Transformation

Another way that I've measured my progress is to take monthly photos of myself. Sometimes I can see a change from month to month, sometimes not so much, but when I compare my current photo to my first I can DEFINATELY see a BIG change! And it motivates me to keep going, even though my scale is playing mind games with me some weeks!

Yeah, I've been considering that as well because I've seen so many people around here do that. I meant to ask my sister yesterday while she was visiting for her help with that to take a full body picture of me but I forgot. :p I swear I will get around to it, even if I have to set up some kind of timer, run, pose, and snap. :D

Thanks. :D
 
I just completed the most fun dance workout in existence. ... Well, considering I haven't completed every single dance workout in existence, I could be exaggerating a little... but it was a whole lot of fun. :D It was the kind of fun where you rewind to go back through the routine over and over again because you reached the end of the workout and they didn't go through it near often enough for your liking. I added a good 5 minutes onto the workout just from rewinding to dance through the routine some more!

- It offers to let you download it to your computer at cost but you can watch it at full screen from the website for free, which I did because I am a poor person.

Speaking of being poor, I created a fitness wishlist on amazon.com. There are so many things that I want that I can't afford and I found that even just making that wishlist motivated me so much. It's like a shopping high crossed with fitness motivation crossed with not burning a hole in your already empty pocket. Give it a try sometime, but only if you're certain you can resist the temptation to actually buy everything in sight. ;)

I finally measured myself with the measuring tape this morning after a good rummage through the house to locate it. I figure that you all already know my weight so I don't have much to hide (as if you didn't already know I'm large, right?) and I'll post the measurements here every week on Friday when I take them.

Neck- 17 3/8 in
Bicep- 17 3/16 in
chest- 49 1/2 in
Waist- 50 1/2 in
Hips- 55 in
Thigh- 31 in

I want to thank you all so much for being so supportive. I know that when things are rough and frustrating, I whine like a little baby. ;) But it means so much to me every single time I hear back from you all, telling me to keep pushing on and offering me advice. Thank you. You guys are amazing. :)
 
Last edited:
I just had the weirdest experience... really, it was a "What... was that?" moment. I was eating cottage cheese with blueberry but not really thinking much about it because I was reading something while I was at it. Up until now, cottage cheese has mostly been a "It's not bad and it's healthy" eating experience. All of a sudden, a wave of delight came over me and I thought "Wow, this tastes really... really... REALLY good." It was like honey. Sweet and creamy and... heaven in my mouth, really. Then reality came back to me and I remembered that the sweet, creamy goodness in my mouth was cottage cheese.

I think my taste-buds have lost their mind. That, or they're really starting to crave different things more than ever before. :D
 
That happens to me all the time lately. With oatmeal , salmon, watermelon, natural yogurt with fruit and lots of other things. It ¡s like I'm eating the best food in the world and I crave these things. :)
Looking forward to seeing those measurements go down. :)
I used to love ribs but lately the thought of eating them repulses me.
 
I think my taste-buds have lost their mind. That, or they're really starting to crave different things more than ever before. :D

I think they really must change after a while...

I used to put about 4 tablespoons of sugar on a bowl of bran flakes, along with whole milk. Now I eat plain bran flakes with skim milk and to me they taste just as sweet as they did when I drowned the mess in sugar! I think I'd puke if I tried to eat all that sugar now. BLECH! That's just too much!
 
I just completed the most fun dance workout in existence. ... Well, considering I haven't completed every single dance workout in existence, I could be exaggerating a little... but it was a whole lot of fun. :D It was the kind of fun where you rewind to go back through the routine over and over again because you reached the end of the workout and they didn't go through it near often enough for your liking. I added a good 5 minutes onto the workout just from rewinding to dance through the routine some more!

- It offers to let you download it to your computer at cost but you can watch it at full screen from the website for free, which I did because I am a poor person.

Speaking of being poor, I created a fitness wishlist on amazon.com. There are so many things that I want that I can't afford and I found that even just making that wishlist motivated me so much. It's like a shopping high crossed with fitness motivation crossed with not burning a hole in your already empty pocket. Give it a try sometime, but only if you're certain you can resist the temptation to actually buy everything in sight. ;)

I finally measured myself with the measuring tape this morning after a good rummage through the house to locate it. I figure that you all already know my weight so I don't have much to hide (as if you didn't already know I'm large, right?) and I'll post the measurements here every week on Friday when I take them.

Neck- 7 3/8 in
Bicep- 7 3/16 in
chest- 49 1/2 in
Waist- 50 1/2 in
Hips- 55 in
Thigh- 31 in

I want to thank you all so much for being so supportive. I know that when things are rough and frustrating, I whine like a little baby. ;) But it means so much to me every single time I hear back from you all, telling me to keep pushing on and offering me advice. Thank you. You guys are amazing. :)

ooo a fitness wishlist! great idea! :)

i am so happy that you took your measurements :D i will follow your lead and take mine this weekend, and post them :)

in regards to the pictures, my advice is to take them in the same pose each time, and resist the temptation to suck in hehe...and what i did before was to create a little word document where i had my before and after side by side (i still have the document somewhere) and when i was feeling down, i could actually look at how far i had come. i never posted them online (too shy!) but it was motivating just for me to see it :) also, try to wear clingy clothes because it is harder to tell differences with baggy stuff.
 
