Week three

 It is absolutely amazing to me the dedication I have put into this journey. I mean I have always put in this type of dedication but it usually wanes by week three. And so far that hasn't happened.

I have not found excuses to avoid a workout, sometimes I do not do a full cycle and strength workout, but I always do something, yoga or even meditation.

Sure meditation might not get my cardio heart rate up but it is helping me with my focus, with my staying attached to these goals, it also gives me the grace to be ok if I don't put in a hard workout. Usually my meditation days do come after I have closed my exercise ring, so for what it's worth I am still getting in some activity according to my watch (How somedays I have no idea)

Journalling isn't going as great as I would have hoped, I mean it's better than it was before but I still forget or just don't do it, it's more consistent than it's been in the past, yet I don't journal as I feel I should. There I go shoulding on myself. That's something I'd like to stop this year.

Stretching, this is still a work in progress, but I have incorporated a couple of yoga routines into my weekly schedule to help with that. It's still a workout but it's a stretch too. I've found a couple on the Peloton App that are amazing (Dennis Morton Flow for Riders!!!) and the hip flows. I think I need to do a few feet and wrist flows as well because those are trouble areas during some of my workouts.

It's been one week into the second half of the school year and I have completed some type of activity every day, I think I had 5 workouts (cycling, core and strength) last week and I have done my workout today, tomorrow will be interesting I have signed in to do a live ride with Ally Love (she's one of my favs) but it is at 5:30, I'm usually up by this time when I don't have to be, I just don't know how it will go when I actually have to wake up for it. Fingers crossed it all goes well. I am trying to time my cycles so that I can jump on a live ride for my 100th Cycle, it would be so cool to get a shout out and to also get a PR that ride as well. 

I have a goal to read 55 books again this year, I have read 3 books already and finished one audio book. I think I have gotten back into my reading groove and it is refreshing, still working on the intentionality of my reading during the day so that it's purposeful and helps me settle for the night.

I'm not sure if these progress photos are showing in changes, I know the scale is changing, recording lower weights and less body fat. But I am going to keep taking them because this is a journey and not a destination.

Also I do feel like there are changes and they are subtle, and soon others will notice, but at the end of the day, this is for me, for my confidence, my health and my self esteem. This isn't a journey for anyone else or for anyone else to comment on. I know it's not reaching an audience because I don't share this and I have no plans to.

The one thing I notice though is how long my hair is! It's incredibly long now and it's pretty healthy!

Journey to Health 2023 Update 1

 Last week I set some lofty but doable goals for myself this year. I think Tunde (from Peloton) calls them standards. I set standards for myself to help me reach my lofty goal of getting in shape and being strong in 2023. I am going into my 44th year on this planet with a driven mindset.

What I recognize right now is it is super easy because 9 hours of my day are not dedicated to work, or having to drive the children to various appointments. Having those 9 hours free makes it so easy to work out for 30-60 minutes, journalling for 15 or reading for 15. There is so much time in the day to do all those things. When those 9 hours are dedicated to work and fulfilling my role as a taxi driver for my children it is not as easy.

So how do I overcome these impending barriers???

I plan, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. So I have to dedicated some of my free time on the weekends, finding recipes for supper and having them ready to go (Crockpot, instapot, quick stove top) If I do not have to do much to get supper ready, I can do a workout after work, easy peasy, if I have to prep and cook everything I am losing that time. Utilizing my son and husband to also take on part of supper will also have to happen. 

I have had some success this week. I have workout every day this week, even done some intense strength exercises after finishing a cardio. I feel good, like  I have extra energy, I am sleeping better. My food is better and I am making better choices and avoiding those tasty snacks that do not have a lot of nutritional value. I have lost weight, but what I think is more exciting is having lost 4.5% body fat. 

I took my measurements this week, most are exactly where they were six months ago, but my belly bloat is down by 4 inches which is saying something to the things I have been doing. 

Today I am tired, but I spent time in a hot tub yesterday and was up late with an early morning wake up, it's been all good and I already finished my workout, so tomorrow I will do my meal prepping and figure out how to make this stick. The only person stopping me from reaching my goals is me.

2023 Journey to Health

 I would say my life since my first child 24 years ago has been in a weird love hate relationship with my body, my size  and my own health. Even before my first child I could not claim a healthy relationship with my body. To much external pressure to have the perfect body, the flat abs, to look like my skinny friends and yet I wish I was a skinny as I was the first time I thought I was fat. 

