Great First Month

This month has truly been an experience to remember. I have made and kept goals that I have not been able to do in a long time. In the first month of the program I lost 12.5 pounds, which is way more than expected. I don't really feel it yet and have  not really noticed it, but I know that it will eventually begin to show more. I am a big girl so it might take awhile to show.

This past week has been a week of reflection and thinking about what I would really love to do. I keep hearing commercials for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk in Santa Barbara on the radio and it definitely feels like a subliminal message has been implanted in my head. Being a breast cancer survivor, I have thought about wanting to do this 39 mile walk for years, but have thought that I was physically unable to do so. Things have drastically changed since then. I see my self as capable, but still worry about my knee and back. Before I officially sign up to walk this year in September, I plan an visiting my doctor and physical therapist to make sure that it will be safe for me to train for a walk of this caliber. I'm excited about the possibility. I can easily see myself quickly shedding even more pounds if I'm doing several 5-15 mile walks a week (per the training schedule they suggest).

Be hopeful with me. I will know more by this time next week. Until then, I stay on program, continue walking, and be positive. 

Next weight loss goal: get under 300 pounds (I'm just 2 pounds shy of this).

Week 3: Better than Expected

Before I started on this adventure, I thought that I wouldn't make it this far, granted 3 weeks is not very far at all. I've tried other "diets" (Atkins, Weight Watchers, 48 hour Hollywood, etc.) and they have only worked temporarily. The most I ever lost was about 100 pound during my first time on Weight Watchers. I kept it off for a couple of years, but it eventually all crept back on. I find myself back in familiar territory and know that this time it will be different. I want it too bad, which is something that was missing each time before.

I walked into my meeting tonight and stepped on the scale expecting my plateau to finally begin to kick in since my water weight is basically gone. I was very pleasantly surprised, especially since I lost 3.2 pounds in week 3, which is more than in week 2. This was more than I could ever expect. Now my total is now 10.6 pounds in 3 weeks. I feel like I'm walking on air.

The big change this week is that I started working out again. I was finally cleared by my physical therapist to actually start walking again. I walked three times this week and was even able to get over 10,000 steps on Saturday and Sunday, which was a complete surprise for me considering most of my weekend is spent sitting down.

I love the changes that I'm making and the way that I'm feeling because of those changes. I have set a few new goals for myself based on things that I've noticed over the past few weeks.

1. Be able to sit comfortably in an airplane seat.
2. Be able to sit in a student desk without my stomach hitting the desk.
3. Be able to walk up the four flights of stairs at work without having my knee be in pain.

Week 2 Update

Another great week, with 2.5 pounds down for a total of 7.4 pounds gone. I'm so ecstatic about it.

In the past week I have discovered a few tips that are really helpful for me. I thought I might pass some of them along to whoever is reading this.

1. When I purchase my fresh vegetables, I immediately come home and cut them up and then store them in a tupperware container. This has been helpful because I have veggies ready for me at any moment. The hubby has even started eating them since they are there and ready to go.

Here's my veggie container.

2. I eat my piece of fruit as my morning snack rather than desert because it helps to give me the energy that I need to survive until my lunch time shake.

3. I log my food everyday in MyFitnessPal. Most of the time I am about 50 calories under my 1200 limit, but I am fully aware of how much I have available to me throughout the day. My meals are set with the two shakes and one bar along with veggies throughout the day along with a 450-500 calorie dinner. Tracking makes me more aware of what is going into my body and less hesitant to cheat.

4. Plan your meals. When I do my grocery shopping I keep in mind what I plan on cooking for the week and I stick to it. I defrost early and know exactly what I'm cooking when I get home from work. This helps me to not be left in a lurch and be forced to be spontaneous. If I don't plan, I'm more likely to cheat.

Week 1 Update

As I come to the end of week 1 of my weight loss odyssey, I have realized many things. The first is that losing weight was easy if I followed the plan. I did everything that I was supposed to do and was very successful. I lost 4.9 pounds my first week. I am so pleased about this, but understand that a larger weight loss is normal during the first and second week due to losing water weight. Even though that is the case, I'm still excited to share such a great number.

Other successes I experienced this week with relation to my goals include:
1. I only ate out one time and it was at Applebee's. They have a great under 550 calories menu.
2. I only ate in the car twice; both times were during long drives between Los Angeles and San Diego. What I ate though was a nutritional protein bar and carrots. This is nothing like what I used to eat in the car.
3. I ate no fast food this week.
4. I gave up soda and have not looked back.

