See. You. Later. 2010!!!

These have been a very tough couple of weeks (both dieting and in a bunch of other ways).   I'm looking forward to getting back into a normal routine on Monday.  I'm hoping to get to the gym tomorrow (it's been at least 1 1/2 weeks since I've been), and to start eating right again.

I'm back

It's been a week since I've posted.  Let's just say I'm going to fold up this past week and tuck it away, or throw it away, and forget about it.  I'm ready to fight fat again.  Forward ho!

Trying to Stay Mentally TOUGH this week!

There are a lot of temptations this week.  A LOT!  I've been doing good with resisting them thus far and I hope to continue to be good.  Aaaaaah!  It's just sooo stressful!!!  I've been in the house with my kids A LOT, and they've been screaming and fighting, A LOT!  I did something to my lower back and so I have to be careful with what I'm doing for exercise.  And of course, Christmas is coming up on Saturday.  I'm not saying that I'm throwing in the towel this week, not at all, but I have a lot of obstacles I'm facing in trying to stay on track. 

I was at my parent's house yesterday and I resisted Andes mint candies, these chocolate cake swiss roll type things they had, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and Russian tea cakes....but it was SO SO SO hard not to eat any!!!!  I'll be at a Christmas party tomorrow,  my neighbors will be bringing over Christmas goodies at some point this week (like we all do every year), my daughter's birthday is tomorrow, my in-laws are coming over for Christmas Eve dinner and dessert on Friday night, Christmas is Saturday, and my parent's are having a huge Christmas party on Sunday.

I better get some type of plan in place now...or I'm. in. trouble!!!!  I'm open to suggestions from people.  (hint hint, this means I'm REALLY hoping people put up some comments for me).

I Attempted Running Today.......

.........aaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha....hahahahahaha.......hahahahaha.......hahaha....haha....ha!  Guess how it went?  :-)  Between my brother training for the LA Marathon (go Mike!) and all those previously morbidly obese people on The Biggest Loser  RUNNING a marathon, I figured "Well I'm sure I can run at least a mile!"  (At this point in the post you can refer back to the laughter up above.)  I "ran" half a mile (at most) when I started wheezing.  Soon after the wheezing I'm pretty sure my form turned into that of how a person would look running, after being shot in the upper right hamstring and/or buttocks.  I got home and my husband said, "you're back??" and I said, "running just isn't for me".  Well, at least winter running without an inhaler isn't for me.  I'll stick to the gym for now,where the air is warmer, and I'm less likely to embarrass myself, unless of course I fall off of some stationary piece of equipment.
I did a bit of a power walk after the "run".  I may not have been exercising for a long time, but it was better than nothing (unless you're one of the poor souls that passed me while I was "running." - they were probably wishing I HAD done nothing...or at least done it in private).

A PLEASANT SURPRISE!

Against my better judgment I decided to get on the scale today.  Not only am I down from the few pounds I had put on last week, but I'm also lower than my 13.5 pound weight loss.  I lost another 1.5 pounds, putting me at 197..and at a 15 pound weight loss!!!
Yes, I ate foods I should not have last week, but I also ate right a lot of the time, too.  I've also made huge gains mentally, which are helping on this journey.  I think the biggest thing is that I am not beating myself up and giving up, when I mess up.  I'm also really trying to look at history and not repeat the same patterns.  I'm am by no means perfect with this new process, but I'm getting better at it.  The other thing I'm trying to do is get rid of some of the stress on my body.  I can't get rid of the external stress surrounding me (which is everything that encompasses taking care of  and being concerned about  my little family), but I can do thing to help reduce the stress in my body, such as getting enough sleep, taking my vitamins/supplements, and of course, eating right. 
I haven't had any sugar since Monday (if you're new to this blog then you should know that sugar is my vice) and I've been back on track with my diet.  Yay me!

Just say NO....take two.

I went to a woman's prayer group tonight and there were goodies as far as the eye could see, but I didn't have any.  Yay me!

Got a workout in

I just did a free "on demand" aerobics workout....trying to get into healthy mode again!

Hello Monday

Time to get back on track today.  I'm staying away from the scale...too much cheese, chips, cake, ice cream, chocolate and alcohol this past weekend!  So far so good today.  I resisted a lot of the things I wanted to buy at the grocery store this morning, but I did get a muffin.  It was sweetened with fruit juice and not sugar, but it was  made with flour, which is a no no on my diet.  At least I didn't buy the chocolate chip scone that I REALLY REALLY wanted.  No excuses! Time to Just. Do. it!!

Out of the zone

Christmas party last night, gingerbread men cookies with the kids today, birthday celebration for my soon to be 2 year old tomorrow........I've fallen off the wagon.  I'm not upset with myself though.  It's actually been nice to take a mental break of sorts, and just go along with my day without carefully  planning every single thing I put in my mouth.  However, I'm sure I'm gaining weight so I'll be back on my complete "sugar free" diet on Monday.  I felt really really good when I wasn't eating sugar and now, well, I'm kind of feeling like crap.  Don't fret my followers, I'll be riding the wagon again real soon...full speed ahead!

