A good day

I am happy to report that so far, so good with today!

Today was the first day that I actually tracked everything, and I mean everything, with livestrong. I was feeling seriously like crap earlier today and I've been keeping livestrong open on the computer. Anyway, I look and I had only eaten like 400 calories so far and 'technically' it said that I had burned 800 from the gym this morning. No wonder I felt like roadkill. So I made a cup of soup and I felt amazingly better to have some food in me.

Anyway, I've drank my own weight in water today, went to the gym and did kickboxing and abs, and eaten really good. SO I'm hoping that tomorrow when I actually do weigh myself, that it'll be ok.

So girls, we're all back on the bandwagon! Everyone still up for tennis on Wed at 6:30? (Sorry Mallory. It's too bad you don't live here!)

PLUS - did you talk to Vanessa today???? They had their ultrasound today....

Fun and Fattening Weekend!

My weight today was 260.  How depressing.  And I would be super depressed if I hadn't had such a fun weekend with friends.  On Friday we had people over to the house and of course we had to order pizza and have yummy dip and apple pie and ice cream, but it didn't stop there.  On Saturday night we went to UFC fight night at Leasa's and ate a whole bunch more.  Then we had leftover dip that i polished off today for lunch.  Can someone give me an intervention, it is time to go to an over eaters anonymous meeting.  

So I did what I do every week and I start over.  This morning I got up at 4:30a and weighed myself like a good girl, didn't let the scale depress me, and went to the gym.  Then I proceeded to kick my own butt until my brain was screaming.  All day long I gave myself positive affirmation's and told myself that I love myself and my body and that I want to give my body the things that it needs to be fueled and not just what my mouth and taste buds want.  That worked until about 4:00p and then I had a chocolate cluster dammit!  

This week my goal is to go to the gym 5 times, and track my food on livestrong.com.  This will get easier, this will get easier, this will get easier.

It's Monday and My Scale Hates Me

So, I got on the scale this morning and it said 170.2, which is down a pound from Friday. So, I was pretty happy about that. But I noticed that it didn't show me the little arrow and tell me how much I had lost. So I switched to user 2 and stepped on. The scale said 169.2. This all happened within a minute. Where did the pound go? WTF, scale??? And of course I threw the book away because I already knew how to work it so why would I need an instruction manual? So, I don't really know, but I liked the second weight better, so that's what I'm going with because I really just need something to feel good about. 169.2: down 2 pounds from Friday. Yay me!!!

And in case anyone is wondering (which I'm sure you're not), I am over-qualified to be a legal secretary. Awesome. And what is with all the smoke in the air? Seriously. I miss being able to see the top of the Grand Mesa. Stupid fires. End random mini-rant.

Mallory's Monday

So yesterday I drank a lot of water and it wasn't too bad. My weight today is 244.2 which is a .2 lb loss from Friday. Yay! I was good all day on Friday and good all day Sunday so it seems to have overpowered my terrible day on Saturday.

Wake up Call

So, usually in the past what I have done is when I have had a terrible day I don't track. Yesterday was a terrible day. I knew it was going to be bad when my mom brought Krispy Kreme donuts. I have zero will power. So to make a long story short after applebees, quiznos and the donuts I ate over 4000 calories worth of food yesterday. Seriously.

I had thought that my day wasn't THAT bad. Then I learned that the tortilla alone at Qdoba is 330 calories and 52 grams of carbs or something. So, I could have made better choices and not eaten the things I ate and done much better. But I didn't. So I am dreading tomorrow's weigh in and will be sad if I am back up. I hate the feeling that I am starting over. Ug

Daily Goals

I've decided I need to have daily goals, so that if I meet those goals I will feel like I have accomplished something and will hopefully be motivated to keep going. I'm not going to post those goals everyday cuz that would bore the crap out of everyone, including myself. And the goals will probably be about the same everyday.

Goals for today:

Drink 8 glasses of water (so far 0/8 - better get on that)
Track Calories on Livestrong.com, keep calories between 1200 and 1500.
Eat veggies at dinner.
Go for after dinner walk instead of watching inane tv shows I don't even like.

Goals for tomorrow:

Get out of bed by 7:30 a.m. and go running
Drink 8 glasses of water
Track calories again
Eat more veggies

Are you sure it's Friday?

157.8 Darn. This week was bad for me. I tried to be good, but I realize that when I fall short, it's normally dinner. One night it was Qdoba b/c Aaron wanted it and went and got it... and I lacked the willpower to say no. Another night it was dinner at my parents' that happened to be pizza. And then last night was dinner with Leasa and Carrie at Carinos. At least there I really did try to be good, opting for switching pasta for a salad and eating just that and the chicken milano, and a tiny bit of bread.

I'm just so frustrated that I'm good 90% of the time and then the other 10% makes me not only not maintain, but gain. I don't know what to do about it.

Ok, here is my plan/my goals for the coming week.

