Who else is starting in the new year?

Me! I first started my fitness journey in October of 2022. I was going to the gym and I was loving it. Unfortunately it became too expensive and I had to stop. I was able to come up with the money to get an elliptical but by the time I got to the store to get one after weeks of trying I was out of habit. I needed to build my endurance again and using the elliptical was difficult for me especially because it's not meant for a tall person. My legs are bowed in a way that my feet can't touch when my knees are straight. If that makes sense, so whenever I use my elliptical my knee keeps hitting the middle bar and my foot keep sliding over like it's going to fall off the machine.

I have been able to maintain not drinking soda which is a big thing for me since I used to drink between 4 to 8 liters DAILY.

I really struggled this past summer. Every time I had a non-scale victory like maintaining a lower calorie diet or succeeding a couple days of intermittent fasting. I would be proud of myself until I looked at the scale. My weight was fluctuating and at a stalemate. After a couple weeks of trying to motivate myself to keep walking everyday and including all these healthy habits I had started I just couldn't get below 240 lb. I would get right on the cusps and then my weight would shoot up.

For my mental health I had to take a break. Right before Christmas I had a very bad toothache. The dentist told me I need three teeth removed. Because of my insurance I'm still waiting to get that taken care of. But the pain is so bad I can't chew. I started a partial liquid diet because I need actual substance. And I take Aleve before I have lunch just so I can manage the pain enough to have an actual meal one today. I started drinking carnations breakfast essentials twice a day if I use a straw the pain isn't as bad. When I first started the partial liquid diet I would have a grilled cheese with tomato soup for lunch so I could drink the soup with a straw too. The pain is less which means the nerve is dying but it also means I can eat a little bit more.

Because of the timing of everything and the fact that New Year's was coming up and I knew I was definitely going to be losing weight due to my restricted diet. So I decided to restart my fitness journey. I even ordered some kettlebells to assist in my workouts. I read that adding weights to your workout can boost your metabolism. Plus I love receiving packages because I'm a dork. So it was something to look forward to and be excited about and help me stay motivated.

I didn't wait until New Year's because of the whole idea of revolution or anything like that. It just so happened to be good timing for bad situation.

10 days ago I also established a daily routine. Before that because of the tooth pain I had gotten used to being in bed all day watching TV. Even before that I have times when I become depressed and I just am not productive.

Since I started this routine there's only been one day when I didn't follow it in the last 10 days. When I do it has amazing results. I have 16 alarms set everyday. I have a set time when I clean and two set times when I do a half hour of exercise. Doesn't matter what I do at this point because I'm still establishing the routine I just want to do some form of physical activity twice a day. I also have three set meal times and I haven't been snacking. Because I'm always busy between meal times following this schedule I haven't even been hungry or eating out of boredom. It's working, I've lost 5 lb since I started. It has also lifted my depression.

My goals for the year: My current weight is 230 lb I would like to be at 199. By May 5th Cinco de Mayo. My niece's birthday.