February Goals

Did a whole month really pass between my blog posts?! It's crazy how quickly the last month went by. I last posted about my goals for 2016 and while goals for the year are great it is also important to break down those long term goals into some smaller goals. A January goals post was supposed to happen but somehow it slipped away from me.

Really quick, [because I want a record of it here on the blog] here are my January goals and how I did with them. Workout 12 times: 9/12, not bad. Drink 64oz of water each day: meh, I had some weeks of no water consumption. Work the WW program: I tracked more but didn't really work the program in meal planning and prepping foods that fit into the program. Blog once a week: oops! Reach 5% weight loss goal: I was so so close to this one. I ended the month at 214 [7 pounds lost for the month!] which is one pound from my 5% goal. She Reads Truth Genesis study: I fell behind and it was just hard to get caught up again.

Now onto the February goals!

Workout 12 times - just three workouts a week and this goal is in the bag.

Track every day on WW app - self explanatory here. I just want to focus on tracking and being more aware of what I'm eating and how much for the month. No pressure for big changes.

Blog once a week

Drink 64oz of water a day

Mail V-day cards - Checking this one off already because I dropped them in the mail yesterday!

Eat breakfast - I've been known to skip breakfast because I'm behind schedule in the morning and really can't afford to be late for work.

8 hours of sleep & wake up with alarm - This will help with the breakfast thing and will also make my mornings less stressful and give me a chance to put a little more effort into my appearance.

She Reads Truth - The lent study is coming up and I want to stay on top of it this time. Time to devote some time to "me time".

What are your goals for the month?

Got My Shitkickers On

I take the fact that the weeks, months, and years just seem to be flying by as a sign that I am getting older. It does not even seem real that 2015 has come and gone already. Where did the days go when I was a child and time just seemed to move so slowly?

Roughly a year ago I set some goals to make 2015 the year of me. Reflecting on how the year went I wouldn't say that I was as successful as I would have liked but I did make some progress and learn about myself. Sad as I am that I can't say I accomplished all of my goals I can say that I am ready to take on 2016 and my new goals...even if a lot of them are repeats from last year.

A photo posted by Amy (@lnlbyamy) on Dec 21, 2015 at 6:48am PST

2016 Goals

1. Drink More Water - Pretty self explanatory. More water less soda.
2. Work the Weight Watchers Beyond the Scale program - The program works when I work the program. Last year I didn't have guidelines and was just trying to "eat healthier" and I found it just wasn't working for me so I joined Weight Watchers. Lack of commitment to the program was the reason for my lack of success. This year I have the guidelines and the structure I need to truly eat healthier but still allow for indulgences sometimes.
3. Move More - Working out will become a normal part of my life this year. My body can do more than I give it credit for. Time to let its abilities shine.
4. Tracking Spending, Budget, SAVE! - I fly by the seat of my pants a lot when it comes to my financial situation. I have the money to cover the bills so past that I don't really worry too much. This year I want to do a better job budgeting, tracking where my money is really going, and replenish my savings account.
5. Organize / Clutter Free - This year I want to establish a better housekeeping routine to avoid cluttering up my counters, couch, and floor. Being on my own I basically leave things where I set them and they're out of my way. But lets be honest, my place looks a lot nicer when I've taken the time to put away those odds and ends. And after completely spacing on a rent payment last year [so thankful for understanding property managers!] I will definitely be staying organized with my Plum Paper planner and fun Plan in Color planner stickers!
6. Me Time - I tend to have a lot of me time in my life being single and having long distance friends but I want to be a little bit more intentional with some of it by spending time reading the bible and working towards my goal of reading 100 books.
7. Skin Care - This could kind of fall under me time too but I think it deserves its own goal. Time to kick the bad habits of sleeping in my makeup, forgetting to moisturize, and washing my face less than I should.
8. Send More Snail Mail - I love to drop a little something in the mail to put a smile on friend's face. Who doesn't like to see something besides bills and junk in their mailbox? I know smile any time I find good old snail mail in my mailbox from a friend.

I've got my shit kickers on and am ready to get started! Do you have any goals for 2016?

Checking In

Eeek! It's been a while again. Sorry about that. Post ideas are always swirling around in my brain but I never seem to get them to the blog. I will definitely be adding a blog related goal to the list for 2016.

But today I just want to check in and fill you in on a few things that have been going on.

