This is me very sad! :*(

Weight: 197 Bust: 40  Waist:35  Hips: 46

I’ve been dreading this post all day, well, all week actually.  I can’t believe that it’s been 8 weeks already!  Has it really?  Can I rewind time and add a few more weeks.. like I dunno.. 8!?!  I absolutely love posting on here every week.  I love sharing my good and bad experiences, tracking my progress, reading the progress of others, and setting goals for each week.  Healthy girls has been a positive experience for me.  I’ve lost a fair amount of inches and 7lbs since week 1.  I feel better mentally, my clothes are fitting better, and I’m excited to keep it up and see where the healthy road takes me.

My wonderful salad! mmmmmm

Food

So this week we continued the use of our lovely grill!  It just makes cooking so much fun!  Keith made some more wonderful chicken but this time I made sure to save some and used the extra for my lunch today.  It was a wonderful salad with fresh greens, raisins, and cashews.  It was sooo yummy!

this is an older pic but shows what humidity does to my hair!

Exercise

I continued to do my Turbo Jam videos this week.  I really enjoy them but as I stated last week they are just to prepare me to begin P90x.  Honestly, I’m a little intimidated by those workouts!  It’s getting so terribly hot and muggy here and it’s not even June!  Example;  it was 90 degrees the past 3 days and so humid that my hair looked like Shirley Temple.

On a sad note, I was registered to run in a 5k in D.C. on May 2^nd and to my dismay I missed it.  I took it a little hard but I realized that there will be others.  Maybe I’ll even be able to do the next one with someone else!  Keith and I were talking and he was even giving in to the idea of walking it with me!  how exciting is that?!?!

Keith, my supportive man! and an excellent cook!

Goals

I feel like I need to set a million goals here since this is my last and final post but it really just comes down to one:  GETTING HEALTHY!

It will be my overall long term goal to continue down the road to getting healthy, to make conscious decisions when it comes to food and life, and put myself first when I need to!

This has truly been a wonderful experience for me, I wish you all the best of luck in your lives.  Stay positive, believe in yourselves, and take every obstacle one step at a time!

Trying to leave HG with a smile! I'm sure gonna miss it!

xoxoxo

Carole

Weight: 198.4 (-1lb!)  Bust: 41  Waist:36  Hips: 46

(my inch changes were so close, I just kept them the same this week)

So I was just looking over my weight loss for the entirety of my time with Healthy Girls so far and I’ve lost 5lbs and a few inches.  It’s not quite where I had hoped I’d be number wise but I have to say, I am a much healthier girl mentally as well as physically.  I feel better, I’m more confident, heck, I even feel comfortable wearing shorts in public (well, to a certain extent.. but I’m working on that).  Everything I put in my mouth I weigh the pros and cons of the consumption of the contents.  Today for example, we had chocolate flipz pretzels at work that were being offered around.  My first reaction was excitement because they taste so good.  But after popping 3 in my mouth, that little voice in my head said, “Stop!  You don’t NEED these.”  I looked at the 4^th one in my hand and said, “Ya know what, I’m done.  Thanks! They were delicious.”  I don’t know about you guys out there but being able to listen to my inner voice when it tells me “no” is a huge accomplishment!  In years past I’ve just ignored it and kept working towards the bottom of the bag.  I would then feel horrible about what I did and drown my sorrows in more food, again ignoring what that inner Carole was telling me all along.  It’s nice to be friends with that voice!  Anyone else out there understand what I’m talking about?

I feel like all of us have that inner voice that helps us to make healthier decisions but some of us have that part of the brain that blocks it out.  I have been working very hard to ensure that I listen to what it has to say and when.  Not only about food, but exercise too!  Pretty much anything that has to do with being a happier, healthier me!  And even though I’m only down 5lbs and a handful of inches from 6 weeks ago, I know I couldn’t have done it without Healthy Girls!  I hope they keep me around for a bit longer; I have so much more to learn about myself and explore!

Delicious goodies!

This week we continued to use the grill to make nummy food!  We had Pork chops with steamed broccoli and steak with redskin potatoes!  Both were so yummy!    The pork chops were lean center cut, seasoned with Rocky Mountain seasoning from Penzy spices and the broccoli was from the Green Giant steamer bag.  Only 45 calories per serving and so good!  I have to say though, pork chops are so hard to cook on the grill.  To keep them from getting tough, I took a spray bottle filled with water and would squirt it every couple of minutes and then flip it.  It turned out really well.

