19 Weeks

I'm already scheduled and paid to go on a 5-day cruise to Mexico the second week of December. That's coming up pretty soon! Wooo-hoooooo!!! I'm going to use that cruise as short-term motivation to lose weight. My goal is to lose 50 pounds before the cruise. It's definitely do-able if I get on the ball NOW.

I have all of August, September, October and November to lose that 50 pounds. From today, I have exactly 19 weeks until I go on the cruise. That's an average of 2.6 pounds a week. That's a very healthy amount to lose on average.

I'm doing great on my workouts. I'm feeling stronger, more healthy, more fit. I feel like I have more energy. I don't get tired or need to sit down nearly as often---hardly at all. And that is a HUGE difference from just a couple of months ago. 24 Hour Fitness, Zumba classes and walking around big stores is really working for me in this record Texas heat!!

However, on my food, I'm not doing well at all. So my bad-food-eating is totally cancelling out my working out, so that I've lost very little weight (if any) even though I'm feeling more energy and more stamina due to my workouts.

In my new living situation, it is more challenging to eat healthy. But that's no excuse. I need to be more pro-active and make sure I can eat healthy food I like at every meal.

My next lily pad is to buy a small refrigerator to put in my room so that I have space of my own to keep healthy food. I've got my exercise going---now I need to focus on food, which is the most important part.

Lily pads

I heard a quote the other day from Clinton Kelly on the television show "What Not To Wear" that really got my attention. I'm paraphrasing, but he said something like, "You don't try to make a huge leap when trying to get to the other side of the river. You just go one lily pad at a time. So only focus on the lily pad right in front of you."

This is so key for me in my health and fitness journey. I have a perfectionist mindset. All or nothing. And it sets me up for failure every time. Every single time. I know this. But I keep doing it anyway.

I have a LONG way to go in my health and fitness journey. The river I'm crossing is very, very wide. I need to lose about 150 pounds to get to my ideal goal weight. Yes, that is a WIDE river.

And my focus has been on the other side. That is NOT working.

I have to focus solely on the next lily pad. The next step. One more small step each time. That's all I need to focus on for right now---not the whole journey. That's too overwhelming.

I'm also going to stop talking about what I'm "going to do" on this blog. When I make promises, then don't keep them, I feel even more like a failure and I hide out. That doesn't help me at all.

So I'm going to switch and talk about what I ALREADY DID. What I AM DOING. Not what I'm "going to do". My focus needs to be on communicating what action I AM TAKING. Not what action I'm "going to take". That's not working either.

I'm a planner and a thinker. I will analyze and plan things to death. But that's not what matters. It's the ACTION that matters.

So here is what I HAVE DONE in the last few weeks, since I lasted posted on this blog:

1. Regular Zumba classes at 24 Hour Fitness. I have gone to every Zumba class, which is a one-hour dance cardio class. I LOVE it!! I wish all exercise was this much fun! I actually look forward to it! I just wish they offered it more than twice a week. I am looking into other Zumba classes in the area, though. So hopefully I can go more often since this is exercise that is really working for me, as far as actually DOING it.

2. Started regular "window shopping". I try to "window shop" in at least 2 stores once a day. I'm so excited to be in an area that has big stores again!! I can spend a couple of hours browsing through stores like Ross and TJ Maxx and I don't have to spend a thing. But it keeps me on my feet and it is building my stamina.

3. Regular gym workouts. In addition to Zumba, I also go to the gym at least 3-4 times a week for regular workouts. Now these workouts have been far from stellar. But each time I do some kind of cardio and some kind of strength exercises. They are not what they should be yet, but it's another lily pad. Right now, I'm getting myself there and I'm going through the motions. The intensity will come.

4. Taking a multivitamin. I'm finally getting this habit going again. I've taken one every day for the last two weeks. So I'm doing really well, here.

That is progress!!! It really does feel so much better to post victories, rather than plans!

One lily pad at a time. That's my new mantra.