I thought I would give an update since my 30th birthday is just 2 days away!  As in my last post I would love to say that I reached my goal this year, but I haven't.  I'm still down 20lbs from where I started so that it is a plus that at 30 I will have 20 less lbs to loose then at 29.  I have learned a lot through this past year and I'm still trying to figure out some things about my body and the way I personally loose weight.  At my weight I should be able to eat about 1700 calories a day and loose weight, however I seem to only be able to eat 1200 calories to loose weight.  I'm not sure the reason for this, maybe it's just the way my body works!  
Instead of focusing on the negative I thought I would give you some positives about this past year, and some things I learned.


1. Most obviously is that I am still down 20lbs and have maintained that for some time now.
2. I'm more comfortable in the gym and I really know what I'm doing (my eating is what I have to                  figure out) and how to get the most out of my workout.
3. I'm many inches smaller.  I wish I had measured those inches in the beginning, but I didn't so I don't know the exact number. Plus I'm down 2 pants sizes.
4. I've toned my arms quite a bit, and that I am proud of.
5.  I can lift more then some of the boys at the gym.
6.  I'm running sprints...despite my shin splints.
7.  I have found that I love going to the gym with Josh!
8.  I have more confidence.


I'm sure when I'm done writing this I will think of more things that I could have added to my list.  Now on to my goals for this next year in my life.  My main goal of course is to get back on track and finally get the rest of this weight off.  One thing that is becoming a really be drive for me is that I want to be a personal trainer and to do that I want to be in the best shape possible.  Another goal of mine is to start running some races.  like everyone else I'm sure I'll start out in some 5Ks and move to harder ones from there.  I'm also going to schedule a Dr. appointment to get some blood work done so maybe I can get some answers as to why I have to eat  fewer calories then what is recommended to loose weight. 


So there is my update!  I hope that you will join me in the fight to get healthy this year!

A long overdue update

I hate when I take forever to update because then I want to go on and on about everything over the last few months, but I don't want to be boring so I'll try to just go over a few things.

First off I'm currently 25lbs down.  I won second place in the contest I did and I got 4 six flags tickets! I got off track for about two months after the contest and gained back 7 lbs.  I have now lost 5 of those 7 in the last week.  It feels good to be eating right again.  I never stopped working out I just lost control of how I was eating.  I got this little calorie counter app on my phone that lets me put in what a ate and how many calories it was.  It's really simple and easy to use.  I like it because I don't have to look up my food in it's database to add it, it's more like what I would use if I were just writing down my food daily.  I do have another app that helps me when I eat out and such.  Gotta love those apps! 

I'm still training with Missy, I have four more weeks :(  I will be so sad when it's over.  However Josh will become my new trainer so I'm excited about that.  We have so much fun going to the gym together. I'm loving the gym more than ever! The kids hate it though...or at least they say they do.  I have to remind them that if they want me around for a long time then I have to be healthy.  

I still have such a long ways to go and some days it seems impossible, but then I have a week like this last one where I loose 5lbs and I know I can get there.  I'm still hoping to be in my weight range by Dec. 15th and at my personal goal by summer of next year.  I have 45lbs to go and about 21 weeks so that averages out to be 2.14lbs per week.  So it is still a very possible goal to get there.  

I have also rekindled my love of running.  I however have also rekindled shin splints, but I'm running anyways.  Running clears my head and gives me a new perspective on things that are bothering or worrying me.  I run outside, I loath the treadmill, so I also get that time to reflect on God and the wonderful world that He has made.  I think I'm more level headed when I run, I also think I have more patience.

So there is my quick update on my progress.  I look forward to school starting back so that maybe I can get in more of a routine and then maybe I can be better about updating this thing! 

Amy :)

Spinal Tap

Yesterday I had to have a Spinal Tap to see why my right optical nerve is swollen.  The Dr. thinks that I have something called a pseudo tumor, which basically means when they look into my eyes it looks like I have a tumor  but in reality there is nothing there. This can be caused by many things: to much pressure in my head, MS, ect...  Hopefully it is just the pressure which I can take pills for and it will all be fixed.  If I don't fix it I could eventually loose my vision in my right eye. So needless to say I want this to be fixed.  Who knew that routine eye exams could be so vital to your health and not just a matter of needing or not needing glasses!  So anyways I had the spinal tap which was so not as bad as I had worried, and I couldn't go to the gym.  Got on the scale this morning  and I was up a pound.  WHAT!?!  Just one day of not doing perfect and missing the gym and I gain a pound, how frustrating is that!  


