April's journey

[AprilN]

Hi everyone! I'm so happy to share that I have 3 pounds gone this week. That adds up to 45 pounds total, which means... time for the clippie dance! Only 5 pounds to my (new) New Year's goal and a platinum clippie (!!!), and 12 pounds to my next 10% goal. Woo-hoo!

Exercise is still going great, 120 days in a row. I've been slowing upping the amount of jogging I've been doing in the morning (instead of walking), and for the past week or so, I've been jogging the entire way (~2.3 miles?). Go me! It has definitely helped the weight fly off as well.

Healthy eating has been more challenging these days for sure, with all the holiday parties everywhere I go. It was nearly impossible to walk away from the cookie table at a luncheon last week - I had a few, but I wanted MORE!! Somehow I managed to distract myself. I find that I'm thinking about buffet meals in a different way, though - automatically looking for more vegetables and healthy proteins rather than carb-laden stuff, trying to make a balanced plate at every meal. I just need to remember to bring a veggie platter next time!

The most exciting thing right now is that I'm a genuine size 24 again. I can shop in all the plus-size stores again, yippee! I know that sounds weird, since most people would be shocked to reach 24, but once I reached 26 a while back, most plus-sized stores became useless to me. Not anymore! I spent all weekend in size 24 non-stretch jeans and a 3x shirt I haven't worn in a year. I love it!

 

[DoeWDW]

April, you are doing an amazing job!! Your dedication to exercise is certainly paying off! I've been slacking in that area lately so it's good to hear that you can incorporate it into your life as a daily habit.

Congrats on your new clippie!!

 

[AprilN]

Goodbye forever 250's, hello 240's!! I'm pleased to announce that I made another 2 pounds disappear this week. Only 3 pounds to my New Year's goal (I hope I make it!) and 50-pound clippie, and 10 pounds to my next 10% goal. Exercise has definitely been a big key to my success, 127 days and counting.

This week went well for the most part, but I was reminded once again that when presented with a buffet or other unplanned meal, I really need to think about what I'm going to eat BEFORE I start eating. I am much more successful when I have a game plan coming into a meal, but when I fail to plan and just dive in, I end up eating too much, and typically not enough veggies. With three potluck meals coming up this week (lunches at work today and Friday, family brunch on Sunday), I need to put my plan into action - and fast! Wish me luck!

On the positive side, I made cookies last Friday, and only ate half of one cookie! Have a great week, everyone!

 

[ZerasPride]

I am so impressed with your dedication to your new way of eating. Exercising for 100+days in a row, how fantastic! And the weight you have lost is just wonderful. Please keep up the good work. I have enjoyed reading about your progress and know you will be at your goal in no time!

 

[AprilN]

<center>Put on your shades because I've gone PLATINUM!!</center>

I don't have much time to post this morning (heading off to the airport!), but I just had to check in with my 5 pound loss for the week - which adds up to 52 total pounds on WISH! Yippee! I guess my extra running this week worked after all, and I tried really hard at three separate buffet holiday meals to eat reasonably. Then again, maybe eating a little extra this week kicked my metabolism up a notch. In any case, woohoo!

I'm so happy to have made my New Years goal before my vacation - now all I have to do is maintain for a week. Not as easy as it might sound, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Have a wonderful Christmas, one and all!

 

[AprilN]

Looks like I managed to los a pound while visiting my in-laws over Christmas. I'm not certain, because our scale was a little flaky this morning - but I'm going to take it for now! I exercised every day while back in Ohio, either visiting Curves or running on the hotel treadmill. I also tried to make the best choices I could at each meal, with lots of veggies and less breads and other carby things - and drank water whenever I had the chance. While I did indulge a bit too much with all the Christmas cookies and fudge, I think it all turned out all right in the end.

I also maintained (and added to) my loss from last week, so I have successfully made my New Year's goal. Hooray!

Now onwards and downwards for 2004! See ya next year!

 

[AprilN]

2 more pounds gone this week, which means time for a new clippie! Hooray! I guess I really did lose weight over the holidays, despite my flaky scale. It's been a little hard getting back into the swing of things as far as eating is concerned, and it doesn't help that I've been home sick for a couple of days. Suddenly, everything around the house sounds like a good snack! Argh!

