My Weight History in Pictures - Part 2 - "The Arizona Years"

This is Part 2 of my reflection of my weight history, you can read part 1 here:  My Weight History In Pictures – Part I – “The California Years”

I remember the first time I weighed myself in our new home. I weighed 212 pounds. I thought I would have more time now to take better care of myself. I was told I would have a work/life balance here when I was offered the position. I thought I would finally have time to go to the gym more and I did for a while.

Looking back I don’t know if that work/life balance was something I didn’t know how to do, or if it truly was the area I was responsible for. I wasn’t working as many hours, but I was commuting much further and still getting home late almost every night. I didn’t work on the weekends, but that time now seemed to be filled with yard and house work. We were so excited to be able to buy a house and moving from California to Arizona meant you got a lot of house for your money. We bought a house that was too big. We went from having a 1,000 square foot condo with a little patio to a 2,800 square foot house with a huge yard and pool.

In less than a year of being in Arizona I had put on a lot more weight. I had tried and quit Weight Watchers at least a couple of times that first year. We could afford to go on vacations more often and we splurged on fancy meals when we did. Most vacations revolved around eating and drinking.

May 2001 ~ 240 pounds

That summer I went on Weight Watchers again and actually managed to lose about 20 pounds. Mike lost his job and we tried to be frugal while he was unemployed so we didn’t eat out at all. He found another job fairly quickly and we resumed our frequent dining out and traveling. I would do well with losing weight for a while then we would take a trip and it would take me months to get back on track.

At the end of 2001, I was asked to take on additional responsibilities. I was the first Controller to manage 2 divisions, and I wanted to succeed. I battled my weight through that time gaining and losing the same 10 or so pounds. By later 2002 I was starting to lose the battle.

October 2002 ~ 225 pounds

I continued to gain through the holidays and couldn’t really got it under control. I would manage to stay the same for a while and then a trip or stressful period at work would come and I would gain another 5-10 pounds.

May 2003 ~ 250 pounds

After our cruise in 2003 I managed to drop down again to about 235 pounds.

March 2004 ~ 235 pounds

In June of 2004 we sold our house and built a new house. During the time the new home was being built we lived in an apartment. We thought we could do it to save money. The problem was we hated being there, and we went out to dinner almost every single night. We walked a lot during that time, but by the time we moved to the new house I weighed 242 pounds.

April 2005 ~ 242 pounds

When we got to the new house we didn’t eat out as much, but we were busy with taking care of an even bigger house. Additionally, I was promoted during that time to a Regional Controller. I was still managing 2 large divisions and I had taken on even more responsibilities. I was working a lot of hours again. On the weekends we would work on the house and then get fast food take out for dinner. When the house stuff settled down, we started cooking all the time, but it wasn’t always healthy. Within a few months of settling into our new house I had gained even more weight.

September 2005 ~ 255 pounds

I got back into the 240’s for a while, but then the weight crept back up. We wanted to start a family, but we were concerned that I would have a difficult pregnancy with my weight and age (I was now 35). I started researching plus size pregnancy and convinced Mike it was doable.

I got pregnant in July 2007 and was at my highest weight ever.

July 2007 ~ 266 pounds (the day I found out I was pregnant)

In November and December of that year I went through the most stressful period I had ever experienced at my job. With the housing market starting to rapidly decline and other significant issues occurring within our company, I was working most nights until 9 or 10 at night. I was 6 months pregnant and exhausted between work and the upcoming holiday preparations.

By Christmas I was so swollen and I had started to rapidly gain weight after a very low gain during the first 5 months of my pregnancy. In January my blood pressure shot up to 190/110. I developed pre-eclampsia in my pregnancy and my son was delivered prematurely at 29 weeks just 2 weeks after Christmas.

December/Christmas 2006 ~ 292 pounds (6 months pregnant)

I was able to take the extra baby weight off within a few months and was back down around my pre-pregnancy weight. We decided to try for baby number 2 in February of 2008 and we found out I was pregnant the following month. The day I found out I was pregnant I weighed exactly the same as I did when I got pregnant the first time.

March 2008 ~ 266 pounds

The second pregnancy was full term and other than a lot of swelling I had no complications. I did manage to put on 42 pounds causing me to hit my all time highest weight.

November 2008 ~ 308 pounds (9 months pregnant, right before heading to the hospital)

Again I lost the baby weight within a few months, getting back down in the 260’s and staying in that range throughout 2009/2010. During this time we had our 2 boys to focus on and for part of that time we had a small scrapbooking kit club that consumed all of my free time. I rarely slept more than 5 hours a night and I felt pretty unhealthy. By early 2010 we closed the scrapbooking business down to focus on our kids, but I was also started working more long hours and late nights. Mike had also taken an interest in cooking and was good at it, so many weekends we enjoyed his new found hobby and  indulged in his creations.

May 2010 ~ 265 pounds

In October 2010 right before leaving on vacation, I found out that our company was consolidating our accounting centers. The upside was it would be in Phoenix, so I would be able to keep my job, but it meant taking on additional responsibilities including coordinating the consolidation. I had already been working a lot of hours and had a heavy workload, it was about to get worse.

