Holy Moly!

Why is maintaining literally the hardest?

Well to be honest, I'm not maintaining anymore, I'm attempting to lose the 20 lbs I put on in the last 2 years while "maintaining". Losing weight is so much easier, you've got that tangible goal in front of you and the feeling that goes along with actually losing weight and succeeding. Maintaining is like..."yay, I'm the same..." The goal is to find a goal not related to weight that you can reach for. But I got lazy, and busy, and the longer you go without exercise the harder it is to get back into it. Truly!

That old annoying phrase, "if you don't use it, you lose it", I'm straight living proof of that. However, I won't let that beat me! Goals for the next 3 months:

Go to the gym 4+ times per week: Right now I've been going every day, but only for a half hour or so. I don't want to force myself to stay longer and end up hating it. So i've got this deal in my brain that say, "go for 30 mins, stay longer if you want" So far its working.

Blog my mental status: I think this will help keep me in check and accountable. Plus I like rambling.

Stay within calorie range at least 5 days per week: Accidents happen. One time I ate Chicken and Waffles at Shari's (diner-style restaurant in the Northwest) only to learn that it had 1500 calories in it, AFTER I CONSUMED IT. I think 5 days a week is realistic, and if I stay in range more than that, awesome-sauce.

Stop using school as an excuse not to exercise: This is my biggest crime. "I have to study, how can I possibly exercise?!" Newsflash, self...bring a book to the gym! This term I'm taking Microbiology, Health Chemistry and Behavioral Neuroscience, so I won't be short on reading materials, wouldn't you say?

Stay active on Sparkpeople: During my initial weight loss in 2011 (60 lbs!), I was really active on Sparkpeople and it helped so much to have that encouragement and support. That feeling of "We're all in this together". My subsequent attempts at losing weight or getting back into exercise failed cause I tried to do it alone and gave up quickly.

Ultimate goal- Lose 20 lbs by the end of July. That gives me 4 months, at 5 lbs a month. Sounds doable, right?

Let's do this, kids!!!