US Wellness

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Looking Back

I was wondering to myself on the snowy drive home what I was going to post about today besides my food or how incredibly tired I am, but I started thinking about my motivations for doing this in the first place as inspiration.  For those of you who've known me for a long time, it would probably come as no surprise to you that there was a time in my life when I was gauntly thin.  I grew very quickly once that started happening and before I knew it I was 5'10" and I weighed maybe 120 lbs.  It was always nice to not have to worry about what I ate or if I would fit into something.  As is common with most people, my college lifestyle filled me out and I struggled with those changes.  I wanted to be "skinny" again but I wasn't really very motivated to work out.  I started running a bit, which pretty much kept my weight stable at about 135.  My grad school lifestyle was even worse on my body - at least at first.  Every day was filled with working, studying, eating, studying, studying, studying, reading, studying, and eventually sleeping for a couple of hours.  I ate quick meals and often ate out in order to be social with my friends and escape school work for dinner on the weekends.  Time to exercise seemed completely unavailable and besides that, if there was time I was too friggin' tired to move.  I knew I was gaining weight, but things really hit home when I weighed myself right before Christmas break my second year.  When 150 lbs was staring back at me I think I was a bit sick to my stomach.  Fortunately with the new year and resolution time approaching, I decided I had to make some changes.  I was not going to let that happen to me.  Being my last semester of school, my workload was lighter and I took advantage of that.  I worked out often and Jesse and I changed our diet.  We weren't perfect at either thing, but over the course of January - April I lost all 15 of those lbs. 

While this is not and will never be the place to talk about some of my experiences in Chicago, suffice it to say that when you're close to someone who's struggling with many of their own personal issues and has very bad habits - you can be influenced, too, no matter how hard you try not to.  In the summer of 2010, I made some big changes and I like to think that I've been on the right track since then.  Decreased stress, my own schedule, Zumba, dancing all weekend long, and other things helped me to reach 145 lbs again.  I've hovered within a few pounds of that ever since.  Its not where I'd like to be, but its better than where I was.  Enter Mark and all of the things I like about him, especially the fact that he's active and enjoys being in shape.  Mark's had my best interest in mind, too, and pushes me to keep up with the new things (Crossfit and paleo) even when I am impatient.  Since my body composition is changing, I'm not exactly sure what I should be looking for on the scale.  I know there is fat to be lost from certain areas, but when I first started Crossfitting my weight went up from muscle.  I think I belong somewhere around 140 (or maybe 145?).  Crossfit is changing my body.  My legs are solid, my arms have definition, and it won't be long before all of my abs are back again!!  :)

Food Log for the Day:
2 cups of cinnamon coffee with a splash of cream
1 box of blackberries
Chicken/Bacon thigh lunch (Thanks, Jenny!)
1 small banana
Carrots and guacamole
1 box of blueberries (I wasn't intending on eating these, but it just happened while I was typing.)
Squid curry...again!

Mark ate the same things and is also taking a rest day.  He might update later.

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