Anchors aweigh, my boys.....

Anchors aweigh....

A few weeks ago, at my Weight Watchers meeting, we needed to find an anchor. Something that will hold us, keep us steady during stormy seas.  Something that you will see, touch, feel constantly, that little reminder to keep us on the straight and narrow on this journey.

I am having the darnedest time trying to find one.  Some people use a belt with extra holes punched into it. They wear it under their clothes as a reminder how good it feels to have on a smaller size. Me, don't wear belts.  Some use a paper clip string, putting on a new paper clip with each pound lost. They keep one at home and one at work as that constant reminder.  Sounds good, but that means I have to find my paper clips.  Some have special bracelets on the right wrist, to see whenever they bring that food to their mouth. I could never hook a bracelet with my left hand.  I know it sounds like a lot of excuses on my part. But, I want it to be special to me, something that will hit home for me.

My sister is using her activity link around her neck as her anchor.  I tried, but I nearly choked myself the one day.  Every time I pick up something, in my head I ask, "could you be a good anchor?" So far, nothing has answered back. (I know, insert one-way ticket to crazy town!) But, in my defense, I feel it has to resonate in my soul, if it is going to work for me.

Another Weekend Gone...

Wow, another week speeding by, May is flying fast!

Last Saturday was Weigh In Day for me.  I am enjoying these Saturday morning meetings. I felt I was going to do good, because I tracked what I ate & I made it a point to eat more fruits. I didn't get many veggies in, but that will come with all the little changes I have to do.

Ready?!?!?!?!  I went down 4.4lbs!!! For a total of 24 lbs since January. This includes going to Steak & Shake on Friday afternoon with the hubby. I had my WW Eat Out book in my car and as I drove my husband looked up different sandwiches I might like. Believe it or not, I didn't order a shake! I made the conscience choice that I valued myself over a shake!

So, I am still 1.8lbs up from my huge gain on May 4th weigh in, but I am not worried. I KNOW what I did wrong and I am correcting them.

Exercise

Exercise is a tough one, but I was feeling pretty good last Tuesday, that I pulled out  my DVD and stability ball.  I did 10 minutes and was zonkered and it was only the warm up!!!!!!  But that's okay, I DID do 10 minutes, more than what I've done. I haven't been able to get back to it, because too many things going on and then flare-ups took over. Also, in our previous meeting a woman was talking about a DVD that she just got and it talked about your core. That you should try to hold your core in whenever you can, like driving. So, I did that. While I was driving, I pulled by shoulders back, sucked in and held my stomach muscles tight, until I got home. By the second day, my abs were sore. Okay to be perfectly honest, my stomach muscles ached and it took me awhile to figure out what I did! I may not be able to do the whole video, but if I can apply some of the tightening techniques into my daily movements, I will try it!

This week will be another great week, I can feel it!

There are losses......and then there are gains!

I went to my meeting on Saturday with my sister!! We had a ball. I was surprised that for a 10am Saturday meeting had so few people. But actually, it was nice.

Gains...
Yes, I gained. It's been four weeks since my last weigh in. I gained 6.2lbs....and no, I am not surprised, because I am the one that ate those Kit Kat bars. There was one week, where I was in a lot of pain from my lupus/fibromyalgia/RA, that I didn't care what I ate. I wasn't up to cooking, so it was, what it was. Not to mention I was PMSing. I still haven't been able to control that chocolate craving, yet. YET!! But, I will conquer it. I am ticked about it, but it's all on me. So, I decided to leave it alone and move on to a new day.

Tracking, tracking, tracking!!!

I HAVE to track what I eat!  

I HAVE to measure my food!

I WILL exercise!!

These are things I didn't care about for the past month, and I should have. It is not very hard, but I must make it routine, habit. We have routines we do everyday that we don't think about and that is exactly what those items I listed above have to become.

One step forward.....two steps back.  It sounds like a dance sequence, but it is just my life. But, I am determined to keep moving forward, even if it is a few inches. I have a good support system and I need to rely on them a little more when "bad days" happen.

