Help from Magazines

I subscribe to a few magazines because I often have a lot of downtime at work and need something to do! I also like to read them before bed. When I started dieting I subscribed to Weight Watcher's Magazine. I love this magazine, especially the success stories! They are so inspiring. I admit, I'm a little annoyed by the success stories for people that have lost 20 lbs. (Big deal, I've lost almost 30 and I've got over 100 to go!!) But in the long run, it's a good magazine. I am also subscribed to Health Magazine. This one seems to be geared to women a little older than me, but I find a lot of good tips in it. I like to get all of this information so that when I go grocery shopping I can see fruits/veggies, or whatever they had an article about and think, "I should buy these because they do THIS for me." I recently subscribed to Fitness Magazine. I think this is going to be my favorite. This is definitely the magazine for the people that are already fit and healthy. It gives great tips, workouts, etc. It makes me want to be one of those people!

One of the most important things I have learned on this journey so far is that information is the key! There is so much to learn about living a healthy, active lifestyle. If you don't have the information, how can you expect to know how to eat healthy? Maybe that sounds stupid, but I needed to learn how many fruits and veggies, dairy products, etc. that I should eat per day. It's great to read about what vitamins are in certain foods and what they do for you. This makes eating healthy foods seem all the more important. We've all heard the analogy that we would never just put junk into our cars. We fill them up with quality fuel so that they run at their best. We take the best care of them, by getting the oil changed, etc. So why wouldn't we put quality fuel into our own bodies? The more that you learn, the more informed you are to make better choices. So read up! :)

Toot Toot

Pardon me while I toot my own horn. :)

So this afternoon I biked for 40 minutes and walk/ran for 20 minutes! That's an hour work out! This is big news for me! :) Needless to say, I feel wonderful!

Weigh In Day

I am thrilled to say that I stayed the same this week at 258.8. I had gained about 5 lbs. this weekend while at my parents house, so the fact that I worked hard and lost all of that weight made me very happy. I feel like I have been doing really great eating wise this week. The Lara bars are really helping as my snack in the afternoons to keep me from eating junk food. They really fill me up. The garden that we planted has been yielding some delicious leaf lettuce! I brought a salad to work with it one day this week. Yum! I bought some strawberries today, thinking they were 2 very large and good looking plants. When I got home and went to plant them, I realized that there were about 7 plants. So our garden consists of 3/4 strawberries and 1/4 other misc. stuff. Oops! I do love strawberries though!! I just downloaded the Beyonce album, so I’m looking forward to a work out this afternoon! I’m still not sure about the running thing. Is it good to do it even if you don’t enjoy running? I really enjoy walking…I’m still contemplating what would be best for me. I’m still 258 lbs! Do people that weigh 258 lbs run? Is that healthy? haha. So we’ll see how I feel. All I know is that I have never sweated so much in my life as I did when I was out planting the strawberries! It has been SOOOO hot here! Seems like every night we have thunderstorms with a tornado somewhere, thankfully none right here yet! Last year we were down in the basement every other day with a tornado warning. Yesterday I got off work early, as I did today, and went by myself to the pool. I decided to put all of my fears of being made fun of aside and just go relax. I’m really glad that I went. It felt great! I need to do that more often. I can’t wait until the day that I don’t have to worry about people making fun of me because of how fat I am. I want to be a normal woman!!

Where do I start?

Don’t judge me, I’m just going to be honest. :)

First of all, I haven’t run since Wednesday, or even exercised for that matter. Today would be a good day to turn that around.

I’ve gained a lot of weight since weigh in again, but then again I did that last week too and lost at weigh in! So, I’m going to do my best and hope for the best! We went home this weekend for Father’s day, and that’s never really a good thing for me. I did make good choices, but I could have a done a little better. I cut up fruit for breakfast for my mom, dad and myself. That helped all of us. I really fear for my Dad because he can’t seem to get his eating habits under control. That’s another reason that I want to change my lifestyle and lose a lot of weight. My family all commented on how they can really tell that I’ve lose weight, that’s always nice to hear! My mom actually told me that she has made a conscious effort to watch what she’s eating today. It makes me feel good that maybe I could help my family too! It seems my Dad and I are a lot alike. They always tell him that he is the bill of health, but his weight isn’t what it should be. I know none of us want to lose him early, so maybe if I make a difference in my life, he’ll be inspired to make a difference in his!

I finally found Lara Bars also! I was excited about that because they were on clearance also! I did a search on their website to find who sold them and the place listed said she had never heard of them, but a GNC food store that wasn’t listed had them. Weird! They have Cherry Pie and Cashew Cookie. I got a whole box of Cherry Pie ones for $7 and 6 Cashew Cookie ones for .42 cents! I think that’s an excellent deal. I feel great about eating them because they are so healthy, but I question whether they’re worth it for the points? 4 points for the Cherry Pie and 5 Points for the Cashew Cookie. What do you think?

Another Chance At Running

I've decided to try the couch to 5k again. I have never gotten past the first week. Not that I've given up after the first week, but I stay at the first week for weeks on end because it stays hard enough!!

This time I went on iTunes and downloaded a free podcast for a couch to 5k. There is a voice that tells me when to run and when to walk. He offers encouraging words as you go. I really liked it!

The things is, I haven't run for so long that it's really hard for me now. At one point, I had to walk through a run. I stopped it at 20 minutes because by listening to my body, that's what I needed to do. This was why I decided I shouldn't run the last time. So maybe if I just listen to my body and walk or stop when I think I need to, I won't have any scary feelings in my arms and chest. I felt really dizzy when I was done. I think these are just indications of how out of shape I am.

