{Falling off & getting back On}

I have fallen off the wagon and gained weight back and I am feeling super depressed about it along with other stuff going on in my life I  am finding myself struggling with eating healthy. My kids are noticing and calling me out on it, which I love and hate at the same time. I know what I am doing wrong and know that I need to get back on track and get this icky weight off my bod! *sigh*

I am trying to get my house into order, feeling like such a slacker 'specially after seeing all Angie's progress on her place but I try to keep reminding myself that she is Wonder Woman in disguise. I did get my husbands "man cave" done but no one but his friends see it and I want to get the places people see done.

Anywho, I just wanted to let you know I was still here, still off the wagon but trying to pick myself up and jump back up on the weight loss wagon. It's just a struggle right now and emotionally exhausting. I do love reading about all your progress, hope to see more in the upcoming weeks.

{P & I.B. have hit my home}

This whole month has been a huge bust! Not only have I gained weight and am heavier then my start weight at the beginning of the year but my boys brought home a nasty little bug from school that made it's way thru the whole family and come to find out my littlest one has Influenza B and they thought my oldest daughter had it but after a trip to the ER on Saturday (where they found that the baby had I.B. and figured my oldest daughter had the same thing - but never tested her) and after taking both girls to the Pediatrician where she couldn't find anything wrong and thought my oldest was on the mend because her fever seemed to have broken to rushing her to the ER later that night only to find out my oldest NEVER had I.B. (just baby) and had a "substantial" case of Pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital for 2 days.

Needless to say my "Love" month has totally sucked and my emotional eating has taken a toll for the worse and to top it off I finally had my "visit" from Auntie and she stayed for like a week and a half and I was miserable from horrid cramps and made others miserable from my horrific mood swings...

Hoping that in March I can get back into the swing of things and start getting back to my workout routine at the gym.

"Sorry about the complete post whining about how I am a huge failure this month but figured I hadn't posted much and should probably explain why" (she says as her head hangs low as she walks away to go grab a corndog...)

{Mindless Eating"

I was curious about a "Hot topic" on my Yahoo feed and found it very interesting and wanted to share it here too.

found the image off of Amazon

Dr. Wansink explores the psychology behind how we eat with his book "Mindless Eating". You can find the artical by Dominique Dawes here with the short video that goes along with it, which is quite interesting too and goes on about other topics as well (with commercials of course...lol)...super interesting because he talks about how color can change how you eat as does music too.

I tend to eat mindless-ly and it was an interesting read and just wanted to share...Hope it's as interesting for you as it was for me.

{Hits and Slips}

I joined the YMCA the beginning of the month and it's been truly a godsend for me. I was looking for a good gym that would cater not only to me, but to my husband with mobility issues and to my kids as well and the YMCA was the only one who could do it all. I am trying out 2 classes this week and then taking 2 different ones next week and then picking the ones that will best suit me - Zumba is a little advanced for me and is out (at least for now).

(image found HERE)

Today I took the "White Water fitness" class, thinking it would be an easy way to ease my way into more exercise during the week - well it kicked my butt - in a good way but it still kicked it hard! It was in the pool they call "The River" and it has a current and not only did we do the exercises with the current but against it too - I am still feeling the burn!

Tomorrow I will be taking it again because I screwed up my schedule (forgot Yoga was today at same time and mixed up my rotation) so Yoga was missed today but I still have it on Wednesday & Friday. In the Water fitness class there was not only old (which I thought it would be mostly filled with) but young too! I was the slowest but was getting better as the class came to a close. What's great about it is that it's only 30 minuets and I can go do my regular exercises after I am all done, which gives my older daughter more time in her "busy bee" class.

(image found here)

My eating habits have been better but I did slip up this weekend. I let myself stress over the little things and have resorted to food as comfort and I really started to feel horribly guilty about it until I realized what I was doing and picked myself up and wiped off my butt and realized tomorrow will be a new day and it's fresh and new with no slip ups - which made me feel tons better.

(image found here)

I know I am going to have my slips and falls but I have to stay positive about it or else I will get into the cycle of resorting to comfort food when emotionally down and then keep doing it because I feel guilty about it and I don't want that to keep happening.

I want to make lifestyle changes and I am bound to make mistakes and fall flat on my butt - it's what I do after I slip and fall that defines how successful I will be on this journey to a healthier me!

