Healthy You Check In

Like my new bling? I'm really quite fond of it myself :)

Things seem to be going quite well on both the exercise and eating fronts lately and finally I had a loss that shows it (3.8lbs). What can I say? Love does a body good! ;)

Now that I'm down 40 lbs, the compliments have been rolling in from people around me and while they are of course lovely to hear, I still find myself doubting what they are saying. Yes, I do feel MUCH better than I did 40 lbs heavier. But when I look in the mirror, I really don't see the difference. Ugh! I had read in other blogs about people feeling this way but I never thought it would happen to me. I mean yes, I feel that my thighs and butt are way more firm and I've really just noticed the last few weeks how my tummy feels smaller. But I look in the mirror and what I see is still very unappealing. And it doesn't seem to look any different than it did 5 months ago. But it must!! I don't know why our minds do this to us but it's making me understand (just a little bit) how the mind of an anorexic works. If I went by how I saw myself in the mirror, do you think I'd ever think I was thin enough or firm enough? I really don't know. My clothes tell me I'm smaller, my measurements tell me I'm smaller, my scale tells me I'm lighter... so why don't I see it? I think maybe it's time to do another full length pic of myself to compare to my first one. I've been dreading doing that but I think it's time.

On another note, here's the last update on my May goals:
1- At the beginning of April I set the goal of losing 10 lbs by Mother's Day. I did it, actually 10.8/10
2- Run 5K on Mother's Day without stopping. Did it!
3- Lose 5 lbs by May 21 (that's the day I'm going to see M) I ended up at 5.8/5!!
4- Lose 8 lbs by June 2. 7.8/8
5- Get 1200 minutes of cardio this month. 817 so far.. not quite sure if I'm going to reach this one. I'm out of town starting Thursday and only have one workout left before I go.
6- Run 3 times a week. Only twice last week.. missed Thursday's run because I was out of town

Weigh in #20 & Measurements

Wow.. it's hard to believe that 20 weeks have gone by already and that I've stuck to it the majority of that time. Well, I finally saw a decent loss this week. In fact, it's quite an awesome loss if I do say so myself LOL. I'm down 3.8 lbs, which takes me over the 40lbs gone mark. Can't wait for my new bling tomorrow! The thing is, I barely tracked my food intake this last week. But I know that I didn't over-do it and I really did watch what I ate. And I also can recognize that I really didn't do much boredom eating and snacking, which is what usually kills me. It was a busy week! This week is another busy one as I'm getting ready to take the girls up north to M's house. We are leaving on Thursday and not coming back until next Monday. This means I probably won't be super great at tracking my food again but it should also mean that once again I'm too busy for the boredom munchies. Hopefully I can report a good loss again next week!

It's also been 4 weeks since my last measurements so here we go...

4 weeks ago:
231 lbs
41" waist
45.5" hips
44.25" bust

Today:
223.2 lbs
39" waist (woohoooooooooo!!!!!)
45" hips
43"bust

Total difference this month: 3.75" and 7.8lbs
Total difference since the start: 22" and 40.4lbs

The craziest thing is that 12 of those inches have come off my waist. That is a crazy thought!! I can only imagine how much healthier my body now is compared to 4.5 short months ago. I'm SO glad I made the decision to start upon this journey and made THIS the year to make the change.

Shiny happy people...

Can you tell I'm a happy girl today? LOL Just LOOK! A little closer.... SEE what M gave me yesterday????? Well, that, amongst many other things would explain the happy (yes, that's crazy goofy happy, not psycho scary freaky) look on my face. (Have you ever noticed how hard it is to take a pic of yourself where you have a half normal looking expression on your face?!? but that's a whole other post LOL). I am not normally a jewellery person, but I may have to make an exception because it seems as though M has every intention of spoiling me. I'm a very lucky girl!!!!

I got back last night from my trip up to Edmonton to see M and the whole thing was just... well, bliss. There was so much makin' out that I felt like a teenager LOL. But I rationalize that by saying that the last time I dated anyone, I WAS a teenager! It was just awesome to spend time with him and just to have him hold me. Oh oh oh oh and a certain "L" word was used. He's been alluding to feeling that word for a while now but I've always hushed him and told him not to say it. I've told him that it's too soon for that, he's crazy, he's blind, etc etc. But he said it and I didn't stop him. Actually, it felt really nice to hear it. Really. Nice. I feel like I'm walking on clouds... I feel like I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

And, to top off my happy news, I totally met my goal of losing 5 lbs by yesterday. In fact, I lost closer to 6. Hopefully it all stays off (and then some) until my official WI on Monday!

Healthy You Check In

After a less than stellar eating weekend and a minimal loss yesterday, I am seriously kicking up the activity so that I can have a hope of reaching my goal of losing 5lbs by this Thursday. After my WI yesterday, I still had 1lb to go but I did a kick arse 7km run yesterday morning plus a 30 min. brisk walk last night, and pretty much 2 hours of cardio this morning (I ran to the Y, worked out on the elliptical and w/weights and than walked home - all uphill of course). At the moment I'm feeling a little beat but once I eat I should hopefully feel better.

