i am still here

I've still been working out, I've REALLY relaxed in my diet but I've been exercising when I can and accepting other forms of exercise, like playing in the pool.  We've been having a lot of fun this summer and I've even lost a couple pounds.  I'm happy maintaining.  It's been effortless so far.  The biggest thing I think I can contribute to my success was a little idea my MIL shared with me.  She told me to keep track of my weight in a little notebook and what I did for exercise that day.  I write in it everyday-even if I gained and even if I didn't exercise at all.  But being able to go back and look at everything I've done for the last 6 months has made such a difference.  On days I just want to pig out, I look at all the miles I've cycled, it's got to be in the hundreds, and how far I've come, I don't want to give up.  It's been a good reminder and motivator for me to stay healthy.  It's so much better to diet in the summer when produce is so much cheaper, everyone should start their resolutions in June instead of January.

It's been a while

Things are still going really well.  I'm losing weight these days at a snails pace but I must admit I haven't been trying real hard.  I lost 40 pounds!!!!  I've kept it off for 10 days!  I'd like to lose just another 3-4 pounds so that I can maintain at 125 instead of 127.  I know there isn't much of a difference, but for me, mentally-there is.  I work out about every other day and eat really healthily for breakfast and lunch.  Dinners are usually normal and then no snacks after unless something special is going on.  So-things are good...I'm really happy.

A good week

Hello all...
I got a bike computer for Mother's Day and I LOVE it. It has helped me so much get my cycling back in gear. I have cycled a little over 17 miles between yesterday and today and I really challenged myself. It was just the something extra I've been needing. I'm down 39 pounds and can not wait to hit 40. I'd like to maintain around 125 which is just a few pounds away and is very exciting for me. I am starting to see a little definition in my abs...seriously...I wish I could show it off, but alas that whole modesty and integrity thing has guided my judgment, so no rockin' ab pictures. ;) One other breakthrough I have had is in regards to junk food. When I am faced with junk food or a splurge situation I always want to go for the most calorie laden, rich foods so that I can really feel like the splurge is worth it because who knows the next time I'll get to eat junk, I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but that's how my brain worked. I always feel awful afterwards...too much grease upsets my stomach, too many carbs make me feel lethargic and just an all-around yucky feeling. So---I have realized I don't have to eat like it's my last chance for saturated fat. There will always be another birthday party, another game night where snacks will be available. Eat a little of something that tastes good and stick to the fruit and veggie plates. Just thought I'd share.

We're going out of town for the next few days which usually spells disaster for me but I'm hoping to at least maintain my current weight and not gain anything while we're gone.
Until next time...

Level Two

So, I tried level two of the 30 Day Shred and I have to say it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The only thing that was really difficult is she leaves what I thought were the hardest moves for circuit three, which was tough. I thought I was through the hardest part and then it got a lot harder. I felt good though. I realized I'd been doing level one for way too long and needed a better challenge. You don't have to be perfect at level one to get level two. She introduces something called a "plank jack" which is my new best friend and worst enemy. The exercise is tough but really works my weakest area.

Posting from the scale. Today I am thankful for an uneven bathroom floor. I usually have to move the scale around on the floor to find a level spot and then either take the weight I come up with most often or an average of all of them. Today...one of my weights was 129.6!!!!! I had an average of 130.0!!!!! I really need to keep up the momentum to peel off just a couple more pounds so that I'm totally out of the 130's. I want to be able to maintain and go up and down a few pounds without being in the 130s. Happy day!

Remember Hilda?

Remember on Annadotes, after Lucy was born and I realized I had someone else's bum? Well the same thing is happening again, only in an awesome way. I went to J.Crew yesterday and tried on a pair of jeans...I could not believe they fit me. Here's the proof.



After my birthday indulgence yesterday, the scale is a little whack-a-doo this morning but I'm off to a good start today. And now, I have these pictures to help me stay motivated. I'm sorry if you're sick of looking at my backside, but I can't promise this won't be the last time.

Posting from the scale: a birthday MIRACLE! 130.8 this morning! Happy Birthday to me!

blech

Last week was a tough, tough week. I think I got a little ahead of myself. I was really on a roll and then I rolled right into a brick wall. I struggled a lot last week. This week is a new week...I'm still very resolved to keep going. I'm not giving up. I just feel like I lost a little ground. Oh well...pick myself back up and all that, right?

