A Healthier Me: The Struggle

First, let me tell you where I'm at in my life and journey right now. About 6 weeks ago I moved to West Virginia to live with some awesome family friends and start my new awesome job at a school. There have been parts about moving here that have been hard, such as just moving once again, trying to get settled, not having friends my age here, and the hardest part was leaving my AWESOME gym (My Training Gym) and AMAZING Trainer (Alex). Having a strong support team while you are losing weight is SO important! Without it you will struggle more. I mean, it always comes down to what YOU do and your own motivation, but having the right people helping you can make a huge difference. Since moving here, I was here for a week, then went to Oregon for 2 weeks to visit family and help with my friends' wedding, then I've been back in WV for about 2 1/2 weeks now. As you can imagine my eating and exercise have not been good.

Eating:
As you may know from past posts, I struggle ALOT with food! It is my comfort and I stress eat A LOT! This last trip to Oregon I ate a lot of fast food, ice cream, tons of candy, and pop. All horrible things that make my body feel sick and don't have the nutrition I need. Sadly, after coming back to WV, I continued to eat the same. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I also struggle with sneak eating, so I'm trying to stop that by VERY publicly admitting to what I am eating. Thankfully, last Friday I went to the grocery store (about 40 mins away) and went straight to the produce area. You should see how excited I get over the produce section of the store! It's kinda like how a hunter would get excited over guns (lol ... so Spencer). I filled my basket with a variety of good healthy fresh fruits and vegetables. I will admit that I have cheated a few times and eaten ice cream and chips, but I'm doing A LOT better! Little by little I'm getting myself back on track!

Exercise:
I mentioned above how it has been hard to no longer have my gym and trainer. Let me just say that my trainer, Alex, was so AWESOME! He pushed me further than I've ever gone before and made me feel so strong. At times I would hurt so bad and hate certain exercises, but I felt so proud of myself and what I am able to do! Since moving, I've done zero weigh training or strength training. This is bad because my back has started to hurt more and more as the strength in my stomach and back weaken. So, I've decided to try to buy some free weights and start doing some of the exercises Alex taught me so that I can continue strengthening myself and working the fat away.

The good news is that since coming back from my trip in Oregon, I have started doing cardio again! I have been doing interval running (alternating running and walking). I'm not doing it every day yet, but I've been doing it about 3-4 times a week. It hasn't been easy and there are times when I want to give up or when I have to fight with myself to even go running, but it feels so good when I do! I have more energy and have a great feeling of accomplishment. In two days (Saturday, June 30th), I will be running/walking my first 5k! I'm so excited!!! I will write more about it after Saturday.

Warning: This part of this post contains information about going through the weight loss process as a woman and the effects. If the discussion of bras and menstruation makes you uncomfortable, you might not want to read past this point. Just letting you know. :)

Recently, I had a friend message me and ask me about what bras I wear while running. Let's face it, I'm a big woman, especially in the chest area. She is the same and wanted to know how I'm able to run without feeling like my breasts are being ripped off my chest with every bounce. I answered her questions, but since she wasn't the first woman to ask me this question, I decided to share my answer with everyone. My secret is ... I wear 3 bras at once! Yep THREE bras! The first bra is a "everyday" bra not is not under wire. This bra lifts and separates my boobs so that they aren't all squished in the middle when I put on my sports bra. The second bra is a full coverage sports bra. It's a bigger sports bra that covers my full breast and holds them closer to my body, but not tight enough. Which is why I have the 3rd bra. It is a normal sports bra and it pushes everything tight against my body so that when I run, there is no bounce from my chest. This might seem like a lot, but remember I'm like a 42FF. It's not easy to find bras in my size, let alone ones that fully support and keep everything in place.

Also, since losing weight, I have lost a lot of weight in my chest. It's been nice to see the progress and feel myself getting lighter. Thankfully, I had smaller bras already that I've been able to use. My bras are custom fit sizes so I don't know what regular size I am anymore. But hopefully, eventually I'll be able to just be a "D" again.

The other issue that I'd like to address is menstruation and how it effects my weight loss progress. Around my "time of the month" two things happen. One is that I become SO hungry! I can't seem to get enough food! I want lots of sweets and especially chocolate! One way of ensure that this doesn't throw me off track is to plan ahead. If I know I'm going to be more hungry, then I plan to carry more fruits and veggies with me so I always have a healthy choice to eat with me. For my chocolate cravings, I blend up a "healthy chocolate shake" (the recipe is below). The other thing that happens is that I will usually gain about 5 lbs of water weight and feel bloated. As usual, I try to drink about 3 liters of water a day. Also, when I step on the scale that week, I remind myself that it might be a little high because of my period. I always feel happier when I step on the scale the week after my period and I see the numbers drop down even more. To help with the feeling of being bloated and the pain of cramps, I exercise. I'm not kidding! Keeping your body moving helps so much!

I hope no one has been offended by my bluntness, but that's how I am. :)

If you have any questions about things I've posted about or anything you are wondering about, feel free to comment or send me a message and I feel try to answer it the best I can.

Healthy Chocolate Shake:
1 cup milk
1 pkg of Oatmeal
1 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein powder
1-2 cups of ice
1 Tbsp. Raw Almond Butter (or Peanut Butter)
Dash of cinnamon
1 frozen banana (optional)

Blend together in blender and enjoy!

Here's a few recent pictures of me: