Where the Heck Have I Been?

Well, let's see. In May I traveled for two weeks straight for work. Once to Florida and once to Dallas. Came back for a few days, had a holiday (Memorial day). Traveled for 3 days for work in the beginning of June, my flight got cancelled causing me to nearly not get home in time for my 10 day all-inclusive vacation with my niece in Mexico. Got home from Mexico (and the other trips) and spent a good 2 weeks getting back in the groove. Eating well and exercising regularly. Then, I had, or nearly had, another one of those fainting spells. Went to the doctor and they are still trying to figure out why it's happening. Had some tests run (blood work, EKG, wore a heart "halter monitor" for 24 hours). All was good for a couple of weeks.

Then, I started getting a sore back every couple of days for about a week and a half. On Monday, 7/14 something happened to my back during my boxing class. By about 11:00 pm, Monday, I could barely stand, sit, or lay down (yes, that about covers all of the options). Slept fretfully during the night as no position was comfortable. When my alarm went off in the morning, the pain was excruciating. For the first time ever, I called in sick to work. On my way back from the bathroom, the pain was so bad, I couldn't walk. I crawled to my phone to call work. When I tried to stand up, horrible pain shot up and down my back and I fainted out cold. Knocked my head on the wall and somehow cut and bruised my leg. Based on the position/location of the bruise and cut, it's a complete mystery as to how that happened. Anyway, I ended up not exercising for a full week, in any way, while I gave my back time to recover. After about 24 hours, my back was almost feeling normal again. However, there's no way I wanted a repeat of that pain so I took ample time to recover.

Monday of this week, I went back to boxing. No issues. Last night I lifted and went for a walk. No issues. I think I'm healed -- other than still not knowing why I get those fainting spells.

In all that time, I've managed to gain some weight. As of today, I'm about 10-12 pounds away from my stated goal. Some of that may be muscle mass as during my May PT check-in, my weight had gone up (2 pounds) but my BF% went down. Anyway, I've got some recovering to do. Many factors have impacted my weight: traveling, health and back injury, lack of blogging and journaling my food which relates to eating poorly in many instances.

It's time to recommit. Rather than having milestones, since I'm technically in a maintenance mode (even though I'm 10 pounds away from goal), I'm going to try to blog more (including updates on my progress). I truly thinking staying connected to my lifestyle by blogging on my emotions, progress, and life experiences helps me stay focused and stay true. I still journal my food, weight and exercise. I'll provide official monthly updates on those items at the beginning of each month.

One thing I may have learned... I've made great progress and am very proud of that. This lifestyle change is not ingrained yet. If I let my concentration drift even a little, I quickly revert to the old habits that sustained my unhealthy lifestyle. Maybe, in time, it will be second nature and I won't have to be so continually focused on what I eat and how much I exercise. For today. For this month. For this year. Focus, Focus, Focus. I will not gain more back. I will not revert to old habits. I'm happy with where I am, who I am, and my accomplishments. I won't let that change.

Until later . . .

Think Smart. Eat Well. Move More.