Week 3

Let's have a moment of honesty here... I did not do well this week. I was lazy and didn't hit my step goal most days. And because I didn't do as well, I decided to just stay off the scale. Hopefully next week is better. 

Week 2

I'm down 2.6 lbs this week to 205.6. I was hoping it would be a little more after my cleanse, but a keep reminding myself that a loss is still a loss. Weight is put on one pound at a time and it will come off one pound at a time. The highlights this week were that I hit my water goal, of at least 80 oz., every day. I also was able to get in either a long walk, or a workout, almost every day this week. 

On Monday, I did a Beachbody work out, T25 Full Body Circuit. It has several planks in it, so I got out my yoga mat. The cats have the entire house to sleep in, but they have to sleep on the mat. And they were perturbed each time I kicked them off for my planks. After my workout, I was only at 8,600 steps, so I decided to do a quick walk until I hit 10,000. But when I hit 10,000, I decided to go to the end of my road before I turned around. When I got home, I was at 12,500, so I made sure to hit 13,000 before going to bed.

Sept 11th

On Tuesday, I decided to do a detox cleanse. I was going to do it a few weeks ago, but then my period started so I decided to wait. Then I was going to do it last week, but when Brittany invited me to her DietBet, I decided to wait until that started so it could hopefully give me a good jump start there. I used to cleanse once a month and I always love how I feel afterwards. But right now, I can only afford to do it about every 3 months.

Tuesday's usually end up as my running days. It was hard to push myself, maybe from the cleanse. I started with my 5 minute walk and then covered the screen and bumped it up to a run. After what I thought felt like 30 minutes, I took the towel off. To my despair, I had only been running for about 21 minutes. I got to admit, I thought about quitting right then. But I know my body can run for 30 minutes, so I pushed through. Then I walked for 10 minutes and ran another 15 minutes, followed by a 10 minute cool down. I also made sure I hit 20,000 steps before I went to bed that night. 

Sept 12th 

Wednesday is usually one of my lower step days. I have bible study after work, so I usually don't plan on getting a workout in. But this day was different. My employer had their flu shot clinic that morning. It ran for 2-1/2 hours. The last hour was pretty dead, so I decided to make laps around the training room. By 10:00 that morning, I was past 9,000 steps! I wanted to just hurry and get to 10,000, but I needed to get back to work. Still, by the end of the day, I had over 15,000 steps.

Sept 13

Thursday was also a tough day. During the afternoon, my upper back started to hurt.I had planned to do a T25 workout, but by  the time I got home, all I could do was lay on the couch with a heating pad. Around 7:30, my back was feeling better, so I decided to just do an easy walk down the road. But you guessed it, once I start, I have to go all the way to the end before I turn around, so I ended up with more steps than I had planned on.
Sept 14

On Friday, I did a T25 workout in the morning. After that, I made sure I took a break from homework every hour, and I would get about 500 steps in. I also walked in place for several minutes while watching a lecture. I forgot to take my screen shot before bed that night, so all I have here is my steps, but I did hit my active every hour and water goal that day also.

 Sept 15

 On Saturday, I woke up extra energized and decided to go run. I even bumped the speed up a notch and was able to run 2 miles in 28 minutes. It ended up being one of the best runs I've had in a while. I was thrilled when I had my 10,000 steps in my 10:00 am. Other than the hour I missed sleeping in, I was able to hit all of my active every hour steps, so I ended the day with over 17,000 steps! Not to bad for a lazy Saturday.

Sept 16

Sunday, it all caught up to me, and I decided to have a more lazy day. Between church in the morning and prayer group at night, I can't hit the active every hour goal. I also had a few homework assignments that were due by midnight, so I had to opt for homework instead of a workout. (Just kidding, I would have watched the football game if I hadn't been stuck doing homework.) But for a lazy day, it still didn't turn out too bad. I did meet my daily water goal of 80+ oz each day, but Sunday I really struggle with that. So I find myself chugging a lot of water in the late afternoon to try and make up for it. I will have to work harder on that.
Sept 17

Overall, it was a pretty good week. I was thrilled on Saturday when I saw my weekly step total was up to 100,000 steps over the last 7 day period. On Sunday night, I wasn't quite there, so I did a few laps around my house to make sure I ended the week with 100,000. Next goal, to get 15,000 steps every day for a week.

Week 1

I forgot to hop on the scale yesterday morning, so I'm doing my check in today. The scale didn't move this week. Literally. I was 208.2 last Monday and I was 208.2 this morning. 

Actually, I take that back. It was at 210.8 on Friday afternoon. I am trying to only weigh once a week. If I weigh more often, I tend to freak out and then punish myself by not eating. So I will try to just weigh myself on Monday morning. But on Friday, my friend invited me to join an online weight loss competition and I had to take a picture of the scale to get started. So I guess I should be happy the scale was at 208.2 this morning and not higher. 

My main goal this week was to hit my water goal every day. I really struggle with drinking enough water. I was pretty proud that I hit that goal every day. I defiantly still need to work on that, because Sunday I hardly drank any water, which had my chugging most of it down late that afternoon and just before bed. I'm also trying to hit 10,000 steps a day. I only missed two days, hopefully I can do better this week. I do realize that I should drink half of my weight in water, which would be 100 oz., but 80 oz. is already a struggle, so that is my current goal. But there was a few days where I was closer to 100 oz. 

My Fitbit Stats for Sept 4th - Sept 10th. 

I forgot to get a screen shot the first night. When I go back a day on my Fitbit App, it only does the top portion with my steps. Then I have to do the hourly activity, water, etc individually. Since it was a labor day, I slept in and didn't get the 7:00 and 8:00 hours. But I did drink 83 oz of water and I got a workout in. 

