In the 40's....

No, not the 1940's! And nope, not my age either....saw that number 9 years ago! Well, it's my weight! I'm in the 140's! I've been trying to get here and I am finally there!


It took some figuring out again....how to break the plateau I was on, but I did it! Talked to one of my neighbors who happens to be a personal trainer and her advice was to change my routine, so I did. I added running up and down a set of 15 concrete steps at our local middle school. I do this after my 3.2 mile walk in the mornings. I've been running up and down the steps for about 14 days now and I'm up to 16 ups and downs. But the best thing is, I thought I would just get down to 149. Well 149 came and went. Then I thought the scale would read 148. Nope, I am all the way down to 146! Yep! One hundred and forty six! WooHoo! The lightest I've been in about 20 years! For those that have been paying attention and keeping count, that's 36 pounds off this ole body of mine!

I've also been adding more fruits and veggies back into my diet trying to transition to a more normal way of eating and I gotta say that roasted sweet potatoes have never tasted so sweet, nor have crenshaw or honeydew melons! Oh my! They taste just like candy to me! It's amazing what happens when you don't eat refined sugar anymore...fruits and veggies taste sweeter!

Anyway, just had to share with you all. Until next time...

32 Down 1 More To Go!

WooHoo! I just got on the scale yesterday and I'm 32 pounds down...only 1 more to go to get to my original weight goal of 149! I am so excited!

Who knew that 6 months ago when I had that middle of the night trip to the ER, that I would be sitting here now this much healthier? I am thankful that the insurance company said those words to me in January...that I was obese! It surely was a real wake up call! Both things were really!

I exercise everyday. I now eat healthier. I make better food choices. I am eating more of a variety of foods, including fruits and veggies. I am in love with roasted on the grill sweet potatoes and red peppers. Yummo! I've stayed away from cake, cookies, icecream, chips and all those things that taste so good but are bad for you foods. I've changed, and for the better! I've made myself a priority!

Now that I am this close, I am resetting my weight goal for another 10 pounds. I want to be back in the 130's. I haven't been there since Joshua was 6 months old and that was over 20 years ago!

And the best part is that I am buying myself a new wardrobe! I'm a size 10! I now love shopping and trying on clothes now! The 3 way mirror in the dressing room has become my friend. It shows me how nice I look in my new clothes but also shows me areas I need to work on.

I still have a few things to figure out before the craft show season starts...like what food I will eat. How and when I will eat. No more grabbing a hot dog at the show or skipping breakfast....can't do it anymore. But all will be worked out.

I want to thank everyone the past 6 months that have encouraged, supported and been there for me. Especially my husband. He has been my constant cheerleader. He has walked with me many, many miles. He has helped figure out things I could eat. He has gone shopping late at night when we had no eggs left and that would mean no breakfast for me. He's researched and figured out what vitamins, minerals and supplements that I need to be healthier. Oh and the best thing, he's losing some weight too...26#'s! WooHoo! He still has more to go, and hopefully I will be able to keep him on track and down the right path too!

Until next time....

I'm A 10!

Just ask my hubby! LOL! Well maybe not a perfect 10...maybe a 9 1/2! Always need a little room for improvement!

This weekend I went shopping with my friend Cookie. We went to our favorite store to shop at...Kohls! They were having a good sale, we had a 20% off coupon and I had a $10 gift card that Kohls sent to me for being a valued customer for my birthday. So off we went to Kohls and 4 hours later came home with a few new things. So you are asking yourself what does shopping at Kohls have to do with being a 10? Good question and read on...



As most of you know, I've been dieting and exercising to lose weight. I've lost 28 pounds so far. So while shopping, I decided to try on some capris. Well I went for the usual size 12 and guess what? They were too big. Be still my heart! It can't be! I ran back out to the capri display and picked up a size 10. Went back tot he dressing room and tried them on...they fit and looked wonderful too! OH MY! I'm a 10 again! LOL!

