Here I go again...but this time I mean it

[honeymo78]

Well it’s time for me to get back on track again. I’ve been absent from the Wish boards for almost a year now. This place has helped me so much the last 2 times I’ve been around – if I could only figure out how to keep it up I’d be in great shape. So here I am back again, hopefully for the long haul.

I’m 28 and have been married almost a year. I’ve always been heavy but about 3 years ago I hit my peak – nearly 250lbs. I managed to lose over 50lbs that first year, b/w almost daily walking, a month or so of WW then somewhat following those principles, and eventually just “sensible” eating combined with the exercise. While studying for the bar exam I gained some back b/w bad eating habits and not exercising. Once again I managed to lose close to 20lbs before my wedding last year. I looked great compared to what I had been before but seeing those pictures still makes me cringe a bit at how large I am. Over the last year I again gained back those 20 or so pounds. My clothes aren’t fitting, I’m getting winded walking to the office and I generally feel like crap. It’s time to get back into shape. We’ve got 2 disney trips planned for the future – one in March (hopefully) with my mom and DH and one in Oct 07 for our 2nd anniversary. I’m going to Jamaica in a week and a half for our first anniversary and I can’t promise I’ll be good but I should be a bit more active than at home (they have aqua aerobics in the main pool which I love). My DH and I want to start a family sometime in the future (maybe in 2-3 years) and I don’t want to be unhealthy and pregnant.

So my plan is relatively simple, at least to start. I want to exercise at least 3 days a week, hopefully more, but I want to make a realistic starting goal. Food will stay somewhat the same but smaller servings/fewer helpings and at work I’m going to save money for Disney trips by not buying expensive “bad for me” lunches, but try to stick to simple soups, salads and sandwiches or lean cuisine meals. I want to bring healthy snacks to work – like veggies or fruit cups, so when I’m tempted to snack I can, but do so in a healthy way.

I unofficially got started last week and exercised 2 days until I sliced open the bottom of my foot and could barely walk. However I did manage to lose 2lbs somehow. My starting weight now is 211. I want to take some pictures to see how far I’ve come. I’ve seen some great inspirational pics here and I want to make my own. My first mini goal is to get back under 200 by xmastime and walk at least 1 mile at least 3 days a week (or comparable exercise).

Here I go again….and this time I mean it.

 

[honeymo78]

Breakfast - fruit yogurt, coffee
Lunch - chicken ramen, peach/pear fruit cup, coke zero
Snack - 4 saltines, coffee
Dinner - small bowl of beef stew/pot roast, tater tots

Water - 3 or 4 WL mugs (yes I use my refillable mug for water at work ), 2 big cups at home

Exercise - 1 mile on the treadmill

 

[Jane E.]

Stephanie, welcome back to the Wishboards! I hope your foot gets feeling better. Great job on the exercising and goal setting!

 

[honeymo78]

Thanks for stopping by Jane. My foot is much better now, thank you, and I'm back to exercising.

 

[honeymo78]

Off to a late start today but I'm going to make sure I still leave work at a decent hour so I can be sure to exercise tonight.

Breakfast - vanilla yogurt, coffee
Lunch - ham and cheese sandwich, chicken noodle soup, pickle, handful of pretzels, Coke zero
Snack - baked lays, diet cherry coke
Dinner - beef and snow peas, rice, veggie egg roll, fortune cookie

Water - 3-4 mugs, 3 glasses at home
Exercise - 1 mile treadmill

Not a great food day but not out of control either. My snack was a healthier choice than usual and I only got a pint of chinese instead of my usual quart.

 

[toystoryduo]

Welcome Back Stephanie!

Your new goals look like good ones! I know you CAN do it!

Have a great Tuesday!

 

[TomB'sWidow]

Welcome back, try and stay focused on your goals that seems to help me

 

[honeymo78]

Hi Toystoryduo and TomB'swidow Thanks for stopping by and all the encouraging words.

