0.8 Loss / Week # 15 completed on WW and still trecking along!!

I have completed week # 15 with WW and that right there is an NSV for me :) It's been awhile since I have totally committed myself to losing the weight and on WW for 15 weeks is great :) I am proud of myself for that!

This past WI on Saturday I lost 0.8 ...not a huge loss but a loss and I welcome it! I should have lost more but I am not worried about it. Slow and steady wins the race!! Usually by now I would have given up due to all the small losses I have had and then last week I had a gain :(

But I have NOT given up and I am proud of myself for that!

I want to get to goal so bad that I will do WHATEVER it takes to get there even if it takes me two years to get there ....I WILL GET THERE!! I am finally loving myself enough to lose the weight! I know there will be tough times and struggles along the way but if there weren't then I would not learn anything from this journey! I have learned so much about myself in these past 15 weeks that it's amazing!

This week I committ to:

* Drinking more water (I have been slacking in this area)

* Eating more veggies & fruit (slacking here too)

* walking more

I know why I only lost 0.8 this week and that is because I truly didn't work hard enough at my eating or excercising so it's my fault! In the past I would have been in total denial but this time around I have found that I can now at least admit why I had a gain or why I lost so little and to me that is progress!!

I am psyched that I actually have gotten through major holidays without gaining a whole lot and I know with Christmas I will do GREAT!! I just feel like I am on top of the world :) I am loving this NEW ME as each new day passes!!

One Pound Gain but that is ok!

Well after 14 weeks being OP with WW I had my first gain this past Saturday :( At first I was shocked because I stayed within my points and did not overeat and I was even GOOD on Thanksgiving Day! But the one thing I do know is my body hates bad carbs and boy did I eat to many carbs on that day so I am thinking that is where the one pound gain came in.

No matter what I am not giving up ....I have come to far to give up now! I have still lost a total of 23.8 lbs. and I am HAPPY with that. I will keep on keeping on and get ALL this weight OFF FOR GOOD!! I feel sooooooo good with getting the 23.8 lbs. off I can only imagine what I will feel like when I get 50, 60, or even 100 lbs. off.

Right now I have a Christmas goal that I am working on and that is to get off 16 more lbs. by Christmas but I am not sure if that will be possible although I am going to try my hardest to do it but if I don't make it then that is ok too because at least I know that I am working towards it and I will eventually get there :)

Week # 14 completed on WW .....-2.2 loss ....WOOOHOOOOO!!!

Another loss of -2.2 lbs ...I am psyched and soooo excited about my newfound lifestyle :) I can't believe how well I have been doing , it's definantly a NSV for me to be on WW this long and still going strong!! I don't want to give up on myself anymore and this is a WONDERFUL feeling!!

Last week I didn't post because I got busy ...but my loss last week was -0.4 ...not as much as this week but hey it's still a loss and I am moving forward each week so this is a good thing!! In the 14 weeks I have been on WW I have not had a gain although I have had two maintains but I don't think that is bad at all.

I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel ....I can taste it!! Right now I am participating in Chubby Chick's Christmas Challenge and my goal is to lose 40 lbs. by Christmas day and even if I don't get to that goal I will still be happy with the weight I have lost while on this wonderful challenge!! I have 15.2 lbs. to go to meet that challenge and I am working hard to get to that goal by Christmas day but if I don't make it I am not going to let it ruin what I did accomplish :)

My total weight loss since starting WW is -24.8 lbs. and to me that is one HUGE accomplishment so far!! I am starting to LOVE me again :) It's like I can do anything now!!

My goals for this week:

* To stay within my daily points each day this week so I can have my extra flex points for Thanksgiving day :)

* To keep up drinking the water

* To lose at least 2 lbs. this week :)

WI Day Update/ Week # 11 completed on WW

First I wanted to say a big "Thank You" to Sunny days for making this beautiful WI day icon for my blog ....she did a wonderful job on it so Thank You Sunny Days!!

Well it's been quite the week for me and quite the weekend as well. Last weekend I had gotten sick from my asthma and then it turned into a really bad head cold and I was sick all weekend including Monday and Tuesday and then I started feeling better around Wednesday of last week BUT then on Friday I started to get sick again :( I was soooo sick this weekend that it wasn't even funny and although today I am much better I am still feeling "yucky".

I am not sure why I got sick the second time around but I do run a home daycare and a couple of the kids were sick from allergies last week and the week before and all I can think of is all those germs that the kids carry got me sick :( But hopefully by tomorrow I will feel much better! Any ways that is what has been going on with me and that is why this update on my WI Day is late!!

Well Saturday was my WI day and even though I was sick I still weighed in. I lost 3.5 lbs......WOOOHOOO was my first thought! For the last couple of weeks I have been having small losses so when I lost 3.5 lbs. I was HAPPY as a clam!!! I know that a loss is a loss no matter how small but for me having small losses several weeks in a row was frustrating to say the least so I am glad that I got a bigger loss this past week!

My goals for this week are:

* To take my vitamins EVERYDAY (hopefully by doing this I will help hinder some illnesses this winter especially with working around kids all day)

* To keep on my low carb/high protein foods....I have noticed that this works best for me when I keep it up and do it all the time.

* To lose at least 2 lbs. this week ...I would be happy with 2 lbs. but ecstatic with more although any loss will do.

*To maintain no gains ....I have NOT had a gain in 11 weeks on WW and although I know sometimes impossible not to have gains but would like to keep it up :)

Sick / Update

I know I have not been here with any updates and that is because I am still sick. I got ill a few days ago with my asthma , it was acting up really bad but I finally got that under control and then on Saturday night I started to get a very bad sore throat ..ugggghhhh! Well it just got worse and now I am feverish, achy, and a bad sore throat. I just wanted to update and let everyone know I am still around :)

Thank you to all that wished me well with my asthma , I appreciate everyone's thoughtful comments and well wishes :) I hate being sick , it really sucks :( Any ways here is what happened at my WI day ...this past Saturday!