Hello Plateau...

I've been on a roll the last couple weeks and I have finally hit another plateau. I knew this day would come-I did eat a lot of Chinese food last night...mmm...it was so good. I got back on track today and am happy about that-I just want to lose a few more pounds before maintaining. I feel like my arsenal of plateau busting tricks is empty. I can not cut out any more calories. I can not be any stricter with my diet. I could work out harder...I've been a little lax since last week. I was thinking maybe I'd start up The Shred again for a few days and see if that works. I don't think I'll lose those three pounds before my birthday--maybe 130? Anyway...that's all for now.

Victory!

Whose legs are those??? Oh, they're mine. >:) That's my emoticon for a devilish grin. We went to the Gap today so I could try on jeans. To me, Gap Jeans are the gold-standard of sizing. Because they don't stretch as much they tend to fit a little smaller so if you're an 8 at the Gap, you might be a 10 at other places. One of my goals going into this weight loss project was to fit into a Gap size 4 and to be a comfortable 6 everywhere else. So, today-we went to the Gap. I figured I would be a size 8 but took the 10s, 8s and 6s into the dressing room with me. I wasn't there to buy---hello---ever heard of Plato's? Anyway, I tried on the 8s first and they really fit great but I knew if I lost any more weight they'd be too big too fast, you know? So, I tried on the 6s and lo and behold they actually fit really well. I was SHOCKED when I slipped my leg into them so easily. I had Tony take a picture to document the event. I felt like Sister Skinny at the end of her journey. Watching that video always makes me cry, btw. I didn't know when he was actually taking it which is why I cropped out my head...I looked really silly.

The last time I fit into a size 6 from the Gap was back then:

8-23-03

Emotionally Detached

I'm continuing to make progress everyday. I had a mini-breakthrough on Thursday night. I had one of those MRIs I love so much. I was really cranky when it was over. I used to deal with my crankiness or bad days with french fries or ice cream, because I deserved it, right? After the MRI I was really wanting a treat, or rather something to make me feel better. I couldn't think of any food I would feel better after eating, especially at 10:00pm. So I just went home, was crabby with my husband, and then read my book and went to bed. Luckily by morning I felt better. No need for food to make me feel better. I was able to disassociate my feelings with the need for food. Yeah! My birthday is in 11 days...think I can lose three pounds by then? I don't know-I don't want to push it but it would be so awesome.

THANK YOU

Thank you, thank you, thank you! It was so nice all day yesterday to read all your words of congratulations and encouragement. To answer a few questions, I do have an end goal in mind...and hope to just maintain at that point. I am nervous about the maintenance stage, but like I've said before this feels much more like a life change than a diet, so it might not be so bad. The key for me has been exercise and moderation.

After all the sugar on Sunday, my body was a little freaked out yesterday---like, "what happened? I thought sugar was back and now you cut us off again." I had a really good day yesterday. I went out to lunch with two of my best, best girls and had that Fuji Apple salad at Panera. I love those apple chips. I was able to exercise and I just made a normal dinner and had a normal size portion. This morning I weighed 134.4. I haven't weighed 134 since these pictures were taken back in 2005 and I don't remember feeling like this back then.

The moment we've all been waiting for...

Start at the beginning and follow me on my journey. My original goal was to lose 20 pounds by today and I've lost more than 30. I've lost almost 20% of my body weight.

This change in my life has gone so much differently than I expected, and happily so. I have kept a few of my closest friends and family in the loop because I knew I would need the encouragement when times got tough. Yesterday was a total sugar fest so I need to get back on the wagon today.

Life is good. Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

Excited

So, my "reveal," is in a couple days and I have to say, I'm pretty excited. I'm going to work on writing all my feelings and such tomorrow so I just have to put up my pictures and it'll be ready to go on Monday morning. I've lost 31 pounds and am happily staring into the lower half of the 130s. Oh...and I fit into a size 8!

It's working

My Cardio-only week is paying off. I've been trying a variation of slow burning cardio and HIIT in order to just take off fat and so far so good! I am going away this weekend and am nervous but I can handle it!

U Turn

I read this today, it made me feel good.

"Stop beating yourself up!

