Well On My Way!

Today, I am BEYOND happy!!!!

I’ll fill you in on why, if you don’t already know….

The last time I blogged, was September 27^th.   That was exactly 2 ½ weeks ago. At that time, I stated that I weighed 211 pounds, and that I was struggling a bit with weight loss for the month of September.. I definitely had failed at my monthly weight loss goal of 5-6 pounds. I was SO disheartened and feeling frustrated. I think I lost 3 pounds that month  I also blogged about how the nutritionist said it was normal for things to slow down a bit, and that he’d like to see me lose 6-7 pounds by the start of the new year……but I knew I could do better than that, and I knew I would prove it!

Today, October 15^th, I weigh 206 pounds. I have lost 5 pounds in 2 ½ weeks!!!!!! I am absolutely ecstatic about that! Throughout this entire process, it has been about 5-6 pounds a month I was losing. This obviously has me wracking my brain to acknowledge all of the various things I must be doing right.[ Also, I officially weigh less than Joe again!!! :D  LOVE THAT! ]

My decision to meet with a nutritionist really motivated me again. When I began telling him about how much I had already lost, he was baffled that I had lost around 34 pounds all on my own in 7 months. Seeing that reaction of shock from him really made me realize that what I’m doing IS pretty fantastic, and that I’ve come a long way. It made me take a step back and look at the bigger picture of what I had already accomplished. He also of course, made me track every single calorie I took in, reminded me that coconut oil is a LOT of calories that aren’t necessarily pertinent to my diet, and that cutting it out could save me hundreds, maybe even thousands of calories a week. One tablespoon of coconut oil has 120 calories, and most days I was eating 2 pieces of whole grain toast, each with coconut oil AND peanut butter on them. That’s a hefty amount of calories right there!! NOT to mention I used it for pretty much any and everything that I could sneak it into, because I had heard it was super healthy for you…. Which is apparently debatable!

Upon meeting with the nutritionist, and logging all of my calories, I finally agreed to Joe’s requests to get new cell phones. For years I have always been content with just a plain old phone that can call and send texts, but I must say that our new touch screen phones have been a God send! I downloaded an app that allows you to track all of your calories so easily… it’s called ‘ my fitness pal.’ It is the sole reason I finally obliged to getting better phones. I had been on the My Fitness Pal website a few times in the past, but having it on my phone is SO much more convenient!! I can search the database for any kind of food, and add it to my meal. Or I can input the calories and serving sizes myself. I can also scan barcodes on foods and if they are in the database, the calories per serving pops right up, and I can add it to my food log.WAY faster and easier than manually writing down everything and researching the calories in every single thing I eat! It was kind of a pain. .

The other thing that has been different in the past 2 weeks, is I have been holding myself to working out  every single day. If for some odd reason I didn’t make it on my elliptical, I made sure I went for a long walk and did some physical labor. I need to get that heart rate up every single day. I’ve also been aiming for doing my workouts first thing in the morning, after my morning coffee. There was a day or two where I woke up super hungry, so I’d eat first and then an hour or so later I’d have coffee and then go work out. Having the coffee before working out definitely gives me more energy and gives me the drive to push myself.

The other aspect that I feel I NEED to acknowledge, is that during my workouts I’ve been watching ‘Extreme Weight Loss’ on Hulu. I guess it typically comes on ABC.

 To go to the ABC website for this show, click HERE! :)

 The personal trainer on that show, Chris Powell, is such an inspiring person! He really see’s how people struggle and he really changes their lives! The people on this show are a good 3-400 pounds, so seeing them transform their bodies SO drastically in ONE year makes me realize that I CAN DO THIS TOO! I am starting out where most of them are after about 9 months of strenuous working out. I NEVER want to end up like that… I already know how much of a struggle it is to be over 200 pounds, and it’s horrible enough! It’s really sad to see those people like that, but to see how their whole mind and body transforms is truly inspiring and brings tears to my eyes!

Anyways.. all of that being said, the bottom line is… I am so very motivated again! Last month , even as recently as 2 weeks ago, I was kind of feeling like things were slowing down and I wasn’t getting where I wanted fast enough. But the past 2 weeks have been phenomenal. I haven’t felt overly hungry, yet haven’t starved myself. I’m finding that working out an hour on the elliptical, and consuming a minimum of 1450 to a maximum of 1700 calories a day, is really making huge changes, and fast. On my fitness pal app, I also can add in my exercise, and then it allows me to consume[ on TOP of my 1500 calorie goal for the day], the amount of additional calories that I burnt off… but I never consume those extra calories unless I’m really feeling hungry and like I need some of them.

 I sleep well, I have energy, and I feel like I’ve FINALLY found my groove… I’ve finally found what works very well for me… and I am SO VERY EXCITED for when the day comes that I FINALLY reach my short-term, first checkpoint goal of being under 200 pounds.. lol. I am currently 206, and if things keep going at the rate they are.. I should be 199 in about 2-4 weeks. And from there I know I’ll have the confidence and energy to push myself further and further, to my ultimate goal of being in the absolute best shape of my life when I’m 30. I have almost exactly 3 years to get to that point…….. I SOOOOO got this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I need to send out a HUGE thank you to all of the people who have been cheering me on this entire time. Each positive thought or congrats… each comment about how much weight I’ve lost…. It all springs me forward into feeling confident and proud of myself, which in turn makes me want to do it more. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart!! Also, to all of the people who have asked me what I’ve been doing, I pray that my blogs have helped in some form or another! I do my best to track what I’ve been doing, so it can hopefully inspire or help someone else. That’s how I got my start as well… from reading the blog of an acquaintance who I personally find very inspiring!

It takes time… it takes some work.. but it’s actually fairly easy once you get started.  If you do it the right way, you’ll see changes immediately that will make you feel SO confident, and will make you realize you can do this! Slow and steady wins the race! I have lost 39 pounds, yes.. but it has taken me 8 months! That’s almost an entire year! Hopefully by the time it HAS been a full year, I will have lost around 60 total! It seems like a lot, but seeing only that 5 pounds a month go down when you’re completely dedicated to losing it, can be disheartening. Just keep the long term goal in mind, and try not to stress! You will get there!  Better late than NEVER right?!