Plateau again

As if losing our beloved Tahoe wasn't enough, now I can't seem to lose these last few pounds. Good grief. I have not lost a single pound since the week of June 10th, and then it was muscle loss from not eating anything at all for a few days. The flip side is, I haven't gained either. But we are nearing the wire and I HAVE to get this last almost 20 pounds off. How does one lose fat, gain muscle and the weight number doesn't change? Guess they cancel each other out. I did lose 2 "pounds" of fat last week, gained muscle, but no weight loss. Dang it.
I have gone down another size, thank goodness. My last purchase was a couple pair of size 6 capri's. I can't believe it.....a size 6. I started at size 16.....now a 6. I wear shorts now when I ride my bike and when I go to the gym. I don't feel so conspicuous when I wear sleeveless tops; gosh, how my life and outlook has changed. Exercise is going to be a way of life now, as is my change in diet. My husband looks awesome; he's even going to ride again in the Snowbird Hill climb and race in August. 51 years old and riding his bike again like he did in his 30's. I'm so proud of him! With his "turbo hip" and 60 pound weight loss, he's in awesome shape.
Well, our hearts are slowly healing and with that, perhaps the weight will start to fall off again. I have to do this now for her, make her proud of me....I can see those big brown eyes of hers...she always aimed to please us, so now it's my turn. These last 20 pounds are for you, baby girl!

A broken heart

How do you mend a broken heart? We had to make the heart and gut wrenching decision to have our beloved Golden Retriever, Tahoe, put to sleep last week......we knew the day was coming and we'd been terribly depressed about it for days leading up to it. She was 2 months shy of turning 13 years old; she was having a lot of trouble walking and her last couple days had no appetite. Our vet told us a month ago that it was time, but we wanted to believe some different pain meds would help her. Then last Tuesday it was evident that we had to......so on Wednesday June 10th......my heart broke into a million pieces.....I've cried every day since. Now I've had no appetite, no ambition to go to the gym. I've only lost a pound and a half and last week lost some muscle due to not eating enough. At least that happened and I didn't turn to food to make me feel better. I know I have to get back to the gym and get back on track.....it's just so hard when you lose a loved one...whether it be a person, dog, cat.....doesn't matter. She had the sweetest soul and will be missed beyond words.
So, not much luck with the weight loss the last couple weeks.....can't lose much when you don't eat. This week hasn't been much better; we are still grieving over the loss of our sweet Tahoe. Today, tho, I forced myself to have at least the 4 protein meals and tried to drink enough water.....I have to work this weekend and hopefully next week will get back to the gym and resume working out. I've got about 20 pounds to go to meet my goal.....I'd sure hate to lose ground now, so I'll have to hit it extra hard......

25%

Well, I had a pretty good week; I lost 2.5 more pounds for a total of 47 pounds, which is about a 25% weight loss.....can you believe that nonsense. For more good news, my husband finally hit his 60 pound weight loss goal! He really should have kept a blog or journal of some sort. His started a year and half ago, when he was anticipating his right total hip replacement. At age 48 his hip was already totally degenerated and was told he needed a new hip joint, was told to try to wait it out and it just was so painful, we sought the opinion of another orthopedic surgeon when he was 50 and was told "why wait?" So, it was done Oct 2008 and on the day of surgery, he'd lost exactly 30 pounds. Since my weight loss program started Oct 1, I've lost 47 pounds and he's lost another 30, just by changing how we eat, the right kinds of carbs and smaller portions, and exercise. He's always been faithful with exercise with his bike riding.....I had always found it necessary to see if I could keep the couch from floating heaven-ward.......good grief. In 2007 I joined a gym and went quite a bit, but didn't change my diet at all.....what a combo this has been. It really does work. I've got about 23 pounds to go.....hopefully it's all downhill from here!

Chipping away at it!

Not as exciting as last week, but I lost another half pound this week. So, that's ALMOST 45 pounds. Oh my goodness. With warmer weather here, I hope, finally, we'll get out and ride our bikes more and I'm even going to ride my bike to the gym. How's that?! I've got a new-found energy and life is just plain old more exciting when you feel good about yourself....even with only a half pound wt loss this week, I feel fantastic. Although I was always happy with my life, I think what I missed out on, being overweight these last 15 years or so. Passing on Lagoon day with work because it was hot and I couldn't bear the thought of wearing shorts or capri's because I was embarrassed. I wouldn't go to my husband's work BBQ's because I thought he would be embarrassed. I always came up with some excuse. You can only hide so much in jeans and baggy shirts/sweatshirts. Oh my....that was a revelation. Never again will I pass on fun times with my family, friends, or grandkids because of my weight. Never. I'm going to be 53 in June......my bucket list is growing and because of this wonderful gift, I think I'll be able to do every single one!

44 pounds lighter

Back to the basics

I had one of Cindee's ah-ha moments last week. My weight didn't change....again......so what was up with that???? I have not cheated, I exercised....and then it hit me. The food journal never lies, so I pulled it out and calculated calories as best I could and although I didn't cheat, the calories were adding up to very near what I should consume to maintain that current weight. All the little extra protein snacks like string cheese, peanuts, jerky, or an apple, was adding sometimes an extra 200-250 calories on a "bad" day. I should be keeping my caloric intake to under 1000 calories to keep losing weight. Well, cripes, it makes sense now and since I am supposed to be in the "weight loss" mode and not maintenance mode, I need to cut out the snacks or at least most of them until I get to my goal......then I can maintain all I want. Even great protein snacks have calories, so be sure to add those in when you're starting to wonder why the weight isn't coming off.......So, the point to all this is, I lost 2 pounds this week!! That makes 44 incredible pounds. I'm so excited, it's like starting all over and that excitement during the first few weeks of this program.....it's like a high....without the illegal drugs.

We are going to the Eagles concert tomorrow night and I hope to get someone to take my picture after we get all spiffied up to go and I'll get that picture on here.....I've been saying that for weeks now. I got some new size 8 jeans to wear.....oh, yay! I must admit, I think I'm looking pretty good for an almost 53 year old gramma! (minus the wrinkles, that is)

Exercising........

I feel so much better after upping the frequency of exercise this week.....Hope the scale goddess shines brightly on all of us......Good luck Cindee, Sharisse and Jeremy!