All quarter in the black. :)

Last night was the last weigh-in of the year. I lost half a pound. This whole quarter (Sept-Dec) I have been in the black--losing 12 weeks and staying the same 1 week. It resulted in a 17 pound loss. I am very happy with that. I will get an award at the next area fun day and as vain as it sounds, I love recognition. :)

It's not a gift.

For 12 solid weeks, I lost weight. I rocked it. It really wasn't hard. I had my mindset correct. I liked to feel the energy I received from exercise. My stomach turned at the thought of artificial ingredients, fake food, white bread, etc. It was easy. My weight loss felt like a gift. I just felt blessed and all pulled together. I wasn't struggling. at all.

IT IS NOT A GIFT.

A gift is something you get just because. Weight loss isn't just randomly handed to you with a Merry Christmas. Weight loss only comes because of something your are DOING. works.

I had this mentality of "oh yeah, I've got this. I'm losing weight and I can not fail.". That is a bad way to think! My weight loss mentor (whom I text every night) is in the midst of a long term family emergency and I'm not texting her (...there goes a big accountability thing...uh oh!). Then I got sick (again) with this sinus, cough, low energy stuff and I felt like NOT exercising so I haven't been. (yeah...so much for my "rule" of eating what I planned--- I threw that out way too easily). Throw in the fact that it is a few days before payday, we are broke and there's not a lot of choices in the kitchen. Bad choices are SO easy to justify!!!

JUSTIFYING BAD CHOICES is the exact same thing as MAKING EXCUSES.

Yes, I have been making them.

And so....after 12 weeks of losses, last night I had a turtle (stayed the same).

I need to pull myself together. NOW.


One good choice makes the next good choice easier.... Good choices, here I come.

Grandma doesn't love you just because you eat her cookies

WHY do we waste calories on foods we don't love? I just ate 4-5 coconut oatmeal cookies that weren't even good very good. But grandma made them and brought them to me saying "Merry Christmas" and the next thing you know, I'm eating them. For some reason, my brain said, "You HAVE to eat these! Your sweet grandma made them for you!" UGH! I'm going to brush my teeth and go to bed! Lesson learned: "If you don't love it and if you don't have the calories for it and if isn't good for you, get it OUT OF YOUR HOUSE!"

12 in a row

Just a short note to say that YES I did have another loss Monday night (half pound) so I've gone 12 in a row :)

21 things I bet you didn't know about me

1. I am 8 inches taller than my husband.

2. I want to just go to church and not have to serve in any manner and not feel guilty about that. (there is always a shortage of workers, be it Sunday School teachers, church cleaners, people willing to be the treasurer, etc)

3. I love ice cream, especially mocha.

4. I haven't cut my hair since 1993.

5. Facial hair is a constant battle. *sigh*

6. I stay on facebook way too much.

7. I dream of having everything clean and perfectly organized but I never have time to do it all (see #6 again).

8. I'd love to go to a fancy hotel, all by myself, work out in their gym, go to a spa and get a facial and get my facial hair taken care of (see #5 again LOL), then go back to my room and watch the Biggest Loser and get a lot of sleep. Not that I'd ever be able to do that without feeling like I'm neglecting my sleep, but I do daydream of that LOL

9. We go to the library EVERY Monday.

10. I check out 3 health magazines from the library every week.

11. We check out an average of 30 books PER WEEK. My kids read A LOT.

12. I think I will have a job doing public speaking of some sort one day way down the road.

13. I measure honey with a medicine cup.

14. I love tights.

15. I CRAVE pancakes with Griffin's syrup but since that syrup is 500 CALORIES for a half cup, I no longer buy it.

16. I quit school at age 15 (which is illegal).

17. I miscarried in 2004.

18. I drink my water from a 44 ounce Sonic cup.

19. I make lists. Every day. And I feel like a failure when I don't accomplish everything on my list. (can anyone say ocd?)

20. I have an emotional need for words of affirmation. (This is not always a good thing)

21. When I become the TOPS Queen, I plan to ride on the back of a convertible and wave at people in parades. :)


I was tagged by Jessica at "See How She Runs".

