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April 02 Weigh in updateWell, I did something similar to what Biggest Losers had happen last night. I had a gain. I've learned from it and I am back on track. What did I learn? My dear friend Cathy suggested that I hadn't really written my feelings out on my private blog site and maybe that was why I was eating so much sugary foods. Bingo! That was it!
I gained 2 pounds this week. Ugh! Not the end of the world. Just a bump in the road of this journey is all.
Here's a picture of me today, 22 pounds down from my high of 261. I rather wish that the shirt was a bit tighter to see the difference on my stomach. That is where most of the weight has left. I am so glad. That was beginning to really worry me. Higher blood pressure a few months ago, snoring (or so I'm told) and tossing and turning in the bed so much that I was moving the mattress about 4 inches over each night. Ugh!
I bought some 1 pound weighted gloves from Title Boxing and tried them out last night. I love them! I may need to buy an extra pair for my gym bag. They add that extra little bit that really makes the workout that much more calorie burning.
Diane March 24 Weigh-in and a huge kudos to Cathy!I lost 2 pounds this week. Wahoo!!! Doing well on this journey and people are beginning to notice.
A huge kudos to Cathy! Skinny-Minny and so near to goal. Wahoo! Doesn't she look fantastic in her skinny jeans! You know, she is going to keep it off this time. I know that she will. She is at that place in her journey that she will. She's done the head and heart work and she will keep it off.
I am enjoying this journey of mine. Enjoying the Weigh Down Workshops by Gwen Shamblin. Eating when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm full, turning to God when my heart is empty and I'm wanting to eat, but am not physically hungry.
This past week was a tense one for me as I'm the choir director in my congregation and it all fell to me to put together the entire Easter program. All the speaking parts and any singing. I wanted it to be a perfect gift to my Heavenly Father. I'm sure that He and Jesus sat back and enjoyed our feeble attempts to praise Them both.
I had to chuckle as I was sitting with my dear friend's father up on the stand before church and the noise level went so high. I laughed and said, "my, aren't we just a reverant bunch!" He said, "we are certainly a social bunch." I said, "you know, if Jesus was here right now, He would be in the thick of it, greeting, hugging and talking with everyone. I don't see Him sitting up on the stand being quiet."
My folks had come to our congregation to enjoy the program and afterwards, we went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Part way through the meal, my mother said, "you've lost a lot of weight, haven't you?" I was so pleased that she noticed. I told her that I'de lost 24 pounds since the beginning of the year. Little by little it will come off. Just a couple of more pounds and I'll have less than 100 pounds to lose. Yeah! What a journey.
Diane March 13 Learning Life's Lessons - One Day at a TimeI've been a bit quiet lately on our site. Just trying to figure out some things on this life's weight loss journey. I stumbled just a tiny bit when I was sick. Read a book called Weigh Down by Gwen Shamblin, enrolled in their on-line seminar, went on a trip that offered up tons of fabulous food, lost a bit of my steam. I know that we've all been there and have that t-shirt!
So, I pondered, do I try to just eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full? I tried that a bit and I was finding that I was making some very poor eating choices. Granted I followed my actual hunger cycle, but wasn't finding anything happening on my scale. So, I've decided to mesh Weight Watchers and Weigh Down. I'll still wait for my hunger signals and my satisfaction signals, but stick to planning my food, counting the points and writing everything that goes into my mouth down on paper.
I've also restarted exercising. It's tough when you've built up to a point and then don't exercise for over two weeks. So, I'm nearly back to where I was when I got sick. Whew! That was a major side journey. Not what I had been expecting, but isn't life just like that?
I learned some life's lessons. 1) Take one day at a time, 2) things can and do change within 24 hours, 3) forgive yourself and others, 4) stay close to God and listen to His promptings, 5) sometimes, the best laid plans go flying out the window and you just have to go with the flow, 6) take care of yourself - get that oxygen mask on first before getting it on anyone around you.
Diane March 02 Weekly Weigh-in for DianeWhew! I'm finally on the mend and have been spending the weekend in not so sunny San Diego with my company on a retreat. I'm having the best time with friends and my dear daughter Juanita here. So much food though. My company really does it up in the food department. I do have to say that I've eaten when hungry and stopped when full. Yeah! Victory!
