Still Losing

I'm down 4.8lbs since my last post. I don't understand why I have lost so much weight. I have only been working out sparsely. I have made an effort to track EVERYTHING I eat so maybe its working. Let's just hope this downward trend continues!

I'm Still Alive

I am so frustrated with Weight Watchers. I think the program works, I just don't think it works for me. I have been on the program since June and I have only lost 15lbs. I know most people will see losing any weight as a point in the programs favor but the math just doesn't add up. I'm averaging a .5lb loss; which is horrible. I wouldn't be so aggravated if I didn't see myself working so much harder than everyone else for these mediocre results. I wouldn't be so disheartened if I didn't have another 70+ pounds to lose =(

I'm Back

I cant believe it has almost been a MONTH since my last post!!!

I am still attending my Weight Watchers meetings regularly and exercising as usual. I hit a bit of a rough patch in the middle of October. I went on vacation for 5 days and it totally ruined my momentum. I ate poorly, drank way too much and didn't exercise while I was gone. As a result I gained around 2 lbs. I was devastated but not surprised. My vacation also broke my rhythm so to speak and it was very hard to get back into the routine of working out and eating right.
The 2 lb gain was hard to handle considering it took me about three weeks to lose those pounds prior to leaving. I am happy to report that I was able to get back on track and as a result I have lost 5lbs. I am really excited and hope I can keep up this level of loss. My progress has been so slow; it is very discouraging. I look at my goal weight and how far I have to go and it is hard to imagine that I will ever cross that bridge. I will keep on chugging along in the hopes that eventually I will lose all this weight! Ugh!

HELP

Well I knew it would happen eventually but I am surprised it took so long. I haven't posted in 3 weeks!! I'm going to contribute that fact to my struggles with losing these past weeks. I have no desire to taut my accomplishments, mainly because I don't feel that I have accomplished anything. I have lost .2 lbs three weeks in a row. WTF! I know we have a tendency to over estimate how much "work" we put into something but I think I've been working pretty hard these past weeks. I wake up at 4:00am every weekday so I can go to the gym before work. When I get home from work I spend a good hour making dinner and all my meals/snacks for the next day. I don't go over my DPT or use many of my weekly points. I just don't understand why I am not losing significant amounts of weight. I am so frustrated and I want to quit! What good is all of this work if it reaps no benefits. I am human after all. I HATE waking up so damn early, but I do it because I know I need to exercise.  I am determined to make this my last "attempt" at weight loss. I want the extra weight to be gone forever. These "setbacks" are NOT HELPING!! I am lost, I don't know what to do.

Victory

I have FINALLY made my 5% goal!!!! I'm down 15lbs! It has taken me 15weeks. It feels like it has taken forever! I'm really excited and just can't wait for more of this weight to fall off!!
I'm still working out 5x a week and think that has helped a lot. I need to spend more time preparing my food this upcoming week.

Im back

These last few weeks I have been fed up with how slowly my weight loss has been going. I have been working out religiously and eating right but my weight still won't budge. I'm down 0.4lbs since my last weigh in two weeks ago.

Week wrap up

I gained .2lbs this week!!!!! What the hell!

Weekly wrap up

Well I was a little disappointed with this weeks weigh in. I was really trying to make my 5% goal. I ended up being .6lbs away. I lost a total of 1.4lbs. This past week I worked out 6 days and went to the gym before my meeting. I'm going to do that again this week and see if I get similar results.
It's been three months and I'm down a total of 12lbs. I wish it was more but hey I would rather lose instead of gain.

Weekly Wrap up

This week was crazy! I had two visitors! My friend came to town midweek and my mom visited this past weekend. Visitors usually means eating out and not exercising. I decided that wasn't going to happen this time around! I went to the gym at the crack of dawn to get it out of the way and eliminate ALL EXCUSES!  The eating out was another story. I drank about 4 beers too many and made horrible food choices. I ate a 31point dessert at Fridays. I had the points available but still 31!! Looking back I would have rather eaten more chicken wings. My mom and I went to a really nice seafood place, I ate fried everything! Luckily it was Saturday and the beginning of a new WW week so I had my extra points to use!

