Advantage?!

Losing weight can be tricking.  It is definently something that takes a lot of physical work.  But it also can be a lot of mental work too.  Alot of people who have lost weight, have a hard time "seeing" their new self.  They still have their large body image in their head and forget that they can fit into smaller clothes and can physically do things they couldn't in their larger body.  They have to do alot of mental work to accept their new body and their abilities.

I have a different problem.  I don't "see" my fat body.  I still see my 135-pound self.  It is always a hard reality check when I see pictures of myself or when I have to go clothes shopping and nothing is flattering or fits right.  Once I have lost weight, I will finally have the body that I see in my head. 

This could be an advantage but it could also be a disadvantage.  The problem that I forsee is that without an accurate picture of what I currently am, will I realize how far I have come to become fit and thin again?  I decided to help this not be as big a problem that I need to have a very visual reminder of where I started.  This way, once I am my smaller body, I will remember that I did have a LARGER body that I CANNOT forget about. 

Here are my visual reminders of my starting point in my healthiness journey!  ENJOY!!! :)

 

Staying Strong

Weekends are definently where I struggle.  I do really well during the week because I have the same schedule everyday.  On the weekends, events take place and we tend to eat out more.  This weekend will be especially hard because I will be at my parent's house all weekend and will be spending most of Saturday with family at my brother-in-laws wedding. 

I plan to have several small snacks in my purse.  Since it is a family wedding, I do know what food will be served so I am planning out my calories accordingly.  We will get back Sunday night and I will be hitting the exercise VERY hard monday-thursday for my 1st of the month weigh-in.

I am still focused on my 2.5 pound loss that I need in order to reach my goal.  I plan to try and get a workout in tomorrow morning and will be doing a workout this morning once my daughter is in preschool.

I need to cut a few more calories too.  My range is 1250-1550 but lately I have been really close to 1550 most days which is resulting in less weight loss.  The week that I was close to 1250, I lost 3.5 pounds with only one day of exercise.  Time to make smarter choices, and eat smaller portions.

Hope your weekend goes well and that you are able to stay on track.  I'll be back Monday with pics from the weekend and a report of how well I did with my goals.

Another Loss

I am happy to report that I lost another 1.6 pounds this week!!! 
I am excited but in order to meet my weight loss goal for the month, I still need to lose AT LEAST 2.5 pounds.
Which means, I need to kick it up a notch this week.
Especially considering that I will be out of town this weekend at a family wedding.
So I had to come up with a plan.

My Plan:
*Eat within caloric range EVERYDAY. 
*Workout FIVE times before next weigh-in. 
*Eat breakfast everyday within ONE hour of waking up.

I am hoping this results in a bigger loss on the scale next week.

FULL

I was gonna get on and talk about the non scale victories that I have had lately

BUT

I feel full and uncomfortable and decided to talk about why.

I have eaten really well the last week and a half with very little junk food.  Today we (my daughter and I) made a cake for St. Patty's Day.  I didn't go over my daily calories but I do feel like I had too much sweet stuff.  I snacked a little on the frosting and then also had a small piece of cake.  I am not sure if I had it too close to dinner and that is why I feel gross or if it is just the sugar that is making me feel that way.

Overall, I am not feeling guilty about it because I was aware of how many calories I had left for the day and how many calories the cake was and knew that it was ok.  I just don't like the uncomfortable feeling I have been left with.  My stomach is not happy.  Good thing I took half the cake over to a friend's house so I didn't have the temptation (not sure how much of a temptation it will be now) left in the house.

Today is day 11 of counting calories and EVERYDAY I have stayed with in my caloric range!!!

Half Way

I have been counting my calories (and staying within the range) since last Monday.  I have been surprised by how well I have done.  It really does make a difference because the snacks I normally have without thinking about, were not worth wasting the calories on.

This past weekend, I spend our at my parent's house.  For some reason, I always allow myself to eat HORRIBLY when I am there.  I drink way too much Dr. Pepper and snack NON-STOP!  I was totally committed to sticking to my calories and paying attention to what I ate while I was there.  I did great!

Well, this morning was my weekly weighin and I lost 3.5 pounds!!!  Which means that I have lost 4 pounds since the beggining of the month and am half way to reaching my weight loss goal for the month.  It is totally within reach and I am determined to get there.

