Finally Getting Fit

Over this past month I have been a part of the weight loss challenge on the Yanks Down Under site. Basically, with a few rules like no fasting, we weigh in once a week and talk about what we’re doing to lose the weight.

I’ve found that having this kind of ‘loose’ (‘loose’ meaning lots of discussion, not a lot of competitive spirit between people which makes things more relaxed, and weigh ins only once a week) competition is a nice little Plan B motivational tool.

I didn’t realize it before, but at the last weigh in for the challenge, my total loss was ten pounds. Ten pounds! I had no idea. I mean, I knew I had lost twelve pounds total, but I didn’t realize I’d lost ten pounds this month for this challenge.

Talk about your motivation. I have less than a pound to lose to have lost five percent of my top body weight.

When you are trying to lose weight, I think it’s definitely a good thing to get involved in these types of challenges, no matter what the outcome. If you gain or maintain, you have that reminder that something needs to change. If you lose weight, you are reminded of how much you have accomplished in a new light.

Like I said, I knew I had lost weight, but looking at it in terms of the challenge made me feel great about it all over again.

Are you involved in any challenges? Do you like it/them? Do you find it/them motivational?

I was a bit nervous about making this post because, like a lot of people, I’m afraid (on a subconscious level) of ‘cursing’ my weight loss by posting about successes. It may seem silly, but it’s the absolute truth.

However, there comes a time when you have an undeniable non-scale victory… This week, I am happy to share mine with you.

I have fat pants!

For probably the first time ever, I have a pair of pants that I need to put away because they are practically falling off. I might not put them away just yet because I have a belt, but the fact remains that I am in danger of everyone getting to know my knickers in a public place if I don’t wear a belt with these pants.

I am so happy!

I have had pants get a bit loose during weight loss before, but I have never gotten to a point where my pants were so obviously loose and falling off on me. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten my measurements down so much in my life. It’s a fantastic feeling. It makes me want to go through all of my pants and start putting away the things that are too big for me.

Not only that, I noticed this morning that I had to pull up my gym pants a couple of times because they were a bit loose on me as well.

As they say, when your pounds aren’t dropping, check your measurements! It just might be that you’re losing inches instead of pounds right now.

Hello everyone! It’s that time again, and I hope you are having a wonderful Monday. No beating around the bush today; it’s time to weigh in.

Starting Weight: 256
Last week: 244
This week: 244

Yep, that’s no loss for this week, but that’s also no gain as well!

It looks like I am going to at least maintain 244 until my anniversary next Monday, which is the minimum of what I wanted to do. Given that this is (supposed to be) time of month, I’m grateful that I haven’t gained anything. Especially given that my PCOS is acting up and I haven’t actually completed the cycle, so to say.

I usually have about a two to five pound gain at this time, so I’m definitely happy with maintaining. There is also the usual gain after having a time of not eating much (I had the stomach flu last week), so I’m glad to not have gained because I’m back to eating regularly again.

How is everyone else doing? Loss? Gain? Maintain? I’d really like to hear about your strategies and how things are going for your personal weight loss.

Are you feeling good about where you are? Discouraged? Do you feel like you could use some support or do you like to battle it out alone most of the time? Are you on a diet plan or are you watching what you eat without a plan?

This week I’m really hitting the water and the gym. I’m trying to take it easy after being ill, but having a little loss for the next weigh in would be fabulous.

I was going to write this yesterday, but I was so tired…

I went into the doctor and:

1. Found out I’m not pregnant
2. Was told I needed to go to a specialist because I might need hormone therapy
3. Got something to control my nausea and it’s working so far. I even have a little bit of an appetite today.

He told me that since I have been on the South Beach Diet (no breads, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc) for this long, I should start experimenting with foods to see what really makes me tired and what doesn’t. I know rice does full force, some noodles a bit less so. I’m probably going to experiment with pumpkin first. I love pumpkin and, yes, it has a high GI, but I’ve never noticed problems with it in the past.

