Welcome Back!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2013! Hi, there again! We're back!

It has been almost 7 months since our last post, and we are fully aware of that. It's been a busy 7 months, and the blog just had to take a back seat. It happens. We're okay with it. We had some good life going on in the mean time, but now it's time to get back into action and back on the proverbial wagons.

For me, the last seven months have been tough and wonderful. I worked A LOT. I traveled A LOT. I focused A LOT on my career and making sure I was putting 100% into my job. Between October and December, I took 12 trips. I visited 11 different cities and 10 of the trips were for work. The two trips not related to work were for Mari's wedding (it was AMAZING, but I also did a whole lot of work while I was "on vacation") and Thanksgiving. It was hard work, but I love my job, so I went very willingly. But spending that much time working means there is very little time for anything else, including working out.

After the half marathon, I was burned out. I didn't want to run anymore, and I had no gym membership. I "trained" for the triathlon in September, but definitely not well. I ran the race, and I finished the race, but I was not particularly thrilled with my performance. I know I could have done better.

Naturally, having not worked out basically at all in the summer and after the tri, I have gained weight. More than I care to have gain (any is more than I would care to gain). I'm not proud of myself anymore and that's not a good thing. For me, it's not so much about the number on the scale (which I am boycotting at the moment) but rather the fact that I no longer feel like I can do anything. Skiing makes me nervous. Am I in good enough shape? Will I be able to last a day on the slopes? I don't have much of my muscle left, and my clothes don't fit the way I like them too (or at all in some cases). These are things that don't make me happy, and I'm working on that now. I'm back at the gym and trying to make the decisions that will leave me feeling good, instead of stuffed into my clothes.

Another change I made was to go gluten free. I'm not 100% gluten free by any means, but I'm probably about 90%. I've struggled with stomach issues for a long time, and I just kind of dealt with it. I tried a lot of different things, but nothing seemed to do much so I'd kind of just given up. A friend of mine at work started going gluten free at the suggestion of her doctor, and I decided to try it too. It was working for her stomach, and I wanted mine to feel good too. I started at the beginning of September, and so far it's been great. The few times I've decided not to follow the gluten free diet, I definitely pay for it later that day in stomach pain. As I said though, I'm not 100% free. I still eat regular soy sauce and things that "were processed in facilities that process wheat," and those don't bother me. I'm still figuring out how to make it all work, but so far I like what it's been doing for me.

So now we're here. It's a new year, and I'm hoping to kind of start new. I'm not huge into resolutions, but there's a few things I'm going to work on. Since this post has already been super wordy and has no picture, I figure it's probably best to save those for the next one. But have no fear, we're back and here to stay!