(Re)new Journey

Status
Not open for further replies.
:) Active, healthy friends (or those willing to become it) make life so much easier. Well done! Not long to go until you reach your original goal... Be sure to celebrate.
 
Totally agree with you, LaMaria!
And thanks Cate... I was surprised to see 137.5 so soon as well. I just hope it sticks around :)

This morning I wrote that I was hoping for an easy day at work and, believe it or not, it was a good day! I don't work on Fridays during the summer so my weekend has begun. I came home this afternoon, did laundry and applied for jobs. I also did some food prepping (I cut up a watermelon, gutted a few grapefruits, and grilled a few chicken breasts). Its helpful for me to have some food to reach for when I am pressed for time. Despite the fact that it is 90 degrees outside, I decided to drive to a bike path and run a 5K. I am so glad I went and I think I will be going there more often. It is good for me to have different options for exercise so now I can add this to my list! I was happy with my run, especially considering the heat. I would have liked to walk also, but I didn't want to push it too much. The run was plenty for today.

Tomorrow I am headed to the beach in the morning so I will have to work out later on. The 90 degree weather is expected to stick around until early next week so I will have to take that into consideration. Tomorrow might be a good evening for a long walk. Either that or I can head to the gym.

Saturday I have a family party and I am feeling fairly confident in my abilities to be good with my food choices. It is a birthday party and I'm not a huge fan of cake so I think I'll be fine with that. I just know there will be some food that is unhealthy and I will be tempted. I think my approach is going to be choosing very small portions of just a few of the tempting foods. Otherwise I am sure there will be salad, which I love anyway. I hope it is less of a stress than other recent 'outings' have been. I just need to remember that I am still learning!
 
You sound really happy and confident Kakes. I'm sure you will do just fine with the birthday party. And well done on a 5k run when it's hot...heat for Aussie's is a perfect excuse to not do anything (well it is for me anyway);)
 
Thank you Florence! I don't think I am very confident in real life, but I am confident in my choices as a healthy person lately. I am seeing results from my hard work and that is reason enough to keep going!

Today has been quite hot! I went to the beach this morning and it was beautiful. I didn't get home until about 3:30 and by that time, it was still 93 degrees at my house! I have central air conditioning so I am very thankful for that. I really just wanted to lay down and relax but decided to get my butt to the gym. It was certainly too hot to exercise outside. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then some weights. That was enough for today. I was sweating so much. I am glad I got that work out in because I was close to just taking a shower and calling it a day. That's my small victory for today!
 
It seems to me that you are gaining confidence in "real life" as you gain it "as a healthy person.":D Your small victories are adding up to big victories my friend :)
 
Wow... what a busy weekend I had! Friday night we lost power due to a storm so the weekend wasn't off to the best start. However, Saturday I really turned it around. I had my cousin's second birthday party, which was a cookout. I ended up bringing my own turkey burger. None of my family said anything negative at all. They are all very supportive. That includes grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins. Such a good feeling. I also ate just a few potato chips but it was weird because I felt more in control when I was eating them. It didn't feel like I was committing a crime like it usually does. I felt like I ate a few just to taste and that I could tell myself when to stop. Amazing. I also had some salad and 4 bite sized pieces of kielbasa. Then my mom and I met up with my friend and her mom to do some shopping and dinner. I wasn't thrilled about going out but I managed to get a garden salad with grilled chicken. I didn't eat any of the bread that was put on the table. I did have a few glasses of sangria though. Lots of sugar but I enjoyed it. When I got home, I realized I hadn't worked out that day so I quickly got ready and ran 2.75 miles. That's all I had in me for the day. It was late and hard but I did it and was glad I did. Never thought I'd see the day that I would just walk outside and run 2.75 miles on a Saturday evening!

Sunday I went with a few friends to their family's beach house and we took their boat over to a beach. It was so fun. I made sure to pack my lunch (leftover salad from the previous night) and snacks from my own house. We packed it all in the cooler and were good to go. The rest of the group made sandwiches but I was happy to have my salad. SAY NO TO CARBS haha. We drank spiked hard seltzers, which is a new drink around here kind of a fad. They were really good and less calories than the beer that I would have drank. They also didn't give me a gross bloated feeling like beer does. I got home very late so I wasn't able to exercise. I'll consider that a rest day.

