Kristy's Weight Loss Journey: I Jumped Ship

I jumped off the weight loss ship.  I took off my FitBit.  I stopped going to the gym.  I haven't been on Instagram.  I haven't opened the blog page.  I haven't logged or weighed my food.  It's been about 2 weeks.  But guess what?  My weight hasn't changed.  I haven't went up or down.  Let me take you back to my last blog and let's go from there.

In my last blog I was talking about my experience with Intermittent Fasting and the Keto lifestyle.  With Intermittent Fasting, I found myself being stuffed and feeling sick in the evenings.  The first two weeks weren't bad but after that I just felt like it wasn't working for me.  I can see how it would work for some people.  And perhaps for me, the lack of carbs and the fasting were a bad combination.  As far as Keto, I am not strict about it and I do not test my ketones.  I just stick with super low carb, avoiding bread, potatoes, pasta and rice.

I had about a week vacation planned so I knew I wouldn't be tracking my food.  I decided to leave my FitBit at home so I wouldn't have to worry about charging it while away.  The only thing I miss about it is looking at the time.  I have been at this for 20 months now.  I still want to lose more weight but I don't have a time limit.  I also don't want to have to miss out on some fun because I am afraid of what to eat or drink.  So on vacation, I ate, drank and was generally merry.

I left from work on Tuesday afternoon and headed to Olympia to pick up my sister.  Her and I then drove up to the Bainbridge Island area to the Clearwater Casino and Resort to meet our friend Brenda for a few days.  Brenda was at a work conference but she was free at night.  Tuesday night we went to a fee comedy show at the Sports Bar at the Resort.  They had an incredible deal of a burger, a beer and a shot for $10!  We all got Fireball and burgers and laughed our butts off.

The next morning we had Crab Benedict on the terrace before Brenda had to go off to class.  Kari and I ventured into town for a little shopping.  I got a killer deal on some clearance clothes at Target and some nice stuff at a consignment shop called Curvy QT.  When Brenda was done for the day we went to the pool and hot tub and laid out there for a while.  We came back, took showers and headed to dinner at the buffet.

Thursday morning we had breakfast at the cafe again and said our goodbyes.  Kari and I headed to our Mom's to pick her up and then we went to Kari's and Mom and I headed to my house.  We stopped in Longview and picked up my husband to go to the Oregon Dunes near Winchester Bay.  I was in the car from 8 am until around 5 pm.  By the time we got there, I was completely done.  I had some drinks and don't remember much after that until I woke up the next day.

We basically sat around the campfire for the next 2 days and just relaxed.  Thank goodness we did because our drive home on Saturday was a crazy one.  We got stopped once for a brush fire and a second time by 5 police cars blocking I-205 for a hostage situation.  Our 6 hour drive turned into 9 hours.  When we finally got home, around 5 pm, we both went to bed.  I woke up 13 hours later, feeling amazing.

Back to work on Monday and back on my routine.  I skipped the gym Monday because work was a bit crazy but Tuesday I did a heavy arm day.  Then Wednesday I had a doctor's appointment on Vancouver so I had to miss and Thursday I did squats which nearly killed me.  I had zero energy and every movement felt extremely heavy.  Friday I was the sorest I have ever been.  My abs, legs, arms and shoulders hurt so badly.

All in all, I am still going to be losing weight, just not being so stringent.  I will probably go back to tracking my food and my exercise but I may not use my FitBit much more.  In order to make this more sustainable, I have to be able to do it without any of these tools.  To know my body's needs and capabilities.  Losing weight is the easy part of all of this.  The mental struggle is by far the hardest.

Josh's Journey: The Trouble With Stress

About a month ago, our family got together and decided to work on getting healthier.  I figured that I'd have the easiest time.  I had already been going to the gym, was trying to eat healthier and getting a decent amount of sleep.  I was so wrong.

I came to the realization that maybe I wasn't as in shape as I thought.  Especially after tracking what I was eating.  Soon after, I started to falter.  And I fell hard.  I started to eat really badly.  As far as the gym, well let just say I was paying them to keep the dust off my locker.  Work was really starting to get stressful with big numbers to hit and my sleep declined.  I was tossing and turning all night and getting up early for no reason.  I just could not sleep.

But, this is a new week and I need start some place.  I still have a lot to do at work and since I am still getting up early,  why not go to the gym and use what I am paying for?  I know that it always makes me feel better!  One of the perks of going super early to the gym is that there are very little people there so I am not fighting for equipment.  I have a good routine, start with cardio then free weights.  Abs on Tuesday, legs on Wednesday, back on Thursday, free day on Friday to hit what ever I missed. 

I might only have 30 to 45 mins to workout every morning but I am going to get back to it.  This should help manage my stress at work and at home which in turn will improve my sleep.

Luckily my gym is right next to where I start my day.  Overall this should be one of the smartest and healthiest decisions I have made.  Well until next the time keep on smiling and remember everyone starts some place so let keep encouraging those around us and we'll see how far they all can really go.

Josh's Journey: To my surprise...

To start my journey towards healthier living I was given a task. Not a big big task, but one that would open my eyes.  I was told to track how much I eat throughout the day and put it into a food journal.   WOW, what an eye-opening experience.  I never would have guessed how much food I was really eating.  And because I am always road, I never look at what I ate or drank throughout the day.

 

My breakfast would consist of a cup of coffee or a latte and an apple or toast, not that bad.  But then I'd walk in to one of my accounts and get something out of the deli or bakery.  My lunches would consist of celery, peanut butter, raisins, grapes and beef jerky, again, not that bad.  However, I'd get another latte before I got home.  Then, when I got home, I would snack on M&M's or some other kind of sweets while me or Kari made dinner.

  

What really got me were my dinners. I never thought my dinners were that out of control until I really looked how much I ate. For one meal I had corn on the cob, a Caesar salad and a steak.  A great balanced meal.  Except my portions were were out of whack.  2.5 servings of salad, corn on the cob covered with butter and Johnny 's seasoning and a 16 ounces of steak. Not a 4-ounce, or an 8-ounce steak, but a 16 OUNCE STEAK. That's 1 pound of meat! It blew my mind. That's when I realize just how much I really eat.

I know that I won't be able just to flip a switch and start eating less, but at least now I can make a conscience effort to watch how much I am really eating.