I have been searching for a new hobby and I think I finally decided what it is going to be...
RUNNING!!
It's been a while since I was interested in running. It was back in August 2009, I ran in my first 5K. Honestly, since I had Olivia, I have not been in to running/jogging or exercise of any kind. I have convinced myself that I do not have time for exercise right now and I have made a lot of excuses. However, I am here to tell you that theexcuses stop today, because I signed myself up for the Heels & Hills Half Marathon!!
What was I thinking!?
I mean, I am so excited! There are just about 8 weeks until my half marathon!
Ideally, you need 12 weeks to complete all of your training and prepare your body for a half marathon. However, my goal is to finish this half-marathon...that's it. So, even if it means that I have to walk part of the way that is fine with me, because I just want to know that I can do this and be excited about exercising again!!
This week is called, "Take Time", because Weight Watchers wants us to set aside 5 minutes of "Me Time" a day to reflect on how well we are following the Weight Watchers program.
When I first read about this topic, I laughed! I am a Mom of an 8 week old little girl and some days I don't even have time to take a shower! However, Weight Watchers wants me to find time to take for myself!? Impossible! I realize that this isn't the best attitude to have, but I want to be honest with you all and let you know that this did not come easy for me. I wasn't sure how I would be able to do this every day.
It seems like I don't have time for much of anything these days and I am nervous that I will not be able to successfully complete this part of the challenge. However, I do think that this is important to my weight loss success, so I am going to try. I hope that you will do this with me!
First, sit down and figure out the best time for your 5 minute "me time". Your time is not going to be the same as mine and that's okay. Make sure that you put your "me time" on the calendar or in your phone, so that you do not forget about it.
Next, make the most of your time. Like I said earlier, I do not have 5 minutes to waste each day. Below are just 3 questions to ask yourself during your 5 minute check-in. Really make an effort to reflect on your day and make changes so that you can be more successful tomorrow!
- What did I do well, that I should keep doing?
- What will I try to do differently in the future?
- What are my top 3 goals? Has anything changed?
This is a very important week, because we've got roughly 225 food-related decisions to make each day! Taking just 5 minutes each day to check-in with our Plan can inspire more thoughtful decisions - and better numbers at the scale.
Share in the comments section when you plan to have your "me time" each day this week.
I've been wearing maternity clothes for months. I have a good reason for being in maternity clothes and her name is Olivia! I do not regret the time that I have spent wearing maternity clothes. However, I am more than ready to begin wearing clothes that come with buttons and a zipper!
Unfortunately, I have very few clothes that fit me right now. I still don't fit into my normal clothes yet, because of the extra baby weight I put on during my pregnancy. I don't have any bigger sizes, because I gave them away after I reached my weight loss goal.
On Saturday, I decided to make a special trip to Target to get some jeans that actually fit. I needed at least one pair of jeans that fit me for two very simple reasons. First, my overall self confidence is better when I am wearing clothes that fit me, because I think I look good. Looking and feeling good helps to motivate me to continue to lead a healthy lifestyle. Second, while I lose my baby weight I want to wear pants with buttons and a zipper so that I know whether or not I've eaten too much. It is hard to wear stretchy clothes all the time, because it makes it harder to tell if I have eaten too much and/or have gained weight.
Thankfully, Target had jeans on sale for just $15!!
I love my new jeans and the way they make me feel! Ultimate, it's not about the number on the tag or on the scale. I believe it is more important that I am happy with myself. These jeans helped to give me a proper dose of perspective. It was also encouraging to realize that even though I have to lose some weight, it is nothing compared to what I had to lose when I begin my weight loss journey in 2008!
{Just for fun}
Here is a new picture of Olivia! She is almost 8 weeks old!
As I am sure many of you already know, I rarely blog on Saturday. Normally, I am too busy trying to clean my house and prepare for the next week. However, Olivia is currently napping and I've got a lot on my mind. All of that combined is producing this Saturday blog post.
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8 Week to Thanksgiving Challenge Update
This first week of our challenge we focused on making an effort to track everyday. Your tracker did not need to be perfect or fully complete. However, it was important to make an effort to track any way that you could.
How did this first week go? What did you learn this week that you can apply in the days to come?
This week as I made an effort to track everything that I ate, I was reminded that the basics are vital to my weight loss success. I have always loved tracking the food I eat, because it makes such a huge difference in my results on the scale. Tracking also helps me to study and understand which foods keep me satisfied for the longest amount of time. It helps me to make better food choices.
Next week we are going to focus on Friends Without Food. These small weekly tasks will continue to help us stay on track and reach achievable goals by Thanksgiving!