That’s why almost all diets fail. Slip up? Make a YOU-turn. In other words, get back on your plan right away. If you’re driving with a GPS and make a wrong turn, it doesn’t berate you. All it says, very politely, is “at the next available moment, make an authorized U-turn.” That’s the kind of mentality you should have. What kills healthy eating isn’t the occasional dessert; it’s the cascade of behavior that happens after the initial indulgence. You’re going to make wrong turns. When you do, just steer yourself back."

Oh man, confessional time

I seriously fell off the wagon this weekend. And the wagon ended up plowing into Monday as well. I think my down fall was not planning well enough and not following through with what I had committed to do. On Friday, I went to a girl's night get-together and told myself to eat one small plate of food. I did have a really light dinner beforehand in anticipation...but after seeing that really good dip my friend made, which is essentially bad fat and bad carbs mixed together...I couldn't keep myself away from it. And did I mention I made brownies to take? I did mix in some flax meal and added some chopped walnuts, but it doesn't really matter when you eat 4! Then on Saturday I did really well for breakfast and lunch but then we had family over for dinner and I ate my fair share of junk and two healthy helping of dessert. Sunday was really fine...I indulged in some coleslaw but other than that the day was pretty good. Monday I was gone all day and not in the mood to make dinner so we stopped on the way home for a hot and ready. Throw in some sugary soda calories and that explains the 2-3lb weight gain over the weekend. I know, I'm obsessed with the scale but that's an issue I'll address some other time. Last week I saw 139 on the scale...it was probably a fluke but I was so excited, then I battled 141 and 140 all week, I was 140 on Friday, and then I've steadily climbed up since then. I am thinking that Jillian Michael's may be causing me to gain muscle weight-which is good, but I don't think I'm ready for toning yet, I'm really interested in burning fat. So, for the rest of this week I'm doing a cardio only experiment. I'm going to do low-intensity cardio for longer periods of time (90 minutes) and we'll see what happens. I'll report back maybe Monday. We're going away this weekend but to my in-laws. They'll have healthy choices for me there. Thank goodness.

Experiment

Image by masonmasteka via Flickr

Scale-less=not going to happen. I'm just too close to the "reveal." I'm too dependent on it. I tried to go this morning without it but then it made me feel like I could cheat on the diet...like, "I'm not weighing in so I can eat this half a bagel, right?" It's not the mentality I want to have right now. I really need the momentum I've built up to keep me going for the next 10-15 pounds. I'll go down to weighing myself only every few days or once a week when I'm to the maintenance stage.

A Scale-less Experiment

I am giving up my scale for two weeks. I am motivated by this post from my friend Teri on her blog, A Foodie Stays Fit. It really got me thinking. I weigh myself every day and I let the number dictate how I feel. I weigh myself first thing in the morning, that's when you're supposed to be the lightest right? So, I lay in bed after waking, thinking..."what is the highest number the scale can say that I can be happy with?" I want to think about how strong I've become, how my endurance has improved and have that make me happy instead of a number. I feel like I'm taking a risk because there are only three weeks until my "reveal." What if I don't listen to my body well enough or what if going without the scale stresses me out and I gain weight? I hoping it will have the opposite effect, that I will be less stressed without the scale and just feel better. I won't get to my "goal weight" by 4/5, but I never intended to do that. I had wanted to lose 20 pounds by then and it looks like I'll hit 30. So, I'll let you know how it goes.

Busyish

It's been kind of a busy week. It's been nice out, so we've been spending more time outside, which means less time inside doing chores...I guess that makes me feel busy. I've been feeling great, great, great. I broke through my second plateau. I was stuck stuck stuck at 145 for two weeks. It was a tough two weeks but I have finally broken through and am at 141. So that's 26 pounds people! Also, I have started incorporating Jillian Michael's back into my workouts. She is one tough cookie but sure helps me sweat. I was motivated by this blog post about shocking your body and doing something to change things up...I did, and I has really made a difference. I have moved away from the Zone dinners. I'm still in the Zone for breakfast and lunch but I got a little bored with the dinner recipes so I've been trying to focus on overall health and portion size. We have made a permanent switch to fat-free cheese and switched from sour cream to plain Greek Yogurt. I can't tell with the yogurt but I can with the cheese. Anywho-I just wanted to check it, I'm still here, and I'm still working out hard. I just might lose 30 pounds by Easter. I only have four pounds to go. That is crazy to me...crazy but exciting.

I need to settle on a "before" picture. I didn't take an "official" picture and I wish I had. Oh well. I'll find something.