I weighed in this morning at 212.6 lbs which is a .4 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 43.4 pounds.

Nothing to write home about, eh? I’m still trending downwards, though, which is awesomely awesome. I’ll take a .4 loss over a gain any day!

It’s time for my first Weekend Warrior update. Thanks to Brandon for hosting this challenge!

Anyway, here are the three goals I set for myself this weekend and how I fared on each:

1. Work out Friday night for at least 30 minutes.

I did not do this. My mom got out of the hospital Friday, so after work we ate dinner and then immediately went to her house to visit and didn’t get home till late. I know that’s no excuse, I still could have done SOMEthing once I got home, but I didn’t. So I told myself I’d make up for it on Sunday. Which I didn’t do either.

2. Map out and walk/run 3 miles on Sunday.

Success. Felt good too!

3. Limit myself to 1 glass of tea each day.

Success. I actually only had one glass all weekend long. It’s a good thing not feeling weighed down by all that sugar.

I really want to thank Brandon for starting this challenge. It’s such a GREAT idea. I never really acknowledged the fact that weekends were my weakness prior to this. It’s also pretty dang cool reading the blogs of my fellow warriors, some of which I’d never been to before. I love meeting new people!

Another thing…As of Friday I was 26.5 miles (more than a marathon) away from reaching my Perfect 10 goal of 100. Since I got another 7.1 miles in this weekend, that leaves me with 19.4 miles left to do before Friday. (eek!) Even though this goal seemed so far out of reach, I said I was going to try and I meant it.

Lori had a good idea in my comments. She said:

For the walking, maybe tack on an extra 1.5 mile walk at the opposite end of the day where you do your usual one to get those miles in without getting too tired (or burnt out).

So here’s my plan:

Tonight: 3 miles
Tuesday morning: 3 miles
Tuesday Evening: 1.5 miles
Wednesday Morning: 3 miles
Wednesday Evening: 1.5 miles
Thursday Morning: 3 miles
Thursday Evening: 1.5 miles
Friday morning: 3 miles

for a total of 20.5 miles; just over my goal. Thanks Lori for the suggestion! Now I just have to stick to it. This is far more than I do on an average week, so wish me luck!

Edited to add: Check out this great giveaway over at Stellar Path, where you can win Jillian’s 30 Day Shred! I’ve read so many great things about this program; it’d be super cool to win it.

80.6 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(3) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

I weighed in at 213.0 lbs which is a 2.4 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 43 pounds!

Pretty awesome, eh? Yesterday marked 5 months since I started this journey to lose weight. I’m still in awe of the fact that I’m still just as committed today as I was back in September.

Sorry for the short post today, but I’ve got a busy day ahead of me and I also want to catch up on everyone’s blogs today. Anyone else got a case of the Mondays???

69.85 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(2) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Let me warn you right now – this is going to be a very long post. I am still computer-less at home for the moment. We are having a local PC shop build us a new one, which is new experience for us, I am excited about getting our new system just the way we want it at a lower price than the box stores could’ve given us. Hopefully it’ll be ready to pick up tomorrow or Thursday, so until then I’m stuck blogging from my phone or from my work computer as I’m doing now…don’t worry, though, I’m on my lunch hour

First things first, yesterday’s weigh-in results:

I weighed in yesterday at 215.4 lbs which is a 2.6 lb loss for the week. This brings my total weight loss so far to 40.6 pounds!

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stoked about this. I’m SO close to being out of the 200s now, I can hardly believe it. By the way, I’ve decided how I’m going to reward myself once I do hit the elusive “Onederland”…DAVE MATTHEWS BAND tickets! They’ve been my favorite band for 18 years, yet somehow I’ve managed to go all this time without ever once seeing them live. (oh the shame of it all!) Every summer my sister goes and every summer it’s another excuse as to why I can’t, but not this year. I’ve got the money put aside so the day I step on the scale and the number staring back at me begins with a 1 instead of a 2, I’m ordering tickets. OH YEAH! If that isn’t motivation enough to stay on track, then I don’t know what is.

