Progress Report

Well it certainly has been a while since I posted and here is where things are at....




In September when I started my journey I weighed 258.8 lbs wow that's a really really hard number to write down - so very very embarrassing especially considering that almost 5 years ago I lost 30 lbs (granted I've since had a baby and everything else...)

This is a picture that was taken in June of this year. I absolutely HATE this picture and my mom even had it published in the local news paper (thanks mom)




Well here is a recent picture (e.g., just taken - long day in the office...) can you see the difference? :) As I've posted before I have started hitting the gym on a regular basis (basically 6 days a week). However, November has been a crazy month - between my annual girl's fondue weekend, black friday shopping weekend (with all of the food that goes along with a long-weekend trip)

I was very concerned for many reasons. First, the annual girls fondue party involves wine and lots of it accompanied by a massive spread - cheese fondue with bread and veggies, followed by hot rocks and oil fondue for cooking meat and veggies (and on the hot rocks you basically are cooking the meat in butter... oh soooo tasty) and then finally chocolate fondue with fruit for dipping (or in some cases dipping Lindt chocolate balls....no I did not partake in that one this year I was already too full) well can you imagine that this does not fit well in my meal plans and on top of that I had planned to spend an extra four hours in the gym to make up for the sheer volume of food... key word "planned" I ended up being too busy with house cleaning and preparations to get there.

I want to take a brief second to give a shout out to my WONDERFUL mom who came over to help me clean the house and then took ALL and I mean 14 loads ALL of my laundry home with her to wash, dry, iron, fold/hang up and delivered it back the next day. Now who seriously has the BEST MOM in the world :D thanks mom and the best part is she loves it and has come to understand my world is crazy and house cleaning is not near the top of my list these days.

Anyways - the weekend after the fondue weekend was Black Friday weekend - which usually involves all you can eat buffets, lots of bad food at all times of the day. Well this year on the advice of a friend I found out that my YMCA membership is also good in the US and my hotel was 5 seconds from one of the local Y's.

I had planned on working out on my regular routine. However, after the first night our weekend went into chaos - little C got sick and then I got the stomach flu (not pretty or fun). When we finally made it home I was still not feeling well - and did not eat for two full days and then barely ate for the rest of the week. I made the decision that while going to the gym was not in my best interests (I was afraid that working out and stressing the body while having little if any food could trigger "starvation mode" and create set backs). So I waited until I could eat on a normal basis again and then on Saturday and Sunday I hit the gym again.

I would also note at this time that after the fondue weekend I basically stopped using LoseIt to track my food and the last time this happened I had a major slip and started gained back more weight than I had lost using the program. I was very very concerned about this and the not going to the gym but I was determined not to let this set me back.

Regardless of how much weight I've lost so far (which by the way is about 30 lbs :) ) I think I have reached a very important point in my journey. I didn't let the fact that life got a bit out of the ordinary mess me up. I was cautious about my activities and eating habits while not using my tracking system and not going to the gym. More importantly I think - I started right back on track as soon as possible.

I also shared with my close friends about my journey where I had been and where I wanted to go and I've asked for their help. Honestly, when I started gaining weight out of high school I didn't really realize it and I have no idea how I got to where I am today (well I know but I didn't see it as I went) and I asked each of them to promise me to speak up and say something anything to keep me from going back.

Those old habits are dead and gone and can honestly say after overcoming these last two weeks that I have a new lifestyle and that I am confident that I can keep these changes around.


Next goal - 20 lbs in the next 6 weeks - I know it will be really really hard and I am not sure I can accomplish it. But I am ok if I don't :)