Week 6 Weigh-In

Week 6 has me weighing in at 296.8. That's a 1.4 pound loss this week. Not quite hitting the 2 pound a week loss I was shooting for but overall I am still on track. In 6 weeks I have lost 21.8 pounds which is nothing to be down about! I am planning to start incorporating exercise into my day here in the next week or two. We have an elliptical that needs digging out of the shed and we are planning to make room for that in our bedroom over this next week. That should help kick things up a notch, don't you think? Here's what my weight loss journey has looked like so far as I have been tracking it at weightchart.com:

The yellow star marks my next goal which is 294 pounds by next week. That would require a 2.8 pound loss. Realistically looking at my last few weeks loss, my guess is that it will take me 2 weeks instead of 1. It's easy to get discouraged when things aren't going as I planned for them to on paper but when I step outside of that and focus on the progress I have made and the fact that I am seeing a consistent loss each week, I just won't let myself be disappointed. I took my sweet time putting this weight on and developing rotten habits, I am going to give myself time to take it off too. I will keep setting goals for myself so that I have something to strive for while being flexible enough not to let those goals on the scale become my only measuring mark. I am doing good and continuing to move forward!

Week 5 Weigh-In

Still plugging along and going strong 5 weeks in! Truly, I am thanking God for the motivation and self-discipline I have had so far. Not to mention that I continue to find myself going deeper and deeper into studying how to heal and nourish my body in all new ways which I have found exciting.

One thing I really am trying to retrain my brain on is to not view this as a diet. I am not simply trying to stay under a calorie goal for the day but actually chose healthier foods in the process. One area that I am majorly struggling with when it comes to this diet mentality is on weigh day. I found myself last week doing the thing I used to do long ago in Weight Watchers which is to use my weigh day as a cheat day. To let myself have whatever I want because it would be a whole other week before I had to step on that scale. This meant last Wednesday night for dinner we made a trip to Texas Roadhouse, simply because it was weigh day. No big deal, right? Not really except that it usually bleeds into the next day as well. Hubby brought up this new burger at Carl's Junior I had been wanting to try so that ended up being lunch on Thursday. It's like once I get started on that cheat mentality it's hard to reign it back in. Now that is two days of less than desirable eating I have to combat the rest of the week.

To be clear, I am not opposed to eating out or even fast food. I would like to one day cut out the unhealthy restaurants from my families dining experiences but at this point I am choosing to let everything in moderation be permissible. My issue really is more a mental one, which is a huge part of my weight battle, and I am wanting to fight that part of my brain that rationalizes bad choices or tries to turn bad choices into reasons to quit. When I catch myself getting wrapped up in some of those mental struggles that have plagued me all during my weight battle, I am trying to recognize them and call them out so to speak. Then I can work to replace those not so healthy thoughts and behaviors with ones that are more positive and beneficial. If I can stop trying to cheat myself and simply live right and eat healthy, I will benefit that much more. And then when different life events pop up that naturally present a more indulgent eating opportunity, I can participate and not feel guilty or like I am completely knocked off track.

Whew, that was a lot of words but I found myself feeling a little bothered by the direction of the blog so far. I definitely want to continue sharing what I am eating and what my progress is but weight loss is so much more than that for most people, myself included. I don't want to exclude the rest of that because I think it's actually more important than the food and the scale. Those mental, spiritual, emotional struggles are often the real issue behind the weight and if we can't address them, talk about them, share them - we will go right back to the unhealthy things that caused weight to be a problem to begin with. So I am going to dig a little deeper and be more transparent in those personal aspects of my journey that hopefully some of you will be able to relate to. Stick with me, this is just the beginning so things are going to grow and change along the way!

