Thursday, January 6, 2011

New Blog

I moved my blog to a new location.  I have not been able to get this blogger to do what I want.  I'm sure it probably has capabilities, but I couldn't get it figured out.  I wanted to have links to show before/after pics.  I read other blogs and really love being able to go to different sections.  Now that I've finally figured it out with Word Press, I've exported my blog to that new site.  Feel free to follow me over there:

http://ruthsweightlossblog.wordpress.com/

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Maintenance

I just had to drop in & say that I LOVE maintenance.  I get to eat more & work out a bit less.  It's been easy so far, but it's just started.  I had the flu last week, so I lost 10 pounds.  Needless to say, I haven't been making the best food choices this week because I was allowed to GAIN back 10 pounds!  That is a crazy thing to wrap my head around.  I am definitely going to get back at it & it will start today.  I bought a Jillian Michaels toning DVD because I feel like that will help me get the jiggles to go away!  I wouldn't mind losing & keeping off the 10 pounds from last week, but because that was pretty much just water weight from being sick, it came back pretty quickly once I started eating. 

Ron's working on converting our garage into a gym.  Since he keeps the garage in complete shambles, I am excited.  There was never a hope that I would ever park in there, so why not make it useable somehow...  We have a friend who is going to install some type of heat in the garage so I won't freeze my butt off when I'm on the treadmill.  Once the heat is in, Ron will insulate it & I will be calling Comcast to come install cable for us so we can have my gym!  I'm super excited to get this done!  In addition to my treadmill, elliptical, and TV for DVD's, we are making a space for Ronnie to use his dart board, Nerf Basketball, and baseball game.  Since we moved to this house, we have not had any room to spread out, so this is nice for the kids as well as Ron & I.  I'll post pics once it's done!  Not much else here.  I lost another 1.4 pounds, but will probably put that back on my the next weigh-in.  I'm okay with that since I'm below my goal.  LOVE MAINTENANCE!!!  :)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

GOAL GOAL GOAL GOAL

On December 20th, I did it.  I hit the scale & hit my GOAL!  149.0!  My goal was actually 150, so I was quite pleased.  I was a bit bummed that my normal leader was not there, but the visiting leader was SO gracious & wonderful & made me feel very special!  I have lost 92.4 pounds in 9 months & am so pleased that I hit my goal as a Christmas present to myself!  I'm putting some updated progress pics on here.

I do have to admit that I may want to lose a bit more.  I'm in a healthy weight range now & one that I believe I can maintain with some ease, so anymore lost would be purely vanity.  However, I just feel that there is a bit more on my thighs that need to come off.  Can't decide, but for now, I'm gonna happily maintain around 150. 



Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Bit of Background on this "Life Change..."

So I've been saying that my journey started on 3/29/10.  I guess I should clarify that it started AGAIN on 3/29/10.  For most of my adult life, I've been on this journey.  I have not been successful & everytime I tried to lose weight, I ended up even fatter.  I ballooned up to 241.4 pounds on 3/29/10.  That was a huge slap in the face for me to see on the scales.  I wasn't just overweight.  I was obese.  Horrifying.  You see, when I started diets, I would succeed for about 2 days.  Then I would quit.  Once I quit, I would tell myself that I would start again on Monday.  So, I had to indulge in everything bad & horrible before Monday.  Then the cycle would repeat.  Can you see why I gained weight with every diet? 

I still don't really have an answer for why this time around has been different.  Perhaps it's because I joined Weight Watchers.  I think I do really well when I have to step on the scale in front of someone.  I don't like the idea of having someone else see my weight & it humbles me.  It made me push myself.  When I first "re-Started" this journey in March, I had a few people try to put me down.  They pointed out my fatty areas & made negative comments about my body shape.  I was compared to thinner people, but this did not discourage me.  It fueled me.  (I would NEVER do this to another person as it is cruel & often causes people to quit, binge, etc.)  Here I am 90 pounds lighter & I was asked by a trainer if I would be interested in sharing my story.  Wow!  That was so flattering & I was super excited.  Of course I would love to share if someone would find an ounce of it helpful.  I have been reading blogs over the past 9 months & find huge encouragement in hearing other people's journeys.  However, this highlight was quickly dashed by someone who made comments to suggest that my journey was easy for me.  That perhaps I did this in an almost unhealthy fashion because I was hungry & would talk myself out of eating.  That perhaps I didn't always eat healthy foods.  There was some truth in that, but I do not feel that I was doing anything unhealthy.  I was often hungry because I wouldn't choose the most filling foods.  I ate the amount of points I was allotted, but if I ate foods that were full of carbs, I would be hungry later.  I am making much better choices now, though this was not acknowledged.

