Finally Getting Fit

Hello all!

This past week I have been feeling like I’ve been off track. I was still doing the meal replacement for most meals and eating healthy food for other meals, but I still had that sense of ‘betraying’ myself and not sticking to the course. While I made good choices, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to stepping over a line that would lead me back to unhealthy eating.

The husband and I had a heart to heart about my eating that really helped me to refocus on what I want. I recognized that I haven’t been reigning myself in as much lately as I should have.

Sometimes all you need to re-inspire yourself and get going again is to say your goals out loud.

Telling my husband all about my next goal and how I’m feeling has really gotten me going this week. I’m back on the elliptical every morning, I have my kick ass attitude back and much more.

The goal I am focusing on right now is getting to the 220 mark by my next doctor’s appointment in August. 220 just so happens to be the 100 kilo mark and I’m all about the even numbers and such.

Not to mention how much I would love to walk into that office three months after my last appointment – the appointment where she said I’d have to go on metformin if I didn’t lose at least a little weight by the next appointment – having lost thirty kilos.

It’s going to be tough, but I think I can do it. And if I don’t get there? I’ve still done an amazing job so far.

How are you going?

I’ve mentioned on this blog a few times how I have managed to lose weight before and yet, for some reason, I hit my sabotage point – 244 – and screw it all up in one way or another. For some reason, that number always trips me up. It’s like something clicks in my head and I feel like ‘it’s okay’ to just drop everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve.

But something different has happened this time.

I talked yesterday about how moving the scale from the lounge to the tiled floor of the kitchen gave me not only a steadier scale that didn’t need constant adjusting but also a six pound difference in my weight.

Well, that six pound difference just so happened to take me right past my sabotage weight and plant me firmly on the other side.

Huh.

The moment I had been dreading trying to get past was suddenly gone. Poof. No need to deal with it.

And I have even lost another two pounds since then.

I always knew that the sabotage point was well and truly just in my mind, but to pass it so easily was… weird. And strangely, a complete non-event.

Knowing that I had suddenly gotten past the sabotage point with ‘no muss no fuss’ has apparently broken whatever hold it had over me in my mind. I smirked at being past it, but I focused more on being near (and now in) my 230s.

Is that weird or what? Something that had been so big to me is just gone.

Hooray!

Wow. I feel like so many things have happened since the last time I have checked in. The weight loss continues despite a social occasion (I have discovered that ‘going with the fish’ is nearly always the favourable option and hasn’t negatively influenced my diet) and many outings.

I’m currently at my lowest weight since… since before I came to Australia, at least. My husband and I have been needing replacement pants (we’ve worn most of our pants/jeans down to threads) and we finally got to the second hand shop this weekend. I was thrilled to be able to look in the section a size down from where I usually look. I’m not quite comfortable in most size 18s (you know how sizes go – they change from brand to brand) but I found a size 20 pair of pants that are comfortable now and have a drawstring so I can keep wearing them when I get loose.

I also needed some new knickers and Target had a big sale on, so I bought some knickers and two matching bra/knicker sets. My first! Yes, ladies, I have just bought my first two matching bra/knicker sets. Haha. I feel like I’ve completed some sort of rite of womanhood. All I can say is that wearing a matching set makes me feel quite sexy.

While putting things away, I found some knickers (did I mention: women’s underwear = knickers, men’s underwear = jocks?) that I bought when I first got over here. The knickers I bought this weekend are three sizes smaller. Three sizes! I was stunned.

All in all, things are going well and I’m actually losing weight this time, which is encouraging me not to stray from the diet. I haven’t had all that much difficulty with temptation, though, for which I am immensely grateful.

How are you going?

I am one pound shy of being fifteen pounds down, so I’ll just have to use the 10 pounds gone graphic.

Mind you, I’m proud as peaches over that as well.

Things have been going very well on the diet so far, and not just in the pounds lost. With doing something that takes me away from all food except small servings of fruit and veggies, I feel like I’m finally getting control on the things that eluded me on the ‘eat regular food, just the healthy kind’ sort of diets.

It’s well enough for me to eat healthier. I have been. Heck, I reversed my prediabetes. But – and I think it’s due to PCOS – that wasn’t enough to get me to lose weight. This? Well, this might just be the winner I have been searching for the past two and some years.

I had my first test to my diet this past weekend when the husband and I went away on a mini-holiday. I packed plenty of bars to see me through, trusting that I would know if eating ‘real’ food would mess with me psychologically. But it didn’t.

