Stalling...but NOT stopping

     So, we knew when we started this journey to healthy that it would be long, often hard, and continuous.  It has definitely lived up to our expectations.  But we've seen so many positives out of it that we are compelled to keep going.  We've both stalled a little bit in our weight loss, but our commitment to our overall health is stronger than ever.  We have allowed a little more "cheating" in our eating habits, but we are very conscious of our choices and try to balance a "cheat night" with hard work and exercise.  The kids are doing incredibly well, too.  Especially our oldest.  She, the ever mature "almost-ten-year-old" consciously makes healthy food choices.  She will, by herself, choose healthy things.  Our stubborn boy, however, needs more prodding.  He is proving the "growing boy" adage to be true, eating constantly.  He would eat around the clock if we'd let him.  (We call him our little Hobbit.  If you're a fan of Tolkein, you understand why).  But, he still has adapted to eating what we eat, and the boy has never met a salad he didn't like.  Not that he will turn down pizza or anything, but he will eat healthy if that's his only option.  He even tried a Brussel sprout the other night.

     Our weight loss has slowed, but not stopped.  We've been told we lost the "easy weight", the rest was hard.  My response was, "it felt pretty hard to me!"  But, in retrospect, it hasn't.  The hardest part was deciding to do it.  The rest was easy!  I've learned to give myself a break.  While I still push myself and scold myself into making better choices, I don't just give up and call it quits when temptation overwhelms me.  That is crucial!

     A very interesting side effect to living a healthy lifestyle is that "bad" food actually makes me sick.  Really.  We had a cheat night a week or so ago and had pizza for the first time in a very long time.  Not homemade, whole-wheat crust, low sodium-low fat pizza sauce with turkey pepperoni pizza, either.  I'm talking full on, greasy, cheesy, bad-for-you pizza WITH garlic dipping sauce, thank you!  Ten minutes after I ate way more than I should have, I wanted to throw it up.  My body had a violent physical reaction to the grease.  I held it down, fortunately, but my body was not happy with me.  While my "mental" desire was for the nastiness, my physical desire wanted something green and fresh.  I've also developed this loathing for going out to eat.  Not that our small town's limited dining options help matters, but I actually hate going out to eat.  My mind is saying, "yay, get something really good", but my body is saying, "there is nothing good!  Go home, cook a chicken breast and some green beans."  I think that is a pretty amazing side-effect.  And a great way to save those dollars.  I'd rather use that money to buy some really good produce or lean meat.

     And one of the best parts of this journey is seeing the changes in our family.  The physical changes in our kids are wonderful.  I love seeing clothes that were once tight on them hang loose now.  It's awesome to see.  And they have a spark that was subdued before.  We go outside and play. Now they even beg to go "workout" with us.  They enjoy walking the neighborhood with us.  People noticing makes me happy.  Seeing them comment on our kids' progress gives me needed validation that were on the right track.  Because of my extremely "negative" personality, I have difficulty excepting compliments on my physical changes.  Hearing, "you look great" or "I can really see a difference" just translates in my mind to, "You looked horrible before" and "You were roughly the size of a baby rhino before."  Now, I know people mean well, so I'm trying to just take it in stride, knowing that my positive changes just might inspire others to make that step towards healthy.  

     So, at the end of the day, we have come to understand that our journey is just getting started, and there are and will be many uphill struggles.  We're going to dig in and keep going.  And maybe, just maybe, somewhere on the way, we can help others on their journey.

     So... Don't stop.  Keep working.  Be healthy!