Weight Loss

Our friends left town last Wednesday and this week was the first “normal” week I’ve had in some time. I actually did some meal planning and we ate at home most nights. It was a nice week. I also hiked for the first time in a few weeks.  Even though I’ve been walking a lot, hiking is a whole different beast.  For the first time in a while, I didn’t make it up to the top.  And while that would normally be disappointing, I was actually pleased because the part I did hike, I hiked much faster than I usually did.  I think that the reason I didn’t make it to the top was because I was so out of breath from the fast hiking early on.

 On the scale front, I’m finally in the 230s.  It’s been a long time coming!

Last Week’s Weight: 240.8
Today’s Weight:  239.6
Weight Lost This Week:  1.2
Total Weight Loss:  28.1

So I had an interesting epiphany this week…the scale doesn’t always reflect your hard work.  While I knew that in my head, it doesn’t always translate to understanding it.  This week I realized that my consistent focused efforts will produce results, but just not necessarily as fast or as much as I’d like.  Am I disappointed with my 1.2 pound loss? No, I’m thrilled that I’m losing, but after a week of consistent eating and exercising, I figured I would have lost more.

On a positive note, I’m really starting to see a difference in the way my clothes fit. I took a picture with my friend last week and the dress I wore had so much extra fabric. I wore the same dress in the beginning of February and it didn’t have tons of extra fabric then.

I’m also fitting into clothes I couldn’t wear before…like these embellished jeans that I’ve been dying to wear.  I bought them a while ago, but they didn’t fit.  Now they do!!!

I’m loving the pearls and beading on the cuffs!!!  Aren’t they seriously the cutest!?!  This weight loss stuff is starting to really pay off!

 

Last week, I shared about my friend Laura’s death. I was totally in a funk. The funeral was on Thursday of last week. On Wednesday night, some of our closest friends from Indiana arrived. They couldn’t have come at a better time. I can’t help but think about the verse in Proverbs 27 that says “a sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” My friend Jeannie’s friendship is one of those truly soul refreshing friendships! I was so thankful that she was able to visit with her family.

The funeral on Thursday was hard and on my way home, I picked up some mashed potatoes.  I wasn’t in the mood for anything else.  It was pure comfort food at it’s finest.  I didn’t eat a ton, but that was what I had for dinner.  Our friends planned to go to Old Town Scottsdale for an art walk Thursday night.  While I wasn’t sure I was really up for going, I figured it would be a good distraction and it was.

While Jeannie and fam were here, we took lots of long walks. We laughed a ton.  It was really fun!!!  She’s been an amazingly good friend and it was a great trip.  While they were visiting, they took a weekend trip to the Grand Canyon where Jeannie’s son proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes.  It made for an extra special time after such a heavy sad week.

We also had a busy weekend while they were at the Grand Canyon.  My son had a basketball tournament (4 games in 1 day) and then we had tickets to the Suns game Saturday night.  It was a great weekend of distractions.

On the weight loss front, the scale continues to move in the right direction.  I was reminded by a friend that although I’ve lost over 26 pounds since I began posting my weight in December, I’ve lost over 35 pounds since my highest weight.  That was an awesome reminder.

Last Week’s Weight: 243.2
Today’s Weight: 240.8
Weight Lost This Week: 2.4
Total Weight Loss: 26.9

We went on a double date with our friends last night.  Their kids offered to watch our kids.  It was a super fun night!!!

I’m really hoping that next week I’ll be in the 230s.  It’s been a LONG time since I’ve been in the 230s and I’m looking forward to it.

This past week has been hard, not like a little hard, but like seriously hard, just want to lay in bed and cry, hard. One of my dear sweet friends passed away last Thursday. She’s had tons of health challenges for as long as we’ve been friends, but she’s always beat them. I figured this time would be the same. I’m sad and mad that I didn’t go spend time with her last week. I’m sad that she’s gone. I’m just plain sad.  The only thing positive about this past week is that I didn’t eat all my feelings.

