Half a Year Later

I see I haven't posted here in just about 7 months!!!  Well, not that fitness or weight loss have been out of the focus...actually, they have been very much the focus.  I just haven't been blogging about it as much as just doing it. 

Catch up time:  I started a plan called Take Shape For Life back at the end of April.  It is a dietary supplement program based on medical science.  It is VERY structured and easy to follow from the standpoint of convenience and easy to understand....of course, there are times when I want to eat something else, but that is all me and not the plan.  I have been on the plan with my health coach for 26 weeks now and have lost about 33lbs which is something I have NEVER been able to accomplish with any other diet, eating plan, exercise, anything...

I am VERY happy with the results.  I still have a ways to go - about 20 more pounds, but I hope to be there by the end of the year or my birthday. 

I had also been very active back in March/April/May with spin and starting to run more (it is amazing how much easier it is to run when you are carrying less pounds of fat with you!).  Then Kristy and I started running together after the Peachtree in July (our 2nd time to do this historic 10K together!).  She got the crazy idea that we should do the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!! 

So, we decided to meet early one weekend morning and see if we could run 2 miles without stopping or walking because I had found a training program that gets you from that point to a 1/2 in 8 weeks.  Well, we did the 2 miles plus another mile or so of walking in our warm up and cool down and we felt GREAT!  We decided to try it.  We were following the plan and got to week 3, and I that is the week I GAINED weight for the first time on my plan.  Long story, but turns out I wasn't having enough calories or carbs to support my physical activity (2-3 runs a week plus 2-3 spin classes)...so I had to choose between dialing back the activity or transitioning off my plan.  I chose to stay on the plan, and Kristy and I agreed to keep our runs to 2-3 miles + warm/cool and I was only doing 1-2 spin classes a week.  We could still dial up our training in time for the 1/2 in Mid-Feb!

All was going well again, until early September, when I broke my shoulder.  That's right, broke it!  No more spin or running....no exercise really for the first 2-3 weeks, then after that, I started doing little walks and just added back the elliptical at the 6-7 week mark.  Today, I am almost 8 weeks post-break and healing fine.  In physical therapy, but not cleared to run or spin yet. 

My weight loss has slowed more than I had wanted....partially because of my change in activity level, but also because I am not always 100% complaint with the food.  I am just bored with the food/plan sometimes, but that is common this far into the plan.  That couple with my body and my attitude....when you lose 30+lbs, part of you wants to say, well, this is good enough, never thought we could do this, let's just stop and be happy here.  And I am MUCH HEALTHIER now!  I feel great...and am fairly certain I could maintain here..that and physically, it is a shock for your body to lose 30lbs of fat that it has been carrying around for decades...I didn't just put on the weight recently...I have literally stored this fat for years...my body hasn't seen these scale numbers in a long time and it is adjusting.

Anyway, that catches you up to where I am physically and emotionally.  Getting VERY excited and ready to be more active again and to get this phase of my program (weight loss) done and start transitioning (though that scares me to death!).  Time for the next chapter of maintaining and being able to really be active.