Also, on another note, I’m probably one of the many lactose intolerant. I’m not completely sure (and a bit sure because unless it’s in a chai, I think soy milk is nasty), but it’s pretty safe to assume.

He said that I should probably start seeing a specialist given that I have PCOS complications going on with things and, as a general practitioner, he didn’t want to make guesses outside his field. That was nice, but all it did was remind me of all the things impeding my weight loss.

So that’s what’s going on with me at the moment…

I’m quite tired and just want to relax for a while… Not that it will happen, but I can wish, right?

1. Because tomorrow is full of even more reasons to put off starting.
2. You can either start today and have a smaller piece of cake at your birthday or start after your birthday and gain even more weight until then.
3. You never know what tomorrow will bring. At least today is partially over.
4. It’s never too soon to start taking steps towards a healthier life.
5. You can start with small steps. No need to plan every little thing before you start.
6. Tomorrow, next week, next month… All of them aren’t going to make a difference. Either you do it or you don’t.
7. If you’ll wait too long, you’ll wish you had started sooner.
8. If you start today, a little stumble down the road won’t be as damaging.
9. There are hundreds of people ready to help you get started today.
10. You can’t predict what stresses will come your way. Isn’t it better to do a little damage control than to start ten (or more) pounds heavier?
11. There are plenty of delicious foods that are also healthy just waiting for you to discover them…
12. There’s no reason to wait until tomorrow.
13. Haven’t you waited long enough?

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Well, there it is. I’m going to the doctor. I have to call and make an appointment today. Hopefully I can get in on Thursday, but it might be next week instead.

I have a lot (and by ‘a lot’ I mean deep-rooted, serious, and by the dozens) issues with going to doctors. From the going to the doctor to the doctors, I’m just a big ball o’ issues.

But I have to. I can’t do this anymore. I know in the past I have said I should go to the doc and probably would…eventually, but this is a whole new ballpark. (And I swear I’m going to scream if I start crying before I finish typing this.)

I mean, I enjoy losing four pounds in a week any time, but when it’s because I feel gross most of the time (I have a late afternoon window when I feel food in my stomach is not an evil thing) I think something just might be wrong. Plus, I would just really like to get through a day without crying, as I seem to have an inability to do so lately. (Today is out. I cried this morning.)

So cross your fingers for me that I get Thursday. Or tomorrow. Hubby has a trip, but I could go along and we could go to the doc straight after.

But anyway, cross your fingers it’s soon. (No crossing for Friday, non-Australians. It’s a holiday here.) I can’t take much more of this without some relief. Or at the least, some answers.

EDIT: It turns out my doctor is working the holiday and I go in on Friday. Phew!

Found on Jenera’s blog.

Have You Ever….

Taken a picture naked? Yep.

Made money illegally? And how exactly would I go about doing that?

Had a one night stand? Nope.

Been in a fist fight? Nope.

Slept with your best friend? Haha. Nope.

Had sex in a public place? Not sex, but I’ve been naughty in a public place.

Ditched work to have sex? Well, I work from home, so…

Slept with a member of the same sex? Not sexually.

Seen someone die? Nope.

Ran from the police? Nah.

Woke up somewhere and not remember how you got there? Nope.

Worn your partners unmentionables? Sorry, but jocks aren’t for me.

Fallen asleep at work? Well, I work from home…

Used toys in the bedroom? Yeup.

Ran a red light? On accident.

Been fired? Nope.

Been in a car accident? Not that I can remember.

Pole danced or done a striptease? Kind of.

Loved someone you shouldn’t? Way too many times.

Sang karaoke? Once.

Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Haha. Hasn’t everyone?

Laughed so hard you peed your pants? Nope.

Caught someone having sex? Nope.

Kissed a perfect stranger? Nope.

Shaved your partner? Nope.

Given your private parts a nickname? That is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard. No, I haven’t.

Ever gone in public without underwear? Yes, but with pants on.

