A month later...

I haven't posted a blog lately because things have been a bit hectic. Brian and I went on vacation two weeks ago and had a lot of fun. When we got back I started an 11 week weight loss elimination challenge that includes calorie burn and rep challenges. Plus food challenges on top. This is a good thing for me, because I love challenges. This gives me something to shoot for. I want to make it as far into the 11 weeks as I can. I am currently in week 2.

Another thing that came up shortly after we returned was an opportunity to have a free booth at a craft fair, but here is the catch, the fair is on August 4th. That gives me a very short time to put things together. I have made soap and am working on wash cloths and other knit items.

I will post more details about all of this later, but for now enjoy this picture of Brian and I at the hot springs in Banff.

My Story

I spend a lot of time encouraging all of my friends on My Fitness Pal. I know how discouraging it can be to do everything right to lose weight, but the scale does not seem to move at all.

It took me a long time of struggling with the scale to realize I was better off focusing on the things I could control. I knew that I could control whether or not I tracked my food or exercised. I could also control what I ate. As long as I was making healthy choices in the things I could control then I would consider all of my work a success. It didn't matter what the scale said.

I realized today that I started picking up this habit in high school when I was on chemotherapy. There were a lot of things out of my control at that time but I chose to focus on the things I could control. I could control whether or not I did my homework. I could control my attitude when I was at the doctors office receiving treatment. I chose to experience the journey as enjoyable of a life experience as I could.

That is the attitude I want to keep with me the rest of my life, always finding ways to make crappy inevitable situations the best that they could be.

The Difference

I have a couple of friends who are struggling with their journey to a healthier lifestyle. Seeing their status updates has me thinking about myself almost a year ago, August 2011 to be exact.

I wasn't happy with how I looked and I had started running and exercising and "watching what I ate". I was frustrated though because I wasn't getting the results I wanted. The pounds were not coming off in spite of all of my hard work. Eventually the holidays came and my exercise routine went by the wayside, but I was still frustrated that I wasn't losing weight.

At the start of this year I decided to give a diet program from Fitness magazine a chance. And it worked. Te eating plan was simple and the exercise routine was doable. I have relied on the structure of that eating plan multiple times because it outlined how many calories to have for each meal.

I have been on a roll ever since then. But the point of this post is the journal I have kept since August 2011. The first entries are very desperate and whiny. I wasn't taking control of the situation completely. There is a definite progression through this past year. Maybe one day I will type up my journal. But for now I can look back and see the change. I am now 21 pounds down and have a completely different lifestyle than what I had before.

Chugging Along-June Goals

I really need to get better about writing blogs when I have all of the great ideas in my head.  I have been listening to a lot of Jillian Michaels lately and she really has me thinking about why I gained the weight and the whole process of changing my lifestyle.  But of course my mind is at a blank right now.

I redeemed a Groupon for group training for the month of June and will be getting up bright and early tomorrow to go for my third class.  I'm exhausted at the moment but it is a great workout and I really like the trainer and hope to see some amazing results.

Without Further Ado...my June Goals

1) Be in the solid 180s by the end of the month.  I hit 189.6 over the weekend but I have a feeling the scale will bounce around a little bit before settling.

2) Run 1.25 miles.  I hope to gradually increase my running distance every month.  Hoping that I will be able to run at lunch even with doing group training at 6 am every day.

3) Focus on veggies.  I haven't been focused on these and it shows in my food diary.

4) Continue to track all of my food.

5) Aim for a minimum of 5,000 steps daily.

That is all for now.  More philosophical insight into this whole weight loss process at a later date.

I think I'm in love

I am knitting a scarf for Mr. Badango's Grandfather. I was going to do a simple mistake rib, and then a simple rib, and then seed stitch, but I ripped out every one of those after a few rows. I just wasn't happy with how it looked. Then I started playing and got the below result. I will post the pattern once the scarf is finished. But I have now set this picture as the background on my phone. I am in love with this scarf. It may not be let go of by me

Funny Work Pant Story

With all of the weight I have lost so far my work pants are starting to just hang off of me, well my jeans too but that is a different story.

