a bit about me...and why ?

So, the other day someone asked me why this blog had the name it did.

My intention on this blog was to chronicle my journey to becoming the person I want to be in all aspects of my life; health, weight, personal, financial....all of it.

It is a long journey and many small steps will eventually get me to where I want to be, thus the name!

I turned 40 last year and my intention was to go into this decade in a healthier manner.

To do this I have changed my diet by trying to eliminate gluten (though I do occasionally cheat)  limit my dairy & meat intake, while eating more healthy (less processed) food. Over the course of the past year I have lost 30 pounds. Looking to lose another 70 or so. It really scares me to say that I had a total of 100 pounds to lose, but I look at how over the last 15 years I gained weight slowly and never pushed myself hard enough to do something about it. Funny how it takes some minor thing sometimes to hit a breaking point. Mine was seeing how hard it was on other older people in my life who carried extra weight. I decided I didn't want to be them in 10 or 20 years.

I passed weights that I swore I never would and am happy to be passing them on the downward path.

In an effort to challenge myself I signed up for a 5K mud run on my birthday.

Now, I am working on "training" for this and hoping to be down another 20+ pounds at least by then.

In other aspects i moved into a new home which is cheaper than my previous thus enabling me to be able to pay off bills faster and build my saving back up.

On the personal front I am choosing to let go off the non-supportive people in my life and welcome new possibilities  ; )



settling in...

So, I have been in my new place for just about 3 weeks and finally feeling like I am getting settled. The front portion of my home looks amazing, just avoid the 2 bedrooms and it looks as if I have been here for years! Cozy and organized, just a perfect spot.

In so many ways this new place is an upgrade, off the street, upstairs, 2 bedrooms, a bigger kitchen....oh I could go on & on! Can you tell I am happy? I did enjoy my last place, it had neat features and the best bathtub ever! The kitchen though was tiny with an apartment size fridge & oven which made my love of cooking & baking a dream for my time there.

Went shopping at Trader Joe's and stocked up on all kinds of delish food and have already made more meals here in the past month than I did in the past 3 at the old spot.

Heavenly!

Now, off to do a bit of baking before work.



So, as part of my new "me" I am working my way through a "to do list"

not a bucket list, just an encouragement for me to try some of the things I see out in the world that look fun or challenging....and might not otherwise attempt.

On the top of this list is doing a mud run or obstacle race.

I have seen other friends do them and they look like a blast!

I found one in Southern CA that fell on my actual birthday and put it out to my FB friends to see who would step up with me.

My bestie said it sounded fun and immediately signed both of us up for it.

Now, I am in the process of training myself for it.

The length of the race is a mere 5K (3.37 miles)

however the fact that you do it thru mud adds weight to your clothing and makes it more of a challenge.

They recommend that you wear as little clothing as you feel comfy in and should be form fitting.

Thus my need to kick start my diet and workout regimen once more.

I did hit my first goal (30 pounds)

...go me. Now, I am focusing on my next goal of 35. I broke my goals down into 3 steps...a total of 100 pounds and I will do a big ole happy dance when I hit that "ideal" number!