{Feeling Relatively Good}

(image found here)

I have been having the worst time this month getting myself on track with healthier eating. I didn't have this much trouble when I was pregnant and it baffles me why I am struggling now. I am working on eating better and have been successful over the past week and a half and I have started eating breakfast every morning.

I haven't really started exercising yet but I am going to get a gym membership w/trainer next month to help get me more motivated & learn some good exercises that I can do on my own. I have been looking around online for gyms in my area and found one that has a free 7 day pass and hope to find some other gyms with passes that will allow me to check them out before committing to them.

I am also using a cool online tool that a friend shared with me, it's called My Fitness Pal and it's FREE. This program helps you track what you eat, how much you exercise and how much weight you have lost/gained. You can add your favorite recipes and it will also tell you how much calories, fat & carbs are in that dish.  I have been using the food tracker since yesterday and it's really helped me to be accountable for what I eat.

I  know this month has been a wash for me and hoping that this next month will really be the start of my new healthy lifestyle.

{3 days later}

It's been 3 or so days since my last post and I have been eating healthy and eating breakfast (YAY!!!).  I have been working out on the balance ball & wii but haven't been walking because it's been too cold & some days it's been all rainy. At least there is some progress, right?

Below are my measurements from 3 days ago (in white) and then again from today (in red).

Hips - 57" - 57" (no change)

 Chest - 49" - 49" (no change)

Waist - 48" - 47" (down an inch)

Flabby arm - 17" - 17" (no change)

Upper thigh - 28" - 28" (no change)

Weight: 279 lbs - 275.5 lbs (down 3.5 lbs)

Ok, so I am seeing some progress. I am down 3.5 lbs & and inch on my waist. I am really proud of my progress and am feeling very motivated by the changes and from all your posts! I am hoping to see more changes this next week and get out to do some walking - lets hope the cold decides to go and it doesn't rain this next week.

{Today}

Sunday was the "re-start" of plan to get some weight off!

For Breakfast I had a yogurt and a small bowl of oatmeal.

For lunch I made myself a salad consisting of lettuce, sliced grape tomatoes, shredded carrot, shredded pepper jack cheese, sliced egg and a bit of Ranch dressing.

For dinner I had a string cheese and a cup 'o noodle soup

(not the best dinner but couldn't get the energy to fix anything else).

and with it all I drank water - I did have a small glass of milk when I took a few pills for my migraine 'cause I have to have something in my tummy when I take them.

My scale is working again (thank goodness!) and I got a cloth measuring tape the other day so the below measurements are correct (I don't think the ones I took in the beginning were very accurate because I used a metal measuring tape). Tomorrow I am going to walk my dogs and bring the girls with me (if it's not raining). I am also going to work out on the wii, it really does help. Below are my measurements & current weight.

Hips - 57"

 Chest - 49"

Waist - 48"

Flabby arm - 17" (ya know the part that keeps waving after you do)

Upper thigh - 28"

Current Weight: 279 lbs

I am less stressed then I was when I posted before (well not really, just trying a different outlook) because I am trying to look at things in a positive light and not dwell on the negative. I realize I am going to have "bad" days and I will slip up from time to time but I am going to keep reminding myself that "I am making lifestyle changes not doing a diet". 

(found here)

I am going to be following the "The Great Plate" advice because it's something I can do and share with my whole family and it will keep my meals more rounded like they should be. I want a healthy lifestyle that can be maintained and not do a diet that I will only lose weight to re-gain it back along with several extra unwanted pounds. 

{It was MURDERED}

(found here)

My lovely scale was MURDERED today by my husband, not on purpose but killed none the less. While he was taking a shower he didn't have the curtain closed properly and water got all over the floor and flooded my scale, which now will not work at all and I can't go out and get another one until next month, *sigh*.

This death has kinda got me bummed because now I can't weigh in every Friday on my blog or keep track of my weight loss/gain, (mostly gain 'cause I'm not eating like I should). At least I can take my measurements so I guess I will be putting those up instead on Fridays (wonder how that will work).

(image found here)

I have been stressed out by random things this whole month, first it's not having a visit from "Aunt Flow" and it's freaking me out because that never happens after childbirth, it always comes right away and now it's not and I had a tubal and worried I may be "with child" after planning we were done and taking measures to make sure it didn't happen. Then my middle son saying swear words and putting other kids down and or kicking them while riding the bus (my son is turning into a bully and I don't like it!). Then it's the stress of not having everything unpacked and in the right spots and the list goes on and on and on!

