Day 26 - Sinful Cinnamon Roll

 I was having a great day with my eating today. My sister Regina from Washington state came to visit today. She will be staying until Monday. She is an excellent pastry chef and made these awesome Cinnamon Rolls for dessert tonight. Thank goodness I ate so well all day! I was able to enjoy one of these delicious delights! I had just over 1600 calories with the cinnamon roll. Not too bad for my first day back from our trip!

 

 

Back On Track Today!

I came, I went, I indulged! Now I am right back on track! I had several goals while I was away. To stay under 2500 calories, check! To walk a ton, check! To drink little to no soda, check! I managed to stay just under 2500 calories both days. I burned 3200 calories day one and 2700 calories day two with well over 2 hours of moderate activity day one and over an hour on day two. I did allow myself one, but only one, soda at the end of my trip. I think I did awesome and met everyone one of my goals!

Today I am right back on track and enjoyed a banana for breakfast. I will try to eat on the lighter side while making very healthy choices. Cause it's time to get back to losing this weight! ;)

Casino Trip - Day 2 Dinner

I had a Krispie Kreme donut as a snack today. Enjoyed it!

The bus schedule was a bit different and we didn't stop at Burger King, but arrived in Rutland just pass 6pm. So mom and
I had time to stop at Wendy's for dinner. Far better then Burger King in my book. ;)

I enjoyed a nice burger meal and my one and only diet coke durung the whole trip. I won't have another for at least 3 weeks.

I stayed within my calorie limit both days! Woohoo! I had over an hour of moderate activity today and estimate I will burn about 2700 calories, so still a deficit!

Casino Trip - Day 2 Lunch

Well I enjoyed the Philly cheesesteak and it was worth EVERY bite! I had just under 1000 calories for lunch!

We are on our way home, just got on the bus! I brought $120 to gamble and found this fun slot called Better Off Ed (a zombie game) when I was down to my last $40 bucks today.

So I play the game and lose the first $20. So I say to myself, what the heck, the game is fun, I will give it my last try with my last $20 bucks!

Well I got bonus after bonus and cashed out with $78! So my whole weekend of gambling cost me $42 bucks. I'm glad to go home not broke! Lol!

Casino Trip - Day 2 Breakfast

I did really well for breakfast. Had cheerios & yogurt! I'm planning on a nice Philly cheesesteak for lunch! ;)

Casino Trip - Day 1 Dinner

The rest of my day went well. I had a nice steak dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville. I will have to share pics later as I'm having technical difficulties.

I estimate I will burn about 3200 calories today and ate just under 2500 calories. I had 2:18 of moderate activity and over 15000 steps! I'd say that is a good day! ;)

Casino Trip - Day 1 Lunch

We are having an awesome time so far! We enjoyed a buffet lunch. I had 2 bites of fried rice & lo mein and decided it wasn't worth the calories so didn't eat anymore of that! Enjoyed the chicken pot pie! The baked chicken was worth only 1 bite! But I loved the shrimp, salad & roll! Ended my meal with a coconut macaroon, a small rice krispie square & a small slice of angel food cake! My lunch was just over 1100 calories!

I've also walked a ton and am up to 1 hour and 39 minutes of moderate activity! So far so good!

As for gambling, I am up $10 and mom is up by $109!! Woohoo!

Casino Trip - Day 1 Breakfast

We are on our way, but freezing. It was -6 this morning and the bus still hasn't fully warmed up! I'm wearing thermals, fuzzy socks & a long sleeve shirt and t-shirt and I'm still cold. I'm bundled up with my coat, hat & mittens. I remember it was cold on the bus last year, but not this bad. I meant to bring a blanket and forgot! :(

So we had our first pit stop. I got 2 egg and cheese croissantwiches that totalled 660 calories. It was worth getting 2, they warmed me up! Just a couple of hours to go and we will be there!

Day 23 - Gearing Up For Some Fun!

I had a great day today. Ate just under 1500 calories! I am all packed and ready to get up at 4:30am to go on my trip with my mom. We leave at 5:00am and meet the bus at 6:00am! Did I mention I am not an early bird! LOL! There are very few things I am willing to get up this early for, and this is one of the few! LOL!

