Day 91 - Living my Life!

Day 91 - Weigh in day- 202.0  -  I lost 1.4 pounds this week and 30.2 in all. I didn't walk or run all week but that doesn't mean I didn't move. I had my precious grandbabies most of the week and did a lot of walking during the natural course of each day. That is how my life should be - each and every day....more active. I am so very glad that I have lost a lot of weight or I would have NEVER been able to keep up with my one-year-old grandbaby Kennedy. Well, let's say I ALMOST kept up with her - I was a few steps behind a few times, LOL!

Reflecting on this past summer, I realize that I have met one of my big goals which was to be able to do more with my grandchildren. I kept Denise's boys all summer and I kept Jennifer's children for five days while they went to Bermuda. I am glad that my daughters view me as being fit enough to take care of their children. I didn't just "keep" them, either. I had FUN with them, too! Camp MeMa was on the go all the time! We went places, played outside and took long walks together. I am living my life now, not just watching life pass me by!

We are all going back to Hilton Head tomorrow and I am so excited!!! I am not afraid of the eating situations at all - I know what to do because it is how I eat every day! We will be taking long walks and bike rides. We will be swimming in the pool and the ocean. I am looking forward to ending my summer exactly as I have spent every day of it- living my life fully with my family!

Day 84 - Weigh In Day

I was hoping for another good week with the scales but it didn't happen. I am showing a gain of 0.2 pounds! Did I cheat last week? NO WAY because I am in this for the rest of my life. I am sitting here telling myself that it is not my fault and it is NOT my fault. I am telling myself that the scale does NOT determine my success. This is not a linear journey from point A to point B. Sometimes there are detours in the road. Sometimes you sit still or even have to backtrack a little.

I am not using this as an excuse but my fingers are incredibly swollen this morning which is my water-retention indicator. I lost 6.6 pounds in the past two weigh-ins so that could help explain not losing this week.  Whatever the reason, I just have to keep on keeping on with what has been working - tracking, exercising and PRAYING! It will happen. The weight will come off. I will reach my goal.

Day 82 - Starting to See the Difference!

This is my "before" picture taken at Hilton Head Island in August 2011 weighing 234 pounds.

This is my "during" picture weighing 203 pounds. I can tell the difference in my face and stomach. Long way to go!

Lesson 3: Tales from the Scales - Goals and Motivation

My journey to lose 100 pounds began with just one step. This is a long range goal and I have set much smaller, short-term goals as I go along this journey to keep me motivated. I also included some rewards at milestones along the way. This was working well and good until I hit a plateau. How discouraging to have done everything I was supposed to do and still not show any weight loss! I learned through my recent plateau to NOT let the scales be the only indicator of my success. Denise reminded me recently to not let the scale determine my success - she reminded me that I am changing my LIFE to be healthier! During a discouraging moment when I felt like I didn't look as though I had lost much weight, Donnie reminded me of how much better I feel! I had set this as part of my long term goals! How could I have missed seeing that and rejoicing in it!

I also set a goal that seemed reasonable to achieve and I did not meet that goal. The goal was to lose 20 pounds by the time I went to the beach. That didn't happen and I began to feel like a failure which is a bad place to be. I wrestled with this for awhile because I am a very competitive and driven person - I like to win! I did work through this and learned lesson three: The scale should not be the only indicator of my success. Better indicators of success are: how I feel, how my clothes fit me, how I am becoming healthier and making life-style changes.

Weight Watchers recommends weighing only once a week and your weight can be tracked weekly. I just HAVE to weigh every morning. I need that accountibility!  I have a very accurate Weight Watcher's digital scale. I weigh first thing every morning right after I use the bathroom. I weigh wearing only my undies and my glasses. (I know, TMI!). Sometimes I will show a gain of several ounce or even a pound. If so, I check my fingers to see if they are swollen which means it is water weight....which it always is. In response to the water weight gain, I will really watch my sodium intake that day. I have high blood pressure so this helps me keep it under control as well. Weighing every single day is a huge motivation for me..I just have to be prepared for what daily gains/losses mean!