My advice to anyone wanting to lose weight.....Do It!! Stop talking about it, just do it. Stop wishing about it, just do it. One thing at a time. I might have gained, but I still haven't had any Pepsi since January!! That is a big thing for me. I loved my Pepsi, easily downing 24+ ounces at a time. But no more. I drink mostly ice water, un-sweetened ice tea and black coffee. I'm pretty lucky, I never liked sugar or cream in my coffee, it took away the coffee taste! :)
So, do it, just one thing at a time, sugary drinks are a GREAT place to start. Then you go from there. Find a program that you can work with for LIFE! You don't want to be on a diet for the rest of your life, you really want a healthy lifestyle. Besides have you seen how much a bag of Doritos go for nowadays?!?!?!?

New Weigh In Day!!

My sister and I are now going to meetings together. She was lucky enough to get started before me and she had meetings right at work. Sweet gig! But, as with everything in life, they are changing things around. So, she will go with me!! We are going to try on a Saturday morning and see how it is. Sometimes you really need to click with your group. We will see....

To be honest, I feel like I gained since my last weigh in, or maybe because I haven't been able to see a weigh in for awhile.  Hey, it is, what it is! What is the use of scolding myself now, instead I should have had a little more will power.

Will Power
According to Merriam-Webster  it is energetic determination. Hmmm....but, there are so many goodies out there to tempt me. What is exactly that, you ask?  Chocolate!  Kit Kat bars and Resee's Cups. The past couple of months I have been having severe chocolate cravings coinciding with PMS!!  Logic, tracking and everything else goes out the window, when I am having cravings. But, if no one sees me eat it, it doesn't count, right?!?!?  Ummmm, no, it counts. And I know that, but at the time, those crazy hormones won't hear it! So, I got a little creative. I have chocolate wafers left over from Easter. So I melted down an ounce and had it with strawberries.  I can't remember the points, but it was way better than chowing down 3 Kit Kat bars!  hah

You have to find a way around those little pitfalls, plan ahead, look for options.

It's been a long, long time...

May 1st....wow, where did the time go.

Weight update:  I haven't been weighed for almost 3 weeks. It seems every Friday, I am worn down. But I am determined to go this Saturday.
The last time I was weighed, April 12th, I was down a total of 25.8 pounds. WOW!! I know! With that weigh-in I hit a milestone....I've lost 5% of my weight!

It has been tough since Easter, I won't lie. I haven't been able to get fully back on the good eating wagon. We have been having pizza a little too much. But, I have not had any Pepsi!!  I did notice one thing, when I am eating healthy, I feel a little better. When I eat not so healthy, I feel like crap.

I am determined to do everything in my power to get a healthy life. I owe it to myself & my family.

Where have I been...

It's been a long week. I had my #30 tooth pulled on Monday. It was a hard extraction, the tooth was broken and stubborn. So, I have been nursing a really sore jaw. What some people don't understand, that when you have any auto-immune disease, healing after a procedure takes a wee bit more time and it can aggravate your disease. So, I had a few flare-ups this week and I wasn't up to blogging.

Thank goodness for old family remedies. My Dad always had problem with his teeth and he used clove oil to help with the pain. My big sister reminded me, so on Friday I picked up some. You put it on a q-tip and rub it on the sore tooth or gum. It numbs it. You have to get used to the taste and smell. But, I the spice so I don't mind.

To be honest, this week I wasn't up for exercising or getting into my meeting or weigh in. But tomorrow is another new day/week. I am not giving up, I will keep on plugging away.

It's Monday....Who is ready for a GREAT WEEK!!

Yes, it will be a GREAT WEEK, because I am building a new healthy life. I will be honest, this weekend was a little over-indulging.  Had pizza and breadsticks on Friday and leftovers on Saturday. Bad me! ;( But I am okay with that, because I have a new chance today.

Birthdays
I have a great family, we still celebrate our birthdays together, even though we are a little older. Us 'kids' range in age from 46 to 56, grandkids - 15 to 26! It's fun. We celebrate all the birthdays in the month at once. The Birthday people get to pick the meal and choice of cake flavor.

Why do I bring this up??  Well, yesterday we celebrated our March Birthdays, my brother and sister-in-law. And my sis-n-law wanted Chicken Paprikash. I made it yesterday with my nephew. It was great, almost perfect. Sorry, I forgot to take pics. But the thing was I planned my points to be able to enjoy the meal AND have a piece of cake. Okay, I had one and half pieces of cake, it was really good!!