I'm gonna set up an account on Livestrong.com and track my calories.
I'm going to do better about setting up a menu for dinners and sticking to it since that's mostly where my weakness lies.
And continue to work out at least 3 times, probably more.
Continue to drink my own weight in water every day.

Molly's Friday

Well, I weighed and I'm at I'm at 171.2, which is down .2 from Monday, so I'm calling it a win. I have not been doing anything I should this week. I just am not feeling very motivated. I think I'm going to reevaluate my goals and try to find some short term motivations that will get me going.

Friday

Good Morning Ladies! My weight this morning was 244.4 pounds. So that is a loss for me, yay! I started tracking on livestrong.com on Tuesday. I completely attribute my weight loss to tracking. I cut back on sodium and it all seems to have helped. I hope that you guys all have a good weigh in this morning!

Dreading....

Can I just say that I am already dreading tomorrow's weigh in? Since my fallout earlier in the week, I've been trying to be really good, but still. I'm dreading it. Ugh. I'll see you all tomorrow! ... Now I'm off to drink some water.

Condiments

So, let me just say I am a condiment junkie. I love it all and trying to give it all up is one of the hardest parts of "healthy eating" for me. If I can't have bread and pasta, that's ok because I can still have ketchup. Well ok so I joined Livestrong.com and have been tracking my calories and I mean everything that has gone into my mouth has been tracked. I have done really well on calories but my sodium intake is totally out of control. Partly this is because of my love of condiments but also partly it's because I bought hotdogs and lunchmeat and really haven't eaten much else other than eggs with cheese in them. So for the last two days my sodium intake has been over 5000.
So here are my goals today:

LOTS of water
lower sodium
exercize
research a low sodium condiment that I can make
No caffeine

Not the weigh in I wanted...but whatever!

Ok so I replaced the battery in my stupid scale (it's always going to be called that until it gives me the numbers I want to see! :) Anyways, it was probabbly not the best idea to weigh at 11:00 am after I had just scarfed down a 6 inch Subway sandwich (and NO it was not turkey. We'll leave it at that!) So my weight is 247.2 which is still down from my starting of 257.8, but up a few pounds from my weigh in with the hard ass (excuse my mouth) trainer. I had better get a move on ya think? Tennis anyone? Are you all still playing on Wednesday nights? Let me know!

I've fallen and I can't get up!

UGH - the last few days have been uber hard and I seemed to have slipped... ugh.

So, my food journal hasn't been really completed this week and tonight we had dinner at my parent's house... and what did we have for dinner? Pizza. And how many slices did I eat? Let's just say too many. And my water intake was practically non-existant today. BUT tomorrow is a new day, right?! I WILL be better. And if I'm not, I expect Carrie, Leasa, and Molly to track my ever-growing butt down and kick it. lol

In other news, my friend Angela is going to be joining us too :) I told her to go ahead and introduce herself, so you'll hear from her shortly! Yay!

Sick with the stomach flu and a dead battery in my stupid scale!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Life has been crazy with school starting and so many fun things to keep us busy on the weekends. I saw Lori and Molly at the Farmer's Market last Thursday and have to report that I said "No" to the fabulous pasta that looked so incredibly delicious. Opting to eat half of a navajo taco. Still not the greatest thing to eat, but I felt it was better than the ooey gooey goodness of pasta. And of course one can't eat said pasta without some form of warm and yummy bread, which we all know does not need to find a home on my butt or stomach AT ALL! Anyways, now I'm feeling crappy with some sort of stomach bug and the battery in my stupid scale is dead so I will be unable to weigh until tomorrow. I'm glad to hear that all of you ladies are on your game and I will post my updated weight later!

Monday - terrible day for self-esteem

So it's Monday. This morning I weighed 247.6 which is up 4.6 pounds from Friday, seriously, I knew it was bad but really, almost 5 pounds? Ug.

Yup...it's Monday

This weekend we had EVERYONE under the sun at our house! Ok, not really, but ALL of Aaron's family. Seriously - his mom, dad, middle sister, her hubby, her hubby's mom, her 3 kids, his littlest sister, her hubby, and of course the four of us that actually live here. Let's see... that's 14 people in my house. We all got together to celebrate Sasha's (his middle sister) birthday. And of course, I made the cake. And it was delicious. And I should know. Hmmmm... it was chocolate heaven. Of course that means that all the time that I was detoxed from sugar is now down the drain and all I want to do now is eat, eat, eat... mainly dessert items.

Anyway, I really tried to be good the rest of the time and still was good on Sat, just with a small piece of cake and whatnot, but I'm up a tiny bit too. I was at 156.4 this morning when I weighed in. Then I busted my butt (and my knee) at the gym so hopefully the chocolate cake won't stick around too long.