Had sex on a roof top? Nope.

Played chicken? Nope.

Mooned/flashed someone? Nope.

Do you sleep naked? Yes

Blacked out from drinking? Heck no.

Felt like killing someone? Literally killing someone? Once.

Had sex more than 5 times in one day? Nope, but sounds like a nice goal…

Been with someone because they were in a band? Nope.

Taken 10 shots of liquor in a day? Nope.

Shot a gun? Yep, a few.

Gone outside naked? Yep.

Answer on your blog and leave a link so I can check out your answers!

It’s once again that time here on Finally Getting Fit. Time to weigh in and see if anything has changed from last week.

Here goes… (SW = Starting Weight, LWI = Last Weigh In, CW = Current Weight)

SW: 256
LWI: 248
CW: 244

Well, well, well…

I’m kind of not sure what to say, to be honest. I’m definitely happy, that’s for sure. I didn’t really expect this. I suppose I should have, looking back on the stomach upset I’ve had for a little while now, but I guess I have been so focused on other things that I’ve been eating right but not thinking about the results.

I suppose that’s a good thing. Sometimes I get a little too focused on the numbers and that upsets me. This past week has been so crazy that it took my focus away, and I’m glad. Today was definitely a pleasant surprise.

Plus, I only have one pound to go before I’ve lose five percent of my body weight. Yay! I’m very happy about that. Also, my BMI is finally under 40, which is even more awesome.

Honestly, I’m a bit gobsmacked. I set the goal of 244 by my wedding anniversary (May 5th), but there was always that nugget of doubt telling me I wouldn’t get there in that time. And now I have. Early, even.

I’m not going to set another goal right now because I have yet to go through time of month, which usually means a weight spike. Actually, I’m not setting a goal loss. I do have the goal to at least maintain until the anniversary.

What are you doing for your health and fitness this week? What positive changes are you making in your life for your future?

When it comes to the struggle of trying to lose weight and keep off what I’ve lost, sometimes I just want to quit. It’s too hard. I’m too tired. I have factors that make it even harder for me to lose weight than other people. So why even try? Why not just try to eat decently and give in to the bag of M&Ms when I feel like it?

Then I remember.

I started seriously trying to get fit after my wedding in May of 2007. It took many months and a lot of struggle, but I started getting myself down in weight. Clothes were a bit looser, I was feeling better, I was eating better…

And I fell off the bandwagon.

It didn’t happen fast, but it happened. I gained back all the weight I had lost and was exactly (to the pound) back to where I started after my wedding. As you can imagine, that depressed me to no end.

I don’t usually do New Year’s resolutions, but this year I decided I was going to lose the weight. No matter what, no matter how long, I was going to try my best and hardest. For my husband. For my future children. For myself.

This run hasn’t been easy either. With my weight bouncing around and often going to plateau status, it’s been hard to keep going. Many times I have wanted to just give up and have those M&Ms. Or TimTams. Or chicken satay noodle box.

The difference this time is that I made a promise to myself. I worked so hard and gained it all back. Now I have to lose it again. I won’t do that anymore. I will never quit because once I’ve lost the pounds, I sure as heck don’t want to have to lose them again when it’s so much work. If I had just stuck it through last time, maybe I would be down in the 230s already.

I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not going to quit.

With all the different diets out there, is it any wonder we get confused and sometimes end up gaining back all the weight (and then some)? Not all diets are completely evil and not all of them will deprive you of everything you love.

Still, you need to be careful when picking out your diet and making sure you’re getting the right kind of variety for your body type. Not sure what that is? Visiting your doctor or dietitian will help.

