Home Sweet Gym

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
I’ve now gone back to the gym 2 days a week for two weeks now.  It feels like I’ve returned home after a long, arduous trip. 
Funny thing is when I decided I needed to get back to the gym I tried going to one that was farther away because I really like a trainer there. (We are military and this large base has a few gyms to chose from.) 
Well, I loved her class, but it’s really too far out of my way to fit into my busy days.  I also tried another gym closer because ours was having the floors redone.  This time I did not care for the instructor, but the class was fine.  
Well, last Friday I went back to “my” regular choice of gym on base, even though it was a new-to-me class in the time slot I usually go.  I was nervous, but I needed to get back to my familiar grounds and I knew I couldn’t wait until Monday.  
It went so good!! 
I wanted to share this when I got home that day, but my schedule was too packed to blog.  
That day the gal that instructed that class commented on how good it was to see me again.  She has no idea how touched I was to hear that.  I filled her in a little on my weight gain, frustration and determination to get back into shape and not quit. 
She said, “Well, it’s good to have you back!!”
Then this past Monday I went back to one of my favorite classes and was welcomed by one of my favorite instructors who was out for maternity leave.  Seeing her, along with a few regulars, was so comforting.  
I felt like I was home.  
Because I talk too much, and because I have this need to explain why I’d been gone for so long and looking pudgier upon my return, I shared a bit with the instructor and one of the regulars a little of having gained some, not worked out and finally getting back on track.  They were both very encouraging.
And once again I felt like I was home. 
Home Sweet Gym
I am only committing to the Monday and Wednesday classes, because I run at home 2-3 days a week, but those two days of strength training apparently made a world of difference in my life physically and emotionally and after just one week of taking them I already feel so much better.
It’s a good feeling.  More on track.  More like I’m finding some semblance of normal back in my life with regards to my health.  What a lovely thing!
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Updated Progress Pictures

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
This is rather hard for me to post, but I always feel honesty is the best policy.  Plus, you may not understand how excited I’ll be when I get these 15 pounds off if you don’t see some proof of what they looked like on.  

With my abdominoplasty (aka “tummy tuck”) it’s easy to think I still look great, and I don’t look “bad”, but…none of my clothes fit well.  I’ve actually pulled out some pants that were very loose on me last year, and a sweater or two that I almost got rid of because they were too big, and been grateful I had them because my other jeans don’t fit comfortably now.  
In fact, I’m even noticing my arms don’t fit well into some shirts.  That’s when it really hit me that I’d lost muscle tone along with gaining 15 pounds … when I felt it in my arms.  Weird. 
So, while this kind of progress isn’t in the direction I want to go I wanted to have updated pictures of me to add to my “Progress Pictures” so that others can see the gain and then see the proof when I get things back on track as well.  
Thanks for checking in!  It’s not over and I’m still plugging along.  
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Happy Veteran’s Day

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
As a proud Navy wife I want to take a minute to thank all the servicemen and women who have served their country and helped to protect our freedom.  As this cartoon rightly states, to me you do a lot of the work, and we get the benefits.  
Again, as a proud Navy wife I also want to thank the families of these veterans who have stayed by the stuff allowing their men and women to do their jobs effectively.  Last year my husband was deployed for eight months (not including the months and weeks prior of out-of-town training he was gone for)and I learned a lot about what it takes to let your loved one go and serve their country.  
It’s not easy, and some make the ultimate sacrifice and never see their loved one return, but we appreciate the sacrifice and are grateful and proud of those who serve at home while their loved ones serve in our armed forces.  
Have a good day and God Bless America!
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Motivational Monday – Motivated by Katie

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
A week ago on Katie’s Motivational Monday post over at Runs For Cookies she made a comment, “I want to go into 2015 feeling happy with where I’m at.”  I read that and was like, “Yes!  Me too!”  
I’m still pretty frustrated with how this year has turned out with regards to my size, but I know I don’t want to wait until the new year to start working on things again.  The holiday season is not the easiest time of the year to try and lose a few pounds, or inches, but I know it can be done, because I’ve done it in the past.  
Katie has also recently been through the death of close family friend and experienced some weight gain during that time.  Through the year she has been honest about her ups and downs, about trying new things to help her not binge and about buying clothes that fit her right now so she is not depressed with nothing to wear — all things I can relate to this past nine months.  
So, when I read that she is getting back on track and aiming to start the new year feeling better than right now I was motivated.  It’s not a race, but rather a little bit encouraging to see someone else get their mojo back and think, “If she can do it, so can I.” 
If you can use some of that motivation check out her blog.  You will leave inspired to keep pushing on.  I know I always do.
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Two-Minute Post – Exercise Thoughts

