Weigh in Wednesday - Off the Wagon

 Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Today is April 2nd. This means that it's Autism Awareness Day which means a lot to me because my little sister Jessi has Asperger's. I originally went into Special Education because of a heart I had for children with Autism. I have met so many wonderful people who have Autism or who know someone who has it. Today is a day to just shine some awareness. I am wearing blue so that we can "Light It Up Blue" for Autism. It also means that tomorrow is my birthday.... woah! I don't have any big plans other then dinner and a movie with some girl friends but that sounds perfect to me.

I have not linked up with the weigh in Wednesday crew because of all the crazy stuff happening in March. I knew that I had gained just because of everything and at first was not going to link back up until I had lost, but then I realized that everyone goes through a gain period and so might as well put it out there.

I did not take a picture of the scale this morning because I wasn't expecting to post today but I figured why not.                                                              

                                                                Starting Weight - 239.4

4/2/2014 - 231.9

Loss this week - +2.6

Total Loss - 7.5 lbs

 

Yes, a gain of 2.6 but it was worse, last week I was about a pound heavier so I'll take it for now. With this being my birthday week I am not too hopeful for next week but I am still going to make an effort because even just .5 lbs is a loss and I am hoping for one!

 

Hope you guys have a great Wednesday!

 

Jenny

Weigh In Wednesday - Back on Track

Another Wednesday is upon us. I feel like they are coming and going so fast this year. I remember in high school that my mom told me that as you get older every year goes by faster and faster and she could not be more right. I am linking up with Ash and Heather for Weigh in Wednesday!

It was another off week for me, I had dinner date after dinner date with people that I had not been able to spend time with in a while. Then there was this past weekend. Wedding on Saturday and Birthday Dinner on Sunday.

Saturday my best friend Kirsten's sister got married. Kirsten and I met a year ago at a 5K run and I spent sooo much time at her house that I became a part of the family. There are 4 girls in the family and the oldest, Megan who is actually my age got married to her man, Brian on Saturday. It was at the Wheeler House in Ball Ground, GA and it couldn't have been any more beautiful. It was a barn set wedding and very rustic, the ceremony was amazing and the reception was so much fun. They served BBQ and so I was in heaven. Every person ended up out on the dance floor including grandparents!!

                      

                       

Sunday my friend Brittany turned 26! She is in my Wednesday night bible study group and lives in Atlanta so that automatically makes her that much cooler. We went to a neat restaurant called Fritti near Inman Park. It has these huge garage doors that open up to the street and since the weather was glorious on Sunday they had them opened. Fritti has amazing wood fire pizzas and they were soooo good. I pretty much ate my entire pizza and don't regret a thing. I just love a good celebration.

                        

 

Anyways I knew that with my crazy weekend full of celebrations that my Monday weigh was not going to be too good, so I decided to weigh in today and then next Monday pick back up with the Monday weigh ins. Hopped on the scale this morning and....

                               

 

Starting Weight - 239.4

3/5/2014 - 229.3

Loss this week - -0.9

Total Loss - 10.1 lbs

 

So glad that I decided to wait until today because I am sure Monday was a wreck, I am not back at the 10lb lost mark and hope to keep it gone and not put it back on. March is a crazy month for me. I am going to be in Germany for 9 days to visit my brother and sister in love and their beautiful children who I am obsessed with. I am meeting baby Ben who was born in August for the first time and I cannot wait to get all the snuggles I have missed out on. My best friend is also getting engaged this month and she knows it's this month but doesn't know when. I do and am helping with all the details so I cannot wait for it to happen! I will for sure be doing a post after it happens.

 

Has anyone heard the song #Selfie by Chain Smokers?? I heard it on the radio a month ago and thought it was a joke, it's so stupid that I'm sort of addicted. Ashamed, yet addicted.

 

Jenny

Weigh In Wednesday - The big 1-0!

Well this past week was so very off, I had Wednesday and Thursday off due to the winter weather we received here, and by the end of that time I was so ready to be back at work. While I love a good couple of days off, I do not like when my schedule is all messed up. Work helps move the week along towards the weekend so as much as I loved playing board games I was so ready for normalcy.

The kids already had Friday and Monday planned off for President's Day and I ended up with Monday off. This was a good thing because all weekend I was layed up in bed with some awful infection I am just now getting over.

With the crazy week my eating was a little crazy. I had French fries three times. Three times too many and I was certain it was going to be a gain this week. But since I was sick and Sunday was spent having soup and PowerAde, I lucked out.

This week I stepped on the scale and...

                         



Starting Weight - 239.4

2/18/2014 - 228.0

Loss this week - 1.9

Total Loss - 11,4 lbs

That's right folks, I hit the big TEN loss!!!! Woot woot!!!!! So happy. I know that I have lost and gained weight so many times but hitting 10lbs gone for forever just makes me elated. I am seeing the difference in my clothes. My black pants that I always wear and getting loose and will need to be replaced soon I am sure. A lot of my workout pants are getting loose too, my shorts that I usually wear are definitely getting loose and really riding up instead of staying where they normally do. Guess it's time to hit up Ross soon!
 

I am back on track today, totally in calorie range and making the best decisions. No more French fries for this girl! The only thing is that I wish I could exercise but I am not pushing it at all until I am 100% well. No need to make this sickness stick around longer then it needs to.

