I did it!  I did it!  Not only did I run the 5k, I ran the entire 5k!!  WOOOHOOO!!!  Yaaaay me!!!! 

…and now I am ready to crash!!!  Here are some pics from the race!!  I will write more soon about how it went and let you all know my impressions.  I learned a lot from this first race and I can’t wait to share it with you all!!

Okay and one more thing.  In the picture of me running and looking at the camera, I look like a total freak!  I had been looking for Hubby and it was that exact moment that I found him, and the dawn of recognition was entering my face.  So please pardon the goofy look on my face! 

Oh oh oh and we have some video too!  I will post that soon.  The video is funny because it was taken right after I was done and I was ready to pass out from the heat so I was somewhat delirious.
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

So I promised you an update two weeks ago about my plateau, formerly known as “not a plateau“.  I had discussed changing my eating habits even further by cutting out some of the sweet cheats I’d still been eating and by adding more healthy calories to my diet.  I did those things, and to a large extent, they did not make a difference.  I was surprised because I really thought for sure that those changes would help solve the problem, and they didn’t.  They did, however, help me to realize some things about my frame of mind during this plateau.

I’ve realized, through prayer and talking to friends, that I am relying way too much on the number on the scale.  And I don’t think it’s healthy.  And aren’t I trying to just be healthy?  Well I can’t let my weight loss become an obsession and go and screw up my mental health, right?!  So this has all brought me to the conclusion that I need to cut my time on the scale down to once a week for a weekly weigh-in and that’s it.

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This week’s Useful Website is one I just discovered yesterday and am already finding it to be tremendously valuable.  Maria’s Last Diet was created by a husband and wife team that specialize in the psychological aspects of losing weight and keeping it off.  They have put together a large database of articles concerning the typical weight loss issues but the advice given in the articles is anything but typical.  The focus is centered on the mental aspects of losing weight and answering those questions relating to our struggles with food and weight.

The About page on Maria’s Last Diet describes the website as the following:

Members of the Maria’s Last Diet community share one thing: a true desire to lose weight and keep it off.

Maria’s Last Diet is here to help women diet successfully. It is not a diet in the usual sense. There is no one particular food plan. Our mission is to help you stay on whatever diet you choose. Sticking to your diet is the key to your weight loss success.

The right diet and weight loss tools, information and support will enable you to reach your weight loss goal. Maria’s Last Diet applies psychological principles, tried and tested in research and clinical practice, to the universal problems that women have with sticking to their diets.

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How do your vacations usually effect your weight loss?  Is it hard for you to stay on track?  Do you take a diet break?  Does going out of town throw your routine out of whack?  I’ve grappled with these questions before and gone into some trips very unprepared for what temptations are out there.  In the past, I have completely stopped my diet and ate whatever my heart desired.  I’ve had other times where I’ve done ok being out of my routine and managed to eat healthy and get some exercise. 

Fighting temptation while on vacation can be a tricky thing.  We are going to Disneyworld in a few weeks and how I will handle myself while there is definitely something I am considering.  I decided to do some research and find some tips from the experts to help me have a plan and a better idea of how to be successful on vacation.  (You mean I can’t eat a churro!?) 

This article from Diet & Body has tips for the different types of vacations people take.  Road trips, staying with friends or family, airport tips, and advice on returning to your routine when you get back home. 

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Each week I allow myself one splurge.  I call it my “treat”.  My diet has always included a treat because I feel it is very important to still act like a human being while on a diet.  Seriously, I think that sometimes people cut out so much so fast and they lose it all so quickly that they forget that it’s not just a diet that we are on, but that it’s a lifestyle change.  I’m not knocking their strategies for losing weight but this is how I have to look at my own journey.  I found this article that helps explain this theory and why it’s important not to cut everything out completely.  It also provides tips on successful splurging.

I’m not just in this to lose weight so I can wear the clothes I like and look cute.  Don’t get me wrong, that is a huge reward, but it’s not my motivation.  My goal is to be a healthy person and make my older years a little easier than they might have otherwise been.  I don’t want to learn how to cut out all my favorite foods only to never have them again; I want to learn moderation.  My other goal is to teach my daughter how to live a healthy lifestyle through mine and my husband’s actions, not just our words.  I want her to grow up eating healthy foods and being active, and our hope is that with a solid foundation, she would continue that on her own. 

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Goals can be a very empowering and motivating tool to use in life.  Have you ever set a difficult goal for yourself and achieved it?  And how did you feel after?  Yeah, now there’s something money can’t buy.  I read something the other day that said we should set small goals for ourselves to achieve, even if it’s several small goals that add up to one huge one.  The reason being that our brains do not know the difference between almost achieving a goal versus giving up and the feelings associated with that.  Our brains only register success and failure.  So to feel productive and successful at whatever it is you are trying to accomplish, small goals are worth trying. 

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