holidays & thighs

I have a love/hate relationship with three-day holiday weekends. I love them because I get an extra day off from work! But, I hate them because they mess up my routine. My weekend was mostly low-key. I visited my parents on Sunday and I found a big box of old photos. I started looking through them and found a bunch of me growing up. I hate to admit it, but I completely jealous of the old me - the old me between the ages of 11-17. I was so young and fresh and slim. Yes, I was awkward then too. But, I was also naturally and effortlessly thin. My thighs especially looking really slim. I want those back!! It was probably due to the fact that I was a growing pre-teen/teen, but I’m trying to think back to what I did at that age. I was a good kid. I didn’t smoke or do drugs. I partied a little, but not a lot because I played sports and we practiced every single day after school and our games were always on the weekends. In middle school I played basketball and soccer and then in high school I ran cross-country and played soccer. I remember snacking a lot after practice. But I also remember lounging around the house during the summer and not snacking because there was “nothing to eat!” in my house.
Looking back at these pictures (which I did take home with me) I also looked much taller then?! How is that possible? I had a growth spurt in middle school and then stopped growing around 14 maybe? I don’t know exactly. I could be way off with that. But I do look taller (even though that’s not possible?). Maybe it’s because I was leaner and less curvy with less hip and thigh action going on then. I want that back!! I have too much “meat” on my bones now. I need to strip off this fat.
I don’t know what my plan is going forward. I think I need a new one though. I don’t feel like I’m making progress with my goals. I start out great and lose Monday through Thursday, but then I gain over the weekend. It’s like this: I starve myself for days then my body gets very tired and hungry and I think “oh I’ll just eat this to reward myself” and I eat something normal, something with a bit of caloric value, something with carbs and/or sugar. And then next morning my weight goes up and I freak. So I get sad and depressed and eat again on Saturday. Then I tell myself I can have one more day of eating before I get back to work on Monday. This needs to stop!! But I’m not sure if I can starve myself for days and weeks and months on end. I did a plan a few years ago and was VERY consistent with it, but I lived with my parents at the time and used them (without them knowing) as a checks-and-balance/food police. So I didn’t snack at all and I didn’t eat poorly because I didn’t want them to see me fail (even though they wouldn’t have cared.. or notice!). Classes start on Wednesday and I’m getting very anxious about having a plan and sticking to it and eating right and getting my workouts in. This interferes with my routine but it’s going to be my new routine for a few years so I better get used to it.
One thing I’m definitely going to do is start running. I think that will help slim down my thighs. I do a lot of cardio on the elliptical right now, so I’m just going to switch it up and RUN. Have any of you girls gotten results from running? Or do you have any suggestions for slimming down your thighs? I know you can’t spot reduces… but maybe you’ve noticed something that has worked for you in the past?