Boo Yah!

3 lbs down this week!  I've broken past that evil 188 mark to end up at 185!  I'm super focused right now.  I can see my mini goal of reaching the 170's in full sight right now. 

The weekend wasn't bad - but not great.  We went to the neighbours house for dinner on Sat. night.  It is very hard when you have no control over what you are eating.  This doesn't happen a whole lot so I didn't beat myself up over it.  Then we ordered Chinese food for Valentine's day.  Since both my hubby and I normally watch what we eat this was a big treat for us to order out like this.  We got the dinner for 5.  That's right, I said 5.  Not too smart after the fact but we wanted everything!  So, I ended up eating Chinese AGAIN last night since we had so many freakin' leftovers!

On a side note - my husband has been actively losing weight since Dec 1st.  He has gone from 239 to 213!  Can you believe it?  I'm very proud of him since he is very much a meat and potato, eat at 10pm at night kind of guy.  It makes the journey a lot easier having someone who is eating as you are eating and not bringing evil foods into the house that you can't eat.

I'm off to the gym tonight - excited to burn more fat off this body!

Back in town

I weighed in at 188 again this week.  Considering I was out of town for 4 days and didn't go to the gym once in the past 2 weeks - I'd say I'm doing pretty good.

I am dedicated once again.  I made up my weeks supply of steel cut oats last night, bought veggies, and am even making a yummy Weight Watchers recipe for dinner tonight.  I have Tues/Thurs already marked on the calendar for my gym nights.  I decided I'm going to track all food that enters my mouth this week to ensure that I'm on the wagon 100%. 

Happy, healthy eating everyone!

Quick Update

Well, I knew it was going to be a bad week and the scale doesn't lie (although I frequently wish it did).  I weighed in at 188.  That's 2lbs up.  It seems to be that right now 188 is the number to defeat.  If you don't remember, I was that weight just before Christmas and then gained over the holidays.  I finally got below it a week ago and then gained right back again.  I'm not getting defeated though.  I know emotionally it was a very rough week for me.  I ate to help with my sadness and loneliness.  I'm not ashamed. 

Today is the start of a new week.  Although I will probably be out of town a few days this week for the funeral (thus no gym and no control over food) I will do the best I can with the few days I might have at home and get right back on it next week.

Missed my weigh in

I know I missed my Monday post about my weigh in.  I lost 2 lbs to reach 186. 

Two days ago, my husbands grandpa had a massive heart attack in Barrie.  My husband left right away to be at his side and will be there untill at least Sunday.  So....I've been emotional eating.  I am so sad for my husband and so sad that I can't be there with him.  Not to mention my parents are in mexico for 5 weeks so I'm literally all by myself with 2 kids.  We've been eating alot of easy stuff.  Which more often than not is unhealthy stuff.  I can already tell you that Monday's weigh in will not be too successful.  With no babysitter and no hubby around I haven't been at the gym since Tuesday.  At this point, it really doesn't matter too much to me.  I've earned a write-off week.

That's all about my past week.  This week is my week to emotional eat.  Next week I can pick up where I left off.  :o)

My Weekly Mantra

Stay away from the leftover Christmas chocolate!!!!!  That is my goal for this week. 

That being said, I weighed in today at 188!  Not to mention I weighed in at 1pm after 2 coffees, a litre of water, breakfast and 3/4 of my daughters sammie.  I will of course be weighing myself tomorrow in my usual birthday suit first thing in the morning just out of curiosity as to what the real number might be.  The reason I didn't this morning was because I went to the gym for 9:30 so I went straight from my pjs to workout clothes and forgot to weigh myself.  Breakthrough moment at the gym today - I did ALL of the tricep dips without having to stop at all.  HUGE accomplishment for me since I think my triceps are literally the weakest muscle on my body!  I'm feeling darn proud right now!

Had my usual steel cut oats for brekkie and along with Ava's sandwich, I had some carrots and dip.  I'm thinking tonight I may do salmon with a salad and maybe squash.  Dessert will be cut up cantalope.

Today....

...I feel thin.  I look in the mirror and know logically, I'm not and still have 20+ pounds to go.  But for some reason I'm feeling really good and I'm running with that feeling.

Weigh In

Great news, I am down 3 lbs to be at 190.  Bad news, I had the flu over the weekend and I think alot of the 3lb loss was the fact that nothing remained in my body (the very little that I did eat).  I'm very motivated this week.  I missed out on my gym this morning because my mom wasn't available to babysit.  Truthfully, I'm not yet feeling 100% so I probably would have skipped it anyway.  I still plan to go my other 2 nights this week.  I've been doing better on my water too.  Not sure if I've reached what I WAS drinking pre-Xmas but I've done so much better.  And that is all I can ask for at this point.