Exercise is going great, I've even exercised while home sick (I know, I'm crazy). I should hit 150 days of exercise on Thursday. I'm only 2 pounds away from my next 10% goal - hopefully I'll make it next week!

Have a great week, everyone - and hello and good luck to all the new WISHers! This is a great place for support, so stick around!

 

[A1A1]

Congratulations on all these successful life changes you have made.

 

[AprilN]

No loss for me this week (almost had to give back my clippie), which is kinda upsetting - it's the first weekly weigh-in since September that I haven't lost weight. Especially because I thought I had a really good week, finally back onto my regular workout schedule and eating plan. It might be TOM, but I don't know for sure. Argh.

Not much else to say at this point. Just keep trying, I guess. I hope everyone else is having a better day.

 

[AprilN]

2 pounds (barely) gone for me this week. I was really hoping for more, considering I didn't lose anything last week. I guess I've got a plateau going on - my clothes are still getting looser (I've noticed a change over just the last 7 days), and I'm definitely a size 22, and yet the scale barely moves.

This has been a significant mental and emotional challenge for me lately, keeping up the healthy eating and exercise while the scale refuses to show me what I want (and need) to see. I'm not planning to give up, not by a long shot, but I have become dependent on that weekly affirmation from the scale, and it's harder to persevere without it.

In an attempt to break through this plateau, I am planning to increase my daily morning jog by 5 minutes (I need to map out a longer route!). If that doesn't make a difference this week, I'll probably look to my eating plan, possibly removing 100-150 calories/day. I don't think I'm eating too much right now, especially considering all my exercising, but it's certainly one possible cause for the plateau.

At least the scale moved at all this week - and I finally made my second 10% goal, and entered the 230's!

Have a good week, everyone!

 

[DoeWDW]

April, good for you for sticking to your eating plan and exercise, even when the scale is not cooperating! If you're doing the right things, the scale number WILL go down, but it doesn't always go down on OUR timetable.

Hang in there!

 

[AprilN]

FINALLY... it's clippie time again! 4 pounds gone this week, which makes 61 pounds total. Hooray! Turns out last week was TOM, which definitely contributed to the slow-down over the past couple of weeks. I also upped my morning exercise by adding 5 more minutes of jogging, and cut about 150 calories from my daily plan (removed one fruit serving from my afternoon snack, and 1/2 bowl of cereal from breakfast). I think it's working!

It felt sooo good to step on that scale this morning and see a number in the 230's, without any extra "scale dance" to make the right number show up. I'm closing in on the lowest weight I reached the last time I tried to lose weight (1998-99, from 266 to ~233, doing my own thing). That time, I eventually gave up, and gained it all back and more. This time, there's no going back - that's a promise I've made to myself. Onwards and downwards!

Overall things are going well. Life is pretty busy right now, so it takes a little more work to make sure I'm eating right, and more planning to make sure healthy dinners arrive on the table each night. But DH and I are getting it done, one way or another.

Only 14 more pounds to that fabulous BLUE clippie! Look out, here I come...

 

[A1A1]

Great news! I was reading about your frustration over the lack of scale movement, and then the smaller-than-you-wanted scale movement, and then finally what you wanted to see. Sometimes I think it is all a matter of timing. Had you gotten on the scale later or earlier in the day, maybe the day before or the day after the reading would have been different. So many variables when it comes to the scale. You are doing remarkably well, and I appreciate your dedication. It inspires me.

 

[AprilN]

Yippee! Three more pounds gone this week, which adds up to 64 pounds total! Only one more pound to a new clippie, 4 pounds to my Valentine's goal (I might actually make it!), and 11 pounds to that gorgeous BLUE clippie. I'm going to hit 200 days of exercise in a row this month as well - just 24 days to go!

Last week went pretty well, eating-wise. I overate a little bit at dinner on Saturday, but I just couldn't resist sharing some white chocolate gelato (and scrumptious biscotti) with DH for dessert. At least I didn't have too much bread, and chose salmon instead of pasta. I did well on Superbowl Sunday as well, although it helped that we didn't actually watch the game (taped for later). We still had hamburgers and guacamole (and green beans) to "celebrate" the game, the first beef burger I've had in months. We tried baked Tostitos, which were actually pretty good with the guac.

