Week 21 Weigh In ~ Final WI SH4SC

Excuse me....((clears throat))

EXCUSE ME!!??

Please clear a path and make room for my HaPpY dAnCe!!!! ( (dances and spins around the room like a complete idiot) ) Here is what the scale showed me this morning....a new decade!



Ok, so overall the past couple months haven't proven to be very significant in the way of pounds lost in comparison with the previous months but this morning not only did I see that the weight I had gained was gone but I managed to lose an additional 2.8lbs!! Can I get a Wooo Hooo!!?? This loss brings me to a grand total of 36.2lbs gone. Not to shabby for just 21wks. If I continued to average that 1.7lbs/wk I'd be to my goal by the end of the year or at least within my goal range. You see, I'm not entirely sure that I want to weigh something specific so much as I know how I want to feel and in recent years I've been 40lbs lighter than I am now felt like I still had some work to do which is how I set my current goal.

Anyhow enough of that! Today was my final weigh in before I leave on vacation for two weeks. That's right, TWO WEEKS!! Family wedding in Florida followed by 7days on a Walt Disney resort visiting the various parks. I can't wait! Today is also the final weigh in for the Sizzling Hot for Summer Challenge and I managed to lose 8lbs during the course of the 8wk challenge. I'd hoped for more like 18 but I'll take the 8!

I did take some comparision pictures for the challenge but don't see a significant change. Will get those posted later. I really should get back to work. :)

May each of you reading this have a great next couple of weeks. I think that I just might pack my scale when I pack tonight. It sure kept me on track when I took it with me out of town a few weeks ago compared to the trip I didn't pack it.

Week 20 ~ Weigh In

I started out this journey feeling like I needed as much accountability as possible. The more avenues of accountability I had the more likely I would be to see this through to the end and not give up or or be able to quit.

This blog was one of those means of accountability despite the fact that I only ever specifically shared it with a couple of friends. Another was that I asked a male co-worker if he would mind me reporting to him every Wednesday. He didn't have to do anything other than receive my weekly updates. This particular man is fit, athletic and blessed with a high metabolism. I felt that perhaps simply the thought of having to report a "bad" week to him just might help to keep me on track. Why do I mention this now? I mention it because for nineteen weeks he has never asked me for my weekly update. I've always given it to him whether that be early, just after weighing, mid morning when I finally get to post and/or check other blogs and on occasion it has waited until sometime in the evening. He graciously comments, congratulates or encourages (have had a couple small gains) but this morning before I had even weighed....feeling a little lazy and knowing I was going to show a gain...I get a text that says, "How many?" He was initiating the update!! Ugh!! I took it as a sign. I'd asked him to take my updates as a means to keep me accountable and now, in the throws of my inability to get back on track he was doing just that - keeping me accountable. When I stepped on the scale a short time later it was no surprise that I was maintaining my little more than 3lb gain. The good news is that I'm back on track. That was just push that I needed to stop my over indulgence. I have spent one whole day back on track, eating right, no excessive or fatty/sugary snacking and plenty of water.

Yea for back on track and most of all YEAAAAA for vacation in only one week!

Week 20 also meant another set of progress pictures. I think I'm at the point where I need to get a smaller shirt for the progress photos. The shirt has gotten so large that it won't continue to show progress very well. The jeans will continue to fit for awhile. Gotta love the stretch they put in jeans these days. For the before pics it took quite a bit of squirming and tugging to get those jeans on and buttoned and now every week I have to wash and dry them (girls you know about driers and jeans).

As the first portion of my journey - Trek to Vacation - comes to a close I feel like its time to set some more goals. At this point there's only one that comes to mind:

Goal for End of Summer: ONEderland!!

I must fight to stay in the game, I must fight to get to the goal, and most importantly I must fight to change my ways and no longer allow myself to get derailed when I start feeling good about myself or start getting comments/compliments on my weightloss thus far. I dont know why I tend to drail at the first sign of success but I will strive to change that bad habit just as I must change how I eat and how much I move.

I'm still in this...who is with me?

Week 19 Weigh In ~ A Little Late

So much to report on in the last week. Let me start with, I am done with business trips for quite awhile and now have only 10days until I leave for a much anticipated two week vacation!

This past trip to Denver was only suppose to be 5days and I had made arrangements to fly up early on Monday so that a friend and I could hike a local State Park. We got a 5mile hick in that was absolutely gorgeous. I love the beauty of the mountains. We then spent the next evening watching the season finale of Biggest Loser together (we had watched the entire season "together" despite the vast miles between us and time zone difference, texting each other through every episode - watching it together in person while drinking 1pt margaritas was much more fun!)

I didnt pack my scale this trip and perhaps I should have considering the derailing I experienced that began on the Wed of Wk 18 weigh in. I had somehow come up with this analogy because falling off the wagon just didn't seem to do it justice. I think what I did was climb up the ladder of the high dive and go head first into the deep end of self indulgence. It was not pretty, it was physically painful at times, and was incredibly tasty at other times. I returned from my trip and was determined to own up to my destructive behavior to be completely and absolutely floored to see that 10days after my last trip to the scale, and many, many poor decisions, I was only about 3lbs up - considering all that I had ingested, TOM, and the elevation change during my trip (which causes water retention/dehydration) I was delighted. Not delighted enough to put myself completely back on track but I'm also not still treading water in the deep end. I think I might be at the stairs and climbing out of the pool....I hope to be out of the water when I wake in the morning and right back on the wagon. So officially, I have nothing to report for WI that was due Wed May 13th....I don't know what I weighed.