Oh!  Baby is awake!  Gotta go but all the best this week to everyone out there trying to vanish the bulge!

Not too great

Well, so far the week hasn't been too great.  Much better than any day I had in between Dec24-Jan2 but definitely not like the roll I was on before Christmas.  The good news is that we decided to go to Mexico at the end of March instead of the beginning so I have 4 weeks longer to reach my goal of being in the 170's. 

My usual gym outings are Monday morning, Tuesday and Thursday evening.  Well, Monday was my daughters birthday so I didn't go in order to spend that time with her.  I did go Tuesday night and I can't go again tonight.  We are off to the Blue Collar Comedy.  Can't say I'm upset that I'm missing the gym!  Hopefully laughter will burn some calories :o)

My eating hasn't been on par either.  I did make some steel cut oats last night (which I had for brekkie this morning) so I know breakfast will be healthy for the next few days.  I've been eating pretty healthy dinner as well.  It is the snacking that is getting the best of me.  It is what I am going to work on very hard next week.  That and I seem to have forgotten that water exists.  Coffee and pop and an occassional glass of water.  Starting tomorrow the water will start flowing.  One cup of coffee in the morning and then water ALL day.

I do have to admit, all of the above is affecting me.  I feel tired, lethargic and I feel fat.  When I was eating healthy and exercising I felt energized and I felt good about myself.  And I liked feeling that way.  The holidays are over and it is time to stop acting like I'm on holidays.

Not so successful

OK, Christmas was baaaddddd.  Very bad.  I've weighed in this morning at 193.  Yuck.  I'm really hoping that some of that (at least a pound or two) is water retention.  Tommorrow is a fresh start and I'm hoping on losing 2lbs per week until I go on my trip at the beginning of March.  I'll check in here later this week.

Wish me luck!

3 months after starting this journey...

Down 2 lbs!  I'm currently at 188, making my goal of being in the 180's by Christmas.  But I'm not stopping there.  I am planning on kicking it into high gear this week to hopefully lose another pound or so before Friday.  The farther from 190 I am, the better.  I have to say, seeing my ticker say "18 pounds until the new me" really scares me.  Less than 20lbs to go?  Being at goal is scary, even scarier than losing the weight.  Because, what is the point of losing it all if I can't maintain the weight loss? 

That being said, I really don't think 170 is going to end up being my final weight.  I think having two kids by c-section has completely changed my body.  I'm holding onto alot more stomach weight than I have before.  I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, right now my sole focus is gaining the least amount of weight possible over the holidays.

On another note, I'd like to set my next goal.  I am going to Mexico at the beginning of March.  I'd love to be between 170-175 when I leave.  So that is what I will be working at in the New Year, getting bathing suit ready. 

This is me when I first started this journey in September at 212lbs.  The pictures below were taken last week at 190lbs.

Weekly Weigh In

Surprise, Surprise!  I weighed in Monday morning at 190 lbs!  That is 3 lbs down this week.  Can't say I did anything spectacular in order to get such a great number but I'm definitely not going to complain! 

I do have a confession to make.  I was at the mall with the little ones this morning.  We thought we'd grab some lunch and I was marching toward Subway.  I turned slightly to the right and saw a guy eating poutine.  I got one.  Bad, bad me.  Even though I had great intentions, I should not have taken my eyes off the Subway sign.  Lesson learned.  I think I'll be sticking to a salad for dinner tonight and hopefully burning some of the poutine off at the gym tonight.

I am one pound away from being at my goal of the 180's by Xmas.  With over a week left, I'm hoping I can drop a couple of pounds so that my holiday weight gain won't be so shameful and I can be right around 190ish after the holidays.  I don't know about anyone else, but I do not stick to diets during holidays.  I will eat fudge and cookies.  I will have mashed potatoes and gravy.  But I think the most important thing is to just be aware.  Stick to one serving of the potatoes.  Have one piece of fudge.  Try and eat healthy when you can (like at breakfast and lunch) if you know you'll be going a big crazy at dinner.  So that is my motto this year for the holidays, be aware of everything going into my mouth.

PMS sucks

The heading says it all.  What else makes you want to consume the contents of your fridge at 9pm?  Gives you the appetite of a pregnant woman?  The good news is that I think I ate healthy enough yesterday that my handfull of chocolate chips, 2 turkey bites and a bagel shouldn't really affect my week. 

