Let the game begin!!!!

So after a summer of travel and eating poorly I have started a weight loss competition.  I am really excited.  It is compiled of friends, family who also want to be healthier.  We started today and for the next two months we are going to challenge ourselves to do better.  Each person put in $10 dollars and the winner will get it all.  This will be based on a percentage of weight lost. 

Honestly, I don't even care about winning because I would be happy for anyone participating to win.  I am just happy for an opportunity for all of us to be healthier. 

So here is to being healthy!  Best of luck to everyone.

Results --Double Digit Week

Well, I didn't get a double digit number, but I did double any of my previous weeks numbers.  So I would call my first attempt at this a success.  Last week I lost 6.8 lbs!!!!  The secret to my success is my little 14 month boy Quinn.  Anytime I try to eat anything, sure enough Quinn is by my side trying to steal my food.  So I must give him credit also.  :)

What can I say, I guess he takes after me....he really likes food.

Thanks everyone for your support.  I just hope I can continue to keep the weight off and continue to lose. 

Double Digit Week

So before my birthday I had lost 10 lbs.  After my birthday festivities last weekend, I gained back two pounds.  :(  So sad.  However, this week is my DOUBLE DIGIT WEEK.  So I am working hard to lose a BIG number, Biggest Loser style. It feels like this is taking me forever to lose weight, but I continue to plug along.  I did find the above motivating picture.  This isnt just a picture of someone who lost a lot of weight.  This is a picture of someone who has been in my shoes and succeeded.  YEAH!!!!

Makes me laugh....

So I have to laugh, because ever time I try and lose weight I end up getting sick.  It is like some horrible trick my body likes to play on me.  As soon as I start doing well at this I guess my body figures I need to be humbled.

This has happened to me so many times though that this time it hasn't even phased me.  So this week while we all have been passing colds around our family, I have been focusing on my eating since I have been too sick to exercise. 

I did figure out a good trick though.  Since I have been feeling crappy I haven't gone grocery shopping in over a week and I do really well with my eating when there is nothing to eat at home.  If I don't have things in my house I can grab easily, I just don't even bother.  Probably not the recommended way to do it, but this was one of those weeks when I just didn't care. 

Progress check!  So far with 3 weeks into my journey I have lost 8 lbs.  I realize this is an okay number, but I think because I have been faithfully watching the Biggest Loser for so long; it just seems disappointing to me.  I know it isn't really that healthy for you to lose more than that in a week and I should be happy with losing 1-3lbs a week; but I have decided to make a crazy goal for myself.  My husband will finish the semester this Friday and with him home more I am going to workout like 3 times a day "Biggest Loser" style.  At least one week during this summer I want to lose DOUBLE DIGITS!!!!  I want a number like the ones you see on TV.  I am going to wait till I am feeling better, but once I am I am going to have an AWESOME WEEK.  Can't wait!

Success!!!!

I woke up today really excited to weigh myself and I have lost 6.2 lbs since I started two weeks ago.  I have really appreciated all the kind words of encouragement and stories people have shared with me about this subject.  They have truly helped and motivated me to be better.  I have set a goal for myself  to lose 25-30lbs before I go to Idaho later this summer to see all my family and friends.  If I continue on this same track I am currently on, I will meet my goal by June 25th when we leave.  Yeah!!!!!

Thanks again to everyone for the encouragement.  Sometimes it feels like you are the only one that struggles with your weight, but it is so nice to know I am not alone and even better to know others have succeeded and I can too. 

Here is my super embarrassing "before" picture.  I almost didnt post a picture, becuase I dont want anyone to see how big I have gotten, but I figure that when I post my "after" picture I will be glad I have something to compare it to. 

Baby Steps

So I know I just did a post a few days ago, but I am posting again today in hopes of starting a routine of doing a post each Monday or Tues after I weigh myself.  :) 

Also, I am going to take a "before" picture so that I can post pictures to track my weight loss progress.  (I just need to figure out how to post pictures...ugg)

I have decided that losing weight is a LOT harder when you have kids.  When I was single I could focus all my attention on losing weight.  I would do my grocery shopping and didn't have anyone else to please.  (like a picky husband...he,he)  I would go to the gym anytime of day that worked for me.  Now, it is a totally different story, as I am sure many of you mother's out there know.  :) 

So right now I am just focusing on baby steps.  I am trying to keep Quinn and I busy so that I don't have time to snack on food and overeat.  I am trying to be diligent about having healthy dinners ready so we aren't tempted to eat out.  My husband and I made a eating out budget for the month limiting ourselves and I am trying to be active every day.  Some days I am able to run, other days like today when Quinn is ornery and crying all day, I am doing some jumping jacks, sit ups and push ups at home.  Baby steps, that is what I have to remind myself.  I typically get really frustrated at myself when I don't accomplished everything that I want too, but this time around I am giving myself a break and just doing my best. 

I am curious about how other moms find time to exercise with kids.  What they do and how much time it takes?  Please share if you have tips, advice, etc. 

My weight loss journey....a new beginning

Ahhhh, I don't even know where to start.  I am hoping that by documenting my weight loss journey and even embarrassing myself by sharing some really scary pictures of myself and telling people my weight I might scare myself into being serious about this. 

This is a really bad analogy but you know how they say a guy thinks about (well you know) every second of the day, well that is how often I think about my weight...or weight related things like food, eating bad, lack of exercising,etc.  All my life I have struggled with my weight.  There have been several times in my life when I have lost weight but for one reason or another it seems like I always gain it back.  So that is how I chose the title of my blog.  Because anyone who knows me, knows that I am always "dieting", my weight fluctuates from year to year....I am the Queen of Yo Yo dieting. 

So this most recent spiral out of control started when I got pregnant with my first child.  I got pregnant when I was already overweight, so it kind of felt like an up hill battle.  Too be honest I did pretty good in the beginning.  I threw up so much that I lost about 11 lbs and didn't even start gaining any weight till almost my 3rd trimester.  However, by the 3rd trimester I really let my guard down.  I let the words of my very well meaning friends and co-workers to just "eat whatever I want because I was pregnant," get to me and boy did I pig out.  In the last three months of pregnancy I gained 35 lbs.  YIKES!!! 

Okay, so you might be thinking that is the end of my HUGE weight gain.  Well you would be wrong.  It is only the beginning.  Even though Quinn was a good size baby 8 lbs 5ounces, I still looked exactly the same after I had the baby.  I am not kidding, you seriously could not tell that I had even had a baby.  So with that and the fact that he had complications and I was in the NICU for two weeks after he was born, the stress eating really got to me.  It was very easy to order several milk shakes from the hospital everyday. 

So I could go on and on about how I have continued to just gain more and more weight, but I am going to just cut to the chase.  I had several big life changing events happen to me right at the same time. 
1. I had a baby
2. I had to quit my job of 6 years
3. I had to pay to sell my first home that I loved
4. I moved from Idaho to Ohio and left behind all my family, friends and loved ones.... :(
5. I got to Ohio and had a huge shock when we arrived to our apartment and found out the contractors had left us some huge messes and the home was not what we expected

Needless to say I was very stressed and emotional and food was my vice and has been for the past year. 

So that is how I got here.  I am hoping that by creating this blog and maybe gaining some support I can finally leave all of this behind me and start losing weight.  My son just turn one year old last month and that is when it really hit me.  Instead of trying to lose pregnancy weight, instead of trying to do better I have only gotten worse over the course of the year.  I am now big enough that I could be a contestant on this season Biggest Loser.  WOW!!!!

So now is crunch time......wish me luck.