Now onto some fun stuff. You may recall this post back in November when we first started working on the float for my daughter’s clogging team. Here’s what it looked like back then, before we started:

and here’s what it looked like the day of the Edison Junior Parade on Valentines Day:

Pretty awesome, huh? Our theme was “Winter Wonderland” and we have been working on it almost every weekend for the past few months along with several other clogger parents. Here is a picture of it all lit up during the Edison Grand Parade this past Saturday night (see all the cloggers in there dancing?):

And a few more pictures to share…we had SO much fun.

Here I am with Madelyn, my little clogger, right before the Junior parade on Valentines Day. Please note, I live in Florida where heavy coats are not usually required, I’m wearing it to coordinate with our winter theme. (I walked alongside the float, so I had to be in theme). I bought the coat and scarf specifically for the parade…Note: The coat is an XL and was way too small for me…I couldn’t close it any more than what you see in the picture, but I bought it that way on purpose…maybe by next winter it will be too large!

Here’s a closeup of the ‘igloo’ portion of the float:

Can you believe there’s a truck in there?

And here is our title “Clogging on thin ice for Mr. Edison”:

For those unfamiliar, the Edison Festival of Lights is a 3 week celebration of Thomas Edison who resided in Ft. Myers during the winter months. The festival is our way of honoring his innovative legacy and includes many events including the junior parade, the Grand parade, a Day of Discovery, and a 5K run.

For the Grand Parade, a couple of the moms made these really cute lighted snowflakes for the walkers to wear…here I am sporting mine:

And now a video, that is so incredibly embarrassing, but we had a lot of fun. Click here to watch the youtube video, you’ll get a kick out of it, I’m sure! (I’m the one in the white/black coat with hot pink scarf). Sorry, I couldn’t get it to embed for some reason, so please watch it from youtube.

Laughing yet? See, I told you you’d get a kick out of it! I’m pretty good at the air guitar, aren’t I?

The parades were a blast! It was a totally new experience for us because it was my daughter’s first year on the team. Being in the parades also helped me realize just how far I’d come in the last five months. Five months ago, there was no way I could have walked in those parades. NO WAY. Especially the grand parade which was rather long and we were moving FAST…jogging speed. The route itself was about 3 miles long, but you have to remember I was jumping all around, dancing, and working the crowd along the streets. It wasn’t just a casual walk. We got home that night and my feet had blisters because of the shoes I had on, but I was so thankful for the positive changes I’ve made in my life over the past 5 months, because had it not been for that, I wouldn’t have been able to have enjoyed that experience with my daughter. How’s that for a non-scale victory? We’ll be in yet another parade in 2 weeks!

Gosh, I told ya this was gonna be a long post…and truth be known, there’s so much more I want to write…it’s been really hectic around here the past few weeks. Please forgive me for not coming by your blogs, but without a home PC and as busy as we’ve been, it’s really difficult to do. Just a couple more days and things should be back to normal around here.

Edited to add: I can’t believe I forgot to post this part, but we won “Most Outstanding” float in both parades!

64.35 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(2) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

My home computer crashed last week so between that and the death of my uncle and just the overall busy-ness of life, I haven’t been able to blog as usual this week. I did, however, weigh myself on Monday though, so here’s that result. As of Monday morning I weighed 218.0 lbs which is a loss of 1.8 lbs from the Monday before. This brings my total loss so far to 38 pounds.

I’ll take it. Some of you might remember that I’m in a fitness challenge that ends on April 1st. Several weeks ago I set a goal for myself to be under 200 lbs by the end of that challenge. It’s starting to look like I won’t make that goal and I’m OK with that, however I don’t think I’ll ever set a weight goal like that for myself ever again. It causes way too much frustration when the weight doesn’t come off fast enough. And the scale can be so wonky at times, like showing a zero loss during a week where I’ve really, really pushed myself and then showing a huge loss when I’ve veered off track some. I can’t predict what the scale’s going to do, so yeah, no more timed weight goals for me! I’m just gonna keep on doing what I know works and concentrate on the big picture…the end goal…I’m not in a race and it won’t be the end of the world if I don’t win the fitness challenge.

One quick milestone that I’d like to share is that I completed a mile last night in under 15 minutes. 14:44 to be exact.

