1st Goal Deadline

Saturday was my goal to reach 199 lbs.  I missed that goal by about 8 pounds.  

Technically, I failed.  But I’m not upset.  Here’s why;

I’m not afraid to re-set my goal.  This wasn’t my only chance to ever get down to this weight! There’s no 11^th Commandment saying “Thou Shalt Not Try Again.”  I think people get frustrated and give up on their goals and dreams because they think they’ve only got one chance to succeed.  That is simply untrue.  When we observe someone who is successful , we see only the ‘finished product’ of that person - after the struggles, after the rejection, and after they gathered themselves together to keep going.  For example, did you know that;

-          Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because his boss said "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." *

-          Thomas Edison made 1000 failed attempts to make a light bulb.*

-          Jerry Seinfeld was booed off stage the first time he ever did stand-up.*

-          Led Zeppelin picked their name because someone told them their band would ‘sink like a lead balloon’.

Are you getting the idea? (* see other stories here)

Somone who has never really attempted anything in life  may tell you that the opposite of success is failure. That is a big, fat, hairy lie.  If all those people I just listed above had quit at their first failure, there would be no Mickey Mouse.  There would be no electricity!!  American culture would have lost one of its most popular sitcoms, and of course, there would have been no ‘Stairway to Heaven’.  Failure is not the opposite of success - quitting is the opposite of success.  I’m closer now to 199 lbs than I have been in several years.  So what if I I missed my first deadline.  I'll just re-set my goal for May 24, 2013.  Which is also Grayson’s birthday.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, which is kind of a big deal since I really don’t like sports:

"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.  I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." – Michael Jordan

Progress Doesn't Happen Overnight

August 2011, 3 months after my son was born.  240+ lbs, size 24:

2 weeks ago (is a dressing room at Ross's, when I realized I was a size 16 again (finally, a size I hadn't been in 3 years):

 

Even though these pics are 20 months apart, I'm still happy about the visible difference.  And I'm just getting started.

 

 

“So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win.” – Og Mandino

 

~D~

 



Coming back from Vegas

I love Las Vegas.

I've been there 3 times. Once, when I was 8 (not so much fun).  Then again this last August.  My husband had qualified for this special trip from an incentive at work.  We had a good time, but we didn't drink then so we didn't 'let loose'.

My hubby qualified for it again.  We went a few weeks ago.  It was so much better this time.

 

Our view from the balcony

For starters, we had more money to spend.  Everything in Vegas is 'a la carte,' therefore you are forced to spend more money.  We stayed at the Cosmopolitan on the Strip these last 2 visits, and even in a nice place like that, you have to pay to use their gym!  Incredible.

Second, we had more people to hang out with! On our August visit, Paul was still an Account Manager and we only knew one other couple that was there.  This time Paul was working as a Sales Manager and three of his sellers (and his boss) were also there.

Third, we had recently started drinking again.  Seven years ago Paul had stopped drinking because he could get a little out of control.  I followed suit a few months later in support of his decision.  This past year we've decided that we (really him, but I say 'we' because we are a team) have grown past that immature phase on life and we decided not to totally abstain from alcohol, but to enjoy a few drinks now and then with friends.  Paul's been pretty conservative in this regard.  Me? Not so much.  I was never a big drinker before, and I have not in any way been belligerent and out of control, but I was definitely enjoying myself on this trip.

That brings me to the purpose of this post.  Not to brag about our trip, but to describe what it felt like to enjoy myself but no go completely haywire.  Did I eat a lot? Yes, but I didn't stuff myself every time (just the last meal, breakfast before we returned).

We ate French Food (yum). 

We ate at Gordon Ramsay's new restaunt Burgr.  Who has ever had mango chutney on a hamburger?? This gal! 

 

 

And we even ate at a Brazilian Steakhouse! OMG, the salmon was killer. 

What I didn't do was force myself to eat more to 'get my money's worth' like I would have done (and I did do last visit, at the Bellagio).  I ate rich food, enjoyed it, and didn't eat again till I was hungry later.  I only had one plate at the Brazilian Steakhouse, and I didn't even try all the meats they had. 

You know what? I still had fun!   I danced, I drank, I socialized, I even smoked some clove cigarettes while I drank and socialized. 
(SN; my friend Jessica turned me on to a low-cal way to get yo' drink on;  Grey Goose Vodka w/ soda, then add a shot of Miio to it for a sweet and fruity kick.  70 calories per drink, beats a Sex on the Beach for 200!)

