New Year - New Goals

If you are new to this blog, my fitness journey began about one year ago on January 18, 2016 with a young man offering to help me win the Gold's Gym 12 week challenge in my age category.  I had been steadily putting on weight the previous 12 years and I didn't know how to get the weight off.  This blog details the struggles and the victories of my journey.

I have a post planned for when I reach one year that will lay out all I have accomplished and my goals for 2017.  Today I thought I'd keep it pretty real and discuss my husband and me and our relationship.

This year we celebrated 25 years of marriage.  He has loved me at every weight.  He has loved me when I did not love myself.  Now I don't want you to think we have a perfect marriage.  We've had struggles and trying times, but we did everything we could to work through the hard times because we are better together.  

I had tried almost every "diet" out there with no long term success.  Dave has always wanted to help, yet sometimes it's hard to give your spouse that help.  First of all as a heavy person, I KNOW I am heavy.  No one needs to tell me.  I remember him being so excited one year about the Christmas gift he got me.  His excitement got me excited.  The gift? A diet book called "Protein Power."  I felt so defeated even though his heart was simply to help.

Do not give a diet book to your wife as a gift.

We both have equal admiration and respect for Ryan (the trainer who has helped me) and we honestly thank God for the day he entered our lives.  At this writing I am down almost 60 pounds for the year and that has benefited my life SO much.

First of all I am NOT on a diet.  I follow a nutrition plan.  Some of you might be surprised that most days I eat 2000 calories a day.  I also have a fitness plan and it actually has a lot of variety and it's fun.

This year--2016--I have learned to love myself again.  To believe that I'm worth it.  Even writing this I feel selfish saying those words which really means there's room for growth in this category of my life.

As the weight has come off, my self-esteem and confidence has gone up.  This "new" me was at times confusing for my husband and again we'd have to sit down and talk it out.  

For Christmas he told me, "All I want is 12 date cards.  One a month.  You make time to go out to eat with old friends.  I want some of that time."  At first this was uncomfortable for me to hear, yet I knew he was right.   The more I thought about it and bought into the idea, the more fun I began to have with the idea.

So I wrote out a date card for each month and put them in envelopes.  One for each month.  Some are simple and local, some are out of town.  His favorite without a doubt is the NASCAR race in Phoenix in March.  That right there was a home run!

So for those of you who have been anticipating hearing my 2017 goals, here is one of them.  I am going to work diligently to make sure my husband knows he's number one.

I'll be reading this.

 PS.  Our January date is local - shop for a new wedding ring.  (I lost mine a few years back.)   I'll keep you updated on the date nights!

PPS.  The greatest gift however is not the date cards.  It is the good health I have been gaining which will enable us to enjoy the next 25 years together!  

                                    Happy New Year to all!