I guess that's it for now. I have been taking pictures every week to go in my weight loss binder and looked to see if I could see a difference in the way I looked and I really couldn't tell a whole lot. If anything I think my boobs are getting a little smaller and I am totally ok with that haha. I would show the pictures but I have not uploaded them yet. Hopefully by next week I will!

Have a great Wednesday!

Jenny



Weigh In Wednesday - 1 Month

Here we are at my 4th official weigh in here with the weigh-in-Wednesday crew. I love this link up, I love the community, and I love the encouragement. There is nothing pushing me more then knowing that once a week I can bare my all and people are there to cheer me on or give me an encouraging word. So thank you again!

I am off today because of the ice/snow here in Atlanta. This is round 2 for us to redeem ourselves after the last one so I'm hoping we do better! It's different this time though because the ice is crazy. At least it gave me some time to get in a nice workout at our gym here at the apartment. Who knows if and when the power might go out. Anyways....

This is now my 1 month mark since I started eating better and I must say it's been a fantastic month. I have been eating wayyy better then I have in the past years and I am feeling much better. I know that this is the time it's really going to work because it's not just a "diet" it's a lifestyle change. I am making better decisions every where I go and to me that is a big difference.

A few things that have majorly changed for me are fast food and soda. Yes I have had fast food here and there, but it has mostly been Subway or Moe's. When I have these though it's not going all out crazy, its making sure that I choose wisely and that I make the healthier choice rather then just listening to what my brain thinks I want. I have not had McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendys, Burger King, or any of the like in over a month. Now that's just about a record for me. I have only had French fries one time and that was this past week at Chili's I really wanted them and decided I could have them every now and again, just not every day.

Soda has been a huge undertaking, luckily I was already off and on it for a few months but just switched over to sweet tea, lemonade, powerade, and juice. Basically anything else sugary that I could substitute for soda, which is not an better. Since starting my weight loss I have only had 1 sweet tea. ONE. That's it, everything else that I drink is water. All day, every day, and I love it. Sometimes I add a lemon here or there but taking in water has made me feel a ton better.

I also started a weight loss binder this past week. Basically it's a mini binder with page protectors and sheets of paper. Every Monday when I weigh in I take two pictures of myself and then log my information into my binder. I print out the pictures and put them next to the info every week. I can look anytime I want to see the progress I am making and the physical changes I am seeing in my body. I love it so much, I can't wait to look when I get down 30-40 pounds and see what a change I have made and how much more I can do!

Last week was a good normal week for me. My kids were all in school again for a whole which is a welcomed change. They are out again this week due to weather so now that makes 3 out of the last 4 weeks out of school -_-. I love them, I just am not ready for summer yet haha! But anywho it was a good week, I tracked everything except for Saturday (Chili's and guacamole, lots of it) but I did go hike the mountain on Sunday which is my favorite thing to do. I felt good about my weigh in, I had been monitoring it all week because my diet bet ends in like 3 days and I wanted to see how it was going.

                                      

  
  Yay!!!! 2.5 this week!!!! I am so excited. I keep expecting to get on the scale and not see it move or even gain weight. I am realizing though that because I am really making changes and really sticking to it that I am actually going to keep losing weight.

Starting Weight - 239.4

2/10/2014 - 229.9

Loss this week - 2.5

Total Loss - 9.5 lbs

My goal this week is to get to that 10 pound loss, I am sure that I can as long as I keep on doing what I have been doing.
My diet bet ends on Friday too and I need to be at 228.4 so I need to kick it into gear to make sure get that last 1.5 lb off so I can win my money back.

Have a great Wednesday.

Jenny

Weigh In Wednesday - Keep on Keeping On

Another crazy week in the life of this nanny.

As I stated in my last post, we had the 2014 Snowpocolypse which caused me to be stranded at my bosses house over night, and then caused my kiddos to be out of school for three days. Talk about throwing a wrench into your schedule. When things get stressful all I want to do is eat. I didn't have pizza and fried rice this week, but my sweet tooth kicked in and I had a chocolate or two too many. That's ok, sometimes you need just 1 piece and you can stop.

This was also Super Bowl week, or also known in my world as the Food Bowl. Of course I had a fantastic party to attend with the best food known to man. I didn't do too bad, I only ended up eating one piece of pie and then the snacks here and there but I kept my big bottle of water with me and sipped the whole night. This kept me full and also made me had one less hand to use to eat so I couldn't eat as much, haha.

I am in the process right now of learning to cook for 1 person instead of 6 or more like I grew up learning to do. This causes me to take many a more grocery trips throughout the week to get more fresh food but that is ok with me. My new favorite thing is this Beef and Broccoli I made, it has honey and vanilla with soy sauce and Siracha. I know it seems like a weird combo but with just the right amount of each you are talking about perfection.

                                      

Monday I rolled out of bed and immediately changed into my weigh in clothing and went pee and then hopped right on that scale. I thought maybe I would be down 1 or less and go this....

                                   

 

Yep down 3.1!!! So happy with that! Not much exercise with that one since I wasn't able to do my normal Sunday mountain. I can only think how much more I could have if I had just walked a couple of days...that's what this next week is for!

