Feeling good today

I tracked every bite I ate today. Stayed under 1500 calories which is the best I've done in a long time! For our fitness challenge, I earned the most points so far for one day which is fantastic. When I got home today, I used my self-control and walked to Leslie Sansone for 4 miles, and then did 10 minutes of strength training. I also drank 16 (if you can believe it) cups of water. I think with the extreme cold, it's very easy to get dehydrated, so it's great to drink a lot. I just have to make sure I stop drinking water by 9:30 or I'll be up all night.

I'm feeling good tonight. They always say you never regret working out and it's absolutely true! I'm going to try to remember how good I feel tomorrow if/when I try to use excuses, in order to make sure I do exercise.

First day of Fitnes Challenge

We ironed out the details and started our fitness challenge today. Each team has 2-5 people. For 7 days, everyone earns points for certain positive things they do each day, like one point for every 32oz of water we drink, 1 point per mile walked, 1 point for each half hour exercising, 1 point per fruit/veggie eaten, etc. The thing I especially like about this challenge is that it will change our habits in the long run, simply because that's what we're tracking.

I printed off a tracker today and just having it with me made me check in on the healthy habits more often throughout the day. I can definitely see this challenge being successful in the short and long term!

Day 4

It was so nice having today off of work! We both slept in and I had one of the best nights of sleep in a long time! Then it snowed most of the day and pretty hard at times. I'd say we got 4-6 inches of snow today and it's looking more beautiful than ever!

I went to a Demarle cooking party tonight, one of the few things to do in Bethel. It was mostly silicone products, which were pretty neat to use, although I didn't buy anything tonight. I'll be hosting a party in a month, when I hope to buy a couple of things. I'm excited to hostess a party again! It's been so long.

I didn't overeat today which was definitely good. I didn't exercise, but if I don't start before then, on Monday I will definitely be doing so. I think the work fitness challenge will be helpful as motivation, especially since I'm in charge of the team.

As a last remark, because it's Veteran's day, I'd like to thank all of the veterans from our past wars and those serving today. I'd also like to thank their families who had to sacrifice during those times.

Day 2

We had a big storm yesterday and into today. Fast blowing wind and some snow, but it warmed up enough that it started to melt some of the snow we had on the ground, which is a little disappointing. I have to admit the Tundra is much prettier when it's white, rather than brown.

At work today, I got in touch with HR to have them fax me the application for the gym. When we started, we thought about joining, but heard a lot of stories of lines and machines being hard to get on. But a week or so ago, I talked to someone who went often and she said there were only certain times/machines that were difficult. So my co-worker and I decided it was time to join. I'm still working on getting Jeff to join too (I'd love to workout with him) but I'm not depending on him to get myself to the gym. It's right across the street from work so I can't possibly complain of inconvenience.

I are alright today and worked more on my plan to continue this journey and keep my motivation up. I remember when I started losing weight, that reading weight loss blogs really helped me to stay motivated and on track, so I've started catching up on the blogs I've lost track of. I can't believe how much has happened in the last 9 months. I'm excited for others' success and rooting on those who are still working hard on it.

Long awaited (and necessary) update

Well, I haven't been the best at updating my blog. It's been something like 9 months since I've written and I'm sorry I haven't proven myself reliable. I know the disappointment when a person stops writing on their blog and yet I did the exact same thing.

There have been so many changes for us since February. Jeff and I moved to Bethel, Alaska. If you want to know more about that, you can see our family website . In the meantime, we've had to deal with so many different things than Oregon and it's taken alot of getting used to.

In regards to health; sigh, I hate to admit this, but I have gained back every single pound that I lost, plus 1. I am now unhappily settled at 316 pounds and my highest weight EVER. Over the last 9 or so months, I've had to deal with depression which is very new and very hard for me. I've got a better grasp on it now, so fingers-crossed, I've gotta change.

At my job, starting next Monday, we're starting a fitness challenge, which I'm excited to do. We got together a group of 5 people and have gone over the ground rules. It starts on the 14th and ends on the 3rd of June, but I'm really excited. 4 of 5 in our group work at the same place I do, so I feel like we might get more support that way.

I hope I didn't worry anyone, what with pretty much disappearing until now. Thanks for the support you gave me in the past and I hope we're all on the path to health and fitness!