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Sunday, December 29, 2013

Surround yourself with supportive people!

Sorry guys, I know I was supposed to update you this week but I ended up getting the flu, a cold and my period all on one day.  Christmas Day night.  I had no clue I was going to get sick!

It was and still is horrible, but at least the flu part is gone...

Anyway - to the good stuff!!!

The week prior I was really really down.  I left the Weight Watcher meeting feeling super depressed and feeling like I have let everyone down. Including myself.  I was so negative in the meeting and I felt horrible about doing that.  I've never been like that in meetings, maybe in my head, but never in meetings.  I try to be super supportive of everyone.  I know people were thinking what the hell happened to her.  Wow she must be struggling!

I was.

Badly.

I know it's not a surprise to you either.

What may be a surprise is that last week was fantastic.  I did what I said I was going to do.  I was going to track everything that went in my mouth, and I did!  The first few days I was already negative in my points, but that wasn't my goal - my goal was that I didn't really care what I was eating as long as I was tracking it.  In the end, it affected what I was actually eating.  By day 3 or 4 I started trying to stay closer to my points.  I was still exercising, like I normally do - but started pushing myself more and more on trying to eat within my points as much as possible.

Also... I had two little angels with me the whole week.  Both from my Weight Watchers meeting.  Before I left that meeting last week - we made a pact.  One pact was to tell each other what we weighed every morning.  The other pact was that we (all three of us) would talk on a regular basis and check in with how we were doing.  That ended up saving me really!  We started out with just chatting, then it went to sharing our daily trackers and then it went to challenges.

Seriously that's the best support anyone could ever get!

I lost 6 lbs... over Christmas.  Because I tracked (and have awesome friends)!

I cannot tell you how important it is to surround yourself with those people that want you to succeed and want to be part of that with you.  I have made so many friends in my Weight Watcher group, more than I ever have before.  These people are like family to me.  It is so important for me to attend my meetings for so many reasons, but to keep these relationships up is one of the most important things to me.

Since we're already half way through the week now, I may as well tell you that I'm doing fine this week.  I'm still tracking everything that's going into my mouth... but you'll have to wait until next week to hear more - because this has not been without challenges!

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!





Thursday, December 19, 2013

Letting You Down

I apologize for not posting last week.  I didn't weigh in, I was not a good girl and I was away at training for two days.  Then getting myself all ready for Christmas.

I am really struggling here.  I know if you've read my blog over the last 6 months I've been really up and down.  Had some super highs and super lows.  I am starting to make myself worry... I feel very out of control with my food and it's showing on the scale.

I've said this over and over and over - exercise is not my problem.  I have continued to exercise.  Sure I've had some weeks where I haven't exercised as much as others.  But it is a priority of mine.  My food though is way out of check.

I used to journal all the time.
I used to put everything I put in my mouth in my journal.
If I didn't know the points, I made a number up... usually on the "higher side."

NOW

Now, I'm not journaling as much.
Now I'm making excuses that I don't know how many points something is - so I don't write it down.
Now I'm eating everything in site (I'm still thinking, in my brain, that I shouldn't eat something).
Now I've gained over 10 lbs back.
Now, I'm scared.

I'm giving myself a little break because it's the holidays but really all I'm doing is making it worse and making myself feel worse.  I must get myself back in control.  I must not let myself feel like I've screwed up my entire day because I ate 6 chocolate covered oreos (OMG - what????).  So for this week, I'm going to track everything.  I am not going to care so much about points per say but just tracking everything that goes in my mouth.

I hope you're not doing as bad as I am right now.  I hope that in two weeks when I write my blog (I won't be updating next week - most likely) that I have a much better story to tell.  I feel like I'm letting everyone down.  I know you'll all say I'm not and we've all been there.  But DAMN - I still feel it... but I know I'll get back on track.  I have to!!!

I still can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Post Thanksgiving / Vacation

So this year my husband and I went down to Florida to see his son for Thanksgiving.  It's his first year in college and instead of flying him back here, we decided to go down to see him.  We hadn't seen the campus yet and I wanted to see where he lived and get a feel for how things were out there.

So we set off Tuesday night and headed to my parents house.  My mom took us to the airport at 4:15 A.M.  (UGH I hate mornings). First thing I did was eat quiche and a caribou coffee to start off my day.  Probably not the best choice, but had that vacation mind set in.  We flew through Atlanta (had a 3 hour lay-over) and had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Because I had that breakfast, I ordered a salad with the dressing on the side for lunch.  Probably wasn't the best salad to choose but at least I was eating veggies and I used very little dressing.  That made me feel decent about my choice at least.  Then I got a sweet/blended coffee - not such a good girl.  When we got to Florida we had to pick up our rental car and drive 2 1/2 hours to get our son.  (p.s. I hate driving in cars).  Once we got to his dorm, he showed us his room (typical college dorm room - for boys) and we headed off.  We had another 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us.  We stopped for pizza along the way - I ate a 1/2 lrg pizza.  Not feeling the best, but I was HUNGRY (not ideal).

We finally got to our destination at 9 pm EST.  We had no groceries, water, pop, etc.

The next morning we got up, got ready and went grocery shopping (we selected mainly healthy items - YAY) and then headed to a Thanksgiving buffet.  It was AWESOME.  I didn't do horrible there, but I could have done better of course.  I only chose one dessert though, that was a huge accomplishment.  When we got back I was tired, I wanted a nap... but I could hear that ocean calling me.  We were literally 100 steps off the ocean.  So while football was calling the boys, I decided I'd take a walk on the beach by myself.  It was beautiful (chilly, but beautiful).  When I left for the beach I had about 2500 steps on my fitbit.  When I got back I had over 14,000 steps.  I had just walked over 5 miles.  CRAZY.  I was amazed, it didn't feel like it.

I walked into the beach house just as football was wrapping up (my Packers lost - booooo, glad I didn't watch the game) and my husband said "I'd like to go for a walk on the beach."  I was like "SHIIIIIT I'm sore" but I didn't say that... we went to the beach for a walk.  When we were done for the day I had 23,xxx steps... which means I walked yet another 5+ miles on the beach with them.  I felt amazing (sore, but amazing).  What that day did for me was amazeballs... the rest of the 3 days there I got up each morning and walked the beach -- between 4 and 5 miles each day.  I felt so good about that.

I didn't always eat the best for the vacation, but I think I would have done way worse if I didn't get those walks in.  All but that 1 afternoon, I walked alone.  I did it right away in the morning so I didn't have any excuse not to.  I did it before we even would have started our day.  I felt GREAT!

We headed back to my step son's campus early Sunday morning (after I got a 3.1 mile walk in) to tour his campus and see what it's like.  It's beautiful.  Simply beautiful.  Very uniform (not a lot of differing character in the buildings) - each building is the same brick... but the landscaping that Florida can have at this time of year is so beautiful.  Especially compared to Minnesota (which is where I'm from).  We walked about 5+ miles on his campus that day.  After the tour we took him to a movie and then left him (tears... tears... tears... I miss him so much already) and drove to the WORST HOTEL EVER off the Riverwalk in Jacksonville FL.  Do not stay at that Wyndham - it's freakin gross!!!

Monday was a day of travel back to MN where we landed and it immediately started snowing (welcome home!!).  When we were in Florida, I wore my light winter jacket every day except the last day when it got to mid - upper 60's.  Every other day was 35-55 degrees (eek, but still better than the 20-30 here in MN).  As we were leaving we saw the forecast for Florida for the week - 70-80's (NICE!) and here in MN it will be in the single digits :(.

Calgon, take me back to Florida!!!

