I first want to welcome all the newcomers that are here because of the Tour. I hope you enjoy what you read and if you do feel free to follow along my journey as I become a better me through fitness and health and other positive changes. I am less than 2 weeks in to my weight loss journey and while I have had some great success I still have a long journey ahead of me. Support is essential to success in my journey, I can only imagine you feel the same. So as you support me, I will gladly support you as well.
Here is a little about me:
My before picture.
This picture is pre baby and quite a while ago but, it's the heaviest I have been. It's the picture I look at and think about when I need a reminder of what I do NOT want to be. That's why I am choosing it as my before picture. This was taken at a wedding. I hadn't even realized I was as fat as I was until I saw the pictures. It was from there where I decided I needed to be healthier. I lost some weight and it went up and down until I got pregnant. I got really healthy over my pregnancy because I wanted to make sure I had a healthy pregnancy. I lost quite a bit by the time I gave birth. After a few months I started gaining it back and while I hadn't gained all of it back I got pretty close and decided once and for all it was time to get healthy and stay healthy. My weight loss journey officially began.
Just before I started the official weight loss journey.
This is the only picture I have of me that is not with a group of people of recent. This is my daughter and me about a week before Easter shortly before I decided to embark on my weight loss journey. Not the best picture but, if you compare my face in this picture to my face in the previous you can tell that I am definitely smaller than I was before.
After picture:
Well, you will have to stay tuned for that. I honestly haven't taken any pictures of myself lately. I plan on getting some good ones in Seattle this weekend so when I return I will post one or two then. Sorry to leave you hanging.
My plan:
I have been blessed with a gym membership and personal trainer free of charge. I spend 6 days a week in the gym. I meet with my trainer twice a month. While I am at the gym I spend part of the time completing the workouts my trainer has made for me. There are 3 days of workouts and each day I am there I also do an ab workout. The 3 workouts are 2 days of arms and one day of legs all encompassing strengthening my core. In addition to my weight training workouts I am completing the Couch to 5k program. Currently, I just started week 6. It's going really well. It's hard but, I feel successful at it which is something I don't feel too often. Plus, it's a dream of mine to be a runner and I feel like with this program that dream might actually come true.
I am trying to eat healthy overall, counting calories, eating more veggies and staying away from processed foods. I was journaling and stopped. But, I am going to pick that back up again because, I think it really helped me stay accountable with my food choices.
I drink water. I have one cup of coffee per day, the rest of what I drink is water. I have one cup of milk about 3 times a week. Other than that, I drink water. I try to drink 100 ounces a day if I can't fit in that much water I won't let myself drink lower than 70 ounces.
My favorite healthy snack currently is raspberries, marion berries, and blueberries and 1/4 cup of plain Greek Yogurt with cinnamon sprinkled on top. My favorites change almost on a weekly basis. So ask me next week and it may be something entirely different.
My biggest life lesson I have learned so far on my weight loss journey is to not give up. During my workouts I find myself saying I could just stop, I could just end the workout and be done. Some how I always manage to keep going. I have learned that is really all about my mental stamina more than my physical stamina.
My biggest strength I have discovered about myself while on my journey relates back to my life lesson in that my body is a lot stronger and more capable than I ever realized. I can do anything physically that I want to as long as I have the mental stamina to push myself through.
My toughest struggle during my journey has been self-control and putting a handle of my cravings. I am not really a binger, I just don't know when enough is enough. So, if I choose to eat, say pretzels, instead of sticking to my portioned out amount, I will just keep eating. I have learned that I am not the stage in my journey where I can eat anything in moderation. I have to completely cut some things out of my diet, like pretzels.
Biggest supporter? Well, I don't have one specific individual. It has been really great seeing all my friends and family support me the way they have. If it wasn't for ALL of them I would NOT be successful in this journey. My online community has been a great support also. Not only just being able to write it all out but, to actually get encouragement from others out there. It adds so much to my motivation level.
When I get to goal I am going to need a new wardrobe. So, after I go on a shopping spree, hopefully in Seattle, I would really like to have another child. Of course my husband would need to be on board and as of now, he is definitely not on that same board. If the baby thing doesn't happen then I don't know. Maybe I will pick up a fun activity that I can do, something outdoorsy, hiking or kayaking or something.
What do I wish someone had told me when I first began? That's a tough question. I mean, I have always known what to do and how to do it. I have done a lot of reading and research as well as trying out a bunch of diets. This may be a question I should come back to in a few months or when I reach goal. I am still pretty fresh and haven't had any big "ah ha" moments.
Words of wisdom: I don't have much to say in this area because I am not wise. But, things I tell myself are: Believe in yourself; I CAN do this; focus on the small successes because the road ahead can be overwhelming; never, never give up, give each second your all;
I am linking to Vegan Ana. I have recently become a follower of her blog. She is following an interesting plan for a vegan diet. She is vegan until dinner time where she can then eat meat and cheese, etc. She sets daily goals for herself and lets her readers know how she did with those goals. Go follow her blog after you have followed mine if you don't already.