Starting Weight - 239.4

2/4/2014 - 232.4

Loss this week - 3.1

Total Loss - 7 lbs
 

I am taking in a lot more water these days. Since I started this whole thing about 3 weeks ago I have not touched any soda at all, I call that a success. It's all water all the time for me. My goal is to be drinking at least 64oz. a day.

Yesterday I got a package from my Cara partner Audrey, she has been so fun to get to know. She sent me the best box ever! I am going to be posting on that later in the week.

                                       

I also got a box from my mom yesterday and one from my Mimi today. So blessed to get care packages from my family. It makes being single around Valentines Day that much more bearable haha. It really doesn't bother me that much, I just make extra money and babysit for people! Winner winner, chicken dinner!

                                    

Happy Hump Day!


Jenny

Weigh in Thursday?? - Snowpocolpyse

Well I know it's Thursday. Wednesday was a crazy day for me and thus no time to sit down at a computer and fill all you in on my weigh in this past Monday.

So for starters I had all of last week off. Which was good and bad at the same time. Good in the fact that I could rest and work out as much as I wanted. Bad because if I didn't keep myself busy enough I had a house full of food that I thought I could just eat. I didn't do too bad. Most of the week was awesome I got a good few walks in.

The weekend wasn't the best per say. I babysat on Friday night and they ordered Pizza. I have been so use to having my pita pizza and salad as a meal but this was Papa Johns. I figured I could do 1 slice but ended up eating three :( not the best. Then Saturday my roomie and her boyfriend and I went to dinner at a sushi/hibachi place and I got fried rice. Yet again not so good. Sunday morning though I decided to make up for it and go hike the 6 mile loop of Kennesaw Mountain. I got up and did it at about 9:30 and by the end was so glad I did. I burned 1110 calories. So that took care of that.

I realized though that I was sooo hungry and wasn't really understanding it. Then I thought hmm maybe I should look on my period tracker and sure enough it was suppose to hit in 2-3 days. This made much more sense to me because a few days before my period I am insatiable.

Monday I woke up and was a tad nervous as to how the scale would look. I hopped on and...

Starting Weight - 339.4

1/30/2014 - 335.5

Total Loss - 3.9 lbs

Gained .5, considering unwise eating choices and a looming gift from Mother Nature, I will take it! I know the mistakes I made and am so on board to fix them. So far this week has not been too bad. We had the massive snowstorm which caused me to be stuck at work but luckily I have food stashed here for the week so I was covered. We did however make a cake and I had a slice, but it was just one and not 3-4 so that's a win.

I got to go home last night because the roads were much more clear and this morning I was able to make it into work with no problems. I am now ready to get completely back on board tracking and working out. My water intake is pretty good, I need to up it a bit, but I have not had any soda or sweet tea. Only one glass of orange juice in the morning.

Oh and remember how I said I was getting my hair done last week, well I did and I love it soooo very much!

Have a great week!

Jenny

Weigh In Wendesday - A New Normal

First I would like to say thanks to all the people who commented and cheered me on last week when I posted where I was. It is nice to know there is such a great community out there to support me as I go on this journey.

Linking up with the girls over at Weigh In Wednesday!

This first week as all about making a new normal for me. Instead of eating fast food and soda it was more greens and water. I thought it was going to be really tough like it has been the last few times I have attempted to lose weight. I would have a super low calorie lunch so then I could have fast food at night. I am now spreading my calories all through out the day and choosing better choices. I think I am realizing that I am treating this while journey differently this time then I ever have.

I feel different and much more optimistic about actually changing my health and not just losing weight.

I am using the My Fitness Pal app which has me eating about 1700 calories a day to lose 1 1/2 pounds a week and it is so manageable for me. I have been working out 3-4 times a week, whether it's hiking or walking at a local park. Back in December one of my best friends Kirsten got me this awesome water bottle. She knows how much I love water bottles and said she heard about this one from a friend and had to get one for me. It is called a MooseJaw and has a compartment for your license and key so that you can take it running with you.

This past week was really good food wise. Saturday was somewhat of a wash with so much going on but I was more aware of what I was eating and knew that I would be going over my calories but that it wasn't a huge deal, so I didn't track. Sunday I tracked and it included 2 slices of pizza at church for dinner, but that was about as bad as it got, and even when tracking it I came in under calories.

I am off this whole week because the nanny fam is in Colorado skiing which is a nice change of pace. Mostly resting and doing things that I normally wouldn't do, due to lack of time. Tomorrow I am going to get my hairs done. I have never really had them professionally done but decided with the new healthier me, I'm going to get a new do as well. This is what I am going to try to go for, can't wait to see how it turns out!!

Now for the moment we all have been waiting for.

I think I mentioned that I have chosen to weigh in on Monday mornings. Well this past Monday my eyes shot open and I knew it was weigh in day. I had weighed in mid week because I joined a diet bet and it was looking good so I was excited to see what the scale would say.

I stepped on and saw this....

My mouth dropped open. I went and typed it into My Fitness Pal and it proudly displayed that I had lose 4.4 lbs!!!! Wow.

Looking back when I did Weigh In Wednesday link ups I never lost more then 2.5 lbs so to lose 4 makes me soooo excited. It's such a motivator to keep working at it. I am realizing that drastic life changes bring drastic results.