The absolute best part of my crazy week since my last post was that on Wed of this week I found out that my sister-in-law was going to be induced on Friday morning so I canceled my last night in the hotel in Denver and changed my flight to be back home on Thursday night so we could be at the hospital with her on Friday morning. My nephew was born at 209pm on Friday. Of course he is adorable and we are blessed that he is absolutely healthy.

I will have to spend some time of the next couple of evenings catching up with everyone from the SH4SC...I just haven't had/made the time to be online lately. Here's to two more great weigh ins until this challenge is over and I'm off and on vacation! :)

Wk 18 Weigh In – SHFSC Wk 5

Allow me to concentrate on NSVs for this week – what does that tell you about how I’m feeling scale wise? :)

All in all I am proud to say that over the last two weeks, of which I was gone from home for 10days, I was able to lose 1.2lbs. That’s a victory in and of itself despite the fact that I had hoped desperately to be able to hit the 35lbs lost mark. Alas, I gained 0.2lbs from last Wednesday and will leave again on Monday to go to Denver for the week. The conference I attended wasn’t the culprit of the gain since I was working out more than ever and managed to eek out a loss that first Wednesday but instead it was my grandmothers homemade bread I am certain. I had toast every day and one day indulged in two pieces of that wonderful bread made into French toast! YUM!! Might I add, totally worth it!! My exercise from the conference came to grinding halt the morning I left and instead I did something else more than I have in a long time – I went to church! Now mind you I had planned on going to church on Sunday morning but didn’t realize their church would be in the midst of what I refer to as a rival when I arrived and so not only did I go on Sunday morning but on Friday and Saturday nights as well. It was good to get to hear my cousin sing her solo piece with the choir and be singled out as the 10th visitor from a different state during their week long “camp meeting” by the preacher (who also happens to be a cousin).

This morning, when the scale didn’t miraculously show a loss I decided it was time to go shopping in my closet and I was very happy to find two pairs of jeans that I was able to get into for the first time in quite awhile! Sadly, the pair that fit better have a hole beginning to form in the hind end so I won't be able to wear them but I think they would have looked pretty darn good. (the other pair won’t be seeing the outside of my house for a few more pounds). If it wasn’t getting so dang hot around here I’d probably go buy another pair just like these:

*pls excuse the dirty mirror & slightly blurry pic - have you ever tried to take a pic of your own tushy? :) oh, and see the snag/hole?...darn it.

Lastly, I had recently ordered a couple of new work shirts in size Large instead of XLs and when I opened the box yesterday was disheartened to see a shirt that I figured was also several wks (months) out from being able to be worn. Surprise, surprise, I tried it on and it fit – no stretching required (you ladies know what I’m talking about). What do you think? I'm pretty psyched.

So, no loss showing on the scale this week, thankfully not a large gain either but a couple of NSVs and a positive outlook on the current week!

Oh, and here’s a pic of the French toast…. Just because it really was yummy! (pay no attention to the pork fat that found its way to the plate)

I believe, its all about choices

This is something I’ve been contemplating writing about for a few months now. My dear friend Lucrecia stirred my thoughts on this in a post she wrote about use of the word diet. Now that I’m away from home with a little more time to write I’ve been trying to work this out in my head. Ironically, this week, Shiela posted a very interesting link to a series on youtube called Skinny Kids. This was just the push I needed to finally put pen to paper ~ you know what I mean.

I have written posts already about my struggle with food and how it started for me at a very early age. I also have seen that I seem to have passed this genetic aptitude for all things wonderful to my daughter. My beautiful, kind, sweet, and loving daughter, she can no more resist a Reese’s peanut butter cup than deny her body oxygen …and that she got that from her momma!!

I cannot help what she sees, hears and experiences in the outside world but I can effect what she hears, sees and is offered to eat at home. Isn’t that where it all starts and matters? At home?! I prefer not to use the word diet but I am not a fanatic about it. I prefer to teach my children that it is not about denying ourselves but about healthy choices. I hope that the choices they make will not be made solely for the purpose of losing weight, to “get skinny” and that they are not temporary. The choices we make must be made for the purpose of getting or being fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I want to teach them, by example, that if the majority of the choices we make both in what we eat and how we act (move/exercise) are good wholesome and healthy choices that this will affect our overall well being and allow us to live healthier more fulfilling lives that are not restricted by the things we are not able to do because we are overweight or not fit enough to do.

My daughter is 11 and I’m not sure why I was surprised that even several years ago in Elementary school the girls were already picking on each other and some girls were on diets! Some felt it was acceptable for them to pass judgment on whether or not another’s clothes were cool or not. Those judgments have only escalated with age. The “cool” kids now pass judgment on who is or is not acceptable to be in their rankings, they give their opinions on others clothing and, well, of course on others weight.

Every parent wants to protect their children. Protect them from physical harm of course, but also from emotional pains. I hurt for my daughter when she tells me of the things others say. I know that I cannot protect her 24hrs a day but I can try to instill things in her that just might help her to make better choices, I can encourage her to be more active by allowing her to be active with me. I can promote physical activity over things that allow us to sit on our bums. (Except for blogging of course) :)

All in all I know the dictionary definition of the word diet but today’s culture has attached such negative connotations to it that I prefer not to use it. I hate that what someone weighs is such a big part of the media. Magazine covers that so boldly display non flattering pictures of celebrities and pass judgment on who is and is not the ideal physique. Who are “they” to decide?! I want my children to judge people for who they are on the inside not simply for how they look on the outside. I want them to love themselves like I have not always loved myself. I know that I cannot keep the outside world’s images and influences from my children but I can show them how they should act, and live. Teach them of God’s love and nurture their hearts so that maybe, just maybe, the outside world will not have the grip on them that it has on others. I want to teach my children how to make good choices.