Weigh-In ... Hot 100 Update #11

Today's Weight: 189.5

Loss/Gain: +/- 0

Total Loss So Far: -41.5

My weigh-in days are back to Fridays since the Throwdown Challenge. It will workout well because the Hot 100 Challenge last weigh-in will also be the last day of the year! :)

It's been an interesting week for me. Busy, a little stressed at moments and not the best in eating. Though I journaled daily I didn't not stay within weight-loss calories daily and it showed. I'm happy that I didn't see a gain, but I knew I would not see a loss.

Nonetheless, here's my update:

WEIGHT GOAL: Lose 0.5 - 1.5 lbs a week (Beginning weight 194.0). Maintained this week and now I feel like I'm falling behind. So, I'm not too pleased with my weight goal today.

ACTIVITY GOALS:Exercise four days a week, no skimping down to three during the holidays. Done!! I even got up an exercised early this morning before working today. Go me! I felt so good and was very happy that I didn't wait until Saturday to get that fourth day in.

Be able to jog at 4.8 mph for 25 minutes. This gives metime for slight warm up and cool down on the treadmill that has a 30-minute limit at the gym.I'm really hoping so. I jogged one more day this week and it wasn't as easy as a month ago. I'm determined to get as close to 25 minutes at 4.8 mph as I can. :)

FOOD GOALS: Drink at least 64 oz of water daily. Done Journal all my eats and drinks and stay within my calorie goals daily, with the exception of one high-calorie day that I allow to throw things off a bit. Done, though my calories weren't weight-loss many days, so this is in yellow. It wasn't even sweets - just crackers and carb-o junk. hmm....I'll be working on this.

EMOTIONAL GOAL: **I've decided to make my emotional goal the goal of visiting one new blog each week. Connecting with others on this journey is the emotional support I need at this time. Yes.

HOLIDAY GOAL: Only one or two "foo-foo" coffee drinks from Starbucks the week I am visiting my mom in November. I will stick to regular coffee and cream the rest of the weeks. Done.

Have a great weekend and thanks for checking in!

An Epiphany?

It's late so I have to make this quick...

This week my husband and I have been talking about our health some more. We've also been talking about the health of our children, none of which are or ever have been overweight. He said after the first of the year he's heading back to the gym. I casually asked him if he'd consider being okay with me not buying any more soda for the house? He said that was fine, and "we can all just start ordering water at restaurants."

HUGE. Just HUGE, because there was a day he said, "I'll never quit drinking soda."

Now, he did say he might grab one at lunch or here or there once in a while, but he okay'd for me to quit buying it.

So, we told the kids we are going to try and eat better, not for weight, but for health, and we are going to stop buying soda. They seem okay with this.

I also suggested that maybe we would cut out chips, or limit it to one bag in the pantry at a time and only eating a serving at a time with a meal, not as snacks. My girls pipe up with, "We don't need chips." and my son is not paying attention.

I reassured them I'd still put candy in their stockings because they were only a little concerned about that. :) I also said that we would bake, but limit how much we ate.

The kids are totally into this, well, the girls are. My son hasn't commented much and I think he'll have the hardest time with the snacks. I know he'll get used to it, because I've never really allowed him to eat as much as he wants anyway.

These changes sound more drastic than they really are, but they are the ones we are committing to starting this week.

My epiphany in all of this?

I realized tonight these changes are going to require some responsibility on my part. I'm going to have to make sure there is fresh produce around for snacking all the time and not get lazy about cooking healthier meals.

And I can no longer hide behind my family as an excuse for not losing weight. If they are fine with no chips, crackers and soda in the house, then there will be no reason for it to be there. If my husband is willing to eat a little healthier, then I can no longer say that I will cook certain ways simply to please him.

Folks, this scares me. It scares me to think I have to come out of hiding and rise to the challenge that leading a good example will be at times. I can't expect them to stay away from junk if I'm dipping into it in secret.

It also scares me to think that now I need to learn how to be the "healthier mom". I believe all things in moderation are okay (read: I'm not cutting out desserts, but saving them for special time), but I'm wishing tonight I could have a cook here for a month to show me how to do this.

There's more to our healthiness conversations, but this is all I have time to share for now. It's a huge deal for me and I am going to face it and come out the victor. The first step is acknowledging it and realizing it's something I need to learn how to deal with.

Thanks for reading. :) G'nite all!