I indulged myself in small portions of beautifully grilled fish, and I didn’t regret a moment of it. I didn’t feel naughty or even like I was deviating from the diet, really. I paid attention to the first feelings of fullness (which happen just in my stomach now instead of that bloated, all-over feeling of full) and stopped when I needed to without problem. We had seafood the second night, too, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

And yes, I had dessert, too. I had chocolate torte. I know, I know, but if you are going to do it, you should do it with something truly decadent. And to be honest, I gave myself generous spoonfuls to share because it was too big for just me.

Without fuss or anything else, I’m back on the diet. Just like that. Amazingly, no pounds heavier, either. I credit that to the exercise we got while out and about, the high quality of food (everything made from scratch), and listening to my body so I stayed with appropriate portion sizes.

I feel so incredible. I’m hoping to be able to get to the 230s (which I haven’t been in since…at least six years ago, maybe more) by my birthday in August, but I’m not putting pressure on myself to do so. I just hope and work towards it. Woohoo!

How is everyone else doing?

It’s a brand new month as of some days ago, and I realized that I haven’t done a monthly goals post in quite a while. I don’t know how many months it has been, but it seems like a few at least.

I bet you can guess what I have decided to do.

I am quite proud for having made it twelve days straight without skipping a single day of exercise and I did not skip a single rep of exercise. Day thirteen saw me with a fairly nasty shoulder/neck strain that took hot baths, pain pills and multiple massages to get out, but that’s just the name of the game.

Mr. JM and I are currently shopping around for some proper office chairs so that sort of thing doesn’t happen again. Setting my back and hips right with exercise and then sitting in a chair that encourages me to slouch is not a good combination. Until we find a nice chair, it’s back to the exercise ball seating for me.

I will confess that part of my prompting for May goals is that I have a doctor’s appointment next week and I’m a bit freaked out. I haven’t lost any weight and the doc is a bit… intense. I know I’ve had glandular fever, stress and all that stuff since the last appointment, but I would at least like to show her that I have some good habits in place.

On to the goals, which I have written on a notecard that is propped against my monitor right now…

1. Keep a food diary. This slipped off when I got glandular fever and could barely keep my eyes open when doing nothing.

2. Drink at least two litres of water per day. I always have trouble with sticking to drinking, but at least now I have a one litre bottle which will make things easier.

3. Weigh in daily. I’m just doing this for right now to keep myself on the right track.

4. (Continue to) Exercise daily. I had a few days off with the anniversary getaway, but I still got a bit of exercise in, so I don’t feel they’re lost days. Plus, my shoulder and neck probably needed the time off anyway.

There they are. Simple, yet the foundation for wonderful things to come.

What are your goals for this month?

For this week’s Monday Mailbag, I asked:

What have you accomplished so far in 2009?

Now, I should have put my answer up earlier, given I’m the one who asked the question, but you know how life happens. I’m still dealing with Fatigue Factor +10 with this silly head cold/sinus infection/whatever, so I’ve been a bit lazy over the past week or so.

This is a hard question, and I debated even trying to answer it…

I don’t feel like I have accomplished much this year, and yet I feel like I have done so much.

While I don’t have a lot of success in the poundage area to report, I have done a lot in regards to other things. I took a huge step by going to the Women’s Clinic to get things on the right track to get straightened out. I don’t really want to go back on The Pill, but – another one of my accomplishments – I realized that I have to do what’s necessary to keep my body going as well as it can until I get my weight down.

The reason I decided to answer this question is because there is one big thing that I feel is an accomplishment, even if I have nothing physical to show for it.

I have begun to examine what’s going on with me mentally in regards to food. I know what I have to do to lose weight, so why am I not losing weight? Well, that’s a can of worms I’ve finally been brave enough to open and it’s a pretty crazy can.

Even so, I think that’s a big accomplishment. I have food issues from way back to some of my earliest memories, so we’re talking about some deeply rooted things. But I have come to realize that I’m never going to lose weight (and keep it off) if I keep avoiding those things.

So here’s to mental bravery…

I figure it’s way past time I answer one of the Mailbag Monday questions, eh? This week’s question is, if I do say so myself, a good one. I think it’s a great exercise for people to do more than once on their way to getting fit.

This week’s question is:

What is the first thing you’ll do when you get to your goal weight?

