Where'd You Go?

Hi friends! It's been awhile since I posted on here. I won't give a bunch of reasons for my absence, and I definitely won't apologize. I just have been feeling utterly defeated in many areas of my life and when times get tough, some things just fall to the bottom of the priority list. Unfortunately, blogging is one of them. I've been doing my best to get through day-to-day tasks, including working out and eating right. The working out comes easily enough. I have my partner and lots of other friends keeping me motivated. But the eating right fell by the wayside for an entire week. Now, I will say that...ummm...'womanly issues' contributed to the mass amounts of food I stuffed in my face last week. Overall I don't feel too badly about it. Shit happens, right? You screw up, then you get up and you start over. Of course it doesn't seem like my stress level is going to be decreasing anytime soon. We just found out The Husband received orders this weekend. We are(quite happily) going back to New England! But first, there is sorting and purging and packing and a bunch of other stuff that has to get done before moving across the globe. I am, admittedly, quite sad about leaving behind my friends here and the beauty of this island. Guam has been the foundation for my new lifestyle. Something has changed within me since arriving here eighteen months ago and I will never, ever forget the things I've learned. I will also never forget the beauty I've been privileged to see on a daily basis, and often take for granted. I wish everyone could see it, just once. But as I sit here reminiscing on the past, my mind shifts to the present. I have a mere six weeks to take everything in, and more importantly, to spend these last moments with some of the best friends I've ever had. So if I remain absent, just know that I am out there doing my best and that I will most definitely return here at some point. But in the meantime, stay focused on your goals. Know that we all(including me, most definitely) have struggles whether they are internal or external. Chin up, buttercup. ;)

Been There, Done That

We finished up Operation: Unleash the MILF two Fridays ago. At the time, I had become so physically and mentally weakened, it was a blessing. I needed the rest and I know my partner did too. We were breaking all over the place. But we finished twelve weeks and that's what's important. I didn't actually set a goal for the end of this program, just to finish it and finish it with some kind of results. I'm happy to say that over the last twelve weeks my weight went from 173 lbs. to 166 lbs. and I lost a total of 12 combined inches. I'm still not real sure about my body fat. According to my monitor I lost 1.2% but there were weeks where it went up significantly(?) and then went back down the next week. So who knows. My clothes fit better and I'm sliding into the next smallest size, now. Could it have been better? Probably. Am I gonna beat myself up about it? Not at all. It was a challenge from the very beginning. Some of the workouts were excruciating...hello, leg days! And like the saying goes, 'Focus on the weight of your dumbbells going up, not the number on the scale going down.' If you remember, I was disheartened after a few weeks of no weight loss. Well, I quit worrying about it and go figure, I started losing. My lifts also increased dramatically in the final weeks and I'm noticing much more upper body tone. My legs still have quite a lot of work to do, so that's what I'll be focusing on the next couple of months, as well as continuing working towards my goal of 20% body fat. Right now I'm sitting at 25.3%. Last week I was ordered(per my program) to take an entire week of rest for the gym. I cannot tell you how hard that was! Thankfully, my parents were here visiting and we did some active things like stand-up paddleboarding that kept me from getting too fidgety. I kept my diet spot-on except for two cheat meals and I'm really proud of myself for sticking to the plan.

So what's next? I'm going to be repeating the last six weeks of this program as I work on my legs. I'm going to re-evaluate my daily caloric intake and macronutrients and try to further my fat loss a bit more. My morning Zumba classes got cancelled so unless I can make the evening classes(super hard to get there at that time) I've got to come up with some kind of cardio that I can stick with for awhile. I'm thinking some interval running and time on the stair stepper to help with my booty. ;)