2011 Resolution recap

On first glance, my 2011 resolutions look like a total bust. I managed to keep up with Project 365 for about a month before I realized my life is sooo freaking boring I didn't think anyone would be interested in what I did each day, you know?

Resolution 1: Pay off 3 more credit cards this year. We paid off 2, so that's close!

Resolution 2: Lose at least 26 pounds and get below 200. Confession time: I have been to the gym, like, 3 times since July. I'm still paying attention to what I'm eating, though. I also haven't weighed myself at the gym (what I consider my official weight) since, like, October. My weight then was 205. At my mom's a few weeks ago I was at 203. So it's probably safe to assume I got pretty darn near my goal and I am so pleased with myself for this. I dropped almost 2 jeans sizes (from a 16 to a 14 as of July/August and even those are getting a little loose...)

Resolution 3: Read 5 books on youth ministry/faith. I read Weird and The Christian Atheist, both by Craig Groeschel. I also read Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss with a group of ladies I worked at the bookstore with in a Bible Study we had going for a while (and that I hope we'll resume real soon). 60% of that resolution... that's at least passing, right? ;-) The Groeschel books were FANTASTIC and I highly recommend them, especially Christian Atheist. Gave a lot of food for thought. The book's subtitle is "Believing in God, but Living as if He doesn't Exist." Powerful, right?

Resolution 4: Project 365. Haha. Yeah, right.

Weight Loss Journey Update

I haven't updated on my weight loss journey in a while.

I don't weight myself weekly. I determined from the beginning that this was going to be a lifestyle change in me, not something that was a fad or a fleeting thing, so I didn't want to put a lot of pressure on myself to lose a certain amount in a certain time frame. My goal was 30 pounds in 12 months. If I lost it all in 6 months, great. If it too the whole 12, that's great too. If I didn't make it all the way, then... well, that would be a bummer, but if that was the case I'd just try again.

I started weighing myself every other week. Now it's more like once a month. I lost a LOT those first two or three months and I didn't want to be disappointed when I wasn't losing as quickly towards the middle and end. And you can see that I actually gained 2 pounds at one point. I didn't let it slow me down. We'd had a lot of snow days (and I'm a boredom eater) so I just reencrouaged myself to keep going. Here's my breakdown:

Jan. 1: 228.0

Jan. 16: 222.6

Jan. 31: 218.4

Feb. 16: 219.6

Mar. 6: 220

Mar. 27: 217.6

Apr. 10: 216.8

May 24: 211.8

My total weight loss so far is 16.2, which I think is pretty gos darn good. We're about halfway done with the year and I'm more than halfway done with my goal.

One of the most popular questions I get is "How are you doing it?"

Honestly, it was a total attitude change. I knew I was a boredom/stress eater. I knew that potato products are my weakness (seriously... I have no problem passing up ice cream or a Snickers bar, but ask me if I want the tortilla chips or the fries with my entree and I will almost always cave). I knew that I needed to get more active. I knew that if I didn't have a gym buddy, I wouldn't get there regularly. SO I found checks and balances to those things before I started all of this.

1. I tracked my diet (not diet like lose weight diet but like everything i eat diet) for about a month to see when I ate and what I ate and how much I ate. I found that I often eat mutliple servings of things. Like, I would just fill a bowl until it looked "full enough." With our Jambalaya, for example (we eat it a lot in our house), I was eating at least twice as much as I needed to and feeling full. I desperately needed to change that.

2. After I tracked everything, I revamped what I ate. I now use mayo made with olive oil, fat free cheese, fat free yogurt (which I was already eating -- I like the Yoplait, or Weight Watchers brands and Aldi has 2 yum flavors that I like in their Fit & Active line). I incorporate more fruits and veggies into every meal (the fruit isn't hard, it's the veggies that are hard because I don't like many). We drastically cut our "eating out" budget so that we're eating at home more (saves money AND calories because I have a drive to finish everything on my plate since I'm paying for it all, you know?) I continued to track for 3 months every single thing that went in my mouth. I don't track anymore but I probably will start again soon.

