Fit by 40, Week 8 – Surprises

Here we are at the halfway point of the Fit by 40 challenge! Though my husband Nick and I talk about healthy habits with our children, I haven’t talked to my kids about my Fit by 40 goals. It just didn’t occur to me. Most of the habits I am working on are things the kids wouldn’t really see: drinking more water, limiting late night snacking (they’re already in bed) and going to bed early. The biggest visible change is that I am exercising more. This change in exercising brought a couple of surprises this week and even the kids took notice!

What Went Well, Week 8:

1. Exercise: I am feeling a lot better so I was able to exercise a few times. I did a three mile walk and my knee was feeling pretty good! My husband Nick and I also did a yoga workout. I used a yoga video with several 15 minute workouts on it and chose one. I have done yoga before and used to be a dancer, so I thought it would be on the easy side and that I would have to do two workouts in a row. Surprisingly, it was pretty challenging! I definitely worked up a sweat and Nick and I decided to stick with the one workout plus a cool down. This week I also continued with the arm workout I mentioned in Week 7. It feels good to get back into exercising and I am excited to do even more this week!

2. Making Better Choices at Night: Nick and I are improving a lot in this area. We only had two late night snack this week. We had some air popped popcorn one night and had a later snack/dinner another night. An additional bonus is that we realized we are more likely to snack at night when watching TV, so we’re watching less TV and doing more reading and website work. Less snacking and increased productivity equals a win-win in my book!

3. Conversation: I was surprised this week that my oldest daughter noticed my increased exercise and began asking me questions about it! She and I had a wonderful conversation about exercise and health. As I was getting ready to exercise, she asked me if I was exercising because I thought I was fat. I told her ‘no’ and that I was exercising to keep my body healthy. We talked about how exercising helps people of all sizes to stay healthy and that body size doesn’t always correlate to health. I was so grateful to have that conversation with her. It was a way to build our relationship and share insight about exercise. Hopefully she carries the message that the focus of exercise is to have a healthy body throughout her life.

Related Post: Fit by 40, Week 9 – Who Cares What the Scale Says

Areas That Need Work, Week 8:

1. Eating Sweets: Here we go again… We got together with friends Friday night and I made dessert. I made blondies again. I limited what I ate at dinner and made sure to have some salad and watermelon so that I could have two blondies. We also had a church group meeting on Sunday and I had several cookies. I put the leftover cookies in the kids’ lunches. If they’re gone, I can stay away from them!

2. Getting Enough Sleep: I have consistently been going to bed earlier for a few weeks now and continued to do so in Week 8. However, my youngest two children caught the cold I had last week. They were up off and on for several nights in a row due to the coughing. Thankfully, everyone is recovering and we should all be back to our normal sleeping patterns this week.  

 

At this point I had planned on sharing my actual weight loss numbers as a way to track my progress. I am a planner (as you can tell if you read some of my Disney posts) and I usually follow through with my plans. However, I shared some frustrations in Week 7 and decided that I am going to step away from the scale for a little while. This surprise deviation from the plan means that I have no actual numbers to share. I can share that I have more energy, feel good about the food choices I am making, and that my clothes fit better. Regardless of the numbers, I am feeling fit in both mind and spirit!

Have you had any surprises in your fitness journey?