THE END!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (or not................)

Whew!! I did it!! I faithfully completed the Lose to win contest, and altho I am a few pounds short of that goal, I did manage to lose 58 pounds. OMG....58 pounds....from a size 16 to size 4/6. The official end was Friday, September 25th. And I lost 2 pounds this week. I'd hoped to end on a positive weigh in or should I say negative since I did lose?? :o} I am so happy, excited......proud of myself for sticking with it.
For the record, I want to keep using the products and checking in til I get to that goal....I am currently at 138 pounds....would really love to get to 120-125. I love those folks up there.....they made this possible for me.....all I did was change some bad habits, made some new ones and look what happens.
So, the work continues......I renewed my gym membership after the free year was over; I plan on keeping exercise a daily part of my life, keeping up with the protein products 4 times a day and will keep losing til I get to where I want to be.
I was also rewarded with a $500 check....my committment fee.....YAY! That went promptly back in the bank until I can hit some sales and buy some new clothes....I gave ALL of my clothes away, and won't have a thing to wear this winter...I have some things I got over the summer, but I'll need winter clothes...I sure seem to be a lot colder since I've lost my insulation! But boy oh boy, I'll trade being cold any day rather than being fat! I love how this feels.......Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!

Homestretch

Here we are....I have one week left....I had some intestinal distress 2 weeks ago, became very dehydrated and lost almost 3 pounds....the next week since I was feeling better and was re-hydrated and I gained back what I'd lost in fluid.....so, hopefully today when I go in, I'll have shown a loss. I'm going to keep doing the protein bars and shakes until I get to that goal....I'm going to be a few pounds short. But, I'm very proud of my success to date....I look and feel like a new woman. A year ago, I was obese, unmotivated to exercise and felt utterly hopeless. I said once before that if a fat person says they are happy with how they look.....they are either farsighted, dellusional or I don't even know. I thought I was happy before....all I did was lose out on some living and precious time that I won't be able to get back. So, my promise to myself and my family is to get out there and be active, keep exercising and watch what I eat....I don't ever want to get fat again. My husband and I have worked so hard this year, we want to go forward now and not look back at how we were; although I am going to keep some old pictures of us on the fridge to ensure that we keep on the right path!

Closer!!

I am amazed that this year of life-changing decisions and results is almost over. I'm 10 pounds from my goal. I think I might be a couple pounds short of the goal, but I can achieve that after the official end of the "contest". My life has changed so much......on many fronts......in how I view myself, my confidence, self esteem, my outlook......exercise is so vital now...not only in losing this weight, but also in keeping to maintain my new look; I have more energy to get thru the days....I watch a lot less tv.....I've gotten off my now almost-skinny butt and get to the gym or out for a walk.....not only for the physical fitness, but for my mental health! What a good way to let off some steam or take out some frustration, or think through a problem.....I've made more lists and followed thru on lists more now than ever before. I have more clarity, feel less cluttered in my life. And I owe it all to the former Fountain of Youth, (now Timeless Med spa), Dr. and Mrs. Williams, Kim, Dana, Debbie. If not for filling out that entry form last year and these wonderful, supportive folks, plus the support of my friends and family, I'd still be sitting at nearly 200 pounds.
By the way, I lost 2.6 pounds this week.....yay! I've renewed my gym membership after the free year from the FOY, so I intend on making this a permanent part of my life.
I was sad to hear that Cindee, Sharisse and Jeremy have dropped out. This by any means hasn't been easy, but if you want something bad enough, you just have to work to make it happen. You gotta sweat and resist temptations and keep focusing on that elusive carrot and let go of bad habits and make new ones. Maybe their time is yet to come.
I will try to post weekly until the end and then get new pictures....I said that a few weeks ago, but crap happens and well, I look even better now, so I guess there was a reason! Take care, all!

