Update on the Blueprint

Hello World!

Here is an update on everything blueprint related.

I have had a CRAZY few weeks of travel and work, this week being my first week back in the office for the entire week.

The first week away, I did GREAT when it came to my eating...for the first day or so.  A biscuit here, chocolate frosting (from the cake) there, bread pudding...yeah, a few indulgences.  I did exceed my calorie burn every day, in fact, I burned 4,078 calories total one day when I ran 3 miles that morning, worked the conference and then danced for hours that night.  It was fantastic.  {I have never actually danced in front of people like I did at this conference - I am giving full credit to Zumba for giving me the confidence to cut a rug...though I have to say, I didn't learn the Sprinkler or the Shopping Cart at Zumba - lol!  Since I don't drink alcohol it isn't even like that would loosen me up...I was just my own crazy self and it was a BLAST.}

I was exhausted coming home from the conference, and had 2 days to pack then turn around and fly to San Francisco for another conference - this one I did not have to work or help plan, I was just an attendee.  My healthy eating lasted until lunchtime on Monday.  Oops.  Yep, I had a brownie after lunch, and a bunch of pieces of dove chocolate later (literally I lost count) it was bad...lets just say the rest of the week included many indulgences, white bread and not so healthy breakfast choices (I say choices because most of the time, healthy options were available to me...and I just chose the not so healthy options).

I also did not exercise on purpose.  I say on purpose because I did go hiking around with my brother and his girlfriend when we saw some of the sights of SF (he lives there and that was a huge bonus for my trip).  I had planned a run or two along the Pacific Ocean, but it turned out to be way cold that week, so I did not want to go out.  The hotel had a fantastic gym.  I did not get out of bed to try it out.

Pretty disappointing.

Needless to say, I returned home and eyed my scale with disdain.  It was my birthday when I came home and I didn't want to burst my bday bubble so I put off weighing.  I celebrated my birthday for a few days (with chocolate cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, muffins with cream, a yoyo from Publix, fried green tomatoes...) really I shouldn't go on.  I decided I was going to repeat my cleanse this past week so I could get myself back into gear and rid my body of all the toxins I filled it with.

I felt SO sick on Saturday night I was miserable.  Sunday I felt like I had a food hangover.

Did I mention I picked up my caffeine addiction again?  In just 2 weeks?

My weight was back up to 195.  Holy smokes.

This week I've been back into my routine.  Running, Zumba, Boot Camp and the 5 day cleanse.  My body began ridding itself of all the icky fat laden food, sodium and caffeine addiction.  I had some amazing headaches, but my body felt better than it had in WEEKS so I kept with it.  Five days later I'm down 9 pounds, so at 186.  I'm pretty pleased with that for now.

It has me pretty off track for my goals, but I will go in again and readjust them this weekend.  Sigh.  It happens.

Am I mad at myself?  Not really.  Partially because most of the damage has already melted off.

But mostly because being mad at myself accomplishes NOTHING.

You gain NOTHING by wasting time on the what ifs, or wish I hads (or hadn'ts!).

You can gain momentum, however, by moving forward and learning from your mistakes.  You may be reading this thinking I'm a loser because I keep making similar mistakes, in different situations and time frames and more than once.

Well, then stop reading my blog because you won't ever see me as a winner and I'm really happy I'm not participating in your competition.  I'm never going to sugar coat this journey and tell you or anyone else that it is easy and you are 100% completely fixed when you lose a substantial amount of weight.  It doesn't happen that way.

I have lost 100 pounds and kept it off (mostly - one pesky pound left from last week's craziness) for 7 months.  Even though my weight hasn't changed since August, I have dropped another 2 pants sizes due to replacing fat with muscle. 

I'm good with that.  In my eyes, I'm winning.

While I am not, nor will I ever be perfect, I'm real. And I'm ok with me.  And in this case, my opinion counts most. 

Since, ya know, I'm the one working towards these goals.

I'll readjust my goals and post them sometime later this weekend.  In the meantime, I'm going to sync up my body bugg, finish logging today's food and go to bed early so I am up and ready for my 7am run.

Have a great week!

Clara