Not Sure How to Feel About This

I'm cross-posting this from my own blog, but I thought it belonged here too.

One year ago (give or take a month) I posted my weight on this blog. At the time, it was my highest weight ever. Today, I weighed myself, and I weigh exactly what I weighed then. I've been losing weight since I started walking, and now I'm back to square one. I could pretend that I had a year where I didn't gain any weight and consider that a success, but the truth is after I posted my weight last year I started losing weight. Sort of.

I lost six pounds, and it took me three months to do so. Do you think perhaps I wasn't really all that serious about it? Clearly I still had some work to do within myself because after that 6 pound lost I proceeded to layer sixteen new pounds onto my frame. I really wish I hadn't done that. I really wish I had gotten serious last year. Can you imagine what I'd be doing right now? I'd be at my goal weight. Can you imagine how I would feel? I'm not sure I can imagine it. It's been so long.

Well, I could sit here and beat myself up, or I could tell myself that this time I am serious. This time I've learned that the only way to lose is to give up. I do not want to be sitting in front of this keyboard a year from now writing about how this time I'm really serious, weighing what I weigh now, or God forbid, more. I can't give up.

I'm going to post a new weight loss ticker at the bottom of my blog. If it disappears or stops moving it means I'm kidding myself again. Do me a favor if you see that happening and give me a kick in the butt. Tell me to go take a walk or lift some weights. You shouldn't have to do that for me. I hope you don't, but would you?


P.S. I am not set up to change settings for the template so I can't update my ticker, but here's the code for it.

The Maui Middle is disappearing!

I have been home a week, now. When I weighed in last Wednesday, the scale said I weighed 166.8...Yikes! That's a lot of Mai Ti's! In one week of really strict observance, I have brought it down to 162! That is very encouraging to me! I can rejoin "real life" once again. It is amazing what gaining can do to your psyche....I felt a bit defeated. But I am back. My 10's are not so tight and my energy level is regaining momentum. Best of all, I can look back on the week in Maui with no regrets and also with the "truth" that if I do just let my guard down, I really will pay a price.

Jules

Confessions of a Fitlinxx junkie...

Proud mama, originally uploaded by willemkristina@verizon.net.

This month at the YMCA, I have lifted 420,305 pounds worth of weights. Ranking me 1st in all females, in all age groups! And I even compared it against the men, I am ranked 7th in the entire YMCA. (I know, kinda scary).
I burned 6,140 calories doing cardio. Ranking me 1st in my age group,(30-39). And 6th for women in all age groups.
I accumulated 8,213 fit points, ranking me 1st in my age group, and 6th for women over all. I'm going to see if I can make the top three next month! Do ya think I'm kinda competetive? : )

My first exercise fit/cardio class

I just completed my first cardio class. It lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. I made it all the way through without stopping. YAAA. I didn't think that I could do it. It was hard to keep up with the instructor but I managed to do the low impact version. I have NEVER sweat this much in my life. I feel so good. This class is on Wednesdays so I can have a change of pace in the middle of my workout week. WOW. For having three back and knee surgeries and a baby almost five months ago, I feel great and I am still amazed that I did it. Ya ME!!!

A Little (Kind of Scary) Knowledge

Ladies,

I know I've been remiss in posting lately but I've been searching for inspiration, motivation, anything to break me out of my rut and get me excited about taking care of myself again. I came across an article discussing the effects of increasing obesity on health and found it helpful - I hope some of you find it as fascinating as I did.

A couple of caveats:
First, this was originally a comprehensive chart which did not translate well to HTML so I changed it a little; namely, I took out the men and color coded the categories.

Second, the numbers (as I was stunned to learn) represent the number of times more likely that a person in that BMI category is to develop a given medical condition than a normal weight person. With this thought in mind, I was stunned.

Third, I've talked about BMI some before and I think everyone is pretty familiar with it here, but if you're not, here goes. A "normal" BMI (not overweight) is 25.0 or under. The "warning zone" (overweight but not obese) is from 25.0 to 29.9. Obesity begins at 30.0 and goes all the way up (yikes!). To get your BMI, take your weight in pounds, divide it by your height in inches, divide it by your height in inches again, and then multiply by 704.5.

Anyway, I found this interesting (and scary as heck) and hope it may add one more reason to the list of why what we're doing is so important...

Love you all,
Lisa

_____________________________________


FACT FILE: High body mass and its health risks
Women's relative risk* of developing various medical conditions by body mass index

BMI of 30.0 to 34.9
BMI greater than or equal to 40

MEDICAL CONDITION
Type 2 diabetes
7.24
19.89
Coronary heart disease
12.56
19.22
High blood pressure
47.95
63.16
Osteoarthritis
9.94
17.19

TYPES OF CANCER
Breast
1.63
1.70
Colon
1.33
1.36
Kidney
1.66
1.70**
Liver
1.40
1.68

* Relative risk of 2 indicates a person is twice as likely to develop condition as a person with a normal body mass index (18.5 to 24.9). A body mass index of 30.0 or higher is considered obese.
** Relative risk of developing kidney cancer rises to 4.75 in women with BMI greater than or equal to 40.
SOURCES: American Obesity Association; American Cancer Society; New England Journal of Medicine

I made it to four miles today!!

Last week, I had run three miles straight for the first time in my life. And today, TODAY, I made it a solid four! My endorphins had me flying high for a couple of hours afterwards, and now, well, I am just plain whooped. But I did it, and I'm so proud of myself. My original goal was just to go 3 1/4 miles, which is something that I had not yet done. But once I got there, I said to myself;'I bet you could make it to 3 1/2.'
And at the 3 1/2 mile point, I talked myself into going four! Talk about a confidence booster. : ) I feel nearly invincible.

