Just to bring you up to speed here, I've lost weight this year. I haven't reached my goal yet as I was hoping to by the end of this month. The year started off with a bang - tons of energy, determination, and sheer will overcame me. I was Sick and Tired of being sick and tired, I guess. I wanted it really bad and still do.

I lost about 20 pounds. I was jogging every other day for a while. Then, over the summer, I got hurt while jogging. Man, I was doing so well. I was happy. I can't remember ever feeling that way. It was exhilarating. Anyway, so it hasn't been the same since. I mean, I feel better and have started jogging again, but hardly on the same schedule. The days are shorter, and it gets darker much quicker. It's hard to be out there in the dark.

So I gained 5 maybe more back. Depressing. I had started to buy clothes one size smaller but not many because of the reminder of when I threw out all those smaller-sized clothes a few years ago as I rapidly gained weight. My goal is to get to one size that suits me well and to stay there, so I can buy clothes and wear them out (not replace them with a bigger size again). What a waste of money!

I did develop some decent habits this year though, which have stayed with me despite having fallen off the wagon. First off, I no longer have that mentality of "well, yesterday I binged, so what's the point?" I just make better choices the next day and move on. There's no point in beating yourself up; what's done is done. Tomorrow offers an opportunity to simply correct your mistakes if you have learned from them. Always try to learn from them. I have strategies now that I didn't have a year ago. For instance, I always bring an apple, water, and granola bar with me when I go out on weekends to run my errands. I know I get hungry when it's too early for lunch so having these snacks tides me over; they calm my hunger nerves.

As I pick up jogging again, I also try to do weights while watching tv. I literally have to remind myself to do them though because the habit of sitting on the couch gives me amnesia/makes my mind numb.Getting on the floor to do stretches and legwork is my least favorite. I hardly do it. I also have to remind myself that, "hey, it's been over a week (or more) now, get on the floor!"

I love this site and I've only started to check out some of the exercises and nutrition info there, as it's packed with solid and useful and motivating information. I highly recommend it. I'm glad I found it. I will try out more of the exercises. I want to try to start to jumprope. I tried it earlier this year and I couldn't believe I forgot how! Ok, no trying, just DOING.

I am way too emotional and eat for every kind of mood. And I still berate myself heavily for the mess-ups. But I don't have a choice in giving up if I want the kind of life I have been waiting for. I hope that I carry what I have learned with me into next year and build on it. I hope next year is MY year. Join me?