Weighing In

Well I knew today's weigh in wouldn't be fabulous. I didn't have the best week. I made several unwise choices, didn't track my calories diligently, and had Sprite on Friday and Saturday. Still the scale was kind to me considering all of that. I lost 0.4 pounds this week. Next week, I will be restarting my 100 Days of Water and tracking my calories more diligently. Here's to a better week!

Goodbye 280's!

I am really pleased with how this week went! I wasn't able to weigh in on Sundays like I prefer to do because we went to a concert on Saturday night and spent the night in a hotel. I didn't have my scale on Sunday morning so I waited until this morning to weigh in. 279.8 was the verdict. I am down 3.6 pounds for the week. Sweet!

This past weekend we went to a huge concert put on by one of the local country stations in Atlanta. It's called Country Fair and it's a full day of various bands performing. It was my daughter's first concert! She's 5 and I was 5 when I went to my first concert (Tina Turner in 1984). We saw Randy Houser, Justin Moore, and Darius Rucker. It was an excellent show!

Today is day 9 of my 100 Days of Water challenge. It's getting easier and easier to pass up that Fanta Orange or Sprite. Every day I go without a soda is a big accomplishment for me!

Here's a bit of cool news for you. Friday night my husband and I bought a second car! It's been well over a year since we had two cars. This one's a 2011 Chevy Impala and we like it quite a bit. It's going to be the primary vehicle, the one we use during the week. We'll save our van for weekend things. I still won't be driving myself during the week. I'm still having far too many dizzy spells to be comfortable behind the wheel on a regular basis.

Test Tomorrow

Well, this week so far I am extremely pleased with how I've done! I am succeeding in my desire to drink only water and have completed four days straight of water as my beverage of choice. No sodas, no tea, no coffee, no fruit juice....wow! I can't tell you how excited this makes me! Breaking the soda addiction is not an easy task but I am definitely going to beat it.

Tomorrow's going to be a huge test for me. Once a month we have a sales meeting at work. Being part of the sales team, I have to attend. Breakfast is always served and it's never anything healthy. Bacon, biscuits, and hash browns are often part of the menu. I'll be really happy if I can find some yogurt, eggs, and fruit tomorrow morning. And lunch is always a toss up but usually includes some sort of fried main dish. Making a healthy choice definitely is not easy during the sales meeting. I am hoping they will have a salad option tomorrow and I can make a healthier choice instead of fried, artery-clogging stuff. We'll see.

This weekend's going to be extremely busy! We're got a lot planned and it will be lots of fun but I won't have much of a chance to rest and relax. So we'll see how the weekend goes. I am planning on a successful, on-plan weekend though. I also am looking forward to weighing in on Sunday and seeing how the scale reflects my progress this week.

Midweek Scale Peek: Progress!

Today's Wednesday. That's my "Midweek Scale Peek" day. For me, that's a day to check in and see if what I've done this week is showing up as a smaller number on the scale. I'm pleased to report that the number on the scale is smaller today than it was on Sunday morning. I'm heading in the right direction!

Last night was the premier of The Biggest Loser: Second Chances. Warning: Spoiler alert!

I can tell this is going to be a good season! I like the contestants so far. No one seems mean or rude. They all seem to care and to be there to turn their lives around. I like it when there are no people on the show who are backstabbing or trying to turn the tables for their own benefit. So far, my favorite is David. His story is just so sad and I really want to see this guy succeed! Go David! I can't believe he lost 38 pounds in one week! Well done!

I'd totally go on The Biggest Loser if I could. But I have to work so I don't even apply. We need the paycheck. But that doesn't mean I can't be motivated by those on the show and work to be a success on my own! It can be done and I'm on my way to that success.

One Week In...

Well, I got through the first week. Did I exercise at all? No. Did I have a perfect week? Definitely not. Anyone who's seen my food diary (or lack thereof) can tell that. My lovely period even decided to show up. It was rough this week. My older dog who had cancer passed away on 10/8. We knew he was getting close but it's always sad when that happens. And grief often leads to food. I also visited a customer this past week who had delectable cheesecake. Of course I got a big honking piece. Cheesecake is my weakness.

In spite of it all, I managed a very small loss. 0.8 pounds, especially at my weight, isn't much at all. But even so, it's a tiny step in the right direction.

This week, my plan is to avoid sodas at all costs. Drink only water! And I plan to be more vigilant about logging my food. There were a few days where I didn't log dinner or skipped logging entirely. If I don't hold myself accountable, I'll never reach my goals.

Today went well, in spite of it being Monday. Even though I had to deal with my most irritating customer several times today I didn't go off plan. I had a small NSV (non-scale victory) today when I passed by the break room and saw a mountain of doughnuts, muffins, and other assorted pastries. There were three people in there scarfing them down. I paused and stuck my head in the door. "What's all that stuff? I don't need that," I said. One lady in there said, "Well, none of us really need it but come have one." I declined and went back to my desk. That's very hard to do at my office. As I work for a major foodservice distributor, there's food in the office all the time. Most of the time it's the unhealthy food too. Turning it down is often difficult, but if I'm going to be successful I need to do that. There will be time for doughnuts later. Remember...a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.

