Day 83 - Whoville?

Let me start with this: 
 

 I am one quarter of the way finished with my journey!!! 

And.... 

wait for it..... 

wait for it..... 

I am officially 298.6lbs! I am finally in twoville!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have never been this excited and honestly I don't even remember the last time I was in twoville. I never weighed myself. Even when I went to the doctor, I didn't look at the scale numbers so I didn't have to know exactly how much I weighed. I didn't want to know. I lived in a world of denial about my weight and felt that I would always be okay. Even after my mom had a triple bypass at the age of 47 and my dad had A-Fib at the age of 53. 

So on this beautiful Friday I have something incredible to celebrate and finally hit one of my short term goals! 

Have a great day Sparkers!!!!!!!!

Day 79 - The Weekend

I had a fantastic weekend!! Saturday I weighed in at 301.6lbs. Last Saturday It was 303.4lbs so I'd lost 1.2lbs total. Not as much as usual, but I don't mind, because I still lost. I ate bad at the beginning of the week and I couldn't exercise any because of aftershock twinges with my back. When I weighed I really only had hopes of maintaining my current weight after not eating right at the beginning of the week and no exercise, but nope! That wasn't the case! I still lost my 1.2lbs!!! :-D 

Saturday night I went to my boss' wedding in my new SMALLER outfit and had a great time. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was fun, especially chilling with my co-workers. The best part was all the compliments I got on my weight loss. At work, I am wearing a uniform that is 2 or 3 sizes too big and is soooooo baggy. Then I show up in clothes that fit and people noticed. It was such a huge motivational booster too. 

Sunday I slept in really late and relaxed for the most part. I got to see my friend that I haven't seen in a really long time. I spent a couple of hours with her and she and her nephew got me to try seeweed chips. NEVER Again!!! Those things were so nasty!!! I still shudder at the thought of them, lol! The only plus side is that a serving of those chips are only 10 calories. But fish and salt flavored seeweed chips are just not worth it, lol. 

All in all I had a great weekend, even with the mishap of the seeweed chip, lol. But I'm still motivated and going strong! 

Quote of the day: 
"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." 

-Bernice Johnson Reagon

Day 76 - NSV

I've had a couple of non-scale victories before, but I am even more excited about the one that happened today. I have a wedding to go to tomorrow and I went to Torrid today to buy an outfit. (I am a strictly tshirt and jeans girl) So, I go and pick out a couple of things and go to try them on. Then....they were all tooooooooo big!!! I was like what?!?! So the sales associate went and got smaller shirts and handed them to me. Then I tried them on and they fit #gasp! I am so excited!!! I got an awesome(and pretty I might add) outfit and a boost to my weight loss motivation too! WHOO HOO! So yeah, shortest blog ever, but I had to share the awesome news!!! :-D 

 

*Originally posted on 3-16-2012

Day 71 - Newer Me VS My Old Jeans

I cannot believe I am at 71 days! :-) It has gone by so fast. I've had a minor set back, but I am not letting that break my stride. Well, it sorta does, but not mentally, lol. I was putting my nephew in his car seat on Friday and ended up having a muscle spasm in my back pinching a nerve at the same time. I could barely walk that day and now I am getting around, but I can't stand for too long or it hurts really bad. I can feel the other muscles in my back straining to make up for those that can't handle it right now. I know it's getting better slowly but surely right now. 

In good news last saturday I weighed in at 307lbs. Yesterday, I weighed at 304.4lbs!!! I am so close to the 2's and am getting anxious to get there, but I know that it will happen soon enough. I took a photo of myself with my old jeans in front of me and you can definitely tell the difference. 

Me and my old pants: 

Day 66 - Bittersweet

Yesterday was a very bittersweet day. My dad, who passed away on May 13, 2009, would have turned 60 years old. I still miss my dad like crazy every day. Three weeks before my dad died, my brothers and I took him to the emergency room. His blood tests at the doctor's office that day came back and showed he was in danger of possibly bleeding to death if he accidently cut himself. After more testing at the hospital in the next few days we found out that my father was in stage four liver cancer (a blow as he had just beat colon cancer four years earlier) and was so weak that he was not going to be able to make it. The day he died changed my life and I'm sure I'll never be the same. But I know that I'll be stronger because of it. 

