3000

On February 1st, I was talking to my friend about working out. She is a personal trainer at a gym and could kick my butt with her amazingness. She told me that someone challenged her to do 3000 pushups and 3000 situps in the month of February. I decided I could do that, too. That is about 104 of each every day. I quickly realized that I would not be able to do that many pushups, so I changed my goal to 1000 pushups and 3000 abdominal movements... I was getting bored doing situps only. At the end of the month, I was able to finish all 3000 situps. However, I only finished 205 pushups! Failure.

Alex wanted to workout his abs with me one day. He is better at them than I am.

 This would probably be a good time to talk about weight loss. That is all people talk to me about these days. I enjoy talking about it though, so it's fine.

On September 15th, my sister-in-law, Laura, and I decided we wanted to do a Family 5K at Thanksgiving. I started running but didn't really change anything else. I was able to lose a few pounds but I didn't meet my goal of losing 15 pounds by Thanksgiving. A few days into the year, I came across an app on the iPhone that was an easy way to count calories. I had never counted calories before in my life. Honestly, I didn't want to count calories. I was scared that I would ruin my relationship with food and it would become a fear of food. Instead, I feel like I have a better understanding of food now.

At first it was really hard. I wanted to eat everything. I knew I couldn't have popcorn, a smoothie, and chips and stay within my caloric goal. I would read labels and have to set priorities. Still, every day, I have to ask myself: How much do I really want this? Do I want this more than that? It helps to remind myself that if I eat a ton right now, I am using up all of my calories meant for dinner.

I have realized that if I want to be full for longer, I need to eat more food. That means I can't eat 10 chips as a meal. Instead I need to have something like pasta, tacos, or salad. I can still have really yummy food. The hardest thing for me has been tortilla chips. I love chips and dip and it used to be a daily thing for me.

Now, I am far from perfect. I actually go over my goal a few times a week. I have days when I open the pantry and I think, "I just don't care right now."

This has been my first diet of my life though. It has been an interesting experience. I have reached my weight loss goal now, but I continue to count calories. I like knowing what I am putting in my body. It helps me realize that I may not be hungry when I think I am, and maybe I just want water or I have something going on emotionally.

Sam has been running during lunch every day since July. He was getting frustrated because he wasn't losing weight very much either. We started counting calories together. We discovered that he was eating too few calories and his body was entering starvation mode. Oh, if only I had such a serious problem...

Since September 15th, I have lost 25 pounds. I weigh how much I weighed when Sam and I got married. I fit skirts that I haven't worn since before we were married. I feel great about myself. I am so proud I was able to accomplish something I wanted to do. Most days, I have tons of energy and I am happier. Since Sam started working out in July, he has lost 40 pounds. He fits into a suit he bought on his mission (10 years ago), and it is even a little loose! It has been a great change for our family. We are both working out still, but have realized that working out alone does not solve the problem. Diet is so important, and I am doing my best to plan healthy, well-balanced meals for the whole family.