So today I went to work and was feeling some pain in my hip, not sure if it is from the morphine shot (that hurt worse that the spinal tap) or if it is from where he hit a nerve while doing the spinal tap.  Anyway it seemed to get worse as the day went on so I was beginning to really worry that the gym would be a no go again for today.  I cam home from work and took Ibuprofen and lay down while Josh grilled out. I got up to eat and realized that I felt better even though I still had some minor pain.  So we broke the boys hearts(they hate the gym) and headed to the gym.  I got in 1 hour on the elliptical and did some abs also.


I tell all of this because I'm very proud of myself for going!  After gaining a pound and hurting it would have been easy to just stay home, and 4 weeks ago I would have done just that!  But I'm not giving up this time, I know if I keep on keeping on that this weight will come off of me eventually!  So that's my motto for this week:  When things get tough just keep on keeping on!!!

4 weeks and 14 pounds later!

When I weigh Monday it will officially be 4 weeks since I started (I mean really started) this journey, and so far I am down 14 lbs!  I get a little frustrated because I'm impatient and I want to loose faster then I am!  Right now I'm averaging almost 3 lbs a week, so if I were to continue at this rate I would be at my goal weight in 23 more weeks which would make me healthy by 30, so I just try to keep that in mind!  I know that I'm working hard and I'm staying within my calorie range about 98% of the time.   I know that I'm making big changes in the way I exercise, eat, and think!  Today when we went out for lunch I noticed that I don't even look at the whole menu anymore, I go strait to the healthy foods that are usually highlighted or have an icon beside them. I'm also not scared to ask the waiter to have them make something a little different so that it fits more within my calories!  When we had some yummy cookies at work the other day I looked at the calories and decided they just were not worth starving later on in the day for.  I know that I am a work in progress and always will be and I'm just trying to keep on moving forward no matter how hard the journey gets or will get.  I thought I would include a list of some of the things that I  like about losing weight, exercising, and the gym in general!


Things that I like


1.  Josh and I have a new something in common.  We could talk about diet, supplements, protein, the gym, ect... all day long!  I love that when he goes on Saturdays that I go with him now and don't just sleep in.  He is also my number one fan!


2.  Missy , my personal trainer!  She is truly helping me get my life back together!


3.  I still don't have a great body image but it's getting better!


4.  I have more energy!  Today we went swimming, then I went to the gym and then came home and then we all went on a walk!


5. I have more confidence when in the gym!  I used to be so worried that everyone was laughing at me or making fun of me.  I have realized that is probably not true and even if it were I don't really care!


6. I feel stronger.  I have always considered myself a pretty weak person, even though I toted three huge babies around.  But each week I can see an improvement in what I'm lifting at the gym and my form!  Plus I can see that my ares are looking better!


I'm sure that as I lay in bed tonight that I will think of many more, but you get the jest of it!  I'm learning so much about myself through this process!  There are days when it is so hard to just make myself make it to the gym or to eat right and then there are days that it's like second nature and I don't even have to think about it!  I can't wait to hit my first goal, which is 20 lbs lost, but I know that everything takes time, especially weight loss.  If it were easy then everybody would do it!

12 week Challenge

It's been a while since I have updated and I have to admit that I have totally failed at this weight loss thing.  However, the one good thing about trying to loose weight is that you can pick up and start over again at anytime.  So that is what I'm doing, starting over!
24/7 announced at the beginning of the year that they would be doing a 12 week challenge with the grand prize being a dream Vaca. for two, so I was like "I'm in".  The only initial downside was that we had to wait about 3 weeks to weigh in and start.  Well I'm no fool and I know that eventually you are gonna it a plateau so it seemed silly to start(and loose wight that wouldn't count in the "game") before the weigh in and risk hitting that plateau in the middle of the contest.  So I have waited three weeks to get started and today was the big day.  I went in a weight...NOT GOOD, I weight +2 lbs then my starting weight back in Dec.!!!  So NOT GOOD!  oh, well it's a new day!
One of the advantages of this challenge is that we could get a Personal Trainer for dirt cheap.  So I asked the guy for a woman, but I needed her to be tough and to push me!  So he gave me a Cop!!!  I met her today and it's fair to say she kicked my butt!  It's also fair to say that while I was hurting beyond belief that I was also loving it!  I told Josh the other day that I hope I'm so sore that I can't sit to pee, LOL and I pretty much think that will be the case.  I think she is just what I need to finally get me going and help me to finally loose this weight, even if I don't win the contest!  I know I won't be to my goal in 12 weeks, but I hope to have the tools to help me get to that goal and I know that I will be closer to that goal!