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
I have a birthday cake in the oven for my husband and have about two more minutes to get a quick post in.  
It’s just been that kind of week… [grin]
There’s been too much candy.  
Not enough water. 
But plenty of thought about why I’ve felt so crappy and having such a hard time getting my act together. 
To sum it up, I thought more about my 30 minutes a day to exercise and come to the conclusion that I really need to get back to the gym like I was before.  I just haven’t been feeling all that great, emotionally or physically, and I think it’s partly because I haven’t been getting exercise like I used to. 
My husband’s thought on the subject was, “It’s because you’re in shape now.”  (So, I don’t feel like I really exercised when I just go for a walk…)
When I thought over my five recent years as a healthier lady I remembered I do my best with fitness when I am going to the gym.  Even if all I do is use the elliptical or bike I do better when I’ve left my house and gone to the gym.  Running is the only thing I do better here at home, since we have a great neighborhood to run in. 
So, I decided that I would make time at least 2-3 days a week to get to the gym for the spin or HIIT classes.  They pump me up, make me work hard and I feel so much better throughout the day when I do them.  (The HIIT classed involve weights and I really like that.)
In fact, and the reason I’m posting so late today, I decided to get to a class today.  I knew I couldn’t put it off until Monday. 
And I’m so glad I did. 
Yes, I had a house to clean, a few food items to pick up at the store and a cake to bake (and a quick trip to my husband’s work when he forgot something here at home…which he didn’t remember until after I’d visited him at work once to see what his coworkers did for him..but I digress..)…all for a small party we’re having this evening, but first I had to take care of me and get some good exercise in.
I haven’t worked that hard in about two months and it sure felt great!  
So, I am still committing to at least 30 minutes a day of exercise 5-6 days a week,  but that is to make sure I get AT LEAST that on the days I really can’t squeeze an hour in at the gym.  
And this week?  It’s going good.  I’m on day four of five days and plan to go for a good walk or run tomorrow — depending on how sore I am after today’s class.  lol 
Have a good weekend and thanks for checking in on me! 
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Motivational Monday – Learning From Failure

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
At the Bible conference our church hosted a few weeks ago one of the ministers made this comment: 
“What if you fail?  
The worst that can happen is 
you learn a great lesson that will prove beneficial 
in the next stage of your life.”
-Pastor Carlos Morales  Norfolk, VA
I immediately pulled out my phone to make a note because that is so true in any area of life, including weight loss and living healthier. 
When I began my final weight loss journey in 2009 I began this blog because it was a place I would be able to track my journey without having to share with anyone else about trying to lose weight [again] and face embarrassment if I failed.  
In fact, my many failed attempts at weight loss, and keeping it off, lead me to only shared my desire to gain control of my health with my husband and one close friend.  I also refrained from joining a specific diet group or plan, because I knew my problem wasn’t in having a good plan to follow it was in following a good plan. 
Did you hear that?  
“I didn’t join a weight loss group or plan, because I knew….“
Without even realizing it at the time, my past failures at weight loss actually taught me some things that proved very beneficial when I started out on this final attempt to lose weight and get healthier.
  • I learned my lack of discipline was more to blame than the actual plans I had tried.  
  • I knew my biggest success with weight loss was my one attempt at “eating when hungry and stopping when satisfied”.   
  • I knew losing weight and keeping it off was going to require a lifestyle change, not a quick fix.
  • I knew the few times in my life when exercise was a regular habit I had felt better all around.

I guess in those years of trying and failing I learned quite a lot.

And while my past failed attempts at weight loss aren’t something I’m necessarily proud of, they did give me reference points to draw on that lead to my success this final time around.

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First 30-Minute Update

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Today I was going to simply go for a walk to get my 30 minutes of exercise in, but then my daughter came downstairs stating she was going for a run today.  She went and came back while I cleaned up the breakfast dishes and I kept eyeing the out of doors. 
I dressed for a run and before I was out the door I knew I’d go running and not settle for a walk today.  It was a cloudy, cool day and I enjoyed every bit of my 3-mile run.  
I didn’t wear my Garmin, nor did I time myself.  I simply enjoyed the brisk fall afternoon as I ran and listened to my audiobook.  
Getting my run in today helped me finish my fifth day of exercise this week and that makes me feel very accomplished and healthy. 
So, I’m grateful for my daughter sparking my desire to run in this beautiful weather and I’m grateful I was able to fit the run into my day.  Soon I shall go and shower and make a cup of warm something to sip while I work on something fun. 
Thanks for checking in.  If you decided to join me in my 30-minutes a day of exercise (mine is 5-6 days a week) leave a comment and I shall applaud you on Monday!  🙂 
Have a good weekend!
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I Can Do 30 Minutes a Day

