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“Trying again” check-in

A little while back I shared that I was trying again – that is, getting myself back on track with healthy living in order to reach and maintain a healthy weight. It’s only been a few weeks since I made that decision, but I thought it was time for me to check in and let you all know how I’m doing.

healthy living

I’m happy to say that I’m once again traveling on the road to success! It’s a long and challenging one, to be sure – and I know from past experience that there will be speed bumps and side paths and distractions along the way… but I’m headed in the right direction and I intend to stick with it.

These days I am…

  • …exercising at least five minutes every day (closer to 10 for the last week or so).
  • …staying hydrated. With a few exceptions, I now drink at least six glasses of water each day (sometimes more).
  • …eating healthy foods, and on the few occasions when I choose less than ideal options I do so intentionally, and plan my eating for the rest of the day so that everything still fits within my daily calorie allotment.
  • …staying aware of my choices and progress by logging everything – food and water intake as well as exercise – into MyFitnessPal.

And I’m seeing results! I’ve said goodbye to just over 8.5 pounds since getting myself back on track, bringing my overall total to 27 pounds gone. I’m feeling happier, less sluggish, and more hopeful. And my clothes are already fitting better! Plus, cutting way back on restaurant meals and junk food makes a noticeable difference to our budget, so as far as I’m concerned this whole “trying again” thing is a win-win situation.

Oh, and one more thing. This morning, ready to try a new exercise with my Wii Fit, I… get this… RAN. OK, so it was running in place, at a very slow speed, for just four minutes. And I only burned about 39 calories as a result. But I RAN! I don’t know about you, but I call that progress.

So all is well, and I’m carrying on. For the most part I’m planning to stick with my original goals in the days to come – because I think they’re good ones – but I’m going to up my game a little when it comes to exercise. My personal rule will always be five minutes minimum every day, no exception – but for the next while my new target will be to aim for ten minutes or more each day. (I know this may seem like exceptionally slow going to some of you, but past experience indicates that I tend to have better long-term success by taking the boiling frog approach to certain habits rather than diving in head-first.)

I’ll check in again after a few weeks, hopefully with further stories of success!

How are you doing with your health and fitness goals?
Please share!

NaBloPoMo August 2014

Laurel Storey, CZT – Certified Zentangle Teacher. Writer, reader, tangler, iPhoneographer, cat herder, learner of French and Italian, crocheter, needle felter, on-and-off politics junkie, 80s music trivia freak, ongoing work in progress.