February Challenge: Get my butt in gear

I happen to like the month of February. It's short. It includes Valentine's Day. It marks the beginning of Lent, for those of you who partake. And this year, February is when I make myself get back in motion and get it in gear.

I was doing really well with staying active and watching my daily intake of calories last year. I started making a conscious effort in May, not long after I started my new job. I decided that I had gone too long on the mentality of "the wedding's over: I don't have to worry about my dress fitting! I can eat whatever I want!" Which, of course, is a slippery slope. While I hadn't totally "let myself go" in the 10 months we had been married, I wasn't too happy with myself. I knew I needed to stop my bad habits in their tracks before it got any worse. (I blame the all-inclusive Sandals resort where we Honeymooned for kicking off my bad streak, just FYI).

I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app on my phone to track my calories, work outs, and weight loss. And it seriously worked. My goal wasn't anything crazy - I wanted to lose a total of about 18 pounds to make it to my goal weight. (I am realistic. I know that I will probably never be a size 4 like I was in high school ever again. I just wanted to feel better and healthier!)

I started tracking everything in May and by July, I was down about 10 pounds. By October - which was my original goal deadline (for my 10 year HS reunion), I was right at my goal weight.

Then I got really sick in November when I had a major Crohn's flare. I had so much stomach pain that I barely ate for 10 days. I dropped another 10 pounds. I hadn't been that light since high school for sure. My clothes were hanging off of me. I was so weak (from the acute anemia that was a result of the Crohn's and from not eating) that I really didn't care that I was thin. I just wanted to be able to eat.

So by Christmas when I was finally feeling alive and my appetite was back (plus I was back on steroids - hello, major appetite increase!), I felt no shame in eating seconds or snacking on Christmas cookies throughout the day. I did need to gain back some of the sick weight I had lost. I just didn't expect it to come back so quickly...and more than just those 10 sick pounds...

And that brings us to now. Last month was stressful and I did my share of stress eating, with Alex making another career change and moving, and us traveling out of town almost every weekend. And Vegas. Lord, I can't forget all the food I ate in Vegas.

I am about 11 pounds away from my original goal wight, again. That's because I haven't worked out or even thought about calories since November.

My challenge this month is to:

1. Track my calories every single day. Even if I go over my allotment, I need to hold myself accountable and get back in the habit of being aware of what I'm eating.
2. Work out or be active at least 3 days a week. Since I'll be doing a lot of traveling on the weekends again this month, I'll be limited to mostly workouts before or after work. I'll have to have a plan going into each week. 

 There you have it - my February challenge! I'll keep you posted! And please keep me accountable!