scsunshine40

You know, I have only been here a few weeks and I have not lost a lot (6 pounds WoooHoooo) but, I feel terriffic. I’m not starving myself like I used to. I’m not depriving myself like before. I eat sensibly, walk and I drink water. I have learned to allow myself 1 glass of sweet tea per day (I used to drink about 1 gallon per day). So many times I have attempted weight loss and after a couple of weeks I gave up because the temptation was there. This time though I’m really not having those bad cravings like before and I don’t feel like bingeing. For the first time I feel good about “dieting”. I still have many stressors in my life like no job, bills, kids, and other things, but I really feel better about myself and the direction I’m heading. Praise be to God for that feeling because it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way about myself.

I offer this bit of advice today. Get out and walk somewhere today…. a park, around the block, in a mall, wherever it may be. While you are walking meditate on 5 things that you are thankful for from the big stuff to the little stuff. Then come back home and blog how you feel. I promise you will feel better than you did when you first read this. God be with all of you today.

I have spent a good part of the afternoon searching for songs that motivate me during my workouts. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones that make you feel like you can accomplish anything. The ones that make you take that next step because you want to not because you have to. Below is a list of some songs that I’ll be incorporating into my routine. Most are country songs, but I also like southern rock, Christian, 80’s, and even a little hip hop if it’s done in good taste. If any of you have a suggestion on songs I’d love to hear from you.

Isn’t it funny that music can create a mood just with a few words and a melody? It can inspire you, encourage you, motivate you to do better, go longer, run faster, and pump harder. You folks are my song…. And I love it. Thanks for all you do each day to help one fat chick to make it through to the next. 

1. Rise Up- Yves Larock
2. TNT -AC/DC
3. Move along - All American Rejects
4. How do you like me now - Toby Keith
5. I’m here for the party - Gretchen Wilson
6. All Jacked up- Gretchen Wilson
7. Man! I feel like a woman - Shania Twain
8. All night long - Montgomery Gentry
9. Life is a highway- Rascal Flatts
10. A little less talk and a lot more action- Toby Keith
11. As good as I once was- Toby Keith
12. Life in the fast lane – Eagles
13. Settlin’ - Sugarland

Well, I’m back home safe and sound. The girls and I had a great time and I was good for the most part. I did mess up on the way up, but I feel that I didn’t create too much of a problem with the scales because we walked and walked and walked and walked…… about 7-8 miles on Wednesday. I’m eager to see what the scales will say tomorrow.

If any of you live within a 100 mile radius of Asheville, NC it would serve you well to visit sometime. There are plenty of trails to walk, and the downtown area has some nifty shops, museums, and the like. My favorite…. Biltmore House. It’s a 250 room mansion built in the late 1800’s. It also has a winery(with a tasting room , an Inn ($$$), a couple of nice restaurants, walking trails and horse back riding. Be prepared to walk up and down stairs, through Looooooog corridors, and see the most breath taking skyline of the smokies.

 Anyway, enough of being your travel agent.  Here is something that may help some of you the next time you decide that you are ready for a vacation. Plan your meals ahead. I finally sat down Wednesday evening (after the Bacon Double cheeseburger incident) and chose an iternerary for the rest of our trip. I went on-line and located several restaurants we wanted to go to and checked out the menu ahead of time so I’d know what to order without having to decide at last minute. (I always feel rushed when the waitress comes and asks if we are ready to order and I haven’t made up my mind) The rest of our time on vacation went smoothly when it came to mealtimes. I hope this will help some of you out there that have problems with eating while on vacation.

 Have a lovely weekend… and get out and do something fun this weekend!

So my ex calls and tells me he wants to send the girls and I on a girls vacation a couple of weeks ago. Wasn’t sure what was on his mind because he has never done anything like that before. So he sent a check with my daughter when I picked her up from his place this week and here we are in Asheville, NC hanging together in the hotel room tonight. Tomorrow we are going to Biltmore House and downtown to the cool shops… Plan on getting a few healthy snacks while we are there and search out a great healthy cafe for lunch.

