The Start of the Last 20!

Its been awhile since I've blogged about me losing weight and I apologize...its been really crazy! So I hit 30 pounds lost at the end of the school year (June) and it felt really good to see. People have noticed and so have I. I have had to buy new shirts, capri's, long pants and swimming suit! Have I mentioned how much I LOVE to wear a bathing suit now! 30 pounds is GREAT and I started this journey with the hopes of losing 50 pounds (weighing 130 pounds). I don't remember the last time I weighed 130...it had to have been some time in Middle School, but 150 is still really good. According to my BMI I am on the lower end of being "Overweight." No where near Obese!!

I said I had lost 30 pounds at the end of the School year which was the beginning of June. I thought with the kids being out of school that I would have more time to exercise...boy was I mistaken!! I had hardly any time to get that in. I know, it sounds crazy, but its true! My days and mornings were full of making sure the kids did their chores, a lot of yard work (garden and lawn), weeding and having fun! Over the course of the Summer, I was able to maintain my weight...which makes me feel really good. I got on the scale on Tuesday and noticed I had only gained back 2 pounds. I have been eating what I want, but still keeping it in control. I still feel really good and am starting to exercise again. 30 minutes usually does me good, but with trying to lose 20 more pounds, I may need to increase my time again. I will wait a couple weeks to see what happens.

More than anything in the world that makes me happy, is that my husband told me he is going to start exercising too. It makes me sooooo happy! It might be the Hawaii trip we want to take next spring or it could be that he is really afraid of leaving this world so young and overweight. Whatever it is, I am glad that he is willing to make small changes to make his life better!

20 Pounds in 10 Weeks

I have been exercising and dieting for 10 weeks now. I have lost 20 pounds!! I am way excited. I was looking at some old vacation photos from 6 months ago and wow! I can't believe what I looked like. It makes me happy to see that I am making a change. I feel better and look better. I have been getting compliments from people so I know it is showing.
I went to go buy me some new crop pants. I bought a size 12. So nice to see that number again. They fit good, they just make my muffin top show more. Does anyone have any tricks for muffin tops?
I guess I need to start doing some sit-ups. My backs of my arms are flabby too. Looks like I will be lifting some weights or soup cans.
My hair is getting long and I have glasses now. I love them, although I am still getting use to them. They have a little diamond bling on the sides of my frames and that is what I am still getting use to. I need to get a cut and color...I will look like a new woman!! I am so excited.
I know this post makes no sense, but the kids are running around and distracting me. Its a day off today...they have way too much energy!!

Down 5 more!!

I am down 5 more pounds. I have to admit, I was a little sad. After a WHOLE month and only 5 pounds lost. I do think it is good. An average of a pound per week is good...I was just hoping for more because of all the exercising I have been doing. I do a mile a day on the elliptical. I guess I need to make it more a cardio workout. There are some preset programs that make you run faster with less tension. I started to do that this week.
I think I am going to start weighing myself every week. My diet is still going really good, but I have given in to a lot of things. A bite here, a bite there of chocolate or candy. My kids have leftover french fries and I have a few. At least I am not eating the WHOLE lot of fries or candy. I should be proud of my weight loss. Its less weight I am carrying around. If I start weighing myself every week I can look back to see what I did different and fix it NOW instead of LATER. I think it will help out a lot.
I went shopping and picked out an XL, tried it on and it totally did not look good. It was too big and long. Being a L was quite a surprise. Now if I can get rid of the flabby stomach that still is lurking things will be looking really good come summer.

The Weigh In

Its been 5 1/2 weeks since I started my small changes. It's paying off big time. I weighed my self in 1 1/2 weeks ago and I lost 11 pounds!! I was so excited. My pants don't even stay up. My shirts look better (because of a smaller gut/muffin top). It's coming off slowly and that is the way it should be. I would love to melt it off but it takes time. I hear that when you first start to exercise you build muscle first then the fat goes away. I sure hope that is the case.

My mom started to count points and in her first week she lost 6 pounds!! I wonder how much I really lost in that first week. I would think that if I am exercising that the weight would come off faster. Then that brings me back to the building muscle first. I must be building muscle, because muscle weighs more than fat, right? My mom is just losing the fat, right? I hope my thinking is correct! She does weigh more than me so that could be why it is coming off faster for her too. Making small changes for big rewards...they are coming!

It Worked!

The 30 minute program change worked. I wasn't in pain, but it made me sweat and work muscles. After Zumba last night, I had some minor muscle pain (not pain killer worthy). I know I am working those muscles if they are a little achy, right?

Working on the elliptical is working my butt and thighs really good. Zumba gets my calves and torso. I am loving that my so called "fat" jeans fall right off and I don't even wear them anymore. I dug through my closet and found my size 14's and they fit perfect. They're not even tight! They say to lose a pants size you need to lose about 20 pounds. That sounds about right. When I got married I weighed 155 and wore a size 10-12. Well, that sounds good to me!

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that my new church calling is Young Woman's Camp Director. I am a little excited now, I wasn't before. I was nervous! It will be lots of fun, and by losing some weight, I will be able to keep up with those girls!

Changing Again!

I got on my elliptical today. I have been doing a 20 minute pre-programmed program and then going for an additional 5 minutes. Sometimes I hit a mile or just under (.90-.95). I think that I have been doing really good with it. Then, today, I got on it and before I knew it, I was done with my normal workout and hardly even broke a sweat! I thought I was crazy. Did I really just do that? I wasn't even huffing and puffing.

I am changing my program again. I decided I was going to do a 30 minuted pre-programmed program and see where I get. If your not sweating, your not burning or working as hard as you need to (in my opinion). Also, there might be a plus to it...a "last chance workout" as they call it on the Biggest Loser. I weigh myself on Monday, so I have 2 more days plus zumba tonight to get off some more weight!

A LONG Weekend

It started Friday night. We have been having family movie nights on Friday. It is a lot of fun now that the kids are getting older and they actually watch "normal" movies instead of cartoon ones. The kids wanted a treat and I pulled out the candy from the food storage (good rotation move). There were so many of my favorite candies staring at me I couldn't resist eating a few...and I mean a few! I thought I did pretty well.  I was proud of myself and my self control

Saturday was the WORST! This kids earned some free kids meal for The Brick Oven. I am in trouble...PIZZA! If anyone has ever been on a diet they already know that pizza is the worst thing ever. It is one of those foods you can just eat and eat when 1 slice of pizza is a serving. I ordered a sandwich. It was very good and I will get it again. I split it into 2 meals (it was that big) and they also gave me chips and a giant chocolate chip cookie. I didn't eat the chips and I had 2 bites of the cookie. I succeeded again. I hope I can keep this up!

Later that night the candy came out again and I only ate a few. I am learning self control and I am very proud of myself.

Sundays are hard as well. Church is over by noon and then I have all day to relax. I made it once again, this time with no candy. I pulled out my yogurt delights instead. It gave me the sugar rush I was looking for and was very satisfying.

It has been the LONGEST weekend ever. I know that if I made it through this weekend I should be able to make it through the rest of the weekends.

I have one more week before I weigh myself. I am very excited. If you care to make a guess, just leave a comment. There is no prize, but it will let you know how much work really goes into losing weight. My first goal is 10 pounds. I hope I made it!