3. I drink water. I cannot stress this enough. I was never much of a soda drinker, but when I'm stressed the fizziness definitely soothes me. Needless to say, I drank a lot of soda throughout most of Sept-Nov because I was so stressed at my old job. Now I use a water bottle or a cup (I have this cute one from Family Christian and desperately want another one) all day every day. I fill it (or have my kids fill it) 5 times in the course of my 10 hour work day. When I want some flavor, I use the Crystal Light packets. I like the Strawberry and Grape ones and also the Raspberry Lemonade.

4. I hit the gym at least 2x a week. Sometimes only once, sometimes 3x, but 2x is a definite because I go with a friend. Towards the end of April I was so busy with church stuff that I regrettably have to inform you that I didn't go to the gym for a while. Shameful, I know. I was actually shocked when I got on the scale and had maintained my weight. Anyway, I go with my friend L on Sunday afternoons and we do about half an hour on the elliptical machine. This is our time to catch up on the week's happenings in each other's lives because when we meet up on Tuesdays we take a class. For a while I was trying to get in a third day swimming in the pool but I'm so wiped after work that I haven't been going. now I'm off on Thursdays, though, so I'm planning on utilizing those days from now on.

On Tuesday nights, L and I go to BodyFlow. It's a tai chi, yoga, and pilates combination and at first I was skeptical. A lot of yoga has its roots in Eastern religion cultures and finding your center in yourself -- a lot of things I theologically disagree with. But the first night we were there -- Valentine's day week -- the instructor played Shadowfeet by Brooke Fraser (of Hillsong) and it was like God was saying, "It's okay for you to do yoga. At the end of class we have a 10 minute period where we just relax (seriously -- what other class can you do that in??) and I often use that time to pray and meditate on my church's Dwelling scripture for the week. Very cool. Anyway, I feel like I get such a workout every week and I really want to take a second class. I'll probably start taking the Saturday morning class at my gym.

4. I'm not too hard on myself. I think this is extremely important. I never had a terrible self image to begin with, but I wasn't happy. I didn't like how I looked in photos, and I could only imagine what I would look like once I got pregnant and gained x amount of pounds. I also wanted to just be in better shape. We have a conference coming up in July in the Rockies and one of the things we do is hike a mountain. I want to do that and accomplish that without dying in the process. I also am a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding in October and I want to look nice for that.

Anyway, back to the not being to hard on my self. That month where I gained weight was just motivation to keep going. So I backtracked for a few weeks. It's not the end of the world. Just keep pressing on. I also still allow myself a few things: regular ranch (because I think FF ranch is just NASTY), a candy bar every now and then, and a "calorie binge" every few weeks. Want to eat half of a pizza? Go for it. As long as it's not a daily or even a weekly thing, your weight is not going to balloon. And, yes, I still have my bad days where I feel like I"m CONSTANTLY eating, but I just get back on my horse the next day.

This journey isn't just about losing weight. The weight loss is a number I put on the assignment so that there was something tangible to track. I'm losing weight so I can get into shape, so I can get pregnant, so I can buy new clothes (YES!), and so I can build healthy habits I hope to pass onto my children. But mostly, what I'm finding is a confidence in myself that I didn't know I lacked. I thought I was confident and that I didn't have a body image issue, but the fact is that I did. And in the last 6 months, I have found a part of me that wants to be pretty and now I feel pretty. I am more conscious of what I'm wearing, I fix my hair, I'm starting to get more interested in fashion jewelry, and I feel sexier (to the delight of J, LOL).

I still have 6 months to go. I know there may be a weigh in here and there where I've gained a bit and that's okay. It's not the end of the world. I'm really enjoying this journey. I'm enjoying my BodyFlow class. I love that I can see one of my best friends 2x a week.

And I love that new clothes lie at the end. =)

Slimmin' on Down

It's been slow going, but I officially weigh 10 pounds less than I did at the beginning of the year, which puts me well on track to lose 30 pounds this year.

It got a little unsure there for a while -- I think I've only been to the gym five times this month (used to be three times a week) because I got so busy. I was still paying attention to what I ate, though, and while my weight went up about a pound a few weeks ago, I lost 2 pounds overt the last two weeks.

