Signs of Spring

A recenet breath of spring in the middle of what's been an unusually brutal winter has most of my friends and family speculating about the early arrival of the season.  For me, a harsher reality reminded me that warm weather is looming on the horizon ... the Victoria's Secret bikini catalog.  Nothing snaps me back to reality than the subtle reminder that those heavy layers will be melting off to reveal any over-indulging I've packed on in colder weather.

With a bit of renewed inspiration, I've inflated my balance ball, broken out my hand weights, and prepared myself to get down to some serious exercise and diet control.   Currently, I'm about 5 lbs over my goal weight.  Whenever I feel the scale is nudging up, I make a beeline for one of my favorite free iPhone applications, Losin' It.  This great free app tracks daily food, allows for recipes to calculate caloric/nutritional count and adjusts for exercise.  I love it, because I can almost immediately identify all my food infractions.  

I think the trick in getting back on track is being conscious of food and activity.  It sounds so simplistic, but it's so incredibly easy to lose sight of those two variables.  In the past year, I've gone through a divorce, purchased a new home, and lost my grandmother.  Being a stress induced eater, 2010 wreaked havoc on me, it's a wonder at times I didn't gain back 30+ lbs by the time the year closed.  Fortunately, I managed to keep up my martial arts training, and tried to keep my day to day eating reasonable, so the damage by the end of the year wasn't as bad as it could have been.  

Life gets in the way sometimes.  Now that the air has cleared, and I can focus on my well being as opposed to lawyers and funeral homes, I'm ready to get back on track.  A gentle nudge from Victoria's Secret gave me the inspiration to set some new goals and get myself a bikini ready body in time for the summer.  Will you be ready?