Recently, a couple of people have asked me about the 90 Day Fitness challenge I started at the beginning of August. How is it going? Why haven’t I blogged about it lately? How much weight have I lost?

My responses range from shouting “hey, is that a Stormtrooper riding a chipmunk?” and running away, to simply punching the person who asked directly in the mouth. To be fair, I only did that the once. (And it was the person who thought the Imperial scout trooper on the chipmunk was a “robot on a squirrel” so that’s okay.)

Okay, okay. The new year seems as good a time as any for a full confession. I pretty much abandoned the 90 Day Challenge the first hour of my new job at the beginning of October. Since then I’ve logged about three hours (total) in the gym and about zero meals (total) into LoseIt!

I’m kind of mad at myself, but there you have it. I clung to some of the healthier eating habits into November, with the help of Shakeology and a really great healthy eating challenge I did with a friend. Then like a FREAKING CLICHÉ, I lost myself in stress and convenience and holiday treats. I lost about 9 pounds in August and September, stayed pretty steady in October and the first half of November, and I’ve gained 8 pounds back since then. (It’s pretty awkward because I put my larger size jeans away in September and I absolutely refuse to put them back on. The lack of circulation to my lower extremities is just part of the process…)

It’s 2016, time to get back on the horse. Or, I guess, time to drop a few more pounds so the horse doesn’t run away when he sees me coming.

I’m not doing a gym challenge this time around. I put my Lifetime membership on hold because – great as that gym is – it’s the opposite direction of my commute and I wasn’t finding time to get there. Also: even though I signed up for their 90 day challenge and paid extra and told them I needed accountability and let them take pictures of me and showed up and weighed in for weeks, when I fell off the wagon no one called or emailed to see how I was doing or encourage me to come back in. Even when I missed the final weigh in… *Crickets.*

Okay, I wouldn’t have had time to get there even if someone did call me, but it would’ve been nice to be wanted. It’s like when the date was awful and you wouldn’t go out with this guy again for a million dollars, but when he doesn’t even call to ask by Day Three you’re sort of like, what the hell? Does he think he’s too good for me? Is he too good for me? Should I drive past his house just in case?

How are your health journeys going? Did the unstructured, butter-dipped holidays undermine your progress? Or did you muscle through like a FREAKING CHAMP?

xoxox,
m.j.

MJ Pullen

M.J. Pullen is a distracted writer and the mom of two boys in Roswell, Georgia, where she is absolutely late for something important right now. Her books include quirky romantic comedies and playful women's fiction. She blogs erratically with writing advice, random observations, and reflections on raising very loud kids and dogs. Join her Distracted Readers newsletter list for updates, free content, giveaways and more.