Being in a bathing suit a lot really tends to make one feel self conscious. I have been spending a lot of time in a bathing suit lately. I don't exactly feel like a run way model, but I do feel way more at ease in it than I have in a long time. I would not use the word "confident" at all, because wearing not a lot of clothing can make one feel vulnerable and I think it is a learned skill to just not care what others think. That being said, I am more worried about what I think. And what I think is that I have worked so hard to lose weight and I deserve to have some level of comfort in my own body, wether thats wearing a bikini or if I'm covered up from head to toe.

136.8 on the scale this morning. I just typed that as "168.3" and it took me a minute to realize that wasn't right. I am, in fact, in the 130s, those 160s are long gone. Sometimes its hard to remember that because sometimes I feel like I am still the old me. Anyway, I am getting really close to my original goal of 135. Hoping to be there by the end of July, which is fast approaching. I have a busy week ahead of me but I am going to be very focused and diligent so I can do my best to meet that goal. It is clear to me now that I still have a decent amount of weight to lose. I guess it is more about body fat percentage than it is about the number on the scale. But, when I say I want to continue to lose weight, I think it's clear that its the fat I want to get rid of haha. My stomach, for example, is much smaller than it used to be but it is not yet flat. That is my number one goal in terms of my weight loss: a flatter stomach. I also want to tone my arms and legs and that will require both cardio and weights. I am going to set my next goal after 135 to be 130 and then stop and assess there. I think I will ultimately want to get down to 125. I am simply going to continue to do what I am doing and see what happens.

Lastly, lots of life changes have happened/are happening/are going to happen for me so I need to be sure to stay focused. I hear all the time that people lose weight and they gain it back due to whatever reason. That will not happen to me... I have worked way too hard to let that happen. I also have so many more goals to reach and I can't let anything get in the way of those. I probably will update on the life changes eventually but for now it's most important that I stay focused. Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!
 
Great. Job. Thinking ahead, consciously deciding what's worth it and what isn't, catching up on your exercise after a party: excellent! But even better is that you see how you deserve to feel good abour yourself.
 
you sound like you're going really really well which is fantastic.
Don't worry about gaining the weight back. I don't think you will because you sound aware of the issue. I think it's more when people reach their goal and forget about eating properly. Plus, remember that no one ever hears about the people who keep the weight off because they're not in the circles that chat about it anymore. :)
 
Thank you, LaMa!

Florence, you are so right about not hearing about the people who keep the weight off. I've never even considered that!

Today I am feeling good. I've been great with my food and I went to the gym this afternoon to do weight machines. My friend is coming over later tonight to walk. We jokingly call it "walking club." We will do at least a few miles, depending on what time she gets out of work. Tomorrow I will run, and Wednesday is step class. Thursday I have a commitment at night so I will have to squeeze in something during the afternoon. Friday I have an interview in the morning and then I have to head to a different part of the state for the rest of the weekend until Monday afternoon. It is going to be a long weekend for me and I am trying to stay positive. I will have to go out of my way to get some exercise is, but I will be on my feet and busy the whole weekend, nonetheless. I am going to come up with a food plan for the weekend (i.e. bringing my own snacks) so I won't be making bad choices.

I am so close to my goal of 135 and oddly it feels anticlimactic. Maybe it is because I am planning on skating right past 135 to 130 next. So nothing is going to change for me. I am, however, going to celebrate and give myself an opportunity to be proud of myself for hitting this goal. At 135, I will have lost 37 pounds. That is incredible. Then when I reach 134, that will be 50 pounds lighter than I was last year, early spring. This is a true testament to what I can do when I really put my mind to it.
 
I love that you are proud of what you are doing. That's wonderful! Maintaining will be your new challenge & it is not as easy as it seems. I'm sure you can do it xo
 
Thank you, Cate. I sure am proud of what I have accomplished so far. There are a few things in my life that I am really proud of and adopting this healthier life ranks right up there. I hope I never stop saying that I'm proud of myself because I know I deserve to be. I work really hard at this and make a lot of sacrifices in order to make myself better. I deserve to reap the benefits.