I feel like I am armed with what I need to have a successful 2 days away from my normal routine! I can't wait to share my 2 fun days on my blog! Ok, I got to get off this computer so I can get to bed soon! Night night. :)

Down 4 More Pounds!! WooHoo!! Now To Make A Game Plan!

I weighed in this morning as planned and I am down 4 more pounds! I am so happy. I am using the WII to do my weigh ins. It said I was down 3.1 pounds, but my weight was 219.4 lbs. Which actually means I was down 4.1 pounds not 3. I didn't realize it until I entered my weight through bodymedia online. Not sure what was up with that, but I will verify the numbers later today to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. Maybe the WII can't do math very well. Ha Ha! I am just super excited about my weight loss! I am down a total of 8.3 lbs!

So now it's time to figure out the game plan! I am going to plan on allowing myself 2000-2500 calories a day during the 2 days on my trip. I also intend to try to hit a 1000 calorie deficit both of those days, which means I will do a LOT of walking!

Planning Ahead Is Key - I am trying to do lots of planning ahead. I will bring my own water bottle to encourage me to continue drinking water instead of soda. The bus stops at Burger King for breakfast on Wednesday and dinner on Thursday, so I have printed out the nutritional guide, from Burger King, for me to bring along, so I can make reasonable calorie choices while away. I will enjoy myself and enjoy a burger at Burger King, but it doesn't have to be a 1500 calorie burger meal when there are a lot of lower calorie alternatives! You CAN have your cake and eat it, too! All things in moderation! ;)

So now I am soooo looking forward to my trip! I will be checking in several times a day during meal and snack times, so stay tuned.....

Day 22 - A Better Day

I did much better today. I ate just over 1300 calories. I am determined to have a couple great days before I leave on Wednesday!

I am excited, yet nervous about weighing in tomorrow. I'm hoping to have at minimum a 2 lb loss, but hoping for more. Hopefully all my effort will give me a nice payoff! We shall see. I will keep everyone posted!

Week 4 - New Challenges Will Arise!

So I am beginning week 4 with many new challenges ahead. But before we get into that, here is my report that shows how I did last week:

Week 3 - Body Media Summary Report

I didn't have a perfect week, but was just under my goal of having a deficit of 1000 calories per day. I fell short, but not by much. I am still proud of myself for sticking to my better eating habits. My fat was just about a 3rd of my average daily intake. I would like to get that below 30%. So I clearly have things I need to work on and improve. But with anything worth doing, it's not always easy and it is a continued work in progress.

So I have my overnight trip to Foxwoods & Mohegan Sun Casino this week. It is an annual trip I take my mom on once a year. We leave 5am Wednesday morning to meet the bus in Rutland and will get home about 11pm on Thursday night. My mom and I look forward to some mother/daughter time together with this trip.

The challenge I think is quite obvious as I receive comps to eat at a buffet at the casino as well as other comps to use toward my meals. I am determined to try to behave myself BUT also enjoy my trip and allow myself a treat here and there. I only do this once a year for my mom and I DO intend to enjoy myself without sabotaging my goals.

I will weigh in tomorrow morning and once I find out how I am doing in the weight loss department, I will come up with my calorie plan while I am away. I will allow myself extra calories, while away, so I can enjoy my trip!

 The one thing I do when I go on these trips, this being the 3rd one, is exercise a lot! While my mom is enjoying some gambling time on her own, I walk, walk, walk walk, walk! I enjoy some gambling, but won't do it the whole time I'm there. I don't like to lose money. LOL! But I enjoy putting on the MP3 player and just walking around the casino. I don't know if any of you have been to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun, but they are like little cities and so there is plenty of space within the facility to take long walks!

I will take pictures throughout the day of how I am doing with walking and eating, while on my trip, and share them here on my blog.

Wish me luck for tomorrow's weigh in! :)

Day 21 - Sunday Dinner With Friends

We had some really good friends over for dinner tonight. I had yet another high calorie day. 1900 calories to be exact! More then I would have liked, but I estimate I burned over 2800 calories today. So I still just about hit my calorie deficit, which is a 1000 calories per day.

I made our guests spaghetti with homemade meat sauce. We had salad and wheat Italian garlic bread as our sides. And ended with jello pudding parfets. It was truly a good old fashioned big Sunday dinner!

I really do hope to have a better day tomorrow!

Day 20 - How To Determine Your Calorie Deficit!