Motivation is what keeps me on track on my journey. Of course, my biggest motivator is to be the "right" size and weigh a "normal" weight. I want to look good and feel good! I've said so many times that your brain is the organ that controls your weight loss...it has to happen there, first! You have to SEE yourself there already and then make it happen. Every day, I visualize myself already there and then I just make choices each day that will get me there. In the past, when I swam competitively, I would visualize before diving in for a race - I would SEE myself moving rapidly through the water, with perfect form, exact timing on my strokes and breathing, and reaching forward with every stroke to reach the finish line. Once the gun sounded, all I had to do was DO IT! As Captain Picard on Star Trek always said...MAKE IT SO!!! (Yes, I am a Trecky!)

I am quickly approaching a milestone goal - to weigh in the one hundreds! ONE-DER-LAND!!! I can hardly wait to be there! My all-time highest weight was 234.4  and I weigh 203.4 now. I am close....so very close. I do have a reward planned and it is to get a bike. I LOVE bike riding and this will be something that will help me on my journey. I want to say that I NEVER, NEVER, EVER use food as any kind of reward. I am pretty sure that is what may have gotten me overweight in the first place! I had a Weight Watcher buddy who lost over a hundred pounds and she rewarded herself with jewelry when she hit milestones in her weight loss. She had visual reminders of her success! Motivation is the key to beginning and continuing on this journey!

Exercise - Just Do It!!!

Exercise is just as important as what you eat! There are so many, many different ways to move.  There is something perfect for everyone. I am a food expert because my first profession was that of dietitian at Griffin hospital. I recieved my BS in Food Service and Nutrition at Georgia Southern College. I feel very comfortable talking about food. I am NOT an expert in exercise, though, and I am not pretending to be one. 

This time around, I started out walking for 10 minutes - don't laugh - that is all I could do at first. I was huffing, puffing, coughing and sweating! I was determined to increase it, though. I kept at it and gradually was able to do 40 minutes of walking at an easy pace. I would do it with my kindergarten students at school each week day.  When school let out for the summer, my grandchildren walked with me as well.

My daughter, Denise, wanted us - her husband Lamar, Melissa Oliver and me - to train for a half-marathon walk in Savannah - the Rock and Roll. My friend, Julie Beasley wanted to do this, too! She lives in Pooler, GA. I was very concerned about my "bad knees" and walking such long distances.  I have chondromalacia patella which is a softening of the cartilage under the kneecap. You can hear and feel my knees grind when I bend them because of this. It is crucial to examine running shoes for proper fit in order to avoid  knee pain. Denise's fellow classmate, Blake Fox, is a running expert and works at NewSole Running in McDonough. I went to NewSole and he fitted me for some walking/running shoes. He found the perfect shoe for me - Newtons.   I spent more on a this pair of shoes than I have ever spent in my life but they have been so worth it! I highly recommend NewSole Running if you plan to start a serious walking/running program. Blake also showed Denise a training schedule for the half-marathon walk. Here is link to it: http://halhigdon.com/training/51134/Half-Marathon-Walk-Training-Program. Blake will be running in the Rock and Roll Marathon in Savannah.

Denise, Lamar, Melissa and I  have been following the training schedule for 5 weeks and doing our "big walks" on Sundays together. Julie has been following the same schedule in Pooler. Julie and I use a phone app called MapMyWalk. It will show you your routes via GPS tracking. It tells all your stats. I have mine set on voice reminders every 5 minutes so I know how I am doing. The big walks take hours to do which has caused some of us to question if our schedules will allow us to continue with our training. I really do want to do this, though. I don't think I can do it alone.

