Monday, May 13, 2013

Weight Loss Week 5

Hi there!  Today starts week 6 and the end of week 5.  I have lost a total of 12 pounds.  This past week wasn't a huge weight loss but I still lost a pound.  Not bad.  I indulged a little bit since it was Mother's Day.  I went out with my friend Jill Friday night to a really nice restaurant and has some absolutely fabulous food!  No regrets... I worked out like mad that day!  I burned over 800 calories exercising so I could eat what I wanted that night.  I even had a delicious glass of wine!  This journey has been so rewarding and life changing for me in such a positive way.

I'll be honest with you, this week was a major challenge for me.  It was super stressful and irritating and emotional - all triggers for me to go comfort myself with some chocolate or cookies.  I didn't do it.  Instead, my instinct wasn't to go stuff my face.  I wanted to go to the gym and sweat it out instead.  That realization in itself was major for me.  It kind of made the emotional ups and downs of the week worth it.  I got mad a lot last week.  One example of why - my 4 year old - Nathan.  I found him and Xander in my newly remodeled master bathroom holding my new nail polish upside down and open and pouring it all over the floor, vanity, side of the toilet, granite counter top, his hands, feet and face.  I think I had my first actual conniption.  I was so angry I screamed at him and scared him.  I don't think he'll ever do that again.  HA!  I apologized for yelling at him so much but he needed to learn that it's not ok to play with Mommy's nail polish - EVER.  This was just one thing - one major thing that happened that made me really upset this past week.

An up from the week was that while I was looking at some old pictures on Facebook, I found one from my 33rd birthday that I thought was a pretty good picture of me.  I saw the difference in my face between then and now.  I was stunned.  I didn't realize how pudgy my face was and how much thinner it is now!  Here ya go... comparison:

Before:
 
After ^^^^

 Can you see the major difference?  That was a huge moment for me.  Seeing it there in photographs really made it real.  Seeing the numbers on the scale helps and feeling my clothes getting looser helps too.  I really wanted to SEE a difference in my face, abs, thighs, arms, etc.  I can now.  People are starting to notice.  I got the best remarks from one of my pastors on Tuesday.  I saw him in the morning while I was heading in to Nathan's preschool to pick him up and he was leaving.  I hadn't seen him since I started losing and he noticed immediately.  He told me that it's working, I look great and that Chris should lock me up so he doesn't lose me!  HAH!  That really made my day and probably my week since I'm still talking about it!

Below is a pic my friend, Meghan posted as a "throwback" photo.  This is me and my fellow high school senior cheerleaders back in 1997 at our last basketball game of the year.  I'm hoping to look this good again by next year!  Do ya think I can?  Or maybe get close...  My belly will never look the same again no matter how much weight I lose.  The stretch marks are bad.  LOL!  I'll never wear a bikini again but I'll rock my one piece or tankini hard when I get there.  Even now I think I'll feel more confident than I did in my bathing suit.

I was so small back then!  Even when I met my husband I wore between a size 2 and a size 4.  Then my thyroid stopped working right and it all went downhill from there!  I'm not going to let my thyroid get the best of me anymore!  I even went to the gym on Mother's Day and did my longest stretch on the elliptical ever - 40 minutes!  Woohoo!

I will keep going.  I will lose this weight.  I will get healthy.  I will live a long life for my kids.  I want to be around to see my grandkids grow up and their kids too.  My grandma is still around at age 85 and still doing great!  I hope and pray I have her longevity too!  Other than the thyroid and the slightly high cholesterol, I'm super healthy!  No high blood pressure - in fact the last time I went to the  doctor my BP was almost too low.

 I keep this scripture in my head all the time - especially now - "I can do all things through Christ Jesus" and that God never gives us more than we can handle. Keep that close to your heart, everyone!  He gives me the strength to get through this!!!

Well, I need to get moving for today!  Get my exercise in... I'm going to cut the grass for my main cardio work out.  Did you know that counts as cardio?  So does cooking!  Who would have thought?!?!? 

Have a great and super blessed week everyone! 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Week 4 Update

Today ends week four for me.  I have officially lost 10 pounds in the last 4 weeks since I started my lifestyle change.  I call it a lifestyle change because it's not a diet.  This is not a temporary change.  This is forever.  Once I reach my goals, I'll be able to scale back a bit on the exercising and the calorie restriction but I'll continue to watch what I eat and work out regularly in some way.  I'm looking around for dinner things to do for exercise because while using the elliptical is an awesome work out, it also becomes a bit redundant when it's all I get to do for cardio.  So, now that the weather is warmer, I've been taking walks and I'll be running around playing with the kids more too.  I took an hour long walk with Kona and while pushing Xander in the stroller.  I'm hoping I can convince my husband to either purchase a new Wii or get a Wii U because our current Wii is broken.  We can't play any games that use a disc - the disc reader doesn't work anymore.  I don't know if he'll go for it or not.  I really wanted to do my Zumba game for the Wii today but I couldn't because it's broken.  I also like to use my Wii Fit and I can't use that either.  Maybe that could be my Mother's Day gift... hee hee hee!

The best part is I'm starting to be able to actually SEE a difference and not just feel it.  My clothes are getting a lot looser.  I tried on some pants that have been tight since I bought them yesterday and they were loose!!!  That was an awesome feeling!  Also, 2 different people saw me and asked if I was losing weight because they could see a difference this week! YES! 

The part I'm really waiting to see a difference in is my face.  I'm sick of having a round face and 3 chins if I don't remember to stick my chin out.  I hate having 3 chins in pictures. It drives me crazy!  I'm starting to see a tiny difference.  I can see my cheek bones a little bit more now which is great!  Above the multiple chins.  Below is me sticking my chin out to avoid the multiple chins.  Haha!

Although some days are frustrating because there is no movement on the scale, I tell myself maybe it'll be tomorrow and be happy that it didn't go back up!  I've been losing around 2 -3 pounds per week.  I'm really happy with that!  10 pounds in 1 month is awesome!  If only that momentum would keep going... I have a feeling it will slow down.  I can't really cut my calories down much lower without not getting enough food and causing my body to go into starvation mode.  Myfitnesspal yells at me if I don't have 1200 calories at least in a day.  So, I usually will go have a small snack to get there if I need to.  I don't want to go into starvation mode!!



 This was me before I went out to a bachelorette party.  Please disregard the messy kitchen in the background.  This was on April 13 so about 3 weeks ago.  Below is me today.  I'm not sure how much of a difference you can even see because of the difference outfits.  But here ya go anyway!

And so the journey continues!  I thank all of my readers that are also my friends and/or family and have been encouraging me and cheering me on!  It really helps to keep me going and stay accountable!  Until next week... hoping I can tell you I lost 2 or 3 more!