3 weeks ago I was just maintaining. I’d met my goal weight so really didn’t have a “need to work harder’ mindset. Now my mindset has totally shifted. I want to be stronger and feel more energized! Instead of working out for 30min as a way to close my watch rings, I’m doing 30 min of strength and 30 min of cardio. I have to get up earlier but that hasn’t proven nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Instead of just eating whatever to get to my calories, I’ve focused on protein and met or exceeded my goal everyday. I’ve also counted fruits and veggies and realized I was way under what I thought I was eating. Sometimes 0 😳. Now I’m getting 3-7 different ones. Water was always hard but now with focus I’m meeting my minimums. I truly feel stronger and better than I have in a long time! Loving not doing more of the same!!

This year my why is ME!! As I start my 56th trip around the sun, I’m choosing to honor the me of today, of 2026. I’m not the lost, confused, lost-my-career woman I was at 53. I’m not the fluffy farm girl I was at 51. I’m not the depressed/suicidal shell of a human I was at 48. Or any of the things/persons I was at [enter age/year here]. So who am I? I’m a study in progress. I’m studying my input & my output. I’m a study in over coming struggles, building confidence, gaining strength, mastering my mindset. I’m a study in overcoming fear and having all the adventures I can create. I’m a study in having FUN while still GSD. I’m a study in what I CAN do when I put my mind to it and stay the course. Some of those studies come with hard learned lessons and some just require I remain true to the person I want to be. My waist isn’t as small as I want it to be, my legs, while strong AF, aren’t as toned as I’d hoped by now. BUT you know what…?! I have come a long way and I’m not stopping! Who’s joining me on the biggest adventure yet?!

I almost didn’t post this because I’m more comfortable showing wins than naming the struggle. The last two weeks have been heavier than I expected. I entered this challenge feeling very neutral because this was already a lifestyle I was following. i was still doing strength + cardio daily and tracking my life. I found myself finally at a place of consistently consistent. But here is the truth as I have been tweaking some things and trying to dial in a bit more it all hits different. Recently my body felt like lead — slow, heavy, exhausted in a way that effort didn’t fix. Watching the scale go up, then stall, made it harder. But honestly I am learning that it doesn’t dictate my worth. As I kept feeling worse I decided to honor some more recovery for my body. Honoring recovery felt like failing. Failure for myself and a failure to my partner. Luckily my partner and I got a lot of years between us as friends. ( I hope everyone has a ride or die like I found in @Christina Lynch ) There were days I found myself feeling failure because I wasn’t checking all my boxes. I even pulled back and didn’t lean into Skool the way I usually do. I decided that my best isn’t a fixed output. Some days your best is pushing. Some days your best is showing up and listening. My body was clear — nothing needed to be added. Something needed to give. When I allowed more recovery, things shifted. Inflammation dropped and my headspace felt lighter. The checkmark I didn’t get last week, I replaced with a smiley face because if we aren’t listening and having an honest relationship with our body, what the heck are we doing. If you’ve felt heavy, tired, or a little withdrawn during this challenge — please hear this: You are not weak. You are not behind. And you are not failing. Sometimes progress looks like rest. Sometimes discipline looks like pausing. Sometimes missing a checkmark is a huge 😄

Holy cow that was 🌶️! My quads are screaming and will be reminding me of it all day. Didn’t drop weight an got 8 rounds in! Glad I ran first.

Made a super yummy, Thai inspired, noodle/veggie/chicken with peanut sauce dish. It was delicious! I substituted peanut butter in the dressing for PB2 powder to cut fat and calories. It worked perfectly! (For reference, I could just drink the peanut sauce and be happy 😆 ). Also used leftover rotisserie chicken and veggies I had in the fridge - mini cucumber, red pepper, carrots, brussel sprouts (in lieu of cabbage) and cilantro. Noodles are the brown rice ones from Costco since we’re gluten-free.