The Beast Did Well!

I had a good day yesterday! Toast for breakfast as I was out of milk so didn't have cereal or anything else interesting in the fridge for breakfast! Thankfully I got to the grocery store yesterday afternoon! I had a salad and parfait for lunch and enjoyed a roast with carrots, onions & potatoes for dinner. Also had to have some corn bread! But all in all a good busy day. Between cleaning and chocolate making I got in lots of excercise.

Now to keep going and hope for a decent weight loss by Wednesday!

Feeling like beast mode today!

I weighed in today and was down a 1/2 a pound from yesterday. I'm determine to start doing better.

I need to start focusing on why I want to lose weight and remember those reasons whenever I want to snack on something that is not good for me.  Here is a list of reasons I would like to lose weight.

Sick of the aches and pains that seem to be getting worse!
Sick of my clothes getting too tight!
Sick of being tired and feeling run down!
Sick of feeling guilty for not getting healthy!

So I am in beast mode today! I want to work hard and do my best and see some good results by Wednesday morning!!

Wish me luck!

Weigh in 11/17/17

Was up 1.8 pounds this week. I had about 3 good days this week considering my retreat. Onward!

Weigh in 11/08/17

Weighed in at 241.4. Down 3.5 from last Friday! Now to get through my scrapbook retreat!

If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again!

My mom had a rough time since Spring of 2016. She started with hallucinations then was diagnosed with dementia. She passed away July 31, 2017. To say it has been a very tough year and a half would be an understatement. It has been one of the worst times of my life witnessing my mom's struggle, then decline and then her passing.

We have always been very close. Best friends. And to lose her was like losing a part of me. I miss her everyday but I know she would want me to get back on track and get healthy again. I let everything going on get in the way of staying healthy.

I am now up over 60 pounds from my lowest weight in spring of 2014. So dissappointing but I also know what I've been going through so I try not to beat myself up over it. But if I can't get myself back on track now, it's just going to get worse.

I am closing on a new property for my business this month and that has been quite stressful as well. We've been trying to buy this property since May! I won't go into it, but it's been another thing that has kept me very busy!

But now it's time for me to regain my focus! I am at 244.9 pounds as of this past Friday. My weight just seems to slowly climb up and up and up. I have GOT TO stop this pattern and get headed in the other direction.

Today marks my new beginning and getting back to healthier habbits! I will certainly try to post more often. I know I've struggled off and on to keep this up the last couple of years but I am hopeful that I can start my journal for the long haul again!

Wish me luck!

Let's Figure Out How I Did On Vacation!

Going by MyFitnessPal recommendations, it appears I burn about 2350 calories a day. With that said, in 6 days I would burn 14,100 calories. Now that is just my normal daily activity. It does not include all the extra time I spent walking while on vacation! I ate 16,581 calories! I was over by 2,481! Not too shabby! That is less then a one pound weight gain! Woohoo!

Now of course the scale tells a different story. I was up to 236.3lbs this morning! But I go through this whenever I'm on vacation! So I'm not worried. I just need to get right back on track today to get that to drop as quickly as possible! I got this!!

Vacation Day 4-6

Was quite busy the last few days and my battery of my phone was pretty low so I was unable to post due to that and just being plain tired! LOL!

Here are my stats for the last 3 days of vacation one day at a time.

Vacation Day 4 (Tuesday)

Calories Yesterday - 2991
Weight This Morning - N/A
Activity: Lots Of Walking!
Steps - 11,406

Tuesday we enjoyed a full day of rides and fun activites including Guiness Book Of World Records, Movieland, Zombie Attack (My personal favorite.), The Giant Ferris Wheel and more! So lots of walking. But with being tired and hot I was pretty darn hungry so my calories crept up!


Vacation Day 4 (Wednesday)

Calories Yesterday - 3310
Weight This Morning - N/A
Activity: Lots Of Walking!!!
Steps - 14,255

We spent the entire day at the Safari Niagara Zoo and we had an awesome time! But lots and lots of walking. Thankfully my foot survived! But it was pretty soar! Again, my calories crept up!


