Thanksgiving Over & Weigh Day

Friday is my official weigh day, and being the day after Thanksgiving I wasn't sure about it. I did weigh yesterday before I started cooking and eating and I was exactly the same as last week. So I figured it couldn't be that bad. This morning I weighed and what did I see.....203.4....woohoo...down .6, I'll take it.

Thanksgiving was a great day, with great friends and family. My first Thanksgiving I actually made. It turned out good. I took pics but left the camera at Tammy's house so she could download her so cute new pics. I'll post pics later. Everything turned out great, too much of course, but it was good. I think the turkey was a little dry, but everyone said it was good, I think they we just being nice and trying not to hurt my feelings. But for the first one, it wasn't too bad. Lots of yummy food, and only one dessert. Shane's dad made a pie, million dollar pie, it had fruit & cool whip and marshmallows, just one sliver for me. I didn't count calories, but only had a spoonful of each thing and two slices of turkey.

For breakfast I had my oatmeal and 12 grain toast. We then had Thanksgiving lunch. I wasn't stuffed, but satisfied. I then went over to Shane's parents house to visit, this is only down the street from the 24 hour gym I joined earlier (and I still have membership til mid December), so I decided on my way home I was going to do 2miles on the treadmill. Then when I got home I only had a small helping of corn casserole and a slice of cranberry sauce. I still wasn't very hungry but decided I should eat something. SO, a not so bad eating day, and I lost .6 pounds.

I'm headed out now to meet Tammy and workout. More later.

2 Months - Battle of the Bulge

It has been 2 months since I started this journey to a healthier lifestyle. I am down 18 pounds and 14.75 inches overall (I will put stats in my sidebar). Yea Me. I am very motivated right now to continue this journey, but the holidays are coming up and there is always a lot of eating to do around the holidays. I think with the Christmas Challenge that I will be more motivated to stay on track. So Holidays here I come.

Interestingly, I have been talking about starting to count my calories again. When I first began this my children thought I was obsessed with calorie counting, and then I just kinda got away from it. I need to get back to that obsession, and start counting. I am doing alot of cardio and there's not a lot of results on the scale. I mean a pound a week, and it should be 3. So I'm going with the advice of the trainer at the gym, she said I needed between 1,600 and 1,900, so I'm going with 1,500. Okay, so not exactly the advice she gave, but close. I've been doing around 1,300, so I'm going to up it to 1,500 and see what results I get from that.

I am elated about the inches lost though. I have been feeling that my clothes are getting looser. My sweats are getting so baggy that the crotch hangs to my knees, and as I'm walking and sweating, I am getting chaffed on my legs. Soon there will be nothing there to chaff, but for now there is. So this week I'm looking for a smaller size sweats to work out in.

This weekend Shane and I volunteered at the community Thanksgiving for the needy in our city. I was so blessed by this, and know that I have so much to be thankful for. God is so good to us, and I was so happy to share in this experience. I makes me more thankful for the Thanksgiving dinner I will be preparing this next week. Everyone should pray for me though, I have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner before. I have always gone somewhere for Thanksgiving dinner where someone else cooked.

And for those of you that read my blog and Tammy's blog, she will not be home alone on Thanksgiving, because we have moved our Thanksgiving dinner to her house so she will be included with our family. She is such a great person, we love her and don't want her to be alone at the holiday. I am also thankful for Tammy, because without her I am sure I would not have decided to go on this journey again. She is a great inspiration.

Day 60 - Battle if the Bulge

WEIGH DAY AND SMART WATER

Today is weigh day. So the scale says 204, down only 1 pound. I guess it's better than up 1 pound, but still not what I had hoped for. I've been working out twice a day, almost every day. Most mornings I do a mile on the treadmill and then I do 2 - 2.5 miles at night 6 days a week, I do strength training 5 days a week. Every other night I do the C25K, but I can only muster up enough energy to do 4 of the 8 runs. I'm working up to this though.

This morning I did the C25K, and could only do 4 of the 8 runs...I can't catch my breath in the minute and half it gives you to walk, but I'm going to try to do 6 of the runs next time. This is 1.5 miles. I then went at lunch time to the gym near my office, and walked another mile. So I'm down 2.5 miles today. I plan to go to the gym tonight and try the C25K again.

As I was doing my run this morning I suddenly had pain in two toes on my right foot. It felt like I was being stuck with a needle. I finished my walk/run and took my shoe and sock off, only find there was nothing in my shoe. I had worn blisters on my two toes. I have heard about this, in fact I think Tammy has had blisters for the last month or two, but to actually have them. It's hard to walk. So after my walk this afternoon, I immediately went to CVS and picked up some blister strips, they are feeling much better now. I will not let this keep me from goal.

I'm still not counting my calories, and I think this may be my problem. I'm not really overeating, and I'm watching what I eat, but maybe I'm taking in too many calories.

Yesterday I also bought a bottle of SmartWater. It looked smart, but was just about as smart as the water I get out of the water cooler at work. It didn't seem to make me any smarter, but the bottle was colorful. I actually bought this bottle of SmartWater because it was 34 ounces. If I fill it up twice I'm drinking 68 ounces. Yesterday I filled it up 4 times. So I think I'm doing good on my water.

