Sometimes life gets in the way.  My plans for this year included lots of time to go for long runs, and lots of free mental space to focus on what I was eating.  And for more than 4 months, that is exactly how it went.  I focused on what I was eating, and I ran lots of miles.  I lost a significant amount of weight.

Then life got busy.  Very busy.  We did unexpected things like put our house on the market, and we bought a fixer upper house.   I have sold houses before, but never when I was living in them at the time.  It is a lot of work getting a house ready to sell.  It is even more work when you are living in it at the time.  And still more work when there are kids in the house as well.

We bought a new house while trying to get the current house ready to sell.  That house requires a significant amount of work but will be amazing when it’s done.

What I’m trying to say is, my focus on my body went right out the window.  And posting on this site became less important (in the short term).

However, I’m happy to report, that although I didn’t FOCUS on my body and eating and exercise, I didn’t let it all go either.  I had already created the habit of eating well, so my choices were still good even though they were not a priority.  I didn’t get to run as much as I would have liked, but fixing up the house kept me active.

I did not gain a pound in my 40 days off.  I consider that a huge victory.

Life will get in the way.  There are things that come up that are not anticipated, but are important.  The best thing to do is not use it as an excuse to get back into old habits.  I am definitely a “stress eater” by nature, but despite all the stress over the last month, I did not fall back into those old habits.  I reminded myself that my stress and busyness was only temporary and not to mess up all my progress.

I jumped back into running and working out this week.  On Sunday I went for a run, hoping I would be able to go for a while.  I surprised myself by accidentially running a 10K.  I didn’t think about where I was going.  I didn’t bring a watch or headphones.  I just ran.  At one point after a few miles, I had a choice, I could turn left and be home in 10 minutes, or I could turn right and run another couple of miles.  I shocked even myself by turning right.  And it felt good.

Taking a month or so off didn’t do me any harm, and it might have even given me a needed rest.   My knees were hurting before my break, and now they feel great.

I didn’t regress and fall back into bad habits, so there wasn’t a shock to my system to start up again.  However, I am very happy to be back at it.     My goal is still in sight.    I am running towards it.