So anyway I stepped on the scale Tuesday morning and I had lost 1 lb (on vacation).  I tried losing a little more since we've gotten back... and the results were - not good.  Got my friggin period.  I gained 3.2 this week (overall gain of 4.8 the last two weeks).  I honestly think it's all period weight so I'm actually quite pleased with my past week.  I had 47 activity points for the week (the highest I've ever gotten) - ain't nuttin' wrong with that.  Now, like you, I need to maintain my weight through Christmas/New Years (after I lose what I've gained in the last two weeks (hee hee).  I'll be doing that by keeping up my exercising through the holidays - I will make time for it.  My goal is to get in 5 days minimum of some sort of exercise between 40-60 minutes each of those days.

What are you going to do to combat the holiday foods?

Well whatever it is, I wish you luck and as always - remember...

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After.


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Tracking is where it's at!!!

I had to read my previous post before writing this one.  I wanted to make sure I report back on everything I said I would do.  I actually did fairly well this week.  My vow was to write everything down (I did), to continue to exercise (I did, a little more this week than last week) and to stay within my points 6 of the 7 days (I did not... I would say 4 1/2 days I did well with my points).

Friday my mom and I went to the movies and I had popcorn - didn't have points for it... and then we had ice cream when we got home.  Again didn't have the points for it. I had the weekly points for it, just not daily... so I count this as my bad day.

I was bad (very bad) at the party on Saturday, but I was able to ward off the alcohol pusher.  This person kept pressuring me to drink.  She just wanted someone to drink with and I was 1 of 3 people she knew at the party... and we used to party hard when I was younger.  I kept repeating, I'd rather eat my points than drink my points.  I seriously had to say this over 5 times.  I was getting kinda pissed as she knows how hard it is to lose weight, be strong against food and drinking, and she's a good friend of mine.  She finally got me to take one sip of her drink - OMG it was horrible (thankfully).  There was way too much alcohol in it for my liking - so that was good enough for me to satisfy her and not make me crave a whole drink.  There were many good appetizers that I did indulge in, but I really tried to semi-control myself.  When things were too large, I cut them in half.  I made a healthier appetizer myself - as healthy as I could.  I made a veggie pizza - people were RAVING about it.  I'll post the recipe on the recipe tab, so check it out (no picture though).

Sunday I was not good either.  I started well, ended horribly.  I wanted to go to Zumba but I didn't.  Instead, I woke up at 8 am and made myself some coffee.  Then I proceeded to go downstairs and watch TV the entire day.  The only thing I did do was let the dogs out, make spaghetti squash (for the week), acorn squash and a pizza (didn't really "watch" what I put on the pizza either... except there was turkey pepperoni and part-skim mozzarella).  I seriously watched TV until 9:30 pm.  Didn't exercise at all, thought about it a lot - but couldn't make myself go.

Monday I started feeling sick and Tuesday I was definitely sick.  I did exercise Monday (home Zumba), Tuesday and Wednesday I went to Zumba at the gym.  I just figured I'd go and at least move, just not get as intense as I normally do.  That felt good... I actually felt good after for about a 1/2 hour and then I'd feel sick again.

My results this week, after being good for 4 1/2 days was that I lost 2.4 lbs.  I'm back to the 90 lb weight loss range (thankfully!!!!).  I still have a lot of work to do this week to keep myself on track.  We leave Wednesday for Florida and I want to make sure I'm not in vacation mode NOW versus when we get there.  Since I'll be in Florida for Thanksgiving I won't have a post next week, but I will recap our trip and how I did at the Thanksgiving buffet (yikes... I need to start mentally preparing for that NOW).

So for this week, I'm going to focus on tracking again... and trying not to go negative in my weekly points like I did this week.  I'm also going to exercise like I normally do... I need to figure out what kind of exercise I'm going to commit to in Florida - whether it's running or I bring a video to do.  Stay tuned to find out what I did :)

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Vowing to Change

So I didn't weigh in last week (I was in a training and didn't feel like weighing in on Wednesday because I knew I was up) nor have I been a very good girl with food.  I've kept up my exercise (not a problem for me, I LOVE IT) but have been making some horrible choices.  Even though I'm telling myself not to do / eat these things I am buying and eating them as I'm telling myself not to.

I feel very off and not sure why I'm doing this to myself.  There will be moments where I've been strong, but more often the moments of weakness are winning me over.  I have all kinds of excuses but I really hate excuses.  There's no excuse for my behavior since I know what I want.  I really do!

I think my problem right now is that shopping has been fun and the new clothes I've bought fit very well and are so fun.  So I'm focusing on having fun with that and messing up with my food... which if I think about it (and trust me I have) if I don't get myself in check, then these cute clothes and fun shopping trips are no longer going to fit or be fun.

Seriously... I've thought a lot about this.  I even uttered the words "I'm happy with where I am right now."  This is true but not true.  I do feel good, I'm able to exercise with no problem and still loving it, I want to go out and do things with friends... but there in lies the problem.  When I'm doing things like this then I let loose a little (a lot).  It's no one's fault but my own!  ... and on that flip side I'm not where I want to be in the end.

One little thing just sets me off and then the rest of the day goes down hill.  I have not been tracking my food very well... I'll start and then eat too much and write that down and then I don't track my dinner or other snacks that I may have through out the day. So dumb!

So... I vow to change.  I'm going back to when I was doing well.  I'm going to track my food.  I am going to do my very best to stay within my points 6 of the 7 days (I say 6, because I have a birthday/appetizer party on Saturday where I know I will drink a little and eat some bad stuff).  I have to do this for myself!  Shit, I'm going to Florida in 2 weeks... I know my clothes will fit for the trip (what a relief) but I want to feel good too.  I feel good when I'm eating healthy (WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER THAT ALL.THE.TIME?!).

To keep you posted on my progress... at one point I was down 96 lbs... I am now down 87.5 lbs.  I've gained a bit through out October to now. I want to hit that stupid 100 lbs... and I have a long way to go again.  I can do this!  I know I can!  YOU know I can!

Here we go... I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Reflecting

I am not weighing in this week as I will be away at training during my normal weigh in time and then from training I'm leaving to go out of town.  So I do not have report on how I did this week, but I can tell you that I did not lose this week... but I will next week!

I'm definitely struggling.

I know I can do this!

It's not easy, it never will be.

I've been thinking a lot about food this week, prob's because it's that time of the month.  I haven't indulged as much as I had been the last two weeks, but Halloween candy has not been my friend.  We had a major run in on Monday.  Tuesday I was able to be MUCH better about it... and I'm hoping it's all gone from the work place before I return next week.

I ate more salads this week... but I need to make some meals.  I need to do that in order to stay interested.  I will be getting home late on Sunday and then starts the week of exercising.  I do not get home most days until 6:30 - 8:00 (depending on the day of week/work out schedule).  For those days that I'm eating on the road, I need to make sure I have some finger foods to eat in the car.  Especially with winter approaching.  So I will be reflecting on that over the next week and let you know next week what I plan to do to make myself successful!

Have a great week and I hope you have more self control than I do right now. Regardless, we have the same goal...

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Devil on your shoulder?

So last week when I had blogged I had vowed to do well while at scrapbooking.  Well that went to shit... FAST.  Pretty much immediately after I walked through the door when we got back from a great Weight Watcher meeting.  I thought for sure I'd do better because there was three of us "watching" what we were eating.  I was the only one of the three watching everything jump into my mouth immediately.

I am completely disgusted with myself and that damn devil on my shoulder.  Each time I would reach into the bag of peanut butter M&Ms (I curse the person who thought of this) I would tell myself to stop... and then I didn't (damn devil).  Then the salted caramel chocolate crack (crack is what it was to me - holy crap don't make it), then the lemon poke cake, then the apple crisp, then the two oreo desserts.  Granted these weren't all one one day but some of them were two / day.  Seriously that was horrible.

