Feeling better & making a plan.......

I'm feeling better now that I have had 2 colds back to back in the last 2 weeks. Not fun. I'm feeling run down but getting back to myself.
Everyone is making plans for Thanksgiving Day eating. My plan will be to eat what I want without going over board. The key is to only eat the things I really, really want (for my body) I love veggies and turkey! As for the sweets I will be choosy and just a small amount to be satisfied. If I go over my calorie amount I'm not going to beat myself up. I will be back on plan the next day and moving in a forward motion.
My weight has been sitting right around the same for a while now and I need to figure out what to do to give myself a boost to lose another 25-35 pounds. I will be looking into some different exercise DVDs.
Does anyone have any good ideas for a plateau boost?

trying without ceasing....

I have chose to make my weight loss journey a life change and with that I am not on any "diet". I am continuously trying to make good, healthy choices regarding the food I eat and the activities I do. I mess up all the time!!! But, I am still trying without ceasing! I am never giving up...even though some days I really feel like it.

I have been feeling really guilty that I don't really deserve the HYC badge that I have. Every time I lose enough to get it, I gain a little bit back. So, I am debating on how long I should keep it up with out really deserving it. Part of me really wants to keep it up because I did work hard to get it but, the other part of me says no, you don't deserve it because you didn't work hard enough to keep it.
Ooooooh, the agony. :)

I had a challenging workout last night...mentally and physically challenging. I had to remember and perform part of what I learned for my Black Belt test. I have not done any of it in 2.5 months, I have been working on all new moves. I made it through. Then in the second class I got to work on my current moves and teach some stuff to a new student. It was great!

I'm off to look for a healthy lunch choice.....wish me luck.

weigh-in Day...

Today was weigh-in day for me and I stayed the same. I'm not surprised that I didn't lose, I had a bad week last week. I am so glad I didn't gain though.
Today is a busy day for me and I'm feeling a bit scattered so far.
I'm looking forward to training tonight....Tuesday was a good workout and I'm hoping it will be a good challenge tonight too.
My calorie choices for today have not been the best so far but, I still have time to make good choices. I had a cheese bagel w/fat free cream cheese and sausage for breakfast. I also had a mocha and doughnut for snack. Lunch and dinner are yet to be known. Better choices I hope.

Have a great day!

Last week...

Last week was not so good. Weigh-in day was depressing....I gained 1.5 pounds! I'm getting so tired of losing, gaining. losing, gaining. Over all I'm still going down but, I wish I could be more consistently losing. I'm in a slump. I am having a hard time making good choices throughout the day. Feeling emotional last week too.....and that doesn't help anything!!!!

Ok.....I'm feeling a bit better this week. Three days of making great choices in a row. My calories are on track and I got in 2 hours of good training last night and looking forward to another 2 hours tomorrow night. I'm trying to get myself into a habit of getting in a workout on my off-training days. I used to do this when I first started losing weight but got out of the habit when I started training everyday for my blackbelt. Now I need to get back into the workouts that I did before. Last Monday I did circuit training and loved it but, couldn't do it this week because my kids needed to be somewhere else at that time. I will try to do it again next Monday after the karate class that I teach in the mornings.

I am so thankful for all of you out there that struggle with the same things that I do. Good days and bad days we are all still trying to keep our heads above the water.

The lesson of the day at karate was:

We are responsible for how our day goes.
If it is raining we can be sad that it is wet out or, we can be glad that the grass is getting watered.
Instead of whining that you have to go to work, be happy that you have a job.
Instead of grumbling that you have to clean house, be thankful that you have shelter over your head.
It really is true our whole day revolves around our attitude about everything.

I'm having a good day today! I hope you are too.....and if you aren't, there is still time to turn it around. :)

Training secrets and weigh-in Day...

Yesterday was weigh-in day. I lost 2.8 pounds this week. It feels really good to have a loss after staying the same for 3 weeks. what feels even better is that I am back down to 75 pounds lost!! I only saw it for one week in September then gained 2 pounds back and stayed the same for awhile after that. I am so happy to be back to 75 pounds lost. Now I just need to keep it off!
I got a new HYC badge and added a healthy heart to my healthy hearts chart. I also got to check off another goal. (I added a few more goals so I would have something to work towards too.) I took a new picture of me 75 pounds down.

