Battle of the Bulge and the Mind

The sun is shining, the grass has had its first mow, flowers are everywhere, and trees are budding.  It's definitely time to lose those last few pounds!  
What? You don't follow the logic? My daughter's wedding is in August and I want my dress to fit (and I'm tired of looking at the bulge). There's no time like the present.

I started by making a vegetable soup last night in the crockpot, and I ate two bowls of it for breakfast with sesame seeds on top. When I made the soup, there were so many vegetables in the pot that I didn't think the lid would go on! Cabbage, onion, broccoli, green beans, garlic, carrot, turnip, celery, lemon juice, coriander, and bay leaf.  Very nummy, and I woke up to the luscious smell - too bad I had to wait until after the dog walk to eat.  
Every morning the dog coach takes me out for a run/walk and we don't eat til we get back.  Now I must get back to doing my pre-run warm up exercises, which were superceded this morning by an urgent need to get the clothes through the washer so I could hang them up before leaving for work.  I haven't been completely slacking though, because as I walk, I pick up litter. This gives me many many repetitions of bending exercises. You'd think my obliques would be perfect, eh? Uh... not quite.
I used to get up and do my 10BX exercises (I think that's from the army- Basic Training) or, once I found yoga stretches, I would do a round of Bikram stretches first.  Some time ago I got a cold and fell out of the habit.  The body does NOT like to be told to do more work. Ever notice that? It moans and tells you it's going to die any minute from overwork.. but it doesn't. After about three days, the body adjusts to this new normal. The great thing about a morning workout (whatever you do in that category) is that it revs up your metabolism for the rest of the day, so that even if you're parked on your rear end, your body is still burning calories faster than it would without the workout.  I try to drink a glass of water as well in the morning to rehydrate my body and kickstart my digestive system.  
The Bible says we are to discipline ourselves as if we were in training for war. One thing I have noticed is that if you aren't prepped and dressed for battle, you'll have a much tougher time winning the battle. I find that by following a physical discipline I am better able to follow a mental and spiritual discipline. Humans are multi-faceted after all, so we thrive when all aspects are 'trained'.  When I am feeling lazy, I try to remember that roses are 'trained' to grow properly.  I want to be a good rose - beautiful and fragrant in God's sight - encouraging others by my example.