Milestone: 30 Pounds Gone!

 

I hit a huge milestone over the weekend; I've lost 30 pounds! I'm so excited! I weighed in at 227.2 this morning so I'm safely in the 20's without fear of slipping back over the line. I feel great and I've really been in the zone lately :D

I thought today would be a fun time to reflect back on how I used to eat (prior to 2009 - I've progressively been eating healthier since then)compared to now:


Breakfast then:  Soda and candy bar or pastry from a convenience store on the way to work or sugary cereal.

Breakfast now:  Egg and cheese or fruit, once in a while turkey bacon or sausage, nuts.
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Lunch then:  Always some sort of fast food-type meal, with large fries and soda, of course.

Lunch now:  Romaine-based salad loaded with veggies and sometimes chicken breast or cheese thrown in, a small amount of fruit.
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Dinner then:  An example of a typical dinner would be spaghetti and meatballs topped with tons of parmesan cheese, 4 pieces of garlic bread, salad with a lot fat-laden dressing.

Dinner now: Usually chicken breast or fish, sometimes I will treat myself to steak, rarely pork, large side of veggies.
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Dessert then:  Usually a huge bowl of ice cream, chips and soda or some sort of pastry

Dessert now:  Fruit
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Exercise then:  none

Exercise now:  Approximately 45 minutes a day/5-6 days a week mix of cardio and strength training
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Way of eating then:  Anything goes

Way of eating now:  Primal

Even though I gave up alot of foods, I don't feel deprived. I feel more healthy and in control. I feel satisfied on less food and "cleaner" on the inside. I get around better with less aches and pains. I feel better all around.
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Brace yourself for the not-so-great pics, but you can see a little progress now:

 

The picture on the left was taken in May.  The one on the right this past weekend.

 

Looking at the before picture makes me ill. I knew I was fat but I didn't realize how fat.  I'm thankful I'm on the right path now.

 

Make it a great day!  :D

 

Friday and the dreaded appointment

Happy Friday! I love my half work-days on Friday. :)

I hit 230.0 on the scale this morning - what a tease!

This morning I had my dreaded yearly gyno exam. (Sorry Marc, lol) Hurray that I'm good for another year!  The good news is that my blood pressure was 104/80, I was thrilled with that. The doctor also commented on my weight loss and asked how I was losing it. When I told her no grains, sugar, processed foods she just smiled and shook her head while jotting in my file. YAY!

That's it for today. Short and sweet. Have a great weekend all! :)

Thursday

Down another .4 this morning. :)

Last evening I bumped up to the second level of Slim in 6. It was 48 minutes of fast, non-stop, high-impact exercise. It's kind of aerobic-like, with some yoga and stretching at the end. I struggled doing some of the exercises, like the mule kicks (that went on forever - my legs were on fire!) and I had to do the modified move for the pushups. I just did the best that I could and hopefully each time I will be able to do a little more. I really had to talk myself into doing it but once I got going I was okay and then after I felt great. I can never remember a time that I regretted exercising after the fact.

NSV:  I have a pair of pants on today that used to be too small! They actually fit perfectly, too, not even tight. Love it.

Our health insurance at work has this new thing going where it is promoting a healthy lifestyle with monetary incentives. If we complete a health assessment online they will give us a $17/month break on our premium for 6 months (which I've done). Now they've added that if we get a biometric screening that they'll extent the rewards for another 6 months. I Have mine scheduled for next month - they have someone coming to my work and we don't have to pay for it. I had one done last December and I'm curious to see if my results will be any better this time since I've lost some weight and have been eating primally for 3 months now.

That's it for now. Make it a great day!

Catching Up

Time for an update since it's been a few days since I last posted.

4th of July was uneventful. I stayed home and exercised, eating was on plan. The evening of the 4th my brother called me from PA and said that he and his wife were going to come visit on Saturday, the 6th and spend the night. Oh holy hell! The control freak in me hates last minute plans like that. I like to know "the deal" well in advance so I can get a plan together for meals and entertainment. This left me scrambling to call my sister and DD and trying to pull a plan together at the last minute as well as trying to plan out meals.

