The Jeans

Except for the obvious muffin top, I can finally fit into my pre-Katie and pre-wedding jeans!  My home scale this morning read 188 which is only a pound heavier than what the doctor's scale read the day I found out I was pregnant with Katie. Obviously that pregnancy changed my body so it will be a few more pounds before I can comfortably wear these in public. But I didn't even have to suck it in to zip them this morning.

Last night at Weight Watchers, the scale read up by 1.8 pounds. But I hate weighing in at this time of the month if you know what I mean. That being said, I should easily reach and possibly pass my next milestone of 40 pounds next week. That means another measurement and before/after picture post!  More to come. I'm almost halfway there! :)

Slowly Ticking Away

Wow!  The last couple of months have gone by WAY TOO FAST!  And the pounds are coming off way too slow. I feel like the tortoise in the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race right?  I haven't been able to post another 10 pound post in forever because I seem to be roller coastering way too much. I have a few good days of tracking, then nothing for a few weeks. It doesn't help that our financial situation is making it nearly impossible to plan ahead my meals for the week. 

I did start training for the 1/2 marathon I plan on doing December 1st. I even did one workout while on a trip last week. I got up one morning and used the fitness center to get in about 35 minutes of interval running. I came home weighing in  (on my scale) at about a pound lighter. I probably won't be down on the WW scale tonight because my monthly female time is rearing it's ugly head right now. The last time that happened, I "gained 2.4 pounds".  

Oh we'll, at least I'm still trucking along, slow as it may seem. Until next time . . .

Goals!!!

Anyone who has ever had a dream of accomplishing something knows that setting goals can be one of the keys to success. I have known this intellectually for a long time, but have never had great success in the weight loss dream. I've always had this obscure number in my head of what my ultimate goal weight should be, but without setting smaller goals in between, it just seemed unobtainable. 

This time is different. This time, I have not even set my ultimate goal weight yet. Oh, sure I have an idea. There is a range for my height that tells me where I should be. But without actually being at goal weight in my entire adult life. Ever. I don't have a clue what that number will look like or feel like. 

So instead I am setting smaller goals along the way. Right now, my goal is to get below 200. My next goal is to reach 35 pound weight loss (because I get a sticker for it).  Yes, I am just a child at heart. I love stickers. I started giving myself stickers last week for days when I exercised. It's so exciting to see my tracker fill up with smiley faces. Maybe it's the teacher personality coming out in me, but it's so rewarding to have a visual reminder that I worked for those 2.6 pounds last week. 

I also have goal clothes. My next goal item is my pair of size 12 Levi's that I first wore when I got married in December of 2001. I have only fit into these jeans twice in my married life. Once we got married, the pounds I had lost came right  back on within less than 2 months. I think I literally wore these jeans while we were in our honeymoon and then retired them as soon as we got home. Sad, I know. 

The second time I was able to wear these jeans was right before I got pregnant with my daughter in late 2008. That year, I lost roughly 35 pounds from June to September on a doctor prescribed dose of Phentermine. That time the weight stayed off until the holidays hit. I think I was around 175-180 when my brother came to visit me for Thanksgiving. There are a lot of pictures of me in these jeans at that time. I'll have to find some to post. By the time I found out I was pregnant, I weighed in at 187. 

I vividly remember the day I had to retire these jeans again. We were moving into a townhome in February and we were painting the baseboards before moving in. I remember kneeling on the floor to paint at almost 3 months pregnant when I noticed that the waist was really tight. That is the last time I wore those jeans. They have been sitting in my bottom drawer for over 4 years. 

And guess what?

I was able to button them today!

Yay!

Now, obviously there is a lot more to go before I can where them in public, but just a month ago I couldn't even get them over my huge round bottom, let alone button them. So here's to exercise and making smart choices about food. 

And goals. 

What are your goals?