Tonight was stressful because MJ was screaming at the top of her little lungs for 3 hours until hubby came home and the first thing I did was head for was the chocolate cookies, but I only ate 4 of those but ate a thick slice of german chocolate cake BUT afterwards I did have a drumstick and I have drunk 4 sports bottles of water (within those 3 hours) since dropping off hubby at his game.

I did get a balance ball to do my workouts with and I have some weights (3,5 and 8 pounders). I haven't been walking since last week because it's been way toooooooo cold for me, (I'm a wimp). Hopefully I get back onto track (when I was preggers with MJ it was easy to watch what I ate because I was growing her and I need to do the same since I am breastfeeding her too but for some reason I just can't drop the sweets this go around...*sigh*).

I am glad I am accountable but at the same time I am feeling like a disappointment because I am not doing or being the "BEST" I can be at this and it's beginning to drag me down, could also be because I know I am experiencing some "baby blues" still and it's harder to shake the stress/emotional eating and sad feelings I may have. BUT I know I can do this, it just might take a bit more time for me to get into the swing of things this go around.

Thank you all for your support, I have been reading the daily updates from you all and am LOVING them, you ALL are an inspiration!!

{Day 3: Stress Eater}

(image found online)

Hello, my name is Arya and I am a stress eater.  Whenever I get upset or over stressed I head for the sugary foods and I have been trying to banish this habit but tonight I totally failed! I got super upset and ran strait for the cookie dough I bought for making chocolate cookies for my kids and guess what, no cookies will be made because I ate the dough, *sigh*.

(image found online)

I know that my behavior is counter productive to my weight loss. Don't get me wrong I am working on changing my life style and making healthier choices but by no means am I going to get rid of having a slice of cake or eat a cookie every once in a while. I just don't want to eat sweets because I am having an emotional meltdown.

(image found online)

I have started walking and it's slowly helping but I find I am constantly reminding myself that food isn't supposed to be used as a stress reliever and emotional eating is what got me to the weight I am now (and 30 of those pounds was from birth control, but that's besides the point).

I know this week I am probably going to be up in weight and not down because of the emotional rollercoaster I have been on since Saturday. I am going to try using other methods to ease my stress instead of turning to food. I will keep you all posted on the progress or lack there of. I am hoping that there is lots of progress.

(image found online)

I want to get to the point where I "crack the code" to my own emotional eating and finally lose the guilt. I'm really glad we are all here for support and it's awesome and very helpful to have a place where I can be more accountable.

(found online)

*by the way the cartoons help remind me that I am in control and need to fight the urge to stress eat and are funny too - gotta love humor!*

{First day down}

My first day was good until about 5:30 in the evening and a massive migraine hit me and I ate a bunch of junk and then curled up in a ball with MJ (my baby) and fell asleep with her. I woke up around 2:30 am this morning (it's 3:08am now) because MJ woke up and decided to weigh myself with MJ and then again without her, since I was already up.

I weighed 293 with MJ and 280 without her - I've gained some weight since my first initial weigh in and it's bummed me out but I knew it was going to happen since we did have mostly junk to eat during New Years Eve and I did eat junk today - but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be, (only 3.5 lbs up from my original weight).

I haven't started walking yet but plan to start tomorrow since I now have a new stroller (my other one broke) and can take both Ruth & MJ with me. I just hope it's not super cold tomorrow like it has been the last few days.

I did pick up some good fruit and some fresh vegi's at the store and I am working on cutting out the amount of sugar in my diet and only going to drink water (I have a large re-usable water bottle that I will be carrying around with me and will be refilling a minimum of 8 times) I am also going to be making homemade meals instead of going out to restaurants (be it fast or other wise). I also plan on working out with both my wii fit and some workout video's via Netflix's "instant" feed over the net.

I am so glad I have others that I can be accountable to!! I am super excited that Angie started this group!! I am looking forward to all of our progress in the next 6 months. Below is a workout goal sheet that I am going to be using to help me keep track of my weight loss during each week/month. You can use it too if you want.

Anywho, MJ is getting cranky now and I better be getting back to bed. Tomorrow, (well later today), is going to be a better one for sure. I am hoping that I get back on track! Nighty-nite!