I haven't been in size 10's for a long while...probably 6+ years, so it felt good to finally be back there. The past 2 weeks I've been stalled in weight loss...haven't really lost any, so I started reading and evaluating why. I came across some information on BMR. What BMR is, the rate at which your body consumes calories at while resting, your basic metabolic rate. So I calculated mine, then multiplied it by the activity level factor to get how many calories I should consume in a day to maintain my current weight. You've gotta know what you have to have in order to know how much to cut out. So with that calculated, I now am ready to eat to loss weight again...yep, you heard that right. I will be eating more to lose weight.

Seems like I might have put my body into starvation mode, which doesn't allow you to burn the excess fat stores. Oh my, our bodies are wonderful in its ability to persevere through tough times. Anyway, in about 10 days or so, I will know if I am on the right track or not. So starting today I have to consume 2100 calories a day. Hopefully, with the activity level that I achieve each day, I will burn about 500-600 or so calories each day which should give me approx. a 1-1 1/2# weight loss each week.

I know, overly complicated sounding and so boring, but I think that the reason most women go off diets is that once they hit a plateau and the weight stops coming off, they stop dieting and watching what they eat, since it doesn't appear to be working anymore. I also spoke with another neighbor who is a personal trainer and she said the #1 thing that people who are trying to lose weight do wrong, is underfed their bodies. We try to get by on the fewest calories, which barely fuel our resting bodily functions let alone our activity level functions so our bodies go into starvation mode and start to build up fat stores instead of burning them. So wish me luck on my jump starting the weight loss process again. I have about 10 more pounds to go.

Until next time....

WooHoo! 25!

I'm sure by now you all are getting sick of me and my weight loss, but I gotta tell you that I am not sick of sharing it with you all. I am down 25 pounds! Only 8 more to go til I hit my "goal" weight! Yeah!

I won't be celebrating with any cheesecake this week...when I do, I don't lose any weight but then again I haven't gained any either when eating it.

I've been walking steady almost everyday 3.2 miles. I am still doing a restrictive Atkins like diet too. The hubby has me taking lots of vitamins and I'm feeling pretty good.

I don't think I've been in the 150's since Ian was a toddler! It feels really good to get here! WooHoo!

Until next time....

I'm Half Way There!

I am so excited! I am half way there. Half way to where you are asking? No, not to being crazy....been halfway there forever! LOL! I'm half way to my total weight loss goal! I'm down 17 pounds and my clothes are fitting sooo much better...My pants are baggy for the first time in years! Yeah!

I've added a few things to my walking routine. I bought a pair of Sketchers Shape Ups. I've been looking at them for a long time but with a price tag of $109, they were staying right on the shelf at Kohl's. Well, got a 30% off coupon and Kohl's had them on sale for $69 and with the coupon that made them $48, so bought them. They really do work your leg muscles if you walk correctly in them. And boy are they comfy!

I also added a set of #1 pound hand weights. Have been using them for about 3 weeks now and almost ready to move up to 2# ones. Last week I added 1 1/2# ankle weights. I gotta tell you that the makers of the ankle weights must think that women all have pencil thin ankles! NOT! Chubby gals want to wear ankle weights too! I don't think I have cankles, but apparently I do. I can barely get the velcro attached! Well hopefully my ankles will shrink and I'll be able to wear them more comfortably.

I also use a pedometer. It helps keep me on track knowing just how far I have walked. My hubby will walk with me some days and while I like to walk a specific route, he doesn't. So I use the pedometer to know when I've walked my 2-2 1/2 miles.

Which brings me to my last indispensible walking tool...my IPOD touch! Gotta have music while walking. Just wish I wasn't so tech challenged with it. Seems like I enlarged the screen the other day. I don't know "how" I did it, but I do know when it happened...I was changing artists. Had to get the 15 yr old son, to help me out and change it back...seems like I pushed something in settings to make the change. Honestly I didn't, but I guess I did! LOL!

Until next time....