Today is the day I stop saying "tomorrow"

Holy goodness, how on earth is it November 1st? It's typically around this time of year that I start to get way overwhelmed with the impending holiday season. Gifts to buy, holiday travel arrangements to make... the list shall continue to grow, I'm positive of this.

This is also the exact time of year/season LAST year when I stopped losing weight. As many weight-strugglers might be able to relate to, I remember the precise moment when I "fell off of the wagon," so to speak.

Brian's mom has strict rules regarding Thanksgiving dishes. Since there's already a dish that contains cream of mushroom soup (a weird vegetable medley with Swiss cheese on top-- I don't question it), no others are allowed (I know, y'all-- she is obviously NOT from the South). My most favorite holiday dish (other than my mama's cornbread dressing) is green bean casserole, complete with that can of condensed deliciousness and French's fried onions on top.

via

After having spent my previous two Boston Thanksgivings without my most favorite, I decided last year that I would make a mini-Thanksgiving dinner THE WEEKEND BEFORE the actual holiday for Brian and myself. I roasted a chicken, made Stovetop (I know, sacrilege), and threw together the good ole GBC. I indulged and enjoyed every bite... and just never got back on track. Throughout the holidays I definitely maintained at my biggest weight loss number and actually held on through mid-summer. The scale has gradually creeped up though, and I've added back between 8 and 10 pounds. Considering I worked hard last year to lose yet know I could have worked harder, seeing the scale go back up was a big wakeup call for me.

My mama had a big talk with me last Friday night. Brian and I had plans to go to his cousin's Halloween party and I'd volunteered to make snacks. I left work early with the intention of going to the gym before hitting the grocery store plus getting all showered and dressed and costumed up myself and getting us out the door on time. Per usual, my afternoon got away from me and everything took longer than I'd planned, so I had to ditch the gym. I'd been feeling just gross with the way I was feeling/looking and knew that night wouldn't exactly be calorie-friendly. Mama gave me the pick-up pep talk that I needed and reminded me that sometimes you just can't help the moment and the best you can do is pick up right where you need to be the next day. Honestly, I was a little bit worse for the wear Saturday morning/afternoon and we went out for Brian's birthday Saturday night for supper then headed home to hunker down for Snowtober 2011.

However, Sunday morning, I hit the gym. I ran 3.5 miles and did a heck of a lot of squats, lunges and free weights. Yesterday morning I was at the gym at 5am and ran another 3.5 miles. It was nice to get back into that routine, and even though it's only been three days, I'm looking forward to getting my gym-time in-- this is good.

Since today is the first day of November (and 41 days until I turn 26), I've set a few little goals for myself, pertaining to both fitness and my daily life.

I COMMIT...

... to blogging each day, even if it's an iPhone pic and a quick caption.

...to working out 6 days per week, even if all I can fit in is a quick half hour on the elliptical.

...to keeping up with my mantra of "You do not NEED ____. This is not the last time you'll have the chance to eat _____." This is big for me.

...to making lists and plans early on for the holidays and sticking to them, mainly for my sanity. This includes Christmas card organization, gift planning, buying plane tickets, and consistently updating our social calendar.

... to running a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning and at least a 5k early in my December. I'd love to PR the 5k and come in under 28 minutes.

... to participating in volunteer opportunities this holiday season. Whether it's donating a Thanksgiving dinner for a needy family, choosing a name to buy Christmas for a child, etc... I let myself too often forget the true "reason for the season" and need to get back in touch with that.

... maintain my budget throughout the holidays. With just having moved, expenses are crazy high right now, and I tend to try and justify spending more at the holidays because it makes me feel good to make others happy. There are budget-friendly things that I can do to still make people smile, and I know that the recipients will love anything I gift them with... this is why I love them.

Well, my lovelies, I think my goals are pretty reasonable. I'd love to drop a handful of pounds this month, but instead of setting a number goal and feeling let down if I don't reach it, I'm just going to aim for making good meal choices, keeping up the workouts, guzzling my water, and waiting for my clothes to start fitting better again. I was also going to make a goal pertaining to completing things on Pinterest I've liked, but that would just overwhelm me to the extreme.

I've got to head to bed, but I was determined to get my first of November blog post in today!