Awesome Husband

Well it was nice to hear tonight Dave realize how much work I have put into this.  And how much mental tuff-ness it has taken.  It was a good pick me up since things have been slowly coming along this month.  Robbie was questioning if I would be able to get to my ab challenge of being able to do 100 sit ups ,35 "real" push ups and a 2 minute 30 second plank in a month.  Dave was rather adament with him that when mom sets one of her goals she has been getting to them.  It felt good.

This last month has been a struggle of putting on and taking off the same 5 lbs.  This is an accomplishment though in the fact that I havn't slipped way back and I am maintaining my Christmas goal.  Time to change things up though as I am getting bored.  I started Turbo Fire workouts today.  I did a few last year when I first got the DVD's but since they are a lot of dance type stuff I didn't stick with it.  Now I don't feel like as much of an idiot dancing around the living room so I figures they would make a good change of pace.  I do really like the stretch videos that go with it.  And the music is motivating and fun.  As I mentioned I am also doing an ab challenge for the next month.  I really want to work on my core strength.

I am looking forward to when the snow is gone and I can start the couch to 5k again.  Running in the dark, in the snow and ice is just not appealing to me so I will wait until spring.  If gyms didn't scare the crap out of me so much I would maybe consider going to the new fit 4 less.

I really do need to buy some new pants though.  I am down to 2 pairs of pants that really fit me properly lol.

10 things I have learned so far:
1. Get ride of those clothes that are too big!  If you don't have them you can't put the weight back on.  (Well you can go and buy them again but it is so much more satisfying to buy smaller clothes)
2. Hydrate!  Drink at least a glass of water before each meal.  Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.  If you are hungry for a snack drink a glass of water first.  If you really are still hungry then have a healthy snack.
3. Get rid of the junk!  If you don't have it you can't eat it.
4. Keep some healthy snacks handy for the munchies.  A handful of nuts, an apple, and yes even some chunks of dark chocolate for those must have times.
5. 30 minutes.  That's it just get up and do something for 30 minutes that is active a day.  Walk, housework, anything that gets your blood pumping.
6. Tell somebody what you are doing.  Being accountable to someone gives you far more motivation.
7. For me I need to weigh myself everyday to keep myself on track.  Seeing what the bedtime bag of chips in front of the tv does to the scale is great motivation to not do it again.
8. I try not to eat anything past 7pm.  Only water after 7.  (again just what works for me)
9. Have some fun!  I am doing this so I can enjoy life more!  This is what my life is now and it is so I can have fun with my family and enjoy it.  No more waiting.
10.  It's ok to have a bad day.  Let it go and start again tomorrow.  No one is perfect.  If we were God wouldn't have had to send His son for our salvation.

Where to start...

June 2009

October 2012

December 2012

Well I have been asked many times in the past few months how did I do it so far.  That is how did I lose the 8olbs. that I have lost so far.  It has not been an easy road and I know that it is a lifetime change that has happened that will help me stay healthy.

To start I have been overweight since the 3rd grade.  Gaining the weight was a way of protecting myself from things that should never happen to a little girl but did to me.  Fast forward to now and that I have freed myself from that little girl.  My testimony is what makes me who God created me to be today.  I just pray that my story will be of help to someone else.  I don't need to protect myself with a layer of fat anymore.  I can be an incredible inspiration to my family by beating what has held me back and being entirely faithful that God will help me through.

About 3 years ago I reached 272lbs.  Dave had a very hard conversation with me where he told me that he was truly afraid for my health.  At about this time I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and told I would have to sleep with CPAP machine to lower the risks of death during my sleep.  I cried and fought having to do this.  Having a life with my kids and husband won out though and I agreed to use the dreaded machine.  The scariest part though is that 272 is not the most I have weighed in my life.  I started high school at about 360lbs.  I am sure my sleep apnea was fantastic then.  No wonder no one ever wanted me to sleep over then.

I was able to lose about 40lbs over the next year or so but slowly started putting some of it back on.  This last spring we decided it was time to go on our long talked about trip to California.  When looking at some of the weight requirements they were at 235lbs.  I was at 255.  I really wanted to be able to go on the rides with my kids.  My goal was to get to 235lbs for the beginning of July.  As luck would have it a group of friends were starting a couch to 5K.  I started doing my Insanity workouts and running.  I also started taking Isagenix and Visalus shakes again.  By the time we were ready to leave I had reached my goal and was feeling a lot healthier.  20lbs makes a difference.  When we got back I had managed to only put back on 4lbs with all of our eating out on our trip.  The many loops around Disneyland I am sure helped.

Alas when you eat a week of camp food and go to the exhibition it leads to sliding off eating healthy.  I was back up to 250lbs by the end of summer.  So frustrating to put in so much work and end up almost back to square one.  I decided I was being incredibly stupid and if I want to be around for my kids and grandkids I at least have to give myself a fighting chance to be around.  Aunts and Uncles that have died way too young in the last few years is not who I want to be.

A friend at camp had told me a couple of years back about HCG that she was taking and working to take off weight.  When looking into it though it was rather extreme and what I thought pricey.  Well being morbidly obese is extreme also, and losing my life would ultimatly be the worst price.  So with a little research I found some HCG drops in saskatoon and decided that nothing else has worked so why not try this.  I did my first round of HCG in september and dropped 30lbs.  Yay me!

Starting my 4th round of HCG.  Today is my second load day.  I find load days hard now.  As much as I enjoy getting to indulge in all the foods that I use to crave, it is a good lesson as to why I don't eat them on a regular basis anymore since I feel so sick after these days.  I am now down to 196lbs.  My goal to reach for my birhtday at the end of March is 172lbs.  That will be 100lbs gone.  I never thought it would actually be possible to do it.  But with only 24lbs to go I actually think I can do it.  Especially after reaching my goal of losing 20lbs for christmas that I set just after thanksgiving.

My ultimate goal is 152lbs.  That will make 120lbs gone and put me for the first time since second grade in the normal body weight category according to my BMI.  I think ultimatly maintaining a body weith of 160-165 will be realistic but will put me in the overweight category.  After so many years of being obese I can live with that though.

I don't want to be the mom that tells my kids how to live but shows my kids how to live.  This is not about my weight it is about my health.  I have come to realize that before I could get to a healthy body I had to have a healthy spiritual life.  God has given me the strength to achieve and maintain these.  by no means do I expect this to be a smooth ride.  But a lifetime of riding the roller coaster and counting on God to keep my seatbelt fastened during the scary parts.