1. Weight Watchers (Very, very popular with the points system.)
2. The Atkins Diet (Hello diet for meat lovers!)
3. The South Beach Diet (From everything I have been reading, this is one of the most reasonable, most easy, and most easy on your system diets out there…)
4. Jenny Craig
5. The CSIRO Well-Being Diet (This one is particularly popular here in Australia. I haven’t tried it myself, but I have looked at the books and it looks interesting.)
6. LA Weight Loss (Because of the pollution doesn’t kill you, you should be healthy in weight…
7. The Zone
8. The Master Cleanse Diet (More like a detox, but also works as a diet)
9. Sugar Busters
10. Nutrisystem
11. Martha’s Vineyard Diet
12. 5-Factor Diet
13. Cabbage Soup Diet (Ew.)

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks

Today marks the first official day that I can have (granary) bread again. And (wholemeal) pasta. And sweet potatoes, fruit, light yogurt, skim milk, red wine…

…but I don’t want to. Except for possibly the light yogurt, I find myself reluctant to come off phase one of the SBD. I don’t really want to start integrating those sorts of things back into my diet. Not yet, at least.

This feeling is actually quite a common phenomenon for people on the SBD and Dr. Agatson acknowledges that. Thankfully, he says it’s not a big deal if you want to stay on phase one longer than the minimum two weeks. The only danger is that you might get bored with the strict phase and lean back toward your previous eating habits.

I’m honestly not worried about that. Getting so addicted to the carbs and sweets last time has pretty much scared me enough to keep me on track. For a long while, at least.

I’m glad to have a bit more freedom back when it comes to eating for when I eat out, but honestly? They have some fantastic salads in my local venues as well as a lot of accommodating places that will adjust the menu. All of which makes it easier to stay on phase one.

I am happy to get some of the dairy products back. I haven’t been drinking coffee because I only like it with milk in it, and I like yogurt a lot, so those will be two things I will enjoy having the option of once again.

All in all, I’m very glad I got through phase one without ‘tripping up’. I feel better than I was, I’m not getting so tired all the time, my digestive system is doing a lot better, and I’m no longer having skin reactions to my food.

Someone requested that I talk a little more about the South Beach Diet, so I thought I would give a bit of a run down:

The South Beach Diet, developed by Dr. Arthur Agatston, focuses on getting the body to relearn to process the good fats and stay away from the bad fats. That’s putting it simply, though. It also takes into account the Glycemic Index as well to help make a more encompassing diet.

The South Beach Diet claims to not only help you lose weight, but it also helps insulin-related problems, often clearing up diabetic problems as well as helping women with PCOS/insulin resistance to conceive (this isn’t widely broadcast, but weight loss in women with PCOS can help conception).

SBD consists of three phases - the first being the most strict, the second being the diet to get you down to you ideal weight, and the third being the maintenance phase that keeps you around your ideal weight.

The first phase, basically put, helps you kick your addictions to the things that send your blood sugar into flux the most - fruits, breads/pastas, a couple veggies, and sweets. You also cut out a lot of the worse fats like fatty cuts of meat and moderate some of the midline things like nuts and some cheeses.

The second phase is where you start adding back in the things you love the most and ‘need’ to have once in a while. Some people have bread once a fortnight. Others have an apple once a week. The key to this phase is slow reintroduction. And you’ll be surprised what you can live without…

And as I said before, phase three is maintenance. You can add in more things if you like and can cut back if you start gaining weight.

I had a severe addiction to breads, noodles, and sweets, so this diet has been perfect for me so far. I miss things occasionally, but it’s been nice to get out of those bad habits.

What I love best about SBD is that it takes into account that people slip up or that people want to have a nice meal out sometimes and not have to worry. Because of that, they have made a diet that is flexible instead of linear. If you are in phase two or three and stuff yourself on bread and pasta on your birthday, just go back to phase one. You can move back and forth through the phases as you please (after the initial minimum two weeks on phase one).

I’ve also found this diet extremely easy to stick to. Instead of the points system (where I often used the points the wrong way and didn’t get any healthier) this limited my diet. Admittedly, that doesn’t work for everyone, but I never go hungry either. I can have as much as I want off whatever is allowed.

