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.

Better Day

I had a better day today.  :-)  I was able to go to the grocery store this morning and get some good food.  I bought chicken and ground turkey and real vegetables. :-)  I had a good day sticking to my food plan, too. I only went over my bread selections by 1, and everything else was spot on! I even drank all of my water! Yay! It makes me feel good to meet my eating goals.  :-)  Two more days until weigh in.  I'm actually a bit anxious to see the results of my changes to my eating habits.  I know, I know... a few good days won't make me instantly thinner, but it's a start.  I'm encouraged by what I've been doing.  I haven't been feeling really hungry, either.

I forgot to state my goal for this month!  I'm wanting to get below 200 lbs. by the end of the month.  So I need to lose 10.6 lbs.  I'm having a hysterectomy on Dec 2nd and I don't want to be heavier than 200 lbs. when I go in.  I feel I will heal faster if I lose some of this weight.  I was over 200 in 2007 when I had an appendectomy, and it took me 2 weeks to recover.  Of course, it didn't help that they had to open me up instead of doing it laparoscopically.  I know a hysterectomy takes longer to heal.  I just want to give myself a good start.  I'll be starting my ab exercises tomorrow.  It can't hurt....

I better go to bed now.  I'm sleepy!  Sweet dreams everyone.

Finally Getting Back Into the Groove

It's been too long since I've really tried to eat right.  I decided today that I want to follow the classic Weight Watcher's plan that uses food selections instead of the points system.  I've followed each of them before, and I was much more successful with the food selections.  To me, the points system allows too much flexibility.  I really have to have more structure than the points system provides.  I won't be going to any meetings, but we are still doing weekly weigh-ins at work.  I told the girl who keeps track of our weight of my plans, and she was very encouraging.  There is another girl at the office who is following a different program who was also encouraging.  I'm making myself accountable to her as well.  I'm hoping that a little more accountability will give me the small push I need to keep me on track.

Today was a challenging eating day because I didn't plan my grocery shopping this weekend. I bought the usual ground beef, processed cheese product, sugary cereal, white bread, and whole milk that have brought me to this point instead of the chicken, vegetables, whole grains, and fresh fruit that I need to be eating.  This will surely be a challenging week!  Fortunately, I DO have some tuna and oatmeal in the pantry and broccoli in the freezer.  (I just had broccoli for a snack!)  I might make it through the week with those. :-)

I took my measurements again.  My bust is 44", waist 41", hips 50", and thighs 26 1/2".  I have actually lost some inches since the first of the year... 1" in the bust and 2 1/2" in the thighs!  Wow! I figured it would be worse.  When I weighed this morning, my weight was 210.6 lbs.  That's a loss of 5.6 lbs since the first of the year.  Pretty sad for 10 months. :-( 

I'm going to be taking a trip to the grocery store tomorrow to get a few more healthy foods to get me through the week. I'll have to plan a menu for next week and plan my grocery buying accordingly.

Better get to bed for now.

Weigh In Day

I had my first official weigh in day of 2010 on Wednesday.  I weighed 212.4!!!!!  I lost 3.8 lbs in a week!  It's been a long time since I lost that much in one week.  I was very happy with myself.  :-)  Now I have to keep going.  I don't want to get back into the cycle of losing and gaining the same 10 lbs.

I've been pretty good at not eating too much that's fattening this week.  I've been having fruit and toast for breakfast, and salad for lunch.  Dinner has been a little more substantial.  We had baked chicken 2 nights this week, Subway one night, and sandwiches last night and tonight.  Our biggest problem is we haven't made menus or planned out our meals before we went to the grocery store.  I don't know about y'all, but I HATE going grocery shopping.  It's annoying to me to have to go back to the store to get something in order to finish cooking a meal.  We didn't plan really well for the entire week, so we ended up running out of the things we needed to cook proper meals.  The first goal for this week is to plan our meals and make a shopping list.

Gary and I have only been to the gym once this week.  :-(  We still haven't figured out a routine to get us on the right track.  I know, that's a lame excuse.  We're just going to have to put on our big kid britches and go!  We'll get that worked out.  I'm looking forward to getting into better shape.  The second goal for this week is to get to the gym more than once.

Over all I think my first week on my journey has gone well.  I'll keep working on those goals and get better habits as I go.  I know I can do it this time.  I'm determined.