The following week, we found out that my mother’s cancer had spread to her blood/bones. At the time we didn’t know how bad that was going to be, but she had to take a leave of absence from work to start more aggressive treatments. In mid-November we found out the cancer had spread to her brain and she would need to start radiation immediately.

By Thanksgiving weekend my mom was very sick from the medication and radiation. On my 40th birthday, my mom’s husband and I admitted my mom to the hospital. We spent every day following that with her at the hospital. I worked during the day and spent the evenings and weekend at the hospital and then in hospice. Only 13 days later, on December 10, 2010, my mom passed away.

I walked around in a daze for the rest of December. Burying myself in work helped numb the pain. Eating also lessened the pain temporarily. I had been training to walk the 3-day 60 mile breast cancer walk. But I couldn’t walk anymore. I was avoiding being alone in my head. I also began having severe foot pain.

During all of this I was gaining a lot of weight. By New Year’s Day I was at my heaviest non-pregnant weight.

January 2011 ~ 280 pounds

I was promoted again to a Senior Director and had more responsibilities since the consolidation of our accounting centers. I was working a lot of hours and just like every other time I had been promoted I threw myself at it 110%. I also now know I was looking for a way to not think about losing my mom so suddenly.

My foot pain got worse and required surgery, completely squashing my plans to resume the 3 Day training. I spent months trying to numb the pain of losing my mom. I started drinking more wine in the evenings. I used my foot as an excuse not to exercise. I spent money shopping, recklessly buying things I didn’t need. My blood pressure was now high enough to require first 1 and later  2 medications. I ached everywhere and was given tests looking for arthritis. I was completely sedentary. It got to the point where I was even given anti-depressants by the doctor. It was a wake up call. I looked at the box for weeks, but I would not take them.

By the summer of 2011, I was at my highest non-pregnant weight ever. I started to question the security of my job with the extended period of time the housing market had been depressed and a few other things occurred in my life that lit a fire in me to finally do something about my weight.

July 2011 ~ 282.5 pounds

For years I have always put my job and everyone else first. To me that meant I had little time left to take care of myself, exercise and eat right. My priorities were definitely screwed up, my family and my health had to be first. I saw many talented good people lose their jobs during the downturn in the economy, including many in my own company. The reality is when a company is done with you, you’re like trash and get tossed out. It’s harsh, but it was real for a lot of people. I was lucky it wasn’t me. But it made me realize that I could no longer put my job before my health or my family.

What I also realized during that time was that the only thing I could control was what I did. I am the sole supporter of my family and I needed to take care of me so that I could take care of them. With that final realization and with Mike’s full support we began following the Dr. Oz 14 Day diet on August 15th. I was still very limited with my exercise program due to my foot surgery, but I began doing yoga a few mornings a week.

Within a couple of months I had lost 25 pounds.

October 2011 ~ 257 pounds

The holiday’s and year end hit and it became harder to follow such a strict diet and I still hadn’t been consistently exercising. I had gained back some of the weight but was holding at 260-265 for several months.

In June of this year I was reaching a breaking point. It was time to take control, but I was not sure I could do it. I would talk to Mike about it but I couldn’t wrap my mind around a plan. The Dr. Oz plan was hard to follow. It required a lot of meal prep and specialty grocery store trips to make some of the recipes in the books.

In June we went to visit my family in California, when we got home my clothes were so tight I could barely breathe. I was barely able to fit in my size 24 pants the swelling in my ankles was so uncomfortable.

I wrote about the 2 days before I re-joined Weight Watchers here and here, as well as other posts about the journey I am on now here.

When I re-focused my weight loss efforts in June I had gained back about 15 of the 25 pounds I had lost last year.

June 2012 ~ 273 pounds

By July 1st I had re-joined Weight Watchers and started exercising and had lost 2.4 pounds.

July 1, 2012 ~ 270.6 pounds

Following the plan has been natural to me, tracking and watching my food intake has been easily doable. I am now setting and meeting exercise goals and feel I am well on my way to building the habits that I will need to focus on sustaining the rest of my life.

As I look back at my history, I realize that I will probably always struggle with this. But just because it is a struggle, doesn’t mean that I can’t win.Even if I only put in half of the effort into this that I have always put into my job I can do this.

And now, as August begins I am down another 9 pounds and dare I say it - I love to exercise. I still have a long mountain to climb in this journey, but in all the previous efforts, I have never felt so much clarity about where I am headed and what I need to do to get there.

August 2012 ~ 261.6 pounds

My Weight History In Pictures - Part I - "The California Years"

I have thought a lot about the history of my weight gain through the years. I have been down the weight loss road many times before losing a little only to gain it back with a bonus each time. I haven’t always had an issue with weight. I was a normal weight all throughout school, my trouble began as an adult. After looking through pictures of me through the years, I realize that I had a distorted look at what was actually a healthy weight. In high school I was pretty active. I was a cheerleader and I worked at a restaurant in my “free” time. My approach to eating though was very haphazard. One week would eat nachos or a burger for lunch and the next I would watch what I ate by only having a bottle of Evian water or a salad in the school cafeteria. I didn’t know anything about eating right and I never really thought about it.