Two weeks ago, I started jog/walking. I didn't plan it - I just started running during parts of my walk.  My daughter, Jennifer, has been doing the Couch to 5K program using the phone app by RunDouble so I downloaded it and started using it.  It starts out on Week 1 with a 5 minute warm up walk, 8 intervals of running 60 seconds and brisk walking 90 seconds and ending with a 5 minute cool down walk. It really was a workout! I was drenched in sweat but I also experience a wonderful runners high afterward. I am on Week 2 now which is 5 minute warm up walk, 6 intervals of 90 second running and 2 minute brisk walking and ending with a 5 minute cool down walk. Oh my goodness, running for 90 seconds is challenging for me! I do like challenges, though. I find myself trying to beat my times and digging deeper for a little extra "umph" to put into my intervals. I continue to do the training schedule for the half-marathon along with the Couch to 5K program. I have two rest days a week and that helps my knees. It's a lot to do but I have lost 6.2 pounds since adding in the running two weeks ago!

So that is where I am with my exercise. I  love swimming, biking, walking and Zumba. I would love to add in water aerobics but I don't have access to a pool. I would love to cross-train by biking on my off days but I do not have a bike. I hope to get a bike in the near future. I may hit a Zumba class here and there on my off days. I  like to do my exercise first thing in the morning as much as possible. The reason for this being, when I do it first, nothing that comes up throughout the day can keep me from doing it. Exercising is no longer a chore for me....it is beginning to become a pleasure!

I Get By with a Little Help from my Friends

I should actually change the words to say a LOT of help from my friends and my family! When I began this journey to lose and keep off 100 pounds, I asked five people to be my support team - Team MeMa. These were all family members but it could be close friends - it must be someone you trust and can count on. I sent them a message on Facebook and here it is:

I need you girls to be all over me about losing weight....I know y'all can hound me! I went to the cardiologist yesterday and he is upset with me about my weight. I am ashamed of myself! Triglycerides are high, bad cholesterol is high, and my blood pressure pill is the strongest and looks like a vitamin it's so big! I give out of breath doing daily tasks...forget exercising! Anyway, I have a plan in place, I just need you guys to be my accountablility partners. I am going to walk every day and follow Weight Watchers. Please ask me have I done those two things. This will help me. What doesn't help is: sending me or telling about all kinds of diets and exercise programs. I am not in as good of physical shape as y'all and the dietitian in me prevents me from embracing the wierd diets. I know these two things will work for me....walking and weight watchers. I do want to hear about low calorie foods and recipes. That helps me a lot! I just need support doing it my way because it does work if I stick to it. Also, my way is more of a lifestyle change...something I can live with for the rest of my days. I love you all and I need you more now than ever! I am also looking for some inspirational reading and scriptures to help feed my soul. Love you all! Hope you will be my TEAM MEMA!

All five said they would support me and they continue to support me! I couldn't have made it this far without them! God designed us to need Him and to need other people! Remember when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment? Matt. 22:35-40  says:

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I also asked my pastor to pray for me. He committed to do this and I have felt his prayers. He has kept up with my progress and is a great source of encouragement to me. God hears our prayers! I know all five of Team MeMa members pray for me, too!

Facebook friends have been so supportive of me! So many people encourage me every time I post about my weight loss journey. It means the world to me! When I've lost weight or exercised, I hurry to share it with my Facebook friends. I recently posted this about how I feel towards my Facebook friends: So many people post that they are purging their facebook friends and deleting people. Well folks, I love all 571 of my friends and I ain't gonna delete anybody!!! Just wanted y'all to know that!! :)

Weight Watchers Online has a community connection with message boards, profile and friends. This has been a source of support for me many times. It helps so much to talk to people who are also struggling with losing weight and keeping it off.

My husband, Donnie is also supportive. He was resistant a bit at first because I have done this so many times. He is a man of few words but does encourage me when I need it most. I was complaining the other day that I don't really look like I have lost 29 pounds and he said, "But look how much better you feel!" He was exactly right about that! The scale is not the only measure of my success!