Making changes

Ok, here's the scoop; last week I lost a whopping 0.2 pounds. I was devastated. Today was weigh-in day again and this was much better at another 2 pound weight loss. I worked out more, did more weights at the gym and I don't know what did it, but more fat came off and muscle went up a little bit and weight came down 2 pounds. Kim and Debbie W said I have only 12 more pounds to my goal..........I hope I am able to do it before the end of September. I did decrease calories a bit more to around 700-800 during this weight loss phase; doesn't sound like much does it? I'm just sticking to the low carb foods, keeping protein intake up, drinking plenty of water and keeping up the exercise. To maintain my current weight, I should consume about 1200 calories, so by keeping the count under that now, I should still lose and during maintenance, should be able to keep it off, even by increasing calories (the right kind of calories). That's the plan......so I hope to have another good week and hopefully lose another pound or two.

A great week

Hope I don't jinx this upcoming week by bragging, but I lost 2 pounds this week. I owe it to being at the gym EVERY day for the last 8 days and following the diet and keeping protein up and carb count down and I didn't feel deprived of anything. Jeepers, I see a little glimmer of hope that I might make to my goal weight before the official end of my "contest" win. The scale finally showed me the 130's.......I can't even tell you how long that's been since I've seen that number.....I almost fell off the scale. Makes me want to get back to the gym and work even harder....Crossroads is doing a Biggest Loser contest; maybe I can follow one of the contestant's workouts! With some hard work and sweat, I hope to show another big loss again next week. Wish me luck!

Here we go again

Good grief! What will I have to do to lose these last pounds?! I gained 0.2 the week of July 31. I gained a pound of muscle, lost another pound of fat by going to the gym nearly every day and keeping my calories under 1000 per day. I am writing down EVERYTHING I eat, counting calories, not skipping meals........drinking a minimum of 4 bottles of water every day. I just came home from the gym, burned off 625 calories and took in today 910 calories. I had a cup of strawberries that took me over 900 cal......too bad they aren't loaded with protein.
I was really hoping to show a loss on the scale this week to get closer to losing that 70 pounds.....I just am not sure I'll make it, darn it. My friends and family tell me to stop being obsessed about it...that what I've done is remarkable. I am very proud of myself for losing what I have and I'm so very, very grateful to Timeless/FOY for making this possible for me. I just so wanted to be a true success and hit that mark. Tell you what....I'll just keep doing it even after the official end Oct 1; I'm going to Hawaii in January and I will hopefully have done it by then. We still have about 8 weeks left, so maybe, just maybe it will start coming off again and I'll be that much closer. Say a prayer!

It worked!

Finally! I lost a respectable 1.2 pounds this week, after losing only 0.2 and 0.4 here and there and nothing the previous 2-3 weeks. Just by changing the foods I was eating. Even had a half of a small baked potatoe (with a grilled pork chop, with vegetables and small side salad.) It had been 10 months or longer since I'd had a baked potatoe. I told Kim and Dana that if I got on that scale and I didn't lose again, I was going to have some pie! Luckily I didn't have to! I kept the exercise about the same; gym time is about an hour-plus 2-3 days a week and on days not at the gym, I walk briskly for 2.5 miles. I also religiously kept a food journal and kept my caloric intake to less than 900 cal per day. I found a site called fitclick.com that lists caloric values and you can even track online your meals, etc. So, that was good news. More good news was that my body fat % and body fat mass is now NORMAL! Wow. Bad news is, shedding these last pounds is going to be harder.
The Kenny Chesney concert was great.....despite the heat. It was 104 in Sandy on Thursday. And I didn't die or melt in the heat. I actually can stand being in the heat for much longer periods than I ever could in the past. I dont have as much insulation! We kept ourselves hydrated and I just marveled at the thought of me being there in that hot sun in white capris and a small/petite top. OMG. It wasn't that long ago, that I would have begged out of going to something like that because I was so heavy first of all and secondly that I couldn't have standed being in that kind of heat without being almost ill. I wouldn't have been able to wear something light and cool......gosh, how things have changed.
My husband also hit a milestone today; he's ridden 1000 miles on his bike since late April; he couldn't ride much in June with all the rain and still hit the 1000 mile mark today. I'm so proud of him. He's keeping his weight off and now wants to drop another 5-10 pounds. He started at over 250 and is now a trim 189-190. Incredible. It's never too late to step up and make changes in one's life...set a goal and make it attainable and then just keep upping the ante. Just take one day at a time.....if you falter, get back up and do better tomorrow.