Even though the restaurant I worked at mostly served high fat foods like burgers and fries, I tired of eating that quickly and most nights only had a small dinner salad with Italian dressing for dinner.

I graduated in 1988 and at that time I weighed right around 135 pounds. (Love the 80’s big hair!)

June 1988 ~ 135 pounds

The first 2 years of college I went full time taking a heavy class load and working 25-30 hours a week. The first year of college I was dating a loser guy who took me on dates to fast food places and at then later told me I was getting fat.

I was about 140 pounds. According to the boyfriend, I was fat. He dumped me shortly after that and I joined a gym for the first time and I went a lot. I started drinking Slim Fast shakes and then would binge on Weinerschnitzel hot dogs and fries because I was starving.

September 1989 ~ 140 pounds

Mike and I started dating in October 1989.  He had a “real” job and took me out to “real” restaurants. On our first date he took me to Charley Brown’s for dinner and made a comment in the car to the effect that he hoped I would actually order something besides a salad.

That is probably what I would have done but I didn’t want to be “that girl” so I ordered an entrée. Most of our dates involved going out to eat and slowly I started to gain weight.

March 1990 ~ 150 pounds

By my 21st birthday I was working full time, going to college at night. I had joined Weight Watchers for the first time with a friend from high school that taught me how to count exchanges for a Del Taco combo burrito. I was starting to hide in my “fat clothes” - leggings and long sweaters or tops.

November 1991 ~ 155 pounds

A year later I had been on Weight Watchers another time or two. I would follow it really well through the week and blow it on the weekends with meals out and alcohol. I used to blame eating out on Friday nights for any weight gain I had on Saturday mornings. If that were really true it would have evened out over time.

October 1992 ~ 160 pounds

Mike had his own place by then and it was close to Long Beach State where I went to school. I would stay over a couple of nights during the week and most weekend nights. We would cook, but we were out of control for portions. I remember having 2 chicken breasts or almost a half pound hamburger with a meal. I was buying low/non fat foods, but they were overly processed and I just ate more of them. There were often “get together’s” with friends on weekend nights that involved too much alcohol followed by burgers, fries, taquitos and onion rings from Jim’s the following day to offset the queasy hangover stomach.

I worked with a few “Mean Girls in their 20’s” during this time. They seemed to easily stay thin. I was so self-conscious around them and it didn’t help when they made comments about what other people were eating including me. I remember one of them telling me a bagel had too many calories as I was pulling mine out of the toaster.

In the fall of 1993 Mike and I moved in together. We were both busy working full time, going to school and studying. I fit in exercise sporadically and tried to learn to cook healthier meals. We ate out a lot of meals and I continued to put on weight.

September 1993 ~ 170 pounds

In 1996 Mike and I graduated from college and got engaged.  After years of working full time and going to school in the evenings my weight had hit an all time high.

May 1996 ~ 185 pounds

I wanted to lose weight for our wedding, but I was short on time and wanted a quick fix. Fen-Phen was all the rage and I found a medical center and started taking the pills. The pills made me not want to eat anything. At my bridal shower a month before my wedding I had no food and an always full wine glass. The result? Me passing out right after everyone left and completely freaking my mom out.

Mike, my mom and my friends insisted I stop taking the pills. The pills were also making my blood pressure sky rocket. I kept taking them until the wedding only stopping about a week before. By the time of our wedding I had lost 15 pounds.

August 1996 ~ 170 pounds

The “quick fix” didn’t work for long once I stopped taking the pills. Shortly after Mike and I married, I started working in public accounting. Many weeks I worked 50-60 hours. I ate out for lunch every day and in my free time I studied for the CPA exam. We also ate out a lot of dinners. Topping it off I hated my job. I started gaining weight almost immediately. I remember having to start shopping in the plus size department for suits, because I could no longer find anything in the normal sizes.

A year and half after our wedding I had gained all the weight back and added another 5 or so.

May 1998 ~ 190 pounds

I stayed around that weight until I left public accounting in early 1999 to take a position with the company I still work for. Little did I know I was going from the frying pan to the fire. I thought leaving public accounting would mean less hours. Instead I was working even more. Most weeks were close to 70 hours and I worked almost every weekend. The only free time I had was spent sleeping or Mike and I would go out to dinner.

I loved my new job, but I was stressed and I didn’t handle it well. Within a few months I had put on another 10 pounds.

September 1999 ~ 200 pounds

In March 2000 I drove home one night at 10:00 p.m. Another late night of many after several long nights at work. I was done with it. I decided to call a few recruiters the next morning and start looking for something new. The next morning before I had a chance to make any calls, I received a call that would change our lives. I was offered a promotion if I was willing to transfer to Phoenix.  The offer was lucrative and meant that we could get out of debt and finally buy our first home.

