2 Year Weight Maintenance Anniversary!

It’s here again! Two  years has passed and I’ve still managed to maintain a healthy weight. There have been many ups and downs and a lot of learning experiences along the way. I am still growing into what life should be like in weight maintenance.

Last year was a wonky year in terms of my eating habits because I had some issues with bingeing, something that didn’t become a problem until after I lost all the weight. This year I’m on a mission to set things straight and learn what balance could potentially look like for the long run.

They say that 5 years of maintaining a healthy weight is indicative of keeping it off forever. Maybe this will be the year that I figure things out so the other years won’t be as challenging and being healthy can just come naturally with little effort.

In celebration of the 2-year mark, I didn’t really want to do anything big or really anything at all.

Then last night I saw Nicole’s blog at GoalInReach post and found out for the first time that there’s a new Zumba DVD collection! I simply cannot exist without having all of them because I use every single one! I was so excited when Mike said we should get it as an anniversary gift, I damn near burst into flames.

I just about jumped out of my skin upon learning that there was a new DVD set. Yes yes I realize they will do anything to make easy money including creating a new “toy” like the Rizer but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is finding a form of exercise you love and rolling with it.

Goals Check-Up

Books!

I finished the Intuitive Eating book which I talked about here. Then I read Eleanor & Park which was awesome. Then I read Hyperbole & a Half by Allie Brosh.

I liked it but wasn’t in love with it. Some parts of it made me feel depressed for the author, if any of it could be remotely true.

Then I started reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

OMG this book is so good! Can’t — put — down — Maybe just for some blogging…

To conclude this 2014 reading goal update of reading 25 books this year, I’ve been quite the bookworm and have polished off a total of 8 books so far. Shadow & Bone will be #9 and it’s part of a series. Yay!

Strength Training 2x a Week

Going strong! I did Jillian Michaels on Friday and it was much easier than the last time. She still kicked my butt.

This week’s workouts:

Sunday – Zumba

Monday – Zumba

Tuesday – Bob Harper’s Pure Burn Super Strength (modified)

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – Zumba

Friday – Jillian Michaels’ No More Trouble Zones

Saturday – Racquetball UPDATE: Racquetball fail again! The community center had a coin show going on so there was no parking anywhere. Lame! I did Zumba instead.

Do Racquetball 3x a Week

The racquetball goal is a complete fail so far but it’s totally not my fault! The place we go had some holiday closures and then Thursday’s session didn’t work because someone had reserved all the courts for some kind of “jamboree” thing. *grumble*

Find a Balance with Food

Somehow this goal evolved into a crazy complete 180 change in eating habits. I’m loving intuitive eating so far, though! It’s been about 2 weeks. There was a time when I had heard of intuitive eating and decided it was not for me – There was absolutely no way I was going to be able to just listen to my body without dieting, tracking, etc. I’m a control freak and tracking was how the weight came off so there’s no way that was going to work for me.

Yet here we are.

I believe that this is the right time for me to try something like this because I’m in maintenance. They say you should put weight loss on the back-burner with intuitive eating, so people who have a certain amount of weight they are aiming to lose will probably become frustrated with the whole idea.

This week at lunch I brought different foods to enjoy including a variety of Nature Box items and never ended up finishing everything because I was full. I learned that I was able to be completely happy and satisfied by taking the time to savor and taste the food while also enjoying socializing with co-workers. Those two actions slowed me down, too. There was no urgency or need to scarf it all down in 5 minutes per usual.

On Wednesday we tried a Chinese restaurant in our city that got excellent reviews on Yelp, called Szechuan First. It definitely lived up to its reputation. We ordered honey walnut prawns and curried chicken with a kick of spice.

The curried chicken was served over rice. Soooo good!

We’d never tried curry at a Chinese restaurant before and it was perfection over rice. In the past honey walnut prawns was always my favorite Chinese dish but I’m discovering, while it’s still good, it’s not as amazing as once originally thought. It’s been taken off its “magical food pedestal”.

Probably the most mind-blowing part of the evening was how much we both enjoyed the food without feeling the need to eat it all. Even Mike decided to try practicing the intuitive eating guidelines and we both came out of the meal feeling extremely happy and content. I listened to my body and focused on enjoying/savoring the flavors until I was full and satiated. I don’t think I’ve had a better experience with Chinese food.

In the past we’d each order our favorite dishes (Mike’s is sweet & sour chicken) and eat the entire plate by ourselves. This time we had a ton of leftovers, some of which I took to lunch the next day. At that point I decided that was all the Chinese food I wanted for the week and Mike got to eat the remaining flavor-bomb-yummyness.

This week in eating has been pretty even-keeled. I haven’t felt any cravings or desires to overeat. My fear of food at social outings seems to have dimmed, too.

*Are you reading and good books lately?

*Favorite Chinese dish?