Inspiration

I think I may have written about this before but I feel the need to write about it again if I have. One of the coolest things that has happened to me since I began my weight loss in November is how I am inspiring people! I have had soo many people private message me and tell me how I am inspiring them. THANK YOU LADIES! All of you who send me these messages mean soo much to me. Its soo amazing to see how many of you are inspired just cause I finally decided to get my act together!
I had inspiration too...

I want to take a sec to thank my dad, my step mom and her mom for starting THEIR weight loss because when I went to visit them that Saturday November 13 and they told me about what they were doing and how they were losing weight, they inspired me to finally get myself in gear. They showed me what they were eating, and how much they were eating and that's when I decided hey, I can do this too.
I was sick of imagining my old skinny self and longing to be that person because quite frankly, before November 13, I had kind of given up. I had decided that you know what, I don't think I can do this. . . It just took that one day with my family to realize, you know what? I can do this too.. And I WILL do this...because I want to be happy. I want to feel good. I want to go shopping and enjoy it. I want to look in the mirror and be proud. . . And now, 16 weeks later, I am slowly changing to a new person. I am starting to stand taller, I am starting to look in the mirror and see the old me again. I am beginning to be excited to go shopping. Although it still seems far off, I feel like I will be able to feel completely happy with myself one day in the near future.

Something pretty cool happened to me this morning. I have this pair of pants that are a size 7. A few months ago, I couldn't eve get them up over my thighs. Every now and again I try them on....seeing how I can get them a little further on helps me to see my weight loss. This morning I tried them on and although they are snug, I CAN DO THEM UP!!!!!! Wow. This is absolutely unbelievable. 35 lbs ago losing weight seemed impossible and you know what? Its not. It just takes hard work and A LOT of dedication. You have to want to lose weight. You have to completely change your lifestyle. No more planning things around food, instead, plan your food into your day. Don't make plans with your friends to go to dinner, make plans with friends to go for a run, or go to the gym. Wake up in the morning and plan when you will be going to the gym, or better yet, go to the gym first thing in the morning so that there is no chance to cancel the gym because something came up, or you're too tired. LOSE THE EXCUSES. Do this for YOU.

Can't wait til after work, #1 its FRIDAY!!!!!! #2 today is picture day. Hopefully I see a difference from Feb 11 to today. If I do, I shall post it for all to see! xo - B

Just another couple of days!

I've been kind of slacking on the writing these last couple days but in my defense I have been crazy busy! Tuesday night was my weigh in and then yesterday was Wednesday. Quite often lately on Wednesdays nights I have been going to the rec centre and doing the Abs, butt and thigh class (aka ABT class). Let me tell you, If you want your bum and legs to get an @$$ kicking through millions of lunges and squats, THIS IS THE CLASS FOR YOU! I wasn't feeling the greatest yesterday so I didn't actually intend on going to the class last night, so on my lunch break I did a 25 minute run followed by my usual weight training. After work, we did some running around and then I changed out of my work clothes and weighed myself for fun. Right then and there I decided that hey, this is not the weight I want to be, I should go to ABT. So I put on my gym clothes and went. My legs but especially my bum are super sore today, and it feels good! Theres nothing better than feeling sore because you know what you did, worked! Today I am going to hit up the gym on my lunch break again, but I will not be doing any lunges or squats.

I am still working on focusing less on that number on the scale and more about how I feel. I know that I am developing muscle as well as my body is definitely changing but I am STILL hung up on my weight. I check it religiously. I like to check that number because it keeps me in check. If my number goes up, I know that I need to reevaluate what it was I did or didn't do the day before that may have contributed to that number. I don't care what people say, I NEED to check it. If I go a week without checking that number and all of a sudden I am up 4 lbs, well I know that clearly I should have done something different. Why would I wait a week to change what I am doing when I could have done it right away, know what I mean? I know everyone has different opinions on this, this is just mine. The way I am doing it now, is clearly working, so why would I change it?

Tomorrow is the 11th. Every month on the 11th I have taken a few photos of myself to compare to the month before. I am always excited about this, because it puts my weight loss into perspective for me. Although I am slowly starting to "see" my weight loss, it is still really tough for me. Only when I put my photos side by side do I REALLY notice the difference. Its such great motivation. Anyone out there who is actually reading this and is planning on starting their weight loss journey please listen to me when I say TAKE PHOTOS. As much as you don't want those photos now, you WILL want them when you are losing weight.

On another note, I am in the very beginning stages of planning our wedding... Does anyone have any advice? Where do you start? How do you choose colours? 

Is anyone out there actually reading this? If so, leave me a comment!
xo- B

PS..... 51 days til Mexico.. Eeeeeek!!!

Weigh in Tuesday!