Working on my Goals
Starting on my goals today! I will be exercising this afternoon, I have some DVD's I am going through this morning to decide which DVD would work for me and the level of pain I am in today. This will be after I get a tooth pulled this afternoon. I'll be glad when that is done. Even if I am able to do 10-15 minutes of 'something' is  a step in the right direction, seeing that I am basically doing nothing now.

Remember, start small, then let it grow!

It's Friday....

Well, if it's Friday, that must mean......Weigh-In Day!!!  Some people would be thrilled about that. But, I am, because I want to see my progress. So, the weeks I can't get to my Weight Watchers meeting, I'm a little lost. Weather I lose or gain,  it is only 1 week. I re-look at my food journal and see what I ate and see if I need to make a change or not.

56 Days  ~  8 Weeks  ~ 2 Months  ~ 1/6 of a Year

Eight weeks ago I decided that this is it! This time it feels right. Hard work and diligence really does pay off...I lost another pound. Eight weeks living my new life and I am down 18.6 pounds.

How did I do it???  Tracking what I eat, writing/logging it all, making small changes, staying within my points & eating more fruits and vegetables.

GOALS

Goals, make them small then let them grow.

Short term goal:
Next week I plan on exercising. Having the arthritis it will limit in some of my motions, but I am going to find a way.

Medium term goal:

Walking in the  Walk to End Lupus Now!  Actually, I would like to get a group together and get as many donations as possible.

Long term goal:

Feel comfortable in a dress. Rather than feel like a circus tent! hah

Super-long term goal:

Ride a bike again! I used to love riding a bike when I was a kid, I would love to get back on one.

So there are some of my goals.  I'm sure I will be adding to them.  And now onto a wonderful spring-like weekend!

Here I am...

Well, here I am in the blog universe! Why?, you ask.  Well, I wanted to document my journey to my new life. You see, I have been overweight ALL MY LIFE. I was born and weighed 9lbs 8oz! Oh yeah, a big girl. I really put on the weight after I had my son and my diagnosis.

Diagnosis
After 2 years of crazy symptoms: extreme fatigue, muscle & joint pain, muscle spasms, low-grade fevers, insomnia, and never-ending blood tests they found out I had Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Sjogren's Syndrome. About year later I was diagnosed with Lupus. This all started in 2001. The pain was everyday, all day, some days worse than others. I am, at the point right now, where I rest, a lot. I plan, way, way ahead. Because I never know when a flare-up is going to happen or even what may trigger one.

2013
So, here I am, starting a new year and trying to find a new me. A healthier, stronger, lighter and happy me! And you may join me on the journey....It will mostly be about weight loss, but I am a crafter, so expect some of my creations, also.

Christmas 2012

Hello there....that's me! Very seldom are their pictures with me in them. I would rather be behind the camera. That way, I don't have to see what I look like. But, I know there is a beautiful soul in me that needs to get out. Also with me is my husband, Bob, and our son, Tommy.

On January 11, 2013, I started back to Weight Watchers.  Don't worry, I am not trying to sell you anything. Puh-leeesssse...I have been on almost every diet out there, some twice. Let's see...grapefruit diet / diet pills, Herbalife (2x), Form-u-3, calorie counting, Atkins, all kinds of weird diet pills, cabbage soup diet, Trim-Spa. So you see, I know what I am talking about. I tried WW in 2012, but I wasn't truly into it. But, something clicked this time. It's not a diet, but a new way of life. Everyone says, you can only lose weight when you are ready. Well, heck yeah, I am ready.

7 Weeks in....

So, after 7 weeks on the program, I have lost 17.6lbs, that's about 2.5lbs a week. I know everybody is wondering, "what did you start at?". Well, honesty is the best policy...I started this journey at my heaviest ever....436.8lbs.  Wow, I can't believe I put that out there. But, I plan on never seeing that number again, so why not have it out there!  My joke in the family is "Some day, I hope I weigh what is on my driver's license." It's a long way away...but I am determined to get there. So, come with me and share my journey.