No More Fatty Assids!

I had a vision one night in July.

It was really late, and I was dreaming of somewhere sunny and seventy-five (I love that song!).

And then I had a super awesome idea.

For the past 10 years, Josh and I have talked about going to Mexico. We started talking about it when our friends Travis & Kayleen lived in Salmon, and we said we should go there there all together. A few years ago, I even made a tentative plan for just Josh and I to go: I picked a destination and priced it all out, but alas, this Viva Mexico Vacation dream has never come true (mostly due to finances).

Every year I try to convince Josh that we should use our tax money to go on vacation. He's succumbed a few times (and hasn't regretted it), but mostly he feels obligated to pay bills with it instead (very responsible and fatherly, so I don't hate him for it).

But I feel the time has come to make our Mexico vacation dream come true, and the only way to make him really commit to spending our tax money on it is by committing something major myself, too.

Last year, I made a huge effort to be more healthy and lose weight. I started early in the spring, and exercised all summer long and into the fall. But because of hormonal problems, and 2 surgeries, I didn't lose as much as I would've liked. I was feeling pretty good about myself in September & October, but then the holidays came, and I gained all the weight back that I'd lost. My exercise buddy moved at the beginning of this summer, and I completely lost my motivation to exercise or be healthy or lose weight. But after seeing photos of me from my two sister's weddings this summer, I knew that I NEEDED to get back on the eating healthy/exercising/losing weight bandwagon again.

So one night in early July, I was trying to come up with some kind of motivation for myself that would push me to want to be healthy again. And ding-ding-ding, I thought of Mexico. I envisioned myself buying and wearing a new swim suit and looking and feeling awesome on the beach. Josh and I usually take vacations in February (that's when tax returns come, and also it's a slow time for him at work so he's better able to take more time off). I thought of a reasonable goal weight to get to in 7 months' time, which would require me losing 40 pounds: approximately 6 pounds a month or 1.5 pounds a week to lose.

By this time, it was almost midnight. In the spring and summer, Josh goes to bed early because he has to wake up super early to go to work before the sun comes out. In the summer, I like to go to bed late and wake up late--so our sleep schedules aren't the same until late fall & winter. Anyhoo, I was laying in bed for a considerable amount of time thinking about all this, and when I finally had that "aha" moment, I rolled over and woke up Josh around midnight. I really like talking to Josh at night, because our time is uninterrupted, but because I talk so much, he usually falls asleep. The same is true when I wake him up to talk--he falls back to sleep pretty quickly. So, I got right to the point and said "If I lose 40 pounds by February, will you take me to Mexico?" He responded "How are you going to do it?, and I said "By eating right and exercising". He said "Sure", then fell back asleep.

That was good enough for me. I felt driven and determined to make the dream come true. If he was really willing to take the time off and pay for it, then I was willing to work hard to make my weight loss happen. I want to get a new swimsuit and look and feel good on a sunny beach in Mexico!

It's been over a month, and so far I've lost 7 pounds. In order to do this, I've changed several things about my daily habits.

I used to treat myself to a small piece of chocolate every morning for getting out of bed (I am NOT a morning person and this was my motivation to wake up!). Now I don't eat chocolate anymore; instead, I wake up and walk on my treadmill. Walking on the treadmill is boring, so I've started reading while I walk, and I've made myself a promise that I wouldn't read a book unless I was walking. This has helped motivate me to keep walking day after day, and to walk for greater lengths of time because I'm interested in what I'm reading instead of being bored and watching the clock (I just finished my 3rd book!).

I used to treat myself to one or two cans of pop daily, but now I don't drink soda pop anymore except on VERY special occasions (in the last 5 weeks, I've had 3 cans of pop).

I don't have desserts anymore, and I've tried to cut back on foods and drinks that are high in sugar content. For the most part, this surprisingly hasn't bothered me, but I have had a few urges to eat ice cream (I haven't given in yet, though).

I have been eating healthier choices for breakfast and lunch, but I eat whatever the family is eating for dinner. For breakfast, I like to put fresh fruit in a bowl of milk, or have yogurt, or cottage cheese. For lunch, I have alternated between eating salads or having a simple egg burrito.

By just changing these few things, I lost 2 pounds a week for the first 3 weeks. However, the last two weeks it has become harder to drop the weight, so I need to make some changes again. I don't want to be on a "diet", because I want to make lifestyle changes, so I haven't cut out carbs. I think I will just add another thing to my exercise regime, and workout twice a day instead of walking just once a day.

I'm hoping that I can stay on track and keep focused on obtaining my goal, because I really, REALLY want to go to Mexico with my husband!!!

These photos were taken in 2012 on the Whitefish City Beach in Montana.