  i don't love the super hot weather, but it doesn't really bother me either.  mainly i just stay in the house all day long, so the weather isn't much more than an added interest in the scenery that lies outside my window.  but august coming to a close means that i am down to exactly 1 month of my 2-miles-each-day goal.  today is my 8th consecutive day of exercise in a row!  kind of...  i haven't decided if today counts yet.

i started this morning with a weigh-in that i thought would lift my spirits, but instead it made me question whether or not any of this is worth it.  i just keep getting fatter.  granted, it was only an increase of 1.6 lbs, but i really thought that i would actally lose something.  ryan tried to tell me that it's muscle.  i'm pretty sure that you don't gain muscle mass that quickly.  i'll look that up sometime.  maybe i shouldn't, and just keep it as a lie i'm confortable telling myself.  yeah....  muscle mass...  that's it!  i could chalk it up to water weight, but that too doesn't quite rid me of the sinking feeling that i have.  in my excitement about meeting my exercise goal each day, i have started to ignore my healthy eating habits.  nothing huge, but i have been known to put away a pint of haagen dazs in only a few days, and just yesterday i mentioned the oreos in my pantry.  (they were delicious by the way.)  i think those are the more likely culprit here, although it may be a combination of all three.

as just a quick update on my second goal of no mcdonald's, that has been a cakewalk!  i haven't even been tempted to go.  (hence the lack of mentioning any of this as an accomplishment in any previous posts.)  normally it's my late night go-to, but since i have been grocery shopping pretty regularly, there are enough snacks in the house to tide me over.  that, and these days i more often than not spend my evening on the elliptical instead of stuffing my face on the couch.  that's a huge step in the right direction!  i probably won't mention this goal again until either a) i mess up and eat at mcdonald's or b) i reach the end of september with no trouble at all.

but, back to the exercise portion of this discussion.  i sit here watching the clock, totally unmotivated, trying to decide if i'm counting my adventure today as my 2 miles.  i did indeed travel 2 miles, but i just don't feel like i have met my goal for the day.  in my mind, when i made my daily distance goal, i meant that i would either walk outside or jog on the elliptical.  but today i rode my bike.  does that count?  i'm not sure.  i even went back to my first post on here to see what i wrote as my official goal statement and hoped it would help me define the situation a bit better.  no luck.  here's what i originally posted: 

GOALS:
1) no mcdonald's until the end of september

2) i will "do" 2 miles everyday until the end of september, either elliptical or outside in our subdivision
 
hmmm....  i guess bike riding could count.  mentally i wasn't including bike rides when i made these goals, but i did indeed "do" 2 miles outside in our subdivision today.  so then why does counting my goal as met feel like such a lie?  is it because i didn't wear my hear rate monitor?  is it because my feet were pushing pedals up and down instead of pounding pavement?  i can't quite figure it out.  i should at least be able to count some of my goal as met since part-way back of the return trip my bike chain fell off, and i had to not only walk the bike, but also with trailer with audrey in it the last half mile to our house!  let me say how badly that sucked!!  i don't know, i can't shake the feeling that i'm cheating a bit.
 
that said, i have stuck to my goals thus far, and i refuse to let this day mar my accomplishments with it's hazy nature.  henceforth let it be known that bike rides DON'T count in this challenge. 
 
up to the elliptical i go. i still have 2 miles to finish today!