So, I received an email yesterday from the Boston Athletic Association confirming my entry to the B.A.A. 5k taking place this coming April. My training for the race officially begins Monday, and we just got another foot of snow. I really want to remember how miserable running on ice and snow is so when it is 95 degrees this summer and I'm training for the half marathon, I can ease my complaining with flashbacks to the mountains of snow currently blanketing East Cambridge.

Earlier this week I was passing through my living room and noticed my roommates watching the finale of The Biggest Loser. None of us watched the show this season, but I sat down and watched part of the finale with them. So many of those stories are so inspiring. They find the people that need the most help. They are morbidly obese, are struggling with incredible health problems, are on tons of prescriptions for problems likely stemming solely from being so overweight. They transform into athletes, and by the end they are amazingly different in health and outlook.

One of the contestants finished the show looking so underweight, my roommates commented that she looked anorexic. She lost an enormous amount of weight in so little time, we discussed that it can't be healthy for her. I think its really important, when looking at dramatic weight-loss, to remember that losing weight that quickly is often very dangerous. I think we all want big numbers quickly, and can get really distraught when first starting out and the pounds aren't melting off. Losing a little bit at a time is the healthiest and most sustainable method of weight loss. Losing a pound or two a week is best for your body. The contestants on shows like The Biggest Loser are under supervision of a team of medical professionals, as well as personal trainers, who are hopefully guiding their transformation with health in mind, but I always wonder what happens when they get home from the ranch, after the show ends, and the cameras turn off.

A turtle beats the hare, right? Take it slow, listen to your body, and be ready to be in it for the long haul. I know my journey/transformation/whatever you want to call it is not going to happen over night, or by the end of winter. I hope that by the end of the year I am well on my way to becoming a healthier version of myself. I don't want to become so out of touch with what I'm doing to myself that I end up more unhealthy than I was to start.