Vacation Day 4 (Tuesday)

Calories Yesterday - 3437
Weight This Morning - N/A
Activity: Lots Of Walking
Steps - 6,622

Today we spent most of the morning going to several shops before we left Niagara Falls Canada then had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe on the US side. The rest of the day was spent driving home and stopping to stretch now and then. We did stop and Olive Garden for dinner and at this point I just decided to enjoy my dinner being it was my last day of vacation.

Vacation Day 3

Lots of activities yesterday! We explored Bird Kingdom and went in several attractions. Some great, some mediocre. We did the Big Top Mirror Maze (fun), The Fun House (disappointing), The Mystery Maze ( just ok) and we are saving the Guineas Book Of World Record's for today. Here are my stats:

Calories Yesterday - 2360
Weight This Morning - N/A
Activity: Lots Of Walking
Steps - 9531

Lots if steps with Plantar Fasciitis!! But I survived. ;)

Vacation Day 2

It was a long day yesterday. We saw mom in the morning then drove to Niagara Falls. We ate at Texas Roadhouse for Father's Day dinner and I ended up a little over my 2500 calorie a day goal. Darn those delicious rolls!! But did well for the most part.

Here are my stats:
Calories Yesterday - 2620
Weight This Morning - N/A
Activities - Mostly driving!
Steps - 5421

Meals - ate at hotel and had oatmeal, lunch we had Chili's and I had steak, mashed potato & broccoli, then Texas Roadhouse where I had steak again with a baked potato, veggies and rolls!

Vacation Day 1

Did really well yesterday for my first day of travel for vacation. We left after work to get in a few hours drive last night. Here are my stats:

Weight This Morning: N/A
Calories Yesterday: 1863!
Activity: TKD Testing, Cleaning, Chocolate Making
Steps: 6325

It was a busy day yesterday! My plantar fascitis is really acting up!!! :( I hope I can walk enough to enjoy vacation.

I'm looking forward to another great day otherwise!

Up Again!

So I had a few extra calories yesterday and ended up again on the scale. I know I didn't gain 1.5 pounds in a day as I didn't go over the calories I actually burn in a day. So again, water retention must be the culprit! I will have to try to drink plenty of water on our trip.

Here are my stats:
Weight This Morning: 231.3
Calories Yesterday: 2181
Activity Yesterday: Just Chocolate Making
Steps: 6712

So I went over a bit on my calories but now horrible. I also went up on weight again. I really wish I could get a handle on this weight fluctuation. I feel like I drink plenty of water! Ugh! I will try to actually start keeping track of how much water I take in each day. Maybe that will help. Just to ensure it's enough!

I did go to TKD Belt Testing today and am now a green belt! Woohoo!!

No Change

I had no change from yesterdays weight! Kind of disappointing as I only had a net weight loss of .02 this week. :/

Here are my stats:

Weight This Morning: 229.7
Calories Yesterday: 1650
Activity: Just more candy making.
Steps: Got to look them up!

Had a pretty decent day yesterday. I should be down at least a pound this week. But again, I'm not going to let that scale discourage me. I know I did well so the weight will come!

Today I am allowing myself 2000 calories and the rest of this week up until Thursday it will be 2500 calories a day as I try to at least maintain my weight instead of gaining while on vacation. I know I will have some water gain. That always happens, but if I get back on track as soon as I get home I should drop it quickly. I don't want to end up in the same boat as prior years and gain a bunch of weight that I don't get back off! So stay tuned because I plan on checking in on here every single day!

Finally The Drop Back Down

I had a decent drop this morning of 1.1 pounds so I was happy about that!

Here are my stats:

Weight This Morning: 229.7
Calories For Yesterday: 1225
Activities: Making Chocolate
Steps: 6856

I had a great day calorie wise yesterday and hope to do the same today to continue to drop before my official weekly weigh in on Friday. So far for this week I am down a net .02. I would like to see a good 1.5 pound loss this week. So fingers crossed!