Sept 4th

Tuesday was my best day. I was able to get a run in at the gym. I am still amazed that I can actually run. Its not fast, but I'm running. I started with a 10 minute walk, and then I ran for 30 minutes, getting just over 2 miles. Then I walked for 5 more minutes and ran another mile in 15 minutes. Then I had a 5 minute cool down. Not too bad. I'd like to get to the point where I can run the entire time, maybe then I could hit 5 miles in that 70 minutes. 

Sept 5th 

Wednesday, I didn't think I'd get my steps in, because I had bible study. But after a stressful day at work, I decided to get a quick run in and blow off some steam. I was able to run 30 minutes and hit just over 2 miles again. (No picture of the treadmill because I bumped the stop button half way through while reaching for my towel. So I looked at far I had ran and then restarted it and ran until the two runs added up to 2 miles total.)

Sept 6th

Thursday, I had plans to go for a walk. But instead, Vince came over for dinner and a movie. But I still hit my active hours and water goal. 

Sept 7th 

Friday, I slept in, so I missed the first active hour. Sometimes I will feel my Fitbit vibrate to remind me to move, just enough to wake me up, and I can hurry and get those steps in. But I didn't feel it vibrate until 8:50. I did a workout that morning, and then about once an hour, I would take a break from homework, and walk laps around the house.

Sept 8th

Saturday was our church yard sale. So it was pretty easy to get my steps in that day. And I thought I had the 250 steps in at 7:00, but I must have just barely missed it.

Sept 9th

Sunday is usually my rest day. I can't hit all the active hours in church. I also ended up at 2 different family dinners, so I was impressed I hit over 7000 steps.

Sept 10th

I can look at the last 7 days and see the leaderboad. I had the lead most of the week, but it adjusts every day as it drops off a day and picks up a new lead. When its not so hot at night, one of my goals will be to do 100,000 steps in a week.

Weight Loss 2.0

When I last blogged here, back in 2013, I was at the lowest in my weight I had ever been, around 175. But then life got busy, I got lazy, the excuses piled up and eventually the weight came back on. 

Last year, I went through a divorce. I quit eating and then picked up running to deal with the pain. I dropped 50 pounds in about 4 months. (It was probably a few weeks before I actually stepped on a scale, but it was 248 when I finally did. Which if I remember correctly is just about what I weighed back in 2011 when I started that weight loss journey.) Earlier this year, I saw 199.8, once or twice, on the scale, but it would only last for a day or two.

This year, I have learned, when I'm happy, I eat more and work out less. When I'm depressed, I run. I've slowly put 10 pounds on and gone back up a pant size. Yay for happiness. Boo for weight gain.

The first picture is July 2016 at my brothers wedding, a week after the ex left for another woman. 

This picture was from yesterday. I love seeing my transformation. Because of my little makeup biz, I take a selfie nearly every day. When I feel like I've made no progress, I can go through old pictures and be amazed at the changes I see. And not just in weight loss. I see a woman who has found her strength and confidence. I love seeing the woman I have become. 

Years ago, when I did my weight loss, I kept this blog. But I was ashamed of my body, so I left details out. I always regretted that. I wish I had better documented it so I could better track the results. So this time, I am going to be real. I currently weight 208.2. Even though its better than the 248 I was at last fall, its still a number I'm not happy with. I want to get back down to 175. I know I can do it, because I did it once before. 

Current weight: 208.2

Measurements:

Neck 16 in.

Upper arm - left 14 in.

Upper arm - right 13 in.

Upper chest - 44 in.

Chest/nipple - 45 in.

Diaphragm - 39 in.

Waist - 40.5 in.

Abdomen 42 in.

Butt - 47 in.

Upper thigh - left 28 in.

Upper thigh - right 28 in.

Upper knee - left 22 in.

Upper knee - right 21.5 in.

Calf - left 18.5 in.

Calf - right 18 in.

I've never been a fan of measurements. They are a hassle and I never feel like I do them correctly. But I do understand the importance of them. Last fall, there was times the scale wouldn't move, but my pants would get looser, so I started tracking my measurements and I could see a loss there, even when there wasn't one on the scale. So this time, I plan to track my measurements. (Probably once a month.)

This time, I want to make it a journey about loving myself, no matter my size and shape. God gave me this wonderful body to love and care for. When I don't take care of it, its like I'm telling Him I don't appreciate the beautiful gift of life He has given me. He and I recently had a conversation about this. I was getting a headache nearly every day. When I finally took it to prayer, He asked me, "When was the last time you drank a glass of water?" I didn't even know. I've learned I can't complain about my body and how I feel if I do nothing to take care of it. Only I can hold myself accountable for my decisions and actions. One of my favorite sayings is "Jesus in, Jesus out." It reminds me that what I feed my mind with, I return out into the world. I think the same can be said here, "garbage in, garbage out." When I treat myself badly, I feel badly. When I love myself and properly care for myself, I feel good. 

I've been half heartily exercising the last few weeks. I'm still trying to find a schedule that will fit with my job and my schooling. So my workouts may vary until I find that balance. I have a love/hate relationship with running.  I hate running, but it helped me process the pain and not do physical harm to myself during the divorce. It was my healthy outlet. It taught me I can do hard things, things I once thought were impossible. When I run for a mile straight, or 30 minutes straight, I am so proud of myself and I realize that I can do this.

Today, I declare enough is enough! Its time to get back to a healthy weight and a healthy mind set.