February 2011 Trackers: 4 Weeks To A Better YOU! Weigh In Week 2

Yay!!!! I'm SO excited! I lost 2.4 lbs this week.  :-)  I now weigh 198.3.  That gives me a total weight loss for the challenge of 1.4 lbs!!!!

I have to say I owe the weight loss to getting up in the mornings and exercising.  My hubby and I have been getting up early for the last three weeks and doing some kind of exercising at least 4 times a week.  I have to admit I was tired this morning and slept in until it was time to take my shower and get ready for work.  Tomorrow morning I'll be ready to get up and get moving, though.  I want to keep my weight PERMANENTLY below 200.

I better get this posted now. 

February 2011 Trackers: 4 Weeks To A Better YOU! Weigh In Week 1

I weighed in today with the help of my friend Donyea.  She's always encouraging me and telling me how proud she is when I lose weight. I was a little disappointed with myself, but I know why I gained... I was a bad girl!  I didn't track my eating or pay too much attention to what I ate.  I gained 1 lb.  My weight is now 200.7.  I'm still happy about not gaining more than I have.  I am keeping track of my eating again, and I'm getting up every morning and doing some kind of exercising.  I did some ballet exercises this morning. :-)

I had my hubby take a couple of pictures of me this morning so I can document the beginning of the challenge.  Here I am at 200.7!  I'm looking forward to losing at least 10 lbs. this month!

Hope I didn't scare anyone! LOL... just kidding.  :-)

Thanks for hosting the challenge, Vera!  You can follow my results and the results of the other folks in the challenge here.  Wish me luck!

Snow Days and Working Out at Home

I stayed home from work today. The temperatures here in North Texas are still very cold (teens and twenties), and the roads were pretty icy this morning. Hubby and I decided it wasn't worth risking our vehicle or our lives to take me to work. The icy conditions have also kept us from going walking/running in the morning. Being the resourceful people that we are, we got out the "10 Minute Solution" DVD and worked out with it for the last couple of days. Yesterday we tried the "Sexy Slimdown" routine. We both laughed at ourselves because neither one of us has much rhythm. The instructor in the video gets right to it and doesn't fool around! We're going to need lots of practice to get the moves down. We did the legs and buns routine this morning. It was easier to follow, but  it will still take some practice to get it down. I don't know about y'all, but my balance is TERRIBLE!

How is everyone else doing with their work outs? I'd love to hear what you do to get into shape.  :-)

Today's Weigh In

I didn't get to weigh in yesterday because I got sick less than an hour after I got to work.  Let's just say I was not in any condition to weigh myself.  I did weigh in today, though.  I'm at 200.1 which is up .4 from Thursday.  I'm still pretty happy with the fact that I'm so close to being permanently below 200.  :-)  I'm really liking the way my clothes are getting too big on me. I can't wait until I can go buy new clothes in a smaller size!!!  I've been wearing 18W-20W for far too long

The weather here in North Texas is extremely cold and icy today.  I work for an electric company, so I had to go to work while most people stayed home in their nice toasty beds or in front of their fireplaces drinking hot chocolate.  :-P  Management graciously provided lunch for those of us who showed up.  Unfortunately, I'm really paying for it!  We had chili (mostly grease) with all the fixins, rolls, and crackers.  It tasted pretty good going down, but man, oh man... the heartburn, bloating, and gas were just not worth it!  I had rice for dinner because my stomach felt SO bad.  Tomorrow I'm going back to eating better no matter what they try to feed us!

I hope everyone has a good night.  I'm going to hit the Maalox bottle again!

Trying to Run and Sucking Wind

My husband and I have done our walk/run 3 times so far this week!  We did a mile each day.  Monday was 95% walking.  I didn't realize trying to run when it's 20 degrees outside hurt your lungs so much!  Tuesday was a little warmer and we were able to run about 3 times as far as Monday.  We ran even more this morning, but I sure was sucking wind awfully hard when we got home!  Wow!  I'm desperately out of shape!  My husband is very encouraging.  He tells me how proud he is of me and encourages me to keep going.  I'm glad he's doing this with me.  I don't think I would run at all without his support and encouragement.  :-)  Here's a picture of me in my running garb.  Pretty sexy, huh? LOL

 
We had our annual health screening at work today.  We were all SO looking forward to it... ;-)  I'm really not fond of getting measured, weighed, pricked in the finger and told I'm fat by a total stranger.  There was an up side to it, though.  My weight, according to their scale, was 200.0!  I was so excited that when I was finished with my screening (they checked cholesterol, blood sugar, triglycerides, etc.) and I got back to my building, I weighed on the scales we use for our weekly weigh in.  I'm at 199.7!!!!!  I'm SO psyched!!!!  I know it's been at least 10 years since I weighed below 200!  I finally met the goal I was trying to reach before I had my surgery!  Yay me!!!!  I'm ready to tackle my next goal.  I want to lose 10 lbs. in February.  Plus Size Bloggers has a new monthly challenge.  The goal each month is to lose 10 lbs.  The challenge starts February 7th.  Click here if you'd like to sign up.  You will have to post an update every week so Vera can track your progress.  I'm looking forward to it, and I think having to post weekly updates will help me stick with my eating and exercise routine.