Thank you all for your well wishes and condolences for my family. I sincerely appreciate you all! ♥ And if any of my local friends are reading this, we will be celebrating my uncle’s life at LJ’s (his home away from home) this Saturday at noon if you’d like to come.

59.85 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(2) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

This morning I weighed in at 219.8 lbs which is the same as it was last Monday. That’s zero lost this week, so I’m still at 36.2 pounds lost total.

I guess the lesson I learned this week is that every choice matters. I had six really good days this week. On those days I ate really well, pushed myself in the gym, had kickboxing class and did a 5K. But I also had one off day, remember? And I suppose all the good work I did this week wasn’t enough to make up for that one day I veered. Every choice matters. The choices I made that day to overeat, to eat unhealthy, and not to exercise, MATTERED.

It’s times like these that confirm in my mind that I’ll never be that girl that can just casually eat a cookie, or overindulge one night without ramifications. From the time I started this I had full intentions of making this a lifelong commitment, not a “diet” that would end once I reached a certain weight. But even so, there was always a part of me that hoped that someday I’d be able to indulge in some of the things I’m not right now. That someday it’d be ok to have some birthday cake at parties instead of always passing. That someday it’d be ok to just have a burger every now and then. Now I’m not so sure I’ll ever be able to indulge like that. It’s difficult to see other people who can eat till their hearts content and not think twice about it. Yesterday we were working on the float for my daughter’s clogging team and someone brought McDonalds for everyone for lunch. It was awful nice of them, but of course there were no salads or grilled chicken wraps, ya know? Just burgers, so of course I declined. Meanwhile all these skinny minnies around me are scarfing burgers and fries down. It’s just not fair, I say in my best whiny voice. But, I accept it for what it is so I will continue down this path to a healthier lifestyle. Right now, no other option even seems feasible for me. (What does that say about how my whole mindset has changed?)

Remember a few weeks ago when I tried on some size 20 jeans and they fit? Well, I went shopping last night to buy them because all of my pants have just gotten way too loose. It was time. Well, guess what? The 20’s didn’t fit anymore, so I had to buy these:

SIZE 18W!

I haven’t been a size 18 in YEARS. I’m really stoked about this – it made today’s weigh-in results much easier to swallow!

And just for fun, here I was several months ago, before I ever started this journey, wearing size 24 jeans:

And here I was last night, holding the same jeans:

You can also see this week’s regular progress pics here.

49.6 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
13.9 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(2) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

I was hoping for at least a 2 lb loss this week, so you can imagine my excitement when I saw a 3.2 lb loss! Yep, I weighed in this morning at 219.8 lbs which means that I’ve lost 36.2 pounds since 9/28!

This loss signifies a few different things for me. First it means that I’ve passed the 35 lb milestone! While this isn’t one of my ‘official’ milestones that I have listed in my sidebar, it’s still notable for me because it’s the most I’ve ever lost before in any of my past “diets”. Ever! It also means that I’m out of the 220’s and now in the two-teens! I can hardly believe it. I’m now closer to being under 200 than I am the weight I started at, 256. This loss also means that I am right on target to reach my goal to be under 200 by the end of the 911 Fitness Challenge I joined. I have 19.8 lbs left to lose over the next 9 weeks in order to reach that goal. Totally reachable! Wanna know something else? My BMI is now 38.9 – under the 40 mark! When I started this journey four months ago my BMI was 44.1. So I’m down 5.2 points in that regard. One more number before I go – 14%. That’s the percentage of weight I’ve lost over the past 126 days.

These results make all the work I’ve been putting in recently SO worth it. I feel this merits repeating, if you’re reading this and doubt whether or not you can lose weight, please, please know that you CAN do this. I doubted it for many years too until one day I just made the decision to change my life and so can you. Feel free to a email me if you have any questions; I will help any way I can.

36.22 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
6.4 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
(1) 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

Edited: I have updated my pictures page with today’s photo here.