I'm Still Here....(huge sigh)

Getting on the scale on Monday and seeing a number above 200 again really did a number on me.  I worked really hard last week and I got depressed to see that a day (maybe a day and a half) of getting off track (okay, WAY off track) made such a difference.  I went on a chocolate "bender" of sorts on Monday night (thank God it wasn't alcohol or my kids would have been like, "Daddy, why does mommy keep walking sideways into walls?").  I just started shoveling handful after handful after handful of chocolate chips into my mouth.  I also haven't been doing my "yeast eliminating" diet at all this week.  I've been eating fishy crackers, lasagna, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot chocolate, regular pasta, potato chips etc. etc. etc.  I've also been overeating since Monday.  I think part of it's depression over the weight gain, and I think part of it is me sabotaging my efforts.  I know that there is a part of me that doesn't think that I am really capable of losing all the weight and so I'm giving up.  However, I'm not completely giving up because I don't want to go back to the way I was, but I've certainly lost my focus and I'm having trouble getting it back.  I've got to work on believing in myself.
I also know that I'm overtired and emotionally drained, which is part of the issue.  My 3 year old daughter had to have a test done yesterday, which required me to get up with her at 4am...lovely.  In addition, there was a tragedy that happened in my town yesterday and I went to a prayer vigil last night for the family (it turns out that I knew one of the people who died, and I know several people who know the family very well).  The vigil didn't get out until 10pm, it was extremely emotional, and I cried a lot.  I just add all this because I know that overall health isn't just about diet and exercise, and for the past two days I haven't been in the best mental/physical state to be healthy.
I'm going to get to bed early tonight and hit the gym in the morning.  As of right now, I think it's best for me to stay away from the scale for a few weeks.  I've got to get mentally back in the game and I can't risk having the scale deflate my "feeling good about myself" balloon, again.

Can't take the weekend off - That's for Sure!!!!

After a week of eating right and exercising a lot, I'm up 2.5 pounds :-(  I blew it this weekend.  I made a lasagna that was a culinary masterpiece, and I ate about half the pan.  I also got into the potato chips yesterday (I don't usually buy them, but I did...and I'm paying for it), and I even had some peanuts with chocolate chips.  Basically, I not only totally blew my "no sugar" diet, but I blew pretty much every other diet out there. 
I'm back on track today....water water water and no sugar....I'm frustrated and down (but if I had to do it all over again, I would still eat the lasagna but would have nixed the chips, peanuts and chocolate chips).  Back to fighting!  Less than 3 weeks until Christmas and I want to be at least 5 pounds lighter by then!!

Work out work out work out work out work out.......

It's been a great week for working out.  I went walking Tuesday night, went to the gym Wednesday and Thursday morning, and went walking today.  I plan on hitting the gym tomorrow morning and will then take Sunday off.  I've also been keeping on track with my eating, but have been craving almost everything I'm not supposed to eat, which has been tough. 

December 3, 2010

 

I thought I would put up a picture of myself so I can start doing some before and after shots.  I'm not ready to put up the picture taken of me when I was at my heaviest, not sure if I'll ever be since I look like a marshmallow with a head. This is a picture of me at 198 lbs.  ( please excuse the "calico" paint job in the background...we've been sampling paint colors since last February...the look is growing on me).

Daily Encouragement

In July of 2009 I joined a sugar addiction support forum called "First Ourselves".  Each day I get an email from the forum, and I thought this one would be a nice one to share here on my blog.  Here it is:


Daily Encouragement for you, December 2 2010:

"The holidays are a time of huge internal and external expectations. It’s easy to hold a mental image of the perfect holiday, and then feel disappointed when it doesn’t hold true.

One way to ease this disappointment is to uncover the essence of your needs. What is a “perfect” holiday to you? Describe it. Then ask yourself, what needs are being met by that perfect scenario? Is it connection, community, joy, creativity, play, hope, beauty, or love? Too often, we rely on food or shopping to fill so many of our needs. Or we overcommit without thinking. By contrast, when you’re aware of the essence of what you need, then you can flex and bend and find ways to meet your needs in a myriad ways."

From firstourselves.org, Stick with your weight loss goals over the holidays

December

Is anyone else have trouble believing it's already December??  Wow!.  Okay, so back to the topic of fighting fat.   I went on a 1/2 hour power walk after dinner last night and then went to the gym this morning.  I've been craving sweets again, which kind of stinks (well actually, it really stinks), but I'm not caving because it's not worth it.  I had a cookie and some pie on Thanksgiving and I've been craving dessert ever since....grrrrr!  And I'm sure eating that roll yesterday has something to do with it too.  A white roll is really just cake in disguise, the only difference is that it's not as sweet (but let's be honest, once that roll is in your body, it does the same thing any other carb like that does).

Now that it's December I'm going to offer some advice since we're in full holiday swing.  My advice?  If you SERIOUSLY want to lose weight don't say to yourself,  "I'm going to start my diet after the holidays" - start NOW.  Taking OFF weight is harder than putting it on, and then if you add Christmas parties, Christmas itself, other holidays, and New Years into the mix, the weight is going to come on even faster.  I've lost 13.5 pounds and am now at 198.5.  Had I not started this journey when I did I have no doubt that I would have gained those 13.5 pounds onto my start weight (if not more), which means I'd be looking down at the scale right now and it would be reading around 225.   But it's so much more than a number on the scale.  Between exercising and eating healthy, I FEEL so much better!  I was so lethargic two months ago, I felt like total crap, I was depressed and I had no endurance.  I was a mess physically, emotionally and mentally.
Just looking out for all of you as well! :-)