Here we are…another month gone.  This month was a busy one.  Our wedding anniversary, Dan’s birthday, and my parents came for a 2 week visit.  Oh and Halloween of course!

So how was this month for me on the health and fitness front?  Meh, not so bad.  There was some celebratory wine drinking (and some potato chips), but mostly healthy meals all month long.  Still, as the weeks went by, the scale was stubbornly staying put OR moving in the opposite direction!  At one point it went back to 182 and I was pretty annoyed.  I know, I know, you’re not supposed to weigh yourself every week.

Or every day.

Or multiple times a day.

BUT I DO.  And I see no sign of my scale addiction stopping, so…
For me personally, seeing the numbers pushes me harder.  Yes, I take pictures and measurements as well and they’re WONDERFUL for when the scale is being a stubborn jerk.  YES, I know muscle weighs more blah blah blah.  But still, I’ve still got a good 30 pounds to lose just to get back to my “average” weight.  The nice, healthy, normal 145.  Nothing crazy, nothing too outrageous.  Just regular ‘ol Sharon weight.  So when I see 179 just sitting there despite working out everyday and eating clean every day…it’s frustrating.  Times like that made me SO GRATEFUL IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY for the girls in my accountability group.  Always bringing me in from the ledge and helping me to see that it’s all good and tomorrow is another day to do awesome.

Sometimes, even when you’re doing everything “right”, you STILL HAVE TO DO MORE.  Maybe it’s my age. I need to remember I’m not 34 or 24…I’m 44.  Like everything, it doesn’t get easier as we get older.  I have to work much, much harder to lose weight now than I did 10 years ago.  MUCH HARDER.  Yay!!! weeeeee!  Fun!!! Ugh.  LOL.
So I guess that’s just what I’ll do in November.  Fight harder and do more.  I can do it.

Ok, time for October results…how’d I do?  I should have posted yesterday, but Edzie Halloween cuteness took over and so here we are.

Drumroll….

So while I didn’t lose my 5 pounds that I set out to, I DID lose some inches!  1/2 inch in my waist, 1/2 inch in my hips, and 1/2 inch in each thigh!

Here’s a comparison from July to October.  There’s a 14 pound difference.

See, THIS is why everyone is always saying to not pay attention to the scale.  And I get it.  I promise I do, but for now, I’m still gonna be checking it non stop.  lol!  I think as long as you don’t let the scale frustrate you to the point of derailment…where you end up giving up…then it’s ok.  Take your measurements, people!  And pictures!  My last month to this month pics are pretty unremarkable, (hence the choice to do another full length shot and compare to July) but still, I take them because it really helps to see the changes even if it doesn’t feel like anything is happening.

Fun non scale victories include some closet shopping!  It’s one of my favorite parts of this journey!  The feeling of fitting into old clothes (especially clothes you loved!) is SO FREAKING FUN!  This is me fitting into my size 12 jeans!

Size 12 jeans and a large sweater not worn since 2011!

My biggest pair was a 16 (I should have been in an 18 quite frankly because I was squeeeeeeezing into them).

AND this goal shirt that I had purchased in June.

Weeeee!

And while obviously I have this huge weight loss goal, another non scale victory is what’s going on in my mind.  My attitude is much less negative.  I handle pressure and stress a little easier as each month goes by.  I sleep better and I’m more patient, generally.  I feel like I need to say that it’s not perfect.  I still feel stressed and sometimes negativity creeps in.  I sometimes don’t sleep great and I’m sometimes less patient than I would like.  But if I compare myself to the person I was at the beginning of the year before I started exercising and changing my diet?  OH MY GOSH, I’m a trillion times better.  Seriously.  Don’t think for one minute that the food you eat doesn’t affect you in EVERY SINGLE WAY, because it does.  Your mood, your sleep, your energy…everything.  Add exercise to a clean diet, stick with it every day and you’ll see everything improve. Mark my words.

Not so lost anymore

Sometimes I say to people in my group or people who show interest in what I’m doing, “This is a game changer.  It could save your life”.  And I mean that.  It sounds so dramatic saying you could help save someone’s life, but think about it…  If you choose to change today.  If you choose to start exercising every day and eating a clean diet with regular size portions.  If you make that decision and you actually KEEP DOING IT EVERY DAY AS BEST AS YOU CAN.  If you do that?  You will be saving your life.  Physically and mentally.  It’s a chain reaction. If you do things that are good for you, you feel good.  When you feel good you’re a happier person.  When you’re happier, you are more pleasant to be around.  When you’re pleasant to be around, people are more likely to be pleasant in return. This chain reaction will carry over into your family, your career, every part of your life.  And you deserve to be happy.  You deserve to be healthy.  YOU DO.  Don’t let yourself fall to the bottom of the to-do list.  You may feel like you don’t have the time or strength or energy. Honestly?  You’re doing it backwards if you put everyone else first.  Because by giving yourself time to be good to YOU, you’re giving the people you love a much, MUCH better gift.  For a long time I knew that this was true. I had heard it a million times before from well meaning people, family, friends…but still I did it all backwards. Maybe you won’t take as long as I did to see how important it is. ❤️

Remember how I was talking about doing MORE?  Well, this month, I’m going to be doing a brand new program (it’s released TODAY!) called Core de Force!  I’ve always been a fan of Kenpo X which is one of the workouts in P90X.  It’s a kickboxing style workout.  I love the punching and kicking and how it works your core like crazy.  It was one of my favorite days in that program, so when I heard about this NEW program coming out, I was really interested.  There was a sneak peak on Beachbody On Demand, and I knew after doing it that this would be my next program.  I can’t wait to start!  Maybe it might be up your alley too!  You could do it with me!  Then we could cry together about how sore we are and then celebrate like crazy when we take our after pictures in 30 days looking like, DAMN! 🙂

Here are some CORE DE FORCE facts!

Disclaimer:  Those shadows make my arms look WAY more cut than they really are! lol!  I promise I’m far from Linda Hamilton in Terminator status. So, thank you bright sun and shadows for making me feel all cool!  🙂