80 Days of Firsts
Nearly five years ago, my husband wanted to take me on a surprise cruise to Mexico.
That surprise went a little wayward, because we had very recently, also agreed to go full-force on paying off the $49,000 of debt we had accumulated in our brief three years of marriage.
We were ready to take Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps seriously, and crush this debt once and for all!
So, when he surprised me with a cruise, I didn’t take it that way. I was mad. Big mad. No way can we spend a couple hundred extra dollars when we JUST agreed that every penny was to go to our loans so we could live and give like no one else.
I had him cancel the cruise…
Whew.
Five years later, and we’re FINALLY taking that long- awaited cruise! Read my previous blog posts about how we got out of debt here.
While on our family trip to Hawaii last month, (blog to come soon all about it!) my husband and his close friend bought tickets for a four- day cruise to the Caribbean. I was tempted to be frustrated again, as we were on a trip already, and needed to keep to a budget! No more wild splurges, even if they’re that fantastic! However, my husband was much wiser about it this time around. We had a credit from that cruise cancelled long, long ago, and so the deposit for it was marginal! The tickets fit right into our monthly budget, and NO DEBT!
I am so excited for this adults-only adventure! My best friend and her husband, and my husband, together, what a treat!
I want to do this “right,” in a couple of ways, not just financially, but I want to be able to be physically prepared for this vacation too.
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen how I have been on an extensive weight-loss journey since birthing our third baby three years ago. I had a health ailment come up that made that made that goal even more difficult to accomplish a year into that process, but I’m thankful to say that I’ve been able to make progress slowly but surely.
Now, I had another exciting goal to work towards- the hopeful completion of my weight-loss goal! I have roughly fifteen more pounds, or two pant sizes to get to goal.
It’s a lot harder than it’s ever been for me, especially saying that as I have a kinesiology degree, and have never had a BMI over 24% my entire life.
There are, however, two things I have been utilizing the past few years that have assisted me greatly.
The Oura Ring
I bought my Oura Ring secondhand via Poshmark because I wanted to make sure I liked it before spending too much money! Now, I know that if this one ever breaks, I’d buy a brand new one without a second’s hesitation! When I decided to buy the ring, I was interested in the sleep monitoring it provided, because I was having episodes of insomnia and I was trying to get to the root cause of my illness. I really enjoy that it is a small tracking device, and that it can provide limited exposure to EMFs because ring can track you while on airplane mode! It’s cute, discrete, and incredibly accurate.
Now, I use it to track my sleep, activity, and use it for the meditation guides on the app that are fantastic for falling asleep or just taking a breather in the middle of the day.
Want one of your own? I highly recommend grabbing one!
The Peloton App
The next thing that has made a huge dent in my weight loss goal is the Peloton app. I bought a Peloton bike off Facebook marketplace in 2019, just before Covid hit. I use it regularly, and love the other workouts it offers! Strength training, yoga, running, stretching, and more! Something I’ve learned is so important for me to lose weight is to mix-up my workouts, challenging my muscles to exert themselves in different ways so they stay engaged. I have to really get outside of my comfort zone to lose these last stubborn pounds. I have gotten a lot stronger, to my delight. I am able to lift heavier, and even run a 5K, God bless!
When I can’t make it to the gym for a workout, I’ve started doing yoga daily if I can, to just stay active. I am determined to continue on this trajectory this spring, to meet my weight loss goal by our cruise!
Use this code to try out the Peloton app for sixty days, for FREE!
That is my special surprise!
Less than three months to lose two pant sizes, hopefully! Wish me luck!
