Yo yo yo

Hey everybody! Just wanted to drop everyone a line to let you know where I've been and where I'm headed on my journey.

The last month and a half has been a killer on me. I've been working lots of overtime and been dealing with much stress. My company has a deadline of December 31st to get a demo of the product we're working on out the door, so we're in a sprint to make that happen. As a result, I have let my workout routine slide. Scratch that, it's been non-existent for the past month. I mentioned in my last post that I recently started some new medications. One of them has the side effect of somnolence, which basically means that I need more sleep (about 9.5 hours a night) before I can feel rested, and it's really hard to get out of bed in the morning. So working out in the mornings is going to be hard when I get back into it.

I haven't gained any weight (still 198) which is great. I do think I've traded a tiny bit of muscle for fat, so that's a bummer, but I don't think it's a lot of weight (maybe 5 pounds). I don't have any trouble putting on muscle so I'm not too concerned.

I have some new goals for my life and my fitness. Starting January 1st, I am cutting all alcohol out of my diet (again). I feel that the last alcohol fast I did in September really helped me to break some bad habits I had developed. This time I'm going for at least a month, but I'm shooting to pretty much remove alcohol from my life permanently. With that out of the way I should be able to get more restful sleep which will allow me to get back in the gym in the mornings. I will also be doing Crossfit again, as it's the toughest, most effective, and most fun way of getting fit that I've found. When I was doing pure strength training by myself at the gym I was not having fun. It bored me to tears. So I'm hoping that rejoining my CF affiliate will respark my desire to get and stay fit.

My goal for the rest of this year is simply not to gain any weight. With Christmas and New Year on the horizon I won't really have much time to focus on exercise, so this is a reasonable compromise. Just gotta watch what I put in my mouth, then get back on the wagon Jan 1st.

I hope to start blogging more consistently in the new year as well, as I know it has helped me immensely throughout this past year. I honestly could not have gotten as far as I have without all the support and comraderie I've received from everyone. Good luck to you all, and merry Christmas.