Day ? - Still Here!

I've lost track.....

I've been in transition for over a week now. I haven't lost weight but I have maintained. I'm doing the shakes all day and eating a meal at night. I have been naughty at meal times. Which, is why I'm probably staying the same weight. I'm ok with that right now.

Ran 9 miles today! Felt like a million bucks.

How are you all doing out there? I could use some inspiration to get over the hump!!

Day 77 - Ready to Transition

I'm so ready. Overly ready to transition. I want to eat eat eat food. I cheated and had some pickels. I haven't lost since last week. I have maintained. Which is good. I'm busted my ass in exercise to try and compensate for the eating fest I've been on. Ok..so I've eaten more than pickels. Tonight I had a salad and a bowl of shrimp wonton soup. A very small bit of calories...and I ate a few pieces of the meatballs I put into the spagetti dinner I made my family. I just want to be eating again.

I feel really strong in my body though. At yoga tonight I felt very strong. Yesterday I ran 6.5 miles and it was a hard run. I didn't feel achy or tired after. Maybe I'm finally coming into my exercise after 77 days of dieting?

So at this current place in time...I'm doing shakes all day except for my evening meal. I could live like this for awhile. I'm in a holding pattern with my weight as well. Not sure why...plateau perhaps. I mean, 600 calories during the day in shakes and then maybe 400 at night is still not alot. I should still be losing.

I'm in a good place mentally even though I've cheated. I thought the guilt would be a lot stronger, but its not. I believe I'm ready for the next stage of my transition. I need to learn how to eat food again and lose weight. I have 20+ to go. I've come a long way baby!! Starting at 228 pounds. Seems like forever ago. I'm not going back. I'm A FINE WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 69 - Feeling Fine!

It was just a tough couple of days. I'm back on track. It wasn't easy to push myself through that difficult time. But it did come to an end. I've run 3 days in a row. I feel great again. The scale is starting to move again which is always an incentive.

At the end of this month I will start to transition. I will transition when I have 20 pounds left to lose until I hit my goal. This is important because I need to learn how to lose while eating food. I'm starting to wrap my head around this. 26 days to go. I've got this!

Day 67 - Treading Water

Ok...I confess I'm getting tired of this. I ate 6 carrots out of the pot roast the other day. I cannot give up! I cannot sabatoge myself. IT IS REALLY HARD RIGHT NOW. I feel good, I look in the mirror and I like what I see. Everyone is telling me how thin I am....and I just want to eat. I want to eat like a normal person.

This too shall pass. I know it will pass. It is a hurdle that has crept up in my way and I will leap over it. Right? I always find a way to leap over these hurdles. Ugh. Yes, the overly enthusiastic, exercising crazy women is lying face down on the floor. I'm beat. Spent. We all reach these walls. Will I get over it and move on? Or will I sneak out to the fridge tonight and eat all the alfredo while everyone is sleeping? Where is my self-control?

I did go running this morning. First time in 7 days. It was a strange out of body experience. I have got to get it together.....

Day 65 - New Month - New Me

Its October. Over here on the East Coast the leaves are changing. The air is cool and crisp. The mornings and evenings are darker. The apples are heavy on the trees. It is my favorite time of year. The hint of family gatherings, vacations, snow forts, and christmas lights lingers on the horizon. It is so great to be alive isn't it?

STRESS galore this week. We moved our printing company this past weekend only to have to move it AGAIN tomorrow. I keep closing my eyes and trying to do that belly breathing we learned in class the other day. But, fortunately for me stress is not an eating trigger.

I've seriously let my exercise slide. Which is a trigger for me. Failure is a trigger for me. I'm an all or nothing sort of person. If I cheat in my mind I have failed and the food eating onslaught begins. If I stop exercising, I have failed and sloth like behavior gets control over my ass and parks it. I'm fighting that right now. I did go to yoga the other night and I felt stronger than I thought I would. I hadn't lost anything at all. I was going to get up and run today but I didn't. I slept in. I feel guilt for letting myself down. Maybe I can steal away for an hour today and run in my new neighborhood. Send all of the exercise fairies my way......I need to get over this feeling of failure and be ok with a little down time. Cause I know its ok....but I'm a task master and especially hard on myself. I haven't failed I've wandered for a bit with a move and a head cold.

Weigh in last night...down 4 lbs. Even without the "structured exercise." My PA calories this week were only 1500. I typically have 3600 or more. I did move this past weekend and I'm sure that burned some serious calories.

My size 14's are starting to get loose and the nurse in my program told me last night that I needed to go bra shopping. I have lost 6 inches around my chest. 7 inches on my wasit and 11 on my hips. I haven't gotten myself any new clothes except for yoga pants and shirts and couple of sports bras.

I've discovered a love for cooking. I have never ever liked cooking at all. I'm thinking that because its a connection with food. I get to hold it, smell it, and try to make something yummy for my family. I really enjoy putting together all the ingrediants and then serving them and watching them eat it. I wonder if this new found fascination will last once I start to transition.

I also like to keep busy. No downtime for me. Boredom is my biggest trigger. I've got to plan for downtimes. Find a hobby. I've never had a hobby. I've always had a hard time filling out those questions on social networking sites about what I like to do. I typically put down something lame like reading. I have never had something that I do to enjoy myself. Maybe gardening in the spring? What the hell else can I do? I'm not a crafter. I don't have the patience for sewing or knitting or anything like that. What can I do once I've cleaned my house a hundred times and cooked dinner? I've got to find something.