CAKE

I LOVE cake...so much so that I watch Cake Boss REGULARLY!!!  I especially like cake when I don't have to make it.
Well, I have been craving cake lately but don't want to make a whole cake only to eat a little (or possibly alot) and then throw the rest away. 
Last night, I had a church meeting and there was CAKE!!!
I had about 400 calories left for the day but decided that I would rather use those calories for either a fruit smoothie or something more nutritious once I got home.
I was SSSSOOOOO proud that I was able to sit and talk with my friends while they all ate their cake and I was completely satisfied to just enjoy their company.

(pic from littlest 1st birthday party)

Good Read

Such an inspirational book.
Made me think of the weight loss process in a whole new light.
She talks about her spiritual growth through her process of losing almost half of her body weight.
She talks about seeing herself the way God intented her to be.
By treating her body the way God wants her to, she was able to continue doing the things to make it healthy and strong.
There were so many things in this book that made me realize what I needed to change. 
I am excited and ready to move forward with these changes FOR LIFE!!!
I am hitting the treadmill for an hour tonight during the Biggest Loser.
I have tracked my calorie intake the last two days and will continue too.
I will continue to make good decisions ~ like choosing gum over the cinnamon roll that my hubby had last night!
I will move more and eat less!  That is the trick right?!

GYM DECISION

Those new to reading this blog might not how much I dislike gyms!
Well, I went to the local gym yesterday to check it out and look into possibly getting a personal trainer one day a week to help me out.
Well, I left kinda frustrated.  This gym is okay and it is definently reasonably priced (except for PT) but the classes are few and far between.  I went mainly because I am REALLY interested in doing Zumba at least once a week and have access to weights.
Personal training is out the question...not in a student's budget!  And because none of the zumba classes work into my schedule...I have decided to NOT join (for now). 
I am going to focus on journaling my food intake and really work on eating better.  Plus I am going to work on building my cardio endurance.  Once I feel like I have a good hold on those, I will then decide what I need to do to add in strength training.  I am headed to look at food journals tonight and will let you know which one I choose.

SERIOUSLY?!?

I hit the treadmill last night due to anger, frustration and confusion.  The workout itself felt good.  I pushed myself ALOT harder than I normally do. 

I ran!!!

I rocked out to music!!!

IT FELT GREAT!!!

As you may know, I am addicted to the Biggest Loser.  I think the show is very motivational.  This season has a couple contestants that I am in awe of.  One that my heart breaks for every episode is Arthur.  I CANNOT imagine what it would feel like to just have to try and walk, let alone run with all that weight.  He has definently struggled while on the ranch but I know he NEEDS the ranch and the support of the trainers and his teammates. 

Unfortunately, his teammates changed last night.  My heart BROKE!!!  I knew then that he was in trouble.  The red team sticks together no matter what!  I was so hopeful when he got on the scale and could possibly win immunity.  But he was 3 pounds short.  16 pound weight loss is incredible...but my heart was breaking.  I really thought that Bob's "speech" would make the red team see that sometimes health is more important than alliances.

I was saddened when people made the choice to "play the game" instead of help a person in need out.  I was angry and therefore, I ran out my feelings instead of eating them!  (non-scale victory)

When I finished working out, I talked to my husband about it and he had a very different perspective.  He thinks that the red team was just fighting for themselves as individuals.  I just think that despite the fact that everyone there needs to be there, some need it more.  Especially at this point in the season.  Overall, I hope someone/anyone from the black team wins this season!  I think that have more heart and compassion!!!

I really hope that he is able to stay motivated at home and can't wait to see how he has done at the finale!

March Goals

I have been doing alot of thinking about what I can do in order to stick with this process LONGTERM.  It is a lifestyle change and not a diet.  I have had an all-or-nothing type of attitude and it has not worked...so...it is time for an attitude change.

It is time to set mini-goals that are easier to achieve.  Don't get me wrong, I still have long-term goals but they are NOT going to be my focus.  If I choose certain goals get month, eventually the long-term goals will simply be achieved because I have accomplished all my smaller goals. 

So on the first of each month, I will post a review of how the previous month's goals went and set the current month's goals.  Obviously there is nothing to review for February but here are my goals for March:

1.  Drink 48 ounces of water each day.

2.  Be able to run a mile without walking or stopping.

3.  Get my weight into the 180s...which means at a minimum I must lose 8.1 pounds.

4.  Look into (and hopefully join) the local gym.

5.  Look at different food/exercise journals and find one that will work for me.

Over the next couple days, I will outline some of these in more detail.  If anyone has a food journal system that has worked for them, please share.