Happy weight?

Sunday's topic for the SGBC was the idea of a happy weight.

Angela asked:

1) Do you know what your happy weight is? Without getting specific with numbers, try to talk generally about what a happy weight is to you. Do you know when you are there? Have you ever been at your happy weight? How did/do you feel?

I'm not sure that I do know what my happy weight is.

Sometimes it seems that my current weight is my happy weight. At this weight I can basically eat how I want to eat. I'm active. I'm fit. I feel good.

But at the same time, sometimes I am dissatisfied with this weight. However, my only real issue is that I would like to have less weight around my waist. (Hence my goal to have a smaller waist measurement.) To be honest, I know that only a few pounds one way or the other makes a big difference on my midsection, so... I would say that if I'm not at my happy weight, I am close to it. I would at least say I am in my happy weight range. Would I be happy 3-5 pounds lighter? I'm sure I would. Would I be happy 1-2 pounds heavier? Yes.

Another reason I would say this is my happy weight range (I think having a happy weight range is better than having a specific happy weight - less stressful to maintain and who needs more stress?.) is that I can do the things that make me happy and still maintain this weight. I can run. I can strength train. I can push my levels of stamina and endurance. I can enjoy a pretzel at the farmer's market. I can go out with friends. I can have a few drinks at a party. I can have pizza and cupcakes and cookies and ice cream when I want them. And I can do it without feeling guilty, without feeling like I am failing at something, without obsessing over every bite and feeling constantly under scrutiny. And THAT makes me happy. I am happy to be free of that. If the cost of being able to actually live life, not hide from it, is a couple of extra pounds - that is a price I will pay. Happily.

2) What about unhappy weights? Have you ever been there too? What was going on that made this an unhappy weight?

I have definitely been at an unhappy weight before. My current weight plus 8-9 pounds is an unhappy weight for me. You wouldn't think that 8-9 pounds would make much of a difference but they do. They show on my midsection and make me unhappy with how my clothing fits. The extra weight really shows on my frame and I feel sluggish and unhappy with myself. I feel unhappy with myself because usually if I have gained that much weight, it means I've let fitness and exercise fall along the wayside. I need to exercise and work my body to feel happy.

Make-up free?

That is Topic 2 for the Summer Glow Boot Camp.

In her post on Topic 2, Angela asks:

Do you ever go make-up free?

Do you rely on make-up too much?

Do you think you could go 1 week make-up free? Why or why not?

So, let's see... Do I ever go make-up free? Yes. I go make-up free all the time. I don't wear make-up that often, mostly for special occasions.

Do I think I rely on make-up too much? No, because, again, I don't wear it regularly. But I can see how someone could. And if I am going to a special event, I do feel like I have to wear it because I won't look nearly as good if I don't.

Do I think I could go 1 week make-up free? I have in the past, so... yes!

My answers make it seem as though I am very happy and content with my skin and don't feel the need to hide it under make-up. Unfortunately, that's not true. My lack of make-up lately is mostly because I don't have the time in the morning. If I got up earlier I probably would have more of a make-up routine! And I have worn make-up more regularly in the past, though I have never really worn a ton of make-up.

If I do wear make-up, my usual routine is concealer, powder foundation (mineral make-up), light blush, light eye shadow and mascara. Sometimes I'll go heavier on the eyes for an evening event. But that's about it. I can do my make-up in under 10 min.

Truthfully, I do prefer how I look with make-up to how I look sans make-up. This is mainly because I don't have very clear skin and my skin tends to take a long time to heal blemishes completely, so my skin tone looks uneven. I feel as though my skin is blotchy and broken out and I have dark under eye circles that I don't like. I wish I knew how to get rid of under eye circles! (Any suggestions?) The under eye circles don't bother me as much as the break outs though. If I didn't break out so much, I wouldn't have any sort of issue with my skin. The blemishes are what bother me the most.

I have tried a bunch of different cleansers and lotions and so far I haven't found anything that really does the trick for me in clearing up my skin unfortunately. I have discovered that stress does not help my skin at all and over-washing my face also had a negative effect.

One thing that I do think has helped my skin lately is taking a daily vitamin. I started taking vitamins daily about 1 1/2-2 months ago. I'm fantastically grown-up at 28 and take the gummy vitamins. What can I say? Gummies totally beat out traditional vitamins! Since taking the vitamins I have noticed that my blemishes seem to clear up a lot faster and I think I may be getting fewer of them. So yay vitamins! I have also read that Green Monsters can help with skin health. I've still not tried a Green Monster but I really want to!

So, in conclusions, I don't rely on make-up all that much but I do think it is a useful tool that can helps us enhance our appearance and make us more confident.

Dear Body

Dear Body,
I have so many things to say to you. I supposed I should start off by apologizing. I'm sorry. I know I haven't always treated you the best. It's not food or fitness that I am concerned about because I fuel you with good foods (And you can't pretend you don't like the occasional indulgences too!) and we've always worked together to stay active and fit. We're a pretty good team but I don't think I have really been holding up me end of the bargain. What I am most concerned about is the way that I talk to you and treat you. And I want to change that.

In the past I have put you down, belittled you, to our friends and loved ones. I wouldn't let us go out and do the things we wanted to do because I was ashamed of you. I looked at our face in the mirror and swore at you, yelled at you, cried about you and verbally abused you. I harbored resentment and ill will towards you. I was angry that you didn't look the way I wanted you to look. I was focused on the wrong things. I looked for your flaws, sough them out and then picked them apart. I was cruel.

Why? I don't seem to know anymore. There was nothing wrong with you or anything you did. You were, and are, a perfectly fine body, a nice body. It has been a long journey but I am glad that you have stuck by me in the way that you have because I wanted to tell you that I am proud of you. I am proud of how fit and strong you are. I am proud of all the things we can do together. I am proud that you are my partner through life. You are strong, fit, healthy and I love you. And I love that you are mine.

I promise to treat you better in the future. I promise to remember that we are a team. I promise to appreciate all the good things you do for me. I promise to recognize your strengths. I promise to look for the good in you. I promise to take care of you, fuel you with good foods, continue to be active and fit with you.

Together we will go a long way and I promise that from here on out our journey will be much happier.

Love,
Holly

* This was written as part of the Summer Glow Boot Camp. Topic 1 was to write a Dear Body letter.

Summer Glow Boot Camp

I am a little late to the party with this one but I am jumping in! This boot camp isn't focusing on changing your measurements or lowering your wait. The point of it is health and finding your inner and outer glow through treating your body right. I am down with that! It's all about being positive.

Holly was posting about the Summer Glo Boot Camp on her blog, Holly on the Run, and I had to check it out. So I trotted on over to Oh She Glows and was hooked after reading all about the boot camp. I couldn't resist something so body positive!

I do have some catching up to do, so expect to see some challenge-related posts this weekend.

I added a SGBC widget to my sidebar, so click on that if you're interested in it! (Somehow I messed up my Daily Mile widget in the process. Despite copying over the html text for the DM widget and replacing it, I can't seem to get it fixed. Silly widgets!)

In other news, I was very surprised this morning when I took my weight and measurements. My weight was down (nearly a pound) and so were almost all of my measurements. I was surprised by this because I haven't been eating very well this week (Did anyone notice I never posted a Food Log post? I haven't been keeping track of my eating at all. Oops.) and I only got in maye 2 workouts this week. Maybe my body needed the rest?

I've also decided to go with the Jeff Galloway training program to help me train to run a 5K. I think it suits me better. I am going to jump in at week 9, so I'll be doing 3 miles tomorrow. I'm not intimidated. I know I can do it.