Towards the end of his life my dad (a heavy set man for most of his adult life) started eating healthy. He went from close to 400lbs to 200lbs. He never got an accurate weigh in at doctor's visits when he was his heaviest. He couldn't really do much exercise because his back and knees were in terrible condition because of his weight. 

But when I really think about it my true motivator for healthy eating is my dad. He was able to change his weight even when he couldn't exercise just by eating better. I have his will power and his stubborness (is that a word?) and I wouldn't change it for anything. 

Yesterday I had the urge to do something I have never done... ride my bike to my brother and sister-in-law's house. Probably because I wanted to keep my mind off the fact that it was my dad's birthday and I couldn't celebrate it with him coupled with it was a gorgeous day weather wise. 

So I started off riding my bike towards their house. Then I got to a road that had no sidewalks. Because I have no balance and am afraid of riding my bike on the road (I usually yell at the bike riders that ride on the road, from within my car of course and they can't hear me, lol and I get over to a different lane to be sure that I won't hit them.) and I started walking. Well I thought I could take a shortcut, but that didn't work, and went a different way taking me even longer (great for the exercise). So 1 hour and 21 minutes later, I finally reached their house a tired and sweaty girl. I mapped my route on SP and found that I walked/rode a total of 3.41 miles! 

I didn't map it out before because I knew I would chicken out if I did. But it was great feeling to be able to walk/ride that far! I felt I celebrated my dad's birthday in a great way to him and to myself. 

And on another note I'm down to 307.6lbs!!!! 

Here's to my dad! A good man who was taken from us too soon! 
 

The route I took! 

Day 60 - Water

60 Days!!!! 2 full months of being on a journey for a healthier me!!!! Whoo! I am still so excited to see where this will lead me as I continue down this road. Lately I have been having some trouble with drinking enough water. It's the only type of liquid I consume, I haven't even been drinking Vitamin Water Zero lately, just water, but I know I'm still not getting enough. Normally I wouldn't have to force myself to drink it, but now I have to make sure I do. So the water thing is reminding me of day 1 again and forcing me to drink water again..... 

So here's to drinking......water! And more of it! 

Day 56 - Chili Recipe!

I was watching the Food Network, which is never a good idea, lol, but they were making chili and of course it made me hungry for chili. I've made chili in the past, but I decided to make it a healthy one this time. Here's the recipe: 

 

Minutes to Prepare: 10 
Minutes to Cook: 40 
Number of Servings: 8 

Tips 
Let the chili sit for five minutes after cooking, and be careful when eating, it will be hot! 


Ingredients 

1lb Ground Turkey Breast 93% Fat Free 
1/4 Medium Onion 
2t Minced Garlic 
2T Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
1c Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth 
1 6oz can Tomato Paste 
1c No Salt Added Tomato Sauce 
1 15oz can Peeled Whole Tomatoes No Salt Added 
1T Dried Parsley Flakes 
1T Dried Oregano Leaves 
4T Chili Powder 
1 Small Pinch Cinnamon 
1 Small Pinch Unsweetened Cocoa Powder 
1t Salt
1t Black Pepper

Directions 
Put the olive oil in a pot to start heating. 
Finely chop the onion and place it and the garlic in the pot along with the ground turkey. Let it brown and fully cook. 
Once the meat is done add the juice from the whole tomato and then individually smash each tomato in your hand into the pot. 
Then add the chicken broth, tomato paste, tomato sauce, parsley flakes, oregano leaves, chili powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder, salt and black pepper. 
Mix together thoroughly and let the chili simmer at a medium low heat for 30 minutes. 


Serve with crackers and/or cheese and enjoy! :-) 
Serving Size: Makes 8 1-Cup Servings 
Number of Servings: 8 


It was super yummy and I was surprised by the taste. :-) But in other news I've lost a total of 34.8lbs since Jan. 1, 2012! I'm officially down to 310.2lbs. It's getting there slowly but surely!


For nutrition facts check out the recipe here.