One Step Closer

My computer was down for a couple of moths so I wasn’t able to do my Fitday or keep my blog up here.  Well, I don’t know what happened but suddenly I was picking all the time and totally convinced I wasn’t eating very much.  Talk about being in denial!  Some very bad things I was doing….well one was increasing my carbs.  I was generally eating open faced low carb sandwiches and substituting ground cauliflower for my rice and potatoes.  Well suddenly I was eating full sandwiches.  I kept thinking that since the bread was low carb I was keeping my carb intake down (big mistake).  Each serving of bread I was eating was 100 calories, so by eating the entire servings I seriously increased my carbs and zapped my energy.  The second thing I did was not exercising like I should.  Yep I never stopped walking but I suddenly wasn’t getting up early to do it anymore PLUS I stopped bouncing on my exercise ball.  Talk about a Catch 22.  I was eating too many carbs which was increasing my total caloric intake + it made me tired so I couldn’t exercise.  Talk about a double wammy….eating more and exercising less!  No wonder it’s so easy to fall off the wagon and put all the weight back on. 

For the past few days I’ve gone back to my open faced sandwiches and as I’m gaining more energy (due to limiting my carbs) I’m slowly adding more exercising back to my routine.  Yeah!!!!!

One happy note though, we had to dress up for work today so I wore a striped blouse (stripes going up and down).  It’s cute and cinched under the bustline which is great for me since my belly is big.  I paired it with some black dressy short and a pair of sexy red shoes.  I felt so confident and got so many compliment.  I was on cloud 9!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hit the scale this mroning and am now down to 195.  It’s been very slow going but as long as the #’s go down then I’m very happy!  I am SO happy to report that I went toWalmart today to clothes shop.  Well, let me say first that I didn’t realize my Walmart has sz 14 in the normal sized clothes.  So here I was lurking in Plus Sized Women’s looking for a 14 to try and was getting so frustrated that I could find none.  Then I realized there was not ONE 14 in the entire area, so I lurked over to regular Women’s and low and behold found my 14’s.   Now I’ve been wavering between 16 and 18 depending on the brand, so this was a total experiment for me.  At best I wanted a pair of jeans to fit over my hips, even if I couldn’t button them I would be perfectly happy.  You can imagine my surprise when not only did they fit over my hips, but I could button them too, and BONUS they were comfortable!  No too hideous looking muffin top!!!!!  I also got a top on clearance on the regular Women’s side too!  It was a size 14 and was a baby doll looking top that didn’t make me look pregnant.  It also showed off my bony collarbone so double bonus for showcasing an area I love about myself!!!

LOL I was so intimidated walking over to that section. I was just waiting for the fashion police to jump out and say “You do not belong here!”  No one did, so I guess this means the regular section is my new shopping home.  I can’t say I’ll miss the plus sized section only because the few clothes that I did find that were flattering were normally sold out on my size, so maybe now I’ll have some more choices. 

I hate to brag but I look SO much better wearing the right size.  For anyone out there between sizes I feel for you because it sucks to go up one size and have those jeans be to bag but if you go down to the next size you’re squeezing yourself in them and feeling miserable.  I feel like I was between a size 16 and 18 for so so long so it’s great to be down to one size. LOL, of course I want to lose more weight so I have many more in between sized to go!

I hate to admit but I haven’t been watching what I eat like I should. I’m still doing pretty good but I know I could do better.  Just to give myself a kick in the butt I did an extra 10 min on my exercise ball and 10 min on the elliptical. 

I was also checking out Linda’s Low Carb site to get some recipe ideas and make sure I’m eating right.  I haven’t completely gotten off track but if I want to lose my remaning 10 #s then I need to buckle down and make sure I’m eating right and exericising.

On the plus side I make sure I walk 2.5 miles each day, so that’s a big motivator.  I definetly need to keep up with this because walking is so good for you and it makes me feel great!!!!

Another great motivator is that I have to dress up for work tomorrow and I’m wearing a skirt that I wore back in October and it was bit tight on me.  Well now it’s loose!  I think this may be the last time I can actually wear it without fear of it falling down.  I need to keep reminding myself that if I don’t keep up with this that this sz 16 skirt will be my permanent size and I really want to go to the next level and get down to a size 14.  In my adult like a size 14 has always been my smallest so this is always a “sentimental” number for me.   Of course, I’d like to get under that number to.  Ahh…so many goals, but I know I can meet them all!!!!!

