Week 2: Train Wreck

Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful week. My husband and I have been working our butts off (quite literally) around our house. We're getting ready to sell it and have been doing last-minute updates like crazy. This has been my main source of exercise this week, actually. I did yoga on Wednesday and walked on Thursday, but that's all of the traditional exercise I did.

Ready for a train wreck?! My eating this week was atrocious! This week was the first week in several months where I ate out several times. (The definition of eating out in this instance are sit-down restaurants as we tend to get fast-food a lot [at least we used to].) I went to Gloria's with my sister-in-law on Tuesday and ate two of my three beef enchiladas that were smothered in cheese. The chips and bean dip they serve are irresistible, too. I also partook in a mojito. I completely paid the price the next day when my stomach was totally off - ugh. (You're welcome for that memento.) On Thursday, I went to Taco Diner with a co-worker, again pigging out on chips and salsa. They had a new roasted tomato salsa that I couldn't stop eating. Then, of course, I had to try their new fried avocado tacos and tagged on some black bean and corn tacos. Why only order two tacos when you can have four? The waiter told me to do it. On Friday, I went to Kenny's Italian Restaurante for a co-worker's birthday celebration and ate veal with a white wine caper sauce, one prosciutto wrapped fried mozzarella cheese stick and quite a few pieces of fresh bread dipped in oil and balsamic vinegar. Our church had a women's event on Saturday which featured a dessert spread. I made Devil's food cake cupcakes topped with salted caramel icing. Now, the icing had to be sampled several times while making it to ensure the entire batch was consistent. That was mandatory. I was tempted to take a picture of my plate when I filled it up with all of the desserts, but was too ashamed. So instead I'm plastering my shame on my blog... I'm just considerate like that. I didn't eat every single thing on my plate, and I announced my intentions to my table as I was sitting down. But I still ate more than enough. To top it all off, we ordered pizza on Sunday night as all four of us were out in the yard all day and Brad and I didn't have any energy to make dinner. We also didn't have any food in the house. We wanted something fast and easy, so we ordered pizza. I had two big slices of Papa John's cheese pizza and two slices of their cinnamon dessert pizza. All in all, I had a pretty balanced diet, don't you think?

My biggest struggle was my mindset when going out to eat. "If I'm going to eat out, I can't just get a salad. I need to get something that the restaurant specializes in. Why would I choose to eat here if all I'm planning on eating is some lettuce." (I know there are other healthy things than a salad, but you get my point.) At each restaurant this ran through my head and the Devil won each time. I was fighting with myself to make a wise, healthy decision. Each time, I felt so guilty for what I chose, especially since I gave into temptation. A friend of mine reminded me of a verse, 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 6:20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. I CHOSE to eat poorly. I CHOSE to ignore eating healthily. I CHOSE to consume all of the fat and horrible calories. I CHOSE to not glorify God with my body.

Yesterday when I weighed myself, I couldn't help but think where my numbers could have been had I not made all of those bad choices. I can't even tell you how shocked I was when I saw what the numbers were. The only reason why my numbers are where they are is because what I mentioned at the top: I'm literally working my butt off around the house. I waited to post this because I needed to test myself yesterday to make sure I could eat better and get back on track and I did. I didn't do it so I could post better numbers today (the number below are as of Monday morning ... my true weigh-in). I did it to slap myself in the face that I CAN do this, it's totally possible, and every single decision matters. This morning, all of my numbers went the right direction and I made progress. I'm going to stay on track. I'm going to make good decisions. I'm going to glorify God with my body. So all of this to say... my weight didn't change at all last week, which is truly by God's grace.

Week 2 Results:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 182.2 lbs
Body Fat: 44.1%
Water: 40.8%
BMI: 31.3 (Obese)

Difference:
Weight: 0 lbs
Body Fat: -0.3%
Water: +0.3%
BMI: 0

Week 1: Not too shabby!

