[gingerjen]

Hello all,
At one time I was doing so well, and now, I'm not. It all happened a little at a time. This time I want a buddy to help keep me on track, someone who can help keep me motivated and on track, and give me a kick when I screw up. A little about me, back in May I weighed 234. I got fed up and started working out and cutting calories. I did wonderful, then I went back to work full time. Twelve hour days made working out impossible and I was too tired to care what I ate. Then I got Bronchitis (sp) and working out didn't happen anymore. Well 3 months have gone by and I have put 10 pounds back on. Now I am ready to kick it back into gear and if anyone is wants to be along for the ride I am here. Hope to hear from you.
Jen

[emjay71]

Hi Jen,

Welcome back to this site. Good for your for making the choice to get back on track. I am quite new to this site (about 2 or 3 weeks). I have been chatting with the gals over at "I need accountability to get back on track" and have found it to be so motivating. I lost 3 lbs. last Tuesday (Tuesday is my weigh in day). I am so glad I found this site because I don't think I would have gotten this serious about weight loss without the help, especially around the holidays.

A little about me, I started out at 232 and my goal is 170. At one time in my life I lost all my weight (70 lbs at that time). I was going thru a divorce which made it easy to lose but then I got remarried and gained alomst all of it back. So here I am, ready to lose again. I have been watching what I eat and mostly how much I eat. I am trying not to deprive myself too badly because deprivation usually doesn't work well for me. I have been doing some form of excercise EVERY DAY. Consistancy with excercise does work for me. Mostly I do the Walk Away the Pounds DVD's, either the 1, 2, or 3 mile, whichever I have time for. I really love it and so far haven't become burned out on them. I know a few people who have lost a lot of weight with them so that keeps me motivated.

Oh yeah, we have the same birthday, except I am 10 years older than you. I would love to be your buddy. Hope to hear from you soon...

Emjay

[gingerjen]

Hello Emjay,
Congrats on the 3 pounds! Day 1 back so far has gone well, I have done my workout already, I did taebo for the first time in almost 3 months, wow do I feel great. I forgot how good I feel after a workout.
Well I will give you a little background on myself. In highschool I looked good, weighed 150 most of my 10-11 grade years, sounds fat for 5'2" but I have a large frame and built with tons of muscle like my father, got down to 140 my senior year, of course being 17 I thought I was fat but looking back I looked so good, far from fat. I worked out and lifted weights so my weight was good weight.
Well we all know what freshmen year of college does, I stopped working out and started taking bc. The weight slowly, crept on. I got married the summer after I started college and then I was comfortable with myself and the weight really started packing on. Two months later I was pregnant, Yikes, so not ready for that. We tried taking care of a baby and putting me through school, worked for two years but we were so in debt so after my 3rd year I dropped out. Let me tell you the depression that caused. Now another 3 years have gone by and I was up to 234. I also have a second baby. I don't want anyone to think I regret my children, I don't, I wouldn't change anything except using food to console myself. The good news is I am going back to school in the spring. I can get my degree online through one of the state colleges here in Nebraska.
Now I am ready to get back on track, I am going to mix calorie counting and slimfast for the first couple of weeks. I read liquid diets help you lose quickly and I want that to start. I'm the kind of girl that gets discouraged easily if I don't see results right away but at the same time I don't want to rely on slimfast. My workout of choice is Taebo and using the stability ball for strenght training. I also like to throw pilates in. Well congrats again and good luck. I check in a couple of times a day so hope to hear from you soon.
Jen

[emjay71]

Jen,

I thought I was huge in high school too. I would kill for that body now. I am about 5'5" and was about 140. It is hard to remember back that far but I do remember the dress I wore to graduation was a size 10. I am now a size 20. Yuck! When you look back you really can see how distorted our thoughts about weight have been since early ages. I think that is true for almost all girls in this country. Now I just want to be healthy and a size 12 or 14 would be great.