The thing about this diet, though, is that it helps you to eat less, so overeating isn’t a big problem. I’m never hungry and I’m eating all kinds of things I like. I have even discovered a few new things I like. (The ricotta mocha SBD recipe isn’t too bad.)

I don’t honestly know if this is the diet that will make all the difference, but I do know that it works for me on a health level. I’m not eating the breads/pastas/sweets that I used to and now I have more energy, stamina, and feel better all over. This diet may restrict what foods I can eat, but it’s so much more flexible than other diets in important ways that I don’t mind it.

I hope that gives you what information you need. Feel free to ask more question of me. (Or of Google.)

Hello and welcome back. Today is once again weigh in day and I felt a bit apathetic getting on to the scale this morning. Still, I like to weigh in at least once a week to keep a bit of an eye on myself.

Here goes… (SW = Starting Weight, LWI = Last Weigh In, CW = Current Weight)

SW: 256
LWI: 248
CW: 248

No change for this week, but I’m okay with that. I had quite the loss last week and as long as I’m under the 250 mark, I’m happy for now.

I’m not sure what’s going on with me right now, but I’m in a bit of a ‘meh’ mood. I like when I lose weight, yes, and I don’t want to gain any, but I’m rather apathetic to both. I hate to say it, but I kind of…don’t really care about losing the pounds right now.

It’s a bit of a strange mood for me, that’s for sure. As long as it doesn’t de-motivate me or keep me from going to the gym and eating right, I reckon it’s not a big deal.

Have you ever had a time like that? Where you couldn’t honestly give a rat’s bum if the scale moved one week? I mean, I know I’d be upset if I gained, but not as upset as other times. Losing weight would be nice, but I’m not really caring about that either right now.

So it goes, I suppose. Now I just need to focus on getting through the week.

So what is your plan of action this week? Do you have anything special planned or going full steam ahead with the usual plan?

This week I am making an effort to get to the gym every day of the week. I’ve been in a bit of a lazy mood lately and haven’t been keen on going, but I always feel better once I’ve done it.

Once again I still need to do better with my water. I’m not sure why it’s so difficult sometimes when I have a water bottle next to me while I work… But I can still do better.

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All our tour hosts receive a link on our sponsors’ page (if you prefer hosting your banner, that’s fine, too), links on our in house blogs, and will receive copies of books where applicable for their time and effort in hosting our authors. You will also receive substantial traffic on your blog while the author is touring as we highly publicize each and every one of our tour stops.

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My dear friend Jenera has awarded me with the Great Blog Friend award. While I know a lot of people get annoyed with memes, tags, and awards, I like them a lot and am happy to have Jenera award me with one.

At this point I get to name people I would like to pass the award on to. I love giving awards out to people and would like to give them to everyone I know, but I have narrowed the list down to five lovely ladies who have been good friends and have the wonderful ability to make me smile.

Randi of If You Can’t Say Something Nice
Elisa of Watching Dr. Who
Jummy of Getting Crafty
Emma of Treehouse Jukebox
Lyndsey of Lez Keep It Real

These five ladies have been great friends to me with help in abundance whenever I needed it and a lot of great conversations.

Randi and I bond a lot over our shared condition PCOS and our having divorced certain family members.

Elisa has trusted me with the care of The Book Stacks after writing for it for a long time. She also sent me my first care package after I arrived in Australia.

Jummy is a craft goddess in my eyes and I love getting ideas from her site. She’s always cheerful and enthusiastic.

Emma has been a good friend for a long time and never fails to have strangely awesome timing at saying or doing something that makes me smile.

Lyndsey is a lovely lady who has been a great friend to me from the start. We have a lot of fun when we talk.

And there you have it! Feel free to take this award and pass it out on your blog.

Let me know if you do in the comments section. I always like to cruise around new blogs.

With that, I hope all of you have a lovely weekend filled with laughter, bonding, and good food. I’ll see you back here on Monday with the next weigh in. (Fun, fun. )