A new outlook

Since I started back up on Weight Watchers (my second time) I have had such an attitude adjustment.  Before joining again I had been going to the gym 5-6 days a week consistently for a year.  In that year I lost 12 pounds.  And I gained 5 of those back over Christmas.  I didn't adjust my eating habits at all in that year of going to the gym.  Now that I have joined Weight Watchers and have continued going to the gym 5-6 days a week consistently my results have been amazing.  I have lost almost 19 pounds in 14 weeks.  The last time I was on weight watchers I lost 21 pounds in 16 weeks and I was 7 pounds lighter than when I started this second time.  My attitude when joining the first time was that I was going to do this program until I got down to my goal weight and then I'd be done and wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. 

The more I do the program now and the more I exercise the more I realize that weight has become a serious problem for me.  One that I will never be able to take a break from.  I will always need to watch what I eat and I will always have to exercise.  There are classes at the gym that I go to strictly because of the health benefits.  If I had my way I would just do Cardio classes but a complete workout program isn't complete without resistance training and flexibility training.  So I go and do my weight lifting class and I need to start doing a yoga class and while I do sometimes enjoy these classes, I get tired of them very easily.  But I have decided that it's just one of those things in life that you have to do because it's good for you.  Luckily there is always good music to listen to that goes with these classes so if anything I'm getting to listen to good music.

I was telling Jacob the other night that my new outlook on life is you HAVE to watch what you eat and you HAVE to exercise.  Even if you don't want to, you just have to do it.  And it doesn't have to be anything major.  Going for a walk with the kids (or by yourself) is better than doing nothing.  The point is to be moving more than you normally would during the day and eventually it will become fun and it will become something that you will look forward to.  I absolutely love exercising now but it has taken a year of me making myself go even when I didn't want to to get to the point that I'm at.  When I wake up in the morning I feed the kids breakfast and then I am getting in the car and heading to the gym.  It's gotten to the point that if I miss a workout in the morning (which happens a lot but that's okay) I make time either in the afternoon or evening after the kids are down to go and get a workout in.  Sometimes it's only 20 minutes and sometimes I get my hour in but if I don't make the time during the day for a workout I am crabby and I physically feel like crap.

I really wish I had people who would go to the gym with me consistently but I have made friends with the instructors of the classes that I go to and they make sure to give me a hard time when I miss (per my request).  I've learned that I have to be held accountable to someone beside myself for my exercise and for my weight loss.  I know that every week I am going to walk up to a scale with someone else looking at my number and that is enough motivation to keep up with it.  Now I'm not saying everyone needs to go out and join weight watchers in order to have someone accountable to but if we ever get to the point where we don't have the money to do Weight Watchers I am going to have a friend come or go to their house once a week and have them watch me weigh in. 

This whole journey that I'm on has been such an eye opener to how I work and how I think.  I feel better physically, mentally and spiritually.  I am beginning to feel like I have my life back in control.  And I've also learned that it's okay to have a couple REALLY bad days in the week.  You just workout a little harder and eat better the rest of the week.  I am trying to not beat myself up anymore over a candy bar or a couple cookies (or a couple dozen... yeah that was a couple weeks ago).  Anyway, I did not intend for this post to be such a long one.