Then the food, pretty much all meals were unhealthy except for maybe 2.  And those weren't THAT healthy either... and the portion sizes.  I did better when I could dish my own, even though I went for seconds most of the time (read as "every time").  Some served up our meals for us too --- NOT GOOD for me.  I need to have visual control of what I put on my plate.  That WON'T happen again.   We scrap three times a year and I will guarantee that going forward I will be the only one putting food on my plate AND I will make better choices.

So with that said, there were actually SOME good things that I did.  I made sure to exercise every day while we were there (except 1 and I felt WORSE that day... that won't happen again).  I actually had 3 others join me in doing Zumba.  It was awesome and all 4 of us were happy we did it.  I also had someone go for a walk with me - and she walks as fast as I run... holy crap.  I was happy when she got a little tired, I could keep up better.  I am very very proud that 1) I brought the video to do 2) I did the video 3) people joined me in doing the video and 4) I never felt self-conscious doing it with them.  That's a huge step for me.

When I got home on Sunday I was miserable.  My mind was beating me up and I felt sick.  I was LITERALLY sick and I believe it was because of the CRAP food (which was soooooo good) that I ate.  I actually had to stay home from work on Monday because I felt so terrible.  It wasn't until a nice bathroom visit that I started feeling better (gross, I know.  but oh so true).  I still ate A LOT and crappy on Monday... but I vowed on Tuesday that I was not going to keep that up.

Tuesday:  I went to Sam's club on my lunch hour to get almonds and fruit so that I had some good stuff in the house (whew).  On my way to Zumba I stopped at Subway (NOT my favorite) and got a healthy dinner.   After Zumba I went to the grocery store to make sure that I had a healthy dinner to make for Wednesday night because we had to eat quick and run.  So I made mexican chicken in the crack pot and put that over brown rice.  It was good (to me) but my husband isn't in love with it (too bad sucka)!

While I'm not proud of what I did scrapbooking, I am very proud of how I've reset myself and started planning again. It definitely helped because on Monday/Tuesday I was up 6-8 lbs.  By the time I weighed in today I was only up .6 lbs.  WOWSERS!!!

I'm not going to take that for granted, I'm going to continue with my healthy eating and meal planning this week. I have to - dammit I want to get to 100 lb weight loss (and beyond of course).  I can't do that by making bad choices!  Think about what you can do between NOW and Thanksgiving to lose just 5 lbs.  I know I'm going to really plan this out because I'm going on a trip for Thanksgiving (first time ever being away from all my family - except my step son because he's who we are visiting) and I really want to prove to myself that I can get there and stay there (maintain) over our trip.

Good luck to you and remember - I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Restless Sleeper?

This week I'm going to talk about what I've struggled with for almost a year.

I do not sleep well.  It typically happens in August - September of every year, but this year has been very different.  I've struggled for a lot longer.  I can't really say when, but I know in February when I bought my Fitbit One that I was struggling then because that was one of the reasons I bought it.  It semi-tracks sleep patterns.  It just proved to me how much I'm up in the night.  I average about 20 times a night where I'm restless - to me that's a lot.  I also get up between 1-3 times a night to pee.  That's very frustrating in and of itself but I didn't know what to do.

So over the last year I've tried benadryl, nyquil, zzz quil, tylenol PM and melatonin.  After each one of these wears off I wake up at night and I'm up for while.  Some of these also made me very sleepy in the morning to the point where I didn't want to get up (I'm not a morning person anyway and don't need that extra reason for not wanting to get up).  Melatonin was the best for me but still made me sleepy in the AM and I took 15 mg versus the 5 mg recommended.  So I thought that was a bad idea.

Two weeks ago I paid my doctor a visit and explained my sleep issues and after much discussion she gave me some Trazodone to try (p.s., I had already tried it but didn't want to tell her that because it's a prescribed drug).  Trazodone doesn't work for me, my doctor told me that it only works for 2/3's of the people it's prescribed for.  What it did to me was make me lay there for longer (not falling asleep), I didn't stay asleep - but the good news was that I wasn't as sleepy in the morning (not sure why because I didn't get more sleep - I just didn't get less than I had been either).  I tried it for a week and gave up.

Last week I had to travel for work, while at our other office I called my doctor asking her to think of something else because Trazodone wasn't working.  After two calls back and forth I found out that she was prescribing Ambien for me (I know this works as I tried this before too).  I was ecstatic.  While I was driving from our other office to my house, the doctor's office called and said they faxed in the order.  Keep in mind I did NOT sleep on the road at all - so for 2 nights I haven't slept more than a total of probably 4 hours.  I thanked the nurse and drove straight to the pharmacy.  When I got there Target didn't have the faxed order and since it's a controlled substance they couldn't do anything for me until they had what they needed.  I broke down and CRIED.  In Target... an adult crying.  I was at my wits end...

There were some other things going on in my life as well... that same day I was told that my boss is moving onto another position in the company and I now had a new boss.  I love my current boss, she's super supportive of my weight loss and my going to my weight watcher meetings.  I'm not so sure my new boss is and the new project I have from now until March involves a weekly meeting during the same time I'm supposed to be going to my weight watcher meeting.... so I'm sure that news factored in to my mini-melt down (I'm 40 not a 2 year old, but seriously how much can one person take).

Then, the next day I was taking my poor dog into the vet (who was a super high risk) to have her teeth cleaned and several teeth pulled.  So needless to say I spent the entire day crying on Thursday.  I couldn't focus on anything but the fact that I still hadn't slept, my Thursday meeting may be put on hold (it still could - we will see) and my dog may not wake up from her teeth cleaning.

She did wake up (thank God) and my ambien was at the pharmacy Thursday.  I've slept every night (mostly) for the last week.  Ambien is a bit weird as makes me act a little goofy and I'm still working through that.  The good news though is that I am sleeping and a little more level headed this week.

I know that I will get through this, I have to.  I may have to figure something out for the next few months (the worst months to have a change like this happen) but time will tell on that.  I am happy to report that though all of that this week I've lost 3.2 lbs of the 4.2 I have gained over the last two weeks.  I made it through our October Cook Off and continued to Zumba my ass off.  I'm pretty proud of myself right now... and I'm loving Ambien :)

I'm sitting at my scrapbook retreat right now - we got here yesterday and will be here through Sunday.  Here's to making more good choices versus bad over the next week (you should see all the fabulous snacks and desserts) - my goal is to stay the same this week.  Good luck to you this week!!!

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!


Thursday, October 17, 2013

I'm An Addict!!!

Once again I had a food challenged week.  Although I worked out a lot, I still ate some pretty bad things.  This was birthday celebration weekend (4 days) with my mommy where she spoils me.  I was good 1 of the 4 days.  The other 3 days were challenging too - but only because I made them that way.

I also must admit that I didn't really track well this week.  I think I only tracked 1 or 2 full days, the rest was not really a "fuck-it" attitude but just became a nuisance (which never has happened before - don't worry though, that won't happen again).  What happens when you don't track?  Well apparently for me it means a 2.6 lb gain.  I'm not going to sweat it, because I know WHY I gained... I have some challenging weeks yet to come so I'm going to try and focus more on PLANNING (even if I'm planning to be "bad" - I need to choose the day or 2 that I will allow myself some slack) -- thanks Polly (my WW leader).

Enough of that... I'm not really going to focus on the food or the weight part so much right now because I'm in a very happy place right now (with regards to working out).  I'm working out more than ever and I'm able to do it all... with HIGH impact.  I'm working just as hard as the instructor!  That's insane.

