Crawling Back

Tail between legs.

Bleh. So I know I haven't been around in a while. Looks like a really long while. And I feel bad about it. Scratch that - I felt bad about it. But I'm done with the guilt and and just going to crawl my way back on the wagon kicking and screaming. If not now, when?

The bad news is - I'm not at a happy weight. At all. And it's not just the number on the scale. It's the way my clothes fit and the way I'm not as strong as I was and the way I don't have the stamina for exercise I once did.

The good news is - I think I'm ready to do something about it. I could come up with a bazillion excuses about why December was so hard for me - work stress, best friend's wedding, travel, holidays, etc. (okay so I just did) but I'm trying to just set that shit free right now.

Like lots of others today, I decided to hit the WW web site and get back to the basics. I know there are tons of debates going on right now about what's a diet and what's not a diet and the best way to approach weight loss and getting fit and all of that, but for me I know tracking through WW online is a powerful tool. I don't let it rule my life, but I do let it guide me. So I'm going to go back to tracking every day. My first goal is to try Core for one week. ONE WEEK. If I can't handle it or don't like it, I will go back to Flex. Either way, I will track my food and make good choices, including eating at least five servings of fruits and veggies a day.

I also took the step of meeting with a new trainer last week, and I had my second session with him today. Working out with a trainer really helped me the last time I lost a good chunk of weight, so I'm excited to get going with that again. Working out has never been hard for me because I love doing it, but I need to get in a consistent, positive routine. So my goal for working out is to hit the gym at least four times a week, and go snowboarding at least 7 more times this season, and go snowshoeing at least 5 more times this season.

The last thing I'm going to work on is posting here to make myself more accountable. I'd like to post meals every day like some bloggers do, but I also don't know if that's realistic given my previous attempts, and I'm not big on setting goals I know I can't achieve.

I've written some private goals, and I've posted these here, so I think I'm off to a good start. Today was a painful sugar withdrawal, and I'm sure tomorrow will be hard too, but I know I will easily fall back into good habits if I can just get through these first couple of days.

Meals were:

B - shredded wheat cereal, green tea
L - spinach salad w/ olive oil/balsamic, strawberries, sweet potato
S - banana and nonfat latte
D - Amy's veggie chili
S - popcorn

Thanks so much to you all for keeping up with your blogs and continuing to write - knowing you're all out there doing a great job really helps strengthen my resolve. Here's to a happy and healthy 2008!