My Weight Loss Journey

Last August, I took a long look in the mirror and realized I did not like what I was seeing at all.  I am sure we all have those moments right?  But this was a moment that I seriously consider a life changing event for me.  I stood there and looked at myself and knew that something had to change.  Not only did I not like my reflection, I did not like that my joints were starting to ache, that my back started to hurt, that I could not keep up with 2 active children like I wanted to be able to do.  I knew that something had to change...no, not something, everything!  Everything had to change- my attitude, my diet, my lifestyle.   I decided at that moment that I was going to get healthy and get active.  I knew that it was going to take a big jump start for me and decided that I would do a physician monitored program.  Now, let me say this...I know a lot of people have their opinions about these programs.  That is fine, we are all entitled to those opinions.  Because I have had heard so many people share their opinions about physician monitored programs, I only shared with a small handful of people that I was doing this type of program.  Not because I was ashamed of it, but because I just did not want to listen to any ones opinion.  Unless you have ever been considered obese or struggled with weight (and I don't mean 10 pounds) then it is hard to understand what it is like.   So, I enrolled in the program in August of 2010.  It was around the time that deployment #3 was starting and I had set myself a goal to loose 50 pounds in a year.  I felt that 50 pounds was a healthy and reasonable amount to loose in a year.  

The day I enrolled in the program I weighed:

208 pounds
height: 5'8"

(it took me a really long time to just type those numbers...my goodness, it seriously makes my heart speed up just sharing that) 

That is not the heaviest I have ever been, but it is still way too much for me.
So below are 2 pictures of me taking in August 2010 at 208 pounds:

I did the physician monitored program for 4 months.  It worked great!  I dropped 25 pounds in 4 months.  I was feeling better than I had in a really long time.  I was fitting in clothes that I had not worn in years and I was getting rid of clothes because they were too big!  That is such a great feeling!!

So December rolls around I was down 25 pounds. I was very pleased with my results and I was not having any problems at all.  I was sticking to my allotted calories and doing really well.  I decided that paying the weekly fees was just too much and decided to take a break from the program and prove to myself that I could do it on my own. 

I know that many people quit weight loss programs and pack the pounds back on but I was determined that would not be the case for me.  I knew what I had to do and knew that I could do it on my own.  So, I did.

In January I changed up my workout a little bit-actually a lot.  I was still monitoring my calories, but in addition to walking, I started going to zumba.  And I LOVED it!  I took my measurements in February and again in March...I had lost in one month a total of over 9 1/2 inches (I measured my arms, chest, waist, hips, and thighs)  I was completely excited and it was just the jolt I needed to keep going.  And so I have been a regular at zumba class since that time...well at least until ball season rolled around.  Baseball got very very hectic in April and May then Jack made all stars so it was even more hectic over the summer.  Because I could not attend zumba like I wanted to, I just decided to start running one day.  (No, no one was chasing me, lol)  I am not an avid runner.  I don't do 5ks.  I don't run everyday.  On the days I could not make it to zumba, I would hop on the treadmill and stay on for 30 minutes and eventually built myself up to an hour.  If I only ran 5 minutes of that hour, it was better than nothing.  As I have kept doing it, my time spent running has gotten longer.  I still enjoy zumba so much more, but I can't make it everyday so hoping on the treadmill gets my cardio in and I feel great after I do it. 

So that brings us to July...just before J came home for R&R. 

My new weight was 172!  I had lost 36 pounds!!!  (25 pounds on the physician program and 11 pounds all on my own) 
Below are some pictures of me at my new weight:

Then my hubby came home for R&R...we went on vacation...school started back...J went back to the 'Stan...I was sad...I fell off the exercise wagon, lol.  I gained 6 pounds in a month!  crap!  I did not like that at all!  So I am back on the exercise routine...zumba when I can, running/walking, and watching the calories. 

I have dropped 2 pounds. 
Current weight: 176

will I make my goal of 150 before hubby gets home??? I highly doubt it.  I am shooting for 170.  I am trying to do this the healthy, realistic way.  This time next year, I will be at my goal of 150...if not lower ;) 

whew, now my nervousness can subside...I did not know that sharing my weight would do that to me, lol

So, what are your diet success stories or secrets??? 