I'm all about Zumba right now.  I've put all the challenges to the way side because I can burn between 550 - 650 calories doing Zumba for 1 hour.  I'm mostly doing it at the gym but when I can't I do it at home.  One of my good friends gave me her DVD set because she can't do it right now.  So I get to use it until she wants it back.

I'm a bit addicted.  I am even DREAMING about Zumba.  I can't drive in my car and listen to music without wanting to Zumba to the music.  In fact, I drove up to Fargo ND (from Monticello MN) - 3 hour tour - by myself... and I zumba'd in my car to many a songs AND... Not only did I Zumba in my car, I ended up searching www.Zumba.com and putting in the zip code to find classes for that night.  (I was there for 1 NIGHT).  I found a gym and called them, they told me that I could pay $12 to attend the class (or there was a free visit on the web).  So that's what I did Tuesday night (after shopping, it was freaking cold in Fargo so I needed long work out pants versus the cropped pants I had with me).

I am so proud of myself... not for what I ate for dinner that night (UGH) but what I ended up doing to try and work it off.  I walk/ran for 23 minutes before the class and then Zumba'd for 1 hour.  Oh the calorie burn.  The instructor was awesome, so it made it all the better!

I plan to continue the work out over the next week - and I need to eat better again!  We have a cook-off (appetizers) on Saturday so I'm going to have to be super good through all of that.  Only 1 bad day this week (Saturday) and the rest will have to be good.

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Fit By 40

Sooooo, Sunday was my birthday.  I've been celebrating since last Thursday (yikes).  Needless to say, I didn't do great this week according to the scale (gained 1.6 lbs).  But I'm going to choose to NOT focus on that and focus on how I made my goal of Fit By 40!

I used to define this as being at my goal weight... but I had to redefine that goal because I am not even close.  I'm 2/3 of the way there... this summer really messed me up.  BUT again, it's not about the weight right now.  I'll tell you what Fit By 40 means to me now...

  1. I can walk up the stairs in my house and not be out of breath
  2. I can go for a walk with my husband and I'm not winded the entire time (and not embarrased)
  3. I can run a 5k (I've done 2 this year)
  4. I can run a 5k obstacle course (I've done 2 this year)
  5. I know what eating healthy means, I do it over 90% of the time
  6. I can zumba for 3 hours (that was my first introduction to zumba) with NO BREAKS
  7. I can run 1 mile in 11 minutes and 10 seconds (my best time so far)
  8. I no longer have heart burn on a daily basis (and not taking two different daily meds)
  9. My blood pressure medicine was cut by 75%
  10. I can do 250 squats, 40 push ups and 100 leg lifts in less than a 1/2 hour
I could go on and on really... but I'd say I'm Fit by 40! When I hit my goal weight, I'll then be focusing on what this whole blog is...

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!


Thursday, October 3, 2013

Post 2nd 5k Race

I had an absolutely fabulous week.  I've not felt this in control in a long time.  THIS is a good feeling!!!  I've been able to plan for almost all of my meals, I've kicked up my exercise again and I had a great time in my race from the weekend.

There was a benefit in my town called Party for a Purpose where they raise money for families, with cancer, that are in need.  I wouldn't have even known about it if I didn't hold a challenge on my Facebook Page Healthfully Ever After several months ago.  I had ordered Healthfully Ever After tank tops for the winners of the challenge and for a few others that said they wanted one.  In doing so, I met this man - Jason.  He runs a local company that does printing.  His wife had cancer and were overwhelmed with how the community  helped them out.  So they started this charity and other local business joined in with them.  Anyway he told me about the 5k and gave me a flyer.  It took me several weeks to sign up because I wasn't sure how my running would go... but I decided what the heck.  It's for charity and if I can't run it, I'll walk it.  But I'm gonna run it :)... that's how my brain works!

Anyway I didn't start training for it until August.  Training didn't go well, the weather did not cooperate with me as I do not do well in the heat.  Seriously, if I get overheated - I get sick.  Even sitting in the sun sometimes is hard, but you wouldn't believe that because of my beautiful bronze tan I get in the summer... So three weeks before the run I decide I better get myself going.  So I tried to run - 42 minutes for a 5k.  That was about as bad as I was when I first ran the 5k by myself (not during a race).  I was super disappointed and thought shoot, I better keep running during the week.  I didn't.  So the next week, I tried running it again - 40 minutes.  Better, made me a little more motivated... but not motivated enough to keep running during the week.  The next week, I didn't try running a 5k - just tried running on and off for 20 minutes - ran 9 of them walked 11.  That was last Thursday before the run on Saturday.

The 5k was Saturday - raining.  I mean raining, raining - up until the time we actually started running.  Then it just went to constant sprinkle.  If this would have been a day for me to "train," I wouldn't have done it.  I would have stayed inside and not even gone to the gym to run on a treadmill.  BUT, I had to run.  1) I paid for it 2) I actually attempted it and was successful a few times  and 3) it's for a good cause.  So I ran it.  I did AWESOME (for me).  I beat my last 5k race's time (37:10) by almost a minute.  My time was 36:16:81.  Unbelievable.  So much so, that I didn't think it was possible.  So I ran again on Sunday to see if it was.  I didn't do as well (37:29) but with all the adrenaline being with the other racers... I'm just going to say - yes it was possible and yes I did do it!!!

People, anything is possible.  If you want it to be!  Here's some pictures from the races I've done.

Lupus run in May 2013
Party for a Purpose, September 2013


results from Party for a Purpose

So... to cover all the other exercise I've done for the rest of the week.
1) finishing my plank challenge today (finally, I really hated that challenge with a passion!)
2) Ran - Thursday (9 mins), Saturday and Sunday
3) Zumba (ummm... I love zumba) - Monday and Tuesday
4) Started my new challenge for October (see pic below)



I think that's enough.  So my results for the week... lost 1 lb this week, total is now 96.2.  Totally not unhappy with that at all, even though I feel like I should have lost more this week... I feel so in control that I don't even care!

I can't wait to be Healthfully Ever After!


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Stress Eating!!!

Hi, My name is Tabitha MacKenzie and I am a stress eater!

UGH, I know I want to be good.
I try to set myself up to succeed.
Then I get stressed and panic.
Then I eat, and eat and eat.

I seriously want to slap myself sometimes.  I know what I want and I know how to get it, but I let myself get derailed sometimes.  It's so frustrating.  So very very frustrating!  Can you relate?

I've talked about how I do a lot of self talk - sometimes just inside my head and sometimes I talk out loud - to myself.  I know when I'm doing (read "eating") something that I shouldn't be.  I tell myself I don't want or need it.  Then I immediately get off my ass and go get it.

This week was no different.  I had three really BAD days and 4 really good days.  We talked about that last week and most people have bad days right after weigh in... I chose to do every other day basically this week.

Thursday - I hit up DQ for a blizzard.  Just felt like having a blizzard... well - they are buy one get one for 99 cents.  So... unfortunately I ordered two and ate two.  At least I chose small, but should have chose mini if that's what I was going to do. 31 points (that's my whole day) in blizzards, oh and I ate lunch, breakfast and dinner too. :(

Saturday's was stress/guilt eating...  I'm feeling guilty for getting what I've wanted for a long time.  My husband won a gun safe recently and it's huge.  We don't have the room for it really and where we originally wanted to put it, it took up too much storage space (which our house does not have an excess of).  I scrapbook.  I've wanted my own scrapbook room for a very long time.  My step son moved away to college.  Like away away.  Like we live in MN and he is now in Florida.  What I'm getting at is we turned his room into my scrapbook room and turned my old scrapbook space into the gun safe/dog kennel area.

