10 True Confessions Tuesday

Let’s see…what has been weighing heavy on my heart and soul this week? Time to 'fess up for the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.

1) I am feeling like I’m not really giving my hubby the attention he deserves, need to work on that. Guess sometimes I just get to comfortable and need to take a step back and work at trying to make him spontaneously happy.

2) We ordered pizza Friday night, and I am discovered that I love banana peppers. Don’t really know if that counts as a confession, but wanted to share it anyway.

3) I drank a full strength Mt Dew on Sunday, felt a migraine coming on sometimes caffeine helps.

4) I planned on working out Sunday night after dinner, but started sneezing a dozen times in a row repeatedly and felt achy, thought I needed to rest.  Think it was a good call, as I slept like a log and woke up with a sore throat Monday morning.

5) Emma hurt her leg on the ice Friday so we had to baby her all weekend, carrying her up and down the stairs and not letting her jump off the couch. It made me sad to think she’s getting older and will start having more aches and pains.

6) I’m proud of myself for finishing the No More Trouble Zones workout last night, even though I wanted to tell Jillian to surrender herself after making me do those horrible surrender reps (WTF!) (yeah, maybe someday I’ll incorporate weights above my head, but not now sister!)

7) I sampled one of the Pecan Crowns that came in the mail from my Shrinking Jeans friends last night…then I sampled another. Ruling: they are ah-mazing good.

8) I’m contemplating starting to drink coffee again. I am loving hot cocoa in the mornings and am counting the calories, but wonder if I’d be better off drinking coffee with SF creamer. Less calories but more caffeine…which is really better for my body?

Whew...that feels better!  Anything you need to get off your chest this week?  We have some great listeners over at the Sisterhood!  Come share!

14 The Monday Project-Project Me

Let me tell you...the first Shrinking Jeans homework assignment for Rethink your Shrink was tough! It really was!  Nothing like trying to understand why you do things and then realizing some of them and how easy they should be to change, right?  Seems like it should be pretty easy, but I guess if it were then none of us would be where we are.  So here goes my introspection...maybe some of you can provide me insight or something that worked for you.

Here are some pictures of me from the last few years.  Using these as motivation! (and of course I tinkered with various haircolor and styles...I'm a woman!)

2006  (190ish lbs)

 

 2007  (170ish lbs)

 

 2008  (180ish lbs)

When did I hit my “rock bottom”?
My rock bottom moment was on my birthday of 2008. A friend had a Luai party and everyone was planning on wearing their bathing suits and grass skirts. Well being a “bit on the plump” side I decided just to get a lei and that would be my Hawaiian wardrobe.

Here I am right before I headed to the party. (189 lbs)

 So I get to the party, excited to see my friends, yet it was soo depressing to see all these women who were confident in their bodies having fun and there I was sitting with my feet in the pool. I vowed then and there that next year I would wear a bikini to my friends Luai party.

What was my plan for 2009?
So I started watching my calories and dropped 10 lbs by Labor Day...met my first mini goal.  Felt great, was on my way to losing some more...and then my world collapsed when my mom suddenly passed away.  I spent the next 3 months just trying to keep my head above water and not cry at the drop of a hat.  End up gaining almost all of it back.

Christmas 2008  (185 lbs)

So I revamped my goals after New years.  I wanted to lose 15 lbs by Valentines day, 30 lbs by Easter, 50 lbs by my birthday in July and meet my goal of losing 65 lbs by Labor Day.

Did I meet my goals?
I met the first 2 goals, then backslide a bit, missed the birthday goal by 10 lbs and then only lost another 7 lbs thru labor day and then started backsliding to where I ended the year. It seems like I still feel the need to reward myself for meeting a mini-goal by splurging and enjoying all the foods I used to do and not exercising regularly if at all. Sometimes those splurges easily feel all too comfortable and I get back to how I used to be which lead me to almost 200 lbs.

Here is a comparison picture from my birthday in 2008 (189 lbs) and 2009 (159 lbs).

September 2009 (142 lbs) (just days before I stopped exercising and counting my calories)

Why didn't I meet those goals...what stopped me?
Besides the whole treating myself with food for loosing weight thing?  (now that I write that it sounds awful!)  Basic motivation is the toughest for me. I can be a positive person and often have to pat myself on the back for the little things I do everyday in the right direction, just to keep myself from slipping back to my unhealthy patterns.

