My BMI

Okay, so when I started this journey I did a BMI calculation at the CDC website and was disappointed, but not surprised when I saw that my BMI put me in the "obese" category. Today I did my BMI on several different websites and holy cow... I'm in the "normal" range. Here are my before and afters on the CDC website. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/

BeFoRe
Results
For the information you entered: Calculate again: English Metric
Height: 5 feet, 3 inches
Weight: 198 pounds

Your BMI is 35.1, indicating your weight is in the Obese category for adults of your height.

People who are overweight or obese are at higher risk for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5—24.9 Normal
25.0—29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese

Anyone who is overweight should try to avoid gaining additional weight. Additionally, if you are overweight with other risk factors (such as high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high blood pressure), you should try to lose weight. Even a small weight loss (just 10% of your current weight) may help lower the risk of disease. Talk with your healthcare provider to determine appropriate ways to lose weight.

AfTeR/NoW!!!
Results
For the information you entered: Calculate again: English Metric
Height: 5 feet, 3 inches
Weight: 140 pounds

Your BMI is 24.8, indicating your weight is in the Normal category for adults of your height.
r information about the importance of a healthy diet and physical activity in maintaining a healthy weight, visit Preventing Weight Gain.
BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5—24.9 Normal
25.0—29.9 Overweight
30.0 and Above Obese

Checking in

Okay.. so I'm ALMOST done moving. Did I mention we are moving into a place with no AC or swamp cooler? YEAH.... It'S A LOT BIT HOT!!! What to do?
I've started telling people how excited I am to melt this summer! People pay tons of money to use saunas and I GET TO LIVE IN ONE!!! YAY!! It's going to be good times for sure. Here's to losing ten more lbs by the end of the summer. WISH ME LUCK! ;o)

Family photos?

Okay... so I desperately need new family photos. The difference between now and me 60 lbs ago is kind of huge and well... this amazing photographer is giving away a freeby so here's a link to her website! www.timeheldphotography.blogspot.com I hope I WIN!!!!

Lemonade anyone?

I know I've been a total slacker. I apologize. I have been so busy making lemonade... as life has been so freely willing to clobber me with lemons. Here is my list-o-lemons!

1. We are moving into my in-laws home while they are out of the country, which means we have to move a considerable amount of their possessions out before we can move ours in!

2. Members on both sides of our family have been having issues requiring our assistance.

3. My oldest son made it to the state tournament in baseball which means a zillion baseball games over the last couple of weeks. Seriously... my farmer tan is out of control!!!

4. My 2nd son is in the midst of his baseball season but hmm... that is another thing we have sort of put on the backburner... too much conflicting with other schedules.

5. Both of the older boys are testing in taekwondo this month.

6. Colton is a mama's boy who only occasionally is happy long enough to let me get anything done.

The list could go on forever. LIFE IS CRAZY!!!

At the beginning of the summer I joined a new competition on http://www.weightlosswars.com/ . It's been totally on the back burner. I even missed a weigh in last week. OY!! I have managed to stay at least in the top 5 though (of 24)... and even though I have not lost a TON of weight... I am down a couple of lbs from where I ended the last competition. Here are all the reasons I am SO proud of that.

Weight loss maintenance can be tricky... especially in stressful times. I am SO excited that I have not GAINED!!! With everything I've been dealing with I have managed to maintain and even lose. You hear people mention stress ALL THE TIME as a reason why they have gained weight. Although stress can be the trigger... I really believe it's because we allow ourselves to overeat that we gain weight. We feel so out of control when we are stressed, in all aspects of our lives, that it feels natural to let CRAP we KNOW we shouldn't be putting in our mouth, slip right past our lips. I do admit to doing this over the last couple of weeks. I have eaten stuff I KNOW I shouldn't be eating. HOWEVER... I have refused to allow myself to OVER-EAT!! I've still made sure that everything I put in my mouth was a conscious decision... so yes... when I ate that FANTASTIC breakfast burrito from the closest to authentic Mexican place we've got... I thought about the caloric content with every bite! ;o) (And still managed to finish it!) Yesterday I finally went to the grocery store and picked up my favorite foods that are actually okay with my diet. This week, regardless of all the craziness that I will inevitably encounter... I'm going to stick to my nutritional preferences! I am thinking that IF I am good and stick to it... I will be in the 130's by next week at this time! WOW!!! The 130's... CRAZY!!!

I think back to January... when I got on the scale at the gym. I knew that when I stood on the scale, it would be the last time I ever saw the number I saw BUT... it was horrific. I couldn't believe I was 198 lbs. Here is some proof! ;o)

These pics mean a lot to me. I had become complacent. I had completely decided that I would be fat forever and these pictures represented me finally just accepting myself as a big girl. My BUTT is GINORMOUS in this picture. But I let her take the pic anyway cause I figured... it is what it is.

This one kills me. I was hiding behind my husband, it was part of the RULES I created for the photographer. No pics of my big body. My hubby is a lean man... so hiding me behind him wasn't easy. I actually thought this was a great picture when I saw it. Now I look at it and can't believe my face was THAT BIG!! Here is a more recent face shot.

