We have been gone from New York for almost 11 months. It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago some days. Other days, it feels like a lifetime ago. I miss our tribe there so much. I miss our neighborhood and the amount of things available at the push of a button. But lately, more than anything, I’ve been missing our routine there.
It started when I finally pulled the scale out of the closet after a few weeks in a row of struggling to find stuff that was comfortable to wear. I knew I had a put on a few pounds and I blamed it all on the Minnesota winter and my body storing some acorns for the long cold spell.
I looked down and saw a number I haven’t seen in 10 years.
Normally I wouldn’t share my number, but when I texted my mom, she didn’t believe me.
157 lbs.
Truthfully, the number itself doesn’t matter to me. Instead, I was horrified at the difference between that number and the 135 lbs I weighed in last summer at this time. How does that happen?
Well, let me tell you. Driving everywhere, not having dogs to walk multiple times a day, sitting in conference rooms instead of pacing around my apartment on phone calls and eating the same as we did when we averaged 15,000 steps each day (plus office treats.)
We have just had a rough year. It’s my excuse. That year is almost up and I need to figure it out. I need to change my shitty routine.
The first step started two weeks ago – I challenged myself to exercise every day for 30 days and share it on Instagram – because the internet holds me accountable. I have biked more, walked more, been to the gym a few times and yogaing as much as possible. Today is Day 18 of that and it hasn’t been that hard (unless you count all the sore muscles.)
The second step is cleaning up my diet a little more. I hate counting calories. We did a sugar cleanse early last year and loved it, but I don’t want short term obsessions. I need a long term fix. I downloaded the LifeSum app and took the quiz. It told me to drink more water and track my servings of vegetables. Those are two very easy and tangible tasks to start with. If the app told me to stop eating tacos, I would delete it immediately. But from what I’ve seen so far, it’s great.
My goal is not a number on the scale, but I just want to get back to a good and healthy routine. I want to move around more, cook more and feel better. I don’t know how to measure that, but I’m sure losing a few lbs will be proof that it’s happening. Also, being able to do more push ups. That has always made me feel like such a wuss.
I wanted to put all this out there so that I hold myself accountable. I was so surprised by my weight gain, but I shouldn’t be. I haven’t been feeling very great, my clothes don’t fit good anymore and I have had to work extra hard to be positive. Working long hours, moving, dealing with loss – it’s just been a rough year and I’m ready to hit the reset button.
If you have any ideas that have worked for you to get back into a healthy routine, let me know. I’m taking all the help I can get. Happy Friday friends.
