i AM a 135 lb. woman!

Back on the right track

2009-01-11T14:09:00.002-05:00

I think I may have finally gotten back on the right track. After weeks of struggling to get back into my healthy eating routine and mentality, I am finally there.

Last week I decided to do Weight Watcher's Core plan. (I'm actually afraid to try the new Momentum program until I'm back at goal.) The Core plan usually works for me and allows me to drop a significant amount of weight in a short amount of time. The thing that I think makes me successful with this plan is that it is more restrictive that the flex plan, but allows me to eat more. It helps me to have to be very disciplined. So far, I've dropped about 3 lbs from last week's official weigh-in. I will weigh in again on Tuesday...so, hopefully the success will remain and not fluctuate higher.

Still struggling to maintain

2009-01-03T11:48:00.003-05:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted.

To catch you up... I knew I was going to be going on a 7 day cruise in October so I tried for several weeks to lose extra weight to make up for the weight I knew I was going to gain on the cruise. I didn't want to feel guilty about having the fruity drinks or desserts! Anyway, that never happened. I went on the cruise and gained 7 lbs! It took about 3 weeks to get that weight back off and in the meantime I felt awful...physically. I felt sluggish and just plain icky.

Add to that the fact that my beloved aerobics instructor quit just before my cruise making my exercise plan sporadic and just plain "off" once I returned. Oh, I almost forgot, I went off the pill at this time, too. (I just turned 40 and my doctor decided to cut me off). So, I had lack of a consistent exercise plan, fluctuating hormones, and a lingering "cruise mentality." It shouldn't have surprised me that after losing the 7 pounds I put on 9 during Christmas and New Years!

I'm extremely thankful for Weight Watchers meetings. I go regularly and if it weren't for those meetings I would doubt that I would be able to get back on track. But, I know I will. I have lost 3.2 of the 9 lbs gained and have made it a goal to lose that and more by April.

One of my goals for 2009 is to continue posting here on a more regular basis. I hope my weight loss journey is helpful to some of you.

Happy New Year.

Struggling to Maintain

2008-07-24T20:46:00.003-04:00

I have been hovering around 138 lbs for a couple of months now. It has been a real challenge to keep under the 137 lb mark so I don't have to pay for my WW meetings!

I am going on a cruise in October and actually hope to go 5lbs below my goal weight (to 130) so I don't have to skimp so much. This girl is looking forward to the fruity drinks w/umbrellas by the pool!

I'll keep you posted.

I made Lifetime!!!!!!

2008-03-07T21:30:00.003-05:00

Wow! That was the longest "six weeks" of my life! Literally...from October 9th until February 26. LOL

February 26, 2008 was an awful day! It snowed, and snowed, and snowed. I went to the gym early that morning and, voila! I actually weighed at my goal weight. I was ecstatic. You see, that day was my regular Weight Watchers meeting day. Tuesdays are usually a run-around day for me with my business. I often spend the day running errands and going from point A to point B. So....knowing that I had to go to point A, it was fiercely snowing and my regular meeting might be cancelled, and there was a Weight Watchers center near point A....I decided to weigh in that morning. I figured if they did not cancel my regular meeting I could go anyway and celebrate. BUT....if they did cancel my meeting and I didn't get to weigh in while I knew that I was at goal....I would have been one unhappy puppy!

So, I went to the WW center, stripped down to my tank top (and jeans...it was cold so I didn't wear my regular lightweight pants) and YIPPEE! I weighed 135.2 lbs!!!! I had lost 4.8 pounds in one week. That is the most I have ever lost in one week. I really don't know HOW I did it, except that I switched to Core that week. But, I was out of town most of that week eating at restaurants. I personally think the loss was divine. LOL.

So...my weigh in qualified me for Lifetime membership in Weight Watchers. Now I only have to weigh in once a month, can attend all the meetings I want, and don't have to PAY anymore!!! (Unless I'm over my goal weight by 2 lbs or more.)

I weighed in again on March 4 and weighed 135.6 lbs. So, I did well at maintaining this week! :-)

Yay me.

One More Week!

2008-01-31T19:53:00.000-05:00

I weighed 136.2 lbs this week! YAY! Only one more week to go on maintenance!

I WILL do it!

:-)

Frustration

2008-01-23T08:01:00.000-05:00

After a year and a half of Weight Watchers, I FINALLY succumbed to frustration! I have been hovering around 138 lbs for over a month and can't seem to go lower. I have two more weeks left on my six weeks maintenance program and have had for quite some time!

I quickly got my thoughts under control again...where the mind goes, the woman follows. I CAN reach lifetime membership. I CAN do it in the next few weeks! I HAVE lost 53 lbs. I KNOW what to do!

I'll keep you posted.

A little Yin to go with the Yang

2008-01-02T18:59:00.000-05:00

Since I posted my fat pictures, I need a skinny one to make me feel better.
53 lbs and Lasik surgery later (oh, and a little peroxide,too)...
This photo was taken a week or two before I made my goal weight. I was about a pound or two away.
I think losing the weight made me look ten years younger!
By the way..."fat" is relative. To some, the weight I was at below would be a positive improvement or place in their weight-loss journey. For some, 135 lbs is still fat (they're either short or live in California LOL). But, just know that as I was "passing through," I was THRILLED to be at a size 14. (When I hit size 12 I actually cried in a fitting room.) The bottom line is that we need to be at a weight that is healthy for us, and be HAPPY while we're there!