Sooo its Tuesday! That means its weigh in day .... and I see a pattern. For the last bit it has been good loss, small loss, good loss, small loss... so since I lost 3.2 lbs last week...I am only down 1 lb this week. Kind of discouraging but a loss is a loss right!
I have to think of all the other things that come into play, like how loose my pants are, how small my waist feels and how awesome I feel in the gym. If I just keep plugging at it, and not get discouraged, this weight WILL KEEP COMING OFF.
I dont really feel like talking weight loss today. Today I want to talk about something much more exciting happening -- WE BOOKED OUR WEDDING!!!!!!!!!! OMG. I am freaking out. I cant believe we are actually getting married, May 19 2012!
 Now its time to start planning...I am so glad I have people in my life who actually enjoy the planning part because I dont!! I want someone else to plan and give me the choices (lol)
Up until this day I have never tried on wedding dresses.. I actually have no idea what type of dress I want. My rule has been that I have to wait til I hit my goal weight....12 more pounds!!!! Thats my incentive. 12 lbs and I get to try on dresses. =)
Whos been married before? How do you choose your type of dress? How do you choose your colour scheme? Eeeeek Soo much excitement, so little time.

Painter's Lodge - where we're getting married

Another exciting thing that happened today is that we finally officially paid for our trip to Mexico. Its soo good to get that over with. I am soo unbelieveably excited to see my girly marry her man, and not to mention go on a VERY much needed vacation!!!! 54 days!!!! (but who's counting?)

Amazed at what I can do after 16 weeks.

Running has never been my thing. I have been going to the gym religiously for a few years, but me and running have never become friends. When I started on my weightloss journey I wanted to have a good variety of things in my workout so that my body wouldnt get used to what I was doing so I started walking on the treadmill as my warm up. One day I decided to make it a little more intense so I decided to run......I lasted 1 minute. Im not kidding, 1 minute. I remember not being able to breathe and my legs were burning. It was gross. So I continued to walk. Gradually I started incorporating running into my treadmill routine. It started as 2 minutes walking, 1 minute running, 2 minutes walking, 1 minute running for 10 minutes. Then, when that got too easy, I started doing 1 minutes running, 1 minute walking, 1 minute running, 1 minute walking. One day, I decided to see how long I could run, and lasted 10 minutes. I was sooo happy about that. So for the past 2 months, I have been doing 10 minutes of running every day. Yesterday morning, I started my workout with my run as usual, but when I got to 10 minutes I wasnt that tired, so I thought Id see if I could make it to 15 minutes...and I did. Easily. As I slowed down the pace and started to walk after the 15 minutes, I was thinking to myself, I am not that tired... Im going to see if I can run for 5 more minutes. So I  did. Then I tried for 5 more minutes..... then 5 more. 16 Weeks ago running was almost impossible for me...and yesterday morning I ran for half an hour. I am just AMAZED at what losing a little weight can do for you.

So after I get off the machine and walk over to where my bag is located, the guy who works at the gym (who is there every Saturday when I go, but have never spoken to him besides "hi") stops me and says, "How often are you working out?" and I tell him that I workout 6 to 7 days a week and he says "wow, thats awesome, I can see its really working for you, you have awesome dedication" .......WHAT? THE FREAKIN GUY AT THE GYM NOTICES THAT I HAVE LOST WEIGHT?!?! Holy crap.

After the gym yesterday me and the girls went to dad and Mag's house for a baby shower for their new niece + nephew. It was really nice to see everyone again as we haven't been out there for a while. Its nice going to their place because they always have healthy options to eat. We started talking about our wedding and I am getting super excited!!! You know, I have never even thought about what type of wedding dress I want to have, I have no idea. I have never been dress shopping as I wanted to wait until I am down to my goal weight... I only have 12ish pounds to go. I cant wait to go and not be uncomfortable about my sizing... thats going to be my reward for losing my weight, trying on wedding dresses for the first time. Now, its off to the gym to run for 30 minutes....

Losing weight slowly.

When it comes to weight loss, slow and steady wins the race. When I first started my weight loss journey, I lost 15 lbs in the first 5 weeks or so. It was AMAZING!!! I couldn't believe it. This was due to the fact that I was losing water weight. Inititally, you will lose quickly, but it will slow down. Since I lost that initial 15 lbs, it has been about 11 weeks and I have lost another 20 ish pounds. I average about 2 lbs a week.
I have learned that if you slowly lose weight, you will have a way better chance of keeping the weight off.

Its not about a fad diet, or a crash diet, or a cabbage soup diet because lets face it, as soon as you start eating again you will gain the weight back. You are not learning how to have good eating habits when doing a diet, you are just starving yourself and probably losing a lot of muscle. Another reason not to "diet" is because if you lose weight too rapidly your metabolism slows down...if your metabolism is slow, you will not lose weight. Losing weight is not about seeing how fast you can do it, its about the rest of your life. Its about CHANGING your life and how you treat food and exercise. Its much more about eating RIGHT then eating less.

The problem with losing weight slowly is that it is easy to get discouraged. In order to not get discouraged try one of these:

Take body measurements – Rather than fret those weeks when you’ve only lost .2 pounds or even worse, stayed the same or gained some, take those body measurements. With a tape measure, record chest, waist, and hips measurements. Chances are, if you’ve been following your weight loss program, you have lost a few inches.

