Hi There!

Just popping in to say "Hi There"!!
Things are going very well here. Last week I averaged 18K steps a day and did over 721 minutes of cardio! This week I'm still keeping pace and have done over 20K steps for the past two days. I'm already on pace this morning to keep that up and plan to do just that!

I'm feeling really good! Food continues to be my biggest challenge but for the most part I'm doing pretty darn good with it. I still have a strange relationship with desserts (yes, they are always sugar free and YOAD ok). For some reason they cause a kind of binge trigger in me sometimes. It's weird. Perhaps it's an old habit that is still lingering around at times. I am aware of it though and it doesn't always happen. It may be something I have trouble with forever but I will NEVER let it push me backwards. I've worked too hard and too smart to allow that to happen. I am a MUCH happier me and NEVER EVER want to return to the 255 pound "old me".

I'm staying very active on SparkPeople. I log in daily. I've been tracking my food the last few weeks again. It's kind of a back to basics situation. It makes me much more aware of the volume of food I eat. It's been pretty helpful and fortunately it hasn't been surprising. I am pretty close to my calorie range every day, which is a good thing! I'm always WAY over on exercise but that's a good thing too. It makes it ok to be above calories when I'm burning more off through exercise.

I guess that's about it for now. I hope you are doing well! Keep on, keeping on!!
Hugs from AZ,
Shannon

I am the 5%!! YIPEE!!

Popping in to say I'm still chugging along!
I'm in the 170's now...officially with a strong hold. I think I've been there for a month now, which is VERY cool! I'm at 179.2 as of Monday, which is actually up 1/2 pound from the week before, but I'm ok with that.

I hit a bit of a rough patch and had GYN problems for two weeks that really took me down & out. I wasn't able to exercise and I felt awful. Fortunately that is back on track, thanks to my doc, and I'm going at full force again! WOO HOO!

I just realized something this morning...something profound actually. Did you know 95% of the people that lose weight gain it back within a year? Guess what? I started my journey almost 1.5 years ago AND I'm not gaining it back!!! I am the 5%!! I'm so happy and proud of that! It's one of the things I honestly worried the most about when I started my journey. I am so glad that the weight of that thought is no longer looming in my head. I don't even think about it. I don't give it power. It's just not an option...EVER! What a difference a year makes...it's truly unbelievable!! YIPEE!!

I'm doing great with exercise. I'm doing 30 minutes of aerobics and walking 5+ miles daily. I've started to add a bit of jogging in there too. I'm also working on increasing the distance. It feels good! I feel fit! I know I still have more weight to go but I'm honestly in the best physical shape of my life. The exciting thing is, I know I can even get stronger and faster! NOW that is COOL!
I'm still wearing my pedometer and always going for 10-15K steps a day....gotta do the work to reap the benefits. I know that and I'm living proof of it!

Food is ok. I'm doing well with choices just constantly working on portion or just the amount eaten daily. That's my true nemesis. For some folks exercise is their worst obstacle, for me it's food. I'm aware of that though and I continue to work towards better portions, better choices and healthy options daily. I'm proud of where I've been, more proud of where I am and the most proud of where I am still going!

I hope all is well with you in your world! Keep on, keeping on!
Shannon