Maintenance

Why hello there! It's been almost exactly two months since my last post wherein I explained I was going to stop actively trying to loose weight. I worked out about once a week for a few weeks... That didn't last long. Basically, I haven't worked out in over a month! I'm sure I'm not nearly in the shape I had worked myself into but I'm very happy to report I've kept my weight well under control. Life did get really crazy there for a while as I started my new job and we moved to High Point. But now, things have settled down. I've gotten comfortable in my job, and we're all unpacked in our new place (although we are still in that stage where all our stuff is out and where it should be, but nothing is on the walls yet).

So it's time to start thinking about losing again. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The last time I posted I didn't even have a job in NC yet! Since November, I got a job as a Coding Auditor for Cornerstone Healthcare. I interviewed with them on a Monday afternoon, they called me on the drive home to offer me the job, and I was starting there exactly two weeks later, the Monday after Thanksgiving. It's unbelievable how much we've been blessed. It's never easy to pick up everything in your life and start completely over. New job for me, new school for Baden, new job for Baden too (just at a different Papa John's store) and a new apartment for us. But all of those little pieces fell into place so quickly and easily. I'm loving my job, we are loving our apartment and ward, and Baden starts school tomorrow! We still find ourselves pausing to take stock of how much our lives have changed and improved in such a short amount of time.

So with all that nice, rose-colored-glasses stuff out of the way, it's back to the gym for me! When I started maintaining, I just wanted to make sure I stayed under 153. That was my benchmark for loosing 25 pounds and I didn't want to go back over it. But I've done better then that! I'm actually 148.0. That's 30 pounds! The lowest I've seen on the scale so far is 147.8. Most of the time I've been in the 149-ish range. A big thing I changed when I started maintaining as opposed to loosing is I've weighed myself just about every day. I didn't do that when I was trying to loose because I would only be happy if the number was smaller. But with maintaining, I was usually ecstatic with what I saw on the scale. Again, as long as the number was under 153, I was content.

I've gotten back into bad food habits, though. I love junk food and I haven't shied away from it (why would I since my weight is staying the same?). Since the first go-round started with me changing my eating habits first, I tried doing that this time. But it's been a lot harder! I think because I'm happier with how I look now, it's harder to turn down little indulgences when I want them (which is a lot). So my strategy this time is different. I'm starting back with the exercise side of it first, and hoping that I'll want to eat healthier, so I'm not just wasting my time in the gym. Does that make sense?

Also, our new apartment has a little gym that's open 24-hours. You just get a code that opens the door and you can go whenever! So now, I'm going to try and exercise before work. As in, get up at 5:45, be back at the apartment by 6:45 and out the door for work at 7:45 since I have to be there at 8. Am I crazy? I have never been good at getting up early to exercise... We'll see. If it doesn't pan out, I can always go after work right? Right.

Sorry I don't have more wisdom when it comes to maintenance. But I am VERY excited to get back into a work out routine and start loosing weight again. I started out at 178 and now I'm 148, with an end goal weight of 128 (which I determined by looking for what the healthy weight range is for my height of 5'6"). Plus, I like the nice round number of 50 pounds. 30 down, 20 to go!