It's been a while...

It's been quite some time since I've been doing any blogging. Did anyone miss me?


Life got a little crazy on me. We moved half way across the country, which took some getting used to. Now that we're finally settled in, I'm taking stock of my life. 


I'm a very happy person. I love where we live now. My family is great (even if my husband and son give me headaches sometimes). I do miss the rest of my family, which has led to some emotional times during the holidays. But I'm making friends, and keeping up with everyone on Facebook. 


So what do I need to fix in my life? Unfortunately the same thing I needed to fix back when I started this blog. My weight. 


I'm sad to say I gained back a few of the pounds I had lost, not a lot, but enough that I was not happy with myself for letting that happen. I noticed that the excuses started finding their way into my head again. Now it's that we moved to a higher altitude and the air is thinner, so I get short of breath easy. Great excuse, right? WRONG! That's a great reason to be working out and losing weight. If I was in better shape I would have probably acclimated better. 


Well no more excuses! I'm back in the saddle and ready to ride. I'm currently at *gasp* 262lbs. I'm shooting for 255 by the end of the month. But will be happy with any weight loss I get, as numbers heading down are better than numbers heading up. 


I've changed my mini-goal and have decided to make it 10% of my starting weight. I started at 275, so I'm down 13 so far, almost half way to that mini-goal. When I hit it, I'm going to go get my hair done. 


Healthy and Happy Living

Did you miss me?

I know, I've been doing a rotten job of keeping touch this month. I went a little blog crazy, and burned myself out. But now I've cleared the cobwebs. So, did you miss me? Well, here's what I've been up to.


I officially reached my first mini-goal of 20 lbs lost!! I'm so excited. I've also noticed some changes. There is the saggyness in my once tight clothes. The reduction in pain in my knees. The fact that people keep asking me if I've lost weight (isn't that a great feeling?) And today, I was standing at my desk, waiting for our IT gal to install a new program, and I had my hand on my waist. As I was standing there, I realized suddenly that my waist felt smaller. There was just less of it there to grab on to. Now, seeing myself every day, I haven't really noticed a change in the way I look, but my body feels smaller. Love it. 


Now, here's the biggie. I haven't mentioned it before, but a few years ago I was told that my weight had caused a hormonal imbalance (too much Estrogen), and it was suggested I go on the Pill to correct it. Well, I don't do pills unless absolutely necessary (I hate pharmaceuticals and all their nasty side effects), so I told the doctor "No". What I didn't say to her way, why treat a symptom, and not the underlying problem? Well, a couple weeks ago, I was delighted to find that the weight I have lost so far was enough to bring my imbalance back in line. It just goes to show you, that living a healthier lifestyle can most definitely make an internal difference, in addition to the external. 


But wait, there's more! Yep, I've been gone a while, so I've got more to catch up on. This past weekend, I participated in the American Heart Association's "Start! Heart Walk". It was a 5k walk, and I accomplished it in my best time for a 5k. Not a fabulous time mind you, it took me an hour, but that beats my last time for sure. I noticed during & after the walk that my calves didn't hurt at all. When I started back up walking, I would get cramps and stabbing pains in the side of my calves. The doctor said I was doing too much too soon and I had to back off and slow down. Well, I'm officially over that hurdle. 


One more change in me that makes me eager to see what I can accomplish next! 

Healthy and Happy Living

The Trouble with Competitions

As I type, I am walking on my treadmill, fretting about tomorrow's final weigh in for the Biggest Loser challenge at work. During this challenge I realized something about myself. That when I think of losing weight for the challenge, I can't. When I stop thinking about the challenge, I can. Weird. Glad it's almost over, I can get back to normal again.

I've always thought that challenging myself, and competing against others was the best way to get motivated in my journey. Turns out that was the exact opposite of what I should have been doing. I spend so much time worrying about it and thinking about it that I forget to do anything about it. All that stress just adds up to emotional eating, and everything backfires. There's also a little voice in my head that tells me how great it would be to see a certain other person win. That they want it more or need it more or deserve it more. And being the giving personality I am, I think I'm subconciously sabotaging myself to give them a better chance. I know, silly huh, but there you have it.

So, no more weight loss competitions for me. Just healthy choices and let the weight handle itself.

Healthy and Happy Living

Get Moving Challenge & Weekly Results

1st, here's my weekly weigh in results....drum roll please....down another pound! Thankfully I was able to repair the backslide from last weeks overindulgence, and am now down a total of 12 pounds.

I am taking my cue from the Fabulous Fatties and starting my own challenge. This is a challenge to push yourself. Your only competition is you. My challenge to you is to walk/jog/run to a goal for the month of July. This challenge will run July 1 to July 31, here's how it will work:

* You select a goal for number of miles you are going to complete for the month & email it to me or post it here so everyone can see (remember, it's not a contest to do the most miles, do what's right for you)

* E-mail me at dhubbard77@gmail.com with updates to your totals (I'll keep a total for everyone and have trackers running through the month)

* Everyone who hits their goal by the end of the month will be entered into a drawing (I use random.org for drawings)

That's it. Now, I don't expect you to try and do 1,000 miles or something ridiculous. You know what level you are at now, try to push to put in a few more miles than you are currently doing. My goal is 50 miles for the month, what's yours?

Healthy and Happy Living

De'Anna

Week 2 Results

Well, not exactly what I'd call a stellar week. This weekend my son spent at grandma's house. Which left my husband and I all alone. We decided to go out to dinner Saturday night, and Sunday we rented a movie. Between all this, I had my personal training session with Paul on Saturday and followed that with a nice long walk, and my hubby and I took the dogs for a walk on Saturday. That's where my good habits ended. Sunday I didn't journal my food, drink my water, or have a healthy breakfast. I even broke down and had a soda (it was one of those All Natural ones, but it was still a soda). Today I'm paying the price. I'm sluggish, tired and retaining water from too much sodium (I may not have journaled it, but I know all the bad things I ate yesterday).

Unfortunately today was my weigh in day, boy I sure wasn't thinking ahead was I. But I guess it could have been worse, through it all I only saw a 1 lb gain this week. Which I'm pretty sure will be gone by tomorrow once I flush my system (drinking plenty of water today).

All in all, I can't say I feel guilty or regret my weekend. Everyone is bound to slip up, the trick is to pull yourself back up and hop back on track. I can't expect to be eat perfectly for the rest of my life, I'm just glad I recognize what happened and am not letting it derail my efforts. I'm back on track and journaling today. Had a nice breakfast and going for a walk this afternoon with some co-workers.