I don't know how to link people's pages, but I'm tagging:

Jane Cartelli at keepingthepoundsoff.com
Carb Tripper (Anne H)
Dawn (Lay down my idols)

flop

Guess what? December is busy! and NOT NORMAL! LOL

Even though I believed I had a rock solid determination, I had TWO flop days this past week. Flop day number one I didn't exercise because I was busy, busy, busy and by 10 p.m. I was too tired. I also ate a kashi mocha bar even when I had used all of my calories. Ok, that wasn't a HUGE flop but it wasn't on target either!

Flop day #2 was Saturday. I started my day with my kashi cereal and later had some fruit, so I didn't just wake up planning to fail. However, Saturday was crazy busy! (4 hours of shopping, cleaned the church, went to a parade, constant something!) When I stopped by my parent's, my dad gave me a donut. I ate it. (mistake!) I was hungry for junk from that point on. While cleaning the church, there were Christmas cookies in the kitchen. I ate one. Supper was a happy meal. *sigh* I ate candy from the parade and then went home and ate cereal and a pb&j sandwich at approx 10:30 p.m. and go NO exercise in! FAIL!

And so, I made new rules for myself and I hate them but they help! #1 I must get up at 6 a.m. and get my exercise DONE first. (I am SO not a morning person...waaa!) Rule #2 Each night before I go to bed, I must write down exactly what I will be eating the next day and then stick to it. If someone gives me something yummy, I can take it home and work it into the next day's food plan. NO IMPULSE EATING.

yep. December is not easy. But I refuse to fail.

rest vs. exercise

I normally only allow myself one day per week that I don't exercise-- Wednesdays--because Wednesdays are hectic for me with school, daughter's therapy and then church.

However, this week has been busy busy busy busy. I've been to the dentist twice this week. I've had more errands and paperwork to take care of than normal, along with my normal busyness.

I am so tired.

I know that being excessively tired is not healthy. I WANT to finish up what has to be done tonight and go to bed super early (I'm thinking 8).

But on the other hand............I don't want to be making excuses to miss my workout.

tired tired tired.

What to do?

Rocking it.

I'm still rocking it :) Last night was week number 11 of losses. 19 pounds gone in 11 weeks. I'm 44 pounds from my highest weight ever. Yes.

I have a super busy day today:
school, errands, dentist, Christmas shopping.

No time to blog or read other's blogs! I will catch up soon!

Thanks for reading!

banana

*Step away from the banana and no one gets hurt*

I eat a banana every morning in my kashi cereal, so I felt nervous when I realized we were down to my last banana. I'm not taking my chances on it being gone tomorrow--I claimed it LOL

Today I ate 100% healthy and on plan and had a very high energy day. I need to do that EVERY day. It is so much better than the junk food/feel bad days.

:) goodnight.

Thanks, guys :)

Thank you all for the comments you have left the me past couple of days. They really are encouraging and helpful!

Yesterday I wrote out exactly what I will eat today. It is healthy and balanced and I will stick to it. Today I will write out tomorrow's food. While I'm feeling kind of "wobbley" I think I will do this daily. It takes my emotions out of my eating.

I'm planning to have a rocking great day. I hope you do too!!!!!!

Thanks again!

NO. Just no.

I have really been on a roll, you know. Eating healthy and not even craving junk. Exercising and enjoying it. Feeling energetic. Losing weight.

Then I allowed myself to eat too much pie on Thanksgiving and while my weight is ok, my cravings and energy level are NOT. I have craved sweets and carbs and artificial junk that isn't really even food. I need to watch another food documentary and get repulsed at that kind of food again.

Eating pie on one day (Thanksgiving) got me out of the groove that I was in and I'm like a zipper that is out of whack and doesn't want to zip right.

NO. JUST NO. I will NOT allow myself to stay out of whack. NO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. no.

