guest blogger

Hey all -
I just wanted to share a quick link with you. A friend of mine who is on her own weight loss journey asked me to be a guest writer on her blog. She posted it yesterday, and I wanted to share it with you all in case you didn't see it on Facebook.

Thanks, Leah, for allowing me the opportunity to share my story on your blog in hopes of inspiring more people to get healthy. Praying and pulling for you as you work towards your goals. I'm right there with ya, sister!

You can see the blog post at Leah's blog, Nesting Doll.

slowly, but surely

So I finally started losing again. It's slow and only a couple of pounds, but it's a loss. I realized that part of the reason I wasn't losing is because I was splurging too often. It's one thing to have a piece of dark chocolate every now and then, but to have some sort of sweets every day (even within my calorie limit) was not helping things. Plus, I would lose, and then go celebrate some thing or go to a party or something, and end up gaining the weight back. I'm working on not splurging and really watching my calories at parties and events. It's easy to justify poor eating when it's for a special occasion, but when those special occasions happen often, it makes it hard to lose weight. 


Here are my current stats:


Last Weigh In: 181.6
Current Weight: 178.8
Goal Weight: 150
Weeks Left: 6


I'd really like to get to 175 this week. We're going to Vegas with our families for my sister's softball tournament, so we'll see how strong my will-power is with all the buffets. :D According to the BMI chart, 175 (for my height) puts me into the "overweight" category and out of the "obese" category. This is a big step, and I'd really like to get there soon.


Until the next weigh in...
Lauren

quick check in

Hey all - so here are my stats for this week.

Last Weigh In: 181 lbs
Current Weight: 181.6 lbs
Goal Weight: 150
Weeks Left: 7

Although I've been really liking the 90 Day Challenge, I have been struggling with losing the weight. I will lose one day, and then gain it back the next. Between trips back to Sac, celebrating our anniversary, and other things, I've struggled some with eating right and getting all the exercise in. I know I've been maintaining, which is better than gaining, but I still have quite a bit to lose. Trying to figure this thing out, and I'm hoping that even through all the summer fun and celebrations, I'll be able to make good choices and keep losing.

Until next time.
Lauren

creating a lifestyle

Ok - it's been awhile - I know. Part of my hiatus was from busyness, and part of it was out of frustration from the way my weight loss has been going. 

Here's the breakdown:

A few weeks ago, I started getting a lot stricter on my diet - and I gained a pound by the end of the week. 

The next week, I tried to do a cleanse. I did this "cleanse" for 6 days. The longer I was on this cleanse, the more I was feeling like it wasn't so much of a cleanse. I didn't feel like I was being cleaned out. I did lose 4 pounds that week - good for 1 week, but it was not the 10+ pounds promised by the cleanse. If anything I felt more "clogged." Sorry if that's TMI. 

So now, I'm more on track. After the cleanse, I splurged a bit and gained a pound back, but now, I feel like I'm on to something. I'm reading the book, "The 90-Day Fitness Challenge" by Phil and Amy Parham. They were contestants on season 5 of The Biggest Loser, and they are believers. The book lays out what it looks like to live a healthy lifestyle. A lot of it is basic stuff, but it's SO helpful to have it laid out for me. The first part of the book is them explaining how and what to eat, and how and what to do to work out. The second half of the book are daily entries where they have a short note from the author, and then a place for me to journal my eating and workouts and thoughts. I haven't been recording my thoughts in the book because I do that on my phone in an application called, "My Fitness Pal" - thank you Katie Thompson! They have workout suggestions, a 7-day meal plan, an extensive grocery list, and encouraging stories from people that have done the challenge before. 

More than anything, it's reminded me of the importance of a BALANCED diet. I'm realizing, that I was not always eating balanced meals to fuel my body. For example, before, I would have a bowl of oatmeal with honey and maybe some fruit for breakfast. Not a bad meal, but there's almost no protein. There suggestion for a similar breakfast is oatmeal with Truvia or Stevia, and then 2 egg whites. So simple, right? I feel like I was on the right track, this book just helped me to start eating more balanced meals - protein, carbs, fruits, veggies, and fats. They also really push eating natural foods - staying away from processed foods. Again, kind of a no brainer, but it's amazing what is out there that is called "healthy" but is processed. I'm not perfect at this. They suggested I get uncured, no nitrate turkey bacon - I got Jenny-O Turkey Bacon that is cured and has nitrates in it. Hey - I'm working on it. Ha.  

So, I'm on Day 2 of this 90-Day Fitness Challenge. To be honest, 90 days feels like a long time, but really, it's not like this way of life is supposed to end after 90 days. I'm continuing to create a lifestyle that will continue even after 90 days. It just takes the 90 days to create the lifestyle. I'm feeling really good about it, and it's totally realistic. 