I can't wait to see what this next week brings.

Jenny 

Weigh In Wednesday - Here We Go Again

Oh man.

Where do I begin. I am not quite sure, all I know is that I have gained way too much weight. After the holidays and being around so many people and looking back at pictures of when I was at my thinnest, I realized that there is nothing that should be keeping me from being there again. I just need the will power and I feel like I have it. I have decided to weigh in on Mondays but I am still going to write up my blog on Wednesdays.

I weighed myself this past Monday and was pretty ashamed at my weight. 239.4.....woah.

It laid heavily on my heart as I looked down at the number. It really clicked then, that things have gotten out of control.

While on my computer and cleaning up files I found one about my weight loss journey a year and half ago and it had me as low as 193. Which means I gained 46 pounds in a year a half. How is that even possible I ask myself, but I can't reflect on that. All I can think about is doing my hardest at not ever getting back to this place again.

When I have gained and lost weight in the past it has always been something where I would eat one really fatty meal from Chick Fil A or McDonalds and then squeeze in a lean cuisine for lunch or dinner. As long as everything fit into my calorie count then I was ok. I would even work out to earn more calories to eat like a reward and would use every calorie available. Looking back I now realize that is why I have not been able to keep off the weight, my lifestyle has not really changed at all.

That's what I am ready to do though. Try different foods, make sure I am eating 3 solid meals and 2 hearty snacks as well and exercising. For the last two days I have done fantastic, I still have the occasional piece of chocolate but it's just or two pieces instead of the entire bar or 2 or 3. I am keeping fruit in my purse and my water bottle in tow to make sure that any time I get hungry that I have a good choice right at my fingertips instead of getting a KitKat at the store.

So here's to a new year and a new beginning.

Jenny

Getting Back On Track....Again

Well it's been a while since I have joined up with the Weigh in Wednesday crew.

My summer was crazy, 3 kids, 50 hours a week, on top of attempting to get in as many vacations and fun trips with friends = Jenny doesn't focus. When I don't focus, I don't do good, eating or working out.

I could say every excuse in the book, but the reality is, I didn't work hard and it shows. I gained weight which is sad to me just because I love who I am, I just wish I was healthy. I am working on it yet again slowly but surely.

The kids went back to school on Monday, so I decided I too should get back on board, eating and exercising.

I am using My Fitness Pal (user name Jennylynn4390) and have decided to put in to lose 1lb a week. Which gives me 1800 calories each day to eat. I attempted the 1500 but I was on the struggle bus, but with 1800 I seem to be able to manage a lot better and not just give up and go out of control.

I started on Monday walking 2 miles in between all my projects and errands that I am doing throughout the day and then Monday night I went home and had so much energy that I went running at a park by my apartment.

 

Tuesday was just as good workout wise, I had the best intentions of running at night, but instead I ended up walking and was just as happy. It was a cool evening and the sunset view over the park was just to die for.

 

 

Sometimes I get frustrated because it is hard for me to run or I just don't feel like working out. During my Tuesday morning walk I was thinking and come to the realization that even if I just walk for 10 minutes at a time whenever I get the chance, that it's better then nothing. Because if I do that every day all week that's 70 extra minutes of walking in which I would normally just be sitting. I need to learn to not be so hard on myself and just know that if I do something (no matter what it is), it's better than nothing. So I made this little gem to keep me focused.

 

 

Yesterday I was really craving Shrimp and Rice for some reason so I found a neat recipe from Allyou magazine called Shrimp Skillet and made it. The rice was a little undercooked so I let it sit a little longer but overall it was a really good meal and each serving was only 333 calories and very filling. I will be posting a blog post on it and the Snicker Doodle Apple Pie Bars I made as well.

 

 

Here's to getting back on the wagon again.

 

Jenny 







This is the Moment - Weigh In Wednesday

Linking up again for Weigh In Wednesday, in my opinion the best link up all week :)

Alrighty here we go again. I just read Ashley's blog post for today about having those periods where we are just lazy and don't do anything and that was me for about 3 weeks but on Monday I decided that the time was right again to start taking back control over my life. I got up really early on Monday morning and did the next run on my Ease into 5K. So by the time I got to the house I nanny at I had already walk/run 2 miles and had a solid 33 oz of water to drink. It set the tone for the day and I did really good snacking wise, with green beans and watermelon taking the place of the rice krispy treat and cheese puffs. I ate some tuna and crackers at around 11 and then had an actual lunch around 3, dinner was only ok as I had Mexican but I didn't eat as much as I usually do.

Tuesday rolled around and my food choices were so-so still no rice krispy treats and no unnecessary snacking. I am attempting to keep the kids and I as busy as possible so then I don't have time to think about snacking. We went and saw Epic at a Dine-In movie theater and so my food choice was no bueno on top of the fact that the kids ordered desserts that they ended up not liking them and so I ended up having a bit, but I made up for it in dinner with a bowl of soup that's only 5 points. Then I took the Milo Man to the park and did a good 2 mile walk to keep us both in shape, he just loves walks and car rides so when we merge the two he is in heaven.

