I have upped my exercise, but alas that has made me more hungry and my weight has gone up - I am not really happy being so chunky as I am at the moment. Carla, thanks for the reminder and encouragement to dig deep and keep on working out.

I do karate and I want to get my next belt, so I have been doing 3 karate classes, one private karate lesson with my instructor and 2 gym sessions and 2 running sessions each week. I am a hopeless runner and dislike it very much. However, it is part of my grading, so I just need to keep working on improving my time and in many ways the issue of running for me is more a mental issue than a physical issue - I can do this!

Great thread Carla - so much inspiration here!

Since my mom died back in June, I've leaned into fitness as a mental health support. For a while I was going to the gym almost every day; however, I hit a bit of a mental and emotional wall and it all went down the loo - probably a good thing as I think I was in manic mode. I need to sink and then pull myself back up into a more balanced space.

Anyways, now I think I'm back to a better balance - eating well more often than not and getting to the gym a few times a week. I do yoga at home also, and DH and I get out for walks when we can. At the gym, I do weights, yoga, Zumba, cardio-weight/boot camp style combo classes, Pilates - whatever is going when I can get there - I love it all and get super-bored if I do the same thing over and over. I have minimized my meat consumption (more for environmental reasons) but still enjoy it on occasion. And like Janet, I can't be bothered to waste my energy on alcohol (not that I drank much anyways) with the odd exception for a crisp glass of prosecco now and again - chips and gummy bears are another story entirely *sigh*!

Finally finished the cycle. What a relief. The gym has always been my happy place but the last month I had to force myself to go. Long, lonely work outs just weren't very fun. I've been off the program for a week now and back to looking forward to the gym. Outlook for my year end is improving!  A few pics of me in the wild. Wish I could say I noticed some improvements...  Maybe I'll try again after work calms down. 

@kelly-I can relate. Are you a power lifter? You look fierce! DS#2 trained under a power lifting coach during uni, and has gone to a couple of weekend workshops since. It took me years to nail squat technique, and deadlift is still a work in progress, BP has always had ‘good bar path’ though. Whatever! I’ll take it!

Thanks, Carla! I'd love to be a power lifter but I just don't have what it takes mentally--besides, heavy isn't my thing. I'm better at gymnastic-y stuff and volume at manageable weights. And then there's technique...which is another limiting factor. I'm in it for fun and don't really want anymore stress in my life!

Hair appointment made for December!! Thanks for the reminder. I didn’t set strict goals for exercise, other than making it to the gym 3x/week. For the rest of the year, I’m focusing on writing down my workouts, so I can track my progress. In 2020, I might treat myself to some sessions with a trainer to focus on my lifting technique. I’ve used a trainer on and off for the past 12+ years, so I’m fairly confident that I’m not doing anything terribly wrong, but I’m feeling like I could use someone to help me change things up a bit.