I lost 0.9 ...not a big loss but still a loss so I am happy with it :) This week I plan on cutting my carbs big time , I feel that is what is giving me these small losses so I will change things up a bit and see what goes on. So more salads, veggies, good carbs, and protein for me :) I know when I eat that way I feel soooo much better! On Halloween night I did well with the candy ....I only ate the points I alloted for the candy and then I was done and the leftover candy went to a couple of my daycare kiddos who I watched overnight on Halloween night. This is a BIG NSV for me because last year I devoured the candy that was leftover but this year was different and I DID IT :)

One holiday down and three to go .....Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's ....I know I can do this and I will because I want to succeed at this and get to goal!! My eye is on the prize and I am NOT looking away :) Well I got to go and lay down , just wanted to update everyone. I hope everyone has a great OP week and a LOSER WEEK too!! I will catch up with blogs later on in the week when I am hopefully feeling better!!

Asthma making it difficult to eat :(

I am still around although I am not feeling the best due to my asthma flairing up. Each year I always seem to get sick with an asthma attack when the weather changes. The evenings have been quite cold the last few days (around 35 degrees) and that has affected the way I am feeling.

I really have NOT had an appetite due to not being able to breath freely so I have been basically forcing myself to eat my WW points. Hmmmm I wish I had this problem when I am feeling good LOL. So all is good on the WW front :) I really have been doing well with keeping OP. I have not been doing as well on the excercise front but with asthma symptoms I really can't force myself to excercise because it only makes it worse so I am taking a break on that until I get to feeling better.

Any ways I just wanted to update. I hope everyone is having a great OP day and a BIG LOSER WEEK!!!!!!!!

No Gain but a Maintain!!

Well I didn't gain so that is the good news. I maintained so I can't be to unhappy because at least it's not a gain. I know that I won't lose every single week I am OP and a maintain is better than a gain. I know that sooner or later I will have a gain and I just have to prepare myself for that when the time comes but for now I am enjoying my success each new week that goes by :) My official WI day was on Saturday so I am posting this late because this weekend was just crazy busy!

Today I have been craving "sugar" like a bad habit and I am not sure why :( It's frustrating when this happens because the only thing I want to do is eat SUGAR!! I have been struggling with it today but so far I have been "good" ;) I really feel it's psychological at this point because this whole month I have been doing so well with the sugar cravings being gone and now all of a sudden it's the week of Halloween and I am craving sugar like the sugar addict that I used to be.

It's hard for me because I work with kids all day in my home so I have access to my kitchen all day long and it's easy to eat what the kids eat although I prepare for that by making my meals ahead of time and along with my healthy snacks I usually am ok throughout the day BUT with all these holidays coming up I am kind of worried. This week is Halloween week and the kiddos and I are doing alot of different fun things and some of it involves food and candy so wish me luck with that :)

My goals for this week:

* To allow myself a little freedom with the halloween "goodies" but to stay OP at the same time.

* To aim at losing 2.5 lbs. this week :)

I hope everyone is having a great OP day ......LET'S ALL HAVE A LOSER WEEK THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

C.C. Christmas Challenge week # 8/ week # 9 on WW

As my little icon says "I AM WORKING MY WAY TO THIN"!!!!!!!! This past week I weighed in at 344.2 and that leaves me with a - 1 lb. loss :) I am VERY HAPPY with that because it's ONE LESS POUND on my body and ONE POUND closer to my goal :) And I got to add another one of C.C. cute snowmen for a total of - 15 lbs. off ...WOOOOHOOOO!! I am 22.2 pounds away from my Christmas Challenge goal and I have faith in myself that I CAN DO IT!! I hope everyone is having a great LOSER WEEK!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WI Day/ Week # 8 with WW

I am another pound down ........WOOOOHOOOO!! I know it's only 1 lb. but it's another pound off my body and another pound closer to goal so I am SUPER HAPPY about it!! I am staying OP , getting all my water in , excercising and doing well. I know that it's not going to melt off as fast as I would like but that is ok with me because slow and steady is the best way to lose and I want to do the best for my body and health :)

Today I start on week # 9 with WW and I am soooo proud of myself for sticking with this. If I feel this good mentally, emotionally and physically after just 17.8 lbs. off imagine how I am going to feel with 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 lbs. down :) I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am excited about this change in my life and feeling sooooooo good!! I have noticed that I am starting to love myself more and I know that I deserve the very best and I am WORTH IT :)

My new goals for this week:

* To work on my self-positive talk a little more

* To increase my water intake from 100 oz. to 120 oz.

* To walk more for excercise

I hope everyone is having a GREAT WEEKEND so far!! Loser vibes to everyone and let's all have another LOSER WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!

This week has been super crazy but I promise that this weekend I will catch up on blog reading and commenting.

Week # 7 with C.C. Christmas Challenge/ Week # 8 with WW

This is week # 7 with C.C. Christmas Challenge and I am down a total of - 16.8 lbs. and I feel GREAT :) I can't believe I am actually doing this and accomplishing it!!

I have 23.2 lbs. to go to get to my goal of losing 40 lbs. by Christmas Day and I KNOW I CAN DO IT :) I am DOING IT NOW!!!!

Back in Jan. 08 I had committed myself to WW and to losing this weight once and for all but six months into it I quit like a dummy :( So all summer I ate what I wanted and I gained a lot of weight back but finally I came to my senses and on August 22, 2008 I re-committed myself to WW and to losing this weight once and for all and I AM NOT LOOKING BACK!!!

My health is way to important to mess around with therefore I am LOSING ALL THIS WEIGHT and GETTING TO GOAL :) I feel sooooooooo GOOD!! I hope everyone has a great LOSER WEEK!! I am sorry I haven't been posting , life and work has just been busy but I am not QUITTING! I am on my way to VICTORY!!

WI Day .......lost 1.2 lbs......broke the 350 mark ...:)

Hi everyone! I am still here it's just been one of those busy weeks where I couldn't get enough time for even myself. Well today was my official WI day and I lost 1.2 lbs ......yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Even though I was aiming for at least a 5 lb. loss I am NOT DISAPPOINTED in the least. A loss is a loss and at least I didn't maintain again :) I broke through the 350's and that was one of my goals and I DID IT :)

Some things I have noticed since starting the WW plan again is I have sooooo much ENERGY and I really feel GOOD physically, mentally and emotionally! But I am doing well and staying OP and practicing healthy habits so those are all really great NSV's too!!

My goals for this week are:

* To lose at least 3 lbs. this week :) I know I CAN DO IT!!

