Has It Really Been Four Months?

It is day 73 in my Covid quarantine and I'm finally getting to a place where I can get a routine situated. Since the world has turned bonkers and it feels we live in upside down land, I have struggled to sleep. My new plan today is to try using a sleep app that might help me with this as I know sleep is an important part of self care and weight loss.

For whatever reasons brought me here, I decided to post about my progress from January 2020 to May 25, 2020.

January: I ultimately lost one pound. I was exercising 7 days a week yet not tracking my food. I suspect this was the issue.

February: I lost two pounds. I worked out 6-7 times a week, yet still was not tracking my food. I think this was still the issue.

March: I was ill and worked out twice in the first two weeks of the month. By March 16, I was working from home and sheltering in place. I was paranoid about contracting the virus and terrified. The stress was real. The sleeplessness also very real. Being at home, I was able to commit to daily workouts. I quickly developed a plan of working out 6-7 days a week. I lost one pound and maintained this weight until May 10, when I would regroup.

April 20-May 10: These are the weeks I affectionately call "carbopallooza" for reasons I probably don't need to explain, but will for total transparency. Fruity Pebbles and Cap'n Crunch were at the helm of this white shark, carb frenzy. Ultimately, I gained 3 pounds by May 17.

May 17-24: I committed to increasing my water intake, when I established I was dehydrated (something that is way too common for me, unfortunately). The foods I consumed were better aligned with my eating program (the one that would best get me to my weight loss goals and give me ultimate energy for my workouts). Yet, it wasn't until I completed a late night Flat Abs workout (that I put off all day, unsure I would make it off the couch to complete), that I heard and fully comprehended Autumn Calabrese say (what she says so often), "Don't undo all this work in the kitchen." And for some reason, after the 107th work out since January, I had my ah-ha moment.

May 25: I began once more and started the day with a challenging workout called "Power Strength Extreme" and have plenty of room for improvement. Afterwards, I ate foods that were on program and tracked my containers. I drank water. I noticed a spike in my energy and mood. I snapped pictures and uploaded them into the computer to stay focused.

The pictures speak their own truth and show more than my total scale loss from January 1-May 24 2020 of 7 pounds. Other non-scale victories (in addition to progress via weekly pictures) are looser clothing, increased muscle strength I can feel but not yet see, increased ability to do more of each workout with better focus and more intensity, as well as a laser beam focused commitment to completing the daily workout (hence the late night work out last night).

What I am working on: The kitchen connection. I am striving to make the tracking of food and eating "on program"/optimal energy food as much of a commitment as the workouts.

I'm pretty sure I'm tired of undoing all my hard work with sugary cereal that does not satisfy and causes sugar crashes. I am pretty sure I had to go through this, paying attention to how I was feeling and compare it to feeling more energized with foods that are on program.

May 25-July 12: I will have completed 3 of the 21 Day Fix cycles (alternating the regular and extreme program workouts each week). I hope to lose at least 15 pounds in this time, with renewed focus. I will be tracking more than just my weight. I will continue to use pictures and clothing to gauge my weight loss efforts. I am also going to begin tracking my body measurements (something I have not done since my very first 21 Day Fix cycle in 2016).

So, this is my "public" accountability, ricocheting off the walls in my echo chamber. That someone COULD stumble upon this, read it and check in to ask about progress, in my humble estimation, means that it is a legit public accountability.

Future posts about my progress will be June 1, June 21, July 1 and July 12. If other struggles, obstacles or celebrations occur on days I don't plan to check in, I will create a post with details.

Until the next time, walk in beauty and peace, in whatever form that takes in these exceptionally uncertain and stressful covid 19/quarantined times.

Stay safe + strong, my good peeps.

Mahalo \m/\m/