Losing It - Week 10, Over and Done

Whoa, I have no idea how the past 10 weeks went so quickly. I didn't even see it coming these past two weeks with whirlwind week and being so sick I thought I might die.

I've enjoyed participating in this challenge, and yet I honestly don't think my heart was in it as full on as it should have been. I'm excited to be losing weight {thank you very much nastiest-flu-bug-diet-ever}, I am healthier than I was 10 weeks ago, and it was really neat to get to know so many of you ladies via Twitter!

To see all my other Losing It posts, go here.

My goals were:

• Drink 64-80 oz of water a day
• Continue to decrease pop intake
• Exercise 3 times a week for 30-60 minutes each
• Lose 20 pounds during this competition

Update:

• I drink 64-80 oz of water a day. When I was sick I think it was at least 100 to try not to get dehydrated. {Plus Gatorade}
• Being jolted into the flu helped me get off soda. I'm completely off it now.
• I do exercise at least 2 times a week for 60-90 minutes each and try to throw in a 3rd or 4th for good measure. If my trainer has anything to do with it, he will get me working out 4 times a week. For now, that's been on hiatus with being sick.
• I've lost 14 pounds since starting this competition. I went from 246 to 232. Does it matter that much of it was from being sick? Ahem, we'll just pretend it doesn't matter. It makes me feel better. Seriously though, my clothes are looser, and it is a great feeling no matter how it was done!!

In the process of all this, I found some new wonderful blogs. Please please go check them out and show them some love!

• Life in the Z Lane
• Heaven in the Home 
• Heart & Home
• Vanderbilt Wife

Thanks for letting me share this experience with you! I'm glad I joined in the journey even if I wasn't as whole-heartedly in it as I wish I had been. It was fun and I'm glad I did it. :)

Losing It, Week 7

I really do think I've lost my sanity this week. I am not holding up altogether too well.

I'm sure that comes as no big surprise. 

On a plus side, I think I was able to pull off some decent stuff for hubster's birthday after all. We'll just say his birthday lasted for two days and I'm off the hook. :)

I've been back to really struggling with my Fibro. Like the "why me, why this, why now?" kind of stuff. I'm listening right now to my pastor giving a live webcast from an event in NC about trials. I've heard him speak on this before. But it's really hitting me where I need it right now.

I am still learning a lot... working out and working on nutrition. I had hoped to lose 20 pounds during this 10 week challenge. I know now that's not going to happen. But I am making changes. Sometimes I get frustrated with how slow it seems to be going. But I know that it's happening this way for a reason and I just have to stop fighting it and do the best that I can.

Losing It, Week 5

We are halfway through the Losing It 10 Week Challenge. I can't believe how quickly time flies anymore. This is week 5.

I think.

I had a really great session with my nutritionist Thursday night. But one of her goals for me right now is to totally, with a vengence, avoid the scale!!! I was starting to rely on it way too much.

And I was getting too easily discouraged by it way too much.

So I can't tell you I'm doing in that regard, but I do know this:

• My clothes are looser
• I'm either going to need to buy belts soon {which I hate...ask any really overweight person; belts are evil, they jam into your tummy and make you miserable} or buy new clothes {which I really can't do}... hmmm, a bit of a pickle
• I am stronger
• I have more endurance
• I have more energy
• The pain subsides as I stay in shape... one workout missed and I can tell
• I've asked for higher weight levels for my strength training; a sign that I'm getting stronger and can push myself harder
• Overall I am having better days and have been able to be at work more days this winter than in years past
• I am a little more confident

So even though I can't see it on the scale, I know I'm making huge changes that will stick with me. It's just taking time. And I have to allow myself some grace. I'm different than other people. I'm not going to lose the weight overnight like some can. I'm attempting to do a drastic lifestyle change that will be with me forever instead of an overnight fad diet, or a feeble attempt at weight loss. I don't want to yo-yo. This has to stick.

That means learning to give myself a little more grace while still pushing myself hard.

For more of this week's posts, go to Giving Up on Perfect.

Losing It, Week 3, Will I Ever Get This?

