Fell Off Track a Bit

I seemed to all off track for a bit there. I am not sure why, I just started eating badly again. I think it was because I was bored since I was broke and couldn't go anywhere. That is definitely something I have to overcome. I ended up gaining six pounds back (and ended up back in the 300 club) due to my week-long bad diet. In the last few days I have made attempts to correct this and only have 2 pounds until I am back to what I had been.

I hate how hot it had been lately, that doesn't motivate me to go out and walk. Especially when I have Cody. It hasn't cooled down enough at night to go out in the evening and I am not taking munchkin for a walk in the city at night. I did however get out and walk on both of my 15 minute breaks at work when I was in the office the other day. We have a nice campus to walk around and a path that equals a half of a mile. I walked the full path twice and then walked a shortened version once. I am going to do the same tomorrow when I am in the office again. I also eat well when I am at the office because I don't have the urge to snack all day. They have a salad bar in the cafe which makes it easy to eat well. Not enough of a draw for me to want to be back in the office full time (which I can't do anyway)

I have figured out through this process so far that sodium is my enemy. If I go overboard on sodium content for the day I gain water weight. I need to find more ways to cut down on sodium. I have been very aware of how much I am eating and look at the labels on everything. The problem is deli meat. I like to get Subway subs but the sodium content can be a little high depending on what meat I get. I will never get the breakfast sandwiches there again because they have almost 1,900 mg of sodium per sandwich. Their turkey subs are pretty low in sodium so I don't mind eating those.

I enrolled in a challenge for the month of June on MyFitnessPal to help me to stay motivated and push me to keep good eating habits. The goal is to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month. I had originally set a goal of 10 pounds by June 15th but with my setback and gaining weight in the last week I don't think that is going to be realistic (although you never know). I want to lose 10 pounds per month either way. The challenge has us record our weight, what worked and didn't work for the week, and how we think we can improve for the next week. We shall see how that goes.

I am noticing that my clothes fit better so even though I gained some of the water weight I have still been losing inches. My favorite pajama pants fall off now unless I roll the waist a bit. I am happy that I am falling out of my clothes at this point but sad because I love those pants. I have kept some of my favorite clothes from when I was lighter so that I have motivation to be able to fit into them again. They are hanging in my closet just waiting for me to put on. I have definitely lost inches in my lower abdomen and my butt is disappearing (woo hoo!). I can tell a difference in my face and neck as well.

So here's to getting back on track even though I didn't really fall that badly off of the path.

Little Victories

I started my weight loss journey in mid-April at 315 pounds (the highest I have ever been). I lost 10 pounds in the first 11 days. Then I went to Disney. Lol. I did not gain a single pound while I was on vacation but I also didn't lose anything (I was eating too few calories for the amount of walking that I was doing). When I got back from vacation I was too tired to bother with groceries. This lead to some unhealthy eating for about a week. After that week I went back up to 308. That was last week. This morning I weighed in at 300.

Warning: Long-winded post.

Taking a big leap here saying how much I weigh because I have been embarrassed for so long about it. But now that I am taking control I am proud to post the numbers and how much they have gone and will continue to go down.



When I started this I set my first goal and made sure that it wasn't anything huge so that I wouldn't lose motivation easily. I set a goal to get out of the 300 club. I almost cried this morning when I saw that I am just .8 pounds away from hitting my first goal.

I have tried since I was a teenager to lose weight. It has never worked and I just kept gaining and gaining but didn't know why. Eventually I gave up on caring after I was diagnosed with PCOS because it seemed hopeless. I went from 175 in 2006 (the weight I was just after I had my son) to my highest at 315 last month in 2015. Most of that weight was gained in the first two years or so and just never went down.

In 2009 my husband left. He moved out and we were on again off again until he found someone else, then when they left he would come running back. I was emotionally spent from the divorce and allowed myself to engage in this behavior. He remarried in 2013 and I went out of control with junk food binges. I was so depressed and kept telling myself that his marriage to her was working better (or so I thought from the outside) than ours ever did and it was all my fault because I was fat and he left because of that.

Finally in April I told his a$$ off. I was done with him stringing me along and talking to me only when it was convenient for him. I was done being depressed over a relationship that was crappy from the start. It was time to focus on my son and I and get him out of my life as much as possible. I have cut almost all communication with him with the exception of emails about our son. As soon as I snapped I realized that I needed to take care of myself and get back to being the happy person that I was before I ever met him.

So in this very long-winded post I guess what I am trying to say is that tomorrow or the day after I have a feeling I will be celebrating my first goal being met. I will be celebrating my independence. I will be celebrating finally feeling like myself and being truly happy with my life. I will be celebrating being out of the 300 club forever.

Little victories.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Goodbye, Florida. It was absolutely AMAZING. I didn't want to come back but real life calls.

Over the 9 days I was on vacation I actually ate pretty well. I was amazed at the healthy foods that were available in the Disney parks. I had salads most of the time with my string cheese and almonds for snacks through the day. I loved that you could bring food into the parks, it was very helpful. The only thing I had a problem with was not eating enough calories as compared to how many I was burning.

I have to say though I must have been doing something right because when I got on the plane to head to Florida I had to fight tooth and nail to get the seatbelt to click in. This morning when I got on the plane I didn't have to fight with it and even had several inches of room left! I looked in the mirror today and can tell I have lost some of my lower abdomen and waist. I was expecting to see the number on the scale go down as well but it said I gained 2 pounds. Going from losing a pound every day to gaining weight was discouraging but I am wondering if it was because of all of the water I drank yesterday, (over 90 ounces, it was HOT) or if it is muscle being built up from walking? Either way I am not going to let it get me down.

