I’m Back and Not Much Has Changed

I can’t believe I am to this point again. 

5 years ago I was the smallest I had been since getting married.  I had accomplished many of the goals I listed in this blog.  I looked good in Zack’s graduation pictures, I was leading a healthy lifestyle and I could wear ALL the clothes that were in my closet.  I was a size 10 (occasionally a size 8) and little by little the pounds crept back in and I became complacent.

My daughter and I Christmas 2014

Earlier this year I decided to try and get this back under control and joined WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) and have recommitted myself to using my FitBit and aim for 10,000 steps a day.  The weight isn’t really budging much and last night was my breaking point.  I came home after going line dancing and felt so defeated.  I don’t feel like I am suppose to be in this fat body...THIS IS NOT ME.  Last night I seriously considered asking my husband if there was anyway we could afford my having the Gastric Sleeve performed.  After essentially breaking down to my wonderful and loving husband, I took a deep breath.  No, I did not mention the surgery, but I made a deal with myself.  I am going to give myself 1 year to lose the weight with out medical assistance.  I am going to commit fully to the process.  If on the 4th of July 2020, I have not lost this weight after having given it my all, I will discuss with my husband the surgery.  The deal is, I have to commit 100% to the following:

• I need to track my WW points EVERY DAY
• I have to get at least 10,000 steps EVERY DAY
• I need to cut the sugar out of my diet.  I love sweets, but I am weak and need to stay away.
• I must cute back on the carbs and take in more proteins and 0 pt food.

5 Years Later & Starting Over

It has been nearly five years since I have blogged.  One  might think that I must have fallen off the wagon the day after post that last entry, but that is not the case.  I actually had about four years  of success and maintenance.  I participated in about 10 half marathons.  Was wearing size 10 clothes.  It was an awesome feeling.  I was living the life I knew I was always meant to live.  And then something happened.  I can't say for sure what it was that made me lose focus...was it recovering from my hysterectomy?  Or injuring my foot during the Wasatch Back Relay?  Or maybe I just became cocky that I had this thing beat.  Doesn't really matter now what got me to today, just that I am here admitting, to anyone that reads this, that I have gained 30 pounds back.  A month ago I cancelled my membership to Weight Watchers.  Not that it isn't a great program, but for the last few months I have not been committed to the program and I was essentially throwing away money.  Due to the injury to my foot I haven't done much exercising.  I have been eating EVERYTHING that I want.  And that is why this morning I tipped the scale at:

 

STARTING WEIGHT 214.6

LOWEST WEIGHT 162
CURRENT WEIGHT 192.8

(to become the new start weight)

 

So I guess now I need to state what my plan is. 

 

*Journal my food and exercise using My Fitness Pal

*Eat 1200 calories

*Exercise 5 days a week using Run Keeper

*1 diet coke a day

*Water, water and more water

*Post my weigh ins on my blog every Wednesday

 

Now is the important part why am I doing this.  What am I hoping to "get" at goal Size 10 & 145 lbs.

 

*To fit into my clothes.  I have a closet full of clothes that I cant wear.

*Be able to work out comfortably.  When you are this size and working out there is a lot of girl to bounce around and it is hard on those joints.

*I want to feel like I am in control again, not a run away train.

*I would like to be a good example of healthy for my girls.

*I want to participate in a Half Marathon again.

*To be able to wear boots without them being tight on my calves

*Can you say, "SKINNY JEANS"

*I want to really feel like I am pretty when someone says that to me.

*I dream of having Steve lifting me up

 

And so the journey begins...

 

STILL CHIPPING AWAY

I am still working at it even though I have not being blogging about my journey.

I have been stuck on a plateau for nearly 3 months. In July I got my 45 pound star and was so happy. It appeared that 50 was right around the corner. I even set a goal to hit 50 pound loss by Labor Day and then my body just stopped. It was almost like it decided I had lost enough. I have not gained, but bounced between 170 and 168. So today I went to weigh in and had a 1.6 loss. I am hopeful that this is the beginning of a change.

A few weeks ago Lynda, my leader, mentioned I should start to think about goal. I think mine is going to be 149. Which means I only have 18 more pounds to start to work on lifetime. Very exciting.

Last Saturday I did the Making Strides Breast Cancer Awareness Walk with my friend Tiffiny. It was a great walk. We did it at Liberty Park. We walked the loop 3 times. The loop is 1.4 miles, so we walked a total of 4.2 miles in about an hour. My next big event will hopefully be the Moab Half Marathon. I did participate in the Ogden Half in May and have wanted another event to plan for. It is a lottery to get in, so we may not know if I got in for a few months. And if I don't there is always Salt Lake in April and then Ogden again in May. The fact that I am even considering doing some of these things is mind blowing.

