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I'm pretty happy with the way that my resolutions are going so far. I'm sticking to my diet pretty well and seeing the scales move the right way for the first time in a long time. And sticking to exercise resolutions as well.

Exercise is a bit harder in some ways because its SUCH HARD WORK. And sometimes I set out to do more than I physically can. I think that I always plan for the perfect set of conditions, that all will go perfectly, and then I push myself, and sometimes it works, but sometimes I defeat myself by reaching too high. So part of me getting back to exercise is to set reasonable goals, go at them slowly, and be prepared to revise them as required, and to not beat myself up if i revise them.

I also need to accept that especially as I am going to run long distances I cannot run every day. 3 times a week or 4 at the most is best for me. If I want to do other things, for fitness or weight loss it has to be other kinds of exercise. And I have to plan it that way, and not plan to do too much and then fail at it. It needs to be a success to do it, not a failure to do more of it.

I am running so much better than I was 3 weeks ago, I'm very happy about that. And of course I want to run better, faster, longer, more effortlessly, but I do know that will come.

I have been really good about actually doing it, making time for exercise, and its somewhat amazing to realize that it doesn't take as much time in reality as I always mentally need to set aside for it. A 20 minute run takes 30 minutes, start to finish. But it really doesn't take longer than that.

It is hard to run, the actually running is hard. Its supposed to be. Its supposed to get my heart rate up, make me sweat, make me burn calories, make me healthy. Its supposed to be hard. And when its not hard any more, I have to turn the treadmill speed up, run faster, longer, harder. Its supposed to be hard. Its not supposed to be impossible. If its impossible, I have to turn the speed down, run slower, jog along slowly til i have recovered a bit. It will come. I know this. All the running I ever did in the past make my body more capable of relearning to run.

I doubt that the little bit of weight I have actually lost makes it any easier. In fact, I am probably the same weight I was when I started my plan to run again (too much of everything over Christmas and New Years), so that's not a factor yet, but it will be if I keep doing what I have been doing. AND... I am less than I was on January 1, AND I am running better.

Oh and I did book into the hotel with the health club rather than the one with the all you can eat chocolate buffet. How's that for planning for success?