I wanted to prove that I was worth the offer and I threw myself into work even more. By the time we moved to Phoenix in September I had put on even more weight.

June 2000 ~ 210 pounds

To be continued….

I Survived My First Spin Class

I’ve been feeling a bit bored with the walking, feeling like I am not pushing hard enough. So when an opportunity falls in your lap, you take it right?

At work last week I opened up an e-mail from Cindy, our awesome super hero rock star IT girl that also understands accounting. Cindy has an alter ego – she teaches a lot of fitness classes. When I say a lot - I mean 13 a week on top of working her day job and having 2 little ones 3 and under.

Anyway, Cindy invited me to her new RPM Spin class. My only knowledge of spin classes was seeing people come out dripping wet when they were done. That was the closest I had ever been to a spin class. I got no promises from Cindy that she wouldn’t kick my butt; I still told her to sign me up.

I  showed up bright and early Saturday morning to an almost full class (including a few other co-workers). We got set up and we were ready to roll. After seeing Cindy in her fitness world I now understand how she stays so calm at work. Her office is about 4 feet away from mine, and I know there are times she should lose it, but she never does. All that exercise must get out any and all aggressions. She is incredible.

The class started and the first 10 minutes were not too bad; then it got harder. When the first song ended and she said we had 9 more to go, I was praying I could pull this off.  I slowed down or backed off the resistance when I needed to. The hardest part wasn’t the pedaling it was the seat.  I was worried when I was looking at the clock only 15 minutes in but I kept pushing.

There was a point about 25 minutes in I didn’t know if I would make it through the hour, it already hurt to sit. It was as if Cindy was reading my mind; she told us to picture something else. I don’t know why, but my mind immediately went to a vision of me crossing a race finish line.

Recently I have been thinking more and more about wanting to run a race. I have thought about eventually doing a triathlon.  This is what I started to visualize every time it got hard. I was doing a lot of visualizing over the remaining 35 minutes. It made me push harder and not give up. I did not get off the bike until the class was over. I kept pedaling until we were done. I had to slow down at times but I kept going.

When the class ended I was sweaty, my butt hurt from the seat, and I was full of so much energy. When it was all over, I realized the seat was the hardest part about the class. I would have thought with my “extra padding” in that area it wouldn’t be so bad, but that wasn’t the case.

(How is Cindy so cute after working out? I’m a big sweaty mess. )

After class I thanked Cindy for inviting me and told her I had fun. If you would have told me 6 weeks ago that I would think a spin class was fun, I would have wondered if my brain had been invaded by aliens. If I didn’t just join the other gym I would probably sign up at Cindy’s gym, because I would love to take more of her classes.

When exactly did working out become fun? Oh yeah, it was when I actually experienced myself doing things that I could never have imagined.

July in Review and Week 6 Weigh In

In July I…

• Lost 9 pounds
• Lost 4 5/8 inches
• Reached my 30 day exercise challenge goal
• Exercised 30 out of 31 days
• Exercised over 27 hours and earned over 200 activity points
• Joined a gym and went
• Started working with a personal trainer for strength training
• Tracked my food every day
• Stayed on program 100%
• Tried new vegetables and ate a wider variety of fruits and veggies

I would call that a good month. I would love to say I dropped more weight in the first full month on program, but I know it is better to lose it slower and 9 pounds in a month is great progress.

One of my biggest goals at the onset was to truly make exercise a habit. Just 2 days after starting Weight Watchers near the end of June I started exercising; and as of the end of July I had exercised 37 out of 38 days. This is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I now feel a bit obsessive about exercise, I no longer like to miss a day and I try to figure out how to fit it in no matter what. Most of the time that means getting up early.

My clothes aren’t as tight as they were when I started. I am looking forward to moving down a size but it seems like my jeans will still fit a little while longer.

I am feeling a little less challenged by the walking and feel I need to mix it up. I cannot get myself to walk much faster and I am not sure why. I am planning on swapping a couple of walks for the gym where I can up the cardio intensity a bit more. I am also thinking about mixing in some classes or DVD’s at home. I love the fresh air in the morning, but I could do without the stickiness and warmer mornings. Some days I just don’t want to go outside and get moving and I walk slower than I should.

I am really glad I hired the personal trainer to help me get on a strength training program. She is pushing me harder than I would push myself and I already have noticed a difference in just a few visits.

Now on to my Week 7 Weigh In

I weighed in on Wednesday this week. I am probably going to switch to the Wednesday meeting. I prefer the leader’s style a little more. I do know that whatever day I choose to weigh in, my body somehow knows that is the day to fluctuate up rather than down. All week I had been showing a 2-4 pound loss.

But weigh in day it was gone.

I was a bit frustrated by only losing 1 pound. But I still achieved my weeks goal of getting over the 20 pound total loss mark.

I did still want to figure out what happened.  I had ate about the same number of points and earned about the same number of activity points as the previous weeks where I had lost 2 pounds.