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The Many Faces of Olivia
Just for fun, I wanted to share a picture with you of Olivia. She is already 5 weeks old!! Here are so of the many faces that she makes on a daily basis.
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Must Read Devotional
People often ask me how I was able to keep my motivation and lose weight the first time around. I try to be as honest as possible and explain to them that I relied on the Lord to be my strength throughout my weight loss journey. God was so faithful to be with me without my entire journey! He gave me the strength and determination I need to reach my ultimate weight loss goal.
In the last two weeks, I have become really frustrated with being overweight. I know that I have a good reason for it (my beautiful baby girl), but I am still overweight. I have been trying all week to refocus and get back on plan. I was not as successful as I thought I would be, which just caused me to be even more frustrated!
Yesterday, I read a devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries called, Renewing My Vow. This devotional opened my eyes to the reason why I have not been able to be successful so far! For the last two weeks, I have been focusing on being skinny again. In addition, I have been doing this in my own strength. Not once did I sit down to ask God to be apart of this journey with me.
This morning, I am taking time to talk to the Lord! I needed His strength the first time I lost weight and I will need it again as I get my baby weight off. I don't know why it took me so long to give this area of my life over to the Lord!
No baby yet! Sorry for the lack of blogging recently! I only have one week left until my due date and things are busy, busy, busy!
This morning, I finally had time to sit down and answer some emails from my blog readers/followers. I am so thankful that I took the time to do this, because it gave me inspiration for my blog post today!!
Today, I want to try and offer each of you some encouragement!! I receive emails on a regular basis from men and women who are trying to lose weight. I am so thankful for your willingness to be open and vulnerable about your struggles to lose weight. I appreciate your transparency so much!!
A pattern I’ve notice is that many of you begin your weight loss journeys and then within a month or two you are so discouraged that you already want to quit! Why are you so quick to throw in the towel? It’s so hard to read emails like this, because I know that if you stick with your weight loss program you will be successful. I know what it feels like when you don’t think you are getting anywhere, but I do not think that’s a reason to give up.
Below are three different ideas that you can try if you experience discouragement along your weight loss journey. These things helped me so much in my own journey and I know that they will work for you too!
First, you need to adjust your expectations. Healthy, long-term weight loss is slow. I know that none of you want to hear this, but it is true. You did not put on your weight in one night and you won’t be able to take it off that quickly either. If you are coming into your weight loss journey thinking that you will lose 4-5 pounds per week, you need to readjust your expectations so that you can avoid discouragement. Take time to create healthy and realistic expectations for yourself!
Second, celebrate EVERY victory, no matter how small you think it is!! You must being to change your mindset if you are going to be successful in your weight loss journey. A loss on the scale is a loss…period. I have heard from you all in emails and from my own Weight Watchers members that they, “only” lost 0.2 pounds. I know that you get frustrated that you did not lose more weight. However, please remember that loss is a loss. All of those 0.2’s and 0.3’s eventually begin to add up to whole pound! Change your attitude and begin to be thankful for those small amounts of weight that you lost, knowing that eventually it will add up to something bigger.
Finally, do not give up. You must keep persevering! You are worth it, no matter how much time it takes to lose weight! You need to become committed to your weight loss journey no matter what! Do not believe lies about yourself that you cannot do this, because it’s not true! It takes 21 days to make something a habit in your life. That’s quite a bit of time! Be patient while you learn to undo a lifetime of bad food choices. This was so important for me while I was losing weight in 2008-09, because I did not care how long my journey would take me. It didn’t matter, because I had already decided that I would be on Weight Watchers no matter how long it took me to get my weight off. Are you truly committed to your weight loss journey?
It is okay to be frustrated, especially when you are following the program and it does not seem to be working the way you thought they would. Just don’t let your frustration lead you to quit your weight loss journey, before it has really begun!
Have you been frustrated throughout your own weight loss journey? What are things that you did to avoid discouragement and get back on track?
This article from the Weight Watchers website does a great job of summarizing what we talked about in the meeting room on Saturday, August 4, 2012.
We have all said it 100 times,
“If only I had ____ then I could lose weight.”
Maybe it was a personal trainer, a personal chef, or a calorie free chocolate cake.
The reality check is that even if we had the things that we wished for, we would still find an excuse to not be able to reach our weight loss goals. If only thinking is counteractive, almost as if you are giving yourself a reason not to succeed.
Truth is there is no quick fix. No magic wand, no single answer.
The good news is that we already have all of the resources that we need in order to be successful, but it takes us putting in the work and being willing utilize these resources!