A huge kudos goes out to Cathy for her scale and non-scale victories this week. I am so very proud of her. For getting up and testifying of all that she's been through with her adopted daughter, for her scale victory this week! Wahooooooo!
   Also, for being such a wonderful friend to myself and to those in need. Please let us all pray for Gail that she may have peace and all that God wants for His precious daughter's life.My weigh-in? Not fabulous at all. Just down .4 pounds. LOL! I have to laugh as I have not eaten hardly anything this past week. I was so sick and even sick to my stomach. It just goes to show you that the body does go into starvation mode when it's not fed. I also didn't do any exercise at all. Just bed to bathroom, to the family room and back to bed. I maybe clocked 100 yards at the most. LOL! This next week will be different.
I began Weigh Down week 1 today. It's mainly relearning eating. To wait until hungry to eat and then at that point, eat until a nice full sensation, but not overly. Slowing down, asking God to help me know what those feel like. Also, filling the empty hole with God instead of turning to food to fill that up. Other thoughts were that food has been my idol. Thinking about food at all times. Wanting food to fix things instead of asking God to fix them.
Many hugs, prayers, peace and some skinnier butts,
Diane February 23 Weekly weigh-in Down 3.6 pounds!Like Cathy mentioned, I've been sick since Tuesday evening. I thought that it could have been strep, I was feeling so badly. No, just the awful flu bug that is going around. I haven't felt like eating and couldn't exercise, but I did lose weight. I wondered if it was just water, and it wasn't. How did I know? My magical Hometic scale, that's how!
 I was down .4% on my fat percentage, up by nearly a percent on my H2O and up .1 on my muscle mass. That is the way that I want it to go. Right on track.
I think that it is so fabulous that Cathy is getting so close to her goal. GOOOOooooooooo Cathy! All of that exercise really paid off this week. Also, I know that she sticks to her plan and she can't fail with that attitude.
This morning I started the Weigh Down Exodus out of Egypt on-line seminar. It is a faith based. This time, I have wanted to include God into this time around. I can't do it alone and I haven't really given that part over to Him. In the past, I have filled up my heart with food instead of with God. This journey is going to mean falling in love with my creator. Letting Him fill that hole inside of me.
Diane
February 12 Great way to put a little kick in your water
I'm not sure what stores carry them, but you can order them on www.splendidlife.com. I love new finds, don't you? Di Diane's Weigh-in results for the weekDown 2 pounds this week! Wahoo! I had hoped for more, but alas, those cream cheese chicken rolls caught up with me.
Lots of fun things this past week. I was in charge of Bunco last Thursday night. I had planned for it and ate what I planned for. It was a finger food feast. I had also made the best sugar cookies in the world. They are puffy and have the pink frosting. I had one the night before, but didn't have one on Thursday. Why, you ask? I was busy serving and then the three that were on the tray went home and were promptly snatched and eaten by our standard poodle, Jacques, while we weren't looking. Thanks a lot Jacquie boy! (not!!!!)
We went to a friend's for Sunday evening and they had made barbeque and cream cheese chicken rolls. Ok. They also made homemade cinnamon rolls with very fattening frosting. After eating those, I wanted to eat my way through the rest of the night. Not a good thing.
I've been exercising daily. Getting in lots of cardio and a couple of days of strength training. I need to get back to my original plan so that I can get this weight off more quickly.
Diane February 11 Warning!! Hostess Coffee Cakes are Too Good! . They should come with a warning that you will want to eat one after another. Yum, yum. My store has them on sale. To go back, buy more and face the temptation or to not buy more for now? I know! I'll buy more and freeze them. I would have to wait for them to thaw out before I could eat them. Yep, that's the ticket!
Diane February 08 Figure Your Pounds AwayBy Michele Stanten , Michele Stanten, Prevention's Fitness Director, is a certified group fitness instructor and counselor in the areas of weight control and stress management. There are several ways to determine your daily calorie needs. Many health clubs offer metabolism testing for about $50. You just breathe into a device that calculates your calorie requirements. Small studies say these tests are fairly precise, but when I tried one, there was a 400-calorie discrepancy between it and the more sophisticated, more expensive lab test.
That might have been a fluke, but it's also why I suggest that you start with this good old-fashioned formula for women. It's free, easy, and nearly as accurate as the lab test: [10 x weight (kg*)] + [6.25 x height (cm*)] - [5 x age (yr)] - 161. Now multiply that number by your activity factor below. (If you don't want to do the math, use our Calorie Calculator.)
