New Years Resolution

Well I am happy to say I comenced my New Years resolution early!! I worked out 5 out of 6 mornings this week. I have wanted to work out regularly for a long time. Guess what I started! My same 'ole pilates video I have been doing since right after Abram was born. So now if I don't fizzle out before January 1st I will be that much farther ahead :-) Wish me well. What are you planning for a New Year Resolution?

(I added the pilates dvd and the workout mats I like to use to my amazon widget)

Life Time Commitment

I am back up 6 # so am tracking every bite again this week. It is so good to have the monthly accountability (with the option of weekly accountability). I have made time to work out a bit more. I do so want to jiggle a tad less when I walk :-). I did my pilates a few times. Ah such a great whole body work out. I love that I can get my heart rate up and be slightly sore when I do the 10 minute solutions work out.

Long Time, No Post

Haven't posted here for a while. Weight is staying off o.k. Temptations are continual. God is great - I just need to walk in victory, which is often easier said than done!!

WA HOO!

I declared goal today! I am official back to my life time membership status with Weight Watchers!! Something that was said several meetings ago has really helped me ever since. What do we do when we get a flat tire? Do we get out of the car in a heated rage slash the other three? No, we fix the one that's flat. Translation: What should I do when I have a bad eating binge? Figure all is lost and continue in that binge or have more binges? No, restart right thinking / hence right eating immediately. This has helped me not lose entire days, even if I have bad moments within those days. I am no longer the three tire slasher!!!!

Long Time No Post

I have been benefitting from weight watchers. Now I am trying to wean myself off the journal and still stay in control. I still need the meetings and weigh ins. Someone mentioned a web site called Hungry-Girl a few meetings ago. I am just now having time to check it out. I have found some good recipes there. All for now!

Progress Report

I am happy to be able to entitle this Progress Report! Yes, slow but sure I am making progress. 3 # to go until goal!!!! Hip Hip - Hooray. Last week was a real struggle. We had something every day - celebrations, get togethers, social events. I caved twice but not completely. I just kept giving it to the Lord. I was pleased to step on the scale and be 2# lighter this AM!!

Ramblings

I simply have not had time to post over here for a while. No news is good news in this case. I have been making baby steps in establishing some good eating habits. My husband has been encouraging me to join weight watchers. As I have shared I was in the program two other times. Last Saturday I joined. I made this decision based on several reasons. I had $10 a week extra to burn and thought, why not. No seriously, I really do not like having to pay. Real Reasons. . .

• Most importantly, my husband thought it would be encouraging for me.
• I needed more accountability. Although spark people has the wonderfully encouraging articles available - I find the group setting better accountability. (As I am typing I am thinking, you know spark people did have groups you could join. Maybe that would have worked.)
• I am so close to goal weight (and lifetime membership status) I can taste it ;-) and I just can't seem to stick with it on my own.
• I know in the past ww has helped me establish good habits of eating what I need and no more.

Staying the Course

I haven't posted for some time. I have been maintaining weigh wise. I have been struggling to stay encouraged on a spiritual front. Feel so easily distracted, and I have much to distract me. I know the right thing to do and am just NOT doing it. Drew is so faithful to encourage me to stay in God's Word and to continue to call out to the LORD moment by moment!

My sister Terry's incredible commitment to the LORD and continued weight loss has been a great encouragement to me. Also, I was reading aloud a biography of Abraham Lincoln to some of the kids and was struck by Lincoln's commitment to improve himself. He would make daily goals of what he was going to do that day to be better the next day. Inspired me to keep a daily log of verses I must memorize etc.

I know I rambled quite a bit here, but I needed to :-)

UGH!

O.K. I didn't weigh in last Saturday because I left for NICHE Friday AM and was not back until late Sat. I didn't weigh in this AM for fear :). I am just really struggling with these last 10#. I am so selfish and want to be able to eat my treats when I want too :(. I know I need to give this area to the LORD and just can't seem to do it. Ugh! Anyone who wants to pray for me - please DO! I know all things are possible with the LORD.

I know too 10# doesn't seem like a big deal, why not just live with the extra weight right? The problem is I know the 10# will only increase with time if I don't give this area completely to the LORD and get in some better, God honoring eating habits. I know a treat now and then is o.k. but I just can't get away from constant treats. I know I should treat myself in other ways, but food treats are so convenient. I am just not trusting the LORD, but trusting in food instead. UGH! UGH!! UGH!!!

Whew! I just finished my total body blast pilates work out and I must admit it felt GOOD. I showered afterwards and that always helps. I do enjoy the slightly sore feeling of a good work out, call me strange :-).