 

[honeymo78]

Ugh - I'm in full bloat mode this morning with the arrival of TOM. I already went nuts with breakfast - 2 buttered bagels when 1 would have been plenty or I could have had the yogurt I brought with me. I really need to stick to my pasta bowl for lunch and fruitcup or applesauce for snack and get plenty of water in today.

Breakfast - 2 buttered bagels, coffee
Lunch - pasta bowl, milky way mini, coke zero
Snack - caramel soy crisps, crackers w/pb, diet cherry coke
Dinner - 2 roast beef and cheese sandwiches, diet dr pepper
Snack - oatmeal w/tsp of pb

Water - 5+ mugs (stopped counting after 5), 1 big cup at home

Not a great food day but it could have been much worse.

 

[honeymo78]

Today will be a better day. I'm losing some of the TOM bloat and hopefully have some of my snacking under control.

Breakfast - med fruit salad

 

[CJK]

Welcome back to WISH!!! My story is quite similar to yours so I understand those ups and downs. You sound like you've got that determination. Just think of how strong and healthy you're going to feel - not to mention how gorgeous! Keep up the great work. We're all in this together!

 

[honeymo78]

Yesterday was pretty much a complete loss for me. Work was horrible - didn't snack but had a huge lunch. Then had to pick up my phone from UPS b/c no one was here to sign for it. DH also surprised me with dinner at outback after he heard how crappy my day was going. Lets just say I didn't hold back at dinner and we didn't get home in time for me to exercise either. Oh well, I don't plan on having any more days like that this week.

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Stephanie~

Don't worry too much about yesterday.... Today is a new day! Hope you have a great weekend!

~Tracy

 

[honeymo78]

Hi CJK and Tracy Today has been much better even though not perfect.

Breakfast - donut and bagel, coffee
Lunch - bagel and soy crisps, coke zero
Snack - single serving teddy graham bag

Water - didn't count today but I'm pretty sure it was at least 3 mugs

 

[honeymo78]

I'm back from Jamaica and ready to get back on track with a healthy lifestyle. I'm not going to post here everday since I'm posting in the biggest loser threads and I hate repeating myself. While on vacation my DH and I talked about some longterm goals so hopefully he's now committed to getting healthy too. I set a few mini goals for myself and I'm putting them down here so I don't forget them.

1) weigh in under 200lbs (approx 15lb loss) by the end of the year - as a reward I get to color my hair once I hit that mark
2) weigh in under 185 by the end of March (another 15lbs) - hopefully it will be before then since we are going to disney in early march
3) weigh in under 160 (another 15lbs) by the end of the summer 07 - I want to look and feel great for our 2nd anniversary at disney in Oct but I want to be able to buy new clothes so I'm setting the goal early.

I'd really love to be at 150 by this time next year but that is about 65lbs and I'm not sure if that is too high of a goal to set for myself so I've set the goal at 160. My "rewards" for hitting the 2nd and 3rd goals haven't been set yet but I know the 3rd will probably include a bikini to show off the new me. I'll probably be treating myself to a monthly mani and pedi if I keep up with exercise and weight loss for the month - I need a little extra motivation.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hi Stephanie, welcome home from Jamaica! I just read through your journal and I am glad you came back to WISH. I was once on WISH too, took some time off and returned about six months ago. It has helped me immensely! You look like you are really serious and dedicated in this, you have set some awesome and realistic goals. Good for you wanting to lose weight and be healthy before you start your family. I can't think of better motivation than that. I hope you are having a great weekend, keep up your hard work it will pay off for all of us if we just hang in there!

 

[toystoryduo]

Hi Stephanie,

Welcome Back! I hope you had a great time in Jamaica!

Your goals for the upcoming year look good. You CAN do it, Stephanie!

Hope you have a great Sunday!

 

[CJK]

Welcome back! Did you have a nice trip? I'd like to go to Jamaica sometime.