Last night I got to bed at around 10 because I knew that I was going to get up early to run again. I love the energy I end up having and the mood I am in after a good run and shower. It makes getting up at 6am not that bad at all.  My Ease into 5K today was Warm Up, run 7 minutes, walk 2, Run 5, walk 2, Run 7 and Cool Down. So that means that I ran for a total of 19 minutes....woah. Crazy talk. Didn't really think or know I could but I did even though I wanted to stop because I wasn't feeling well but I was determined. My pace seems to be slowing down but I am ok with that because as long as I keep running and not stop I am proud of myself.

I decided not to hop on the scale today and will hop on next week and post my weight.

On the water drinking front I am becoming a water drinking fiend! On Monday I logged 115 oz and yesterday I logged 140oz!!!! It is 9:30 right now and as I type this I have already had 33oz today with so much time left today! I am hoping to keep this up, if I can along with eating better and walking/running every day then I know I can get these pounds off. My goal right now is to make it to 200lbs by Labor day which is about 1lb a week that I know I can do if I stay focused.


Today is A's (the oldest) birthday. She is 9 which is crazy because she was 7 when I started watching her. She is growing up so much and loves softball right now which makes this nanny super happy. You can find us throwing the ball and practicing her swing often in the back yard. I am sure that this year will be just as exciting as the last. We have a fun filled day planned and I will post about it later. For now her and W ran to my car this morning to show me what she got and how excited they were for our fun day planned. I love these kids and love my job!!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Jenny

So Simple Yet So Hard - Weigh In Wednesday

So the last time I actually took a picture of me on the scale and posted it on here was about a month ago and I weighed in at 210.1.

Well let's fast forward to today a month later with two vacation trips, one being a very long one down to Florida to see family that I haven't seen in a while. Coupled with many a mishap (speeding ticket, flat tire....). I didn't have the time or the care to count and pay attention to what I was eating and or exercise.

I realize that once I let bad habits start to slip back in they come back at full force and it's hard to re-establish good habits. So I stepped on the scale today and it's a whopping 214.7. Whomp whomp. Honestly, could have been way worse, didn't quite make it up to my highest ever at 216.3. But keeping at the rate I am going it could so easily get there in about another month.

I seem to be having a real hard time with food this time around, I guess it's not easy when it is all around you and the kids eat snacks and all I want is just chips and a rice krispie treat. That certainly is no excuse for getting lazy and not preparing snacks ahead of time. I just need to be more disciplined. Seriously though I feel like I am always hungry and just cannot get enough to eat. I think something in my brain is off and when I am full it doesn't know when to tell me. I probably need to go see a Dr. and see if that is indeed the case. I also have hypothyroid and am not on medication that I should be taking right now. And now I realize I am attempting to make excuses for my behavior. This doesn't really affect anyone but me but I feel like I need to get it into gear.

My goal for this next week is no soda, I need to get back into that routine again. Starting small but that's how change happens.

I have had 64 oz of water today so far and no soda, (can't say the same for the last week or so) and I did better then I have been doing food wise. I still have a long way to go. Thanks for all of the encouragement and sticking around. If I were yall I would be like "this chick is crazy why can't she get it together" well I am crazy and I am learning a lot about myself and it seems it's just gonna take a little longer for me to get it together then I would like.

Jenny

Weigh In Wednesday! Week 9

It's Wednesday again!!! Woohoo!

Lets see this last week was mailer busy for me and it included a trip to the beach and back. You can read all about it here! I had a blast and didn't go too crazy or so I thought. I was in my points range this week but we will see.

I have cut my soda intake like crazy and only allow myself one a day on the weekends so that's a total of 2 sodas a week. When I look back at like January and I was having 4-6 a day I am amazed. For me it's nice to see it as a simple treat rather then a "necessity" which it was for so long. I do not wish to go back there again any time soon.

I didn't really track my exercise or water intake this week. But am starting to again this next week and will have a report next Wednesday on how I did.

Usually when I am home by myself I cook. Well last night was the case and so I decided to make something I have made before. Asian Chicken Drumsticks from Skinny Taste and then just some green beans with garlic. Yum. So good. And now I have some meals for this week.

I am planning on doing my May 5K this Saturday because next weekend it's gonna be crazy with my bro and SIL and the kiddos coming in. Not to mention my bro has only 24 hours in America before he has to go back to Germany for a training. Gotta love the Army.

I competed week 4 day 1 of Ease into 5K! The farthest I have gotten on one of these things. I did 2.05 miles in 30 minutes just gotta keep trucking and I'll be running 30 minutes solid in no time!

 

I hopped on the scale this morning, mother nature is intended to hit today so I gained 2lbs. I'm not upset I know it's because of that. I am soooo bloated. Just gotta keep up my water intake and by next week it'll be gone along with some more.

Thanks for checking in with me!! Make sure you click around on all the other posts in this link up for some great inspiration :)

Jenny

Today Can Be A Good Day - Weigh In Wednesday Week 8

It's Wednesday again, my favorite day of the week in Blog land no lie I spend as many hours as I can scrolling through the Weigh In Wednesday posts and read and get inspired and comment as much as I can.

Make sure you click over to Erin and Alex's blog and give them some love and link up as well with your weekly weigh in. You won't regret the community you get from this link up.