I wanted to make this blog entertaining, inspirational AND informative! So here is some info, on how to figure your daily calorie deficit, in case you didn't know! ;)

How To Determine Your Calorie Deficit ~

A pound of body fat equates to approximately 3500 calories. So if you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories (meaning that you burn 500 calories more than you eat each day) you would lose approximately one pound per week:

500 x 7 = 3,500

It's easy to see that a calorie deficit of 1000 calories would mean that you'd lose approximately two pounds per week. And that's a good number to remember, because two pounds a week is commonly accepted as the maximum rate of weight loss that is healthy.

Information obtained at: /www.caloriesperhour.com

I had a high calorie day today. I was just under 2000 calories. But today was house cleaning day and I figure I will burn about 2900 calories today! So not too bad considering.

I made some homemade banana bread today and enjoyed a slice and a half. That is what killed my calories today! My banana bread is about 300 calories for an 1/8th of a loaf! I hope to use less sugar in my next batch to see if I can get that under 300 calories!

So I splurged a bit tonight! But tomorrow is a new day!

Day 19 - Babysitting Keeps Your Mind Off Of Eating!

I brought my 10 year old Blue & Gold Macaw, that adopted about 3 months ago, to work for her first all day visit. She had come in this past Saturday for about 2 hours. Well I had to keep a good eye on her, in other words babysit her, and make sure she knew the ground rules while she was at work with us.

She kept me pretty busy, as she is a mischievous little girl! LOL! The day flew by and before I knew it, it was time to go home. I had just over 1200 calories today and that includes going to dinner at American Flatbread!

Here are some photos of my beautiful Coqui girl!

Day 18 - I Got My New Food Processor!

I had a good day today. Had slightly above 1500 calories. I received my new Kitchen Aid Food Processor today!

Just another great tool to eat healthy and with no preservatives. We had breakfast for dinner. Eggs & potatoes to be more specific! I sliced the tators in my food processor. I love it!

Day 17 - Lets Talk About STRESS!

I had a stressful day and wanted to eat my way through it! I've learned that I have to make better choices & decisions!!

I was at home with the kids today (not the reason for my stress, by the way). When I was at the point of stressing out, for reasons I prefer not to go into right now, I decided to go to work and make marshmallow for the store. So that kept me busy along with working on a puzzle! See pic below.

I also grabbed a bag of pop chips to snack on so I wouldn't put just anything in my mouth.

I got through the day eating just under 1500. Victory is sweet! I am so glad I got through a stressful day without falling of the wagon so to speak!

Day 16 - Baby It's Cold Outside

So was it way to cold for anybody else yesterday?! Holy cow! I had a decent day for being a cheat day. I had just over 1800 calories and enjoyed a nice steak dinner with a baked potato and veggies for dinner at Mister Ups.

I have my trip with my mom a week from today! I am going to come up with a game plan that will keep me on the path to success! I will post my game plan once I finalize the details. :)

Day 15 - Week 3 Begins!

I had a fun day with the kids today. Took them to the McDonalds playland for lunch in Rutland. Then to the bounce house in the mall. I did fairly well but had a little more calories then I wanted. Just over 1700.

Here are my weekly reports as promised from Bodymedia. Now keep in mind that the first weeks report will have no data for activity and calories burned are estimated as I didn't have my armband that week. The second week I only had the band a 1/2 week. So the second week will not be accurate either. But all my food info will be accurate.

My goal each week is to have less then 30% fat in my diet, ideally eat less then 1500 calories per day and burn at least 2500 calories per day. My averages were great the first week but a little high with my fat and calories the second week. I will work on that!

Week 1: http://middleburysweets.com/files/Summary_Report_2014_01_20.pdf

Week 2: http://middleburysweets.com/files/Summary_Report_2014_01_19.pdf

Posting Comments

I have changed the setting on my blog so you no longer have to have a google account to post a comment. I hope more of you will choose to take the time to comment on my posts. Let's me know that people are actually reading it! ;)

Day 14 - End Of Week 2

I've had a pretty good week 2! But I won't weigh in for another week! I am waiting until I really need to weigh in, which will be right before my trip with my mom.

I can now print weekly reports from Bodymedia. I hope to post the last 2 weeks tomorrow. It's a nice summary of my last 2 weeks.

