Yes, it's been two years since we've last blogged. Yes, we have abandoned our new healthy ways, for sinfully delicious red velvet cake and juicy cheeseburgers. It's not fun to admit defeat, but that is what happened. I know in my case, I just quit trying. I wasn't having fun and I didn't want to play anymore. What I needed was someone to give me a swift kick in the bum and tell me to suck it up and do the work.
I have learned that you have to work for what you want. Erin and I both value education, and we had to work hard for our degrees. We are usually go getters. We see what we want, and we go after it. I don't know what happens to us when it comes to weight, but neither of us have conquered that in the past.
What's done is done and the past is not the present. It's time to start living now. I know you are thinking, "Yeah right! What is different this time!?" Lots of things are different. For instance, we have been down this road so many times (yeah, I said lots) and now we are armed with an arsenal of information. We both know what needs to be done. My biggest problem, and I speak only for myself, is will power and motivation. I have all the knowledge on what do to, yet I am too LAZY to do it. I cannot live like that anymore. My weight has held me back in so many ways. Or I should say, I have allowed my weight to hold me back in so many ways. It's sad really.
That is all changing. Over the past month, I have made decisions to get my life back on track. I have given up soda (which if you know me is a BIG deal). I still have the occasional diet soda, but I actually prefer water now. I have begun exercising (not a whole lot, but little by little). I have made life long changes that I can manage, and with those changes I have lost a little weight. That is the key, little by little. One pound at a time.
Like Erin said, we are counting calories now. This is something I can do. This is something we both WILL do.
Stick with us. We will not be back in two years vowing to get back on track. Instead we will be posting pictures of our new looks. We will be celebrating having lost weight and kept it off.
I loved the Japenese proverb Erin left you, so I will leave you with something too. I love football (too much sometimes) my quote is from football coaching legend Vince Lombardi. He knew a thing or two about getting knocked down.
"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up." Vince Lombardi
-Al
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Chances
We're back! Almost two years later, but we still came back. Heads in hands. Starbucks at our backs. Same goal in mind.
We considered starting a new blog because, well, who wants to admit they quit and walked away after all that hoorah? But we decided to stick to our original goal: be honest about the struggle and write what's real. So, here's the truth: change is hard. Sometimes it doesn't stick the first, err fifth, time. But our strength comes from not laying down and being defeated. So we're dragging ourselves to our feet and documenting the rest of this story. Because it ain't over yet!
Stick with us as we discover how to continue on this journey, bumpy as it is for all those who choose it. We'll find wit and wisdom to share, alongside the sweat and struggle. Here's to a new day and another chance to tweak it's trajectory.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Breaking Points or Lack Thereof (Erin)
Since we last blogged, WW has been far from our lips.
After going off track again, I stayed that way for a while. Then my brain caught up with me, gradually. Sometimes we don't change because we have a breaking point. It can be more subtle than that. I had toyed with a calorie-counting application for a while. Then, one day, I realized it was working. And I was satisfied. And maybe I could take another step in the right direction. So I joined the gym, too. All of that escalated to a commitment. And, though I've said it more than once, "I'm married to this decision for better or worse." Saying it now feels like being a person who had gotten married more times than Elizabeth Taylor and is now trying to convince myself that I am, indeed, the marrying kind -- despite a failed history. So I say all of this a little sad that I couldn't have succeeded before. But thankful that, as the saying goes, though we can't go back and make a new beginning, we can start now and create a new ending.
The positive note here is that when you do choose health and strive toward living better, some of those changes stick even if you get off the program. I know both Ally and I have an affinity for whole-wheat products now. We also find ourselves more aware of our options.
The down side is that there are consequences. The hill is a little steeper now, but we're climbing it anyway.
Our plan has changed. This time we will be counting calories. It's more straightforward and--in her best valley girl voice--there's an ap for that! So we will be monitoring our intake that way, trying to focus on eating fruit, vegetables, dairy, all the better options. And trying to incorporate exercise. Here's to *muffled number, definitely not second* chances!
-E
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb
We considered starting a new blog because, well, who wants to admit they quit and walked away after all that hoorah? But we decided to stick to our original goal: be honest about the struggle and write what's real. So, here's the truth: change is hard. Sometimes it doesn't stick the first, err fifth, time. But our strength comes from not laying down and being defeated. So we're dragging ourselves to our feet and documenting the rest of this story. Because it ain't over yet!
Stick with us as we discover how to continue on this journey, bumpy as it is for all those who choose it. We'll find wit and wisdom to share, alongside the sweat and struggle. Here's to a new day and another chance to tweak it's trajectory.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Breaking Points or Lack Thereof (Erin)
Since we last blogged, WW has been far from our lips.
After going off track again, I stayed that way for a while. Then my brain caught up with me, gradually. Sometimes we don't change because we have a breaking point. It can be more subtle than that. I had toyed with a calorie-counting application for a while. Then, one day, I realized it was working. And I was satisfied. And maybe I could take another step in the right direction. So I joined the gym, too. All of that escalated to a commitment. And, though I've said it more than once, "I'm married to this decision for better or worse." Saying it now feels like being a person who had gotten married more times than Elizabeth Taylor and is now trying to convince myself that I am, indeed, the marrying kind -- despite a failed history. So I say all of this a little sad that I couldn't have succeeded before. But thankful that, as the saying goes, though we can't go back and make a new beginning, we can start now and create a new ending.
The positive note here is that when you do choose health and strive toward living better, some of those changes stick even if you get off the program. I know both Ally and I have an affinity for whole-wheat products now. We also find ourselves more aware of our options.
The down side is that there are consequences. The hill is a little steeper now, but we're climbing it anyway.
Our plan has changed. This time we will be counting calories. It's more straightforward and--in her best valley girl voice--there's an ap for that! So we will be monitoring our intake that way, trying to focus on eating fruit, vegetables, dairy, all the better options. And trying to incorporate exercise. Here's to *muffled number, definitely not second* chances!
-E
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb
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