Completion of Week 3!

Today is officially day 20, but it's Monday, and as we all know by now, it's the weigh in day. This morning I went to my appointment, and the results sort of amazed me. I weighed less today on the doctor's scale than I did on mine, which is a switch! I was a little nervous, because for some reason I seem to think I'm going to have gained 2 pounds in the drive from work to the office-I obsess just a little bit over this!

I got there today, stood on the scale and found out that this week I lost 6.4 pounds for a total of 18.8 pounds so far. The medical assistant was thrilled, kept saying everything was great and I was doing fantastic. I'm sure she says that to everyone, but I feel really good about the progress.

I've still not deviated from the program. It's just not worth it to me. I'm motivated, I'm starting (finally!) to see a difference in my clothes, in my face and just overall the way that I feel. I've actively started a workout program on Wii Fit and do 45 minutes of Basic & Advanced Step 4 times a week. I have noticed that this actually makes me want to go to sleep a little earlier. That's definitely a good thing!

A couple of people had encouraged me to take new pictures of myself every week and post them here to show the progress. Well, I haven't been doing that, I think it's a little too much of me! But this weekend my God-daughter and her family were here and her mom took a few pictures so I could see if there was any progress.

I'm still debating on wheter to post the picture that I have that shows me at probably my heaviest ever weight. It was 3 years ago, next month. Just after starting my job, and when I look at that, I'm really amazed. I've decided not to post that picture quite yet. Someday, I'm sure it will be here!

So, here's the progress from October 2008:


And the start of the program:


And....yesterday, three weeks after the start of the program:


So, at this point, I'm fantastically happy with the progress, and don't anticipate any challenges that I haven't already made it through. I've determined that I can still occasionally eat out and still stay on plan. There's something I can eat everywhere, as long as they have grilled chicken and salad, I'm good to go! I am determined and focused and ready to meet the goal.

In closing, I just want to point out---some people emailed me or messaged me on Facebook and said they were unable to comment on the blog. If you don't have a Blogger ID or a Google account, you can post using the "Anonymous" option and just leave your name (if you wish) in the comment itself.

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

Work Week Challenge-MET!

I did it! My last post talked about how I felt as though I might struggle with drinking a gallon of water while being on the road on Thursday. It was almost easier than a regular day!

I brought a bottle (3 liter) of water with me in the car and my 1.5 liter, obnoxiously large, water bottle that I drink out of at home. I finished one full 1.5 liter bottle before even reaching our first agency appointment. Then I drank another throughout the day and of course, water with lunch. I then went out to watch the BCS game and drank what felt like another 1/2 gallon of water during that whole night. What a great game!

So, the water challenge this week definitely wasn't Thursday-but it's almost been a struggle every other day this week! Today I'm trying to fight a cold. You'd think that with all the fluid and vitamins I've been consuming, I wouldn't get sick, but alas, I am!

I really want some comfort food. When I don't feel well there are two things I like and want. I want a grilled cheese sandwich and gatorade. Neither of which I can have. It's a good thing I don't have any bread! I was going to make scallops and snow crabs for dinner, but I want to enjoy it and tonight I don't think I would!

It's been a quiet day, lots of Lifetime Movie Network and lounging on the couch. It was a beautiful day and I missed the whole darn thing! I hate being sick, but I met my challenge and I'm thrilled about that!

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.”

Completion of Week 2!

Today was the official weigh in for week # 2 on the program. I'm happy to say that in two weeks, I'm 20% to my goal! I weighed today with a 4.2 pound loss from last week for a total of 12.4 pounds in two weeks.

Last week I blogged about upcoming challenges being New Year's Eve and Girls Night. I've blogged about New Year's Eve already. Girls Night was much the same as New Year's Eve. NO issues with wanting what I couldn't have.

Girls Night has been at my house, so I get to plan the menu...of course, this time I just assumed it'd benefit me! I planned a menu of flank steak stuffed with spinach and cheese (mine, minus the cheese) a huge, yummy salad with portabella mushrooms, red peppers, cucumbers and spring lettuce mix, we also had steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes (none for me, thanks!). Dinner was great, but with this awesome group of women, it's definitely not about the food. I'm still sore from all the laughing!

I didn't do the appetziers I usually do, instead I asked the girls to bring appetizers and dessert. They looked amazing. There was a cheeseball (cheese is my weakness) and crackers and fresh sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and french bread. Didn't touch any of it---celery is my new snack of choice! Dessert looked great too, but I stuck to fruit and water. Not even a pomegranate martini!

One difficult thing I realized this week is that I love to cook, mostly for other people. This is not typically a problem, however, I like to cook homemade things and I'm pretty limited as to what I can eat. I still very much enjoy cooking what I can't eat for other people, it's a small way I give back. My very good friends, Chris & Wayne are out of town for 8 days working, so I offered to make them some food to take with them since they are living in a hotel for so many days. I made my homemade chicken parmesan and a baked pasta dish. One thing I used to do is taste as I was cooking, to make sure there was enough of this or enough of that. Well, neither dish is on 'the plan', so I didn't taste as I went. I didn't even lick my fingers! Not that it was difficult to go through that---but my issue is I cooked for them, I care about what I made and have no clue if it is even any good! I told them if it sucked, I was sorry, but I didn't taste it first to make sure it was okay. God, I hope it's good! LOL

At the visit today, I did ask the questions that I had. I asked about the eggs--she said occasionally have a scrambled egg, but that in the hard-boiled ones sometimes people throw away the yolk. I certainly wasn't doing that. She also said that balsamic vinegar is fine to use as well. I'm actually getting used to the taste of red wine vinegar with salads though.

I talked to a friend from high school today who was curious as to what I was doing when I posted a Facebook status showing the total weight loss. She had an appointment to start a similar thing on Wednesday and wanted to know the real scoop. I know you'll do great, A! Call me if you need some more information and DRINK THAT WATER!!

I've started to actually notice a bit of the difference in losing 12 pounds. I can finally see in the mirror a difference, albeit not much, in my sides and in my face a bit. It's just more self-determination to continue on.

My friends and family have been super supportive, much more so than I expected. I thought my father would be upset that I was paying all this money for this, that I was taking medication to do it, etc... but I was willing to take that risk to get to my goal. Well, he certainly wasn't upset. He's thrilled and encouraging...(especially when he heard the words physician monitored!). My mom was here this weekend, and while I had nothing she wanted to eat on Sunday before she left, she was happy as well. I love hearing the encouragement and it helps immensely to get up and do it all over again the next day.

People at work are pretty much aware now and it's not the 'big secret' I thought I was going to make it. Funny how that works! I guess the more people that know, the more encouragement I'm going to get! :) DUH!

In closing, I thought this was a great quote...considering my start time for this program!

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. ~Author Unknown