The Christmas Fix Challenge :: I joined a challenge group hosted by Erica and we just wrapped up with that earlier in the week. I wasn't on my game the whole challenge but I do know I was much more aware of when I wasn't doing as well as I would like thanks to checking in daily. Accountability buddies are a huge help to me when it comes to making healthy choices. When others know I want to skip the soda or go to the gym on a certain day I've increased my chances of doing those things. No on wants to explain why they didn't when they said they would.

#letsbelivin :: I was featured on Lex Be Livin' the other week all for using the hashtag #letsbelivin on my Instagram posts.  You can check out the post I was featured in here. And if you want to learn more about the hashtag you can read all about it here.

Beyond the Scale :: Earlier this month Weight Watchers launched their new program, Beyond the Scale.  I'm still learning about the program and want to share my thoughts on it soon. But the main concept is that weight loss is about more than just the scale, it's about you as a whole. I love the idea of it and can't wait to really start working the program to reap the benefits of it.

But speaking of the scale, my weigh ins have been moving in the right direction again! Yay!

Starting Weight: 224.4

November 30: 221.0

December 4: 219.2 (1-.8)

December 11: 219.0 (-0.2)

December 18: 218.8 (-0.2)

Just one more day to make it through if you're like me and have to work Christmas Eve.  We can do it! Or at least that's what I'm telling myself every time I look at the clock.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Turkey Trot 5k Recap

Hi! Remember me? I know it's been a while again but I promise I haven't forgotten about this little space of mine in the blogging world.

The last time I was here I talked about how I was struggling.  I continued to struggle up until Thanksgiving Day.  I ran a Turkey Trot 5k that morning and since then have gotten up before 5am for my first Body Pump class in two months, had my butt kicked with a personal trainer, and actually went into a grocery store to buy ingredients to actually cook something. I think it's safe to say that I am officially off of the struggle bus!

But backing up to Thanksgiving... I completed my first 5k and in a tutu no less! The weather wasn't ideal as it was incredibly foggy and was misting the entire morning. I ran the first mile in 11:35 and then began my run/walk strategy which I really had no plan for. I slowed down to about 13 min/mile for the next two miles. Sure, it wasn't a superstar performance but for my first time I'm damn proud of what I accomplished. And the most important thing to me for this first race was to cross the finish line. But you can bet I have goals for a year from now when I plan to run this same race again. And when I say run I do mean run...the whole thing!

Turkey Trot 5k is in the books! 40:01 is the official time and a new PR for me. 😁 #turkeytrot #running #justdoit #5k

A photo posted by Amy (@lnlbyamy) on Nov 26, 2015 at 9:33am PST

My mom and some other awesome ladies walked (also in tutus) and I was able to cheer them on as they crossed the finish line. So despite the crappy weather it was a great way to start off turkey day.

Unfortunately, sometime after the race ended my Fitbit bit the dust and wouldn't light up at all when it wasn't on the charger despite being fully charged. Rather than worrying about it I chose to take advantage of Black Friday and splurge on myself by getting a new Charge + HR! I felt kind of naked without a Fitbit on my wrist and a challenge going for a couple of days. But I finally was able to pick it up today and I can't wait to put it to good use. I only wish I had been able to pick it up yesterday so that I could have used it to record my personal training session tonight.

I invested in myself by purchasing two one-on-one personal training sessions and tonight was my (second) first meeting with my trainer Chelsea. She definitely kicked my butt and I'm excited to put the information and routine I learned from her to good use. We even had a good chat while I was warming up on the treadmill and discussed some of the mental battles that come with making a lifestyle change. I am meeting with her again on the 16th and definitely want to be able to tell her that I did a good job with working out since she saw me last.

And real quick before this post gets too long... I joined a challenge group hosted by Erica to help with the accountability. It started Tuesday so I'm only two days into it but so far so good. I know it definitely helped get me to the gym Tuesday morning for Body Pump before work because I had told the whole group (plus my mom and friends) that I was going. No way do you want to check in at the end of the day and say that you didn't go.

Starting Weight: 224.4

October 16: no weigh in

October 23: 218.6 (+1.6)

October 30: 218.6

November 6: 215.2 (-3.4)

November 13: 218.2 (+3.0)

November 20: no weigh in

November 30: 221.0 (+2.8)

Struggling

I'm just going to jump right in and let you all know that I am struggling lately.  I set some goals for the month and so far I haven't really done anything to make progress on them.  But like Tammy Jo said today in her blog post while there are things I cannot change there are plenty that I can.

