Slow going

I did not imagine that this weight loss journey would take me so dang long. In May I will be approaching the two year mark. I keep telling myself that it took fifteen years and five babies to put on all this weight, so certainly taking two years to loose it all isn't too unreasonable.....right????

I am back to feeling frustrated with how slow I'm taking the weight off. I looked back to what I weighed at the end of February (that was nine months ago) and since then I have lost about 37 pounds. If you divide that into nine months then I have lost approximately 3.7 pounds per month. According to what I have "heard," that's a healthy weight loss. After I calculated those numbers I did feel better about myself.

So here is the big news!!!! I actually broke the two hundred mark and got down to this....

But then a few days later after making some bad food choices I went up to this...
And then after some more hard work I started going back down to this.....And as of today I sit at about this weight....There are days that my weight goes up or down by a whole two to two and a half pounds. Its very frustrating and here is how I feel about that.....
This is hard work. I'm not exercising anymore. My life has changed and I seem so much more consumed with other things that I don't take time to exercise. I really really do want to change that. I know that it would help me feel better about myself and the weight would come off easier. I know I am still loosing but It doesn't seem the same. I need motivation...I need new jeans because mine are to big again(so random)....I need a fresh start. Any ideas??????

I only have fifty pounds to go. It seems so silly seeing as how I already lost the first 119..but now I find myself looking for quick fixes. I have not tried anything but I see commercials for "slimquick" and other things and I wonder if they would work or If I would just be wasting my money. I know what I am doing is working but I'm just needing a new perspective. Maybe you all could help me?

Finding my groove

Its been about a year and four months since I started this journey. Ive lost 116 pounds. That's really a lot to be proud of but the past two months have been harder for me. I stopped exercising....and I am so upset with myself for that. BUT....I have not gained any weight and that is purely because I did not change my eating habits. The scale continued to go down (slowly) but I started feeling fatter. Its a really weird feeling to know you weigh less but you feel all flabby. I knew it was because of my non-exercise. So tonight I had had enough. I had folded up my Total Gym about two months ago to get it out of the way but tonight I set it back up and actually worked out. I'm going to try and do a routine at least three times a week. I am basically starting from scratch so I know I will be sore tomorrow.

Here is a picture of me that was taken last week at work. I am wearing a size 1x shirt and a size 14 jeans.

Another great triumph for me is that just a week ago I was able to put on and wear comfortably my class ring. I have not been able to even squeeze it on my finger for over ten years. If you look close I have it on in the picture above. You can also see my shake cup in the background. I purchased the new "magic bullet" and absolutely love it. One of my big problems is that eating is really a hassle...so I wont eat but then I will get hungry and feel sick and weak. With the bullet I can mix a protein shake and take it to work and its really brainless food for me.

Here are my measurements as of today. I compared it to the last time I measured (in May) and I have lost about an inch every ware. Its such slow progress...but at least its progress.

Waste-41 inches

Buttock-48.5

Bust-41 (I purchased and can wear a 38 D)

Calf-18

My weight has not changed. I teater between 202-203.8 lately. I know that when I start consistantly exercising and stop cheating here and there (darn dating) then it will fall below 200 pretty quickly.

Until next time!!!!!!

almost

six

six is my number. I have six pounds to go to weigh under 200 pounds. I can't believe this!!!!

Thank you Carrie for the pictures......

My new way to skinny...

Oh Zumba how I loved thee...but I needed a break. LOL I still love Zumba but I admit I have not done it in about a month. Let me show you what I have been up to instead. Yep that's right...Chuck Norris sold me on this thing and I needed a strength training way to get the final 55-60 pounds off my body. I knew (through research) that all my Zumba cardio was not going to do it for me and so I bought this. I LOVE IT, and I'm very sore. Its truly an amazing machine. My body is becoming smaller but my skin is sagging...so I am hoping that by building some muscle it will lessen this disgusting sagging skin look that I'm starting to get.

I must admit that I had a week that I feel back a little. I still didn't cheat with deserts but I did go on a couple dates and I ate restaurant food and I went up a few pounds....but NEVER over 214. I am not back to 212 again and I'm in a 15/16 size jeans in some styles and in other styles I'm in a 13/14 size jean. I couldn't be more thrilled with that.

