Oh, hi.

So I just realized it's been six solid months since I've given my little blog any attention. Being that my blog consisted of my own personal diet motivation, you can assume I've given little attention to that area of my life as well. 

Whomp, whomp.

It's the beginning of a new year and I'm feeling that motivation coming back. It's an absolute must that I follow through and be a better version of myself. So here I go again!

Just a quick one...

So here I am (all weekend) thinking "as long as I stay in my calorie range, I can eat whatever!"

No.

I was very active this weekend, I stayed within my calorie range every day... and guess what?

I weigh 5 POUNDS more this morning than I did yesterday morning!

How is that even possible??

My only explanation is that my junk food finally caught up with me.

S'mores, potato salad, kettle corn, waffle fries... no more.

Checking in!

It's time to get ready for another week so I just wanted to check in with a few updates!

1. I love My Fitness Pal! I've used similar apps before but for some reason, I'm preferring MFP. It's so easy to log my meals and snacks throughout the day and see progress.

2. I've been so active this week... Patting myself on the back for this one. My goal was to exercise 5 times per week and I've done that.

3. My scale had not moved in over a month, other than those 2 pounds I gained back from vacation... It's finally going down. Those 2 pounds are gone plus 2 more!

4. Like my new living room accessory? (Not that stuffed animal!) I've been wanting an exercise bike for a while & I'm so glad I got it! I did 10 miles yesterday and burned a LOT of calories... All while catching up on my HGTV shows =)

5. I follow so many blogs and people on Instagram that are on their own weight loss journeys. It seems like they're all runners. I've been super intrigued by the thought of doing 5ks and starting to run... But at the same time I'm super discouraged because I'm letting my weight hold me back from actually running. I know I'm staying active and doing other exercises that I see results from so for now, I'm putting the idea of becoming a runner on the back burner... And that's okay!

I think that covers everything. Hope everyone has a great week!

My climb.

If you live in my area, you know what it means when some says "the v-school hill". 

It's just a road with a steep incline leading to our vocational school... It also happens to be a killer to walk.

I have really been wanting to try to walk up it and my friend Ashleigh finally talked me into it. This evening was my first attempt.

OH

MY

GOSH

I'm completely out of shape but whoa, that hill was a doozy. I didn't even try to count the number of times I had to stop and catch my breath / shake the numbness out of my legs / momentarily recover from shin splints. 

It was awful, horrible, embarrassing... All while Ashleigh hardly broke a sweat!!

Buuut, I can't wait to do it again!

Slow Motion

For the last month or so I've been in complete slow motion as far as my diet goes. Eating healthy has been hit or miss most weeks, which means I've made no progress. 

I really dread stepping on the scale in the morning.

When I finished my Avocare challenge back in April, I felt sort of lost without having a plan to follow. This resorted in me just 'winging' my day to day eating... and then my plans to walk 5 days a week eventually became me having to force myself to walk 4 or 3 or even 2 days a week.

I ordered my 10 day cleanse last week. Ashleigh & I had our 'last hoo-rah' meal tonight by consuming way to many calories... then we did our grocery shopping for the week. I just love my grocery shopping buddy =)

I'm prepared.

So tomorrow morning I'm stepping on the scale, having my Advocare fiber drink, swallowing some big pills and starting the 10 day cleanse again. I'm very excited to do it over and get back on track.

By the way, I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app so I'm going to give that a try, too!

Stay tuned for some updates on how things are going!

Where's my panic button?

Last weekend I downloaded a KY State Parks app on my phone and made a list of all of the places I wanted my family to explore this summer. First up on the list was Natural Bridge. It's only an hour or so away from home and I'd always heard great things about going. 

I was so excited, folks! Chad & I woke up early Saturday morning, had a lovely homegrown & organic breakfast then headed toward Slade, KY to set out on the dusty trail to Natural Bridge.

I'd researched. I'd looked at trail maps. I Googled. I felt prepared.

I've made progress but let me be the first to say I'm far from being in shape... therefore I KNEW I wanted to take the sky lift UP the mountain and hike back down. Simple enough, right? Eh, no.

 On the way up the mountain, on the sky lift. Peachy!

One of the many beautiful views we seen Saturday - at the top of the sky lift.

Chad looking towards the bridge - which was nearly covered in greenery.

Since this blog is all about my weight loss journey, I guess I have to tell you that once I seen what's in the above picture - named "Fat Man's Squeeze" - I turned around and said I would rather take any other route back down the mountain. I KNEW I couldn't fit through this.. and I did not want to embarrass myself by trying to do so in front of a group of people. Wellllll.... turns out this was my only option. It was a moment of panic. I didn't get stuck - I actually had plenty of room but halfway through this, I looked at Chad waiting for me on the other side and almost had a panic attack. If I had given it much thought, I would've probably started crying at that point... but I kept moving.

The view from underneath the bridge was so beautiful.

Can I just say I've never been so HAPPY to see stairs in my life?!

Now that I'm home, I can look back and say that I really enjoyed the hike. It was sooo hard. My legs have felt like they're cramping every time I walk since Saturday. BUT I'm so proud that I did it. Coming down that mountain was hard. I couldn't imagine hiking up... but eventually I want to try it. 

One thing that I constantly kept thinking during the trip was how my weight has never been as big of a burden on me than it was that day. I felt handicapped by it. I never want to feel like that again - let alone a life of it.

Our Family Vacation

Just so you know, Chad & I will celebrate our 7 year anniversary next month. In those 7 years we have not traveled any further than Tennessee or Ohio. We were LONG overdue for a good vacation!

We chose the Fort Walton / Destin area of Florida. Not really sure why... It was just the first place I thought of so I booked a room and off we went!

 I took this picture about an hour into our trip... it was about a solid 10 hour drive!

 We checked into our room late that night around midnight (1am home time). The next morning I was woke up by this little goggle face - ready to hit the beach!

 

 Ava's little toes meeting the ocean water for the first time =)

 First family beach photo!

 My sweet husband wrote this in the sand.

 So glad I snapped this picture at the perfect time. The waves, Ava & Chad running, the color of the sky, the birds flying... perfect!

 Here we are at The Gulfarium, waiting for the Sea Lion show. That place was beyond wonderful!
 

 We ate frozen yogurt... almost everyday!

Ava rode go-karts for the first time... and loved them! Pretty sure she's going to be a thrill seeker like her Daddy... she sure doesn't get that from me!

 Ava took this picture of Chad & I acting silly!

MORE frozen yogurt...

 Love this picture.

 We ate at a place called Gilligan's and had some awesome food with an awesome view.

 Sand, seashell, & salt water. Oh, how I miss it!

 And then we had to say goodbye until next year...

 ...but of course I brought 5 pounds of sand home with us in a ziploc bag =)

It was perfect.