Despite my determination to lose weight, I lacked the determination to diet and exercise. Since all three of those things tend to go hand and hand, I spent 3 months watching the scale only move 2-3lbs a months. At the end of 3 months, I was 171lbs, and eager to blame just about everything but myself.
On top of a general lack of motivation, I learned the gym I was going to didn't have working air conditioning, and they had no intention of actually fixing it. Tons of people pay to go to Hot Yoga, but I'll never be one of those people. Instead of finding another outlet, like taking advantage of our Xbox Kinect and the various exercise games available, I just gave up.
In September, I had reached the peak of unhappiness at my job. It had stopped being fun, interesting, or challenging nearly two years before. The unrest, and quiet whispers of the company being sold became so obvious, that even as a 3rd shift agent, I was aware of it. I started looking for another job, and in late November, the best offer I had received came all the way from the state of Washington.
Did we dare leave Nashville? I was ready to pack it all up and say good-bye to the South. After living there for 4 years, I was ready to move on. My Nashville native husband, on the other hand, wasn't sure he was ready to leave his hometown.
We made our decision in mid-December that we would leave everything we had spent years working countless hours of overtime for behind, and head to the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In just 2 weeks, we sold our entire lives for $2500. We loaded up our van with clothing and a few appliances and embarked on a new journey.
For a month, I didn't own a scale. We had far more important things to buy than a scale. Then in late February, I ordered a scale off Amazon. It arrived just a few days later and the next morning I stepped on the scale. The numbers 181 stared back at me. I don't know why, but I was expecting it to read much lower. I had cut out fast food, high calorie caffeine drinks, and was incorporating fruits and vegetables in every meal. But here I was, 11 months after first starting my path to weight loss, almost weighing the same I had in the beginning. I shouldn't have been surprised but I was.
Instead of diving back into an exercise program that I would spend more time looking for excuses to get out of instead of actually doing, I decided to start with food.
We all know that processed food is bad for us. Non-fat, low calorie, low in sodium - none of it matters. If it's in a box, a bag, or can, it's not good for us. If it was made in a factory, we have no business putting it in our mouths.
With our new start, came the ability to not buy the same old food. Instead of filling ourselves with orange colored chips, we bake our own zucchini chips flavored with Mrs. Dash and some chili powder. Instead of cookies, we are reaching for fruit. The urge to go back to the old way of eating is still very much there, and I don't know if it will ever go away.
Just by eating, and going on 2 walks a week with my 6 year old daughter, I had started to lose weight again. My jeans once again didn't fit, not even with a belt. It was nice to go back down a full size and this time I felt like I wasn't forcing myself to do it.
I've decided to go back to blogging, but this time with a different tone to the blog. Instead of never ending posts about gyms, we will be blogging our journey into making our own foods and adapting a clean eating life style.
Welcome back old friends, and hello new ones! Thank you for joining us.
