Ouch

Soooo first week back in the trenches!  It's like riding a bike....you don't forget all the stuff you learned, but when you get back on you remember all the details in an instant.  I won't say that I had a GREAT first week back, but it was a pretty solid start!  The first few days I did really well - I counted all my points and I even actually tracked them!!  It went a little downhill at the weekend, though.  I have a friend who is leaving the country for ten weeks soon so we've been spending lots of time together before she goes and that involved several meals out this weekend.  Now, I certainly could have made healthier choices, but I also didn't let myself go crazy.  I didn't track over the weekend - they were mostly local restaurants and you can't exactly calculate the points for their food cause I doubt the waitress can provide you with all of the nutritional facts for their menu! 

I started feeling a little nervous about my weekend on Sunday because I'd also been REALLY tired this weekend and didn't really do much of anything.  So, while my laundry was washing I decided to get back to the dancing.  (It also helped that there wasn't really much of interest to me on the tv...)  I put on some workout clothes and did my new-ish Just Dance 2014 for a little over an hour!  I've owned the game for several months now and have probably only played it twice before this weekend...oops.  In any case, the songs are interesting and it reminded me just how out of shape I let myself get.  Oy.  I had to drink more water during it than I used to and it was certainly a workout for me cause I could even feel a little soreness in my upper back area on Monday.

Monday afternoon I had my first on-campus Zumba class!  Holy. Smokes.  It was fifty straight minutes....no break.  I needed water after about every other song!  But...I was quite proud of myself.  It was pretty evident that most of the women there (it's a faculty reserved class) were regulars and went more than once a week...and the instructor came up to me almost immediately and said she'd never seen me before and introduced herself.  She asked if I'd ever done Zumba before and I, obviously, answered yes and said that my sister was an instructor - so she said, "oh awesome then I don't even need to worry about you....".  Yeah....no pressure.  I've taken Zumba from two different instructors before this girl (not including the few extras from the Zumbathon that Sister and I did), but I'd never done any of these songs before...well, I think we did one of them in my first class, but the dance was quite different.  Regardless, I think I actually kept up really well!  There were only a few small times when I got confused by the footwork, and at one point my thighs were BURNING from this one dance, but overall I was impressed with myself cause this chicks dances are no joke!  (For those of you who take Sisters class, it's like Girls and Footloose for the whole 50 minutes....)  I don't think I've worked my hips that much in a LONG TIME.  I didn't even mind having to grab a quick lunch and eating while I worked afterwards! I did have a strange feeling while I was changing back into my work clothes in my locked dark office (awkward!), but I felt a good exhausted and really proud of myself for doing it. 

And then the day went on....

And as the day went on....I began to FEEL my workout.  In my arms.  In my back.  In my abs.  And most especially, in my legs.  Every time I had to stand, sit, walk, or (God forbid) climb stairs...I felt it.  My body was ANGRY!  I told that to one of my kiddos who is very athletic and she said, "I don't think your body is angry, I think it's actually really happy".  So I told her that it was happy that I worked out, but it was angry that I went so long not doing it and let it get out of shape.  Monday night was fairly painful, but I took a long hot bath and just let myself soak in the water.  I mostly just grab quick showers, so it had been quite some time since I'd actually taken a bath and it felt like heaven.  I put on some good slow music and just let myself enjoy the heat.  I had taken in a book, but I didn't even need it...I just let myself fully relax and it was amazing.  Granted, it was still sore getting out of the tub, but I wrapped myself up in a big fluffy robe and then bundled up under the blankets in my bed and relaxed a little longer. 

I got up this morning and still felt a little soreness, but nothing like what I felt last night.  I think that bath was just what I needed!  Now, the class is offered multiple days a week over lunch, but because of meetings and such I can only go on Mondays, but I think even that one day a week will really help get me back on track...and the memory of that pain may be enough to not ever let myself go so long without working out!

New starting weight: 239
Week 1: -3.0
Total weight loss: -3.0
Current weight: 236

I will take those three pounds off and be super duper happy about it!!!  Let's hope week #2 is just as successful....though slightly less painful!

Back in the saddle again...

Almost exactly two years ago I started this blog and asked for your help to keep me accountable on my Journey to a Thinner Me.  Within 8 months I lost 50 pounds - and then I stalled.  I spent the next year losing and gaining the same ten pounds, but overall I was still pretty happy and proud of my progress.  I didn't quite get as frustrated by my lack of loss as I thought I would.  Sure, it was a little disappointing at times, but even though I wasn't losing weight, my body was still changing and getting toned.

And then life happened.  Last semester was easily one of the busiest and most stressful that I've ever had for a number of reasons.  It seems like the world was determined to make me too busy to work out.  Now, I make no excuses as I am certain that I could have made more time for myself, but I never claimed to be an expert at work-life balance.  And I certainly could have made a better effort to eat better.  But, alas, I didn't and I gained weight back.  Unfortunately, I gained a lot of weight back.

It started as a little bit at a time...two pounds this week....then it was five....then it was ten....and then I stopped stepping on the scale because I didn't want to see how high it was getting.  I kept telling myself that I was going to get it under control and that I would go back to Weight Watchers after I lost what I'd gained.  I haven't been to Weight Watchers since the beginning of September...and I didn't get it under control.  I haven't run or worked out in quite some time (I went to one Zumba class when I was home over Christmas and it seriously kicked my butt!).

I postponed my marathon for a year because I was nowhere near prepared for it.  This weekend my friend (and one of my biggest supporters) ran the Goofy Challenge without me.  Seeing her pictures and texting with her throughout the weekend, I kept reminding myself that I was supposed to be there with her.  Despite that she has told me numerous times that I didn't and that we'll do it together next year, I feel like I let her down.  And I certainly let myself down.  So, it's time to actually get things under control.

The good news is that usually by the time I get to this point I've put on MORE weight than what I lost in the first place...and I haven't quite gotten that bad yet.  But, here I am, two years later and in need of your help just as much as I did in the beginning.  We're starting over on this journey and I'm bringing you with me again.  No looking back at my fall off the wagon - only looking forward because the reality is that THIS IS REALITY.  People do anything positive and then life happens and maybe they get sidetracked.  I could not have expected to stop working out, eat way more desserts than I should have since I wasn't working out, and to NOT put weight back on.  So, I get up, brush off the dust, and hop back on that wagon.

So four months after my last weigh-in, I went back to Weight Watchers today.  The numbers on the scale are nowhere near what I would like them to be, but that's okay...I got them there once and I can do it again.  I even had them "restart" my account so that today's weight is my new "starting weight" and all progress from now on will be from that weight and not my original weight two years ago (which is so hard to believe that it was two years....sheesh).

Starting over....

New starting weight: 239
Yeah, that was pretty painful, but it's done and we're starting over.  I even signed back up at the gym and will be taking a Zumba class on Mondays at lunch (I promise I'll like yours better, Sister...).  Alright people, let's do this....again.