I just had the weirdest experience... really, it was a "What... was that?" moment. I was eating cottage cheese with blueberry but not really thinking much about it because I was reading something while I was at it. Up until now, cottage cheese has mostly been a "It's not bad and it's healthy" eating experience. All of a sudden, a wave of delight came over me and I thought "Wow, this tastes really... really... REALLY good." It was like honey. Sweet and creamy and... heaven in my mouth, really. Then reality came back to me and I remembered that the sweet, creamy goodness in my mouth was cottage cheese.

I think my taste-buds have lost their mind. That, or they're really starting to crave different things more than ever before. :D

hehe, that happens to me too :)

i had bought these Mott Fruitsations things (if you know what those are) about 3 months ago, and i tried one at the time and thought it was disgusting. It was apple pomegranate flavor (basically it is applesauce with different natural flavors in it). Today i was packing my lunch and thought i'd take one, since i'm getting bored of my usual lunch. When i ate it, i thought it was the best thing ever, so delicious and not too sweet (probably why i hated it the first time!).

the thing i love about cottage cheese is that you can make it sweet or savory depending on what you add to it. yum!
 
Hi Jana....just catching up in your thread.

You mentioned no longer being tired after eating...it just reminded me how tired I used to get after dinner....when I used to lay on the couch nd ignore the kids and wife till I passed out. What a lazy a$$! lol

Now I eat and feel energized...I want to do something.

Thanks for the memory.


As for not losing weight in the past week....Don't worry about it. Weight is only one of the health issues we're trying to correct. I am sure your body is getting healthier. I'll bet you are eating better, and more active...you are happier and more focused...and the list goes on and on...drinking more water, flushing kidneys, healthier skin, so on an so on.
The weight will come off....just don't forget about all the other goodies that go along with this! :)

Lastly, I have to say...your posts are wonderful. You speak so kindly and warmly that it just paints a perfect picture of how wonderful a person you are!

Keep up the great work!!! And don't fret!!! :)
 
That happens to me all the time lately. With oatmeal , salmon, watermelon, natural yogurt with fruit and lots of other things. It ¡s like I'm eating the best food in the world and I crave these things. :)
Looking forward to seeing those measurements go down. :)
I used to love ribs but lately the thought of eating them repulses me.

Yes, it's astounding the number of things that I used to enjoy that I can't even imagine eating anymore... and it bothers me to see other people eating them too, not because I am jealous that they're eating them, but because I know that they're just that unhealthy that no amount of potential yummy can make them desirable anymore. I had sliced pears last night for desert and it was much more enjoyable than I can now imagine ice cream being. It's very peculiar and interesting. :)
 
I think they really must change after a while...

I used to put about 4 tablespoons of sugar on a bowl of bran flakes, along with whole milk. Now I eat plain bran flakes with skim milk and to me they taste just as sweet as they did when I drowned the mess in sugar! I think I'd puke if I tried to eat all that sugar now. BLECH! That's just too much!

Oh good gracious, yes that's too much. Wow. I can't even imagine the utter, terrifying sweetness of 4 tablespoons of sugar. But I know I used to pile sugar on my cereal as a kid and think it was the best, best thing ever. :p
 
ooo a fitness wishlist! great idea! :)

i am so happy that you took your measurements :D i will follow your lead and take mine this weekend, and post them :)

in regards to the pictures, my advice is to take them in the same pose each time, and resist the temptation to suck in hehe...and what i did before was to create a little word document where i had my before and after side by side (i still have the document somewhere) and when i was feeling down, i could actually look at how far i had come. i never posted them online (too shy!) but it was motivating just for me to see it :) also, try to wear clingy clothes because it is harder to tell differences with baggy stuff.

I just wish I had taken the picture about 6 weeks ago when I started. I'm really curious to see if there's a visual difference after 10 lbs lost. :)

hehe, that happens to me too :)

i had bought these Mott Fruitsations things (if you know what those are) about 3 months ago, and i tried one at the time and thought it was disgusting. It was apple pomegranate flavor (basically it is applesauce with different natural flavors in it). Today i was packing my lunch and thought i'd take one, since i'm getting bored of my usual lunch. When i ate it, i thought it was the best thing ever, so delicious and not too sweet (probably why i hated it the first time!).

the thing i love about cottage cheese is that you can make it sweet or savory depending on what you add to it. yum!

I am out of cottage cheese now and I'm actually sad because I want some right now. :D I've only actually had it sweet, but how do you make it savory? Is there something that you add to it for that or do you just have it on its own?
 
