As the last day of 2013 comes to close, I realized that for once I wouldn't be spending the greater portion of my night thinking of resolutions that I may actually be able to stick to. Instead, I will continue with the resolution I made for New Year's 2013.
My resolution for this year, is to continue on my weight loss journey, which I started on January 2, 2013 (read my first post on this blog, declaring 2013 as my year of change here).
For the greater part of my weight loss journey this year (2013), I was successful in the sense that I felt better about myself and I started to notice some non-scale victories. I tried not to focus on the scale, but I will admit that there were times when I let the numbers on the scale define my mood or my approach to the next steps on this journey.
I tried some new exercises and ventured away from some. It took me nearly a whole year to convince my knees that they could hold up and do a proper squat and lunge, but I was finally able to do some. I also mastered the plank for longer than 15 seconds, which is a victory for me.
I can't stop there and I refuse to stop there.
I declared 2013 as my year of change, but 2013 was just my warm up; 2014 will be my year. I will graduate from college in May and my goal is to be down another 15 pounds by then. By August, I hope to be down another 9 pounds (24 total at 3 pounds per month). By December, I hope to be down another 16 (40 total at 3 pounds per month).
Looking at my progress this year, I know that going forward, I need to stay focused by keeping my goal(s) in mind and accepting the fact that this journey brings a lot of highs and lows along the way. If I don't meet my monthly goal, I cannot dwell on that, instead I have to move forward. I have to understand that it is okay to treat myself to foods that may be considered "cheat meals" but only in moderation.
2013 was just my stepping stone, I am ready to move forward on this journey and see what 2014 has in store for me.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
An Extensive Update
When I started blogging at the beginning of the year, I told myself that I would use this space to chronicle my journey. That included the good, bad and in between. For awhile, I was a 'daily' blogger. Then I started having trouble finding topics to discuss, so I became an 'every other day' blogger. Then time caught up with me and I quickly became a 'once a week' blogger. Finally, the semester hit like bag a bricks and I became a 'no longer have the energy to post' blogger.
Although the semester is finally over, I still feel physically drained. It's almost as if someone has run over me with their vehicle several times and I cannot pull myself off of the pavement.
My workouts have become nonexistent in a way. If I can get myself to pull up Nike Training Club and actually workout, I know it will be a good day (or in my case, a good night since that is when I tend to workout). The only problem, I have to get myself to actually get my weights and tablet so I can workout. I am not sure why it takes me so long to "get in the mood" to workout because I know that once I am done, my mind is finally clear, I feel good and I know that I am getting back into my workout groove.
Then there comes the issue of eating. The night before Thanksgiving, I ended up catching some type of cold (or perhaps it was a sinus infection, I am not quite sure), something that hasn't happened in nearly two years. On Thanksgiving, I literally felt like I was down for the count. I stayed medicated around the clock, but food and exercise were the last things on my mind. Five days and numerous boxes of medication later (they were never full boxes, I just cleaned up my medicine cabinet) my voice decided it wanted to get weak and my nasal congestion decided it wanted to get worse. Unfortunately for me, I had two presentations back to back. One where I had to take a break from my 3 minute portion to cough as loud as I possibly could and the other where it felt like I was straining for the entire room to hear me.
My voice eventually got stronger and my nasal congestion decided to linger around for another week but during this entire ordeal, my appetite decide it wanted to leave. In the span of a week, I lost 1.2 pounds from not eating proper meals. Any other time I would have rejoiced to see that loss but I knew I was doing damage to my body because I didn't feel like eating.
I have since gained that 1.2 pounds back (plus some) which I never thought I would be happy about but I am because I finally had an appetite again.
Fast forward to today, where I have not worked out once since December began, constantly feel hungry (although it seems that I eat all day long, I must be eating the wrong things) and feel like I have no energy. Therefore, starting tomorrow evening, I am giving myself a week to get back to working out and eating properly so by the time Christmas rolls around, I am back to my old self.
I have no excuse why I can't or won't be successful this week. I have new training cables, plenty of free weights, open space and MyFitnessPal which equals a recipe for success. I owe myself this Christmas gift because I have come too far on this journey to turn around.
Although the semester is finally over, I still feel physically drained. It's almost as if someone has run over me with their vehicle several times and I cannot pull myself off of the pavement.
My workouts have become nonexistent in a way. If I can get myself to pull up Nike Training Club and actually workout, I know it will be a good day (or in my case, a good night since that is when I tend to workout). The only problem, I have to get myself to actually get my weights and tablet so I can workout. I am not sure why it takes me so long to "get in the mood" to workout because I know that once I am done, my mind is finally clear, I feel good and I know that I am getting back into my workout groove.
Then there comes the issue of eating. The night before Thanksgiving, I ended up catching some type of cold (or perhaps it was a sinus infection, I am not quite sure), something that hasn't happened in nearly two years. On Thanksgiving, I literally felt like I was down for the count. I stayed medicated around the clock, but food and exercise were the last things on my mind. Five days and numerous boxes of medication later (they were never full boxes, I just cleaned up my medicine cabinet) my voice decided it wanted to get weak and my nasal congestion decided it wanted to get worse. Unfortunately for me, I had two presentations back to back. One where I had to take a break from my 3 minute portion to cough as loud as I possibly could and the other where it felt like I was straining for the entire room to hear me.
