Milestones!

Hey guys! See? It didn't take a month this time! I have a couple of big milestones to reveal too.

But first, a small recap: I started my journey with the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans on January 1st, 2014. I was desperate because my weight had creeped up so much, I was worried it wouldn't stop. (I was 191.2 at the time)

I stopped drinking soda and cut way back on my candy consumption. It wasn't perfect, and if you want to read about it, skim to the past blog posts. Changes happened slowly, and I wasn't 100% commited like I should have been. But! Slowly I did lose some weight.

Then Easter happened. I ate way to much, made myself feel sick, and gained 5 lbs. Seriously? Over 4 months of work almost destroyed by one day? So I redoubled my efforts, cut the candy almost completely, started walking at work and lost the 5 lbs plus a little more. But I still wasn't happy.

So, May 19th, I started a low carb/high fat diet. I figured I would give it 3 weeks, and see how I liked it. I'd only lost 10 lbs in 5 and a half months doing it my way, so we would see what happened.

After 3 weeks I lost 6 lbs! It's slower than some on the diet, but dammit, it's over half of what I lost in 5 months. I was hooked. Then, I don't know what came over me, but I cheated just a little bit... then a little bit more. Never enough to really do damage, but enough to stall my weight loss.

So I quit cheating. I lose weight slowly already, I don't need to be working against myself too. It's been 7 weeks now, and I'm proud of my progress.

Now for my milestones!

First, I have officially lost a little more than 20 lbs since the first of the year!! Maybe if I hadn't dicked around those first 5 months, I would have lost more, but I'm extremely happy! I couldn't have done it without my lovely ladies cheering me on either! You know who you are ;)

Second, I've lost about 15 inches all over my body since Easter! I can't even believe it! That's a lot of area to lose!!

Third,  as of today (which is why I waited to post this), I am in the 160's!!! I weighed this morning and saw 169.8! I haven't been in the 160's in over 10 years, after I had my daughter and my weight slowly went up. I'm so excited!!!

And finally, but I think most importantly,  I SEE the changes in myself. It's been a long road, but it's so worth it. I can't wait to see where I end up from here!

Thanks so much guys, for all of your support! I love you all, you are truly my sisters!!

Really? Has it been a month already?

Sooo.... it's been a month. A month?! I knew it had been a while, but what the hell? Well... I am still without my computer for one... stupid dog. Also, again, using the phone is sooo time consuming! But, here I am, back again. Besides, as Karen has pointed out, she made my blog pretty awesome,  the least I can do is use it! Maybe this time, I can keep on track with it? (Candy, help me out, k?)

So! Where can I start? Well, last blog post, I mentioned I was starting a low carb, high fat diet (info here). Honestly, when I started it, I was only going to try it for 3 weeks, to see how I would do. Um... I'm hooked! I know this is so cliché,  but it isn't a diet so much as a permanent lifestyle change. I've met people who are still following this way of life 9 years later. It helps with so many health problems, it's amazing. So how have I done in a month? Well, I'm down 10.5 inches and 6.6 pounds. Say what?? Yeah. Needless to say, I love it. I don't feel like I'm denying myself anything either. Remember several months back when I had a whole post on the fact that I couldn't seem to give up candy? Thing of the past now. If (and this is a big if) I have a taste for some candy, I grab a serving of sugar free candy, and I'm set for days. I have no real "cravings" anymore for sweets. It's so crazy!

Let's see... another change is my sleep pattern. Got that all straightened out now! Guess what?  I'm getting about 8 hours of sleep now... instead of 4 here and 2 there. I love being off of night shift!

As for working in the kitchen, I wish they would utilize my culinary skills a bit more... I did go to school at one point for this shit... but I've been stuck on the serving line for weeks. Hopefully I will get my chance though. And one of the lower supervisors is a complete bitch who hates me... but oh well. She's not in charge often, so I'm not worried. I can deal with the glares, but I talk back when she starts trying to tear into me for dumb stuff. Lol suprised I haven't been written up for insubordination yet. ;)

Oh! By the way! On my path to Mount Doom through Middle Earth, I have reached a huge milestone! I have arrived at the Prancing Pony in Bree!! I now have Aragorn in my group! How exciting!!

Anyway my lovelies! I must go for now, but I will try to post again next week! I might need a reminder though ;)

Oops! It's been a while

Hey there! Sorry it's been a while, for anyone keeping track, I've had quite a few changes happen in the same week, and I'm trying to get mentally sorted lol.