Okay - let's get down to it. My weigh in for this week has me at 298.2 pounds. That's a 1.8 pound loss for the week! I'll take it (especially with those not-so-waste-friendly food choices at the beginning of the week). That has me at a total loss of 20.6 pounds in 5 weeks. I am feeling strong and determined and would love to continue at this pace. My goal of 50 pounds lost by my next birthday (September 6, 2015) is in reach and I am going to fight to accomplish it. Here's what the journey has looked like so far as I've been tracking it on weightchart.com:

(The orange star is showing my next small goal of weighing 294 by May 6)

What are some of your mental struggles when it comes to weight loss? How do you keep them in check and work to replace the negative actions and thoughts with positive ones?

Week 4 Weigh-In

Week 4 down! It feels good to have made it 4 weeks into this journey and to have experienced consistent loss so far. I know that as I get further into this it will get tougher and I may see the scale budge some but I am excited to continue plugging along while it is headed in the right direction. I am feeling better, stronger, lighter, more energized and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Let's look at what this weeks results are and how they compare to where I started.

I started this journey weighing in at 318.6 lbs. Last week I weighed in at 302.8 and this week my weight was.....300.0 lbs. Oh, so close to getting under that super ugly number! I am beyond ecstatic to know I will be busting through that milestone next week and never looking back. In the meantime I am celebrating my 2.8 lb loss for this week and my overall loss of 18.6 lbs in this first month. I am on the right track and couldn't be prouder of myself. Here's my progress as I have been tracking it on weightchart.com:

The blue line shows my weight loss over the last 4 weeks. The orange line shows my first milestone (which I already met ahead of schedule). The purple line leads to my next milestone. Loving the downward trend of that weight loss line and the feeling of meeting my goals and staying on track! Progress is a beautiful thing.

Every 4 weeks I am going to not only show you what the scale is saying but also take pictures to document visible progress. I am going to try to stay in the same outfit for continuity which should help make differences more noticeable. Here is today's picture:

Here are side by sides of last month's pictures compared to today's pictures:

Not a whole lot of visible change which honestly is disappointing (and a little disgusting!) after losing 18 pounds. But I know that my body is changing and that with this much weight to lose it may take awhile to really see a difference. I know that I am putting healthier food in my body, eating appropriate portion sizes, increasing the water I drink, lessening my caffeine intake, trading processed foods for whole foods and making healthier choices each and everyday. I can't wait to look back months or years down the road and see a drastic difference from this starting point. But we all have to start somewhere and I know that with each month that passes I will move further away from what I used to be and closer to my goal.

Are you celebrating your milestones? It's so easy to get caught up in the end result and forget that it takes progress to get there and that progress deserves celebration. As I said, I will use both the scale and monthly pictures to celebrate the way my body is changing for the better. And when I add fitness to this journey I will be measuring and taking pictures focusing in on different body parts to further record the changes taking place. Seeing that scale go down is awesome but it is just one way to measure success and I don't plan on limiting myself solely based on those numbers. What are your favorite ways to evaluate how your body is changing that don't include the scale?

Week 3 Weigh-In

Sorry I didn't post this yesterday, it's Spring Break and my husband has a week off work so we took an overnight trip to Seattle with the kids. So much fun! We left first thing Tuesday morning and didn't get back until late last night so I went ahead and weighed in on Tuesday before we left. I probably should have waited until I got back so that my food choices would better reflect an impending weigh-in, but if I'm totally honest that is part of why I did it early. I didn't want to have to stress about food while I was gone. Let me tell you though - 2 days of eating out, especially fast food, has left me feeling less than 100%. It's amazing what a difference it makes when you have started consuming mostly healthy foods in your diet. Reminds me how much I do not want to go back to a "diet" filled with fast convenience food with no thought to portions. I feel so much better when I am fueling my body well.