My Fat Pictures

2008-01-02T17:48:00.000-05:00

Voila! This is me in my obese glory. I was over 200 lbs in most of these pictures.

Maintaining in the midst of everything!

2008-01-02T17:23:00.000-05:00

When you are on Weight Watchers, you go through several levels of accomplishments. First, you set (and reach) your 10% weight loss goal. Next, You set your final goal. When you reach your final goal, you then go through six weeks of maintenance while you learn how to eat and maintain your weight loss. You can go no more than 2 lbs. over your goal weight during the maintenance period. If you do, you get an extra week added to your maintenance program.

I have been on my six week maintenance program since October 9! :-) I have two more weeks to go. Keep in mind, however, that I refuse to stress out and deprive myself of fun foods (in moderation)....especially during the holidays! I actually think that that is paramount to my overall success.

Once I reach lifetime status, I no longer have to pay for my Weight Watchers membership, but can still enjoy all of its privileges. I am truly looking forward to getting there!

I will keep you posted!

New Pictures

2008-01-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

We took new family Christmas portraits this year....I couldn't stand seeing my fat picture on my mom's TV any longer!

I hope that she'll replace it with the new one. LOL

That reminds me to let you know how important it is to take pictures of yourself as you lose weight. Be comfortable with the NEW you. If you learn to see yourself as the new skinny person, you are more likely to stay that way!

Have a wonderful New Year!

I REACHED MY GOAL!

2007-10-09T17:25:00.000-04:00

That 135 lb, on-the-dot mark eluded me for more than a month. But I persevered! I reached my goal on October 9th! Now, I get to work on maintaining that weight. I'll keep you posted.

Throw Away Those Old Clothes!

2007-08-18T08:46:00.000-04:00

I truly believe this is paramount to success in weight loss. Get rid of your old, "fat" clothes! Big, baggy clothes make you look fat...really! As your clothes start to get baggy, go get a couple of pairs of pants that fit and get rid of the ones that don't. Wearing clothes that fit and look good on you will keep you motivated to continue on.

But, "this can get costly," you say. Is it better to sabbotage your weight-loss efforts? And, really, you can keep the cost down by employing a couple of strategies. First, try local consignment shops and The Salvation Army. These are good places to get a few pieces to tide you over until you reach the next size. If you are attending weight-loss meetings, you might ask if anyone else has just "passed through" the size you need. Perhaps you can get a clothes-swap organized? Then, perhaps you can treat yourself to a shopping spree when you reach your final goal and replenish your closet with beautiful, well-fitting, smaller-sized clothes.

Above all, do not save your old clothes "just in case." In order to succeed, you must believe that you will NEVER go back to the "old" you. "Just in case" will never happen!

The Power of Positive Thinking

2007-08-16T13:28:00.000-04:00

There is a book by author Norman Vincent Peale that dealt with this very idea. I'll take it a step further...not only is it good to think positively, it is imperative for your success.

Inspirational speaker, Joyce Meyer, encourages listeners to "Speak those things that are not as though they are." This is actually a biblical principal that she shares to encourage us to think AND speak positively. Thoughts CAN determine outcome.

In 2003 I decided I had had enough of being obese. I weighed over 200 lbs, had a hard time climbing our stairs without becoming winded; I actually felt OLD. I pulled out a Weight Watchers cookbook that detailed their old Quick Start plan and started to follow it. I was able to lose 35 lbs. At that time I thought, "I would really like to weigh 150 lbs, but that is more than 50 lbs away!" I hung onto my "fat" clothes and thought negatively of the chances of my success. While I lost 35 lbs, I still had nearly 20 to go before reaching that 150 lb. milestone.

I was able to keep the weight off until my mom became ill in the summer of 2004. Then, out of stress, I began eating unhealthily again and the weight slowly began to creep back.

Fast forward to 2006. All through the year I had tried, unsuccessfully, to watch what I ate and exercise. At a routine visit to my doctor in August, I was weighed in at 188 lbs! That meant that I had put back on a little over HALF of what I had lost! I refused to accept that and pulled out the Weight Watchers book again.

Convinced by my full year of unsuccessful attempts at weight loss, I decided I needed to actually go to the Weight Watchers meetings. I officially joined in September, 2006 and weighed in at 182.8 lbs.

While the 150 mark remained in my head as a "wishful" goal, I decided that I would be much happier smack-dab in the middle of my healthy BMI range...that put me at 135lbs. That truly seemed unnatainable. Taking Joyce Meyer's advice, I begain to speak those things that were not as though they were. I often said out loud, "I am a 135 lb. woman!" I even used that when facing a difficult food choice, "What would a 135 lb. woman do?"

After I reached my 10% weight loss goal, rather than set my "ultimate" goal of 135 as the next milestone, I decided on 150 lbs as a first goal. I never had any intention of stopping there, it just made it seem less difficult to reach. Afterall, I WAS a 135 lb. woman trapped in all that flab. I just had to chip it away.

I now have .8 pounds to go to reach my Weight Watchers goal....I now don't have to speak it "as if it were," it is now reality! I AM a 135 lb. woman!!!