Girls Weekend

Having a fun weekend in St. George with some girlfriends. It's been so fun. Not doing so great with eating...but I'm feeling good about the changes I've already made and I know I'm still headed in the right direction. I'm starting a new exercise routine as a friendly competition with my sister. We are both trying to improve the amount of time we spend MOVING each day as a way to stick to our goals and stay with it. We have a goal to work-out and move at least 150 minutes each week, beginning Monday. We will tally up the minutes at the end of each week, then at the end of 4 weeks the 'winner' gets a little prize. We mainly want to help encourage each other, and also push ourselves and we are hoping this will do the trick. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I am!!!

Having a harder time

Maybe it's because it came off so easily before...maybe I'm just thinking too hard about it, but I'm having a harder time losing weight. It's been one week tomorrow since the weigh in and I've lost less than a pound this week. I haven't done anything differently really. I do need to work out more and I guess if I really want to stay consistent I should be better about keeping track of my calories. I know I'm not going over my goal intake, but I'm a little worried that if I'm dropping way below then my body may think that it's not getting enough and start storing what I do eat as fat. I HATE, HATE, HATE keeping track of what I eat. I KNOW in my head that keeping track will make a difference and it might make all the difference in the world. I know that in my head...however, I HATE keeping track. I don't know what my problem is. I think I'm just fundamentally lazy. Ugh! That's not going to be easy to fix. :)

Oh well, I guess I'll just keep plugging away and eventually all the changes I've made to my lifestyle are going to make a difference.

Good luck to all this next week and Happy Valentine's Day on Sunday to each of you!!

For what it's worth

Karilynn asked me to please share some of the things I did this month to lose the weight that I lost. If you saw my pictures then you can see that I have A LOT more to lose. One of the reasons that I was able to lose 22 pounds is because I have so much to lose. I was looking at the pictures I took and could barely see any difference. I'm actually hoping to see more of a difference in the coming months. Anyway, I digress...sorry.

Here are some of the ways I lost weight.

9 out of 10 mornings I start my day with a bowl of oatmeal. 1/2 cup with hot water - sometimes a little honey to sweeten.

Then I don't eat anything until lunch. For lunch I will generally have a sandwich. I bought low cal meat (3 slices for 45 calories), I put it on 45 calorie bread and add sprouts, cucumbers, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and a little mayo and mustard. If I am still hungry I also will eat 1/2 cup to 1 cup of dannon light and fit yogurt. I also drink as much water as I can stand during lunch.

I eat one snack in the late afternoon like an orange, or I'll pop some 94% fat free popcorn. The popcorn is good because it also makes me thirsty and forces me to drink more water. Some snacks I enjoy are fat free saltine crackers, fat free cottage cheese, dannon light and fit yogurt, fruits, and veggies.

For dinner I stick with veggies, chicken, salads - sometimes I'll make myself a 'grilled burrito' with peppers, onions, chicken and put it in a low carb, low fat wheat tortilla, topped with fat free sour cream. I'm not a great cook so I'm always looking for easy things to eat. Sometimes it's just about eating a small portion of whatever my family is eating and loading up on the veggies. And sometimes, it's about making the best choice possible given your current choices. This month I've eaten McDonald's three times. Once I got a yogurt parfait and twice I ate a grilled chicken sandwich with no mayo.

The thing that has made the most difference to me (eating wise), I think, is not eating after about 6pm at night. I eat dinner and then I just stop eating...no exceptions!

I also have started to exercise, mostly just stuff in my front room that I can do myself. Maybe 10 minutes with the Biggest Loser tapes, or I'll run up and down my stairs until my legs burn, also wall sits are horribly hard and great if you want your legs to burn :) . I've started parking farther away at the stores and walking faster as long as I don't look too stupid. I lift 5-8 pound weights for my arms and I bought myself a kettle ball (I think that's what it's called) and I swing that around like they do on Biggest Loser.

There are SO MANY things I still need to learn. This diet for me is about eating less and moving more. It's really that simple. I just try to make better choices every minute of every day. I read all your blogs and you guys give me better ideas every day. I also receive a huge amount of motivation from all of you. I cannot even explain to you how much it means to me to finally be losing weight after years, and years of being the biggest sister/daughter in my family, or the biggest friend in my group of friends. I have so much more to lose but I'm finally on the journey that will take me there.

The last thing I wanted to say is...every time I REALLY want to eat something that I love I think to myself "I've had it before, I know what it tastes like, I'll have it again, just not right now" That one phrase has helped me through a lot of temptations.

Thanks again for all your support and love. I'm rooting for each and every one of you to be successful in this journey. It's one day at a time for me, sometimes it's one minute at a time, but I love that I can jump on my computer and pull up the blogs that give me the strength to say no long enough to get past that craving and eventually see the results on the scale.

I surpassed my goal!!!!!

I did better than I thought I would. I'm far from where I need to be, but my goal this month was 20 lbs and I lost 22.6 lbs. All those nights of not eating after 6:30 and going without some of my favorite foods is paying off. This is so empowering for me! I've needed to lose this weight for so long and I finally feel like I'm making changes in my life that are going to last and make a difference. I'm finally doing this for the right reason - just for me - so I can feel better and be a healthier person. I'm so excited! I can't wait to see how everyone else did. I'm so excited for all my 'friends' that are in this with me. I read your blogs and root for you each week. I hope to find continued success. My next goal is just to see a '1' as the beginning number on the scale. It's been WAY TOO LONG since that's been the case. I'm waving bye, bye to habits that have kept me weighed down for years - and I'm never looking back!

It's not about the money

This competition for me is not about the money. It's all about finally getting on track to lose the weight that's been hanging around my midsection for the last 15 years. I'm turning 35 this year (in March) and I want this to be my year to get my skinny me zipped out of my fat me. I paid $40 just like everyone else to enter this comp, but if I don't see a dime of it back it will still all be worth it. I enjoy the camraderie, the support, and the encouragement I receive from everyone that's doing this right along with me. I appreciate Karilynn for taking the time to put this all together and the time she spends reading and commenting on all the blogs. I appreciate all the support that my sister, Elise gives me. She calls me almost every day and tells me how proud she is that I'm taking these first steps towards a better me. She's my inspiration. She's lost a bunch of weight and looks FABULOUS! I'm so proud of her! I have been doing pretty well this month and I'm very happy with my progress and the changes I'm making for me. It seems like every other diet I've ever tried I did it for someone else, or to look good for someone else. This is the first time that I've really decided to make a change for me and nobody else. I'm taking my life back one bite at a time (that pun was so intended :)) Anyway, before this first weigh in I just wanted you all to know my true intentions. I'm honestly rooting for each and every one of you. I know I need to be better about writing on all the blogs and sending encouraging thoughts your way. I do read what you write and it's because of all of you that I'm able to stay on track. This is the most empowering thing I've ever done for myself and I'm happy! I wish you all the best of luck tomorrow!!!

it's wrong, just so you know

Just so you all know, my ticker is wrong. I decided a few weeks ago not to update my weight loss ticker until the day of the weigh ins each month. I'm actually doing better than my ticker says, so I didn't want anyone to think I went on some rapid weight loss drug to get to my monthly goal. I will update my ticker on Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing all the weight loss of the people in the comp. I've been reading your blogs and they give me great support and ideas. Thanks to everyone!!! Good luck!

out of town

We're out of town this weekend. That's always harder, but I'm doing pretty good so far. I'm excited to get home and see how I did. I know it's just the start of the weekend, but I'm determined to do well. Portion size, counting calories, more water, etc. Have a great weekend everyone!