New year, new me, blah blah.

I've been running for one month tomorrow. February is usually the time I give up. But I have two people that have inspired me to keep going this time. My friend Stefanie, better known as "Cuddles", is an avid runner. She also likes to eat good food and drink lots of beer. So I figured if she can do it, I can. The second is my brother. He started running sometime last year and my first thoughts of running were that I would like to do a 5k with him. My brother also likes to drink beer. So here I am. I have signed up for my for my first 5k. It's the cowtown, which is February 23. I thought I wouldn't be able to run ten minutes of it, but I am currently running 2.5 miles now. I'm proud of myself. I'm REALLY fucking proud of myself. In the car, I watch to see how far 2.5 miles is and it's far enough that it blows my mind. So with this first post I will tell you my goals. So that I can be accountable to someone other than myself:

• Run a 5k (scheduled 2/23/13). 
• Run a 5k every month until I can move up to a 10k (I am currently registered for cowtown, firefly, schlotsky's bun run and color me rad). 
• Run a 10k (it appears i'll be ready for this sometime in June. Unfortunately, I have learned that no one in Texas has runs in June and July due to the heat. So this may get pushed back to september or so). 
• And last but not least, I want to do a half at the end of this year (I have approached this idea with my brother and I am hoping we will be doing the Fort Worth Marathon... Well the half... Together. Also, I'll be going to Baton Rouge, Louisiana in January 2014 to do the Louisiana marathon... Well the half... With my friend Stefanie and her awesome husband Steve, better known as "Nut".

Next, I want to talk about weight loss and some of the things I have been doing to make it easier. This is not necessarily for anyone that reads this... More for myself. When I start feeling down or lazy, I need this blog to be something I can look at and remember how good I feel. So here's a few things I've been doing to make eating healthier an easy way of life:

• I go to the grocery store once a week. No ifs, ands or buts.
• I buy a shit ton of fruit. When I get home I clean it, cut it, and put it into sandwich bags. Grapes, strawberries, and mandarin oranges are favorites in this household and it not only makes it easy for me to grab a healthy snack out of the fridge, it is an easy snack to grab for my son. 
• I plan my meals. It's guaranteed that every day I know what I am eating for at least lunch and dinner (knowing what I'm eating for dinner goes back to going to the grocery store weekly. I make a grocery list with a meal plan for the week). 
• I eat fruits and veggies while I'm cooking (I am absolutely one of those people who eats everything that I am cooking before it is even done and i end up full before dinner time. To solve this, I always have bananas and cherry tomatoes on my counter. Munching on these and having lots of water to drink helps curb the bad habit of eating everything while I'm cooking).

So there you go, interwebs. It's all out there. I have no one but myself to compete with. 

Stats for January:

• 8.6 pounds lost.
• 28.7 miles ran.
• Average pace: 13:40 min/mile