July 31, 2008

Woohoo! I'm cruising now!! It's amazing what happens when you follow your eating plan! LOL But in a way I'm glad that I plateaued for a while because it showed me that the maintenance portion of this plan does indeed work. In the entire time I was maintaining, I never gained more than 5 lbs from my lowest weight. So, that means that one day I WILL be able to eat without watching so closely, just still need to remember not to do it yet. :o) I have struggled the last couple of days with wanting to eat late, but the progress I've made so far has allowed me to more easily resist the temptation. I really want to hit my goal and I only have 31.6lbs to go! I CAN DO IT!!! :o) Then it will be on to the final push to reach my ultimate goal.

July 29, 2008

Today the legs are moving better. Just got back from Curves and I pushed myself easy, meaning I didn't overdo it, but I didn't just lollygag around either. The leg machines registered low, I can't imagine why LOL, but overall it wasn't too bad and only 1 machine hurt my sore muscles. I stretched before and after and I'm feeling pretty good. Especially because it would have been easy to talk myself out of working out by using the excuse that I need to recover, but that's what it would have been, an excuse. And I didn't allow myself to do that. For most minor illnesses and soreness (not all, but most), I think a little working out is better than no working out, just listen to your body and go slower if you need to. So far so good sticking to the food plan today. I didn't prepare all my food the night before, but I did write out all my meals and snacks into my food diary for today ahead of time so all I have to do is look in the book and see what I'm supposed to be eating. Weight went up again...hopefully that's the last I see that for a while. :o)

Relay for Life Recap

This weekend was Relay for Life. It was a blast! We had track counter necklaces where every lap you'd add a bead so you could keep track of how many you did. I made a goal for myself to walk 10 miles and I thought that was really maybe not attainable so I wasn't gung-ho pushing myself, but as I got closer I realized it was quite doable and then some so I ended the 24 hours with 13 miles walked. Really sore last night, but after the hot shower I took, only a little bit this morning.

Now the disappointment came this morning when I stepped on the scale. I would have thought with all that exercise I could have at least maintained, but I put on 2 lbs. No worries, though, I was going back on phase 1 this morning anyway and since I've basically been doing the maintance program where you don't keep real close track of what you eat, I'll be doing phase 1 for 2 weeks and starting over. I will lose 80 lbs this year! :o)

It was a fun Ecclesiastical weekend with a time for everything: tears and laughter and fun and seriousness. There's so much more I could write about my experiences, but children call and errands need done so I mustn't spend all day on the computer. You'll just have to try a Relay for Life for yourself to see what they're all about and those that have know what I'm talking about already. :o) Have a great day!

I'm done...

doing whatever it is I'm doing to sabotage myself. Of course to quit doing it I have to figure out what it is. I think I have. Now, I don't want this to sound like I'm beating myself up, because I think that negative self-talk just doesn't get us anywhere, but I've realized that that is my problem. I'm not being hard enough on myself. I believe you can be hard on yourself without being negative. You can encourage yourself to be the best you can be without talking bad about yourself. I've lost almost 50 lbs. I've been hearing compliments on how good I look. I've worked very hard to get here. But I've let all that go to my head and lately I've been using it as a justification for not following my eating plan ("You've worked so hard, eating late one time won't matter." "You've lost almost 50lbs, indulging one time won't make a difference.") The problem is that the one time makes it easier to turn it into one more time, etc. until I'm right back into my old habits. I need to learn to find the balance between congratulating myself for a job well done, and realizing that the job isn't over yet. Now, don't get me wrong...keep the compliments coming...I'm just going to try to remember that the journey isn't over yet and I shouldn't slow down before the finish line.

