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!!!