I would like to give a formal thank you to the following people for their support: My daughters, Denise Lawrence and Jennifer Hawkins, my cousins - Kim Scott, Valarie Chapman, Camille Thompson, and my pastor - Chris Watson. Donnie Connell - my husband. Thank you for being there for me when I needed it most! I'm not there yet and I know you all will see me through! I love you all!

Longhorns -Turning Pitfalls into Positives

One night recently my hubby announced that he wanted to go out to eat - which is very rare in itself! He said he wanted to go to his favorite place - Longhorns. My blood ran cold for a moment. Here's some interesting facts about Longhorns. First, I calculated how many points I USED TO eat there: half of tunion, half of steak, 3 pieces of bread with butter, salad drenched in 1000 Is, baked potato with sour cream and butter, and half of fried cheesecake. That is 83 points, friends, and I can only have 26 per day!!! I thought I was doing good all those years by sharing the appetizer and dessert! I did my homework and checked for the lowest point items available. I had lobster tail for 1 pt. and the 4 grilled shrimp for 1 pt. Salad was free but the 1 tbsp. dressing was 2 pts. I had one bite of my hubby's fried cheesecake for 3 points. My total was 7 points! I came home with 1pt. left so I had a WW snack size fudge bar! So glad I made pretty good choices. I could have done better without the bite of cheesecake but that is what kept me from feeling deprived. I savored it!!

When eating out, it is best to do your homework BEFORE you go. There is an amazing phone app Fast Food Nutrition by fastfood.com that has the nutrition value as well as the WW points for almost any restuarant in the USA! I like to know ahead of time so I can "save up" my points. Broiled seafood is so very low in points that it is almost always my choice. I ate at Atlanta Bread Company with my cousins and I got a half of Chopstick Chicken Salad and a half of a fresh fruit salad. My total points was 5 because the fruit was free. That also included a slice of bread. Yummy!

Special occassions like birthdays pose another potential pitfall....especially when cake, ice cream and chips are what is served. My youngest grandbaby girl turned one year old and I really wanted to celebrate by having some cake with everyone else. So this is what I did, I sliced my own piece of cake and only gave myself one-third of a piece of cake for 3 points and one-third of a cup of ice cream which was an additonal 3 points. I ate slowly and savored it! I also drank a bottle of water to fill me. I swam and went down the water slide with the kids so I burned off a little of that cake, too!

You may say that you would never be happy with a small amount of cake or doing without the steak and tunion. I will say that losing weight is all in how you think about things. When I felt like that I would tell myself to get off the pity pot, be a big girl and DO IT!!! In just a short amount of time, I no longer had to say that. I had replaced my old habits with new ones. Success feels good! Success breds more success! I am enjoying feeling good about myself and my choices! Eating without the regrets!

What Do I Eat?

What do I eat? Anything I want to eat! That is the beauty of following Weight Watchers. I never feel deprived. Now I will add that I have to count what I eat and the portions have to be figured in that count. Weight Watchers Online has a food tracker with a data base of foods with their counts. You simply type in your food and enter the portion size and it will tell you how many points that food is. It even has a recipe builder where you can type in your ingredients and servings and it will tell you how many points per serving your recipe is.  I always check before I eat unless I already know the points. There is a phone app you can purchase for a small amount of money that uses a barcode scanner and you can scan any item with a UPC and it will tell you the points. It also has a points calculator on it and many other cool things. It's called  Points Plus Diary. I love it!!!

I am very careful to distribute my points through three meals and snacks in a way that works for me. I have a very low point breakfast, moderate amount of lunch, afternoon snack and a bigger supper. You can set yours up to fit how you eat. I also eat lean meats and don't eat dessert unless it is a very small amount - which I count - or it's Weight Watcher's desserts - which you can find in the frozen section of the grocery store. You can make Weight Watchers be low carb or whatever you want as long as you eat your points and don't go over.