I got in a bit more exercise this week outside of my training days since my training intensity has gone down. And the number of days per week that I was training has gone because 2 of the 4 I am teaching now.
Sooooooo...........now that I am on the subject of training............I have been feeling guilty for not sharing with you more about my training. I trust you with my eating habits but not with my training.....what's up with that?? Well, I didn't share in the beginning because I struggled with other peoples comment when I would tell them so I just decided that I would keep it to myself. But now I realize that was based on my insecurities. I know none of you are judgmental and would only support me. I did start another blog about my training but, I rarely write on it now...... one day I will have the whole story down for you to read. I accomplished a major goal this summer and really want to share it with you.

I EARNED A BLACK BELT IN KARATE !!!


Yes, you read it right. Me, a 45 year old overweight mom of 4 got a black belt in karate last month. I have trained for 5 years to get it. The last 8 months have been the most intense training ever to finally go through a 2 hour test to get my black belt.....and I passed!!! (part of the reason I have not had time to blog) I know you will all forgive me for not sharing and I will be free to share more about it now that I have that secret out in the open. When I first started I was at my highest weight and any time I would tell someone that I was doing karate they would just look at me and say..."you???? , don't you have to be in shape to do that??? So, I quit telling anyone and started getting in shape while I was doing it and lost 75 pounds in the process.
I would love to answer any questions you might have about what I do...please ask.

So now you know that is why my training has decreased....I have started a new rank, first degree black belt, and it is less intense than the highest degree of brown belt.......for now that is .....while I am learning the moves. And now that I have a black belt I can help teach new students. It has been so much fun helping people learn the moves. I love teaching.

I have gained so much from doing karate. I think the number one thing has been confidence !!!! Confidence that I can do it and it has helped with my weight loss so much! I train with a great group of people for the most part....there is one that gives me a bad time every now and then but, I have learned that even physically fit people have insecurities about themselves and like to put others down to make themselves feel better. I just need to push on and be happy with myself and the things that I'm not happy with I am trying to change. And besides....I got my black belt now....ha ha!!!!!......Oh, sorry did I let that slip out??? I will work on my attitude! :)
There has been a lot of ups and down though the process of training for a black belt for 5 years with physically fit people and teenagers with attitude. I am trying to write it all down and if I ever get it down I will share it with you.

I had so much fun telling you all the good news I almost forgot I was going to to write about the bad eating day I had today. My meals were healthy but, I had some really unhealthy, high calorie snacks today....like cinnabon "center of the roll" cup with a hot mocha at mid morning and a bit after that I had a cookie. Then I told myself "ok, everything is fine I will eat healthy the rest of the day......and I did.....until dinner time, I was snaking on cheese and crackers while making dinner. I don't snack while I cook anymore. And then after dinner I caved and had ice cream and another cookie. I better not keep this up or I will lose that nice new badge.

Tommorow will be a good day!!

Tuesday training day...

I get to go train in a couple of hours. I'm so excited to get to train tonight. Last week I only got to train one night because the other class was cancelled. I really miss it when I don't train. No matter how I'm feeling when I go to train, I always feel better afterwards. I can see how people get addicted to exercise or running....it makes you feel so good.

I went to visit a friend today and had a nice visit and a cup of tea. It's amazing how people treat you different when you lose weight. She thinks I have somehow changed and I'm not the same person, like she doesn't know me anymore. How can losing weight make me different.....I still feel like the same person inside.
Has anyone else had this happen to them?? How do get them to see you are still the same friend?? It is affecting our friendship.

Well, I better eat lunch and get ready to go.
Hope everyone is having a great day!

A great day for a walk...