The steak was all Keith.  I’m no good at cooking red meat.  The potatoes we chopped up and put in tin foil pockets with a little bit of butter, cracked rosemary, chopped onion, and minced garlic.  Nummy Nummy Nummy!!  We washed it down with a glass of pomegranate crystal light!  We made our lunches every day and discovered new flat bread that from Aldi that is amazing!  It’s from a brand called Light & fit.

Exercise

So last week I was talking about P90x and le’me tell ya; it’s intense and requires a lot of dedication.  That is why I am working up to it.  I have been doing videos from Turbo Jam and will continue to do them for another week until I get closer to the point where I’ll be able to complete a P90x workout.  I am excited to start but I felt it hurt me more than helped me.  It was so intense that it was intimidating and discouraging; and that’s the last thing I need right now.  But I’ve exercised every day this week and I’m happy with the way the workouts are progressing!  With each day they get a smidge easier!

Keith and I also spent a day in D.C. taking part in The Climate Rally.  It was really fun and included a lot of walking and tips to make ourselves and our planet a happier, healthier place.  It was wonderful to be a part of something so large and doing my part to spread the word that we need to work towards making the planet a better place!

Goals!

For this week I want to continue to listen to my inner voice when it comes to making healthy decisions.

I will continue to increase my water consumption by 20oz every other day.

I will exercise every day with one day of low intensity as my “rest” day.

I wish each one of you a healthy, happy week.  Appreciate your good decisions and work with the ones that you feel not so great about.  Smile and feel good about yourself at least once a day.  I look forward to reading about all your successes!  See ya next week!

<3 Carole

True to my word, I kicked it up a notch this week.  Here was the schedule:

Monday: Hike with roommate
Tuesday: 40 minute intervals of running and walking, two sets upper body weights, crunches
Wednesday: Walk at lunch (I think?)
Thursday: 45 minute intervals, 1 set of weights for each muscle group (upper + lower) and abs
Friday: No real exercise, but kept food intake light.
Saturday: As soon as I finish this, I’m going to go do 30 minutes of kickboxing.

Food wasn’t super terrible this week, except for Sunday.  I had a tough day on Sunday, and had a tuna melt for lunch (with a salad) and a burger, fries and a coke for dinner.  Most of the week though, I had the same menu, which I’d prepared for in advance:

Breakfast: Egg Cup with red bell pepper, zucchini, sauteed mushrooms and a negligible amount of parmesan cheese + a yogurt.
Lunch: Turkey and provolone with greens, red bell pepper, on sprouted whole wheat bread with sugar snap peas on the side.
Snacks: pistachios, oranges, sugar snap peas, Kashi protein bars

Dinner was kind of all over the map.  On Monday, I accidentally skipped it entirely.  On Tuesday, it was stir-fry with tofu, on Wednesday it was a grilled chicken quesadilla, Thursday was pasta, and last night was sushi.  Some of that was decent in terms of calories, some… not.

Also, true to my word, I cut back on the alcohol.  I had a maximum of two drinks and alternated nights.  This could still get better, but I’m not sweating it for now.

Has it made a difference? Well, that’s tough to tell?  My weight hasn’t gone down at all, which surprised me.  It’s possible that I actually spiked on tuna melt day, so I have indeed lost some.  One of my friends also suggested that adding weight training to my exercise might mean that I’ve increased muscle, which is denser than fat, so while I haven’t seen a shift on the scale, that it might not be an accurate measurement.  I think from now on, I’ll start measuring myself so I have that as a tool too.

I have noticed that my clothes have started to fit a wee bit better.

So I think that might be something.  I also got a haircut this week, which has made me feel really good about myself.  I regularly blow dry and straight iron my hair, but this week, I told the stylist I wanted to try going with my natural wavy curly bed head beach hair mess.  I actually really like it.  I totally have a frickin’ MANE, but it kinda works for me, you know?

I feel like I’m coming into my own with this challenge.  I might not be losing a buttload of weight, but whatever.  That’s not what this is about for me.  I keep trying to assign it a numerical value so that I know if I’ve “passed” or if I’ve “failed”, but really, sticking it out and getting healthier is the only win here.  And I’m doing that.  It doesn’t matter what the scale says; I already feel better; brighter, more solid, convinced of my own health and that I’m getting back into a state of wellness.   And that counts for a hell of a lot.

