I WILL Make It!

A good friend of mine asked me the other day if I felt like it was a good decision to go public with my weight loss journey of 2010. Without hesitation, I responded with a definite YES! Telling the world that I am on this journey is a humbling thing for sure, but it is keeping me accountable and on track. Even when things don’t go as planned, it’s so great being surrounded with folks who ‘get it’, who have been there, and who care.

So, first I think a big thank you is in order to everyone who comes to read, to comment, to share and/or to support in this incredible journey I’m on!

Going public, in my opinion, with any kind of personal goal means one of two things:
1.  You are really serious about reaching that goal OR
2.  You are starved for attention!

For the record, let it be known that I am REALLY serious about my 2010 goal of losing 120 pounds! Perhaps once I accomplish that I’ll be ready for the attention thing, but for now I’m content to stay comfortably in the background, thank you very much. :)

But, WOW.  120# in 12 months.

That means on average 10 pounds a month should be lost, never to be found again, to stay on track. Ugh. I am behind. The plan was (and continues to be) to manage my body in a responsible manner… to lose pounds and inches the HEALTHY way…no crash diets, no insane exercise regimen, and no BL ranch (though I really wouldn’t mind that last one!).

Will I make it?

I will eat normal food, but work on making healthier choices. I will exercise my body but resist the temptation to become a workout fiend. I will learn to deal with my emotions and personal issues square on instead of piling food on top of them. And, finally, I will tell you guys about it as I go along. I reiterate these things to remind myself of what I’m REALLY trying to accomplish.

I really WANT to make it.

But, I soooo hate being behind the 8 ball. Because I am SERIOUS about reaching this goal, and since I am NOT giving up, I took some time to take stock. What’s working? What isn’t? How does my plan need to be refined? Here’s what I came up with:

NEW GOAL #1

I will lose 120 pounds or 5 pant sizes in 2010, whichever comes first.

I was putting way too much emphasis on the scale, and was even considering skipping strength training so as not to gain muscle. Ridiculous, I know. My real goal is to change my body composition, fit into smaller clothes and be HEALTHY! If I get into jeans that are 5 sizes smaller than what I wear now, I will be HAPPY regardless of how much less weight that is!

NEW GOAL #2

I will work out first thing in the morning before my calendar for the day fills up.

My intentions to get to the gym are good and honorable, but there always seems to be one more thing to get done before I go. No more. Working out is a priority for me (more about that next week) and as such, is first on the list.

NEW GOAL #3

I will keep my plan simple.

I just don’t do complicated AT ALL. So, no fancy schmancy detailed annoying plans. Eating and living an active lifestyle isn’t supposed to be complicated, and neither should learning to eat and move for good health. I will remember that the quality of my calories is as important as the quantity, and in order to change my body and my life I need to do something different than what I did to get to this uncomfortable, unhealthy, unattractive weight.

So, there it is. This is simple. This is doable. This is challenging. This I can do!

I WILL MAKE IT!!

Now, I have one other thing to share that is VERY exciting! I met a local photographer through Twitter a couple of months ago, and just today he offered me a FREE photo shoot once I reach my goal! He said it’s his way of inspiring and motivating me to keep going! It’s so great when others believe in us, isn’t it? I’m already imagining what I’m going to wear and where I want to do the photo shoot!

So, thanks to Jerry Johanning for believing in me and showing it with this very kind offer! Can’t wait to show off the new me! (A side note about Jerry: he did most of the photography for Christopher from Project Runway season 6! Talented? I think so!)

This blog is, and always will be, about gaining all the signs of life back….energy, vitality, activity .... and sharing that journey with you.  Looking good is going to feel VERY good, and I CANNOT wait for the photo shoot, but more than that I am doing cartwheels about the prospect of being healthy again. And, thanks to all of you, I WILL make it.

As always, I love to hear what you think and any helpful suggestions you’ve picked up along the way to a healthy lifestyle! Please share in the comments or email me here.

Yours in the journey,

Cheryl

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

There Will Be No Bike Riding At This Rate

It's Monday, and my weekly visit to the scale was not too encouraging. In fact, I experienced a gain of 3.2 pounds. I can't even begin to describe how discouraging this is.