Today was a great day for a fall walk. My daughter and I went for a walk today. We took the dog with us and my son went half way with us. It was very refreshing to breath in the fall air. I love this time of year. I really do not like the hot weather of the summer. I have been tolerating the heat a lot better lately though......maybe because I have lost weight or maybe because I make myself work out in it.....who knows?? This summer I did double training classes at 5:00-6 pm and 6:00-7pm when the heat is so bad in the building....no air conditioning what so ever!!!! HOT HOT HOT! sweat, sweat, sweat I only felt like passing out 2 times through the whole summer. I stayed on track today and had a great walk!

Good Friday...

Today was good. I ate well, stayed in my calorie range, drank my water, and got in a bit of exercise. I can't believe I did all of that in one day....I'm so proud of myself. It's been a while since I've gotten everything in that I need to do in one day. Mainly I lack in daily exercise, and then there is the daily strugle with the calories but, I am not giving up. I am worth taking care of myself. I deserve to be healthy. ;).
I can do this!!

Weigh-in Day...

So, here it is again..... weigh-in day. It seems to come so quickly sometimes. Ok...I'll get it over with.....I stayed the same again. I am disappointed but, not at all surprised.
I've been telling myself that I need to make some changes to get the ball rolling but I'm just not making progress. I have some good plans in my head, I think, just not put into action yet. I'm not giving up though!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I went to train on Tuesday night and worked hard...that felt good to get that in but was overall in a down mood and feeling stressed. No training class tonight...it has been canceled. I'm bummed about that today. I went yesterday morning to teach and had a blast. I'm really liking teaching the new students and when I get a chance I love to help fine tune the ones that have been there awhile, like I did on Monday.
My goal is try to get in more exercise this week and keep on my calorie count as usual.
I did make more time to blog this last week and I'm glad for that......the inspiration and encouragement really helps.
I can do this and I'm not giving up....I am worth it!! :)

Hope everyone had a better weekend than I did! I haven't been feeling very good this week and I'm extremely tired. I already had a migraine this morning.....what a way to start a Monday!
I have really been trying to curb the sweet cravings but, this morning I gave in to temptation.....I started the day with half a brownie and a cup of mocha.
I better get ready to go, time is ticking away and I have a training class to get to this morning so I can help teach. (Tomorrow I will go to train)
Have a great day!

Weigh-in Day...

Well, I think the sweets are catching up to me. I Stayed the same this week....no loss, no gain though either. I will need to work harder this next week if I want to see a loss. I think I need to do some changing around again of calories and exercise. Or maybe it's that I just need to get more serious and motivated. I don't mind small and steady losses but, I'm really slowing down here. I need to do some reading about how many calories I should be eating to lose weight....I know most of you are good at this...how do I keep the weight coming off?? What is the lowest amount of calories to be eating and still be healthy?? I always heard you should never go under 1200 but I'm getting close to that and I still have quite a bit of weight to lose. How do I keep lowering it?

I went to train tonight for about 1 hour & 45 min. with some stretching in there. I had a good time. I am a bit sore from my arm curls yesterday though. My goal is to get back into 2 classes by next week then I will get in 2 hours of training twice a week and then try to get in 30 minutes of some other movement on the days I'm at home. We'll see how that plan works out.

Healthy lunch followed by chocolate....

I did it again after lunch. I ate a healthy lunch and then ate a bite of brownie and a small piece of chocolate. I am going to keep working on this. I did not go on a sweet binge so I can be happy about that.

I am not training on Wednesday mornings any more because I am now teaching. I have a new beginner that I help teach things to. I still do warm ups with everyone but not a full hour of training. When I came home I did some arm curls and leg lifts today as I watched The Biggest loser. I did about 40 minutes. I feel good about doing that and not just sitting there. I am working on getting in some exercise at home again. Last night I had a good training hour and worked on a lot of new things.....laughed a lot trying to do new things but, laughing burns calories too......right???

Sweets...trouble!