Before I get into this week’s weigh-in results, I wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you for your supportive comments after the 5K I was in over the weekend! Some people might think it silly to pay ($20 on average) to go walk or jog 3.1 miles…I mean, this is something most people can do for free at home or as part of a gym membership. For me though, it’s very empowering. I left the race Saturday feeling invincible, like I could conquer the world! And it’s done wonders for my motivation level…For three weeks now I’ve struggled with getting up in the morning and going to the gym before work, so I’ve been having to go at night – taking time away from my family. This morning was different. I didn’t just get up in time, I was up, ready, and down at the gym doors before they even opened at 5 AM! I got a killer workout in; 4.1 miles total. I was all fired up this morning and wanted to just see how far I could jog without having to stop and do you know how far I got? A ¼ mile! Yep, one whole “lap” without having to walk! I was so stoked that I repeated it 4 times throughout the 4.1 miles…so I jogged a total of ONE mile this morning! All as a result of what I consider a success at Saturday’s 5K. Truly empowering, I tell ya, and if you’re one of the people who commented that you’ve never participated in one, I completely encourage you to find one in your area and just do it! Oh, and as far as the fee, the proceeds go to some really good causes, so it’s all good. Ya know? Now, onto those results!

I weighed in this morning at 223.0 lbs which means that I lost 2.2 pounds for the week! This brings my total lost since 9/28 to 33 pounds!

Reading Erin’s post over the weekend totally inspired me to ask my husband to help take my measurements so I can start tracking mine. (Congrats again, Erin!)

Bicep: 14 ½”
Wrist: 7 ¼”
Waist: 47 ¼”
Chest: 48 ½”
Hips: 52 ¾”
Thigh: 25 ¼”
Ankle: 18 ¼”
Calf: 10 ½”
Neck: 16”

Unfortunately I didn’t take them when I first started this in September, so I don’t have that to compare. However, I did have a few of my measurements taken 3 years ago in 2007. My weight then (239.2) was more than what I weigh now (223), but less than what I was when I started back in September (256). Anyway, here are my measurements from July 27, 2007:

Chest: 54″
Waist: 49 ½”
Hips: 54″
Thigh: 26 ½”

The most notable difference is my chest area – 5 ½”! I think I’ll start tracking this on a monthly basis so I’ll have a more accurate reflection of the change(s) as they come.

22.7 miles walked/jogged/ran since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 500)
6.4 miles biked since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 300)
1 5K finished since January 1st. (2010 Goal: 12)

I weighed in this morning at 225.2 lbs which means that I lost 4.7 pounds for the week! This brings my total lost since 9/28 to 30.8 pounds and it means that I (finally) hit the 30 lb mark! Oh yeah! This totally makes up for that gain I had last week.

I’m motivated now more than ever. Seeing that picture of me practically swimming in a shirt that was too tight for me just three months ago makes me wonder “what will I look like 3 months from now?” I still sit here in awe that this is actually working. Why oh why didn’t I decide to do this sooner?! I can’t change the past, but I can control my future and do you know what I see in my future? A longer, healthier life spent doing things that I used to pass on. I see a lot less excuses and a lot more LIVING!

So, I’m roughly 26 lbs away from my next milestone of being under 200 for the first time in14 years. (!!!) As such, I’ve set a new goal for myself to get under 200 before April 1st. That is the day I go for my final weigh-in for the 911 Fitness Challenge that I joined with Lynne. I’ll need to average about 2.3 lbs per week to meet this goal. I’m realistic enough to know that I can’t control what number the scale chooses to give me on any given day, but I can control what I eat and what I do to make sure I maximize my chances here, and that’s exactly what I intend to do!

Thanks so much for sticking with me on what’s been one of the greatest rides of my life so far. I certainly would have given up already had it not been for all of the support, inspiration, encouragement, motivation, and the occasional kick in the a$$ that I have gotten from all of you, and of course, my family. xoxo

p.s. I bought a new tank top and shorts today since the ones I have been wearing in my progress photos are so loose now. You can see me sporting them in today’s picture on my Photo Page. Heh, I think I like the really loose tank better, it hides more!

14.5/500

Today I weighed in at 229.9 which means I gained 2.1 lbs for the week bringing my total weight loss since 9/28 to 26.1 lbs.

