Time for a little catch up

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's not because I haven't been making progress.  I have great intentions and then, it just doesn't happen. Life gets in the way. It goes to prove that whatever you make as a priority in your life will get done and the things that aren't a priority won't. And sad to say, this has not been a big priority of mine.

Now, on to the exciting stuff.

My half marathon is tomorrow!!!! I am really excited! I feel that I could be better prepared for it because I haven't walked all week, but the 4+ months prior, I have, so I think it won't affect me too much. My fellow Bacon Lovers (anonymous) are all geared up to leave town around 2pm to go pick up our race packets and spend the night together in anticipation of this big event. Surprisingly, two of the girls in my group are planning to run a full marathon in the spring and two others are considering running a half marathon (because we are walking this one).  I also have been contemplating running a half marathon. I have really been enjoying this form of excercise and I would love to see myself pushed a little farther. I also know several people that I could run with, so that makes the thought of it so much better. Anyway, I will let you know after the race tomorrow how it goes.

On to other news. I have reached my WW goal weight of 155 lbs!! This is not my official goal weight of 100 lbs lost, but only 5 lbs away. I know this sounds kind of silly, but I have a reason. When I first thought about losing all of this weight, I never thought I would really lose 100 lbs. It seemed so unrealistic and out of the question, so when I signed up on Weight Watchers the highest healthy weight for me was 155, so I plugged that in. It seems so long ago now and I am completely amazed that I am about to reach 100 lbs lost. It also seems crazy to think that I might even lose a little more after that. We will see. I am going to do it in a healthy way and not get too crazy with it, so please don't worry about me, but now I feel that it is possible and that is an amazing feeling.

I went shopping last weekend to spend a Macy's gift certificate that I received for Christmas last year, and although very overwhelmed in that store, I had a blast. I tried on so many things and loved that everything fit well, and I wasn't examining myself at the store, just the clothes. Wow. Really, that is huge for me. I hope you are doing as well and finding great things to be excited about. It does take time, but when you reach it, it's like nothing else.

Keep yourself inspired somehow. I am finding new inspiration from watching this season of Biggest Loser. I really love that show and it gives me the motivation to keep going. I have heard lots of people say that they have quit watching because they end up sitting on the couch eating ice cream while watching. I know that feeling. I have done that. But, there is an alternative. Let it motivate you. Let it inspire you. Get up and move a little, even while you watch it. I mean, I have a hard time getting out my step and doing some aerobics while watching CSI or House, but when I'm watching Biggest Loser, I have the motivation to do it.

Committments

It's the second day after the Biggest Loser has ended and I'm still having some tendencies to slack off the diet and do whatever I want. But, I have made committments. I have committed to this blog and if I revert to old ways, I will feel like I have let down everyone who is keeping up with my journey here. I have made committments to my Bacon Lovers. We have decided to continue to keep each other acountable with bi-weekly weigh ins and tracking measurements. I have made committments to WW. I have a goal to get to 155 lbs. These committments are helping to keep me on the right track and not to give up.

Also, I have the encouragement of everyone around me. I have received numerous congrats and compliments from everyone I know. I even received flowers yesterday from an unknown source. Really, who can give up or feel discouraged when surrounded by so many great people. I truly am feeling the love and I think that maybe this is how some of the contestants from the Biggest Loser tv show must feel. It's such an incredible high.

So, I'm going to let all that be the fuel I need to power through this and keep it all up.

On a side note, I want to explain my nickname on this blog. I did not come up with that on my own. A week or so before I started this blog, someone at church came up to me and said that myself and a friend of mine were like the incredible shrinking women. I kind of liked it and it stuck with me.

If you are trying to lose weight, make sure you make some committments, whatever they may be. They can help you to power through those little road blocks that could otherwise trip you up. And one more thing. I want to share with you a quote that I have seen multiple times lately that has also stuck with me.

"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels"

The thiner I'm getting, the more I see this as being true. Don't give in to that temporary pleasure of something that you think is going to taste great, but think about the long-term effects of that food and decide to make the best decision.

