Old Habits Die Hard

- And they keep rearing their ugly heads!


Ok, this blog is about my fitness journey. Just over a year ago I lost 15 pounds and over 30 inches. I’m down a total of 30 pounds. The last 15 dropped like a fly due to the addition of weight training to my regimen. I started (and finished!) a 90 day program called Chalean Extreme produced by Beachbody. I highly recommend it.

Ever since, I have been at my goal weight give or take a few pounds. However, life comes back around to bite you and over the past month or so my weight has been slowly creeping up. The last straw was when my kids started to tell me that my butt was big (that’s where all those extra calories go!).

It started during baseball season – late nights at the field and eating pizza for dinner 2-3 times per week at the snack shack. Or, maybe it was when I caved in at the supermarket a few times when I purchased a box of cookies that my kids asked for…guess who ate most of the box? Yours truly. Or, the protein bars my husband picked up on sale at Costco that just stare at me in the face…the chocolate peanut flavored ones make a nice dessert after a meal, but it’s hard to eat just one!  I could go on but I think you get the picture.

So, I have been succumbing to temptation, and I also stopped managing my meal plan. Every week I plan my meals out, making my shopping list and figuring out my “staple” food for the week – what I might cook that will last me for 5-7 lunches or dinners. That’s all good and fine for the most part, but when you’re out and have few to no healthy food choices (pizza, hot dog, or slurpees), you have to have an Alternate Plan. I did not make an Alternate Plan, so now Ms. “big butt” is going to tame that ugly habit!!!

This is what my plan is for the next few weeks. I’m not going to count calories or points (I’m a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member), I’m just going to stick to my staple breakfast (steel cut oatmeal), eat my yummy garden vegetable soup (zero points if you count with WW!), and have a sensible dinner – with healthy snacks in between. Really, the secret is the garden vegetable soup. It’s filling and so low in calories it’s like skipping a meal and starving yourself, without starving yourself, which slows your metabolism!

I love it – I love it – I love it! For additional protein, I’ll add garbanzo beans and lean ground turkey. I’ll make a huge pot of it and even have it for a snack when I’m hungry. It’s good cold as well, so I can transport it in a container if I’m at the field.

I don’t own a scale, so I’ll just have to monitor my progress by asking my kids how big my butt looks! Or, how my clothes fit.

Fitness is a lifetime journey, and an Individual Choice. I choose to stay healthy and fit for the rest of my life. At times I may stray from this path, but I now know that I have the strength and perseverance to return to that path should I lose my way.

How I got where I am today did not happen overnight. There was no quick answer or miracle cure that gave me the lean body that I now have. It takes a commitment to change, and the work that goes with it. It was not grueling work, it was FUN, EXCITING, and made me FEEL GREAT! It also took time to figure out what works for me. What works for me may not necessarily work for you. I am always open to new ideas to see what works for others. A great deal is done by trial and error, and what might work for a while may stop working later on. My fitness journey is constantly evolving, but I know one thing for sure: I will always be on this journey for the rest of my life.

What has YOUR journey been like? I’d love to hear about it!