We had a nice Sunday dinner tonight. Rotisserie chicken, baked potato with sour cream & salsa and broccoli. We ended our dinner with my homemade frozen yogurt. There is a pic below.

The frozen yogurt is all natural & low in fat. It is 2 parts your favorite frozen fruit to 1 part vanilla yogurt. I will say, it froze like a ROCK! LOL! I had to zap it in the microwave to soften it so I can scoop it out.

I made strawberry & pineapple. The frozen yogurt is less then 100 calories per serving! They were both delicious! We added a little light Hersheys syrup and had a delicious & nutritious sundae!

Day 13 - House Cleaning Equals Excercise

I had a great day today. Kept busy doing my weekly house cleaning. I estimate by the time this day is done I will have burned 3000 calories! Woo Hoo!

I also made some homemade frozen yogurts. I will share pics tomorrow. :)

Day 12 - Mother/Daughter Night

I had a good day today. My challenge was going to the movies with my daughter. It was our night out tonight. I loooove popcorn & soda when I go to the movie. It was tough but I did great! I had a little popcorn but brought PopChips. They are low fat, low calorie and all natural.  A picture is below. I had the BBQ flavor. They have 4 or 5 flavors. They are really good! Try them! I stuck to water, too!

I had just under 1600 calories today! Not too bad with facing my temptation at the movies.

Day 11 - It's The Almond Barks Fault, I Swear!

So I had my first real day of giving into temptation! I ate waaaay to much chocolate today. Over 600 calories worth! I know, your jaw just dropped right.

You can only imagine how difficult it is to stay away from sweets working around and with chocolate all day. BUT, no excuses, I've done it before and I can do it again. I just need keep up the will power and grab better snacks to keep me out of the chocolate.

I did mange to eat a little over 1800 calories today. Not too bad considering. Heres hoping tomorrow is a better day!

Day 10 - Got My Band Today

I finally got my new Bodymedia armband today. Now I can track my calorie burn everyday! I wear it on my left arm throughout the day.

 

Had a good day today, I ate just under 1400 calories. Ended my day at Cornwall School for my daughters winter concert. What a great way to end my day!

 

Here is the link again for bodymedia: http://www.bodymedia.com/

 

Fresh Berries...Yum!

Went to Costco and stocked up on lots of fruit & veggies for the week yesterday.  Also, some frozen fruit for smoothie making!

They had nice ripe blackberries that I am enjoying for breakfast this morning. They are very nutritious and packed with antioxidants! They have a whopping 8 grahams of fiber per serving. My bowl is almost 2 servings! A glass of skim milk completes my breakfast!

Day 9 - Cheat Day

I allow myself a cheat day once a week on my day off. A day where I allow myself a few extra calories, if I want them. Having a cheat day helps your body feel less deprived, which in turn allows the weight to come off.

I am a creature of habit, so when I had to go to Burlington today (yesterday actually, I had phone issues and couldn't post this until today.) to pick up chocolate, I had to stop at Moe's for dinner!

I had just under 1800 calories today. Not too bad for a cheat day!

I Faced A Temptation Today!

Originally I had said that I wanted to not go to McDonald's until I was under 200 pounds. Well today I realized, it's the choices I make that is most important!

I am out running errands and wanted a quick lunch. In Middlebury, McDonald's is good for quick and I CAN still eat healthty!

Instead of my old usual of 2 McChickens & a diet coke (another habit I'm trying to break!) I'm having the grilled chicken southwest salad with a large ice water. That is my favorite salad here.

Can you tell Mexican/Southwest cuisine is my favorite!? ;)

So even though I didn't wait, I will call this a success not a fail! I ate healthy and that is all that really matters. Staying away from all the bad choices is the true challenge. If I can walk in here today and make good choices, then it gives me the power to adapt where ever I go! ;)

Day 8 - Week 2

I had a good day today. Did better with the vegetables with my nice salad at dinner. I had just under 1400 calories today! I'm feeling very positive! :)

Southwest Salad Recipe

I made a nice big restaurant style southwest salad tonight. Here is what I put in it:

Spring mix greens
Homemade Pico De Galo
Yellow Bell Peppers
Grilled Chicken
Cheddar Cheese
Lime Juice
Homemade Guacamole
Sour Cream & Salsa made into a dressing

It was soooooo gooood and less then 500 calories!