Someone's got a Case of the Monday's Weigh-In

Here it is: 171.4. Up. Not by a ton and not nearly as much as I had anticipated/dreaded. This weekend was a disaster as far as healthy eating exercising are concerned. On Saturday I photographed a bridal shower and they had Pizza Hut pasta. I love that stuff. I ate WAY too much. Plus a brownie smoothered in frosting. Then that evening my dad's cousin was in town so we had a big family dinner consisting of steak and tilapia and salad and corn on the cob and fresh peaches and vanilla ice cream. That would have been all fine and good except I was still full from the pasta. But of course, I ate it all. Plus a couple glasses of wine. Then on Sunday my mom and I went shopping and got giant rootbeer floats from Sonic, which were mostly ice cream. And then I came home and finished off the spinach artichoke dip. Then I had a couple fajitas for dinner even though I really wasn't hungry. Ugh. Oh well. There's always today.

Justin's Weight

I have been thinking and Lori was talking about her trigger for motivating herself is when she reaches 160 pounds. One of my triggers is when I weigh more than Justin, which I do right now. I HATE it. It really bothers me that not only does he weigh 5 pounds less than me, he is also 6 inches taller than me and thinks he is fat. I know that that doesn't neccesarily translate into thinking that I am fat and unattractive but I certainly feel that way. Ug, I had way too many margaritas last night and also polished off the last piece of chocolate cake (because I NEEDED the cake container for my cake for class tomorrow night) which I am now regretting because tomorrow is beginning of the week weigh in and I know that I am going to be sad. Ah, well what is life but a combination of the choices that we make, all I need to do is make better choices one at a time.

OMG! You Guys are Relentless!

I guess you guys are just following in the true spirit of accountability.  My goal next week will be to blog a new post before my friends get after me!

Before I post my weight let me give a little background to this week.  Oh the wonderful joys of working with women!  I don't know who knows it, but I work for State Farm Insurance.  I come from retail and this job is a dream job for me.  Weekends off, a set schedule, and I can usually take a day off when I need one.  These factors were all very important to me when I was looking for a new job.  I have been working at State Farm for a year in October, and for the most part, it has been quite enjoyable.............until these last few weeks.  I'll spare you all the gory details and get to the bottom line.  On Tuesday one of my co-workers got fired, and on Wednesday one of my co-workers put in her 2 weeks notice.   Insurance is not an easy raquet, it has taken me almost a year to get comfortable being by myself in the office.  There are still things that I don't know how to do!  Bottom line is that I have had a stressful week.  And to put a cherry on top, my husband looked at our credit card bill, and has now decided to take over the finances, because apparently I am incompetent.  And what do I do when I feel stressed or upset?  I eat or I go shopping, and apparently both of those things seem to be getting me in trouble in one way or another. 

So after no effort of my own I went from gaining weight on Monday where I weighed in at 256.8 to 253.6.  I feel absolutely no success in this weight loss considering that A. I started the week at a number that was higher than last week, and B. I didn't exercise once or watch what I was eating.  I'm pretty sure that the pure stress of this week was the magic to the numbers going down.  Plus, it could have just been water weight loss.  

Next week is a new week and (before my husband saw the credit card bill) I just bought new compression shorts and a new sports bra which was badly needed.  I will be working out next week and making a better plan.  I'm not quite sure what it is, but I will think about it over the weekend and post on Monday. 

It's Techinically Still Friday Weigh In

Ok, I posted my Friday weigh in as a comment under Mallory's Friday Weigh In post. But I know feel compelled to right my own. Plus there are a few new details.

My original weigh in weight today was 170.2, which was down .8 from Wednesday. I weighed myself again around 4:30 yesterday afternoon and I was at 169.4. So here's the thing, my aunt flo came to town today and I pretty much lose my appetite for a day or so beforehand. I'm not saying that I don't eat, because I definitely do, I just don't eat much and I generally don't have my usual munchy issues. So, I'm not so sure that my "being good" has anything really to do with my will power. I think it has more to do with my hormones, which is pretty awesome. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy the number is lower, it's just not really an accomplishment.

And I just want to say, way to go Mallory and Lori!! You guys are doing awesome!!! I know from bunco last week that Leasa has been seriously kickin' some butt!! And where is Carrie?

More Friday Weigh In

This Monday I was at 160.4. Today I weighed in at 156.2. I should be super happy with that number.... but I weighed yesterday too and yesterday I was at 155.4. I know it's not that big of a difference - it could be due to water, time of weighing, etc. but ah man was I sad to see my number go up. Especially because I have been super-de-duper good about what I'm eating and exercising. My food journal is actually completed every day, I'm drinking a ton of water, I've been at the gym 3 times this week plus my tennis with Molly, and to top it all off, I've been passing on all the good food that beckons my way. Molly and I were soo good at the Farmer's Market yesterday. No pasta, crepes, burritos, bread, or dessert for us... although I might have gained that .8 lbs from just the luscious smell of it all.