As I've mentioned, I'm going really slow this time around. This week, I woke up before 7:00 every morning. Monday - Thursday I either walked or did yoga for 30+ minutes. Friday, I didn't do a specific exercise. However, all day Friday, Saturday afternoon, and most of Sunday, I was going non-stop with cleaning the house and yard work as we're getting ready to sell our house. As far as eating, I did pretty good, but not great. I definitely did WAY better than I usually eat, but pizza, calzones, and Hot Tamales don't exactly fit in the "healthy" category. I'm not going to beat myself up for those items like I used to do. I told myself that I'm going slow and I'm ok with it. One step at a time. I will say, though, I had a small victory last night. I really wanted some Reese's Pieces and was getting up to get a handful, but instead found myself in the bathroom?? So, I weighed myself and am SO glad I did. I looked at the scale and said to myself, "You know what? Those Reese's Pieces are NOT worth messing up my numbers." Then, when I woke up this morning, they were even better!

Week 1 Results:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 182.2 lbs
Body Fat: 44.4%
Water: 40.5%
BMI: 31.3 (Obese)

Difference:
Weight: 2.8 lbs 3.4 lbs
Body Fat: +0.4%
Water: -.03%
BMI: -0.6

I need to see my body fat and water percentages go the opposite way than they are going, but otherwise, pretty good, huh?? :D Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement! You guys are the best!

Gotta Keep Trying!

If you fall, pick yourself up and keep trying. This is my motto right now. I know I keep trying to get healthy, then shortly fall on my face. Each time I proclaim, "This is it! I'm really going to do it!" Then a week or so later, I'm done. However, I have hope. I know I can do this! I HAVE to keep trying - I cannot completely give up. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I know I cannot do this on my own - I need Christ's strength to overcome my weaknesses: poor food choices, getting up early, exercising, etc.

I didn't want to post this yesterday as I didn't want people to think, rightly so, that it was an April Fool's joke. :) I'm back on the horse and am going to do this!! A co-worker of mine told me to write a list of the things I like about being healthy to give me some motivation. Here are my top three things:

1) My relationship with God gets stronger: every night and morning I pray to God asking for His strength to say "yes" to the things I need to do and "no" to the things I should stay away from; I ask Him for help to roll out of bed when what I want to do is sleep; I depend so much more on Him throughout the day than I usually do, which is a reminder to me that I have things SO backwards right now; and I hope to be His light through this by giving Him glory.
2) I like the way I feel: the energy I get, not feeling gross after stuffing my face with food, and the confidence I have from choosing healthy foods.
3) I like the way I look: it's nice when I don't have to push my stomach fat into my gut when I bend over so I can reach my toes; my full-size spare tire starts to go flat; I can confidently wear my cute clothes and not hide behind sweaters, jackets and baggy shirts; and I can FEEL pretty!!

So, per my measurements yesterday, here are my starting numbers:

Height: 5'4"
Weight: 185 lbs 185.6 lbs
Body Fat: 44%
Water: 40.8%
BMI: 31.9 (Obese)

My accomplishments so far:
- Yesterday and today, I woke up at 6:00ish and took a 30 min walk. I averaged a 17 minute mile. (I'm not sure if that's good or not for walking).
- I passed up 1/2 price Easter candy even though they had my FAVORITE available, and threw out 1/2 a bottle of Dr. Pepper when I wanted it the most. Those were definitely by the strength of God.
- I've eaten relatively well the last two days.
- I've gone to bed over an hour earlier than usual so I can get enough sleep and wake up more easily in the mornings.

The Return: Week 1...ish

As I mentioned, my sister just got married this last weekend and I'm still trying to recover. We had family in town, last-minute prep for the wedding, catching up from taking a couple days off work, and now Aidan has strep throat. AH! My sister's wedding was great - she looked fantastic, the ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was fun. We all love her husband, Grant, and are excited to welcome him into the family!

Wow, so many things have changed since last June! Aidan is 4 and is finishing his first year in preschool. Rhys, whom I have dubbed "my little monster", will be 2 in August. Brad is still staying at home with our kiddos and is doing a great job teaching and keeping up with them. I was promoted at work and am now the manager of the EDI department! My brother and his family moved up from Houston in November and now live 5 minutes away from us. My sister-in-law moved here from CA in October, then had her son, Nathanael, in February.

I had a physical and had my height measured, and I somehow gained and inch. It's quite possible I've had it wrong this whole time, idk. But, I'm officially 5'4".... what do you know! Like I said in my last post, I gained every ounce back that I lost my first attempt and started back at my exact same weight. Here are my starting numbers and my numbers as of today!

