My Journey to a Healthier Life: Post-Summer Accountability

As you may or may not remember, in early March, I shared an incredibly personal post about being honest with myself. And then in May I shared a two month update which wasn’t really two months later – it was more like five months after the start of my journey. But whatever, right?! I didn’t want to bombard you with posts though, so I’m sharing updates about my weight loss journey every couple of months or so. More than anything, though, I’m sharing what’s working, what’s challenging me, etc. as motivation for myself to look back and reflect on.

I really do think I’ve only gotten to where I am by eating ‘junk’ in moderation. If I completely deny myself all the ‘good’ stuff, I’ll just gorge myself. That said, getting through the summer was a challenge mostly because we took a two and a half week family vacation where my healthier eating habits were thrown out the window and my only exercise was the occasional hike at Yellowstone or around Colorado Springs. When we got home, I was exhausted. So much so that I couldn’t force myself to go to a workout session for about a week. In all, I missed about 3 1/2 weeks of workouts! EEK!

I was able to find my workout groove again while James was in band camp (in August) and with the kids back in school I’m trying to find an even better routine that fits with school drop-offs, work, cleaning house and so much more.

July 2018 –

• Weight – 174.0 pounds (compared to 186.4 in April 2018)
• Waist – 40 inches
• Arms – 14 (L), 14 (R) inches
• Thighs – 21 (L), 22 (R) inches
• Chest – 35.5 inches

August 2018 –

• Weight – 177.6 pounds
• Waist – 38.5 inches
• Arms – 13 (L), 13.5 (R) inches
• Thighs – 22 (L), 23 (R) inches
• Chest – 36 inches

I was really disappointed to see the scale up at 177.6 for the end of August but I’m fairly confident that the nearly 4-pound gain is muscle and not fat so I’m trying to give myself a little grace there. My clothes are fitting the way they should, and maybe even a little big so that has to be a positive thing!

Now that summer is finished and we are moving in to the holiday months, what’s my plan? Well, that’s a great question! I’ll continue to make healthier food choices for myself and my family, visit my favorite Camp Gladiator sessions 3 to 4 times a week, and try to focus less on the scale & more on how my clothes fit.

What are you doing to achieve a healthier life?