Week Four: Breakthrough

4 Weeks! I can't believe I made it to today. I feel so victorious for sticking it out this far, as crazy as that sounds. This is really big for me. I'd have to say that one of the biggest rewards to this point has been that I'm not miserable!! I can count only a handful of times I have even thought about how hard this process is which really tells me how committed to changing I am this time around. Quitting has not even crossed my mind. I feel strong and healthy and most importantly I am proud of myself. I can definitely keep this up. (I'm sure I'll need to come back and read this some time in the next 8 weeks).

I took my 4 week photos this morning before I started my free day. As soon as I put the clothes on I knew that the photos were going to be much, much better. I mean really, could they get any worse? When I printed them off this morning to add to my binder I was very pleasantly surprised. I can see some progress and changes already. Most people say women don't see the biggest changes until weeks 7-8 so I'm very encouraged thinking of what is to come. So far I've lost 12 pounds and 19.5 inches. I'm so glad that I took those measurements before. Those speak volumes to me about how real these changes are.

Free Day today. I wrote down things I wanted to eat all week which really helped me stay focused, avoid pitfalls and look forward to today. It is a good ideato know what I'm planning to eat so I don't just go raid the cupboards and shove unhealthy food in my face! Today I picked a tortilla chip dip made of black beans, corn, tomatoes, cucumber, avacado and lime juice. Healthy but not with chips! And some Tootsie Rolls, my favorite! As much skim milk as I want to drink. Man, I miss drinking loads of milk.

My plan moving into the next 4 weeks is to eat cleaner. Eating smaller portions and eating the right foods have not been hard for me (big shock, let me tell ya) but getting in 6 meals a day has been a challenge. I've run into this before with marathon training. When I don't eat enough, (ie when I eat too little rather than too much), I tend to hold on to those pounds, get grouchier and have less energy to work my hardest. So, I'll be recommitting to planning my meals and getting enough fuel in my body to support my workouts.

Second, I'm going to try ramping up my cardio. Post marathon I could run 3 miles in 20-23 minutes if I pushed really hard. I'm averaging about 2.7 miles in my 20 minute HIIT workout. I'm going to push for those 10's and really try and get in 3 miles in 20ish minutes. I'll also finish out running for 30 minutes just to add a little punch.

I'm going to go back over my workout progress sheets and use them to figure out where I can up my weights too. That's a little harder for me since I switch between different exercises all the time but I'm sure I can find room to grow. It really is crazy to think how even 10 more pounds or 2-3 more reps really add up over time.

I'm really excited to see what February and the next 4 weeks have in store for me and the changes I'll surely see. Bring it on!