Beginning Numbers:
Height: 5'3"
Weight: 185 lbs
Body Fat: 47%
Water: 37.9%
BMI: 32.77 (Obese)

New Numbers:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 163.8 lbs
Body Fat: 40.4%
Water: 43.5%
BMI: 28.11 (Overweight)

Difference:
Height: +1" - ha!
Weight: -21.2 lbs
Body Fat: -6.6%
Water: +5.6%
BMI: -4.66 (Went from Obese to Overweight!!!!) 

Well Hello There!

Well hello there! It has been a while since I've posted anything: almost a year actually. It's a little embarrassing when a few posts ago I stated I was back on the weight-loss horse again. As some of my friends saw first-hand not only did I get bucked off, but I gained back every ounce I had lost. I only wish I was kidding. However, last fall, a good friend of mine won a gift certificate to Dallas Med Spa for their weight-loss program. She gave it to me because she knew I was trying to lose weight. I'm so blessed!!

I started the 12-week program on November 4 and guess what - my starting weight was exactly the same as it was when I started this blog! Hmmm

As part of the program, I was given a bodybugg to measure my steps and calorie burn, blood work, an EKG, and a brief physical. I met with a nurse each week at which time we went over my progress of the previous week, got my new weight, then she would give me a B-12 shot in my booty and a weekly supply of appetite suppressants and vitamins.

I was supposed to eat 1100 calories and log my food intake, and I had to burn 2100 calories a day. I didn't meet that goal every day, but I definitely cut back on what I ate and started doing some brief exercise. It was shocking how much junk I had been consuming prior to this program! Had I met that goal every day, they estimated that I would have been down to my goal weight by March. ... That didn't happen... HOWEVER, I lost 20 17 pounds on the program!!

The 12 weeks ended at the end of January and I maintained my weight for a couple of months. Brad and I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Challenge and I lost another 5 3 pounds! Over the last week I've gotten a bit off track due to lots of baking and my little sister's wedding on Sunday! AH!! I'll have to weigh in on Wednesday to see if I can recoup my loses or not.

I can't tell you how much better I feel and how much more comfortable I am in my clothes! For those of you who know me, I rarely wear dresses. The last full-length dress I wore was for my wedding over 7 years ago. However, last week alone, I busted out a skirt twice and a full-length summer dress twice! WHAT?!

I still have 35 more pounds to lose, but I've definitely made progress. Thanks for all of your support, encouragement and compliments! More to come....

Week 13 Results

This week I did Yoga and walked around Collin Creek Mall again. I think we did about a mile and a half plus 12 sets of stairs: walking down and running up. I also went swimming on Saturday for a couple of hours. Yesterday I spent 4 hours outside cleaning my dad's saddle leather seats in his truck as a Father's Day present. I'm not sure I'll be offering that as a gift again as my right shoulder is killing me. With all of that I still managed to gain weight - grrrr. This week I have scheduled three Yoga classes and still plan on walking at the mall on Saturday. I brought my lunch today, too, so hopefully I'll stay on track this week. Better results HAVE to come soon! The good news is my body fat went down and my water went up - that has to be good, right???

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 180.6 lbs
Body Fat: 45.0%
Water: 40.1%
BMI: 31.99 (Obese)

Week 12 Results

Well, it's not exactly week 12 consecutively, but it's what I'm going to use. I didn't weigh myself the last several weeks nor did I eat well or exercise, so I'm pleasantly surprised at my results.

Last week, I started Yoga which is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I don't remember the last time I sweat that much. I had another class tonight and feel fantastic! I also went walking at Collin Creek Mall on Saturday morning with some friends. They open their doors early for walkers and it's FABULOUS since we're able to walk in the AC. We also did several sets of stairs while we were there.

I brought carrots, apples and other healthy snacks to work with me last week and was doing great until.... dun dun dun.... the weekend. I ALWAYS fail on the weekends and I don't know what to do. I know I need to just say "no," but I'm still learning that word apparently. I made this awesome dessert for Father's Day and part of it was this mouth-watering brownie - the best one I've ever had/made. I can't even tell you how many brownies I consumed, not to mention the pizza and ice cream we had on Saturday, either. Ahhh! I could have had a salad instead of the pizza. I could have thrown the leftover brownies away. I could have done so many things differently.

Anyway, here are my "re-starting" numbers. They'll get better from here.

Height: 5'3"
Weight: 179.8
Body Fat: 45.5%
Water: 39.8%
BMI: 31.85 (Obese)