Active Adventuring

Let's see, it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I have started to go to the rock climbing gym again! The past 2 weeks my friend and I have gone 2x a week, as scheduled. It's been really great to get back there and have some exercise, something to work on, and some time to socialize. I think we are both enjoying it, I just hope that I can keep this going.

I also went to the gym 2x this week. It felt good to get back in and accomplish some real exercise. I've been so flakey lately and I'm realizing that I just feel happier when I make it to the gym. It's been hard to maintain motivation because I don't feel like I'm moving towards anything, just kind of the goal is to get there. I'm still working on finding some other motivation that will get my to exercise.

Another adventure I had was mountain biking yesterday. It went really well! I made it to the top of the mountain for the first time. Every other time we make it most of the way but after a really steep stretch I just couldn't go up. I felt much better rested and felt great in that stretch and to the top. It felt really great to make it up there, and see the cool sights!

Food wise, I still have some work to do. I haven't been doing as much mindless munching, but I still do some. Nighttime snacking is just the worst for me. Morning and daytime I have no problem avoiding snacks, but for some reason as soon as dinner is over I am in the pantry scrounging around. I think if I can nip that I might have a fighting chance of losing weight without calorie counting. I've also considered doing a diet plan where you buy premade food, but it's expensive and I know I don't need to do that. I've lost 50 lb before without it, and now I'm just looking to lose 30! No problem right :)

where's my motivation

Well, I had a pretty good weekend last week, but the week following was not so great.

I didn't make it to the gym at all, which is a shame. I also ate a lot of junk food throughout the week and didn't take the time to cook healthy meals. I am just hoping I can learn from this and find a way to break the cycle now.

This morning, I went to the gym, and it was great.I was nervous because I haven't been going regularly, and it's true that I didn't go as strong as I would like, but I have to get over being out of shape and realize that there's only one way to get back, and that's a lot of work.

I will take some more time to focus on things I can do every day and keep reporting on my progress or lack thereof.

Meandering weekend

So, time for another update. Since I last posted, I had some good days and some bad. Last week, I didn't work out at all. I am really frustrated at myself because of it, but realize I need to calm down and move on. I also bought some junkfood one night and ate all of it. Bad move!

In general, things weren't moving in a very positive direction. This weekend, however, I made some improvements. Saturday morning, I went to the circuit training class I really enjoy. I also went for a 5 mile walk, and ate fairly healthy.

Sunday (today), I went mountain biking in the morning, enjoyed a healthy lunch outside, and hung out at the beach.

All in all, a successful weekend. I am hopeful that I can turn things around with this positive weekend and continue through the week.

Jumpstart Weekend

This weekend I took some time to refocus and look at where I am and where I want to be.

I've been tracking food, and just being more mindful in general. I am eating a lot less than I was, which is great because I was gaining weight pretty steadily.

I also kicked the exercise up a notch. I had a great bike to the beach with my fiancé and we had a great time chatting and seeing the ocean. I also went to the gym and had a great workout. Then today I went mountain biking, and am so pooped!

I made some healthy snacks and healthy meals. It was so fun to cook again and really pay attention to food as fuel.

I think I really need to find some long term and short term goals that I can sink my teeth into to maintain this motivation, but I am feeling much better both mentally and physically.

A new awakening

I weighed myself this morning for the first time in a few months and realized that I have gained 15-20 pounds this summer.

Looking back, it was mostly the stress and eating like junk at night. That's not to say that I have the most stress in the world, plenty of people deal with far more and handle it better.

I think my approach now will focus on tracking and staying accountable for a month or two, since that will really help jump start my fitness. But more importantly, I will focus on how to handle stress better.

At night, I get home and basically plop on the couch and start chowing. I am so exhausted after work, despite it being mostly sitting in a cubicle, and I just have no motivation to do anything. Even going for a 20-30 minute walk is a challenge most nights.

I will try to post here regularly since I have a half hour shuttle from parking to work every day, and usually spend that time dealing with email or catching up on social media.

Eats (and treats) Lately

I've experienced a pretty significant gain since I've last blogged. Maybe I should take notice and realize that having this way to communicate with a group in similar circumstances helps me stay healthy and make good choices....

I'm up to just under 210lb. This is starting to get uncomfortable. In terms of my body, if I'm under 190lb, I feel really good and ready to take on the world. 190lb to 200lb, I feel good and comfortable. 200lb+ and I start to feel like I can't do the things I enjoy and I don't want to go out in public as much.

So, without making a bunch of goals that I don't stick to, my goals are going to be -- write in this blog regularly, and record how I'm doing.

I also hope to get back in touch with the fitness blogging scene and reconnect.

Talk to you again soon!

Keeping it together...

OK, time to come clean. I have been slacking on the diet front. I kicked up the exercise a notch, and that probably messed up my diet big time.

I need to start listening to my body again. That was my biggest struggle, and what had the biggest impact on my health. It's hard to ignore the cravings that I have. It took me a couple of years to make progress on getting rid of those, and now I am back starting to get them again.

I am still pretty hopeful for the future; I am feeling good and much healthier.

One of the things I've found is that sometimes I will avoid going out because I am afraid of all of the junk I will eat/drink. The truth is that in social situations I usually hold it together pretty well. It's probably because there are a lot of people around and I feel guilty about digging in to junk. It may also be because there is a lot to do and I don't need to eat out of boredom.

Either way I need to focus on building good relationships with friends and spending quality time with people. I also need to work on my relationship with food again (or, as always).