My Recent "Win"

The greater distance I put between myself and my last job, the more convinced I am that I made the right choice.  My last day was officially 1/26.  Now that I am down to part-time and working in a healthier environment, I have noticed a number of things -- thanks in part to my FitBit.

First, I am moving more.  At my old job, there were days I only took about 2000 steps.  I am now over 7000 on most days and am no stranger to hitting 10,000.  My goal is set at 8000.




My diet has improved substantially.  Things aren't as frantic so I have time to log what I eat and also not fall back on desperate consumption.  Getting stressed, needing energy, having a co-worker with a bowl of candy, and a rather regular supply of snacks made it easy to just shove something into my mouth in order to get energy.  I used to drink three or four cups of coffee with cream and sugar to keep going.  I no longer need to frantically multi-task and work at manic levels.  That means I consume in a more orderly fashion and my food tracking on most days show I am burning more than I am taking in.  I don't always hit my deficit goal, but I am not over-eating.   It would appear that I have lost about six pounds. 

Both Teddy and I are sleeping better at night.  My FitBit shows that not only am I getting more hours, I am spending less time awake during the night.   I was waking up stressed and anxious and not being able to fall back to sleep.  Now I am more likely to fall asleep and stay asleep.  Teddy is just plain tired from being up and around all day.  We also have more time to walk after work.  We are also eating dinner well before bed time because I am home to start cooking hours earlier.  That means eating around 6PM instead of 7:30 - 8PM.

My resting heart rate is lower.  It goes up as the result of increased activity, not stress.  I was averaging around 80 bpms most days -- and not from doing cardio.  Now I am consistently in the low 70's.

I hope to keep this momentum going -- and I see no reason why I won't.  Once the weather is warmer, we'll have even more time to spend outside.  TBG and I can be more active outside on the weekends too because I've already cleaned the house and done the laundry during the week.  I have time to shop for food throughout the week too.

IMHO, my new life is a "win," and I proclaim victory over my former oppressors!