-Net between 1700 and 1800 calories daily
-Exercise five times
-Drink at least 80 oz. of water daily, even on weekends
-Eat five fruits and veggies every day

Also: THIS.

My salad has Gorgonzola, strawberries, raspberry vinaigrette and chicken. Delish!

I get pretty intimidated at the weight room, too, but I always feel good once I get started and especially after I get finished!

Today’s healthy lunch. Sundays are usually tough days for me health wise, so this is a good step!

Well, one of the reasons.

The thing that really got me started on turning my health around was a wellness screening at work last year. Several of the numbers were really not where I wanted them to be, so I decided I was going to do something about it.

This month marks a year since that wellness screening, and I had my 2013 screening today. Here’s a look at my numbers:

Blood pressure: Both numbers were lower (down 4 and 5, respectively)

LDL (“bad”) cholesterol: Down 18 points (into “normal” range)

HDL (“good”) cholesterol: Up 2 points

Triglycerides: Down 94 points

Cardio exercise: Increased to 5x/week (most weeks, anyway)

Waist size: Down 5.5”

Weight: Down 20 pounds

This really goes to show me that the benefits of what I’ve changed about my lifestyle the past year go beyond the number on the scale.

My nemesis this morning. Nothing makes me feel near so out of shape. I literally can only manage about 10 minutes — WITH REST BREAKS. It gets easier, right?

I guess I had a bit of a pity party this weekend.

A married couple Bobby and I are friends with both (at separate times) asked what our future plans for kids are, in such a way that it definitely seemed like they both suspected I am pregnant. I’m not currently pregnant, but the shape of my belly certainly could serve to make some people suspicious. Then a pregnant friend’s little girl rubbed my belly in passing last night, just like she does when she’s saying hi to her in-gestation little sister.

I know this has to be a lifelong process and that I will not suddenly be at my ideal weight/size overnight. But pair the “are you pregnant” vibes with lack of self-control over the weekend (which equaled eating a Krispy Kreme Oreo doughnut, cookies, chips, etc., particularly on Sunday), and I’m just sort of feeling crummy right now. And when I start feeling like this, it makes me want to give up, to resign myself to a life of weighing 240+ pounds and constant congratulations for a non-existent baby-on-the-way.

I brought my gym bag with me, and I prepped a really awesome salad for lunch. Sometimes getting through the hard days is just a matter of putting your head down and continuing on the path you are on.

Great post today from Back to Her Roots about letting the number on the scale control us and what that really means. She makes a great point that it is just a number and by being ashamed of it, you allow it to have some measure of control over you.

I have to make myself remember this when I go to the gym, not so much about the number on the scale but about my size in general. I’m usually the biggest woman using the elliptical and certainly the biggest (and often the only) woman using the weights. Some days, particularly days when I’m already feeling emotional or down, I really have to pep myself up to even go to the gym. But the fact is, I am fat. I am not a healthy weight. BUT I am doing something about it. Whether I am at the gym or not, I am fat, so it’s better for me to be fat at the gym than fat sitting on my couch, right?

Same goes for the number on the scale. Being ashamed of it or afraid to tell someone else doesn’t change the fact that it’s what I weigh or that other people can see that I am fat. Knowing the number would not be THAT incredibly shocking to people, and it’s not like I would lose friends over it. I don’t have to be scared of someone finding me out.

Being ashamed isn’t productive, and, in fact, most times it leads to the opposite for me: Skipping the gym, emotional eating, hiding myself.

So. Hi. I’m Misty. I am 5’4.5” and currently weigh about 242.