Where Did January Go?

This is post #1501. :P I've been MIA for the month of January on this site. Where have I been? The best answer is "working my butt off". At the end of November I quietly starting to look at where I want to be in the next 10 years. The last 10 has been an even mix of fantastic and awful. I started working. I did a u-turn across the United States. I got a very good job. I met a gnome online and moved to Canada to be with him. I lost a loved one. I married the gnome and we built a house together.

In that entire time I would say 90% of it I have felt uncomfortable. It's not a big secret that I am carrying far too much weight. I'm not the kind of girl to "embrace" it. I never accepted it. I was always uncomfortable, anxious, embarrassed.... every bad emotion - almost all of the time. Who wants to live like that? So in December - not really the best time to change habits.... - I quietly started looking at ways to change. For me, it comes down to technology. Sad that I needed something like technology to help my efforts... but having something that is tangible is the sole reason why I'm feeling better. The combination of my Polar H7 Heart Rate Monitor, Digifit to track the output from the H7, and MyFitnessPal to count calories and track stats has been an absolute gift.

Since I started tracking my weight on December 30th, I have lost 16lbs. 16.4 to be exact. It's been easy for the most part. There are days that I feel like I'm chipping away at a mountain but then there are days that I come in way under my calorie goal and I don't feel deprived. I haven't changed a whole lot. I track my calories.. if I put in that I will be eating a cup of something and find out it's a billion calories then I cut it in half. I dance - a lot. (Big thanks to my husband for putting up with bumping music in the evening... He probably doesn't like to hear Justin Bieber blaring from the living room... but he puts up with it.) I added an extra strength training day. Nothing that really disrupts the good life that I lead.

I haven't been posting on here since I've felt a little more busy.. or tired.. or sore... but I have been posting a little on another site - Brittany Upgraded. I've decided to upgrade to Brittany 2.0 - this version will faster and leaner. :P