* To drink my water on the weekends (I have a hard time with this one but it seems to ONLY be on the weekends and I think it's because I am so out of routine but I really want to concentrate on this one)

* To concentrate on eating healthier choices such as good carbs and not the bad carbs and good fats.

Well I hope everyone is doing great this weekend!! This week has been so hectic that I haven't even checked on others blogs but I promise I will catch up on that this weekend. I hope everyone has another LOSER WEEK!!

WI Day / Disappointed But Ok with the maintain

Well today was my official WI day and although the news is disappointing I will NOT GIVE UP!! The good news is I did not gain but I maintained. This is my second week to maintain and I have stayed OP for both weeks so I am thinking that either I am in a serious plateau or I am consuming to many carbs. I know that this is normal and I can't lose every single week but it's still kind of disappointing!

But I do have an NSV to share :) The "OLD" me would have clearly given up and said the "hell with this" BUT the "NEW" me is NOT GIVING UP :) This is a great NSV breakthrough for me so I am very happy and proud of myself for this. I am in this for the long haul and I WILL get to goal but I do know that it's not going to come off overnight because I didn't get this heavy overnight.

On the upside my clothes do feel looser on so that is a plus! And my boyfriend gave me the best compliment ever and said that I looked thinner in the face and stomach so that made me SUPER happy to hear it coming from him :) So all in all even though I maintained again for the second week in a row I am UNUSUALLY HAPPY :) This just tells me that I am doing this right this time around and that is an accomplishment in itself :)

I hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend and let's all have a LOSER WEEK :)

Goals for this week:

* To break the 350 mark ...I know it will happen this week :)

* To watch my carb intake and eat higher protein choices :)

* To watch my salt intake , the less salt the better :)

HYC Update

I can't believe another week has already gone by ....it is going by fast! This year seems to be going by fast as well. I am already on week #5 with WW and I think I have done well :) I have NOT gained any weight in the five weeks of starting WW again and this past week I did't lose any weight but just stayed the same so I am happy with that :) With Hurricane Ike hitting us here in Houston I really thought that counting points was going to be near impossible but I did it and I am very proud of myself for that :) I am not sure why I didn't lose this week because I stayed within my points.

My goals for this week:

* To break the 350's and be under 350 lbs. :)

* To get more veggies in

* To maintain the amount of water I am drinking (100 oz. daily)

I just know that this is going to be a good week for us all :) Happy LOSER week to all!

Down some more...........WOOOHOOOOO!!

Well I am down some more and I am happy about this loss since this week has been the week from hell! I survived Hurricane Ike so I am alive and well and VERY thankful for that! I was determined to NOT go off WW during this whole ordeal and I think I am doing pretty well with that. The boyfriend and I evacuated AFTER hurricane Ike came through because of no power. As of today we still have NO POWER which really sucks but at least we are alive and well and no damage was caused to our home. We have alot to be thankful for :)

We are expected to get power back by Monday at the end of the day so that is good news as well. We have been staying with my parent's who got power back right after the storm so at least we have been staying cool and comfortable......it could be much worse! So things are kind of crazy but soon all will be back to normal and we will be back in our own routines. We both have been out of work for a week so it's been kind of like a mini vacation that we both needed. Things should be back to normal by next week so I am happy about that. This week has been very stressful and the one thing that has been the least stressful is my DIETING ....which is weird but it has been amazingly easy to stay OP.

I hope everyone is doing good ......and I promise I will catch up on reading others blogs and also next week I will sign into my christmas challenge as well as the healthy you challenge. Good to be back here :)

Take A Hike Ike

This is a bit off topic but I wanted to let everyone know that if you don't see me updating my weight loss for Saturday that it's because of Hurricane Ike coming my way :( It's not that I am ignoring my weight loss efforts or anything like that.

You would think that by now I am used to this Hurricane Season since I have been living in Houston since about the age of six years old. But I am NOT used to it and I don't think I ever will get used to it. I don't actually live right in the city of Houston although they are saying on the local news that this is a big hurricane and it will be effecting ALL of Houston. I live in a town called Spring, Texas which isn't far from the City of Houston and although I do live pretty far out from the gulf we still will feel the effects of this Hurricane big time!

Every year I try to prepare myself mentally for Hurricane season but every year when there is one headed our way I still get really nervous and it effects my work but since I run a home daycare I can't let the kids see that side of me because we all know that kids will feel the way your feeling so today has been tough trying to track the hurricane but not allow them to know I am feeling scared :( They are a cute bunch of kids but also very smart for thier ages so the older ones know what is going on but the younger ones of course have no idea. My parent's asked me this morning if I will be open tomorrow and I told them I would have an answer for them tonight at pick up time. I am not sure what to do on that because tomorrow we are supposed to start feeling Ike with lots of rain by mid afternoon but it's not supposed to get bad until late on Friday evening and then early Saturday morning it will hit landfall. All my parent's all have what they call "essential" jobs therefore they all HAVE to go to work tomorrow since the brunt of the hurricane isn't going to really start doing anything until early Saturday morning so I feel obligated to say I am going to be open for them. And since we are not in a ZONE that is supposed to evacuate I really feel that I should be open for the parents who have to work. Because of what happened during Hurricane Rita with all the chaos and people getting stuck on the freeways here they now have implemented an evacuation plan where only certain zipcodes are allowed to evacuate. So no one in my area is evacuating ....we are just all going to "HUNKER DOWN" (Texas term lol) and hope for the best.

But any ways I just wanted everyone to know that if you don't see me "blogging" as much on here or don't see a WI Day entry then Hurricane Ike would be the reason why. I am not sure what is going to happen as far as the winds in this area but if it gets bad our power will be out. The power here goes out in a normal thunderstorm every time so I know with this we DEFINANTLY will not have power at some point. We are prepared though which is something you get used to doing when you live in this State. I am always buying extra canned goods and bottled water each time I go to the grocery store so we are well stocked on that and I am determined NOT to go off WW during this storm so I will count each and every point and stay OP :) I am GOING TO LOSE THIS WEIGHT and NOTHING .....NOT even Hurricane Ike will STOP ME :)

Please, please keep everyone here in the Lone Star State in your thoughts and prayers and pray that IKE TAKES A HIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

HYC UPDATE

Just a quick HYC update! Well this past week I lost another 2 lbs. as I stated in an earlier post. I am happy that I have lost a total of 10 lbs. since my start with WW and I think that this is a good start. I am still VERY motivated which is a good thing and this time I just know I will make it to my goal weight because I have changed my way of thinking and my mind set is where it's supposed to be :)

This week's Goals:

Mini goal- at least 3 lbs. off :)

Try to get more veggies and fruits in my diet this week

I am still working on the excercise thing ....I just HATE excercise but I know it's an important part of suceeding in weight loss so I am going to implement some type of excercise I just don't know what yet.