With all this I still lost .02 at weigh in. Its not much but it could have been waaaaay worse!

Weekly wrap up. Week 12

I'm down .6lbs. It doesn't seem like much but I'm finally into the next "10". If I can work hard and lose 1.5lbs this week I will make my 5% goal. Im still struggling to lose any weight and I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm working out regularly and drinking plenty of water. I have upped my calorie count but still feel like the pounds should be falling off. I will just keep chugging along and hope the weight comes off.

Weekly Wrap up

I had my weigh in this past Saturday and it was great. I lost the 2.8lbs I put on over the last two weeks. I exercised as usual and ate more of my points. I'm still down 10lbs but I wish it was more. We shall see how this week goes.

Weekly wrap up time

This weeks weigh in was another disappointment. I was up 1.2lbs. This past week I stayed on plan and exercised 4 out of 7 days. I stayed after to talk to my meeting leader about my weight gain. She suggested that I start eating more since I'm working out so much. This upcoming week I'm going to start eating my weekly allowance points.

I also decided that I wanted to sign up for a 5K. We(Gainesville) are having an inaugural BeerRun! I'm only signing up for the beer party after the run ;). I have Plantar Fasciitis and a bad ankle so running is the last thing I need to do but I'm going to try. I started a couch to 5K training program. Day 1 killed me, I'm not sure if I can run for 30min. But I'm sure going to try.

Weekly wrap up

This weeks weigh in was a little bit disappointing. I was up 1.6lbs. I know that weight fluctuates so I normally wouldn't be upset. I am upset though! I was so good this week! I didn't drink any beer and I started working out with a personal trainer!!!
I've been listening to a couple weight loss/fitness podcasts. It's been very confusing so far. The information they provide is great but it is at odds with what WW teaches. I'm not sure what to do. My ultimate goal is to lose weight but I don't want that loss to come at the price of my muscle mass.
I think I will continue with WW for another month before I decide to switch my diet.

Weekly wrap up time

I have lost a total of 10lbs since joining WW!!!! I'm really excited and can't believe I'm actually losing weight. It has been a few years since I have lost a significant amount of weight and its refreshing to know I still can! I still have a good amount of weight to lose but I'm ok with that. Rome wasn't built in a day and I didn't just wake up one day with all this extra weight.

I'm really scared that the weight loss will slow and that I will lose my "drive".
I'm taking a Resting Metabolic Rate test on Monday and hopefully that test will also help me stay on track.

I also got my hair done. :) My stylist calls it my summer hair

Friday Night fun

I'm finally putting up more makeup stuff.

I woke up on time today so I got to spend more than three minutes getting ready. I decided that since it was Friday I was going to wear my Makeup Forever Hot Pink eyeliner. I love their eyeliner! It's waterproof and easy to apply. The colors are also very bright when you wear them which is a problem I have found with "bright" pencil eyeliners. They usually go on very pale in comparison to the color you see.

I was bored, so I decided it was a good time to put on a face mask. I chose my Queen Helene Mint Julep masque. It always makes my skin feel so smooth afterwards.

Enjoy the pictures of me making funny faces 😜

Weekly wrap up

I've only been doing this for a month and I'm already tired of it... Which is not surprising to me. I'm going to keep this blog up because I need to be accountable. I'm also considering how awesome it will be to read all of these posts once I've reached my goal!

This week was a bad week for working out. I only made it to the gym twice. The highlight of the week however was my weigh in! I lost 3.6lb!!! I'm now down 7lb. That really gives me the boost I need to continue.
This week I need to work out AS SCHEDULED! No excuses.
I'm not too worried about getting off track over the Fourth of July. I'm on call so we aren't going anywhere and we probably won't even BBQ. I did drink a lot of beer this weekend so I'm hoping it doesn't derail my weigh in next week. I'm going to ramp up the intensity of my workouts to keep this from happening!

