Wagon, Wait for Me!

Over the past couple of weeks, you could say that I fell off of the healthy-eating wagon, or I at least fell over the side. Some things came up, and my schedule completely changed. I didn't plan meals, I didn't make a focused grocery store list, and we ate out a lot more than usual. So, unsurprisingly, I gained about four pounds. During all of this, I did keep my workout regimen, and I continued to log my food in my food journal on My Fitness Pal and mostly stayed under my calorie goal. Doing these things helped me not to stray too far. 

Did ya catch that? I stayed under my caloric goal and exercised, but still gained weight. Before making changes in my diet, I wanted to eat junk, stay under calories, and lose weight. But, that doesn't happen for me. I have to be diligent with restricting the amount of highly processed foods I eat and make sure that most of the carbs that I eat are good carbs. It makes all the difference for me. 

This week, I got back on track. I did have a couple of cheat meals, but I made more good food choices than bad. When I weighed this morning, I was down the four pounds I had gained plus a little extra. Whew, what a relief!

It has been about eleven weeks since I began making significant changes in my eating habits and workout regimen. Since then, I've lost about fifteen pounds. From my highest weight, I'm down 23.8 pounds. Here's a picture of my progress so far:

 Also, in the past month, I've begun focusing on weight training. I still do cardio and calisthenics, but I am learning proper form and technique for heavier lifting. Today, I got a new PR (personal record) for deadlifting. I did 170# for a set of four. It was my fifth set, starting lighter and ending with this heavy set. It really is motivating to lose weight and build strength at the same time.

I have no idea what my goal is for deadlifts. Right now, the hardest part is getting it off of the ground. 😀 So, the goal is to stay uninjured while continuing to challenging myself. Thankfully, I have personal trainers who know that I want to lift and are very encouraging (and make sure that I have proper form to avoid injuries).

I recently read a quote by George Eliot: "It's never too late to become what you might have been." I changed it a little, but it was the inspiration for my current Facebook cover photo quote:

I often wish I had begun this fitness journey a long time ago and was at a more advanced level now. But, I know that a year from now, I'll be so happy that I chose to begin this in March 2017. 

Where are you on your fitness journey? Have you found what works best for your diet? I'd love to hear the things you've tried that work well for you, fitness or food.