End of month: a little early

I want to thank everyone for your kind words and encouragement on my last post.  It is so easy to get discouraged when we see the evidence of our ‘missteps’ in our quest for healthy living.  It is so easy to slip back into the emotions of ‘learned thoughts’.  It is very hard to get rid of baggage and to not expect the past to repeat itself.  I am a work in progress…..it’s difficult….but I’m working on it!

 

I am going to close out my month of March right here and now. Yup, right here on March 29th I am going to post my month end goal results.   I’m doing this for a few reasons.  I like to think that these reasons  are quite valid and real!   Now don’t worry.  Just because I’m closing out the month and reporting on the month, I’m not giving up….I will still be completing these habits over the next few days.  So now, let’s get to the reasons.

1.       This morning Jason and I are heading to the Ocean for a three day weekend.  I KNOW that I will be eating foods a bit higher in calories.  But I also know that I will be active as all get out.  (Just remember that after we spent some time at the beach last October t at I wrote about how tired and achy I was from all the activity…. Jason was suffering from a cold that whole time and we were STILL active!).

2.       I won’t have time to do a big end of month goal recap before the new month rolls around.

3.       My post when I get back will be filled (hopefully) with pictures and tales of fun activities that we did over the weekend…I don’t want to have a post that is forever long!

4.       This is the most important one……March was not a pretty month in terms of my healthy living.   I want to roll into April and make that first post of the month absolutely positive….I want to start it out with a positive bang!  Recapping the negative month of March will detract from the hope and promise that I have for April!  (How much more positive can I start out the month of April then by recapping an active weekend at the beach!)

So there you have it, the reasons why I am posting my month end recap on Friday March 29^th!

At the beginning of this month I set up some goals for myself. 

1.       Track every bite of food.  I failed on this one.  I THOUGHT I had tracked every bite of food but one day I went back and realized that I had missed a day.  OOPS.   However, I did not let this stop me.  I have faithfully tracked every other day of this month.  I WILL be tracking my food whilst at the ocean.  I know that some of my foods will be a bit higher and I expect my calorie count to reflect that.  But that’s ok too.  This is learning to live life with balance and grace.

2.       Put money into savings.  WIN!  It was actually easier because my pay raise for my promotion hit my checkbook.  My plan is to not spend that extra money, but to instead bank it.

3.       Weigh less than I do now.  Well…….as of today, it’s pretty much a maintain….and that’s not good, it SHOULD be a loss.    I’m not going to stress about it though….I’m waiting for the TOM to get out of my system so the numbers are a bit skewed.  

4.       Do something active (even just a walk) at least three times a week.  I failed this one miserably.  I had two weeks in the middle of the month where I was spot on with walking at lunch and evening walking/riding my bike and activity but then that behavior kind fell away.  I know that the lunch walks will happen as the weather gets warmer!   We did manage to get some activity during the weekends also….

A snowy hike

A sunny walk 

A nice bike ride

5.       Keep my calories within my caloric range at least 6 days a week…with an emphasis to get to the low end of that range as often as possible.  The first part of the month was miserable and I was at the high end or over my caloric range most days.  I did clean it up quite a bit in the latter part of the month…enough to recoup the weight that I gained in the first two weeks!

6.       Step goal on Fitbit.  150,000 steps for the month.  I SHOULD be able to hit this one.  I only have to get 5k steps each of the three days that we are at the ocean.  EASY!  (Seriously, we usually park the car when we first arrive and don’t get back in the car until the day we go home!)

So there you have it.  My March in all its ugly glory!

I am planning the same exact goals for April.  Nothing different, nothing out of this world crazy, the exact same goals!  And at the end of April, I WILL be writing a victorious post!

One Ton weight: 2000 posts

Welcome to my one ton weight loss post!   I know I have used the phrase ‘I weigh a ton’ many times, but I weigh nowhere close to a ton!  Today’s one ton post is in reference to the fact that this post will be the 2000’th post I have written.   Did I just say 2000?  Why yes I did!   It kind of blows my mind to realize how long and how much I’ve been writing!

From my early days of using this as my personal journal.  My first post  as on January 2, 2006.   

first post and I had no clue that this simple journal was going to be such an integral aspect of my weight loss. I included a picture of me after I had lost the first 50 pounds and where I was at that time in my weight loss.

In 2006 I joined weight watchers   It was a good choice for me because it taught me how to manage and balance my eating.  Nothing was off limits, I just had to adjust and work it into my food plan.

In 2007 I kept plodding along.  Exercise and weight watchers were my staple of life.  I had my ups and downs.  I had 230 posts...so I was pretty active on my blog.  I lost my favorite water mug in an unfortunate accident that year!  

2008 was my busiest year on this blog with 334 posts for the year. It was also the most successful year!  I made lifetime goal at weight watchers! And even included some before and after  pictures. 

That was also the beginning of the regain   I had lost my weight through total deprivation so when I had a bit of ‘the good stuff’ I went nuts!!!  

The next couple years can be defined as brutally honest, open and raw. My weight fluctuated. I would get totally focused and lose weight for a couple weeks which was then followed by a fall off the bandwagon and a regain of those pounds lost. It was during these years that my marriage really begin to disintegrate. I am in control of my weight and I should not have let that stress and those issues affect me. But I did, even though I was still keeping all of that angst out of my posts, or at least trying to, it was still very much present in my life.   During this time I was a typical yo-yo dieter. I’m not proud of those years. But they are what they are, and more importantly they have helped shape the person that I am today. A lot of my weight loss beliefs and methods come from lessons learned during those failures and victories. During some of those years I was quite prolific but some of those years I barely wrote anything at all.

Even in the midst of my yo-yo existence, I did have some  highlights. 

In 2009 I met a fellow blogger in person  and she and I rode some bike events together.   We rode Girls with Gears.  We also rode Pedal To Preserve.   I don’t believe that Girls with gears is an active bike ride any more, but pedal to preserve is and I would highly recommend it to anybody. It’s an awesome calls and very well organized. And just for the record, don’t be afraid to meet people, that gal I rode with? She and I still communicate a couple times a week! She and her husband are awesom and I would spend a lot more time with them if we lived closer.

In 2010 I rode pedal to preserve again. And continued to be active.

Somewhere around that time frame of 2009 or 2010 I actually begin to go to Zumba  At  that point my posts became utterly peppered with references to Zumba. I loved the class. I loved the instructor. I enjoyed the results of the work out. Looking back I can also see where it gave me confidence and an outlet for the stress of my marriage.

Running hijacked my blog in about 2013.  I started and actually completed the couch to 5k program and kept running!  

I ran through 2014...even running on vacations!   I ran in Jamestown NY...the birthplace of Lucille Ball.  I also went running while I was in Florida    On vacation and I was still dedicated!!

By the middle of 2014 I knew my marriage was over.  (I actually knew in 2013 but had to stay due to certain curcumstances).  I got out of the marriage and ran my heart out for the rest of that year and through 2015.   But I struggled with weight...trying to come to terms with the changes in my life I guess!  I even planned to run a half marathon in 2015...aborted due to health issues.   

I met Jason at the end of 2015 ...best thing ever!!   We have hiked a lot!  And walked a lot!  We have remained pretty active though 2016.  

In 2017 we continued hiking but also added bike riding into the mix!    Mid way through the year our work situations changed and it sent me into another tailspin of trying to figure everything out.

2018 is halfway through...I am happier than ever in my relationship and I have finally gotten my head in the right place for weight loss!   I’ve got this!   2000 posts...and still going strong!!