New Blog Title Plus New Blogging Approach

This blog is becoming difficult to update because it would be totally not fun to read. It would be updates that say,

"I lost 2 pounds."

"I'm no longer checking the scale."

"Woops, over the last 6 months I accidentally gained 19 pounds."

"Ok, do I dare start this journey again?"

And at the risk of sounding like "Hey, I found a new thing that I'm temporarily being helped by..." I will just share a bit of what's going on, because at least at this moment it's positive! Yay!

I love The Fly Lady. A little more than a year ago, she started endorsing a guy who is a virtual trainer, sells online software & heart monitors and swears by interval training. His name is Jonathan Roche, and he has a radio show on Blog Talk Radio. Well, I've listened to him on & off, but recently I went on a streak where I listened to a ton of archived shows and the result was really positive. I bought the online software system (already owned a heart monitor.) And I've been making good progress. I started interval training every other day and strength training on my own for a month or so before my system arrived from Jonathan & I lost 10 pounds! Not kidding! Then after the system arrived, (right before Christmas) the progress continued and so far I've lost 4 more pounds and maybe more because my weigh-in day is tomorrow.

The thing that is fueling me is the positivity on his radio show. I've been able to convince myself that

• a little is better than none
  
• any weight loss is beautiful
• any movement/exercise is beautiful
• forward movement (however slow!) is what I'm striving for- not quick fixes
• I need to listen to my body & stop exercising when I feel badly
• Resting when you're sick is actually more productive than exercising anyway & hammering yourself
• 30 minutes, 3 times a week is enough cardio (even though a nagging voice tries to tell me 2 hours is the correct amount & that 30 min. will never help anything.)
• 30 minutes, 2 times a week is enough strength training (see above about the evil nagging voice.)
• The Biggest Loser is all about over-training and getting injuries and also not realistic for normal people with normal lives
• Exercising really does improve my energy
• I need to take time to tell myself what a great accomplishment it is to lose the weight that I have
• The tendency to overdo it is one of the things that can make me fail (has happened several times in the past) & is the reason I can be slow & steady this time
• I deserve to feel great
• My family is proud of me when I work out, & I'm actually pretty proud of myself, too!
• "Baby steps" are OK!!!!!! This is what I have done to get myself to eat fewer desserts, and it is so much less overwhelming.
• Calorie counting really drives people crazy. You can still be successful if you just eat reasonably.
• The real reason I want to lose weight is to frolick with my kids, lower my health risks, and feel great mentally & physically

I know in my past blog posts, I never have stuck purely to the topics of what I'm eating and what I'm doing for exercise, but now I really may go on tangents if I think that sharing these thoughts would relate to the psychological, mental, physical and spiritual struggle that is weight loss.

But the main point of this post is a happy thought. I'm so happy that my clothes felt so loose the past couple days, and that what I'm doing is giving me hope for the long-term. Go Me! Good job, Me! for being more consistent, lately! And I know I can keep it up if I stay away from the all-or-nothing attitude.