So what do you have that’s going to help you?
• Meetings- members who attend weekly weight watcher meetings lose 3X more weight than those that do not….tell ya something? In the meeting you get to rely off of other members who are going through the same things you are. Share recipes, ideas, what does/doesn’t work. Witness success stories taking place all around you. You will find the motivation and support that you need. You will also find the accountability that many of us need. Plus each week we discuss a different topic that will assist you to get to your long term goals.
• Etools- recipes, success stories, recipe builder, tracking, community challenges- in one word etools is amazing! This can be a huge resource in helping reach your goals!
• Friends/family- find a buddy or an accountability partner, someone to talk you our of eating that entire gallon of ice cream. Ask for help from family members and coworkers. These people can be a huge encouragement and help remind you that you can be successful!
• Tracking- by tracking you are holding yourself accountable for what you are eating. This can really help you to stay on plan. Tracking activity can also be huge source of encouragement as well.
• Planning- by planning we can change the outcome of our day. Take the time to think about the week ahead. Decide which days are going to be the most challenging and plan to spend more pointsplus values that day. Plan out your meals and put together a shopping list of what you will need. Also, plan out the activity you are going to complete
• Weight Watchers materials- go back and read through your meet PointsPlus 2012 books and reread those pocket guides. Utilize your companion guides and remember to rely on your calculators. Even meeting room products like cookbooks, electronic food scales, easy measure spoons can help you along your journey. Maybe it is a matter of keeping yourself stocked on snacks.
• Non Scale victories- these are all the small things that make you happy along your weight loss journey. Being able to walk up a flight of stairs without passing out, getting into a smaller dress size, realizing that that brownie wasn’t worth it, getting a compliment about how you look, finding new parts of your body you forgot you had….all of these are things that we should cherish “Warm and Fuzzies”. Rely on these when your confidence has fallen. Remember where you started and how far you have come since then.
No more excuses, we have what we need to succeed, now let’s put it to good use!
I really enjoy receiving emails and Facebook messages from YOU my readers! Thank you so much for taking the time to open up and be vunlerable with me, someone you have never even met. I take time to pray for each one of you as I read your stories. Receiving your emails helps me to know what you all are struggling with, and it gives me some direction to know what to write about on my blog throughout the week!
This morning after reading and responding to several emails I was overwhelming with this desire to talk to you about getting out of the "waiting for tomorrow" mindset. Last week, I shared a meeting summary with you about Turning Slip Ups Into Success. If you have not read it, I would highly recommend that you check it out.
If you are traveling the road called, weight loss, you have probably experienced your fair share of slip ups and failures. Anytime when we get off track and/or off plan we have two choices.
Option #1: The first thing we could choose to do after a slip up is to throw in the towel altogether. We can let discouragement take us farther and farther away from our goals until we have gained most, if not all, of our weight back. We choose to focus on the negative and see ourselves as a failure.
Option #2: The other option that we have after a slip up, is to decide to learn from our mistakes and setbacks. We decide that all of our hardwork is too important to throw away, because of one mistake. We find the courage necessary to get back on the scale and get back on plan.
When you choose option #2 you begin to realize the strength that God has given you to be successful on your weight loss journey. With every slip up you learn a little bit more, but each time you choose to continue to persevere. Before you know it, you will reach your weight loss goal and have developed a little bit more character along the way.
If you had a slip up last night or six months ago the solution to your problems is one in the same. Get back on plan TODAY! Stop waiting for tomorrow and making excuses for why you can't do it. This morning decide to change your mindset and choose to learn from your mistakes. It's not going to be easy, but you are worth it!
Below I've included a video of Mandisa's song and lyrics for, "Waiting For Tomorrow", because it has been such an encouragement to me. I pray that it will give you the encouragement you need to get back on plan today.
If you are committing to get back on plan, please leave me a comment, so that I can be praying for you!