Looking at it our eating this week was not quite normal. With family visiting I had made our meals more kid friendly and don’t think I ate as much veggies with dinners. I also had Taco Bell on Tuesday and chips and salsa and a couple of Corona Light’s with dinner that night. Although I ate within my points for the day, the foods had more sodium than I normally eat in a day. I also ate foods with less fiber throughout the week.

I guess this may not have been a good week to miss my first day of working out. I have been fighting a cold for a while and ended up taking Sunday off to rest. I thought I would go in the afternoon, but instead went and got a pedicure.

The other thing going on this week was the “kindergarten roller coaster event”. Nicholas was having a rough time adjusting to kindergarten. After getting the flu the second day of school, he had a tough time every day and had at least one melt down each day at school. The communication from the school lacked in many areas and we were led to believe things were much worse than they really were which caused us a lot of stress and frustration. Let’s just say that the preceding comment leaves out a lot and makes it sound a whole lot better than it really was.

There were several days that it took a lot of effort to not reach for the chocolate. The “kindergarten roller coaster” did lead to the Taco Bell lunch. But I did not reach for the chocolate except for a Skinny Cow ice cream banana split at the end of the day and my Taco Bell order consisted of items from the Fresco menu – all within my points plan for the day.

I didn’t really struggle to stay on track other than feeling a bit sluggish through a few morning walks. I think the exercise helped me control the emotional eating that I wanted to do. I am finding I don’t want to waste my exercise efforts with excessive food. In all, it was a good week for having family staying with us and a roller coaster kindergarten week.

WEEK 6 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Exercise 7 days at least 45 minutes on 5 days – Missed 1 day, but still had 7 workouts and met the 45 minute goal
• Strength training with trainer 2x – DONE
• Hit the 20 pound overall mark - – DONE
• Survive eating with family coming to visit for a week by planning kid and point friendly meals – DONE although a smaller weight loss this week

WEEK 7 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Exercise at least 6 days at least 45 minutes on 5 days
• Strength training with trainer 2x
• Maintain activity with cut on foot

Weekly Menu - August 4th to 10th

Breakfasts

• Sunday – eggs, hash browns, bacon and toast
• Monday – Saturday – Greek yogurt with Kashi Go Lean cereal and berries (5 Points +)

Lunches

• Weekends – Sandwich wraps and fruit
• Weekdays – Smart Ones frozen meal, grape tomatoes, grapes and peach (7 Points +)

Dinners

Saturday

• Carrabba’s take-out

Sunday

• Cheesy Burgers w/ sautéed mushrooms & onions (no bun) (6 Points +)
• Zucchini Tots (3 Points +)
• Grilled Vegetable Chipotle Slaw (3 Points +)

Monday

• Fish Taco Salad (my new recipe) with Guacamole dressing (modified this recipe using guacamole in place of avocado and spices; plus onion, milk, lime juice – dressing still 2 Points +)

Tuesday

• Fish Taco Salad (my new recipe) with  Guacamole dressing (modified this recipe using guacamole in place of avocado and spices; plus onion, milk, lime juice – dressing still 2 Points +)

Wednesday

• CPK’s Popular Barbecue Chicken Chopped Salad Made Skinny (7 Points + for salad; 1 Points + for dressing when made with light mayo)

Thursday

• CPK’s Popular Barbecue Chicken Chopped Salad Made Skinny (7 Points + for salad; dressing 1 Points + when made with light mayo)

Friday

• BBQ Chicken Flatbread Pizzas (my new recipe)

Snacks and Desserts

• Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries (0 Points +)
• Carrots and dip (light sour cream with ranch mix) (1 Points +)
• Fiber One 90 bars or brownies (2 Points +)
• Weight Watchers string cheese (1 Points +)
• Popcorn (3 Points +)
• Skinny Cow ice cream with banana and light Hershey’s syrup (5 Points +)
• Light wheat toast spread with Laughing Cow light cheese wedge (2 Points +)

Week 5 Weigh In Results

It has been a crazy week. Nicholas started kindergarten a week ago today. He was so excited after the first day. He came down with the flu the next day and came home early and missed another day. By the time he went back on Thursday our excited little boy who has always loved school didn’t want to go and each day since it hasn’t gotten better. It makes me so sad. He is acting out in class and it just isn’t like him. This has made the past week stressful to say the least. There were definitely moments these past few days I had an urge to stuff my face with junk or have an extra glass of wine. I didn’t. On top of it I have been fighting a cold since Wednesday.

This was all just starting when I weighed in last Thursday. The fact that I had another good week has helped reinforce my desire to stay on track.

On the exercise front I started working out with a trainer on Tuesday night. I have 12 sessions to get myself into a strength training routine.

On Wednesday I felt awful when I woke up, so I didn’t walk. By the time I got up to get ready for work, I was mad about not walking so I packed my gym bag in case I felt better later in the day. I did, so I went to the gym and pushed a little harder on the elliptical than I probably should have and came home with a headache.

Not a bad exercise week at all.

On the food front, I still managed to not eat any of my activity points. I did try to eat more of the weekly points allowance. I think that with my activity level, I should probably eat most of it.

