Coming Back Down!

Well I weighed in this morning and was down 4 pounds. I have 3.5 pounds to go to be back down to my lowest weight. So the weight gain is coming off at a good pace. If I can have another good week I am hopeful that the rest will come off and I can concentrate on my 199 goal once again!

I have been very busy at work all week working on a big project so that has helped me keep my mind off of food. I fasted well on Wednesday and Friday. Ate some samples from the candy show on Thursday, but all in all didn't do too bad. We continue to try different products as we finally got our samples by UPS on Wednesday. Here are some pics of Morgan digging through them!

Consider we have all these new things to try, I think we are doing pretty well! LOL!

Back From My Trip & Had A Blast

We had a wonderful time in Chicago and an absolute blast at the candy show! Here is a link to my album on Facebook if you would like to see pictures.

Facebook Album - Sweet & Snack Expo 2014

With that said, I weighed in the morning we left and I was up almost 3 pounds! I didn't eat the greatest over the weekend, I will be honest. Even though it was my intention to do well before we left. :P  I do believe most of that gain is water retention.

Well I weighed in this morning and was up another 5 pound!! Ouch! That was with fasting the Monday we left! We both did great on our fasting day. We ended up having a great Panera Bread Salad just down the street from our hotel! We never once faltered on our fast day I am proud to say!

Our Salad:

Even though I gained on the scale, I have to say, it was all worth it! We had a such a great time and tried all kinds of great products. I know that most of the weight will drop over the next couple of weeks. Even if it delays me to getting to my goal of 199, I don't care. This is a show we will go to maybe once every 5 years. And some times we just need to live a little!

We actually stopped trying things (samples) during the afternoons of the show and had 24 pounds of samples that we shipped back to ourselves on Thursday morning! Couldn't fit them in our bags and that was even after purchasing a small suit case! LOL! We should get those on Wednesday.

I stopped counting calories half way through Tuesday, the first day of the show! LOL! It was really nice to take a break from doing that for awhile. I do it every single day of my life with a break now and then. I've decided to take a break from calorie counting through this holiday weekend!  I will go back to counting calories on Tuesday! We will not fast on Monday since it is a holiday. Instead we (Brad and I) will fast on Wednesday & Friday next week.

I am not sure if I mentioned that Brad is now fasting with me. He started a few weeks ago and is doing well. I won't weigh in again for a few weeks. No need to shock myself and weigh in on Tuesday after enjoying the weekend!

I am confident that I will drop this weight in 2 to 3 weeks then back to my goal of 199! Life is too short to not enjoy it. So enjoy I shall do! Stay tuned....

More food pics from the trip!

Enjoyed a Baileys Shake after our first day at the show. Was great to relax and sit outside on a beautiful night with my wonderful hubby and no kids tugging at us through our whole meal! LOL!

Brad enjoying a relaxing drink!

Chicago Dog!

Quesadilla Tuesday night after a long day at the show! Loved it! Had a cheeseburger and fries at the show for lunch. Big mistake, it was heavy on my tummy. Especially after eating sugar all morning! LOL! We did better the next day. I had chicken and potatoes for lunch and tacos, beans and rice for dinner. You know me and my Mexican food! ;)

 

We walked to UPS 5:45 in the morning on Thursday to ship our samples. Stopped at a great little coffee shop for breakfast and it was only $10 bucks! We spent $30 the day before on 2 donuts, 2 milks and 2 fruit cups at the convention center. Lesson learned! :P

Thought I would weigh in today.....

...and I was down 2 pounds to 205.3. So from my lowest weight, that is down another 1.3 pounds! Woohoo!!

I'm doing the happy dance as we speak! But now I need to try to stay focused and continue the drop before my big trip next week! We leave Monday but will still fast. We will probably enjoy dinner in Chicago and make sure we stick to protein and plants! I'm thinking steak and veggies! We should be able to find that with no problem.

I am not too concerned with going to a candy show. I've lost weight before attending a candy trade show. BUT it is Sweets & Snacks! So we shall see. I know we are looking for some unique fun new novelties for the shop and tasting those is not always a necessity. If there is LOTS of chocolate, then I may be in trouble!

Had A Good Day

I was pretty busy today and didn't really have a whole lot of time to think about eating. My days plans for what I would eat went well until I was tempted by an ice cream sandwich!

So I indulged but still had a decent day. I had about 1900 calories I should burn about 2700. Not too bad for having a delicious ice cream sandwich! Tomorrow I fast!

It's Been Another Interesting Week!

Well I weighed in on Friday and was up .07 pounds, then weighed in today and no change. Apparently,  these last few pounds before I hit my big goal of 199, are going to fight to come off!