Well, I just finished the first article I decided to read to help me in this eating battle. I found it over at associated content by yahoo. I learned a lot from it. The main thing I want to try to implement is working out to relieve stress (rather than eating to relieve stress). I really thought the morning paper route was enough exercise but I am definitely stress eating SO I am going to try to work out 4 days a week.

Click here if you want to read the article: Eat like a Skinny Person and Other Weight Loss Tips

Weigh In

I did not do well on the weigh loss this week. I did not eat healthy whatsoever. I just ate. AND ate and ate.

Weigh in proved it - UP 2#!!

I just printed off a couple articles I hope to read over the duration of the weekend. I don't want to be gaining weight. I want to be 5#, o.k., now 7 # lighter. I want to keep the weigh off once I get to my goal weight. Ugh.

Interesting. I had a tough week spiritually as well. I did not make the time for daily Bible reading. I didn't memorize my verse this week. I am trying to do a verse a week. I was VERY self focused Monday and Tuesday and most of Wed. I am so thankful Drew had the kids memorize Proverbs 16:32 on Wed. or I might still be in my slump. The LORD really spoke to me through that verse. " He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than, he who captures a city." I certainly was not ruling my spirit.

Lord help me to call out to you more and walk in the Spirit, not the flesh! I present my body as a living sacrifice to you. I want to honor you above all else. Help me transform my eating habits into ones that please You. Amen.

Thank you Lord

I am thanking the Lord to weigh in one pound lighter this morning. It motivates me to bring God glory in my eating habits, amounts, choices. . .

Head Hunger

Can't sleep tonight. Various children have been up with various issues :-) I have been so busy I haven't had a chance to post. Here are some late night ramblings.

I am in the battle and head hunger has won so many times the past week. I was amazed to step on the scale for my weekly weigh in on the 28th (one day early) to find my weight down a pound. I surely haven't been giving myself to the Lord the way I should, but I will continue to strive after Him being my all in all, not the food!

Weigh In

Weighed in yesterday at 165. Had a really bad week as far as journaling goes BUT an excellent week pondering on God's word and surrendering different areas of my life to the LORD. He is so faithful. With Drew out of town for several days I literally did not have energy to journal every bite. Wednesday I started thinking about my focus with my weight loss. All I have been thinking about since I started is FOOD! The very thing I want to think less about. SO . . .

I so want the LORD to be the center of my thoughts! Him and HIM alone. What to do????

In 1999 I almost started the Weigh Down by Gwen Shamblin, after which I named the blog. How funny that it took me several weeks to get my focus right. I don't even have the book. In fact I don't think I ever owned it. The Weigh Down bible study had it's first planning meeting in my living room a day before the whole thing blew up due to some of Shamblins doctrinal views. I still think she has some great principles. These are the ones I remember and have been implementing the past few days.

1) Don't eat if I am not hungry (really listen to your body and learn hunger signals.)

2) If I think I am hungry drink a cup of water and wait a period of time to see if I was really thirsty and read my hunger signal incorrectly.

3) Pray before eating

So here I go!!!

Whew What a Week!

I have had a wonderfully busy week! The Lord blessed our house with many friends visiting. I have not done great on the whole for journalling this week. It's funny I think I did pretty well eating small portions at meals, not getting out of control on the snacks and just gorging. I will weigh in and find out the truth tomorrow.

Starting Over

I don't know exactly what happened today. There were successes and failures. Successes - like not eating ALL the chocolate the children gave me for Mother's Day. Failures - like not journalling every bit. I am starting fresh (again) tomorrow!

I am encouraged to stay the course on a spiritual front. Some ladies really encouraged me tonight. They stirred up my desire to go harder after the Lord. Be more faithful in my Bible reading/meditating.

It's all intertwined!

Blew It

I totally blew it on the weigh down front this weekend. Other than my weigh in, Sat. AM which was good. down 2 #! I didn't journal so I don't know how bad I blew it. I will be hitting it fresh tomorrow!

Slump

I had a really bad day. Journal - breakfast only. water - o.k. just in a total slump. Funny, I don't think I'm pmsing :-). I still plan to weigh in tomorrow. The night is young but I am pooped out. It's bed time for this Mama!

This sums up my feelings so well. Well, maybe not the stage one quite, but the other two for sure.

http://spunkyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2005/08/transformation-of-inner-me.html

Motivational Articles

I am feeling a bit unmotivated to stay the course this morning so I searched motivational articles on SparkPeople and came across this:

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=692

This article links to 3 other articles I have not read.

I did think when reading this article. On step three it would be beneficial for me write my thoughts down at this point. Writing triggers the brain differently, helping the analysis process.

Staying Encouraged

I am staying encouraged on the eating front. Had some other stress in the day which I was eventually able to surrender to the Lord. Emotions and eating go so hand in hand. I am curious to see how I do through pms. Time will tell.

