I gained 25 pounds in 2021.

I basically ate my way through the discomfort of the second half of the year.

By December all of my clothes were too tight (and they are pretty much all elasticized) 😂

I decided to join a weight loss/healthy living program at the Y called Lose to Win.

It’s a 12-week program, and it ended yesterday.

When I first joined I was gonna go all in. I was going to try and win the whole thing and lose as much weight as possible in 12 weeks.

I’ve done this before. Several times.

I’ve made massive changes to what I was doing to see a dramatic transformation in a short period of time.

I did it back in 2013.

I did it in 2019.

And I did it in 2020.

I got great results, but I got them in a way that was unsustainable.

I went semi-psycho, and I never made any changes that would stick.

Instead, I made massive changes that I abandoned as soon as I either hit a goal weight or finished a program.

And it was only a matter of time until I put all the weight back on.

So after finding myself heading right back into the same patterns as before, I (finally) realized trying to win a competition was most likely going to set me up for short-term success and inevitable long-term failure. Again.

A little more than half way through the program I reassessed.

And I backed off.

I started focusing on the process rather than the result.

I started measuring my success by the actions I was (and wasn’t) taking.

I didn’t lose a shit ton of weight or have massive transformation like I have in the past.

But I did make some changes:

• I started exericising consistently again
• I started swimming again
• I started doing consistent strength training again
• I’ve been drinking more water
• I started meal planning again 
• I started meal prepping again

I haven’t done all of these things perfectly.

But I’m doing them better than I was in 2021.

Progress, not perfection.

In E-School we follow a system called the 12 Week Year.

Basically we set an annual goal and then divide the year up into 4 quarters.

Each quarter is 13 weeks. 12 weeks of action, and 1 week of reflection and planning for the next 12 week year.

My goal for 2022 is to lose 35 pounds. That will put me in a healthy range and a range I feel good in.

My goal for the first 12 week year – the first quarter of 2022 – was to lose 10 pounds.

I weighed in at 185.2 pounds in January when Lose to Win started.

And yesterday, on the last day of the program (and the last day of the first 12 week year) I weighed 175.2 pounds.

I lost exactly 10 pounds.

Goal achieved!

I didn’t kill myself to do this. I didn’t work out two or three hours a day. I didn’t cut out any food groups. I didn’t stop eating ice cream. I didn’t do anything drastic.

I just focused on 1% improvements and doing better each week than I had the week before.

I did a little bit better most weeks and made small changes I could handle.

Some weeks were super busy and I didn’t plan as well as I would have liked and I didn’t exercise as much as I wanted to.

Some weeks I swam five times and other weeks I swam once.

In 2021 I swam 5 times.

So far in 2022 I have swum 23 times.

I swam four times as much in the first 3 months of 2022 than I did in all of 2021.

That’s a lot of improvement!

Most of my weight loss is due to increased activity.

I made very few changes in my eating habits. 

I made some improvements, but I still had many, many days where I just completely went off the rails.

The difference for me this time around is that I know how to talk to myself now.

I don’t beat myself up.

I don’t should all over myself.

I don’t quit on myself.

Because I don’t strive for perfection anymore.

Perfection is the biggest load of bullshit we can pile on ourselves.

This belief that perfection is attainable – or that it even exists in the first place! – is what prevents us from having any long lasting success in most areas of our lives.

And the more time I spend with my kids, the more I realize I’m molding them. They are watching. They are learning. They are developing. They are becoming.

If there is one thing I want to teach them – by example – it’s that fuck ups are necessary. Failure is the only thing that helps us reach our goals.

We need to fail. We need to struggle. We need to learn how to fall down and keep getting back up.

We need to learn how to be grateful for and possibly even start to love the process of falling down and then getting back up.

Every time I get up I’m more badass than I was before I fell.

And every time you get up you’re more badass than you were before you fell down.

I have fallen down SO MANY TIMES in the last 10 years since I started this blog.

I mean like SO MANY TIMES. 

I’ve embarrassed myself repeatedly.

I’ve reacted and judged. 

But I’ve also grown. 

I’ve grown so much since 2012.

It’s been 10 years this month.

It’s almost my 10 year anniversary.

No part of this whole not your average mom thing has been even remotely close to perfect. I’ve had no idea what the fuck I’ve been doing for a long time! 

It’s only in the last couple years that I’ve started to figure it out, and I still have a TON to learn.

But you know why it’s coming together for me now?

BECAUSE I NEVER QUIT ON MYSELF.

These last ten years have been some of the best and some of the worst years of my life.

They have absolutely been the hardest years of my life.

AND they’ve been the years in which I’ve experienced the most growth.

I am so much wiser. And calmer. And happier.

I’m figuring shit out.

And it took me a while to figure out this weight loss thing. 

But I’m getting there.

So here’s my progress:

I’m 10 pounds down.

My waist is down 1 1/2 inches.

My hips are down 1/2 inch.

My resting heart rate is back down in the 40’s where it used to be.

My clothes fit better.

When I started swimming in January I was able to do 500 yards in 10 minutes and ten days ago I did 1100 yards in 20 minutes. 

I’m really happy with my progress.

My body is shifting.

There is a little less belly fat and a lot less boobs. The boobs are one of the biggest reasons I want to lose weight. They are so uncomfortable.

But they are a tiny bit less uncomfortable now than they were in January.

I’m proud of my progress, especially the progress I’ve made with my mindset.

In the next 12 week year, my goal is to lose 12 pounds.

The biggest thing I’m focusing on is sleeping in my bed.

Over the last couple months I reverted to terrible sleeping habits again – hello sleeping on the couch every night – and this is affecting me in a whole bunch of areas.

So I’m tracking how many nights I sleep in my bed for the next 12 weeks.

This will eliminate the late night eating I do when I fall asleep on the couch.

I started last Saturday night, and I’ve got 8 nights in my bed (or a hotel bed – more on that tomorrow) under my belt. I’m on a roll!

I’ll be back in a month with a progress report.

Until then, if you are trying to make changes, the smaller the better. Rather than focusing on the result, focus on and action you can take that will move you in that direction.

Pick something you aren’t currently doing that you could realistically do every day.

Want to drink more water?

Don’t start with a gallon a day. Start with 8 ounces. Or 6. Or 4! 

If you aren’t moving your butt every day and want to start exercising consistently, start with one minute of something. YES! One minute!

Give yourself a chance for success. 

You know what helps you continue the momentum? Tracking your success.

Click here to get my free 100 Day Habit Tracker!

If you could use some extra help figuring out how to take care of yourself in a way you can sustain, The Mini Empowerment Experience is just what you need.

We start on April 25th. 

Click here to join. It’s time to start investing in yourself.