Well, the fat is in for a fight! Because I am determined to get this weight off once and for all! So I'm not giving up, no matter how long it takes, I will keep trying.

This is total deja vu by the way. I remember when I was down to this weight 11 years ago, after losing 80 pounds, I had trouble getting the few pounds off to get to 199. I got there eventually, but not for very long. My weight slowly crawled back up over the years. I plan to change that this time around!

My big trip to Chicago is coming up next week, so I really want to try extra hard this week to get some weight to drop before the trip. I will try to check in daily this week to help keep me motivated to eat healthy and stay on track.

I did well today and had 2100 calories. Not bad for my "cheat day"! Tomorrow I will start my day with a banana, have my left overs from eating out today for lunch and a light dinner. Then Thursday I will fast. It's going to come off dam it!!

Weigh In Day!

Well this morning was the big morning. If I ended up gaining one more time, I had decided I would stop fasting for a couple of weeks and give my body a break. But if I lost any of the 3 lbs I gained I would keep going. My real hope was I would be down 4 pounds. Losing my 3 I gained the last couple of weeks, plus an extra pound.

Well guess what? I was down 4 pounds!! Yay! I now have faith in this 5:2 plan once again! I am so happy!

I am now 206.6 pounds. The lightest I have been in 11 years! Wow, it feels so good to see that number! I am so close to my goal of hitting 199 pounds! Brad, my husband, thought for sure that eating ham at Easter may have caused my weight gain. Whatever it was, I am just glad I went back down.

There is nothing more disappointing, when you are fasting, then seeing a weight gain! Fasting is not easy by any means. Easier then I thought it would be, but very challenging. Especially working in a candy store! So seeing any type of gain is tough. But gaining these 3 lbs was a good thing. Because now I know, if I keep at it, it will come back off. We all know that our weight can fluctuate, especially with certain foods we eat.

I am really going to work hard on having a good week now that a few major events are out of the way. Hopefully I will be on the downward slope in the next couple of weeks!

I have a big trip I am going on May 19th. My husband and I are going to the largest candy trade show in the US called the Sweet & Snack Expo. We will leave Monday May 19th and return Thursday evening of that week. We are very excited as we have always wanted to attend this big show. We probably won't go again for another 5 years! Brad and I have friends looking after the kids, so it will be just him and I going. We are certainly looking forward to some "us" time.

Our biggest challenge is not gaining weight during this time as we will be testing different candies. But when we went to a trade show in Atlantic City in January 2012, just a week after starting our weight loss journey, we both still lost weight when we got back!

I don't expect to lose weight, but I am hopeful we don't gain. We plan to fast the day we leave which is a Monday and then we will fast the following Friday. But no matter what happends, at least I do know, if we do gain, even if we put in a good effort, the pounds will eventually come off!

Just Been Too Busy!

I'm sorry it has been awhile since I last posted. I managed to gain 2 more pounds on Friday! Not sure what is going on, but I have a feeling it was because I had to eat out a lot before Easter and with the kids on vacation last week. I nibbled more then I should have. Even with fasting, you need to be careful not to over eat and I know all too well it's really easy to do so.

I am having a better week but not a super great one as I am at a scrapbook retreat at the Courtyard By Marriot that I put on every spring. One of the reasons why I haven't posted in awhile. I've been busy all week getting ready for this weekend.

I am hopeful that I will at least drop some of the weight I gained on Tuesday when I weigh in again. I am trying to be careful but still averaging about 2000 calories on my off days. More then I would like to get this weight dropped but certainly doable for some weight loss. So I have my fingers crossed come Tuesday I have positive news. It really is hard to keep my calories down while at these events, but I am trying my best to stay focused and not over eat. 2000 is reasonable and I can't complain, it is a good goal while doing these type of events. It is better then averaging 2500 like I had the past couple of weeks!

I purchased a beautiful blouse at the goodwill the other day as a motivator to keep going and get the weight off. It is a large so I figured there is no way I could even get it on right now. But to my surprise, I tried it on when I got home and I was able to get it on. Snug, but on none the less! I would say a few more pounds and I will fit in it comfortably! Yay!

Here is a picture of the blouse and a pic of the size 12 jeans I bought a few weeks ago as another incentive. These are my trophy's in weight loss. Because once I get in them, they are my visual trophy that I have won another stage in my weight loss battle!

I am hopeful I will have another decent day tomorrow and then Monday I fast. I am really good about sticking to fasting on those days. So I just need to get through one more day at the retreat and I am done with the week and am hopeful for some fair results!

If anything, no matter what happens come weigh in day. Next week should be a good week for me to get back on track because I have no major events going on. Thank goodness. It has been a hectic 3 weeks! I will be glad to get back to normal day to day life. LOL!