My Motivation

Today I need to remind myself why I'm taking this journey. Who am I doing it for? What am I going to do to stay on the "straight and narrow". I've been slacking a LITTLE. By some miracle of God I stayed the same during weigh-in on Friday (at 283.2), but that's not enough for me. I need to be LOSING. It is too early to hit a plateau!

Firstly, obesity runs thick in my father's side of the family. This has lead to diabetes, cellulitis, congestive heart failure, and a wide variety of other issues. My paternal grandfather passed away in his 60's due to heart disease. My paternal grandmother currently suffers from congestive heart failure and has been in and out of the hospital more frequently over the past few months. An aunt on my father's side passed away at the age of 44 due to her obesity, leaving behind a young daughter.

While we're on the subject of bad family history, my mother's side carries a strong gene for diabetes. My uncle passed away in his early forties from a heart attack while in the hospital for something related to his diabetes. My mother herself has an underactive thyroid (causing a slow metabolism) and high blood pressure. We also have a history of cancer on this side of the family with my maternal grandmom passing in her early fifties due to breast cancer.

All the family history aside, Rob and I would really like to start a family within the next two - three years. However, being obese and pregnant holds some really high risks: hypertension (high blood pressure), preeclampsia and eclampsia (hypertension and the presence of protein in the urine, which can affect both mom and baby), gestational diabetes (babies risk problems such as being large for their gestational age, which may lead to delivery complications, low blood sugar, and jaundice), Cesarean delivery and postoperative complications.

Wow, after I went back to proofread this, I realize it's time for me to get my booty back in gear. The odds are stacked against me, but I know I can beat them! Plus, Rob and I HAVE to have a baby soon so "THE MOMS" can stop bugging us about when they're going to get grandchildren!

Weekend Woes! 282.0

Friday Dinner: Don Pablos "Tejas" Combo (with Refried Beans and Corncake)

Saturday Breakfast: Chocolate Chip Pancakes and Sausage

Saturday Lunch: Leftover Don Pablos

Saturday Dinner: Large Extra Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza (at 10PM)

Sunday Breakfast: Cheese Omlette and Biscuits with Grape Jelly

Sunday Dinner: Chicken Fingers with Mozzarella Cheese Fries and REAL Pepsi

Somehow, after eating all that crap this weekend, I still managed to lose 1.2 lbs. Will wonders never cease?

Day Thirty-Four: 283.2

I am so so so so proud this week, so I'm gonna boast about myself!

I have really been watching the foods I am eating. I am sticking with appropriate serving sizes and not snacking horrendously late (8PMish). Aside from the night I ate two S'mores, I haven't had anything particularly "bad" for me. I even ate celery sticks and Ranch dressing for snack last night! Crazy, right?

I have exercised every single day this week. On Monday Rob and I did a workout in our gym. Tuesday Diana and I did two videos for one hour of cardio, thanks to Exercise TV. Wednesday night was another workout in the gym and this morning Diana and I did a Leslie Sansone 2-mile walking video - WHEW!

My hard work has paid off. So far I have lost 2.2 lbs. since Friday. My "official" weigh-in is tomorrow. I am going to give my body that extra day to catch up on ounces/lbs. before I report my "official" weight loss for the week.


Yay, me!!

Day Thrity/Thirty-One: 283.2

Day Thirty:
Today I dug out a shirt that I love, but stopped wearing because it was a little too snug. I am happy to report that it actually feels good on my body. Usually I stop wearing things when they are too clingy across the stomach (my biggest problem area). I'm like a child, pulling at my clothes constantly, rearranging, trying to make myself comfortable, etc, but I haven't touched my shirt once today. Yay!

Day Thirty-One:
I love my husband, but I never realized what a slavedriver he is! God bless him for that! He and I decided on a 5 lb. goal this week - and we are GETTING IT DONE! He's a great motivator for me, because when I get mad during my workout I feel like I can yell and he understands, but he still won't let me stop.

I finally got the stickers I wanted from Dollar Tree (FYI - I am OBSESSED with dollar stores) to decorate the gym. "If you can dream it, you can do it." Cliche, I know, but it keeps me motivated when I'm grunting away on the elypitcal.



Last night we did a 40 minute circuit workout in our "gym". We switched between 10 minutes on the elypitcal and 10 minutes on the weights. We switched four times, so we both ended up doing 20 minutes of cardio (elyptical) and 20 minutes of lifting. Well, actually, I set the timer wrong, so he ended up doing 25 minutes of cardio and I did 25 minutes of lifting.

Pre-workout... Notice I am still smiling...

...and post-workout when I wanted to KILL my husband...
...oh, yes that IS a fan I'm holding...

I guess all the sweating and grunting was worth it because when I weighed myself this morning I had lost 2.2 lbs (since Friday)!!

Day Twenty-Seven - 285.4

I LOST A POUND I LOST A POUND I LOST A POUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After another week of struggling with exercise I am finally back down to a total
loss of 10.6 lbs.

I realized today that I am eating too many Lean Cuisine "crispy" items. I love that little revolutionary, not yet trademarked, patent pending grilling tray!! I'm not talking about eating hundreds a day - I only have one at lunchtime - but I've been eating the same two or three. My favorite used to be the Chicken Club Panini, but I have eaten it to death! I had one today at lunchtime and holy gag reflex, Batman! I forced down half and threw the other one away. (Sorry, Lean Cuisine.) I hope this doesn't happen with the Pepperoni Pizza! I think it's time for a new "favorite". Help!!!

Day Twenty-Six

I went grocery shopping (finally!) last night. It may sound strange to you, but Shop Rite is my second favorite store (next to Bed, Bath, and Beyond). What's not to love? It's full of food!