The face says it all!

Congratulations, Kristina!

Look how far I've come!

Tuff girl, originally uploaded by willemkristina@verizon.net.

Hard work DOES pay off! When I see those photos below, I can't believe it's the same person.

Is this the same girl that ran three miles the other day?!?

100_4387, originally uploaded by willemkristina@verizon.net.

This was taken in July of '05. We were on vacation in Atlanta, where I walked the nation's largest 10k with my sisters, and my dad, who ran the race. I'm hoping to be able to do this race again, perhaps by July of next year. Except this time, I'm planning to run it! I'd like to do some local races first, well before that time. Looks like I'd better invest in some really good running shoes to train in. : )

Is that KRISTINA?!?!

100_4385, originally uploaded by willemkristina@verizon.net.

What the heck was I doing with my hair in a pony tail? And where in the heck is my neck?!? This was two and a half years ago... yikes!

I'm Back! Aloha!

Hello everyone! I am home safe and sound and sane! Yippee! I had a dreamy, dreamy time in the land of Aloha and Mahalo. I will post photos on my other blog....needless to say, I did not diet on this trip, but I was aware of what I was eating (and drinking). I had my share of Mai Tais and Pina Coladas, fruit smoothies and a few choice desserts (although Blake and I always shared these). The scale scared me yesterday, but I was back on track and took off .8 of a lb in a single day of obedience. So I am not worried....I am still wearing my 10s, though they are a little snugger. I had such a fantastic time and lots of lovin and lots of sun and lots of amazing whale watching and botanical, aviary experiences to last me through at least a year of Seattle rustiness. I did tell Blake I thought he should book the same week next year! Ha. We will see.

You have all done an amazing job in my absense. I am so proud of all you ladies! Sorry that Blogger was being a stinker. How frustrating.

Love to all...back to the real world!

Jules

Good for you Jennifer

I read your blog for Kristina. That is wonderful that you walked 3 miles. I still can not do that but I can do the elliptical for 2.5 miles in 30 min. Every step that we take together is a step towards a new us. Congratulations!!!!

I am OK

Right now I am ok. I do feel kind of crabby since aunt flo came two days ago. I am kind of hungrier also. I am doing my best. Also I miss Julie. I can hardly wait till she comes home. If you are reading this Julie, I MISS YOU. Hope you had a great vacation for us all. Love Ya.

I DID IT!!!

I DID IT!!!, originally uploaded by willemkristina@verizon.net.

I was sweating like a pig, but I did it! I ran three miles straight for the first time in my life. I averaged about 11 minute miles, which is probably right in the middle as far as speed goes. But I did it, I did it. And I feel like a champion! : )

My progress

Well, I've been doing really good on my quest to get healthy. I've been doing Prism since November of last year. I haven't really had any obsticles to overcome for the past 2 weeks (I supposed that's good...it just seems so boring :0) ). I supposed I should be happy with that since I start school again the end of March and will probably have plenty of emotional eating to overcome!! Well, except I have noticed that for the past several days, I'm trying to finish my last bottle of water right before bed. So, I'm having to get up in the middle of the night. So, this morning, I've already finished one bottle. That really makes me nervous because I don't want to start getting lazy (re: journalling, exercising, etc).

We went on Saturday (very beautiful day here) to a park in Snohomish and rode our bikes for 5 miles and then onto Centennial Trail for 6 miles. It was a lot of fun....but my bum still hurts :0) I guess I have to recondition it since I haven't ridden my bike since September of last year :0)

I hope that all have a great week. And congratulations to all of you girls and doing so good with journaling, exercising, diet, and finding time for yourselves too. We're worth it just as much as our wonderful families!!!

On Commenting

To all the "new" Blogger users on this blog (all fabulous women in and of themselves), here is how you comment: you have to sign in FIRST, before you even think about typing out a comment. After you sign in, it will bring you back so you can leave a comment and only then will the comment post without being &%(#!% erased.

I'm not sure I like these "upgrades" to Blogger, but I hope this helps.

not losing momentum

These are my new friends, Bubba, Journal and Precor. Bubba is 34 oz of pure cold liquid. Precor keeps me moving every day. My Precor (well the YMCA's) has a TV attached to the top of it and I get to watch Oprah or Survivor or NCIS while I climb away the pounds. I am going to weigh tomorrow. The journal keeps track of what I eat each day. If I don't write it down, I just don't eat right.

What I can't seem to find is time to get on my computer. I am going to try to check it before bed each night and post more.

posting the 'new' fangled way

I can't seem to comment either since this blog is on the 'old' version. This means that commenting on other's posts is hard. DANG!

1. KIMIKO - HOW ARE YOU DOING??

2. Kris - way to go you kick-butt girl!

3. Kim - you are totally getting this stuff - I'm so excited for your weight loss!

4. I am now weighing 154 as of this morning. That's like a big loss cuz I was creeping up towards 163 at one point!

So three cheers for me - and three cheers for you ladies toooooo!

Wow Kimberly and Kristina

Well, for some reason, I can't reply to someone else's post. So I wanted to say congratulations to Kimberly and Kristina.

Kimberly-- Wow, say good-bye to those lbs. You will never see them again. Good job!!!

Kristina--You are such an inspiration!! Wow, I can't imagine running the 10K. I can walk it, great job on making it for running it!!! You just keep putting that carrot in front of you and push yourself to not only reach it...but surpass it, congratulations. You are an inspiration to us all!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Hi Jules---

Just wanted to say Happy Belated Birthday!!! I hope that you had a great week in Hawaii and a happy birthday yesterday. Can't wait to hear about your week!!!