November Recap

As much I remind myself to get on the computer to actually post these, I get distracted and haven’t been posting them. I’ll be trying to make more of an effort to do them weekly like in the beginning. Instead I’ll be combining this past months post into a monthly recap. 

I started the first week off strong. My brother, myself and my SO all have a group chat to keep us motivated. I suggested we take turns that week and come up with a small challenge. A few of them were drink 100 oz of water, complete two miles however you wanted and burn 500 calories in one workout. It was fun, we all completed them and it was just a little boost to keep us going. 

My grandmother started her off season at the beginning of the month and decided to come visit us. My grandmother loves to cook and doesn’t do healthy. My plan was make sure she enjoyed herself but cook dinners at home. This would allow us to do our own breakfast and lunches and if stay on track with a healthy dinner. That plan didn’t go like I thought it would. She loves Paula Dean and I had taken them to Savannah years ago so she could go to her restaurants. My grandfather has since passed away and the only thing she asked to do was go to her seafood restaurant. 

The food, although not on my diet, is amazing! They even had a huge outdoor play area that the kids loved. I don’t remember it being there at all last time. She also insisted on making me tacos for dinner one night. While I lived in Clarksville near them, I’d always get an invite to taco night with my grandparents. She remembered how much I loved them. I couldn’t say no. All in all, my eating was all over place. My sweet husband also surprised me twice with Starbucks. He knows I love the Cinnamon Dolce Latte, also not diet approved. We talked on that a bit one night and we both agreed, my time with my grandma is limited. I don’t know how much longer we’ll have her around but while I do, making precious memories with her and my family will come first and I was okay with any weight I was going to gain while she was visiting. As a surprise we drove by PD house. She has a hard time getting around but she talked about getting to see just a glimpse of it from the road, for days.

By the end of her visit, I had only gained a fraction of a pound. Following her visit, I had a week before I left to TN. I stayed on track. Not much change on the scale but I have started to notice the muscle at the tops of my thighs from all the leg extensions. Heading to TN, I had no plans on sticking to diet or a workout routine. I would be staying at my dads and we had our family Thanksgiving, a birthday party and no workout equipment. As we left out, my oldest child was running a fever. He spent several days laying around. Thanksgiving Day, Sunday for our family, I woke up with diarrhea. Lasted 24 hours. Then the baby got a fever. I don’t know if getting sick was the reason I didn’t gain any weight that week but I’m just going to assume so. They didn’t have a scale so I missed a week of weighing in. Was for sure I’d gain something by the time I got home. I weighed what I’d been weighing all month. 

We got home and had a tiny Thanksgiving with my SO and a work buddy. I got back in the gym just in time to start my cycle. This month has been interesting to say the least. I’ve got a few days left and need to lose 2 pounds in order to keep on track with my goal of five pounds a month. I’ve been the same weight since the end of October. Small changes here and there but consistently 170 pounds. I’ve been ahead each month so December I need to actually put in the work. I do believe knowing I don’t have the cushion will get my butt in gear to step up my game again.

I weighed in today just for an idea on how much I still needed for this month. I’ve got four more days to lose 1.5 pounds. I am going to do it! Next update you all will be able to celebrate with me, reaching my monthly goal and reaching 20 pounds! 

October Recap

It has been a month since my last check in. It’s been a weird month for me. We started out the month with my in laws coming to visit. It was so nice having them here. I was in a challenge with my SO the first week that finished the day after they arrived. I won! After that we took a break while they were here. I stayed mostly on track with my eating, only indulging in Mellow Mushroom for my SO birthday. His mom was trying to not disrupt our progress and got tiny cupcakes instead of a huge ice cream cake that they normally do. They were only 100 calories.

The last couple of weeks has had a handful of hurdles. The flu, SO in a two week class, SO grandma from New York calling on their way to Florida saying they wanted to visit the next day and just being in a funk on my end. I haven’t been as dedicated as previous months. I have mostly stayed on track with my eating which means I’ve been maintaining my weight loss. This is the most important. Any other time I’ve gotten off track and made every excuse not to get back on track. Then I’d go ahead and eat whatever I felt like. 

It’s been a good feeling to know that life can get messy and I didn’t fall back into old habits. Maybe I just needed a break but I still made sure I didn’t ruin all the progress I’ve made and for that I’m proud. I have worked out just not on a daily basis like before. Some weeks a little more and another week hardly at all. I’m hoping come November, I’ll find that drive again. 

I have been doing my weigh in every Wednesday! Below I’ll share the weigh in from my last post as well as all the following weigh ins, my current total weight loss and how much I still have left. 

Sep 21st

Current Weight: 176.0

Sept 28th

Current Weight: 173.2

Oct 05th

Current Weight: 172.4

Oct 12th

Current Weight: 173.0

Oct 19th

Current Weight: 172.0

Oct 26th

Current Weight: 170.8
Total lost: 17.2Pounds left: 27.8
I have just shy of a week left in this month and am still hoping to reach the 60’s. Was hoping to reach 168 and make it an even 20 pound loss but I’ll be happy just being able to say I’ve made it to the 60’s! I’m currently only 0.8 pounds away and almost 3 pounds to reach that 20 pound mark. As far as my goal for the month goes. My goal has been five pounds a month. I needed to reach a 15 pound loss by the end of October so I am still on track and slightly over that goal. I knew there would be months like this which is why I haven’t adjusted my monthly goal of five pounds. Having been ahead allows me to take the breaks needed with that wiggle room all the while staying on track for the end goal. 
One big accomplishment that I almost forgot about was going up in lifting weight. While doing the Buckedup Bootcamp they have me doing 3 sets with anywhere from 10-15 reps. I had started out at 70 pounds for my machine row and leg extension but I was only doing reps of 8-10. After doing so many reps with the bootcamp, I was easily doing the 70 pounds and have now bumped up to 95. I’m going to work on getting myself back up to the 3 sets and 15 reps with ease at this weight. This has been my method for weight training. Once the ease comes with maxed out reps, I bump up the weight with fewer reps. 
Another non scale victory is my calves! I tried on a pair of heels and the muscle definition in them has completely boosted my confidence. I know I’m building muscle but it has been hard to tell under all the fat. Not gonna lie I was totally checking them out in the mirror and when my SO got home my daughter was telling me to put them on for a fashion show. As we strutted around that was the first thing he noticed was my calves and how toned they looked. He talked me up like crazy and it just felt really great in that moment. 
Not a health or fitness goal but more of a personal one has been reading. I started back in September after not reading in so many years. I made a small goal of five books for this year. After I passed that I made a new goal of 25. I’m currently at 20! I grew up reading all through school. I remember an awkward conversation with a football player asking me why a cheerleader would read… I’ve always loved it and I’m very much enjoying getting back into it. 
And lastly, I know there’s only a few days left but my goal for the week is to lose the remaining 0.8 pounds and get myself back on here to regularly update. This space has always held me accountable and kept me focused. Next week I’ll have worked out my new plans, goals and will be updating you all with some new stuff. Let’s make November count!