I haven't done kickboxing in a long time, and I have never done Taebo. But alot of people on this site rave about it, I think I will definately have to try it. I think my sister has a few Billy Blanks tapes. Is there one in particular that you like?

Congratulations on going back to school. What are you studying? You are going to be so busy with 2 kids and all but you will just have to make sure to set aside some time for yourself so you can continue excercising. For me the excercise portion of it is so important. The minute I stop my weight comes right back. That is why I'm being a little fanatical with it. I haven't excercised yet today but I plan on squeezing in my 1-mile tape before bedtime.

Hope to hear from you soon...

Emjay

[gingerjen]

Emjay,
Hi,
I love Taebo, it is a butt kicking workout. I guess I really don't have a favorite, I like to mix them up. I have the boot camp dvds and I really want to get back into using them but they are a workout. I would really suggest trying them. I seem to lose weight pretty quickly when using them.

Thanks, I am really excited about going, I will be studing psychology, and I hope to have my Bachelors degree in a little over 2 years.

As for my girls, they do keep me very busy. I try to get my workout done before they get up in the morning, morning seems to work out best for me, otherwise it may not get done. Speaking of my girls it is way past their bedtime. Until next time.
Jen

[emjay71]

Hey Jen,

How has your day been? Mine ok, Monday is the only day of the week that I work outside the home. I clean and do laundry for a family of 5 so I am there all day. And I usually do ok food-wise there. But today when I got home I was starving so I ordered pizza and ate 4 pieces. What was I thinking, tomorrow is my weigh in. I hope I did not blow it for the week. I'm going to have to be much better next week. Well I have to go, I must fit a workout in tonight (I skipped yesterday). Talk to you later...Emjay

[gingerjen]

Emjay,
My day went pretty good. I did my workout first thing this morning, I think that really sets the mood for my day.

I wouldn't let the extra pizza get you down, we all slip up. It is when it is a habit that it is a problem. My biggest problem is I am a very good cook. I cook it then it has to get eaten. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a good cook no one wants to eat bad food.

Good luck on weighing in. I hope you have the drop you are hoping for.
Jen

[emjay71]

Jen,

Well today is weigh-in day and I lost 2 lbs. I am so happy. Who would have thought that I would have lost 5 lbs. over Thanksgiving and the first week of December. I'm definately going to keep it up. I have already done my 2-mile WATP so I'm off to a good start today.

Hope your day is going great. Gotta run now, I will check back later.

Emjay

[gingerjen]

Congrats on the loss!!! It always feels so good to see the numbers go down. Really makes the day seem that much better. I can't wait until Sunday to see if I have had a loss.
I've gotten a good workout in already, first thing this morning I had to go out and shovel snow yet again. Yuck, but a good workout. Then I did a 50 minute Taebo. In this one there is a long section on abs and the butt. I am pooped. I just keep picturing myself wearing the cute little sundress I bought way too small. It is kind of a little incentive. It hangs on my bedroom door where I see it and remind myself why I don't want to cheat cause I will look so good in this dress.
Well I am going to go take my shower and was off all this sweat. Talk to you later.
Jen

[gingerjen]

So far my day is off to a great start. I got an Advanced Taebo workout in. Well my husband did put a bit of a damper on everything when he called home to say we have more snow on the way. I am so ready for spring. It is this time of the year that makes me miss living in the south. Oh well the good news is you burn a lot of calories shoveling snow.

I got a bit anxious and weighed myself first thing this morning. I have already lost 3 pounds!! Yes I know at this point it is just water weight since I started drinking tons of tea and water. But the excess water has to come off so I am still happy about it. I was starting to wonder if 10 pounds by Christmas was a bit much but I still may make it!

Hope to hear how your day is going.
Jen

[emjay71]

Jen,

Wow, you are doing great with your excercise. You will be in that sundress before you know it. I can't wait to bump up my excercise program a little bit, but I want to get in a little better shape first. At my weight I can still lose with only 15 to 30 minutes a day.

