2 Weeks To Go

That's it. There's less than 2 weeks left in 2018.

It's no surprise that this time of the year tends to be a challenge for most people. Most people struggle this time of the year because there are social gatherings, work parties, family get togethers, etc. I honestly don't really have any of those excuses. I haven't gone to one holiday party this year and don't have any planned. The only family get togethers we have will be on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So really, I have no reason to treat this time of year any differently than any other time of the year. But I do.

Maybe it's because I do partake in the baking aspect of the holiday season. Every year I make chocolates as gifts for various people. I also make my Christmas cookies that I only make once a year and those inevitably call my name constantly! 😄

But really there's no reason why I couldn't get through this time of year still losing weight. But I'm not. I decided this week though that I'm not going to be mad about it.

Christmas Day 2017 vs. Dec 5, 2018

Yesterday while working out I found myself being annoyed once again because the HR monitor on my Garmin was not accurately reflecting my effort. That sounds so petty,  but when I can barely breathe and I look down and my HR monitor says my heart rate is 90; I don't think it's accurate. When my HR monitor isn't accurate then the calories burned isn't accurate. I find that this makes me way more mad than it should. It's not like I'm not burning the calories just because my Garmin doesn't show it.

So yesterday I decided I was getting way too neurotic and that needs to stop. When I get this neurotic I find that I go in the opposite direction. I've talked about this before on this blog,  but when I'm stressing about losing weight I will gain weight faster than ever.

I've been doing so well even though I haven't lost any weight since May. My weight has stayed relatively steady since I hit that low weight in May. But now I see my weight creeping up again and it's making me stress. It's really stupid to stress about it. I know that I'm not really going to do anything about it until January so what's the point in stressing?

So yesterday I came up with some goals for myself for the next 2 weeks:

An important reminder....

1. I took off my Garmin! This is actually such a big deal. You know I'm all about my numbers. I mean, this Garmin was my gift to myself for reaching ONEderland. But I decided yesterday that my goal for the next 2 weeks is to exercise just to exercise. The calories will be burned whether I can look at the numbers or not.

2. Stop stressing over my food and just eat mindfully.

3. Reflect on the awesome year that was 2018 and think about how great 2019 will be.

4. Realize that the world will NOT end if the scale goes above 200 for a second in January. I obviously don't want it to, but really what does it matter? I'm not done with my journey. I'm not giving up or quitting. If the scale goes above 200 again I am no longer afraid that that means it's going to keep going in that direction. I am confident that I will be able to get re-focused after the New Year.

I know that I've talked about the fact that in years past I have had a hard time getting back on track until April. I'm no longer nervous that that'll happen again. This year I actually got started on January 1st (which I NEVER do). In the month of January I lost over 11 pounds. By the end of April this year I had lost 29 pounds or over 13% body weight. I see no reason why I can't do the same in 2019.

I am pretty positive Living Lean will have another challenge at the start of the year so that will absolutely help me get my butt back in gear. Therefore, I am no longer going to spend these next 13 days stressing. I am going to enjoy every moment of what's left in 2018 and look forward to what 2019 has in store!