Happy

This post has nothing to do with weight loss but it's just a note about life.

Right now in this moment, despite work waiting for me tomorrow after a week's vacation, I am so content with life.

When we arrived back in town late last night after the 18 hour drive from Florida, and we walked into OUR house, I was just hit with this enormous sense of gratitude.

Gratitude for all the good things I have in my life - the house, the dogs, the awesome boyfriend, my family, my friends.

I'm almost afraid of something happening to take these away from me! That is why I am going to savor and enjoy what I have right now.

But this journal entry is also an acknowledgement to let Him know that I appreciate all the good stuff that I have and that I feel so blessed. I don't know what I've done to come across this good fortune. But I'm so grateful.

ANYWAYS, going back to weight loss, obviously I didn't stay on plan 100% while on travel. I tried to do activity while there, though. I ran twice and then I walked what felt like 100 miles when we were at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando. So hopefully those helped offset some of the eating. I go for my weigh-in tomorrow. The moment of truth is on the horizon!

A little setback

So last weekend, my boyfriend and I moved into our new house! We're thrilled about it all being first time home owners. BUT of course with moving comes disorganization and lost items. Some of these temporarily misplaced items included my Medifast meals. So during the moving days, I was not on plan. And yes, I indulged.

I went for my weigh-in on Wednesday and I gained a couple of pounds. CRAP! First gain since I started this weight loss journey in May.

A little disappointing but certainly not a surprise since I also didn't have time to do a formal workout this past week outside of the moving activities of moving boxes.

So now I'm back on track and hoping that my body gets back into fat-burning mode fast.

I also wanted to put down reminders of why I want to lose weight in the first place:
1) To be healthier. Now that I'm over 40, it's more important than ever for me to be more mindful of my weight. I'd like to get out of the Overweight BMI range.
2) To look better. This translates to wearing smaller sized clothes and feeling sexier for my man.
3) To run easier. Now that I'm officially signed up for the half marathon in November, I want to do anything possible to make the run easier - including losing a few pounds!

To me, if I'm at 145 by my birthday in October, I'll be happy! So that's going to be my short-term goal. It's 8 lbs away, 6 and a half weeks away. Do-able? Yes.

Am I crazy? Yes I am.

SO many things happening in my life right now. On top of becoming a homeowner for the first time in my LIFE, I've been trying to really buckle down and get a hold of my weight issue. Now that I'm over 40, it's almost a requirement to lose weight in order to avoid getting older faster! I joined Medifast on 5/23 and since then, I've lost 18 lbs. Now the exercise component has been inconsistent at best because of a hard work schedule and the hour commute each way to & from work. Moving to the new house should help that a little bit. So because I believe having a goal to aspire to is an even bigger motivator for me to get my butt off the couch, I have officially signed up for the Rock & Roll Half Marathon event in San Antonio. It's 14 weeks away. Holy crap! Am I nuts? Yes. Maybe I'm watching too much Olympics. I mean, I haven't been running on a regular basis in a LONG time. I can't run a mile without needing to stop & walk it off a bit. And now I'm going to run 13.1 miles in a mere 14 weeks? Yes. Lord knows I won't be as fast as I was two years ago when I ran regularly. But I think at this point, as long as I'm out of a chair, it's an accomplishment. During the week, I feel like most of my life is just sitting - I'm either sitting at a desk in front of my computer for 8-10 hours OR I'm sitting behind the wheel, sitting in traffic. No wonder I reached my heaviest weight of 172 lbs in May! I had a feeling I was getting bigger because of this lifestyle. But I was in denial and kept putting it off and then starting & then stopping countless new diet and health programs with half a heart. It took seeing myself in the Obese BMI range to really be my wake-up call. Plus the fact that all my "loose" pants were starting to get tight. Ouch. I'm definitely still a work in progress. But I feel that I'm on the right track. OH! And the other reason for my temporary madness at signing up for the half marathon? I'm part of a team! The San Antonio Pets Alive Mutt Milers! The SAPA is a great organization that saves the lives of cats & dogs who are in danger of being euthanized because of over-crowding in the shelters. SAPA does GREAT work. And its a cause I feel very strongly about since my pets are all former strays. If you'd like to donate to the team, feel free to visit my page for more information. Thank you!!! SAPA Donation Page

Hello it's me!