All of this was rewarded with a 2.2 pound loss for the week!

Go me! I met my 10 pound goal for the week and earned a blue ribbon. I was 1/10th of a stinking pound away from the 20 pound overall mark.

I do have to own up to something that I did on Thursday.

When will I ever stop weighing myself at home before my meetings?

I weighed at home I was down 4 pounds from the previous week. At the meeting it was “only” 2.2 pounds. This happens and I get frustrated that the scales are not the same. It takes away from what I actually achieved.

I really know it will all even out in the end. I just need to stop doing obsessing about it.

WEEK 5 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Walk 7 days at least 45 minutes  on 5 days – DONE ( close enough in that I exercised at the gym 1 of those 7 days )
• Shred Video 2x this week – joined the gym instead and started working with trainer
• Hit the 10 pound mark – DONE
• Survive 3 days in a row of dining out without blowing through all my points – DONE

I do have to mention my success in dining out 3 days in a row. We went out for sushi Thursday night after meet the teacher at Jackson’s school. I was able to look up the nutritional information for Kona Grill and I saved the majority of my points for that night.This allowed us to order most of the things that we normally have:

I had 2 of the skinny cocktails that Kona Grill offers and we shared a few rolls. We ordered Miso soup instead of edamame. My dinner was 22 points and I had the points to use, and didn’t even go over for the day. However, I was too stuffed after dinner and felt awful, add to it all the extra sodium for the “lower sodium soy sauce” and I felt yucky.

The next day Mike brought the kids to my office and we had lunch at Ruby Tuesday. They didn’t have the soup I planned on ordering so I improvised with just eating the plain (tiny) turkey patties from the turkey sliders with salad bar (all salad greens) with light dressing.

I decided to have 6 (only 6!) French fries, before looking up the points. You could say I was a bit annoyed when I looked up the points and it was 3 points for 6 fries! I won’t make that mistake again. The fries were so not worth it. I will make my own at home.

Saturday was meet the teacher for Nicholas and then school clothes shopping. We had Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch.  A place I have never done well eating at. But today was different.

The naked tenders were awesome and super filling. Mike and the kids had tortilla chips and I looked up the points before having any. I was able to sub my fries with carrot and celery sticks with fat free ranch (that was actually not disgusting). It was a very filling lunch for 9 points.

I am definitely trying to choose to eat at places that have nutritional information available online. In the case of Buffalo Wild Wings, I emailed them the day before and they sent it to me. Being prepared has been a huge part of it, and making sure I always had alternatives in case something wasn’t what I expected helped too.

I actually nixed going to California Pizza Kitchen, because I couldn’t find something I wanted to order that was worth the points for lunch. Good thing my boys were flexible with me. Mike told me he was proud of how I did eating out and ordering what I planned. What I realized and told him was that at Ruby Tuesday and Buffalo Wild Wings there was nothing I had to have that was worth all the points it would cost. I would rather save it for something I really wanted.

WEEK 6 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Exercise 7 days at least 45 minutes on 5 days
• Strength training with trainer 2x
• Hit the 20 pound overall mark
• Survive eating with family coming to visit for a week by planning kid and point friendly meals

I Did What? Joined A Gym and Hired A Trainer!

I did something Monday I did not think I would do a month ago. When I started this journey I thought I could manage to walk and eventually do any strength training at home. We have equipment so it’s possible. I bought the Jillian Michaels Shred video and tried it. I set goals for 2x a week of strength training.

But it wasn’t working. I wasn’t getting it done.

Then I upped my running a little last Thursday. Not much from the previous time, just a couple minutes.

And then it happened. My knees hurt for several days. I was concerned and started doing some research.

I need to incorporate weight training so I can strengthen my legs. It is the only way the running thing is going to happen.  For now I am backing off the running for a few weeks and focusing on strengthening my lower body.

Over the weekend we got a flyer for a new gym that opened a couple of miles from the house and thought it might be something to look at.

I mentioned to Mike at breakfast Monday morning that I was thinking about hiring a trainer for a month or so to help me get a program together. I also mentioned the flyer for the gym wondering if they had personal trainers. Since we were eating at the restaurant in the same shopping center we decided to pop in and check it out.

We already belong to a gym that Mike goes to and we have a family membership. I have been once. I didn’t really love it there. And they do not have trainers, so I would need to go somewhere else.

We visited YouFit, and there was something that felt right immediately about the place. It's bright and cute (eve though there is a lot of barney purple). It’s very simple without a lot of fancy extras. Right now for me that is okay. I signed up ($10 down/$10 month) and asked to talk to a personal trainer.

I explained what I was looking for in personal trainer and signed up for 2x a week for 6 weeks.

I have done personal training twice in my life. The first was a really good experience with a trainer that is still my friend, Michelle.

The second experience was miserable and made me swear I would never again work with a trainer and made me hate the gym. If you would have told me I would be considering this a month ago, I would have laughed like a crazy person.

Here is the difference though, in the past I didn’t really go into training with any real goals besides losing weight.

