Just wanted to update you all on my first day of my vacation, visiting my family: this is the first time they've seen me since i've lost 55 lbs.
They are impressed.
I don't think I have ever seen my family so proud of me (and I have many academic and work accomplishments).
With my family's confirmation, I am feeling pretty proud of myself today (even though I don't think I look THAT different - and I am still "obese").
Mom was so proud she went out and bought me a new wardrobe.
I have the best mom in the world. Every time she looks at me she just smiles and tells me how good I look.
I feel good today. More or less, I stayed on plan (ate balanced meals), and played tennis with my sister in the rain (fun!) oh and shopped around the mall with mom for a few hours.
Today I am so happy and thankful to myself that I started this journey 5 months ago. What's that saying?.... A year from now you'll wish you started today"...
Yup - so thankful I started on March 1st - got my life back, have my family proud of me, inspiring people to light a fire under their own arses (aka Dad wants to loose some poundage after seeing "how small I am").
All the hard work and dedication is SO worth it - believe me - I have not been THIS happy in a long time.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
They Fit!
So, tomorrow I am off to the BC Interior to visit my family. It will certainly be a test to my eating and exercising abilities and stamina. I have already petitioned my brother to go to yoga with me, my sister to climb a mountain with me and my mom to get drunk on wine with me (balance people - balance!).
I think it will go well, except I am a little nervous as the last time I saw my family, I had lost 30 lbs. Now, I'm down 55 lbs, and my mom is so excited to see what I look like it is insane. I'm pretty sure that i'll disappoint as I really am not "skinny" yet - I'm just no longer "obese" and am simply "overweight" - so many categories eh?
Well, in packing, I found some old shorts from when I was 19 - and they fit me! Finally my pasty white legs will get to see the light of day. I haven't shown my legs in shorts for nearly 7 years. This will certainly be interesting. I bet they're looking forward to not living like vampires anymore.
I will do my best to update my blog while I'm running around the interior - but can't make any promises as my sister tends to stick to me like stink and I want to keep this blog just for me and not let them in on my online world.
Now, time to shave those legs of mine, get ready for tomorrow...
I think it will go well, except I am a little nervous as the last time I saw my family, I had lost 30 lbs. Now, I'm down 55 lbs, and my mom is so excited to see what I look like it is insane. I'm pretty sure that i'll disappoint as I really am not "skinny" yet - I'm just no longer "obese" and am simply "overweight" - so many categories eh?
Well, in packing, I found some old shorts from when I was 19 - and they fit me! Finally my pasty white legs will get to see the light of day. I haven't shown my legs in shorts for nearly 7 years. This will certainly be interesting. I bet they're looking forward to not living like vampires anymore.
I will do my best to update my blog while I'm running around the interior - but can't make any promises as my sister tends to stick to me like stink and I want to keep this blog just for me and not let them in on my online world.
Now, time to shave those legs of mine, get ready for tomorrow...
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
To Be... Or Not To Be...
In my more recent posts, I talk about how I've had this "ah ha" moment, that I haven't been putting enough in to the universe. This, of course, stems from the fact that the universe has been handing me some no-so-favourable situations over the last couple years. Thus, my attempt to carry a more positive attitude with me in life and giving more than I get seemed to be the reasonable answer to finding balance in my life.
However, all this got turned upside down today when I began reading Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" I'm only about 1/3 into the book, already love it and am now thinking that I need to revert back to my "selfish" ways and put my focus back on me. Make time for myself, do things with for the sole benefit of myself...
In other words, I am still seeking balance - here specifically, I am looking for a balance between give and take in life. Will I ever find it? Perhaps I am looking in all the wrong places?
If only finding balance in life could be like finding balance in a yoga class - you only need it for 5 short breaths then you move on to another crazy pose. But in life, you have to hold that balance, for... ever. I'm still looking to find mine.
Perhaps I should explain in more detail why it is that I have such an issue with balance? Well, to make a long story short, I would consider myself both an over-eater and a work-aholic. I have a tendency to punish myself through these two means (that being food and work) and have done this for as long as I can remember (in fact when I was 15 I worked in a italian restaurant - where I not only over-worked myself until my feet bleed (literally) but would also go home at the end of the night with a 5 lb container of lasagna - no doubt I gained 45 lbs that year).