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Let me start by saying I love when I can take my HIIT classes at the gym and when I can run at least three days a week.  In fact, I love when I can exercise for about an hour a day.  Running in my neighborhood is pretty easy to fit into my schedule, even if it’s busy, but taking classes is not always feasible.  
Like now for example.  
My teen daughters are currently in sports, my son found out he needs a new ACL and is having surgery tomorrow for that, he will then continue with physical therapy afterwards, my husband has a fractured foot and only drives as little as absolutely necessary and I’ve begun making gifts and baking because….the holidays are coming.  
Whee!!!
With all this going on I am reminded that one thing I’ve really learned about living a healthier life is things change.  There have been seasons where I had time to train for a half marathon and seasons where I was happy if I got three days of exercise in a week.
The more I thought about it I decided one thing I don’t want to change with these seasons is the fact that I do exercise regularly, even if I “only” do 30 minutes a day or if I “only walk”.
Those “only”s are key for me. 
“I can only exercise 30 minutes a day.” or “I’m only going to walk today.” can sometimes sound like excuses not to exercise more.  It’s kind of sad if you think about it, because when I weighed 232 pounds I didn’t make time for intentional exercise at all, so getting 30 minutes a day done was a huge step in the right direction.  And I only began with 30 minutes of walking 3 days a week.
My observation is the more I find myself capable of the more I critique myself if I feel I’m not living up to those capabilities.
This is helpful in preventing me from getting lazy, but can also be detrimental if it turns into self condemnation and leads to me not doing anything because I can “only” do x, y or z.
Right now I don’t have time for hour-long classes at the gym multiple days a week, but I do have 30 minutes I can dedicate to intentional exercise and I’ve decided to commit to doing at least 30 minutes a day of some sort of exercise.
In fact, (probably because I was running on an endorphin high) I even made a public commitment to keep my exercise habits through this busy season of my life by posting this to my Instagram account:  
//www.youtube.com/get_player
To help keep me accountable I’m going to update my progress on my Friday posts.  I also try and input my workouts on my account at Daily Mile, which updates the widget on the right side of my blog.  –>
I know some of you are very faithful to your exercise, but if you need some motivation please feel free to join me.  You can come back every Friday and check in by leaving a comment on my Friday post.  
Maybe I’ll even start a “Motivational Monday” series with updates on everyone who has decided to join me in this little challenge.  🙂 
Have a good one and happy moving!

Note:  I was “writing” this little poem while I ran and then repeating it over and over for about a block so I wouldn’t forget it when I stopped and could actually record myself.  lol  And I can write another post about how many times I went back and forth about whether to post my first video on here…without makeup.  I only go out without it to exercise, and that only started happening a few years ago.  I decided to keep it really real today.  =)

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Out and About

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Well, I was going to try and pop on here to check in about a week ago, but it just didn’t happen.  We were swamped busy last week attending and helping host an annual conference our church puts on every fall.  It was exhausting, but wonderful all at the same time.  My husband took the week off and I enjoyed spending some time with him as well. 
Due to our hectic schedule last week I purposely did not weigh myself on Friday.  The week is too busy to exercise (since I do like the six hours sleep I managed to get in daily) and my eating was so-so.  
We ate out a few times and I had one or two donuts throughout the week; not exactly anything that would lead to weigh gloss, so I decided the scale would be better left untouched.  This is a once-a-year event and I wasn’t worried about the scale for that bit of time. 
This week is pretty much back to normal, though the beginning to the week has been recuperating from last week.  🙂  Actually, my mind is also running a mile a minute because I have a couple crafty projects on the burners.  I also have …
…another surgery for my son.  Yep.  He’s been having an issue with his bad knee and a MRI revealed a torn ACL.  The doctors are pretty sure this is from his original ski accident last March and he is scheduled for an ACL repair with scope this Thursday.  
It’s a good thing I had already decided to workout from home for the duration of 2014.  I’m going to write more about that later, but I had already decided running and doing Jillian Michael workouts a few days a week will be the best way to make sure I get my exercise in during this busy season.  So, when I heard they were scheduling another surgery I wasn’t freaked out about missing any exercise classes in the daytime.  
Instead I will continue on with my exercise while he rests and not feel like it can’t get done just because my schedule has to be rearranged a bit.  Glory!
So, anyway…I’m alive.  I haven’t forgotten about living a healthier life and I should be back to more regular blogging again shortly.  🙂 
Thanks for stopping by!
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Weigh-In … Almost Didn’t Happen

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Today’s Weight:  171.0
Loss/Gain:  -1.0 
So…this has been a crazy week and I haven’t weighed since the other day [when the scale was up], so I almost didn’t weigh myself today.  In fact, last night I was thinking about going back to reporting my weight on here the last day of the month like I was doing before, because I really don’t like the feeling of “tomorrow is my weigh-in day I need to eat like…”.  
However, I guess I’ll keep weighing in on Fridays and reporting it.  I does help me stay a little more focused when I know I have to be accountable on Friday.  🙂
With my crazy week I didn’t track and didn’t exercise.  Apparently I did manage to make more good decisions than not-so-good, so I’m content with it all. 
I finally posted about my 10K race earlier today, so you can read all about it here.  
Thanks for checking in and have a good weekend!  
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