There is only 24 hours in a day

Oh Hello! You have probably forgotten who I am by now right? It has been over two months since my last post, although, trust me, I have thought about posting often, time just doesn't allow. 

There has been so much happening the past few months. The weather is finally beautiful and warm so we have been outside a lot. We have been on the go and have no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I have so much stuff on my brain but I will stick to my health in tonight's post. 

Let's go back to April when we had Easter. I did get into some mini chocolates which caused me a bit of a slippery slope for a week or two. Thankfully I didn't gain from that but it did cause me to miss my next weight goal by 0.8 of a pound.

My goal was to get under 200 pounds by May 17 which is when I left for a week in BC. I was SO close that it stung to miss by such a little amount especially when I know that I didn't do my best for two weeks. But it was also hard to be too upset because I had worked really hard and still felt great.

For the past few weeks I have been teetering RIGHT above 200 pounds. I went from 200.8 to 200.4 to 200.2. Last week I was FINALLY under 200 pounds. I weighed in at 198.4!!! I was SUPER excited to see a 1 in front of my weight instead of a 2. 

I do love the summer weather. I have been walking often, still going to the gym 2-3 times a week, playing soccer, on top of all of our house work and gardening. I have been pretty good with my eating, all while still enjoying my summer treats (as I sip my Bud Light Lime beer). This summer I have ventured out into the world of vegetable gardening. I bought all of my vegetables already started and planted them all a few weeks ago. My garden is now in the weeding stage where I have to weed it often. Perhaps I did not prep my soil properly? Next year I will look into some kind of weed killer before starting to plant my vegetables. I bought a lot of plants so hopefully we will have a successful "crop" this year and get some good eats!

So how am I doing it all?! Good question...I wish I knew haha! I have had to really focus on what is important to me. I am very organized so I still do my meal planning and grocery shopping the same as before. I squeeze in my workouts when I can and that includes utilizing our workout program during lunch times some days. On top of eating healthy and exercising I have still been following our automatic body program and taking the Nutrie products. It definitely helps with my energy level that's for sure.

One thing that has been very over whelming to me is trying to make the best health choices for myself and my family (especially my daughter). I am having a very hard time trying to educate myself on things that are natural and good for her. I can't tell you how many hours I spent researching and deciding if I was going to give her cows milk. My over whelming decision right now...sunscreen. There are SO many arguments that say that the chemicals in brand name sunscreens are worse for you than getting hit with the sun. Rylee (like myself) is very fair and would burn easily. I use a natural sunscreen on her BUT that being said with all of the trickery out there on word plays ect how can we know what is actually natural or not?!

It is absolutely exhausting. Part of my wants to just give up and take the easy way out. Part of my thinks "well giving her a chicken breast that is not certified organic is better than giving her kraft dinner". And part of me only wants the best for my family but I don't even know where to begin. I try to pick small changes that we can manage like changing our lunch/food storage containers to glass instead of plastic. But like I said I can't tell you how many hours I researched and seriously stressed over the decision to give her milk or not and that is only ONE small piece of her everyday food consumption. 

Some choices are easy - like juice. We do not give her juice. period. She LOVES, and I mean LOVES water - so why give her juice and make her not like water anymore? The odd time (maybe once a month) she gets diluted juice at daycare which I am totally fine with her having once in a while but it is NOT a daily occurrence. My mom also makes Rylee popsicles out of water with a bit of juice for flavour. So for US the right choice is to not give her juice. I understand that this is not the right choice for every family so as long as you 
have figured out what works for you then more power to you.

The problem today is labels. They are there for you to read but the amount of trickery that goes into the wording is UNREAL. You think that you are getting meat that is "Free Range" yet really Free Range is the NAME OF THE COMPANY that supplies the meat! Same thing with McDonalds 100% real beef. That is the name of the company that sells McDonalds their meat and so they advertise their products as 100% real beef. 

Food has become a huge problem in today's society and I don't even know how or where to begin to find correct, unbiased, non-judging information. 

So I apologize for not having written more posts lately but when it becomes a choice between the blog of fitness - fitness will win everytime ;)

Exercise and motivation

If you had told me a month ago that I would be going to the gym at 6 o'clock in the morning I would've said "you're crazy". But as I'm adjusting to my new schedule with work and household duties, that's exactly what I found myself doing. I had planned on doing home workouts in the evening once my daughter went to bed but that was just too hard to get motivated to do. I found myself easily making excuses and reasoning with myself as to why it could wait until tomorrow. I also found myself really really missing the gym. I love the facility that I go to and I was really missing having all that equipment available to me for my workout. 

So since I can't always go in the evening I decided that when I couldn't go in the evening I was going to go in early morning since I was awake anyways. This is taking a little bit of extra planning on my part and I've had to set out all of my clothes the night before. 

The gym that I go to is a smaller gym, so you would think that you would end up waiting longer for machines and stuff but you totally don't. Not to mention The staff knows every single one of their members by name instead of just by looking at the screen when I check in to see who I am and then saying oh hi Kelly have a good workout. 

The past few mornings there have been the same people at the gym when I get there but for the most part there's only two or three of us. On Wednesday for most of my work out I had the gym to myself. I have actually really enjoy doing my workout in the morning. It's a great way to start your day! Plus it helps to get you in a good mind set. 

           

This is a safety device for when you are working out alone. It is connected to emergency services!

At work, I have been taking 8 flights of stairs three times a day (which I thought would get easier but hasn't yet.) as well as doing some fitness classes at lunch on the off days of the gym. My mom and I have been getting out for some walks too now that the weather is nicer. 

It has been really great pushing my body this week. And I will really enjoy some rest time this weekend. I love the slate stiffness that I get in my body when I know I've worked hard!

If you had asked me 7 years ago if I would be working out this hard and taking care of my body and my health I would have smirked and commented something like "I wish". I was way too self consious to remotely wear shorts, I lived in sweats and sweaters hiding from the world. 

As I reread that last sentance I realize that it isnt even living! The things I've being able to do that I never would have been able to do before it's incredible. 

So if you're reading this and overweight and don't know where to begin, or if you have tried and failed numerous times, or if you keep starting and stopping, or you keep saying I'll start Monday you need to take a look at what is holding you back. What excuses are you using? 

Put 1 foot in front of the other and start small. One small change is all it takes. Follow that with another small change and another small change and your whole life will be revamped. I would be lying to you if I said it was easy but if we look at all of the great things in life none of them are easy. I can for sure without a doubt 100% tell you it is worth it. It is worth feeling empowered. It is worth it to be able to keep up with your kids. It is worth it to hit your goal weight and buy new clothes in a much smaller size than you ever thought you'd be ever wearing. 

So keep pushing through and don't ever give up. When you fall get up again. When you don't want to do it anymore keep going. When you're too tired and just want 10 more minutes of sleep kick your butt out of bed and get to the gym! 

Start your healthier new you today, what small change are you going to make??