I’m not unhappy about gaining some weight back (yet I’m also not happy either), but emotionally, I’m a lot happier on allowing myself to eat more. In my case, I suffer more of “too much of a good thing” type of deal, unless of course, you count the bread pudding I’ve dipped into a few a times a week. I guess you can say that when it came to choosing whether to look ideal but eat little to look a little less than idea but eat more, I chose the latter.
One of the biggest benefits, I feel, about eating more is the amount of optimism gained. I am less stressed about food, knowing that I ate enough to be fuller longer, because in November/December, being forced to eat every 2-3 hours was driving me crazy and making a serious ding on the flexibility of my schedule. I’m still eating about 5 times a day, but I just make sure I give myself a bigger serving than before.
I’m working out more than ever and it makes me soooo much more emotionally and mentally healthy. In these couple of weeks, I am finally sleeping through the night! I’m also meeting lots of great women at the gym. Strangely, women started getting friendlier to me when I started wearing my engagement ring to the gym. Before, they’d avoid me and make remarks about my age. Weird, right? Or am I just paranoid? I can feel such a difference in my runs already with the amount of cross-training I put into my schedule. Consider this time spent at the gym an investment towards healthy knees and being able to carry running though to my 70s and 80s.
Another cross-training activity I’m getting interested in is yoga. HELLO! After some hard workouts, yoga is the perfect end to my workout routine that consistently takes the soreness away. I keep expecting to feel sore the next day from whatever workout, but yoga has not let me down. It also puts me on a new learning curve and learning something new always excites me.
My current pics, taken on March 2nd, right before Yoga. (Excuse the frizzy hair and the no make-up look, but for me, make up + workout = zit city. Always.)
I have to admit that I cringe a little when I see these pictures, but only because right before I look at my December pic. Grrrrrowl. Oh well. Trust the process, right?
P.S. You can’t see it from this angle, but in yoga, I noticed that my shoulders look sooo good when doing the downward dog! heehee