Height: Still a stunning 5’2″, Weight: 177, Bust: 37″, Waist: 35″, Hips: 45″ (Hip to Waist Ratio is 0.77, which is apparently pretty healthy)

Pounds lost: 1-2 lbs
Inches lost: waist = the same,  hips = -  1.5″,  chest = – 1.5″, bust = – 1.5 ”

(a lovely illustration of what the homeopathic remedy of Arnica is made from)

This week has been an okay week.

I hopped on the scale this morning and I’m down a pound or two. My weight really fluctuates, but this morning I hit 195. I don’t ever get into the 200′s anymore which means my weight range is decreasing! And I have lost inches! 4.5 inches! My tendinitis is still present, but much better this week (thank you Arnica!) I wasn’t sure if I was going to write about another health issue I have been experiencing, but since it’s affecting all aspects of my health and my journey on Getting Healthy I am going to. About a month ago, my right side of my body went numb. It lasted about a week and ever since then I have lost feeling in that side and I feel like like part of my body is dead. Three days ago it started up again, but this time with vertigo and nausea. I went to the doctor again today and he put a rush on my lab results and my neurology appointment, but I still have no idea what is going on. I passed the stroke tests, I just have to wait to have a CAT scan done.
I am not really in any pain, I just feel tingly and spaced out. Also, I’m having a bit of trouble making fluid sentences and my moral is a bit down.

Another challenge I have had this week is the HOLES IN THE CROTCH of my jeans problem. Ugh! Every favourite pair of jeans always go this way.

I’ll let you in on an inside joke in my friend circle. We are always comparing body shapes to items of food. Obviously I am an “apple”, but I like to refer to myself as the double scoop. I pretend my legs are the cone and everything else sits on top. I have issues finding jeans being a double scoop! I wear leggings a lot, but love wearing jeans when I can actually find a pair that will fit around my waist and not fall down!

What shape are you?

Any double scoops out there know a good brand of jeans that will fit on the waist and not sag in the bum?

All my extra pairs of jeans are too small for me. I don’t want to buy any new ones that fit me right now so I guess I will go jeanless.

Food:

I did okay on the food front this week. I worked towards my goals and didn’t have any candy at all.

This is what I put in my smoothies:

They don’t taste amazing, but I am getting so much good stuff in there.
Here is a tip: You can easily blend a cup or two of kale in your smoothie and barely taste it. It’s the vegan protein powder that makes my smoothies not taste the greatest. As a treat sometimes, I leave it out.  I did pretty well on my goal of having a smoothie everyday. I missed two days, but I am going to continue to try and make this a long term goal. I totally failed on my no baking goal. Yesterday, my coworker made cheesecake brownies. Today, my coworker made bannock. There is too much temptation! However, there were a few times I did opt out on the baked goods.  I have been eating more regularly and I am always making sure I eat something before I leave the house.

Goals for next week:

• reduce the amount of baking I am eating
• eat more raw foods (less cooked foods, more fresh foods!)
• cut out any sugary drinks
• continue to eat more regularly!

Exercise:

I am continuing to increase my exercise. I went bowling, did a yoga class, stretched at home, and walked.  I am noticing that being outside is helping my anxiety. Part of my anxiety is caused from living in a city because I’m more of a small town gal. Since I have been increasing my exercise, I have been spending more time with nature and it’s making me feel more grounded & connected. What I need to do is start to incorporate more vigorous activity. I need to break a sweat while working in the realm of my health issues.

Goals for next week:

• go to spin class
• go swimming
• continue taking walks in nature!

One of my personal motto’s is, “when in doubt throw it out”. I have been using this all week. This motto works well when you are cleaning your house and when you are trying to gain motivation.

Try it out!

Weight: 201 Waist: 38″ Hips: 47″ Bust: 43″

Did anyone else notice that it was a full moon week? Well, it was a pretty rough week for me. As all you ladies know every 28 days or so our bodies go through some drastic changes. Physical pains and out of the norm emotions can sometimes take over. For me, this week was rough. I had the worst menstrual pains of my life this week. They lasted for 3 days of agonizing discomfort, headaches, and fatigue. It really put a damper on part of my week but it didn’t drag me down too far. I still lost a pound…YAY!

