My Journey So Far....

May your journey be filled with roses!

If I had only known how much energy and time it takes to lose 125 pounds, I would have never started this journey in the first place.  Because it's just too daunting, overwhelming, time consuming, frustrating, frightening, and scary! 

All those things are true for me, but on that fateful day back on January 1, 2010 something happened...Even with my fears, I decided to give it try anyway. I was going to make some changes in my life!

How it worked for me was really quite simple and easy. I just simply broke down each thing I needed to do, on the journey and started moving towards my goals of good health and fitness! One baby step at a time!! I did not incorporate every thing that I'm doing today all at once. I just took one thing at a time and then I focused and stayed determined and kept reaching for my goals. Oh yeah....and I had a plan!

First up!

I had to decide to try!

Once that happened, then it was just about making small  healthy changes ~ EVERY DAY!

At first, I decided to take just a year to focused on my health.

Then the next thing I did was to journal my food. (All of it) Just journalling what I ate - no calories. (It was shocking and eye opening to see what I really ate each day)

At the time, I had a lot of other medical problems. Lots of them! And I decided that those little things needed to be included in my goals to great fitness! So I worked with my doctors and we got each thing taken care of. Success!!

As I started to feel better, I had more energy to do more towards reaching my goals. I started exercising. It was mostly walking on my treadmill, stairs etc. Each day I would increase my activity level, always recording my efforts in my journal. NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF STUFF ~ So important to see my progress!

As time went on and as my knowledge increased about health and fitness, I started adding new things to my daily regiment. Not only was I logging in my food in my journal, I started counting calories, then I increased my activity level, started drinking my water, started blogging my journey, I learned how to over come injuries and set backs. I just would pick myself up each time and kept pushing forward. Then as I got more confident I eliminated things that were bad for me....fast food, soda, sweets. Another important part, of the process, was I formed my "team" to help me on my way. I got a personal trainer, nutritionist, doctors, family, friends, accountability partner, blogging friends and of course the Lord to help me with all aspects of the journey. I can't do this on my own!!

The coolest thing is....I set out to only focus on my journey for 1 year. But after that one year came and I lost 50 pounds, I decided that I was not done and I wanted to keep going. So I did. I'm now in this journey for 2 and 1/2 years and I know, that I have about 2 more years to get the rest of the weight off. Seems soooooooo long, but in reality, time is going by anyway and I am in no hurry. I want to do this the slow and normal way. No surgeries, no fad diet plans or crazy stuff. It's just sensible eating (low carb/fat), exercise and focus. I'm telling you it works!!

Also, because I'm losing weight so slow, I don't have to deal with  too much loose skin. Bonus! 

I guess the bottom line is.....Losing a significant amount of weight....takes time, effort, determination and grit!! Just knowing that...really knowing that, it helps to take the pressure off. Helps make the journey more fun. The extra time, it takes to lose weight, also helped me learn why I allowed myself to get to this place, it helped me really learn how to eat healthy, how to exercise, how to recover from injuries, how to work through disappointments and frustrations and setbacks. And the more you do something, it becomes a habit. It's just what you do!!

Another thing.....What worked in the beginning does not always work as you go along, I have had to tweak and modify my plan all along the way, which takes the monotony out of the journey. Keeps it fresh and interesting.

Now the new thing that I'm working on is. I have always wondered why I can give 100% to my employer, but when it comes to me, I would always let myself down. I mean I go to work even if I don't feel well or if I'm bored, sad, happy, well fed, over fed, tired, excited etc etc.... But when it comes to me and my personal needs, I will let all of those things (feelings) derail me from my goals. I could never understand why I do this....well what I've come up with is......I never ever ever put any type of emotion or feeling into whether I go to work or not. It's just what I do. My feelings don't interfere with whether I get there or not. I just do it!! I mean, if I treated my employer like I treat myself, I would be fired! For sure!!

I realize that I put EMOTION & FEELINGS into other things that are important to me and my health. Such as, I put emotion on to my food...I look at my food, like it's my best friend. I put my emotions first when deciding if I want to go to the gym or not. I allow my feelings to stop me from doing the right thing. If I'm too tired or sore, or bored or whatever, I will not go or do the right thing. Instead of just remembering that there is no feeling about going to the gym or doing the right thing. It's just what I do.....Every day!

You see once you start the journey, you will discover all kinds of cool and amazing stuff out about yourself. Not only stuff like I was talking about above, but also, you will find out how strong you really are. I cannot believe the things I can do now. Before I started my journey, I felt like I was 3 minutes away from being bed bound. I just could not move my body. Now I can run and walk for miles, squat, stand for long periods of time, I can jump rope, do jumping jacks, lunge, water ski, surf, roller skate, bike, garden.....and the list goes on and on!! Not only that, but I'm strong now. I used to fall a lot, because I was just not strong enough to stop myself from falling down. I mean I have a 3 inch scar on my arm from when I fell onto a glass bowl! I just did not have the strength to stop myself. Now I catch myself all the time. Think what that will do to help myself when I get older!! No broken bones for this gal!!

Other benefits......Normal cholesterol, lower blood pressure, no diabetes and on and on!

So even though the journey is hard, sometimes frustrating and long suffering, it's the best decision I've ever made. Because you know what? I'm worth it and so are you!!

So that's my story. The journey's not over, it's on-going and I will press on and reach my goals!

How about you...Are you willing to try?

Keep focused!!