July 24, 2008

It's been a busy week. Yesterday, EB's backpack got left at home while she went to the bus for daycamp, so I ended up driving 50 miles round trip to get it to her. B and I have realized it is extremely quiet in the house with ET and EB gone during the day, especially when S takes a nap. I've been having massive cravings to eat late at night, but I don't give in and within an hour they subside. I've been craving carbs and I'm pretty sure that's hormonal. I'm trying to give in reasonably and if I do partake of a little more carbs, I've found that eating them at lunch time doesn't seem to affect my progress as much. If I don't reach my goal of 229.2 by Monday, HHT suggested strongly (LOL) that I go back to phase 1 for 3 days. But I'm pretty sure I'll make it in that I'll be doing Relay for Life this weekend so I'll be putting in a lot more exercise and I won't be eating as much...a recipe for weight loss. LOL

July 21, 2008

Alright, I didn't hit my goal for the week. I'm giving myself one more week to see if I can get better back on track before I start the dreaded food tracker again. I HATE the food tracker, I know what I should and shouldn't eat, but if I need to start it up again to keep myself on track, I will. Now that I've threatened myself, maybe I'll behave even more this week. I didn't do too bad last week and I showed a loss which is of course a good thing, but I've been allowing myself to plateau for a month or so and if I don't kick it in to gear I'll set it up to where it's really hard to lose the full 80lbs by the end of the year. My goal for next Monday's weigh in is 229.2. I would love to reach the 220s!!!! Ok, I sent off EB and ET to day camp this morning at 7:30amish (man, that's early!!!) and immediately went to Curves to workout. I'm working out M, W, F this week so that I can sleep in on Saturday before the 24 hour relay for life. B gave me a compliment this past week. She hugged me goodnight and then shouted, "Hey, I can get my arms all the way around you, now!" Ain't she sweet? Here's to an even better week than last!

July 16, 2008

Just got back from Izzy's. Their pizza crust is my all time favorite so I devised a way to cut the carbs and still enjoy it. I stripped the crust and (as we know from a couple of days ago) that didn't leave much in the way of toppings...maybe 2 bites. So, I filled up my fork took a bite of the topping and then took a bite of the naked crust. Instead of the whole pizza crust I cut it down to 2 bites and ate all my toppings. I didn't feel deprived and was able to make it healthier. Oh, yeah, and I started with a huge salad. I did have dessert...3 bites of pineapple cake and an itty-bitty ice cream cone...also about 3-4 bites. Now, I'm making the ribs for dinner. Hard to cook when you're full. LOL But they need the rest of the afternoon to cook to be ready for dinner. Anyway, just wanted to share my new pizza eating style. :o)

July 15, 2008

Now no one faint...I know 2 days in a row!!! LOL And there really isn't much to say. We ordered pizza for dinner last night. I stripped mine and put the toppings into a low carb tortilla and had a soft pizza taco. It is actually quite yummy and it satisfied my craving for pizza. I have noticed though that when you take the toppings off, there's not much there. Most of the pizza is the crust. I'm going to workout in a couple of hours and then tonight is bath night for the kiddos. They'll smell all pretty for at least a day. LOL

July 14, 2008

Alright, so this week wasn't a stellar loss, but it was down from last week. This week's lesson is not overeating, but eating enough. I would get so wrapped up in what I was doing, I would forget to eat, setting myself up for wanting to eat late at night. Plus I believe it is harder to lose weight if you're not getting enough calories. So, once again, we're trying something new and I've set the timer for 2.5 hours and everytime it goes off, I'll be eating. We'll see what that does for next week's weigh in. This journey is about trial and error. One has to find what works for them and something they can do for the rest of their lives. I'm hoping to train myself into placing the proper importance on food. Most of the time it has too much importance in my life. This last week, it didn't have enough. I'll get it. :o) I need to lose 1.44lbs per week to stay on track of my 80 in 08. Very doable and hopefully now that I've figured out the numbers, it will help me to better stay on target...because I have a target. :o)

July 8, 2008

Yesterday ended up being kind of a cruddy day in that I had body aches like I was coming down with something. I was also feverish and then this morning...nothing. Kind of weak, but I don't feel sick. Weird! HHT was so very sweet and let me rest. I was weighed and measured today. The smart equipment at Curves must be working. I was able to lose more inches in one month than I have in previous months. So all that torturous hard work has paid off. :o) I have earned another movie and at the magic number of 224.8, I will earn another weekend away. I'm shooting to accomplish that in the next 2 weeks. :o) Well, I'm off to work on more jewelry.

