Losing It...Week...Uh...I've Lost Track

I know what you all are thinking..."Not only did Nancy fall off the wagon, but it must have run her over too."

Well, not quite.

I'm still alive.

This ol' gal's still kickin' and relatively the same size as my last post. I say relatively because although I've maintained my weight loss I have not been activity trying to lose weight so I feel more squishy than I did. It doesn't take long for fab to turn to flab. 

So what happened to me the past couple of months, you ask? Well, I'll tell you....

I got lazy.

I lost my motivation.

My will power flew out the window.

I didn't go crazy. I didn't gain tons of weight. I just got burnt out. Winter took it's toll on me. I got tired of my treadmill and longed to be outside, but the weather did not cooperate with me. I pushed myself too hard for a while on my treadmill and it sucked all the fun out of my workouts. My wii broke and with it so many of my workout options died also.

So for a while I stopped exercising.

Guess what happened?....

I felt like crud. I got depressed, which made it 10x times harder to moving again.

Literally, I didn't exercise for a solid 2 weeks and by the end of those 2 weeks my body and soul were screaming for some endorphins. It had such an impact on me mentally and physically. I was not really prepared to feel an exercise withdrawal. For me it felt just like depriving myself of a life saving drug. For the first time since committing to losing weight I got depressed. For 2 days I seriously barely functioned. I wanted to stay in bed. It was WAY weird for me to feel so low and have it come on so fast and seemingly out of the blue. Looking back I can see it wasn't out of the blue, it was progressive, I was just ignoring the signs until they were blaring me right in the face.

The fact is...I NEED exercise.

It is my natural drug that helps balance my life.

I could come up with lots and lots of valid excuses for my lack of dedication to healthy eating and exercise, but that's all they really are is excuses, and excuses don't get you anywhere.

So I'm back.

No more excuses.

It's time to end my hiatus and get back on track.

Two weeks from yesterday will be my official weigh-in day.

Before I go, do you need a little friendly motivation?

Check out this Stages of Change Model and determine where you are and if it's time for a change.

This model describes the process it takes to give up a bad habit and replace it with a healthier lifestyle.

1. PRECONTEMPLATION - If you are here you aren't ready to make a change. You aren't even thinking about it. You may be in denial that you have a problem or need to change.

2. CONTEMPLATION - Here you may recognize you have a problem but aren't ready to make a change. For example, maybe you saw a picture of yourself and realized you have put on some pounds and need to lose some weight but you aren't ready to commit to making a change.

3. PREPARATION/DETERMINATION - Here you are preparing to take action. You might join a gym. Look into weight loss programs. Or find a walking partner.

4. ACTION/WILLPOWER - Here you commit to making a behavioral change and you enact a plan. You may begin to watch your eating habits and begin an exercise routine.

5. MAINTENANCE - This is when you have successfully continued your positive behavioral change over a period of time, 6 months or more.

One challenge in the maintenance phase is to avoid a relapse. (Oops, I fell right into that icky relapse pit) I was relieved to learn that although this can be discouraging it is really quite normal. Not many people succeed on their first attempt at change. Having a relapse does not mean failure, nor does it mean you will never reach your goal. Just like any part of life when you have a slip up just try to learn from it so it can be prevented in the future. Pick yourself back up and keep moving forward, that's what I plan to do.

Here's to a new round of change!