Food & beverages
We’ve been doing well with our food intake. We ate out a couple of times this week and it made me realize just how difficult it is to eat healthy when you’re not at home. We went to Applebee’s one night and I decided to do that 2 for $20 deal thinking I should be able to find something good for me. I decided to order Fiesta Lime Chicken to which I thought; chicken and rice… should be healthy, right? Well, not really. It was a chicken breast covered in some cheese sauce atop of some tortilla strips with fiesta rice (which is spicy rice with corn and peppers). I’m sure it wouldn’t have been too bad if it wasn’t covered in cheese and draped over tortilla pieces. Next time I will have to try one of their meals under 550 calories even if it does cost a few dollars more. It’s worth my health, right?
Sometimes it’s hard to have the drive to cook and not just throw a frozen something or other in the microwave or freezer. So In the effort to continue to cook new and healthy things on a budget with limited time (as you can tell me just now writing my entry at 10:30pm after a long day of work..ugh) I tried chicken with mixed veggies and rice. Took just about 10-15minutes from start to finish and was very filling and delicious. The contents were:

1 ½ boneless skinless chicken breast
About 2 Tbs of Rocky Mountain seasoning from Penzy’s Spices
1Cup uncooked minute rice (cooked to instruction)
1 bag Frozen Green Giant mixed veggies in steamer bag

Cut up chicken into small strips. Place in pan with about 2 table spoons of water. Cook over medium heat to keep chicken tender. While cooking chicken, boil water for rice and follow instructions. Once rice is removed from heat, place steamer veggie bag in microwave for 5 ½ minutes. Once veggies are done, rice and chicken will be as well. Stir together and enjoy! Makes about 4 servings.

mmmm fruit! lol

But my most favorite thing that we tried this week was a fresh fruit smoothie. We mixed yogurt, black berries, strawberries, kiwi, and granny smith apples in the Magic Bullet and let me tell you.. Ugh. It was amazing. It was so flavorful and filling. I could have had one of those every morning for the entire week but we ate all the fruit before grocery day. Which, of course isn’t a bad thing by any means.

Just for fun, My cat sticking out her toung at exercise

Exercise
I did alright this week. Didn’t run as many days as I would’ve like to but those few days of excruciating pain doing anything other than lying in bed covered with a heating pad wasn’t an option. I did try to do come crunches while in bed but it just made the pains worse. I have plans for this week to run at least 5 times this week and do “Turbo Jam” at least 3 times. That will still give me a day and a half of rest.
I’m really excited about the 5k and I look forward to completing it with friends. Like I said, I’m not trying to break any land speed records, I just want to get healthier and work on toning my body.
Water and Vitamins
Water intake. Ugh. I am struggling with getting enough water THROUGH OUT the day. I down water like it’s going out of style at home. Chugging ounce after ounce but when I’m at work, it’s hard just to make time to go to the bathroom some days. I know I know, there are no excuses, only results. I just have to work on forcing myself to go and take a drink here every hour. Maybe I’ll try to set an alarm on my phone so It reminds me to go take a drink of water. I know that is a large partner is successful weight loss and I want it to be my partner it’s just hard.
I started taking a women’s multi vitamin. It’s the Target equivalent of “One-a-day Women’s.” We’ve also started taking glucosamine to help with our bones. Changing my lifestyle and running again has taken a little toll on my knees. Remember, I’m still lugging around 200lbs and that’s quite a bit of weight.
Goals for next week
Again, I need to work on my water intake. I’m going to try setting an alarm on my phone to remind me to drink water. Do you have any ideas for me? How do you get in all your water intake while you’re at work?
Exercise! With the 5k getting closer and closer, I need to step it up! Running at least 5 days a week and doing more core workouts at home. I do have a hectic work schedule but I need to find a way to fit it in. And not just on my days off from work; every day!

I wish you all the best of luck this week! We’re almost to the halfway point! Stay proud and focused. Lean on your friends when you need it; I know I do! Here’s to a healthy week!
<3 Carole

Weight: 202 Waist: 38″ Hips: 47″ Bust: 43″

Wow!  What a first week!  Down only one pound but it’s okay.. it’s still a pound.  With so much going on I’ll try to keep it organized and somewhat easy to read! heh

Running! Yup that’s right!  I started running… well jogging at a reasonable pace.  I’ve mapped out a few courses on mapmyrun.com to train for the 5k I’m participating in on May 2^nd in D.C..  Not to mention that I finally committed to running 100%.  I paid and registered on Saturday so there’s no way I can talk myself out of it now!  J  It takes me about 46 minutes to complete 3.5 miles.  Yes, yes I know.  I’m not breaking any land speed records or anything but I am finishing my 4 mile runs.  And I do feel much better when I’m done.  Tons better… well other than being a bit sore but that’s to be expected.  Now if I could only get a running buddy.. *hint hint*