After a few back and forth calls, my brother said that since he was popping in with short notice that he would either take us all out for dinner or we could order pizza in and for us not to go to any trouble cooking and so on. I left it up to him since he was the one paying and he decided on pizza in so we could stay in and visit more (and I was fine with that so I could have more control over my food). But, PIZZA! Oh no! I knew I needed to get to the grocery store so that I would have something to eat. I decided to buy stuff to make a huge antipasto salad loaded with veggies, ham, provolone, salami, olives and pepperoncini. At least I could eat that. My brother stopped at a farmers market on the way down and brought with him a watermelon and a cantaloupe that were as sweet as sugar. I also made cupcakes and brownies and bought chips and snack mix for the others. (I was the only one watching what I was eating and had to feed the crowd something.) I had salad, fruit, a glass of lemonade and a half of a small brownie. I also picked some cashews out of the snack mix. My sister asked if I was going to have any pizza and my SIL mumbled something about me being on the caveman diet and not eating grains. (I didn't tell her about it but I did tell my brother about it on the phone a few weeks prior, so they had to be talking about me being "on" it.) My sister said in a know-it-all voice, "So you're just not eating complex carbs." I told her that it was a little different and there was more to it than that without getting into details because I know that they don't get it or want to hear it. My sister said, "Well, I don't eat grains either." I explained to her that she does eat grains: flour, rice, pasta, corn, oatmeal... I could see everyone's eyes glaze over and my sister got a shitty look on her face so I promptly shut up. I know what they were all thinking - "oh, she's on one of those fad diets." They are all oblivious to living a healthy lifestyle.  Especially my sister who just had both knees replaced due to her obesity and she wanted to order a Philly Cheese Steak pizza (which didn't get ordered - probably to her dismay.) She likes the idea of losing weight but she doesn't want to do the work to make it happen, therefore, she doesn't want me to lose weight either. Jealousy is a bitch.

I sent all the baked goods, pizza and chips home with everyone else so I wouldn't be tempted to eat it when I was home alone. I felt good and in control. Even though I did indulge in a tiny piece of brownie and a glass of lemonade, I felt good resisting the other food crap. I was rewarded with seeing 232.6 on the scale.

The next morning we went to my DD's house where she prepared a healthy breakfast buffet (she's eating primally, too, so no problem there).

Nobody noticed or commented that I've lost weight. I've lost 26 pounds now and I know they can tell at least a little bit, but no comments. :/

The action on the scale has slowed down but it's still creeping in the right direction and that's progress for now. I'm trying to kick it up a notch. I must drink more water. I've been doing my Slim in Six videos, which have three phases and tonight I move to the medium phase, which is tough and lasts for 45 minutes. God help me have the energy to do it. I must focus and keep my eyes on the prize.

Oh yeah - somehow I got freakin' poison ivy, too!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's it for now. make it a great day.

Blogger Problems

I'm having problems with blogger and have been trying to post for days. It will not let me compose. I finally clicked the HTML button and it now lets me compose but all of the buttons that I need (formatting buttons and left side bar in dashboard) are gone. WTF. I'm not good at this and it's driving me crazy trying to figure it out. :( If anyone has any suggestions, please comment me. Meanwhile, I'll keep messing with it. Sigh...

Long Weekend :)

Who's ready for a 4-day weekend? I am!

Today is a post of randomness...

I don't have an "real" plans for the weekend, just playing it by ear. I was invited to two cookouts on the 4th, but politely declined.  I'm an introvert and would rather be by myself most of the time.  I've never felt the "need" to be around other people; there are times when I do get lonely but for the most part I'm satisfied being alone.  Is that weird?  Maybe to you. Normal for me. 



People get on my nerves quickly and then I'm ready to go off by myself again. It would be nice to have a man in my life again, though. Someday... Even family gets on my nerves, except my DD. We are supposed to go see "The Heat" either Friday or Sunday.
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Last night I did a 30 minute exercise video, I had to force exercise because I was so lazy yesterday but I sure felt better when I was done. I'm down .6 this morning to 233.0. I cannot get out of this decade fast enough!
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NSV for me: The pants that I have on today are dragging the ground with flats. They are getting baggy and loose at the waist but they still fit, just getting longer so apparently by butt is shrinking even though I can't really tell that much in the mirror.
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I got my Penzeys Spice catalog in the mail yesterday that Gwen recommended.  I think I'm going to order two kinds and give them a try. They sure do look good.
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Have a wonderful 4th of July all and let's all have a great report on Monday.  I'm hoping to I will be at least 232.something ;)

Busy!

Work is slammed and I'm trying to get caught up since I'm off Thursday and Friday this week. Yippee!

Eating and exercise are great, I've been alternating exercise between walking, squats and exercise videos. The scale is inching downward (233.6) :D

Yesterday I got my new ipad and set it up during work. I still have a few things that I need to set up and I have to get a cellular card for it so I can use it at home, and I'm good to go. I got a white one with a pretty pink case. :)

That's it for now, I'm going to steal a few minutes from work and catch up on everyone's blogs.