My voice eventually got stronger and my nasal congestion decided to linger around for another week but during this entire ordeal, my appetite decide it wanted to leave. In the span of a week, I lost 1.2 pounds from not eating proper meals. Any other time I would have rejoiced to see that loss but I knew I was doing damage to my body because I didn't feel like eating.
I have since gained that 1.2 pounds back (plus some) which I never thought I would be happy about but I am because I finally had an appetite again.
Fast forward to today, where I have not worked out once since December began, constantly feel hungry (although it seems that I eat all day long, I must be eating the wrong things) and feel like I have no energy. Therefore, starting tomorrow evening, I am giving myself a week to get back to working out and eating properly so by the time Christmas rolls around, I am back to my old self.
I have no excuse why I can't or won't be successful this week. I have new training cables, plenty of free weights, open space and MyFitnessPal which equals a recipe for success. I owe myself this Christmas gift because I have come too far on this journey to turn around.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
No Scale November?
I have often wondered if I could go a month without stepping on the scale. I am not sure whether I should have been nervous when I told myself that this was my plan for the month or excited that I would not be limited to the numbers I saw on the scale.
I started November with this exact plan; "I won't step on the scale each week, but I will step on every other week." I figured that this was the best approach for me instead of giving up the scale all together for the month (part of me knew I wouldn't make it though).
I joined a new challenge on MyFitnessPal the other week and one of our weekly activities is to weigh in. I had already told myself that I was ready to commit to this journey once again and I wanted to be able to complete a challenge to the fullest potential possible. So, what did I do?
Stepped on the scale.
The number I saw was a gain since I had stepped on the scale five weeks ago, but it was a number that I had expected because each day my pattern of eating was getting worse. Case in point, a few days earlier I had eaten two mini sausage biscuits, oatmeal, pigs in a blanket, about a cup of lo mein noodles and three pieces of sesame chicken all before lunch. Then came the birthday dinner for one of my aunts where I had a salad, two pieces of bread, about 6oz.'s of steak, half of a baked potato and a portion of a Texas tonion for my appetizer. This wasn't even a cheat day!
That was my wake up moment which helped me come to the decision that it was time for me to commit once again. It also helped me come to the realization that I wasn't ready to go a whole month without the scale. It had been five weeks and I was already falling back into my old habits. Yes, I was logging but I wasn't doing much other than that.
Giving up the scale proved to me that there will be a time when I can go an entire month without weighing in, the time just isn't now. There will be a time when I can go a few days without logging and not fall back into my pattern of horrible habits.
Bottom line; in due time, a lot of things will become clear to me and I will have the willpower to make those things happen.
I started November with this exact plan; "I won't step on the scale each week, but I will step on every other week." I figured that this was the best approach for me instead of giving up the scale all together for the month (part of me knew I wouldn't make it though).
I joined a new challenge on MyFitnessPal the other week and one of our weekly activities is to weigh in. I had already told myself that I was ready to commit to this journey once again and I wanted to be able to complete a challenge to the fullest potential possible. So, what did I do?
Stepped on the scale.
The number I saw was a gain since I had stepped on the scale five weeks ago, but it was a number that I had expected because each day my pattern of eating was getting worse. Case in point, a few days earlier I had eaten two mini sausage biscuits, oatmeal, pigs in a blanket, about a cup of lo mein noodles and three pieces of sesame chicken all before lunch. Then came the birthday dinner for one of my aunts where I had a salad, two pieces of bread, about 6oz.'s of steak, half of a baked potato and a portion of a Texas tonion for my appetizer. This wasn't even a cheat day!
That was my wake up moment which helped me come to the decision that it was time for me to commit once again. It also helped me come to the realization that I wasn't ready to go a whole month without the scale. It had been five weeks and I was already falling back into my old habits. Yes, I was logging but I wasn't doing much other than that.
Giving up the scale proved to me that there will be a time when I can go an entire month without weighing in, the time just isn't now. There will be a time when I can go a few days without logging and not fall back into my pattern of horrible habits.
Bottom line; in due time, a lot of things will become clear to me and I will have the willpower to make those things happen.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
I Can and I Will
Goal 2 - start training for a marathon in either late 2014 or sometime in 2015. Thanks to the C25K app, I have discovered that I like running. I may not be the best at it, if that is even possible, but I have fun while doing it and give it my all.
I started this journey on January 2, 2013 and I vowed to myself then that I would be successful. While I was successful for many months, I hit a bump in August and then again in September. October was decent but November has been all over the place. I have some changes to make, big changes for that matter, but I am ready to get started.
Some of these changes may be more psychological. I know there will be times when that voice will pop in my head and tell me that I can't, that I will fail, that it is not worth it. But, those are the same times when I have to look at this image and tell myself "I can and I will."
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