I haven't posted anything to my blog since April 2012. Some of you may be wondering why, others may not have noticed, and others may not care. I think it is time for a "Reality Check" with myself. I am now ready to blog about my journey over the past seven months on My Journey To A New Me.
If you have been a reader of my blog you already know that on December 11, 2010 I set myself on a course to lose 100 pounds in one year. After my doctors appointment on that memorable day, December 11, 2010, I set my daily calorie intake at 1400 calories. By using a website that I had found and downloading it onto my smart phone I had a great tool to begin the journey to become healthy for the first time in my life. The website is www.myfitnesspal.com You set up a profile with your starting weight and your measurements. You can record all of your food, exercise, water, etc. into a journal. The calorie counts are available on the website so it is easy and fast. It has graphs and charts to help you with your health and weight loss goals.
The second part of my journey was when I discovered what a blog was and how to have one. I started the blog five weeks after beginning my journey. I was super excited when I first began blogging and there were times that I found myself with multiple blog post written in one day. To not overwhelm my readers I would try to hold off posting them over the period of a few days so as to not overload everyone on my journey and the success that I was enjoying.
By the fall of '2011 I was within 10 pounds of my 100 pound weight loss goal and I began to feel the weight slow down, well actually almost stop. It seemed like there would be two or three weeks in between losing just one pound. I was doing all of the same things that I had done before but the weight was not coming off as it had in the beginning.
By the first week of December I was really close to my goal, 97 pounds and to be honest I was a little afraid that I would not hit my goal. I am a very goal oriented person and missing my goal was just not an option. I worked out on my eliptical and walked on the threadmill a little more than I ususally did and I successfully hit 101 pounds before Christmas '2011.
Here is where the true confession begins. Several events happened in December that got me off track. We celebrated our 28 year anniversary and traveled to Nashville, TN for a few days. The first week of December my daughter announces that she wants to get married, THIS YEAR, and in three weeks I pull off a beautiful wedding and she and her fiance get married at my house on Christmas Eve. We enjoy Christmas, and my birthday a few days following. I am off from work for ten days and find myself getting out of my "routine".
During the holidays I was not super strict with myself and when my birthday came around on December 29th I enjoyed a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant and cake and ice cream. Oh did I forget to mention my daughter got married on Christmas Eve and we had the wedding and reception at our home? And with it all the left over food and cake! Not just wedding cake but a delicious chocolate grooms cake?
Okay I know what you are thinking, surely I was strong enough to just say "NO". After all, I had successfully lost 101 pounds during the last year ... but I wasn't. I enjoyed the birthday and both of those wedding cakes, I knew how many empty calories there were but I figured, "Oh well, I can start my journey after the first of the year". And I remember saying that to myself as I finished off the last piece of grooms cake.
The new year came around and I was not required to go back to work from my Christmas vacation until Tuesday January 3rd. I remember thinking that gives me a few more days to be bad and then I can get "serious" again. The sad thing is once I was derailed it took longer for me to get back on the right path again.
I watched my scale as two pounds of my 101 pounds lost crept back on. Then I fought to lose them again. I had to rediscipline myself to hold at the 1400 calories of food per day. It was harder than I remembered. And then there was the exercising. My habit that had once been a daily routine for me was now something that I had to try to make time for.
But probably the worst thing that I did in all of this was that when I gained weight I became discouraged and felt like I did not have anything positive to share with everyone on my blog and I found myself blogging less and less. And when the blogging became almost non-existent I saw a couple more pounds come on. It was probably because the blog posting had become my number one source of accountability and without it I was like a ship lost at sea. Or like a child who was lost in the Mall of Georgia.
So here is the Reality Check. After gaining five pounds and losing it and gaining it and losing it and now gaining it. I went on vacation with my husband and parents on a cruise to Alaska and guess what? I did not count one single calorie while on our ten day trip, not even one! When I got home I had gained two pounds, so add that to my earlier five pounds and I am up seven pounds. So no longer can I say that I have lost 101 pounds, I need to say "I had lost 101 pounds and now I need to lose seven more to do it again!"
That is the Reality check for me. If I could do it in the first place I know that I can do it now. The only person from stopping me from doing it is me. And guess what? I told my husband recently that I had just discovered for myself that last year when I was losing the weight it was the happiest time of my life! Even today I am not disgusted with myself for gaining back seven of those 101 pounds. I have decided to look at it in a different way. Over the past seven months I have gained seven pounds. But over the next five months I could lose an enormous amount of weight, if I put my mind to it. If I decide to do the right things that helped me do it in the first place.
I am still a goal-oriented person and I believe that I can still lose fifty pounds this year, but I will need to be accountable to myself for what I am doing and how I am doing it. There are no more excuses! This time I am going to get on the path and quit detouring for a week or two and see just how much closer to my ultimate weight loss goal that I can get! So for anyone needing a little encouragement. Please keep checking in with me on my blog because I am serious again and there is no telling what is about to happen! All I can say is: "Look out world, there is going to be a lot less of me in the near future!"