So I'm trying to focus on that I solidly lost 4.2 lbs. Which is AWESOME! And not trying to dwell on the fact that I gained from yesterday. Wahooooo! (does it count if most of it was water weight? hmmmmm)

Friday Weigh In

So today is Friday, Lori reminded me that it is weigh in day! My weight was 243.o today which is down 2 pounds from my last weigh in. Yay! I am not super proud of that weight because I have not been eating that well but I have been active and drinking some water.

In The True Spirit...

Ok, since today is offically Restart Day (I know, I'm a little obsessed with this concept, but bear with me...) I weighed myself and decided I should post it. If Carrie and Lori can do it, so can I. Plus, what's the point of being part of the Weight Loss Accountability blog if you aren't forthcoming about where you're at and how you're doing. So here's my weight as of this morning: 171.0.

Here I Am!

I agree with Molly and I am going to be joining her for a starting over day.  The summer is over and I am ready to stand still and have no more holidays that revolve around food until Thanksgiving.  I have had a hard time with motivation these past few weeks.  I don't know if any of you are having a hard time with energy right now, but that seems to be my issue.  Ever since I stopped doing optifast I just feel sluggish and tired all the time.  Every morning I set my alarm for 5am and every time I reset it for a later time.  I'm pretty sure I know the issue but I love bread, rice, and pasta so much!  I can feel such a difference when I'm not eating complex carbohydrates.  So my goal for the next week is to watch the carbs, and I will do that by tracking my calorie intake on livestrong.com.  I will track every food that passes through my lips.  My current weight as of this morning is 256.6.  I have gained 12 pounds since my peak weight loss 1 month ago.  Somethings gotta change and I've got to find some motivation, this is getting ridiculous. 

Restart Day

Restart Day was supposed to Monday. It's now Tuesday evening and Restart Day still hasn't come. So, I hereby declare that tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19, 2009, is Restart Day. What is Restart Day you might ask? Restart Day was originally founded by American Colonists in the year 1782. When they weren't feeling motivated to fight the Evil Empire - aka the King George - they would just start over the next day. Ok, that's obviously not true. Restart Day (for real this time) is the day that you let go of whatever you're holding against yourself and begin trying again. For example: as I'm typing this I'm eating M&Ms and bbq potato chips. Together. And no, I'm joking. Tomorrow I am not going to kick myself for this. Because tomorrow is Restart Day (and there was much rejoicing: yay...) Tomorrow I will get up and go running and I will try to eat healthy and make smart choices. And I will try to have a positive attitude about it all. Tomorrow all of the leftovers from Gram's birthday party will be gone (because I will finish them off tonight) and I won't have those temptations in the fridge. Tomorrow I will start a realistic job search. No, really. Tomorrow I will go play tennis with the girls. And after tomorrow I will keep this trend going because I will see what a positive effect eating healthy and exercising makes on my life. I don't know if anyone else needs a Restart Day, but if so, you're welcome to join me.

And here is why Restart Day didn't happen Monday as scheduled: Starting Friday we had a bunch of family in town for my grandma's 92nd birthday. There were cakes, peach cobblers, and chips galore. There was beer and wine and ice cream and spinach-artichoke dip. It was crazy. It was all eating all the time. Plus I had to sleep in the camper with my little cousin and the girl was wound up like an eight day clock. Seriously. Love her to death, but she has more energy than I thought was humanly possible. I got zero sleep. So, Monday rolled around and I spent all day running errands and then taking my grandma to run hers (she no longer drives). And I just wasn't in the mood to step on a scale. And also, the scale is located in my parent's bathroom. So I decided to get my own. Which I did today at the Walmart. Note to self: don't go to both Walmarts and Ross the day before school starts. Not my most brilliant plan ever, but I broke the coffeemaker decanter last night, so there was no waiting.... But, I digress. So, the scale is one of those ones that tells you if you've gained or lost from the last time you weighed. Woo hoo. So, I will weigh myself tomorrow, but I'm not going to post my weight until our regularly scheduled "weigh day" on Friday. So, here's to Restart Day and no more excuses!

What a difference a day (and water) makes!

First off - where are your weights ladies? Mallory, Molly and I all said we'd do it Mondays... and no one did. And where is Miss Carrie? Leasa is doing fabulous as always. She said she'd get around to posting soon.

So I DID weigh myself yesterday, just didn't have time to post. Yesterday I was at 160.4. Again. Arrr. I don't know if anyone else has their "number" where they realize they have to get serious, but mine is 160. So I wasn't very happy, but not entirely surprised either, to see that on the scale yesterday.

Anyway, I wasn't being very good about my water intake, so I made sure to be good yesterday with water, food, and exercise and today I am at 158.0. It's still 6 lbs up from my lowest and 8-10 lbs from where I'd ideally like to be, but it'll get there (eventually) if I stick with it.

On a side note - I don't think this stupid swingset will EVER be done! We've been working on it every waking minute (that Aaron's not working). Aarrrr at it. If you ever think about getting a really cool wooden swingset that you have to assemble... Don't.