"Waiting For Tomorrow"
By, Mandisa
Maybe tomorrow we'll start over
Maybe tomorrow I will finally change my ways
Said the same things yesterday
Don't know why I'm so afraid
To let you in
To let you win
To let you have all of me
Can't spend my whole life wastin'
Everything I know I've been given
'Cause you've made for so much more than
Sittin' on the side lines
I don't wanna look back and wonder
If good enough could've been better
Everyday's a day to start over
So, why am I waiting for tomorrow
Maybe today I'll start believing
That you're mercy is really
As real as you say it is
It doesn't matter who I used to be
It only matters that I've been set free
You rescued me you're changing me
Jesus take everything
Can't spend my whole life wastin'
Everything I know I've been given
'Cause you've made for so much more than
Sittin' on the side lines
I don't wanna look back and wonder
If good enough could've been better
Everyday's a day to start over
So, why am I waiting for tomorrow
Oh, I'm makin this my moment now
To grab the hand that's reachin down to save me You saved me
And I'm makin this my moment now
To grab the hand that's reachin down to save me You saved me
Can't spend my whole life wastin'
Everything I know I've been given
'Cause you've made for so much more than
Sittin' on the side lines
I don't wanna look back and wonder
If good enough could've been better
Everyday's a day to start over
So, why am I waiting for tomorrow
I'm gonna grab the hand that's reachin down
And I'm not gonna wait until tomorrow
Oh, tomorrow
Walt Disney: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked.
J. K. Rowling: Rowling may be rolling in a lot of Harry Potter dough today, but before she published the series of novels she was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel. Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest women in the world in a span of only five years through her hard work and determination.
Michael Jordan: Most people wouldn't believe that a man often lauded as the best basketball player of all time was actually cut from his high school basketball team. Luckily, Jordan didn't let this setback stop him from playing the game and he has stated, "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
This article from the Weight Watchers website does a great job of summarizing what we talked about in the meeting room on Saturday, July 14, 2012.
In any process that requires changing lifestyle habits, especially weight-loss, there are going to be ups and downs. The key to remaining positive during a setback is to remember that no one is perfect, and that getting thrown off track occasionally, doesn't mean you've messed up for good.
While it might not feel like it at the time, a slip can pave the way to greater success and boost your confidence. It's a perfect opportunity to slow down, reassess your habits, and decide what's working for you; what's not; and why. Open yourself up to the lessons that hurdles present and make the slip work for you, rather than against you. Doing so will help you regain control and avoid feeling discouraged. Look at slips as road signs pointing the way toward a more productive path. Each time you make a mistake, you learn what to do — and more important, what not to do.
It's feedback, not failure Maybe you’re finding it difficult to commit to your weekly activity goal. Or you’re not as vigilant with tracking on the weekends. Or perhaps you’ve noticed your motivation waning during the lazy days of summer. Recognizing behaviors that hinder your progress and using strategies and tools to help you recover from lapses is a big step in establishing a successful weight-loss plan that will work for you, and that you can work with, too.
It’s also important to recognize negative thoughts when they run through your mind, and understand how your thoughts influence your weight-loss progress. Is an “all-or-nothing” attitude tripping you up? You know what we mean if you’ve ever overindulged and thought, ‘I’ve blown it so I might as well keep eating.’ Instead of throwing in the towel and overeating the rest of the day (or week), do something to help you feel more in control. View your next meal — or the next moment — as a fresh start.
Wherever your insights lead you, bravo for having the courage to take what might be an uncomfortable detour — and still move forward — on your path to weight-loss success. Give yourself credit for undertaking such a life-changing journey — slip-ups and all!
Just remember this quote from Michael Jordan,
"I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
There are those moments in your life that you will never forget like your first kiss, your wedding day, the birth of your first child, and many more. For me there are some very specific moments in my weight loss journey that I will never forget.
This morning, I am referring to the day that I surrendered my weight loss journey over to the Lord. I am so thankful that before I joined Weight Watchers, I made the decision to invite God to be a part of my weight loss journey.
One night in October 2008, I was out walking and talking with God. I do this a lot, but this particular night was different. With every passing step, I poured out more and more of my heart to God. I even begged the Lord to make me healthy and skinny overnight, because I knew that He had the power to do that. If God choose to make me take the long road and lose weight myself, I asked that He would be my source of strength. I knew that God needed to be a part of my weight loss journey if I had any chance of being successful!
This was the first night that I called on God for strength during my weight loss journey, but it was not my last. To this day, I will pray to God asking for strength to resist temptations and continue to make wise food choices.
One of my favorite Bible verses is Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all this through him (God/Christ) who gives me strength."
Life is hard. Weight loss is hard. However, God wants us to depend on Him in our time of weakness. We must trust the Lord to give us the strength we need to get through the hard times.
Have you invited the Lord to be a part of your weight loss journey?
The Lord is waiting for you to surrender your weight loss journey to Him. He wants you to admit your weakness and exchange that for His glorious strength!
"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10
Please don't misunderstand me. Just because you invite God to be a part of your weight loss journey does not mean that He will automatically make your healthy and skinny. However, as you surrender your weight loss journey to God, you learn to depend on His strength more than your own willpower.
God wants to help you reach your goal weight, but He also wants to receive the glory and honor for being the one to help you get there!!