My theory is that I over-indulge in these two vital components of life because I have some type of guilt that prevents me from living life in balance or in harmony with these two components. Why I feel guilty? I have no idea. But I do know that I need to be able to feel worthy of leading a healthy life - both in terms of food and nutrition and in terms of work (my work-aholic problems are way beyond the scope of this post - or even this blog for that matter).
I can just picture yoda telling me that when I reconcile this worthiness and balance in my life - only then will my weight issues disappear and I will find true happiness. Oh yoda.... you are so right! But here's the thing (and I've mentioned this before). I like myself - a lot. I like my personality and I think I have a great strong character. I feel like so much of my character rotates around my over-eating and work-aholic qualities.... so the challenge here to to keep true to the part of myself that I love so much, while losing these "toxic qualities" and replacing them with healthier ones. After all, I will still be ME when I'm no longer a over-eater and work-aholic - right? I'll still be Lisa when i'm running a marathon and have a healthy work-life balance? Right?
So this, my fellow bloggies, is my current focus - what is a healthy balance (for me) between the give and the take in my life - and how do allow myself to feel worthy of that balance while not losing my sense of self and character?
More to come as I work through this unanswerable focus!
However, all this got turned upside down today when I began reading Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" I'm only about 1/3 into the book, already love it and am now thinking that I need to revert back to my "selfish" ways and put my focus back on me. Make time for myself, do things with for the sole benefit of myself...
In other words, I am still seeking balance - here specifically, I am looking for a balance between give and take in life. Will I ever find it? Perhaps I am looking in all the wrong places?
If only finding balance in life could be like finding balance in a yoga class - you only need it for 5 short breaths then you move on to another crazy pose. But in life, you have to hold that balance, for... ever. I'm still looking to find mine.
Perhaps I should explain in more detail why it is that I have such an issue with balance? Well, to make a long story short, I would consider myself both an over-eater and a work-aholic. I have a tendency to punish myself through these two means (that being food and work) and have done this for as long as I can remember (in fact when I was 15 I worked in a italian restaurant - where I not only over-worked myself until my feet bleed (literally) but would also go home at the end of the night with a 5 lb container of lasagna - no doubt I gained 45 lbs that year).
My theory is that I over-indulge in these two vital components of life because I have some type of guilt that prevents me from living life in balance or in harmony with these two components. Why I feel guilty? I have no idea. But I do know that I need to be able to feel worthy of leading a healthy life - both in terms of food and nutrition and in terms of work (my work-aholic problems are way beyond the scope of this post - or even this blog for that matter).
I can just picture yoda telling me that when I reconcile this worthiness and balance in my life - only then will my weight issues disappear and I will find true happiness. Oh yoda.... you are so right! But here's the thing (and I've mentioned this before). I like myself - a lot. I like my personality and I think I have a great strong character. I feel like so much of my character rotates around my over-eating and work-aholic qualities.... so the challenge here to to keep true to the part of myself that I love so much, while losing these "toxic qualities" and replacing them with healthier ones. After all, I will still be ME when I'm no longer a over-eater and work-aholic - right? I'll still be Lisa when i'm running a marathon and have a healthy work-life balance? Right?
So this, my fellow bloggies, is my current focus - what is a healthy balance (for me) between the give and the take in my life - and how do allow myself to feel worthy of that balance while not losing my sense of self and character?
More to come as I work through this unanswerable focus!
Monday, August 2, 2010
That Time I Did 2 Yoga Classes in One Day!
You read it right - today, being a stat holiday and all for us BC'ers - I took advantage (while high on my 2 lbs loss from last week) and did 2 yoga classes at the rec centre AND went for a 45 minute walk outside AND did 30 minutes on the elliptical. I feel really strong today - but did (once again) manage to over-eat my daily points today *sigh* I really need to get that under control!
Now, I should make this clear - when I say I "over-ate" it doesn't mean that I made unhealthy choices - not at all! It means that I either ate too many wasa crackers, laughing cow light cheeses, had that glass of orange juice this morning, etc, etc. But you see, for me, this is part of the problem. Just because it's "healthy food" doesn't mean that I can eat copious amounts of it... eating like this everyday will easily bring be back to 233 lbs. Thus - I need to get this "snacking" under control.
