I'm Bringing Sexy Back (if you don't count the abdomen... and people, I don't)

I've been meaning to mention... but not wanting to jinx... my recent efforts & success.

After returning from Chicago last week I set to getting serious about getting back in shape.

I've lost 3 pounds this week.

I have gotten back in the groove of my evening 60 min treadmill workouts (which no matter what works for you... just is... the ONLY thing that works for me).

The thing for me is, as hard as it is to say I want to commit that time allotment everyday... the reality is shorter workouts just don't do it for me. I only like working out if I can get an endorphin rush and I don't get that until I've crossed the 45 min mark. It makes all the difference for me in terms of my ability to stick to it. So, I am making it work. If you don't enjoy it, you just aren't going to stick to it. So, it doesn't really matter if there are shorter workouts out there... I've tried 'em... I just don't get the feeling I need to get from them in order to want to do it again. And all this time, really pretty much an entire year since Mr F first moved to MI, I haven't been able to figure out how to workout in the basement, removed from the kids, for an hour... without having them watch TV during that time. It took some time, to work around all of our scheduling issues.. but I think I've got it, now. We've pushed our entire schedule back (which thanks to homeschooling can work) and that gives me 2 hours between dinner & the girls bedtime. Because it's later, Mr F is generally home... and if not I don't feel guilty about TV for the kids, I finish my workout by 9:30 and then run up to put Kid to bed. It took Spring Break for me to try this, and seeing that I really could fit it in with a little wiggling... that's what we'll do. Also, just emotionally... evening workouts have always been a major stress reliever for me. I can really let all of my stress & anger (or whatever) go and then enjoy my evening with Mr F.

As for the food, I am diligently weighing, measuring & counting everything. Instead of using a site to input (which is just more work for me) I'm writing it on a "note" on my iPhone. When I'm done for the day I record my totals (calories, exercise, weight on weigh in day) on my phone's calendar. It's been a really easy (always available) way to track everything and be able to look back, without amassing any clutter. I've settled on 1450-1500 cal a day. With a 3 pound loss (I've also done 6 - 60 min workouts) it's obviously a good target. I'm not hungry... but I do have to be diligent and extremely conscientious to keep in that limit. I could probably raise my calorie limit up a bit... but, hell... if I'm not dying of hunger, I'd really rather get through this weight loss phase as quickly as possible.

So that's that. I am not surprisingly finding success doing it that exact same way I did 4 years ago. Sometimes it takes awhile to say "oh you know that thing that worked... why don't you try doing that?", I guess. In seriousness, I just haven't been in a place to put myself first in this past year. With selling the house and being separated for 4 months during the move, then buying a house & unpacking, getting Kid in school & then taking her out, adjusting to Mr F's work hours and to the added responsibility of homeschooling... it was just a lot for me to juggle. So, I'm here, now. I'm trying to keep present and aware of how easy it is to do, and how much better I feel when I'm doing it... so I can move forward and not sabotage myself. The truth is, it just takes so much less energy to do it, than it does to think about doing it. Which is crazy.