New Hair Cut

I had my hair cut for the first time since I have lost weight today. I like it a lot better short now that I do not have the extra weight in my face. Layna was a flower girl today and this is a picture of all of us from the wedding. I have been off of my medicine for a couple of months now but am maintaining my weight. I am plus or minus 2 pounds from my goal on a daily basis which makes me happy. I really need to tone up still but have not been very commited to working out this summer :-( The lack of structure is not good for me and getting things accomplished but I have enjoyed a lot of quality time with my girls and husband! I have a race in about 6 weeks so I really need to get on the ball with my running. I go back to work on Monday so I should get back into a normal routine soon. Food wise I am not limiting myself too much. I still stick to water the majority of the time for drinks and try to limit my intake of sweets but do allow myself to have them at events. I also enjoy a hot chocolate at times.

Be the Match 5k

The next 5k I am signed up for is for the charity Be the Match. This charity is important to me because they help match up donors with people who need bone marrow. Since my Aunt Jean survived leukemia due to a donation like this I know that they can make the difference between life and death for people. I am not on the registry and would love to be matched so that I can help someone live a longer life! If you are looking for a 5k to do in September, please consider this one.

http://www.bethematchfoundation.org/site/TR/BeTheOneRun/BetheOneRun?pg=informational&fr_id=1601&type=fr_informational&sid=1860#run

Made my goal at Synergy

I reached my goal around 6 weeks ago according to my scale(in the morning nude) but today the scale at the doctor(in the afternoon clothed) said I have met my goal. I am so thankful to have met my goal.

I lost 39 pounds to get to 120pounds. I am now in a size 2 or 4 in pants although I still wear some of my 6 and 8s. My shirts are either small or medium.

I went from 33% body fat to 19% body fat.

My goals for now:
- Tone up
- Beat my previous times(39 minutes) at the Be the Match 5K in September
- Train for and enter a 10k within a year. I would love to do the Peachtree.
- Keep my weight below 123.
- Weigh in and get a B12 shot once a month.

Bikini

I know thay I shouldn't wear a bikini because I still need to tone up and I have ugly stretch marks and scars but I have been wearing them this year. I know my body isn't perfect but it feels so good to be 40 pounds lighter! I have been off my appetite suppresent for a month now and am maintaining my weight. It changes daily within 3 pounds of my goal weight both under and over. I go for weight checks and b12 shots monthly now. My appetite has stayed the same but I miss all my extra energy and focus! I took my health assessment online for insurance today and went from"good" to "excellent" health. I have also noticed men being more helpful now with holding doors open and such. While it feels nice to be treated nicely I find it sad that I didn't get as much niceness when I was fat and toting an infant carseat. My theory on this was really shown the other day when dealing with a specific worker. I am pretty independent but was struggling one day when switching 2 children from a loaner car to my van. He had me go search for the van instead of pulling it around to us and all our stuff. When I went recently he went out of his way to hold the door open for me.

Breast Cancer 5K

I ran in the breast cancer 5K last Saturday and had a blast! Doug and Layna went and bought me an outfit for the run as an early Mother's Day present. Ashley connected us to a company sponsor who paid our registration and gave us an advertisement shirt to wear during the race. I was unable to run much between my first race and this race due to having Aliya's name tattooed on my foot. I did go out a couple times the week before the race. Amazingly I beat our last time by 15 seconds (39minutes 40seconds). Due to 17,000 people being in the race you had to start off walking and spent a lot of time weaving so they said you could take 3 minutes away from your time.

I have not officially weighed in in two weeks. I have gone down to 1/2 a pill a day and plan to be totally off the appetite suppressants within a month. I am only getting B12 shots once a month now and that is the only time I will go to Synergy now. I want to always go once a month for accountability and a B12 shot for energy. According to my scale I have lost a few more pounds since my last weigh in so hopefully I will meet my goal officially at my next weigh in. I have exceeded my goal according to my scale :-)

So Close...

According to my scale I am 1/2 pound past my goal. Synergy does not want me there at 5:30am in the nude to weigh in though so according to them I have 2 pounds more to go to get to my goal. I am really happy where I am at, I just really need to tone it up! The number in the tens place has changed for my weight though and I kind of like it and would like to keep the tens place the same so I would like to loose a few more to keep it from going back to the other number. I also tried on a size 0 this weekend and amazingly got them zipped and buttoned. It didn't look good but I got them on. So now of course I would love to be able to fit in them good enough to actually wear.