Hanlie has some great ideas over on her blog – including one that I might have to steal…

I think the idea of a photo shoot is absolutely excellent. When I get to my goal weight – which is about 160 (unless I am perfectly happy at 170) – I would love to have a professionally done shoot with my husband. We didn’t have engagement pictures done and we have some nice wedding photos, but I’d love to get a really good shot of both of us.

I think the other thing I would do is go in search of ‘the little black dress’. I’ve always wanted a nice, sexy black number to wear out somewhere special. I’m saving the pleasure, though, as part of my ‘ultimate’ reward (including a night out in inner Melbourne).

Photo shoot, little black dress to wear on a night out on the town… Sounds like the perfect way to celebrate, don’t you think?

Then again. I would definitely settle for getting a positive pregnancy test, too… Haha! My apologies to Mr. JM if he’s reading this. Fertility is an issue as well, though. Who would have thought I’d ever look forward to the day I could have a TOM naturally?

Jenera recently asked if you are the kind of person to make NY resolutions or not. She mentions that she doesn’t think she has ever made an official resolution and that she has the general goal of being ‘fit and fabulous’ come (northern hemisphere) summer.

I got to thinking about my life and resolutions. Yes, it’s true I’ve made some more-or-less ‘official’ resolutions, but not anything all that spectacular. Not anything I can really remember, either.

I don’t like making ultra-specific resolutions because I feel that’s setting myself up for failure. My life doesn’t run just according to me and outside influences happen.

Like, I’d love to say, “I want to lose fifty pounds in 2009”. Sounds good, but it might not happen because I have other hormonal/body factors that keep me from losing weight like I should. (That’s the general consensus at the moment.)

But who knows? Maybe I’ll win the lottery and get some liposuction to get me started. Or maybe they’ll figure out what part of me is being so stubborn and fix/help it and the pounds will come off like they should. Those sort of things are a bit out of my control so I don’t want to set the specific goal.

My goals are general ones, and thus I call them goals instead of resolutions. I’d like to lose as much weight as I healthily can. I want to lower my cholesterol. I want exercise to become an even more regular part of my life. I want to ovulate on my own.

So, in the end, I’m more of a ‘leave them’ person when it comes to resolutions. They usually just end up making people feel guilty.

How about you?

I have been thinking a lot lately about why I am losing weight and why I want to continue to try to do so. Back when I first started seriously getting into dieting, I had a while to go before my wedding. I already had the dress and it was too big, so I would need it to get fitted anyway. Of course I wanted to lose weight for the wedding.

Here are a few tips and tricks in case you’re looking to do the same thing from someone who did it.

*Start early. It is always better to work in the healthy habits as soon as possible. That also makes it easier if you have a ‘bad’ day to recover afterward.

*Get your whole wedding party in on it. You shouldn’t make it a requirement for everyone in the wedding to lose weight, but it can be great to have that support from anyone who wants to participate.

*Plan ahead. For your pre-wedding parties, plan ahead and request healthier food and snacks.

*Always remember the dress/tux. If you’re going to be losing a significant amount of weight, be sure to have an appointment not long before the wedding to get the dress fitted.

*Most importantly: Don’t let it spoil the day. If you haven’t lost as much as you would have liked, it’s okay! It’s your day and no one is going to be thinking about your weight.

I know this is a little different from my usual posting, but I hope some people find it useful.

Okay, so these are a little late. But better late than never, right? It’s time for me to refocus for the month and talk about my goals…

Food – Honestly? I think I’m doing pretty good with this. I haven’t eaten bread in over a month now, no pasta either (I’ve found a noodle substitute – made out of beans!), and I have only had sweets a couple times. I like phase one of the South Beach Diet and I’m only making a few adjustments so I’m technically in Phase Two.

Even so, I feel much better than I was feeling. I miss my sushi, but I can still eat sashimi, which makes me very happy.

Water – I seem to have *SUCH* a hard time with keeping up on my water. I’m not sure what it is. I was doing fine with it for a while, but after that it’s been a constant trouble. I need to really get on this and get back into it.

Exercise – I’m going to try something a little new starting next week because I want to change up my routine a bit. I’m hoping that it will help me get re-excited about exercising again as well as switching things up to encourage more weight loss.

Mentality – I’m getting much better with this, but I do need to stop beating myself up so much. It’s a bad habit I’m slowly getting rid of, but I really need to ditch it for good.

What are your goals for May? Are you having trouble with anything? Is there anything you’re feeling proud of? Leave a comment in the comments section and start up a weight loss conversation.

