Getting Encouragement from Others

I have had a few days over the last month that have been mentally rough.  I am so thankful for so many of us walking through this process together.  In addition to everyone in this group, my mother-in-law has joined in on the fun and has been attending Weight Watchers and doing great!  I am so encouraged and inspired by everyone making really positive changes.  And it is wonderful to be able to share the ups and downs with people who really understand.  Thank You everyone for helping me!

Some things that I am working on...

Trying to get back into the habit of taking my vitamin supplements everyday.  I used to be really good at this but let the habit slip.   So I am working them back into my daily routine and coming up with strategies so I won't forget.

Watching my protein more carefully and looking into what my target should be.

Reading the Curves Weight Management Plan (there is more than the 30 minute workout) and deciding how to incorporate the ideas into my plan.

Weight loss progress continues...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today   November 19 215.2 lbs 31.78 bmi

52.8 lbs down!  only 12.2 lbs to get to 1st goal :)

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight" by Feb 2010
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy" by Dec 2010
3rd goal - to be determined

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day

3. eat at least 25 g of fiber per day
4. continue Curves 3 times per week
5. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
6. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
7. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

Adding a Fiber Guideline to my Plan

It was great to connect face to face at our Oct. 11 meeting.  It is good to know we are all in this together.

I keep trying to learn more about health and nutrition.  After the Oct monthly prayer gathering I  spent some time talking with Dr. Phil O.  He shared a little about acid vs. alkaline foods.  This led me to look into it on my own.  This link is a basic intro to the topic: http://nh1.ccone.com/

I have so much to learn!

On the fiber front... after some analysis I discovered that with planning I can achieve healthy fiber intake every day so I have added a fiber guideline to my plan.  I am trying to get at least 25 g of fiber per day.  This is a fun guideline because I am finding yummy foods that are good fiber sources.

Weight loss progress continues...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today October 22 223.8 lbs 33.05 bmi

44.2 lbs down!

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight" by Feb 2010
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy" by Dec 2010

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day

3. eat at least 25 g of fiber per day
4. continue Curves 3 times per week
5. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
6. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
7. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

Fiber Research

This is one of the websites where I learned a lot about fiber...

http://www.faqs.org/nutrition/Erg-Foo/Fiber.html

20 Years to Gain it, 2 Years to Lose It?

I am looking forward to the Oct 11 "Healthy Lifestyles" group get together at church! I am learning so much by doing this in community and not as a "lone wolf"...

My journey is a continued plod forward. Weight loss has been steady and slightly faster than my goal but somehow it still feels soooo slow. I set little five lbs goals for myself and so far it can take anywhere from 15 to 23 days to reach each 5 lb. goal. It helps to know the 15-23 day number so I don't get down on myself when 5 lbs doesn't drop in one week. (I know it isn't good to drop 5 lbs in 1 week... but whoever said that my inner thoughts were logical or healthy... isn't that the real battle?)

I am telling myself that it took almost 20 years to gain the weight. It's ok and even good if it takes 2 years to lose it.

I realize that one of my lifestyle changes is to never skip breakfast. I have been following this faithfully but it wasn't listed in my plan/guidelines... it is now #1 below.

I am starting to more closely monitor my fiber intake but I haven't defined a formal plan for it yet. I am seeing what it takes for me to achieve 100% of the fiber RDA consistently and realistically.

I have built up the courage to put dates on my goals. They are also listed below.

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today September 24 232.8 lbs 34.38 bmi

35.2 lbs down!

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Achieve "Overweight" BMI by February 2010
Achieve "Healthy" BMI by December 2010

These are my plans/guidelines...

