My Journey

Well, I haven’t been here this past week as I have been so off plan, and honestly I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. I took a mini vacation and ever since I have been struggling to get back on track.  Every morning I woke up and told myself that today would be the day I would start over, and then I would slip-up and tell myself, why bother.  I really need to let go of my all or nothing mindset.  I get so down on myself when I am not “perfect” and although I know that attitude will get me nowhere, I seem to keep doing it over and over again.   I have gained 4 pounds and am back to where I was when I started blogging here.  I am fed up and I know I can’t keep doing this to myself. 

So today is the day that I am starting anew.  I am going to go back to counting calories and exercising.  I am not going to beat myself up over any slip-ups, as consistency is the key not perfection.  I just need to keep reminding myself of that. 
I am going to zig zag my calories between 1600 - 1800.  I intend on exercising 5 - 6  days a week, alternating circuit workouts with pure cardio days.

Weight: 200
Calories:
Exercise:  am: 20 minutes on Stairmaster + 10 mins of ab exercises. 
I plan on doing more minutes of exercise tonight.

I was cleaning out some drawers today, and I came accross a book that I bought a few years ago called, The Leanness Lifestyle.  When I followed the plan before I had some nice results, but I became a little obbsessive with it, stressed myself out and gave up.  After skimming through the book again this morning, I have decided to give it another try. 

I have decided that I need to start planning my menu the night before.  I am really struggling with the diet part of this journey.  I am eating a lot better than I was a few months ago, and I am not eating huge portions, but I am not being as strict as I know I need to be if I expect to reach my goals.  I used to plan my menus out, and I had a lot of success doing that, so I am going to do it again.   
I am very happy with the amount of exercise that I have been doing.  I am really enjoying working out and pushing myself. There are days were I don’t feel like doing anything, but after a workout I feel so energized and motivated.  Now I just need to get strict with my diet and I know I can reach my goals.

I can’t believe how fast this year is going!  This month my goals are to be diligent about counting my calories.  Lately, I have been slacking off from logging my foods, and I can tell that I am slowly starting to eat more.  It’s like my mind tells me if I don’t log it, it doesn’t count, which is ridiculous!  I am going to keep a small notepad with me and write down everything I eat and then log it - no excuses. 

I have done my workout for the day so I feel good about that.  I am going to try to go for a walk this afternoon as well.

 Calories:
Exercise:  The Firm’s Complete Body Sculpting.