Benchmark: 10 Lbs Down!

So, the other day I weighed myself and it showed 186 but then it was several days again before the number showed back up. Yesterday, however, the happy number was back and I did a little happy dance for myself. I reached a benchamrk yesterday of losing 10 lbs. Yippee! Woo hoo! Thank heavens for small miracles. Or big ones as I consider the loss of 10 lbs to be a pretty awesome accomplishment.

While I have a long way to go and I know I cannot do it with diet alone, I am stoked to be here rather than at 196lbs like I was a few weeks ago.

As of today, I can say that eating healthy is getting much more enjoyable and I am finding it much easier to resist the temptation of sweets, treats and chips a few weeks into this new way of doing things for myself.
~C

My Slice of Time

Today I am feeling excited. I have realized some weight loss which makes me feel great, and I will now have about a half an hour each day that I can dedicate to blogging. With three kids, a husband and a full-time job, there isn't a lot of time left for me during the day. It's easy to lose sight of yourself when you don't have a slice of time to reflect on your own thoughts, feelings, hopes, plans and goals.

This week marked the first week that my family will all be carpooling to work and school together in one care in the morning. You see, my job is within 4 miles of my husband's work, we chose a school for my daughter that is also within 4 miles of his work and my son's babysitter is also within the same distance. With busy schedules we felt it was important to eek out as much time together as we can - even if it is in the car. It means we pay less in gas, there is less wear and tear on our already beat-up cars and we chat about our day to and from work. It also means I get to work 30-45 minutes early and stay about 15 minutes late. Hence the "me" time.

It has been some time since I have spent time writing. I miss it. I want to regain my confidence in putting the figurative pen to the figurative paper. When I lost my job as a copywriter due to budget cuts, I was glad to have the break. My job at the company was about me attempting to mold my own writing style to someone else's and that wasn't very much fun. I grew to resent writing and found that I second-guessed every word I wrote. Now I am free. I can spew stream-of-consciousness babble or I can be short, sweet and concise. Looks like today is more along the lines of stream-of-consciousness.

~C

Stats:

No weigh in this morning - coffee with creamer and sugar, organic granola bar and half a banana for breakfast.

Under the Radar

I am losing weight again but this time it's under the radar. I'm not talking about it much to anyone - I'm tired of talking it up and gaining it all back. As I mentioned in my last post, things have been pretty intense and today is quite a bit different and not so different all at the same time.

At this juncture I have lost my home, hubby and I are in the midst of a bankruptcy, I am still living with my mom and my family, I am no longer teaching fitness classes but I have acquired full time work. Oh and hubby is also in a new job which is the best job he's ever had. My daughter started kindergarten 3 weeks ago and my son is in full time childcare. We are in the process of turning things around but it's an uphill climb.

Once I started working at a full-time, high-intensity desk job again, I started gaining the weight back. I've been in my new job for 5 months now and I am ready to look like "myself" again.

About 2 weeks ago my 16-yr-old stepdaughter had a birthday and during the festivities my mom began snapping away with her digital camera. Later that night, she posted the photos on Facebook for the whole world to enjoy. Well, when I was clicking through the photos, I was mortified. I was embarrassed by every single picture of me. I am not kidding when I say I literally did not recognize myself. The person in the pictures did not look like me at all. I had to ask my mom to delete or crop me out of all of the photos I was in.

It was that night that made me realize that I have been carrying around a whole lot of "me" that I do not need. I don't have to look like that anymore. I can lose the luggage, get rid of the junk in the trunk, take off my "winter" coat. I know I can lose this weight and keep it off - my weight does not define who I am just like the amount of money in my bank account has no bearing on my self worth. I have learned these things on my journey and I am on the path to putting what I have learned into practice for myself.

With this in mind, here is a breakdown as to where I am at right now and where I was about 2 weeks ago:

~C

Age: 32

Weight 2 weeks ago: 196

Weight today: 186 (2 weeks and 10 lbs!!)

Realistic goal: 160

Ideal goal: 150

How I am doing it: watching what food I put in my mouth

Exercise: Currently - none (but this will change soon)