I went to Target this past weekend to get some new pants for work. In my mind I have been wearing a size 14 this whole time so grabbed some size 12 pants and went into the fitting room. After much grunting and pulling and jumping around I finally got the pants on and zipped up. The thing is, I just couldn't justify buying them because they were too tight. I was really sad about this because I thought for sure the pants would fit just fine. I put them back on the shelf and did the walk of shame to Mr. Badango to let him know that I wouldn't be buying pants today. No sense in buying more pants in the same size I was already wearing.

I continued to be a little bummed about all of this until I decided to check the size on my work pants the next morning. Apparently I have been wearing a size 16 and the fact that I fit into the 12 means I have gone down two pant sized.

Meeting Goals

Okay, I have a confession.  I've been avoiding posting up my weight loss progress because I feel like it has stalled.  I weighed in at 192.2 this morning and am realizing that is down .5 pounds since April 24th.  The thing is, the scale has been bouncing around all over the place for the past few weeks.  One day it will be 190.9 then 191.4 then 192.2 then 190.3 then 191.6 then 192.2.  It is driving me a bit bonkers, but ultimately the low is getting lower and the high is also getting lower.  I may not get into the 180s like I wanted to this month, but I will be meeting my other goals that I set at the beginning of the month.

Goals for May
- Complete 30 DS- Working on it
- Get into the 180s- Eh, my body will get there when it gets there
- Continue to track all of my food- Been doing that
- Run a mile- Accomplished today and will continue to push myself to go further.

 I was reading a rant the other day from a woman who was upset about the rate the numbers on the scale were going down.  She knew that she looked thinner and her measurements told her so, but that number on the scale just wasn't going down.  I loved one of the responses and am trying to keep it in mind as I continue on this journey.

"So you've gotten physically and visibly smaller, right? But the number on the scale, which no one sees but you, hasn't changed? I don't see a problem here."

The number on the scale is only visible to me, and most people don't really care about that number.  What matters is that I am building muscle and toning up.  And whenever the fat does decide to drop off I bet I will have a 6 pack waiting for me.

Sometimes a break is needed

Thirty four days ago I joined a 50 day challenge and have been consistently meeting the challenge every day for those 34 days.  At this point I feel like I really can't fail at it.  The thing is, my body is rebelling and teling me that I need a break.  The past couple of days my food intake has been more and more unhealthy.  Not super unhealthy, but  I have been a lot more lax.  I have still been tracking my food and exercising, but it all culminated to today.

 My husband worked from 11am to 7 pm today.  I slept in until he had to leave for work then proceeded to sit on the couch and knit and read and watch tv until he got home around 8 pm.  I didn't bother to get up and do my 30DS dvd and I also snacked on the pastries he had brought home from work last night.  I didn't feel like I was eating too horribly calorie wise, but I really didn't care to track my food and find out.  I was also trying to figure out what type of slacker exercise I was going to do just so I could actually accomplish the challenge for today.

 I decided to track my food while we were driving to dinner for sushi and was glad to find out that I hadn't done too badly and I was able to control myself at the sushi place.  Then when we were leaving the restaurant hubby and I decided to go to the local shopping mall to do our usual walk around.  I counted this as my exercise for the day.

 It was a nice relaxing day.  I allowed myself to indulge and enjoy my hobby.  I didn't stress out about pushing my body and I ate the pastries I enjoy the most.  And at the end of the night I was able to say no when hubby offered me more pastries.  I also didn't allow myself to go full blown on a binge today.  I just didn't want to push my stomach to the point of being sick.

 I guess after spending 34 days focusing on exercise and tracking everything I eat, this whole healthier lifestyle thing is becoming habit and something I don't want to give up on, no matter how much I want to lax off and just be lazy.

 So I guess what I'm saying is sometimes we all need to give ourselves a break and trust that this lifestyle change that we have been working so hard on won't let us turn too far from it.  After all, the alternative to living a healthy lifestyle doesn't seem very pleasant to me.  I rather like the fact that I can climb up the two flights of stairs to our apartment without wheezing and push myself to run faster and faster during my lunch hour without being too sore to walk the next day.

May Goals

I have been participating in a 50 day challenge over on MyFitnessPal. I have to exercise and track all of my food every day for 50 days. I'm on day 22 and it is feeling like habit now.

I also joined another challenge to do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred in May. I am trying to figure out how to challenge myself to actually complete it. I'm thinking I need a good reward on June 1st. A pedicure should do it.

