68 pounds down :(

Sooooo, I've gained some weight. Not a lot but at my highest, about 10 pounds from my last blog post. Why? Well there's a lot of factors. As I said in my last post 8 months ago, you get too comfortable and then you start slacking. You start eating more bad food than good. You start skipping days and weeks at the gym. You start buying more and more clothes in your current size making you not as motivated to lose weight and abandon them lol. So I had to say ENOUGH! Enough complacency, enough procrastination, enough denial/justification - it was time to get to work. I got two of my best friends on board and we've been at this for almost a month now. So I'm happy to say I've dropped about 8 pounds since we started and 3 inches in my waist and I feel like I'm getting my strength back again! I was so weak when I first started back at the gym with my strength training - now I'm close to where I left off last fall.

So I have a number in my head of the pounds I want to lose. But, more importantly, I've figured out that I need to lose about 5 inches in my waist to get into a size 10. So that's my goal by June 1st. So here's what I'm doing currently to stay on track this time:

1) Diet - If you've read any of my previous posts, you know this is my main problem. I will eat nonsense American food all day everyday without a veggie or fruit in sight. Of course I don't eat as much of these awful things as I used to, but a carb filled day is a carb filled day. So, I'm back to logging my food in the myfitnesspal app - the good, the bad and the ugly. Both of my friends I mentioned are also doing this and we check on each other to make sure we're logging daily and sometimes joke about what we're eating lol. It definitely makes you think twice about eating a cookie! Add me as a friend - cecie313!

2) Exercise - Now if  you know me at all, you know this is my favorite part of my journey. I'm so competitive from my background as a collegiate athlete that I'm always looking to run faster or lift heavier. It feels really good to be back in the gym consistently and I've even started going to my boxing class again (Al's Irish - Shut Up and Box in Royal Oak - www.alirishsuab.com), which is always an AMAZING workout! I'm exercising at least 4 days a week, sometimes I squeeze in one more. I'm working 12 hours a day, 4 days a week so that's somewhat of a challenge but I'm going to have this schedule well into May and my goal date is June 1st so I have to suck it up!

3) Mental - Now this is where things get kinda bipolar lol. On the one hand, I will find the perfect dress, slip on my 5 inch stilettos and feel like the sexiest woman in the building. On the other hand, I have days where I feel like my stomach is huge or my face is so fat and I'm cursing myself out for not finishing my journey all the way last year (2013). So I refer to this quote when I'm feeling like this: "You have to love yourself enough to want to be the best version of yourself". That means NO SELF HATE. No negative talk, no negative feelings - only positive encouragement and hard work allowed. Luckily I have such a great support system that's nothing to worry about from the outside. Also, every now and then I post a before and after pic to remind myself how far I've come. Yes, I could've done it faster, better, sooner, etc. But it's a journey and not a sprint - there's no rush! Yes, I want to get there before my 2 year Fitversary, but I will make it. And I will do it using the tools that got me this far. And if something isn't working, I'll adjust it and keep pushing. I encourage you guys to do the same - and email me if you need advice or support! scece19@yahoo.com

(Left: My 29th bday at my highest weight; Right: Me currently at 33 :) )