Meals! Yes, every paragraph is going to start with an exclamation point..heh.    We’ve done so well with meals, well I think.  We’ve been eating at home which is a big change for us.  There’s a big difference in my grocery bill as well.  I noticed that buying more fresh produce costs a lot more money.  And I’ve also noticed how much time I don’t spend in the middle aisles.  The grocery stores out by me have fruits, veggies, and fresh meats all on the outsides of the aisles which also made my shopping quicker and easier.  90% of what I bought this week was in the first half of the grocery store.  They also do this nifty thing where the whole grain breads, wraps, organic and vegetarian options are in the same area as well!  It truly makes shopping more fun!

Breakfast was yummy.  We’ve been making quick meals.  Oatmeal, cereal and high fiber toast, but one that is quick and easy is what I’ve called, “Fiesta Eggs”.

2 egg whites
1T Fat Free Skim Milk
Dash of spices
2% Shredded Cheddar
Diced tomatoes
1T Chunky salsa
1 Flour Tortilla
Tall glass of water

Beat eggs, milk, and spices. Scramble in pan. Put inside tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese put in microwave for about 30sec. Add tomatoes & salsa (mine is medium… gives it a little “fiesta” Also chunky salsa makes the eggs less runny) Wrap it up and you’re good to go! Make sure you enjoy your water too!
It took me a total of maybe 8 minutes start to finish and one really fills you up!

Also, yesterday for dinner I told myself I’m going to cook something that I’ve never done before.  Brace yourself, I steamed veggies.  I know; it’s such a small thing but something that I’ve never put much effort into.  I cut up 3 different kinds of squash, carrots, green beans (freshly snapped), onion, garlic, spices and a dash of soy sauce.  They were delicious.  I also made a very lean steak for my boyfriend and me to share, and a small batch redskin potatoes.  No salt, no butter, all flavored with spices and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Getting out side! Keith and I have been taking the initiative to get outside whenever we can.  We had one day off together made a day of being active.  We drove to our favorite comic book store called, “Third eye comics, in Annapolis.”  From there we drove around trying to find a beach to walk and read.  Didn’t have any luck there so we found a park less than 2 miles from our home!  It’s massive!  Spend a little time there, scoped out the hiking trails have lots more days off planned there.  Headed home for dinner and then went downtown D.C. for the evening.  Walking around, taking pictures, and just enjoying the nightlife.  It was wonderful.. and active!

Goals for next week! I’m doing well at work making sure to snack healthy through the day but I’m not getting the proper water consumption.  So my first goal for next week is to drink at least 60ounces of water at work per day.  That’s only three 20ounce bottles… I should be able to do that.  My second goal is to do more than just running for exercise.  Incorporate crunches, push-ups, and leg lifts as well.  Sure running will help out on all those areas as well but I need to put forth the effort to make those key areas tone as I lose the weight.  And third, continue to lose inches and pounds!  Stay on track and don’t let myself down!

Good luck all you healthy girls (and guys) out there!  I look forward to hearing from you guys as well!  We need to keep each other motivated!  Listen to that little voice in your head and your heart when it tells you you’re full; it hasn’t failed me yet!

Here’s to a healthy week 2!

<3 Carole

Height: 5 ‘ 7

Weight: 196 lbs (size 13/14)

Measurements: bust 46 “, chest 39 “,  hips 44″, waist 45″

BMI:  30.7

There couldn’t possibly be better timing for my guest spot on Getting Healthy. I moved last weekend and I am starting fresh. I have a new amazing place, I have an empty fridge, and I have motivation. I also have increased anxiety due to the stress and back pain again because of all that heavy lifting.

Anyways, I better share some background info so you can have a better understanding of me.  I’m from Canada — originally from a small town in British Columbia and I moved to Saskatchewan a couple years ago after I finished my education in holistic health.  I was fairly skinny in high school and have been gradually gaining weight for the past 8 years.  I’ve gained about 40 lbs since, which isn’t that bad, but I can totally feel it physically, emotionally, energetically, mentally, spiritually, and socio-culturally. I’m tired of feeling heavy, anxious, sluggish, overwhelmed, and self-conscious.  I just really need to start doing something so I feel better. I always feel like everything is so much effort and always feeling heavy and gross.