This time I am going in with specific goals in mind that don’t have a lot to do with weight loss. I know the weight loss will take care of itself with all the other things I am doing. This is about achieving my goals of running and gaining strength.

Tuesday was with my first session with my trainer and it went great. I could still move the next day. I was glad I could do almost everything she threw at me only having trouble with one exercise. I go back tonight for my 2nd workout. I have a feeling she will be tougher on me tonight.

Week 4 - Weigh In Results

I weighed in last Wednesday, (a day early due to a conflicting appointment). After being frustrated initially last week at my weigh in, I changed my outlook and went knowing I would be down, but not worrying about how much it would be. I had a good week overall. I have been wanting to incorporate some strength training but I can’t seem to figure out when to fit it in. I am walking in the morning, but if if I don’t get home at a decent time at night it seems to just not happen for one reason or another.

My exercise was down a little this week, but that is mainly because we painted our bedroom over the weekend, and I didn’t do my longer walks. I painted about 15 hours over the weekend, but didn’t give myself activity point credit for it.

Saturday night we had Carrabba’s for dinner and I splurged a little with some bread, Caesar salad and wine. Other than that I had trouble hitting my daily point allowance each day. I cut the alcohol back this week, and I guess I did not replace as many of those points with food. I haven’t felt like I am starving myself, and I am losing weight, so I am not going to worry too much about it for one week.

So what was my weekly results?

Down another –1.8 pounds.

Woot! Woot!

I am really trying not to focus too much on my overall goal. My goal weight is somewhat arbitrary. I have based it on a few people I know that weigh around my goal weight and look a size that I think is achievable. I don’t really feel like I need to settle in on that number until I get a lot closer to it.

Right now I would like to hit the 10 pound mark this next week and maybe even get the overall since last year number up to 20 when I weigh in for Week 5.

So here’s a goal re-cap:

WEEK 4 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day – DONE
• Walk 7 days at least 45 minutes on 5 days – DONE (close enough)
• Manage points during painting days this weekend when we order take out for dinner – DONE

WEEK 5 GOALS:

• Track food and activity each day
• Walk 7 days at least 45 minutes  on 5 days
• Shred Video 2x this week
• Hit the 10 pound mark
• Survive 3 days in a row of dining out without blowing through all my points

So far in this journey things have went well and any obstacles have been overcome without too much pain. I guess there is a part of me that is waiting for the “currently unknown challenge” to throw me off. I am hoping the diligence I am having now will pay off and these habits I am developing will allow me to navigate through future challenges better than I have in the past.

First Day of School - We Have a Kindergartener

Yes it is already time for school here in Arizona. We start a few weeks earlier than most schools. I think it will always seem crazy to me that they go back at what I think is the middle of the summer. I remember going back in mid-September when I was a kid. But we live in a school district that has a modified school round schedule, so we get to enjoy longer spring, fall and winter breaks. When I really think about it the worst part of the summer starts around mid-July, when the monsoon and dust storms pick up and we get hot days and humid disgusting weather. So really the kids don’t want to do anything outside any more than we do. Today was no exception on the weather front. Just plain yucky. But I digress.

Jackson’s pre-school class was moved to a different school, so now Mike has to go across town to drop off Jackson first and then race back to drop Nicholas off before school starts. I took today off to join him.

We started off with a mini photo shoot, with the best that I get in cooperation with pictures. He’s cute anyway!

Showing off his new Super Mario backpack that he picked out…

This was the best we were getting this morning of a shot with both boys in it. But what was cute was Jackson hugging Nicholas and saing “ohhh”. So cute.

Waiting for daddy to pull the car out of the garage.

Jackson wasn’t having the photo shoot with his backpack out front, so we improvised.

Heading off to class at the new school We found out he does not like the new backpack so we may need to revert to the old smaller one for the time being.

In the classroom now and we are happy. Jackson has the same teacher at the new school and she has the class set up almost exactly like the old classroom at the old school, so he was right at home. Good thing we went to meet the teacher night last week. They were running late and we had to get going to get Nicholas to school on time.

By the time we made it to Nicholas’s school it was a madhouse.  We had to park across the street more than a block away and walk him to the play yard. We packed lunch on the first day and were so happy the school allows kids to bring peanut butter in their lunch, since that is all Nicholas will eat. Lunch is really the one thing we worried about most.

All set and we are on our way to school.

We hurried up to wait in the kindergarten playground. It was a bit overwhelming with all the parents in line with the kids. Nicholas was super excited to be there and get his day started. These are some of my favorite pictures of the day!

Finally in the classroom and settled at his desk we said our goodbyes.

We are so proud of how far this little guy has come and we know he is going to have a great time in kindergarten.

We picked Nicholas up after school and it was a little crazy. The kids all come piling out of the school at the same time. We were a little nervous because Nicholas is used to Mike signing him out when he was picked up at pre-school. So we did not want him to be scared if he couldn’t find us. It seemed like forever before we saw him. He was following a teacher out and I got this picture of him, before I got his attention. Our little boy just seems so big to me here.