How exactly does a person gain weight when they have a calorie deficit of 750+ calories a day? If losing weight is a simple equation of calories in calories out, then my weight really oughta be on the downhill slide.

????????

I have been consistent:

• 1600-2100 calories/day (recommended amount is 2100-2200)
• Excellent adherence to ratios of protein/fat/carbs (recommended by a professional dietition at a respectable club)
• 3-5 workouts each week (cardio & strength training)
• High quality vitamin supplementation
• a gallon or more of water every day
• Solid 7-8 hours of sleep with very few exceptions

Knowing this, I think it may be time for some adjustments. Our bodies tell us all kinds of information if we'll just listen, and as much as I do not want to put all my hope in the scale, the lack of consistent downward movement of its needle in the last month has me pondering. I've also experienced more tiredness this past month. So, I'm asking myself: What else can I do to move things along?

And, this brings up an important step to keep all of us moving forward toward our goals. While goals DO need to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound, they also require us to handle them with a sense of fluidity. Periodically we should be asking:

What's working? What isn't? What might work better?

This is the best way I know to ensure that dreams and visions for the future stay connected to reality, and that we don't end up giving up all together.

So, I ask you, do your goals need tweaking too? If you are having trouble like I am, I encourage you to spend a little time and see what you can adjust. I know I will be doing this, and I promise to UNVEIL the new and improved list next time!

Come back on Wednesday to read all about it and to share your own renewed plans to find your dreams!

You-turns being contemplated,
Cheryl

P.S. If you have an experience to share of when you adjusted well laid out plans and strategies and how those adjustments propelled your forward, please contact me here!

I Needed Energy - And I Found It!

Hey everyone, thanks for coming back to read the conclusion of my story started earlier this week of how I went from having zippo energy to working out nearly every day. (If you missed those posts, there are links on the right in the archives that will take you to them so you are all up to speed.)

As I have mentioned, the daily supplement that I found is called Vemma. When I first started taking Vemma, my body was host to a number of ailments that are very common in our western world...high blood pressure and high cholesterol to name two of the problems I mentioned in my last post.

I got it that I wouldn't find healing in a bottle, and was aware of the abundance of solid research that proves exercise can have a remarkable effect on these two disorders. I knew this all too well, but frankly, didn't have the energy needed to stick to a regular exercise regimen.

That is, until I started taking Vemma.

Timing is everything it seems. The day after my appointment with my doctor, a coworker of mine told me about Vemma. She said Vemma is a complete liquid nutrient supplement, loaded with 12 full spectrum vitamins, more than 65 essential plant-sourced minerals, and antioxidants found in the mangosteen, natural aloe vera and green tea added in. WOW. Complete liquid nutrition. All natural.

So, I asked my criterion questions....'has it been tested, and by whom?" Turns out it had been tested in a double blind study by Brunswick Laboratories. I read through the studies enough to see that Vemma has been proven to boost immune function and reduce inflammation, an underlying cause in so many diseases and illnesses today. I knew I NEEDED this stuff to be in my body and ordered it online.

Within a week of beginning this yummy, tropical-fruity supplement, I started waking up in the morning BEFORE the alarm, feeling rested! I began walking for 20-30 minutes in the morning, and in four short weeks my lab results proved that what I was experiencing was REAL! My blood pressure dropped 20 points, and my cholesterol was down a full 80 points! My doctors jaw was on the floor.

It's now been about 10 months, my blood lipids remain normal, I no longer need meds for gastric reflux, blood pressure is running 110/80, and I'm exercising nearly every day of the week. My thyroid has settled down also! And, for me, it all started with taking a high quality multivitamin. As the weight continues to come off, I fully expect to get off all my meds for good!

While Vemma is not a miracle drug I want to emphasize that it is pretty incredible what the human body can do when it is given the proper building blocks. Vemma provided my body with the tools it needed to get some pretty big work done...and now I am enjoying the fruits of that, and can get on with the hard work of changing old habits and patterns ~ my body is now equipped for that kind of work.