Here is one day of my eating to help give you an idea of what I eat with the points beside it:

Breakfast:  2 scrambled eggs (cooking spray-free) - 2 pts.
                   Sliced Tomato - 0
                   Fresh Peach - 0
                   Vitamin Water Zero

Lunch:       Pizza (frozen) with extra vegetables added on top - one slice - 5
                  Huge tossed salad - 0
                  Italian Dressing (regular) - 2
                  Watermelon - 0

Snack:      4  Peanut butter/cheese crackers - 4
                 Vitamin Water Zero
                  Peach

Supper:    Spaghetti/Meat Sauce - 8
                Tossed Salad - 0
                Thousand Island Dressing Light - 2
                Roll - 2
               Weight Watchers Fudge Pop Snack Size - 1
Total Points:  26

I just eat the foods I love....the same food I serve my family! I do measure and count my points because if I don't, I will start mindless eating. I concentrate on what I am eating and eat slowly. If something doesn't taste good to me I spit it out, throw it away and find something that satisfies me!
I make my points count so that I feel satisfied!

I also drink at least 8 servings of water each day. This is very important for many reasons. It fills you up, keeps you hydrated and helps flush out any toxins that are released when you burn fat. Water also makes your skin look great and not saggy.

See how easy it is? The best way to start is to just start counting and tracking bite by bite. You will get to where it is second nature in just a short amount of time. I must have this accountibility in order to be successful. Tomorrow I will post about challenging eating situations like restuarants and celebrations. 

Lesson 2

When you are on Weight Watchers, you are given a daily amount of points to eat. Points are a value given to food based on the content of protein, fat, carbohydrate and fiber in that food. Healthy foods have lower points. Roughly speaking, approximately 30 calories is one point. You must not eat less than this daily amount of points. The points gradually go down as you lose weight because a smaller body does not require as much. This is what helps keep your body from going into starvation mode and decreasing your metabolism. My daily point value started out at 29 and is now down to 26. You also get 49 weekly points for optional use. I do use some of these but try not to use all of them. When you exercise, you earn additional points that you may use. I try to never eat these because I feel like it defeats the purpose of exercising but it is perfectly fine for you to eat these and still be "on program" with Weight Watchers.

Many healthy foods have 0 points. All fruits and vegetables are 0 points!!! The exceptions are fruit with added sugar and a few starchy veggies like corn, peas, butterbeans, potatoes, etc. Weight Watchers recommends 5 servings daily of fruits and vegetables. I try to use as many FRESH, RAW fruits and vegetables as possible because they are vitamin packed and full of enzymes. They also contain minerals and electrolytes that your body so desperately needs.  Are you with me still? I hope so because Lesson 2 is golden and I don't want you to miss it!

Lesson two: Be sure to include your 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily..at least...or you will eat way more points trying to fill up! The fiber in the fruits and veggies will fill you up. You will FEEL the vitamins revitalizing you from doing this - even on the very first day! Your body is craving these vitamins, electrolytes and minerals. When you embrace this, you will find your grocery cart filled with things from the produce section. You will also find yourself shopping every couple of days for produce. I love to go to local farms and produce stands and purchase food that has never been refrigerated. This is a huge life-style change and your body will perform better because of it. You will have more energy. Your skin will look so much better!  You will not have as many food cravings because your nutrients are being supplied. The benefits are endless!

I am trying to learn from my own mistakes!  I am in this for the long haul and I don't want to let the same stuff trip me up! If I struggle today, I will look back on these lessons and see how I can make tomorrow better. How many lessons are there? I have no idea because God is still helping me learn them!

Learning Lesson 1

After years and years and years of gaining and losing weight, I finally figured out that I had not learned even the first and most important lesson in regards to eating: Tracking - If I bite it, I write it! That is where the accountibility is for me. I had no problem tracking when I was eating right....it's when I eat unexpected things that come my way that beset me. I am now very focused on tracking and holding myself accountible. Even when it is something hard to track, I  track it as best as I can by looking up the points of something similar.