Curves Monthly Weigh and Measure - July 2008

name of measurement
3/16/07 measurement
6/12/08 measurement
7/08/08 measurement
month difference
start to now difference

Weight (on Curves scale)
280
238
233
-5
-47

Body fat %
48.3%
42.9%
42.0%
-0.9%
-6.3%

Body fat in lbs
135.24
102.10
97.86
-4.24
-37.38

Bust
49.75
47
46
-1
-3.75

Waist
46.5
43
41
-2
-5.5

Abs
56.5
49.75
49
-0.75
-7.5

Hips
55
51
49
-2
-6

Thighs
31.75
25.5
25
-1
-13.5
(multiplied by 2 because I have 2 thighs)

Arms
15
14
14
-0
-2
(multiplied by 2 because I have 2 arms)

From the beginning of my Curves membership to now:
47 lbs lost
37.38 fat lbs lost
38.25 inches lost

July 7, 2008

Well, I know you're all waiting with baited breath to see if I'm still in the competition...no, alas I was up 0.2lbs on Friday than I was the previous Friday. Maybe next time and I still think to have come close was pretty good considering the weekend I had last weekend. I did good this weekend, splurged, but not overly so and walked on the windy beach so that helped to burn off some of it. And for those of you who know me well, you'll never believe it but I didn't even bring my computer with me to the beach. :o) We got back on Saturday night and totally vegged on Sunday. Watched some movies and I made a new necklace from a book I had bought. Today it's back to work. Changed my bedding to the summer look and had the kids do their chores. Going to continue my momentum as I have less than a pound to lose and I earn another movie. :o) We did see Wall-E this weekend. It was ok, but nothing spectacular. The cartoon short before the movie on the other hand was hilarious! The kids enjoyed all of it and that's what matters. Gotta go grab some lunch!

July 3, 2008

Man, what a night! I'm exhausted! You know, the kind of exhausted that when you wake up you feel sick to your tummy. I'd sleep in, but ET has a dentist appointment. And, I'd take a nap later, but we're hosting church tonight instead of tomorrow and so I'll be getting the house ready for that plus I'm working out this afternoon (that should be interesting! LOL). A wicked storm came through last night. Well, part of it was my fault in that I had a diet pepsi and of course caffeine does weird things to me like make me sleepy when I want to be awake and awake when I want to sleep. So finally at 1:15am (still going to have about 7 hours of sleep at that time, really!) I'm laying down. Can't get to sleep right away. Finally fall asleep and at about 2:30am(ish) am awoken by a really LOUD clap of thunder! Scared the heck out of me. Both HHT and I are up now and I check on the kiddos...B and EB are sound asleep, ET (9) and S (2) are both bawling their heads off. We put them in bed with us, only now, considering the storm is still going, they're pretty much wide awake. Plus, even if they were inclined to close their eyes with the thunder and lightning still going on there's really no way we're getting rest with 4 bodies in a queen bed, no matter how small some of the bodies are. Finally we tell them they have to go back to their own beds. I stay with them for a while, then HHT figures he only had 30 minutes or so till he was getting up anyway so he came and sat with them and told me to try and get some rest. Well, thunderstorms are like my favorite weather, I find them thrilling, and so I had a hard time getting back to sleep while the storm was still going. I think the last time I looked at the clock it was 4am and then I looked at it again at 5am and at 7am. So my sleep was a little spotty. And to top it all off due to TOM I'm up on the scale again. I need to lose 2.4lbs by tomorrow morning to stay in my competition. Not likely. LOL Now I need to try to wake ET up and get him ready for the dentist. Wish me (and the dentist...ever try to work on a sleepy, grumpy kid?) luck!