Goals for May
- Complete 30 DS
- Get into the 180s
- Continue to track all of my food
- Run a mile

That about does it. Happy healthy living!

Super Knitting Pig

A local art supply store also has a side art studio where they do art classes and events. My friends have entered many art pieces into these shows and Mr. Badango and I have attended several.

This time they did an open call for the art show and challenged artists to decorate a pig.

I sat on this idea for awhile, thinking about how I could knit a cozy for the pig. After talking to our friends at dinner last week I finally decided to go get a pig. Once I got it I stripped the paint and then painted it black.

And then a silver coat.

And then proceeded to start knitting and ended with this.

 

I feel like it is an ugly little thing, but then that was kind of the point of this little venture of mine.

Going Down

My weight is down again this week. I have been able to maintain the loss from cutting out carbs and my energy levels are back.

Last Week: 194.2
This Week: 192.7
Difference: -1.5
Pounds to next goal: 2.8

I'm excited about my progress in the past two weeks. My energy levels are through the roof and I find myself fidgeting all the time. I've read that burns extra calories.

In other news, I'm entering an art show. I will be knitting a cozy for a ceramic pig. More information about that later. And pictures.

The 17 (5) Day Diet

Last week I talked about trying The 17 Day Diet by Dr. Mike Moreno.  In concept the plan presented in the book is a great idea.  Cut out all of the sugar and the carbs for 17 days and then start introducing the healthy sugar and carbs during the next 34 days. 

Great concept, I just couldn't follow through on the first 17 days.  It wasn't that I was craving sugar and carbs, I just could not manage to get enough calories into my day, or have a balanced diet.  I was taking a nap every afternoon and my energy was just completely drained. 

By the time that Saturday rolled around I knew that I just couldn't keep it up.  I was enjoying the rapid weight loss (3.3 Pounds), but I was also missing the energy levels from before I started the eating plan.

I am thinking about trying it again next month, and maybe even taking 3-5 days every month to eat only food from the first cycle.  It will help to keep my body moving and motivate me with a big loss every month. 

I guess in summary, if you can make it work for you then do it.  The foods are healthy and his final eating plan in Stage 4 is what maintaining your weight should be all about and is my ultimate goal for how my diet looks.

A day late and 1.6 short

I wasn't sure what to write yesterday and then I got to the end of the day and fell asleep. So since I still don't know what to write, here are my stats.

Last week: 195.8
This week: 194.2
Difference: -1.6
Pounds to next goal: 4.3

As you can see, I hit my goal of under 195. Now I just have to stay under for a week and then I can reward myself. I'm thinking a pedicure.

For now I will just keep moving and making healthy lifestyle choices.

The Great Debate

I have been happy living my healthy lifestyle. I've been somewhat happy with the rate of my weight loss. And I know that it is a lifestyle change and eventually my body will catch up. The thing is, sometimes I get tired of waiting for eventually to happen. I get tired of the fact that it is taking me over two months to lose 5 pounds. I would love it if I was actually losing a pound a week, but I'm not. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with whatever weight I am losing, but I wish it was more and I get jealous when other people talk about how fast they have lost their weight.

I also remind myself A LOT that this is a journey and a complete lifestyle change, but when my dad introduced me to The 17 Day Diet by Dr. Mike Moreno I was a little intrigued. The food is basically the same as what I've been eating, just fewer fruits and more veggies which I've been wanting to do anyways. It also cuts out grains for the first 17 days, that part I'm not too enthused about because I feel like those are a necessary part of any diet. I'm also not too enthused about the fact that he discourages any exercise beyond a 17 minute walk every day. I'm going to ignore that bit of advice and exercise as much as my body will allow.

I guess my debate is with myself and why the sudden change and doing something for rapid results. Mr. Badango had the same question tonight when we were discussing what I was cooking for dinner. He told me that I was already eating healthy and he doesn't understand why I am now following another diet plan. I explained to him that this is basically the same diet I have been following, just a little bit more restricted. He didn't get it until I told him that I'm doing it because my parents wanted me to try it.

And maybe that is my answer. I am trying this program because my parents are worried and want to see me be able to drop the weight as quickly as possible. If I can ease their minds a bit by at least trying this diet plan then I will do that. My only hope is that I don't undo any of the hard work I have already been doing. I feel that I am finally at the point that my metabolism is kicking into gear. It would suck to screw it up again.

