I feel like I’m finally getting into the swing of things. Maybe that old “3 weeks to develop new habits” cliche actually has some merit behind it. I feel like my body has now flipped the switch and is in prime burning mode.
One of the fun things that happens when you’re my size is sometimes things happen in chunks. Yesterday was suddenly a phenomenal workout, when I’ve been dragging the past 3 weeks. Then, as I was complaining about not getting the usual initial water weight dump a couple days ago, I lose 4lbs overnight.
Now, I know not to take too much stock in it as I could easily weigh myself tomorrow and have gained everything back and then some. Or it could be my muscles were holding onto the weight as it adjusted to working out again, who knows.
The lesson to be learned from that is that it’s a good reminder that weight loss is never a linear process, and sometimes when things are stagnant you just have to keep chugging along.
Current Plan of Action
So far the past few weeks, I’ve been going to Orange Theory every other day. There’s been some exceptions with work or if I’m visiting the family, but at least with the latter I packed my shoes and got a decent workout when away. I’m going for the consistency > intensity approach. Even if it’s something small, still do it.
Nutrition is what I’ve always struggled with, and to be honest it’s mostly due to laziness. To counteract that, I’ve started drinking Huel as some meal replacements. Huel stands for Human Fuel and is a powder made from mostly oats, pea protein, seeds, and a slew of other thing. The main deal is it’s a balanced meal macro wise, made from real food sources so there’s micronutrients, good amount of fiber.
At 500 calories a shake, it’s about equal to when I used to make soups, plus a snack. So for the time being, planning out one decent healthy meal, some snacks, then Huel seems to be working out.
To be 100% honest, I don’t see this working out forever, but it’s a good placeholder until I really get into the swing of cooking again.
Motivations and Goals
So what spurred this recent revival of health journey? I think it was the realization that my clothes weren’t fitting, that I noticed things about my body that were different (in a bad way), and it really was affecting my day-to-day activities.
But I’ll be honest, all that motivation was halfway dedicated and the real catalyst was my family planning a trip to Disney in September. Things like riding a plane, getting in rides, walking around, keeping up with the nieces. I don’t want to be hindered by that at all, so that was the initial real spark of motivation.
Since then, I’ve also received an invitation to a wedding in 2 months, so that’s something to keep in my mind. Last time I wore my suit, it was a little snug and I’d rather not have a repeat performance of that. I can’t have a good time if I’m feeling self conscious just sitting there!
Finally, since my awesome workout yesterday, I decided maybe it’s time to start looking into doing another 5k. There’s currently 4 that I’m looking at, and so far there’s 3 that people said they’d do with me. Right now, my physical performance is far from 5k ready, but the closest one is 4 months away, which seems a little quick, but also doable if I’m really on top of things.
All in all, I’m still pretty much flailing about, but things seem positive and I have some momentum going. I almost feel timid typing that out because it seems like whenever I post an overtly positive thing either here or on social media, things fall apart soon thereafter.
Speaking of, despite the recent surge of motivation, I have to keep stretching and doing all I can to prevent injury. I’ve lost so much flexibility and I’m slowly getting back there. I can’t get too excited as I just took new physique photos and I immediately was reminded how I’m larger now than in my previous “before” pictures. So a long road ahead.
Right now is my slow season with work, so it’s the perfect time to work on myself and develop good habits for once things get busier. Time to get at it!