Well I hope everyone has another great week and let's all make it another LOSER WEEK :)

WI Day # 2 ....WooooHooooo another loss :)

Another week gone and another 2 lbs. gone ......WOOOOHOOOO! I have lost a total of 10 lbs. in two weeks and it feels sooooooo GOOD :) I am very happy with this loss this week since I did have a couple of slip ups but I recognized those mistakes and I corrected them quickly and got right back OP. I am proud of myself for that because it's truly a breakthrough for me to do that. Before I would just say to myself "Oh well Michelle you have already messed up so why fix it" but NO MORE of that or those excuses because I am soooooooooo DETERMINED to get to GOAL :) I can't believe I have already completed two weeks on WW , it is just going so fast! So I am now 30 lbs. away from my Christmas Challenge goal weight .......WOOOOHOOOO!! I just know I am going to make that goal......my eye is definantly on the PRIZE :) The prize for me is just to have those 40 lbs. off my body!! I just wanted to share the good news with all my readers :) I hope everyone is have a wonderful weekend!! WE ALL CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WI Day # 2 .......WOOOHOOOO another loss :)

Healthy You Challenge week # 35

Since starting back with my WW lifestyle change and the Healthy You Challenge I have really felt good about myself and what I am trying to achieve :) This weekend I kind of messed up but you know what I did differently? Instead of giving up just because I went over in points on a couple of days I said to myself , "No I am NOT going to give up" So I just picked myself back up and went back to counting my points today and have been on track all day :) This is a breakthrough for me because before I would have just said "The hell with it" but this time I TOOK CONTROL and it feels soooo GOOD :)

Well my first week back on WW and back with the Healthy You Challenge I lost 8.8 lbs. I was VERY happy with myself and with those results. Even though I know I won't get those results every week it is good to know that I can lose that much on some weeks. This week I am striving towards at least another 5 lbs. off but if it's only 1 or 2 lbs. off then I will be happy with that too. I am just so happy with all of the breakthroughs I am having. I am a big time emotional eater and that is what usually destroys my weight loss efforts and it is really frustrating to deal with. I have a certain mind set now and so far it's working , not perfect but it's working :)

My goals for this week are to:

* start excercising (this is a hard one for me )

* eat more fruits and veggies ( I find myself not eating as healthy as I should be only because it's easy to just count points on junk food as it is on healthy food but I want to get out of this bad habit)

I hope everyone is having a GREAT WEEK :) Let's make this another LOSER WEEK for us all!! I promise I will get up to date on reading as many blogs as I can and commenting , I am behind on that but I will get caught up :)

WI Day # 1

Wooooooooohooooo I lost 8 lbs. I am soooo psyched about this! I know this is just the start but it's a GOOD START :) I knew I had stayed OP faithfully all week but I didn't think that I was going to see that type of number on my first WI. I am VERY HAPPY with myself :) I am 32 lbs. away from my Christmas Goal and that makes me feel soooo good. This is attainable and I KNOW I CAN DO THIS!! I am DOING THIS NOW!! It feels sooooooooo good to be back in CONTROL instead of food being in control over me!

I changed up my weight loss ticker because originally I had what I previously lost with WW but I decided that this is a NEW START for me on WW and I have recommitted to losing this weight and I AM NOT GOING BACK!! There is NO GOING BACK NOW! I am going to STICK with this program because it works and because I want to get to goal soooo badly that I can taste it (no pun intended). I want my life back as I knew it when I was 170 lbs. and I am GOING TO GET THAT BACK!!

I am going to make some goals to work on for this week:

**Mini goal- lose at least 5 lbs. this week so I can say GOODBYE to 350's FOREVER!! I have already said GOODBYE to the 360's FOREVER ...WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

**Tell myself "I know I can" instead of "I think I can" because I AM DOING THIS!!

**Try to keep my snack points a little lower than I did this past week

Good luck to all my blogger friends!!!!!!!! I hope everyone has a GREAT LOSER WEEK :)

I LOVE MY JOB BUT..............

How about "Stressed Out Michelle" Don't get me wrong I love, love, love my job but there are days where I just want to pull my hair out or worse go on an eating binge. I think that I have the BEST job in the world but it's challening when I am on WW. I usually will eat when I am stressed out but I am trying really hard in changing that but it is hard. Well I guess no one said it would be easy LOL.

I run a home daycare therefore I am all alone all day long with 10 wonderful children :) But there are days where it's hard to stay OP. There are some big challenges while working from home that I didn't realize until after I decided to run a home daycare :) I truly love my job and it's a very rewarding job to have but everyday is a challenge.

MY BIGGEST CHALLENGES:

* To stay OP when I have "Sally" crying for no apparent reason or "Sam" hitting "Allison" because he says he can. I just sometimes want to scream and pull my hair out LOL. At these moments of stress I try NOT to think of food but it's hard BUT I AM NOT EATING OUT OF STRESS :)

*To stay OP during meal times. I serve the children "kid friendly" foods and we all know what that means. So I have to be in total control and NOT eat these and it's HARD. But I am doing it but not without some difficulties but I AM DOING IT :)

Am I all alone or do others have stressful jobs that just makes them want to EAT???

Ok now that I have vented it's time to go wake the kiddos up from thier nap ...oh lucky me :)

Healthy You Challenge Update Week #34

Hi Everyone,

I am glad to be back FINALLY :) Took me long enough. I had to really do some soul searching and decide if losing weight was really that IMPORTANT to me. I decided that it definantly is VERY IMPORTANT to me and my health so here I am. This time I am going to get this done and not quit. This time I am not going to allow personal problems, work stress or family stress STOP me from obtaining my goal.

