Miss Me?

     Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Things have been hectic, but, unlike last time I let life get too overwhelming to take the time to post about my weight loss efforts, I haven't been letting myself go totally off the deep end during my posting absence. Now that Summer is coming to a close and the family visits and visits to family will be slowing down due to school schedules etc., I feel it's time to update on what I've been up to and how I've been doing.

     I have discovered that while around family, it's easy to let oneself become enamored with what I like to call comfort foods. Foods that, when the comfort of more family being around than just your spouse, come out of the woodworks as remembered favorites are typical culprits of comfort foods. The problem with these comfort foods is that they are typically not very good for you at all. With the added calorie possibilities of comfort foods also comes what I like to refer to as vacation mode. People say, "Hey, I'm on vacation, I can indulge on vacation." Well, when family lives four hours away, seeing them is like a mini vacation, and then there's the comfort foods, which leads to "indulging a bit" on things like potato skins. As you can probably assume, I have not lost any weight the past few weeks. I did not gain any weight either, which is a MAJOR accomplishment for me, as gaining weight is my Olympic Gold sport. The only real reason I feel I may have maintained is that there were a few days break between family visits and I was able to do better on those days. 

   

     I have decided two big rules for family time from now on. RULE 1: Be the example. (This means that I should eat better so my family sees it and might mimic my healthy habits.) and RULE 2: Being healthy is portable. (Meaning that I can watch what I eat and exercise no matter where I am.) These rules might be a bit elementary, but for someone who loves to go into vacation mode and has a weakness for eating Taco Bell with her Dad and little brother, these rules are necessary. 

    As far as my exercise efforts have gone, well, it's a sad tale to tell as well. I decided that I would run again last time I posted, but changed my mind quickly when my 4 minute fast-paced warmup walk made my bummed knee start twingeing. I did manage to make a few trips down the river in the past few weeks, which may not seem like exercise, but after going down three waterfalls and swimming across the rapid current and fighting my way up the side of the steep river rocks to climb out to safety a few times, I have decided it's a bit of a work out. I also discovered that I LOVE the game Just Dance. I knew that I loved it already, but now that I have played it alone, in my work out clothes, with no breaks between songs except for the occasional water gulp, I know that it's an AWESOME workout! I sweat more dancing and laughing at myself than I ever remember doing when running, and I could dance for SO much longer! If I ever get the chance, I will be purchasing that game and all it's game friends, for it is definitely a winner, even if just as cross training for my running. I do need to get back to my running though, it's healthy, it's sustainable through life (even when the electricity is out), it can be done almost anywhere, and once I can run far enough, it's something I can do with Kris. 

     Thanks for tagging along after so much time since my last post. Hopefully with the roller coaster that is life possibly leveling off a bit for a while, I'll be able to be more consistent with my writing. The fun song of the week is a video of my favorite just dance song, "Iko Iko", this will show you the moves you have to follow, and it's fun! Watch it here.