None of it looks like I had envisioned it.  I have a lot of stuff and it didn't fit into the room as I had thought it may.  I wanted to take my time and put the room together, but that's not my husband's style.  He's a get it done kind of guy - especially when it doesn't really mean anything to him.  So needless to say - he was stressing the shit out of me.  So I hit up Dairy Queen.  By myself.  I was not good.  I didn't have the points for it if I actually wanted to eat a meal as well... I didn't eat a meal, but was still well over my points (two small blizzards consumed again 32 points - again my total day and I had breakfast and lunch... and then ended up snacking later because I was hungry!).

Monday was also a cluster-f*ck... again STRESS EATING!  I brought lunch... which was chicken fajitas.  Was just going to eat the chicken and veggies... there was no chicken left (except for two chunks -- which was probably less than an ounce of chicken).  So I went downstairs to our cafeteria... was going to make a sandwich - meat looked grey (no way I was going to eat grey meat), the special was grilled cheese (loaded with butter and cheese) and tomato soup... still trying to be good.  Went to the soups - Chicken Gumbo (fairly healthy, but didn't look or sound appetizing to me) and then there's the salad bar.  I'm saladed out right now.  So.. I decide to get in my car, drive to Wendy's.  Told myself I'll get a grilled chicken sandwich and a frosty (no fries) and be semi good (totally frustrated already so I deserve a treat right?).  There were 20 people waiting in the drive through line AND the parking lot was full - so I wasn't going in.  I got mad, beyond mad - almost so frustrated I wanted to cry.  I left and went to McDonalds - got a quarter pounder with cheese (and bacon) and a medium fry.  Then drove to the grocery store because I wanted a treat - WTF!  I got oreos.  I ate two row, yes two rows of oreos.  The oreos were 35 points (more than my days worth of points) the McDonalds was 26 points... I didn't eat dinner... well I had a WW Smoothie with strawberries and water - so a 2 point dinner.

On a good note, I did work out as anticipated - I did zumba Friday, ran 3.1 on Sunday and water aerobics Monday & Tuesday... so for that I feel good about my week.  But for the "other" above reasons, I feel bad about my week!

Something new that I'm trying (for motivation and inspiration):  I joined in on Jillian Michaels Diet Bet.  It started (officially) on Tuesday 9/24 and goes for 28 days and the goal is to lose 4%.  If you lose that 4% you get your money back... and for those also in the bet that don't lose the weight their money goes in a pot (less the diet bet cut - I don't know the percentage) and those that did meet the goal get to share in those winnings.  Not a bad game and is a great motivator (at least for me).  So, if I meet this goal of 4% (8.4lbs... yeah, you can do the math and see what I weigh) I will be over my 100# hurdle.  THAT, my dear, is why I joined the diet bet.  I need to get over this hurdle (as you know, if you've been reading my blog all summer).

Unfortunately, the timing of weigh in does not coincide with my weigh in with Weight Watchers... so I'll be posting progress each week for both - WW and DietBet... as the scale weights are different.  Since I weighed in on Sunday - my DietBet weight loss is 2.2 lbs and my weekly Weight Watcher result was a loss of 1.6 lbs.  My total is now 95.2. FINALLY hit the next 5 lbs!!!

Whoooo hooo!!!!  I'm closer to my goal weight!!! ...and

I can't wait to be Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Keep on, Keepin' on!

I hope you all had a good week.  I know I did but it was with much effort though.  I really tried staying on track for the whole week, with one day where I veered off and had a plate of fries and a hamburger (oh and a beer).  I have no clue how to count a hamburger where there's artichoke dip on it (to die for) - but I counted the whole meal as 60 points.  The rest of the days I stayed within my daily points (or within a few points of that).  I really wanted to get myself back on track and the one way to do it is to go cold turkey and retrain your mind that you don't need all that food (even though you want it).

The only other down fall to this week is that being a woman certainly has it's disadvantages at least once a month... unfortunately this is my time.  Therefore I think the weight loss this week would have been even better had I tried this the week before or week after.

Anyway - lets get to it.  Last week I said I was going to do the following:
  • I'm going to go to water aerobics 2x in the next week
  • I'm going to do some other cardio routine another 2x per week
  • I'm going to continue my plank challenge and going to complete my Guns Buns and Abs challenge (I have 5 days left - minor delay from being under the weather)
  • I'm going to stay within my points (utilizing the extra's) but not go negative!!!
I accomplished ALL of the above and in addition I finished the guns buns and abs challenge!

Can you believe it?

I do have to say though the plank challenge is really hard! Like.Really.Hard.  I'm going to continue doing it, even if I have to break up the total time, because doing some planking is better than doing no planking.  I can certainly feel that my body is being worked regardless of whether I break it up or not.



I say that because I was super down on myself when the plank rose from 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes... and I couldn't hold the position the whole time.  I seriously almost cried.  I mean I've done everything else I've tried - so why can't I do this?  I don't have that answer, but basically slapped myself in the face and said no matter what you're going to keep trying and not give up.  So you have to break it up?  Big deal... pull up your skirt and just get it done.

That's my motto right now... none of this is easy, but if I give up then what do I get in return?  Probably weight gain and go back to where I came from... and I tell you what - THAT, my friend is not.going.to.happen!!!!

I will not give up.
I will keep challenging myself.
I will prevail.

You all know that I've been struggling all summer - hovering around that 90# weight loss.  Well this week, I  lost 1.4 lbs, my total is now 93.6!  To keep myself going I've joined in on the Jillian Michaels Diet Bet.  Where you put up $30 and you have 4 weeks to win your money back (and possibly more) - all you have to do is lose 4% of your body weight in 28 days.  This starts September 24th (weigh in starts September 22nd) and goes for 4 weeks.  I am going to blow that 100#'s out of the water!  Mark.My.Words!

Always remember... You have to want this for YOU and no one else but YOU!

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Rough Times

I've been struggling lately.  My head is NOT in the game.  I need it in the game.  I've not been meeting my goals and need to start pushing myself again.  Any of you out there struggling?  I'm sure there are, but I hope it's not you.

  • I've had a hard time getting myself onto my NEXT big exercise routine.  I've been doing my challenges but they are not enough.  I need to get running again (I have a 5k in two and a half weeks).
  • I've had a hard time staying within my points... which that's nothing new, but without the extra exercise I'm struggling to lose or even maintain.
  • I've had a little lack of motivation... which I don't understand.  I feel great, I feel even better when eating well and exercising.

So those are three of my dark secrets.  I need to make some short term goals... those seemed to work for me in the past, so here it goes.  I vow to follow these for the next week to see what kind of results I get in return.
  • I'm going to go to water aerobics 2x in the next week
  • I'm going to do some other cardio routine another 2x per week
  • I'm going to continue my plank challenge and going to complete my Guns Buns and Abs challenge (I have 5 days left - minor delay from being under the weather)
  • I'm going to stay within my points (utilizing the extra's) but not go negative!!!
My results this week - I lost 1.8 lbs... I'm sure it was because I was sick (thank God!).  My total is, yet again 92.2.  I was here at the beginning of August.

Don't give up, I'm not!  What can you set as a goal this week???

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Keeping Your Head In the Game

I had a decent week, I wouldn't say I was perfect... but I did much better than the week before.  But before I get into the actual details of my results this week lets talk through my week.