I've had a headache for days. I have had no energy, wanted to sleep, sleep and sleep, and have felt sick. I have eaten cookies and white bread and a fake burger from McDonalds. I haven't gone over my calories (because I have to report my calories ever night and I don't want to look like a flop) but I reach the end of my calories before I reach the end of my day and I go to bed hungry. Right now it is 2:15 p.m., I am hungry and I have 500 something calories left for the rest of the day. wow.

Ok, that's enough bellyaching.

Now, to come up with a plan. Because I refuse to stay here. You lose weight when you are giving it ALL YOU HAVE and you start to regain it when you fail to give it all you have. I need a plan. A get-back-into-the-groove plan.

All I know is to do the things I know to do. Eat fruits, veggies, chicken. Nothing fake. Eat normal portions. Exercise. Keep reporting to my weight loss mentor each night. Drink water. Think positive thoughts. Do it regardless of how I feel or what I crave or what sounds better.

Just do it.

Because I refuse to go back to the old me. NO. THe answer is just no and that is final.

Yes, I've been talking to myself here. :)

waaaa

Today is a day that if I didn't have kids and responsibilities, I would just stay in bed. If I get to feeling much worse, I may just stay in bed anyway. I just don't feel well! waaaaa!

But I had a couple of updates to make:

Last night I lost a measly 0.25 pounds and I barely lost that. Thanksgiving was the only day that I didn't count calories but I guess I overdid it enough on that one day to mess up the whole week. I have struggled all week trying to get my weight back down so that I would have a loss last night. So, 0.25 pounds.... 10th week of losses in a row. That makes 17 pounds in 10 weeks and 42 pounds from my highest weight ever. I should be encouraged. But for some reason, I'm not. Probably just because I'm sick. blah.

Also, a TOPS chapter about 3 hours from me asked if I would come speak to them! They would pay for my gas. Since the vehicle I drive can't travel that far, I can't go unless my hubby happens to be off work on the day they want me, so it isn't likely to happen, but still, I was very honored to be asked! I don't really consider myself a speaker.

.............I hear someone in the bathroom........that means one of my monkeys are up and I need to improve my mood and be a good mom. *sigh* AND we are just about out of groceries, so I have to get out in the freezing cold and go to the store. *whine, whine*

5K training reference

This is basically for my own reference, so feel free to ignore it. I want to be able to go back and see progress.

5K times:

Approx 11-18-11, 65 minutes. Jogged the home side bleachers on every lap except the first and last. Stopped once to fix my shoe.

Thanksgiving Day 2011, 55 minutes, 14 seconds. Jogged the visitor's side bleachers on every lap and jogged the home side bleachers on every lap except the first.

January 6, 2012, 1 hour and 3 minutes...for 2 reasons: #1 I haven't walked at the track in a long time and even though I've been doing the Leslie Sansone walk at home dvd, it isn't the same. So, I'm out of practice. (Let this be a good reminder to be consistent with track walking when the weather allows). Reason #2 is because there were other people there walking and I started out too quickly, trying to make myself look more fit than I am (run your OWN race, silly girl, not someone else's)and then at the 3/4 mile mark, my calves totally cramped up on me and I had to sit on the bleachers a LONG time. I started to go home. It hurt! So, that's why my time is so bad today.

March 1, 2012: 52 minutes and 53 seconds @ Shape Fitness (no jogging)

March 22, 2012: 48 minutes and 4 seconds (for 3 miles) or 50 minutes 4 seconds for 3.14 miles. I walked quite a bit at a peppy 4.2 mph and jogged at about 5 mph twice. @Shape Fitness

April 5, 2012: 51 minutes and 23 seconds @ Shape Fitness. I jogged twice but was having bra issues. I walked at 3.7 for the majority of it. Today was Ron's funeral. I didn't really "feel" like walking but I knew I would feel better if I did and I need to take advantage of all the gym times that I can. I also don't need to eat anything else today!

May 9, 2012: 47 minutes, 40 seconds. I was really pushing myself. I got up to 6 mph once. I jogged for about 35 seconds at a time. This was hard.

