Hitting My Stride

Well, after last night's cardio training session and a very clean food day, I woke up this morning to a major turning point: I broke 250 pounds!!! And not just by ounces - the scale showed 246.6!  The excitement of busting through a three year 'plateau' carried through my whole day and I used that motivation to complete two fitness classes tonight: an hour of Zumba Core and an hour of RIPPED Advanced.

I think I have finally hit my stride with food and fitness, I am at a point in my journey - 5 weeks in - that really feels like changes in my brain, in my body and in my lifestyle are being solidified, forming new habits and processes.  I am noticing a difference in my self-talk (that little voice in my head) it is significantly more in-the-moment; planning ahead - making conscious decisions.  I have a strong feeling of awareness, something I didn't even realize I was lacking.  For so many years now I have allowed myself to ignore and ultimately shut off the part of my brain that lived in the moment when it came to food and fitness.  I never planned ahead, I never weighed the pros & cons of my decisions, I never allowed myself to give real thought to what I was doing to myself. I ate whatever I wanted, however much I wanted, whenever I wanted with total disregard to the consequences and outcomes.

I'm seeing tangible progress now and that is fueling me to continue, to stay focused and to remember my goal - pregnancy and motherhood.  One day at a time, one conscious decision after another!

 

Success on my own

 

Today was a great day! This morning I weighed 250.2pounds, the lowest number I've seen on the scale in more than three years.  I guess the bootcamp session yesterday helped!  I was really nervous for my weight check this morning though, because last night I had a couple pieces of fried zucchini at dinner and a brownie for dessert. 

Seeing the lower number on the scale encouraged me to be more active today.  Sundays are usually a day of sleeping in, doing a little laundry, watching tv, maybe taking a nap and grazing carelessly in the kitchen throughout the day.  HOWEVER, today I started a load of laundry, made myself an omlette with ham, onion and red pepper (no cheese - yay me) and then made a choice: hit the gym for some cardio!  What?!?  The lazy lady is going to workout on her own? Yep! I did it!

I hit the treadmill at our community's gym.  I was nervous, another lady on a treadmill was running at a pretty good pace and I was just there to walk!  Here is what I did:
WARM UP: 3 minutes at 3.0, 2 minutes at 3.3
2 minutes at 3.5
3 minutes at 3.8
3 minutes at 3.3
2 minutes at 3.5
2 minutes at 3.8
3 minutes at 3.3
3 minutes at 3.5
2 minutes at 3.8
3 minutes at 3.3
2 minutes at 3.5
COOL DOWN: 3 minutes at 3.3, 2 minutes at 3.0
I forgot my headphones so I wasn't able to listen to music, I do not recommend exercising without music!  Each set at 3.8 was tough and each minute felt like an hour. 

The mere 35minutes on the treadmill was all it took to fuel me to be productive at home.  I had a Nutribullet smoothie:  Spinach, carrots, blueberries, strawberries, frozen peaches, frozen cherries, and water.  Then tackled some more laundry and outdoor chores I've been procrastinating on. 

After a few hours of sweating in the desert heat, I came in for a break and ended up eating a chocolate brownie!  Seriously, this is what I do to myself!  (I rationalized the brownie because I only had a smoothie for lunch)

Food is a constant battle for me, I have a binge eater tendency and I am doing my best to break myself of it.  All in all, I think today was successful!