In the last year I have done a lot of growth and no longer have any hate for my body, my body is a strong machine that has supported me through so many things. Three babies, a couple half marathons, different exercise programs and regimes and it has allowed me to enjoy so much food. And I do love food, especially baked goods and anything sweet. I know that there are lots of things that influence my body shape, the number on the scale and how I feel about it all. The biggest growth I have had I think this year is the learning that it's not just my body's physical health that I need be aware of, I need to take care of my mental health. Deal with my stresses and use my strategies to support myself as I go through different stressors. Be that relationship, job or finances. 

So these are my most current pictures. I am the largest I have ever been  and it makes me extremely uncomfortable, but the reality is this is my reality and I put myself here with my poor habits and choices. 

Some of these choices would have been due to convenience and the stress of the last two years. A pandemic and my masters didn't make for a relaxing life and I am not really good at identifying my stress or when I am fully in the a stressed state, which is probably more problematic than one could know. 

Things still aren't as bad as I feel they are though. I mean I am strong, I can still carry things, I can still do hard workouts without getting completely gassed. I have a lot of strength underneath this layer of padding. I am also super thankful that I do not seem to only gain weight in one area, but I gain it all over fairly evenly.

I am not writing this blog hoping people will reply and comment and encourage me, which I have done in the past, I am writing this for me so I can track my journey with my photos and build some new healthier habits in 2023. 

These habits will include 

1. Journalling: I have some beautiful notebooks to journal in and I will also use this platform to journal once a week and overall statement. So planning to have 52 blog entries this year.

2. Meditation: I love meditations to put myself to sleep at night, I want to be more mindful of this practice and I am going to try to start with one meditation a week, and slowly increase to two a week.

3. Stretching: I know my body is doing well by me, it works hard for me, it gets me through each day and I need to return the love and stretch after my workouts more, or stretch at night before bed to get some better sleep.

4. Work outs: I would love to work out 7 days a week, but the reality is that I do not have that dedication yet, I need to slowly build it up and I need to structure my days to include all those things I love to do. This first week I am going to work out every day. Kick start the new year, but once school starts and activities start back up I need to be realistic about my expectations. If I can get in three workouts a week for this whole year that will be amazing!

5. Reading: I am an avid reader, but I will sometimes not do any reading because of my mental health, so I am planning to do 20 minutes of reading every night before I go to bed. I am going to change my ipad watching habit to a reading habit, even if I do turn on the ipad after to go to sleep I will have to read for 20 minutes before I do that. I am also going to get up each morning and read for 20 minutes. 

6. New morning routines and new bedtime routines: By the end of the year I would love to have built a habit in which I wake up each morning and do a 20 minute work out, followed by 20 minutes of reading and 20 minutes of writing. In the evening I would love to have an hour set aside in which I would do 20 minutes of journalling, 20 minutes of stretching and 20 minutes of reading.  I am going to start my mornings with exercising and my evenings with reading. Once those feel set then I will add in the writing. and then the last one. 

To my future self: You are amazing and you can do wonderful things, just keep going one step in front of each other. You just have to keep working on yourself and everything else will come around. 

Week One Results

So it's been an interesting week, that's for sure.  I was able to stay within 200 calories of 1400 Calories a day for eating.  I was able to eat right 6 times this week, in fact I ate right all 7 days on a caloric stand point, but I wouldn't say it was a perfect six days.  A Big Mac Meal got in there as did a donut and pumpkin cupcake with icing.  So not horrible, but not excellent either. The teacher in me gives me a B-, I have a lot of stuff to tighten up if I want to be successful in the long run.

Week two's short term goal is to do cardio 5X a week for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 3 toning exercises a week for 15 minutes, and to eat right 6 days a week in order to lose 1-2 pounds.

Now let's see how I did in the weight and measurement category.


Beginning measurements:                                                        Week One Measurements
Weight 1XX (no I am not saying that number :P)                     Weight: 1XX   -1
Neck: 13.5 inches                                                                   Neck:  13.5   no change          
Shoulders: 42 inches                                                               Shoulders 41.5    -0.5
Bust: 43 inches                                                                       Bust  42               -1
Chest (under armpits and across) : 36 inches                           Chest: 36 no change
Thigh: 25 inches                                                                      Thigh: 24.5       -0.5
Calf: 15 inches                                                                        Calf: 15     no change
bicep: 13 inches                                                                      bicep: 13 no change
Hips: 45 inches                                                                       hips: 44   -1
Waist 1 (smallest part of waist): 35 inches                                waist 1: 34  -1
Waist 2 (over belly button): 39 inches                                     waist 2: 37.5   -1.5

Well I have lost a total of 5.5 inches in the first week, that's very encouraging!!!  And I lost a pound which means I am on track to be losing 6-10 pounds in the next 6 weeks.  


