I Can Do Hard Things : 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!