You do sound like you've got the right mindset and your goals are very reasonable. You can do this and all your WISH buddies are here for you!!!!

 

[bekkiz]

I think that your goals sound right on track! I love the idea of treating yourself each month you stay on track--what a great call!

I had a really hard time about asking my DH to help me stick with my goals, but it sounds like your husband will be helping you. That can only make success come even easier!

Good luck--I'm right there with you

 

[honeymo78]

Thanks everyone for stopping by. Your encouragement means a lot to me.

Well I’m back to my journal now since I gave up my spot on the biggest loser team. I just have been too busy to keep up with the team even though I have been trying to keep on track. Since there was a waiting list I thought it wouldn’t be fair to keep my spot.

When I got back from Jamaica I had gained a couple pounds taking me up to 216. This morning I finally saw a loss – 1.5lbs. I’m very happy that even after a run in with pizza and wings plus TOM this week I managed to finally lose something. I also got in 3 days of exercise before TOM took me out of the mood so maybe that helped. I don’t think I’ll hit 5 for Oct but I hope I’ll get rid of some of it.

I’m still aiming for 200 by the end of the year. This month’s setbacks aren’t helping but I’m not going to give up. I really need to be in better shape, especially with another trip coming at the beginning of March. I get winded walking up the stairs (however I’m fine when I’m on the treadmill), how will I make it walking all day in Disney? Even days I don’t formally exercise I still walk 2 blocks to the train from where I park my car and another 2 blocks from the train to work, plus I don’t take the escalator in the train station so that’s 2 flights of stairs. I don’t want to imagine the shape I’d be in if I didn’t get in that little bit of exertion.

I have all these reasons for motivation but when will they actually kick in? I really need a haircut but I also want to get my hair colored which is my reward for getting back to 200. I guess I’m going to have to break down and get a trim before that happens. I also have this picture at my desk at work from our trip in 2004 with DH, my mom and brother. By no means was I in great shape but I weighed about 25lbs less than I do now, walked a mile almost every day and I think I look pretty good, especially compared to what I look like now. My mom has also lost a lot of weight lately due to having to restrict her diet b/c of pre-diabetes. Right there are 2 reasons to get in shape. I don’t want to end up with diabetes (although it might not be avoidable but the better shape I am in the lower my risk gets) and my mom looks and feels great and I want that too. She’s down to about 165 from 200+lbs. I’d be happy if I was that size. I know it will take me longer to get there since I’m not cutting out all the foods she had to but obviously it’s doable. While our genes will never allow us to be tiny women, my mom is showing me that we definitely don’t have to be fat.

DH suggested a few days ago that I should join a gym again. I really don’t want to since the ones nearby don’t have a pool and I love to swim – the Y has one but it’s a half hour away and its hard enough to find time to exercise. Some days DH is so committed to helping me then other days I really wonder what is going through his head. Like tomorrow for dinner we’re having oven fries instead of fried potatoes. Yet some days when I say I’m going to exercise after dinner, usually just in the basement on the treadmill since it’s getting too dark to walk outside at night, he’ll make a face or complain or something. It’s hard enough for me to exercise even when everyone is on board.

Last weekend we went to visit DH’s friend from work. His wife just had a baby 2 weeks ago – he’s so adorable and tiny. It reminded me again of how I need to get in shape if we want to have a family. She was in pretty good shape before the baby, but obviously it will take even her some time to bounce back. We hope to buy a house in 2 years (another prerequisite for our family) and I don’t want reach that point and still not be anywhere physically ready for a pregnancy. I’ll be 30 by then and I don’t want to wait forever. And speaking of babies, I start a new birth control pill tomorrow – seasonale, well the generic version. Hopefully I won’t end up gaining extra weight (never did with any others) and we’ll see how it affects my mood.

Okay enough venting – it really is great to have a place to put down all my thoughts and know I won’t be judged for whining or whatever. It makes me feel better to get that stuff out – especially to people who can relate and someone other than DH.