2012 Review (I did what?!)

At this point in the year, finishing off 'only' 10lbs lighter than I started... I'm not going to lie, I feel like a failure.  All those workouts, all my tracking, all for what... 10 measly pounds?

Well, lets break it down a bit here.  I started out the year with the 30 day shred and completed it...

Then I took on Chalean Extreme for 3 months. I finished month one and two but in April I injured my hip and stopped most activity aside from walking.

Speaking of my hip injury, I injured it during a 14 KILOMETER run!  Who would have thought... especially when I was 307lbs that I (Megan Armstrong) would RUN for 14k straight! Well I did stop to pee once, but other than that, I did NOT stop!

After that I took it pretty easy until June.  I struggled during that time, feeling like a failure with my injury and ate my feelings.  Then one of my friends suggested... THE KUSAM KLIMB (caps for dramatic effect only... I'm not really yelling people). Just a brief overview (you can click the link for full details) but it was a 23k course up and over a freaking mountain... and I saw a real live hungry bear.

After the climb my knee and hip still weren't treating me well so I drifted in the land of the unknown, a place where I wanted to workout but couldn't for... pretty much the rest of the year.  I tried Weight Watchers from August to October, but had to quit due to the fact that I got infected with child.  (<= That is just my dry humor, I absolutely LOVE whatever being I am creating in uterus land... Just in case you think I'm horrible for referring to my pregnancy that way... trust me, I've said WAY worse).

Then came morning sickness, fatigue and all the other joys that aren't super conducive to living a super healthy lifestyle.

Also the second half of the year I have had to deal with my own personal battle with anxiety and a few other personal family issues that took my focus away.

SO... *breath*  even though I am 'only' 10lbs lighter, I have also accomplished amazing things, I have gained a fetus, and I am (currently) back on track living a healthy lifestyle (thanks to no more morning sickness and not being as big as a whale yet!).

One last thing, and its definitely not the least... I have been a pretty darn awesome mom to my two kiddos!!

Lots of people are talking about goals for next year.  This new years, I'm not putting any extra pressure on anything. I will try my best to live each day to its full potential while balancing it with relaxation, family time and rest off my feet once I'm at full-blown-fetal-capacity!

Rounding the corner!

I gave myself some slack this week to deal with things going on outside of Megan 2.0.  The scale will probably me angry with me, but I feel like I'm really going to be prepared to give it my all next week!

I know what happened to me earlier in the year when I didn't take breaks and allowed myself to take on too much... Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

In fact, you know what?  I'm going to put it out there as it's now behind me.  Early this summer I started suffering from panic attacks and anxiety.  I'm pretty sure part of it was just putting too much on myself and consuming my brain in an all-or-nothing approach to weight-loss, where I felt like a failure if I was FIVE calories over for the day.  I sweated all the small stuff.
That was actually the reason why I was so quiet during July and most of August.  I had to get my head in a good place and get back the mental strength I needed to continue.

Now, while I will push myself, I will not push myself TOO hard to where I endanger my emotional wellness.

This week I had so much going on that stressing about the small things was NOT a healthy option for me. I know how easily I can over-stress things and for me I really need to prioritize.  It's something that I am learning to do on this journey.  Also, I was aware that I would have more knowledge on said stressful situation by this coming week. This resulted in my time-frame (7 days) where I would focus on more important things than losing pounds (yes they do exist).

I'm already feeling much better and I'm looking forward to bringing my A-Game next week and making some progress... or... at least make-up for this week.

So like Bob says up top, I fully intend to "Stand up and finish what I started".