Uncontrolled eating is rebellion for me. Controlled eating is obedience to God. Living in rebellion is when I think the rules do not apply to me - that I can operate outside the facts and realities of calories, weight gain and metabolism. Rebelling against controlled eating is actually my rebellion against rules and authorities, against other people, against myself and AGAINST GOD! Actually, the original sin involved Adam and Eve eating something they were told not to eat. I want to please God and live in OBEDIENCE. I have been striving to do that for the past 73 days.

Have I been perfect every day? Not to begin with and slip ups have been my undoing in the past. I have learned that NO MATTER WHAT I EAT, BE ACCOUNTIBLE. I can't just wing! I try very hard to track BEFORE I eat because it helps me decide if the thing I want to eat is really worth the points.

Today, I will track! Tomorrow, I will track! That is my accountibility element and that is what I need to live in obedience to God in my eating.

Admitting I Am Powerless

The first and most important thing that happened THIS time when I started trying to lose weight is that I COMPLETELY gave it to Jesus - completely. It is such a RELIEF to not struggle with this day in and day out. I have had a few times where I was anxious and afraid to be around certain food situations. I gave it back to HIM. He wants me to live an abundant life here on this earth - not be afraid of foods, exercise and change! Trusting Him is the EASIEST thing I've ever done! I don't know why I didn't do it sooner - maybe it's because I'm a control freak!!

Here is some Food for Thought from my first couple of weeks of my devotional Faithfully Fit. These thoughts helped me so much and I hope they help you:

Jesus is the source of my health and healing.

Real change/healing can begin when we are willing to see ourselves as the problem and the love of God as the answer. Until we come to the crisis of faith, we are only dealing with symptoms. We are putting Band-Aids on cancer. We are rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Remember the old cartoon, Pogo?  I love this quote.  Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us!"

THERE IS TREMEMDOUS JOY IN TRUSTING MY LIFE TO A LOVING GOD!!!!

Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:30

My Story

I have tried many times to lose weight and keep it off. Weight Watchers has been the only program that I have had any success with - I just haven't stuck with it. Each time I went off the program, it would be that much harder for me to try again. I reached an all time high weight of 232.3 which is obese for a 5'2" person.My triglycerides and bad cholesterol was very high I also had bad knees, high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, osteoporosis and arthritis. . So we are not talking about much exercising going on in my life at this point. I was pretty much walking in defeat. My mother passed away March 27, 2012 and it broke my heart when she died. I was not planning on tackling my weight at this emotional time in my life. As a matter of fact, that was the futherest thing from my mind when I went to my cardiogist for a regular appointment April 26, 2012.

My cardiologist pretty much chewed me out for gaining weight. He told me that all my problems - ALL MY PROBLEMS - would disappear if I would just lose weight. I left his office feeling pretty low but I knew in my heart that he was right and sometimes the truth hurts. But the truth also sets us free! So, the very next day - April 27, 2012,  I started back on Weight Watchers and started walking. I could only last for about 10-15 minutes and I would be huffing and puffing! I started doing a daily devotional - Faithfully Fit. I just gave it all to God because I had tried and failed so many times.

I have been plugging away day after day for 72 days now. Ready to hear some good news? I have lost a total of 26.8 pounds, so far. My walking now includes walking, jogging and running! I have walked as far as 4 miles and plan to walk 5 miles tomorrow. I am training for a half-marathon walk and a 5K run. My arthritis is much, much better! I feel great and have tons of energy! I also look so much better!

So many people have asked me what I am doing and several have said that I have inspired them to make healthy changes in their lives. That is why I decided to set up a blog. I plan to post recipes and inspirations that have helped me along the way. I want to journal this journey that will take me down 100 pounds and keep me there! I am one-fourth of the way there already!!! I will write about my jouney so far in the next few blog posts because I have learned lessons that have helped me through the past 72 days. I hope and pray that it will help you, too!