35 pounds :-)

I haven't been able to run in 2 weeks due to my healing foot. I also had some desserts this weekend for Easter gatherings. The other thing I really did bad on during the past two weeks is I can not resist open cookie dough. I can resist baked cookies and even cookie dough that is sealed but not open dough. I have told Doug that from now on he has to make all the cookies or throw away the left over dough.

Despite my badness these past two weeks I still lost 2 pounds :-) I am now at the 35 pound mark and I am down to 21.5% body fat. My mom gave me some birthday money so I went to the mall on Friday night. I had forgotten that shopping can be fun and not lead to a depressed state complete with crying in the fitting room. I was able to shop on the clearence racks which I never could find my old size on. My new size is half or a third of the size I was depending on how the pants are made. While the shopping trip did excite me it did give me a desire to loose more. Aeropostale's pants did not fit me very well and I would like to be able to shop anywhere, not just certain stores.

My First 5K

Ginny and I used the Couch to 5k program to train for our first 5k which was one to benefit Relay for Life in Rockmart. I would have never followed thru with the training had I not had an accountablility parnter! We only got thru Week 3 of the program but we are doing much better now than when we started. I did actually make it thru one day of week 4 one day this week so maybe we will make it to week 6 before we do another race LOL. My goal was 45 minutes and not to be last place. We finished in 39 minutes and 53 seconds and were in the middle of the group so we met my goals. We trained for a flat race and there were a few hills and the humidity was bad but we still survived. I am so thankful that I decided to loose the extra weight and work on getting healthier. The seniors at this race amazed me and inspired me to keep working on getting fit. Several of them finished under 30 minutes. I want to be a happy and active senior and I really need to get healthy now to make that a possibility.

Week 13

original-30 goal+9 I am so excited that I lost 3.2 pounds this week. I did a couple days of 500 calories and it really helped :) I broke out all my old dresses and skirts this week. I had forgotten that I use to actually dress like a professional LOL. I really need to start working on toning up more but am really happy with my current clothing size :)

Week 12

Goal +12.2
Original-27

I am weighing in 4 or 5 pounds less at home in the am nude and would be thrilled to meet my goal based on that weight which means I would only need to loose 8 more. I really want this to be my last month on appetite suppresents so I really need to step it up a notch. I am going back to 500 calories a day for the next 2 weeks and excercising every day again. The nurse made me feel good today when she asked why I was still coming and where in the world did I think I was going to get 10 pounds from to loose. I felt pretty thin in my size 4 jeans today but I would not fell thin in a bathing suit when you could really see where the 10 pound is(in a bathing suit I could probably stand to loose 20 more). So basically I am going to try to loose the rest in April but if I don't I will probably accept the weight I end at and work to maintain it without medicine and work on tightening everything up. I am going to see my doctor about getting a prescription for B12 shots. I have found it very useful in controlling my anxiety and think the doctor would rather prescribe me a vitamin than a mood altering drug. I think I am going to miss the energy and focus that Phentermine has given me but I don't think it is really good to take it for an extended period.

New Jeans :)

So I am a little behind on this blog :( I skipped Synergy last week due to a busy schedule. The week before(Week 11) I went and here are my stats.

Original-24.4

Goal +14.6

Body Fat: 24.4%

My goal was to be a size 6. After getting out all my clothes I realized that I had thrown out all of my 6s because I gave up hope of ever fitting into them again and most of them were smaller at the bottom than I like now. Most of my 8s are getting really loose and are starting to bunch up. So when I went shopping for Layna some jeans this weekend because she is growing like a weed and getting holes in all her jeans from playing I decided to see what they had on the clearance rack for me. I ended up being able to fit in a size 4 in a pair of jeans that was marked down 50
% and I also had a coupon for 30% off so I ended up getting the jeans and 2 shirts for $22. I don't think I am really a size 4 but I am excited to have a pair of size 4 jeans. I may only shop at Old Navy from now on in that particular cut LOL. I thiink I am probably a size 6 in most pants now

I am going to go weigh in tomorrow. I am really hoping to be within 10 pounds of my goal. According to my home scale (which I use first thing in the morning in the nude) I am 8 pounds from my goal.