I still fit in exercise at their facility (which is very posh, of course!  Their elliptical machines could bring up Facebook and You-Tube)

 I did a lot of walking on the strip, I got some sleep and even had a massage. I kept in touch with my trainer to get his approval on my workout.  I actually did 4 rounds of this workout, at his encouragement.  And apparently I was "Wall-Sit Girl" after 11:30 the first night.  Good times.

Needless to say I was sad when I came back to 'normal' life.  I also felt sluggish and (for lack of a better word) clogged.  I considered doing a 24 hour juice fast to clean my system out and give my liver a break but I soon remembered that 1) I don't have a juicer or the means to get the one I really wanted, and 2) I am an absolute nightmare to live with when I'm fasting and I didn't want to traumatize our son.  So then I thought about going all raw for a day but I didn't have all the food on hand.  So I settled for a wheat-, meat-, and dairy-free day instead, nice and vegan. 

 My lunch; salad and sushi.  I added sundried tomato tofu and chickpeas to the salad for protein, and the sushi was brown rice & veggie

My dinner, sweet potato, kale and quinoa 

Bedtime snack: carrots w/ hummus, strawberries and almond milk

 

The only exception I made was to add one scoop of whey protein powder to my morning smoothie,  I felt amazing the next day.  My appetite was under control and my energy level was back to normal.  I'd only gained a pound from our trip and that was gone within a few days of returning. 

Most importantly, I went back to working towards my goal.

~D~

March in Review

“People are always blaming circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get ahead in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”
~George Bernard Shaw~


Weight lost in the last 30 days; 4.4 lbs
Inches lost in the last 30 days; 3.75 inches

It's always so easy to move forward when things in life are going according to plan.  The real challenge comes along when circumstances are less than ideal.  We need to remain flexible, we need to be able to bend those less-than-perfect situations back in the right direction so we can continue on.  For weight loss, there is always something that comes up and attempts to throw us off our meal plan or exercise schedule; a holiday celebration, or a vacation, a birthday, family coming to visit, etc.  In my case, this month we were challenged with hormones, travelling and germs.  Still, I had a few small victories.

Around the middle of the month I took my son to Maryland with me to visit my family while I was fighting off a head cold.  It was Friday evening, we were starving, and I broke my rule (no eating in the car) and gave him some crackers to tide him over.  We were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and I guess the stop-and-go motion must have gotten to him because I looked back and he vomited all over himself.  And I was trapped! With nowhere to go because traffic wasn't moving.  It took about 15 minutes before I could even get across the 4 lanes of traffic to pull over and clean him up.  He was so upset, I was upset, we were tired and starving (still, even after the puking), and still had about 30 minutes till we could get to my mother's.  If this was 6 months ago (ok, 3 months ago) I would have told myself  "Just get something quick for dinner, you've had a rough evening, you can give yourself the night off of eating healthy." I would have then proceeded to stock up on whatever my unhealthy comfort foods were (most likely Roy Rogers since we don't have any here) and then felt guilty about it for the rest of the night. 

But this was not 3 months ago. 

When I got to my mom's house they wanted to go out to dinner.  Since I had a child with puke stains on him, I declined and sent them on without us.  I gave Grayson his bath and a snack, then started rummaging in Mom's fridge and pantry to find a healthy option for dinner.  I knew I needed to think this though since we were going out to dinner the following night and lunch the following day.  I ended up with sauteed kale and an individual pot-roast from Schwan's.  I wasn't too thrilled with the pot-roast because it was so salty, but it was a better option than a Gold Rush Chicken Sandwich from Roy's!  As for the rest of the weekend, I studied the menus of the restaurants like I was going to be tested on them.  I did better than I thought.  But my head cold had progressed and I missed my Saturday workout and slept most of the day on Sunday.  I came home with new motivation.

Grayson then got sick, which meant no sleep for mommy and daddy, but we didn't miss a workout.  Then I got sick again. I rested and missed a workout.  My weight loss slowed.  Then PMS rolled around. I've been off the pill since August, and this time PMS has been about 3 times as bad as it once was. Nevertheless, I got back in the gym, kept my water intake high, but I felt like if I didn't have a cheeseburger soon someone was going to get hurt.  So finally, two days ago I caved.  I got it out of my system and I feel better, but the results are on the scale.  I've fallen behind.

I'm not writing all this to complain.  I know that 4 pounds lost is still 4 pounds lost.  I'm still headed in the right direction, even if I'm inching my way slowly.  I've been able to recognize bad habits and attempt to change them before I get carried away. I've broken my chip habit, stopped drinking all diet soda / artificial sweeteners, and upped my water intake.  I'm still going. I can't give up anymore.

“A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose – a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve.”
- John Maxwell