Up Slighty Again!

Apparently my post from yesterday did not upload so here it is again!

6/13/17
Up a tad this morning by .02. Again, not letting it get me down and hopeful it will start going back down!

Stats:
Weight This Morning 230.6
Calories Yesterday - 1540
Activities - TKD Class
Steps - 6379


6/14/17 - Now for today's post!

Just up a tad again this morning. I did not expect a drop after my day yesterday.

Here are my stats:

Weight This Morning - 230.8
Calories Yesterday - 1957!
Activities - Not much of anything!
Steps - 4711

Yesterday ended up being a day to just watch TV and relax! I also was craving a nice juicy cheeseburger so I let myself splurge and got one for lunch yesterday and that is why my calories were way up there. But the good news is, I didn't go too nutty and end up with 2500 or 3000 calories at the end of the day. Which I sometimes do when I give in to cravings! I still tracked everything and remained under 2000 calories, so I'm proud of myself for that. My weight hike was only by .02. So not too bad!

I started my day today with scrambled eggs and will continue to eat better today so my weight will start to drop back down in the next day or two. I can do this! I'm still hopeful for a decent loss by Friday. I just have to really stay focused today and tomorrow!

Saturday we leave for vacation so I will do my best to stick to my plan and check in here everyday!

My Weight Jumped Up This Morning

So my weight finally jumped back up this morning to 230.4. I am not surprised at all because I think my dramatic almost 1 pound loss was from my little stomach issue. But I am determined to get that number to go back down! Mark my words I will not be in the 230's again for long!

Here are my stats:

Weight This Morning - 230.4
Calories Yesterday 1549
Activities Yesterday: Short 10 minute walk, 15 minutes of TKD practice.
Steps Yesterday: 5174

Maintaining The Weight Loss!

Here are my daily stats:

Weight This Morning: 229.1
Calories Yesterday: 1703
Activity: Cleaned Birdroom
Steps: 4111

Thankfully my weight has not moved. My stomach was much better yesterday and I did well eating. A little high but that was only because we went to the movies and I had popcorn. Which was my biggest concern but it didn't effect me on the scale this morning! Yay! Having a light dinner of two chicken tacos at Taco Bell was certainly helpful!

I'm so motivated right now and for the first time I am really looking at food differently. I feel my relationship with food is finally changing. It's not the number one thing I think about anymore! When vacationing that is what I always looked forward to most. Was the eating out. I'm still looking forward to it but realize that it can't be such a priority in my mind when I'm away. I also have a strategy to eat what I love but choose the healthier lower calorie options! There are plenty out there I enjoy and I just need to make better choices! So here's hoping I have a more successful vacation when it comes to weight gain.

Stomach Issues!

Yesterday was a busy day as my husband and daughter were on a school trip to Boston and I was covering the shop. My son and I had a mother/son night. 

I felt so hungry yesterday that I ended up allowing myself extra calories. So here's how I did.

Weight This Morning - 229.1
Calories Yesterday - 2073
Activity - TKD
Steps - 7,185

I should have probably shown a gain this morning as I had more calories then usual and this generally causes a spike. Plus I drank 4 sodas. Way over my allowance for the day!! But not a lot of water.

Well I either ate something that didn't agree with me yesterday or this cold I have includes a stomach bug! I was up twice last night with something going through me! Yuk! Not the way I want to lose weight! I will expect a gain in the next day or two!

I am proud of my steps yesterday considering my plantar fasciitis is acting up again!

Started my day with yogurt to help my stomach after last night. So far a healthy start to my day!

Here's to another great day!

Back In The 220's! Woohoo!

I weighed in at 229.9 this morning so I am back in the 220's! Woohoo! Had a good day yesterday. 

Weight This Morning - 229.9
Calories Yesterday - 1289
Activity - 2 hours of candy making

Steps - 5093



I will be headed on vacation a week from Saturday so I will be doing my best to have a good week this coming week! I would like to see me down another 2 pounds!

