Time to Refocus

Happy Sunday all!

It's been a long week of working and chores.  I haven't been doing much, hence the lull of blog posts.  But I've been missing this blog like crazy, so I figured now was a good time to check in and give everyone an update.

Things are going pretty well!  Summer has officially kicked off in the Northwest-- well official in my opinion.  Sunny days, temperatures in the 80's.... feels like summer to me!

Courtesy: Spurdge.com

Ahhh!  One of the best kept secrets of the Northwest is the perfect summer weather.  And because things are starting to dry out, I'm starting to get the itch for some much needed summer adventures.    The other day at work, I started planning our Tuesday through September.  Yeah, I know that's a bit far out but when you only get 3-4 guaranteed months of great weather you have to plan it out!


There's lots of hiking on the itinerary, lots of day trips and lots of time outdoors.   Which brings me to one of of our goals for the end of the summer.   Aside from continuing our quest to lose weight, Jason and I have also decided we want to hike the South Sister in Central Oregon.

Courtesy: Web.Oregon.Com

It's a 12-mile day hike to the summit of the mountain!  It's been one of Jason's goals for as long as I can remember, and I can't think of a better way to end a summer of exploring than to do this hike.  But that means I'll need to step up my game, quite a bit!

How I've Been Doing

Things in the weight loss world have been slow and steady for me.  I've lost a total of 35.1 pounds and I've dropped a whole pant size!  I'm feeling better, I have more energy and I've noticed I'm starting to slip back into some old habits.

My uncontrollable sweet tooth has reared it's ugly head yet again.  Part of the problem is working in a newsroom.  People bring in their left over cookies, cake and candy because they know it will be devoured in a mere matter of seconds.  Hell, I even do it.  On Friday, I was feeling nice and bought my co-workers some donuts for National Doughnut Day! I even had a doughnut or two....

And today, I'm bringing in some delicious sweet and salty cookies-- because I want to be nice.  And during the baking process last night, I ate 3 of them-- plus a few scoops of dough!

For the last two weeks, I've been working to undo the damage my sweet tooth has caused.  I gained back a pound, and had to work hard to lose it.  Which brings me to the title of today's blog.

It's time to refocus.

I went back and read my goals again, and I started to feel guilty that I let myself slack on this incredible opportunity to change my life for the better.  Every goal I set for myself is attainable, and all I have to do is put in the work.

So what changed from the beginning of "Operation: Sweatin' for Seoul" and now?

Well, I stopped being strict about recording my food in take in my food diary.  The minute I stopped checking my daily intake goals and researching how many calories were in my food-- I started eating more.  And, to be honest, I started to feel more lethargic.

I also became too relaxed about my workouts and my daily walks.  With the food lethargy, so came the excuses as to why I don't need to go to the gym today, or why I can skip that walk with Khloe. And with my work schedule changing week to week, with so many people being on vacation-- I used that as an excuse not to hit the gym.

And, while it's been incredibly helpful to my emotional health, I've noticed that my therapy sessions are having a direct effect on my emotional eating.  It's been good to work through some of my toughest personal issues, and I'm incredibly happy I've made this choice (For more information, read: Dealing with Depression Part 1 and Part 2).  But...  even though this process has pushed me to start dealing with my depression among other things... now that we've scratched the surface, I feel more susceptible to binge eating when my emotions run high.

So, how do I change that?

Well dear readers, there's only one thing I can do to change it and that's to get myself refocused.

First things first, I need to get myself back into a routine of logging everything I eat.  It works for me.  I'm more conscious of what I'm putting in my mouth, and how much.  And I feel a lot better when I'm eating the right things.

Next, I need to come up with a workout and walk schedule, and some alternatives for when my work schedule changes.  It's important to set yourself up for success, and I haven't been doing that.  I've actually been setting myself up for failure by not being prepared for life's little quirks.  If I have to go into work early to fill in for someone-- it's ok if I miss my early morning class, there's always one at night I could catch.  Or, I can come home and do a workout video.   Same thing with my Khloe walks... they don't have to be every morning if my schedule doesn't allow the time-- they can also be at night.

Finally, I need to find a different alternative to deal with my emotions after therapy.  Food isn't an option anymore... it's just figuring out what I can replace it with that is the trouble.  I will have to do some more brainstorming on this issue.

Goals for this Summer

I hope all this refocusing will help me reach these goals this summer.

Lose 23 more pounds, and finally be under 300! This is a big deal for me, I haven't been under 300 pounds since 2008.  And I'd really like to be there before my big trip to Montana before my BFF's Dirty 30 celebration.  That's mid-August.  I know I can do it with some determination.  *Bonus: those last 23 pounds means a new swim suit-- and a photo of me in that suit for the blog... eek!

Hike South Sister: I know I mentioned it before, but I wanted to include it again as a reminder :)

Get the house back to Organized:  I know that this doesn't really have anything to do with my physical health-- but it's a bit of emotional homework.  I haven't spent a lot of time talking about my depression on this blog, but many of you know that I've been dealing with it.  Part of the problem with being depressed is it takes over your entire life, and for a while that meant we lived in a rat's nest.  We're slowly cleaning it up, and I would like to have that done by the end of the summer.  It would be a big relief and I could stop stressing about it... which means I could lose some more weight :)  I guess they really are connected...

So, that's all I have for today... plus it's time to get ready for work!   Thanks for sticking with me today, it's been a long one.    I hope you're all having a great weekend!


Do you have some fun summer plans?  Are you traveling anywhere, or going on any interesting road trips?  What about fitness and health goals, do you have any things you'd like to accomplish this summer?  Leave you're comments below!  I'd love to hear your input.