Got Peeps On My Side

Halloween with Little John, Frier Tuck, and Robin Hood

I looked back to see the most recent pic I had of me and this is it folks. We had the cameras out at Christmas and didn't take a single picture. Can you believe it??? I was proud of our meal choice though. My mom and I went in together to create a Charlois Steak House salad bar. We divided the ingredients and I made the dressings. We also had ham and duck, but the salad bar was the star of the night. The best part? I didn't feel like a chunky salt block the next morning;)

Now that the New Year is in full swing, it's time to get serious about training again. Thankful Goat Christmas shopping season is behind me, settled back into homeschool with the boys, and the Dr. gave me a full steam ahead on the workouts with my elbow...not my hip though. He has banned me from Zumba for a little while longer til we figure out what's really going on inside there. I can do yoga, stretch, and walk. No running. Ugh! He's killing me!!!

I arranged a phone chat with Jenn Morton at Fitness Ridge last night and a 25 minute session has helped me see so much clearer. Some of the best money I have spent this Christmas - BELIVE ME! If you have been keeping up with my blog you know that I kept having these thoughts that I had gained all my weight back. I started having these thoughts the day I got back from the Ridge. Jenn asked me what that would mean to me if I had gained all the weight back and I told her it took a lot financially to get me there for a month and a lot of time away from my family. To me, it would be like I failed myself, my family, and I wasted my money. But here's the thing. I DIDN'T! I didn't gain it all back. I'm within 5 lbs of my Fitness Ridge weight today. It is all in my head, but the head does take time to catch up with the body! She reminded me of the most important thing we learned at the Ridge: Calories In/Calories Out. It's math and you can't go wrong with it. So last night I strapped on the old Polar chest strap and set up a 24 hour calorie count. I just hit 16 hours and I'm at 1320. Dang those things could be made a little more comfortable for sleeping though;) Now I think I have one of the slowest metabolisms in the galaxy, but Jenn did my calorie deficits for the Ridge and each day I was there I averaged an 1,800 calorie deficit. EACH DAY! I can do this, yes I can. If I want to lose around 20 lbs before I go back to the Ridge in May all I have to do is have a deficit of 500 a day. If I'm burning around 2,000 just living life and I only eat 1,500 there's my deficit. Add exercise and I burn more.

It is simple but here's the thing. We live in an all or nothing society don't we? We are either all in or all out. We win or we fail. We dominate or we are a buffoon. Am I right? Learning this lifestyle is give and take, it's living a little and moderation moments. We blow our diet on Monday at lunch and think the whole week is blown. Psh, I'll start back next Monday. I realized, except for eating out (which will kill ya!), I have done pretty good. Yes the Christmas cookies called my name, but when I went to clean out the pantry after Christmas it was OK. Just a couple packages of pasta (whole wheat) and some crackers! Not bad really considering I live with a husband and two growing boys! We can have a little fun and learn to maintain, but when you hit that 5 lb hazard - Blow the whistle on yourself and reel it in. So...stop feeling guilty about whatever you did to yourself last week or last month and reach for that darn whistle. It's like the one attached to the life jacket on the cruise ship of life;) BLOW IT and signal for help. I did. I was feeling low and now Jenn and my doctor got me back on course.

On that note I just want to say I have some pretty amazing friends. Some of the best people a person could know actually! They are friends from high school, college, life, Fitness Ridge, and the list goes on. Some of these people I don't even know!!! We are friends on the Biggest Loser's Fitness Ridge Alumni page on facebook. Yes, they have one of those and you should go there right now if you haven't. You don't have to be an alumni to join and you can ask questions, get encouragement, and meet some really great peeps. OK, back to my friends...You have really been there for me the last year. Encouraging me on Facebook, in person, emails, and phone calls. Everything I've been through has brought me closer to being the me I want to be. And for that I thank you!!! If you were all here right now, I would throw a party in your honor!

Here's the last bit of homework Jenn gave me. BLOG!!! I had never blogged until Fitness Ridge, but I did it for a whole month and loved it. I posted pictures, and told how being there made me feel. I have that to look back at now and it helps so much. If you are thinking about going to the Ridge, give it a try. Yes I fell asleep at my computer a couple of times, but it was so worth it to have all that recorded. My friend Frances from the Ridge told me about a month after we had been home that it seemed like it was all a dream, I agreed. What we did, going out there, was crazy, but if I didn't have the blog it would seem even more dream like. I shall blog. I shall! I had stopped doing it much since there wasn't anything exciting happening, but Jenn helped me see that it's not so much for you guys as it is for me. Don't get me wrong, I love all the fame and fortune blogging has brought to me - ha LOL! Having had over 7,000 hits goes to your head, but then you wonder who in the world has been that interested in your life. So for all you blogstalkers out there, take heart, you can now once again live vicariously through my mundane life, looking at pictures of what I eat, where I hike, and when I help my three goats give birth in March. Hee! Yes, you are looking forward to that one aren't you;)

Every step counts. In my life and yours. In order for us to have a straighter path we need someone to come along side us and show us the way. We all need accountability. We all need friends for whatever our journey is. The New Year is here. Are we ready to show 2012 who's boss? Are we ready to have more fun living our lives this year than last? I am. In the words of one of my favorite TV characters ever, Jack Bauer, "Let's do this!"