Will be doing lots of walking and getting plenty of excercise the next few days, but I can’t wait because I’m spending lots of quality time with my girls. 

I blew it on the way (up at lunch) because I was in a hurry and really didn’t think about what I was ordering… until I actually logged it earlier. OMG! I stayed within my calorie counts, but the fat and carb counts are enough to make a sailor blush. I did better at dinner (Thank God for Subway!!!) Things are more settled now and were aren’t rushed so tomorrow promises to be much better.  Must stop by wally world tomorrow for a pedometer. Can’t wait to see how many steps I’ll log tomorrow…. I’m sooooo excited

I thought I’d add this post for those who struggle with social situations and eating. Our church is having an ice cream social today. Everyone brings their own ingredients and churn and we just have a great time. Well, when they first announced it at church I wasn’t so sure I’d go because of the temptation. I have decided to go afterall because I WILL NOT let my new lifestyle get in the way of living life. Instead I decided to get some VERY healthy recipies for ice cream and make those instead. No one has to know they are low fat or sugar free. So I just wanted to say ladies and gents… enjoy yourselves, don’t deprive to the point that you are unhappy and unable to join in the fun. Afterall, isn’t that why they put the word LIFE in lifestyle? Now with that said, you all have a grand afternoon, I’m gonna be fellowshipping with my church friends and indulging in a SMALL portion of low-fat chocolate ice cream.

I would like to thank all of you who have read my posts in the past few days. It’s so nice to have others taking the same day by day journey and not feeling like you are alone in it.  My husband is very supportive of me while I do this, he has been helping with recipies, reading labels, buying more organic items that are healthy for the whole family. I do feel that he could never understand the affect this weight has put on my life though. When I put on a bathing suit I feel like a beached whale, when we go to the amusement parks I can’t fit into the rides, I feel uncomfortable when going out to eat because you folks know that when a big girl heads for the all you can eat buffet… EVERYBODY is staring wondering if you are going to fill your plate to overflowing or if you will just get up 5 times to get another plate. (You can almost here the murmur of bets being placed. hmmm)

A few friends and I went for a girls weekend back in May. We took a cruise. It was wonderful except for two things. one thing was the bathingsuit issue… I did wear one but of course… I’m the fat one in all the pics The other thing is that when we got to the Bahamas, I had a total stranger from another country tell me… and I quote “He lady, move your fat thighs off the sidewalk so others can walk down the walk” I was completely and totally humilated.

I resolve today to get this weight under control. I guess that is what it is going to take. I have to get up each morning and rededicate my life to my God and my health. I feel that both are important to my success at weightloss.

I have been overweight now for about 20 years. I was always skinny during childhood and as a teenager (everyone used to call me string bean… now I’m more like a potato) but once I got married I started to put on a little weight. I weighed 202lbs when I got pregnant and thought I had a license to eat….. I gained 60 pounds with my first daughter (she was 10lbs 7oz of that). Eventually I got back down to where I was when I first got pregnant but I again ate like there was no tomorrow and gained it all back and then some. When I had my 2nd daughter I weighed 275. I again eventually lost back to 220. Well, here I am in 2008 and I’m still struggling with my weight. I’m now at my all time high of 303lbs. I have tried every kind of diet there is - low carb, low-fat, Jenny Craig, Weigh down, soup diets, no white foods diet, etc. I’ve even just ate healthy foods and I always seem to fail. Over the past 20 years I have learned all of the nutritional information, the ways to excercise, and all of the other little tips that help you lose, but for some reason I just don’t stick to it. Each time I start on one of these journeys I start off full force and within a day, week, or a month I end up back where I started from. Each time I start off with “I’m going to do it this time.” I don’t want to say that this time because I’m tired of failing. This time I’ll just simply say….. Tomorrow will be a better day than today.

Ok, I’ve been overweight the last 20 years of my life. I’ve tried every diet I can imagine to and always fail. Now is the time for me to change. I’m unhappy with myself. The way I look, the way I act, it all needs to change beginning today! Life is too short to just wait on life to happen. Today I’ll make a difference in who I am.

Exercise Log