Operation Picture Ready

Jason and I celebrate 10 years of marriage this year - TEN! In some ways I can't remember much of my life without him, but in other ways the time has passed quickly. Since we didn't have a great honeymoon, we decided our ten year anniversary would be spent in a honeymoon do-over. We have booked a cruise in November!

I am so so so excited to spend 5 whole days with Jason, just the two of us. I know I will miss the kids terribly, but alone time for Shmoopies is hard to come by these days. 

It's no revelation that I need to lose some weight, and the cruise has given me some great motivation. I don't want to dread every picture we take! I want to be excited to document our time together. Enter: Operation Picture Ready. 

I have 7 months to get my body in better shape. I'm not necessarily focusing on a certain weight goal, although I will have one. My goal is to incorporate a healthy lifestyle that is manageable. I want to continue with whatever I do past the cruise. The trip isn't the end game, it just gives me a good marker to work towards. 

Day one was last Monday. Prepare yourself, here's my first picture:

This is my current plan:

Exercise: I joined a gym. I have not done this in a very long time, and even then it was just for the pool. This gym does not have a pool. It is going to be actual sweat-the-pounds-off working out, and I'm nervous! My body is not very cooperative when it comes to anything labor-intensive, but I'm going to push myself. I'm praying my knees, feet, and back hang in there and let me do what needs to be done. No more mamby-pamby workouts. I do zumba classes twice a week and do a circuit workout 2-3 days a week with two of my besties. 

Food: I am just going to eat right. This sounds so simple, and it is. No extreme diets going on here, just a normal habit of eating "the good stuff." Gluten is going to be eliminated, but that is because I know my body functions better without it, not so much for weight loss purposes. And...drum roll please...I'm giving up diet soda in the house. I LOVE diet soda. Pepsi and Dr. Pepper the most. I'm not saying I'm giving it up completely, but I will not keep it in the house and I won't go out of my way to drive through somewhere to buy one. Water has taken its place, and I let myself drink coffee too (usually just one cup a day). 

Accountability: I am doing a 12 week Bible study at my gym hosted by my dear friend, Shawna. She is AMAZING. She has lost over 100 lbs! Her drive came from her commitment to the Lord, and I'm excited about incorporating this into my healthy lifestyle plan. Time with the Lord, relying on His strength and not my own, and Godly friends are all a major part of my plan. Shawna and Tabatha are my workout peeps! We do zumba and our circuit training together, and I'm loving it. I know I wouldn't work as hard if they weren't there. 

I have tried to lose weight LOTS of times. Over and over. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But here's the thing: I have to keep trying. Even when I fail or mess up 1000 times, I am going to always try again. Having this issue in my life constantly reminds me that I need the Lord to overcome it. I cannot do it on my own. My physical limitations can be overwhelming, and I'm scared to push my body. It is so much easier to rest all the time, do whatever it takes to avoid the pain. It has gotten way better since my back has been healed, but there are still restrictions if I want to be pain free. This time, I'm trying to work through the pain. Not do anything to make things worse, but stop being such a scaredy cat and actually sweat a little. 

I'll be posting updates as we go, but this is a long term thing. Just because we hit November doesn't mean it will be over, I'm just hoping to see lots of progress by then. At the very least, I want to be picture ready! :)