Can't wait for Thanksgiving to be over with. Tammy and I have been working out hard, but I feel like it will all be blown as soon as Thanksgiving gets here. I have a plan, but will I stick to that plan. In looking at my menu I'm having lots of carbs, turkey and a green vegetable. I'm not a big sweet eater so dessert won't be a problem, but I love Thanksgiving dinner, and then I have clean up where I usually eat as much as I would eat as I do at dinner.

Addictions...they say that when you give up one addiction another one takes over. Tammy and I were talking the other day about how addicting the gym is getting to be, and it is. I can't wait to get off work to go work out. We usually work out 6 days a week, doing cardio every night and weights 5 nights. I usually walk a mile at the gym in the morning, and I've been trying to figure out how to work in a mile at lunch time. It only takes 17 minutes for a mile, so I could do that at lunch. The gym is about 10 minutes away from my office, so 37 minutes and I still have time to eat. It could happen.

I worked at home today and actually thought about going back to bed for an hour before I got started on my work, and skip my workout. But I was so siked when I got up and stepped on the scale and it showed 2lbs down. Now today is not my weigh day, but kinda just peeked today. SO I had to get dressed and go work out. I just couldn't let it go today, and not try to have a loss this week. I figure the more cardio I do, the more fat I lose. So I JUST DID IT!!!! Walked 1.5 miles this morning, because I wasn't hurrying to get to work.

Watching the Biggest Loser tonight I found out that there is always a reason why we are fat, and you have to find out why or it won't work, you will go back to the same behavior if you don't come to grips with the reasons. I was thinking about this and I have some serious soul searching to do to figure out how I got to the point where I started putting on this weight. I really think it was a series of things, where everything kept happening. I have always been an emotional eater. Since I started my journey 8 weeks ago, I have been trying to change that behavior. I need my own personal Jillian to help with with this journey, she just gets inside your head and even though she appears to be a b*tch, it is a motivation to keep going.

I have been doing good with my food although I haven't been actually counting calories, and I feel that even though I'm eating what I should eat, I can see my old eating patterns coming back. I need to get back into counting the calories, not just figuring in my head. Because as I get older my head's just not what it used to be, and I have so many numbers running around in there, I could actually be eating too many calories.

Anyhow, I can tell in my clothes that I am losing inches, and I think this weekend I will take my measurements again to see where I am.

Quote for the day - What possibilities would exist for you if you could eliminate the worry from your day?

Battle of the Bulge - Week 8 - Weigh Day

Weigh Day today, the scale says 205.0, so that's a 1.5 loss. When I was at the gym Wednesday morning, they have a scale in the bathroom so, I weighed and I was at 203.2 which would have been 3.2 loss, but alas Mother Nature has reared her ugly head, and that's what happened to 3.2. But 1.5 is still a loss and I'll take it, any loss is a good loss.

My eating has been okay, although I have not actually counted calories. I have just kinda been figuring in my head...ok the oatmeal has 140, a piece of toast is 70, milk is....you get the picture. But I think I may forget something, and still go over on my calories. So I am going back to calorie counting tomorrow.

I wasn't feeling very well the first of the week, I thought I was coming down with a cold. So I started taking Tylenol Cold during the day and Nyquil at night, so this could have also added to my not so great weight loss. I also started taking extra Vitamin C...and I as I was taking my Gummi Vitamin C this morning I read the label. What the heck....the Vitamin C Gummi's have 15 calories each....what???? I have to figure in the calories of the vitamins too??? What is up with that???

I have two more days of my 14 day cleanse, and as I was mixing my apple juice in with my cleanse this morning (because it tastes GROSS with water, and was recommended), I read the label....it had 110 calories in the juice per 8 oz serving (which is what I use)....so once again, I have not been counting this as calories. I have definitely been going over my calorie limit. I have probably been at 2000 calories a day, I am so surprised I didn't gain this week. But then again with the cleanse, everything comes out...seriously.

I have done pretty ok with my workout. I worked out with Tammy on Saturday and Sunday morning, both 2 miles on treadmill and 2x the circuit on the weights. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday morning I did a mile on the treadmill before work. Monday night I did 2 miles, Tuesday I worked late so didn't get a second walk in, Wednesday night I did 2.5 miles, and Thursday I just didn't feel good and passed on the second walk. When I work out alone I don't have the extra push to go further. I'm also tired after working all day, so I think walking a second time is pretty darn good....but I could probably do more if I pushed myself.

I do plan to stop on my way home and at least walk 2 miles. Food has been good today, been watching it more carefully, but I think we will be going out to eat tonight so you never know what that will bring. Will start counting calories again tomorrow. I think 1250 - 1300 calories is good for me.