About a month ago Rob and I were supposed to go grocery shopping after meeting a friend at Starbucks. We got there and realized that both of us forgot THE LIST (we did remember the coupons - thank GOD). We ended up spending twice as much as we wanted on crap we didn't really need and there was a lot of, "Wait - was this on the list? Well I'll get it anyway, 'just in case'." It was complete and utter insanity.

Needless to say I made sure I had THE LIST before I left the house. I also had my coupons all ready (thanks to my insane-O hubby). I got everything on the list and didn't really divert, except for one little treat.

I need to explain first that I love Bomb Pops (AKA "Firecrackers"). I have loved them since I started elementary school. Every year our cafeteria would have a cook out. You would get a hamburger or hot dog and a bag of chips, plus a ticket for a Bomb Pop. That little red ticket was like GOLD. Bomb Pops are the all-encompassing food that brings back memories of school ending. They signify the beginning of summer cookouts, pools opening, and catching fireflies. The best part? They only have 35 calories and NO fat!!!! That's right - 35 little bitty calories!!!! These delicious treats were on sale, so I had to get two boxes. Summer has officially started!!!!

Day Twenty-Five

A few months back we got an elyptical from a friend at our church (thanks, Nick!), which has been awesome to have - especially during all this rain! On Saturday Rob purchased a weight bench and weights from another friend at church (thanks, Mike!). Now we have enough to start a little home gym!

We currently have four rooms on our second floor. The first room is a guest room, which has a single bed, nightstand, and our iron and ironing board (although that really doesn't get much use). Next is Rob's Beatles room - the only upstairs room with cable - which means we have to have the computer in there, so it doubles as our home office. Then we have my music room and library, which houses all of my Hi-Lo tapes, music, my keyboard and favorite rocking chair, plus all of our books. Lastly, we have a storage room full of junk - Christmas junk, wedding junk, all kinds of junk.

These rooms don't get much use in the summer, because they do not have AC. Luckily enough, we do have an extra window unit (yay!). Our plan is to put that extra unit in my music room and set up our little "gym" in there. We will take the ironing board down and put it in our junk room. Then, we will move our books and rocking chair into the guest room. My keyboard and music collection will also be moved somewhere, but I haven't figured that out yet.

We will move the TV into this room and purchase a small (CHEAP) DVD player to accompany it. This way we can use workout videos (my personal favorite), watch our favorite TV shows, or listen to music while we workout. I'm also creating some artwork with motivational quotes --->
to put up all around the room.

I truly believe this little gym will be the boost we both need to get our weight off. One of us can use the elyptical while the other lifts. We never worked out together before, but I believe this will bring us closer together by giving us a chance to truly motivate one another.

Day Eighteen/Nineteen

Week 3 resulted in me gaining 1.2 lbs. I am upset by this because I did it to myself. I was so motivated in the beginning, but this week I lost my motivation. I haven't been drinking my water, eating my fruits and veggies, and it seems I've started to eat late in the night again.

When I did Weight Watchers I counted any non-caffeinated, no-calorie drink as a water. It's become false advertising to my body, however. My goal for this week is to drink 64 oz. of ACTUAL WATER to get some of my water weight off.

I also need to get back on the exercising bandwagon, so to help motivate myself I bought a new pair of walking shoes! Rob really needed new walking shoes - his are completely flat and he's been complaining that his feet hurt after we walk. So, we headed to Kohls to check out their selection. After an hour of trying on shoes, Rob decided on a $59.99 pair of Asics (although he was disgusted by the "sale" price). Before we left I decided I would try some on. One pair in particular caught my eye (because of it's tiny price tag of $39.99). I pulled down the only size 10 they had and immediately fell in love. They're like walking on air! I never owned a pair of Reebok's in my life, but I can tell you right now these are the only shoes I will ever buy again for walking. I can't wait to start exercising in them!

Day Sixteen/Seventeen

The past two days have been insane. My old high school buddy Bill came out for our walk on Monday. He and I started talking about the timeshare he owns in Disney. One thing lead to another and here we are planning a trip to Disney for me, him, and our other two high school friends.


I am a little concerned, because there is nothing more humiliating than having a ride operator ask you to "suck it in" while he tries to jam the lapbar into your gut. So, to avoid that embarassment, I am setting myself a weight loss goal of 60 lbs. by the time our trip gets here.

We are leaving for Disney on January 24th of 2010. That gives me 33 weeks to get my bootie in gear! Can I do it? YES I CAN! (Thanks, Bob the Builder...)

Day Fifteen

Can someone turn off the weekends? Why is it that I eat great all week, but then "blow it" on the weekends?? I binged... HARD... this weekend. L&M donuts on Saturday, followed by burgers, hot dogs, chips and dips at Lisa's birthday party - not to mention cake and regular soda. Pizza for dinner Sunday, followed by a carton of Ben and Jerry's at 10:00 PM. My stomach is turning just thinking about it.

When I started this crazy trip I was writing down everything I ate in a 5x3 notebook I kept in my purse. I would even count the waters I drank to make sure my daily intake was up to snuff. I made myself little notes about when and why I ate something and if I liked it.


On 5/21 I was really hungry at 11:40 (noted in the book), so I ate a Kudos bar, even though I knew I was having lunch soon. I realized that the cantaloupe just didn't cut it for breakfast by itself, and the next time I had it I also had a granola bar. My lunch, a Lean Cuisine Chicken Philly Flatbread, was too spicy for my taste - so I didn't buy it again. I also noted my nighttime snack calories because I feel like it's important to my success to keep track of how many calories I'm consuming after dinner.

Today I am renewing my commitment to myself to eat healthier and more consciously - not stuffing my face in front of the tube. I also am committed to exercising EVERY DAY this week.