Here’s to a Healthy November!

Guys.  It’s November.

Seriously.  When the hell did that happen?

How quickly my brain goes from witches and pumpkins to Christmas trees and snowflakes!! Yesterday, I caught myself humming “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” (don’t even really like that one, so I have no idea why), and then I spent like half an hour sitting pondering (err, panicking) over what I’m going to do on New Year’s Eve.

IT’S FRIGGING CHRISTMAS TIME YO!!!!

Well.  Not really.  Not quite yet. 

But SOON.

While my brain is fast-forwarding to Christmas Mode, though, I’m trying to do something to keep myself grounded and focused. 

And that is why I’ve declared this to be “Healthy November”.

I know what some of you are thinking.  Healthy November?  Hasn’t this been Healthy 2013 for Jill?  Why is November to be any Healthier than any other month thus far?

So here’s the deal.  Yes, I’ve been way healthier for the past year than I’ve ever been in my whole entire little life, but I admit to getting a little off track in October.  Especially the last two weeks of October.

It all started when I bought Halloween candy.  Even though I knew I wasn’t even going to be home on Halloween night.  So essentially, that means that I bought one hundred little chocolate bars and fifty packages of Mini Big Foot candy all for me.

I gave some of it away.  But most of it?  Most of it went in.mah.belly.

A Coffee Crisp here.  An Almond Joy there.  Four packages of Big Foots here.  Ten Kit Kats there.  Don’t even ask me about the Reeces Peanut Butter Cups.

It got a little outta hand, if I’m being entirely honest.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the number of Pillsbury Halloween Sugar Cookies I ate.  (Probably a zillion.)

I reassured myself that it was OK, you’re ALLOWED treats now and then, Jill.  Eating some Halloween junk isn’t going to make you put on 70 lbs!!

No.  But the fact that the Halloween candy surplus coincided with my fave TurboFire DVD’s deciding not to work all of a sudden resulted in me taking a step back and detecting that I was slowly beginning to spiral out of control.

Too many treats.  Not enough calories being burned.  Pounds gradually starting to add up.  In mid-October, I was super close to reaching “the magic number” – but suddenly, after a few weeks of indulging and only doing half-assed workouts, “the magic number” was starting to slip away.

I’ve done this before.  I know what happens.  And I could see it starting to happen again.

I was starting to crave junk.  I found myself rummaging through my fridge and cupboards looking for old bags of chocolate chips and stale pretzels.  I was hoovering the Halloween candy and cookies into me at an alarming rate.  And when I’d promise myself, “OK, just one more”, it would turn into five more.

Before I knew it, I was back to eating four slices of pizza instead of holding myself off at two.  And I was eating chips again… the dreaded chip & dip cycle…

My willpower was at zero and my steadfast determination that has carried me through these past 10 months of changing my body and soul – well, it was fading fast.

I had to do something about it.  The thought of Christmas quickly approaching had me feeling very nervous.  I was already starting to spiral out of control, so add in Christmas parties and dinners, and I’d be too far gone to ever get back on track.

So I made a new plan.  A plan to save myself from disaster. 

On Saturday night, I finished the Halloween candy bucket and the chips and I ate the last of those stupid Pillsbury cookies.  I let myself enjoy them and refused to feel guilty about it.  Because I knew that when I woke up on Sunday morning, it would be a new day and a clean slate that I so desperately needed.

It would be the start of “Healthy November”.

This week, I’ve been so much more careful about what I’m consuming – eating tons more fruits & veggies, drinking loads of water – and gradually, I’ve noticed the junk cravings subsiding.  I’m re-learning the delight of having one of my beloved Asian Pears for “dessert” instead of 13 mini chocolate bars.  I’m also back on the TurboFire bandwagon – finally! – now that I’ve figured out that the DVDs work in my laptop.  And boy, did that Fire 45 class feel good this morning!  (For the past few weeks, I’ve been resorting to old cardio/aerobic DVDs and Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred to replace my Turbo workouts, and let me just say, they all pale severely in comparison.)

Last night I had a salad for supper, and it was so good, I think I’ll have the exact same thing tonight.

But possibly one of the biggest changes I’ve made – something that I’ve been unsuccessful with up to this point – is that I’m getting up earlier in the morning to get my exercise in before work.  Up until now, I’ve been happy to squeeze my workouts in during the evening.  But now, with it getting dark so early at night, it actually feels easier to get up at 5:30 AM instead.

(I know.  I know.  This coming from the girl who swore up and down eight million times that I will NEVER be the kind of person who gets up early to exercise!!!  Who knew.)

I’m only a few days into my “Healthy November”, and I can already feel the ship righting itself.

phewf.

It doesn’t mean I’m in the clear.  Christmas is still coming, and if I thought Thanksgiving and Halloween were rough… well… you ain’t seen nothing yet, Jilly baby.

It’s only going to get harder.  But I feel that if I put in a solid effort for the month of November, and if I can just shed those last few pounds to get down to my “magic number”, then I’ll be ready to face the challenges of Christmas sweets and treats head-on.

This month is about building my resolve back up and strengthening my willpower.

I can do this.

Here’s to a Healthy November… and a Merry Christmas too :)