the last fifteen pounds...

My entire family came to Arizona for Christmas. When my family gets together, I can promise you a couple of things that will happen.

1. Laughs will be plenty

2. My children will be spoiled rotten

3. The recycling bin will look like Guns 'n Roses stopped by

4. Good food will be had in large amounts

When the last of my fam had left I stepped on the scale and had to catch myself before passing out. I had managed to gain a whole ten pounds! That was on top of the twenty I had been hanging onto since my first pregnancy. I quickly made a plan and stuck to it for a whole three months.

I ate breakfast every morning. I went back to the gym. I stopped weighing myself. I counted calories using an app on my phone. The counting calories was the worst BUT it made me realize the awful types of AND amounts of food that was preventing me from losing the weight in the first place. I drank two cups of black coffee in the morning and only drank water the rest of the day. I would allow myself a 'cheat' day, usually Sundays. I also allowed myself a coffee at the start of my shifts at work, though i did change from a grande to a tall and decreased the sugar amount.

I have lost 15 pounds and gained a nice amount of muscle. I have gone down three pant sizes. I have more energy, my skin looks amazing and I sleep better. I feel great!

Well, I felt great.

This last three weeks have been tough. The girls have been sick several times(which they shared with mama) and I strained a muscle in my leg while running which prevented me from getting to gym for a full two weeks. During those two weeks I got lazy in my calorie counting and ate pretty much whatever looked good in the moment. Thankfully I haven't gained any weight but I haven't lost any either. The muscle I was gaining is slowly going away. Ugh!! So I'm making another plan....and this time I'm going to make it a life style...with some exceptions. You can't live bland all the time, right?

To those like me who would like to lead a healthy life but tend to see something shiny and wander off the path every now and again, I raise my third cup of coffee to you. Here's to us, my friends, may we stay on the path long enough to see success but veer off often enough to keep life interesting.