Another Success

I hit a big milestone at WW yesterday. I've lost 10% of my starting weight. I've now shed a total of 25.6 lbs, 20.6 with WW! This key ring is my reward and when I get to other milestones I'll receive charms to attach.

This has been such a beneficial program for me and I have appreciated all that have encouraged and helped me through this process. I want to be healthy, active and teach my children the importance of doing so.

I share with all of you my experiences so that it may possibly inspire. I've had ups and downs. Good weeks and bad weeks. I'm finding that I wouldn't be where I'm at as quickly as I've gotten here without the love and support of others and also exercise. That's the big one...EXERCISE! I believe it is the key to the successes I'm achieving. I'm making it a habit that will hopefully stick!

I'm also including my experiences for me personally. This is a big life changing experience I'm going through at this time in my life. It's a major part of my life and something that I struggle to find time doing with young children to take care of and spend quality time with. Oh, and the husband too! I don't have a lot of extra time on my hands at this time in my life and I'm forever grateful to my dear husband for his willingness to change up his schedule and do a little extra in order for me to do something for myself.

The difficulty I'm finding this week is that Tom started coaching high school basketball and hasn't gotten home until 9:30 or later in the evenings. He assures me that practices won't be as late once the volleyball season is finished. It's been a struggle to find the energy to head to the gym that late but once I finish my workout I always feel so much better! I'm actually pretty dang proud of myself for not letting this be a reason for me to take a break. I'm afraid that if I do so then I will start letting other things slide and I don't want that to happen!

Next mini goal - lose 7 more lbs to be at the top of the healthy range for my height. Then my ultimate goal of somewhere in the middle of my healthy range.

My progress chart so far.

My Milestones

Key:
5 POUNDS 5 POUNDS ADD'L 10% GOAL

WEIGHT WATCHERS MEETINGS
ANOTHER LOCATION

Layer by Layer & Wind Turbines

I just have to share my excitement! I've lost a total of 22.8 lbs since deciding to be a healthier me (17.8 lbs since joining WW). Just over half of my goal.

I had my Weight Watchers meeting today and lost another 3.6 lbs. The most I've lost in a single week since joining! I was really excited and I'm having a hard time controlling it. I really feel amazing!! I had somewhat disappointing results the last couple weeks. Both losses but not really great ones. The first week Tom was out of town for business so I wasn't able to do too much and the second week was Halloween and that candy was just too tempting!!

I joined a gym a month ago and I really enjoy going. It's definitely helping to obtain my weight loss goal. It's also helped relieve stress and I feel so much healthier. I've been going in the evenings for 1-1.5 hours, 5-6 days a week. It's become my ME time. I think part of the reason I enjoy it so much is because all the cardio equipment have individual televisions so I'm able to enjoy my shows still and not worry about missing them. I'm a huge TV junkie!! But really it helps keep my mind off of the exercising part.

Thank you Tom for the email today! I really appreciate your words of encouragement and all the support you give to me.

As I was driving home from WW, I decided to drive up into the hills to get a closer look at the wind turbines above our house. Tom has taken the kids up there a couple times and Jayni loves it. I haven't been up there before and was a little curious so we made the drive.

Jayni didn't really want to get out of the car but Mason was all for some pictures so I was playing around with my camera and these are a few cute pictures.

The view from up there was amazing. This picture definitely doesn't do it justice.

Healthy Here I Come

I've always been a skinny girl. Growing up, through high school, even when I got married. In high school I was teased for having "chicken legs" and that my elbows were way too bony. Having children definitely changed that. I can't eat like I used to anymore. I never realized how fluffy I was getting until I got back from England and saw a picture of myself. I didn't feel like I looked - I'm tall and I felt I didn't look like I weighed too much and that my height helped balance things out. I've heard that people who have always been overweight and lose mass amounts of weight, still feel heavy. I have the opposite thought - I gained but still feel skinny.

I knew my body had changed after having kids, especially after Mason. I grew to measure 42 weeks pregnant in 22 weeks until they realized I had excess amniotic fluid. Let's say that expanding that quickly didn't help my stomach. I have mass amounts of stretch marks and after I had Mason I had excess saggy skin. I figured no big deal, I don't show my belly in public anyway. And it tucked right into my pants! Price of having babies, right? It was worth it!

Needless to say I gained about 30 lbs after having Mason. Being away from home in a different country was stressful, I was no longer working, and I was at home all day with the kids. I tended to eat! Every craving was satisfied!!

As you know I made a goal at the beginning of June to "Work It Out". Well the busyness of Summer didn't help and I didn't find myself staying very motivated. I knew I needed to change my eating habits too but I didn't know how. Like I said before, I used to be able to eat whatever and I never had to limit myself either. I tried talking Tom into letting me join Weight Watchers after knowing others around me who had success. Tom said he wanted me to show a commitment to exercising first because he didn't want it to be a waste of money if I really wasn't committed to changing. I could understand that - $40 a month is a lot for us right now. Well, I gave up and ended up gaining a little more and became the heaviest I've ever been, topping the scales at 206.6 lbs - 14 lbs more than when I was first back from England. That's about 52 lbs since the day I was married!

The last week of August I did what I could and was able to lose 5 lbs. Over Labor Day weekend we went to a lake cabin for Tom's family reunion and I found out that two family members were talking  about joining  Weight Watchers. I talked to Tom about it and on Tuesday, September 2nd I joined...

...along with two family members. I love it! It's giving me a new look at what I eat. I write down what I eat during the day and doing that makes me think about what I'm putting in my mouth. I still eat the things I love, I just have to pay attention to certain things and pay attention to the portion size. I thought I would feel hungry being on a "diet" but I really don't feel like it's been a diet. It's just thinking and paying attention to what I'm eating.

I'm not doing this to try to lose all the weight I've gained since being married. I really don't care if I weigh 180 lbs, I just want to feel like I'm doing all I can to be healthy so I don't die at an early age. I was borderline high cholesterol and high blood pressure. I needed to make a change.

I have also started being more active. I do a walk/run for an hour two days a week and I just started a Pilates class last Wednesday. I enjoy it and I feel less stress and I don't feel as depressed since I'm getting out of the house and doing something for me.

With the 5 lbs I lost the week before joining, and what I've lost since, I've lost a total of 12.8 lbs! I feel quite accomplished in a month's time!

I have great support and I feel comfortable talking about weight now. Tom has been very supportive and has made sure that I can have plenty of time to do my "activities" before it gets dark. He keeps telling me he's surprised at how dedicated I am. I guess he thinks I'm a quitter! HAHA!! I appreciate all the support I'm getting and thank you to those who are helping me and asking me how things are going. It helps me stay motivated!!!

Just for me and looking back someday I want to share a quick story about Jayni. My Mom, Jayni and I were standing in my Mom's kitchen. All of a sudden, Jayni came up and jabbing at my belly, said, "BOINK, BOINK". We died laughing. It really was quite amusing.