It's MY time!

MaryKS

MaryKS

New member
Today is my first day on this forum! I have decided I need a little more support on this weight-loss journey of mine. I have been at it for 7 weeks now, and have lost 16.1 pounds. It has been hard, but I am doing it. I look forward to getting to know you all and giving/receiving support as well.

I posted this in reply to another posted a little bit ago, but I wanted to start my diary off with it, so I can have it and remind myself of it often:

Motivation fails me all the time. I don't use motivation. What has helped me is to be accountable to someone until momentum kicks in. For example, anything negative in my life (a bad day at work to a death in the family and everything in between) can steel my motivation. But when momentum kicks in, even when negative events happen, I still do what I need to do. In the beginning, however, when I am building momentum, I have to be accountable to someone. Take exercise, for example. I have been exercising (cardiovascular) for at least 30 minutes every day for over 7 weeks now. I started out calling the person I am accountable to every evening to let them know what I did for exercise and for how long. (I still call everyday, by the way, even though momentum has kicked in.) So now that I have 49 days straight of exercising, I don't want to ruin that streak. So if something negative happens in my life, and it does and it will, I exercise anyway. Momentum does not fail me. It is the way to go!

It is Sunday, the start of a new week, the start of new opportunities to fill the week. I want it to be a great week -- one day at a time, one meal at a time, one step at a time. Most of my weight loss journey has been negative and depressing so far. I am tired of that. Time to be positive (at least most of the time.)
 
Welcome :waving:

This is my second go at this place...and I can tell you that it is a wonderful place. It was such a big part in my first 60 pound weight loss...well I gave up and hide my head in the sand and 40 pounds game back. So I came back because I know this place can help kick my butt when I need it! I hope you find a use for this place for what ever you need...it can really help!

And congrats on the 17pounds! Way to Go!! :hurray::hurray::hurray:
 
Thanks tetemcg for the congrats and the encouragement. I am glad I found a great place. And, I am glad you are back. Sorry you regained some weight, but, you are still 20# ahead. I look forward to getting to know you better and cheering you on as well!
 
I just started my first challenge -- the 90-day challenge. I have been doing all that stuff anyway for a bit, so I decided, to build momentum, to be accountable to do it for 90-days. It seems overwhelming, but I know that if I look at it one day at a time, like I have been, 90 days will go by faster than I think, and then it may even be habit.

Today is a happy day for me! For the first time in my 7-week weight loss journey, I am wearing one size smaller! Woot Woot! Yes, it is just a tad tight, but that is ok. I have not fit into a size 16 in several years, and today I did. I am thrilled! I weigh in on Friday. I can't wait to see what my week's loss will be.

Time to head off to work.....
 
It is almost 11pm and I am hungry! I have eaten all the calories I can for the day. One thing I am learning is that hunger is not a problem that HAS to be solved. Hunger does not feel good, but I can deal with it. I can drink a glass of water, and that will help. I really don't get hungry too often, so that is good. I don't like feeling hungry, but I do like the feeling of being in control of myself, rather than letting the hunger control me. I am amazed at how I let feeling like hunger, boredom and emotions like loneliness, sadness, etc., cause me to eat, even when I was not hungry. Not any more! Now I am taking control. And, it feels good!.
 
There is no need to ever feel hungry if you opt for the more filling things... I found this to be a good idea (despite the fact that it tends to involve you cutting out some really tasty things that I missed) because I really was not fond of that hungry feeling.... especially for a permanent lifestyle change...

A lot of people confuse feelings of hunger with feelings of thirst. You mention drinking water. On the forum - the standard recommendation is to have at least 1 ounce of water per 2 pounds that we weigh. It is well worth counting your water to make sure that you are generally having enough... A lot of people think that 64 ounces is enough - but that is really only the case for a fairly slim person...
 
Omega, that is good info. Thanks. I have only been drinking 64oz. daily on average. I guess I had better increase that. And thank you Ginger for the greeting and encouragement.

I am on a medication to prevent migraines, and it works very well. I am so pleased. I have not had a migraine since I have been on it. Nothing else has ever worked! One of the side effects of it, of which I am not complaining, is that it suppresses the appetite most of the time. So eating fewer calories has not been that difficult for me. But last night when I was hungry, it was hard. But, I made it through. So that was good. I like what you said Omega. I looked at what I ate yesterday, and I really did eat less filling foods than normal, with one exception. I will be more careful about that in the future. Lesson learned.

One of my jobs --- really a side job --- is that I am a professional cake decorator. I have a special cake due this weekend. I am so excited. It will be a carved dog. I make cakes like you would see on the food network. Anyway, this is the 2nd cake will have made since I started this weight loss journey. The first one I did well. I did not "taste test" every thing. I hope to do as well this time. My husband is willing to taste the cake sample and the icing for me to make sure it is not to sweet and tastes ok. For that, I am very grateful. So, I should be ok.

Have a wonderful weekend!
 
You may find the attached link about water consumption to be interesting:

My husband is a large person and for many years was not drinking enough water. Unfortunately - he did not bring his weight down when I did mine.
I learnt that I was not drinking enough water - and worked hard at increasing my water consumption to nearer the recommendation - and found the reduction of water required a great milestone as I lost weight... I really appreciated each time I needed to drink a small bottle less of water in the day...
I suggested that my husband really should be drinking more water too - but he said that he was happy as he was...

He was not nearly so happy when he developed kidney stones and the consultant told him that it was because he had not been drinking enough water...

He ended up needing four kidney operations in a matter of a few months... They had to operate as he was too heavy to shatter them using shock waves...

He is now very good about drinking quite a lot of water each day...
 
Today is the first day I drank the recommended amount of water for my weight. WOW. That was a lot of water. I wish I liked the taste of water more. Well, I am looking forward to the benefits of not being dehydrated. I hope my thinking gets clearer.

Since I started this journey I have been walking or running/walking everyday. I thought I would never say this, but I finally am enjoying it. I am so glad I perservered!
 
Enjoying exercise is a great milestone too, and one that can stay with you and help you along for the rest of your life. Good going!
 
Here is another milestone: I am down 20# (still many many more pounds to lose though), down 2 pants sizes, AND, OFF MY BLOOD PRESSURE MEDS! YAY!
 
Wooooohooooo! Ok, that´s not just one milestone but a bunch of them :D Congratulations, that is just the best news! What a motivation to keep going :)
 
I have not been on in a couple weeks. I had a bad week in there and I kind of isolated myself....bad, I know. I am doing well now. I am down another couple of pounds and I weigh in again on Friday.

The most exciting part of this journey right now is the exercise part. I am doing the Couch to 5K program (you can google it.) When I first started it about 8 weeks ago, running 90 seconds seemed sooo long and impossible. Now I am running 35 minutes and 2.5 miles without much problem! It is so neat to see such tangible and measurable improvement. And, my legs and butt are losing inches and toning up a lot faster than they would be otherwise. I would have never guessed I would learn to enjoy the exercise, but I do. Yay!!!!
 
hey there mary. well done for getting back on track. i'm just new here and about to start my own diary but wanted to express my admiration for what you're doing and to encourage you to be kind to yourself those times it doesn't go perfectly. we're human after all and i've found i do better at those times when i'm loving myself than berating myself. all best with the ongoing journey. you're clearly doing a great job.
 
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