Still Here

Hey, it's Jen! No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth *yet*! Where have I been? Busy. I work two jobs - including one in retail, so needless to say, my hours have been crazy, volunteer with the church kids, squeeze in some time with my parents and little brother even though we are spread out across the city, rarely get to see my friends, and for some reason think I still have time for dating too (although I've learned that online dating is not for me & that a set up from friends is really no less awkward).


On the sugar-free front, I have not stuck to the plan flawlessly. However, I stopped having cravings. I learned that I could portion out a serving of ice cream and be satisfied with that. I actually went to my family's Thanksgiving dinner and went completely dessert-free! (The women in my family love to bake... it's in our blood. We do it often and we do it well. So this was nothing short of a miracle, trust me!) :) Okay, maybe I was saving my sugar-consumption for wedding cake (and the pie buffet and her chocolate chip cookie pie favors) the day after. My "date" was one of my small group girls, whose older sisters both came with a date:




I realized that I will always want sweet treats, because my love of food reaches maximum happiness with desserts. But now I will chop an apple, spinkle it with cinnamon, microwave it for a minute, and I'm content with that. So I'm eating fruit on a normal basis again. But I'm not going back to sprinkling Truvia on everything, or even putting it in my coffee. I still check the labels and ingredient list and will pass on items I can find a better subsitute for, but I'm not avoiding all sugars at all costs. I jumped ahead to finding the balance and the lifestyle that will work for me long-term.


I'm happy with how far I've come. I've been consistently sitting in the 143's - just not losing as quickly as I was. But those last few pounds are always the most stubborn, and it's even more difficult since my work schedule hasn't allowed for much gym time the last couple weeks. But I'm determined to get back there. I have to find a new trainer since mine moved, but that's no excuse to stop going consistently. I have a 5K next Saturday that my legs will hate me for if I don't get in some quality treadmill time before then! Not to mention, our Half Marathon will be here before I know it. So tonight, maybe saying I have to go to the gym isn't an excuse to leave a date early, but really just getting my priorities in the right order! We'll see...