Time flies. How is it 2018 already? And almost March of 2018 at that?! I have a lot to catch up on....
In December I came of up with a New Year's Resolution to work on food freedom and body confidence. I feel like I have done nothing but struggle to lose weight for the last 18 years.... EIGHTEEN YEARS. Man, that sounds awful when I actually write it out. Frankly, I think it is sad that society has set such unrealistic expectations of pretty much everything. Especially when the society that we live in today doesn't even support the lifestyle needed in order for us to meet these ridiculous standards. With a McDonald's (yum) and Starbucks on every other corner, we have been set up to fail. So, my goal for 2018 was, and still is, to learn to eat mindfully and to learn to love my body and myself as is.
Here we are, February 25th, and my goals are a work in progress. However, I have had to adapt my process a bit as I test trial and error to see what is working for me right now. I still have weight to lose. I still have physical goals to meet. So, while I am still working on food freedom and body acceptance, I am also working on keeping my diet under control and working to meet my physical goals by getting in regular exercise. These two statements seem contradictory, but I quickly realized that I was not quite ready mentally to stop tracking my nutrition for accountability and to keep a workout schedule. I still need structure. Otherwise, I slack on both fronts which has resulted in some weight gain. Luckily, I quickly recognized my problem areas and adapted my plans accordingly. At this point I am not strictly tracking calories or macros, I am just loosely keeping an eye on my daily total calorie intake and working to get in 150 minutes of exercise/week. That is 5 thirty-minute workouts. Nothing specific, just some sort of activity that gets my HR above 100 bpm.
So, I am still indulging in whatever I want to eat, just in moderation. For example, if we have burgers, I skip the fries. I supplement my meals with raw fruits and veggies. If I am still hungry after I have met my calorie goal for the day, I find something healthy to eat that will satisfy my hunger without ruining my entire day's progress.
As far as exercise.... well, I ran a half marathon last October (finally!) and somehow tweaked my knee a bit. After months of R&R, it has not healed. I had not done much running at all since due to family stuff, but when I started back exercising regularly after the New Year, I noticed my knee was still bothering me. At first it was just here and there, but the more consistently I exercised, even low impact (walking, elliptical), the pain became more consistent. So, of course, Murphy's Law, I finally get into a groove and have to stop due to injury. UGH. I had an MRI last Friday and should find out this week what the diagnosis is. Fairly certain it is a torn meniscus or something like that, so I will probably be having surgery in the next couple weeks.
I am not going to let this bump in the road derail my goals. I will just hone in on my nutrition and perform core and upper body exercises as my body allows until I can get back to running. After all, Diet > Exercise for weightloss!
So, that's my plan. I know I have started over a million times but I have a good feeling about this year. My PPD/PMDD is well controlled, the twins are older and less exhausting...kinda, lol. I am in a good place in my life to really focus on ME.
I hope that all of you had a Happy New Year! Love yourself, after all, God made you just the way he planned!
