Happy New Year to everyone.
We had a great time with friends and family over the holiday season. Hope everyone else did as well.
Very proud of Jeff. He's lost 60lbs over the past several months. I've lost close to 30. The great thing is, we both survived the holidays and did not fall off the wagon. We jumped off a few times but the difference is...in the past we stayed off and gave up. This time...we get right back up and keep going and it's resulted in weight loss through the holiday blitz of all kinds of food.
A lot of people have asked what we're doing. Well...no fad diets or quick fixes. I think that's what people want to hear...but we've been eating right and exercising regularly for several months now and it's come off slowly. I started back in September. Jeff started at the end of summer but he'd already lost about 10 pounds before beginning the exercise.
We got Jeff's mom's treadmill at our house last September...and we both started with that. I lasted about 15 minutes on it when I first started. Thought I was going to die. HA! We're both jogging up to 3+ miles now. Still not fast but getting there. We're doing some aerobic workouts as well along with weights. The inches are the amazing thing to me. I don't always loose pounds but the inches are coming off.
Where do we get the time? Well...we make time. Before, we made excuses...we're too busy...we're too tired from the schedule. How many times have we tried to diet in the past and failed. But, after Jeff faced some health issues if he didn't get his weight under control...we just had to decide to make time. So we did. I have to say, I feel SO much better. I have energy now. I'm not dragging at the end of the day and the high you get after working out is great. I sleep better through the night. I feel better about myself. Jeff feels all these things, too. We work out at least 5 times a week.
I hesitated to even write a blog on this because it seems like as long as we've been married we've been in the back and forth struggle with weight control and dieting and trying to figure out what works. Well...trying to find an easy fix just didn't work. We've learned you just have to do it the old fashioned way...watching what you eat...and exercise. We grocery shop different and we eat out differently.
Somethings we've taken out of our lifestyle. No more fast food. I had a quarter pounder from McDonald's last week for the first time in I don't know when. I thought it would taste so good. Instead...I felt sick after eating it. It tasted good, but I felt like crap after eating all the grease. If we do eat fast, we go to Chick-Fil-A and get grilled Chicken sandwiches with soup or fruit. I love french fries...potatoes...but I find I'm not able to loose weight if I eat them. So I try to stay away. I've gotten off soft drinks...regular or diet. I drink one every now and then. I drink at least 64oz. of water a day. When I want something sweet I try to eat fruit instead of cookies or something like that. I eat my veggies. Do I want to eat like this everyday? No. Somedays I want to eat everything bad in sight. I'll allow myself a little cheat every once in awhile otherwise I feel deprived. I have cheat days where I'll eat bad all day but my metabolism is working now so I can handle one day but I have to get back on track the next. It was hard passing the break room when vendors would bring by cookies and Christmas goodies at the office. I made it though. :)
So New Years Resolution...continue doing what we're doing and get down to my ideal weight. I really enjoy running. I'd like to be able to run long distances. Right now, we're stuck to the treadmill so in the Spring when it warms up, we'll get outside and go to the track. Jeff's been enjoying it as well.
Side benefit is, Courtney has gotten into it as well. I walk in and she'll be doing Wii fit and she's also thinking about what she eats more. I want to instill some good habits with her as well.
And to conclude...I hate when people make some kind of lifestyle change and then push it in your face as though everyone should do it, too. I'm definitely not doing that. This has worked for us personally and I know that we have to be resolved to continue to work at it. It's definitely easy to slip back into old and easy habits. I sincerely thank God for helping us to make a much needed change and continue to need His grace to continue maintaining it in the future.