Through last year when I was losing weight, I didn't really lose a lot of inches in my neck or chest area those areas pretty much stayed the same so I am not suprised to see no movement there.  I also didn't see much more than an inch shift in my calf or bicep so those aren't surprising. What I find the most encouraging is the loss of inches in those areas that are so problematic for me, my hips and waist!!  I always identify those areas as my problem areas with my thighs, but hopefully this will start dropping and I can begin to feel like I have no problem areas!! 


Bring on week 2!!!!!

Week One Meals

Sunday Meals
Protein Shake with yogurt and fresh fruit       344 calories
English Muffin with peanut butter and honey  183 calories
Apple and Cottage Cheese                           153 calories
Steak, Stuffed Potato and Corn                    386 calories
oatmeal, apple and cottage cheese                263 calories
Total Calories                                               1329 calories
water                                                           2.25 Litres
Monday Meals
English muffin peanut butter honey.               178 calories
Steak stuffed potato garlic toast                    393 calories
Banana                                                          50 Calories
Chocolate chip cookie                                 120 calories
Chicken breast rice cream corn                    298 calories
Keystone beer                                             143 calories
Total Calories                                            1370 calories
Water                                                         1.5 litres
Tuesday Meals
Shhhh don't judge me today
Special K with 1% mild                              111 calories
Big Mac Meal with Diet Coke                    890 Calories
Taco meat and Ceasar Salad                      313 calories

Total Calories                                             1314 calories
water                                                          2 litres
Wednesday Meals
Protein Shake with yogurt and fresh fruit     344 Calories
turkey wrap with mustard                           260 Calories
Donut                                                         200 Calories
Pork chops, rice and cream corn                330 Calories
strawberries and cream cheese dip              94 calories

Total calories                                            1216 Calories                                        
Water                                                        1.5 litres
Thursday Meals
whole grain toast, peanut butter and honey    331 calories
bbq porkchop rice and cream corn               292 calories
3 pieces pepperoni pizza                               600 calories
strawberries and cream cheese dip                  94 calories
Total Calories                                               1317 calories
Water                                                        2 litres
Friday Meals
protein smoothie                                           344 calories
pumpkin spice cupcakes with icing                264 calories
cottage cheese                                               81 calories
crepes                                                          410 calories
apple and strawberries                                   184 calories
Total Calories                                                 1202 calories
Water                                                       750 ml
Saturday Meals
smoothie                                                       344 calories
raspberry muffin whipped shortbread cookie  219 calories
sandwiches, mixed raw veggies, fruit               275 calories
popcorn                                                         110 calories
hamburgers fries and Caesar salad                  496 calories
Total Calories                                               1444 calories
Water                                                       750 ml

* I use My Fitness Pal App to help me calculate my calories*

So it hasn't been a bad week, I have kept within 200 Calories of my desired caloric intake. So yeah!!!  There are a few items I am embarrassed to have put on this list, but this is about being honest, so that if anyone else is struggling, they can see what I am doing to find success, as I find things that work, then I am going to make sure to highlight those things.  Losing and maintaining weight is hard work, there is no quick fix and I don't just want to lose weight I want to be healthy doing it.  I am going to keep the same goal of 1400 Calories but I have to be within 100 calories for next week, then the next week I am going to drop it 200 calories to hopefully kick start my metabolism!!!

Week One EXERCISE

Sunday Exercise
30 minute walk with Lil Man and Sasha
20 minute toning circuit (25 squats, 25 push ups and 50 sit ups /2X)

Monday Exercise
40 minute walk
15 minute toning circuit ( same as Sunday only once threw though)

Tuesday Exercise
30 minute walk

Wednesday Exercise
15 minute toning circuit (same as Sunday)

Thursday Exercise
I didn't do any formalized exercise this day, although I did help set up tables and chairs then take them down again.

Friday Exercise
Again nothing, hopefully next week will be better for consistency.

Saturday Exercise
Today I had a trade show in Sedgewick so I didn't get anything done for exercising.

I am going to keep the same goals for next weeks exercising, Cardio 5X, Toning 3X and eating right 6 X.  I get one Fatday, where I get to eat above my calories and enjoy food.  But I can't eat just bad food, but I get to have a few snacks.

Goal Charts

Alright so I think if I use Google Documents and paste the link here you can see what I am doing and the sheets I am using to keep track of my goals.
Here is the first one, it's a calendar type chart that I will use and make annotations on each day so I can make sure I am reaching my goals.

Goal Chart

Blueprint to success This one let's me record what I want to do and what I did each week!!