I'm baaaaack... again.

I am happy to say that I have lost 35 pounds since my last post. I did gain 5 pounds back, but I'm working on fixing that. We have had a lot happen over the past month. Hubby got a new job and we had to move quickly. There was a lot of driving, a lot of packing, a lot of busyness, and not a lot of time. Translation: I ate enough fast food to kill a yak. I also fell off the no sugar wagon. And then rolled off a cliff. Then fell into the ocean. Then sunk to the bottom of an abyss. Translation: I ate enough sugar to put a yak into a diabetic coma. I have been struggling to get back on track.

I teach the 14 & 15 year old girls' class at church. The assigned lesson yesterday was about self-discipline. I realized I have been justifying the slip back into bad habits. I need to be honest with myself and take responsibility for my poor choices. Stress is not a valid reason to treat my body like a garbage can. In fact, I can't think of anything that would excuse that. I need to get back on track. No more excuses, no more justification!

Hubby and I have both gained weight since the move. Hubby is working a swing shift. His hours change every week. That makes it difficult for either of us to make a regular training schedule. I am also a little nervous about running in the dark in our new area. We have a beautiful riverside bike trail that runs not far from our house, but we are not in the best area. I would run it in the light hours of the morning, but not in the dark at any hour! With Hubby's swing shift, sometimes running in the dark is the only option. I need to find a running venue that I can feel comfortable with when that happens. We have a nice high school track within easy driving distance that I can use for my Monday & Wednesday runs, but going around a track 21 times+ for my long runs sounds horrible. I'll work on it.

Next thing to consider is my eating habits. I started back with no sugar today. The first week is always tough, and I am expecting a pretty miserable seven days. I ate like 5 dates today. They have proven to be excellent at curbing processed sugar cravings in the past and I'm hoping they will serve me well this next week. After I get my sugar consumption under control I will move on to counting calories again.

It feels good to have a plan. I don't want to have to keep losing the same 40 pounds over and over and OVER again. I really want to reach, and stay at, my final goal this time. I will go all the way!!