My advice to anyone on this journey, be supportive of everyone's journey.  Know that we all have a different way to do things, but that we are sharing an ultimate goal to be healthy.  I took a spin class on Friday - fabulous.  I ran 2 miles today in 18 minutes - fabulous!  I'm enjoying my health much more now.  I didn't even feel sore after either of those activities.  I now weigh almost 150 pounds which is my goal weight.  I feel great & I am trying desperately to be positive and not let others make comments that derail me from my goal.  I just need to state that this was NOT easy.  Though I've done it in a relatively short time (90 pounds in 9 months), that does not equal easy.  I wanted to quit.  I wanted to just have another slice of pizza.  I didn't wanna work out before bed.  I just wanted to snuggle under the covers & watch TV.  I had to talk myself into these habits.  They did not form overnight.  Half way through the journey, I wanted to take a break.  It was tough.  I know now that there isn't really a break.  This is my new life.  I can have what I refer to as "cheat" days, but I will forever be on this healthy trek.  It's worth it & I'm worth it.

Find a way, stick with it, and be a better version of you.  You are worth it.  I spent $40/month on Weight Watchers during a time when my husband was unemployed.  There was a lot of guilt over spending the money, but my husband was my biggest cheerleader.  He never griped about the money.  I had to learn to put myself first at times.  Exercising was something that I had to do.  I felt great afterward.  Do this for yourself.  Love yourself & do great things for you & that will make you a better person overall!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Missing in Action?

I'm still here & still doing everything I can to get the rest of this weight off!  I am now down 85.6 pounds with only 5.6 more to go until I hit my goal!  I can't believe I got through Thanksgiving & my sister-in-law's wedding without a gain.  I didn't get the chance to workout for several days & that was tough, but I think my body appreciated the rest for a change!  I walked into Weight Watcher's on Monday & learned that they are completely revamping the entire program.  What?  I always struggle with change initially, but typically come around.  I think I will keep doing things the same way until I hit my goal & then I will give the new plan a try.  I get more points per day & it's hard to imagine losing weight by eating more.  I just can't wrap my head around it, but they say it works & they have been testing it for 3 years.  We shall see, but I'm digging my heels in the carpet & resisting for now.  Seriously?  I'm so close to my goal.  This may actually be fun to learn once I hit the maintenance part of the weight loss journey, but I am finishing what I started first! 

This is a pic of me & Gracie at the wedding.  Down 85.6 pounds!  Yeah Baby!!!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Getting this Figured Out

One thing I've noticed lately is that everyone has advice to give me.  I do like positive feedback & advice WHEN I ASK for it, but what frustrates me is when I'm talking about my exercise program & someone tells me what would work better.  Of if I'm talking about my food intake, I hear what would be a better choice.  I totally understand people wanting to provide helpful information, but I am totally figuring this thing out.  I'm now down 82 pounds (yea!) and only have 9.4 more pounds to lose until I hit my goal.  I'm excited as I'm nearing the end of this first part & I'm doing it in a healthy way.  My husband is going to insulate our garage & we are going to convert it into a gym.  He's even letting me get cable in the garage!  Hey, it's still cheaper than a monthly gym membership & I can remove the box anytime with no contract!!!  Running on a treadmill while listening to my MP3 player and staring at a wall is BORING.  I find myself dreading workouts because it's torture to stare at the wall.  I'm also finding the frigid temps challenging because my garage is so daggone cold that I can't stand going in there to workout.  Can't wait until we get the garage completed & I have my own personal gym.  Advice to everyone, give advice when it's requested, but don't hand it out if it's not.  It just makes me second guess what I'm doing & different things work for different people.  If I'm losing steadily in a healthy way, praise me & leave it alone!    I take in the info I learn from my Weight Watcher's group & follow the program as it's designed...  Anyhoo, I lost 1.6 pounds this week.  I won't make weigh-in next week because Ronnie has a basketball game, so I'll check in after Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Another Weigh-In

Another Monday & another weigh-in!  Successful & very exciting for me!  I lost 2.8 pounds & am now down 80.4 pounds!  I have 11 total pounds to go until goal & only 6 pounds more until I hit a "healthy" weight range!!!  So many thoughts have been running through my head.  At the beginning of this process, I had some negativity from a couple of people.  I could have let that get to me & cause me to quit.  I did let it fester inside of me & I used it to motivate me.  I do not ever want to be one of those people who has so much jealousy inside that I have to lash out & make fun of someone who is overweight.  I do think jealousy was what brought about the negative comments.  My advice to others in this type of situation is to use the negativity in a positive way.  When I'm upset or am getting negativity from others, I hop on the treadmill & run it off.  I am almost to the end of part one of this journey.  Eleven more pounds until I hit maintenance!  I will get 4 points back per day & that will be wonderful!  I do admit that I am more hungry lately.  I need to continue making good food choices & keep up my activity.  Signing off for now as I'm so tired.  The time change seems to have affected me which is odd because it's only an hour, but I have just been so tired this week & need to get some extra sleep!