Susan Arredondo's invitation is awaiting your response

Susan Arredondo would like to connect on LinkedIn. How would you like to respond?   Susan Arredondo Realtor/Broker at Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers Confirm you know Susan You are receiving Reminder emails for pending invitations. Unsubscribe. © 2013 LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Susan Arredondo's invitation is awaiting your response

Susan Arredondo would like to connect on LinkedIn. How would you like to respond?   Susan Arredondo Realtor/Broker at Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers Confirm you know Susan You are receiving Reminder emails for pending invitations. Unsubscribe. © 2013 LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

From Susan Krahn Arredondo Realtor/Broker at Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers Corvallis, Oregon Area Medifast, I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Susan Confirm that you know Susan You are receiving Invitation to Connect emails. Unsubscribe © 2012, LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct. Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Truth and Honesty

It's been several months since I've written. I was motivated and excited to share my journey when things were great or just a little hard. When things got extremely hard for me I quite blogging. My writing brings reality and truth to what's going on with me. Things got overwhelming and I wanted to just deal with it on the inside. Not only does this do a huge disservice to me but to everyone who reads my blog too. So I'm laying it all out......

Over the last 4 months I've gained back 8lbs and worse than the weight gain it's the emotional toll the gain and bad eating choices has taken. I keep things in perspective that I have still lost over 100lbs which is amazing! For me I know that when my eating gets a tiny bit off track the slide back down to bad eating is a quick one. In December it started with Christmas cookies one cookie then 10 in a couple days and that's where I went off track and started to spiral down very fast. It's been a daily battle since then and I've not yet been able to conquer it. I'm working on turning to God for comfort instead of the food. This is one area of my life that I am just having such a hard time giving over to him. I know when I finally do it it's going to be so freeing and amazing!!

As I was watching the Biggest Loser last night i had a huge ahaa moment. Bob was talking with Rulan an Olympic gold medalist who is now a contestant on the show. Bob said to him "Rulan you only know extremes. It's all or nothing for you. We have to find a balance for you". I looked at Jason and said that's it! I've always been all out or nothing on my eating and my workouts for years. I've never had a balance. If I wasn't doing something beyond what I thought my body was capable of or some hard core workouts then what was the point in doing anything at all? Eating same thing. If I had a strict small menu to pick from I did great but couldn't handle lots of choices and options. Now I'm not saying this is all bad characteristics they are not. It's determination and perseverance at it's best but when I'm unable to have balance in it that in lies the issue. My focus and prayers are now on balance in my life. Really not sure what that means yet but I'm working on it :-).

Struggles are back

Over the holidays eating healthy is even more challenging than other times of the year. All the cookies, pies, stuffing, buttery potatoes and it goes on and on. Over the last 2 weeks my level of exhaustion has been at an all time high. Work is the main component contributing to the exhaustion. The call volume is non stop each day for 10 hours straight. We had been told that this time of the year calls slowed down and things would get better. Not sure when that is going to happen because each day is the same with a ton of calls. That on top of financial concerns that continue to linger for us and not getting much time with my family due to our work schedules things have not been good. I devoured 3/4 of a piece of pizza last weekend in the middle of a "discussion" with Jason and he said "You re eating pizza?" My response " I know" and another big bite goes into my mouth. 3 weeks ago I felt that my eating was starting to slip as I was feeling the stress and the exhaustion continuing to rise. As the exhaustion rose my ability to fight of the urges to eat awful got less and less. I literally didn't have the energy to fight the battle in my mind. I am continuing to battle this even today. I gained 1.8pds last Wednesday and surprisingly this week I stayed the same. Each day I wake up and I say today I am going to do it no sweets and healthy choices. I get through the entire day and do great and then at night my last meal I don't stick to what I should be eating. This is completely back to my old patterns of emotions and eating. I have been praying and will continue to that God will give me strength to get through this time. I feel like I have gained at least 10 pds. My clothes aren't fitting the same and I can see that my body is changing again. I haven't gone running since my last 2.5 mile run last week. I am hoping to pick things up again and am hoping financially I can afford to get new running shoes, a sports bra since mine is now way too big :-), and afford the entry fee for the Dallas half marathon at the end of March. I had a plan to get all these things in December but the bills had to be paid first. I am going to continue to battle through this and rely on God and not myself since that is for sure not working.

Off to work some OT :-) Merry Christmas all my readers!

MADE MY GOAL!!

Yesterday's weigh in I was extremely worried about. I felt like I had gained and I did enjoy my Thanksgiving meal :-) To my shock I lost everything that I had gained the week prior plus another 1.4 pds! Which means that I have officially made my goal weight that I set and honestly never thought I would get to 5 months ago. Last week I was able to get in 3 days of an amazing and brutal workout. Jason and I both did the Insanity workout! It was truly insane. The name is no joke. Getting back on track since eating that delicious Thanksgiving meal has been difficult. I am working to tighten things down again and be disciplined the way that I need to be in order to stay healthy. I am now working toward another 19.5 pds and I will then be at the weight that I want to maintain at. I am hoping in the next 6 months that I will reach that goal. Maybe sooner :-)

My stress level today has gone up due to some more financial stresses. I found myself again turning to food but caught myself and decided to went for a run instead. I found myself able to run at a much faster pace then I ever have before. What an awesome feeling! The journey continues and I am still ready for the challenge to get healthy and stay that way.

Not what I was expecting

For the last 2 days I have been doing the Insanity workout. It is just as bad as the name says!! It is much harder than P90X and I've been loving the intensity of it. I had thought that this shock from nothing to 90 would have gotten that last .8lbs off. Not the case :-( I actually gained 2.2. There are several factors that I think are leading to this.
- I'm building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat
- I'm not eating my big meal of the day until 10pm the last 2 days because of our schedule and the class starting at 8pm
-That time of the month is coming any day. There is always gain at this point
With all those variables in place I am still not feeling very good about the scale today. I can feel a difference in my body though and the way that my clothes are fitting. Next week I am hoping that the change in exercise will make a difference. No way that it can't!!
With Thanksgiving right around the corner I am going to enjoy the food in moderation and I am actually going to have a piece of pie! That's my sweet treat after not having any in a really long time :-) Until next week where I am hoping to be able to blogging with a nice loss.

Happy Thanksgiving!!