An epiphany.

{Written 3/19/13}

I posted this picture on Instagram the other day because I had a moment. You know what I mean by a moment? An epiphany. When a lightbulb goes off?

My normal nighttime routine has been the same for as long as I can remember, give Olivia a bath, put her to bed, make my lunch for work the next day, finish leftover chores, grab a snack and a drink and watch a show on the DVR, then bed.

Not much has changed with my routine, but what has changed is what snack and drink I grab. In the past it would be any of the following - chips, fritos, chocolate, ice cream - you know, the taste good, bad for you stuff? That. Oh - and a soda.

Now? Now my snack is different. Now I grab fruit salad (my latest obsession - zero points!!) or an apple or a banana, something healthy. And my water - my 25 oz water bottle to be exact.

So, the epiphany? I've always watched The Biggest Loser which in turn leads me to eating while watching a weight loss show. But, in the past I'd be sitting there eating crap and drinking soda and wondering to myself 'why are they successful and I'm not?' all while having this internal pity party.

This past Monday as I was eating my fruit salad and drinking water it just made me feel so good, so proud of myself for finally, finally making a healthy choice for myself. And for the first time there was no internal pity party. Nope. For the first time I had a feeling of 'I got this' 'I'm doing this' 'I'm making progress!' And I felt good.

Little NSV Changes

When I started this weight loss journey I knew for a fact that I needed to start making healthier food choices. I also knew that working out would become part of my new routine but right now I am focusing on taking one step at a time. Since January I've lost 18 lbs. I've also started doing little things here and there to help incorporate more moving into my life.

Taking the stairs - I was an elevator girl. The stairs at work are literally right next to the elevator but I'd bypass them every morning and push the up arrow instead. I probably could have made it upstairs and to my office before the elevator even opened since it’s so old and slow but I chose to be lazy. Now, I take the stairs every day. Sometimes I even go up, back down and up again to get a few more steps in. Silly, but it's movement.

Jumping Rope - does anyone remember how easy it used to be to jump rope? Well, it’s not that easy anymore! I bought one the other day at Target for $5.99. I figured it wouldn't require me to leave the house and I could go in the garage and jump after Olivia's in bed every night. It's way harder than I thought it would be. Y first attempt I struggled to jump 10 consecutive times so I kept starting over. When I finally did it I exclaimed 'yeah!!' and put the jump rope down - finally!

Jumping jacks - also something that used to be easy and now I'm sure I look like a fool, but again, it's movement. I never want to do them in front of a mirror though! In my office at work I’ll get up randomly throughout the day and do 10-20 jumping jacks, sit back down and start working again. Let’s hope no one walks in my office without knocking and sees me acting crazy!

Running in place - this is also something I do in my office or at home. Just run in place while counting to 50. Easy enough.

At the beginning of my journey I joined a gym and while they have awesome hours - open 24 hrs - the only time I can go is before work which for me is 3:00 am. That means waking up at 2:50, driving there, work out till 4:00, shower, get ready and make it to work for 5:00. Times when I actually did this I was so exhausted from losing sleep that I could hardly function. For now, these little changes I've incorporated are going to have to do until we have nicer weather and can exercise outside.

Head over to KTJ's blog and link up to share your NSV!