Anyway, on to the weigh-in. I actually did really good this week! I started the week weighing 307.4. I was pleasantly surprised when I got on the scale on Tuesday morning and it said I weighed 302.8. That's a loss of 4.6 pounds this week! I started this journey 3 weeks ago weighing 318.6 so my overall weight loss is 15.8 pounds. I was shooting for a 15 pound loss for my first month so I am stoked to have reached that after 3 weeks.  Here's what my weight loss has looked like so far as I have been charting it on weightchart.com:

On the left is my weight loss to date and on the right are my milestones. As you can see, I already reached the milestone I had set for April 17th, so I went ahead and set a new one for next month. I am shooting for 2 pounds a week average so I am hoping to lose just over 8 pounds by this time next month. In the even shorter term, I would love to get under 300 this next week but will be realistically be looking to do it in the next two weeks.

Speaking of goals, I've been wanting to share my long term goals here as something to look back at. I started this journey on March 15th, 2015. My first big goal is to reach a 50 pound loss by my next birthday (September 6). That gives me about 5 pounds from now and with a little less than 35 pounds to go, I think it is completely doable! My big picture goal is to reach 165 by my 35th birthday (September 6, 2016). That will give me a year to lose another 100 pounds after hopefully reaching that 50 pound goal in these next few months. I am dreaming big and on the road to achieve my dreams!

What are your long term weight loss/health goals? I would love to hear them!

Matcha and Mason Jar Overnight Oatmeal

This last week I stumbled upon something on Pinterest that caught my eye. A bright green superfood with awesome nutritional benefits called Matcha. Here's what Encha (the company I chose to buy from) says about it, "Matcha is super green tea in the whole powder form, after shade-growing for 3 weeks and removal of stems. It is more effective in offering mental energy and antioxidant benefits than regular teas, and longer-lasting mental focus than coffee." You can read more HERE.

I decided to order some and try it out. Sounded like a great thing to mix into my green smoothies as a start and I have pinned a few other fun recipes that call for Matcha that I am looking forward to trying. Here's my first package:

I don't know if I have experienced the Zenergy that Encha raves about, but I haven't felt the need for coffee. That's big considering I'm a coffee-aholic. My husband was also a willing participant and tried this in his green smoothie this week. He works 12 hour days and said the combination carried him through until lunch. Either way, I am happy to get the boost of antioxidants that Matcha offers. We probably won't purchase this all the time as it's on the spendy side, but it will be a great addition to our arsenal as we continue on this healthier journey.

I have also been dying to try an overnight oatmeal. I love mason jars, I love convenience, and I am pretty fond of oatmeal so this growing trend has caught my eye for sometime. I decided to play around with a recipe I found online and add in some Matcha. My kids were completely enthralled when they saw me eating my breakfast the next morning. Just look at this color!

Here's what is in it:

2/3 c almond milk (you can use any milk, just depends on your preference)
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1/2 c Greek yogurt (again, any yogurt will work)
1 pinch cinnamon
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Matcha green tea powder

I mixed all of these ingredients in a separate bowl and then poured it into a pint sized mason jar and topped with 1/2 cup frozen blueberries and 2 Tbsp raw almonds. Put the top on and pop it in the fridge overnight and you have a delicious, filling, convenient, and healthy breakfast to start your next day. I found myself making 3 the following night because my husband and two of my kids (they split one since it's pretty hefty) wanted to try it too. Good stuff!

You can read about the other great super foods we are trying HERE.

Week 2 Weigh-In

Two weeks down! I'm feeling really good about the progress I am making. Not even so much on the scale (although of course that is great) but just the daily changes, continued motivation, and positive choices. It feels good to be doing the right thing for my health and my body!

Let's see what the scale has to say. I started out 2 weeks ago weigh 318.6. Last week I lost I whopping 9.6 pounds coming in at 309. This morning I got up and weighed in at 307.4. That means I have lost another 1.6 pounds. That makes my total loss so far 11.2 pounds! Honestly, I would have loved to have at least hit 2 pounds this week as that is my weekly goal to stay on track but I know that I lost big last week so it balances out. That and we had a weekend away celebrating our anniversary and I while I tried not to wildly over do it, I certainly was eating more than I would at home. I'm choosing to be happy that I can celebrate those life events without being super strict and still see a loss. I'll call that a win!