Last night hubby had to help out a family member and didn't get home until 8pm which means I missed my Tuesday night at the gym.  Thank goodness for snow (did I really say that?).  I shoveled this morning and I was sweating by the time I finished so at least I know I got my heartrate up and hopefully burned those chocolate chips off!  The bad news is that we've got a crap load more of snow and my efforts have dissappeared.  I'm going to have to get out there again today and shovel some more.  I thought I was in much better shape that 3 months ago yet my shoulders are killing me from 30 minutes of shoveling this morning.  Maybe this is a great addition to my gym routine!  I have to think positively since there really is no positives to snow in my opinion!  :o)

Monday Weigh In

Down 2 pounds this week bringing me to 193! I am SO close to the 180's! If I continue on the same path, I should be at least 189 by Christmas. I'm using that as my motivation.

I had quite a revelation yesterday. I added my 3rd day per week at the gym a couple of weeks ago. I go Monday mornings and my mom watches the baby. Yesterday it looked like my mom couldn't babysit this morning. I was actually upset that I might miss today's class and I was even contemplating paying the $5 for the daycare. That is a huge change for me. I usually am secretly happy when something comes up and I am unable to go. To WANT to go (as opposed to going because you have to in order to lose weight)is such a transformation in my mindset. Me? One of those people who likes to go to the gym? I can't say I EVER thought I'd be one of those people!

Bah

This week I stayed the same at 195.  The scale was looking good Saturday morning (because there is no way I can ever wait a week to weigh myself) and not so good after the weekend.  I had my family Xmas party on Saturday which equals a ton of food and drink.  Then I had a baby shower lunch to go to on Sunday.  Again, food and more food.  Monday, my mom sent over a ton of leftovers from the Xmas party so I ate those.  No surprise that the scale didn't show a loss but yet, I had 5 great days of eating.  Why do a couple of meals seem to sabotage a good week?  Also, a week that I went 3x to the gym. 

No worries everyone.  I am trudging on.  I've been to the gym twice already this week and have been eating steel cut oats, salad and veggies galore since Tuesday.  I will continue on this journey no matter what the damn scale says.  I'm off to have a salad with some yummy avocado!

Drum Roll Please!

And the self induced plateau has ended!!!!  I am down 2lbs this week to land at 195.  I am so thrilled.  Amazing isn't it?  Go to the gym, plan out healthy meals and you lose weight?  Who would have thought?  :o)

I decided that this week I was going to start throwing in an extra day at the gym.  My mom is retired so I asked her to come by Monday morning and I went to a 9:30am Pump class.  I came home feeling invigorated and positive.  It is amazing how just an hour of exercise can start of your day.  As long as my mom is available, I am definitely going to continue going Monday mornings. I'm looking forward to seeing how this extra day at the gym will in turn affect my weight loss.

I definitely have to give some props to Body pump at Goodlife Gym.  I love, love that class.  It's a great class for a fat, lazy person because there is no jumping around.  Horrible thought isn't it?  But that is definitely what my thoughts were when I started doing this class.  Now, I love how strong it makes me feel.  I notice differences in my body much faster than if I was just doing aerobics.  I also have a great instructor who makes me laugh and makes me push further when I think I can't go on.

2 month update
Since it has been just over 2 months since I started this new lifestyle I thought I would update a bit.  I've gone from 212 to 195, size 20 to a size 16.  I am no longer out of breath running up the stairs.  In fact I could probably run up and down more than once and still be fine!  Most importantly, I am no longer a lump on the couch when my kids are sleeping.  I get stuff done during afternoon nap and still have energy when they go to bed.  You would think losing weight is just that:  losing weight.  In return, my house has been tidier than previously and I've organized much of my house that was in desperate need of organization.  Losing weight has snow balled into all aspects of my life.  And I apologize if this is TMI, but even my sex life has improved.  When you look in the mirror and are disgusted by what you see it definitely affects what takes place in the bedroom.  Losing this weight, being active and watching my body change makes me a happier and more confident person.  I can't wait to see what the next 2 months will bring!

Victory!

Not about my weight loss - or weight maintain.  But I went the night without after dinner snacking.  Huge, huge victory for me.  Not only that, but when I was about to walk over and crack open a bottle of wine for an evening glass, I chose a Diet pepsi and water instead!  When I went to bed, I actually felt good about my day for the first time in a really LONG time. 

And it doesn't end there.  I made split pea soup out of my Weight Watcher cookbook yesterday for my lunches this week.  I finally picked up some steel cut oats which everyone seems to rave about.  Made that yesterday too for my breakfasts for the rest of the week.  I had it this morning with some cut up strawberries.  Yummy!  I also cut up all my veggies so they are easy to grab and munch throughout the day. 

I think my goal of hitting 185 by Christmas is still possible.  That would be 2 lbs a week from now until Xmas.  Totally doable but I really am not going to punish myself if I don't reach it since it is a tight time frame.  I just feel that if you set goals (especially in small increments) it gives you something to work towards and they feel more possible to reach.  If I sit here and think, ugh I have 25-40 pounds left to lose then it gets discouraging.  A 12 pound loss seems much more attainable.