Nicholas’s teacher is awesome. She called the house tonight to see how he was doing after school and said he had a great day. We believe it. He was in such a great mood when he got home and I was so thankful I took the day off of work so I could share this big day with him.

I realized as I was holding his hand walking into school and leaving this afternoon, that it probably won’t be that far away when he won’t want to hold my hand anymore when we are at school around his friends. That is the only thing that I teared up about today. I was so happy for him and proud of him that I could not stop smiling.

10 Things I Learned After 30 Days of Exercise and Our Menu Plan This Week

I stayed up late last night and didn’t want to get up early this morning. I knew that I would regret it and make myself do something later in the day. With yesterday’s storm it is hot and icky out, so out I went on a 75 minute walk.

Along the way I realized that I was at day 30 in my exercise program.

I MADE IT!

30 days ago I went on my first walk after setting an initial exercise goal that was based on a suggestion from Mike to walk 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week for 30 days.

What started off as a goal to walk 6 days a week for 30 minutes a day (equated to roughly 24 exercise days in a 30 day period) ended up being a huge transformation in my weight loss journey.

I did so much more than my initial goal. I walked (and ran a little) every single day of the last 30 days and averaged almost 50 minutes a day.

Who’s that girl????

I can’t believe she’s me!

Here are 10 things that I have learned about myself these past 30 days:

1. I look forward to getting out and moving everyday (even on the days when I am thinking that staying in bed sounds better). One day I did not get up, I thought about it all day long. It bugged me so much I walked when I got home that night even though it was 100 degrees.
2. I don’t just want to earn activity points so I can eat more. I haven’t even eaten any of my activity points. At this point in my weight loss and with as much as I have to lose, I don’t really need to eat the activity points. I have enough points to keep me satisfied.
3. I don’t just want to be thin. I want to be strong and dare I say it? Athletic.
4. I want to improve my pace and I focus on it almost everyday. Even though the road feels long  right now, I take the baby steps as victories.
5. I have experienced the result of something I ate or drink affecting my performance the following morning. I never paid attention to this before. It has made me drink a lot less alcohol, watch high sodium meals and eat less junk.
6. I know that exercise must be a top priority in my life, for the rest of my life. If I want to make the most of the rest of my life this is now a non-negotiable.
7. I want to run a 5K and I have signed up for one.
8. I want to run a half marathon (and who knows maybe even a full).
9. I want to do a triathlon.
10. I am not too busy to exercise. If I am committed to myself there is always time. It takes discipline to get to bed at night at a time that will make me pull myself out of bed in the morning. But, that is really the only best time to exercise for me to be consistent. If I am serious about losing weight (and I am) this is something I must make time for even if I have to ask for help with something to fit it in.

I am pretty proud of myself. I have never achieved any exercise related goal that I have set for myself in the past.

My next exercise goal is to incorporate strength training into my routine. I think I have finally figured out a plan and will start focusing on that this coming week. For me to be able to run, strength training will be very important. With the extra weight I am carrying right now, I can feel stress on my knees and hips when I run. In addition to dropping weight, I need to strengthen my body so it can handle the added stress running creates.

Transitioning from exercise now I am on to food. I thought I would start sharing our meal plan for the week.

On weekdays I keep breakfast, lunch and snacks pretty much the same for the week. It makes packing my food for work easier and I always have a good idea where I stand with points for the day that way.

We try to only cook once or twice Monday – Thursday and really try to keep it balanced between trying new things and eating our normal staples to keep it easy.

I shared links for recipes from other sites, and some meals are our own recipes. I will try to post some of those throughout the week.

BREAKFASTS

Sunday

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs

Simply Potatoes Southwestern Hash Browns

Bacon

Wheat Toast

Orange Juice Spritzer

Monday

Breakfast date at Good Egg with Mike after dropping off the kids

Tuesday – Friday

Berry Yogurt Granola Crunch

LUNCHES

Sunday

Sourdough bread w/ Laughing Cow Lite Cheese Wedge

Monday – Friday

Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine Frozen Meal

Small Plum

Medium Peach

Grape Tomatoes

MID-DAY SNACK CHOICES

Hard boiled egg and fruit

Carrots with ranch flavored whipped cream dip

Weight Watchers string cheese and fruit

Light Wheat Toast with Laughing Cow Lite Cheese Wedge

DINNERS

Sunday

Grilled Cheesy Burgers with sautéed onions/mushrooms

Kale Chips

Grilled Corn on Cob

Monday

Grilled Salmon

Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Eggplant and Squash

Tuesday

Grilled Salmon

Bacon Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Corn on Cob

Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Wednesday

Crock Pot Beer Chicken

Brown Rice

Cheesy Broccoli

Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Thursday

Crock Pot Beer Chicken

Brown Rice

Cheesy Broccoli

Salad w/ Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Friday

Mexican Pita Pizza

DESSERT CHOICES

Cherry Lime Sherbet

Banana Pumpkin Smoothie

Skinny Cow Low Fat Ice Cream or Bars

I’ll be posting last week’s weigh-in results shortly.