Wow so much has happened since I last blogged. In a nutshell: - I gained weight and reached my heaviest weight ever of 172 lbs in May - On May 23, I joined Medifast in San Antonio since they have a center near my work location. - As of today's date of 7/19 and 2 months of being on the program, I have lost a total of 15.5 lbs. That's about an average of 1.9 lbs each week! So in case you're not familiar with Medifast, it's a strict,low calorie diet where you have five of their meals and then one "Lean & Green" meal which is a lean protein with 3 servings of veggies. A lot of people think it's of the same cloth as Jenny Craig and NutriSystem since you have to use their food. Well that's where the similarity ends in MY book! Medifast is just so much better - well for ME it is. Here's why: 1) They monitor your health stats VERY closely. From the 1st consultation where they do a body composition analysis on you that lets you know what your fat percentage and lean mass percentage is. 2) Every week you get a blood pressure reading 3) Every week you have a one-on-one session with a counselor 4) Every month they take your measurements and do the body composition analysis to check your progress These are the reasons why this program is working for me. I need that extra attention. I've been on Weight Watchers and it was successful for me in the past but when I tried it earlier this year, it just wasn't working for me. It didn't click. Nothing against the program because I know that it DOES work. In fact, my older sister Cindy lost 25 lbs with WW and she's about to reach her goal weight. I guess over time, your needs change. And as your needs change, the program that best fits you and your life can change too. That's what happened to me. And now, I'm feeling better overall. It's just a matter of getting in the exercise. I've been working long hours at the full time job and then lots of hours at the part-time one so free time has been scarce. But now that it seems things are going back to a normal level, I have more time to exercise. This past week, I did 5 days of exercise and feel good about it! So since I'm at 15.5 lbs, I have set a goal to reach the 20 lb loss mark by August 1st. 4.5 lbs in two weeks? That should be do-able. And now that I'm exercising more, I'm hoping that it will be a piece of cake. And then I've set a milestone goal of when I have reached the 23 lbs loss mark, which is the halfway to goal point for me, I will buy myself the Nike Plus Fuelband ($150). I'm hoping to have that in my hands by mid-August. It will be awesome to reach goal by the holidays! I'm pretty sure I can do this. So let me keep on trucking on this adventure to a skinnier me!

Getting Back on Track...

So I lost 1 lb at yesterday's weigh-in and I'm happy about it!

I know most people would look at how long I've been with WW and then at how little weight I've lost in that time period and automatically say that this program isn't working for me or that I'm a failure.

But there's so much more to it than that.

I know - and being completely honest with myself here - that I cannot fault the program because I haven't given it the full chance for success. (i.e. being sporadic with my tracking, my exercise, drinking alcohol on the weekends)

Does this make me a failure at weight loss programs overall? No. I know the reasons why I haven't lost and all of them point at me. But as in all other areas of my life, I am a late bloomer. Always have been.
Went through puberty late and to this day, I like to say that I still haven't reached my full height! (which is currently at the vertically challenged height of 5'1"). I also had my first kiss late, lost my virginity late, discovered real love late and learned how to do a LOT of things late!

So my weight loss journey is not going to be like everyone else's and if my usual patterns continue, that means that success on this program is going to come a little late compared to others. As I said in a previous blog, the turtle can totally represent me!

This week, what did I do differently to experience success? I TRACKED - that's number one. Then I exercised. And I tried a WW recipe. And I drank a smoothie for breakfast each day - leaving me with more points for dinner.
These little adjustments seemed to make the difference.

So I'm going to continue doing these and hopefully, see even more success on the horizon!

Well hell...

So I had a little setback. I gained 2 lbs. :(

I could point the finger at external circumstances like the Vegas trip, like the Super Bowl party but really, what it boils down to is me.

I have NOT been tracking on a regular basis nor exercising consistently. January was pretty much a stagnant month for me as far as progress on my overall weight loss goals.

Oh and it's official that I will not meet the initial goal I set up for myself to lose 5% of my weight (8.5 lbs) by Valentines Day.

So what do I do now?

I feel like I'm at a crossroad here. That I could choose to take the path that I've always taken in the past, which is to get discouraged and just quit altogether. OR I could take a new path. A path that would have me get back on the horse and start tracking religiously and exercising more before I deem this program not a good fit for me.
Because let's be honest here, I haven't even really given this program a fair shake at success because other than Week 1, I have been spotty at staying on program.