Inactive Just walking to and from the car = 1.2
Lightly active Daily 30-minute stroll or 30-minute brisk walk 1 to 3 days a week = 1.4 Moderately active A 30-minute brisk walk 3 or more days a week or a non-desk job, e.g., cashier = 1.6
Very active 30 minutes of exercise like running 3 to 5 days a week or an active job, e.g., waitress = 1.7
The result is the number of calories you need daily to stay at your current weight. To lose a pound a week, you need to either cut out or burn off 500 calories a day (1 pound = 3,500 calories).
*To convert, multiply pounds by 0.454 and inches by 2.54.
February 07 Muscle Mass - Why it's important?The Homedics folks write:
"According to the American College of Sports Medicine, lean muscle mass may decrease by nearly 50 percent between the ages of 20 and 90. If you don't do anything to replace that loss, you're losing muscle and increasing fat. It is also important to know your muscle mass% during weight reduction. At rest, the body burns approximately 50 additional calories for each pound of muscle gained. (wow!!!!)
The normal muscle mass for men is greater than 40%. For women, normal muscle mass is greater than 34%."
Mine is only 29%
 . Sounds like I have lots of work ahead of me. I need to not just lose the fat, but need to work on those muscles. Muscle burns many more calories than fat does. Diane February 06 Weigh-in for the Week and loss in measurementsMonday night and all day Tuesday were crazy busy for me. So sorry! So I didn't post my weight loss. I was down 1.6 pounds.
 for me!I have to say that I didn't even have time to eat dinner or eat anything on Monday night. I've always made time, but it was 9pm before I could even eat and I thought, "I'm not really hungry, I'll pass like a normal person!"
Yesterday, after a huge stressful situation had passed, I came back to my office and wanted to eat anything that contained sugar. That is me. After the stress has passed, I want to sooth and comfort myself with ice cream, cookies, etc. Well, I'm proud to say that I threw in a piece of gum and just chew, chew, chewed! Also, I was IMing Cathy at the time and I am so thankful that God brought us together. She said just the right things and knowing that I was being accountable to her, I stayed with my program. She listened and knew what I was going through. Thank you Cathy!!!!
   I had a very healthy dinner and some healthy snacks later in the evening and stayed within my points. Victory over food! Did I mention that I made a double batch of sugar cookies for a Bunco party that I'm throwing tomorrow night? Yep, and didn't eat any of them. Tonight is the frosting part and I am going to eat one. Planned it and going to eat it.I measured myself after the 1 month mark. Here are my results. Left arm - 3/4", Bust - 2 3/8", Midriff - 1 3/4", Waist - 1 3/4", Abdomen -1 1/4", Hip -1 3/4", Left thigh -1", Left calf -1/2". My clothes are fitting much better. I can lean over more easily to tie my shoes.
I loved watching Biggest Loser last night. Especially, when Jillian sat her team down and asked the ones that didn't lose hardly anything or nothing last week how many calories they were eating. They answered that they hadn't eaten enough calories. They were going into starvation mode and their bodies were shutting down. She told them that they HAD to eat to lose. Some many times, we think that we need to cut food out completely. Well, we can't. We have to eat to support our bodies. I was so happy to see Brittney lose 10 pounds last night! I was also happy to see that Mark lost the highest on his team, even though he couldn't walk, run, etc due to a stress fractor. It thought it pretty ironic that they were the ones that ate the most chocolates. I thought it shows that we need to shake things up a bit. The same old, same old, doesn't work as well as mixing things up.
So that said, I'm going to shake it up the week. I'm going to exercise in some different ways. Dance around the living room, hop on my recombent bike, eat some chocolate!
 LOL!Diane
February 01 Yesterday was a tough one for meMan! Yesterday was a tough one for me! I was just hungry all day long until dinner was eaten. I do have some clues to that though after reviewing my food journal. Whenever I have cereal in the morning, even though it's Fiber One (Carmelishness is so yummy!), it sets me up to want more sugar and just be plain hungry all day long. I had so many packs of 100 cal treats as well. It goes along with Cathy's blog below about the cravings. Not only did I crave more, I was really physically hungry. What stopped it at dinnertime? I had 0 point Progresso Soup (an entire can) and a big green luscious salad. I hadn't eaten nearly enough fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Not whole ones anyway. I did stay within my points, but it was nip and tuck!