Weigh days and posting

I am announcing to everyone (so that I feel committed and stick to it) that I am going to start weighing myself on Fridays and Mondays. Hopefully Fridays will be good days because I am much better on the weekdays. And hopefully if I weigh myself on Mondays it will help me be better on the weekends

Coming Clean . . .

So I weighed myself a week ago. I haven't posted because I have been depressed and hiding. My weight was 245. As I was looking at my journal this is EXACTLY where I was January 28th when I started my written food journal. And up 26 pounds from two months ago. Seriously, what were all of those months for? I am not sure why I do this to myself. Since last week I have been doing even worse than before eating m&m's with Ryan when he goes potty, crackers, bread, pasta, regular and diet soda and when I weighed myself this morning I was down to 244.6.

I need to quit feeling sorry for myself and do what I know I need to do.

So here is what I know:

My body feels better when I eat well and exercise
I feel better about my self when I am doing what I should.
I don't want to be fat for the rest of my life.
I want to teach my kids healthy habits and to be active.
I enjoy the time to myself when I exercise.

I don't understand why I don't just do it.

Molly's Goals

Well, I weighed myself yesterday morning. Let me tell you, it was like a party on a scale. Actually, it was just kinda stating the obvious: I have put on nearly 15 lbs in 2 months. That's what happens when you stop moving around and start eating a shit-ton (pardon my French) of chips everyday. This really wasn't a surprise because my fat shorts, which in mid June wouldn't stay on without a belt, are now very tight. We're talking, walking around the bedroom doing squats trying to get them to stretch out before I wear them in public. So, my weight is at 176. I'm 5' 5" (ok, 5' 4.75", but my driver's license says 5' 5", so whatever.) Either way, my weight is way to high.

So here's my philosopy: it's not about the number. It's about being healthy and feeling good about myself. I guess ideally I'm looking to lose about 25 lbs., but in all honesty I'm not obsessed with the number. I don't like to weigh myself, for various neurotic reasons. I do it from time to time, but what I really like to do is have piece of clothing that I know I used to look good in or will look good in and try to change my body to fit well into that dress or those jeans, or whatever. For our reunion in June it was my dress. I dropped about 15 lbs to fit into that dress and feeling good in that dress (and everything else I wore) was the best reward! I don't have anything picked out yet, but I'm working on it.

All right, here's The Plan:
1. Running - started this morning, hurt like Hell. I was only able to run maybe a quarter of what I was running a couple months ago, but you have to start somewhere.

2. No more eating after dinner. Seriously. Half a bag of doritos at 11 pm is not going to help my butt shrink.

3. Drink more water. For awhile I have not had the desire to drink water. I've been substituting diet soda for water. And I used to never drink soda. Not a good plan.

4. Food Diary/calorie counter. I checked out livestrong.com like Carrie suggested, and they really do have every kinda food on there. It's amazing! I was using the msn health and fitness one before, but livestrong is way better. Thanks, Carrie! I'm aiming to keep my calories around1500 per day.

Hope you all had a good weekend and good luck this week!!

My Name is Molly and I Love to Eat

I love food. I love to cook it, smell it, see it, and most of all, eat it. And that would all be OK if I didn't obsess over it. If I didn't use it to deal with my feelings, whatever they may be; if I didn't eat when I'm bored, happy, sad, excited, celebrating, watching TV, reading a book, feeling sorry for myself, or any one of a million other things. I also really like wine. Talk about empty calories.

I've tried off and on for years to lose weight and change my lifestyle to include regular exercise and better eating habits. I generally do really well for a short time and then really poorly for a long time. I also suffer from depression and some social anxiety. I know that when I'm exercising regularly it makes a world of difference. I was doing really well this past spring. My weight was down, I was feeling a lot more confident. The future seemed brighter than it had in years. I was running every-other day and eating healthily. Then our 10 year high school reunion came and went, my knee started hurting and I stopped running and started eating not so healthily and way to much of what is actually good for me. That was in June. Now it's August. It's so far passed time to get back on track, it's not even funny.

So, I have high hopes for this blog. I think it will be really great to be connected to others that are struggling with weight loss and lifestyle change. I haven't weighed myself in months and I have no idea what my real goals are. So, I'll work on that and let you all know. Right now I plan to start running again and I know I need to stop eating at night (we're talking post 10 p.m. snack while I'm watching TV.) And portion control. That's huge. Maybe I'll take up knitting. I need something to do with my hands while I watch TV, etc., besides sticking them into a cracker box...

Anyway, thanks for starting this, girls! Reading your posts gives me courage and motivation. And good luck to us all! :)

I Put the Active in Activity!

This has been a good week for me, finally! After binging last weekend and having more than a few moments of weakness (more like days of weakness), I went from 255 to 251.8. I went to the gym 3 times this week, played tennis on Wednesday, and started helping my friend coach a girls softball team. Being at softball practice made me miss softball so much, and makes me wish I would have joined a league for fall ball. This is a week that I look back on and think of how fun being active can be.