Just want to leave you with a photo of my "Turkey Chili with rice and broccoli" that I had for dinner tonight (and only one helping). Boy oh boy was it ever good. Yum!
Back on plan tomorrow (for realsies)! No excuses!
Now, I should make this clear - when I say I "over-ate" it doesn't mean that I made unhealthy choices - not at all! It means that I either ate too many wasa crackers, laughing cow light cheeses, had that glass of orange juice this morning, etc, etc. But you see, for me, this is part of the problem. Just because it's "healthy food" doesn't mean that I can eat copious amounts of it... eating like this everyday will easily bring be back to 233 lbs. Thus - I need to get this "snacking" under control.
Just want to leave you with a photo of my "Turkey Chili with rice and broccoli" that I had for dinner tonight (and only one helping). Boy oh boy was it ever good. Yum!
Back on plan tomorrow (for realsies)! No excuses!
New Goals for a New Month
Here we are: in August - time for a new set of monthly goals. Here is what I will be working towards this month:
AUGUST GOALS 2010
1.) Get to 173 lbs
2.) Fit comfortably into my size-12 black dress pants - they currently fit me - just not comfortably...
3.) Do a total of 20 hours of cardio activity this month.
4.) Be able to do 2.5 miles on the treadmill in under 30 minutes.
5.) Stay within weekly points allowance each week this month.
6.) Do 7 Yoga Classes this month.
Reward for Completing All Goals: NEW RUNNING SHOES!
This month, I will actually reach each of these goals (not like last month). Hopefully, by the end of this month, I will be in the 160s. I can so do this. Bring it on August!
AUGUST GOALS 2010
1.) Get to 173 lbs
2.) Fit comfortably into my size-12 black dress pants - they currently fit me - just not comfortably...
3.) Do a total of 20 hours of cardio activity this month.
4.) Be able to do 2.5 miles on the treadmill in under 30 minutes.
5.) Stay within weekly points allowance each week this month.
6.) Do 7 Yoga Classes this month.
Reward for Completing All Goals: NEW RUNNING SHOES!
This month, I will actually reach each of these goals (not like last month). Hopefully, by the end of this month, I will be in the 160s. I can so do this. Bring it on August!
Good Morning 170's!
Good Morning All!
Just got my not-so-fat arse back from the walking up to the gym to weigh myself.... drumroll please.... 178 lbs! That's right! I made it into the 170's. I have no idea how I did this - what with the little amount of exercising I did and the two days I didn't track.
This (and every weigh in after this) is the lowest I have ever weighed in my adult life. I feel great! Now, off to celebrate with a yoga class.
Got to make good use of the last day of my rec centre pass....
Just got my not-so-fat arse back from the walking up to the gym to weigh myself.... drumroll please.... 178 lbs! That's right! I made it into the 170's. I have no idea how I did this - what with the little amount of exercising I did and the two days I didn't track.
This (and every weigh in after this) is the lowest I have ever weighed in my adult life. I feel great! Now, off to celebrate with a yoga class.
Got to make good use of the last day of my rec centre pass....
Sunday, August 1, 2010
The Dreaded Buffet
Well, today has certainly been a bust. Not only did I not go to the gym or do any physical activity (again) I didn't even bother to "weigh-in" today. I didn't track either. I did however, go to a buffet this morning for brunch and made some very smart choices - half my plate was pure fruit salad, while 1/3 was egg and then about 1 cup of hashbrowns and a couple glasses of water. Not too shabby for someone who's not tracking these days.
However, I went to a BBQ tonight -inhaled a HUGE beef burger - with cheese (on a multigrain bun though), salad and a lot of chips, crackers and dip (sigh) - oh and then angel food cake for dessert.
Today was certainly a bust. Good thing there is such a thing as tomorrow.
My plan for tomorrow: back to tracking, weigh myself, yoga class and do some kind of cardio activity (tennis anyone?)
However, I went to a BBQ tonight -inhaled a HUGE beef burger - with cheese (on a multigrain bun though), salad and a lot of chips, crackers and dip (sigh) - oh and then angel food cake for dessert.
Today was certainly a bust. Good thing there is such a thing as tomorrow.
My plan for tomorrow: back to tracking, weigh myself, yoga class and do some kind of cardio activity (tennis anyone?)
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