You know what?  After the planning I did and the eating healthy yesterday, I am in a great mood today!  I really think that I am back on track after veering off slightly for a bit.  Off to go have my soup!

Self Induced Plateau

OK.  My weight is the same.  197.  A bit frustrating but I will not use that as an excuse to give up.  Because this is a way of life, not a diet, right?  I had a great week last week.  I only went once to the gym because hubby needed to work late on my other gym night.  I ate yummy salads and healthy breakfasts.  Then came the weekend.  My mother bought McDonalds for me and Ava on Friday for lunch.  I know I could have ordered some healthy thing but the smell of french fries got the best of me.  Saturday night some friends came over for a girls night and chips were involved (on a side note, I have serious issues with chips.  I HAVE to eat the whole bag.  They are like my drug of choice.  This is the FIRST time I have eaten them since I started this journey on Sept 21st so I feel like it was justified).  Sunday morning we met friends at Broadwayy for breakfast.  Who on earth can deny themselves Broadway homefries?????  As you can probably guess, not me. 

So I shouldn't have been overly surprised when I jumped on the scale and it still said 197.  When I did poorly, I over ate with things loaded in sodium.  I guess I just thought my week went well enough that I might even have a 1lb loss.  Don't worry though, I'm over it and have been eating well so far this week.  No more giving up when a day (or weekend) gets the best of me.

I did not go to the gym last night.  Apparently there was some sort of instructors conference and all classes were cancelled.  So instead, I pulled out the Wii Fit.  It had been 18 days since I last used it!  I pushed myself on it and did the long distance run instead of the short run like I usually do.  I did the 6 minute rhythm boxing instead of the 3 min (boy did my arms feel it).  I also got in 32oz of water in the 3 hours after my kids went to bed (plus a glass of wine :o) which I put into my daily calculations).

Today:
Brekkie:
coffee with cream and sweetner
fat free strawberry yogurt with cut up banana and flax sprinkled on top

Lunch
Salad with chickpeas, green peppers, tomatoes and a fat free or low fat dressing
3 clementines

Dinner
Unknown - we are headed to the Trans Siberian Orchestra and are meeting friends for dinner beforehand.  I'm keeping my daily food light to make up for that.

Another day, Another post

Here I am again.  I'm letting you know, I did go to the gym last night.  I also did indulge in those 3 mini chocolate bars! 

I have input my food for today, including dinner.  I even plan on doing the Wii Fit for 30 minutes tonight. 

Brekkie - 3 clementines (I know, not a great breakfast but after Ava left for nursery school I got very busy doing some cleaning and much needed organizing), 2 coffees with sweetner and cream
Lunch - turkey soup with 6 unsalted saltine crackers, source yogurt
Dinner - meat lasagna with as much garden salad as I like
Snacks - I've added in for an evening snack of hummus and one pita

As promised

Here I am today like I said I would.  I've already recorded my foods for today.  I even have a couple hundred left over since I am headed to the gym tonight as well.  I almost never eat the extra calories earned by exercising.  I'd rather eat within my appointed calorie range and then be able to splurge every so often.  According to my calorie counter program, if I eat like today every day, I will be at 182 in 5 weeks!  If that's not motivation, I don't know what is!

Well, I'm off to eat my toasted tomato sandwich for lunch!  I will be taking my water bottle out of the fridge as well.

*side note:  I did count 3 mini chocolate bars in my daily calorie count JUST in case I happen to want to indulge!*

Darn

My weight stayed the same this week.  I thought for SURE it would go down since I made it back to the gym twice this week after a 2 week sickness hiatus.  Then I recalled all the leftovers from the baptism last weekend that I ate over the week.  Meatballs, chicken and rice, little sandwiches (yum yum).  Hmmmm....think that had anything to do with it?????  Lesson learned.  Next time I host something, send people home with leftovers and keep only a small amount for hubby. 

Second reason for the weight stall would be my lack of journaling.  My thoughts and food journaling.  My best weeks were when I checked in here regularily.  I also tracked all morsels of food.  I got a lovely email from myfitnesspal letting me know it had been over a week since I had logged in.  I need to make this time for myself in order to be successful and reach my goal of 185 by Christmas. 

Starting tomorrow my goals for the week are:
-drink water ( my water bottle sat in the fridge for 4 DAYS without being touched)
-go to the gym 2x
-squeeze in Wii Fit 2x
-eat salads for lunch since I bought a whack of salad ingredients today
-track my foods DAILY on myfitnesspal.com