I'm having trouble with sweets this week. I have been craving sweets lately. I never really had trouble with sweets before but, lately I have been wanting sweets after every meal that I eat. What is that all about?? Then I end up adjusting my calories to accommodate the sweets and it doesn't leave much for good healthy food. I hate how it makes me feel at the end of the day. I get bloated up and sometimes I get jittery after I eat something sweet. Then I drink more water to hopefully flush out my body.
What is wrong with me.....I need a healthy alternative! I think it actually started a couple of weeks ago when our neighbor came back from India after being there for 5 months and brough back 2 boxes of Indian sweets. They are like ground almond and ground cashew fudge. And the other one is like crispy pie crust with layers of lemon and licorice....indescribable yumminess!!!
Well, needless to say no one in my family liked them except me. I did limit myself to one a day after the first couple of days but I think that set me on a sweet craving..??
Ok....enough of that.
I am trying to get in more exercise this week. My summer training schedule has ended and I need to get a new plan. I used to try to get in 30 minutes of moving each day at home on the days I'm not training. I think I will try to do that again. I love to play DDR and Wii Fit. My bike has had a flat and I haven't rode it all summer. I like to walk too. So, I have options, I just need to get my rear in gear!!
Have a GREAT week!

It's been how looooong???

Wow, It's been so long since I posted or updated my tickers that they are gone!! I updated one of them but can't get the other to update. I guess I will have to post a new one now.
I have been so busy all summer long. I am trying to get settled into a fall routine right now.
I realize how much I miss all of your support and encouragement. And how I miss encouraging all of you too.
My weight is still going down (ever so slowly - topic for a future post). I hit 75 pounds lost on September 9 and did not post it. This week I am up 2 pounds so I didn't think I should get a new HYC badge till I get back down and take the time to post it. That is my mini-goal right now...to get the 2 pounds back off and keep them off so I can get that new "75 pounds lost" badge!!
Hope everyone is having a GREAT week.
I would love to hear from anyone who is still out there.

Wow..I can't believe it...

I finally did it! I reached my goal!! I never ever really thought I could do it but, with the help of all you bloggers and others that encouraged me I finally made it! I have set a new goal of 30 more pounds and that will put me at 100 pounds lost. I do not have a final goal in mind because I have never been thin and have no clue what to expect at any lower weight than I am at now. I weigh less than I ever did in high school right now so I can't even go back to memories of then...and before that I don't recall too much about size or weight...that was more than 30 years ago. I will go for another 30 pounds lost and see what I feel like and look like then. I am pretty short 5'2" and know that I could lose another 70 or so pounds for my height but, I have a lot of extra skin from being so overweight all my life and I'm not sure how that will play into my weight ??? just don't know right now.
I do know that I am not stopping what I have been doing and I feel great! I love being active and healthier!!! I wanted to share this big milestone with you all I got to check off several goals achieved...
70 pounds lost
25% of my weight lost
added another healthy heart
got a new HYC badge
I'm so excited today!!!
How should I celebrate??? I rarely reward myself.
Have to get going to go get ready to train tonight.
WOO-HOO for me. :)

Positive thinking...

It has been sooooo long since I have posted. I am still working on being healthy and slowly losing weight. I have been working on extra training classes for the summer. I was hoping that it would help me lose a bit faster but, not so far. I have been trying a new thing more lately......it's called "positive thinking". You've probably heard of it before and most likely already do it. I have been trying to put it into practice more in my life to help me achieve my goals and it really makes life a little happier!
Hope you all are having a great summer and staying healthy and positive.

Bad weekend...

I had a bad weekend with food. I started out everyday doing well on my choices. By the night time though, I over ate everyday. I can't believe I did that and, Had a potluck that I went to on Sunday. You guessed it ...I did not have any self control and I overate.
When I weighed in today I was really surprised to see that I had lost .4 of a pound. If I had eaten better on the weekend I could have lost more. Well, life goes on and I have been much better the last couple of days.( except today...high calorie day)
I went to Starbucks and a bakery today and had a piece of chocolate raspberry cake. (went out with my friend)
Hope everyone has a better weekend than I did last weekend. I will be working on self control and making healthy food choices and moving on to better days.

Weigh-in Day...

