Progress

Lately, in my studies and mostly in my conversations with boys, I have realized that the goals I made when I began this journey were not only valid, but very necessary to my dating progress. After last week’s church activity, hearing that the number one thing men look at is a good body, I was grateful that I have been working on that especially. So, where am I at now? Since I first began this blog, I have lost 15 pounds. From my highest weight…I have lost a lot more than that. I’m feeling great and LOVING going shopping, just wishing that I had endless funds for such enjoyment. I love it when people tell me I’m skinny, even though I still have 23 pounds until my goal weight. I LOVE being able to move more easily and to have energy to play and go on random hiking adventures through the woods as I did with some friends last night. Being healthy is the best!


As you know however, this is a goal that I really struggled with for awhile. I had lost a lot of weight and then I was just stuck at this ridiculous plateau for months! It was beyond frustrating and I really had to fight not to lose my will. I kept up kind of minimally with my weight loss routine, but didn’t see any results. Finally, it was like I had to almost just start over, in my brain and everything. Positive thinking and determination, I believe, are huge keys to success in this endeavor. So, one of the things that kicked started me again was realizing that I NEEDED this to happen. I had to have some serious motivation to continue, and to continue with a vengeance! The girls who said I wasn’t good enough kind of did it for me. Then, last week at the activity, that determination was increased. When things like that happen, in some ways it’s good for me because it really makes me fight, in a good healthy way, for what I deserve!

(She motivates me, I want to look like this!)

In my restart I also had to be honest with myself and step up my game again. When I went to the YSA conference a couple of weeks ago, I got some great tips from a nutritionist there. She has a blog that is interesting and full of good tips. Check it out here. One thing in particular that she really emphasized was how to stay healthy when you go out to eat. She said to eat before you go. You can’t eat just anything though; it needs to be fruit or veggies, or something like that. Then, before you go and when you get there, make sure you drink plenty of water before your meal arrives. All of this begins to fill you up with healthy things that your body needs before you get your meal, causing you to eat less of it and therefore not suffer so badly from the ridiculous calorie intake. Finally, one last bit of advice on that subject was to ask the waitress to box up half of your meal before it comes out. We apparently eat with our eyes (ok, I so eat with my eyes!) so if it is in front of us, we will just keep eating, no matter how stuffed we are, making us completely miserable afterward. I don’t know why we do this to ourselves, really.

After finishing the workshop with her, lunch was served to us. They had pizza and cookies and soda, all kinds of things that are not good for you. So, I made sure to grab some fruit and salad and before touching the very delicious looking pizza, I slowly ate an apple and some salad. By the time I finished it and my pizza, I was quite comfortably full and I didn’t feel gross either. Since then, I have been eating a lot of fruit as my snacks during the day, trying to eat more organic foods that I know my body will benefit more from, and really stepping up and switching up my workouts. Also, with it being summer time, I have more time to move which is very helpful. Moving as much as possible keeps those calories burning.

So my friends, it’s not over yet but I am well on my way to that goal. I am seeing numbers on the scale that I really haven’t seen probably since high school…yikes. I love it and feel a little bit more confident in single crowds and amidst the dating scene.