Nov. 1,2012...46 min, 16 seconds at shape fitness. It was the day of dad's first visit at the cancer center, so I had a lot of emotion in it and pr'd even though I haven't 5K'd in months.

***It's been a long time. I've had a baby. Let's do this AGAIN.****

May 31, 2014 45 minute mark= 2.25 miles. That is all I could do. I hadn't been to the gym in probably over a year.

June 7, 2014 45 minute mark= 2.30 I jogged a bit because I thought I wasn't going to get as good of time as last week.

5K on treadmill= 1hr, 1 min, 38 sec

June 2014 Founder's Day 5K- 53 min, 55 seconds

October 5, 2014- Spirit of Survival (284 pounds) 53 min, 10 sec

DON'T be a glutton today.

Here are some thoughts about the day that I put on facebook:

Gluttony is not going to make this a better holiday. Eat like a normal, healthy person because that is what you are becoming, right? Well then, act like one.

Make your life a story worth telling.

Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.

Don't forget to be awesome.

Be your best.

Today can either be tomorrow's regret, or tomorrow's motivation to keep going. You choose.

I would rather say "I did it" than "I gave up".

When you have *changed your lifestyle*, you DON'T just "take a day off" from that. Do you choose to stay changed today? I DO.

Belly button

My belly button is changing. Did yours as you lost weight? It's just a random thing I thought of and thought I'd ask. LOL

Last night we had a church Thanksgiving dessert party. (why do all parties have to revolve around food??) I visited with friends and ate two KASHI GRANOLA BARS while my friends and family ate pies and cookies. :) A lady in our church told me that I was looking smaller and healthier and that really made my night. :)

And again......

I lost again :) It was 1.75 this week, my 9th week of losing in a roll! It amazes me to think that 10 weeks ago, I was 16.75 pounds heavier than this.

There is NO WAY I am going to let pecan pie and other junk foods knock me off this! NO WAY.

Btw, according to google, the average *small* piece of pecan pie (and really, who eats a SMALL piece?) is about 450 calories. 450. yikes.

Ted's

This past weekend, hubby took me to a Bed & Breakfast and a weekend out. I enjoyed it very much! He spoiled me completely: buying me anything I wanted. I ended up getting new running shoes, inserts for those shoes (because I tend to walk weird apparently LOL), new socks, a scrapbook, scrapbook paper, a picture frame, a book...and the list goes on. We went to eat at Ted's (Mexican food) which was a bit selfish of me because he is not a fan of Mexican food but it is my favorite and I had been wanting it for a long time! I did NOT eat the cheese sauce, although it was very tempting! These pictures are of us at Ted's. :)

On another note, I'm loving what the wii is telling me, as far as weight goes. It said 287.7 this morning! Of course, that isn't official TOPS weight. That won't be until Monday night. Regardless, I'm loving it. ;)

2 tenths from the 280's

This morning I was 290.1...just two tenths from the 280's. I'm excited about that!

15 pounds in 8 weeks

And....last night was my 8th week of weight loss. I lost 2 pounds this week, bringing me to 40 pounds below my highest weight. Fifteen of those pounds were lost in the past 8 weeks. Not to sound full of myself, but GO ME!!!!!!!! I'm so glad I FINALLY got my head wrapped around healthy living! I love it!

7th week in a row :)

Yesterday's weigh-in gave me my 7th weekly weight loss in a row. It was tiny. I will take it anyway! I'm going to adjust my calories a bit and maybe change up my exercise and see if I can't make the scales show a larger loss this coming week.

Calorie change: dropping 250 more calories.

Exercise change/plan:
Tuesday: 45 minute walk while listening to my favorite exercise songs--jog on the chorus of every other song.
Wednesday: (rest day)
Thursday: Leslie Sansone dvd--3 miles
Friday: 3 mile walk with a tiny amount of jogging....at the track.
Saturday: pick whichever type I want as long as I get in 45 minutes of exercise or 3 miles of walking (We will be coming back from our anniversary trip on this day)
Sunday: 3 mile walk with some jogging....at the track.