Do you take your girls sledding? I live on a hill so my friends bring their kids over for sledding and I always make a point to go with them. It is great excercise, coming back up the hill that is.

I have been wrapping christmas gifts most of the AM and now need to find some motivation to go to the grocery store, Yuck! I am really low on healthy foods though so I had better get going. Talk to you soon.

MJ

[gingerjen]

Well I am already tired of the snow, I think I may freeze to death.

And yeah we will be taking our girls sledding this weekend. We live in town so I will take them to my mother's, the thing is that is an hour and half away. I am looking forward to it!! I agree on the hill climbing being good excersize.

I did the grocery store thing earlier this week so I have enough healthy snacks to last untill next week. Sometimes I feel silly putting all the healthy stuff up at the register, then my husbands fattening snacks, I am sure the cashier thinks I am a fraud, but hey, I'm losing weight so I guess I really don't care what others think.

I like doing my long workouts, by the time I am finished I feel beat, but by the time I shower I feel wonderful. I don't know why I quit doing them in the first place.
Well I will talk to you later.
Jen

[emjay71]

Jen,

we are getting a blizzard here. I live out in the country surrounded mostly by farm land. My husband and I were driving home this evening and the roads were so drifted we ended up in a soybean field w/o even knowing it. And no we weren't drunk that is just how bad it is. Are you still getting a lot of snow? It's pretty cold here too, only in the low 20's though. I guess thats not too bad.

I know what you mean about the grocery store. My husband eats a lot of junk too. The bad part about it is that the healthy food costs so much more than the unhealthy food. Oh well, I guess it's worth it.

I didn't do to bad w/ food today. I went out to dinner w/ a friend and only had a grilled chicken salad and a roll. Did my 1-mile WATP tape. I think I will be snowed in the house tomorrow so I have no excuse not to do a longer one. I think I may go into the basement and dig out some other tapes I haven't done in a long time (years) for variety. Talk to you later.

Emjay

[gingerjen]

Emjay,
Wow, beanfield, sounds scary. I know how bad roads can be, I put my car in the ditch from black ice once, that scared me to death, I don't know how I managed to drive home, a tractor had to pull me out, the snow was up past my knees, and I was so lucky I missed the row of trees at the bottom. Well my backend hit them, scratche up my backside.

I hear you about unhealthy foods being cheaper. That makes dieting so hard when you live on a short budget like we do, mac-n-cheese is so cheap, but so fattening. It just comes down to deciding what is more important. What really makes me jealous in my husband can eat that stuff and as long as he gets a little excersize, and I don't mean workout, just walk around a work a bit, he don't gain weight.

I did good last night as well, I made grilled chicken and we had cheesy brocoli, I love cheesy veggies. I even made sure to save a some calories so I could have some homemade poppy seed bread. That is the great thing about counting calories, I know what I can and can't have ahead of time so I don't feel guilty afterwards.

I got my taebo workout in already and now I am going to get ready to go out of town for the day. Until next time.
Jen

[emjay71]

Jen,

Hope you had a good day. I know what you mean about the thin husband. Your husband is lucky he stays thin being married to a good cook. I sometimes think my hubby would be heavier if I cooked better. Nah, his mom is an excellent cook and he has always been thin. His mom's side of the family is full of morbidly obese people so he is very fortunate to take after his dad's thin and trim side. It is very frustrating though, I eat a fraction of what my husband does and there are some high cal high fat foods he eats I wouldn't dream of touching and I'm fat. It's quite an injustice!

I ate well today. Although it is 7:30 and I'm feeling hungry (or maybe bored) and want to eat but don't want to blow my day. I'm munching on carrot sticks, I hope that satisfies. I did a Winsor Pilates tape today, yuck. I cannot get into pilates, I don't enjoy it at all. Have you ever tried it?

Talk to you later. MJ