The Struggle is REAL!!

Okay, 6 months since the Big Weight Loss Challenge reveal. Time to check in to give you an update on my progress.

What the scale says:

It’s hard not to care about the numbers. I tell myself to get a grip and not worry so much about what the number on the scale says… but honestly it’s a pretty good indicator of where I’m at and it’s doing a good job of keeping me in check. Since the end of the challenge I’ve lost an additional 15 pounds. 6-8 of those pounds like to come back on and go away when I’m going at it 100%. I had hoped to be down about 30 more pounds, but we’ll save that goal for the next 6 months.

What’s been difficult:

• Living the 80/20 rule is HARD. You do have to be committed to it. For me this means of my 42 “meals” in a week, 8 of those meals can contain some small “cheat”.  The other 34 meals need to be completely clean eating. It was easier for me to pick a day where I would allow myself the cheats and then just get back on track the next day. Bad idea… it’s too hard for me to recover when I have a whole day of making mistakes.

• Clean eating is a lifestyle change. One I thought we as a family embraced whole-heartedly. I found it difficult to keep up with it though when we had too many family/friend gatherings with good food, too many trips to Disney and too many days on the road. It’s so much easier to run through a drive thru. Also, it sucks when you’re eating the salad and everyone else around you is chowing down on French fries and burgers.

• I know my road to success is in planning. So why don’t I do it?! Why do I allow something else to take over my Sunday?!? It only takes me an hour to plan out the food and exercising for the week and another hour to buy all the groceries. So why am I being so damn lazy?! (I don’t know the answer to this one).

• The exercise has actually been the easiest part. Getting to the gym, going for a jog and taking my bike instead of my car are things I actually look forward to. Alas, Dan the Trainer was right…. YOU CAN’T OUT TRAIN A SHITTY DIET.

Things I should be proud of:

• I ran a freaking half marathon. Ran it. I stopped once at the 6 mile marker for 45 seconds to stretch and again at the 10 mile marker for 45 seconds to walk. So for 3 hours and 11 minutes, I jogged nonstop. I look back at that accomplishment and I’m proud for so many reasons, and I still question how I was able to do it… but that was by far my biggest highlight.

• I’ve not gained any weight in a year. I’ve been losing weight (albeit slower than I would have liked to) but it’s been a year now, and I’m not looking back.

• I’ve had a lot of curve balls thrown at me the last couple months and I’m still standing. For those of you who know me well, you know September was my HELL month.  I was turned down for a promotion I deserved; Dante was at a crossroads with his PhD studies and joining the real engineering world. Neither one of us got what we wanted. I used to turn to food and wine to handle my emotions, I instead harnessed that energy to exercise. I actually remember telling my former co-worker “I wish how I feel about the outside of my body matched the way I need to feel about the inside.” DID YOU READ THAT SENTENCE?! I felt entirely de-valued, but because I was taking care of my body I still felt some self-worth. That was a turning point for me.

So now what?!

Time for some New Year Resolutions.

• We as a family are working on improving our whole selves, so we’re utilizing the Six Dimensions of Wellness (shoot me, I’m a health educator and need theory to guide my work and my personal life!) to target specific areas in each category to improve our quality of life over the course of the year.
  • Physical: Stick to my race schedule (see below) and commit to eating clean 80/20 and exercising 5-6 days per week.  Work on losing 5-7 pounds per month to be in the best possible shape for Brazil World Cup trip this June.
  • Emotional: Reconnect weekly with Dante using the journaling method we learned at our Marriage Encounter weekend 3 years ago!
  • Spiritual: Continue to participate in the MOMS ministry at Queen of Peace; participate in two other ministries at QoP this year.
  • Intellectual: Read leisurely. Find a list at get through 10 books this year. Additionally, obtain Wellness Coach certification and attend one Health Education related conference.
  • Social: Join and become involved in one civic group in Gainesville and work on nurturing relationships to help build a better community.
  • Occupational: Find a job that I can contribute my skills in a meaningful way, without jeopardizing my valuable family time in the process.

Race Calendar 2014

Nov. 28th- 5K Turkey Trot
Dec. 7- Orlando Half
Dec. 14- Tyler’s Hope 5k
Jan 18- St. Pete Beach Classic 3.8 mile Beach Run

Jan 19- St. Pete Beach Classic 10K
Feb. 2- Melbourne Music Festival Half
Feb. 22—Disney Princess 10k (Glass Slipper Challenge!)
Feb. 23- Disney Princess Half (Glass Slipper Challenge!)

Mar 1- Race the Tortoise 5K at O’Leno State Park
Mar 15- Run for Haven 5K
Mar 22- March for Babies 8.5 miler

May 3- Expedition Everest Challenge 5k

Aug 30- Disneyland, CA 10k (Dumbo Double Dare?!)

Aug 31- Disneyland, CA Half Marathon (Dumbo Double Dare?!)