It's not over til the fat lady sings

Our Biggest Loser competition ended last night and it was awesome. The Bacon Lovers (anonymous) finished in first place and we won $1500 for our charity. It was so great to see this team of ladies come together and lose some weight together over the past 12 weeks and benefit a great cause. I also took 2nd place as the biggest losing individual losing 18.4% of the 210 lbs I started the competition at. And even though I did not come in first, I did win the MVBL award (Most Valuable Bacon Lover). My team is so sweet and made me a special award to commemorate all my hard work. I just love those girls.

We were very proud of our team and had to celebrate last night. We went to Bobby's custard stand and got whatever we wanted (with bacon on top) and then finished off the night at Burger King for some french fries. I am trying to remember that this was a rare indulgance and not the end of my journey altogether, but for some reason, I'm having trouble. The end of the competition and the celebration last night has me feeling like I am done. I know I'm not. I mean, we are still walking a half marathon in October that I have to continue training for. I just need to take charge of the day and get back into the groove of my WW system.

I also need to remember all the reasons I am doing this and all the benefits I have reaped from losing weight. I was able to kneeboard this summer. Something I haven't been able to do in several years. I can cross my legs again. Seriously, this doesn't sound like much, but it is such a big deal. Not being able to do that was a constant reminder of how bad I needed to lose weight. I am wearing a size 12 instead of a 20. All of these are reaons to keep doing what I am doing and not throw in the towel. So, if you see me out, don't let me start slacking. I still have 23 lbs to reach my ultimate goal.

Too much tv

I believe I am a tv junkie. I don't watch much tv during the day because I am busy with my boys, but once they get in bed, the tv comes on and I have several things I like to watch. A few shows have been really inspirational to me. Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, The Biggest Loser, and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution are three shows that have inspired me lately. The Biggest Loser is something I have watched for several seasons. I have watched amazing transformations in people and been amazed at what they achieved, but for a long time, I never saw myself doing that. It wasn't until the two sisters were on last season that I really connected with the contestants. I saw where they started, they started where I was at. I saw the progress they were making and I put myself in their shoes. I think that's when it hit me, that I could do the same. Following someone so personally was the key difference between sitting on the couch eating my junk food and making changes to follow their example.

I have also really enjoyed Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. This is the show that takes one person, who is usually heavier than most people on The Biggest Loser, and works with them for a year. These people have so much work to do. They usually have at least 200 lbs to lose and I can't even imagine how they feel. I have seen them lose the total of weight I need to lose and are still only half way done. I have such a respect for the hard work they put in to make big changes and I know that it isn't easy.

One more show I enjoy as an inspiration is Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. This isn't a show about weight loss, but about eating foods that are good for us and I know those two things go hand in hand. His goals are mostly geared towards schools, but I believe he truly cares about people and showing them how to eat right. I know that dieting sometimes consists of lots of processed foods, artificial sweeteners and foods with lots of preservatives. This is another thing I know I should avoid, but don't do the best job. I do try to eat lots of natural food and avoid processed foods, but sometimes it's hard to avoid. His general rule is that if the list of ingredients has things that you don't know what they are, then you should not eat it. This kind of hit me the other day when I was drinking some diet lemonade that I had bought. I had no clue what 90% of the ingredients were. I guess this is one area I could really improve.

Are you a tv junkie like myself? Do you have shows that inspire you? Don't just sit there and admire them, take action and make changes for yourself.

Excercise

I mentioned in an earlier post that when I started losing weight that I started very simple and worked my way up to where I am now, so I just thought I would share a bit of where I am now. I began in February with no excercise. I knew I needed it, but just didn't want to. So, I found a couple of excercise videos to do at home because I really didn't know how else to fit excercise into my day with my three little guys. I didn't enjoy doing them all that much and it was aggrivating to see all those fit little girls doing the same excercise as me, but I kept doing it because it was getting easier. When I started the Biggest Loser competition with the church in May, my team (Crystal and Chrisy) decided we should train throughout the competition to walk a half marathon by the time we were done. These two have ran half marathons before, so they had room to talk about getting us to walk one. I, along with a few other members of our team, thought they were crazy. But, I figured even if I don't get to the marathon part, training with some friends and getting excercise with them would be worth it.