Moving Down

Last week's weight: 196.2
Current Weight: 195.8
Difference: -0.4

My weight is down and I'm at the lowest weight I have been in a while. And I have been here for almost 5 days or something like that. I am only .9 pounds away from my next mini goal and 3 days from it being two months since I was at my last one. I promised myself a reward for either meeting the goal or spending two months trying to achieve it. I never thought it would actually take me two months to lose 5 pounds but it is. I also don't think I want to cheat myself with a reward before I hit that magic number. I will wait until the scale says 194.9 or less for a week then I will allow myself to start a new knitting project.

I have started to become I involved in the social community at My Fitness Pal and it is helping with my motivation. It helps to have others encouraging me and to encourage others.

Going to Canada

Mr. Badango and I booked our flight to Canada last night. We will be going for a week this summer. I am excited to see a whole other country and to get to meet the rest of his family.

The problem is that reality set in tonight that I won't have access to my cell phone while we are there. That is seven days without Facebook, My Fitness Pal and Ravelry. 7 days without the ability to read the blogs I follow. Needless to say, I'm panicking. And I know how ridiculous it is that I am panicking. It is only 7 days after all. All of those websites will still be there when I get back. I have been aiming toward the healthy lifestyle long enough that a week off of my tracking website won't mean disaster.

I need to shift my focus from the inability to use my phone for all that I do to all of the new experiences I will be enjoying. Maybe this is what I need to help me unplug and focus on the important things in life.

I will miss having google at my fingertips though. I think that is what I will miss the most.

Weight Report

I was down this week. Stats below.

Last week: 197.5
This week: 196.2
Difference: -1.3
Pounds to current goal: 1.3

I don't think this is going to stick through tomorrow. I made a few bad eating decisions when I got home this evening and they may reflect on the scale in the morning. I also added a bit too much salt to dinner tonight.

I will keep trudging forward though and rest in the fact that I am ultimately living the healthy lifestyle I desire. I am exercising and eating healthy. Even my indulgence tonight was a vegetarian Chinese dish, Kung Pao Tofu. And I cut back on what I was planning to eat for dinner because I had eaten the extra food. Of course I should have said no to the tortilla chips Mr. Badango pulled out after dinner. At least those were multi grain.

I'm looking forward to my weigh in next week. Maybe I will hit my goal. That would make me very happy.

Habit

This whole lifestyle change thing is starting to feel like habit. It is a very good feeling.

I have been doing the 21 day program mentioned in the previous post. Mainly I am sticking to the exercise program and borrowing from the eating program. Most of the dinners don't really work for my life, but the breakfasts and lunches do. I don't know if I will be able to keep up with the exercise routine once the 21 days are up, but that will have to be decided at that time.

I am also uncertain of whether or not my weigh in will reflect my hard work tomorrow. I kind of had a bad eating day this past weekend and my weight was up a bit today. Only time will tell.

Weighing In

This has been an interesting week weight loss wise. My weight kept going up all week then stayed at a specific weight. I struggled with trying to figure out what to do next in this weight loss struggle. I feel like I have the healthy eating thing down but the weight just isn't coming off. The weight does come off however when I follow a strict eating and exercise plan. Basically I need to be told what to eat and how to exercise. When a plan is laid out for me I can usually drop some pounds.

Thankfully I found another plan to follow this week. It started with finding a new app for my iPhone. The app is called Nexercise and it not only tracks your exercises, but it also rewards you for exercising. So far I have gotten a free Propel Zero, free Zappos VIP membership, a $5 Best Buy gift card, and a PDF book called Shape 21 Lean Body Manual. I started that program yesterday.

After saying all of that, I stayed even this week but am looking for a good loss next week. The 21 day program promises 8-20 pounds lost. I would be happy with 5 pounds being gone.

Striptease Workout

I did the first Carmen Electra strip tease workout DVD tonight and didn't really find it all that challenging. I only worked up a small sweat and never felt like I was out of breath. I was going to count my whole workout for tonight as a wash, but my legs are already sore. Apparently all of that booty popping is a really good leg workout. She isn't kidding when she says that certain moves are what give her the booty she has. I will be doing the second DVD tomorrow. From the reviews I read online it sounds like it will be the try workout DVD.