A Newly Found Perception

Since I got married, I've gained weight. I've gained 15 lbs in the last 2 years. BLEHHHHHH.............................. So, off and on for a year now, I've tried to lose weight. Last spring, I was serious about it and lost 10 lbs. I lost those 10 lbs by joining http://www.sparkpeople.com/, doing cardio 5x a week and strength training 2x a week. SparkPeople is a great website that provides TONS of resources to help individuals gain control of their lives by changing their lifestyle. It allows a person to track their daily calorie intake, water intake, and fitness. It's amazing!

School ended and summer came. During the summer months, my husband and I bought a house, and I gained those 10 lbs back, easily. Now that my husband and I are settled in our new home and the new town, I'm ready to lose the weight, again.

At the end of November, I started the running program Couch-2-5K. I only completed 2 weeks of the program before I stopped due to sickness. Running while you are hacking and coughing is not fun. Trust me. I tried it. It's now mid-December, and I'm still overweight and haven't done any physical exercise in 2 weeks. During these 2 weeks, I've come to some realizations. I've come to the realization that I won't be losing any weight (on a conscious effort) before Dec 31st. I've come to the realization that I wasn't putting in enough effort before. Sure, I'm ready to lose the weight, but have I really put forth enough effort? No, I haven't. I wasn't tracking my calories. I wasn't drinking enough water. I wasn't cooking healthy. I wasn't buying enough fruits. I wasn't buying enough vegetables. Truly, for 2 weeks, the only thing I did was workout (running) consistently. To lose weight, I have to put forth more effort. I have to cook healthy. I have to eat healthy. I have to drink healthy. I have to workout for more than 2 weeks. I heard on the radio this morning that to lose weight, 20% comes from working out (cardio & strength train), and the other 80% is eating/drinking the right way.
SO............. Here's my conscious effort.
Effective January 1, 2011:
1. Joining a gym.
2. Cardio 4-6x per week.
3. Strength training 2x/week.
4. Sticking to 1200-1500 Calorie intake every day.
5. Tracking all 3 meals 5-6x/week.
6. Blogging EVERY DAY.
7. Cooking healthy (consciously) 5x per week.
8. Eating 2 fruits/day.
9. Eating 2 vegetables/day.
10. Drinking 8 cups of H20 every day.
I don't want to continue to fail at losing this weight and becoming healthy. I know I'm overweight. I know what weight I should be at. I'm not that far off from it. I know I can do it. I did it once, and I can do it again. I need to make conscious decision of making it a lifestyle change instead of a short-term change.

Now, just because I'm putting off my journey for another two weeks doesn't not give me free reign to do whatever the hell that I want. I'm still going to lightly monitor what I eat and drink. I just know it's going to be easier putting off this change until after the holidays. I didn't want to make this decision. I wish I was more assertive in the beginning and stuck to everything, but the reality is this: I didn't.
So, as of January 1, 2011, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, with all the others, and I will begin being assertive. I will begin being diligent. I will begin being consistent. I will begin being conscious.

6 Months Later...

WOW... 6 months later, and I'm back on blogging!!!!  So many things have happened, and yet, I, once again, didn't take a whole lot of pictures to capture the moments. So, you'll have to bear with me on the lack of pictures. 

Right after my birthday (a.k.a., after my last blog), we took a trip to St. Louis for my birthday! We went to a STL Cardinals game with my cousin Lindsay, her husband Travis, their child Rae, my mom, my mom's friend/coworker Amy, my sister Kelli, Kelli's husband Cody, and their child/my nephew Matthew. It was a quick getaway and a much needed one at that.

 STL Arch June '10

This summer was a very stressful and rewarding summer. WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOME! I had no clue that it was going to be that stressful. It seemed like everyday I was on the phone with our loan officer and trying to supply her with the needed documents. It was so stressful that I cried everyday and gained the 10lbs that I had lost earlier that spring. So, after crying and gaining the weight back, it's rewarding because we own our home, and I love the feeling that I live in a house that WE own! 

Our First Home July '10

Summer soon faded into the fall, and school/my job began once again. This year, I'm not at the school I was assigned last year, which was Norwood. New speech therapists were hired by the same company that I work for; therefore, every speech therapist was assigned a different school than the one they were at last year. This year, I'm at Plato. I've now become accustomed to the kids and vice versa. In comparison to Plato and Norwood, overall, I prefer Plato. The reason why is the staff. Some of the staff at Norwood were a little difficult to get a long with and thought their sh*t didn't stink. However, at Plato, everyone is very laid back and very similar to the people that I grew up around, countryfied. 

Silver Dollar City 11-20-10

Soon after this picture was taken, I took a close look at all my recent pictures. I became disgusted with the way I looked. I knew I had to do something about it. So, I decided to starting the running program C25K (Couch 2 5K). I've only completed 2 weeks; haven't done the 3rd week yet because I've been sick. This coming week, I'm picking up where I left off and continuing on! 

Hopefully, I will continue to blog. I love blogging because it's a great way to "release" any frustration that I may have. 

Shine On!