It's A New Day...

 

It's been seven months since I've posted here. Seven months where LIFE beat down on me and kept me busy and gave me excuses to ignore the pink elephant trumpeting in the room. For fifteen years I have been passionately pursuing the chance to receive my Master Fifth Degree Black Belt rank in TaeKwonDo but for the past two years or so I have sorely neglected my training. This shows in the numbers on the scales and my inability to participate in testing for the ultimate rank at my school.

To be completely honest, I am ashamed of what I have become. Saddened I have allowed ANYTHING...EVERYTHING...get in the way of reaching my martial arts goals. So easy to blame the fourteen hour days of summer camp or commitments of my new writing career or even the requests of friends and family that can eat away at my free time. But I started this particular blog to try and keep it real...to be completely honest with myself...and the ONLY REASON I am overweight is because I have allowed it to be so.

I'm returning to this blog after a soul-searching hiatus where I have worked hard to prepare myself for the long road ahead. There are unique as well as common medical issues I deal with but I refuse to allow them to get in the way. I have limited financial means to buy the healthiest of meal items but refuse to allow that to stop me from doing what I can. I even have a bum leg that is a constant reminder of the person I can no longer be but I REFUSE to allow it to be the reason I won't reach my goal of becoming the new and improved me!

To that end, and to keep myself accountable, I will randomly post updates to my journey as well as share various things I learn along the way which have been helpful to me. I know I'm not alone in my struggles with my weight. But it is my nature to self-sabotage...as if I am not worthy of a healthier lifestyle and THAT is the monkey on my back I will endeavor to shake off. 

Am I alone in feeling this way? I don't think so. I think there are many others like me in the world....wanting so badly to step out of the shadows and into the light of self-appreciation. Maybe some will follow my journey. Maybe some will join me in the battle. I hope so...then we can all be WARRIORS together and reach our individual goals together!

Here are four things I've put into place to help me move forward with my plan to claw my way back to a healthier me:

1. Joined a gym...it's only $10 a month and by cutting out junk food I will be able to afford to do this. I started today and will see how sore I am in the morning...;~)

2. Loaded the Hungry Girl Diet app on my iPhone...this free app gives me easy access to healthier meal choices and I can always go to their website at www.hungrygirl.com for even more cool recipes.

3. Loaded the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone...this free app allows me to track things like what I eat, how much exercise I get, and the water I drink. It also gives me encouraging information like how much overall weight I will lose in a certain time frame if I stay on track.

4. Going back to training one on one with my martial arts instructor two times a week beginning next week. The combination of these changes will hopefully allow me to test for my Master rank by this time next year.

Have YOU  been wanting to make changes in YOUR life? Are YOU wanting to get back to a healthier weight? You don't have to struggle alone. Let's reach that goal together!! Let me know in the comments one change you can implement in your life right now to put you on that path to a better you...
 

THE FITNESS FIGHT

 

Last night I hit my first hurdle on my road to a healthier me. I know my downfall is chocolate so when a friend of mine gave me two packets of snack size Hershey milk chocolate bars I should have politely declined. Of course I didn't. 

When I got them back to my house I should have maybe put them in the freezer to portion them out later or hidden them in the far corner of the pantry...the ol' out of sight, out of mind trick. But I didn't.

I waited until after I made myself a healthy stir-fry vegetable dinner and then had chocolate for dessert. Too much of it in fact. I realized after the third little snack bar that it was WAY TOO SOON to think I had any level of control over my sugar addiction yet so I did the only thing I COULD do. I threw the rest of them away.

I grew up with the knowledge of two things concerning food...one, there was never enough of the tasty stuff around but plenty of "food" to eat I wouldn't have fed my dog, and two, my mother would have literally beat me with a belt if I didn't consume everything she put in front of me at mealtime. For me to throw away even harmful junk food was a herculean task and one I could be proud of.

I came across a wonderful website to help me with my challenge to become a healthier me and the best thing about it? It's FREE!! You can visit their website by going to www.myfitnesspal.com. It has a website, an iPhone app and even a YouTube tutorial. Check it out...