The new year has gotten off to a great start!!! First and foremost, Berkeley had her first checkup with her oncologist since mid-December. Typical blood work was done and they flushed and hep-locked her port. All blood work seems to have regulated nicely, and she is about a pound heavier than when she started last January....which is a God send because at this point last year, she had finished her first round of chemo and was in a downhill spiral of a 13 pound loss in a 2 week period....She is scheduled for her 3 month scans in February. If they are clean, we get to talk taking her port out! YAY!!! Please keep us in your prayers that scans remain clean and that we really are on a road leading to a full recovery. She also has been cleared fully to be active on her softball team! BIG YAY!!!!
As for me, I have recommitted to myself. This is my year. I have been following a few blogs for quite a while, and I finally took all I was seeming and committed myself to getting serious with losing weight and getting fit. Last year, I watched as
Skinny Meg got pregnant, worked out like a boss throughout her pregnancy, and didn't miss a beat once the baby was born getting right back in the swing and moving forward. Then she started talking about
IIFYM, and how amazingly flexible it was and how it wasn't about starvation, but about the actual science behind the nutrition of eating for your body and your activity level. WHAT? I know, right. Last summer she had a challenge, which I tried to commit to. But, I found that I was not fully, whole heartedly committed...not running back and forth to the hospital, being stuck at the hospital for days at a time, and little time to commit to a regular workout. But, it did give me a springboard to practice with IIFYM eating. I had my travel scale, and I weighed everything I ate...even in the hospital. I lost 15 pounds. Without really trying or too much effort.
Jump ahead through the holidays. I really got lax on weighing and measuring, but I was fairly conscientious in my eating....so I thought.... I gained about 8 pounds back...depending on what day it was.
New year, new me, right? So here is what I am doing to stick to my guns:
1. Fit and Fabulous Falcons: our newly created "diet club" at school. We all put in $10 and weighed in. We are working it in small windows Jan 5 til we get out for Mardi Gras break, then when we return until Spring Break, then til the end of school. Each window is about 6 weeks long. For every pound we gain, $1 goes into the pot. Easy. Not much structure, just Monday weigh ins.
2. SMChallenge group: #TeamPinkRockets weighing in, completing challenges, and holding each other accountable. I got lucky to pair with Brittany over the summer, and when this challenge started up, she became the leader of our team.
3. SMNewYear Challenge: This is another Skinny Meg challenge that I actually submitted an application for, hoping to get a spot and really get "small group" accountability and support. I really was surprised for being chosen, and it was all the more reason to really commit to establishing a plan and sticking to it. I am so thankful for Meg for spearheading this, and for Brittany for picking me to be a part of the #fiftyshadesoffit team.
LOTS of accountability. What I need. I have been using the IIFYM model, and attending 5am boot camps 1-2 days a week, depending on the week. I never in a million years ever thought I would say this, but I think I like getting up and working out at 5am. I think I may start next week trying to get in at least 5am workouts...either boot camp, or going to the gym. I am also doing the C25K and would love to be able to run (wog) my first race this spring/early summer. I am registered for a local fundraiser race at the end of January (with a bunch of friends from school), but, realistically, there is no way I will be ready by then, but wherever I am in my C25k program, I will do that on that day. Even if I do not make a race this summer, I plan on running the Jazz Half Marathon 5K in New Orleans in October/Novemberish. We attended this last fall, as it is a huge fundraiser for
Children's Hospital New Orleans, where Berkeley is a patient. Berkeley was one of the "faces" for the race this past year and did a lot of public relation stuff leading up to the event. Come hell or high water, I will run this race. And, next year, who knows I might get all crazy and go for the full half!
The thing is...I have a vision. I have a drive that I have not had in a long time. I am making things right for me. Its not to say that its all gonna be fabulous all the time, and I know that. I feel like I have the tools and the mental readiness that I have been lacking. I want to be comfortable in my own skin and confident in myself again.
So, thank you...to all that I have met in the SMCHallenge group.
