I'm Back...again! And this time with the #LMWLIFESTYLE Challenge!

Hey there! Long time to "talk!" You know how I said I was back in my last blog post and then disappeared again? First, my bad. Second, let me explain. I was kicking off my effort with the Strong in the New Skinny program. I was doing great for about 3 days and then I crashed. It wasn't for me. It was too restrictive. Although you get to introduce select foods into your diet as you move forward, the overall program was too much of a drastic change for me. I think it's a great approach for someone that's trying to drop the last 10-15 lbs. Not someone like me who now has to drop about 95 lbs!

Wow. I have to lose 95 lbs! That means I've gained 95 lbs since 2010-ish? Crazy. Sigh. Moving forward...

So as you can imagine, I've been pretty disappointed with myself for not sticking with the program and not getting back on track with WeightWatchers as I vowed I would to myself, my friends, etc. Lately, nothing has been sticking. I know what to do, I just can't seem to really do it. It's not that I don't want this--I really do. I have visions of what my "back in shape" life will be like. I have clothes sitting in my closet begging me to wear them in the near future. I have a motivational poster on my wall, workout gear everywhere, a Pinterest board called "Get it Right, Get it Tight" with hundreds of tips on how to lose weight and get that "perfect body." What could I be missing?! Why is it not clicking for me like it was when I was 20 years old when I first started my weight loss journey that took off 68 lbs that I thought I'd never see again?

So after my latest weight loss fail, I kind of just floated in between giving up and not giving up. That's until I came across this promoted post on my Facebook newsfeed. I saw this "Live More Weigh Less" challenge and I was immediately drawn to it! Once I clicked on the website, I knew this is exactly what I've been searching for. Please let me introduce you to my latest hero: Sarah Jenks and the Live More Weigh Less Program!

In a nutshell (and I'm paraphrasing on what I gathered, but please go to the website to learn more), Sarah focuses on living your life with pleasure to be healthy instead of restricting and depriving yourself. She gets to the core of why we do what we do. For me, I'm eating because I'm not in a happy place. I'm eating because I'm stressed, sad, lonely, bored, etc. But what if we changed the things that are making us stressed, sad. lonely, and bored vs. the thinking that all of this can change once we reach our goal weight? By doing so, we can be less inclined to emotional eating and do the things that make us feel better and happier (internally and externally). Over time, our bodies will go on a natural and sane path to the healthy shape that it's meant to be in (no more trying to compare our selves to some unrealistic celebrity body). What a great concept! Embrace yourself + live the life you want = a healthier and happier you!

I don't know about you, but I'm all about that! So I was quick to jump in on her Live More Weight Less Lifestyle Challenge.  It's not too late for you to join. You can group together the days that you missed all in one day or start up on the day that you decide to join the party :).  I'll be sharing my experience with this program in the hopes that it will encourage and inspire similar ladies. So read below and please check in for days 3 & 4 soon!

Day 1: Wear Red Lipstick, Do Something Fun, Non-Distracted Eating

So for the first day of the challenge, we were tasked with wearing red lipstick. At first, I wasn't sure I could do this. I honestly thought I could just take the photo and then wipe it off. But I really want to do this and not make it about showing off on social media. So I stuck to my guns and rocked the red lips all day long. Right away, I noticed that I felt more confident. I was able to look people in the eye as I said hello. In fact, I'm pretty sure I caught the attention of this cutie during my coffee run. I've seen him before and I don't think he's ever really spoken to me before. But that morning, he was all "Good Morning!" "How are you?" "Welcome to Target!" with a huge smile on his face. I couldn't help but giggle to myself. And it doesn't hurt that I got some nice compliments on social media either ;).

For her video training series, she asked us to do something fun and to eat without distraction. I wish all homework was like this! So I took myself out on a solo movie date to see Insurgent (liked it) with a gift certificate I got for Christmas. For dinner, I ate at my dinner at the table instead of my bed (while watching TV) with my dog unable to get in my face. No phone, no TV, just silence to enjoy and appreciate what I was putting in my body.

Day 1 was a success and I plan to do more of these things in my day to day life, beyond the challenge.

Day 2: Buy Yourself Fresh Flowers

I love flowers. I've lately been into floral prints when it comes to fashion, so this is probably my fav of all the steps in this week's challenge. I'm assuming they're considered fresh, but on my way to work I bought a dozen roses from Giant ($10 total). Half pink, half white. A nice springy look that goes well with my cube decor.  Despite the cloudy day today, the flowers have certainly put me in brighter spirits. Why wait for someone to buy me flowers? I think I'll add this to my list of "random pick-me-ups just for the hell of it."




So there you have it. It's a long post but I really needed to get all of this out there so you can understand where I've been and what I'm now doing. Thanks for reading to the end. I promise the other posts will be shorter :).

Let's chat: Are you already in the challenge? Thinking about it? Can you relate to any of my thoughts/experiences? Let me know in the comments below!