Getting back into the swing of things!

So here I am, making that first step towards getting back into the swing of what my first focus was for this year. I know I took a detour, unintentionally, but it is never to late right?

July26th, current weight, 288lbs.  22 pounds lost since February 1st, not good, but it is better then having any weight gain after going through these rough times we have just overcame. It is amazing to me that through this whole ordeal with Lenny's accident that I did not put any weight back on throughout this. Food can sometimes be a comfort. My last post was 4/14, and Lenny's accident was on 4/16. 3 months have gone by and I have not gained a pound back. The secret....I have held to my word that I would never "feel stuffed" ever again, and I haven't. So even at times when I ate something not healthy, I didn't overeat, which was my main problem with food. Overeating. So in looking back and getting off track I see how I had re-trained my brain or myself or whatever it is to not eat so much.

So today is Monday, and I am going to try to get right back on this wagon. Thanks to some advice I am going to post my calories and exercise on here daily at the end of the day so if you see me missing in action kick my butt!

Thanks for following me on this journey, hopefully I haven't lost everyone.

Moving right along!

So things have been moving right along. I have not been working out as much as I should, and I need to get back on that train. I have been letting some personal issues affect my motivation. The good news is, that the eating right is so easy to stay on track now! I mean are there moments of weakness, of course, but the battle for the most part seems to be over. The thoughts of eating something bad quickly come in and then leave my mind. It is not as much of a battle anymore. I guess at first it felt like a punishment that I wasn't allowed to eat certain things, but now it feels like more of a reward when I don't eat them. It is great!
Well, I need to push to get back to working out a lot, other then that things are going great. The journey continues!

The office is going to be starting a big loser competition again so I can't wait to join that and win some more money!

The Tortoise and the Hare

Slow and steady wins the race. That is what I keep telling myself. Of course I wake up everyday just hoping all the weight will fall off, LOL, but of course it won't. Everything I have read about weight loss says that those who lose weight at a slow and steady weight are more likely to keep it off. I am so proud that I have been so successful so far. I can tell you that this is the longest I have ever gone without giving up. I think my brain has just finally accepted that this is not temporary and is a forever change, so if I am bad one day it has been so easy to just start again the next day like yesterday never happened.

I have lost another 3 pounds which is right on my goal track, 10 pounds a month, 2.5 pounds a week.

I have lost my way a little with exercising everyday, I am only doing every other to every third day which is no good. I have let some stress in my life take over and I have to nip that control in the bud and get back on track. Remember, today is a new day.

Well until next time!

Delicious!

Recommended sweet tooth snack to you all - Do you like Peanut Butter Cups? I know I do. Well I have found that the Chocolate Quaker Rice Cakes with a tablesppon of Reduced Fat Skippy Peanut Butter smeared across the top of it is FANTASTIC! Only 60 calories in the rice cake and 90 calories in the peanut butter, which is also a good source of protein which is a great pick me up for the afternoon! Also it is WAY BIGGER then a 2 pack of peanut butter cups, which by the way have 210 calories and a lot of sugar!

Today I went to the grocery to get my food for work for the week. At the checkstand they have the Hostess items, so I picked up one of those Apple Pies I used to love so much, 470 CALORIES! I almost died! In one little tiny pie! No wonder we are a fat america!

I found at the store this morning, Bagel Thins, by Thomas'. They are whole wheat and only 110 calories for the bagel, and really good. I stood at the cream cheese for about 10 minutes though, reading and comparing labels, I finally settled on the Fat Free Philly Strawberry Cream Cheese. It was way lower in calories then most of the other ones.

Last night we went to Northwood's Inn for Lenny's Birthday, it was delicious. It amazed me how I was able to stop eating when I was full, I am determined to never feel "stuffed again". I am trying this mind trick where I tell myself to pack it up and take it home and I will get to enjoy it more then once! So far it is working....

BIG LOSER RESULTS!!!

First Place went to Jim Jr who lost 37 pounds in 2 months, he won $220.00.
Second Place went to ME (WOO HOO) for losing 20 pounds in 2 months, I won $120.00. I am so excited! They are going to do another round starting in a couple weeks so I am glad to have the motivation to work towards my goal weight!
Now I get to go shopping!

Big Loser Winner Contest Ends Today

Well today is the end of the Big Loser Contest at the office. I am so nervous, hopefully I placed. I am pretty sure I have at least 2nd or 3rd. Wish me luck, I will post again when I know what is happening.

I'mmmm Baaaaccccckkkkkkkkkk!!!!

Well I finally started feeling better Friday, which is awesome, because this was a doozy of a sickness! Decided not to start working out again until today, as my chest and cough have still been giving me a little bit of trouble.

So I decided to start again with a bang! I got up this morning and did 20 minutes on the elliptical, but then realized I was late and didn't eat breakfast (A BIG NO-NO). I haven't been following my 5-6 smaller meals and snacks when I was sick, as I was either trying to get some work done (yes they brought me a box he he, did I mention I requested they bring me the box?) or sleeping. Food didn't factor in much. I thought I might have dropped some more pounds since I didn't eat much but sorry to report I didn't. However, I did remain the same which makes me very happy. I want to see no increases on that scale! It has been hard as I was saying to get back into the many small meals, as my stomach lost that hunger all the time, but today it finally came back. I skipped breakfast and by the time I got to the office I was starved! I had an apple, cause lunch was soon I didn't want to eat much, and then at lunch had my usual Lean Cuisine. Today was one of those days where lunch was served at the office. Today was Kentucky Fried Chicken. I like Kentucky Fried Chicken. However, knowing how much progress I have made lead me right away from the table full of food and to the freezer to my Lean Cuisine (which was quite delicious). Had a pear about 3 as I was again getting hungry, and when I got home from work about 5:30 I had 16 little stick pretzels so I could make it till Lenny got home. We decided on tacos for dinner, it is so funny to see how different we make our food now. Lenny has those delicious homemade fried shells he makes, I had 2 whole wheat tortillas, he piled on the cheese, I barely sprinkled any, and you know what, I don't really miss it. One of the biggest things I have learned is how you don't really miss things. We just get used to having all these different items on our food, but by just cutting out a few ingredients you can cut a lot of calories. So, I wanted to share with you what a day of food is like for me.

Tonight I decided to try the "HARD FAT BURN" mode on my elliptical, Holy Cow. It is a 45 minutes program and I almost quit 5 times during. But I didn't, I was able to push through and did the entire program. It kicked my butt. I can't remember the last time I voluntarily sweat this much. LOL.

I wanted to take a minute to thank so many of you that wondered why I hadn't posted anything yet. That is the kind of push I need to keep me on track. Making sure I didn't quit really means a lot to me. As I have said so many times before, I will never make it through this on my own. I keep telling myself that it will get easier and easier, but I really don't know if it ever will? Will I always want to eat the box of donuts Lenny has on the counter? Now I haven't eaten one as I have had no problem resisting, but I still want it. Will I stop wanting it one day? Who knows....

In the past when I have attempted these ventures, one week of being sick like this I would have quit for sure. It is very hard to get back into the swing of things, but knowing that those of you who are following this are watching helped me get right back on track, and stay on track for that matter while I was sick last week. Thank you, for taking the time to care about what is happening in my life.

Ta Ta for Now........