My change from last week –

Change in weight (2/17/20 – 2/23/20):  – 1.6 LBS

First win of the week… we filed our taxes! Woohoo, that is right. I feel very accomplished for having them done before March. The thing that was annoying me the most about them was the smallest part of them. See, I live in Massachusetts but still ski instruct in VT in the winters. Last winter, I did not end up being able to teach because of our daughter coming into this world, but I still had attended an orientation. So I got a w-2 from VT for $53 in wages. Here I am thinking I have to include this with everything else so I put it through the online tax software and I owe $2. I am super annoyed by this. Such an inconsequential amount of money in the grand scheme of things and to boot, it costs $37 to file each state return with the software. So I am thinking, do I paper file, do I just pretend it never happened, or do I do some digging? Thankfully I did some digging. It turns out, you do not have to file a state return in VT for amounts less than $100. So outside of my health and betterment goals, this was a huge win in the life of Ben. It is kind of sad how much joy and relief such a small thing gave me, but here we are.

Second win of the week… I did a Peloton ride for 6 of the 7 days. On top of that I got outside both weekend days with a couple 2+ mile walks in the woods and a disc golf adventure. I will say that I detest warm weather in the winter. I live in New England because I like the winter. I want to enjoy the snow and the brisk air. In addition to these points, it is fairly unsettling to have such a consistently warm winter with such crazy warm days. It really makes one wonder. With that said, this doesn’t mean I cannot take advantage of the weather to get outside and mix up how I work towards my goals. Yesterday my fitbit reported roughly 19,500 steps. I think it is safe to say I was taking advantage of the weather to get out.

This week was not without its struggles. I would say the exercise won over the food intake for where my opportunity was. Just the other night I was feeling in the dumps, tired, lethargic, and I felt no motivation to do much of anything. Thankfully I was able to rally and get a short ride in which totally changed my outlook. I say this because the feelings I have this morning do not represent those of each moment, or hour, or day of the past week. There were a lot of ups and downs this week, specifically surrounding my body and fitness. I would say more so than any week since I started. Pushing through and remembering why I am doing that has helped. Pushing through the tough times is how we can truly enjoy the good times. It is in those moments that define us for how badly we want to reach our goal. Well I want it.

I weighed myself this morning and I am back on track! I had hoped to lose the weight I gained last week and then some. I did just that. It was not a big weight drop, but it was a drop. I am in this for the long haul. Since December first I am now down 23.6 lbs!! That is something I am super proud of. And on top of that I am seeing the benefits in other ares. My resting heart rate has dropped a lot with my increased cardio, the lowest it went was 49 the other day and is consistently in the low 50s. My heart rate does not spike as much when I work out and I can feel my body adjust to getting fitter. I also feel that making better food choices is coming more naturally. I still have my flaws, but the consciousness is there.

Please stay tuned for more updates. If you have been enjoying this, please become an email follower or a wordpress follower. Having this public audience has been a positive motivation for me to continue working towards my goals and so I really am thankful for all of you!

Date	Change in Weight
12/1*	–
12/2*	-5.4 lbs
12/9	-5.4 lbs
12/16	-3.4 lbs
12/23	+2.8 lbs
12/29	-1.2 lbs
1/6	-1.4 lbs
1/13	-1.6 lbs
1/20	-1.4 lbs
1/27	+0.4 lbs
2/3	-1.2 lbs
2/10	-4.6 lbs
2/17	+0.4 lbs
2/24	-1.6 lbs

-Ben