-try on smaller clothing to see how much better you fit

-compare the weight you've lost to objects:

THIS IS ONE POUND OF FAT: ewww

-Stay positive. Tell yourself, you can and WILL lose this weight.

-Stick to it...no matter what, stick to it...it will happen.


Today is March 4th. MARCH FOURTH!! Do you know what that means? It means that two months from today I am going to stand up there with my best friend and witness her marry her man.. I am beyond excited for her. She's had soo much go on in life and she deserves a day in her honour. She looks absolutely amazing in her wedding dress and let me tell you Dave is going to be BLOWN AWAY!!! I am probably going to cry my eyes out..lol The countdown is on my friend!!!! xox - B

Water

OMG I am freaking out. I have an awesome water bottle I received for Christmas that I love...it is always and I mean ALWAYS full of water, and because it has a straw, I am always sipping on it. Well, today I forgot it at home :(
I don't know how I am going to deal with refilling one of the little paper cups that we have at work all day in order to get an adequate amount of water in. I wasn't always a water person, but once I started drinking it, I strongly believe that my body started to crave it. It is very important to get your water in especially if you are trying to lose weight.

Here are a couple benefits of drinking water that I grabbed off a website:

Water Suppresses Appetite
Water Speeds Up Metabolism
Drinking Water Reduces Water Retention
Water Contains No Calories
Water Is Good For The Body:
* increased metabolism
* reduction of water retention
* headache relief
* IBS symptoms diminished
* reduction of menstrual cramps and bloating
* lowered cholesterol
* blood pressure stays low
* skin complexion is improved
* toxins are relieved from the body

......so get your water in.


On to the next thing. One of the most amazing things about me losing 33 lbs so far is the response I get from other people. I am not talking about people complementing me on my new slimmer self, but I am talking about people telling me how I have inspired them!!! I absolutely love this. I have had a handful of women tell me that because of MY weight loss, they have gotten inspired. One woman told me that it was me who motivated her to start losing weight and she is now down 25 lbs! WOW! (If you're reading this - you know who you are- and a big CONGRATULATIONS to you!!)
It feels sooo good to know that I have inspired others to get going and finally get rid of their unwanted pounds.

Im probably going to end up talking about this constantly but lets face it: Im STOKED!!! Only 59 days until Mexico!! This will be me and Shawn's first vacation together as well as my first vacation with my best girl friends. It will be sooo much fun!! As much as I am super excited to just be away, but the fact that I get to be a bridesmaid is soo amazing, I would be JUST as excited for their wedding if it wasn't in Mexico. Thank you Denise + Dave for getting married in Mexico! 

 My girls!

 

Todays Tuesday

 I have a lot of people asking me what Im eating... But Im not going to sit here and list everything that I eat in a day --- BOR ING...but I will mention a few things that are helping me in my journey..
Heres an ironic thing: YOU NEED TO EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT. Bottom line, if you don't eat, or eat too little, your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto everything you eat.
Make sure you are eating breakfast every morning. Don't stick to salad and chicken as I know first hand this will work, BUT, you will end up eating other stuff again and then you will gain the weight back. When you change your eating habits, it should be forever, not temporarily while you lose weight. Sure, maybe once you are at your goal, you can be a little more relaxed but you should still always watch what and how much you eat. The number one thing to remember is that Food should be treated as fuel for your body, not pleasure. If you have a big accomplishment, don't go out and buy yourself a cake, go out and buy yourself a new book, a new coat, new running shoes, etc.

For me, the hardest thing about losing weight is keeping my eating in check. I love to go to the gym but eating has been my down fall. Not necessarily eating bad, just eating too much. My portions were way too big. One of the most shocking things that I have learned while doing this is how big portion sizes really should be. I was shocked to find out that YES these portions actually fill me up! And, if I keep my portions in control I can have almost anything I want....almost.

See? This post so far is really boring to me. I don’t want to talk about the eating.

Lets talk about today. Today is my weekly weigh in day, I will edit and post my loss this week later tonight when I do it. (630 pm) Its important to make sure you are weighing in at the same time every day rather than randomly.

Today I am going to go to the gym on my lunch break. (I love that I have this option!!)

Today it is cold outside.

Today is the worst day of the week....Tuesday. Thumbs down.

Today is March 1st ...which means 2 MONTHS TODAY UNTIL WE GO TO MEXICO!!!!!!! We are heading there to watch my bestie marry her awesome fiance. I couldn’t be more excited to stand up there with her. This was one of my huge motivators to finally do this weight loss thing. I didn’t want to be the heavy bridesmaid up there. While I probably wont be a size nothing like the other girls up there, (love you girls!!) I will be comfortable, and that’s all that matters. I am soooo excited to go, but the thought of bathing suit shopping still TERRIFIES me. At this point, I am not sure its going to happen. Someone, please tell me how I am ever going to buy a bathing suit... xo - B

My Bestie and I being goofy!! xoxo

Weighed in tonight -- down 3.2 lbs this week!! :)