Last Thursday after weigh in I had a doctor appointment. The first thing the doctor said to me was wow you're still losing weight, that's great!!!  I was so happy to hear her say that as she and I have not always seen eye to eye (she's brutally honest but also doesn't like to hear what I have to say as she sees them all as excuses... maybe they were???).  Anyway my visit was about a blood pressure check up.  You see I want to get off my blood pressure medicine and it's been a struggle with her to take me off of it.  I explained to her this time how dizzy I've been when I get up (it's bad and it's often).  But she of course said it's not due to my blood pressure medicine and did a small test on me.  Apparently I have some sort of vertigo and I need to do some exercises for it (I've not been good about doing them yet).  However.. with regards to my blood pressure medicine - slowly but surely over the last year and a half my medicine has been cut down.  From two pills to one, from one pill to half that dose and on this visit... he did agree to halving my dosage again (small victory).

Ok, moving on...

I got in more exercise than the week prior.  I'm doing two 30 day challenges right now - Plank and Guns Buns and Abs.  Both are fairly difficult, however I can put up with a lot for a short amount of time.  Here's a picture of my two challenges:




It's been fun (Yeah right) so far... I'm on day 5 of the plank challenge and day 23 of the Guns Buns and Ab challenge. I've not noticed a lot of inches lost but I have a very soft body so I honestly think I am losing inches but they are just moving down my body instead of tightening so far (if that makes sense).  Plus over this summer I sure haven't lost a lot of weight - but I've mostly kept up with my exercising.  Where I can tell is in my posture, my running, my clothes.

Speaking of running, I hadn't run in almost two weeks due to the heat (I'm not good in heat) but decided to go out Tuesday night and not follow my couch to 5k program but just to see how far and long I could run.  I did a 5k and walked only .09 of the 5k.  My time was 42 minutes (not good really) but I'm satisfied with it.  I'm satisfied because I haven't really kept up with my training (weather and laziness I guess) but I can still do it.  I have a 5k at the end of this month and I'm hoping to get better than 37 minutes.   That would make me very happy.

So, results this week...  I lost .2 lbs.  I'm so struggling with hitting that 95 lb mark and not sure why.  I've been up and down all summer hovering around the 90 lb mark.  I don't know if it's mental or what... but I seriously need to kick it in gear.  I want to be in maintenance mode so badly, but am so so so far from that.  I have 56.2 lbs to go, that's A LOT of weight yet to lose.  I know I can do it, I do try but of course not as hard as I did in the beginning.  I've been struggling with losing points as I've lost weight (go figure).

I'm hoping that as we approach fall, I will be able to fully reset and start hitting these 5# goals out of the park.  Cooler weather means I'll likely be outside more than I was before... whether it be walking or running - I don't care.  I just want to be outside in the fresh air.  I'm also going to be doing more cooking, so that I can just heat up left overs.  That works well for me, so now I need to pull out my tried and true recipes that my husband and I like and cook away!

This past weekend was a holiday weekend but my husband and I kept it pretty low key - so I was lucky in that I wasn't tempted with holiday foods.  This weekend we are in an 8 hour fishing contest, so I'm going to have to plan and pack appropriately so I don't mess up what I did this week (I know one day won't kill me but one day usually turns into more days of being not so great).  I don't mind going over my points and using my extras, so I should be fine... I just have to remember to keep my head in the game.

How do you keep your head in the game?

Have a great week and remember, I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Minor Setback

I was all ready to continue with my reset last week, but instead I chose to make some bad choices.  I really don't regret it because I had a lot of different things that I did over the past 7 days and that's gonna happen every now an then.  So this week, I'm going to re-read my post from last week and use that reset button.

I gained everything I lost last week, which was 4.2 lbs.  Again, I'm OK with that because I know why.  It's more frustrating when you don't know why.  I've had a lot of experience with losing weight, I've done it all my life, and have come across many people that say "I'm doing everything right and I'm still not losing weight".  They get frustrated and quit.  What I find difficult to believe is that if you do everything right for a long period of time, that you're not losing any weight or gaining for that matter.

There's no way that everything is being done right if you're gaining.  Plateaus do happen (I've been on one for 3 months... but not because I've been doing everything right - because I've been giving into temptation more than not).  So in my opinion, if this is happening to you - you're probably not doing everything right.  So maybe think about it and be honest with yourself... I've still been exercising (a lot - mostly, except for this week and the week I went on vacation) over my "plateau" but I'm definitely making bad choices along with that.

The only way to correct MY plateau is to get myself back on track, track and eat well -- along with my exercise which is usually not a problem.  I've been doing a challenge for the last 15 days, I'm half way done.  It's hard, it's the ONLY thing I'm doing right now... but at least I'm doing something.

If you're on a plateau, what will you do to get back on track?  I'm going to:
  • Journal this week (I barely journalled last week)
  • Get more exercise in - I didn't run this week because it was too hot and it's not worth it to me to get a headache because I want to run (I dislike running on dreadmills)
  • Make better choices
Maybe this will also help...  I asked on my facebook page If you were to give one tip for those trying to get healthy what would it be?  These are the tips that were shared by people like you :
  • Remember how you feel when you eat healthy AND when you don't!
  • Don't focus on the number on the scale. Focus on how you feel
  • Do it for yourself! Make short and long term goals and reward yourself!
  • Think about the things you do well, not the things you slip up on. Don't beat yourself up!
  • When you don't work out you don't have energy - but working out gives you energy - try to press through the "I'm tired" feelings that's just your couch calling you home
  • Its easier to eat healthy when you have fresh fruit and veggies in the fridge front and center ready to go. (this was a major problem for me this week, but usually isn't.)
  • Try doing the 80/20 rule--80% healthy & 20% not as healthy when eating.
  • I would say, to make one change at a time...don't try to Change diet and add exercise...give yourself time and start simple
Good luck to you this week, I know I'll need it :)

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Need A Reset?

Me: "What do we want?"
You: <screaming> "To be Healthy!"

Me:  "Who do we want this for?"
You: <screaming> "Me!" (meaning yourself)

Me:  "What do you need?"
You: <screaming> "Love, Support, Willpower, Healthy Foods, Planning and a reset button!"

BOOM

I feel like I've hit the reset button about once a month for the past 4 months.  Last week after weigh in, I did a look back to 12 weeks and wanted to know my net weight loss so far this summer.  It was 2 lbs.  2 lbs!!!

The funny thing was that I was not upset.  Not upset at all, but used it as an eye opener.  I feel like I'm trying so hard (which I am).  I feel like sometimes I just want crap food (which I do and then I eat it and then I feel sick).  But honestly, for the summer I've had and all the "stuff" we've done - I've still lost 2 lbs.  2 lbs!!!

I didn't gain over the summer... where you have all these temptations, all these parties, bonfires, vacations, mini trips, county fairs (this one doesn't count for me, but maybe for you) - just everything.  One of my best friends told me that summer time is the hardest for her.  Because people want to be outside and doing things outside - we don't want to be cooped up in a gym, in our homes, etc.  It's when all the good fruit is out, but also all the picnic / party food.  The temptations.  Temptation after temptation.  Shoot if you've only given in 1/2 of the time, you've done that much better than you did the time before.  Celebrate those little things.

So I found myself once again resetting my button this week... and guess what, it paid off!  I lost 4.2 lbs this week.  Can you believe it?  I find myself sitting at (close to) the same weight loss again for the 3rd time, but shit - I am here again.  I didn't give up.  I just reset my mind and my body.  Sure I made a few adjustments this week - re-introduced yogurt an almonds.  High point snacks (not so much the yogurt, but the almonds) and found myself so much happier and satisfied.

What's the one change you can make this week to help you?  Maybe it's more than one?  Think about it and execute on it.  It's the only way to push through.  If you've been at a stand still (or like me going up and down up and down) you have to make a change.  For me, it wasn't exercise.  It was fixing my snacking issues.  That's a freakin' simple change to make.