A quick post today. I lost 1 pound last week to get me below 65 pounds lost and was able to get my new badge from HYC. I love it!
This week I gained .6 of a pound but, not worried, it is water weight. I started feeling bloated the day before I weighed in.
Next week should show a loss.
I'm still working on getting healthy and making healthy choices and exercising at least 2-3 times a week. With the weather improving I can't wait to get outside a bit more.
Hope all is well with everyone and you are all making healthy choices.
Have a GREAT week!

Unexpected challenges....

Saturday was mine and my husbands 24th wedding anniversary. We were going to go to town and just spend some time together not big plans but, spending time together is the best plan. I ended up facing an unexpected challenge when it came to eating lunch. I had eaten oatmeal with a spoon of yogurt and a half of a banana and coffee. A pretty typical breakfast for me. After eating I got ready to go to town and in the mean time our son made plans to go to a friends house so it was getting late and I was getting hungry for lunch but I wanted to wait to eat because I wasn't sure if we were going out to eat for lunch or for dinner or both and I wanted to plan out my calories and not overeat for the day. Well it ended up that I waited too long to eat and got extremely hungry. My husband asked me what I wanted and I said I would probably go get a Taco bell taco (170 calories) and the apple I had in my bag. This way I could save the most of my calories for a sit down dinner but, he didn't want Taco bell he wanted KFC and I wasn't sure what they had that I could eat so I suggested that we go to the grocery store deli and he could get his fried chicken and jojos and I could get something healthy. Sounded like a good plan till I got there. I did not see anything in the deli that looked even remotely healthy! I could not believe it. I was getting so hungry that I could not think. I looked in the produce for celery but it was too dirty and I didn't want to eat it that way. I looked at the pre-made salads but they didn't look very good and were too expensive. I was starving and didn't have a plan....what was I going to do?? I decided to get a cheese stick and some reduced fat wheat thins and eat my apple with it. I thought that would be a good lunch and it would fill me up. My husband got a bit ticked that I wasn't getting a "real lunch". I just didn't give in and stuck to my decision. So we ate a quiet lunch in the car. I felt so much better after I ate. About 3 hours later I started to get hungry again and didn't want to wait so long like last time so I started to tell my husband that I was getting hungry. He was not hungry at all because he was stuffed with fried chicken and fried jojos and not really feeling very good after eating it. He wanted the fried chicken because I don't buy it anymore and he was really wanting some but, after how he felt eating it he did admit that he needs to rethink eating fried chicken again. I didn't want to make him eat again just because I was hungry but, if I ate now I wouldn't be hungry for dinner when he was and we would not have a good dinner date. I talked him into sharing a dinner with me....he never wants to do that because he likes to have his own food and I don't like to go out any more because I don't want to overeat. So, we ended up going out to eat for dinner and shared a plate of grilled shrimp tacos and 2 cups of chowder. It turned out to be very nice and he saw that he could share a meal with me and feel good about it in the end. Our son's friend gave a card for our anniversary with money to go out for dessert at a little patisserie in town the thought of that was a challenge too but, we went. And guess what.... it was great! We ordered the chocolate mouse tort with kalua whipped cream....and surprise.....we shared one. We ate it out on the patio at a small table in the sunshine and had a wonderful time! At the end of the day we went to a movie with no popcorn or pop.....just two mini dove dark chocolates.

I had some challenges for the day but overall I worked them out and stayed within my calorie count and had a wonderful time with my husband.

I posted a new progress picture today and can't wait to weigh-in tomorrow to see if I made it to 65 pounds lost!! I'm so close.

Hi everyone...

Weighed in yesterday....I lost .8 of a pound. Well, I guess it's a loss. I was hoping for more but I will take it. I am below the pesky 2 pounds that I have been fighting now and hoping to get lower to get to my ticker goal. I am so close to losing 70 pounds now. I never in my life thought that I could even get close to reaching that goal. When I reach it I am not stopping, I have been trying to think of a good weight to get to and I haven't got a clue. I have been asking around to see what others weigh and I seen to be about 20-30 pounds heavier than others at my same size. (or they're not tell the truth) So, I think I will just set a new goal but be flexible with the number and try to go for a size.....not sure what size yet but, I think I will know when I get there.???