The carbonation thing is coming along really well. I did cave and have 1 can of Diet Coke on Wednesday. My fingers swelled up and I regretted it, but what are you gonna do s*** happens! You can't be too hard on yourself. My goal is to make exercise a daily routine like taking a shower, its just something you do to start your day. This morning when my alarm went off at 5am I was in a dead sleep thinking about softball. It took everything I had to get out of bed and go to the gym. I even reset my alarm, but then I felt so guilty that I rolled myself out of bed 15 minutes later. I'm glad I did it, you can never regret working out.

Goals for this week are staying the same:
1. No carbonation
2. Make exercise part of my daily routine.

Can't wait to see how the rest of you did!

Just trying to keep it real!

It's been a really great day workout/food wise. Except for that personal training moment where I was asked to perform a ridiculous exercise that made me feel the true extent of my fatness! Thanks Carrie for allowing me to rant on the phone to you at work and for building me up. :) I'll give the rest of you the brief rundown of said difficult moment. Fat girl (that's me), lying flat on her back on a paper thin mat on the floor in the center of the gym in the full glory of full length mirrors. Feet straight in the air trying to hold a resistance ball between my ankles having my fat stomach merge with my shrinking boobs (the only weight that seems to be leaving me lol!) Add to that the wonderful notion to do crunches. Having recapped that, I feel a loud voice in my head reminding me to KEEP IT REAL! I have been working my butt off (not literally) trying to eat well, exercise, even going sober on the whole soda/sugary drink thing. I'm down a total of 10 lbs, but realistically ladies, I feel I should be down more and see atleast some sign (other than my shrinking boobs) that the fat is melting away. I know that I need to be proud of what I am doing to work towards my goal so here is my positive comment amongst all my frustration....I can rock it on the treadmill now at a 4.0 incline at 3.2 mph for 1 hour straight followed by a 5 minute cool down. Better yet....I'm not panting or near death! :) There you have it. LIFE IS GOOD!

Leasa

Stalled in my tracks

I'm not really "off track" so much as kinda stopped on the track. Leasa will probably come blaring up and crash into my caboose b/c I'm just sitting still. lol

Anyway, I had my dear aunt Flo come and visit this week, so I'm not even daring to weigh myself. After not having a period for a year and half to two years, I can say that I didn't miss it. ANd it's not so much that I've been eating *bad*... but I haven't necessarily been eating as good as I should. I did have a banana nut muffin at the hospital yesterday. And it was fabulous. And then I regretted it. Ugh.

BUT I did go and do kickboxing on Monday, planning on tennis tonight (are you in ladies?), and then at least kickboxing on Thursday too. I need to fit in another day of the gym during the week - probably Friday.

Mallory asked about our plans... on a totally random side note, every time I say "the plan" I replay the scene from "Ten Things I Hate About You" in my head and it makes me giggle silently. :)

So here's THE PLAN

limit carbs
cut out most added sugars - most cereals, breads, processed/canned foods, yogurts, etc.
Eat lots of veggies and fruit, although I should cut down the amount of fruit I eat probably
Increase my protein with egg whites, ckn breats, etc.
Go to the gym 2-3 times a week
Tennis once a week
Increase my outside activity with the kids and NEW PUPPY :)
Weigh myself 2-3 x per week
Keep a food journal

So "now that you've seen THE PLAN".... lol - yup, I'm a nerd. I'm ok with it. I know Mallory gets it even if no one else does, lol ;)

Thank you Carrie!

Thank you Carrie so much for starting this new blog! I really like blogger and I was able to send myself an invitation so now I can sign up under my other account and it brings up both pages! This will make it that much easier! Oh, and also what a cute background you found!

Mallory My Plan-Update

So I have not been doing great yet, I have been drinking loads of diet soda.  I am trying to decide what my goals are and this is what I have so far:

No soda
No fast food
Limit carbs
Limit fats
Limit salt
Keep a food journal
drink 8- 8oz glasses of water per day
work out 3 times per week
at least 2 fun exercize activities

I was doing well when I kept a food journal, so I think I will go back to that.  I am not going to count calories though because it takes so much time.  Ugh, some time I will have the courage to weigh myself.  I will keep you posted.

What are all of the rest of you doing as your weight loss plans?

Mallory

Lori 7/31

Finally it is Friday! Wahooo!  I weighed this morning and was 156.6.  Yay.  As long as I see the numbers down, then I'm good - I don't have to lose crazy weight each week like Leasa (you go girl!). But it's almost a pound in not quite a week.  Ok, now for some camping fun. Hopefully the weekend won't take too big of a toll on the scale.  Have a great weekend y'all.  ~Lori

Mallory Introduction

Hi Everyone!