Like I said I did go on a few dates. I re-dated a guy that I dated back in November. We had a great date and he finally came out and told me that he really really liked me but that my weight bothered him. The funny part of the story I'm about to tell you is that me and this guy had just watched the movie "Shallow Hal" together. (keep that in mind) Anyway, he took me aside and told me that I was the perfect girl for him but that my weight bothered him. I secretly thought that he was full of it as I looked at his balding head and the fact that he is 50 pounds overweight. He then went on to tell me that he would be willing to exclusively date me as long as he and I could loose weight together. He bought me a couple cook books (for us both to share) and a weight loss book. (as If I needed his help loosing weight since I have done all this by myself the past year...SHAAAWWWW). He THEN went on to tell me that if I made it too my goal weight of 150 then he would give me $500 for a new wardrobe (I know he has money so I know he wasn't lying).

I was blown away at this guys offer of love with the stipulation that I got "SKINNY," and for an added incentive he offers me hundreds of dollars to look beautiful for him....NO DOUBT so that he could show me off to his friends like I was some sort of prize. I went along with this little game of his as I text him my weight every morning and as he text me his weight. One morning I gained .6 ounces instead of loosing and he text me a sad face. LOL My heart sunk. A girl looses weight much slower then a guy and I feel like he had no idea that six ounces was simply water weight. I then realized that this Shallow Hal was not for me. Instead of me having to break it off with him he saved me the trouble by letting me know that he went back to his old girlfriend. The funny part is...he has been texting me to see how much weight I am loosing. This guy is keeping me on the sidelines until I get skinny. LOL Ill go along with it......take his $500 dollars and kick my Shallow Hal to the curb and find me a real man. How dare he wave his big bucks around me like that. I'm so much better then that.

Ill keep you updated on Shallow Hal.

My life lately...

As of today I am still at 212. Holy SHMIKEY!!! I'm almost under the 200 mark. This is unbelievable.

Unfortunately some things have to change for me. I think I got a little comfortable and the weight loss was just coming off so so slowly. Ive only lost ten pounds since April 1st, which is silly. I could loose it so much faster.

A friend of mine picked me up a book called "Body for Life." Years ago I had done this program (for like a week LOL). I wasn't ready to loose weight or follow anything so It didn't stick. Anyway, I'm trying to read through this book and the basics of this program is that you have to strength train. Apparently all the "Zumba" cardio I have been doing isn't really doing me that much good. Of course it has most certainly made a difference for me. Obviously Ive lost a lot of weight doing it but I have to incorporate some strength stuff. Apparently any cardio over 20 minutes is pointless (go figure). So my approach will be changing...and hopefully I will be achieving better results.

Since Summer is here Ive been trying to take advantage of the warm weather. Crazy crazy me decided to try the hardest most mind jarring hike that we have here. Its called the Manitou Incline. I thought that because I work out a lot and Ive lost so much weight that I would be fine. Let me tell you something....I was wrong!!! Let me walk you through this torturous trail....

This is what it looks like from the parking lot. Its a mile straight up. At first you think its all going to be OK...after all its just stairs right?

This is about half way up...and its also about the time i had a mental break down and felt my throat closing up. I couldn't believe I got myself into this hike. I seriously cried twice. LOL

Do you see how uneven the railroad ties are? Its like that for the entire middle part of the hike...the top and bottom of the hike are just straight up stairs. To top it off, the elevation goes up very quickly and so does your heart beat. Its actually painful to have your heart beat that much.

If you look close, the person in the blue shirt and black pants is me. I was almost to the top.
I did make it to the top by some kind of miracle. If you think you are done you are wrong though because once at the top...you have to get down. You can go down the incline but you might slip because it is so steep...so you can go down the "Bar Trail" and if you run down it will only take you an hour. (holy cow!!!) Needless to say I was exhausted...but felt like a superhero!!!

So I did that on Saturday....and on Saturday I swore I would NEVER do it again...but Thursday rolled around (my day off) and I lost my good sense and went and tried it again. Guess what???? I did it and it was easier. Its amazing what I can make my body do!!!!

Here is me at work last week.

Here is me singing Karaoke a couple weekends ago. Its the closest thing to a body shot I have. I know I look weird. LOLI have a guy friend that said he would pay me $500 for a new wardrobe if I got down to 150 (which is my goal weight.) I'm wondering how that is going to work out. He might be waiting awhile...but its something to look forward to.

That's it for now!!!