My First Weigh In!

So I decided to go ahead and weigh myself after my first week. I always drop more weight then usual the first week of starting my better eating habits. I figured if I could get that number out of the way, I can get a better sense of what I lose on a weekly basis if I weighed in now and didn't include that in my future totals!

The whole reason I don't want to weigh in a lot is because it can play with my head. I lost 4.2lbs which is awesome, but deep down inside I know I've lost 5 to 6 lbs the first week I start eating better. But that is just me letting the number play with my head! See, I told myself so! LOL!

I won't weigh in again until January 28th and the only reason for that is, I'm going on an overnight trip with my mom to Foxwoods & Mohegan Sun casinos in CT. When ever I travel, I like to know what I weigh before I go. It keeps me on track and accountable while I'm gone!

So there you have it, I have dropped a great 4.2lbs my first week! Here is to another awesome week!

Day 7 - Mexican Fiesta!

I try to cook a really nice meal for our Sunday dinners, including a delicious dessert!

We had tacos with homemade Pico De galo & guacamole! We ended our meal with a jello pudding pie! The pie was just 185 calories per slice!

I had just over 1600 calories. Above my goal but not bad for Sunday dinner & dessert!

Day 6 - Lunch Got Away From Me

So I took the kids to Green Peppers Restaurant, a local pizza place, and I had a few more calories then I should have. Darn bread & butter!!

The good news is I still managed to eat just above 1500 calories. That was a close one!

I'm hangin' in for the long trip ahead. I am looking forward to getting back in size 14 jeans. That was the smallest size I've worn as an adult. I got there last year. I will be back! I can feel it. :)

Healthy Breakfast

The first thing the kids wanted this morning was a smoothie! I have to admit Marcus didn't love his smoothie so much even with some Quick mix in it. So I will have to work on finding him a smoothie he will love!

Day 5 - I Made It!

As I posted earlier, today was a bit challenging! But I made it and had just over 1300 calories! It was nice to go out to dinner with my family at American Flatbread in Middlebury. And then to end our day with a delicious smoothy courtesy of my new Ninja Ultima + Blender!

Life is good! :)

My New Ninja Blender!

We made a delicious smoothie with my new blender tonight! Yummy! Yet another tool to help us all eat healthy!

At American Flatbread for dinner!

What a great way to end our day then with delicious flatbread!

My First Real Difficult Day

I seem to want to nibble on everything today! But the good news is, I have not. It's funny how some days are a breeze, then others, like today, are more difficult. Is it something in the air? The time of the month? Who knows! But I thought the best thing to do was come on my blog and write a post. This will help encourage me to move forward and get through the day with success!

Time to grab an orange to keep me from nibbling on the wrong things! I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!

I will be back on later today to report my success! ;)

Day 4 - Continued Success!

I had a great day today. Was tempted a few times while making my chocolates but didn't falter at all! I am so proud of myself for sticking with this so well. My day consisted of fruit, yogurt, boiled eggs, 2 chocolates and bbq skinless chicken breast with mashed potatoes and applesauce. I ended my day once again with a nice hot cocoa! I had just 1200 calories today and feel quite satisfied!

Tomorrow, more veggies! I am not a total veggie lover so it is work for me to fit them in my diet everyday. I will continue to work on that!

I ordered a Ninja Kitchen System and got the Ninja Ultima by mistake. It's a more powerful blender then the one I ordered, but does not come with the food processor attachment. Now I need to decide whether to keep the Ultima or send it back for the one I ordered! I can't wait to start using it in either case to make wonderful smoothies and other foods!

I'm Going To Finish What I Started

In January 2012 I started this weight loss journey at 261 pounds. Here are a couple of photos my hubby took of me the day we started.

My plan is to never be this size again in my entire life! Later on down the road, I will find some older photos to share of my even larger then this!

Day 3 - Busy Day, But Still Successful!

I have had a couple of busy days. Definitely situations that test my ability to stick to the plan and stay focused! I had to drive my mother in law halfway home today. I meet my sister in law at a truck stop in NH. I find the best way to stay on target is to plan ahead. So with my trusty water cup and a few snacks in hand, I was ready to go.