Since I left back in Feb. 08 I did continue on my WW plan and didn't do to bad. But unfortunatley due to all the stress in my life I let my self slide and gain A LOT back :( So I am starting all over but at least I am here and haven't given up! I am now back on WW and doing good for only my 2nd day OP. I feel good :) Before I decided to lose this weight for good I had to re-evaulate why I failed the last time so I could fix it and NOT do it again.

*I DID NOT drink enough water and alot of the reason why I felt hungry alot.

*I got on the scale TO MUCH and drove myself batty because everytime I would see a gain I got VERY discouraged.

*I ate within my point values of WW BUT I ate the wrong foods which were not only unhealthy but full of fat and in the end I would end up being hungry.

*I also ate to many CARBS which isn't good since I am carb sensitive and all this did was again make me HUNGRY!

These are the mistakes I made the last time I tried WW. But now I know and I won't be repeating the same patterns again. So here are my NEW GOALS:

* I WILL drink ALL my water (around 100 oz. per day)

* I WILL ONLY weigh myself ONCE a week (my WI day will be Saturdays)

*I WILL eat healthier foods and high protein/low carb options.

Long-term Goal: To lose 40 lbs. by December 25, 2008 (I joined Chubby Chick's Christmas Challenge)

Short-term Goal: To lose 10 lbs. by 2nd WI day which is September 6, 2008

Wish me luck everyone!!!!

I am back for good!!!

I just wanted to say that I am back and this time it's for good. Alot has gone on since Feb. 08 and with that being said I just wanted to say SORRY to all my fellow bloggers and readers for just leaving without an explanation. I am so ready to get this weight off and now that things have settled down in my life and I am back on track I am ready once again to get MOTIVATED and GET MOVING to lose this weight for GOOD. It's glad to be back.

Healthy You Check - In

Well as I said in my previous post ....I AM BACK!!! Like I said it's been a few hectic weeks and that is why I wasn't blogging or active about weight loss but now that the pressure and stress is lifting I am ready to get back to getting fit , and healthy and losing this weight!! I haven't had much energy lately but I am starting to eat right again, take my vitamins, and herbal remedies and I am starting to feel somewhat better :)

As I think I said on this blog before I had lost my job due to my boss getting laid off and the company closing down and that is the first thing that stressed me out because I lost my income in a matter of a week and a half and I didn't know what I was going to do ....I tend to panic which isn't the thing to do! So losing weight was the furthest thing from my mind, and that is why I just had to take a break. The good news is I got my income back pretty quickly by opening up a home daycare in my home ....I had been thinking about doing this for quite some time but I wasn't sure about it but I thought that taking a chance couldn't hurt since I was already out of work.

Well I put an ad up on craigslist and within a week I had seven children enrolled with me :) I am now making more than what I was making as a nanny and it's doing what I love the most and that is taking care of children :) It's a challenging job but it has it's rewards as well!! So now that stress is gone , new stressors have taken it's place , which is just life! But I am ready to start losing weight once more :) I am not sure how much I have gained to be honest with you because I have been to afraid to get on the scale to look but I can tell I have gained with the way I feel. I will be weighing in tomorrow morning to see where I am at, and I will blog about that later.

For now I want to get back on track with :

* Drinking at least 100 oz. of water daily

* Eating healthy foods , low carb, and high protein.

* Take one step at a time and don't get frustrated with myself.

* Take all vitamins, and herbal supplements.

So wish me luck everyone!!! I will be visiting blogs this week , not sure how many I can visit but my goal is to visit at least 3 blogs per day on my lunch break (when the kids are napping). Take care everyone and Happy Losing!!!

I am Back & Getting Back on Track

Well I am back everyone!! It's been a hectic few weeks and that is why I haven't been online blogging here , nor have I been visiting any blogs , just to hectic with the loss of my job, the stress of starting a home daycare, and then being sick was just to much for me to handle or even think about weight loss. I have not been doing well with my diet , nor have I been really eating much therefore I have gained some weight and haven't been feeling well as an end result.

Now that the stress is starting to lift, I have decided to start again!! I am not a quitter and I won't give up until I have beat this and lost all the weight I want and need to lose :) It's going to be a long , hard road ahead but I know I can do this, and I need to do this for my health if for nothing else. I noticed since being off the high protein, low carb lifestyle that my asthma has been really, really bad :( I can hardly breathe at night , and during the day I have to rely on my inhaler to get through it and I really think it's because of all the carbs and sugar I have been eating latley. I never saw a difference before but I sure have felt the difference this time around , and this just motivates me even more to get back on track :)

I googled high carbs and asthma and found that high carbs and sugar aggravate asthma symptoms which I never knew before and I never thought to look it up in all the years I have suffered from breathing problems. I was diagnosed with asthma as a kid , around age 6 years old and I have been on medications ever since but I did notice when I cut the carbs out , and ate high protein, fruits, veggies, and lean meats that I could breathe easier and I used my inhaler and medications less. But with the stress, and eating bad I am having to use my inhaler and medications alot more.

I just have a hard time believing that sugar and carbs can do that to a person with asthma and upper respitory problems but since experiencing it I now can believe it. They say seeing is believing , and I have seen and now I am going to change my bad habits. This just reconfirms to me that I need to get this weight off for my health and well being , and I need to eat right for my health and well being. I am sick of being sick, and tired, and fat therefore I am getting back on track today :) So it's no more bad carbs, and no more sugar for me!! Wish me luck!!

The Healthy You Check-In

Well I have got to keep my butt out of that fridge!! Today has not been a very good day for me and I ended up eating out of emotions and that is something that I thought I had under control but I guess I was wrong and now I just have to work way harder to get that under control. I found out yesterday that my boss is losing her job , therefore I will be out of a job as of next Wednesday so I am very stressed over that and I think that is why I just haven't been in the best of mood to count my calories and eat healthy :( But I have already told myself that tomorrow is going to be a better day and I am going to get right back up and NOT give up!!! I know I can do this , and just because I fell flat on my face today doesn't mean I should give up , it just means to get back up on my feet and keep on going :)

This past week was a good one , I lost a pound and even though I was hoping for a bigger weight loss I am happy with this one :) Losing weight has been hard for me so I am very proud of myself because this is my 5 th week into this and I have NOT given up ....which is a small miracle for me :) I am going to do this and NOTHING is going to STOP me :) My goals for this week are :

* Drink more water ...I am doing well with drinking 100 oz. per day but I would like to increase this a little to 120 oz.