Weekly wrap up

It's only week 3 and I'm already missing a meeting! Granted, It's for a relatively good reason. My friend is leaving me and moving to Miami. I accompanied her on a little apartment hunting mission. The mission was a success as she has found a place to live!

We spent about 8 hours in Miami. I got to have lunch with my mom and dad :) We ate at the Cheesecake Factory. I had a small salad and a BLT. I'm still well under my points for the day. I have flex points and activities points that expire today to use if need be.

I did go to the meeting place on Friday to weigh in! Im only down one pound, but I did meet my fitness goals for the week so I'm still happy. Hopefully I can lose 2-3 pounds this upcoming week.

Winning

So I packed my lunch this morning and forgot to actually put lunch in it. I only packed grapes and a cheese stick. I didn't realize this until lunchtime. I was so sad; no lunch, how will I go on? Beer. As luck would have it, today is Wednesday. Pilot Series day at SwampHead. My lack of lunch now means I can drink TWO beers with no guilt! Yes!

Today's beer is a blackberry Berliner Weisse. It is tart but the blackberry flavor comes through beautifully. The finish is smooth and slightly dry. It was served in a snifter so that means LESS POINTS ;)

Week 2 wrap up

Yesterday was my Weight Watchers meeting. Good news I'm down 2 pounds-- Bad news I ate too much food this weekend. I will have to workout like a beast this upcoming week!
I have no trouble staying "on plan" during the week. My weekends however are a different story. I'm not sure what I can do to improve my weekend numbers. I may have to start working out to balance out my eating.

The team has grown! Another coworker has joined WW. We are now going to an earlier meeting, I'm not super excited about that.

I'm still excited about this journey. I just wish it wasn't going to be so long :(

Another one bites the dust?

So week one has come and gone! I was only down one pound but I guess that's better than gaining weight. I went out to dinner Friday night and used all of my "extra" points at TGIFridays. That was probably a BAD IDEA. Note to self: Don't eat a sodium filled dinner and beer the night before weigh in!! This week beer will be consumed AFTER my Weight Watchers meeting!

Oh! I almost forgot! The title of this post has a purpose. I joined Weight Watchers at the behest of a coworker. She DID NOT SHOW UP! I can't believe she didn't come. Im so glad I don't mind going alone. I am just thankful for the push her invitation gave me. I'm going to continue attending meetings and working on the goals I have yet to set 😳

I'm writing this post from the gym! I know I can't believe I'm here again either ;) I'm going to keep taking Pilates in an effort to improve my core strength and flexibility. I am really enjoying the calm atmosphere of the class and all of the deep breathing. I hope I can stay focused and continue coming to the gym!

I'm hopefully going to spend this week coming up with my goals for the summer. No promises...

Mid-Week Check In

The halfway point of my first week is here! So far I'm feeling great. I am really enjoying the new Weight Watchers Points Plus. All fruits and vegetables are "0" points! I'm finding that tracking what I eat isn't as time consuming as I first thought it would be. I'm hoping this Saturday Weigh-In gives me the motivation to continue. It is so daunting to think of how much weight I want to lose. I need to create some reasonably easy goals to reach so I can stay motivated.

I attended my first Pilates class on Monday. It was awesome! It was relaxing but some of the moves were very intense. I'm still sore, my abs hurt so much. I'm still not very motivated to exercise. I feel any attempt I make to move is a step in the right direction. I think after I see that I'm losing weight it will make me want to workout but we shall see.

It's going DOWN!! Tomorrow ;)

Tomorrow is the big day! I go to Weight Watchers to officially begin my journey. I have started using an App in the meantime to track what I eat Daily Burn Its pretty awesome, you can purchase an additional feature that lets you scan the UPC code on what you eat. Scanning the barcode then allows you to add the
food to your daily log. You answer a few simple questions: number of servings, which meal of the day and the date and the App adds all the calories up for you. It doesn't get much easier!
I also now have 2 workout partners! We are going to start taking classes at the local gym after work. I haven't worked out in more than a few months. I will probably(definitely) be feeling it afterwards. I'm not looking forward to all these changes :( BUT I need to because obviously what I've been doing isn't working.