Hopefully, I won't be repeating that nonsense!
I did get in my 2 mile walk with Leslie Sansone in the morning and I had a fabulous 30 minute circuit training at the gym. I gave it my all and I was sweating like a ...? (you fill that one in yourself).
Another reason that I was having a more difficult day was that I was trying to figure out how to help, handle, work with my 15 year old daughter that is failing a couple of classes at school. We had teacher, student, parent conferences in the late afternoon. I'm sure that there was some emotional eating thrown into the mix yesterday. Do I keep nagging her or do I allow her to fail and leave it at her responsibility? I have decided to back off. I will be supportive, but I do not want to be nagging at her when she is 20 if she has done such and such. She's an adoptie from Ukraine. I adopted her when she was nearly 8 years old. She has been a most difficult child. That is one of the reasons for my weight gain over these years.
I didn't sleep well last night. I tossed and turned about a huge final paper for her science class that she didn't turn in and tried to blame on everyone else but herself. It just bugged me and I couldn't put it to rest. It's so hard sometimes trying to love and help a child, knowing when to helicopter over her pick her up and hold her up and when to allow her to stumble and fall.
I guess that our Heavenly Father has it right (of course). He gives us His strength when we ask for it, but He allows us to stumble and fall and grow and learn from it. The perfect parent of His children.
Diane Weekly Weigh-in for Di Down 2.2 pounds! Party and presents! Just kidding! I lost 2.2 pounds this week and I am super happy about that one! The exercise and Weight Watchers is paying off. Quite a different week. Nothing was going to plan. Had some huge car troubles on Tuesday afternoon and then Wednesday morning it got even worse! I had to stay home, set up a ride for my daughter, get my car towed. Adjustments. Isn't that what life is about? So, I worked from home and on my lunch hour did a Leslie Sansone for an hour. The transmission company called. It would be about $755 total. Ok, I thought, I can live with that.
Strange to not have a car though. I didn't realize how much I rely on a car!
Next day, on Wednesday, the transmission shop called to say that it wasn't just the one thing, but it was another! It was going to cost an extra $1175!!!!! Normally, I cover up my feelings and have some sugar. This time, I sat and cried. Getting in touch with my feelings is one of my goals this time.
Switching with cars with my folks and not getting into the gym took some adjusting to my schedule. That, and eye and dentist appointments along with the car problems just threw my entire planned schedule off.
On Friday, my dear folks took my daughter and I out to eat at Sizzler. That darned bread!!! I counted on everything else, but ate a slice. Yum, yum! I think that I was in shock, hungry, tired and cold from sitting so long in their cold shop to view the carnage of my cars insides before checking me out. There was even more that was major that had to be fixed. That and one of the belts was making an awful noise. I sort of felt pillaged and raped at that point that I had just spend $2350 and my car is making a horrific noise!!!! I stuck to within my points, but had wanted to have a treat when I got home. Didn't though! Yeah, Di!
Got a cold on Saturday, but still felt well enough to exercise and even take my dog to the dog park in the snow. That really helped bolster my lagging spirits.
Had to take my car back in yesterday and thankfully, they just put a new belt on at their expense. Perfect!
I have to say that all in all, I am so darned proud of myself for not going crazy with food.
Diane
January 22 Reward time! 10 pounds lost!I decided that this time I would reward myself for every 10 pounds lost. Something that I would enjoy as well as help me towards my goal. So, I ordered Leslie Sansone's 3 and 4 mile walk and stretchie
I also ordered The Biggest Loser Work-Out #1 (which I've tried from the library and loved.
I can't wait until they arrive!
Di Weekly update on Di's weigh-inGreat news! I was down 2.2 pounds this week.
Normally, I skim along at 1 pound a week, if lucky. This time, I have really upped my exercise and it's paying off! Yeah!
Some other stats are my Body Fat Percentage is 41.5% (down), H2O is 42.7 (up- good!), Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is 1810 calories burned at rest (wah! it's gone down too a bit), and muscle mass is 29% (up - good!). The numbers are going the rightway, I'm sleeping so much better and I'm feeling much more at peace during the day. I seem to be able to handle things better.
