Over 500 days ago I booked a group vacation opportunity, and convinced my friends to join me.
You know what? It’s finally here! Somebody pinch me.
Y’all I am so excited I am about to pee my pants. This trip is split into a couple parts, pre-cruise and cruise. It feels like we have tons of time to spend together and then also that it will go so fast I don’t know how I’ll possibly absorb it all before it is gone. I know one thing for sure, we are going to have a blast.
Until next time…
Good Morning and Happy Tuesday.
I’m about to wrap up my work life so I can enjoy the days ahead which include exploring a new city, basking in sunshine, spending time relaxing, drinking all the adult beverages, and having great time with my friends.
My Weekly WI is not what I had hoped for before leaving town on a food and alcohol-filled vacation. I’ve spent time this morning taking a step back to look at the bigger picture so I can gain some positive perspective.
I am wrapping up the first month of 2023 looking forward to an awesome week ahead.
Over the course of the last seven years, I am actually 5.2 pounds heavier than this time in 2014 and when I look at the same timeframe from each year, I am consistently lower than I was the year before. That my friends is what we call progress.
In January of 2014, we had just returned from a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands and when I look back at those photo memories, I remember feeling like I was struggling with my weight gain but still happy I was under 200 pounds. I feel the same way today. I am still really happy I am under 200 pounds and if I wasn’t about to go out of town, I’d not be stressing it. I guess I don’t even want to use the word “stressing” because really it isn’t. The stress of knowing I’ll come back from vacation with a sizable gain is what weighs down my brain. Again, it is all about how you look at the perspective and really…who cares! I’m about to embark on a vacation that will be tons of fun and why live life if you aren’t going to have fun??
The entire journey is just that…a journey. There are awesome parts of any journey, sad parts, and even stressful parts. What you make of it is what really counts. So, if you are stressing over something, I encourage you to step back, look at the big picture, and find ways to add a little fun in. You only get one life to live. Make it a good one.
You can read about Days 1-6 here <—
Onward with the calendar…maybe I’ll get it all recapped before we enter February! Gez. I even still have some beer in my fridge. Days 7-12 were all delicious. I really enjoyed this calendar and you’ll hear this again when I wrapped it up in the final post but I would absolutely do it again. It was worth the $90 I spent on the calendar.
Hello and Happy Thursday.
My motivation for all things has been really low this week. We are officially one week to vacation and I am so ready it is painful! I have a full work week left, two Weight Watcher workshops, and one overtime shift left until I can officially be off the clock for 13 days. This is the longest time off I’ve had the entire year. I so stoked.
My Weekly WI this week had me up 0.2 pounds. I feel like it is hormonal but I also am feeling my resistance muscle wean. I am also struggling this week big time. It felt like with a maintain that at least I would power through this week and maybe take another pound off before vacation. I’m counting myself out just yet as I still have many days to turn this week around.
I have inherited a new workshop as coach and instead of working as a guide on Tuesday, I am now the coach in Caldwell. It is such a great group and I had my biggest workshop yet with 26 members who stayed. It was amazing. I would love to pull those types of numbers each week.
I am also officially done with my employee evaluations for 2022. They were turned into the boss last week and now I just wait to deliver to employees. It feels good to have that wrapped up before I leave for vacation. I also have a trainee for this week so hopefully will make the week a speedy one.
I am so boring lately. I hate that I have left this piece of the internet hanging but I just have zero motivation in life lately. We should have some sunshine this week so maybe some energy and motivation will return.
It is 16 years this month that I signed up for Weight Watchers and lost over 100 pounds.
Last month was a doozie and I am not alone. The holidays were rough and sugar/treats were all over the workplace. Despite my semi-best effort to try and white knuckle it, I caved multiple times. Finally, I faced the music and two weeks ago stepped on the scale. Week after week, my members inspire me so I also held myself accountable. I gained 3.4 pounds and promptly lost 3.6 pound this week. I’m floored!
What worked last week:
Meal planning/prepping - I planned out our meals which helped me stay accountable and on track. It also gave me leftovers to eat during the workday thus keeping me on track.
Re-starting a regular exercise routine - I tried not to get too wrapped up into how many minutes or how intense it was but instead, just focused on getting into a routine again.
Tracking - I had to continue to remind myself that I didn’t need to be perfect. When I learned one night would be family dinner at the pizza restaurant, I pivoted and planned lower point meals for work so I had the points to enjoy pizza while also knowing I wouldn’t be earning a blue dot.
I have a bunch of new coworkers as we are training several employees. Unlike others, some of whom have been on my WW journey with me from the beginning don’t know anything about my story. I keep getting asked by one particular employee if I eat healthy all the time. This has come up twice in a conversation. The first time I let her know I was a Weight Watchers member/coach and had lost over 100 pounds. The second time she asked, I pulled up my blog photos and shared my before pictures.
It has quite the impact for sure. The more I live this life on the other side of weight loss, the success story side, the easier it is to remember those morbidly obese days. What I do know time and time again is that just a few pound weight gain can make all the difference so it is important for me to get a handle on it ASAP!
If you want to catch on the German Beer Advent Calendar
Days 7-12 were just as delicious as days 1-6. The only day I didn’t like was Day 9. I am guessing it had more hops due to the design on the can. Not sure but didn’t enjoy it. Much like days 1-6, and as the calendar opening continued, I really liked hells and weissbier. Sadly, no other stouts in the mix. Here is Days 7-12.
Welcome 2023.
Oh boy…it has been a few weeks. I have not been focused on weight loss and despite wanting to skip the scale again, it was time to face the music.
I am continually inspired by my members who come each week and step on the scale for accountability. I would love to say I have a plan in place and I’m 100% recommitted but that isn’t the case. I’ve been struggling to find my mojo since the end of October.
I don’t know why I make meal planning/cooking so difficult but what I do know it is feels a heck of a lot easier when I am on night shift. I really like being on day shift with no plans to go back to nights so I’ve got to get this figured out. It is ridiculous to not be on track and moving up the scale isn’t something I desire to do again anytime soon.
This month I will celebrate 16 years since I walked into my local WW center ready to take control of my life. I had to do it again in July of 2016 and I feel as though I am having to do it again this year. The crazy part is I am nowhere near where I was in 2007 or in 2016, it feels like the mountain I have to climb is just a big. Facebook memories reminded me I’ve done it before (many times) and I can do it again.
I am going to make 2023 the year I get back to goal range. Right now my focus is my upcoming vacation which will be more of a stress/de-stress reliever and thus I know I’ll come back with a large gain. I’m okay with that but knowing it will take work to get it all back off is going to be hard to swallow. I can and I will…WATCH ME!