Here's my progress as I track it at weightchart.com. I have two more weeks to meet my first month's goal of losing 15.6 pounds. I think I can do it!

Breakfast Time - Metabolism Booster Juice

Last week I was starting my day with The Green Terminator Shake. It was a filling, healthy way to kick my morning off but I wanted to switch it up this week to keep things interesting. I don't mind eating (or drinking!) things repetitively for a short while but I really love variety in my meals so it is important for me to mix it up here and there, especially when I am trying to stick to a healthier eating plan. I mentioned that I had won an awesome juicer a year or two back, so I wanted to put that to use this week and start my day with a juice. I picked something called the Metabolism Booster Juice. I wanted to go opposite of the green and this definitely took me there - bright purple, tart and sweet at the same time! Here is what is in it:

2 green apples
1 stalk of celery
1 small cucumber
1 small beetroot
1/4 lemon
1/2 inch of ginger

I just ran all that through my juicer and drank it up in all of it's purple goodness. Now in most of my drink posts I have shown you how I prepped for the whole week to make life easier. I can't exactly do that when juicing so I am chopping it all up the morning of. Want to see what it looks like?

Can you believe ALL of that goes into one juice?

That beautiful purple color!

I might mention that it made a bit more than a standard glass so I ended up sharing with my 4 year old. He loves to have whatever I'm having and I love that he is getting all that nutritional goodness. My kids will eat anything if it is supposed to be only mine...if I tried to serve it to them right out they are more likely to snub their nose at it. Kids!

You don't get to be 300+ lbs by being willing to live on liquid alone so this isn't the only thing I am consuming in the morning. Usually an hour or two later I will have something with some protein to keep me satisfied until lunch. I have been really loving an egg fried in a little bit of coconut oil topped with salsa and some avocado. All that good fat makes me happy, especially since I have been so restrictive. I love being in a place where the right stuff makes me excited!

Do you have a juicer at home? If so, how often do you use it and what are your favorite concoctions?

**Update** - I have started logging my food on an app (HERE is a post about how I am logging my food) to get a better picture of what I am consuming. I wanted to come back and share the nutrition info for anyone interested. Using the recipe analyzer at fitwatch.com this is the nutrition info if you consume this as one serving. I was definitely most surprised by the carbs...this is EXACTLY why I need to track for awhile so that I have a better awareness of the complete nutrition profile of what I am eating. Here's the break down for you:

Week 1 Weigh-In

One week down! I started this weight loss journey one week ago, although it honestly feels longer than that. Here are some of the changes I have made this week:

Drinking 3+ liters of water every day
Cutting coffee down to one cup a day or less
Trading out my cereal and toast breakfast for a smoothie/homemade juice and some protein
Light lunch
Portioning dinner and no seconds
No snacking after dinner time

Are we ready to hear the results? Last week I weighed in at 318.6 (you can see my first post HERE). Today I weigh.......309! Down 9.6 pounds this week. I am so happy with my results! I know that these big numbers won't last long but it's nice to get a good start since I have so far to go. It definitely motivates me as I go into this second week.

I am tracking my weight at weightchart.com so I will be sharing that here for an ongoing visual of my progress. You will see my start weight and the weigh-ins that follow (the blue points and line) as well as my current short-term goal (the orange star and line). My first goal is to lose 15 pounds in this first month. Here's what the chart looks like so far:

Here's to a good beginning to a long journey. Where are you at in all of this? I would love to hear your story, feel free to share below.

Lunch Time - Herb and Veggie Soup

Have you seen a theme yet in my food and drink posts? I love convenience and being able to prep ahead! Hey, I'm a busy mom and if I am going to win at this weight loss thing I have to make it as simple as possible. This lunch is no different. I found this Herb and Veggie Soup that makes 6 servings so I was able to make up a batch and eat one for lunch that day while portioning out the other 5 servings to save for my lunch this upcoming week.