STARTING WEIGHT 214.6
CURRENT WEIGHT 167.6
TOTAL +/- -47

Boston Trip & Prepping for Ogden

It has been a few weeks since I have checked in. Last week Steve and I went to Boston. It is a trip we have planned since he ran in the St. George Marathon last October. He qualified for the Boston Marathon and we both thought it was an opportunity we could not let pass by. We had quite a good time. We walked or took the "T" everywhere we went, which was good for fulfilling my workout quota. I did eat gnoccis at La Dolce Vida in the North End. I split the order with Steve. I don't think Steve enjoyed the pasta as much as I did. I had been looking forward to eating there since we planned the trip. We also stopped by Mike's Pastry for for a cannoli a few days later. I brought it back to our hotel room and ate it. I enjoyed tasting it, but after having not really eaten sweets for a while, it was hard on my tummy. Steve had to dig through his bags to find me a pepcid and even then I tossed in bed for a while.
I weighed in last Wednesday, the day after flying home, and actually had a loss. It was .8. I am not going to say only .8. I take pride in any loss I have and really it is just that much closer to my goal.

Today I went out to wa-og (walk/jog). The Ogden 1/2 marathon is only a few weeks away and I am having some serious panic attacks about it. So my friend Stacey told me about the loop she does that is about 8 miles. I told Steve and he said he would be willing to come along with me as my "support vehicle'. He loaded up with water, gel shots, snacks and wore his Garmin watch to take my pace and miles. I did better than I thought I would. I did not jog much. There is still just too much of my to be jiggling around and landing on my knees. But I still managed to walk at 4 miles an hour. That is not too bad. I am not sure I can keep that up for the whole race, but taoday I went 7.25 miles on just under 2 hours. It has left me feeling a bit more confidant for the 1/2 marathon and my abilities.

STARTING WEIGHT 214.6

CURRENT WEIGHT 177.2

TOTAL +/- -37.4

Just Another Weigh-In

I was a little nervous to go to my weigh in this week. I watched what I ate Tuesday evening. Tried to stay clear of taking in too much salt...did not snack in the evening...and hen Wednesday morning got up a little bit early and headed to the gym. Kind of my version of the last chance workout. I did not break any records at the gym, but it felt good to do something prior to getting on the scale. Well something paid off because I lost 1.6 lbs. Thwas enough to earn me my 7th gold star. FYI, each gold star represents 5 pounds. I am about half way to my ultimate goal.

STARTING WEIGHT 214.6
CURRENT WEIGHT 179.2
TOTAL +/- -35.4

Barbell Strength

I have been going to the gym quite often the last few weeks.

I am still doing some stuff on the treadmill as I get ready for the half marathon in May, but one of the reasons I decided to start attending the gym was to do strength training. My girlfriends, who have been members for a while, had told me about this barbell class. I was a little nervous the first day I went in there, but Jill and Sandra were in there with me and to help me out. It was an hour long class and I was sweating. I used muscles that I am sure had never been used before. half way through on of my legs began to shake almost uncontrollably. Following the class I went downstairs to the cafe and got a child size smoothie and the 20 minutes later went back to the classroom to take a class named Dance Jams. That was a ton of fun. There is very little choreography...we danced tribal, then like super models, and then we mambo'd and chacha'd. It was a blast and a fun way to stretch out all those muscles that had been exhausted in the previous class. I did not feel the effects of the weight class until the next morning when I got out of bed and stepped on the ground...my quads, bum, shoulders all hurt. BUT I must say it was a good kind of hurt. That was last Tuesday and I went again on Friday and then yesterday. The lingering pains is becoming less and less after each class. I am definitely finding joy in going to the gym. I truly feel confident that I am actually going to reach this huge goal I have.

Today was my weigh in and things went pretty well. Last week I had no change...which was good because there was no gain, but that meant that there was no lose and that was a little hard for me to swallow I felt that there should have been something I had worked so hard. But I stayed focused all week and did the right things and it paid off. Today the scale said I had lost 1.8...So a big WhooHooo!!!!

STARTING WEIGHT 214.6

CURRENT WEIGHT 180.8

TOTAL +/- -33.8

Successful Weigh In

Yesterday was weigh in day. I had actually gone up +.4 lbs. last week. To most people that doesn't seem like such a big deal, but it was. I had been to dinner with my parents and kids the night before and thought I done ok, but the scale said, "...maybe you shouldn't have eaten that second roll..." But instead of getting totally discouraged I recommitted myself to doing better this week. I got together with my friends to sew table runners and for lunch they decided to get Cafe Rio. I LOVE their Pork Salad, but I decided to skip it and just have the Tortilla Soup. I am sure it was a much better choice. I also got a membership to LifeTime Fitness. A couple of my girlfriends go and have invited me out a couple of times. Steve said it would be OK, but that I needed to get all the use out of it, since it is so expensive. Tuesday, Steve and I went to dinner to celebrate our 13th Anniversary. We went to AppleBees, which is perfect for me because they have a WW menu. I chose the Chili Lime Salad and ate half of it then asked for a box to get it out of my site. Then Steve and I split the WW dessert...that was very yummy. So probably for the entire dinner I ate 6 points at a restaurant!!! That's CRAZY.

Yesterday morning I got up and put on my weigh in clothes and drove over to WW. I was hoping to be down -.6, what I had gained the week before and what it would take to get to 30 pounds. I was actually down -2.6!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

STARTING WEIGHT 214.6

CURRENT WEIGHT 182.6

TOTAL +/- -32