Hi Jana....just catching up in your thread.

You mentioned no longer being tired after eating...it just reminded me how tired I used to get after dinner....when I used to lay on the couch nd ignore the kids and wife till I passed out. What a lazy a$$! lol

Now I eat and feel energized...I want to do something.

Thanks for the memory.


As for not losing weight in the past week....Don't worry about it. Weight is only one of the health issues we're trying to correct. I am sure your body is getting healthier. I'll bet you are eating better, and more active...you are happier and more focused...and the list goes on and on...drinking more water, flushing kidneys, healthier skin, so on an so on.
The weight will come off....just don't forget about all the other goodies that go along with this! :)

Lastly, I have to say...your posts are wonderful. You speak so kindly and warmly that it just paints a perfect picture of how wonderful a person you are!

Keep up the great work!!! And don't fret!!! :)

That's wonderful that you have more energy now in the evenings for your family. :) Just think of all the precious moments gained back with them. There's so much more to this than just losing weight.

Well, the really silly thing is that I didn't lose any weight in that week, but in the two days since then I've lost 1.4 lbs... how does that make sense? :D I promise you that my scale just likes to make me look foolish. ;) I will try to stop worrying about it so much and just let what happens happen, knowing that what I am doing is good regardless of superficial results like a number.

Also, thank you so much for your kind words. You made me smile for about five minutes straight. :) I'm honored that you enjoy reading my journal.
 
I just wish I had taken the picture about 6 weeks ago when I started. I'm really curious to see if there's a visual difference after 10 lbs lost. :)
I also really regret not taking proper before photos. I rarely allowed anybody to take my photos for years. I let the odd one get taken as I used to think that if anything ever happened to me my family wouldn't even have any recent photos of me.
 
I also really regret not taking proper before photos. I rarely allowed anybody to take my photos for years. I let the odd one get taken as I used to think that if anything ever happened to me my family wouldn't even have any recent photos of me.

I've thought about that, too. Usually if I allow people to take pictures of me it's for that reason... otherwise I really dislike it. I think it was because I didn't want to face what I looked like. I might feel better about it now, taking in pride in the way that I look because I know that it is a work in progress. We'll see. :)
 
"Some workouts are measured less by the number of reps or miles you complete than by the mental muscle it takes simply to show up." - Betty Wong, Editor in Chief of Fitness Magazine

This is as true as it gets. Fitness isn't just about physical strength and endurance. It's about pushing yourself by the sheer power of your mind to keep going another step and sometimes it's even the decision to show up in the first place. Some will never show up... and if you are one of those who do, you are mentally strong, even if you're still catching up some physically. :)

Starting today, I'm house-sitting and watching my Mom's two cats for a week. So, I brought along my full arsenal-- body scale, measuring tape, food scale, and... no, wait a minute. Something is missing. My weights. I realized this, of course, when I was already 30 minutes into the hour and fifteen minute drive to my Mom's house. I began to consider my options:

1. Turn around, race back home, grab those weights and clutch them lovingly to my chest as I spring back out of the house to my car.
2. Pull over to the side of the road and peer in the general direction of my house, longingly pining, unable to go forward yet unable to go back.
3. Locate reasonably small, yet considerably-weighted items at Mom's house, close my eyes, and pretend they are really my weights. Shampoo bottles, anyone?
4. Buy new weights to last me the week... with money I don't have.

In the end I managed to move beyond option #1 and #2 and I've got until Monday to decide between #3 and #4. ;)
 
I am out of cottage cheese now and I'm actually sad because I want some right now. :D I've only actually had it sweet, but how do you make it savory? Is there something that you add to it for that or do you just have it on its own?


What i do is to add spices to it...

Usually pepper (i love pepper), but i've also added dill, garlic powder, and basil (separately!!)
 
I used to use canned goods for weights. Just don't drop them on your toes! OUCH!!!

That's a good suggestion! :)

You could also just do more resistance type exercises that you don't need weights for...such as lunges, squats, leg lifts, sit ups etc :)
 
Yup cans are REALLY good makeshift weights and they come in all different sizes! Or focus on a bit more cardio - go out for walks / jogs around the local area.

The photo thing is interesting - I've found my relationship with how I look is changing. Going back through older photographs I HATED having pictures taken of myself and have hardly any at all with my daughter when she was younger - this really upsets me now, I feel like I have almost missed a part of her childhood because I was always behind the camera...silly I know...whereas now, I look at a photo and think how far I have come...with the one exception of some taken a couple of months ago when canoeing with friends - I made the fatal mistake of wearing old baggy clothes rather than new tight clothes...and looked like I was back at my old weight! GASP! That was a lesson learnt!

I would thoroughly recommend taking update photos though - each fortnight in the same place in your house, the same post and same clothes until you get too small for them. Don't even look at the result for a few months, just store the image and then one days go and put them all in a row and you will be AMAZED at the difference.
 
Back
Top