With the holidays coming up it is so hard to focus on weight loss, but I will be very mindful of this. I already have an exercise plan in place. The gym that Tammy and I work out at will be closed on Thanksgiving and I think they said they have short hours on the Friday after. So I still have my 24 hour gym membership and I will be working out Thanksgiving morning. We will be going to Shane's parents for Thanksgiving and the 24 hour gym is just down the street, so I will be stopping by there to do 2 or 2.5 miles on the treadmill before lunch. Then, depending on the hours, I will go on Friday morning and again Friday evening. I will also work out on Wednesday night prior to the big day. So hopefully this will help me not gain a lot. I also have an eating plan. I will have white meat turkey, only 1 or 2 slices, and only a spoonful of everything else (Tammy had suggested this when she went to a family get together earlier, and it seemed to work for her).

I don't have any family here (just me and my kids), so there will be no family get togethers, it will just be lunch with Shane's parents. Hopefully there will not be a lot of leftovers sent home with us. Sometimes it's sad not having any family around, but there is no use in getting depressed over thing I have no control over.

My short term goal, as I will not be seeing any of my family until at least spring, is to be at least half way to my goal weight by spring. So that will be 46 pounds gone or a weight of 176. I also have a big convention that my company attends in April. This will be another opportunity to show off the new me. All of the managers from out of town attend this convention, and I only see them once a year. This is also a great time to get some new clothes, as we have a hospitality cocktail party and a semi-formal dinner also. Of course by then none of my last year clothes will fit, so I will have to buy something new and very flattering.

So even though the holidays are right around the corner, my goals go beyond that and I will meet these goals. This will keep me on track during the holidays. I CAN DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!! With a little help from my friend and a lot of God's help.

Right now I'm still at work and must get some things done, so more later...

Battle of the Bulge - Week 7

Yeah for me....Lost 3.1 pounds this week, so that puts me at 206.4. Can't wait to get down into the ones. I have decided my reward for getting to the ones is I'm getting my hair done. It's been almost 6 months since I have had my hair done, and it needs to be done BAD. I have a problem with things that I need to have done, I never have the money and the time at the same time. Now if the kids need something, that's another story, they make you make time for their priorities. So no matter what that is my goal (hopefully in the next 2 weeks - only 6.4 pounds to go).

This is the second week of my colon cleanse. And for Sheilagh, it's not painful. It's not a colonic where they force some kinda water substance into your rectum and everything comes out. They did one of those on Tyra the week I was at home. It is a fiber powder that I mix with apple juice, and it cleans you out. And I must say it really works. Now, I'm not one that examines my bodily excretions, but just had to peek to see if it was really working. And yep, everything is coming out.

Had some great workouts this week with Tammy, doing cardio and strength training also. Just got back from one of those. I haven't been able to walk my mile in the morning this past week because I've been running late and having to go by and let my future inlaws dogs out. But dad is out of the hospital now and I'll be getting back to my routine and walk on my way to work. I feel so much more energized when I workout in the mornings, and then when I workout at night I sleep like a log. Tammy didn't workout with my on Thursday or Friday night, and I just don't push myself as much when she's not there.

I did start the Couch to 5k program last night while at the gym, but I could only run 4 of the 9 runs. I did it again today, and also did 4 of the 9 runs. So I've done Week 1 - Day 1 two days in a row. I will work up to all 9 runs, gotta start slow. After all I've only been exercising for 5 weeks. Prior to that my only exercise was raising my fork to mouth and now I'm doing 2 to 3 miles a day at least 5 days a week.

I haven't really been counting my calories these past two weeks, but have been doing pretty good. I know what I'm supposed to eat and if I just eat what I know I'm supposed eat I would be great. I don't have any particular cravings, so if I stick with what I know I do pretty well. But I do need to get back to the calorie counting so I know exactly how many calories I'm taking in versus what I'm burning.

The plan for the day is to clean out the closet, shrimp/spinach quesadillas for lunch, church and chicken something for dinner.

Quote for the Day - A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Now take on the day....(heard that somewhere, but don't know where)

Whatever happened to Thanksgiving

As I drove through town tonight, I noticed that all the Halloween decorations had been taken down and had been replaced with Christmas decorations. What is this all about??? When I was growing up it was unheard of to have your Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving night. We would go to downtown Atlanta and watch the lighting of the Great Christmas tree and then come home and put up our own tree. What has become of this life I once knew? Everyone has become so busy and everything goes by so fast. I guess everyone is trying to keep up the fast pace.

Ok enough of that rant....now on to the weight loss.

This week has not been quite as hectic, but I have been busy. Tammy and I have worked out together three day in a row, doing both cardio and weights. And boy am I feeling it. I did my cardio alone tonight.

I have been watching what I eat but have not been counting all the calories, but ever mindful of how many calories I am consuming.

I also started a colon cleanse last Sunday. It's a 14 day cleanse, and until today has not really been that bad. However, today it was unpredictable. I had to run from my office a couple of times and it interrupted my walk tonight, and had to stop half way go to the bathroom and come back.

So I'm hoping that all the exercise, good eating, colon cleanse and all the water I drink, will result in a good loss tomorrow morning. But only the scale will tell.

Quote of the day - There are two ways of attaining an important end, force and perseverance; the silent power of the latter grows irresistible with time.