I have no idea what’s wrong with it.  I switched out the battery and even wiped it down with a soft cloth to clean it up a bit and it still wont’ come on.  Not too long ago it wasn’t working right so I think it’s done for.  Bummer for me because I had just gotten under 200 lbs and am so anxious to track my ongoing process.  I guess this will keep me from weighing myself too often.  I’m hoping in the next week or so go get a new one.  As much as not obsessing over the scale is a “good” thing not being able to track my progress and keep myself on track is a “bad” thing. 

In other news I bought a size 16 pants not too long ago and I swear they are baggy on me already.  They are baggy through the legs and while not super loose through the waist I can definetly tell that they are a bit looser than when I first bought them.  That makes me very happy!!!

I also can’t wait becasuse I finally earned enough points through my Mypoints account to get a $50 Giftcard and I decided to go with Lane Bryant to get some new clothes!  They have some clearance items on the website that I have in my shopping cart just waiting for the Giftcard to get here.  Hopefully it doesn’t take much longer because I cannot wait to get some new clothes.  Too bad Lane Bryant store issn’t closer to me so I could try some clothes on.  Who knows though I might make the trip anyway to get some new clothes.

I’m now at 197.5 lb!  Yeah!!!!  The weight loss is slow but sure.  I’ve been upping my exercises trying to do more on my elliptical and bouncing on my exercise ball.  I’m thrilled that my back fat has shrunken so much and I’m starting to have a “gap” between my legs.  Yeah my legs aren’t brushing together like they used to!!!!

I upped the resistance on my elliptical.  OK I only upped it to “2″ but oh my goodness does that make a diffrence!  I could only manage 6 min and am sweating like a pig.  I’m taking a bit of a break and would like to try another 6 min here shortly.  I also used my exercise ball for a little over 10 min.  I didn’t exactly break any records today but am proud that I’m dabbling with a harder workout on the elliptical so that’s something to be proud of

I finally got under 200 lbs so I thought it was time to post progress pics.  I think I’m going to lower my goal weight of 185 lbs, but for now I’m thrilled at my current weight!

Now I’m down to 198.5!    It’s so great to be under 200 lbs.  The weight loss seems to be slowing down but it’s still going down, so I’m thrilled.  I still walk each day and use my exercise ball.  I definetly need to use the elliptial more and plan on adding some more time with it.  I’m becoming critical of certain areas of my body (inner thighs, belly, saggy arms) so I’m trying to target those areas a bit more as I continue to lose.  I also bought  a size 16 pants today since I was so tired of wearing size 18’s that wanted to fall down!

UPDATE:  Did 12 min on the elliptical!!!!  Legs are burning after that workout!!!!

I ‘m also super excited because I’ve been earning MyPoints and almost have aneough points earned for a $50 Lane Brayant card which I’d like to use towards a dressy outfit.  I found a dress that I like and am thinking strongly of buying it.  Can’t wait!

Seems like it’s taken forever but I’m finally in a size 16.  I tried a pair on a Fashion Bug.  They looked pretty good but I could find no good tops to match the pants so I left with no outfit.  Maybe I should have bought it, but serioulsy I’ve worked so hard to lose weight I really don’t want to waist my money on lousy looking clothes!  Beside I’ve had a lot of luck buying clothes at the Salvation Army and places like that so I figure I can get them cheaper there and it’s easier to transistion from one size to another.  CANNOT wait to hit a size 14.  That was the smallest size I was ever in, so I eagerly await getting there!

I finally made it under 200 lbs.  LOL, yep 199.5!!!! Ha ha ha!  It’s still good to say “one hundred and ANYTHING!”  I did pretty well through the holidays.  The only indulgences I had were a few homemade shortbread cookies (ugh nothing but butter and sugar but they were good!) and I also ate my MIL’s Christmas dinner of Cabbage Rolls, Potato Salad, and Ham.  I also had a slice of her apple pie (yuck canned apples!).  I’ve kept up with my exercising walking daily and using my exercise ball, so all in all it was a good holiday diet wise.

I’m hoping 2009 sees me reaching my first goal of 185 lbs.  I think I’d like to go lower than that but one goal at a time.  I’d also like to get toned for this year.  I have excess flesh on my arms, inner thighs, and belly.  I doubt if I ever get them looking great but I think I can improve on their overall look by doing some strengthing exercises and toning the muscles underneath.  Can’t wait!