So.. I'm really excited. I get to see M tomorrow night!!!!! I'm driving up to Edmonton after I get the girls to bed (yep, solo) and not coming home until Thursday night. And no, it's not an overnight date LOL! My cousin happens to live quite conveniently close to M's parent's house and that's where I'll be staying. I guess technically it's only our second date but really, it's much beyond that seeing as we spend hours on the phone daily (only a slight exaggeration). If you missed it before, here's how M and I met. So this afternoon I need to go shopping to find something to wear. I did find a pair of capris on the weekend but I'd really like to find a cute skirt if I can.

Actually that talk about shopping leads me to a NSV I had this weekend. First of all, I bought 2 pairs of workout capris in get this, a size large!!!! I seriously don't ever remember buying a size large before. Granted, they run a little big but STILL, a large! Not a XXL or 2X or whatever. WOOHOO! And even cooler, my mom wore a pair and they fit her. I am finally back to the same size (well, pretty much) as my mom. Holy crap! I'm finding that I am on the borderline of being able to shop in many regular stores instead of just the plus stores, for bottoms anyways. I thought I would be thrilled about that but honestly, it's a little overwhelming. Way too many stores to look in and way too many choices. I need some serious shopping time WITHOUT 2 screaming kids in tow.

Anyhow, on to my weekly update on my monthly goals..

1- At the beginning of April I set the goal of losing 10 lbs by Mother's Day. I did it, actually 10.8/10
2- Run 5K on Mother's Day without stopping. Did it!
3- Lose 5 lbs by May 21 (that's the day I'm going to see M) I'm at 4.0/5
4- Lose 8 lbs by June 2. That's one month from today and that's on an offical WI day. 4.0/8
5- Get 1200 minutes of cardio this month. 702 so far..
6- Run 3 times a week. Only twice last week, plus one day of other cardio... umm cuz I got lazy

I can't wait to check in with all of you later today!!

Weigh In #19

I reaaaaallllly didn't want to weigh in today. I'll admit it, I've been a bad girl the last few days and have indulged in some foods that I shouldn't have. Actually, for most of last week I found it really difficult to keep my eating under control. It wasn't all "bad" foods, just too much in general. And I didn't get in an extra run this weekend like I'd been planning either. By the time I had the chance to do it on Saturday, it was 33 degrees (Celsius) and waaaaaaay to hot.

So I think I'm down 0.2. Way better than a gain! My scale was being just plain cruel to me though as when I first weighed myself prior to my shower, it was telling me 222.6, three times in a row! I KNEW there was no way that was accurate. By the time I was done my shower and did my hair, I had somehow magically "gained" and was back up at 227. LOL Same floor, same spot, same foot position. I'm going with the higher number, just to be safe. As much as I'd LOVE to claim the lower number as that would take me over the awesome 40lb mark, I'd just be setting myself up for disapointment for the rest of the week when the scale is more normal.

As far as activity goes, I've had a hard time just DOING IT. My mom literally had to push me out the door this morning to go for my run (and I'm SO thankful she did). I knew I just had to get going and would be good once I did. It was the most beautiful weather for running so while pushing baby K in the jogging stroller, we ran for a total of 6.94 km! My pace is slow and steady .. we ran for 56 minutes. I feel so much better now!

A little bummed..

Today has been a little crappy. I had been hoping to enter into a dental assisting program in August but just found out the program is completely full with a mile long waiting list. The student advisor said I should still apply and get on the list and I may get in during the February intake. So why didn't I find this out earlier? The course calendar said that registration for the program didn't begin until three months prior to the program start date (which has not yet passed). The program is already full because these are the people that have been on the waitlist for last February's intake. OMG!!!! So... I'm feeling very discouraged. I'm so sick of waiting... I just want to get on with life!

Oh, and my 83 year old Grandma got into a car accident last night. Nothing serious (thank god!!) but it was her fault and now dealing with all of that is pretty stressful. In all honesty, she probably shouldn't be driving anyways...

So.. food-wise I didn't do so hot. Too much snacky type stuff, not enough healthy meal type stuff. But tomorrow is a new day.. I'll start it out with a workout at the Y, get my pedicure and make sure I eat better.

Healthy You Check In

As I sit here typing this, I'm still sweaty and recovering this morning's run but all I could think about while I was running was getting back and posting here that

I ran 6K this morning!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm a little proud of myself. I may not be very fast (it took me about 46 minutes) but I did it. It was just such a beautiful morning outside that I decided not to make my typical trip to the Y, where I've been struggling to stay motivated to run on the gerbil wheel most of us call the treadmill. The 6K really flew by this morning so I've decided that it may be a good idea to mix up my routine and perhaps run outside 2X per week and workout at the Y with other cardio and weights 2X per week. We'll see how that goes.

Anyways, for my run today and for my 5K run on Sunday, I'm awarding myself this shiny new bling:


(Thank you Diana for the awesome new buttons you made!!)

And, due to my loss of 2.2 lbs this week, I get more new bling:



My mantra this month has been "Motivated in May" and it seems to be working!!

1- At the beginning of April I set the goal of losing 10 lbs by Mother's Day. I did it!! Actually I lost 10.8 lbs!
2- Run 5K on Mother's Day without stopping. Done!!
3- Lose 5 lbs by May 21 (that's the day I'm going to see M) I'm at 3.8/5
4- Lose 8 lbs by June 2. That's one month from today and that's on an offical WI day. 3.8/8
5- Get 1200 minutes of cardio this month. 427 so far..
6- Run 3 times a week. Done!!

I look forward to checking in with everyone today!!