New Goals & Journaling

Now that I have a better understanding of how my body fluctuates with weight, I think it will be important to keep a daily journal of what I do each and everyday so I can better explain my weight gains. Especially if I know I have done well! This way the scale won't play with my head so much!

So going forward my first goal is to keep a daily journal of my progress, calories, activities and weight!

My second goal is to lose 10 pounds over the summer! Normally I easily gain 10 pounds over the summer. So for once I would like to see that number go down! I am planning out my first vacation that will begin June 17th-22nd! I have a strategy to allow myself 2500 calories a day, eat the foods that I know I love but are better choices for me and keep the snacking to a minimum! I am looking forward to implementing my new plan and see how I do!

Stay tuned.....

Finally Getting Back On Track & Learning!

Yes, it's been awhile since I last posted. But not as long as in the past, so I guess that counts for something. I've taken a hard look at my situation and how I've been doing in the past few months. I've lost my focus off and on but I think I'm finally back there again!

One of the things I decided I would try doing is get a better understanding of why my body fluctuates so much when it comes to weight. I let the scale play with my head all the time and then I end up sabotaging myself! This has just got to stop!!

So for the first time I committed to weighing myself every single day of the week! And guess what? It's been rather enlightening. I have done tremendously well this week and have ate the best I have ate in a long time. But here is what I learned...

First I will show you my daily weight:

6/1 - 232.8 1238 Lots of appts

6/2 - 233.5 1607 Lots of appts TKD

6/3 - 232.1 1779 Yard Sales All Morning

6/4 - 232.8 1489 Expo

6/5 - 231.5 1350 Memory Appt & TKD

6/6 - 230.4 1764 Morgan Birthday Prep

6/7 - 231.7 1310

6/8 - 230.6 Calories Not Available

It seems the more active I am the better chance my weight goes up for a brief moment! Another factor seems to be if I change my daily calories by more then 200 or 300 calories, that also causes a spike. Even though I am still in a healthy range, my body seems to respond to the change but I quickly drop it usually the next day or two.

I also went online and have discovered that you can not only retain water from eating out but also from exercise! I did not know this. This may also explain why I tend to gain so much on vacation and am then able to easily lose it when I return (as long as I behave when I get home. LOL!)  from my trip. Beside eating out all week, which I figured was the main culprit, I walk a ton on vacation and usually get plenty of exercise! So this is helping me finally sort through my weight fluctuations and I think will help me stay confident going forward even when the scale goes up!

This also explains why I gained over 2 pounds after the weekend I had a yard sale and got a good work out both days! But I let the scale get to me and just ate what I wanted during the 4 days around memorial day weekend! Luckily not too much damage was done. It's going to be great to have a better understanding of my body going forward!

I am so glad I did this! Onward I go to get to the 220's!! Just .6 pounds to go!

It's All About the Protein!

So I am looking forward to tomorrows weigh in as I have had a great week since Monday! I feel like I am finally back on track, now to just stay there for the long term!

I made the decision to go with a high protein low carb diet. Not extreme low carb. but low being under 130 grams per day! I know that I consume a lot of carbs because of the sweets in the shop and I love bread, pasta and crackers! Going with 130 grams still allows me to have small amounts of carbs to enjoy. I'm all about everything in moderation and this will help me do that. It makes me think twice before putting candy in my mouth as candy and chocolate is loaded with carbs!

So far so good and I am proud of how well I have adapted to this new diet! I will check in tomorrow once I complete my weigh in!

I'ts A Process But I Got To Keep Trying

It's a slow and steady process but one thing I've learned is to never give up! I haven't posted in a month which probably tells you I haven't been very motivated! But at least I'm posting and it hasn't been months since my last post!

I have been struggling with controlling my nibbling at work. I've also struggled with getting in regular exercise! I know changing up my exercise really helps me stay motivated and get a jump start on weight loss so I have a new plan!