I'm not quite at the "maintaining" point yet. I am guessing that will be at around 125 pounds. I am nervous for the whole maintaining process because I've heard that it's difficult. I still feel like I am new to all of this so it will definitely be a learning process. The good part is that I am ready and open to learning what that will entail for my body. A willingness to learn, I think, is the first step. Everything else will fall into place. If I say that enough, maybe I will start to believe it haha.

Got my walk in tonight. We did about 3.75 miles. The weather had cooled off a little bit from the 90+ degrees we had today so I was thankful for that. Now I am showered and ready for some chicken and green beans for dinner!
 
Kakes, you are doing AMAZING! wow 35 lbs! I think you will definitely keep it off, your lifestyle has become so active.
 
As long as you feel new to this whole thing you´re unlikely to regain the weight. It´s when you think it´s all second nature to you and get complacent that it gets dangerous.
 
Thanks, Julie!

And LaMa, that is a great point. Thinking back, any time that my weight has stalled, I have had to revamp things a bit in order to see results. I'm sure that will never change, whether I am still trying to lose, or maintaining.

136.6 on the scale this morning. I'm not surprised that it hasn't budged in a few days. I did use weights on Monday and that typically causes a stall. My body also feels a bit heavy and sore. Yesterday I went out for a run and boy was it hot. It was over 90 degrees and I felt like I was dying. Even still, I would have rather ran outside than gone to the gym and done cardio. I get bored of the gym sometimes and I knew that running was the better option. I managed a 5K, even though I intended to run 4 miles. It was just wayyyy too hot out. Glad I finished the 5K at least!

Today is Wednesday so its step day! I think I will also try and go to the pump class beforehand, depending on how I feel this afternoon. As I've said before, I am trying to use weights as much as I can in order to balance out this cardio. My limbs have gotten significantly smaller over the past 4 months so I want to try and start toning them up.
 
So happy to see that you're still here and still doing amazingly, Kakes :)

I really don't think you're going to yo-yo. You're not on a crash diet. You've ACTUALLY changed your habits and your thinking. You might find that the OLD habits creep up on you from time to time (that's what happens to me at least) but you'll be WELL AWARE of them and you won't want to go back to the OLD YOU. So I'm sure you'll kick them in the butt. Just believe in yourself and remember what a spectacular human bean you are :) LOVE!
 
Thanks everyone! It means so much to have people cheering me on!

I was feeling especially crappy this afternoon but I made it to pump class AND step class. I'm not sure what got into me, but I was so into both classes! Easily my most successful of each class to date. I was shocked because I have been a tad unmotivated (although I'm still sticking to my food plan and exercise plan). Maybe I just needed to sweat it out.

Tomorrow I have work until 11:45am and then I have to go back to work at 4:30pm. Between those times, I have a long list of things that I need to get done. First priority is making it to the gym. We are still in the middle of a heat wave so exercising outside isn't an option. I am thinking cardio and weights. Aside from that, I need to do laundry and pack for my weekend away. It is a work-type trip, not a vacation. I also have some other chores to get done.

Friday I have an interview at 10am and then immediately after that I will have to hit the road. I will be offered dining hall food for the weekend and I am petrified. I am planning on bringing hard-boiled eggs and fruit for each breakfast (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). I will most likely be eating the salad bar for lunches and dinners on those days too. I doubt they will have other healthy options. I think I will bring some grilled chicken with me, just in case. Lastly, I will need snacks for in between the meals. I'm not sure when I am going to find time to buy and prep this food. Most likely late Thursday night or early Friday morning before my interview. While it's sort of a pain to have to do all this work for a few days away, it is well worth it to me to have healthy options so I am not getting off track. Most importantly, I am not going to be embarrassed to bring this food along with me. I am on this journey alone and therefore only care what I think. It's my body and I will make the right choices for myself.

This weekend, I will likely be on my feet for most of the day, every day. I do, however, want to try and get a few runs or walks in at some point. I will probably have to wake up early and go out of my way to get it done, but I think I can do it. I also think it will good opportunities for me to take a little break and take some time for myself. I will do my best to work those in.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top