My weightloss journey and the Christmas holidays

Well, I was looking back at this blog and realized that it has been a long time since I posted on here.  I am not sure that anyone reads this or not, but it is a way for me to document what I am doing.  I need to do more of it.  So up until the holidays, I had lost over 40 pounds.  I still have a long ways to go to get to my goal, but I am on the way.  I just need to keep doing more of the same, working hard, eating right, and exercising.  I noticed that it was in August that I wrote here last.  I have plateaued a little bit with my weight loss, but I figured that I would make it through the holidays and then it it hard again.  Mark gave me a Ninja blender for Christmas.  I can use it to make healthy smoothies for breakfast and then concentrate on more fruits and vegetables for the rest of the day. 

I have been thinking about cutting meat out of my diet for the most part.  I can live without it most of the time and just eat it a few days a week.  I read a couple of books that talk about low carb living.  The thing that they have in common is the reliance on more fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains.  So far, I haven't been doing the grains.  Over the holidays, I have eaten and drank things that I shouldn't.  On Christmas day, I gave myself a pass to eat what I wanted to, without overeating.  It went well.  So far, I have maintained over the holidays, which is good. 

This fall, October and November, I signed up to have a personal trainer from one of the HPER classes.  It went well and Nikki gave me a lot to think about and work on.  She gave me four weeks of workouts, which I have not used yet.  But it gives me something to do in the future.  I also bought an inside trainer for my bicycle.  It turns my outdoor bike into an indoor bike.  I have enjoyed riding it.  I have also done the Wii fit a few times over the break.  I need to keep moving forward with adding in more exercise to my lifestyle.  This coming summer, I would like to ride the 20 miles bike ride in the Dirty Kanza.  A friend is interested in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Dash, so I might do that with her.  I also can sign up for a personal trainer at the Rec Center when school is back in session.  All of this will keep me moving forward. 

I will admit that there are days when I wonder why I am doing this and want to throw in the towel, but then I just keep going.  I have bought some new clothes because some of my pants were falling off of me.  I need to go through my closet and get rid of some of the things that I cannot wear anymore and things that I don't wear.  I am fitting into clothing that I haven't worn for a while.  So that is good.  I read an article the other day about not waiting until I reach big goals, but to set small goals and reward myself when I reach them such as 5 pounds or exercising for a certain amount of time each day.  So I think that I will try that and keep moving forward.  I have had a lot of people that have encouraged me on this journey and I am grateful to them, especially when I hit a low point or plateau.