So, today was good. I stayed on plan. I drank water only. One day down, 99 to go! Here's to a successful week!

Getting Started

Well, I decided to take some starting pics of me at my highest weight. I've posted them on my Photos page. This is definitely NOT a pretty sight. Cankles, junk in the trunk, rolls of flab everywhere....I look like I'm pregnant! And I'm most definitely NOT! It's definitely time to make a change in my life. I don't want to look like this forever. I want to feel comfortable in my own skin and right now I don't.

I've set myself two goals this week to get going on this journey. First of all, in a review of my food intake I realize that I drink an insane amount of calories. Sodas, decaf tea that I make (which could send someone into a diabetic coma), fruit juice, milk...the list goes on and on. That's a quick way to cut some unnecessary calories. I want to see if I can go for 100 days drinking nothing but water. That's not going to be easy. Breaking the Sprite and Fanta Orange habit is going to be extremely hard. I drink way too much sugar and consequently drink way too many calories.

I know that some of you who have broken the soda habit are saying "Just switch to diet soda or Sprite Zero." I can't. Both leave a gross aftertaste and I cannot stand the flavor of artificial sweeteners. It's sugar or bust. So, to make this work, no sugary drinks. Water for me going forward.

The second thing I'm going to make sure I do is track my food on My Fitness Pal. If I can't track it, don't eat it. Little nibbles and bites here and there are another of my downfalls. A handful of Cheez-its won't hurt, right? Well, how many handfuls go I end up eating at a time? Nope, if I'm going to eat it I have to measure out the proper amount so that the calories can be appropriately tracked.

This week's not really about changing what I eat or controlling anything except caloric intake. My Fitness Pal is telling me that in order to lose 2 pounds a week I need to keep my calories under 1440 per day. That's doable. So, drink only water and track my calories. I can handle that.

I'm still working on my list of 100 goals in 100 pounds. I'm halfway there. If you can think of any goals, please don't hesitate to let me know! Input is always appreciated!

From Fat to Fit: My Journey to Health

At some point, people who are overweight have a moment that really makes them rethink their lifestyle and decide to make a change. I think I've had my moment. My name is Courtney. I'm 34, a wife, and a mother of two really great girls. I have a great job, albeit a bit stressful at times. I enjoy my life, so why am I fat? Why have I "let myself go" like this?

Watching weight loss shows on TV I see so many people there who claim they've packed on the pounds due to some traumatic event in their lives. For me, my weight gain has had nothing to do with a traumatic event. Plain and simple, I like food. I ;like the unhealthy kinds of food. Any I like a lot of it. I eat because food is a passion. Food is yummy. Food is fun. I guess you can say I am addicted to food.

That's what makes losing weight so hard for me. Think about it this way. An alcoholic is addicted to booze. But they can put the bottle down and still live. It's touch for them to get through each day but they can exist without the alcohol. A food addict doesn't have that luxury. Human beings have to eat to live. I still have to eat food or I will die. So every day I have to partake of the thing that's caused me to get this big. That's the hard part. And I'm not satisfied by a "normal portion" amount. The so-called "normal portion" is about half of my normal portion.

Over the years I've tried different ways of losing weight. I've joined gyms and worked out. I've cut various foods from my diet. I've gone vegetarian. I've gone vegan. I've tried weight loss pills and shakes. But nothing I've tried is a sustainable change for me. I am still experimenting to find what's going to be a sustainable lifestyle change for me.

On top of this, I'm having some health problems. I've been a sufferer of migraines since I was five. And for the past year I've been dealing with extreme dizziness. I've been to two doctors so far and have been referred to a neurologist for further testing. I go to see him on Tuesday October 8, 2013. Because of this dizziness I can't just go walking or running regularly. I have to take someone with me because I am afraid of falling over. So that's another concern I have that must be overcome.

So those are my challenges. I know that in order to lose weight and get healthy I have to eat less and move more. So easy, right? Then why is weight loss so hard? It's because for me, weight loss is just as much mental as it is physical. I have to have my head in the game in order to be successful. I've done it before and lost 40 pounds in 4 months. I was on the way to success. But as soon as my head got out of the game, my body followed suit and I gained back all of the weight I'd lost plus some more.

The choice is solely mine. I have to make the choice to do what it takes to lose the weight and get healthy. So I am choosing to go from fat to fit. I want to be able to keep up with my kids. I want to set a good example for them so that they don't go down same path I've gone down. I don't want my girls to look at me and say, "Well, Mom's fat so it's okay if I eat an extra bowl of ice cream."

I'm also setting goals for myself to accomplish during this journey to health. I'll list them on another tab and as they are completed I will note that next to the goal. It's going to take a while. I didn't get fat overnight. I won't get fit overnight. Every day is a new challenge. I plan on taking this journey one day at a time and every step in the right direction will take me down the road to success.