Weigh In Results

Starting weight: 249
Week one weigh in: 248
Current weight: 244
Total weight loss: 5 pounds

Yesterday while doing laundry, I bent over to pick up some dirty clothes. As I stood up, I immediately felt a burning, sharp pain radiate through my lower back and with each step the pain intensified. I spent the rest of the day laying on the couch.
So, that means it is slow going starting off week three. No Couch to 5K today, just a light stroll on the treadmill this morning.
Injuries are an unfortunate part of exercising (and apparently laundry is a hazard as well!) and adjustments have to be made to stay on course.
So while this feels like a setback, I have to keep reminding myself to take the necessary adjustments to let what's "broken" heal. Praying for a quick recovery so I can get back on track!
~jen

Weigh-In Nerves

Tomorrow is Weigh-In day.  There's always a nervousness before weigh-ins.  Did I stay on track this past week?  Did I exercise as I planned?  Did I make healthy choices?  I can honestly answer those questions with a "YES"! I did have movie theater popcorn (with butter) Friday night.  But, I ate smaller portions during the day knowing that I would have a special treat that night.  I exercised one extra day to also make up for that special treat. 
Even when following a healthy eating plan and a work-out plan, there can still be disappointment on the scale. 
But, that's ok.  It's not a reason to give up.  I'll keep pressing on.  I pledge to never see my highest weight on a scale EVER again.
~jen 

Post Work-Out Fuel

This is my FAVORITE post work-out snack.

1T Better 'N Peanut Butter (50 calories)
1/2 banana, sliced (45 calories)
1 slice Sugar Free Whole Grain Wheat bread, toasted (60 calories)

For more post work-out snacks, check out this article!
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/snacks/low-calorie/after-workout-snacks/

~jen

It's what's for dinner!

Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Yogurt Sauce

Pan seared Tilapia filets with a little EVOO and seasoned with Fajita seasoning
Grilled onions and bell peppers
Whole grain white corn tortillas
Cilantro lime yogurt sauce (plain Greek yogurt mixed with 2T chopped cilantro, 1 green onion, and the juice of 1/2 of a lime)

Weigh In Results

Week One:
Starting weight: 249 pounds
Current weight: 248 pounds
Total weight loss: 1 pound

Deep sigh. One pound is super disappointing. But, looking at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty, it's a pound lost and I'm one step closer to my goal.

I have two choices, be frustrated with one lousy pound and let it ruin my day (make bad food choices) or I can accept it, appreciate that it was a loss rather than a gain and press on.

I've got a long road ahead of me and I'm pressing on.

~jen

Do The Thing You Think You Cannot Do

As I mentally prepare myself for this upcoming week, I have to keep reminding myself that I CAN DO THIS.  I can get up at 4:35 every morning.  Get dressed.  Teeth brushed.  Hair pulled back.  Grab a water bottle and drive myself to the gym.  It's a process... and it doesn't end when I walk into the gym.  There's the actual work-out that needs to be done.  There's the little voice in my head that says you can't do this.  I picture a fat me on one shoulder and a fit me on the other.  One voices doubt, the other encouragement.  It's a battle most mornings.  But slowly, the fit me is winning the battle.

Keep telling yourself... YOU CAN DO THIS! 
~jen 

My Breakfast Routine

I <3 my Nutribullet! It blends up the most perfect smoothies. It blasts through frozen fruit and nuts with ease! I have at least one spinach and fruit smoothie a day!

Today's breakfast smoothie:
A couple of handfuls of baby spinach
4 whole strawberries
1/2 cup pineapple with a splash of pineapple juice
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
1-2 tsp flax seed
Splash of Orange Juice
Water

I'll drink this with a Yoplait Greek 100 calorie yogurt.

It's what's for breakfast today!

From Fat to Forty

From Fat to Forty was created to journal being fat at 38 to becoming fit by 40. 

Weight has been an issue for the majority of my adult life.  Over the last 20 years I've watched my weight yo-yo from the 130's in my late teens to as much as 270 in my late 30's. I've tried numerous diets, countless "I'll start again on Monday" speeches, 20 years worth of failed lose-the-weight New Year's Resolutions, and I have several weight loss videos collecting dust in the TV stand.

I've struggled with self-image since my teen years.  I can remember wishing as a young teenager to be thinner.  I weighed 130 my senior year and wore a size 8-10. I remember thinking and telling myself that I was fat. If only that girl knew where she'd be 20 years later.  If she thought she was fat then... oh my... she didn't know what fat was!  She would never guess that 20 years later her senior prom dress and graduation outfit would hang in her closet as a reminder of what she thought fat looked like.      

Looking back, there is no there's-where-the-weight-came-on moment.  It's been a slow, steady progression from 130 pounds to 270 pounds in the last 20 years.  There were two babies, a college education, the ups and downs of marriage, financial burdens, but no significant event that caused the weight.  It just happened.  One day I woke up, stood on the scale, and it read 270. TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY POUNDS. Holy donkey balls. How could I have let my weight get so out of control?!?  Seriously.

Last spring I made a decision to lose the weight.  I downloaded a Couch to 5K fitness app to my iPhone and also started using the My Fitness Pal app.  I went from 270 pounds to 238 pounds from April-August of last year. I exercised regularly.  I started seeing and feeling the results.  Then old habits took over.  Cody (my oldest son) left for college.  School started for Caden (my youngest son).  Work became more stressful (I'm a Hospice nurse).  1 cookie turned into 4 (my favorite... chocolate chip). Workouts became fewer and fewer.  Pants started fitting more snugly.  Then the numbers on the scale started climbing.  238 went to 240 then to 245 then to 249.  Time to put the brakes on before 249 turns to 270 and beyond!  Because that's usually what happens.  Lost pounds that creep back tend to find more pounds.  And before you know it you're 20 pounds heavier than you were at your heaviest weight! Hello new heaviest weight!  Ugh... the cycle of lost and found pounds.

So here it is another new year.  Another New Year's Resolution to lose the weight.  I'm on week 2 of hitting the gym 5 days a week (AT FIVE IN THE FREAKING MORNING!).  I've restarted (this is probably my 10th time to restart it!) my Couch to 5K running program.  I signed up for my first 5K in April (The Color Run in Dallas!).  I started the Made to Crave bible study.  And now this blog.  Something has got to work, right?

So here's the skinny on what to expect:
~Complete honesty.  Tell it like it is and nothing less.
~Weekly weigh-in results. The good and the bad.  Because I know there will be a bad week in there!
~Motivation for myself and maybe someone else who's struggling with weight.
~Recipes and fitness tips.






The numbers:
(This is where the honesty comes in.  It's raw and embarrassing.  It's tears-rolling-down-my-cheeks honesty. It's what I've tried to hide from Michael (my husband) and dreaded at every doctor's appointment.)
~deep breath~

Current weight: 249 pounds
Current clothing sizes: Pants- 20 Tops 1-2X

Where I want to be: 140-150 pounds. But, more importantly than the number... Healthy, Happy, and Fit at 40.

I welcome your comments, your encouragement, and most importantly your prayers. 

From Fat to Forty starts now. 

~jen