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 think that coming up with a rewards list is one of the things people have the hardest time with (besides the actual losing weight). While everyone is different, I have pretty consistently heard people who want to lose weight talk about how hard it is to make a rewards list.

I think the reason for this comes in two parts: One, most of us don’t feel like we deserve rewards – especially the people who are trying to lose a lot of weight and don’t have a lot of confidence. Two, many people are so concerned about doing it ‘right’ that they end up not doing it at all.

First off, there’s no wrong way to make your rewards list. I promise!

Secondly, of course you’re worth it. Of course you are. You are someone who is trying to make your body healthier. You deserve a lot of credit beyond rewards.

Rewards can be as often as you want and whatever you want them to be. If you have an extremely hard time with motivation, then make it every five pounds you get a treat. I knew a woman who got a $5 iTunes card every time she lost five pounds.

If bigger rewards are what will work for you, then make it every twenty or twenty-five pounds and then get yourself a manicure/pedicure. Go out for a massage. Treat yourself with a road trip or a new purse/book/pen set/whatever.

Think of things you really want and then set them as rewards. Don’t feel guilty about spending money on yourself because that will just take the whole point out of it.

Work hard and then reward yourself. You deserve it.

Today I was having fun exploring what is turning into a massive blog roll list over at the Healthy You Challenge. (Looking for some support? Your guaranteed to find it there!) I had a lot of lovely people stop by and comment on my last post, so I figured I’d pay some of the weight loss blogger love forward.

I was reading on Irish Mom’s blog – Little Boy Blue and a Redhead Too – where she wrote:

“I just saw a commercial (not sure for what) where people comment on how life would change if I lost the weight….

What would you do?? Or what did you do when lost significant weight??”

That got me thinking as well.

While Irish Mom has pretty much said it all as far as what I would do, I got to thinking about a few things of my own I would add on.

~I would start planning for having a baby. (I’m currently saving money, but nothing else.)
~I would be able to keep up with my husband.
~I would finally find and buy ‘the little black dress.

So what would you do?

Welcome to a new month!

A new month brings new goals for the month, and I have decided to list my goals here. While having the big goal of your ultimate weight loss is nice and everything, I think it’s the small goals that really keep us on track with the journey.

I’d love to lose 100 pounds. First, I’d like to lose 50 and see how I feel about losing more. Before that I’d like to get into my 230s, which I haven’t been in for years. Before that, I want to get in the 240s where I was before I got derailed. The 240s will also see me lose five percent of my total weight.

See what I mean? I have many steps to take, but it keeps me going and keeps me from getting discouraged. That’s why I think monthly goals are great.

Here are mine:

*Drink 2-3 bottles of water a day minimum.

*Stick to the South Beach Diet. No cheating whatsoever.

*Don’t miss any gym days (M-F) after this week.

*Lose eight pounds by my wedding anniversary. (This strays into May – May 5th – but I need to lose most of the weight in April anyway.)

I would love, love, love to be back in the 240s by my wedding anniversary. Even better? The low 240s. I’m not going to put a lot of pressure on myself to do so, but I think I can at least break the 250 mark with the combination of South Beach and the gym.

What are your goals for this month? How do you plan on accomplishing them? Where would you like to be when May rolls around?

When you’re starting out, setting your goal weight is obviously something you’ll want to figure out. You may want to go one step at a time, your goals switched each time you accomplish one, or you may want to go with an overall goal.

I have the overall goal of 100 pounds to lose and the smaller goals along the way. My first goal is 236 – 20 pounds down and also the lowest point I got to the last time I went on a diet.

When it comes to setting your goals, you really need to consider what is going to work best for you. Most people consider one huge goal alone too intimidating. I highly recommend the combination of a bigger goal along with at least one smaller goal.

You’ll probably recognize the categories of weight according to BMI:

BMI Categories:
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

Most BMI calculators are based solely on your height and weight, and that is the big thing to keep in mind.

If I lose the full 100 pounds and weigh 156 pounds, my BMI will be 25.2 – in the overweight category. However, I am also someone who is stocky. A farm girl. Even as early as 160, I might look like those bony people you wish would just eat a hamburger.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to the BMI calculator, is obese. Yep, a BMI of 30.2

So take the BMI calculator with a grain of salt, so to say. In the end, it’s about how you feel, not about what a graph created by someone who doesn’t know you says.

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If you’re looking for other health related sites, take a look at Encouraging Health