Recap Update Repeat

Recap: 5/23/2013 - I hit a major milestone in my adult life.  I hit my goal weight.  This is the smallest I have been in my adult life.  I weighed in at 150.

Update: Fast forward to now.  I have gained 10 pounds.  Life threw me for a loop in the past 4ish months.  So many things changed for me in the past three and a half months. I thought it would be easier at my "goal weight" to navigate through all the changes - a move, a new job (longer commute, different hours), and other major life changes. What I really learned, is you need to keep with it.  You can't abandon what is working for you and expect nothing to change.  You don't suddenly become an expert or resilient to weight gain, because you have reached your goal weight.  You still have to work your new lifestyle.  You still have to plan in your new lifestyle.  You still have to accept failure in your new lifestyle.

So here I am, standing up, and brushing myself off.  Here is me putting one foot in front of the other and changing the way I have lived for the past 3 months.  Here is me getting back in-touch with good habits I abandoned.

Today, I tracked food and exercise for the first time in a long time ( I would say a coon's age, but I don't know if everyone knows what that means...or I could say since way back in the day...but it really hasn't been that long).
Today, I exercised for the first time in 4 months.
Today, I set goals for myself.

1. I will run a 5K around Thanksgiving.  (Readers, any suggestions on how to pick a race?  There are three in the running.  They are all at the same time, so it is not like I can say...I am going to do all three.)
2. I will lose 20 pounds by 1/1/2014. (Thanks to a dear friend for thinking and encouraging me to try to lose 10 more beyond my original goal).
3.  I will track my food and exercise everyday this week.
4. Weekly, I will plan my meals. (No more using convenience as a reason to not pack a lunch or cook dinner at home!)

I will do my best to keep you updated and me accountable.

Du da da da

5/23/2013 - I hit a major milestone in my adult life.  I hit my goal weight.  This is the smallest I have been in my adult life.

Bringing out the Swiffer

It has been awhile.  You all know my commitment to writing...

Brief recap of the past month or two.

• hit goal weight
• moved 20 minutes away
• started a new job
• fell off the healthy wagon...

So, what can I do?  Do what I do fairly well, get up, dust myself off, and get back at it.  What will I be doing to accomplish this?

• Plan out meals weeklyish
• Complete the 30 day challenge I set for myself
• Track food
• Track exercise

So what is the challenge?  It is a few challenges I saw on Pinterest combined:

April's Guns,	Buns,	and Ab	challenge
	Push ups	Plank	Squats	Leg Lifts	Dips	Supermans
1	5	10s	50	25	5	25
2	5	12s	55	30	5	30
3	7	15s	60	35	7	35
4	7	Rest	Rest	40	7	40
5	8	20s	70	45	8	45
6	9	25s	75	50	9	50
7	Rest	30s	80	55	Rest	55
8	8	Rest	Rest	60	8	60
9	9	35s	100	Rest	9	Rest
10	10	38s	105	65	10	65
11	10	42s	110	75	10	75
12	12	Rest	Rest	80	12	80
13	12	50s	130	85	12	85
14	Rest	55s	135	90	Rest	90
15	13	60s	140	95	13	95
16	15	Rest	Rest	100	15	100
17	16	65s	150	Rest	16	Rest
18	16	70s	155	100	16	100
19	19	75s	160	50	19	50
20	21	Rest	Rest	60	21	60
21	Rest	80s	180	70	Rest	70
22	23	85s	185	75	23	75
23	26	90s	190	80	26	80
24	28	Rest	Rest	85	28	85
25	30	95s	220	Rest	30	Rest
26	32	100s	225	80	32	80
27	34	110s	230	85	34	85
28	36	Rest	Rest	90	36	90
29	38	115s	240	95	38	95
30	40	120s	250	100	40	100

I did day 1 tonight.  I started with a 20 minute walk/run warm up.  I really did forget how good it feels to sweat and release all the toxins that have building up.  Now to lose those 3-5 pounds I gained....

Ah.Mazed.

You all know how to make someone feel amazing!  I can't believe my pictorial comparison post got almost 200 page views!  It is my highest view post.  I made the picture my cover on FB, and it received more "likes" than I received birthday wishes. 

I need to print the transformation off and hang it on my fridge and on my bathroom mirror...I have had others ask if they could print it to hang up for motivation of their own.  It is really motivating to see how I am motivating/inspiring others. 

The picture is really motivating to keep going.  I have been having days where I think to stop, because I am smaller than I was when I graduated college just over 10 years ago.  I think I need to grab a picture from either my senior year of high school or freshman year of college to see how much further I can go.  I am sooooo close to my goal weight, and once I get there I will focus on toning. 

Also, I have been able to keep this up and keep going despite other areas of my life being chaotic.  At WW meetings, our leader often asks, "Would you say, 'if I can do it, anyone can do it?'"  You can do anything you set to do.  Sometimes it is mind over matter and sometimes, you have to put the matter over your mind.  Like when your head is telling you, that you can't possibly run a mile (unless you have some physical constraint)...but you consistently do 5 on the elliptical.  Tell your brain to SHUT UP (sometimes you have to get nasty to yourself...it is OK.  You should hear the stuff I say to myself when I want to give up) or GET WITH THE PROGRAM and tell your body to do the work.

I still can't get over the attention my last post received.  I am utterly amazed.  Wow!

Time Capsule

A friend suggested that I put up a comparison photo from beginning to end.  I know I did it with my face last time, so I thought I would show you all the whole story:

In the first picture I was complacent with my appearance.  I thought I looked OK.  The second and third picture are from June and July of 2012.  They were taken 3 weeks apart.  The fourth picture is from November of 2012.  The last picture is from Friday night.  This is the first time that I have thought that I looked good.  Where did I go!?!?  Don't mind the dirty bathroom mirror.

Quick pictorial comparison

01/04/12

 

3/29/13

Life happens

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  -Ferris in Ferris Bueller's Day Off

 When looking at my weightloss journey it feels slow. But. when I think of the changes I have made in my life to be healthy, it can seem overwhelmingly fast.  For my nonFacebook friends: I am down 50 pounds.  I have 7 more to go until goal.  Then, I am going to focus on toning.

I feel like these last 7 are going to take forever to come off.  I have had a couple of set back since losing the 50 pounds. I would really like to lose them by the end of April.  This coming week does not seem to have a lot of hope for weight loss either (after all you only have a birthday once a year).

This week I do hope to get back on track with tracking food.  I haven't religiously tracked food in a long time.