I don't see a difference in my clothes yet, but I'm really hoping for that in the next 10 pounds.
I am really hoping that my blood pressure will get back to normal soon. I know that carrying around this much excess weight has put a real strain on all of my body. Unfit and it shows.
 I had a bit of a scare two Sundays ago with my eyes. I thought that I might be getting my first migraine or something with high blood pressure. Saw some interesting lights going on in my eyes and couldn't really see well. I went to the eye doctor today and they said that it was an occular migraine. They then asked about high blood pressure. Ugh... So, it just adds that big reason to get the weight off and keep it off.So when Cathy talked about unfit women dying (I think younger than fit women?
), I believe it. Got to clean out that body and get it to be a wonderful, working machine that it is. A temple that I want to really take better care of.Diane January 17 Old wounds that keep me stuckAmazing that Cathy wrote about writing out feelings and how healing it was (see blog below). I pondered whether I should write my own victory over feeling very hurt from an issue at work on Tuesday. I tried to let the feelings go, but they persisted and I couldn't put my finger on what bothered me so much as I mentally chewed on my hurt. I decided that I should share on this blog about it since it really helped me on Tuesday night watching Biggest Loser-Couples to see how Ali sorted out some huge feelings regarding her mother and feelings of being alone and pushing people away with her fat.
I took out my notebook right after the show and sat and wrote about the current issue. Expecting to be a part of a company where I work every day, but am an employee of an other company. Being told that I am just "like" their employee, but being kept from something that would make my life a bit easier, but is for employees only. When I thought about the one little thing, it's like a burr under my saddle. Just keeps bothering me. The feelings of not being a part of a group.
I went from that feeling to figuring out that to figuring out that most of my growing up years, I was the odd man out with my other two siblings. I was the loner. I went from that thought, to how it made me feel unwanted. I probably have created that in my mind, but it stems from big feelings about my father and my family. That secretly and openly I have wondered if I was unwanted, unexpected. He's emotionally unavailable and I've tried to talk to him about it. He denies it, of course, but it's just there.
So, I wrote about that and how I have always kept a layer of fat around me to protect me. Similar to Ali, I have figured that if I was fat, it was the fat that people didn't like instead of the real me inside. That I empowered myself to push people away before they could push me away.
It was cathartic! I wrote many positive things about myself as well. The feelings about the current situation went away, I was at peace. Knelt to pray, gave forgiveness and asked for forgiveness and slept like a stone. Not just the burden of the situation is gone, but the extra baggage with it.
Victory! As Cathy says. January 15 Diane's Weekly Weigh-in
Yeah! Lost 3.2 pounds this week!!! Have to say that I was a bit shaken yesterday when I got on the scale and it said (well it didn't say anything, it's not a talking scale, silly!) that I had gone up some weight. I was upset and down. I went and exercised anyway and just still was feeling cheated! All of this work and dedication and I was up!!! What was with that??? After exercising, I hopped back on the scale and was down. More than I thought. So, I'm thinking that ole' devil stuck his toe on there the first time, just to get me upset. Well, it worked! I was upset. I am proud of myself for still going through and exercising. Many times, when I have a set-back, I'll just throw up my hands, say to myself that I am not making a difference, get back in bed and go back to sleep. It is making a difference and I'm feeling much better and sleeping a whole heck of a lot better as well. My stamina is much better as I exercise as well. To tell the truth, the first times that I exercised, my joints hurt so badly afterwards that I had to take some Advil for the pain. That is gone and I am feeling much more relaxed and vibrant as well.
January 11 Diane's beginningNot sure why I think that this is the time that I will actually make my goal of 135, but I am just going to do it. That is my motto this time around. I have all of the tools that I need. Great, supportive friend in Cathy, doing Weight Watchers plan, using Leslie Sansone's Walk At Home DVDs in the mornings, watching NBC's Biggest Loser, doing 30 minute extra cardio and strength training at the gym at lunchtime, enjoying Dance Dance Revolution each evening. I am going to finish this. I am a great starter, but not a great finisher.
I started on January 1, 2007 at 261. Not a wonderful number to start with, but I have to start somewhere. This is the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I have battled my weight all of my life, but never have I just sat back and laid down like I have the past two years. I have taken back up the arms to fight this war again and I am going to be a winner!
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