Stats:

Last Weeks Weight: 180 lbs

Current Weight: 181 lbs (as of 5/16/12)

Goal Weight: 150 Lbs

Weeks Left: 8*

*This is weeks until my birthday, which was my original time frame to reach my goal. I'm going to keep this date to see how far I can get in this time, although I realize that realistically, I will not be at my goal weight by this day.

Thanks for checking in. Although I've been a bit discouraged lately, I'm feeling good again and ready to keep plugging away.

Until next time - 

Lauren

stats

I realized I never really shared where I got the idea to post my stats every week. Well, allow me to introduce you to Leah. She's an old church friend of mine thats on her own weight loss journey. I highly recommend you check out her blog, Nesting Doll, right now! She's on round 2 of losing over 100 pounds, and she's doing amazing! She's a great writer and really funny, and her blog really encourages me on my journey! Every week, she does "Weigh in Wednesdays." She posts her stats and lists her goals and how she's doing on her journey. This is where I got the idea to start posting my stats every week. Posting my stats gives me a sense of accountability, and it helps me to make good decisions during the week because I know that at the end of the week I've got to post my stats for all to see. 

So here they are for this week: 

Last Week's Weight: 183.2

Current Weight: 184.4

Goal Weight: 150

Weeks Left: 11

As you can see, I gained a pound. I let myself splurge a lot this past week because I was on "vacation" while my mom was visiting, and I wasn't consistently exercising. I actually gained more than 1 pound, but I lost it in the last few days. I've struggled to get back in an exercise routine, but I worked out today (and I NEVER work out on Sundays). I'm also planning this week to start eating more strictly. It's a sacrifice, but I need to be strict if I want to lose the weight. So I'll let you know how that goes. 

Until next time...

a little perspective

Lately, I've been reading "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young during my devotions. Every devotion in the book is from the perspective of Jesus - it written as if He is talking to you. (Side note - I HIGHLY recommend this book!!!) Everyday it seems that the reading for that day is exactly what I need to hear - my God is cool like that.

The last couple of days, I've been struggling with my eating, and I was feeling really down and experiencing a lot of self-pity. This of course, made me want to eat even more unhealthy foods.

Here is today's devotional from "Jesus Calling":

April 26

"Welcome problems as perspective-lifters. My children tend to sleepwalk through their days until they bump into an obstacle that stymies them. If you encounter a problem with no immediate solution, your response to that situation will take you either up or down. You can lash out at the difficulty, resenting it and feeling sorry for yourself. This will take you down into a pit of self-pity. Alternatively, the problem can be a ladder, enabling you to climb up and see your life from My perspective. Viewed from above, the obstacle that frustrated you is only a light and momentary trouble. Once your perspective has been heightened, you can look away from the problem altogether. Turn toward Me, and see the Light of My Presence shining upon you."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Psalm 89:15

So good, right?! I was falling into the "pit of self-pity" instead of looking at it from His perspective. This, of course, is easier said than done, but when I look at my problems from his perspective, I'm able to press forward toward my goal, instead of being stuck in the muck of self-pity and resentfulness. Let me be clear - I don't think it's a bad thing to be frustrated with yourself when you mess up - on a diet, in a relationship, whatever. Feeling frustrated means you recognize that you did something wrong and you know you need to change it. This feeling of frustration and/or anger at the problem can lead to the action of fixing the problem. However, if you stay in the frustration and anger stage and don't move to the stage of action to change, you can get stuck in the self-pity stage. This is not a productive stage - in fact, it can be very destructive.

So, I was frustrated and experienced my self-pity, and now it's time to move on from this to action. It's time for me to look at my problem from His perspective. Some of my eating habits are a problem, but they don't have to be obstacles that trip me up - they are obstacles to overcome. They are stepping stones to the end result - they are part of the story, my story. I'm always going to struggle with food, but my relationship with food has changed and continues to change. I still fail. I still struggle. But as long as I turn to the Lord after I fail instead of wallowing in self-pity, I will win and reach my goal.

Lord - give me strength to keep going when I fail. Allow me to experience your power when I don't have my own will-power. Help me to feel a healthy level of frustration when I fail to motivate me to keep going in the right direction, but convict me when I begin to get comfortable in my self-pity. I've come this far, Lord, help me to keep going to the end.

stats update

it's late, so here's a quick update on my stats.

Last Week's Weight: 185.4 lbs

This Week's Weight: 183.2 lbs

Goal Weight: 150 lbs

Weight Loss: 2.2 lbs

Weeks Left: 12 weeks

I haven't quite been at my goal of 2.5 lbs loss each week, but I feel like I've been doing good. So I'm just gonna keep plugging away.

Goodnight.