Oh hi there.

Well after a few weeks of unintentional blog break, I'm back.

Let's talk about these last few weeks.

I've been working 12 hour days, easily, at least 4 days a week. I've been teaching every Saturday and Sunday as well. My wonderful, lazy summers and relatively calm falls...yeah I pay for it in February, March, April and May! ;) Small price to pay, for real.

Add in to marathon work days the death of a dance mom, a weekend long competition, tax season, a full and complete computer crash, plus a myriad of other things...it's just been a long month.

February can suck it. Honestly.

March is here and I'm on a roll. I started over again on my weight loss journey. I was out of control for a while there. I had no self control and didn't really care. My depression was in a full on downward spiral. My medicine was wrong, my seasonal effectiveness disorder was flaring up, my Achilles injury had me out of whack, my misophonia was at it's worse in years...I was a mess.

I WAS a mess.

I'm not anymore.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and made a decision. I enrolled in Jillian Michael's online program. It's less than $20 a month (pretty darn cheap!) and I love me some Jillian. I needed to be paying for something to commit to it. Does that make sense? If I didn't commit, I'd be wasting money and you all know I can't stand wasting money. By paying for this program, I'm forcing myself to stay the course and not give up.

Jillian's online program is a lot like all the others, except that her exercise plans are AWESOME. Every day when I log on, it's got a daily fitness plan laid out there for me. She also suggests meals and snacks for each day. I have the option of logging my own food, My Fitness Pal style, which is what I do. (Salmon? Gag.) You can also log your own work outs and she has an entire database of specific exercises to create your own circuits. It's really user friendly and a great resource.

I started Wednesday and have been faithfully logging every thing that goes in my mouth. I've switched out a lot of my Diet Coke and coffee for water. I'm mindful about what time I eat and make sure to have a small healthy snack a few hours later to keep my metabolism going. It's amazing what a difference eating breakfast makes in my day. I've never been a huge breakfast eater but I do like Special K cereal. So the last 3 days, I've measured out a proper serving of cereal, a proper serving of milk and paired it with a glass of water. I'm actually starting my day with intentionally healthy choices.

I've never done that before.

Last night at dance, I had forgotten my Special K bar or apple, my healthy snacks of choice at work. So I took 5 minutes out to run down to the convenience store down the road. They had Special K chips in sea salt flavor. The ENTIRE BAG had 110 calories. It was a perfect snack. I felt like I was eating bad for me chips (haha) but they weren't. They filled that crunch need, that salty craving and filled me up until dinner.

WIN.

I've also drank more water in the last three days than ever before. It feels good to flush my system. It's amazing how much more energy I have in just 3 days...with not even half the amount of caffeine in my system.

I am struggling to find exercises that don't aggravate my Achilles injury though. This will be an ongoing battle until summer when my Aunt's pool is open and I can swim. :) Any ideas?

Oh and get used to this weight loss posts. I'm doing it this time. So...like it or lump it. ;)

Goal 1: Lose 10 lbs by March 23. 3 down, 7 to go.
Goal 2: Lose 10 additional lbs by May 18. (20 total)
Goal 3: Lose 10 additional lbs by July 4. (30 total)
Goal 4: Lose 10 additional lbs by August 15. (40 total)
Goal 5: Hit goal weight by October 1!!!!

I am not crazy. I know weight comes off faster in the beginning. I've spread my goals out more after goal #1. I'm setting achievable, attainable goals so I don't get discouraged. Now I just need to figure out my rewards!! :) End reward? A CRUISE WITH DAVE!!!!! :)