Food, Weight, Weather

Food:
I have made a big lifestyle change concerning food, as of 01/01/18 I am a Vegan. I made this choice for three primary reasons and will write a little about them below. The reasons are in order to have a healthier body,  to support my weight loss goals, and to cause myself to become more mindful of what I put into my body

• Healthier Body: As I continue to learn to love and respect who I am, I find that I have a stronger desire to live to an advanced age, I would love to live to see 100. I know that in order to do so I need to take care of the one and only body I have been entrusted with. It is my responsibility to care for this body.  The human body is in a much healthier state when not subjected to meat or animal products. 
• Becoming a vegan supports my weight loss goals by eliminating foods that are not easily digested my the human digestive system. As I continue lifting weights and doing Cardio. This change of lifestyle supports my efforts.
• Becoming more mindful: Now that I am a vegan I need to think about everything I eat, yes as time goes on it will become easier and I will know more about what I can and can not eat, I need to think more creatively about variety, taste, texture and more since I do not have the flavors that are provided by meat and other animal products. This leads to being more mindful about what I eat , long before I even get around to eating it .

Weight:

I have hit a stuck point in my weight loss I am stuck at about 246 lbs. I had started this adventure at 269 so progress has been made. Just not enough to satisfy my expectations. Logically I realize that these stuck points and set backs happen, however, logic is not enough to pull me through right now. I am feeling discouraged and disappointed in myself. I have slacked off on my gym attendance partly due to weather, partly because its hard to motivate to go when Kevin is in my bed sleeping. I am aware that the only way through this is through it , that I simply need to do what it takes to push past this stuck point; go to the gym daily , watch my portions, cut myself some slack, and most of all trust the process.

Weather:

It has been a while since I have had to deal with a typical Minnesota winter, and here I am mid-January and it is already getting to me.  It has been at least 17 years since I had a winter like this, I was away for 15 and the past 2 have been mild. The cold and snow used to not slow me down, or even bother me, but that was then and this is now. Winter seemed like it was not going to show up, at least that was my impression, and then all of a sudden we were hit with bitter cold, and a lot of it. There was a time when I would thrive in the below zero temps. Now my body hurts when it gets cold. I try my hardest to not let on, to not let others know that I can no longer deal with the cold as well as I once could. I feel weak when I give into the weather. I worry when it snows, I do not want to fall and hurt myself, last year I damaged my rotator cuff twice within 16 days because of snow and ice. I feel like I need to pretend that I am not bothered by any of it "I am big strong Norwegian viking I love cold and snow" sounds much better than "I'm getting old I need to take it easy".