On a Roll

Over the last couple of months I struggled with my eating habits and I bounced around with the same 3-4 pounds. Then one day I was at home and I'd been eating a cookie when I thought,"Wow why am I even eating this? I don't even want it." Then I thought well, I've already eaten half,  I might as well finish. And then I realized,"Duh there is no reason I have to eat the other half of the calories." Then I tossed it out.

Since then I have stuck to my program, and worked hard. I'm on my 3rd mini goal, which is lose 15 lbs in 6 weeks. I have 3.5 weeks left. I'm not quite on track but I'm still down 5.2 pounds so far in the last 2.5 weeks. I hope to catch up. At the end of my goal my target weight is 184.4lbs.

For anyone that has weight they want to lose, I promise it is worth it! I am down a total of 22.2 lbs and I feel so great! Yes there have been trying moments, and times that it was difficult to stick to my allowed foods instead of eat what everyone else was. But on Friday when I've lost even more weight it will be completely worth every bite I didn't take!

Stats
Mini Goal-9.8 lbs to go
Mini goal Loss- 5.2
Total Loss 22.2!
Total to Lose: 48.6!

New plans and stress

My program has changed yet again! I now only weigh in once per week, on Friday mornings. Then on Friday I have a "cheat" day. I get to eat whatever I want to. At first this idea scared me a little, but I decided to trust my coach and give it a shot. Last Friday was my first "cheat"day, and I have not weighed in yet to find out the results. On Saturday and Sunday I will continue to do my detox which will really help me boost my fat burning.

This week has been crazy though, I spent 14+ hours at the hospital waiting room while my Father-In-Law had a triple by pass done. It was nerve wracking, but he did well! Of course we all know what hospital food is like, and the hours of waiting. I did bring a few things to snack on, whole grain muffins, sugar free candy, fruit. But our exploration of the cafeteria and food court was hugely disappointing. It was far too expensive. We ended up at pizza hut for dinner as it was a short walk away. I had a salad, 1 slice of pizza, 1 bread stick, and 1 scoop of pasta. WAY too much starch! But it is all that was available at the time. I am glad I did not over indulge. We did make an order for take out, my husband a p'zone and myself a chicken milano pasta. A couple of hours later I was hungry again and had a few bites. Most of it is now in my freezer waiting for lunch on Friday.

Unfortunately I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. And for me that is extremely sensitive to stress, and when stressed food. I was feeling fine until we saw my Father-In-Law at the Cardiac ICU for the first time. He was doing so good, still asleep. But he looked so much better. Thats when I started to relax and began to feel the affects of my stress. I didn't realize I had been so anxious. I knew he would be okay eventually, so I wasn't really scared. However, I did not know what that journey would look like, or what he would have to go through to get to the point of being okay. Step 1 was making it through surgery with no complications! I am happy to say that is complete! Step 2 is recovery in the hospital. Admittedly I still feel some anxiety over that, but I have faith we will have him home on Sunday. I'm sure I will deal with a little of my IBS then as well. Step 3 will be his long term recovery, which I am trying not to worry about.

To add to my stress last weekend my apartment flooded due to another tenants leaky hot water heater. We were unable to get the carpet dry enough and now it is moldy. I am really concerned about my husbands allergies while we are waiting to have it replaced. But we have a great landlord and I'm sure it will be done by the end of this week.

So, to make up for my IBS and the food I ate yesterday I am going on my detox, just for today. I am starting to feel better already. And I'm looking forward to weigh in on Friday!

Mini Goal Report 2

Hey everyone! This morning I finally got my keester out of bed and exercised. To prepare last night I added a bunch of workouts to the instant queue on netflix, then I watched the one I wanted to try start to finish without doing it. Crunch: cardio salsa. It looked really fun, and a few of the moves were very familiar. So I put it on this morning and I discovered that my coordination at 7:20am is lacking greatly! I switched to a yoga workout. Which I had done before, it is very beginner, and very relaxing. I enjoyed it, but I think I need a workout with a little more oomph. I'm looking forward to my netflix dvd getting here next week I have quite the assortment in both dvd queues. Here's a list, feel free to comment on any you may have tried.