So, it seems very natural to me to not only take this amazing product but to share it here. I am not a sales person and never want anyone to feel like Vemma is all that I'm about...but I just can't deny how much this product helped me and it makes me think it could probably help lots of other people too. It's the real deal folks. I just cannot say enough about this product and the stand-up company that makes it.

To learn more about the amazing ingredients in Vemma (and the insanely healthy energy drink~with the Vemma formula in it~called Verve), visit http://itsinthejuice.vemma.com/. There is a ton of information there along with the scientific research that confirms the health benefits of the Vemma formula.

There is also a video that tells about the different Vemma delivery systems of this unique formula and see which one fits best for you and your family. The company just came out with a hydration drink that rivals the best out there - it's called THIRST, and there's info about it on the website also.

If you want to try it out, you can do that risk free...the company has a 30 day, empty bottle money back guarantee....that's right, you can drink this stuff for a whole month and if you aren't satisfied with it, send the empty bottle back and they will refund your money, no questions asked.

If you are in need of a high quality daily multivitamin, I hope you'll give Vemma a try...I think your body will thank you!

to our health,

Cheryl

P.S. Tomorrow, we'll wrap up the week with some info on other excellent supplements and super foods that help us function at our very best. Hope you'll come back for the conclusion!

The Magic of a Clean Slate

I am soooo glad it's February 1, aren't you? The first day of a new month, it's like a brand new beginning, a clean slate.

And, a brand new beginning is exactly what I needed, because the scale is stuck.  Ugh. I hate that, and especially at the end of the month when I was so hoping to meet my one month goal of 10 pounds down. I really do think there is something wrong with my scale, but I decided to shelve that excuse because, really, Cheryl? Your scale is broken?  I weighed myself, like 10 times this morning, and granted, got about 9 different numbers.  Still, none of them were lower than my number last week.

So, on this very first day of February,  I got a brand new start . . . that is, just as soon as I was done hosting a pity party that I personally scheduled, proudly attended, and now acknowledge is over. There is just no point in indulging beyond 30 minutes or so of blank staring on the couch in my robe.  There are bigger and better fish to fry than that, don't ya think?

I have learned from so many of you of the wisdom of looking for successes in other places, but before I can go there, I must take an hour or so to figure out what happened. I mean, what REALLY happened? This part is so hard but so important too....ok, I DIDN'T work my butt off (obviously), I slipped a couple of days on my food (not horribly really, but just dense calorie foods laden with cheese and fat, my major weakness).  I also had french fries once instead of fruit. Plus, I was kind of negative, a bit stressed out and just overall felt unmotivated.

I know I'm not alone. And, this happens, it's all a part of the process...blah blah blah. But, I'm not gonna cut myself any slack. Slack is how I got to where I am right now. Slack is average.  Slack is kinda lazy.  Slack, my friends, is a slippery slope. So, there will be no slack, cuz honestly, I am NOT a slacker!

Here's the bright spot, the silver lining, the glow bracelet worth showing off ~ today as I was picking myself up off the couch, I realized that instead of heading for the kitchen, I was lacing up my sneakers!  Now, isn't that just way cool?!  It was like an einstein moment for me, proof that despite my broken scale, I really am making progress.  Changing life long habits do NOT turn around on a dime, but I think I may just have this puppy turned around! 

So, I just want to say how happy I am, yes, that it's February 1, but also to have all of you following me on this journey, cheering me on, encouraging me when I just wanna pout, even caring when I have my einstein moments, and just being here.  I really could not be doing this without you!

{hugs}
Cheryl


P.S. Now, off to buy a new, accurate scale. :)

Pants On The Ground ~ Almost

I may do my fair share of complaining about the cold weather here in Minnesota, but yesterday I was one happy chic to live here. And, not because spring arrived early or I have a trip planned to the Bahamas. The reason I was happy, even relieved to live in the land of uneven snow pack in between parked cars and single digit temps is because of my pants.