Week 10

Current=Original-24
Current=Goal+15
Boday Fat: 26.6%

Week 9

I lost 2 pounds this week. I now weight what I weighed when I got pregant with Alayna, my almost 6 year old :) I am having to reevaluate my original goal. I chose my goal weight by looking at my driver's license which I went to the DMV for when my name changed so I thought it was my "marriage weight". Someone reminded me the other day that everyone lies there and thinking back I do recall always rounding down even if the last digit was 5 or even 6 so my goal weight is actually probably more like my dating or engagement weight. I am now fitting into my old clothes and realizing if I loose 16 more pounds I will have to buy all new clothes. The way I justified paying money for Synergy was it was either that or buy clothes b/c nothing fit so it would kind of go against my original argument if I ended up buying new clothes anyways. I am going to keep working towards my original goal but if I plateau after around 7 more pounds I am going to be ok with that.

Current=Original-23
Current= Goal +16
Body Fat: 27%

We are now on week 3 of couch to 5k. I never would have dreamed a month ago that I could run for 3 minutes without dying (I almost died after 30 seconds) but I can do it now even if I am close to dying. I do not think I will make much more gains past this but hopefully it will happen like 3 minutes did.

Week 8

current=original-21
current=goal+18
Body Fat=28%

Week 7 Weigh In

Current=Original-19
Current=Goal+20
Body Fat: 29.4%

I changed my weigh in day to Wednesdays due to Doug and I switching the days to pick up Liya.

My weight loss has slowed down (1.6 pounds this week) but at least I am still loosing. Ginny and I have decided to repeat week 1 of the couch to 5k training because we are not ready to run for 90 seconds everytwo minutes. According to my ap we walked/jogged the whole 3.1 miles in 28 minutes yesterday but after talking to some other people I think my ap might not be accurate because they are more advanced than us and not doing a 10 minute mile. I have not been as good about getting up and excercising this week. I have walked and/or ran every night but I would really like that to be in addition to my morning workout. Hopefully this week I will do better and pass my 20 pound mark.

Weigh In Week 6

Current Weight= Original-18

Current Weight= Goal + 21

Body Fat was 30%

I was really hoping to reach 20 pounds. I also like the numbers on the scale first thing in the morning instead of the afternoon which is when I weigh at Synergy. The number in the tens place is different and a much prettier number than the one in the afternoon :) It is amazing how different 2 pounds can sound based on the weight you say.

Synergy $

Several people have asked me about the prices. It flatters me when people ask me because it makes me think they think I am showing progress. There is an inclusive program but I don't remember that price. I do the "al carte" program. To start the program is $190 but I used a coupon for $100 off. If you look hard enough and are patient you can find a coupon like this. Currently, they told me, they are in Paulding County's "Our Neighbor" and also "The Little Black Dress" coupon books. They said most people got them in the mail yesterday. The start up fee includes all your blood work, your first month of appetite suppressants, and your first B12 shot. After that it is $25 a week for your weight check and B12 shot. Once a month you will need to have a check up ($25) and refill your meds($25-$35). It is kind of pricey but the results are quick which I need for motivation and I am starting to fit into my clothes again which is keeping me from having to go out and buy new, bigger clothes. They also offer HCG shots which gives you really fast results. You can only do that for 3 weeks at a time and it is an additional $225 each round you do it. I have not done that part of the program.

If you decide to go, please tell them I refered you. You will get $25 off your start up fee and I will get my next B12 shot for free. I have gotten 2 free weeks so far :) The first girl that signed up has lost 15 pounds and she signed up a few weeks after me.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Week 1 Day 2 of C25k training had to be postponed due to rain. We did get a mile of walking in during recess (my training partner is also my student teacher). I did some yoga and aerobics tonight but was really wanting to work on my 5k training. Tomorrow we are going to do it at Lewis so that way we will be child free(they think they are trianing for a 5k as well) and if it is rainy we can just run in the gym.