I forgot to weigh in this morning.

Again.

And yes, I'm going to share the weight instead of percentage of weight because I have no freakin' clue how to do that.

I was okay at math. In high school. Now my calculator is my best friend. When I know what I'm doing.

Which is rare.

So alas, I'll share the weight loss details when if I weigh in one of these days. For now, all I can tell you is that I feel better. I'm doing better with it all. And my very dear friend Monica told me last night the pants she's hemming for me, that I tried on to check the length on, are fitting looser than before.

YAY!

I love my friends. :) Don't they just know what to say and when to say it, even if you aren't sure they're telling you the truth, all the while also knowing they would never lie to you? I know that makes no sense but trust me, it went through my head.

Last night I had my second one-on-one nutritionist appt. It was wonderful and overwhelming. I love my nutritionist, but man alive, these are going to be even tougher changes than I thought. Instead of just cutting back on portion sizes and fattening foods (like what I was imagining from life in Weight Watchers), she has me pretty much getting rid of (i.e. giving to a food pantry) everything I own.

YIPES!

Okay so I don't know that I can be all in like that and be so dramatic. I'm still honestly mulling it all over. I want to at least buy what she's recommending, but still leave those other things on hand. But then will I be too tempted by those things? I know though that I'm really picky and I might not like these new whole grain, super nutritious, tastes-like-cardboard thingys. So why get rid of everything I do like? Are Nutra-Grain bars or Honey Nut Cheerios or regular apple juice really that bad?

In her book, they are. She wants me to get rid of everything with high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, palm oils, sugared-up, and pretty much everything processed. Oh okay, no problem.

Pshhht.

We've gone over the fact that I'm not a lover of cooking. I try. I do fairly well when I expend all my energy into it. Hence why I don't do it often. So, getting rid of all of those things freaks me out a wee bit. It's a lot of crazy hard work.

Have I ever mentioned before that I'm lazy?! This is going to be really tough.

So like I said, I spent the time after my meeting with her at my friend Monica's house. She and her hubby Brian took a one hour class together nearby so I watched the little tyke (Parker, how could you forget? :)) while he slept and I read a book. Afterward we talked about weight loss, weight gain, foods, etc. They are phenomenal and determined about it themselves, and it helped inspire and motivate me. They gave me really good advice about all of it, although yes, I'm still processing it all. I'm a little freaked out that if I'm too drastic about it, I won't do well with it for an extended period of time and just go back to all the same old stuff but even worse than before. I've had that happen to me once years ago. I lost 35 pounds in 3 months after cutting all sugars/sweets and soda out of my life, and exercising like crazy (this was before Fibro). But when I stopped and went back to normal foods, I went back with a vengeance. And gained everything back I'd lost, plus a little more.

Ack!

I'm bound and determined not to let that happen again. So maybe that's why I'm not making huge strides with the weight loss yet. I'm making small changes every week that will allow me to continue on with this as an overall lifestyle instead of a radical quick diet. Yes, I still have days I'm really frustrated I'm not seeing a bigger difference. But do I feel leaner. My muscles are changing. I'm thinning out even if I'm not seeing huge differences. It's taking me a while to wrap my head around it all.

My nutritionist keeps reminding me I didn't put it on overnight, I can't take it off overnight. (I think when I watch too much Biggest Loser is when I get the most bummed about my own slow progress, but I know that's relatively unrealistic. Oh speaking of which, last night I met the mother of one of the current contestants on the show. Apparently she goes to my gym. Huh, who knew? That was pretty cool.) She also reminded me that replacing the foods she's suggesting with what I have instead will keep me fuller longer and I won't tend to overeat as much. When she really explained it, it did make sense. I guess I just feel like I'm not going to be able to do it.

But I'm bound and determined to do it anyway.


So much so that I went and bought a 32 oz Pepsi this morning to wake me up.

My determination ebbs and flows.
 
Maybe I'll get this before I die. Man am I glad in Heaven we will be given new bodies that are perfect. No more worrying about this stuff. Yay! But in the meantime, I have to at least try to give it everything I've got so that I can truly honor God with this body.

