Susan's Epic Weight Loss 11/04/16

Weight: 298.4  (1.8 lbs lost since yesterday)
Workout: Bodyflex

Measurements (starting):

Neck: 16 1/4"
Bust: 50 1/4"
Bicep: 16"
Upper Abs: 53"
Lower Abs: 54"
Hips: 56 1/2 "
Thigh: 28"
Calf: 17"


Breakfast:  Nothing

Lunch:  Shari's Triple Decker Club Sandwich; Side salad w/ranch on the side (no croutons): 700 calories

Dinner:  Almond Chicken (281 cal) , Sweet & Sour Chicken (276 calories), Beef & Broccoli (338 calories), Egg drop soup (66 calories):  Total calories: 861 calories   Diet Soda to drink

Total Calories:  1561


Synopsis:  Not as much energy as yesterday, but I've been up since 5 a.m. and I didn't even try to take a nap today.  Plus, I never hit the treadmill.

On another interesting note, I only ate twice today, and aside from lunch time, which was around 11:30 am (because I never had time for breakfast), I wasn't hungry at all. In fact, I didn't finish by breakfast or dinner.

Went to the movies tonight (Hacksaw Ridge is AMAZING, by the way) and didn't buy anything to eat.  I think that's the first time EVER we've never bought food at the movies.  It's always been a ritual until today.  Woohoo! It's all about change, baby!

Daily Update 11/03/16

Weight (Starting again):  300.2 lbs
Measurements:  Not done yet. Will do tomorrow
Exercise:  Body Flex, Treadmill (30 minutes @ 3.0 mph, 2.0 incline; 1 stop @ 15.33 minutes)


Food:

Breakfast (9:40 am):  ZOI Greek Yogurt: Raspberry Cream:  190 Calories, 5 g fat, 7 g protein

Lunch: 12:45 pm:  2 egg rolls (400 calories)

Dinner: 5:45 pm:  1 1/2 biscuits & gravy (est. 600 calories)

Snacks:

1 handful Sunchips (est 150 calories)
5 Ruffles Chips with Dip ( est. 150 calories)
8 glasses water
2 Cups eggnog (300 calories)

Total calories for the day:  2090



Notes: Okay, so the first day back on the wagon is always the hardest. But I have a wedding (my daughter's) coming up in a little over a month, and I need to lose SOMETHING.  Bodyflex has always been the quickest way for me to lose inches.  Walking is has been the quickest way to lose pounds.  So, I'm doing a hybrid.

I'm doing my updated the day after on 11/04/16, because then I can review the overall success of the day.  And the results were interesting.  I literally sat in my seat in a stupor.

First off, my energy was off the hook.  I normally crash around 3:30 or 4:00 pm and take a nap so I can finish the rest of the night.  In my defense, my son usually wakes me up around 5:00 a.m. when he crawls into bed, and I never really go to sleep after that. And I usually go to be around midnight or 1:00 a.m., so I average 4-5 hours sleep per night.  Of COURSE I need a catnap to survive!

Yesterday, I laid down for my nap. Nothing.  I wasn't tired.  After 20 minutes, I got up and went about my day.  I was pretty beat by about 10:00 pm, so I tried going to bed.  I laid there for about 2 HOURS before I finally fell asleep.  This morning, my daughter had a nightmare and crawled into bed at around 3 a.m.  My son came to bed (as usual) around 4:45 a.m.  Guess who was too wide awake to go back to sleep? Yep.  Me.

I love how Bodyflex gives me tons of extra energy. From day 1.

Here's to hoping day 2 is just as productive!

My Epic (or not-so-epic) attempts to lose weight. Attempt #896ish

Five months since my last post.

Have I lost weight? Actually, yeah.  Just not as much as I wanted.  I'm down to 300.2.  What is that? Like 6 pounds?  Well, if you're Trying to lose 10 lbs, an six pound loss is pretty good.  If you're trying to lose 160ish, then eight pounds is paltry, at best.  Sigh.



In the last five months, I started working as an addictions counselor.  And I wouldn't consider myself a good counselor, unless I took the information I shared with my clients, and applied it to my own life as well.

Many of my clients have been in and out of the judicial system, and dealing with addiction for years or decades.  When you've been living a life like this on repeat, experiencing the same cycle over and over again, it is easy to get the F-it's.  Why try again? Why go through the hassle, if you know you'll end up right back into addiction?

One evening,  I handed this quote out to each person.  The explanation behind it is:  If you give up, you've lost already.  It's the person who keeps trying over and over and OVER again who will succeed.

And that is why I'm back at it again.

I'm Baaaaack!

Have you missed me?  I've missed me.  Well, I've missed my weight loss journey.  Since my last post, I finished my interning.  Then I started college.  To give you an idea of how crazy it got there for a while, an average college student takes 3 classes per semester.  I was taking five and six each QUARTER. Online.

No. Online isn't easier.  It's harder.  They expect more participation from you.  There are several assignments per week, and you're expected to not only post on the message boards, but interact with the other students and site sources justifying your answers.  Luckily, I only had to do two quarters.  I seriously think I would've shot myself if I had to do another quarter.  Remember, I have four kids and a husband to worry about during this process too.  It's not like I didn't have other things to worry about.  Life still went on.

Anyway, everything except the absolute essentials stopped for six months.  And I mean ESSENTIALS.  Laundry? Meh.  Dishes? Eventually.  Vacuuming? Nope. Tubs & toilets? I now know at what point the toilet will talk back if you don't clean it. (shudder).  I won't lie.  It was a dark time in my life.  We ate out A LOT. I gained weight. Go figure.

Now, college is complete, I just passed my test, and should be starting my new job in the next few weeks.  Now, it is time to return to my life, and establish my new normal.  ...Just in time for Summer break . Gah!

But that's okay.  I will make this work.  Somehow.  Some way.

First, I need to establish my new weight:  306.4 lbs  - I was up to 311 lbs about a week ago, and that was the catalyst for me to STOP what I was doing.

Yep.  Don't judge.  Okay, judge all you want.  I don't care.  It is what it is and no amount of shaming is going to change that.  What's important is that I'm taking a stand now.

I'm back on the trails, which I haven't done in more than eight years.  I realized that the treadmill wasn't working for me.  I would only do about 7 1/2 minutes (yes, I'm THAT out of shape), then the pain in my back, compensating for the weight in my stomach and boobs, would be so much that I'd stop, rest for 10 minutes, then get back on again.  By the time I was done, I'd complete 1 mile and would've taken an hour to do it.  Pathetic.

So, I hit the trails knowing that however far I went, I still had to turn around and come back!  It worked. But it was also friggin' HELL.  Luckily there were park benches along the trail (whoever thought of that should get a special place in heaven for being so thoughtful).  I hit my half way mark, sat for about 10 minutes, then started heading back.  By the time I hit the final curve, and could see my car, I was desperately trying not to limp...or crawl.  After all, there was a huge group of retired people, some with walkers, on the trail at the same time as me.  I had to at least do better than them!

By the time I was done, I had walked nearly two miles in about 45 minutes.  Still not fantastic, but a heck of a lot better than the stupid treadmill.  Plus, I got to view lots of pretty scenery!!