Reflection on my new goals and the journey ahead

So, this morning I found myself kinda "in my feelings" about where my body is right now and how overwhelming the road ahead feels. I've broken it into totally doable goals...I think. I keep telling myself, "hey, so you're not where you want to be right now, but think of where you will be a year from now! That thought blows my mind! I went from a size 14 to a 4 in 7 months, so if I'm a size 10 now, I could be a pretty ripped and shredded mama a year from now! That's the thing-the size 4 isn't a destination, it's a major milestone, and I don't want to be smaller, but it's also a jumping off point to achieve greatness too. From there I want to pursue yoga poses and strength I have never seen before, I want my RYT 200,  I want to reach new levels of performance in spin class, i want to go hiking with my husband and not be dragging behind him. 

So, how do we eat an elephant? It's gotta be one day at a time, one goal at a time. I'll keep an eye on the mid-term goal, which is those size 4 jeans, but I can only try to conquer what's right in front of me. 

Right now that's a pair of size 8 shorts I want to wear on vacation next week. They just about fit. I'm going to finish out this week of workouts, drink my dandelion/cranberry/lemon drink, and enjoy my vacation and recovery week.  Then I will come home with a renewed commitment to:

-Eat clean--it's far to easy to buy processed stuff, and snack all the time, especially as a mom of 2 bitties. But, no. As a rule, we are all going to do better about this. 

-track what I'm eating-- this is to serve two purposes: to make sure I'm eating enough, and to reassure me when I'm starving in the evening that I have eaten enough. Not eating enough has been historically my biggest weight loss barrier. 

-stick to eating only at mealtime. It's easy to use breastfeeding as a reason to snack, but my metabolism will thank me if I don't. What I need to do is make my 4 meals a day big enough to use all my calories. 

- start walking again. The fresh air will do wonders for clearing my head and for the kids. The plan is to walk for 45-60 min, then hit the playground as often as weather allows. 

-wean off pumping. Declan hasn't had a bottle in 2.5 weeks, so I'm basically pumping to keep supply steady while he really adjusts to having to work harder for his food. Hopefully by the end of September we can be in enough of a rhythm that I can have that time back. I imagine the freedom and reduced stress will be a huge benefit. All the cortisol can't be helping. 

All these things should help me reach my next goal: my size 8 skinny jeans by 10/5. That's just under 7 weeks from now, after completing Body Revolution and taking a recovery week. I feel like it's totally doable if I stay committed to the above. 

Then, I'll do my first round of BodyShred and hopefully end that 12 weeks wearing my size 6 jeans when we go to Nebraska for Christmas. 

In January I plan to do a Whole30 and a month of potpourri workouts before my second round of BodyShred to finish in late March, and ending with Size 4 jeans. 

After that, the focus shifts to performance as I work through a couple months of master training and yoga. Maybe I'll even see my abs by summer! 

That's the plan, and it's beyond reasonable if I stick to my guns.one pant size every 3 months? Considering I've lost one every month for 5 months before, I think so.  Notice what word isn't in any of those goals,? "Weigh." Because the scale isn't an accurate measure of progress for me. I'll weigh myself from time to time, but I'm much more interested in the number in my jeans, though I won't be defined by it.