Let's talk weight, for like half a second. I have always struggled with weight, I yoyo. Because I love food. I love trying new foods, I love meeting friends for food, I love sweets, I love treating myself and my little to ice cream dates.... This past February my hubs started Paleo. He made it clear that it'd be a lot easier on him if I would stop bringing home ice cream and chips & salsa, it'd be easier if I joined him, not plotted against him. The plotting wasn't on purpose but if crap is in the house it's too tempting, I get that. So I jumped on the paleo train and I am SO pleased with myself. By no means have I given up everything that I love but instead of having mac and cheese & spaghetti every week, I've cut those down to cheat meals. It's all about balance. A life with no tacos, is no life at all. I have lost 22lbs. I know it doesn't sound like much, I know it's no life changing amount but for me, it feels that way. I have never stuck to dieting. It's like that word made me want to eat french silk pie for dinner. Last year I didn't diet, I did zumba which I loved (shout out to Kelly at Free State Fitness, shes a fab instructor) but, it took up a lot of time. It was something that once I fell out of the habit of going, was too hard to get back into. I lost the weight but the holidays came and so did my bad eating habits and I gained it all back. This year, I decided it would have to be a lifestyle change, if I was going to bitch about my weight every other day, I needed to do something about it! So I have! I work out, kind of? We go on bike rides, we do yoga, we go on hikes, we do zumba at home, we have dance parties {the we I am referring to is me & my kids or me and my hubs - its now family/friend time too} and I do 25 squats & 25 crunches each day. For me, this is working! With that being said, I have also set goals for myself complete with rewards (because duh, the rewards are the best part & honestly rewards make me work harder). So here's what I did...
5lbs = Mint Chocolate chip ice cream cone
10lbs= a new outfit & Jose Peppers
15lbs= 5 new outfits
20lbs= Extentions
I used the money I saved on not eating out for lunch/dinner to reward myself. Also, eveytime I wanted to cheat and didn't, I put a single dollar bill in an envelope. I haven't planned out my next set of goals/rewards but I will be doing that right after I write this! Honestly, I don't plan to lose much more, maybe 10-15lbs but keeping it off will be my challenge anyway. Since I have hit 20lbs I have my extensions on order and they should be here in the next week - I am SO FREAKING EXCITED! I'm sharing this because I have been asked a couple times what I'm doing/how Im doing it. I wanted to share that I'm not doing anything super hard, nothing super fancy just all real food diet, no fast food (I miss you dairy queen), no processed food (no more cereal for dinner- wahhh). I also wanted to share because your weight loss journey is nothing more than your own. You can't compare yourself to what success others are having. You can't beat yourself up for having sour cream on your chipotle because damn it, you love sour cream. Take it one day at a time, each day is new, each day is a challenge. And know this: no matter the number, you are beautiful!
Love and good vibes to ya! Emily
