Coming Clean

I hit my first weight loss goal on February 6th and was able to go buy my iPhone on February 13th. Since this was also around the time of my birthday celebrations my weight loss efforts haven't been exactly a they were, but the fact that I haven't gained the weight back is huge. It means that this is truly becoming a lifestyle change. I am proud to say that I am now back on track this week and working toward some yarn.

Having the iPhone has helped me to keep motivated in this healthy lifestyle. It was a huge reward for a little bit of progress and I don't want to move backwards on that progress. It has also encouraged me to listen to podcasts about healthy living, and I found Fat2Fit radio. I have been listening to their back episodes for the past week and am extremely motivated in keeping up with this lifestyle change no matter how slow the progress.

One of the episodes talked about listener blogs. I don't know if I'm ready to put my blog up on their website, but they did encourage bloggers to not remain anonymous while blogging. I feel like I have been very vague when it comes to my weight, only posting how many pounds I need to lose to get to my next goal as opposed to the actual number on the scale. As scary as it is I think I need to post the actual scale numbers, so here goes.

Starting weight: 210
Current weight: 197.8
Current goal weight: 194.9
Ultimate goal weight: 145

My first goal that got me the iPhone was to be under 200. My goals are set at every 5 pounds because if I look at that bottom number and my current weight I can get a little discouraged, but if I look at the middle two numbers then I know I am close to something.

So now I have come clean on my true weight, guess I should do a weekly post with my progress, and maybe advertise my blog more. I really can't give up this lifestyle if others are reading about it.

The Value of Menu Planning

I have been a real stickler for menu planning since starting the overhaul of my eating habits at the beginning of the year. In fact I even bought a planner for the sole purpose of writing our weekly menu in it. For some reason I did not plan the menu for this week and it has been obvious in my eating habits for the week.

I think the main reason I didn't think it would be necessary to write out the menu was the fact that I was planning to use a preset dinner menu from a magazine this week. The dinner menu comes from the current issue of Self and even includes a grocery shopping list.

I figured that I would keep up with my turkey wraps for lunch and have a smoothie or oatmeal or an English muffin for breakfast. Because I had it all figured out in my head I didn't see the sense in actually writing it out. I was wrong.

Since I didn't have specific lunches planned I also didn't bother fixing my lunches the night before. Same with my breakfasts. This has all culminated into a sort of food disaster at work today. I had every intention of having an English muffin for breakfast this morning, in fact I even brought the butter for it. But when I reached in my lunch bag for the muffin it wasn't there. I had forgotten to put it in the sandwich bag in my rush to get out the door. I went to the vending machine at work and got a fiber one bar instead, but this was not a good way to start my morning.

Also, my lunch is leftovers from yesterday's lunch that I'm praying will be enough to fill me up.

Lesson learned, I will be menu planning for next week on Sunday.

My Amazing Husband

It's Valentine's Day and per my usual non-like of Hallmark holidays I ignored it until the actual day. I feel like all of the pink and red stuff in the stores that are supposed to represent the love my husband and I have for each other fall short of that goal. There are no material objects that can truly represent our love, except for our wedding bands.

I do want to say that I have the best husband ever and I am so thankful that he puts up with me.  I hear other women complain about all of the little annoying things their hubbies do and I just smile because my husband doesn't do those things. Most of the time it is me doing those things. I am blessed beyond my deserving that he puts up with it.

There are so many reasons why I love my husband and I'm going to list a few here.

1. He shows his love for me daily
2. He puts my needs before his
3. He encourages me to reach my goals
4. He will be weird with me
5. He does the dishes all the time
6. He makes me coffee in the morning
7. He puts up with my mood swings
8. He works two tough jobs so we are financially stable
9. He never fails to make me smile
10. I can truly be myself around him, no questions asked

Those are just a few of the reasons I love him.

Happy Valentine's day honey! I hope this is better than a card, and we will go buy you some baseball cards tonight. Maybe if I pick the pack you will get the squirrel.  

Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái

Today we celebrated our first Chinese New Year as a married couple.  We put up a couple of decorations in our apartment and I hung a decoration up in my cubicle.  Then we went over to the in-laws to have dinner.

It is fun to celebrate my husbands culture and I look forward to opening our red envelopes next week.  But boy is it hard to turn down food from my mother-in-law.

Admitting Defeat

I have finally decided to admit defeat to the scale.  I no longer want the scale controlling me, or when I decide to reward myself for healthy living.  I want my focus to be on living a healthy life with portion control, clean food, and an active lifestyle.  If the scale does not want to cooperate with me and go down in numbers then I do not want that to deter me from continuing with my healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle is more important than the number on the scale.  I can not let the number on the scale depress me and make me lose motivation.  In the past I have given up on living the healthy life because the numbers weren't going down so I wasn't able to get the reward I wanted to give myself.  I would give up and just purchase the reward and go back to the inconsistent diet I was at before. 

I got frustrated the other day when the numbers on the scale went up.  It was at this point that I just wanted to give up, admit defeat.  But I gave myself a challenge this year, to do a different magazine diet every month and I can't give up on that challenge less than a month in.  So I decided that I needed to keep plodding along with succeeding in the challenge.  Then I got to thinking how unfair it would be if I kept on with this challenge with no reward, other than feeling a bit more energy and healthier.  I came to the conclusion that I would reward myself for following the healthy lifestyle for 2 months.  So every 2 months I get a reward no matter what the scale reflects, as long as I can honestly say that I was striving toward a healthy diet and active life.  If I hit a goal weight then the two months start over.

Now I honestly want to keep up with this program, knowing that no matter what I will get my iPhone on March 2nd.  Even if the scale doesn't go where I want it to go I will still get my iPhone.

3 Pounds

I am really focused on losing 3 pounds right now.  I know I need to lose more than that, but these three pounds will put me below my upcoming goal weight.  Plus they are the three pounds I was unable to lose last year.  I still have like 50-60 pounds to go after these 3 pounds, but right now all of my vengeance is on these 3 pounds.  When I lose these 3 pounds I can go buy myself an iPhone (I know, big reward for small goal but it works for me).  Not only am I rewarding myself, but I have then pushed myself past an almost year long plateau.  I am then getting a lot closer to fitting into more of my clothes, and just generally getting closer to a better body. 

Three pounds may seem silly, but right now it is driving my motivation. 

Rewards and Motivation

So far this Magazine Diet is working, but of course it has only been a week.  I'm starting strong with the second week though and I'm determined to see this month through.  I know I went over my calories today and I will again on Saturday, but that is because the meals were beyond my control.  I did control as much as I could though and I'm proud of myself for not just throwing in the towel entirely and not giving myself a pass for the night.  I will be praying for the strength to do the same thing on Saturday at the potluck.

When I was browsing Pinterest the other day I saw a pin for a 2012 Resolutions Bracelet.  I was getting really excited about the idea and was about to buy one when I remembered that I bought myself a gorgeous faux pearl ring on New Years Day. 

I decided that this ring would be my 2012 Resolutions Ring.  I wear it every day and it is motivation to me.  I think about wanting to lose enough weight that it will fall off.  Maybe I will buy myself another pretty ring when that happens.

I also get highly motivated by rewards, so I have decided on three rewards for myself.  I will get my first one when I have lost about 4 pounds and kept it off for a week.  The other ones will follow every 5 pounds.  Without further ado, my rewards in the order which I will receive them.

1. iPhone

2. Yarn from Loopy Ewe

3. A Pedicure

I'm hoping that I will be able to get the iPhone for my birthday which is February 10th.  If I keep making progress like I did last week then I will.  It will also mark me breaking through a plateau that I feel like I have been at for a year.  No matter how hard I worked out or how little I ate I just haven't been able to get under a specific weight.  I'm looking forward to when I reach that first goal.