This week my main goal is to work out more. Last week I worked out once and this week I would at least like to double that.

This is only the beginning, but I'm off to a great start.

I Will Survive

Today I start day 4 of a 1200 calorie diet with meal replacement shakes. So far I have not cheated at all and my cravings have definitely not gotten the better of me. In fact, I'm not really craving anything. Yesterday I did get a good whiff of the tuna sandwich that everyone else was about to eat for lunch, but instead of being in the room with them and watching them eat, I decided to go take a nap. When I got up, they were done eating and there were no remnants of food. That was an easy distraction for me.

The main problem appears to be that the shakes are very boring. I have a vanilla flavored one and a chocolate flavored one. I have fallen into a pattern where vanilla is for breakfast and chocolate is for lunch. This seems boring, but it is the way of life. I definitely need to find new ways to spice them up in order to make it more likely for me to not fall off of the plan. This morning  I decided to add crushed strawberries to it, but I think I should've used a blender instead of just smashing them with a fork and putting them in the shake. If I added ice and strawberries it would've been a nice strawberry milkshake. Now all it is, is a vanilla shake with strawberry pieces in it. My dietician also suggested putting kale into the vanilla shake, but I don't know how I feel about that one. Especially since I'm rather picky when it comes to taste.

Dinners have been simple and easy. I'm currently visiting my in-laws for the Easter holiday and I thought that traveling during my first week of the plan would be difficult, but they have made it supper easy on me. The dinners have been healthy; in fact everyone seems to be eating healthy because that is what I'm doing.

The next step is beginning to add exercise into the mix. Today I'm going to try a walk around the neighborhood and see how my back and knee feels with that. I know that if I don't start working out now and working through the pain that it will last a lot longer since it will take me longer to get the weight off.

I'm actually anxious for my first weight in on Tuesday night.

Day 1: Goals

As I start on my weight loss journey, I thought that it would be good to start by making a few goals. If I publish them here, then I'm more likely to follow them, or at least that's my thought.

# 1 - No more eating in the car
# 2 - Workout 3 times a week
# 3 - complete a 5 K
# 4 - no more fast food
# 5 - eat out only once per week
# 6 - no more drinking soda

This is a good start.

Here We Go Again, But This Time It Will Work!

For the past decade I have had a huge struggle with my weight, which I know that all of you are aware of. This past two months has been extremely difficult for me because of some extreme back issues that do not seem to want to go away. My doctor and physical therapist both agree that nothing will ever heal properly if I continue on the same path that I am currently on. Most of you probably wouldn't believe me if I were to tell you that I topped out just over 300 pounds at the beginning of this year. It is not fun carrying around this weight, but I have been truly unwilling to do anything about it. I've tried so many fad diets in the past and gone through small rounds of losing 20 to 30 pounds at a time, but now I have to be serious. My health is at risk and I'm in constant pain. Two weeks ago my doctor prescribed a partial liquid diet for me. I have been through all of the approval aspects and officially start on Wednesday. I attend classes once a week where I am taught by both a dietician and a behaviorist. My diet will include two shakes (breakfast and lunch) followed by a healthy and sensible dinner. This will go on for 4 months and should be a nice kick start to a healthy lifestyle for me. When I am done with the 4 months and begin to return to eating normally, I will not have my sugar, carbohydrates, or salt cravings since that junk will all be out of my system by then. I know that the road ahead is not an easy one for me, but it is one that I must travel down in order to ensure that I live a longer, happier, and healthy lifestyle.

Now, why am I telling you about this...well like anyone who has an addiction (yes food is an addiction), I ask that you be thoughtful about things that you offer to me in the next 4 months. Please don't offer to bring desert to my house if we're doing dinner at my house. Please don't invite me to eat at restaurants that only serve pizza and fried food. Please don't send me pictures of things that I can't eat. Please understand if I turn down invitations to things that might sabotage my diet. Please just be the best supportive friends that I know that each of you are. Thank you in advance.

The other reason that I'm writing this is that I have spent the last week eating all of my favorite fatty foods and I only have two dinner and one lunch left before my food choices become limited. If you could only eat one thing, one last time, what would you pick and why? Yes, pizza is missing from this list, but it is what is planned for dinner tonight.

So far I have eaten:
shrimp alfredo pasta
Chipotle
Panda
Tacos
Red Robin burger with fries
onion rings
coffee cake
pot pies
pesto pasta from Corner Bakery