Getting back on track

  I would love to start this post out saying that I have done so good over the holidays and that I have lost weight or even that I have maintained, but sadly that just isn't the case :(   So here is what has happened since I last posted. 
   First off we moved back to my parents house after we realized that our Land Lord is no longer paying the house bill and that foreclosure on the house is within a couple of months at best.  I said when I started this blog that I am a stress eater, and well moving back in with my parents is pretty stressful.  Not that I have bad parents or anything but who wants to move back in with your parents after living out on your own for 10 or more years (love ya Mom)?  Plus the pantry is so full, and I have a hard time having will power.  
  Second, while I have faith in the new WW program I have to say that it threw me for a loop!  I had only been on the diet for 2 or 3 weeks before they changed it up on me and I kind of just gave up!
Third, Christmas!  Need I say more! The food that was thrown in my face was just unreal!  I don't think I want to see any ham, turkey or stuffing for at least 11 months!
  So tomorrow is the day of truth!  How bad have I actually done?  I know that if I want to that I have a   pass for a no way in day, but I also know that I won't get on track until I weigh in and face the truth of what I have done over almost a month!  I dread it, to say the least, but it's necessary to get back on track!  I celebrated my 29th birthday on the 15th, so the countdown to 30 has begun and I am determined to get back on track and have all of this weight off by that ever elusive 30th birthday!

The New Weight Watchers Plan!

I know that I have not posted in a while but things have been crazy around my house with us getting ready to move.  We hope to be finally moved in about a week from now.  It's been an emotional roller coaster for me so I have been really trying to not over eat. Not sure when I became an emotional eater, but a few years ago I figured out that I am one.  


So I don't think I posted my second weigh in so I weighed in the week before Thanksgiving and I had lost 2 pound for a total of 5.2 lbs!  Not bad for two weeks on this plan!  I knew that I wouldn't be able to weigh in the week of Thanksgiving so I have to admit that I didn't stress what I was eating very much.  Then the next week I new that we would be starting a new plan at Weight Watchers so I reasoned in my head that I shouldn't worry to much about what I was eating for that week either.  So this past Thursday (Dec. 2) I go into weight watcher convinced that after two weeks of not following any plan that I had probably gained at least my 5 lbs back.  So I was pleasantly surprised when I had only gained .8 pounds, not even a whole pound!!!  


I also must admit that I haven't been doing much of my positive thinking lately either.  I have found that when I'm working the plan and exercising like I should it's much easier to think positive about myself.  Even though the results of this hard work are not instant (oh how I wish they would be) I even feel better about how I look and myself in general when I'm doing what I should be doing.


Now on to the new Weight Watchers Points Plus Plan.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about this new plan but I have to say that so far I like it pretty good.  After weigh in I got a few of the basic tools that I would need.  Because the points are now figured up differently I need to buy a new dining out guide (worth every penny) and a new complete food companion (I can do or do without this one).  The one thing that I bought that I had never bought before was a points calculator.  On this new program you need this little calculator, that looks amazingly like the birth control pill compact, because you can't use the slider anymore to figure up your points.  One bad thing about this is that in January the calculator will go up to 12.99 so just to join and get the essentials it will coast someone about $40 to get started, which I think is a little steep!  You can upload the calculator app to your smart phone, but I don't have a smart phone so I had to get the calculator.  Anyways, The old system went on Calories, fat and fiber.  The new system is protein, fat, fiber, and carbs.  I do have to commend WW with keeping up with new research and what seems to be the best weight loss solution.  The new system goes with the idea that while two foods might have the same amount of calories, that doesn't mean they are created equally.  For example a lean piece of chicken and a half of a muffin might have the same calories but of course the chicken is better for you and will keep you full longer.  So used to they might would be the same points value but now that half muffin will be more points which will encourage you to eat the chicken instead!  Hope that make since!?! Everyone who had tried the new plan seems to love it and so far I am with them.  Some foods went up in points but I also get a few more points on this plan so it kind of evens out.  The best part of the new plan is that fruits no longer have a points, they are all free!  


I hope this blog hasn't been to long and boring, I had a lot of catching up to do!


Amy