I'm still here

I know it’s been awhile. What, with three weeks in New Zealand, one week in Tallahassee, etc. time just seems to get away from me. However, just because I haven’t been posting on this site doesn’t mean that I haven’t been working toward my goal.

New Zealand was the first time I was able to put my fab and fit goal to the “travel” test. Although I continued to lose weight during the trip, I had both successes and failures.

Success – I didn’t have a rental car, so I had to walk everywhere, which I actually enjoy. Built in exercise. One nice thing (well, nice until I got all sweaty) is that my hotel and the office where I worked was on a hill. So, anytime I walked to dinner, lunch, or anything, getting back to the office or hotel required a workout. Sweatiness aside, that was a win because it counted as exercise. I also did a lot of hiking, walking, etc. over the weekends, so even more exercise.

Failure – Although I had a mini kitchen in my apartment, I only cooked a couple of meals there. I did have breakfast in my room every day, consisting of whole grain cereal, skim milk, and low fat yogurt (as well as delicious kiwi), but I ate out for all lunches and most dinners. Eating salads got boring quickly, especially being in a foreign country with so many different things to try, so, I’ll admit, I did eat some non-diet food (like yummy fish and chips). However, I did manage the portions, so I either took the leftovers back to the hotel, or just left the rest on my plate. And, when I did eat something that wasn’t especially diet-friendly, I worked out a little bit harder the following day. Input cannot exceed output. So, kind of a combination success/failure.

So, I’m down almost 30 lbs. from where I was when I started this thing. Feeling so much better, but I know that I have more to go.

Tip of the day – exercise in the morning. This is actually easy for me, I can’t seem to exercise in the afternoon/evening – too much to do (or I get too easily distracted). Getting up in the morning and getting it over with is the easiest thing for me to do. This article gives other reasons why exercising in the morning is better:

1. Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours.
2. Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity (which I really need before spending a day at work).
3. Exercising first thing in the morning is the most foolproof way to ensure that other things don’t overtake your fitness commitment (see, this is what I said)

My niece recently started a Biggest Loser competition with a bunch of people, and I gladly joined. Wish I could count the 30 lbs. I've already lost, but, oh well, it's all part of the adventure known as life, right?