My best friend is getting married in 7 months and we went to try on bridesmaid dresses recently and I realized 2 things: 1) I'm excited about the weight I'm losing and 2)I really miss my swimmer arms. So while my goal is still to lose 30 pounds, I'm also focusing on getting those arms back. =)

And because I like cute videos, check out this video of a cute baby who is part scared/part amused by his mom blowing her nose:

Snow Day for My Birthday

St. Louis is getting hit with a snowstorm of "historical proportions" according to the news. We got some freezing rain today and they're calling for almost a foot of snow tomorrow. A lot of schools called snow schedules. My center even closed at 12. And now it's closed tomorrow, along with practically the whole city. So I get a snow day for my birthday. Woo hoo!

So here's what's been happening in life for the last two weeks:

1. I read a good book. I didn't even realize it was a Christian fiction book until I saw who the publisher was. Fireflies in December was written by Jennifer Erin Valent and it takes place in Virginia in the 1930s. Jessilyn's family takes in Gemma -- the daughter of their black farm foreman -- after her parents are killed. To them, it's not big deal, but to the town of Calloway, VA, it is a huge deal. Jessie and Gemma have to look hatred in the face and be courageous in their own beliefs. I absolutely fell in love with Jessilyn and Gemma, and couldn't put the book down. I wanted to keep reading and was disappointed when their story came to a close.

2. I lost another 4 pounds. That puts me close to 10 pounds down since the beginning of the year. This totally keeps me motivated to keep on truckin' with watching what I eat and how often I get to the gym. I'm pumped.

3. I filed our taxes. We're getting just shy of a grand and it's all going to pay off 2 more credit cards. This is also keeping me motivated to stay with the "snowball effect." Once those are paid off, we'll be making $150 payments to a card that "only" has about a $400 balance on it. At this rate, we could have a decent chunk taken out of our credit card debt by the end of the year. Woo hoo!!

Some Success

If you're my friend on Facebook, you know this already, but I wanted to report it here anyway.

On January4, my weigh in was 228 on the nose.

On January 16, my weigh in was 222.6.

Which means I've already lost 5.5 pounds. If there was anything to keep me motivated going to the gym, it was those 4 little numbers.

I'm 1/6 of the way to my goal of 30 pounds and I'm ecstatic.

To be honest, I haven't changed much in my eating habits except that I'm more aware of portion sizes and I'm incorporating a fruit and a veggie at every meal. I'm even trying new veggies, which if you know me you know that that is a BIG step. I am also trying to cut out soda because there was a while there where I was having at least a 32 oz. from the gas station by work every day. In all honesty, I think I've had 32 oz ALL YEAR so far.

Here's a snapshot of my Spark Page, which summarizes my progress for the week.

Reolution Quick Update

2 weeks into the new year and here's how things are going:

Weight Loss
I have made it to the gym 7 out of the last 14 days -- roughly every other day. I'm so excited for myself, LOL. I have a gym buddy, too. My friend L decided to join Gold's and we go together. I'm not doing a whole lot at the moment, just the elliptical for about half an hour and some sit ups but it's a start and it's getting me in a routine. I'm finding it harder to get myself to go, though, now that youth group has started back up. It was easy to go in the evenings after work but now I have to go straight to church, so that's going to have to be reworked. But L and I go on Sundays after church, I'll go on Mondays on my day off, maybe Tuesdays, and Fridays after work. I think that's how it's going to work.
I'm also tracking what I eat. I'm not changing anything drastically just yet -- I want to journal my food and figure out my eating habits and then I'll go from there. Plus, I really want to get in the habit of going to the gym regularly. Getting into one good habit at a time, LOL. I use SparkPeople's app on my Android phone to track my food and exercise in one place. I use Run Keeper Pro to post my workouts to Facebook. I've had maybe a total of 30 oz of soda all year. Still lots of Kool-Aid, but baby steps. I still have had a whole lot more water than I've had in recent months.

Project 365
I've only skipped 2 days. =) You can see a slideshow of my project here. Or visit my Picasa album or Facebook album. They're the same, so don't feel like you're missing something.

Why I Want to Lose Weight

My New Year's resolution to lose 30 pounds is a typical one. A lot of people resolve to lose weight to be healthier, to lose "baby weight," whatever... I've resolved to lose weight several times over the last few years and I did manage to shed about 20 pounds before my wedding.