I missed class on Monday and went on Wednesday and worked out pretty good. I did some exercise at home last night on my own and then today I did alot of house work and then dug and shoveled gravel for a couple of hours....oh, the blisters on my hands hurt. I've been trying to stay busy.

When I'm not busy I have discovered The Biggest Loser Australia online videos. I know this is terrible that I just discovered it but you have to understand I don't have any TV so I don't even get to watch the US version except when NBC releases a new episode once a week. I love it and it has been so fun to watch. My kids watch it with me and sometimes my hubby.

Missing the encouragement...

I miss all the encouragement and inspiration you all give me. I have realized that I really need the support. I have been doing o.k. but your encouragement helps so much more than without it.
I usually have one day a week that I allow high calories and yesterday was that day for me. I ate way too much bread. I'm shocked that I ate it but, I'm moving on today. Bread is a weakness for me. I used to eat toast everyday after highschool... lots of toast. I usually allow for bread in small amounts in my calorie count so I don't feel like I can never have bread again. And I like all kinds of bread....not just white fluffy bread so now when I make a choice to have it I like to choose a grain bread (my favorite)....still full of calories though.
I have updated my weigh-ins. I lost 1 pound this week. I have been battling the same 2 pounds for a month or so now. I really need to break through and get down below where I am now. I only have a few pounds left to lose to get to my ticker goal and I really want to get there so I can set a new goal.
Hope you all are doing well and moving in a forward motion. Never look back just keep on going.

Good, bad, and ugly...

Last week I had some good things happen. I went to my class on Wednesday and did pretty good for not being there in almost two weeks. I blanked out on a couple of things but made it through. I'm sitting at class right now and am going to go get a head start as soon as I'm done posting. Another good thing that I did last week was buy some Greek yogurt. I know it is not new to any of you but, I have not ever seen it around here. I did enjoy it alot and liked the fact that it is fat free and double protein. The calories are half of what I have been eating, and I eat yogurt almost every day.
Ok, now the bad. I gained 2 pounds last week. After that I kinda went into a carb overload. It wasn't intentional...every day I tried to make good choices but by the end of the day I was over my calorie limit and mostly from "evil white carbs".
Now the ugly. I have been puffy and bloated (hormones don't help) and feeling miserable.
I'm going to exercise today and get some fruit and veggies in. Oh, and lots of water.
Hope you all have a great Monday and beginning of the week.

I'm not lost...

I'm still here......just lurking in the background for a quick bit of motivation or inspiration every time I get a minute out of my very busy life. I have not taken the time to post because my brain is in such a whirlwind I can not seem to quiet it down enough to think about what I want to post.
So, here is a quick update of where I am. I am still losing, ever so slowly, but still losing. I have lost about 5 pounds from the last time I posted. I have been missing my exercise class the last 3 times for different reasons. One day I had a migraine and only got in half an hour workout. I have been on the move way more that usual though.
Hope everyone is having a great week and I hope to get more time to post soon.

Last weigh-in of the year...

My last weigh-in for 2009.........I gained 1 pound!

OK...not what I wanted to have to post but it is the truth. I kinda knew I would have a gain this week, I have not been eating very healthy in the evenings and I have not exercised all last week.

I am not going to dwell on that 1 pound gain. I am moving on and ready to continue getting healthy....one little step at a time. I have been eating healthy for 2 days now and staying with-in my calorie allotment for the day. I have even exercised twice this week......so far.

I found some pictures of me before I started eating healthy and decided to post a comparison of then and now. I added them to my progress pictures page too.

This first one is a before and now picture of my face.


My husband took a picture of me on Christmas day 2009 (after my sponge bath and soup-pot hair wash) and then I found an older picture of me on Christmas 2007.


I may not have had a loss on the last weigh-in of the year but I have had a loss for the year. I am thinner now than I have ever been as an adult. My losses are not big and I would never win on the biggest loser but, I am still losing. I am worth it and I will get healthy!