Here's what happened. The hubs called me from work to say he was coming down with a bad cold, so I ran to the store to pick up stuff to make some homemade chicken noodle soup. And, as I was walking the aisles at my local grocery, I felt it...my pants....they were like baggy saggy around my butt! I even had to hike them up, and you can bet I smiled every time.

Ok, so they weren't as drastic as pants on the ground, but still, they were noticeably saggy. I was a saggy bottom girl and so very proud.

Now, if I lived in Manning, South Carolina I could have been given a $25 ticket for that! That's right, a city ordinance was proposed last year to start handing out tickets for wearing droopy drawers. Seriously! Read all about it here.

So, I celebrated a little, right there in the chicken stock aisle by doing a little dance, just letting the sag wag on. And, I spent my $25 on a yummy dinner for my sick husband with some change to spare. It's great to live in Minnesota.

Celebrating another victory,
Cheryl

How To Stay On A Diet

So, I was thinking about this whole weighing in thing, and realized that what I'm really after when I hop on the scale is some kind of a visual that will keep me going. We know ourselves too well . . . all the times we've started a diet only to fall off the wagon a few weeks later . . . and desperately wanting this time to be THE time that it actually happens, we get the weight off and change the way we look forever.

On the other hand, I really respect what others have said about the deception of the scale. Depending on our fluid intake, when we last ate, what we last ate, how much salt we've had, and a host of other variables, the scale just doesn't tell the whole story. But, as many problems as the scale seems to have, it is still one of the most concrete ways of gauging our progress.

But, is there a better way, or maybe an additional way? In one of my past weight loss attempts, I did a couple of "visual" things that didn't involve the scale. This particular time I was desperately wanting to get into a size 16 jeans.

So, I went to the store and bought a really cute pair and hung them on a hook on the back of my bathroom door. Then, every day before stepping into the shower I would pause at the mirror and look at my body. Yeah, while naked, no clothes to cover up or camouflage anything, just bare nakedness. It was like how I told myself the truth about where my body actually was. Then, a couple of times a week after my shower I'd try those new cute jeans on.

I was successful that time in getting a bunch of weight off I think because I kept a constant visual in front of me, both in the form of actually seeing my body for what it was and seeing those jeans that I wanted to look good in. I was working out hard with both cardio and strength training, and was gaining muscle while losing fat, so the scale wasn't always showing the kind of loss I really hoped for. But, those jeans!! I'll never forget the day I tried them on, and voila, they fit like a glove.

So, what do you guys think? I personally don't think I could give up the scale completely, but maybe adding other visual reminders in will help us stay on track this year. Would love to hear if anyone else has tried this visual thing and if it worked.

Workin' it,
Cheryl

Rule #1

So, my personal trainer talked to me about how often to weigh in. After being down 4 pounds earlier in the week, I got on the scale Friday morning only to see that the total loss was now just 2.6. Hmmm, what happened?

There's a lot of things I have to work at to be good, but one thing I have down pat is analyzing. So my little mind went to work right away trying to figure out what happened, in between bouts of discouragement and, uh, obsessing. I mean my head was in overdrive analyzing every little bite of food, every moment I wasn't exercising, and wondering what I could do differently to get the results I'm looking for.

So, as I'm thinking about all this, I start wondering if the scale is off. To test it, I decide to weigh my 5 pound free weights. Then I weigh myself again. Then I drink a glass of water. And weigh myself again. Then I pee. And, yes, weigh myself again. Uh huh.

Ever heard the phrase paralysis by analysis? Ah-emmm. Yeah, too much thinking about things creates giant mind potholes to fall into and it can get very dark in there, you might think you are seeing something new and brilliant, and feel so enlightened. But, then you realize what you're seeing is just the other side of your rut,.

Ashley, my personal trainer said "if you weigh yourself every day you are going to get very obsessed and very discouraged." {I nod knowingly.}

I know everyone must do what works for them, but I made my first rule . . . weighing in happens on Monday morning as soon as I get up. Not before. For no reason. Ever.

And, this is helping me breathe again. And to trust the process. Because when I create a calorie deficit, the weight will come off.

Workin' it,
Cheryl