Honestly, I'm sick of repeating the same crap on here about how I'm struggling.  It's the same old crap every time and I am certain that you are sick of hearing it.  Time to pull on my big girl panties and deal with the crap that is what I have made of the healthy living part of my life and get my shit together.

I'm just going to end this here tonight because thinking about what I haven't been doing lately has made me rather grumpy.  So, this is me recommitting to my October goals which I know I won't fully achieve but I can give it my all with the time I have left.

And because yesterday was Wednesday here's my weigh in.

Starting Weight: 224.4

October 2: 220.2 (+2.4)

October 9: 217.0 (-3.2)

Total Loss: 7.4

October Goals

Not that I want to wish away time but gosh am I happy it's Wednesday.  Work has been kind of slow lately so the days seem to go by extra slow for me. But I know things will be picking up in the future so I just have to keep plugging away.

Even though I am glad we're halfway through the work week I cannot believe that it's the last day of September already. As an adult it seems that the months and years just fly by compared to when we were kids and only summer seemed to fly by.  With the end of the month comes the perfect time to set some goals for October.

- Finish the C25K program!  I had a slow start to my 5K training but since coming back from vacation I've been running every day that I'm supposed to.  And I've been enjoying my runs and feeling good on them!  I've started C25K multiple times but this time feels different, like it's finally my time.  To cap off the program I'll be running the I Ain't Afraid 5K on October 31st. And I'm following up my virtual 5K with a Turkey Trot 5K Thanksgiving morning!

- Track with Weight Watchers.  Since last week all I have been tracking on the WW app has been my workouts.  It is well past the time to get back to tracking my food.  The Weight Watchers program works for me, but only when I'm working the program.  By not tracking my food I am only hurting myself as proven by my weigh ins the past month or so.

- Drink 64oz of water a day.  I have been drinking more water this past week than I have in a long while but it still hasn't been consistent.  When I'm chugging water I don't have time to have a Mountain Dew and that is exactly what my body needs.

- Hit my step goal 4 days a week.  I should be running three days a week so it shouldn't be a problem to reach my 5,000 step goal on those days but that fourth day I will have to push myself.  It's time that I make it happen.

And before I forget, here's my weigh in from Friday.

Starting Weight: 224.4

September 11: 217.8 (+0.2)

Total Loss: 6.6

Where I've Been

The post it note this blog post is coming to you from is dated 8/26/15.  Yeah, I've been holding on to it for almost a month and am finally putting my fingers to the keys to share it.

The month of August was spent enjoying cold beer and seeing Tyler Farr perform at the fair, catching another cold (second one this summer, womp womp) and then being on vacation in the northwoods camping for a week.  All of that led to three weeks of no workouts, one week of horrible food choices (every. dang. meal.), no tracking, and no water (lots of Mountain Dew).

September has started off in much of the same way unfortunately.  I did get back to Body Pump and threw in a run here and there but did not get back to tracking or chugging water.  And last week I was in California visiting my girl Chelsea which was fantastic and much too short of a visit.

But now we're here, I'm home and it's time to get completely back on track!

I met with a personal trainer with my friend Flora (cheaper rate for a 2-on-1 appointment) at the end of August and was so sore!  Like, holy cow, never again will I double up personal training with Body Pump in one night.  I am looking forward to more appointments once Flora is back from vacation.

Speaking of Flora, we're going to be workout buddies!  Even when she can't make it due to work or what not it still pushes me to get to the gym because in a way I want her to have that fear of missing out.  I mean that in the best way possible of course. I want her to join me at the gym and make her fitness a priority in her life.  And I know she wants that too.

Three goals to focus on for the rest of the month.  1) 64oz of water a day!  2) Track with Weight Watchers!  3) Figure out a plan! How should I use my PP for the day?  What meals fit into that plan?  And GO TO THE GROCERY STORE!  (Still struggling with that, a lot!)

SW: 224.4

July 24: 214.6

July 31: 217.7 (+3.1)

August 7: ?? No weigh in

August 14: 217.0 (-0.7)

August 21: ?? No weigh in (Camping)

August 28: 218.2 (+1.2)

September 4: 217.2 (-1.0)

September 11: 217.6 (+0.4)

September 18: ?? No weigh in (California)

Those weigh ins certainly speak for themselves.  Not being focused on making healthy changes in my life has led to some weight gain.  Like I said earlier though, time to get back on track!!