Feeling Good vs. Looking Good

So the last two weeks have been - let's be frank - a vanity exercise with a nice training bonus attached. Basically, I have embarked to lose five pounds before my 30th birthday just because I want to know if I can start my 30s in the best shape of my life. With most things fitness related my overdeveloped stubbornness (horoscope: taurus) gets me to my goal. I'm pretty good at delayed gratification and all that.

So I was expecting a cleaner, stricter diet and more training to be doable to get me to a goal, but not actually...well...fun (no wine? less coffee? really, am I sure about this?). And yet I have been struck by an undeniable feeling of, well, feeling good for the past week or so. I wasn't expecting this, but I really think the clean consistent diet, the short, intense workouts and the adequate sleep have just put me in a good mood. I'm less stressed, more calm, more patient, generally just happier.

Now I'm not normally a Polyanna type. More like Polyanna's asurbic older sister who wears a lot of black and makes sarcastic comments and drinks 6 cups of coffee a day. But focusing on the diet-exercise-sleep trifecta has me waking up without the alarm, at hours that are normally unthinkably early for me, getting out of bed cheerfully (or staying in bed to blog until Bella wakes up) and answering the question, "how's it going?" with a genuine: "really great, thanks!"

So while I took this 5 pounds, 5 week Challenge on as a short term goal and anticipated a payoff of looking good (or maybe more accurately, feeling good about how I look) I am finding the day to day feeling good bonus is too compelling to ignore. Even after by birthday I think the clean living program may have to continue. I will modify a bit, of course: I will probably stop monitoring caloric intake, do slightly less training, indulge in the occational glass of wine. But for now, this feels like a pretty great way to feel. All the time.