Feeling Good

Today has been a good day!  Actually, it has been a good month so far!  The weather has drawn me out of my slump and the sun has been high in the sky almost daily.  My weight is still under control and my waist is getting slimmer.  Sometimes I look in the mirror and can't believe that I actually have curves in the right places again.  I am no longer looking like the little Oompa Loompa that I had become.

My daily motivation for exercise has become my children.  Carlie and David just love going to the child watch at the gym and push me to go almost daily.  I find that I'm not eating as much again, something that I had sadly fallen back on in the past.  Something I haven't done, however, is change the commitment to myself to get healthy.  I go to the gym 5 to 6 times a week and rock out to whatever is on Pandora at the time.  I feel so good afterwards that I feel as if I could just move all day without stopping.  Unfortunately, my mind does not always have the same motivation that my body has.

It's funny how normally you are mentally telling yourself to get up and move but your body doesn't go anywhere.  Now I find myself convincing myself it's okay to sit down for a couple minutes.  I feel as if I am the energizer bunny and I can't stop moving.  That isn't always good, especially when you have to go somewhere and don't want to be all sweaty and stinky.  I guess, though, using the excuse that you just couldn't stop getting healthy isn't so bad.

I know that I am doing such a good thing for myself.  I also know that what I do good for myself rolls over into my family.  Just the other day I found McKayla ordering water to drink while we were out instead of a soda.  That made me feel real good.  Will drinks water but usually it's not willingly and David does't drink water at all unless he thinks he is dying of thirst.  I know that I am being a positive influence on my children, even if only one of them are getting it now.  Hopefully one day they will all want water and mainly water.  I know that I used to be against water but now I don't go anywhere without it.  It is like a lifeline now.  It is so refreshing and convenient.  Who doesn't have water?  It's not a "pepsi" or "coke" thing.  It's a water thing, something that everyone has at their fingertips.

Becoming healthy just feels so good.  Sometimes I think that I can't actually feel as good as I do.  However, I am also finding that I need less sleep.  I love to sleep and would love to be able to do it all day sometimes, but I don't have to.  I found myself leaving the house the other morning at 6:30am because I was wide awake.  I knew that I couldn't sleep so I went to Walmart to get some things we needed.  Amazed at myself, I still wound up going to the gym for a good workout.  That is wat healthy has done for me.  It has made me more active, more alert, much happier.  I am feeling good all around and while one thing can only make a small difference, that small difference is what makes me wish to change many things.

My many small things have rolled into a big thing.  That big thing?  It's me!  It's a happier, healthier me!  I love my life and I am learning to love myself!  You should do the same if you haven't gotten there yet.  One small step at a time.

It's been a while....

I am back!  I should have never disappeared but I lost focus with what I was trying to accomplish....  I wanted to document my journey so that I could see my progress.  Unfortunately, I gained all the weight back that I had lost.  I had felt defeated until I realized that I didn't look larger, I just weighed more.  I got to thinking.  What did I do differently to gain weight?  Then it hit me!  I was going to the gym and lifting weights!  While I had hit my plateau with my fat loss for the moment my body was gaining muscle mass, causing me to gain weight.  It made perfect sense after I analyzed my daily routine and noted that nothing significant had changed, not even my diet.

Now I am back, with more confidence and self esteem than before.  I have not only been weight lifting and exercising daily but now I am starting to see weight loss again.  That means, to me, that I have now lifted that plateau and I can now continue with a stronger weight loss journey.  I can see progress, though, in my hips and my breasts.  My pecks are tightening which is lifting my breast tissue from the "Mommy" stage to a "little less Mommy" and I actually have a tiny waist again.  I am so excited to finally be seeing myself in a more positive light.

I know that I normally put on a positive attitude on here but sometimes it's really hard. I don't always feel confident in what I have been doing.  Dedicated, yes.  Confident in the outcome, no.  Either way, I'm sure everyone feels that way sometime or another so I don't think it's too bad for me to let out some frustrations in here.  If I can learn to cope with them and I can help others help cope with frustrations, or we learn to cope together, this journey can be a lot easier.  It's not about just me.  This is a lifestyle change for my entire family.

When you see positive actions in people close to you, you are more inclined to follow.  My children love running with me or swimming with me.  Both are great ways to stay in shape and I love taking advantage of that.  I love being able to take my children to the pool and splash around with them.  Their favorite game to play is frisbee.  However, they like to throw it to the other side of the pool to make me swim more.  They have fun, I have fun, that's all that matters.

Sorry this is so short but I'm running out of steam tonight.  Need to relax for another big day at the gym and maybe the pool.