Goals:

success on calories

shy on water

Long Time

Well I am back on line! We ended up, after some other trials, using You Squared for an internet provider. It has made tracking my food on Spark People so fast I love it! We had company tonight. He was an inspiration, but that is for The Tribe Talk post. Getting on to life style changes :-)

All is going well. I had trouble over the weekend. First our phone went out, which meant our dial up went out which made tracking difficult. I overcame and hand wrote (which I like to do anyway, I usually do both). Then I think, because I was out of my routine my calories got away from me early in the day and were almost used up by supper. That worked out fine too. I evaluated my hunger - nonexistent - so I thought - 20 cal. worth of salad would do me and it did. I just felt sort of off on the whole thing.

Monday dawned fresh and although I couldn't find my journalling notebook tracked on a sheet of paper. Came in good for calories and water.

Tuesday - found the journal and did well.

Wednesday - planned ahead and enjoyed dessert!

Beth is experiencing Internet Difficulties and hopes to be back Online by tomorrow (Tuesday)!
For now, Move More and Eat Less! And when you're feeling tempted, grab that mid-section and take your snack there!

The dangers of Kentucky Fried Chicken

It's finger lick'n good that is FO SHO! I was having a good day all around. Sunny Side up sort of a day. Had a mix of 4 kids with me for some garage saling in the morning. Nice lunch, miticulously counted the chicken, cheese and spinach on my two tortillas. Drank 9 cups of water by 4 PM. My calorie count was at about 1,100 when Drew suggested going out to eat tonight. I told him I didn't know how that would fit in with my cal. counting. Then I thought, I need to be flexible and should be able to do o.k. We took the KFC to a park. I had packed some plates and so forth as well as a salad for myself. In the carrying from house to van my salad got left behind. SO I decided I would have the salad when I got home and have one wing to tide me over. Long story longer, I took one bite of that wing, licked my fingers and totally lost control of myself. That skin tasted SO good! In all I ate 3 wings and 2 legs :-( or :-) depending on how you want to look at. I decided I would keep track of every bite even though I was going out of control. I did and I ended up going 443 calories over. I am too tired to give it too much thought right now. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I am certainly not going to give up.

Hurray! And Goal Review

Hurray! I am thanking the Lord that I was able to stick with my new eating plan for the entire week.

Weigh In - 166! (that's down 4#)

I remembered from past experience to expect a greater loss the first week when following a new (reduced calorie) eating plan. I was thankful for the 4# loss, but don't expect that much each week.

Goals:

I decided to extend out my goal date a bit. From what I have read and what I remember from WW it is healthiest to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week. With 11 pounds to go and the 4th of July 5 weeks away I think I should give myself a few more weeks. I will set my goal at Aug. 1st.

I thought about adding work out to these but I am just so pushed for time. I will just try to play some tag and things with the kids. I am still doing the paper route about 4 days a week too.

1. Lose a total of 14 - 15#
2. Track/Journal every bite
3. Weigh again next Saturday (not sooner for psychological purposes)
4. Goal weight by Aug. 1st
5. Be accountable (Thanks Kari! and anyone who is following the blog :-))

Planning Pay Off

I met with some ladies at Village Inn tonight. I ate the piece of pie I saved my calories up for. I nibbled that pecan pie, stretching out the enjoyment of each morsel for as long as possible. Oh man did I enjoy every bite. All the same, fellowship with the ladies far sweater. A soul is eternal. Pie - gone. Shy 2 Cups of water today. I am eager to weigh in tomorrow.

Good Day

I am praising the Lord for another good day of journalling and water intake!

Over Full Feeling

Drank 12 Cups of H2O again today!

I made my calorie goal - amazingly.

Before supper I was super hungry and scarfed down three cups of popcorn. I almost forgot to measure. I grabbed a HUGE handful and was shoving it in when ding ding ding this internal alarm went off . I scarfed it down, then got out one of those custard bowls and got a cup of popcorn and took a HUGE handful back out. I felt slightly out of control as I was pigging it down. Then at supper I over ate on ground beef. I stayed within the calorie target but just ate more than I should have and boy did I feel bloated after supper. I just hate that over full feeling. I think next time I will just have 1/3 to a 1/2 Cup of the beef. Anyway - tonight when I felt like a little something about 8:00 I had to forgo it because of my supper behavior :-(

Bitin' and Writin'

All went on target today!

Just in Case

Hey if you are following this site - thank you! It is an encouragement to me in my journey. Just in case you are following with the intent of shedding a pound or two yourself I thought I would share some of the strategies I have learned in the journal area.