DVD Queue
1. Jillian Michaels: 30 day shred- this is going to kick my butt! I'm looking forward to it though. Once I have mastered the whole thing I plan to send it back and move on. I will do that with all the workouts I like.

2.The Biggest Loser: Weight loss yoga

3. Leslie Sansone: Walk your belly fat

4.Dance Fitness for beginners-Joby Brava

5.Jillian Michaels for beginners: Backside- I'm looking forward to the frontside of this workout becoming available on netflix.

6.The Biggest Loser: The Workout: Cardio Max Weight Loss

7. The Biggest Loser: The workout: power walk

8. Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown

9. Jillian Michaels: No more trouble zones

10. Yoga Booty Ballet: Complete discs 1-3  -This just plain looks like fun. I always wanted to learn ballet as a kid, I guess that's never really gone away.

11.Trainers Edge

12. The trainers edge: Fiesta Fitness Dance

13.Ballet Conditioning

My Instant queue is rather long, but it is mostly Crunch workouts, and a few misc yoga workouts.

I am doing the dvds because I really need to step up my game if I'm going to make it to my goal in less than 10 weeks. On Wednesday my weigh in was 202.8, down .4 from Monday. Which is great, but not enough to cut it. To be on track with my goal I need to weigh in at 200 this coming Monday. My new workouts are going to make a significant difference, and I'm looking forward to seeing results from it. The other thing I am doing is a 2 day detox on Saturday's and Sunday's every weekend until I reach my mini goal. I think I've mentioned this 2 day detox before, it's very simple and easy to follow. And here's the best part, effective!

I want to get to my ultimate goal as healthy and quickly as possible. Because the step after that, and maybe the hardest part will be learning to maintain my weight. Thats the real challenge I think, keeping this going throughout my life.

Here is my stat update
Week 2
Lost: 0.4 (as of Wednesday)
To Mini Goal: 23.8 lbs
Current weight: 202.8

Measurements
Old Bust: 45" - New Bust: 44"  =Lost: 1"
Old Waist: 41" - New Waist: 38" = Lost 3"
Old Thigh: 26" -  New Thigh: 25" =Lost 1"
Old Hips: 50  - New Hips: 47 = Lost 3"
For a total of 8" lost in 5 weeks.

I'm very excited about that, but I'm also ready to really step things up. Because the reality is, I've been lazy about my exercise. I think it was okay, because I took the last few weeks to really get my eating plan down, and be adjusted and used to it. I'm ready for another change, and more hard work!

Back on Track

So last week with all the eating out really threw me off. I started picking at food here and there that really wasn't in my program. And the funny part is I really didn't enjoy it, I just felt bad. Yesterday I made a trip to Kroger to get all the snacks that I can have and enjoy, fruits and veggies mostly. It was so much easier to have dinner and feel good about what I ate, regular shopping is essential! Monday and Tuesday I did the picking thing, and I ate some things I shouldn't have because I wasn't feeling well. My Weigh in on Wednesday was up 1.4 lbs to 206lbs. I suspect it was related to salt intake.
I'm looking forward to tomorrows Weigh In, because I know that I have eaten right, and made healthy choices for my body, and my goals. It feels good!

Also yesterday was a day for being given awesome things. My friend Angela brought me a ton of clothes, which were really cute. And 6 pairs of jeans! I don't think I've ever owned that many pairs of jeans before. Now I have 12 pairs of pants in various sizes. Right now only 2 pairs fit comfortably, but I am really looking forward to getting into all the other pairs I have. And I've made a vow to myself. I will never again squeeze into a pair of jeans, if they do not do up easily and comfortably they are not going on this body! No way! There's just no reason to wear something that is comfortable and painful.

I'm also excited about discovering Hungry girl Egg Mug recipes, they are going to be so yummy!

10+

Whoo Hooo! Yippee! 11.2 pounds down!

This last week was rough, my hubby and I were helping a friend until 9pm tues-thurs. And out of the goodness of their hearts they took us out for dinner. Unfortunately, I learned just how hard it is to be on my program and eat out! I found that even though the food was delicious, I didn't like not knowing what was in my food, or how it was prepared. That was a serious challenge for me, but I did my best to eat healthy and avoid the buffet of desserts.

