And We Go!!

Back in the saddle again.  I have re-found my passion for working out.  It was a rough stretch for a few months where I put on 10+ lbs and lost most, if not all, motivation to push myself.  One simple change got me back, logging my calories.  Simple as that.  In the past, I have had lots of success with logging calories but would end up going off of that process due to said success feeling like I could do it on my own.  Once the working out would taper off and the food continues (or gets worse), that is when I thought all was lost.  I realized this last week and started randomly in the middle of the week.  I logged a day of baseline foods that I was not worrying about how the numbers came out but being honest with what I did take in.  That was shocking and devastating.  I had been pretty good that day knowing I would have to see the end number and I was 600+ calories over what it told me I should have taken in.  My tracker took into account the steps for the day, any cardio based on my heart rate and sets of stairs taken in the day.  This was not a randomly assigned calorie number but actually based on activities.  Not happy, I made the change immediately and it was like a switch.  I am extremely diligent to log all food as I eat it as to make sure I don't forget and to make sure it is accurate.  I am also able to scan anything that has a bar code to make logging easier.  This has been a great feeling knowing how much I can eat and knowing if I need to work harder during my workouts.  For me, my goal is to have 1,000 calories left by the time I leave work so that the nights are night quite as much of a grind.  As tough as it is, it helps fuel my competitive nature and is something else to work towards.  If I am hungry, I eat.  If I am content, I stop.  If I am full, I have gone too far.  It is all about filling up on the right things and knowing when I am just dehydrated or bored instead of hungry.  Getting back into this has been what I needed.  I am down a few pounds already and also seeing my resting heart rate drop shows me that my body just needed a change back to healthy foods and getting pushed.  Without seeing those changes, it would have been tough to get back to it.  Make one small change that you know you will feel and you will be hooked (again). 

-N 

Tough Stretch

Without question, the holidays are so much harder to keep at working out and staying motivated than any other time for me.  The food is so good, the weather is so cold and the couch is always teaming up with Netflix to beg me to stay one more episode.  As is the case, I relented and skipped out on 60% of my workouts from Thanksgiving through the new year.  Not good.  In that time, I put on 1+ inches on my waist and 8-10 pounds and it was all dedicated to sweets in my case.  I could not stay off of the sweet stuff and candy is my biggest vise and I do not discriminate: chocolate (milk, dark or white, I don't care), fruity, sour, etc.  It is all fair game.  I tend to not worry a lot about gaining this time of year as I know I can get back to it and get those pounds off again.  The slippery slope is how long I perpetuate that line of thinking.  If I tell myself that too much, I get right back to where I was before I started working out.  With this blog/online journal I hope I can break out of that thinking.  I need to find my new motivation for 2018.  It could be that I am expecting a kiddo this year and need more energy or that I want this summer to be the summer I make all my ex's jealous.  That is always a good one.  
The motivation I am going to pick are the pictures I see of the previous me and how it makes me feel when I see those pictures.  I look tired no matter what I am doing.  Just standing there made me look tired and ready to sit back down.  

                           

This first photo was me trying to be athletic and accomplishing the exact opposite.  The second was just a month or so ago.  One is me playing a child's game of kickball looking tired and wore down and the other is post workout, feeling good.  And don't judge, a gym selfie is sometimes acceptable when done in a private changing room to brag to your brothers. :P  At the end of the day, I don't want anyone seeing tired me ever again, especially my son who right now, thinks I can do/lift anything.  That is a more amazing feeling than actually being able to do/lift anything.  

-N