1. Plan ahead for your calorie intake (when possible). If I know I am going to be going to Village Inn on Friday (real life senario) for pie I can go to their web site and figure out how many calories I need to save.
2. No BLT's - That's Bites Licks and Tastes - when cooking. This one was really hard for me my first time through weigh loss. This time it doesn't seem to be as hard for me to remember. I enjoy licking the spoon when I am baking cookies. Just because I am counting calories doesn't mean I can't have a cookie, I just need to plan for it. Because I enjoy licking the dough I make up a cookie size ball of dough and nibble on it - then I am not deprived and I can write it down and track it.
3. Measure everything so it can be accurately journaled. To help myself in this area I purchased a set of one cup custard cups. When we are having soup for dinner I can serve mine in the custard dish and I don't have to be conspicuous by having the measure cups out or whatever. I have some 1/2 C custard cups too. Somehow having these helps me with my measuring.

Map Your Route

Water intake - 12 Cups!

Journal - every bite today and within goal!

Found a neat feature on Spark People. I always wondered about how far I walk on the paper route in the AM. I kept meaning to drive out the route but found a way to do it on the Spark People site. If you click on this link you can map your route at the bottom of page. Pretty cool feature.

Day Two

I was not successful in my water intake today. Close, but still want to do better tomorrow. I tracked every bite in my journal. I went 100 calories over but I am not going to beat myself up over that. One thing I have found different between what I remember of Weight Watchers and what I am currently experiencing through Spark People. WW didn't count as much for fresh vegetables. The first 1/2 C or something was free if I remember correctly. Anyway I am attributing my 100 extra calories to that. Ultimately I want to have lost a pound or two by my weigh in on Saturday so I am not going to let the 100 extra calories worry me.

I am thankful to have an accountability partner, it helps me stay on track. Right now Kari and I are both flying high, happy to be in control of our eating instead of our eating controlling us!

Motivation

I found a note from July 3rd 2008. I was 200#. That is so motivating for me. By June of 2009 I was 152#! I remember how miserable I felt carrying the extra weight around. I enjoy a greater quality of life when I am at a comfortable weight.

History

My battle with bulge began after I had my first baby. Well, not exactly. I did indeed gain too much weigh with my first pregnancy but somehow without trying was down to my prepregnancy weight when I found myself in my second pregnancy. I didn't gain any excess with this pregnancy so I guess it was after my third pregnancy, when the weight didn't fall off that my battle began. About 9 months after my third baby was born that my husband suggested I join weight watchers, which I did. I gleaned a lot from being a part of this organization but resented the 10+$ that I was forking over every week. I did get down to my goal weight - 156 and maintained that through another pregnancy. After my fifth baby was born I joined spark people as I the weight was not coming off. I got the weight off, gained again with sixth pregnancy, got that off by last spring. Then over the coarse of 10 months I have gained 14 pounds. This brings me to my current motivation to get and KEEP my weight off.

Goal Keeping

1. I was able to successfully journal every bite yesterday

Motivation

my accountability partner shared these great phrases she learned from her past attendance of Weight Watchers:

• You bite it - you write it
• You smack it - you track it

funny how those little phrases help journal every bite.

Good Day

I had a successful day journaling every item I ate. My total caloric intake - 1,500, so I am in my goal range!

New goal:

• drink 10-12 Cups of water a day

Fresh Start

I need to lose 14 to 15 pounds! I am planning to use this journal to help. I am very excited to be counting my calories again. I signed up for SparkPeople several years ago but have not signed in for about a year. I just signed in and recorded my weight this morning. By weighing in I got suggested daily calorie intake of 1,250 - 1,600 calories.

I was remembering last year when Mom fell and broke her hip and I traveled to FL I was down to 152#. I actually thought that was too thin. Yes I think one can get too thin. I lost 3# traveling, before that I was at the best weight for me. 155# or 156#. So what happened over the coarse of 10 or 11 months? I overate - plain and simple. I ate more calories than I was burning. My weigh in weight today - 170#. I am not going to let that get me down, BUT I am going to do something about it!!!!!

Overall Goals - The Long of it :-)

1. Lose 14# to 15#
2. Track/Journal every bite I eat (I bought a new notebook last week. I plan to use spark people's nutrition tracker to help me out here. They have a great resource as far as how many calories are in different food items.)
3. Weigh In (at home) every Saturday (I have to note here it is not good to weigh yourself more than once a week so I am keeping my scale under my bed and am only going to pull it out on Sat. AM
4. Be to my goal weight by July 4th
5. Stay accountable with my partner, Kari (thanks sistah) and anyone else who wants to join in the journey.

Overall Goals - the short of it :-)

1. Lose 14# to 15#
2. Track/Journal every bite
3. Weigh In (at home) every Saturday
4. goal weight by July 4th
5. Be accountable