The New Normal

I've been at the calorie counting for about 5 days. The first day was such a challenge. According to my FitnessPal app, my calorie goal should be 1510 calories per day. It's shocking how fast those numbers add up. I don't beat myself up if it's a little more...but I always try to keep it under 1800.  After all, according to the official math equation, I have to consume 2931 calories per day to maintain my weight. So...1800 is really just fine. But I have been learning to eat more calorie-lite veggies when I'm hungry or snacking. It saves me more for mealtime, and I don't end up with 100 calories left for dinner!

And that's all before bringing exercise into the equation. Of course, unless you have a monitor, it's hard to know exactly how many calories you're burning in a workout, but there are some decent calculators out there that will give an estimate. I also tend to downplay the intensity of my workout because I'd rather underestimate what I'm burning than overestimate. Zumbacalories.com gives me 736 burned cals for a 50 minute workout. Not bad.

When I've done this before, it's been so frustrating and tedious. All of it. The working out, the calorie counting. I was miserable, and so it didn't last. In the past, there was only one time I made a change that lasted more than a month. I'm coming up on that month now. And even though it doesn't look exactly like I hoped numbers-wise, there is a change in me. I'm settling in. It's becoming a habit, a new normal. I no longer wonder if I'll have what it takes to stick it out...in fact it's stopped feeling like I'm sticking it out altogether. It just feels right.

I didn't work out for almost a week (last week I had some rescheduled lessons and some extra babysitting, and a jam-packed weekend), and while my muscles hurt last night, today I feel fine. I have some energy, I still want to do this. I didn't quit my calorie counting last week. I had my usual cheat day, but scaled back a little. The mental game is getting less challenging, and that's almost a physical relief. Struggling against yourself day in and day out is completely exhausting!

I'm loving this new feeling. It's so worth it.