First of all, I left 3rd shift! I am no longer working as a Patient Care Assistant,  as I had very different views of how patients should be treated. So, I stayed at the same facility but moved to the Dietary department.  In other words, I'm cooking for the patients and serving food. :) I'm already much happier. You would be surprised (or you might not) how boring 3rd shift is. I didn't really feel like I earned my paychecks. Show up, dink around on the interwebs, read, play cards and then you look up and its only 2 am...ugh.... soooo challenging right? Now though? I'm usually helping with lunch, then we work on dinner, there's serving, cooking, cleaning up, and done! The day moves so fast! And I get so much movement in too! I'm happy for the switch. :-)

Second change, because of the shift change, my sleep pattern has been thrown all out of wack. I'm trying to get it wrangled in, but my mind is stubborn (go figure). I'll get there though!

Third change, my husband's stupid dumbshit dog chewed the power cord to my laptop. It will be a while before I can replace it. That's one reason I haven't posted here lately, because doing so from my phone is super tedious. But! I'm doing this for me as much as you, dear friends, so I have to post something ;-).

Yet another change, I've changed my diet. I don't want to go into too much detail, because (again) it's tedious over the phone, but so far, it's awesome! Basically it's low carb, high fat (good fats... not bad ones). And in 3 days, I can already tell a difference. I'm excited to see what the next week brings!

Hopefully I'll see you soon!!

Getting there

I can't believe we are already a week into May! Where has the time flown? I haven't blogged as much as I wanted to though, before now, but that's ok... I'll catch up. After I walked my 5k, I took it easy for a few days, because my legs were killing me. I did step it up again though. Not too much else going on though... 

I was doing really good not to eat any candy... and then it happened. Twix. Twix happened. Was it delicious? Eh.... Was it worth it? Eh..... So why did I do it? I have no idea. I think it's because it's about TOM, and that's why I'm craving chocolate... cause I don't want it really.... Really! Don't look at me that way! I've gotten t that point. But right now? I'm craving it... grrr.

Other than that though, I walked 15.9 miles last week! For my walk to Mordor (15.9/1779), I hit Stock Road at the 14.5 mile mark. Woo! I'm on my way to camping with the Elves!

As for my weight, I had posted on the SJ Facebook page that I got down to 178.6 during my mid-week weigh in (cause it's an obsession)... I knew, that probably wouldn't last though, but that's ok! Because I knew that I could do it! So, when it came time for my actual weigh in? 179.6! One pound in 3 days, when usually I go up much more? I'll take it! I'm super excited to see what comes next!

Thanks to everyone in my Shrinking Jeans group though! Without them, I would never had started, I would be sitting on my couch, 191 pounds, miserable, and wishing I would think to do something. 12 pounds might not seem like much in 5 months, but if I hadn't joined this group, it wouldn't have been anything at all. I'm super grateful for all of them! 

Woo Hoo! Mayday!

I made it! Oh my gosh, I made it.... I walked a 5k... I can't believe it... I thought I was going to fall over. Wanna know what's worse? My dumbass had the car keys, so if for some reason I couldn't do it (like... I dunno, asthma problems, or got hit by a car) the hubs wouldn't be able to get to me easily! Geez!

BUT! I did it! And I didn't die either (bonus points for that one)! I realized something too, while I was walking... first of all... when I walk at work, I have to walk around the building 2 times to get about 3/4 of a mile, or 3 times for a mile. So I thought this task of a 5k would be pretty easy. But when I took off out my door, and walked halfway across town, and had just barely made it a mile, I thought two things... 1. Crap, this is really harder than I thought! and 2. Our town is too shittin' small! 

So I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but on the left is the whole town, and on the right is my walk... I basically walked most of the town in 3.5 miles... Sad lol

So, I walked, and walked, and walked.... and eventually I made it. I actually walked a little bit further, because I'm a dingtard, and didn't know how far I should go, since the town is so small, so by the time I made it back to the house, it was actually 3.5 miles. :)

I'm going to recap a few things, for you, but mostly for me, because it's good to see where you've been... 

At the beginning of April, I was so close to giving up, as a matter of fact, I even blogged about it just 20 days ago. My my, how things can change! The day after easter, I started walking while at work during my breaks, one to two times a night, and upped my walking in general at work while on the unit. I made sure to get up and move around. I've been dancing at home, too. I haven't even had any candy in 2 days! So what was my final weigh in for April? 