Can I just say I have realized what books and articles mean when they talk about how the environment affects your health. Well this past week it rained and rained and I was at the point where wasn't sure if it was going to end. I think I mentioned that I do not do the gym, the treadmill gets so boring to me and I feel like I am going no where, I would much rather walk outside Well tons of rain = Jenny no exercise. There were definitely 3 days this past week where I did not exercise, here was my exercise for the past week. (Don't forget I mentioned the fact that I was not in bed until 12 at the earliest every night and I attribute most of this to that factor)

Wednesday - walk - 1.87 miles - 33:24
Thursday - walk - 1.78 Miles - 32:42
Friday - nothing
Saturday - Nada
Sunday - nilch
Monday - Ease into 5 K - 1.83 miles - 28:52
Tuesday - Walk - 1.56 miles - 26:53

Total Miles - 7.04
Total Time -  2 hours and 1 minute

If you have see my past weeks, this is such a slow week.....I am just hoping it paid off.

My water intake followed suit with the exercise it wasn't too bad, I could have not had any water at all, but I definitely could have had more then I did.

Wednesday - 50 oz
Thursday - 100 oz
Friday - 75 oz
Saturday - 25 oz
Sunday - 79 oz
Monday - 100 oz
Tuesday - 92

Total Average - 74 oz --- which means that I still got the recommended 64 oz a day, woo hoo small non scale victory.

Another non scale victory that could seem small but is pretty big to me is that it has now been 2 whole days since I have had soda, I had one real coke at dinner on Sunday but on Monday and Tuesday I had no soda at all. I am hoping to keep this up and then maybe start cutting soda during the week and only having one a day during the weekend. Going from 6 regular soda cans a day and getting over those awful headaches I am so glad I have cut back.

This week was definitely a so-so week as far as food goes, I did pretty good up until like the afternoons when snack time kicked in and then dinner was a wreck at some points. There was day I didn't track anything and definitely went off course and even one night where I found myself at Chili's (it has the WORST track record for caloric value of foods) I hopped on the scale on Monday and I was up but I vowed not to weigh again until Wednesday because it could alter my days if I know I might fail.

Yesterday I went and got some more flowers for my apartment in my mini series on Instagram I like to call Why We Need Flowers, this week was "...because sometimes you just have something to smile about." Like maybe a total stranger told your friend that he thought you were hot! Oh yes, confidence booster if anything. Here are the beautiful flowers from Trader Joes.

 

So here we go for the weigh in. Last night was another rough night sleeping, I got no sleep and I went to bed at 9:15!!! Ugh. I guess I can't win sometimes. But I got up this morning in a really bad mood about a few things. I hopped up on that scale and I was down .7, woohoo!! So exciting. Wasn't expecting too much but to have two losses in a row, I'll take it. I am going on vacation this weekend to the beach but am determined to be mindful as to not go out of control. I also plan on taking my walking shoes and getting some form of work outs in while there.

 

Last Week: 210.1

This Week: 209.4

Loss: 0.7

Total Loss: 6.9 lbs

 

So so close to that 10lb mark, if I can kick it into high gear I'll definitely be seeing it in the next couple weeks.

Thanks for all of you who read and encourage me, it is definitely the reminder I need that i can do this and will succeed this time! It means the world to me. I love you all!

Jenny

I Think I Can, I Think I Can - Weigh In Wednesday - Week 7

So as of right now it is not technically Wednesday, but Tuesday morning as I sit at the table in the house I nanny for. All the beds are made, dishes washed, laundry is in the dryer and I have free time. I just walked 2 miles while talking to my sister in law, who lives in Germany right now about an upcoming trip. Last week if you are following me on this crazy journey (and for real thank you for still reading, it gives me so much motivation when random people I know come up to me with words of encouragement or just a simple hey I read your blog) you will remember that I mentioned that April was just an awful month. Well tomorrow, or today it is May 1st and the start of a new month and new determination to continue to get healthy. I am stepping on the scale today, the good, the bad, and the ugly not sure exactly what it is going to hold for me. I know that I weighed in on Sunday was looking ok but I decided not to step on the scale again until Wednesday.

This week has been a lot better then the week before. I really attempted to buckle down and track everything and not let my emotions or my though patterns rule my stomach. There was many a night that I contemplated getting up and going to get something from the drive through but instead brushed my teeth and started reading blogs or went to bed. I know I eat when I am bored, I just need to occupy myself with something else. I continue to get better at this day by day and I know I just have to stay consistent.

I mentioned last week that I was going to up my intake of water and boy did I do that! I also did pretty good keeping up with my exercising. Here is my rundown of my water intake and then m exercise for the week.

Water Intake (My water bottle holds 25oz so as I drank it I kept a running total on a note in my phone, I also used other water bottles to measure how much I drank)
Wednesday - 100 oz.
Thursday - 102 oz.
Friday - 70 oz.
Saturday - 108 oz.
Sunday - 59 oz.
Monday - 84 oz.
Tuesday - 100 oz.

Average a day - 89 oz!!!!!!!

Which I am so thrilled about because it is definitely above the recommended 64 oz, I just need to keep this up, my water bottle is what is helping me push through and also my kids. Everyday when I pull the girls off the bus they ask me how many bottles I have had and if I am on number 3 they are so proud and tell me I have all afternoon! But if I am only on 2 they are concerned and tell me I need to drink more. I love their caring hearts for me in this journey.