Happy Monday Thoughts

Some happy weight-loss related thoughts this Monday:

I no longer am double the weight of my almost-13-year-old twins! They weight just over 100 lbs. and I'm under half of their weight.

.....

I ran into someone at the store on Friday who used to walk regularly at a gym I went to. We commented on how we haven't been there in a long time, but I said my reason is because I have been going to the gym at the base. They both himmed and hawed about how they just got busy in the summer and hardly go anymore. It felt good to know that my not going to that particular gym since last spring was only the result of my changing gyms, not quitting my exercise. How many times have I been those ladies in the past? Lots.

.....

My slip is getting so big that it hangs and buckles under my skirts. It's starting to bug me, but it's also a fun reminder that I'm losing weight!!

.....

I only want one candy in my stocking ( a Reese's PB tree) and no more. My husband has agreed to do my stocking this year. (yay for him!) The fact that I'm not drooling over how much candy I can buy and eat is another sign of change in my healthiness attitude.

I'll stop there for today. I hope you're week is off to a good start. Maybe you can take a few minutes to stop and jot down some happy thoughts about your weight loss journey this week. If you feel you don't have any, then pick one unhappy one and see if you can turn that proverbial frown upside down.

That's what this is all about - one day at a time, one step at a time. Have a good one!

Vanity, Vanity

I had to stop in and say that I did indeed get my fourth day of exercise in today. We've had a busy and productive Saturday, and quite honestly I didn't want to workout. Well, I did want to workout because I knew I needed to and I would feel better if I did, but in all my vanity and laziness I didn't want to.

This morning I slept in a bit, worked on a computer project and then got ready to go out. I tell you truthfully that I felt I had gotten "cute" for my day of errands and a soccer game for my son and I didn't want to ruin that.

Sad (giggling), but true. Pure vanity.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a "bling" type of girl, but it was a good hair day and Ih ad on my new cargo pants that make me feel slim and "cute". LOL I knew once I worked out I would be sweaty and looking more like cleaning house than out Christmas shopping.

I got over my vanity and did the 30-day shred. I sure do feel better now that I did it, so of course I'm glad I did. Now I can get dinner going, shower and relax for the evening. (still giggling)

See you on Monday!

Hot 100 Update #10

Well folks, we're entering into the last month of our Hot 100 Challenge. Now that my Throwdown Challenge is over I feel I can really concentrate these last four weeks on the Hot 100 and on meeting my goals.

This past week went horrible. I have to say that I ate fine at my Thanksgiving dinner, but the days following I fell into a slacker, sort of vacation mode that left me with a rather large gain. I'm a bit upset by it, but I know what went wrong and I will deal with that.

WEIGHT GOAL: Lose 0.5 - 1.5 lbs a week (Beginning weight 194.0). I am up 2.5 lbs this week. yikes. I know where I went wrong, so I am fixing that. I've decided that I will not be in the group of people who gains weight over the Christmas season this year. I'm determined to lose five pounds this month, and I'd really like to see how close to 180 I can get. We'll see... I'm typing this post while on an endorphin high from exercising, so I may be a bit optimistic at the moment. LOL

ACTIVITY GOALS:Exercise four days a week, no skimping down to three during the holidays. Three down and one scheduled for tomorrow.

Be able to jog at 4.8 mph for 25 minutes. This gives metime for slight warm up and cool down on the treadmill that has a 30-minute limit at the gym. Today was my first day running in almost a month. It was hard, but I left with such an awesome feeling of accomplishment. I drove home thinking, "If I could just bottle up these feeling and sip on it all day..." :) It reminded me why I enjoy jogging. I get the hardest workout ever, but the best feeling of strength and accomplishment right afterwards that makes it all worth it. :)

FOOD GOALS: Drink at least 64 oz of water daily.I think I've gotten this done four out of seven days. I honestly can't remember... Journal all my eats and drinks and stay within my calorie goals daily, with the exception of one high-calorie day that I allow to throw things off a bit. No. THIS IS MY PROBLEM and it will be fixed this week. I started journaling again yesterday.

EMOTIONAL GOAL: **I've decided to make my emotional goal the goal of visiting one new blog each week. Connecting with others on this journey is the emotional support I need at this time. No. However, I am keeping up with a person I met through this challenge, so that is nice.

