Journey #2: EXERCISE!!!

Well, hello everyone! I know it's been a really long time since my last post, but I did move across the country...

So, where are we today? Well, I took about 5-6 weeks completely off plan (yes, definitely longer than I expected). The first 2 weeks were while we were still in Minnesota. We had lots of parties and celebrations that made it difficult, and then once we packed up most of the kitchen I was like, "forget it". It was stressful enough preparing for the big move without having to worry about food.

Then, once we got here, we took about 3 weeks to settle in, unpack and enjoy all the new cuisine around us. Probably didn't need to stay off plan that long, of course, but it is what it is. I definitely had to confess to God that I felt a slip and pull back towards gluttony, but he's forgiven me, so I'm going to forgive myself!

When I did that and decided the food party was over, I stepped on the scale. Up 21 lbs!! 

Now, before I panicked too much, I figured at least some of that was water weight, and I was right. I put myself on one of SlimGenic's 4-day plateau-breakers and immediately shed 10 lbs!

So, with only 11 lbs to go, I decided to NOT go back to the extremely strict SlimGenics plan, but to do more of the balance phase and to incorporate some regular exercise and see what happened. I actually didn't start exercising much right away; I needed to work into it. For the first 5 or so days after stopping the plateau-breaker, I lost (and gained) NOTHING. My weight stayed EXACTLY the same. I wasn't too upset, because I was actually enjoying my food (still eating healthy and in moderation) and I didn't feel deprived.

Then, this past Monday night, I went to my 2nd Zumba class (my first was right when I started the breaker) and the next morning, .4 lbs were gone. This morning, another .6. So, another pound gone with only 10 to go. However, I did adjust my goal weight down another 10 lbs from my original SlimGenics goal, so I really have about 20 to go now (I also adjusted my weight loss ticker to show my total weight loss, not just my SlimGenics weight loss).

Tonight I am going to do Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred DVD and I am going to try and do some kind of aerobic exercise at least 3-4 times a week (every other day). I really want to be able to enjoy some additional foods and not feel so restricted all the time, so hopefully this will do it. Plus, I really need to tone up - I lost the weight and look great in clothes that cover me up, but not so much in a bathing suit.

So here we go!! Living in the Austin area certainly will be helpful, because people around here live far more active lifestyles than in Minnesota. We don't want to be the fat and lazy people in Austin, and we won't be!