It was great to read all of your stories, it made me feel better about posting my own!  My name is Mallory.  I have been on the weight loss journey for some time, cheating and then gettting back on track.  My thing is that it is totally a cycle for me, when I am thinking about what I am eating and being concious of my diet and exercize I do very well, but it doesn't last long.  I need to be in it for the long term and realize that there are some things that I just can't have. 

As you might know, Lori and I just had our 10 year high school reunion and I lost about 25 pounds, so I was down to 219.  About two weeks after our reunion I weighed myself and I was 231 and I haven't weighed myself since.  I am afraid to get on the scale because I know how much I could have lost in that time and it makes me very sad.  Not only am I sure that I didn't lose weight but I know I have gained even more because I had to move back up to my fat jeans.  I HAVE to do something before it gets worse!

Thanks Lori for starting this, I appreciate the kick in the butt every now and then!!

Mallory

WOOHOO!

Ok ladies, I am way on track. I went to the gym this morning and had a great workout. (For my large self that would consist of not falling over dead after 15 minutes. lol) Anyways, I did 50 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5 and I'm still alive! Remember all, small successes! I drank 2 bottles of water, opted for a yummy protein shake since I had errands to run and I didn't want to blow it by not eating something for breakfast, and now I am home and blogging my WOO HOO moment...I am down 7 lbs. Girlfriends, I am on! And I'm going to a friend's house after lunch for water aerobics! YAY!

Lori 7/27/09

Goooood morning giiirrrrllllssss!  

I hope you did that in your best Robing Williams Good Morning Vietman voice! 

Just wanted to check in and say my weight this morning was 157.4... which is what it was last week before I gained some, lol. So, no losing, but I'm happy to be back down to where I started and then this week WILL be better! 

I also had company in from out of town and the first night was a little rough with Mexican food but after that we ate really good - salad for lunch and I made mostaccoli with spaghetti squash the next night. I think I'll post that one as another blog for you guys if you want to make it. We don't eat "pasta" anymore so we do spaghetti squash instead. 

I'm planning on doing kickboxing this morning and planning on doing the gym at least 3 x this week (I had been doing 5 in the winter but summer seems harder b/c there's so much fun stuff to go and do with the girls) and tennis on Wed. 

Have a great Monday! 

~Lori

Joining my Peeps on this Weight Loss Journey

Hey everyone! I am finally posting after closing down the circus that has been going on in my house for the last week. My girlfriend and her 3 kids came to visit us from California. That made 6 kids (5 boys and 1 high maintenance-high drama little sis) and 2 adult women that had the fortunate opportunity to both be on their periods under 1 roof together. Alas, I am still alive and ready to start this life changing adventure. Hope that wasn't TMI for anyone! :) Anyways, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Leasa. I am starting this journey with the goal of losing 100 lbs. (I cringe everytime I hear it or say it). To give you a little bit of history about me, I have never been one of those rail thin girls that can eat whatever they want and still manage to slide into their size 0 skinny jeans. I grew up being very athletic, playing volleyball, basketball, and eventually doing cheerleading in high school. Then I got married, had 4 beautiful boys, and to best describe it...quit making myself a priority. I formed horrible eating habits and became the poster child for "I'm too busy and tired to exercise. So, here I am needing to lose the big 100.  I actually began on July 13th by signing up at Gold's Gym after the personal revelation that enough is enough. I am tired of being FAT! I have started this big change by eliminating soda and sugary drinks from my diet and making myself exercise everyday (Monday through Friday). Anyone who knows me, knows that the soda and sugary drinks is HUGE for me. I am proud to say that I am celebrating day 14 of sobriety! :) I feel I need to say it that way because I whole heartedly share Carrie's drug analogy. Most importantly, I feel GREAT! My July 13th weight was 257 lbs. and I'm 5'5". I haven't weighed myself since starting, but I will when I hit the gym tomorrow. I am excited to be sharing this difficult journey with friends and look forward to many successes together.

Lori Checking In

So this week was supposed to be better than it actually was... but I'm still here and not too far off of track. 

I got all discouraged when on Monday I weighed myself and I was 157.4 and then the next day I was up a pound after eating good and whatnot- what's up with that?  Anyway, I weighed yesterday and it was 158.2, so hopefully tomorrow will be even better. 

I started doing my food journal and really stopped after like the first day. Why? Because  I suck apparently. I'm making a positive affirmation in my head... "I WILL do my food journal. I WILL do my food journal. I WILL do my food journal." I'll check back in later this week and see how it goes. 

I think summer is harder for me with eating right. I definitely make a concious effort, but there's so much to do - fairs & festivals to go to, vacations to take, friends to visit, etc.  And there's so much to do with the kids that I am having a hard time scheduling in the gym (specifically the classes at the gym) around two nap times a day, 2 snacks a day, 3 meals a day and a million dishes a day. BUT I'm going. I just got back from kickboxing actually. Yay for me. 

I also wonder where everyone else is... Carrie, did you talk to Leasa?  I'll check with Mallory and see if she got my email and I'll also send one to Molly.

