February Recap!

So at the beginning of this month I had thoughts of cleaning up my diet by cutting snacks, and I was really focused on cutting out junk food. I relied a lot on sugar-free pudding and pop-corn toward the beginning of the month. I was following a pretty strict plan of eating where I ate three meals a day, mostly veggie burgers and yogurt. I was preparing to start working with a personal trainer. About half way through the month I began working with my new personal trainer. He helped me to add in some strength training to my daily routine of walking which I love. I have made it to the 5 month mark with my walking and I love it! I will continue to be a walker for life. Although I was a little hesitant to try adding the strength training I am finding that I really love how good my body feels after a strength session. I have also heard for years about the benefits of strength training how once you build up those lovely muscles your body will just melt fat even when you are at rest. I also heard it can help you get a more slim body even if you weigh more. I am now a believer and will be doing strength training at-least twice a week. I think I was intimidated by all the fancy gym equipment, but so far I have not stepped foot in a gym, I have been doing push-up's, squats, lunges and lifting soup cans. I do like having a guide to help me and I do think that one day I may even join Curves.

Other things I learned this month include more body acceptance. My body is not losing a lot of pounds quickly and I feel honestly at this point that focusing on weight loss is a lost cause. I have noticed non scale victories such as increased energy and looser clothing. I can now fit some clothes I could not wear a few months ago. I have not dropped an entire dress size yet, but I am happy that I am fitting my current dress size better. The good news is that I have not gained weight or gone up a dress size! At the suggestion of my trainer I have added more food to my diet. I had been avoiding pasta and a lot of carbs for a while eating really low calorie meals, and now I am following a plan where I eat more whole wheat, especially pasta, use olive oil, eat at-least five times a day.

I found that I was developing an eating disorder where I was afraid to eat carbs, fat and higher calorie foods no matter what nutrients they offered. As a result of my poor eating habits my body was going into starvation mode and retaining fat! I am so happy my trainer helped inspire me to eat in a much more loving manner. I can already feel energy being restored to my body. I have decided to stop trying to diet or  restrict my calorie intake and learn to enjoy healthy foods and eat what my body really needs.

I am discovering that a gentile approach to exercise and eating right work better for me than extremes. As I approach March I am happy to have a healthier mindset. I will be posting March's goals soon. Overall I can say that my journey has definitely grown past weight loss into a journey to love myself and be healthy. I have discovered that the journey truly has no end point that eating right and taking care of myself are things I will be doing for life.

CLM