Here's a photo of me in my junior year of high school. I weighed approximately 175. This was the year that I did marching band in the fall and swimming in the spring, probably the most active I've EVER been. (Not the greatest photo because it was taken at camp and it was taken on film -- yeah, way back in the middle ages of photography, LOL.)



Now, I have no desire to be *that* skinny again because I honestly feel like I looked, well, GROSS that small. My goal weight is around 195. It is probably still more than I SHOULD weigh, but it's about 30 pounds less than I weigh now, so it's a good start.

Anyway, the reason I want to lose weight isn't entirely to look better, feel better, and be healthier -- though those are all good reasons. The real reason is that I want to start my family.

(Beware: this post might be heading into "TMI" territory.)

No, I'm not pregnant and no, we're not trying. However, it's probably going to take a while for that to happen. My cycles have always been weird. I was regular in that I knew exactly when my period would be, but that was the irregular part -- it was every three months, AND it would last 2-3 weeks and be incredibly heavy (like, going through a super plus every hour and a half). Talk about annoying, frustrating, and just plain gross. My OBGYN at the time didn't seem to think much of it, and she put me on birth control to regulate my cycles. It was wonderful. I went from 3-week long periods to three-DAY long periods. but nothing was addressing the CAUSE of the irregularity.

When I married J, I switched health insurance and had to switch both my OBGYN and my GP. In my FIRST visit with my new OBGYN, he pinpointed what I had thought was wrong with me. He referred me for a blood test, which confirmed the idea. I have PCOS.

PCOS stands for "Polycystic Ovary Syndrome." You can read about here, here, and here, but basically I have a higher level of testosterone than an average women, which leads to a hormone imbalance which leads to a few issues, most apparent is the cysts on one or both ovaries. They aren't cancerous and they don't affect my health at all except for the fact that it impedes ovulation.

Another issue it causes is glucose intolerance. This could mean diabetes or it could mean hyper/hypo-glycemia. I'm at a higher risk of high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which in turn increases my risk for heart attack, stroke, etc. All my cholesterol levels and stuff checked out okay when my GP referred my for MORE blood tests shortly after the diagnosis (except my Vitamin D levels... more milk drinking for me, I guess!) and I'll get it tested every 5 years. I'm not too concerned about that issue because I'm not, like, morbidly obese or whatever.

My biggest concern is the fertility issue. It's not IMPOSSIBLE for me to get pregnant, but it will be tough -- I don't ovulate regularly (if at all... I tried temping but didn't stick with it long enough to figure it out) which obviously makes conception fairly tricky since that's half of the equation. However, in my info quest shortly after I was diagnosed, I read a lot about women who have lost weight and had success conceiving on their own. Not a significant amount of weight -- just 15-20 pounds made the difference.

So that's my motivation. J and I agreed to be married 2 years before really considering starting our family. That date is coming up in March and I know that we aren't ready. But I would like to reexamine it next March, on our 3rd anniversary. Hopefully by then we'll be thousands of dollars out of debt, I'll be 30 pounds lighter, and we'll both be ready to start a new chapter in our lives.

Resolution #4: Project 365

I had heard about this previously and always thought, "That would be neat to do...." then would promptly forget about it. A girl on the STLWed board, Chrissy, posted that she would be doing this and I figured since it was Dec. 30 there was no way I would forget about it this time. So I set up a Picasa album for it and have a slideshow for it set up on the tab above. I'm not going to inundate you with a new post and picture everyday, so check ^^^^^^^^^^^^ up there if you're interested.

I'm doing well so far and I hope that this is something fun I can look back on. I had a really cool photo for yesterday from ice skating with the youth group, but I accidentally deleted it off of my card, so yesterday's photo was more entertaining than "look what I did" but oh well.

2011 Resolutions

You may recognize one or two from last year but here's my list:

1. Pay off three more credit cards this year.

2. Lose at least 26 pounds to get back down to below 200 pounds. (Yes, I really do weigh that much and yes, I am embarrassed to admit that on the internet.)

3. Read 5 books on youth ministry/faith.

4. Do "A Year in Photos." (See a later post dedicated to this.)

I think I'll end it there. 4 seems like a good number, especially with how ambitious a couple of them are.

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL New Year's. May God bless you in 2011!