Today I went grocery shopping once I got back home and remembered I had nothing to eat in the house. I went on an empty stomach which is usually a bad thing for me but I did really well:

Avocado
Bananas
Broccoli
Seltzer galore (found some Polar flavors that are disappearing soon)
Low carb/low sugar froyo and sorbet to curb my sweet tooth
Rotisserie chicken
92% lean ground chicken
Turkey bacon
Lots of Greek yogurt
Peanuts (dry roasted, unsalted)
Milk

All in all pretty good stuff. So I am going to keep chugging along now that I am back to reality and hope that I can continue losing inches so that I can take my son to Six Flags next year.

Feeling Great!!!

Although I haven't really been eating enough calories as compared to what I am burning here, I have been able to maintain a relatively healthy diet (with the exception of the first day here). In Hollywood Studios the other day one of the restaurants had a cucumber and papaya salad with grilled chicken on it. It was absolutely delicious! I have been eating mozzarella string cheese and almonds for snacks, my Greek yogurt and almonds for breakfast, and then dinners have been salads or like yesterday, Subway.

So far we have walked a total of 80,000 steps in six days. It is crazy! Other than a pair of achy feet I am feeling great. I will definitely appreciate a day of sleep when I get home though.

Now we are off to Seaworld which will present a little more of a challenge as you are not allowed to bring food in. But I will try to be good!

I am pretty excited to see how much weight I have lost on this vacation...

Vacation Eating....Yikes

Sooooo my first day in Disney...not so good on the meals. Lol. I had a good breakfast but it pretty much went downhill from there. As soon as we got our rental car Cody was starving and the only stuff around was either fast food or a sit down restaurant (which at the time I didn't think we have time for as I was planning on going to the shuttle launch). So I did not eat well for lunch and had a lot of sugar at dinner thanks to my drink.

I did however walk over 12,000 steps and swam for an hour so I got quite a bit of activity in! Today we are going to Magic Kingdom and you can bring food in. I have a lunch bag with an ice pack, Lunchables for Cody and salad for me. I am also bringing almonds and string cheese for snacks as well as a bottle of water. So hopefully today will be a little better!

Breakfast: Yoplait lite Strawberry and Banana yogurt, 1 scrambled egg

Snack: Airplane peanuts and Ritz Baked Chips

Lunch: Taco Bell Crunchwrap and crunchy taco (but little victory I got water to drink instead of soda)

Dinner: Half of a chicken quesedilla, requested light on the cheese. Cotton Candy-tini...oh so good but full of sugar I am sure!

Double Digits Club

It feels really nice to see the number 10 in front of Pounds Lost on my MyFitnessPal tracker. I have never been able to actually lose weight and keep it off for even a day or two so it is nice to see something is working. I know that the drops will slow down soon but as long as the numbers continue to fall I am alright with it. I didn't lose anything today but I also didn't gain anything so that is a big plus.

Now comes the hard part....Disney. I am going to have to do a lot of planning but I think that I can make it work. I know what snacks I will be bringing with me, I know that I will have a good breakfast, the worst part will be dinner. We can bring lunches into the park along with bottled water so I am not worried about at least 2 meals of the day!

Today I did well and even drank a lot more water than I usually do. We fly out in the morning and then it's no scale for over a week. Should be interesting to see if that last 5 pounds disappears while we are in Florida. I can do it if I manage my diet right!

Breakfast: Chobani Flips Greek Coco Loco Yogurt

Snack: Old Wisconsin Turkey Bites & Cocoa Roasted Almonds

Lunch: Subway Turkey Sub, Lays Baked Chips

Dinner: Chicken thigh meat, 2 salads with red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, low fat cheese, and spring mix.

Snack: Old Wisconsin Turkey Bites


Now it's off to bed, big day tomorrow!!! Florida here we come!!!

Slipped But Still Lost

So yesterday was pretty good but I slipped a little bit. Yet I somehow managed to lose weight still. Lol.

Yesterday morning I hadn't lost any weight but didn't want to let that discourage me. I did however slip during the day and had some Pop Tarts but did a super hard aerobic workout to help burn some of it off. Today is going to involve a lot of walking and some healthy eating at a Mexican restaurant. I have done research and found a meal that with a few tweaks is semi-low calorie and has protein in it with veggies.

Tomorrow we leave for vacation. I have made a list of healthy snacks and breakfast foods to pick up for Cody and I to carry around while we are walking around Disney. I will have almonds and cheesesticks and turkey pepperoni on hand at all times. They are all low calorie, no sugar, and plenty of protein. Dinners are going to be my biggest worry but I am sure if I am careful I can figure out how to eat sensibly in the parks.

I am going to return the fitness tracker band that I bought at Walmart the other day and get a Fitbit Flex. I didn't realize that the one I got was not water resistant at all and I want something I can wear while I am swimming or going on water rides. There is one in Nashua for $60 that I am going to pick up this morning. I like having the fitness tracker on me though, it's nice to know how many steps I am actually taking per day as opposed to having to guess because of the phone pedometer which is wildly inaccurate.


Breakfast: Chobani Greek Yogurt - Indulgent Raspberry and Dark Chocolate

Snack: Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts....BAD

Lunch: Double Chicken Chopped Salad from Subway. No dressing, loaded with veggies + avocado. Edy's No Sugar Added Ice Cream (I have managed to keep my servings to the actual serving size!)

Snack: Emerald Almonds Cinnamon Roasted 100 Calorie Pack

Dinner: I wasn't really hungry by the time I got home so I had turkey pepperoni and a string cheese.