If you have been a reader of my blog you already know that on December 11, 2010 I set myself on a course to lose 100 pounds in one year. After my doctors appointment on that memorable day, December 11, 2010, I set my daily calorie intake at 1400 calories. By using a website that I had found and downloading it onto my smart phone I had a great tool to begin the journey to become healthy for the first time in my life. The website is www.myfitnesspal.com You set up a profile with your starting weight and your measurements. You can record all of your food, exercise, water, etc. into a journal. The calorie counts are available on the website so it is easy and fast. It has graphs and charts to help you with your health and weight loss goals.
The second part of my journey was when I discovered what a blog was and how to have one. I started the blog five weeks after beginning my journey. I was super excited when I first began blogging and there were times that I found myself with multiple blog post written in one day. To not overwhelm my readers I would try to hold off posting them over the period of a few days so as to not overload everyone on my journey and the success that I was enjoying.
By the fall of '2011 I was within 10 pounds of my 100 pound weight loss goal and I began to feel the weight slow down, well actually almost stop. It seemed like there would be two or three weeks in between losing just one pound. I was doing all of the same things that I had done before but the weight was not coming off as it had in the beginning.
By the first week of December I was really close to my goal, 97 pounds and to be honest I was a little afraid that I would not hit my goal. I am a very goal oriented person and missing my goal was just not an option. I worked out on my eliptical and walked on the threadmill a little more than I ususally did and I successfully hit 101 pounds before Christmas '2011.
Here is where the true confession begins. Several events happened in December that got me off track. We celebrated our 28 year anniversary and traveled to Nashville, TN for a few days. The first week of December my daughter announces that she wants to get married, THIS YEAR, and in three weeks I pull off a beautiful wedding and she and her fiance get married at my house on Christmas Eve. We enjoy Christmas, and my birthday a few days following. I am off from work for ten days and find myself getting out of my "routine".
During the holidays I was not super strict with myself and when my birthday came around on December 29th I enjoyed a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant and cake and ice cream. Oh did I forget to mention my daughter got married on Christmas Eve and we had the wedding and reception at our home? And with it all the left over food and cake! Not just wedding cake but a delicious chocolate grooms cake?
Okay I know what you are thinking, surely I was strong enough to just say "NO". After all, I had successfully lost 101 pounds during the last year ... but I wasn't. I enjoyed the birthday and both of those wedding cakes, I knew how many empty calories there were but I figured, "Oh well, I can start my journey after the first of the year". And I remember saying that to myself as I finished off the last piece of grooms cake.
The new year came around and I was not required to go back to work from my Christmas vacation until Tuesday January 3rd. I remember thinking that gives me a few more days to be bad and then I can get "serious" again. The sad thing is once I was derailed it took longer for me to get back on the right path again.
I watched my scale as two pounds of my 101 pounds lost crept back on. Then I fought to lose them again. I had to rediscipline myself to hold at the 1400 calories of food per day. It was harder than I remembered. And then there was the exercising. My habit that had once been a daily routine for me was now something that I had to try to make time for.
But probably the worst thing that I did in all of this was that when I gained weight I became discouraged and felt like I did not have anything positive to share with everyone on my blog and I found myself blogging less and less. And when the blogging became almost non-existent I saw a couple more pounds come on. It was probably because the blog posting had become my number one source of accountability and without it I was like a ship lost at sea. Or like a child who was lost in the Mall of Georgia.
So here is the Reality Check. After gaining five pounds and losing it and gaining it and losing it and now gaining it. I went on vacation with my husband and parents on a cruise to Alaska and guess what? I did not count one single calorie while on our ten day trip, not even one! When I got home I had gained two pounds, so add that to my earlier five pounds and I am up seven pounds. So no longer can I say that I have lost 101 pounds, I need to say "I had lost 101 pounds and now I need to lose seven more to do it again!"
That is the Reality check for me. If I could do it in the first place I know that I can do it now. The only person from stopping me from doing it is me. And guess what? I told my husband recently that I had just discovered for myself that last year when I was losing the weight it was the happiest time of my life! Even today I am not disgusted with myself for gaining back seven of those 101 pounds. I have decided to look at it in a different way. Over the past seven months I have gained seven pounds. But over the next five months I could lose an enormous amount of weight, if I put my mind to it. If I decide to do the right things that helped me do it in the first place.
I am still a goal-oriented person and I believe that I can still lose fifty pounds this year, but I will need to be accountable to myself for what I am doing and how I am doing it. There are no more excuses! This time I am going to get on the path and quit detouring for a week or two and see just how much closer to my ultimate weight loss goal that I can get! So for anyone needing a little encouragement. Please keep checking in with me on my blog because I am serious again and there is no telling what is about to happen! All I can say is: "Look out world, there is going to be a lot less of me in the near future!"
3 comments:
Kathy, I'm so proud of you and I'm going to cheer you on! I believe and know you will do it. You are a beautiful person on the inside as well as the outside. Terry and I enjoyed our time last night. Love ya!
You go girl !!! I know u can do it ! 17 years ago when I first met u I knew u would inspire me to be a better person. You did then and u do now !! Best of luck my friend :)
We can be accountable to each other Kathy because I started again today too!! I saw 5 pounds creep back on when I started falling into old habits after vacation. I understand where you are. I want to lose another 50 pounds at least (would love more, but my first goal will be 50 pounds!). You can do it!!
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