I honestly don't know what lit the fire under my bum. I really had accepted fat as my reality. I got a Lane Bryant (aka fat girl store) card in DECEMBER and bought 2 new pairs of jeans that day! But in January I was finally ready to take the plunge and do it. So... here I go. I must take the plunge once again! I am still not sure what a "healthy" goal is for me. I've tossed around a few different numbers. I think that I have decided that my goal is 120 lbs!! Only 22 lbs to go! ;o)

Side profile pic... don't even hate it!

Well.. I wanted to post some fat pics with this new pic but my hard drive was fried and lost and most of my bigger pics went with it! Oh well.. we went up to the mountains for the 4th (we have some family property up there) and we brought some guns. I shot this one a couple of times and forced my husband to take a pic of me! I can't believe this picture. I used to HATE side profile pics but I LOVE this one... I can't believe this is me! BUT IT TOTALLY IS!! LOVE IT!

Days go by

Okay... so a few things are going on in my world. First, I ran another 5k yesterday. It was awesome... but not exactly what I expected. According to my GPS it wan't quite 5k so the time really doesn't count AND... they ran out of water.. which I thought was pretty lame. My hubby is excited that I got a fancy new shirt [for him]. I am SUPPOSED to be running a 10k next week, but I never registered because I was low on cash and now... hmm... I just don't know if I can justify spending the money when we are so poor. BLAH!

It's been our week of celebration in the city my hubby grew up in and true to form, we go to a couple parades and usually sit with his extended family. Well, Friday night we went and it was fun. No one really said ANYTHING to me about my body, shape, weight, whatever... they pretty much just ignored me like they do every year. Well.. Saturday we went to the next parade with the same bunch of them and one of his cousins went up to HIM and asked him what drug I was on! LOL!! I think it's a riot that at this point people assume I'm living on ally and veggies.... OR that I've had some kind of invasive surgery. Seriously.. people seem completely shocked when they hear the response... well... 2 drugs... DIET and EXERCISE!! No really... people seem like they think we are full of it and that I am hiding my new "secret" success tips. HAHA!!

One other thing... my weight is fluctuating a ton. I don't really understand it but my pants don't seem to notice the change in weight. Like today I'm 3.5 lbs more than 3 days ago, but my pants aren't any tighter. UGH!! I wish that weight wasn't meant to fluctuate and that a gain was a gain and a loss was a loss, it just isn't that simple is it? I must keep counting calories. It's amazing how life tries desperately to get in the way but... I'm not going to let it! BOO TO YOU LIFE!!! YOU DON'T OWN ME! ;o)

Moments of Weakness

Warning: While the following post is meant to be inspirational and a reminder that we are all human... it may contain at least one excuse! Please bare with me on this one:

Moments of Weakness: Okay.. so we all have them... some more often than others. Some people take them and use them to become stronger, while OTHERS use them as a pivotal excuse in never overcomng their struggles. We've all heard the saying "that which doesn't kill us will make us stronger." This saying is SO true... if you allow it to happen!

A friend of mine recently posted about her weekend of bad eating, no exercise etc. I was thinking about my own "bad days"! That's right... lately, I've been eating way off of my diet mostly because I don't have money to go to the store and get the food I need. (LAME ExCuSe I KNOW BUT I'M BROKE!!)

So while I'm sitting at my computer eating pepperidge farm goldfish I'm telling myself, "payday is Friday... until then... goldfish will be my staple. They don't have THAT many carbs and look at the protein content of these bad-boys!" What I've learned from this last little while of eating badly is that these moments of struggle are SO important in me learning about eating as a lifestyle change. We hear people say all the time that they fell off the wagon and never got back up. I would challenge every one to FALL OFF THE WAGON, repeatedly if you must. Every time you hop back on, you learn a lot about yourself. You learn how to maintain weight loss. You learn how to lose the weight gained from a bad weekend. I KNOW that if I have a bad week, maybe I gain a lb or 2 or maybe I don't lose an ounce... that if I stick firm to my "NUTRITIONAL PREFERENCES" for a week, I can make up that gain and then some. I would NEVER have learned this if I hadn't fallen off the wagon a time or two. I remember being SO afraid that one bite of that cupcake would put me completely over the edge and I would be huge before I knew it.

Is there a point to this story? LOL! I feel like I'm on a tangent. The point is that when you have a bad weekend and use that as an excuse to drive over the edge, you only have yourself to blame. BUT when you have a bad weekend and hop back on the wagon come Monday, you might be doing yourself more good than you realize! (OKAY DO NOT TAKE THIS AS A FREE FOR ALL EVERY WEEKEND!!) Can you reach your goals? ABSOLUTELY!! It's okay to have a little fun.... just make sure you keep going in the same direction and never give up on yourself. You are your greatest ally and your greatest enemy. Draw strength from your moments of weakness. Allow yourself to be human. And always remember that you are worth the effort. :o)