What about 2009 did not work?
I tend to have patterns where I go really good, reach a mini-goal I set for myself and then “take a break” and backslide 5-10 lbs in the wrong direction.

What are my weaknesses?
I like really good burgers and fries….and Reeses products: cups, eggs, pieces…anything with chocolate and peanut butter basically.

What are my strengths?
I used to keep a spreadsheet of all my foods, my daily weight, and when I exercised and how many calories I burned. I liked being able to see the relation between what I lost that week and the calories I put in my body. Working out definitely worked. Although I didn’t make my weight goal, I continued to shrink while working out. It IS true! I also started the C25K program, and got up to running 5 minutes at a time, then had some ankle trouble and never got back to it. I know that if I want to see results, whether it’s on the scale or by looser fitting clothes, I have to work at it.

December 31, 2009...158.6 lbs

 

Ready to continue my journey

5 You Capture - 2009 Year in Review

Time to talk a walk along memory lane with You Capture this week.  I started contributing photos to You Capture in August of last year, but am excited to be a part of such an awesome sharing project!  Here are a few of my favorite captures from 2009.

I love to capture the Miss Emma.

I love to capture the unique colors of flowers.

I like to capture the beauty in things I pass by everyday.


Thank you to Beth for bringing You Capture to her blog...I can't wait to see how she challenges us this year!  Stop over and see what everyone else was up to this year at I Should Be Folding Laundry.

18 Weigh-in Wednesday

It's time for the 1st weigh-in of 2010 over at Shrinking Jeans!  Whose excited?  I actually am this time....probably because I have been gotten back on track with watching what I stick in my mouth and started slowly exercising again.  Hope the scale reflects my resolution to get back on track.

Last week: 158.6

Today: 157.2

Loss: -1.4

Yippee!  Haven't seen a negative in front of a weigh-in for quite a while...I forgot how good it feels!  I have been taking my vitamins everyday and finishing at least 2 water bottles down while I'm at work (32oz each).  Got a journal that I am tracking my foods on, and so far have been good about it.  Started Shredding again and even tried Yoga last night while dinner was in the oven.  That lady was really perky and my core was burning when I got done.  Then I fell asleep on the couch after dinner.  Must have really relaxed me!

How did you do this week....was it a good start to the new year.  Don't forget to stop over and weigh-in with the Sisterhood and let us know how your weigh-in went!

2 Project 365

After looking thru so many blogs that I follow and seeing that they are starting to document the new year in pictures.  I'm really smitten with the idea of starting a photo blog for 2010.  So I made the decision last night to go for it!  I already had snapped pictures on each day of something, so why not continue to do that for the rest of the year!

Come along on my journey thru 2010 at Project Ladybugs.   I'll still have random pics on here, but vow to never duplicate...so stop over and see what made me smile on any given day!

7 Flashback

One of my besties was moving some pictures over from myspace to facebook and tagged me in this one from our Sex and the City premier (via small Ohio town).  I was going to delete it but instead thought I would keep it as motivation to never let myself get back to this point again. 

May 2008...weighing close to 190 lbs.

I think its interesting that I am the only one dressed in black....guess I thought it was slimming.  Not so much.

5 My Goals for the first Shrinking Jeans Challenge of 2010

Happy 2010 Everybody!  The year is getting off to a great start with a brand new Shrinking Jeans challenge.  Re-Think Your Shrink is encouraging us to really look at the way we are going thru our journey and make changes if they are necessary.  Obviously a 10 lb gain over the last few months has me needing make some adjustments.

So here are my goals for this challenge.

1. Take my vitamins everyday.
2. Drink at least 8 glasses/2 liters of water per day (I am going to get a new water bottle this weekend to help encourage me to do that).
3. Reach a challenge goal weight of 150 lbs...that means I need to lose 8.6 lbs in the next 7 weeks.

When I go to pick up my new water bottle, I am also going to pick up a notepad to keep in my purse for my food journal.  I was tracking it in a spreadsheet, but sometimes its easier throughout the day to just update my journal.  Who knows, maybe I'll go back to the spreadsheet...either way I am going to start tracking my food intake again.  Also this will be an easy way to keep track of my water and vitamin.

When (notice I didn't say if) I reach my goal weight of 150 when this challenge is over, I am going to buy some new makeup...because that always makes a girl feel good!