Please take some time this weekend to talk with God about your weight loss journey. Be honest with Him about where you are at in your journey. He wants to listen to you!!
For the last few weeks, I have been struggling to make healthy food choices. Things in my personal life have been challenging and I have been turning toward food to comfort me. This week I decided that I want to get back on track and begin to make better food choices throughout the remainder of my pregnancy.
Even though this is something I decided, it is still hard to put it into action! Making healthy food choices is not easy, especially when you lack the motivation to do it.
Two days ago, I received the motivational kick in the pants that I needed. On Wednesday, May 23rd, I had my glucose test. The results came back showing that I did not pass. What!? How could I not pass? My score was supposed to be 130 or under and I was 133.
Initially, this news was very upsetting to me, because I wanted to pass my test and not have to worry about this anymore. However, if I had passed my test, I would have missed out on this opportunity to renew my motivation and determination to make healthy food choices throughout my pregnancy.
Thankfully, my doctor is not going to make me take the 3 hour glucose test! I just barely missed the mark and he does not think I have gestational diabetes. However, just to be sure I need to track my blood sugar levels three times over the next three weeks. In three weeks I will go back to see my doctor. At that time he will review the levels I've recorded and see where we should go from here.
I'm not going to wait three weeks to get this issue under control. I've been looking up "gestational diabetes" on What to Expect When You're Expecting and Baby Center. These websites have great articles that explained gestational diabetes to me and how I can prevent it. My plan is to just live like I do have gestational diabetes until I am told otherwise.
In order to prevent or control gestational diabetes, you need to watch what you eat and exercise. These are both things that I can do! I am going to do my best to avoid sweets as much as I can and focus on making healthier food choices. This isn't going to be easy, but I want to have a healthy baby!
A healthy lifestyle isn't just about the physical side of things. I've spent some time praying and asking God to forgive me for my emotional eating. I know that in order to make these healthy choices I need a strength that is far greater than my own. I am praying that God will give me His strength to do this for the next 14 weeks and beyond!
If you are struggling to find motivation I would just encourage to spend time with the Lord and talk to Him about your situation. It was my plan to pass my test, but God had other things in mind. I am so thankful that even though I failed, God is using this situation for good!!
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
All week we have been talking about MOTIVATION. I hope that you have been able to find the spark that you were looking for this week. I want to end our week on motivation by offering you some encouragement!
While I was on my weight loss journey one of the biggest sources of motivation for me were success stories. Every week I looked forward to the new Weight Watchers success stories that would be posted online. I would tell myself that if these people could do it, so can I!
That is why I take time to blog about my own weight loss success, because I pray that it will be a source of motivation for many of you who are struggling. I have also shared other people's weight loss success stories on my blog, because they have meant so much to me! Below are a few links to different success stories that I have blogged about in the past.
Here are some other ideas from Weight Watchers E-Tools Community users about how to stay motivated and focused to achieve their goals.
"I don't want the quality of the years I have left compromised by obesity-related disease," — MURPLE.
"I
did not go through eight months of chemotherapy to then die of the
complications of being overweight. I have a lot to accomplish in life; I
can easily and effectively accomplish change when I'm full of energy
and not short of breath." — RHONNI
"I don't want people to ever say, 'See, I told you he would gain it back.'" — SAM.COLE
"I want to turn heads when I walk down the street." — SHAHIDA
"I want to really begin living life, [and] stop avoiding experiences because of my weight." — SCULLY75
"I have a family history of weight problems and I don't want to accept [obesity] — I want to break the mold." — ZIG1954
"Now
that I have lost all the weight, gotten married and am going to have a
baby, my motivation is all about being the best me... My baby needs me
for at least 50 more years!" — 200SHOES
"I look at my grandkids and know I want to be around for the great moments in their lives." — #1GRAN
"The
thing that keeps me motivated is that it makes absolutely no sense not
to keep going. Once you're able to flip your thinking upside down and
realize that this is a totally doable program, then it no longer makes
any sense not to do the program..." — CATHIEARMS
"I'm teaching my children that life doesn't revolve around McDonald's." — MH1222
"I realized I was getting lazy, and taking the dog for shorter and shorter walks." — THEWENCH
"I
want to be able to jump up on my horse this spring like I used to
before the extra weight made it more difficult. The horse is looking
forward to my successes almost as much as I am." — BCOBB98
"I
am a 2nd-degree black belt, and almost 55. My goal is to get to
Master's (5th degree) by 60. If I don't make it because of my knees,
that's one thing. If I don't make it because of my weight, that would be
a drag." — KOJIANDKIRA
