Who Says Those Facebook Ads Are Useless?

Okay, so this might be the craziest thing I've ever decided to do, but I'm very excited about it. For a few weeks I'd been seeing this ad at the side of my Facebook page for some wacky thing called "Tough Mudder," because one of my friends is a fan of their page. I finally decided to check it out, and was instantly attracted. One might say obsessed. ;) It looked like the perfect goal to get me out of my unhealthy lifestyle. I keep climbing on and falling off the fitness wagon. Lia and I had been doing really well with working out about a year ago, and then I fell down the stairs and broke my foot, causing the biggest wagon fall yet. Although my foot has mostly healed on its own (because we ended up with crappy insurance with Dennis' new job, so I never got back to the doctor to do anything about the stress fracture and torn ligament) I haven't been back to the gym. I blame boredom with the treadmill and repetitive weight machines. *YAWN*

Actually, I have a lot of excuses for not getting in shape:

1. Boredom
2. Messed up shoulders from years of waitressing
3. Laziness
4. Injuries
5. No time
6. No money
7. Depression
8. Food addictions
9. Avoiding the gym because I don't want to get ambushed by a trainer I can't afford
10. Avoiding the gym because I'm intimidated and don't know how to work out
11. Excuses, excuses, excuses

I always knew these excuses were shallow and someday I'd have to face them, if I ever want to shed this extra weight and like seeing myself in pictures again. I'm going to have my mom send me the picture of all of us when we went to see Wicked: the picture that made me cry. We took it over again with me hiding behind everyone else so only my head showed. Since then, I've taken pictures like that, hiding myself, refusing to post any on Facebook that showed anything below my bust. But that picture was my biggest wakeup call of many.

Call me vain, since most of my complaining seems to be about how I look. I know it's also about my health. I have high cholesterol, diabetes runs in my family, I understand all the health risks associated with being overweight. I want to avoid all these problems and not just feel bad about how I look in a swimming suit (let's not even go there).

Just a few days ago I was telling Lia I'd love a workout that was like the show Wipeout. Something extreme, fun, and most definitely not boring! So the Tough Mudder run isn't a regular workout; to me it's a goal, like training for a super-fun marathon. I'm giving myself a year to lose the weight and develop enough strength and endurance to attend Tough Mudder in September of 2012!

Tell me this doesn't look like a crapload of fun!

The people on the Tough Mudder Facebook page are very encouraging and supportive. Their main advice: start eating clean, and build endurance with uphill walks and runs (and mud runs, fun!), build strength in all muscle groups. I know from last summer's working out that I can do this, and I have something really awesome to work toward.

I'm starting this out 60 pounds overweight, mostly sedentary, with an addiction to fast food and Dr Pepper. I'll post pictures, and I'll keep monthly updates. By next summer, I plan on not only being able to kick that course's butt, but on rocking the corsets!