Now this truck stop we meet at is known for having great muffins, pastries and desserts. Trust me, I know, I've eaten a few! LOL! I meet my sister in law at this same truck stop every time we take my mother in law to and from my house. So I was very pleased to find out they had a nice little salad bar. I shared a picture earlier here on my blog of my salad.

I enjoyed a nice salad as well as 1/3 of my sons blueberry muffin. So I was able to eat healthy and enjoy one of their delicious muffins without over indulging!

I managed to have 1545 calories today and that is including the nice hot cocoa I was able to end my day with!

I have not shared my daily calorie burn on the blog just yet because I am still waiting for my new bodymedia armband to come in the mail. As mentioned before, it is one of the tools I will not do without when trying to lose weight. My original one finally died, but I had it for a very long time. So hopefully I will get it in the mail this week or next!

Here is to another successful day tomorrow!

How To Have Lunch At A Truck Stop!

Have a delicious salad. I lucked out, they had a nice little salad bar!

Time For A Photo

I thought it was about time to post a current photo of me to help track my progress. And you know, after taking this photo I realized how far I had already come. It's hard to remember sometimes as all I see sometimes is what still needs to come off. I felt proud of what I saw in this picture. Even with my pitfalls in 2013, I am lookin' pretty good! ;)

Day 2 - Welcome To Moe's!

Tuesday is my day off every week so I usually need to run errands up in Burlington. My favorite stop is Moe's as I stated in my previous post. I ate light so I could enjoy my burrito today. I had a banana for breakfast, Moe's for lunch and grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. A great dinner on such a cold winter's night. :)

To help break my diet coke habit, I brought my own plastic cup with a lid and straw and brought a cup of ice water with me. I then refilled the cup at Moes. My guess is this cup is about 32oz. I had 5 of those today. Not one single drop of diet coke. Woohoo!!

Lunch @ Moes Today

One of my favorite places to eat on my day off is Moe's Southwest Grill! I get the Art Vandalay burrito which has no meat! I try to have this once a week as my treat!

Day 1 - A Nice Start

Things went very well today. But then I thought, well doesn't the first day always go well? And I thought some more....acutally, no...it doesn't always go well. I've had many "first days" when I think I'm going to finally start back up on my better eating and it just doesn't happen. So the fact I had a good day today really is a great sign!

I met my calorie goal, which is always a good thing. I had about 1300 calories. The only struggle I had was when I was making jumbo turtles. I love chocolate, but I also loooove nuts! Yes they are good for you, but very high in calorie. It took everything in my power not to pop a few in my mouth while making turtles today. That is one of my bad habits I have gotten into! Especially with the macadamia nuts! I just kept saying to myself "don't do it, don't do it." I made it! Phew, that was a tough few moments for me.

Some of the things I had today included greek yogurt, boiled eggs, a banana, orange, 2 truffles and pancakes for dinner. I know, no veggies! But I hope to go to Costco tomorrow and pick up a pile of groceries! We need a bunch of stuff. But I think I did well for not having a lot of choices for my first day. Tomorrow will be good as I will get the foods we need to eat healthy.

Goals, Goals & More Goals!

Here are some goals I have to lose the weight:

1) Calorie goal per day: 1500 or less
2) Exercise at least 3 times a week
3) Burn at least 2700 calories per day
4) Get down to 180 lbs in 2014
5) Drink less Diet Coke
6) Eat less McDonalds
7) Eat no more then 2 pieces of chocolate a day.
8) Not to weight myself more then once a month.

My hope is to get down to 180 lbs in 2014. I haven't been 180 lbs since I was a junior in high school!! I would like to go for 160 lbs in 2015. But because I've never been 180 lbs as an adult, I want to see how that feels first. My doctor felt that this was a good way to approach figuring out a good weight for me.

I love diet coke way to much and hope to not drink it until I am under 200 lbs! Same with McDonalds. I eat there because I am busy and it's quick and easy. But not good for me. I would like to see me stay away from there until I am under 200 lbs! I am hopeful that I can do this! Fingers crossed!!

I own a large candy store and it is impossible to not each candy. Besides, everything in moderation, right? ;) My goal is to not have more then 150 calories per day in chocolate. That is 2 pieces. I've done it before, and I know I can do it again!