I have a tendency to eat when I’m sad…or when I’m happy.  It’s how I grieve and it’s how I celebrate.  This week, although I wanted to wallow and eat ice cream and mashed potatoes and mac and cheese or frosting right out of the container, I tried to make healthier choices.  I knew that poor choices wouldn’t make me feel better…and would most likely make me feel worse.  I guess I should be thankful that I was able to make healthy choices and that the scale moved in the right direction.

Last Week’s Weight:  245.5
Today’s Weight:  243.2
Weight Lost This Week:  2.3
Total Weight Loss: 24.5

I also had a sick kiddo this week.  James was complaining about ear pain.  I didn’t feel like dragging him out of the house to the doctor, especially with so many people fighting the flu.  I tried Amwell for the first time and absolutely LOVED it.  You get to choose your doctor and chat with them online.  It was definitely a silver lining to this crappy week.  I was thrilled that I got to stay home, wrapped in a cozy blanket, while still making sure my kiddo got the meds he needed.

This picture pretty much sums up my week.  Lots of time spent in sweats and a t-shirt, wrapped in a blanket.

We have company coming next week and I’m hoping that having friends in town will help me feel better and get me out of my sadness funk.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Do you have anything exciting planned? We’re laying low at our house.  So as I mentioned last week, I took a few days to do some planning for this year.  I also took some seriously long walks and ate even better than usual. My body was quite happy with me!

Seriously, this is my biggest weight loss in a week!  I lost 6.7 pounds which puts me at over 20 pounds lost!!!  That’s crazy!!!

Last Week’s Weight:  252.2
Today’s Weight:  245.5
Weight Lost This Week: 6.7
Total Weight Loss:  22.2

This week’s loss had made me realize that I need to be exercising daily, rather than just hiking occasionally.  I’m going to try to get at least 10,000 steps in daily.  I think that will make a difference in how I feel and how I look.

My big NSV for this week is that I took donuts to some prospective clients this week…and not just any doughnuts.  I took some of my favorite donuts to them.  And I didn’t eat any!  Usually if I take donuts to clients or prospective clients, I get myself a donut too while I’m at the donut shop, but this time I totally didn’t.  I’m not going to tell you it wasn’t a little miserable driving around with the amazing smell of donuts, but I survived! 🙂

Here’s the picture proof of me with the donuts…

Also worth mentioning…the skirt from this suit has been too tight to wear for quite some time.  When I put it on on Monday morning, it fit like a dream.  I was pretty darn excited to say the least.

Here are the things I’ve noticed since I’ve lost 20 pounds…

• My clothes are fitting better.
• I’m able to hike further than I was before.
• I’m not as winded when I play with the kids.
• I feel better in my own skin.

I can’t wait to see where the rest of this year is going to take me!!!

 

Happy Wednesday! The scale continues to move in the right direction. 🙂 It’s interesting to see how my weight varies during the week. If I shared my weight daily, you’d see a lot more ups and downs, but because I’m just sharing it once a week, it seems to be moving in a downward direction. It’s so fascinating to me how the body works and how up and down my weight can be. I’m also realizing that certain foods really affect my weight…and not just the ones you know are bad for you.

 I had another NSV over the weekend.  We took the kids to a famous pizza place and normally I would have had a few (or more than a few) pieces of pizza.  Tonight I opted for a salad instead.  Am I giving up pizza forever? Nope, but I wasn’t really craving it and salad is a healthier option, so I went with that.  This journey for me is about healthier choices, smaller portions, and making choices that I can stick with long term.  I’m sure there will be plenty of times I choose pizza over salad, and that’s ok too! 🙂

Last Week’s Weight:  253.3
Today’s Weight: 252.2
Weight Lost This Week: 1.1
Total Weight Loss: 15.5

Here’s a pic of me from our night out for pizza.

Aren’t my new boots cute!?!

In other news, I’m taking a few days off this next week to focus on planning for the year. I try to do this once or twice a year and it’s so helpful when I can put my goals on paper and put a plan in place to make them happen.

While I have time off, I’m also hoping to get in some serious exercise (or at least take some long walks).  The weather here  in Arizona is beautiful right now, so I really want to take advantage of it.