Well, that burst my bubble. To be honest, I’m really bummed today. I worked out harder last week than I have before and not just since September, but in my whole life. I mean, I walked at a faster pace than normal, I jogged, I even did an hour of kickboxing class on Thursday that I’m STILL sore from for crying out loud. Not to mention, I was right on target for my calorie intake as well. I was tempted with quite a bit of junk food last week that I successfully resisted each and every time. So, yes, I was hoping for a really good loss this week since I stepped up my intensity, but I go and gain TWO pounds? Whiskey tango foxtrot!?

My T.O.M. can be very irregular so it’s hard for me to tell if it’s coming or not, but I’m kinda hoping it is because at least then I can chalk the gain up to water retention…or something…it certainly wasn’t due to my lack of trying.

Don’t worry, I’m not giving up or letting this get me down, but man, it’s depressing. I just need to find my fire again, because something like this really has a way of extinguishing your flame. So, it looks like I’ll be stepping up my intensity this week. Part of this will include Zumba. Zumba?! Yes, I’ll be adding Zumba to my routine this week. I didn’t even know what it was until my sister told me, but apparently it’s a pretty good workout that’s fun too. I plan to also do the kickboxing class again on Thursday. So, hopefully between that and pressing on with my jogging/walking intervals, maybe, just maybe, I’ll see a loss next week.

Before I go, I wanted to tell you about the strangest nightmare I had the other night. It wasn’t my standard ’someone’s chasing me and I can’t move or scream’ nightmare…it was me DRINKING A PEPSI. How odd is that?! We were out at a restaurant and I instinctively ordered a Pepsi and drank every last drop of it without even thinking about it. It wasn’t like I drank it knowing I shouldn’t or anything like that…I drank it guilt free so it was as if I forgot about my “diet” or worse had quit altogether. I woke up so freaked out about it and was very thankful once I realized it was only a dream and I was still on track and hadn’t had any soda in real life. Well, if you think that’s strange, I had a similar dream again last night! Except this time it was fries. Not only did I order and eat a large fry from McDonalds, but I started munching on my daughter’s as well like it was nothing. No guilt, no justifications, just freely eating like I used to before I made the decision to change. Again, woke up freaking out until I realized it was “just a dream” and hadn’t really happened. Am I crazy or what?! Have you ever had these kind of nightmares during your weightloss journey, where you see yourself ‘failing’ or worse just giving up???

7/500

Today I weighed in at 227.8 which means I lost .2 lbs for the week bringing my total weight loss since 9/28 to 28.2 lbs.

I am not surprised by such a low number given my lack of exercise over the last couple of weeks. If anything I’m surprised it’s not worse. But, there’s no sense in dwelling on what I should’ve or could’ve done differently. As my grandma used to say, ‘If if’s and but’s were candy and nuts it’d be Christmas all year long!‘ Today is a new day and I’m movin’ on!

For breakfast this morning, I had 4 small pancakes and scrambled eggs thanks to my lovely husband who brought me breakfast in bed. It was a very nice surprise and a wonderful way to start what was sure to be a miserable Monday being the first day back after a 4 day weekend!

For lunch I had a fresh fit meal from Subway, the 6″ turkey and ham. They have the new value meals for 3.99 and the sub is 300 calories when you have it without cheese or mayo (which is how I eat mine anyway). I also had baked lays and a bottled water. I had brought my gym bag (thanks again Jody!) with me to work today with the intentions of doing some kind of exercise on my lunch hour, whether it be resistance bands or just walking the stairs back and forth, but my plan got thwarted! My bosses decided to stay in for lunch today. Gah! I am NOT exercising around them! Uh-uh! No way! So there went that.

Tonight my husband made stir fry for dinner. It’s one of my favorite meals! Lately when we have it I’ve been eating mine without the stir fry sauce…it’s not high in calories, but OMG at the sodium! So, I’ve just been eating the veggies and meat with no sauce…tonight though, I gave in and ate the sauce. If anyone knows of any stir fry sauce that has a reasonable amount of sodium in it, please let me know. We currently use Kikkoman brand.

Well, I’m off to the gym to try and burn my calories for the day! Hope you had a fabulous Monday!