Exercise

Wednesday
Ease Into 5K - 36:55 - 2.45 miles
Treadmill - 18:54 - 1.2 miles
Upper Body Workout
Thursday
Walking - 18:31 - 1 mile
Walking - 17:26 - .81 miles
Friday
Ease into 5K - 29:45 - 1.81 miles
Walk with Milo - 35:33 - 1.18 miles
Saturday
Ricky's Run 5K - 45:12 - 3.18 miles
Sunday
REST
Monday
Walking - 23:52 - .98 miles
Walking - 14:37 - .83 miles
Tuesday
Walking - 38:51 - 2 miles

Total Miles Logged - 15.44 miles!

As you can see there are a lot of little walks in their because I get 20 minutes here and 15 minutes there and I stop at a park and just walk until I have to leave again. I figure it's better then nothing right?! So as you can see my water and exercise were pretty good. My food is coming around so hopefully this weigh in will be kind to me.

My goal this month was to reach 100 miles and it was a crazy month my total miles for the whole month of April are.........64.71 I was shy a good bit of miles but still I am so proud to have logged just around 65 miles in a month, it's about 2 miles a day, and I'll take that!

I link up every Monday with my weekly goals and you can take a look at them over here. My main goal this week is no french fries, they are my weakness and I try and squeeze them into my points wherever I can, but not this week, no french fries for this girly.

Dont forget to link up with Erin at She's A Big Star and Alex over at Skinny Jean Pilgrimage

Alrighty now is the moment of truth!

 

The last time I weighed in was 2 weeks ago and it was 210.5 so that's a loss of .4! A loss is a loss in my book. And even though I didn't technically weigh in last week I am sure I stepped on the scale and it was up at 213 so it's more like a major loss from last week. I just need to continue to stay on top of it this week and I will get back down past 209 which is the lowest I have seen on here since starting Weigh In Wednesday. I did really good eating wise (except for last night at this dinner party I went to, but we wont go there...could have been WAY worse) this week and hope to do the same again. I need to remember to track every bit of food I put in my mouth even if it is just a taste.

It is now May 1st and it's time to get real and buckle down and bust through May. My sister's graduation is at the end of the month and I bought this dress that is a smidgen tight and would really like to be in it for her graduation. I would love to lose 5-7lbs this month and I know that if I stick with it I can. It's just making better choices when it comes to my snacking.

I'm headed to a Braves Game tonight to celebrate a birthday with a friend, and I am so excited. I just love baseball season!

Jenny

Weigh In Wednesday - Week 6

You know the saying, it's been one of those weeks. Well for me it's been one of those months. As I went out to dinner with some girlfriends last night (who all happened to be sisters, 4 of them, I loved every minute of it!) we were discussing the month of April, yes I know we have another week left but still. My month was crazy, so crazy. Starting with my birthday and continuing with more family issues and crisis and crisis in my own life on the direction God is taking it has been crazy. I am amazed I have not had a mental breakdown and just completely fallen apart - I am sure I had a mini one, one night but it was short lived and I was ok. So anyways I did not weigh in today, I know that if I did, it would have been really really bad and I did not want to disappoint myself again. May is going to be a busy month, I have two vacations planned, and it's the end of the school year for the kiddos and the start of summer activities. I choose today to start a new. I am going to start counting my points again, exercising regularly, taking in water, and making better choices, because I care about myself. I can't allow my body to keep taking the hit for things when they go terribly wrong, I need to learn to manage my feelings. Here is to a new start, hopefully this is the last one of these kinds of posts for a while....or ever. I am writing out note cards to put in my bathroom and making sure I have my friends hold me accountable, I know I cannot do this by myself.

I do have a non-scale victory for this week however!!! I have up'd my water intake tremendously this week. I got this new water bottle...and seem to have no picture of it right now. But its a Camelbak and it holds 24 oz of water, my goal each day is to drink 3 full bottles putting me right at 72 oz of water. I have done it mostly for the past week and have felt really good, my soda intake is wayyyy down and I love that. I know it won't be soon before caffeine headaches dissapear all together and I won't need it anymore.

My diet bet ends in like 3 days and there is no way that I am going to reach my goal, so I am losing the $25, oh well that's on me. I think I am going to try to get in on another one starting in May and hopefully will succeed at that one.

For now I am sitting in my bed, as my boss told me I didn't have to come in until I needed to pick W up from school which is 1pm, so I think I might go do the next run on my ease into 5K, eat lunch and then head over that direction to complete my day. I am still going to attend a weight watchers meeting even though I probably gained again for the 2nd week, but I know I need to be there.

Jenny

Up and Down and Up and Down - Week 5

Once again I am linking up with Erin and Alex for today's Weigh In Wednesday.

I would be lying to you right now if I said I had a fantastic week and stuck to my guns and pushed it out. I don't know what happened but after my weigh in and a good size loss I think I forgot that I still have about 68 lbs to go to reach my goal. I slacked off majorly. I started eating everything in sight. I didn't really track and you know that if you don't track a lot of times it's going to do you no good. I have an insane memory and this morning when I sat down and tracked all my food I just about died. I just blew right through my extra weekly points and most if not all of my activity points that I earned. I ate out a lot more then I was suppose to when I had perfectly good food at home. I know it happens but I need to get my mind set on track or I am just going to be bouncing up and down a LONG time before getting where I want to be.