Check out more Losing It posts at Giving Up on Perfect.

Losing It, Week 2

I'm doing so much better already than I was!!! I'm so excited. I want to lose weight and be healthy more than I ever have before. I know, it's hard to believe, I've been excited before. So what's different this time?

Several things. Too much to go into right now. Maybe next week.

But I really mean it this time. Seriously.

I feel like this time I'm really at a point where I absolutely want to be skinny and healthy more than anything else!!!!!

Okay, so looking back on my goals when we started, here's where I'm at:

• Drink 64-80 oz of water a day -- I'm getting there, not there completely but I'm increasing and getting there day-by-day
• Continue to decrease pop intake -- I plan to be off it completely again this weekend. But this time it includes no pop. No caffeine free pop. No Sprite. No Diet 7-Up. None of it. I have to get away from it completely for a time, hopefully at least 1 month. Then maybe Diet 7-Up. 
• Exercise 3 times a week for 30-60 minutes each -- I'm increasing this again. This past week it was twice although I do hope to workout tomorrow. Next week it'll be Mon, Wed, Fri. Twice with my trainer. Total of 60 minutes each time.
• Lose 20 pounds during this competition -- not too sure about this one yet. No weight loss yet, but there's still hope! Now that I'm really getting into it full swing this week after one-on-one sessions with my nutritionist and trainer, hopefully I can say next week that I've lost weight! I have no idea {pardon my ignorance} how to do the percentage of body weight lost like most of the rest of them in this are doing... so I'll let you know my weight once I weigh in again next week.

Check out Giving Up on Perfect for more stories from this week!

Losing It - Not Doing Too Hot

I didn't do very well my first week of the Losing It challenge. I honestly got extremely busy and even more or less forgot about it. I'm so sorry! I will work harder to make it happen this week.

I've always struggled with my weight, but never to a really serious degree until after we got married, I moved away from home, had a hard time adjusting to real life, missing my family, etc. I always saw myself as fat since middle school, but looking back now that makes me laugh. Oh to be that size again! Even though I wasn't a 2 or a 4 {I was a size 10 I think when I graduated high school}, I was much better than where I am now! So now I refer to those as my skinny days!

Oh how perspective changes us. I referenced this a little bit in an earlier post, see Roller Skating and Fibromyalgia.

Now I'm a size 24 {usually... I was just able to fit into a new pair of jeans in a size 22!! Woot!}. My ultimate goal is to get back down to a size 14 or weigh 160 pounds, where I was at when we got married. And even though I'd still technically be classified as overweight, I don't care. I know I'd be a lot healthier than where I am now and would love myself more at that size. I honestly can't even picture myself ever getting lower than that. So that is my goal for where I want to be in order to be in better shape and health to have a baby.

But I am failing miserably at it. Despite the intense workouts and extreme effort I've put into working out, the nutrition is extremely difficult for me. But even in the weeks where I was doing it right, my body was only leaning down, not really losing much weight.

I have a ways to go, but I must get there. And I have to do better than this past week.

For more stories {and much better ones than me!}, go here.

Losing It

I am sooo excited about THIS!!

I've been working with a trainer. Going crazy with a nutritionist. Working hard.

But not enough. I've seen myself leaning down a little. I've had an increase in energy and endurance, and a general improvement with my Fibro symptoms. But no real weight loss.

I've been frustrated. So much so that I took the last two weeks 'off'. And am now needing a new kick in the butt. I was in touch yesterday with my trainer and nutritionist, and a new possible trainer, feeling a little better about the situation but down about all the costs.

So I was really excited to see Mary at Giving Up on Perfect Twitter about this. This is exactly what I think I need right now.

I couldn't decide on my exact goal, but she has inspired me so my goals will be similar to hers:

• Drink 64-80 oz of water a day
• Continue to decrease pop intake
• Exercise 3 times a week for 30-60 minutes each
• Lose 20 pounds during this competition

I believe I can do it. Will you join us? If so, head on over here.