We shall see how this goes!

Beer Haul

YAY BEER

I recently took a little trip to our local specialty beer and wine shop; Tipples. It was completely overwhelming and amazing. They have one of the most comprehensive selections of beers I have seen. They feature items from craft breweries all over the world.
I want to expand my beer palette eventually but for the time being I stuck to what I know. I purchased mainly Stouts and Imperial Reds(my current favorite).



Here are links to the brewers website so you can read what they have to say about their beer:

Rogue Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout

FCB Red Banshee



Lagunitas Imperial Red Ale

As of this posting I have only tried the Lagunitas. As far as Imperial Reds go this one tops my list. I will always have a special place in my heart for Sciaenhops but this is a nice substitute. It poured a deep amber with a nice head. The flavor was predominately mellow hops, very drinkable considering the high alcohol content.
The problem with drinking limited release beers is that availability is spotty. I know that's the point of "limited" release but these beers are usually some of the best available. It is disheartening to find a beer you love only to never be able to find it again!

My Catalyst

One of my primary goals is to lose weight and get healthy before I turn 30. I spend the majority of my days thinking about losing weight and how much it can change my life and such. I'm sure every overweight person does this to some degree. I have similar if I win the Lottery fantasies. I am big on ideas but have a horrible completion rate. I have started more diets, workout programs and weight loss pills than I care to name. I can count on one hand how many programs I have actually completed.

This past week I had two separate people ask me to join them in their quest to get healthy. I know some people would be offended by this and wonder why someone would ask them to start a diet program. I'm actually so excited that the people I interact with would want ME to be their support system. The first invitation came from a friend who recently finished chemotherapy and radiation for her breast cancer. She asked me what I knew about Weight Watchers. I joined briefly a few years back but didn't really have the desire to participate in the program and quickly dropped out. I gave her my general knowledge of the plan and then just blurted out "I'll join with you if you'd like". I didn't even hesitate; she seemed to need a push and I decided this was my chance to help her in her recovery and work on my own health at the same time. The second invitation came later in the week. A friend asked me to start going to the gym with her. She has the desire to work out but has the best excuses to do anything but. She wants a workout buddy so she can be held accountable, have someone to chat with and generally just someone to support her efforts. I am happy to oblige, by helping her I am helping myself and together we can push each other towards our goal. How can I receive these separate offers for committing to a healthy lifestyle and NOT take them? I can't. I'm taking this as a sign that now is my time to get healthy and start living the rest of my life.

Every other attempt I have made at getting fit has been on my own and mainly in secret. It is so hard to verbalize your plan to lose weight, in the back of your mind you always have the fear that you will be judged if you don't reach your goals. I want this to be the beginning of a lifestyle not just a quick attempt to lose weight. I know what doesn't work so I decided to try something new. This blog is my effort to put myself out there and include as many people as possible in my journey to get fit. It isn't going to be easy and I will slip up along the way. I know you guys can help keep me motivated and share your experiences and any tips you have picked up along the way.

The adventure begins June 2!

Please leave me any words of wisdom, I appreciate all the help!

Playing with color

I have spent the last few months watching YouTube videos on makeup application and such. I'm really enjoying EmilyNoel83, she is so upbeat and provides great tips! Check her out.

On a recent trip to Sephora I had one of the beauty consultants do a new MakeupForever look. I'm posting a picture of that look(hot pink) and one I came up with on my own(green)

Enjoy :)

Just the beginning

I am so excited about starting this blog! I just want to share my nonsense with you guys. I have so many projects that I'm starting and ones I need to finish. Everyone talks about the power of support and I'm using this blog for just that purpose. Please follow me on my journey through this thing we call life.