My activity level is still really high. I got this neat activity link that I clip onto my bra ( and since I am extremely blessed in that area you can never tell it's there ) and it tracks all of the activity points that I earn. First you have to do a week long assessment so they can see how many points you earn a day. In my meeting they talked about 4-6, 8 points and so I thought I would be in that range. At the end of my assessment I plugged in my link and was shocked. 12, that's what it read, that on average I earn 12 activity points a day. It has challenged me to reach 14 each day and I have so far. I am very interested to see if I will lose weight at my Weight Watchers meeting. (my weight at home and there is different because of the time of day and what not)

Last night my roommates boyfriend who is going to be a personal trainer one day (lucky me!) went with me to my little gym at the apartment and did an upper body workout with me. As I type this I cannot feel anything above my stomach, I am so sore. He has been a fantastic resource and is knowledgeable about healthy living and so luckily for me I am able to get to benefit from it. We are suppose to do lower body soon too, but I am excited. I have cardio down doing about 3-4 miles a day, but when it comes to strength training I have no idea what I am doing. It's nice to have someone sit and write it out for me and then tell me whether or not I am actually doing the exercises right or wrong. Thanks again Braden and thanks Linds for letting me take your man for a few minutes :).

I logged into my daily mile account and calculated all of miles in the month of April so far and I am at 43.63, I have 14 days left to reach my 100 mile goal and it basically means I need to do 4 miles a day from here on out. Challenge accepted!

Alright I stepped on the scale this morning and the result is......I gained 1.5. Not really that shocked. A little disappointed in myself for letting go and not really pushing myself last week. This is a whole new week though and all of my points from WW have reset and I am ready to buckle down and get to work. My roommate is out of town this weekend so I usually go walking and take her dog with me. Looks like we will be doing that a LOT.

My short term goals this week are

1. Drink more water, it doesn't matter how much. 2 cups would be more then what I drink now probably so I need to get on it.

2. No fast food unless eating out with friends. No lonely trips to the drive through this week.

3. Keep healthy snacks on hand.

4. Walk EVERY DAY.

Alright time to shape up for next week's weigh in, and my diet bet ends in 10 days and I now have 6lbs to lose, I have done it before. If I really push it out I can make it.

Jenny

Weigh In Wednesday, Week 4

So I attempting to get this post started a little early and am writing it on Tuesday night instead of Wednesday. I am pretty sure I will lose this week and cannot wait to see if I am correct or not, and so if I don't, well you won't see this particular post anyway ha!

Joining Erin @ She's A Big Star and Alex @ Skinny Jean Pilgrimage both are fantastic blogs that I enjoy reading every day!

Week 4

 



 

 

Anyways after taking a week off last week to enjoy my birthday, I considered just making it a weekend since I had many a celebrating to do. Waking up on Thursday though I decided no, yesterday was my day, today I get back on the ball and make it count this week. (Guess it helps that I have $25 on a diet bet right now that I would like to win back) So I have tracked every small thing I have eaten from Thursday until now and have not used all of my extra points or tapped into my activity points that I earned for Weight Watchers.

The last 24 hours have been crazy for me, a lot of things going on that can make me easily stressed out, and amazingly the only result has been one thing of waffle fries and a mini twix bar. Could have been WAY worse. I am probably about to go walk the dog too, but I need my phone to charge more because I have been off and on it with my family. (Please be praying for my family right now, we are going through some major changes and it is really really hard. I live 7 hours away and can't really do anything so I am stuck and feel helpless and just want to cry non-stop, but I got to keep my head up and keep moving forward)

Yesterday I made My Magic Soup and you can read about it here. It's super delicious and nutritious and I had my first batch for lunch today. I eat it with two slices of bread and my Fiji water. (I am sort of a water snob, I guess there could be worse things to be snobby about, but I like me Fiji water) I plan on eating a serving every day until it's gone, about 9 days I believe. Hoping the magic that helped me lose 20lbs two summers ago is still in it.

This week exercise wise for me was pretty strong, mostly because of my massive hike on Friday which took me 2 1/2 hours. Other then my birthday and Sunday (I took a real Sabbath) I was exercising every day. I am not sure if I am going to make it to 100 miles by the end of the month but so far I have logged about 23 miles so I have 77 to go in 21 days, very very possible if I put it into high gear and make it happen. Still going to shoot for it! Yesterday was my tear it up Tuesday and I ended up doing 50 minutes on the elliptical and a 35 minute walk at night. This is me after the elliptical,

Wednesday Morning: I was really excited to get up today because I have been watching my scale and it has shown that I am going to lose weight I just wasn't sure how much. Two weeks ago when I weight in it was 212.3 this morning when I weighed in it was 209!!! Woohoo!!! 3.3lbs, even though that 212.3 was a gain I am still down from the previous weigh in. Total so far I am down 7.3 which is very very exciting.

 

 

This definitely gives me way more motivation to keep up the work I am doing, if I can lose weight in the midst of a birthday celebration, then I can do it when my life is normal. I am also now 2.7 lbs away from 10lbs and when that comes I get to open my next envelope and get a prize!

 

I hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday!

 

Jenny