One of the things I've learned throughout the years is the scale can play with your head big time! So I've decided that I am not going to weigh myself more then once a month. I will go longer, if I can! I really only want to weigh myself before vacations and other events so I know where I am at. But I am done with weighing myself on a weekly basis. My weight can fluctuate a lot and all the scale does is discourage me. I'm not going to let the scale play games with my head any longer. It's scale mutiny!!

Those are my goals, now let's get this party started!

Tools Of The Trade

Many of you may ask...so how do you lose weight? Well first of all, you need to find motivation and keep it with you always! Motivation is what is going to push you forward to lose the weight. You need to be passionate about your weight loss. But I find having some great tools helps, too!

Basically you need to eat less calories then you burn to lose weight. The more you burn the more you lose! I use the Bodymedia armband to track my daily calorie burn everyday. And I use there website to track my calories and weight. There is a monthly fee to use the website to track your calories, but it is well worth it! Here is the link to their website: http://www.bodymedia.com/ Here is a pic of the armband.

 



To Share, Inspire & Succeed!

I am creating this blog today to help me track my weight loss progress over the next year. I am also hopeful that my willingness to SHARE my journey with others, will INSPIRE those with the same struggles as myself to take this journey with me. I am hopeful this blog will also help me SUCCEED as I will be posting a daily journal of the good, the bad and the ugly of my progress! It will help me hold myself accountable for my actions, as I know I will be sharing it with anyone who so chooses to read my blog!

Now for those of you who don't know me very well, here is how weight has played a part in my life for all these years. I was a chubby little kid that was teased all through elementary and middle school. I tried diet after diet when in high school only to end up 200lbs by time I graduated. I then began to work and discovered eating out and bad diets. Between the 2, by time I was in my mid to late 20's I was over 280lbs!

I finally found the right diet and motivation to lose the weight with the coming of the new millennium! So in 2000 I embarked on my first successful journey to lose weight. I joined a group called TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) and was motivated by having to come to a weekly meeting and be weighed in. Over a 2 year period I lost 80lbs. At the end of that 2 years I met my husband Brad Jenne. He had also lost about 80lbs. With our new found confidence, we finally both got the courage to start dating and found each other on Match.com. Do you believe in soul mates? Well Brad and I do. We married 6 months later in October 2003.

While Brad and I dated I reached 199 lbs!! Yay, finally out of the 200's. But it didn't last long. Before we married I gained 20lbs back. Then over the years the pounds just kept coming back on. When I was pregnant with Marcus (my son) in 2010, I topped a whopping 308lbs! Thankfully I was able to drop down to 270lbs within a year. But here we go again....overweight and miserable with myself.

At the end of 2011, I knew something had to be done. On top of a very busy life with small kids I now owned the largest candy store in Vermont, Middlebury Sweets! Holy Crap! I knew I couldn't let this get out of control and my weight HAD to become a priority. Or I was going to be fat all my life and worse yet, fatter then I already was! The thought was frightening to me. So I came up with a plan!

I have always loved the Biggest Loser TV show. So I decided to create my own Biggest Loser challenge with my husband Brad. He also had gained most of his weight back. So for Christmas in 2011 I bought us Biggest Loser T-Shirts, made up a Biggest Loser contract and purchased a few good Biggest Loser cookbooks and weight loss books to get the new year started on the right foot! So the challenge was set, how would we do??

We did great! Brad lost 60lbs and I lost 40 lbs. But summer came and we struggled to lose much more. Summer is a very busy time in our shop and it is too easy to go for the quick foods that are really not healthy for us. But I managed to lose a few more pounds and was up to 53 lbs lost in the first part of 2013. I started out at 261 lbs when I started this journey in January of 2012. And by 2013 I was down to 208!

But Brad and I have struggled all last year with keeping our weight down let alone losing anymore. I have gained 20lbs above my lowest weight. We know we have to get back on track and I want to lose the rest of this stinkin' weight damit!! Excuse the outbreak, but I am just plain sick of being fat! :P

So here we are....January 6, 2014! A new year and a new start. I weighed in at 227.7 lbs this morning! My goal is to get to 180lbs this year! Preferably before summer! I hope to share photos as I go along on my journey as well as my success at my pitfalls. And I will be sure to add a little humor along the way. Laughter is the best medicine after all! ;)

So if you will, join me on a journey which should prove to be challenging, emotional, inspiring and fun (just because it should be!)