Week 8: MAINTAINING

When  I started this 3500 challenge journey I was struggling to fit exercise into my daily routine. I was struggling to lose the last of my baby weight. I was struggling to count my calories in an effort to lose the weight. It seemed, I had a very long journey ahead of me. Slowly but surely I eventually accomplished all of the above. I am getting to the gym most days of the week, I have lost the last of my baby weight, and my daily diet is in a better place. I am not necessarily calorie counting anymore though. I am so much more educated from calorie counting that I am making better food decisions.

The great thing about counting your calories is that it gives you structure to lose weight, it educates you on the foods you eat, and helps you to make better choices in the long run. I don't need to count calories now because I already know about how many calories my foods are and I naturally make decisions based on my knowledge. I do get off track once in a while, but then I hop back on and I am good to go. I know there will be times I get way off track and gain more weight (like being pregnant again, one of these days). When that happens I will end up calorie counting again to give me a jump start at making the progress I want to have (losing the pregnancy weight gained).

So know that when you calorie count, you don't have to do it for the rest of your life. You will naturally have created the tools you need to make decisions that help you maintain your results. And when you slip up, you can always calorie count again for a little while.

Do you currently calorie count or have you done calorie counting in the past? How has it worked for you? I know it can be a huge pain, but it's worth the results, right?!

Elliptical for me today: 660 calories burned, 2840 calories remaining
Also did my lower body toning exercises!

What did you do today?