I feel like I had a lot of successes. On Tuesday we went to Rosie's a mexican place, where the put baskets of tortilla chips and salsa on the table before your meal arrives. I can't eat chips on my program, I did not have a single bite. And when I ordered my fajita salad I requested the remove the tortilla crisps altogether, and bring me the toppings on the side. The only things I should have done and didn't was ask for no sour cream, and no olives. I do not like olives! In the end it was delicious!

Wednesday we went to Ryan's buffet, it was okay. I found myself starving, and just walking around trying to figure out what I could have. I didn't want another salad. I avoided the fried chicken, dishes laden with cheese, and everything drenched in grease. However I probably ate a little too much anyway.

Thursday we went to McCalister's, OH WOW so good! I had a bowl of chilli, and half a Grilled Buffalo Chicken salad! Delicious! That I think was just fine, I even asked for lite ranch instead of bleu cheese dressing. However I tried some of my hubby's roast beef and gravy(it was on a sandwich but I did not eat the bread). I had 3 bites and realized it was crazy salty for me. I did not ask for a bite of the Cheesecake my hubby was finishing! That was hard!

Friday was a difficult day, I found out my Dad broke his arm and might need surgery. I had many worries involved with that, and I don't think I was ever as home sick as I was this weekend. I definitely ate too much starch in the form of fat free ice cream.

Saturday my Mother-in-law took us to 88 buffet, I did my very best to avoid anything with breading, or that was deep fried. I had a lot of veggies and a lot of fruit. Once again I avoided the desserts! Although once again I had too much starch in the form of the rest of the fat free ice cream. UGH I was not happy with myself.

Sunday I was good. I ate all at home. For breakfast I had apple sauce, then I had my recipe of grilled chicken, black beans, veggies, and brown rice, topped with a little roasted red pepper vinigarette dressing. I had 1 cup of no sugar added cranberry/raspberry juice for the rest of my fruits. The for dinner we had chicken wings (baked) and I had more mix veggies and brown rice. I also drank a ton of water.

I had a nasty migraine last night, the first real headache I have had since starting on this program. It really knocked me down, the pain was so bad I couldn't even lay my head on my pillow. In fact I am still dealing with it, by keeping up my tylenol every 4 hours, otherwise it comes back.

But inspite of my disaster week my weigh in's went like this.

Monday down 0.8 for 206.4lb
Wednesday down 0.2  for 206.2 lb
Friday Up 0.8 for 207lb

This Monday down 2.4 for 204.6 lbs!
Stats
Lost last week: 1.6 lbs
Total lost: 11.2 lbs
To go: 59.6lbs!

The Past IS the PAST

Last March I had a whole lot of steam, I was REALLY pumped and motivated! I tracked my weight, I kept a food journal every single day. I was really excited and I worked hard. I was exercising regularly and had lots of goals. However, it consumed me, all my energy, thoughts, everything I did was based around my "plan". Then my life changed, my days were no longer without demand, and I started slipping, I let some things go, and I started back into old ways.

I've gained back all that I lost plus another 2.2 pounds. I got discouraged, down on myself, and I adopted some really bad habits. But that is the past! And it is over! Little Debbie's Buh-Bye! I do not need you! Wow that feels good, to not crave all that sweetness, to not desire the calories and fat, it's liberating!

My husband is fantastic, he encouraged me to put my goals back up where I can see them. That it would help me. He's been very supportive and loving. Through gains and losses he has been there for me. I've done some more thinking, reading, asking questions, and searching my own heart and mind.
I asked myself
"Do I really want to lose weight?"
"Am I willing to change my habits and choices?"
"How long do I want to live?"
"What quality of life do I want?"

Those are big questions, and important ones. Does my weight affect my quality of life, absolutely. Does it affect my health, definitely. Is it more than a want, do I NEED to change? YES!
How do I do it? By being healthy, eating healthy, exercising healthy, having healthy habits. Caring enough about myself to go to the extra effort of cooking at home instead of ordering pizza, to meal plan instead of throwing together what is easy. To balance my food choices and my portions. To sacrifice nearly 2 hours of sleep every morning to be able to get up and exercise. All that sounds to me like a lot, and it will be hard, but it will be so worth it! I can't wait!