We began walking a couple of miles at a time and I must tell you that our first long walk as a group was way too fast for me. My side hurt and I struggled to keep up til the end. But, as with everything else in this journey, I had to keep plugging along even if it was hard, because I knew it was the right thing to do. Since my husband is gone all week, it has been a challenge to walk with the group. We started walking in the middle of the day, but June, in the mid-west, is just a little HOT. And, I was pushing a double stroller with two little ones with my oldest tagging along and it just wasn't working. The girls started walking early in the morning to avoid the heat and I decided to find a wonderful girl to get up very early for me and sit at the house while I walked and my children slept (ha). My kids have been getting up early, so the sitter has to get them out of bed, but I get up around 5:30 to walk by 6:00. We typically walk about 4 or 5 miles and since I am not wealthy, I can only afford a sitter two mornings a week. I generally get out Saturday mornings because my husband is here and we are starting to walk more like 6 or 7 miles then.

I have never been a morning person, but getting up early to walk really energizes me for my day and I have really come to look forward to those early morning walks and get really bummed if I have to miss them. I must admit that I do feel sorry for myself sometimes and want to throw a little pitty party because it is such a challenge for me to get out to walk in the mornings, but I get over it pretty quick and have learned to just make the best of my situation. One morning my sitter forgot and didn't make it (I totally understand and I don't blame her one bit), but I wanted to throw my little pity party again, but instead I buckled down. Since I was already up and dressed to my shoes, I just decided to put in an excercise video and make the best of my morning.

I am starting to make better decisions for myself. I am amazed. Never in a million years would I think that I would be getting up at 5:30 or 6:00 to excercise and not go crawl back in bed if things didn't go the way I wanted them to. I also got stressed to my max the other day and instead of vegging out in front of the tv with a giant bowl of ice cream, I made a way to get out after the kids went to bed and walk off my stress. It really is a lifestyle change for me now. It's not just a temporary fix. I hope this is inspiring you in some way to find a way to make your situation better and not sit at your pity party feeling sorry for yourself.

Oh, and one more thing about the picture of me. I am still working on getting a current picture and as soon as I do, I will post a before and current one, but our church directories finally came in. My family posed for pictures for this in November (?). I took one look at my picture and couldn't believe my eyes. A good friend of mine said she wondered who that girl was that ate Angie and she is so right. I am so happy that I am making changes to live a healthier lifestyle.

Bacon Lovers (anonymous)

I had a few new blog ideas for this morning rolling around in my head, but after last night, I feel I need to post about my night. I mentioned that I am participating in a weight loss competition at my church. It's called Biggest Loser (after the tv show). We began this competition in May and we are nearing the end. The group of 6 other women that I am teamed up with are called ............... Bacon Lovers (anonymous). We are a very competitive group of girls. There are about a dozen other teams and most teams are made up of at least 10-12 members, so we are one of the smaller teams. I wasn't really sure how we would fair compared to some of the other teams because we all didn't have huge amounts of weight to lose. We have meetings every other week and at the meeting last night, we won the team weight-in! We (as a team) lost the highest percentage of our weight. This is the second time we have come in first. We have been in third or fourth all of the other weeks. The exciting part of this is that the stats were sent out and right now our weight loss is the highest percentage (at 9%). That means we have a great shot at winning this. The prize is $ for our charity (which is Bond Christian Service Camp) and the thrill of victory. I love to win! So, that alone would be very cool. We just have to keep this up for two more weeks. I will still be continuing on my weight loss journey as I was before this competition started, but it has been awesome to have this going on. It has given me great inspiration at a point when I might have been ready to give up or slack off.

Another really cool thing is that the individual with the biggest percentage of weight loss will win some money for themself. She sent out some stats for that and I think I am tied for second. There were no names given, but I am pretty sure that's where I am. First place is only 1% above. This is totally within reason for me to get this. Like I said, I love to win! The money would be cool, but winning would just feel so good. Although I know that even if I don't win, I have done a great job and did my very best.

One more encouraging note from last night is that people are making all kinds of comments about how I am looking. It is hard for me to take compliments, but I have learned to just say thank you and leave it at that. I used to try to come up with some other sort of response that would down-play my success, but I am not doing that anymore. I do feel great, I do like hearing those things, and so I will accept the compliments for what they are. So, if you have been one of them, keep 'em coming! Thank you.