* Say goodbye to the 340's for good .....this is a biggie and I am hoping to do this on my WI day this Saturday :)

* Take my vitamins everyday ...I have been really bad about this one and forgetting so I need to start remembering to take them right after I eat breakfast in the A.M.

* Staying positive with self-positive talk ...this one is going to be difficult this week due to my job loss but I am determined to stay positive because losing a job isn't the end of the world and there are other jobs out there :)

I hope everyone is doing good this week so far!! I promise that I am reading blogs , and as many as I can comment on I do , but with my job during the day it's sometimes hard but I am catching up :) Have a great week!! Happy Losing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weigh In Day

Well today is my WI day and I am so proud of myself because I didn't step on the scale once this week so that is something because I am truly a scale addict LOL. Well I lost 1 pound ....which is better than maintaining or gaining so I am happy with that :) I thought I would have lost more than that but at least it's a loss and I am happy :)

I lost 8 inches off my body so maybe that is why I didn't see much of a loss on the scale, not sure if that can happen so that is just a wild guess!! This week I did very well with keeping within my calorie range and I didn't cheat once so I am happy that I achieved that this week. I know I will have bad days but it's those days that keep me from achieveing what I want to see on the scale each week therefore I tell myself "Michelle do you really want that piece of cake, it will keep you from your goals"....the positive self-talk has really helped me this week and I am going to keep using it as a tool to help me during those times of weakness!

I achieved all my goals this past week very succesfully ...here is the recap:

* I didn't give into cravings (woooooohooooo)

* I didn't give into emotional eating

* I stayed within my calorie range

*I drank all my water (100 oz. daily)

Overall I did well and I am proud of how hard I worked and achieved small successes :) Every week I lose is a small success in my eyes and it brings me that much closer to my Ultimate Goal of getting down to 250 lbs. by Jan. 1, 2009 :) Now if I get more weight off then great but if I only get the 100 lbs. off then that is a AWESOME SUCCESS!!!!!

The goals I have set up for this coming week are as follows :

* To say goodbye to the 340's once and for all ....,I know I can do this :)

* To get off at least 3 lbs. this week , if I lose more than GREAT!!

* Of course get more excercise in ( I have a hard time with this one but I am working on it).

So I think that all these goals are very achieveable and I will have SUCCESS!! Happy Losing everyone :)

Healthy You Check In Update

Well this past week went ok , I didn't lose but I maintained so I wasn't to disappointed and it's better than a gain so overall I was happy although it took sometime to sink in. I did lose 8 inches off my body (waist,thighs,and bust) so that made me really happy :) I knew that my clothes were fitting loosley but I didn't think I had lost that many inches , so it surprised me and then I was real excited about it!!

So far this week is going well ....yesterday (Monday) I stayed within my calorie intake and I also ate only good carbs and I limited the fat I was eating and ate mostly good fats so I think overall I did well for a Monday!! Today I am feeling pretty good physically, and so far I have had a good healthy breakfast and soon will be eating a good healthy snack :) I eat mini meals throughout the day (six mini meals) and it keeps my blood sugars leveled and I am never hungry , I always eat a good carb along with a protein at each mini meal and so far it's working well for me. I find that this is much better than eating three square meals a day , at least for me it works.

I feel like I have lost some weight , but as I have promised I am NOT going to get on the scale until my weigh in day (which is Saturday) but I can't wait until WI day , I am excited because I know that I will have a loss this week and I am hoping it's a big one :) I just am feeling lighter in my steps today and when I look at myself in the mirror I can see a flatter stomach , and my double chin is becoming less and less ...so this is working and I am excited!! When I see results it just keeps me motivated to keep on going and not to give up!! I don't think I will ever give up on this fight becase I am a fighter , not a quitter at all , it's just not my personality , and this is my one challenge in life that I plan on defeating :) I hope everyone is having a great week so far ....keep up the great work guys , WE CAN DO THIS , AND WE WILL DO THIS!!!!

I lost 8 inches total off my body :)

After much worrying about why I have maintained this week and last week instead of losing my nutritionist asked me if I had measured to see if I had lost any inches and of course I have not really been keeping up with inches lost because I just don't think about it. Before I started this lifestyle change I did take measurements of my waist, thighs, and bust and wrote them down so I decided to take his advice today and measure. Sure enough I have lost 3 inches in my waist, 3 inches in my thighs , and 2 inches in my bust which is a total 8 inches off my body :) I was very happy and excited to see this :) I knew my clothes definantly felt looser on me but I didn't think I had lost that much in inches.

I have to learn that the number on the scale isn't always the most important , although it's important for me to get this weight off but I know it's better for it to come off slowly so it will stay off once I get it all off. I am just glad that all the hard work these past two weeks have truly paid off ....if I don't lose weight then losing inches is just as important :) And my boyfriend had kept telling me that I looked thinner in my face and he kept telling me to measure as well , I just don't listen sometimes lol :) But I am happy with the end results and I just have to learn how to be patient and keep on doing what I am doing because as long as I do that the weight will come off!

Well like I said in my last post I did calculate how many calories I am taking in with WW because I was really curious as to how many calories WW had me on since I am going by just points with them I had to use http://www.sparkpeople.com/ to calculate the calories and I am taking in between 1550-1600 calories a day which my nutritionist told me is really good for my weight and that will give me about a 2-3 lb loss per week which is what he wants to see because if it comes off to quickly it's not healthy! So I am happy with that and I am going to stick with WW but I am also going to keep on calculating my calories with sparkpeople because I like to have that type of control :)

Today I found this new site where you can keep track of your weight , blood pressure, inches lost, and even WW points can be put into it and it's free. It's a really neat site and I like sites that offer things like that for free. It's at http://weighttracker.info/ and all you have to do is register and then it brings you to your own page where you can calculate calories, track your weight, track inches lost, track your blood pressure, and even journal about your experiences. You can even print or email the results in either graph form or text. I just thought I would share it here with all of you :) Well I am off to grocery shopping ...I hope everyone is having a great Sunday :)

Weigh In Day

Well I am NOT going to be discouraged ....at least that is what I keep telling myself. The good news is I DID NOT GAIN this week , but the bad news is I didn't lose either :( I am really not sure why I didn't lose this week but I am sure I can figure it out if I really just sit down and think a little. The end of this week was a bad one as far as keeping within my calories so that probably is some of it ....so it's a good thing I didn't gain because I should have. My boyfriend was really sweet this morning when I got off that scale in tears , he was like "Sweetie it's ok , your doing great and don't give up"!! He always seems to know what to say at a time of crisis and I am very blessed to have him in my life , he is such a sweetheart and a good motivatoer and supporter and he has never once gotten upset with me because I didn't lose or because I gained :)

This is my plan for this week .......