This soup wasn't the best I've ever had but it was satisfying and easy so I don't mind eating it the rest of the week. You only get about a cup and a half per serving though so I will likely be adding a salad along with it to help fill me up a bit more. The one bowl I already had I paired with a homemade BLTA which was fabulous, filling combination!

What are your favorite healthy soup ingredients?

Breakfast Time - Green Terminator Drink

One of the many areas I needed to make a change in regards to eating was at breakfast time. I know that what we put in our body first thing in the morning is important. Knowing and doing are two different things though. For far too long I have fallen into a habit of cereal, toast and coffee (lots of it!) for breakfast. Mostly because of how convenient it is. I need something no-hassle in the morning as I feed 5 kids and get two ready for school. So I knew that while I needed to overhaul my breakfast choices, I also needed to make sure it was something quick and easy so that I would stick to it.

I happen to really like green smoothies so I decided that I would choose that for this week's breakfast. I came across one called The Fat Flush Green Terminator Drink and was intrigued. Here are the ingredients:

1 cup of spinach leaves
1/2 cup of fresh cucumber
Celery
1/2 banana
1/2 cup of pineapple
1/2 cup of water
4 ice cubes

I've been adding a little bit of Greek Yogurt in as well because I like the tang and it makes it a little creamier. Throwing a bunch of ingredients in a blender is easy enough but I didn't want to mess with the chopping up ingredients every morning so I just did it once, divided them into Ziplocs and put them in the freezer so I could pull them out each morning (minus the yogurt). A word to the wise - unless you own an awesome blender (and I personally do NOT at the moment), let it defrost a bit before you try to blend it. I have found that putting the bag in the fridge the night before does the trick. Here's my week of breakfast smoothies all ready to go:

These get me going for my day and usually about 2 hours later I have been having two hard-boiled eggs for some protein to keep me going until lunch. I feel much better now that I'm not starting my day on a carb-overload. A year or two back I won a really awesome juicer so I will probably be alternating between smoothies and juices from week to week. I'm not opposed to a heartier breakfast from time to time but for the most part this is really sufficient for me and it feels good to get a power pack of fruits and veggies in at the start of my day.

Not everybody is a green smoothie fan....are you? What are your favorite smoothie ingredients?

Ready to make a change

Weight. It's a battle. One I personally have been struggling with for as long as I can remember. Not to say that I haven't experienced some successes along the way, but never long term. I have never been able to shake the grip that food has on me and truly embrace a life long change. But that is my desire and so here I am. Sick and tired of being so sick and tired. Ready to pull my bootstraps up and climb this hill one more time.

I started this blog as an accountability for myself. A place to document my journey. To share my successes and struggles. Right now it's just for me. But my hope is that one day it will encourage someone else who is in this place too. What's it going to look like? As far as content goes, I'm not totally sure yet. I can tell you that it will be 100% me - real, honest, transparent. I'm not going to lie, it scares me a little. To be so vulnerable about something that has caused me so much shame for so long. But I know that to conquer this I have to shake the fear and that when you expose the dark parts of yourself to light they are no longer able to hide in those shadows.

Let's just get right to it and be as real as possible. I'm going to share with you not only what I look like right now (anybody else typically try to avoid pictures of themselves???), but also what I weigh going into this. Yup, putting it all out there. {Gulp} Here goes.....

318.6 

Wow. Never in my life could I have imagined seeing this weight on the scale. Not even when I was pregnant with my twins did I reach this weight. Things have gotten out of hand, to say the least. No more. I am not a victim here, I have done this to myself and the one good thing in being able to admit that is knowing that I am in control and capable of changing this pattern. It doesn't have to be this way.

This is the first step. Putting it out there. Now to move forward one foot in front of the other.