Fit by 40, Week 7 – Acceptance

I have been focusing on cardio when exercising and have found a routine that I enjoy. That means it’s time to find some good strengthening exercises as well. The combination of cardio and strength training will get me to my goal faster as well as be a healthier overall lifestyle. I will share some of my exercises, beginning this week in the exercise section.

What Went Well, Week 7:

1. Acceptance: I felt that I had a better week in terms of making healthier food choices and still exercising a couple of times to the extent that I could. My clothes were fitting better and I was excited to step on the scale for my weekly check in. I thought that I would be down at least two pounds. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I had gained one! Initially I felt a little down ;and then quickly decided to accept it for what it is. I know that my goals are long term and that this is just a minor bump in the road.  

2. Making Better Choices at Night: I again only had one late night snack this week and that was because we hadn’t eaten dinner yet at 8:45! That is significant progress considering that my husband Nick and I had gotten into the habit of late night snacking most nights during the week.   

3. Drinking More Water: I am enjoying water more than ever, especially since I started using the water cooler again. Sometimes I will go through spurts where I get kind of tired of water and want something with flavor. I have a plan for next time that happens: I am going to add fresh fruit to my water. I am excited to try different fruits and see which tastes best!

Related Post: Fit by 40, Week 6

Areas That Need Work, Week 7:

1. Eating Sweets: This was again my weakest area, though I feel it went better than last week. I had leftover strawberry shortcake at the beginning of the week (because somebody had to eat it!). I was pretty good with refraining from sweets until the end of the week. We went to a graduation party and I had a piece of cake, a two bite brownie and a s’more. The next day we had a church group meeting at our house so I made blondies. I ended up eating three throughout the course of the night.

2. Exercise: I got a cold this week in addition to continuing to recover from last week’s minor knee injury, which put a damper on my exercise plans. Luckily, my knee is feeling great and I am at the end of my cold so I should be ready to start exercising as soon as breathing becomes easy again! I have been trying different exercise routines that I find online. I did two different ones last week and really like this arm workout. It is quick and I could feel my muscles getting tired as the sets continued.  

Next week will be the halfway point of this challenge. I thought I would be closer to my goal than I am. At first I was feeling a little discouraged with only losing a few pounds to this point. Then I accepted that progress is being made. I realized that I feel better, my clothes fit better and I am making healthier choices. It is becoming second nature to really think about the late night snacking and the sweets before I indulge. Though I still eat them, it is less frequently or I make modifications in my diet to accommodate those choices. I know that as I continue on this path I will see the numbers on the scale drop.

Have you had any setbacks?