30 Pounds!

Here it is! I have now lost 30 pounds since December 28th when I joined Weight Watchers. I had a couple of "I don't care" weeks and I gained a total of 0.8 pounds. I know, you're saying "that's not a lot! It's not even a pound!" But, to me, if I want to really do this, I have to be all in. I can't keep making excuses. I still have a long way to go before I hit goal weight, but I'm almost under 200. So here are the pictures. I'll update with measurements later tonight.

Weight Loss Update - 10% Loss!

I started to write an update about a month ago, but it just never happened.  Yes, I have continued to lose weight on Weight Watchers.  It has been a slow and steady progress with some amount of loss every week except one.  I have now been on WW for almost 16 weeks and I have met many small goals along the way.  I figured I should put out the before and after pictures of 20 pounds before I actually hit the 30 pound mark.  So here goes.

My actual loss so far has been 27.4 pounds (as of Thursday, 4/11/13).  I only had one week where I gained and it was a very small amount, 0.4 pounds.  I have gotten my 10% goal key chain as well as my 25lb medal to add to it.  I ran a 5K on March 3rd in 48 minutes and 26 seconds.  It was slightly over my goal of 45 minutes, but I'll take it.

 

 

All pictures are showing my starting picture in December and my after picture taken on March 13.

 

Here are the measurements I took on the same day as the pictures:

 

 

                   Area                               Starting                      20 pounds lost

 

                 Breast                                   45"                                   43.5"

                 Chest                                    39"                                   38"

                 Waist                                    41"                                   39"

                  Gut                                      49"                                   44.5"

                  Hips                                    51"                                    49"

               Left Thigh                             29"                                    28.5"

             Right Thigh                            29.5"                                  28.5"

              Left Calf                                 19"                                   18.75"

             Right Calf                               19.5"                                  19"

         Left Upper Arm                           15"                                   14.5"

        Right Upper Arm                         15.5"                                 14.5"

       Left Lower Arm                            12"                                    12"

        Right Lower Arm                        12.5"                                  12"

                 Neck                                    15"                                   14.75"

 

 

Some of the pictures and the measurements show that there is an obvious difference while others, you can hardly tell any difference at all.  But now that I am close to 30 pounds loss, I can really tell a huge difference in my clothes.  I am now three notches into my belt and I am able to button up (albeit very snugly) a skirt that I haven't worn in almost 4 years and I was able to wear a pair of size 14 black pants this week that have been hanging in my closet for the same amount of time.

 

Seriously, I let my clothes stare me in the face.  I can't seem to let them go.  I am always optimistic that I will get back down to that weight again.  And now, I finally am!  I am determined that this is THE LAST TIME I will ever lose weight in my life.  After nearly 20 years of yo-yo dieting, I am tired of feeling exhausted and winded.  I was having trouble keeping up with my kids.  I couldn't even bring in a load of groceries without being winded.  Now, even after losing just a little over 10% of my weight, I can dance around and play with my kids, bring in several loads of groceries without being winded, and run at a pace of 4.8 miles per hour for intervals of 90 seconds each.

 

So for my next goal, I want to get under 200 pounds.  I am (as I write this) 6.6 pounds away from that goal.  On average, I lose about 2 pounds per week so I should hit that goal in 3-4 weeks.  Here's to hoping! :)

First Month on Weight Watchers

So I joined Weight Watchers on December 28th. I am determined to cross this one off of my list. I want to lose all 98 pounds of extra weight before my 40th birthday. I am now 4 weeks in and since I've been so successful so far, I thought it would be safe to put out the results in blog land.

First off, I am doing this slowly. Adding one new routine/habit each week so I don't crash and burn like I am so apt to do. I have lost between 2-3 pounds each week for a total loss so far of 11.2 pounds. I took some pictures in December as well as some measurements of various parts of my body. I have lost an average of 1/4-1/2 inches in each area so far. Somehow, the fact that my clothes are a little looser didn't dawn on me until I saw my before/after pics and the actual measurements. I know it's not real obvious at first but as I looked closer I started noticing slight differences in my body. I guess having a record of it makes it more real to me. Let me know what you think.

Before 12/21/12                     After 1/26/13