Goodbye 2012...

It's time to say "Goodbye" to 2012 and to start looking forward to 2013.

First, let's recap the holidays.  My goal was to gain less than 2 lbs.  I met my friend at WW on Saturday.  That's a big step for both of us because we could have easily avoided the inevitable.  I knew it wasn't going to be good.  But, surprisingly enough, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  I (only) gained 0.4 lbs.  That's it.  I was shocked!

Now, it's time to use that minimal holiday gain to push through the New Year battle and start 2013 on a good note.  I bought some new running shoes yesterday, so there is no excuse to not "hit the ground running" in the new year.  I've already renewed my Community Center membership, so no excuse there.  And, I even splurged and bought a new workout top.  So I have something to wear, new shoes to break in, and CC membership to use.  Sounds like all that is left is to work up my motivation.

I have a friend (actually a couple friends) that wants to run a half marathon in 2013.  I'm not ready to commit to that distance but I should find a race in the spring and commit to that.  My town has a 5k, 10k and a 10-mile race.  If I start training now, I should be able to manage the 10k.  There's also the GiG race that I've run numerous times.  My workouts might start on the right foot if I have something that I'm working towards.

There's also a "Women and Weights" class that the CC is offering.  I'm pretty good at getting in cardio but I am so bad at lifting weights.  Muscle burns more calories than fat, so building up muscle is the logical thing to do.  Plus, looking toned is always a good thing!  Maybe signing up for this class would help me get 2013 going in the right direction.  And, more importantly, I bet it will help me get over my fear of lifting weights.

As I think back on 2012, I'll start making my resolutions for 2013.  Being healthy and losing weight will definitely be two things that I'll continue working towards.  I accomplished my 2012 goals - a 5k in the spring (I ran the Get Lucky 7k in March) and a 5k in the fall (Nickle Dickle Day 5k in September). So, what should 2013 include??

Cheers to a great 2012.  Cheers to what is going to be an even better 2013!

Happy Holidays!!

It's Christmas Eve and my parents' house is full of Christmas goodies!  Oh so good but oh so bad for me.

I love the holiday season.  The snow is falling, the tree is trimmed, the house smells like cookies, and (for the most part) everyone is cheery!  It's my favorite time of the year!  But for my waist line, this is the worst time of the year.  Every year my pants get a little tighter and my waist line expands just a little during the holidays.

I'm trying to have this year be different but it's not going so well.  When I'm at my apartment, I'm in complete control.  But when I come home, it's like calories don't exist and I have free reign to eat anything and everything.  It doesn't help that my mom bought/made a lot of my favorite treats.  And how can a girl say no to mom?!  It's impossible!  I know that I shouldn't be eating so much but it's so hard not to eat all of my favorites.  My mind says "no" but my stomach says "yum".

I will say that tracking all of the treats has been hard (and depressing at times).  But it's also been a good thing.  Knowing that I have to track six donut holes might not stop me from eating all six of them but it does keep me from eating six more.  And even though WW doesn't have "Goodie Bars" in their system, that's not an excuse not to track them.  They do have treats that are close enough for me to track as a substitute.

My goal is not to gain back everything that I lost over the past three weeks.  Honestly, that's too easy of a goal.  I know that I'm not going to literally gain 6 lbs this weekend; I'd have to consume an extra 21,000 calories in order to do that.  I might enjoy my fair share of holiday treats but not that many.  But I could probably realistically gain 2 lbs.  So my "real" goal is not gain more than 2 lbs this weekend.

I think it's time for me to do some jumping jacks, some push ups, and some crunches before the extended family comes over.  I can at least burn a few calories before I eat more cookies.

Merry Christmas to all!!

Denial

Here's the deal... rejoining WW has paid off.  I've lost 5 lbs (exactly) in the past two weeks.  Yay!!  It isn't / wasn't easy and I'm hungry about half the day, but losing those 5 lbs has been great motivation for me.

The problem with that is that in my mind I (apparently) think I lost 50 lbs and not 5 lbs.  So, I decide to do some online shopping this morning - a little holiday shopping for myself.  J Crew has free shipping and 30% off everything.  How can I resist?!  I can't.

While shopping, I find this super cute skirt that will be fun for New Year's Eve.  Unsure of what size to get, I look up the "measurements" section to help with sizing.  This is where it all goes downhill.  Since my mind thinks that I've lost 50 lbs, it's a bit shocked when I look down to see the actual size of my hips.  I'm so embarrassed that I can't even post the number here - and no one even reads this blog!

Reality set in.  My waist is huge and so are my hips.  So what did I do?  I decided to go to the mall, finished up my Christmas shopping, drank a mocha and then ate Christmas cookies when I got home.  Because if my hips are already huge, a mocha and some cookies aren't going to hurt anything.  Right?!  WRONG!

The last time that I lost weight, I didn't keep track of my measurements.  I didn't take them when I was big and I didn't when I was at goal.  But this time around is going to be different.  After seeing the numbers today, I think tracking my progress not just by the number of lbs I've lost but also by how many inches have disappeared off of me will help keep me motivated.  Or so I hope.

One thing is for sure, my hips can't stay this big forever!  Time to get off the couch and do some lunges and squats.