My goal is to be down at least 15 pounds after the eight weeks and down a bunch of inches. I’m also looking to gain energy and decrease anxiety. My plan of attack is regular exercise and regular healthier eating habits.  I usually work between 32-40 hours a week and once a week do community radio, a yoga class, and league bowl. I am a youth support worker in the inner city and my schedule is really irregular since I’m an on-call casual shift worker. This is going to make it difficult to establish regular exercise and eating habits, however, my work is pretty flexible. There are lots of opportunities to fit in activity and make healthy choices while getting paid.  I just need to choose to do so.

Right now, my diet is all right. I’m a vegetarian that experiments with raw foods and vegan foods. I am sensitive to milk products and think that I might also be sensitive to gluten.  My plan with my diet is to decrease the amount of sugar I intake and increase my protein and vegetables.

I play tenor banjo in a fat positive, riot grrl, country band called the Seahags.  We have our first time on stage this Wednesday! I am having some major anxiety and body issues about it. I’m constantly thinking about how things would be so much better if I was skinnier… I’ll try to get someone to take some pictures so I can share them with you next week. In the meantime here is a picture of me not in a bathing suit with my banjo, in front of my favourite abandoned building I have found so far in Saskatchewan:

This week will continue to be crazy since I’m still setting up my new place, working full-time, and have other commitments.  I’m going to make a huge effort to increase my activity and try to eat healthier foods more often and scheduled times.

To find out more about me and to see way more pictures you can check out my regular blog HERE.

One thing I would like to incorporate in my health journey is a regular home yoga practice? Does anyone practice yoga at home and have any tips or guidelines?

The holidays sure threw a wrench in my tires with seeing as many people as I could while in Michigan and then flying all over the country, and now here I am with my last post for Chapter 2…thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement!

Looking back over this chapter I started around 180-181 on the scale and currently am at around 176. I am pretty happy with this since I didn’t do much exercise wise over the holidays and I definitely can tell I am toning up and getting stronger thanks to my new gym routine. Speaking of the gym, I have already gone up on weights and resistance for all of the exercises I am doing, my balance is improving, I can see a little more definition in my legs, arms and back and can do twice as much core stuff than I could before I started. I am feeling pretty good about all of that.

I didn’t try any of the sugar free diets or anything I was thinking about, but I am okay with that. I just can’t do “diets”…I hate to deny myself anything I want. I am having success with moderation right now and it’s a routine that is really easy to stick with because I don’t feel I am depriving myself anything. Also, it’s great motivation when I’m on the bike or treadmill to see how long it takes me to burn calories…really makes me think twice when looking at the chocolate in the grocery checkout line.

As for things I am putting into my belly, I have continued to cut back on fast food to where I almost never have it (though being home, I fell into some old habits…curse you Tim Horton’s!). I also drank considerably less this chapter which is a great routine to keep up…I met up with a friend last night for a chat and only had one delicious beer over the 3 hours we sat there. Since returning to Washington I have also been trying to make an effort to continue exploring the city and the surrounding areas. I spent last Saturday evening dancing the night away with my friend Rachel, Sunday snowboarding with my buddy Jason and have been trying to find a new place to go hiking or snowshoeing this weekend. In a little over a week I head back up to Whistler for more boarding. So I am staying busy while trying to figure out exactly what I want to go to school for and getting that ball rolling. Things are probably going to get busy for me pretty quick.

Overall I just feel really fantastic. I have so much energy, I can run further, my calves aren’t bothering me as much, I sleep better and it’s not too shabby actually drawing some attention from the fellas when I am out and about *wink*. I am really looking forward to keeping up with all of this, I feel like I have formed habits that ARE easy to stick with and I don’t really have any excuse NOT to keep it up. I am happy I was able to get this all figured out now so that it will be easy to carry through into the next stage of my life, whatever that may be.

Doing my own thing since 1984!

So thank you again for those who followed along via comments here, Facebook and Twitter…I really appreciate it!

Hello again!
Let me start out by apologizing for last week–I totally fell off the earth! My posting day was actually on Christmas, and it slipped my mind…and continued to slip my mind until I remembered THIS week’s post. Yikes.

A bulleted list, to sort out all the little points that would make for the most epic paragraph ever.