I have really enjoyed my Tae Kwon Do classes. So I am going to start practicing at home as part of my exercise regimen! I have ordered some equipment as I find practicing kicks at home is difficult without a heavy bag for me to kick. Kicking in the air is just not as effective for me. So I sold my home gym that my husband and I never use and used the money to order some equipment for me and the kids to use to practice TKD! I'm very excited to get this new equipment.

I still have lack of motivation but I don't want to wait for my new equipment to get here to get back on track so today I'm putting my foot down and telling myself I got to pull it together and get started! So far I've been good this morning and started my day with a parfait! I am at 235 pounds today. Yes, up from my last post but I will get there!

I will also pay myself $5.00 for every workout I do to splurge on some new clothes or Legos! I thought this would be another great incentive!

Here are a couple of pictures of my new equipment!

Down 2 Pounds But Most Importantly...

I'm working on the why's of my eating issues!

I've been having a pretty good week eating wise so I am feeling confident going into tomorrows weigh in. I have gotten a little exercise but not as much as I would have liked. I've been suffering from a cold and that has been leaving me tired. I am hopeful that next week my energy level will return!

I have been watching episodes from "My 600LB Life" and find them extremely motivating. I am thankful that I never ended up that large. 300 pounds was large enough for me to realize I needed to do something if I wanted to live a good long life.

I have watched the show before in the past. But this time around, the show is bringing back many memories for me and stirring up emotions and feelings of why I over eat. I've had tears over it over the last couple of days.

One of the things that I hear over and over again is to write these feelings down on paper. Well I did yesterday and it felt good to actually let all of it out and get it down on paper. Brad (my husband) read it. We had a good cry together! I have several things that happened to me as a child that have caused my eating issues. So it was a really hard and emotional letter to write.

I can totally see how stirring up all those emotions effected my eating. I ate more then I should have yesterday but still kept some control. But most importantly, I really recognized for the first time how stress and emotions play into my eating. It was as clear as day yesterday. Clearer then it ever had been before. I do eat when I get emotional or stressed out. It's like I am filling a void with food. Yes, I do love food! But it is even more clear to me now that I use food for more then just enjoyment and to sustain my body. I am an emotional eater. Plain and simple! I've always knew it, I've always thought it but I've never come out and said it!

The good news is I didn't let eating get out of control yesterday and thought of other ways to deal with it then pigging out. So yes, I ate more calories then I had planned yesterday, but not to the point of gaining weight. So that is a win for me.

I weighed in this morning and I am down 2 pounds this week! For only having 3 good days of eating this week, I would say that was not too shabby!

Let's Try This Again!

If you have been keeping up with my blog, you know that I have had a lot going on lately! But now that my once a year week long vacation is over, had a great time in Texas last week by the way, I am ready to get back on track and finally get the weight I gained over the last couple of years off!!!

I weighed in on Saturday at 235.5 pounds. So I have gained over 50 pounds back in the last 2 years. 2016 was particularly tough on me. I let the stress get to me and allowed food to be my tool to get through it!

But I've been here before and I won't allow myself to get back to 270 pounds or more! I will get this weight off. I have a nice clean few months to do it. Clean meaning I have no vacations coming up or big events that I feel will get in the way. And after the year I had last year, I am so ready to start eating better and moving more! I am feeling really confident right now and hope to keep up this motivation from this day forward! My first goal is to lose the weight I gained while on vacation and get back to the 220's!!

One thing that I felt really helped me succeed when I got to 180 pounds was keeping up my blog and journaling. Whether anyone reads this or not I know that doing a regular journal helps me tremendously! Why is it online? Because I figured if I can help one person get motivated by my story or help others that have struggled with obesity understand that they are not alone, then it is worth sharing on the world wide web. Plus, it's easy to update from anywhere, whenever I want to post instead of having to carry around a journal. ;)

This time I have decided to share more about why I think I have such a bad relationship with food. I've never written down why I think I have weight troubles but think it may be time. But I will get to that in future posts. For now, just know I am committed and ready to get back on track!