2 Years...

Two years ago I started a journey to lose weight, get my confidence back and become Jeff's girlfriend again. As with any journey, there have been successes and hiccups... and after 2 years, I have lost 30 pounds (43 pounds from my heaviest), had the confidence and support to compete in and win sprint and international distance triathlons, and have gone back to work full time. Over the past year, you've heard my struggles with crazy work hours and trying to keep my head above water, so I thought I would break down this year to see how and why things happened...

February and March 2012 - I was hired by Three Phase and started training. I was home by 2:30PM each day and was able to do my workouts in the afternoon, make dinner, and pretty much keep up with our schedule.

April-August 2012 - I started working full time in Jeff's office at the end of March and the first few months back to work was figuring out the new schedule... workouts were now at 5:30AM, getting home from work around 6PM (a few days a week getting back to work from home), working one day on the weekend and fitting in all of the cleaning, shopping, etc. into one day a week. Jeff and I were  sharing the chore load and it was working.

September - October 2012 - Triathlon season was ending and the long hours were starting to take a toll. I started missing workouts, but decided it had been 3 years since I took a break from the gym and thought I would pull back for a few months.

October - December 2012 - For the past (4) months, Jeff has been working all day and covering the night shifts for a position that we had vacant and could not fill. On the nights another employee could cover the night job, Jeff would attend Board meetings or work late to catch up. With Jeff averaging 70 hours a week, for 4 months, and through the holidays, things were stressful at work and pure exhaustion at home. Things started backing up, I was down to (2) 30 minute workouts a week, and we were not having a good time.

Hummmm... although I lived through the last year, taking the time to break it down and write it down like this is very eye opening. My weight, my confidence and flirting were on a roller coaster this year, and with the downward spiral I see outlined above, it makes sense. Jeff and I sat down at the start of the year and discussed a few changes that we have implemented. I have resigned from all of my volunteer work. I don't know why I didn't see that before... I didn't have time to do the laundry or grocery shopping, but I spent several hours a week on volunteer commitments. Volunteering is very important to us, but has been superseding our family and that had to be the first change.

We are making changes at work and finally have a good person in our night position, so this is the last week (fingers crossed) that Jeff will be working two jobs. My first race of the year is in 5 weeks and I'm 3 weeks into my training plan for this race. Increasing my workouts has been tough, but I'm starting to feel better... focused... and yes, more confident. :-)

Although this post is a personal reflection on our life, I'm hoping you will take away the importance of reflection. If you want to make a change, but feel trapped by your schedule, take a few minutes to honestly write down what is taking your time... are you spinning your wheels... talk with your spouse regarding the issues and make changes together. I can tell you one thing... when you are stressed and exhausted and feel like there is no digging out of your hole... you will not have any confidence and there will be no flirting... and THAT is a bummer!

203.0

207.0

Yep... I put on 4 pounds this year... and these photos show me EXACTLY where it went.  First goal of the new year... I want to be in "One-derland" by race day... in 5 weeks!