Tag Archives: goals

Goodbye July, Hello August

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July was a good month for me, I finally broke through one of my anxiety and started walking to the gym the end of June and during July I did it 23 more times! I lost 10 pounds this past month, a few inches and I gained so much confidence. I stuck to my keto and only had a few cheat days. I checked into help for some of my mental challenges and I planned a vacation. all in all July was a win for me. so with that I wan to say good bye July!

Its finally August! My favorite month! What’s not to love about August?! Its the month before the summer turns to fall yet its still so full of sunshine and fun days. Its the month of sunflowers, it holds national watermelon day and August 6th is both National root beer float day (my favorite) and My birthday!! My daughters birthday is also in August. This August will be full to the rim for my family. We will be going on zoo trips and visiting our local petting farm, My daughters birthday, camping over my birthday weekend and A family vacation to Frankenmuth MI at the end of the month. although I have a month packed full of activity’s I still have Goals for the month such as:

  • Keeping it keto (with exception for vacation)
  • lose 10 pounds
  • work on self care
  • tidying my home Daily
  • walking more
  • save as much as possible

I’m sure there are a few more but these are the main ones. August is my month to shine!

until next time,

The Curvy Dreamer

Building Good Habits

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Its been a little over a month since I have rote and that’s because for a while there I had Nothing to talk about. I was going through the same cycles I had been. Still doing keto although I fell off the wagon for almost a week mid June. I was still struggling a little bit with my mental health and still working on myself best I could. But now I have some news to share!

I’m sure I have mentioned this before (or not?) but I live fairly close to a gym and I have talked about how I wanted to start walking there to work out but My anxiety was getting in the way. Well June 28th I did it! I got enough courage an I walked to the gym! A total of one and a half miles there and back! the first few times I was full of anxiety but Now I have made the trip almost a dozen times and not only am I confident about it I love it! I really feel as if the walk does my Brain some good. Its to the point now that I look forward to going to the gym and Its all I can think about for most of the day. It feels So Good to get back to moving again and doing something I can be proud of and that is good for my body.

I have been working on cardio for at least 20 min each time I go to the gym along with tanning and total body enhancement (idk if it actually does anything tho) and as of yesterday have started to add in some weights. I am still learning to juggle all of the things in my daily life along with my almost 2 hours at the gym (counting the total 40 min walking time) and I’m working on building other good habits every day!

until next time

The Curvy Dreamer!

Goodbye May Hello June!

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May has always been one of my favorite months. Its the month both of my parents were born, It holds mothers day and even the anniversary of my divorce (and yes I celebrate that) In my town May marks the beginning of Fairs and festivals season although this year my favorite fair was canceled yet again… And The end of may is when my garden starts to go in and we start to go to the Farmers Market regularly.

May was good to me in a lot of ways. As far as my Weight loss Journey I lost 11 pounds. Less than my first month of keto But still very good. Its also worth noting it may be a few pounds more because the last time I weighted myself in April was the 20th and the first time in may Was the 8th. I also Lose a few inches in May 6 to be exact! 4 off my stomach and 2 off my hips. I worked out 7 times. Not exactly good… but Better than the previous months 0 times. I fallowed through with all of my goals for May and I am proud of myself!! Goodbye May see you next year!

That brings us to June! June is another month I am very fond of. June means warmer weather and Being outside. June is the mark of the second half of the year and I know that this second half will bring a better healthier me! Ill be getting a new Bullet Journal for this half of the year (and actually trying to use it more)

For June I have a few new goals such as

  • Continuing my keto
  • 10,000 steps 3x a week
  • At home exercise
  • Getting the courage to walk to the gym
  • Working on mental health
  • Working on bills and Budget
  • Planning My Littles Birthday party

I also would like to practice driving more and Try to go hiking once a week. I really want to buckle down this month and do whatever I can to lose more weight because…. well summer!

Until next time!

The curvy Dreamer

Reaching that first goal!

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I don’t know If I have actually mentioned my numbers Before But My start weight was 334 pounds and I am ashamed and Embarrassed to admit that I let myself slip that far. I had been heavy all my life. But 334 was a new high for me. A lot of things happened that lead to me being unhealthy. At one point I lost a significant amount of weight and then Ended up pregnant… I lost even more weight during pregnancy. Then Came Breast feeding…

I just want to say that Breast feeding is wonderful and amazing. I don’t want what I’m about to say stop anyone from doing it… Anyways… When I was Breast feeding I wasn’t producing enough milk and I was being told I wasn’t eating enough and more specifically that I needed to eat more carbs. I was desperate to feed my baby my own Breast milk till she was a year so I was eating Massive amounts of oatmeal 3 times a day along with other meals and wasn’t still being told it wasn’t enough. I wont get into specific details but Eating more and not producing enough milk was leading to stress and all three were leading to weight gain. In the year of best feeding I put on 50 Pounds. But the Important part was my daughter was healthy.