* I am going to actually count my calories instead of points , to see where I stand with WW as far as calorie wise. They don't tell you how many calories you are consuming because it goes by points but it will be interesting to see how many calories I am consuming.

* I am going to drink more water this week ...I have been drinking the minimum 64 oz. per day but I am going to up that to at least 100 oz. per day!

* Excercise, Excercise, Excercise......I am going to do more of it :)

So that is my plan , because I am going to lose weight this week no matter what it takes. I am more than determined at this point and I have come to a crossroads that this is more for my health than for just "looking good" ...although I want to look good too :)

A love/hate relationship with the scale!!

I definantly have a love/hate relationship with the "scale". I am literally obsessed with getting on the scale every single morning before I take my shower and this morning it bit me in the butt :( I got on the scale and it registered a gain of +3 lbs and boy was I upset :( I couldn't believe it because I have been OP , drinking my water, and I even worked out last nite which is something that I have been having a hard time doing because I am so tired when I get home from work but I forced myself to excercise last nite and I was so proud of myself!!

So this morning I wasn't happy and in the past I would have said the hell with this lifestyle change and I would have given up but instead of doing that I just told myself , "Michelle you can do this and you will do this , you have to lose this weight and your doing good so keep on doing what your doing" ....and that is what I am going to do!! I was so proud of myself for not saying the hell with it and giving it up :) I think that is a big time NSV for me!! I am not sure what is different about this year , but I know that I am going to lose this 100 pounds because I just have so much more drive and determination that I didn't have even six months ago.

Because of this +3 lb gain I decided to post a question on my WW boards and see what others thought. Alot of the responses I got were very encouraging and uplifting (what I like about those boards) and alot of them told me that I shouldn't do daily weigh in's because it's normal for your body weight to flucuate due to alot of things such as salt intake, excercise, or TOM (time of the month) ect.....so they all made me feel a little better about that. I have decided to only weigh myself on my WI days , which are Saturdays ....so NO MORE DAILY WEIGH IN"s for me :) The daily WI's could discourage me and set me up for failure in the future and I don't want to do that to myself! This time I was strong , but next time it could catch me at a bad moment and I don't want to even risk that.

I know WW works if you stay OP , and I am staying OP therefore I know I am going to lose, I just have to learn how to be patient and only weigh myself on Saturdays. I know that this Saturday I will have a good loss because I am doing everything right....question is can I be patient? LOL!! That is definantly something I have to work on , is patience :)

Healthy You Challenge Check In

This week I have joined the Healthy You Challenge!! I have never joined a group like this before but something tells me that it's going to be good support, and lots of motivation for me and I hope to be of good support to others as well :)

This past Saturday (my weigh in days) I lost 3 lbs. which is a good loss although I was hoping for a much bigger number but I have to remember that losing the weight slowly is the most healthiest and best way to lose it. Sometimes I get impatient with the numbers on the scale but I teaching myself that I can't just focus on what the scale tells me , that I also have to focus on doing what is good for me which is :

*Eating Healthy
*Excercising
*Drinking plenty of water
*Self-Positive talk
*Taking my multi-vitamin & Herbs

This is a new week and so far I have done very well with keeping within my weight watcher points, and not only doing that but also eating my healthiest. The one thing I have learned about weight watchers is you can eat anything you want and still lose the weight as long as you stay within the points of the program (at least I can) but this year I have not only committed to losing at least 100 lbs. but I have also committed to eating my healthiest!! I was never really big on eating "healthy" until I decided to embark on this journey. I used to hate eating "healthy" , but now I can't get enough of it :) This is a total lifestyle change for me and in the begining it was one big struggle after another , but now it's become a habit for life :)

Weigh In Day :)

Well today is my second weekly weigh in , and I am proud to announce that I have lost 3 lbs. :) Not a big loss but it's a loss and I am proud of it and j ust very excited that I am losing steadily each week so far. I have to admit that I thought I was going to have a gain this week because last

night I ended up having a piece of pizza and I did go a little over my daily points but what I did was I ate a salad with it , and that is something that I would have never done in the past so I am proud of myself for having self-control and self-discipline with that. I am slowly learning that I can still have the foods I love as long as they are the correct portion sizes, and as long as I play it smart and stay within my points :) This year is definantly going to be different and I can just feel it , somehow I just know that I am going to make my long-term goal of losing 100 lbs by this time next year and that is exciting just thinking about it!!

Some things I have done to help myself stay motivated and to help myself see that hard work does pay off in the end is putting up my "thin" pictures where I can see them and telling myself that I will look like that again :) It has really been helping me, especially when I go to the fridge to eat, and then I see that picture of me on the fridge and I tell myself , "Now Michelle are you eating because your truly hungry or are you doing it out of emotion", and when I evaulate it like that it makes so much more sense to me and I make a good decision....God it feels good to be in control of my eating habits :) In the past I would eat out of pure pleasure and just mindlessly eat and not even think about how many calories I was consuming and now I think about the consequences of eating a whole gallon of icecream , or eating a whole cheesecake and now I much rather reap the rewards of eating correctly than to overeat :)

The one thing I like about Weight Watchers is they teach you that you don't have to deprive yourself of your "favorite" foods , they teach portion control , and you don't have to count calories because they have done the work for you and you just count points and I love it because it makes it so much easier for me and my busy life!! Right now I am doing the WW plan online and on my own and so far I have done well with it and I believe that is because I have a good support system with friends, family, online friends, and also my boyfriend has been a real support and is a good motivater (being a retired police officer he is a very good motivater :) )

Not only am I losing weight but I am feeling really good physically and I believe that is because I am eating very healthy and leaving out alot of sugar, and sweets. Don't get me wrong I do have "sweets" when I crave them because I feel that if I don't allow myself that freedom then I will end up depriving myself and having the possibility of binging on it later, I just limit how much "sweets"I have and that has made a big difference in my weight loss efforts. I don't do well on high carb foods and I stay completley away from the "bad" carbs and that has really helped me. Life is looking better everyday :)

Excercise has been my downfall , BUT NO MORE!!!!

