Healthy Living

Emotional eating is a definite struggle of mine. That feels kind of obvious to me, as if it is clearly a problem or else we would not be here, right? Anyway, recognizing it has been an imperative part of my journey. Stress bingeing has not been as much of an issue since I started, but when I dwell on the desire to binge, I have begun to recognize that something stressful is causing anxiety or frustration. It would be so easy for me to close my tracking app and head for the kitchen. Then I consider the journey that I have been on over the last six months. It has been so encouraging to see my progress. I know that there is no perfection to be attained and that I will (have) slipped up from time to time, but I also know that my choices will affect my mindset. Today, I chose not to thaw a box of chocolate chip cookies after pre-tracking my entire day. I chose to eat my evening snack before dinner after a cup of green grapes and will be content to have my tea on its own this evening. ...

Last week we were visiting my sister-in-law in Ohio. I was determined to maintain while on vacation and enjoying some tasty treats along the way, so, I went to her apartment gym and did a couple of quick morning workouts to set myself up for successful enjoyment of our meal times. I was shocked by my own strength! This may sound a little weird, but it's true. Many of us who choose to do home workouts think that we are not working as hard as those who venture out to the gym. False! If you are working, you are working and that is all that matters! "The best workout is one that you will do!" Thanks, Pastor Rick, for the reminder. When I started on the Elliptical machine, I was not sure that I would last long, but I was on for 18 minutes in the Fat Burner setting with adjusting incline and everything! I couldn't believe it. Then I went to the weight machines (legs and lap pulls). On my legs I was lifting and pressing 70-80 pounds for 3 sets of 10 reps. Same sets and...

Over the last couple of weeks, I have seen an maintenance trend on the scale. At first, I was mildly frustrated, but then I decided to trust my body and the process. Plateaus happen, and I was not gaining, so it still felt great! On top of that, I reflected on my planned indulgences, considered my treats, etc., I also considered the progress I have made over the last six months or so: I was not bingeing and that was huge for me; I was also choosing healthier options and smaller portions. AND I tracked everything.  Or so I thought. After the weekend, I was a little more curious about why there wasn't more progress in the numbers, so yesterday, I took some coaching advice referred to in the Half Size Me show podcast: Whenever in the kitchen wanting to take a bite or grab a small thing from the fridge while constructing a meal or otherwise, stop and put every item on a plate and see what would have been consumed prior to sitting down for the full meal. Mind you, I only took this...

It has been about a week and I have been back on My Fitness Pal now. Great timing, right? Just before a baby shower on Saturday, an impromptu pre-Memorial Day dinner party at a friend's place and then Memorial Day, complete with picnic! Needless to say, I have been over my calorie budget each day since Friday. I do not regret it, I am not punishing myself for my choices, I am not feeling gross or completely out of line in my numbers or my decisions. I have maintained (as a matter of fact, I stepped on the scale this morning and was down 1 pound) and I am still waking up with relatively high energy levels - likely because I have been getting more sleep with the evening routine hubby and I have agreed to. How do I plan to move forward? I am working on adjusting our evening order of events, so that hubby and I are prioritizing our evening workout instead of skipping it once we sit down. I am taking a baby step in pre-tracking my food, without putting too much pressure on the eve...

Babies at the park, whom I am capable of keeping up with For the past 6 months, I have been eating at a caloric deficit and tracking my calories on My Fitness Pal. It is a handy little app in which I can keep a recipe box, my meals are tracked and it remembers my frequently used items. I am also able to keep a close eye on my macros, and this has kept my simple carbohydrate intake in check, as I have drastically limited these and the majority of my carbs have been fruits, vegetables, and multigrain/whole grain light breads. Keeping an eye on these things has helped me to increase my protein intake and keep me better filled throughout the day. By default, this is limiting binges, grazing, and general overeating because the satiation from the protein combined with the satisfaction of my exercise have kept my success rate high! Cue last Thursday. A refreshing morning ritual that keeps me sane throughout the day Early in the week, I had decided that Friday I would not be trac...

Today I started the coursework for "How to Lose Weight the Maintainer's Way" on the Half Size Me Community portal. I cannot express how grateful I am for Heather and her hard work to help others understand what maintenance truly is and how to break free from the cycle of yo-yo dieting. As she began the section, I was considering how when one reaches maintenance, there is no party or big celebration for the number on the scale or a new milestone in going down a clothing size. Everyday is just a day. It made me think about how the journey to get the scale down may closely be paralleled to raising children. Bear with me, I'm a toddler mom with 2 under 2, so this is where my focus is all day. Every time the scale goes down a little, I've dropped another 10lbs, I go down in a shirt size, my pants are too big, etc, I have a mini dance party. I get tons of compliments on how well I'm doing, how my hard work is paying off (which has not felt like hard work for the...

As of this morning, I weigh 191.2lbs. This has been a great week of workouts, tracking and enjoying my food. I even elevated my calorie limit yesterday and it really made more sense, anyway, because I was going over if I didn't count my "exercise" calories. I am likely still eating more than this current limit, but it is still a deficit. Hubby and I are still trekking through Country Heat, I will be doing round 2 on my own, including the 2 bonus workouts and Dirty 30 from 21 Day Fix. I am also back at it with my yoga over this last week or so. I need to find some yoga videos that I can do on more of a schedule, currently it has been Useful Yoga for Stress, Weight Loss and Detox from Tonic on YouTube. I will also be looking into some strength training videos to do from home. I need to start building muscle and bone density, but one thing at a time (one habit at a time). It has been so freeing to remember that I am building a lifestyle that I will continue even after ...