Here We Come 5K

Here is what I have most every day for breakfast and lunch. 3/4-1 cup of cereal depending on what kind it is. I have done the Special K blends, Multi Grain Cheerios, and this week is Fiber One Cinnamon. For lunch I have 2 ounces of ham or turkey meat and cheese snack. I usually have a peanut butter granola bar at some point in the day and then for dinner I have a small amount of whatever we are eating and try to keep all the recipes under 350 a serving. I only drink water. I did have a protein shake on Saturday and a smoothie today. I am trying to up my calories some so that my metabolism does not crash on me. I have been averaging 550 calories a day.

Now that I have lost some of my weight I regret not having photo documentation of this journey. I thought about it at the beginning but didn't want to see pictures of myself and definitely did not want other people seeing them. But now I am thinking I would like to see a visual of my progress (I have some snapshots but nothing that really shows body shots, I wish I had picked something to wear each week for a picture each week). Anyways, here are a couple pictures that were shot of me recently. The one of me helping myself at Big Lots was today. I think the other one was about a week ago. OK, I looked on my computer and found 3 pictures from Christmas Day(My third day of dieting). I also got a picture from Mom's facebook of me with Doug and Aliya a couple days before I started my diet.

So anyways, I have decided to make a personal goal for myself to complete a 5k. I think it will be a way to keep me motivated to work out. I have recruited my friend to do it with me. We are going to run one in April. We are using the Couch to 5K program to prepare. It is a nine week program where you alternate running and walking and each week the running time and frequency increases. This week it is a 5 minute brisk warm up, 20 minutes of alternating 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking, and then a 5 minute cool down. I struggled with it but managed to complete it. Layna went with me and alternated her running, walking, and sitting. The program is done 3 times a week.

5 Week Weigh In

I am disappointed with this weigh in. According to Wii and my home scale I am down 20 pounds but according to the scale at Synergy I weighed 4 more pounds than I thought and only lost 2.8 in the last two weeks. I hope that my weight loss is not going to slow down a lot now! The good side is I am wearing clothes that I haven't been able to fit into in a while :) I feel like I am looking better and have been getting compliments.

To help motivate myself to exercise I want to do a 5K in April. Ginny and I are going to train together three days a week using the couch to 5k program. I am still doing the Wii almost every day for 30 minutes to 1 hour depending how good I get up.

Current Weight = Original Weight-15

Current Weight= Goal +24

Body fat is now 29.8%

Food Addiction

I've read and heard that studies are now saying that junk food and sweets are addictive but I thought it was just an excuse to overeat. I was taking L-Glutine because they told me it would help curb my cravings for carbs and sweets. I am a total carb and sweet eater. I'm the type who feels that every meal needs to end with a dessert so that it will leave a sweet taste in my mouth. Now that I haven't been eating sweets or junk food, I really don't care if I have it or not. I haven't been taking the L-Glutine much the past couple of weeks but I am still good without it. I have not had anything to drink besides water in a month. So I am buying into the theory now. I wish I had detoxed a year ago so that I wouldn't have so much to loose right now.

Weigh In

I rescheduled today's appointment to next Wednesday so I do not have an official weigh in. According to Wii I have lost 3 more pounds so I am up to 15.5 pounds lost. Today made a month since I started so I am happy with the results. I reached 20 hours on the Wii this week. I feel better all day now that I am getting up and exercising most mornings. I have only missed 3 days since starting.

I can definitely tell a difference in my face, legs, and butt. It is weird because I have always struggled with my legs and butt. I am struggling with my stomach though. I've done the Ab Lounger a couple of nights to try and help it out but need to make it a nightly occurrence.

3rd Week Weigh In

Weight: Original-12.2

Goal + 26.8

Body Fat is down to 30.5%

I had a food sensitivity test done. Supposedly eating foods you are sensitive to can cause all kinds of symptoms including lack of weight loss. I am not too happy with the results. The thing I was hoping not to be sensitive the most is gluten because it is in everything and is an expensive diet to follow. I have a moderate intolerance for gluten and anything that is moderate intolerance you are suppose to avoid for 3-6 months before trying to reintroduce it to your system. When you do reintroduce it to your system you are only suppose to have it once every 4 days. Some other foods that I am bummed about are tuna, oregeno, potassium nitrite, cinnamon, cocoa, garlic, and chicken. Some of these are just a mild intolerance so I just can't have them too often (like once a week). I am not really sure what I am going to eat, I am picky anyways so this will make it extra hard.