Excercise is my downfall :( I have to really motivate myself in order to do any type of excercise. When I am steadily losing weight , which I have been for the past three weeks I think to myself "Why do I need to excercise because the weight is coming off" , but I do know in my true heart of hearts that I need to excercise and move. I am doing resistance band excercises which is for toning purposes because I have heard some horror stories about people who drop big amounts of weight all of a sudden have a problem with extra skin after they lose all the weight, and I sure don't want that happening after all the hard work. My doctor has assured me that more in likely I won't have that problem because I have really good muscle tone, and because I am still pretty young and my skin is still elastic and such , but I don't want to take any chances and he had introduced me to the resistance band and how to excercise with one for toning, I do that 3-4 times a week , but with my schedule it's sometimes hard to fit it in but I know I need too. I love yoga and it's still pretty new to me but I am learning and really liking it, I have only been doing that for the past week and a half and so far so good.

I have decided that I need to make some committments on excercise and here they are:

* I WILL do my resistance toning excercises 3-4 days per week and make no excuses about it. I will learn how to fit it in no matter how busy I am :)

* I WILL start walking around my neighborhood after I get off work every day :)

* I WILL learn more about yoga and it's benefits and work it into my routine :)

I will do these things because I know I have to in order to help my weight loss , and getting healthy is not just about eating the right things , it's also about excercising my body and getting the benefits from it!!!

Trying hard and it's paying off/ Long-term goals!!

I am trying so hard and it's paying off :) I tend to weigh myself way to much , and when I am losing that is fine but when I am at a stand still then it's setting myself up for failure!! So I am trying to train myself only to weigh myself at weigh in's only (which are Saturdays for me). I did great with eating yesterday so I am proud of myself and so far today I have done well ....of course I have only eaten breakfast and it's still early but I know I am going to do well with eating today :) I won't allow myself to mess up!! I am probably the hardest person on myself but it's not a bad thing , it's a good thing as long as I stay positive on myself and lose the negative talk.

Emotional wise I am doing well today , which is good since I am a bad emotional eater, but this year I made a committment to try not to eat when I am emotional ....instead I will journal in my blog here, call a friend or my boyfriend and talk about my feelings , or keep myself busy somehow so I won't eat out of emotions. It's hard for me because my job gives me access to a kitchen all day long therefore I have to really discipline myself to eat correctly, stay within my weight watcher points, and stay positive :) On WW I am never hungry , that is one thing I like about the plan, and eating high protein/low carb along with counting my points really has helped me to stay fuller longer , and not feel like I am starving. I also eat mini meals every 3 to 31/2 hours ....which keeps my blood sugar levels balanced and that helps too.

I am excited about watching "The Biggest Loser" tonite :) I am addicted to that show and it really keeps me motivated watching it. This year I started watching the new season from the start which aired on New Year's Eve , and I have kept up with it each week (every Tuesday). So it's kind of like I am losing weight with them and that is neat. I think that this season is interesting because they have "couples" losing weight togather , it's a different twist and the best season yet. Last week the group voted out the brown colored shirts couple and I thought that was really sad because they were there for thier health , of course all the couples there this season seem to be there for thier health but this couple was really desperate to stay so it was sad to see them go , but I think that they will continue the program from home because they really got an eye opener of how bad they were eating. But I can't wait for tonite's episode :)

I wanted to write out some of my long-term Goals here :

* Of course the #1 long term goal is to lose 100 pounds by this time next year :)

* To have all of my weight off by Jan 2010, which is two years and I think that is reasonable although I might get it off quicker than that which will be fine too :)

* To not only get the weight off but to get physically fit and toned...of course I know it won't be like when I was 20 lol , but I want my body to look good and I want to be physically fit as much as possible at my age (34 years) :)

Losing Weight In 2008

This is my year!! I am on a journey to lose 100+ pounds and I have made this the year to do just that. Since this is the first post of this weight loss blog I will introduce myself and tell you my story. My name is Michelle and I have alot of weight to lose thus the reason why I have started this blog. I need some motivation and I thought this would be good for that. I never had a weight problem until I turned 25 years old, and I never saw the weight coming on, I guess I was in denial therefore I just ignored the problem and before I knew it I was at my highest weight of 430 lbs.

I finally came to the realization that I needed to do something about my weight before it literally killed me. I knew I was fat and I knew I had to do something about it, so 18 months ago I decided to join weight watchers to get the weight off. To my surprise I did very well and I lost 30 lbs and I was so proud of myself for that , even though it was not alot of weight off , at least I was losing and not gaining. I continued weight watchers and lost another 55 lbs by Thanksgiving 2007 , but then the holidays hit and I have been at 345 lbs ever since :( I didn't gain any weight over the course of the holiday season but I have not lost any more since. So this New Year is the year for me to lose at least 100 lbs .....if I can accomplish that I will be happy!

Some things that I need to work on:

* I am an emotional eater and now that I have finally admitted that I am now ready to work on it. I have to concentrate on remembering not to "eat" when I am emotional ....my Motto is going to be "I need to EAT TO LIVE, NOT LIVE TO EAT!!!

* I need to concentrate on abiding by my "points" with weight watchers. Alot of times I forget to add up the little points such as points for salad dressing, butter ect....and those points can really add up ....so I have to watch that and get better at adding all of my points up and not forgetting the condiments and such.

I am going to stick to a high protein/Low Carb diet along with counting my points on the Weight Watchers diet. I love WW , and I have lost 85 lbs with WW so far therefore I want to stick to what works , but I want to stick to high protein/Low Carb along with WW ....so I will be eating healthy meaning lots of veggies, salads, lean chicken, fish, and leaving out the "BAD" carbs :) I am on my way ...Wish me luck!!!