I just realized that the last time I saw 232 on the scale was probably 6.5 years ago. Look out 220's, here I come!

 

[CourtasanSatine]

great news on both the soon to be clippie and scale movment

 

[AprilN]

One more pound gone this week - I was hoping for a little more, but at least it's time to claim a new clippie! I'm not going to make my Valentine's goal, which is too bad but I tried hard and came pretty close. Only 10 more pounds to a blue clippie, and 16 pounds to my next 10% goal. Exercise is still going great - Thursday will make 6 months of daily (and twice-daily) workouts. Onwards and downwards...

I'd like to blame my small loss on TOM, but it's more likely due to some extra snacking on Sunday and Monday. Argh! Even though it was mostly healthier snacks (baked Tostitos and veggies with salsa and hummus), it was still more than I needed. It was also mindless eating - I knew dinner was almost ready, but suddenly I would find myself veering towards the chip bowl, without even thinking about it! Bad bad bad. If I had just sat down and pounded a bottle of water, it would have filled up my stomach enough to make it until dinner.

Last night wasn't quite so bad, but I was still eating mainly because the food was there, and not because I was really hungry for it. One small success: I made a whole batch of oatmeal cookies, and only ate 3 over two days. The rest came to work today to disappear!

I'm going to try and keep a closer watch on my eating this week, just to make sure I'm always conscious of what's going in my mouth. I'm also going to really push the water this week, at least 6 bottles a day. Time get things moving!

Have a great week, everyone.

 

[marsh0013]

april, congrats on another pound gone! i know you'd like to see more, but slowly and surely, it will come off. stick to your plan of less mindless snacking and more water, and you'll reach your goals

great idea to bring the cookies to work! i mean, i hate it when people bring stuff because i always end up eating it, but i guess they're just doing the same thing (getting it out of their house)!

hope you have a great week

 

[AprilN]

Hi there, everyone.

Well, it's been six months to the day when I finally woke up and realized that I deserve to be the healthiest person I can be (and joined WISH a week later). I thought I would take this "anniversary" to share some stats on the progress I've made. It might seem like bragging... that's because it is! I'm very proud of myself. Anyway, here goes...

In the past six months, I have:

made 65 pounds disappear forever

shed 47.29 pounds of pure FAT from my body

decreased by body fat percentage from 49.3% to 42.7%

lowered my BMI from 52.4 to 40.9

lost a total of 66.5 inches
• 9.5" from my bust
• 8.25" from my waist
• 11.25" from my abdomen
• 11.5" from my hips
• 7.25" from each thigh
• 5.75" from each arm

exercised every day for the past 185 days, twice a day for over 50 of those days

went from a clothes size 28 to size 22

can now fit comfortably in both the driver's seat of my new car, and an airline seat with no seatbelt extender

Made real changes in my eating and lifestyle that I WILL continue for the rest of my life

And finally, here are some before and during pictures. The before was taken about three weeks after I joined WISH (basically my starting weight) and the during was taken last night.

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Hooray for me! OK, that's enough bragging for one day. Have a good one!

 

[marsh0013]

april, you look wonderful!!!! look at all you've accomplished so far, that is so amazing keep it up girl, you're doing so wonderfully!!!

 

[AprilN]

One pound gone this week. I'm really having trouble with this right now. I know one pound is progress, one more gone, etc., but I really want to keep up my loss rate - and one pound a week isn't going to cut it. I would feel better about it if I had a big loss last week (only one pound as well), or if I had a bad week eating-wise, but I thought I did well last week. I was a little low on the water intake over the long weekend, but other than that...

I really needed to see the scale move this week, because I spent all day yesterday sorting and bagging up all my too-big clothes, which was incredibly difficult for me. I can't really explain why, but it was hard, really hard. So I desperately needed that happy scale boost this morning - and nothing doing. It's so hard to believe that my healthy eating and exercise will work in the long run when I'm just not making the progress I want. When it didn't work this week, why should it work next week?

And yet I have to keep going, because I am committed to living this healthy life for life. I just want to see the results of all my hard work. I sincerely hope everyone else is having a better week.