Carrie

So far, so good this week.  I've tracked all my calories (even the bad ones!) and I have stepped it up in activity.  My butt is stiff from the stationary bike, and played tennis for 2 hours on tuesday night.  Played tennis is more like ran around and got balls that went over fences and sucked it up big time, but physical activity none the less! Down 1 pound, now 249!

A Weight Loss Journey With Friends!

I am loving this idea, and for those of you who don't read my own personal weight loss blog (dustinandcarrieseals@blogspot.com) I will give you a brief description of my own weight loss struggles and where I am striving to get.

My name is Carrie and I have an overeating addiction.  This is no joke people, it is a very serious addiction.  I look at it as someone who has a problem with drugs.  The difference is that your body can most certainly go on living without drugs, on the other hand, cut out food and eventually.......well, you know what happens.  Me and my loving husband have been trying to have a baby for about 4 years, and the Doctors all say the same thing, you need to lose weight and then we will see what needs to happen, but before that nobody will touch me with a 10 ft. pole.  To add insult to injury I have a hypo-thyroid, which means my body is slow.  My engine is not running on all cylinders, which makes losing weight a very tough venture.  I have tried every diet known to man and I narrowed the success rate down to a couple of things:

1. There is no such thing as a miracle drug that makes you lose weight.  
2. The only thing that works for weight loss is eat less ,move more.

There you go, tell all your friends that I have found the secret! Now the billion dollar weight loss industry can write a book about eating less and moving more and then we can all enjoy affordable healthcare costs.  

My personal goal is to lose 100 lbs., or get pregnant, whichever one happens first. My current lifestyle of eating is optifast.  I joined the Optifast program when I was 276 lbs. I now weigh 250 lbs. and plan on losing a lot more.  For those of you who are not familiar with the program it is basically an 18 week liquid diet program.  It is supported by a team of Doctors, nutritionists, and therapists designed to cure whatever is causing you to eat. I have cheated since week 3 and I have made my peace with the fact that I could have lost a lot more weight, but onward and upward, whats done is done.  I am now in the transition portion of the program where I start to incorporate food back into my diet.  My lifestyle of eating from here on out is what you would call the "Eating Clean" diet.  It is the simplest plan of eating fruits, veggies, lean meats, protein, and whole grains.  If you have not read the book on this diet I suggest you pick it up at your closest borders.  It is very simple to follow.  My current exercise goal is 5 times a week.  Mountain Biking on Saturday mornings if I have the opportunity.  I would like to be able to ride the whole river trail by the end of the summer.  I am committing to updating twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  Phew!  That's a lot to get out, I can't wait to get started and I am happy to have such great friends who have the same healthy goals!  

Also on a side note, if you like tracking your calories, and physical activities, go to livestrong.com and sign up for free registration to keep track of your daily meals and exercise.  It is free and has some great functions that help you to keep a focus on the big picture! 

Welcome to Weight Loss Accountability

Welcome to weight loss accountability! Its proven (by experts, but more importantly by me and you) that people do better achieving their weight loss goals if they have to be accountable to someone. SO - here we are.  Me and some of my friends are on a weight loss journey and plan to post our results weekly here, no holes barred. If you did good on meals, your weight and weight loss, your exercise, your failures, and hopefully your successes. 

So, let me start the introductions....

My name is Lori, I'm 28 and my 'trigger' date (when I'll officially start this round of dieting and my starting weight) is Monday, July 20th.... although this past week when I weighed myself I was 158.4 lbs (I was 152.0 before I left on vacation at the beginning of the month).  I'm 5'9", have two cute little girlies (ages 3 yrs and 10 months) and am wanting to lose another 10 lbs... although it seems I always say "another 10 lbs" and then when I get there I don't feel as skinny as I thought I would, so I continue to want to be down another 10. So if I actually DO get down... no, WHEN I actually get down to 148, we'll see if we stop there or not.   No, this is not body dis-morphism.  

A general overview - I have PCOS which makes me borderline insulin resistant and so I have to cut out sugars when I want to lose any weight.  Ahh pasta, I pine for you, but alas, you are no good for me. Take your friends ice cream and chocolate-anythings and leave me forever.  On my diet I eat a lot of veggies, fruits, and lean meats- normally chicken.  Oh, and eggs. Lots of egg whites. I kinda hate these after "changing my lifestyle," AKA dieting, for so long, but I normally choke one down every morning for some protein for breakfast.  Anyway... I have a gym membership that I definitely use - normally 3 - 5 times a week (although I took a hiatus for our HS reunion and then vacation) and rotate doing a cardio class with a low weight/high rep class. 

Please log in and introduce yourself and then later on update us with a new post on your happenings!   We're becoming accountable to each other. I will try to post twice a week, you can decide how frequently you want to update us on you, but please at least once a week! 

Here's to accomplishing our WL goals together - whether they be short or tall, here's to getting our butts small! Cheers!