Finally, an update. A short one, like me. :)

Wow, my last post was 5 months ago!  And I'm sad to say not much has changed.  That's not true.  I have learned A LOT!  My weight loss has plateaued because I haven't been actively doing my program.  But the great news is I have only gained a few pounds back!  I have been eating pretty much whatever I want the past few months and been maintaining.  What?!  Yep, maintaining.  AWESOME!

Here are some things I have learned-

1. I like to exercise.  Wait what?!  I.  Like.  To.  Exercise.  Me.  :)  Me-  who is the WORST coordinated person on the planet (mystery bruises on my body that I have no idea where they came from), Me- who never played sports or did anything athletic.  Me- who works full time, has 7 kids (Tom is included) and has no time.  Me.  I like to exercise!  Exercise makes me feel strong, have energy, and just emotionally awesome.  I never regret making time to exercise.  But I always regret not exercising.  And the best news is I never do it more than 30 minutes!  So there's no more excuses.  I love cross fit, tabata (that's only 20 minutes!), and just plain old walking....and I will say very cautiously that I maybe starting to kind of enjoy the occasional short, slow run...I'm still an angry runner but it's subsiding...a bit.  I'm a dork.

 
















2. The scale is not my friend.  I have not lost more weight, but my body fat percentage has gone down to the lowest it has been in over 15 years!  Yay for exercise!  :)  The scale messes with my head so I haven't been using it.























3. I am not perfect.  I know, shocker right?  I had gone 6 months without going off my program and losing 70 lbs!  I was on a role. Then school started, then holidays start kicking in, then things start slipping.  It is hard to get back on 100% after slowing down.  But I did add exercise to my routine, so I was building muscle. And I have NOT given up.  Still gearing up to lose the last 50 lbs.

















4. Eating crappy makes me feels crappy.  I noticed that when I ate more carbs or sugar I felt more tired, got more headaches, and thought "That was NOT worth it" every single time!!!  I think this is a really important lesson to learn.  Before trying to lose weight I never knew the effects of crappy high carb eating because that's all I knew.  I lived on carbs and sugar.  I NEVER ever felt full or sick after eating too much- what a curse right?  :(  Ugh!  But no more.  Now if I eat too much I feel it and it's gross.  It causes me pain.  I hate it.  And I bless that feeling because now I know the difference.







5. You gotta count your wins.  It's easy to be hard on ourselves and let the negative talk enter, so here's how I talk positive and count my wins- Did I eat a bread stick at Olive Garden?  Yes, BUT I didn't eat 10!  Win!  Did I have a cupcake? Yes, BUT I didn't eat 3!  Win!  Healthy choices are still affecting my family positively!  Win!  I'm still moving forward and I'm still better than I was a year ago and I'm still making changes that will last.  Win! Win! Win!

I love this motto, STOP.  CHALLENGE.  CHOOSE. 

 

And just a fun picture of me and my cute daughter!  :)

Hopefully it won't be another 5 months to post again...