April 1- 184.2
April 30-181

But honestly, I only started walking a week or so before the end of the month. I'm pretty pleased with that number. I also mentioned in the post where I almost quit that I had wanted to get in about 50 miles last month. Well? How about 57.5?? KABOOM! And the bestest part?? 31.5 of that was from when I started really committing the day after easter. That's 9 days. Ya heard me.... NINE. You know what that means? I can actually do this! Hot Damn!

I'm ready for what this next month will bring. I'm ready for my trip to Mordor and I'm ready to really kick some ass!

An extension, if you will!

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."

So, my awesome ladies over at Shrinking Jeans Accountability group have joined together to do a walking challenge, and someone postulated that we could see how far we get in the month of May. I love this idea, as I've gotten more into walking. My plan may constantly change (freaking ADHD) but the goal has always been to get off the rumpus and get out the door.

Well, I decided to expand on the Mileage May challenge... When I was much younger, I had joined Weight Watchers (the first of many times) and I was really big on their message boards. There was this group that was focused on Middle Earth. I loved it! I forgot all about it when I quit, but it was a great experience, and kept me motivated for some time.

I wouldn't have even thought about it now, if it wasn't for Laura, who mentioned a Walking to Mordor group on My Fitness Pal. While I don't want to join yet another group, especially on a site that I'm not on often (but probably should be) I searched for alternatives. That's when I found this really really familiar site. It actually maps out how many miles it took to get around Middle Earth! I'm super excited! The first part of the trek takes you to Rivendell. 

(There are two websites that you can follow, the first is EowynChallenge.net, which lines out allllllll the walking done by everyone during the entire trip. Or there's NerdFitness.com, which just lines out Frodo and Sam's walk.... which is what I will set out to do)

If you just follow Frodo and Sam's path then this is the mileage:

• 458 miles: Go from Hobbiton to Rivendell.
• 462 miles: Set out with the Fellowship from Rivendell, through Moria, to Lothlorien.
• 389 miles: From Lothlorien, down the Anduin, to Rauros Falls.
• 470 miles: Follow Frodo and Sam on the quest from Rauros to Mt. Doom.
• 535 miles From Minas Tirith to Isengard
• 693 miles From Isengard to Rivendell.
• 397 miles From Rivendell to Bag End.
• 467 miles: (bonus!) Follow Frodo to the Grey Havens and return home with Sam.

Following this path, you need to walk a total of 1779miles to get from Hobbiton to Mt. Doom. At which point you destroy the ring and get carried to Minas Tirith by giant Eagles. Then you’ll walk 1625 miles back to Bag End (and an additional 467 miles if you’re interested in doing a round trip to the Grey Havens).

Now I can't decide, do I factor in the miles I've already walked since I got serious last Monday, or do I start May 1st? Either way, it's going to take me a long time, which is fine. I'm excited to start this epic journey!

P.S. Nerd Fitness also has charts that you can plot your journey and keep track of where you are on your path!

OAR 5k Virtual Run/Walk

Click on the link for info

It's absolutely amazing what getting your ass into gear can get you! I'm a member of 2 groups on Facebook for Virtual Runs, although, I haven't been about to sign up for any yet, because I'm one of the lovely ones that get to live paycheck to paycheck. Well, there was a post about a OAR (Organization for Autism Research) Virtual Run, and since my son has "atypical autism" I thought this would be an excellent run to save money for. So I contacted the organizer, and asked if they would still be doing it by my next payday, which is next Friday. She contacted me back about 10 minutes later and told me that I had been sponsored and all I had to do was send her my info! I can't even believe it! I'm super excited, and as soon as I can, I will pay it forward.

I've been walking more, every night at work, because, even though I came up with the game plan of going to the cemetery, it hasn't been working out like I wanted... but I'm at work every day, and now they are MAKING us take breaks (which all we do is sit on our ass all night anyway, why do we need breaks?? but I digress). So rather than hit the evil vending machine, I've been walking around my building every night. I feel great for it too! It's becoming easier! I can't believe it... the first few nights were kinda rough, because there's one section that is up hill, but now? Fah-getttabout it! 

Except we totally WILL!

There's also a new Mileage May challenge with another one of my Facebook groups, with my most FAVORITE LADIES EVER!!! I can't wait to start that! Who knew I would be excited about fitness? Woo! Bring it on!