So, this week I challenge you to make your change up and let me know what you're going to change.  Then, next week - tell me what it did for you.  If it was a change on the scale, change in your mood, change in how you feel... whatever.

Take care and have a great week!

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

I Promise!!!

So, this week has been tough.  I'm not exactly sure why but I can guess I may know by next week (if you know what I mean).  I've been super hungry - all.the.time.  I need to let myself be hungry, I know that.  But apparently that's not what my mind wants.  So I've given in a few times this week.

I gained .4 this week, so in the past two weeks I've gained almost 2 lbs - I'm still over 90 lbs gone (barely)!  I'm not sure why I gained last week, but I know why I gained this week.  Regardless, I need to change something.  So what should I change?

I'm still making my salads, eggs and fruit up each week.  But there's something missing, for some reason I'm way more hungry during the day.  I get plenty of protein with my lunch - but it's after lunch.  I can't just have a little snack, I need a snack and then another snack and then another snack.  Then by the time I get home I want dinner. A normal sized dinner - and I'm out of (over) my points.

The one thing I haven't been doing is bringing my almonds.  Maybe I need to bring those back into the mix.  I should probably eat some yogurt too... my snacks have been within 2-4 points, but they are not always the best snacks to have like almond and yogurt.  So that's what I'll do!  No more sweet snacks during the day (I'm not gonna say no more sweet snacks period, because that won't work).

Also - another thing is that I finished up my 30 day work out with Shaun T - Hip Hop Abs on Sunday. ( I seriously recommend it.  It was hard enough, but fun - so it didn't seem so hard.)  I tend to get into this pattern though... once I finish a work out set - I slack off for a few days.   So I started running again (I have a 5k in September I'm running) and thought I'd start right away.  So I ran Sunday... and then didn't do anything Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.  NOT.LIKE.ME.  But I needed a break.  I did run today - so that's good and I'll run again either tomorrow or Saturday.  But I will need to work in additional activity - so back to water aerobics tonight!

I can tell you this:
  • I promise that I will figure it out.  
  • I promise I'm not giving up.  
  • I promise that I'm still here to support you and myself.  
  • I promise I will keep going.
  • I promise to give it all I've got!!

Here's to a new week with new adventures and trying to implement the snack changes.  The exercise is a given, I will do that.  That's NOT my problem.  My problem is food.

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mud Run #2 - Dirty Girl

I had a bit of a hiccup this week (Friday-Saturday and Tuesday) Friday and Saturday I had used up all my extra points plus some (I was negative about 22 at this point).  Tuesday was even worse.  I have issues on Tuesdays - I'm all alone at home and that is dangerous for me :(  STILL.  See you're not alone.

I seriously need to figure out how to be alone in my house and not binge.  Maybe I need some sort of therapy.

Anyway - I wanna talk about fun stuff this week.  I want to talk about how far I've come (even with the hiccups this week).  This weekend I did my second mud run, it was called Dirty Girl.  It was so much fun!  The obstacles were not that hard, maybe 2 of them really made me nervous and it was only because I'm afraid of heights and they were TALL yo!  I wanted them to be a little harder than they were, but will still do this run again.  Actually I already signed up for the 2014 run.

If you want to join me - go to the Dirty Girl Website here and sign up on my team Healthfully Ever After at 8:30 am.

The one thing I need to improve on is my running game.  So I've signed up for another 5k at the end of September so I make sure I keep up with my running.  Anyway - wanna see some pictures???

I'm such a tough girl!  ps... I can't wait to get my arms done!

My bestie Shelly - she also did the mud run with me in June.  We've been friends for 20 years and were roommates for 5 years after college.
A shout out pose to Daina E... Shelly's sister.


Team Healthfully Ever After!  Left to right... me, Kara A., Amanda C. (sister to Sarah), Sarah C., Megan L. (Shelly's step daughter) and Shelly.
Oh yeah... an action shot.




The End!  We didn't have to crawl in the mud, but hell - it's a mud run!  Let's get dirty!
Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like us? 
My mom and me... she's such a trooper (and the team photographer).


All cleaned up... ahhhhh


So back to business!  We had a great time, I've had a couple of slip ups this week (as I mentioned) and I gained 1.2 lbs.  Eh, a minor set back!  Moving on and not beating myself up!  Wanna know why?  Because I can run, I love my exercising and 90% of the time I AM GOOD.  So, cheers to a better week next week!

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!


Sunday, August 4, 2013

How To Start!!!

I get asked ALL. THE. TIME. from people if I have any advice for those that are just getting started.  And I do have some advice for you/them, and here it goes:

  1. Figure out your plan of attack on how you think you're going to lose the weight or just simply become healthy
    1. Is it going to be a "paid" program - like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Seattle Sutton, etc. (I do Weight Watchers)
    2. Is it going to be on your own
      1. Are you just going to cut down on what you're eating
      2. Are you going to incorporate more healthy foods (make sure to read up on what is healthy vs. not -- I've learned a lot of what I thought was healthy - truly isn't)
      3. Are there foods you're just going to cut out completely
      4. Or a combination of all the above
    3. Are you going to use an app or program to help you through your goal?  Here's a few that I know of:
      1. My Fitness Pal (I use this along with Weight Watchers)
      2. Lose It
      3. Fooducate
      4. Itrackbites
      5. Endomondo
      6. Fitocracy
  2. Implement your plan
    1. Set your goals (start small or you may become overwhelmed)
    2. Set aside time to
      1. Take your measurements (I didn't when I first started... didn't until 5 months in and I totally regret not doing it in the beginning)
      2. Get to know your program
      3. Plan Your Meals
      4. Grocery Shop (this is a MUST)
      5. Make your meals - either ahead of time or during the week... but you need to make them
      6. Plan out your activity
        1. If you're going to use some apps on your phone, I have found these to be totally helpful.

          1. Weight Watchers (if you're a member)
          2. My Fitness Pal
          3. Runtastic (or some other run program that has GPS like map my run or Run Pro)
          4. FitBit (this requires a device - they have a good website AND an app for both android and iphone... *I love my Fitbit!!!*)
          5. Body Track It (tracks measurements and weight loss)
          6. C25K (couch to 5k... I've never run in my life, but ran a 5k this year because of this app -- I'm 39 years old)
          7. Everymove - this is a great app that works with other apps above and tracks activity.  Gives you points and rewards... some cash money (to use to buy other things)
      7. Do the activity
        1. Get some fun new headbands or clothes - OMG this totally works for me!!!
        2. Get some videos, join a gym, use the outdoors, etc.  Or use what you have (the best option)
  3. Choose some anchors and track your progress - many of the apps listed above would track your progress for you.
    1. Grab an old picture of yourself (of what you want to look like or even one that you don't want to look like again) -- I use a progress picture and I have a picture of myself from back in 2001
    2. Get a mantra going -- I use the following "I can and I will" and " when you feel like quitting, think about why you started".  These are both on my screen on my phone that I have to look at everytime I go into my phone (which is about 1000 times a day)
    3. Take those measurements... I don't recommend a weekly measurement... but maybe 1/month.  
      1. Arms (each one)
      2. Legs (each one... calfs and thighs)
      3. Waist
      4. Hips
      5. Shoot, even your wrists and neck (sometimes you just need to see the number go down)
    4. Take pictures of yourself either 1/month or 1/quarter... you will visually see results!
  4. Enjoy the results

Simple, right?  Wrong.  It's easy to follow a plan when you are absolutely into it - I call that the honeymoon period.  It's important to be in the honeymoon period for a while... hopefully you can.  But what's more important is to start slowly (baby steps).  You can't change your life completely in one day!  I mean some of you can, but it's really hard and some people will become so overwhelmed that they end up quitting.