Needless to say, I feel amazing. Even if I didn't finish the entire run, I STARTED!!

Weigh In Results

The scale showed 258.8 this morning! I lost 1.2 lbs this week! I'm very happy with that. Maybe I was carrying around some extra water weight, who knows! I have lost 29.2 lbs total now. But this means I am .8 from my 30 lb. goal and I think if I work hard I can meet it next week!

TODAY

Today is the day that I make changes that will make a better tomorrow.

I slept in today until 8:30, which is great compared to my usual 5 AM! I feel rested and peaceful. The moment I think about work I am throwing it out of my mind. Why should I stress over it?

So, today is also weigh in day and I'll be weighing in very soon! Wish me luck!

Stress

Stress is getting the best of me. I had peanut M&M’s and 2 cookies today. Everything else has been on track. Yesterday, I had a candy bar. It just isn’t me to eat like that.

I can only take so long of going to work to get yelled at all day by unhappy customers. I’ve had enough of the work politics and drama. I’ve had ENOUGH!!! I’m looking for a new job but in the mean time I have taken the day off tomorrow to have some ME time.

I haven’t exercised in over a week. I’ve gained weight since the last weigh in. I can just hope for a miracle that I’ll lose it all tomorrow for weigh in.

This sounds pretty negative, huh? On a more positive note, I know that I am truly blessed with a lot of wonderful people in my life and these are the things that truly matter, not work. My health is also important though, and I need to keep on track.

How Long?

I feel like I'm running behind. At the beginning of this journey I set a goal to lose an average of 1 lb. per week. That worked for a long time and many times I was above goal. During the month of April I gained 1 lb. Not much losing going on there for 4 weeks! I have been struggling to meet this 30 lb goal since I met my 20 lb goal on February 25th. Wow, that's a long time!! Isn't 4 months WAY too long to be trying to lose 10 lbs? I should have lost 16 lbs. in that time frame to meet my 1 lb. a week goal. I've lost 8 lbs. according to my last weigh in.

I know weight loss slows down after the initial big losses you have at the beginning, but I don't think it should be slowing down this much. My average weight loss per week since starting back in October 2008 is .6 lb. I know I can increase this if I just try harder! The important thing for me is to not look at this as a diet or I will definitely fall off of the wagon. I cannot forbid myself foods or I will come to breaking point and eat too much of the forbidden food (i.e. Chocolate).

The cool thing is, I used to have this addiction to chocolate and if there was chocolate in the house, I would eat 10 pieces before I knew it. Now, I can have a bag of Dove Chocolate in the house and it will be there for a month. Amazing. There are little changes taking place that hopefully will make a big difference in the long run. Last week, my husband and I went through 4 lbs of strawberries, 7 peaches, 1 pineapple one bunch of bananas, and many veggies on top of that. Pretty good considering the fact that I had a hard time incorporating fruits and veggies into my diet at the beginning of this journey.

I want to lose faster and I know if I try harder, I will lose it faster! I need to work out more and eat less sweets. But more importantly, I made a promise to myself (to all of you and to my family) at the beginning of this journey that this time was THE TIME. I am going to lose the weight and keep it off. Does it really matter how long it takes me to get there? Probably not. Do I want to see results RIGHT NOW? Yes, I do. But what's most important is that I keep on walking (running, biking) on this journey, not only to thin, but most importantly, to HEALTH.

Hungry!!

I am so hungry!! It seems like everyday around 1:00 I start getting really hungry. I eat lunch at work at 11:00. I eat lots of fruit and some protein. By the time I get home I am starving. Any tips? What do you do when you’re really hungry? I don’t want to ruin supper or use too many points. Maybe I should just keep myself busy and my mind off of eating!

Weigh In Day

I lost .6 lb. today. Better than nothing, that’s for sure! I’m 2 lbs. away from my 30 lb. goal and I really want to get there soon!

Farmer’s Market

So I’ve been meaning to catch the Farmer’s Market here in town for a long time but I kept forgetting about it. I remembered today so I ran up to the park and didn’t see the white tents that I was expecting like the big Farmer’s Market they always had in the other town I lived in. I finally spotted some old people at cardboard tables. Three tables total. Not too much of a Farmer’s Market yet! It may as well have been a bake sale…there were so many delicious looking baked goods! Especially the Kolaches, which I had never heard of until moving here! They’re delicious, by the way. But, I didn’t want to leave without buying something because I didn’t want to be rude! So, despite the fact that we don’t have a popcorn popper, I bought some organic popping corn. I absolutely LOVE popcorn.

But the seller told me that it is hull less, which is pretty cool! So I came home and found directions for making popcorn on the stove top! I felt like a little kid watching the popcorn pop. haha, yes i’m a bit of a nerd. But, the good news is, it is delicious white popcorn and very healthy because I cooked it in olive oil.

So it was a good find! I just hope they have more fresh fruits and veggies as the summer goes on!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Head on over to Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes and check out the recipe for whole wheat pancakes. They are delish!! Not to mention, low in points and healthy!

Weigh In Day

I lost 2 lbs. this week! It feels great to be back on track and to actually lose. I’m really happy with that loss. Now, if I can just keep this up and keep losing every week! :)

Things I’m Proud of

I enjoyed Bvar’s post over at onmyway100. It has such a positive note that I thought it would be beneficial for me to post what I am proud of too!

1. I ate lots of fruits today!

2. I biked 10 miles this past weekend

3. I didn’t eat anything from the vending machine today

4. I went on a walk on my break for an extra activity point

5. I am getting back on track!

It’s important to give yourself a pat on the back for how great you really are doing! I invite you to do the same thing! What are you proud of?