1. Never Skip Breakfast! (usually yogurt, banana, fiber bar, hard boiled egg)
2. eat 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
3. continue Curves 3 times per week
4. Water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
5. Daily monitoring myself with Fitday.com
5. no eating after 7:00pm (with a few exceptions)

August Update - Staying Motivated

Well, the kids are back in school. That means establishing another daily routine. This is really important for me. I thrive on routine :)

My last update to the group was on July 30 and I have had success since then, but before I give all the stats I want to confess that there are spans of days where the scale is very discouraging. My brain likes to see a daily, steady decrease in weight (even .2 lbs would be fine). But it doesn't seem to work that way. My weight loss pattern seems to be a week of dramatic loss followed by up to 2 weeks of barely a change; maybe even a gain. Throw in a monthly cycle and WOW it seems really unpredictable. I believe the problem we might have with establishing a new healthy lifestyle is that the results are not as steady or as fast as we need them to be to stay motivated. It would be really easy during those periods of plateau and or gain to say "this isn't working, why bother, I quit."  My "self-talk" has been: "Just Keep Swimming" ~ "Stay the Course" ~ "Don't Give Up!" When I follow my plan, weight loss is inevitable... it takes time and determination but it does happen.

I monitor my daily calorie intake closely, but I do have occasional events where I allow some "splurging". When this is only occasional I find it does not have a negative effect on my goal and even seems to help.  Because of this I will actually plan in days or meals of higher than usual calories.

I am still faithfully doing my Curves workouts... 3 days a week... haven't missed since vacation. I believe this is really important for my metabolism and so that my weight loss is fat and not lean tissue. (the Curves plan monitors fat lbs lost vs. lean tissue lbs lost)

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today August 26 237.4 lbs 35.06 bmi

30.6 lbs down! (almost halfway to my first goal)

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..

These are my updated plans/guidelines...

1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
4. monitoring myself with Fitday
5. no eating after 7:00pm (I found this to be key!)

Some have asked about my fruit & veggie goal...
here is a typical day's fruits & veggies:
(all this is usually before dinner time then more veggies with dinner)
1 banana
1 apple
1 orange
12 grape tomatoes
12 baby carrots
4 celery sticks
1 piece of fruit in season (peach/pear/nectarine/plum, etc)
4oz Mott's all natural applesauce (ingredients: apples & water... No sugar,
hfcs, or other sweeteners! check the label before you buy!)

Home from Disney!

As you all know, we are back from our 8 day Disney extravaganza!  See the tons of photos I uploaded to Facebook :)

The "bad" news is that I gained 4 lbs while we were away... but the good news is that those pounds seemed "temporary" because I was back to my pre-vacation weight by the third morning home. and a few more have shed in the following days.

I recently read an article that might explain why this happened...
"Eat More, Weigh Less - Periods of "Caloric Abundance" appear to rev up how many calories we burn"

I went back to Curves the day after we returned and I am back on my Curves schedule now. The workouts are challenging me even more since I am back... I think my body is still recovering from vacation :)

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today July 30 245.6 lbs 36.27 bmi

22.4 lbs down!

REVIEW...
1st goal (lose 65lbs) 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal (lose 99lbs) 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..

These are my updated plans...

1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. walking with the kids 1 or 2 times per week all summer
4. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
5. monitoring myself with Fitday

July Update - Going to Disney :)

Been to Curves 12 times and now I am on the computer system called "Curves Smart" that tracks all kinds of data each time I work out and shows me if I am doing my full potential.

Sarah has been coming to Curves with me. They have a summer program called "Camp Curves" where your daughter can attend for free.

Still using Fitday.com to track my calories/nutrition. It is helping me make smarter choices, especially at restaurants. Most places have their nutrition info online. If I know where I am going I try to research their menu before hand.

So here are the numbers...

Started June 3 268.0 lbs 39.58 bmi "obese"
Today July 9 250.6 lbs 37.01 bmi

17.4 lbs down!

1st goal 203 lbs 29.98 bmi "overweight"
2nd goal 169 lbs 24.96 bmi "healthy"

Short term I want to see my weight/bmi decrease weekly. Achieving "Overweight" and then "Healthy" are my ongoing longer term goals..

These are my updated plans...

1. eating 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies per day
2. continue Curves 3 times per week
3. walking with the kids 1 or 2 times per week all summer
4. water only when out to eat... and more water throughout the day
5. monitoring myself with Fitday

Going to Disney 17th-24th :) ... will miss 4 Curves sessions but will be getting in LOTS of walking :)