So I'd say while implementing your plan (#2 above) that you first set your goals.  Seriously make them small goals at first.  Then implement the food piece first.  See how much time that takes, it gets less and less every week you become more familiar with whatever you're choosing to do.  Then work on incorporating whatever activity you like.

I like to exercise, so I'm very lucky in that respect.  I love how it makes me feel once I'm done, I do not however always love the act of doing the exercise.  So make sure to pick an exercise that 1) you can do and 2) you will do and 3) you like to do.  Remember to buy something fun to wear so you are excited to exercise :)... My issue right now is headbands (and these aren't all of them).

Remember this is your own journey, so don't compare yourself to anyone else.  You are doing this for you (or I hope you are).  If you start comparing yourself to others, you may get discouraged.  Don't get discouraged... it's a journey not a race.  BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!!!

 Here's a bit of before and "so far" of myself for you to chew on!  As you can see this is POSSIBLE and I know I'm worth it!!!

Let's get Healthfully Ever After together!!!



Thursday, August 1, 2013

Routine... it's a must!

I'm happy to report I've had another good week.  I've kept up on my exercising and done "fairly" well with my food.  I can't seem to stay within the points limit I'm given, but with all the working out I'm doing it's been working fine for me.  I know I can't keep that up though, so I know I need to figure out HOW to stay within my points allowed.

If you're new to reading my blog, I've been on Weight Watchers since March of 2012.

This week I lost an additional pound, so my total weight loss is now 91.8.  I feel fantastic, but not too fantastic that I want to stop.  I say that because I have been doing a lot of reflecting this week.  I've worn some super cute clothes that I'm actually feeling good in and am getting some very nice compliments.  BUT  I know I could feel even better!  I can say though, that I am at a point where I'm actually excited to get dressed in the morning.  THAT hasn't happened in YEARS!!!

Here's an outfit from this week...


adorbs huh!  You can find it at www.kikilarue.com, search for Sammie Dress or click here... they have it in green too!  Sadly for those of you that are in maintenance mode and not a plus size, this is not the dress for you.  It only comes in a 1x - 3x.  She says the 1x would fit anyone from a 12-18... which I'd somewhat agree with.... I'd say more like a 12-16 (cuz I'm a 16 and you can see how it fits me).

Enough about how cute I look!  LOL, I kid!!!

I wanted to write about routines this week.  I think it's so important to have a routine.  I don't mean do the same thing every week. I mean - carve out time for your routine and make it what you want or need it to be.  For instance:

Food:  My Sunday's are spent grocery shopping for the week.  I get all my eggs, fruits and veggies and cook/cut them all up and have them ready in individual containers for the week.  If I don't do that, I don't eat the stuff I buy or I do not eat as healthy.  We tend to eat a lot of the same stuff in our salads, but what we add for protein is what mixes it up.  Dinners are usually a meat and a vegetable - if we have time.  Otherwise we utilize the salads and throw tuna, lunch meat or eggs on it.  I also make 2 hard boiled eggs for each day (M-F) for my husband and me.  We do eat those every day - I have to or I'm STARVING all day long.

Exercise:  I have been trying to keep up with my water aerobics (I love the ladies there) as well as have an additional routine to do.  I've been choosing exercise videos that have 30 day programs.  THAT has worked well for me because I own 4 videos that are 30 or more days of structured exercise.  Some call for weights, some don't.  I cannot just do water aerobics anymore if I want to lose weight - I have to do more.  So in addition to all that - I walk too.  Mostly on weekends, but for the last couple of weeks I've been walking Mondays after water aerobics and occassionally during work.

It's a lot... which is why I've had to go back into hibernation mode and focus on me - because I was letting other things get in the way of my routine and I just can't do that right now.  I need to focus on me, my routine and keep my end goal in mind!  I WANT to be healthy, I want to feel good, I don't want to be out of breath for one flight of stairs like I was, I don't want to have heart burn every night, I don't want to be on high blood pressure medicine (I'm still on 1, but I seriously think that needs to change)... lots of "I don'ts" and some very important "I do's."

Ask yourself what you want?  Make your plan and get your routine.  Start slow, I didn't always do all this when I started Weight Watchers.  I chose to focus on my eating first and once I felt comfortable with that, then I started in on figuring out my exercise routines.

You can do it, You just need to want it bad enough!  See you next week and remember...

I can't wait until I'm Healthfully Ever After!


Thursday, July 25, 2013

I'm a believer!!!

Last week I indicated I was going to hibernate and focus on me.  I did just that and I (once again) totally redeemed myself!  I lost 3.6 lbs and my total is now 90.8!!!

I worked out EVERY day and most days did 2 work outs.  It totally paid off!  While I exercised a lot, I wasn't perfect on my food - but compensated for that by putting in an extra work out on those days that I was a bit on the naughty side.  I had pizza and cheese bread one night, went to Culvers and ordered a burger and onion rings AND met a group of gals out for a Greek brunch.  I did major damage that day, but kept up on my work outs so I didn't feel as guilty!

Ok onto topic now!!!

You may ask what I'm a believer in... and the answer is crazy - A LOT.  LOL.  But what I'm specifically referring to is - I'm a believer in self talk.  Oh my word, this week was full of self talk.  I asked myself several times...
  • Why are you doing this?  What was my answer?  I'm doing this for oh so many reasons!
    • I want to get off all my blood pressure medicine.
    • I want to continue being able to walk up my stairs in my house (only 1 flight) without having to catch my breath.
    • I want to be healthy so I can be around for a long time.
    • I want things to be easier for me .
    • I want to be able to keep up with my niece and nephew without having to be worn out.
    • I want to WANT to do things outside of my home... but this comes with the challenge of continuing to make the right choices (which I still need to work on).
    • I want to feel in control of my life again.
    • I want my husband to be attracted to me (he's never said he wasn't but damn... I wouldn't have been).
    • I want to want to do the things we used to do - like snomobiling, fishing and the like.
    • I want people to not judge me for being fat.
    • I want to feel attractive in general.
  • Do you want to be healthy or do you want that fucking ice cream cone (or pretty much insert any fast food or bad choice food)?  In the ice cream cone incident this week, I chose to be healthy!  It wasn't easy and I had to trick myself.  I went to the gym and didn't take my purse.  So I couldn't even buy it :)
  • Is that X, Y or Z worth the points?  The answer was... in some cases yes (insert Culver's and pizza here) and other cases it was no  - HUGE progress from the last month (from falling off the wagon).
  • Do you feel in control this week?  The answer was yes, even though some of my choices were bad - they were WORTH it to me!
I'm not sure if you do a lot of self talk, but for me it totally works!  I knew what I wanted this week which was to focus on myself.  I walked and exercised a lot as well as making a lot of good choices (I'm super proud of myself).  I exercised EVERY day and there were a few days (literally 3) that I honestly didn't want to work out - but because of my commitment I did it (remember to set small goals and MAKE yourself make them).  Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- I walked down our busy boulevard - DANCING (literally)... most people loved watching me.  I can't hear if they are yelling things at me because my music is so loud - but I choose to perceive them as liking what they see.  I'm sure I'll be on YouTube.

Next week the focus remains hibernation mode -- exercise and eating right... but what I'm adding is back to my making my huge amount of salads ahead of time so I'm not rushing to do it in the morning.  I truly hope my blog is helping you get yourself back on track... it takes time, but you must force yourself to do so (and then it will be come second nature) in order to get what you want.

Ask yourself what is it that you truly want!  Do you want to be what you are today or do you want to work towards a healthier self?

I know I can't wait to be Healthfully Ever After.