• As I’ve mentioned before, my body doesn’t translate signals for hunger and thirst very well, which leads me to making faulty decisions. I’m an anxiety eater. When the going gets tough, I camp out in front of the fridge. Does it make me feel better? Absolutely not! But it’s a comfort for a little bit of time, so I rely on eating as my go-to method of stress relief. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been focusing on doing more things with my hands–playing piano, learning to crochet, painting and drawing–and it’s paid off in a large way. I’m learning to listen to my body to understand what’s boredom and what’s actual hunger.
• I spent a little bit of last week sick with stomach issues. For a few days, I wasn’t able to eat anything substantial and even after that, the nausea was pretty intense, so I didn’t have much of an appetite. During those days, I manily grazed on dried fruits, nuts, a LOT of water. Somehow, in this time frame, my body learned to feel satisfied with smaller portion sizes, which is awesome. I’ve always had the problem of overeating one meal per day and grazing at ungodly hours of the night, which isn’t exactly conducive to feeling good or being healthy. I feel like I have a lot more control over my eating habits than I have had in a very long time.
• Working with my hands more ties in with another pretty important point–I haven’t let myself stagnate over this break. I’m working long shifts on the weekends, hanging out with friends during the week, cleaning and organizing my room, planning for next semester, and generally keeping my mind and body busy. I haven’t been exercising, but my daily adventures are enough to have warranted a little weight loss, which I’ll talk about later. I feel good.


NYE: Sparklers and cute babies. It was good!

• I am completely decaffeinated now. I had a Dr. Pepper the other morning, thinking it would perk me up a little bit, but it tasted…strange, after nearly three weeks without soda. No headaches, no worries at all. I really, really want to try to stick to this, because drinking as much water as I am recently is so good for my body. So good.
  - In the same vein, I’ve reduced my fast-food eating to about once per week, which is fantastic, considering I used to eat Wendy’s at least once per day.
• I need to exercise more, but right now, I’m feeling alright. I’m ready for school to start back, so I can get the daily workout of the trek across campus. If I can keep up with my healthy habits, I foresee more weight loss in my immediate future.

Most recent upper-body shot. New camera, happy Christmas!

All of these changes have culminated into a total weight loss for this project of 8 pounds (221 to 213). I actually lost down to 208 while I was sick, but most of that was water weight and came right back. But seeing that number on the scale was encouraging–I hope to be down below 200 pounds by February. It’s getting easier to stick with these healthy choices when I see the results of them.
I’m learning that it’s not impossible for me to lose weight. It’s not impossible for me to feel good. It’s not a futile effort, as I’ve felt it was before. Every day is an opportunity to make good choices. Sometimes I won’t be as “good” as I could be, but as a whole, taking care of myself is paying off and I’ve had more confidence in the past month than I remember having…well, ever. It’s refreshing.

And so it is… the end of chapter II.

What I’ve learned…

• My self-esteem and body-image varies from day-to-day and I need to focus more on enhancing my mood than enhancing my body (which should come as result of the mood enhancement, yes?).
• Losing weight won’t fix my problems. Only a couple and even then, it’s not something that gets to be conquered. It’s something that has to be continuously nurtured.
• A LOT about my own eating style, exercise habits, etc…
• Emotional stress makes it hard for me to stick to an exercise routine. I frequently view it as a punishment and alternately view not exercising as a reward. This is a habit that needs to be broken.
• That I feel I’m better off going this alone. I feel Getting Healthy has prepared me to take the reins and that I know for a fact I would not have gotten this far without it, but unfortunately- more than anything- I’ve been bogged down with guilt that I haven’t been more involved with all of the other ladies and with returning comments to all of you readers and supporters.

What I’ve accomplished…

• More exercise than I’ve gotten in a couple of years and a good start on a routine. Or at least more accountability to have one.
• Being good at counting calories. I splurged a lot in there as far as eating out, but I made sure to keep the calories in check.
• Losing weight. I’ve stayed at 218 since I got off of my menses, but that’s still five pounds from where I started and I did manage eight. So if nothing else, at least now I know that I CAN do this without going about it unhealthily- it just might take more work. But it might also be the difference between long-term success and just piling pounds back on once I reach a “desired weight.”
• I’ve quit smoking with the exception of one big foul-up. I love this. Every passing day I feel freer and freer from the burden of it.
• I genuinely feel better about myself. For that alone, I definitely feel I’ve come out on top.

So with that, I bid you all farewell. I wish all of you luck in your own endeavours for a healthier lifestyle, especially all of the amazing girls participating in Getting Healthy!