HOLIDAY GOAL: Only one or two "foo-foo" coffee drinks from Starbucks the week I am visiting my mom in November. I will stick to regular coffee and cream the rest of the weeks. Done. I almost had one last night, because I wanted one and was going to not care about good choices until today. Then I realized that was kind of dumb thinking. I knew this would probably be the one thing I have managed to keep on top of in this challenge, so I didn't want to break my green color for my holiday goal. :) I'm adding to this holiday goal to actually see a loss this month.

So, there you have it. This past week I enjoyed some wonderful company with family and then let myself fall back into old habits without caring...until the scale went up. Well, I've realized that I can't be that nonchalant yet with my eating. So, yes I am very busy this next month, but I will be sure to journal daily and make those moments recording my food moments to also keep myself focused on my health goals during a season of baking and eating. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Throwdown Challenge - Results

As you can see I didn't have the best week. Barb and I both had mixed emotions about our final weigh-ins. See her thoughts here.

Part of me feels glad that I am still under 190. I also know this was a sort of "vacation" week for me, a major eating holiday and TOM arrived.

However, [long pause] I am not content with the results of this challenge, and I know where I went wrong. Thanksgiving and TOM really didn't affect my weight this week. By about Friday I was beyond the "I don't care." PMS munching. So, no excuses there.

Thanksgiving only affected it in that I didn't stay out of the cheeseball and crackers in the two days following Thanksgiving, until it was gone. Same with some desserts. Even so, I didn't eat a huge amount of food like usual at the meals, or even at dessert time. I was fine eating at the table. It was the snacking while standing in the kitchen that got me.

That same snacking and munching that happens during PMS weeks actually bothered me this week and I'd say, "Now, why'd you eat that, Leah??" Darn it. It's also the same reason I chose not to journal, which is the other major reason for this gain.

No one wants to journal food they've been eating while standing, walking around, etc. because it's usually hard to measure when it's a bite here and a bite there. It's also convicting to actually see in writing what's been going into the mouth. So, to not journal it is to not have to face it. Or so I thought.

I sure faced it on the scale. I had to face that apparently I still need to journal my food to stay on track eating wise. If I don't journal my food, then I need to be very careful about what's going into my mouth and I'm not doing so well with that yet. So, journaling keeps me in check. Then, at least if I want to have something I'm forced to face it right then and decide if I really want it. Some times I do, but more and more I don't want the snacky item when I realize what it's going to cost me in calories.

Anyway, I feel like I'm rambling now. I just don't feel like I can whine about this gain and say it was this great struggle to stay on track this week. I just didn't care to stop myself. I didn't want to lose weight more than I wanted to eat whatever I wanted, and I'm no longer content with that attitude in my life. It's selfish and not healthy. So, while I wish I was beyond this issue with food, I'm not and I must face that I can't get relaxed about my habits and see weight loss.

Finally, I'd like to thank Barb for this challenge. She really made me think, and honestly I wouldn't have been too upset about the weigh-in if I hadn't had to tell her. :) Something about having to email her and then put on that scorecard the truth that my loss dropped to a measly two pounds for the month was hard for me. It was hard in a good way and I'm grateful to her for that.

So, thank you, Barb, and thank you everyone for checking in on us and our challenge. I leave you with another one of my favorite quotes:

"Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet."

(Anne of Green Gables)

Getting Back in the Mood

Happy December 1st!

I'm happy now anyway.... :P

I wasted my morning creating blog backgrounds for this and my family blog. Creating didn't take as long as uploading and getting them to work properly. argh...

I ended up rushing my lunch and then flying around the house getting chores done. I wasn't going to exercise, but then I said to myself...

"Self, you need to do something. Yes, you wasted a morning and you are frustrated that you don't have time to get to the gym. But you can pull out a dvd and exercise for 30 minutes. You're committing to four days a week and this is only your second workout this week so far."

So, I did.

My eating and exercising has been in "vacation mode" lately, which has a lot to do with Thanksgiving visitors and TOM, but today I decided it's time to get back with the program. No complaining. I have been careful about my eats today, got that workout in and accepted the past week for what it is.

You'll see on the left side of my blog a little holiday-flavored reminder to not give up. Yep, because I'm not giving up on my weight loss journey over the holidays. I'd say that if I maintain this month I'd be happy, but really I'm not sure if I'm ready to settle for that.

Tomorrow is the last day of our Throwdown Challenge, so check back and see if I managed to keep my lead or if Barb caught up to me. :)