Thank you for taking the tour. There are 12 people in the tour so, make sure you squeeze in the time to read all 12 blogs. I can't wait to read all of them myself.
After picture:
Well, you will have to stay tuned for that. I honestly haven't taken any pictures of myself lately. I plan on getting some good ones in Seattle this weekend so when I return I will post one or two then. Sorry to leave you hanging.
My plan:
I have been blessed with a gym membership and personal trainer free of charge. I spend 6 days a week in the gym. I meet with my trainer twice a month. While I am at the gym I spend part of the time completing the workouts my trainer has made for me. There are 3 days of workouts and each day I am there I also do an ab workout. The 3 workouts are 2 days of arms and one day of legs all encompassing strengthening my core. In addition to my weight training workouts I am completing the Couch to 5k program. Currently, I just started week 6. It's going really well. It's hard but, I feel successful at it which is something I don't feel too often. Plus, it's a dream of mine to be a runner and I feel like with this program that dream might actually come true.
I am trying to eat healthy overall, counting calories, eating more veggies and staying away from processed foods. I was journaling and stopped. But, I am going to pick that back up again because, I think it really helped me stay accountable with my food choices.
I drink water. I have one cup of coffee per day, the rest of what I drink is water. I have one cup of milk about 3 times a week. Other than that, I drink water. I try to drink 100 ounces a day if I can't fit in that much water I won't let myself drink lower than 70 ounces.
My favorite healthy snack currently is raspberries, marion berries, and blueberries and 1/4 cup of plain Greek Yogurt with cinnamon sprinkled on top. My favorites change almost on a weekly basis. So ask me next week and it may be something entirely different.
My biggest life lesson I have learned so far on my weight loss journey is to not give up. During my workouts I find myself saying I could just stop, I could just end the workout and be done. Some how I always manage to keep going. I have learned that is really all about my mental stamina more than my physical stamina.
My biggest strength I have discovered about myself while on my journey relates back to my life lesson in that my body is a lot stronger and more capable than I ever realized. I can do anything physically that I want to as long as I have the mental stamina to push myself through.
My toughest struggle during my journey has been self-control and putting a handle of my cravings. I am not really a binger, I just don't know when enough is enough. So, if I choose to eat, say pretzels, instead of sticking to my portioned out amount, I will just keep eating. I have learned that I am not the stage in my journey where I can eat anything in moderation. I have to completely cut some things out of my diet, like pretzels.
Biggest supporter? Well, I don't have one specific individual. It has been really great seeing all my friends and family support me the way they have. If it wasn't for ALL of them I would NOT be successful in this journey. My online community has been a great support also. Not only just being able to write it all out but, to actually get encouragement from others out there. It adds so much to my motivation level.
When I get to goal I am going to need a new wardrobe. So, after I go on a shopping spree, hopefully in Seattle, I would really like to have another child. Of course my husband would need to be on board and as of now, he is definitely not on that same board. If the baby thing doesn't happen then I don't know. Maybe I will pick up a fun activity that I can do, something outdoorsy, hiking or kayaking or something.
What do I wish someone had told me when I first began? That's a tough question. I mean, I have always known what to do and how to do it. I have done a lot of reading and research as well as trying out a bunch of diets. This may be a question I should come back to in a few months or when I reach goal. I am still pretty fresh and haven't had any big "ah ha" moments.
Words of wisdom: I don't have much to say in this area because I am not wise. But, things I tell myself are: Believe in yourself; I CAN do this; focus on the small successes because the road ahead can be overwhelming; never, never give up, give each second your all;
I am linking to Vegan Ana. I have recently become a follower of her blog. She is following an interesting plan for a vegan diet. She is vegan until dinner time where she can then eat meat and cheese, etc. She sets daily goals for herself and lets her readers know how she did with those goals. Go follow her blog after you have followed mine if you don't already.
Thank you for taking the tour. There are 12 people in the tour so, make sure you squeeze in the time to read all 12 blogs. I can't wait to read all of them myself.
What a great tour. I read Ana too. I will be seeing how your journey goes cause I want to see that after picture.smile.
ReplyDeleteMy blog linked to yours...so I thought I'd come by and check it out! :) Our stories are pretty dissimilar (at least on the surface) so I think it's great that Sam put us next to each other.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the progress so far and I wish you nothing but the best in your journey! :)
Hooray for the Blog Tour!
ReplyDeleteI also have a portion issue -- especially when it comes to snacky foods. I try and keep them pre-portioned in little baggies ... but then I still sometimes go back for another or two or ...
Your daughter is adorable and I am SO jealous of the free gym! The hotel I work at is owned by a college with several fitness centers ... but since we aren't "technically" school employees we aren't allowed to use the facilities. I even offered to pay and they still said no. Bah!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You're snack sounds so yummy that's what I'm going to have today too!
ReplyDeleteYou can do it!! If you are already doing the Couch to 5K program, you ARE a runner. It doesn't have to be a dream anymore. It all starts from somewhere. You can do it!!
ReplyDelete