Kids to the bus!! Yikes!

Day 63 - Exhausted!

My husband and I moved our business and our home over the weekend. It has derailed me. I have NOT eaten any food. I just haven't run since I ran the 5K on Saturday. I haven't been to Zumba or Yoga. To top it all off I have this abnoxious head cold. Oh man, its a doozy.

I have noticed that I hang up the things I enjoy in times of stress. I'm stressed. I'm not sure I have mentioned this before, but I don't stress easy. I'm not a "stress eater." I'm a bored eater. I'm a reward eater. During this stressful time I've found it more difficult then ever to remind myself to get all of my calories in. I really feel like I can't let myself enjoy the things I was doing until I'm over these hurdles. I'm going to call it being really focused. Just like when I'm in the zone dieting...focused. I need to figure out how to find balance. I know that when I'm out running I have really clear thoughts. It is helpful to run when there is a problem. Your mind goes to a different place. I'm going to really try to get to yoga tonight for myself. Leave all of my issues, stress, and problems at the door.....

Day 57 - Out of the 190's

I've hit 188. A total of 40 pounds! I still expect to wake up and have the entire weight loss a dream. I lost 4.7 pounds this week. I've officially moved out of the obese category into the overweight category. I have never been so happy to be overweight in my life. I will never be obese again.

I'm afraid. The amigos say I should start transitioning to food when I hit the 170's. That would be a couple of weeks. I'm not ready!!! I can imagine what you are thinking. I haven't had food in 57 days and you would think I would want to eat. Food is my drug of choice. Imagine giving an alcoholic a beer and telling him that one is enough. I'm afraid that I won't be able to stop. I'm afraid I'm not mentally ready yet. It has only been since August that I've been losing. I'm so scared to fail. I'm afraid to be in that 95%.

Day 54 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday to me! 34 years old today. The best gift I have given myself is to lose 38 pounds so far. Today I hit the 190 mark. I officially have 40 pounds left to lose. I'm over the 1/2 way hurdle. I've asked that my family not have any sort of party for me. No cake, no icecream, no food in my face that I cannot eat. Its ok! Honest.

On Sunday I ran in my first 10k race. 6.2 miles! I ran it in 1 hour and 8 minutes. Beating 211 other people. I absolutely LOVE saying that as it sounds really really impressive. There were over 1400 people in the race. So, I'm not the fastest runner...not by a long stretch. But I ran the whole damn thing and I didn't come in last. You have to have goals! Maybe next year I will run proudly next to my sister who ran the thing brilliantly. I was very happy to see my Dad and his girlfriend show up to cheer us on along the trail and at the end. It meant more to me than I can put words too.

Did yoga last night. It slapped me in the ass and then handed it to me on a silver plate. Ouch...it was brutal! I just keep thinking if I an stengthen up my abs all the rest will fall into place. You know the ol' "core" song and dance. I think maybe there is something to that. I will find out.

I'm ready to head out the door for a quick 3.1 mile run. Nice and easy. For the first time I'm mourning the loss of my warm summer runs...I have long pants and a long shirt on. All black too I think...although it is still dark out and I can't really see what I'm wearing! Oh well...

Day 50 - A slow down.

This week at weigh in I only dropped 3.7 pounds. I know, I know it is still good yaddy yada. I heard it from the 3 amigos too. But it is the least I've lost in the past 7 weeks of butt busting. I burned 3600 calories this week. More than last week. My theory...as I always have a theory...is that this is the first week up here in New Hampshire that we have had some really cool weather. It was 41 degrees yesterday when I went for my run. Brrr!! I think my body is saying,"Winter...need to keep the fat!" I suggested my theory to the nutritionist and she agreed with me. That it was a rough week for everyone in my class. So it goes.

I've been thinking a little bit more about "The Voice." I did have, a few posts back, a fight with the voice over wether or not to live up to a deal I had made with myself. Is this an eternal hiccup that I will forever deal with? A recording that continously plays again and again that I'm not deserving of a reward? Um....no. I'm simply a very sensible person. I'm not a big splurger. When I told myself that it was $300 I could use elsewhere, I could. I have to learn that making a deal with myself is just as important as making a deal with someone else. I cannot let myself out of it. I do not believe that some internal hijacking mischeif maker is waiting to pounce on every positive thought and squash it like a bug. I just don't. I will not divide myself up into pieces or people or old thoughts.

I read about people fighting with themselves or "inner voices" in the weight loss forums. I listended to it in class last night. I just want to scream! Its just another way of pointing the finger at someone other than yourself. Of not taking responsibility for these thoughts! Oh sure, its someone elses fault we think this way. Its "the voice." (Key dramatic music.) I am done with the voice. I ran without my Ipod the other day to try and discover what "the voice" was saying to me. It kept telling me that I definately needed to keep losing weight as I could feel my rearend bouncing dutifully behind me as I jogged up the path. It told me that I needed to remember to chew gum because I could smell my own coffee breath as I was gasping for air on the way back down the trail. It told me to get new shoes because my toes are starting to stick out of the tops of my favorite sneakers. Oh good grief. I mean honestly! Enough already.

A Quick Note....

Thank you to my very first follower. All of these days of blogging and I've wondered, "Is anyone even paying attention?" Now I have an answer. Even if its just me and you throughout this journey...it is worth it. Cause you are listening. Thank you!