I better get to bed now.  Gotta get up at 5:00 to go walk/run before work!  Good night everyone.

Surprising Weight Loss

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I LOST weight during my recovery!  When I got on the scales at the doctor's office I couldn't believe my eyes... they read 201.0!  Wow!  I was amazed!  I was sure I was going to be disappointed about my weight.  After thinking about it, I'm guessing the best thing that happened to my waist was that I was away from the stresses of my job and all the goodies that everyone brings!  Christmas is the absolute worst time of year for anyone who is trying to lose weight!  Especially when you work where I do. During the entire month of December, people bring in cookies, candy, pies and cakes to share with everyone.  I usually eat whatever everyone brings.  No self control!  I know being at home and away from all the junk really saved my this year.  I'm glad I was home during most of the holiday season.  I had a few baked goodies from my mom, but not as much as I usually have.  I'm glad that the holidays are over and there won't be so many temptations to lure me away from my goals when I go back to work on Monday.  :-)

I think I did pretty well on my grocery shopping yesterday.  I spent a total of $82.11.  The best part about that is I got enough meat to last us nearly 2 weeks and still bought dishwasher detergent and aluminum foil.  I was even able to buy enough salad fixings to get me through my first week back to work.  Not bad for only spending $82!  I'm learning that buying everything at Wal-Mart isn't always the cheapest way to go.  Albertson's had a really good sale this week.  Pork chops and ground turkey for $1/lb!  That's how I was able to get 2 weeks worth of meat for so little money.

The doctor released me yesterday, but told me not to do any strenuous abdominal exercises for another month.  He told me I could jog, though.  Hubby and I are supposed to start either walking/running or going to the gym in the mornings before work starting Monday.  The weather will determine whether we go to the gym or walk/run.  Bring it on!  I'm ready to get into shape and start feeling good about myself.



Photo courtesy of Otis Historical Archives National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Let's Get This Party Started!

Tomorrow I go back to the doctor for my final check up from my surgery.  Since things have been going well and I haven't had any complications, I expect a full release from the doctor.  Of course that means going back to work, but more importantly, that means getting busy with my exercising and weight loss.  It's been kind of fun not having to go to work for the last six weeks, but I miss my buds!  I have such an awesome support group in the girls (and guys) I work with.  I don't look forward to the work, but I look forward to being amongst my friends again.  :-)

That being said, someone PLEASE kick me in the @$$ for not watching what I was eating while I was sitting on the couch recovering from my surgery!  I'm afraid to step on the scales at the doctor's office tomorrow.  I know I'm not going to like what they say.  I just hope it's not, "One person at a time, please!"  That is not cool!  I'll be getting back to the gym for sure after my release.

I'm also going to the grocery store tomorrow to get some food!  I've been on a really tight budget for the last two weeks.  Tomorrow I'll be able to buy what I need to eat right and take my lunch to work to stay on track.  Hopefully I'll save a lot of money while I'm at it.  I've been clipping coupons and checking the sales to see where I need to go to get what I need at the best price.  I'm so glad that I have 3 grocery stores and a Wal-Mart within 2 miles of my house.  It makes it so much easier to do my shopping.  Especially if I have to go to more than 1 store to do it.

Speaking of grocery shopping, I need to get my plan together for tomorrow.  I've got to find my relevant coupons and plan my trip.  I'll try to post tomorrow to let you know how I did and what the scales at the doctor's office said.  So.... let's get this party started!

My New Year's Resolutions

I've been racking my brains trying to figure out what my New Year's Resolution should be. (Yes, I realize it's the 6th!  I'm slow! :-P)  I know I need to lose weight.  What I need is a plan to make that happen.  My husband and I are going to start running once the doctor releases me.  We'll also be hitting the gym to build some strength. My goal is to get down to 140 lbs or a size 10 by the end of the year.  Since I won't know how much I weigh until I go back to the doctor on the 21st, I don't know how many pounds I'll need to lose to get there, but it should be somewhere around 60 to 70 pounds. I'll definitely have to get back to eating healthier... since my surgery, I've been a terrible slacker.  :-(   I'm actually a bit afraid of what the scale will say.  I think I'll go back to the way I was eating before my surgery.  I lost about 7 lbs in a month.  That's not bad.  If I lose 7 lbs. every month, that's 84 lbs... that would be awesome!  That's it!  That's the plan!  Eat like I was eating before my surgery (OLD Weight Watchers plan from the 90's), walk/run with hubby, and hit the gym a few times a week.  I'll also join the January Go The Distance over on Robby's site.  I'm already doing some walking.  Hubby and I walked 8/10 of a mile this afternoon.  Not very far, but I have to start somewhere.  :-)

Another goal I've been thinking about is saving money.  That's a little tougher than losing weight, I'm afraid.  I've been researching "couponing".  I saw the show "Extreme Couponers" earlier this week and thought, "I'd like to buy $600.00 worth of groceries and personal care products for $2.00!"  I bought my 2 Sunday papers and have been diligently clipping the coupons... we'll see if I can get the savings I'm looking for.  No matter how much I save, it'll be better than not saving anything... every penny counts!

My last goal for this year is to blog more.  In addition to this blog, I have a genealogy blog that has been terribly neglected.  This is as good a time as any to get back into my family history and blogging.

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm off to clip some more coupons and then go to bed.