#bychar

I finished Whole 30 several months ago, at the beginning of this year. I've talked to a couple of people about it, recently, and been thinking about it a lot, so I thought I'd give an update.

In the months after Whole 30, we spent 2 1/2 weeks on a Europe vacation, I got mono and our beloved pup was diagnosed with lymphoma. All things that do not do wonders for the waistline. Surprisingly (or not if you know anything about European food and the walking), I only gained 2 lbs in Europe, and then lost it with mono. Mono, however, set me on a course of eating whatever I felt like no matter what. It completely robbed my appetite, so I basically ate whatever sounded good regardless of it's nutritional value. And then news that your pet is terminal, never the kind of stress to jump start getting back on track (he's doing much better now; you wouldn't even know he has cancer if you saw him).

My goal when we came home from Europe was to get back into the gym and focus on strength training, something I've always avoided. Then mono happened and working out was off the table in favor of protecting the spleen. I'm back at 24 Hour Fitness now, in the midst of week five, which is the worst week because I feel like I've put in all this time and am not seeing any changes. I feel them though. I know I'm stronger. I've already increased my weight and reps. I thought as a friendly reminder to myself I'd list out all the reasons I need to keep working out and not give up in week five as I so often do:

I want to age gracefully and with strength.

I want to protect my body from injury.

I want to be a badass who can kick ass. I've been watching too many superhero movies. Guardians of the Galaxy, anyone?

Working out on the regular makes my body just feel better.

I want to maintain my weight.

The best, most sustainable results happen over a long time of consistent exercise. Keep going!