So I stepped on the scale today before jumping in the shower and It smiled back at me… 299.4 I cried instantly I was so proud of myself. I hit goal #1 Then I started to notice all the little things… How different It felt when My husband husband wrapped his arms around me. How Far I could wrap the towel around my body now. How Different it felt when I bent over to pick something up off the floor. How My stomach Looks when I’m sitting her Typing on my computer. Its the littlest things that are making Me feel so Much more confident.

I have so far to go yet. My next goal is 275 and I know Its just a mater of time before I get there and Im so excited! I hope to share my journey with all of you!

Until next time,

The Curvy Dreamer

Goodbye October

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I’m late on typing this up by 5 ish days. (who’s counting tho?) I must admit the last few days of October I was cought up in the Halloween Festivities and Didn’t even have time to think about this post. October was good to me for the most part. I lost only 2 pounds but a total of 12 inches and if that’s not something to be excited about I’m not sure what is. I crushed my Monthly challenge to Exercise 4x a week. I could have done better with my nutrition but that’s a battle for another day. I wanted to share complete tracker page of my journal before I share my plans and goals for November so here it is.

In total there are 19 leafs filled in. There would have been more but I injured my ankle early in the month and had to take 3 days off. I probably should have taken longer but I didn’t want to go down a road of no exercise.

For November my Goals are

  • Continue to exercise 4x a week
  • Gallon a day challenge
  • Jump rope challenge
  • More Self care days

For my Jump rope challenge I decided to try to see how many jumps I could do before I just couldn’t go on. I got 50 in 5 min. Then I decided to just do time slots so for the first 5 days I’ll do 5 min and then on Day 6 and up I’ll add a min every day or every few days Depending how my body is handling it. I also decided to count and record how many I’m getting. Today I got 110 in 5 min. So I’m improving already.

Below are a few pages for this month

Hello November cover page
This months Quote.
November exercise tracker
What I’m thankful for. My husbands name is in spot one!

I also have a calendar page after my Quote page and a Reflection page in at the end of the month but They had some personal information so, I didn’t share. Next month I’ll be sure to get pictures before anything is filled in. Hopefully this month is as good to me or better than last.

Untill next time.

October Bullet journal

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I have been working on the content for this post for a few weeks now and because I’m a Perfectionist that ment I started over allot. But I think I’m finally happy with what I have. I was looking for motivation and inspiration to keep me going on this journey and I stubbled Upon A post on Pinterest of a Bullet journal page. I had never even heard of a Bullet journal before that. So I typed Bullet journal into the ser h bar and Holly crap the stuff I found was endless. People were using this style to track and log everything from dreams and goals to Everyday tasks. There was so much to look at that I scroll Pinterest for hours. Then I went to YouTube and found more and more information. I thought what if I could make my own journal pages to help me keep track of my workouts, to keep record of my weight and measurements, and to write down all my goals. So I got to work and after Weeks of working I finally have something I’m happy to show you.

This First page is My October calendar. (I drew the candy corn and spider web) I found the treadmill Stencil yesterday and decided that it would be fun to add it to days I worked out as one of may ways to keep track. Other than that it’s just a calendar lol.

The next page is a quote that is important to me at this time in my journey.

My third page is one I have spent a lot of time on and actually Re did it several times before I was happy with what I had. This is my workout tree. The idea for this one is to color a leaf for every day of the month I have worked out. It make me want to workout because I enjoy seeing the leafs colored in.

The next page is a weekly check in almost like a tiny journal so I can Wright down how I feel I did that week.

The last page is my monthly reflection it’s a place for me to record how my month went, weight lost, quotes, challenges and things of that nature.

I will have more pages to show soon but for now I hope you have injoyed these.

September reflection

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Lately I have been struggling to find time to Wright in my blog. I also have been struggling to keep to my September challenge. I have to say that my original challenge to walk everyday has been a bust. Between my husbands and my conflicting schedules and The basics of being a stay at home mom, finding time is just impossible. I haven’t given up but I haven’t been able to walk every day as I had hoped. Now Its the end of the month and the end of my challenge.

Even tho my challenge wasn’t exactly completed I still plan to give myself full credit for what I have accomplished this month because even though it’s less than planned I moved more this month than I have in the past and even as I type this I’m working on my Exercise bike.

In the past i have had a habit of giving up when the going gets tough or life tosses me off my path. This time around that will not be the end result. Maybe its because my support system is light years different or because I have more resources now but this time I’m in it till the end. I love how I feel these days, every day I feel stronger and every workout is Easier. This challenge has helped me keep my head in the game and stay more active than I would have. So how did I do this month? Well in total I worked out 16 days… Not to good, just a day over half the month but as I said I walked more than I have in the past. Also this month I lost 8 pounds!!! Eight!! I know it doesn’t sound like much but that’s incredible to me.

October brings 31 new days, 31 chances to be better, and a new challenge. My October challenge will be to work out 5x a week. I realize this is almost the same as My walk everyday challenge but it may be more Obtainable for 2 reasons. One.. Workout is a larger category in general than just walking everyday and two I’m giving myself 2 days of rest a week. I also have a few thing I hope to accomplish in October such as

  • Lose 5 pounds
  • Work up to 30-45 min workouts
  • Work on my self care

It’s a small list but hopefully all Obtainable. So here’s to the end of September and the beginning of October!

