I wasn't sleeping well. My face was breaking out more. I looked and felt older and tired, worn out. My joints hurt. And I simply didn't like looking in the mirror anymore.
I began seriously trying to eat clean and exercise on July 1st, just a few days before our trip to the lake over the Fourth. While there, I indulged slightly -- the pressure of friends and family and celebrations and good food surrounding me. But I didn't totally blow it. It could have been worse. Still, I knew not to get back on the scale for a few days after our return. I needed to stay in a positive frame of mind to keep on track.
It's now been 31 days, a full month since I began again in earnest, and I'm down 5.5 lbs. Though I would have liked to have been down another pound or two, 5.5 lbs in a month is a decent loss -- AND, most importantly, I can be assured that it's FAT loss, not just WEIGHT loss. Fat loss is harder earned and the results are longer-lived. More gratifying. I worked hard, and it paid off.
Averaging three days in the gym with weights and cardio, and cardio all other days, usually one rest day, plus eating a quasi prep diet daily, has gotten me these results. I allow myself one cheat meal a week, usually on Friday nights. Alcohol on Friday and Saturdays only, usually red wine. As much as I love a cold beer in summer, I know that its calories affect me differently and they're harder to counter. I'm making sure I get to bed by 10 each night, giving me 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep. I'm up each weekday morning between 5 and 5:30, depending on whether it's a gym day or a cardio day. I'm making sure I drink three full 20 oz water bottles throughout the day, and another 20-30 ounces in the late afternoon and evenings, in addition to the coffee and green tea that I drink. I try to tack on an additional 15-20 mins of light cardio -- usually walking -- three to four evenings a week. I've found that my weekly losses have been best on the weeks that I was diligent with that extra cardio. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I'm gonna stick with that strategy for a while just to see.
The wedding. My goal date. It's the end of November, which gives me four months to get off another 10 lbs. That is completely doable. In fact, I need to remind myself that having that full four months does not mean I can let things slide now and then. Sliding is a slippery slope into failure, into a "redo." I want no redo's. It's damn hard at my age getting this shit off. I KNOW that staying focused till the goal date is key.
I'm finishing up coffee and a half serving of my yummy Oatmeal No-Bakes -- 15 grams. Tiny, yes, but just enough to hit the spot with coffee first thing in the morning. My next meal will be my post-workout shake and blueberries. I'm back to the routine that pays off. I've been there. It works. And best of all, I'm feeling fantastic again.
My quality of life has improved substantially. And that alone is reason enough.