And after the weigh-in at the meeting location, I was tempted to not even stay for the meeting and I'm SO glad I did because I heard exactly what I needed to hear. And it's because of that message that I am vowing to give this program a good, honest try before I throw in the towel.

This week's meeting message was all about tracking. And the item that hit home for me was the story on the inside cover of this week's handout where the leader said that when she ate bad, she didn't track it. Essentially avoidance - where if you don't write it, then it doesn't exist. And it wasn't until she was fully honest with herself and started tracking everything - the good AND the bad - that she started seeing results. This has been my problem. When I eat bad, I don't track it. And the weekends? Forget it. I don't track.
So this week's meeting handout is one I'm definitely going to keep because of the overall message and tips for tracking.

So here's to having a good week (step 1) this week and getting back on track (pun intended) with tracking!

I also solemnly swear to fully partipate in this program.

Vegas? Oh nooo!

So I just got back from a weekend trip to Vegas with my cousins. I had a GREAT time! But I didn't track my food or drink intake. So I'm certain there were days I went way over my limits. I tried off-setting that by walking up & down the Strip, but you know how it goes.

SO now I'm back home and back to reality.

I haven't weighed myself yet. Actually AFRAID to!

But I took my measurements. It's been a month since I started WW.

And unfortunately there has been no movement on my body measurements. But I know why that is - it's because I haven't been consistent with my workout schedule at ALL.

Therefore this morning, I did P90X and plan on doing this for the next month to see if there are results. ANY movement would be good at this point!

I need to remind myself why I want to do this and how important it is to me. I do NOT want to throw in the towel because it's too soon to do that. And like I said, I know the reasons why I haven't seen big results. It all points back to me.
I will take this as feedback and look ahead to the month of February...

Just call me a turtle...

So I lost .6 lbs this week. Great, it's a loss right?

But then the lady next to me - who joined a week AFTER me - got her first 5 lb. loss star! And here I am just barely at 2 lbs total los. Grrr.

Yes I know I shouldn't compare my weight loss journey to others. But it makes me worry when people say you lose the most weight at the beginning when you join. Well, I haven't been seeing big numbers! Just small numbers each week since I started 3 weeks ago.

I hope this doesn't mean that the loss rate is going to slow down even more after this! That would be REALLY disappointing.

I'm talking to myself trying to stay positive by saying that although my loss rate may be slow, it's still heading in the right direction and that eventually I will get there. I liken it a marathon. There are the fast runners that finish it in 2 hours or less. And then there's folks like me that take twice as long. It doesn't matter how quick you go, but just that you cross that finish line.

I will take solace in this...

Welcome 2012

...And possibly the last year of Earth?? LOL.

Well if that's the case then I'm certainly going to go out in style AND closer to my goal weight, thank you very much.

So I did it - I rejoined Weight Watchers on 12/27. In my head, I told myself "Let's try this out for a week. If I don't lose this week, I'll find something else."

Well I lost almost 2 lbs so now I'm sticking to it and I've officially informed Travis (my boyfriend) of it. So now he knows that I have set a mini-goal to lose 5% of my current weight by Valentines Day. (That's essentially 8.5 lbs.)
So now he can help keep me on track during the weekends because that's when I tend to let my hair down and drink alcohol, eat more, etc.


So like I mentioned in my initial post - yes, I've done WW before. So why should I expect different results? Well for one thing, the points system is different. They not only calculate food points by calories, fat and fiber but ALSO protein and carbs. And they've tailored it so that lower point foods are the ones that are higher in protein & fiber. Plus, all fruits - even bananas - are ZERO points! Certainly handy when you eat the majority of your points at breakfast (like I did yesterday with huevos rancheros!)Also the Weekly Allowance has increased from 35 to 49.

So far, I'm liking this new plan. And because it's not the EXACT same plan I was on before, I'm treating this like a whole new thing. I'm determined to reach my first mini-goal. After that, it will be 10% of my initial weight. (About 17 lbs). I believe taking this approach and continuing to attend the WW meetings will help me. I like my leader and our little group in San Marcos.

This time, I believe I can reach my goals.