July 1, 2017: end of month results

It's hard to believe another month has come and gone again.  This hasn't been a good month for me.  I have been working late, stressed out over work and money, and have spent less and less time being active.  Because of my work schedule, but more so because of the summer heat, I have not been taking walks at lunch.  I know this has impacted my weight loss in a major way.  I saw the biggest changes when I was walking both at lunch and after work.  Because of the late working hours, my after work walking schedule has also suffered.  My job may not be physically demanding, but it is definitely mentally draining.  After a long day of critical thinking, it contributes to my physical exhaustion.  I have come to realize that lack of movement has certainly not helped my stress at work.  I have one more really bad month ahead of me and then I'll be able to breath easier when one of our girls on maternity leave is back.  Regardless, it's become very clear that I have to step up my game and figure out how to get more exercise in July.  The only reason the heat keeps me from walking at lunch is because I work in an office where we dress business professional every day.  I do not have the time to change my clothes, walk, and then change back into my work clothes again.  I wish I had an indoor space to walk in, but our office is not that big.

There are several things I have decided have to happen in July.

1.  I know from past experience that my body holds on to weight if I'm not on Metformin.  Every day in July I need to be taking the dosage like I should.

2.  I need to pack clothing changes daily.  If the heat doesn't allow for walking at lunch, I have to be active after work.  Whether this is walking or packing my bike and riding.  As many days as I am able to be active after work, I need to be.  If the rain keeps me inside, I have to be determined to come home and do something like strength train, Yoga, or start doing kickboxing again.

3.  Eating.  While my eating habits are already 100% better than they were, there is room for improvement.  I need to ensure I'm snacking more during the day and keeping cheat days to a minimum.  Fortunately, I'm still working on meal sharing with PJ, so this is helping me stay on track.  I think my eating habits are routine enough now that I eat a lot of good things instead of the carbs and sugars that don't process well.

I am also instituting another item to my monthly check in.  Since progress can be hard to see sometimes, I'm going to do a facial selfie every month so I can do side by side comparison pictures.  I think it will be exciting to look over time at the difference.  My measurements were not disappointing, but they were also not as exciting as I was hoping.  My weight essentially stayed the same; hanging around 312.  All of my measurements stayed the same except my stomach and hips which were down an inch on my stomach and a half inch on my hips.

I have purchased two more medals to work toward during this month.  I continue to put miles toward my 200 mile challenge.  The bike miles also count toward this medal and I want to look into medals for biking as well.  My current medal series I'm working on is Star Wars based.  The first is Jedi Initiate followed by Jedi Padawan.  The third is Jedi Master and lastly, Jedi Quest.  The last two medals are sold out on the website and I hope they intend to order more so I can complete the medals.  I will be really disappointed if I am unable to.