Weekly Update Postponed

I am disappointed but we don't think it is worth getting out on the icy roads for my weekly weigh in and B12 shot. According to Wii I have been up and down all week and have only lost about a pound this week. I hope that it is wrong but am trying to focus on the other positives of what I am doing even if I don't loose any weight. The exercises that I couldn't do three weeks ago are getting easier and easier and I am able to last the whole time. My clothes are starting to fit better. I feel better about myself, even if I don't look any better it feels good to know that I am doing something about it. If nothing else, I am no longer gaining which I was doing before I started. Synergy is open on MLK day so I will get to go on Monday. I had already scheduled Layna for a food sensitivity test and now Doug can go have one ran also. Eliminating foods you are sensitive to can help you in many areas so I am hoping that knowing our sensitivities can lead to a healthier more well balanced family.

Confession: I didn't work out yesterday. I have no excuse since I have been off all week I should have worked out twice a day but I didn't. Yesterday I decided to have a LAZY day and did just that. I did catch up on my trash tv and played games in bed with Layna so in my eyes it was a good day. Yesterday was the first day I missed since Christmas day. I tried to make up for it today by shoveling some snow which is hard work and doing the Wii for an hour. I am about to go do the floors to burn a few more calories. Maybe by Monday I will have lost my weekly four pounds (I will just forget the part that I had 3 extra days to do it).

10 Pounds!

I am so excited to have pased the 10 pound mark, I can not wait to my weigh in on Thursday to make it official! According to Wii I have lost 2 pounds in the past couple of days which puts my grand total to 10.5 pounds. That means I am a quarter of the way to my goal :) I know the loosing will slow down but I am thrilled it is coming off this fast at least for now. Doug and I can already see a difference :) I am so excited at the thought of being skinny! The last time I weighed my goal, I didn't think I was skinny, but now that I am 30 with 2 kids I will think I am skinny.

2nd Week Weigh In

W=goal + 34.5
W=initial-8.5
Body Fat is now at 31%. I started at 33%

I would really like to loose 5 pounds a week but am happy that I have lost 8.5 in 2 weeks. I really hope I stay at this pace! I would love to be skinny by summer break! I am proud of myself for sticking to my calories now that I am back at work(most days I come in a lot under around 500 or 600). I have also gotten up every day this week at 4:30 to work out for 30-45 minutes. I have worked out a second time two nights but the other nights have been too busy. Working out in the mornings have seem to have a positive influence on my day. I have not been dragging into work this week and have gotten a lot done at work.

Some Resources:

I put out a help needed on Facebook about where to get recipes when on a diet. Someone shared www.sparkrecipes.com with me. I haven't actually cooked any of the food yet but it sounds really good and all of the recipes have the nutritional value listed. I did a search based on not wanting to spend more then 30 minutes and not wanting a serving to be more than 350 calories. I got several recipes. Our grocery bill was actually lower than usual so the ingredients were not very expensive. Excited to try the Creamy Italian Chicken that I am cooking tomorrow night.

My Calorie Counter App is making counting calories and tracking my exercise and weight so much easier :) I can scan a bar code to upload nutritional information or do a search. It has really come in handy when we eat somewhere because you can search by restaurant and then see what you can eat.

I got my own Wii Fit board and Wii Fit Plus on Friday. I really like the Plus features so if you are considering buying one of the games I would go with the Plus. I put out a bulletin on Facebook to see if anyone was interested in selling one and ended up getting the board and game for $50. I am very excited about this :)

Things are still going good. I really don't get too hungry and my "need" for sweets is really in check. I am worried I won't be able to exercise as much since I am going back to work but I am going to try my best to get up early and get it in while every one else is asleep. Our nights are too busy! I do hope to get on the Ab Lounger some nights while watching TV.

I am really hoping to like my family beach photos much more this year, that is what I keep reminding myself when I want to cheat. I also realized that if I can reach my goal I can wear all my dresses that I didn't have the heart to throw away but haven't fit into since I had Layna. Short term I look forward to fitting into my pants from about 2 years ago that are not maternity or have elastic.