Jack's 7th Birthday Party

This past weekend, we finally had Jack's 7th birthday party. He wanted a Capt. America theme at the skating rink so that is what we had.  :) 

Jack had a great time at his party, which is all that matters, BUT it is the first and LAST time I will ever have a party at the skating rink we used.  The air conditioner was broke in that place and it was miserable.  I heard several other parents complaining about it, but the staff at the skating rink did not seem to care too much.   My problem was when the manager made some of the adult guests at our party pay $6 just to come into the party.  These people were not skating, they just came to see Jack, but they were made to pay to enter the place.  Then I was upset when the staff there would not give skates to one of the children who were invited to the party.  NO excuse was given, they just would not give them a ticket to get skates (even though I had paid for these children to be able to skate and made it clear to the staff that if more than the allotted 10 children show up for the party, then I will pay the extra fee for them to skate-which I was told would be fine)So when I found out how the staff was treating our invited guests, I had a talk with them.  The staff nor the manager made an apology.  I did get the ticket for the child to skate, but no apology.  I just found their behavior in poor taste and very unprofessional.  So, I decided that was the last party we would have there.  It was funny because I did not let Jack know any of this was going on, but when we left the party as we walked past the manager, Jack said "Mommy, that was fun but I don't want my party here again, I would rather go to the arcade"  To which my friends little boy said "That's probably a good thing because I don't think your mom will let you have a party here again" haha!  and the manager heard it all.  Oh well, maybe it will cause them to change some things or do some things differently...maybe.

Anyways, below are some pictures of the party:
Jack blowing out his 7 candles ;)

I took Jack to the store and let him pick out his cake.  This is the one he chose:  (It was so hot in the place that the icing was starting to melt, yuck)

The birthday boy and his little sister:

Some of the children at the party:

Madeline skating:

Jack skating:

Me and my little birthday boy:

Presents:

Madeline and 2 of her best buddies, Chase and Sadie. 

Still catching up...

I am still trying to catch this blog up (lol) 
This post is about week 2 of our R&R.  Once we knew when J would get R&R, we decided to go to the beach.  The beach is one of our favorite places to go and we knew the kids would love it too!  We were fortunate to be able to stay a week.  The weather was perfect and the food was out of this world wonderful. (yea, I blew the diet and gained a few pounds but it was so very worth it)
So below are the pictures from our week...it is a lot of pictures ;)
On our way to eat some yummy seafood:

J and Jackk:

J and Madeline being silly:

J and his parents.  His parents were at the beach the same week we were there.  They stayed just up the road from us so we got to see them while we were there. 

No vacation to the beach is complete without getting buried in the sand:

Madeline with a shovel full of sand...to the face...ha

what a trooper daddy is:

Swimming in the ocean:

J and the kids:

Me and the kids:

Nothing better than a late afternoon nap on the beach under the umbrella:

While Jack napped, Madeline boogie boarded:

and built sand castles: 

relaxing under the umbrella with my little man:

J and Jack:

J and Madeline:

photo taken by Madeline (she did not do too bad):

me and my little sweeties:

Ready to enjoy another great day at the beach:

3 of my most favorite people:

On our last day the gulf was filled with jelly fish!  All 4 of us got stung.  So the kids took it upon themselves to catch all the jelly fish.  They caught a lot:

Are they not the cutest???

Me and my little crazy:

We took the kids to play Putt-Putt ( or carpet golf according to Jason)  and to ride go-carts.  They had a blast even though it was so blaming hot out there.
Jack lining up to putt:

Madeline playing the game her way:

Jason lining up to make the putt:

I scored the first and only hole in one!  Yea me!!

Madeline was finally tall enough to drive the kiddie carts by herself:

Jack had so much fun!:

So that was our vacation.  It was a great and relaxing time.  Jason and I were even able to have a date night one night while we were there.  It was so nice.  It had been nearly a year since I had a date. 

I will be back soon to update about the end of R&R and some other things that have been going on :)
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm so Behind

I am so behind in blogging...that is what a packed summer and a R&R will do to you :)  I am determined to get caught up...one day (ha!)

It has now officially been a week since J returned to the "stan"  It was a rough few days there in the beginning, but with God's grace, we made it and are almost in a new groove.  I will share soon about what those first few days were like...just don't have the time this morning.

So, in an effort to be semi-caught up, I will share a few pictures of our first week of R&R:


Jason's friends had a shrimp boil for him one night.  Several friends we had not seen in years were there.  It was so good to see everybody and to see a smile on my hubby's face.  Here is a picture of us from that night:

My brother also joined us at the shrimp boil.  It was great having him there too! 

We recently added a new deck and patio at our house (I say recent, it has been a year) Well, I finally got some furniture for it (how is that for waiting to find the right set at the right price???)  J and the kids put it together one morning.  The kids also got a table set for the deck and below is a picture of them helping daddy put it together.

We took a day and went swimming.  That was a lot of fun.  J was amazed at all the "tricks" the kids were doing.

My 3 favorite people in the world!

Of course, had to get daddy with the bunny ears:

Madeline mastered the back dive!  This child has no fear at all. 

Jack loves doing front flips and dives:

My birthday also happened while J was at home (yay, finally something he was here for to celebrate with me) We along with my mom and one of my best friends, Kim went to eat at our favorite Japanese restaurant.  The kids loved it and I seriously ate way too much!  But it made turning 33 fun :)

Kim and me out to dinner for my birthday.

So, I think those pictures catch us up on week one.  Week 2 of R&R coming soon as well as my thoughts about the first few days after J returned to the "Stan" and my weight loss blog that I have been meaning to share.