Changing the challenge

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Today marks my half way mark into my September challenge. If you didn’t already know I Challenged myself to walk every day of September. It’s been a Rocky start. But I’m hanging in there. Some days I counted my grocery shopping or laundry as my walk (lots of walking involved in both) and other days I walked a mile around my neighborhood in the rain…. Actually I did this 3 days in a row. Then I decided I wasn’t going to do that any more. I went on the hunt for a second hand Treadmill. I found a good one it wasn’t to old, it was digital, folded up, and Inclined. The best part only 25.00 I set up a time to pick it up the next day. I woke up and sent the seller a message that morning asking if I was still set for my 11 o’clock pick up. I got the response “It’s Sold sorry” I was devastated. I started looking again. Nothing. Then I came across an Elliptical. Digital display, works, 25$. I went and got it.

So if you haven’t already Guessed I’m changing my challenge from walking everyday to Working on my elliptical. I already got a work out in and it went a little something like This:

I went to the Garage where my Elliptical is currently at. I was ready I had my Alexa for music, I Created a small workout Playlist. I was pumped. I climbed up on my new machine with Full confidence. I started going and my knee hurt every time my foot came back down but I brushed it off as my creaky joints not being use to the motion and kept going after a minute or so my knee was OK. I was going a decent pace and my heart rate was in fat burn and cardio levels. I’m starting to breath deep and heavy. Fast forward a few min. About 5 min in and I’m breathing like I’m having a baby all over again. My heart rate is at Peak, and I’m doing all I can to push through. I reach the 8 minute mark, my heart is pounding out of my chest, The bottoms of my feet ake Like no other, my Legs are burning with the Intensity of a thousand suns and I’m Scream/Grunting my way through the burn as Eye of the tiger Is coaxing Me to just make that 10 min mark…. And I did it. The longest toughest 10 min of this Challenge but I did it. I got off that Elliptical and my legs hurt so bad I could have fell Right over but I felt Amazing. And I can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.

A Running start.

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I’m a big girl, Most of my life I have suffered from Asthma so me and Running is a no. But I want to push myself to achieve my goals. I am challenging myself to walk every day of the month of September. I decided it’s a good place to start in my journey to be healthier. So far I’m doing good. I’m almost a 3rd of the way into the month and I have yet to miss a day. I do tend to get creative. One day we went to the store and Were in such a hurry we Power walked around doing our shopping and I counted my walk for that day. Yesterday I had to do laundry and so I counted carry my laundry baskets as part of my walk because I didn’t use the carts at the laundry matt. Than the same day I had to take a tote full of my daughters clothes to the re sale shop and carried the tote the long way around. Every day I find a way

Today however I wanted to push myself a bit. So I decided I would add some running into my walk in a HIT style. I walked to the end of my block then turned down my side road where the blocks are smaller maybe about half a regular block. Anyway I lightly ran a block than walked than ran then walked then turned around walked the block again than ran, walked, ran. It was hard. My lungs were on fire. I forgot to bring water. And my shins Burned. The first block was OK but as I kept going it got harder. I found myself tired sooner in the block but I still pushed myself and didn’t stop until I got to the end of the block. I feel so Accomplished.

It’s the small victories that get us through challenges like this. The small victories That help us push even farther. The small victories that add up to our bigger goals. I know I can run a block. So now I’m going to try it again Mayne not tomorrow but maybe the day after, Maybe Ill try every other day. And maybe by the end of the month That block will be a Breeze to run. I’ll never know till I try.

Make that a challenge

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As we say goodbye to August and Hello to September I have been thinking about what kind of challenges I want to overcome this month. I live in Michigan and That means September brings a lot of Change. The leaves will start to turn color, the air will become more crisp, it will be time for Apple picking and Pumpkin patches, sweaters and Fall boots, and lots more things to love about the change of the seasons. And yet all the good that comes with September It also is filled with reminders of things I would rather forget. Things of my past that I may share with you later. This year I Want to stay focused on my journey and less in my past so I have decided that I will do a challenge this month. And by that I mean I will choose a goal to accomplish every day this month no matter what. I will make a promise to myself to Accomplish that one thing. Now Today I read some of the Rachelle Hollis book Girl wash your face so Im feeling a bit Inspired. She talks about how we tend to take promises serious when we make them to others but on the other hand will almost always brake a promise to ourselves. This got me thinking about it and she is 100% true.

I am going to make a promise To finish the challenge I chose to set for myself. The problem is that I have no idea what change to give myself. I have a few Ideas but I’m still on the fence. My first Idea was a water challenge but I’m really already doing that so It wouldn’t be much of a change. Next I thought of a work out change but It has to be more narrowed down than that. So I have came up with :

  1. Walking every day for a minimum of 10 min even if it’s walking in place.
  2. Do yoga every day

And that’s it. For some reason I thought I would be able to come up with more but that’s all I got. Sure there are more I thought of but I’m trying to have something that’s a little challenging but also Obtainable for someone just starting out. I would love to hear some of your ideas for monthly changes. If you have an idea please leave me a comment. But until then TTFN