Weight Loss Goal Update

So I am almost to the end of my four weeks.  The time has flown by!!  But I have some positive things to report.  My four week goal was to lose 10 pounds, unfortunately that may have been a bit of a lofty goal beacuse I have not lost ten pounds.  However, I am not upset by this, I am actually happy with the progress I have made.

I had decided that in order for me to lose the weight I would have to do six things consistently.  These six things were exercising, cutting out junk food and pop, eating 6 servings of fruits or veggies a day, drinking 6 glasses of water, and not eating after 8 pm.  My most successful areas were cutting out pop, and not eating after 8 pm.  Adrian tried to foil my plans a few nights by eating in bed, but I think my not eating after 8 has also influenced him as he has not eaten in bed half as much as he used to.  I was also very successful at drinking at least 6 glasses of water a day.  I did notice that since I have started this, that when I do not drink those 6 glasses I get headaches and don't feel too good.  I welcome those feelings becasue then I will be encouraged to drink water in order to continue to feel good.  Junk food is my nemisis, in this I include chips and chocolate bars and fast food.  In this four week time I have eaten two meals from a fast food restaurant, and I have indulged a couple times in chips and sweet snacks.  The bonus of this is that I am cognizant of what I am eating and I am not ingesting as much as I would if I were not keeping track.  I have cut out pop from my diet (YEAH ME) because I was addicted to pepsi and I have only drank pepsi on one occassion and that was at the wedding.  Exercise has been the most disappointing goal.. and I can only blame myself.  I started picking up with the whole exercising then I let it fall out again.. But I am going to change my goals for the next four weeks to be more specific especially with the exercising portion.

So now for the good news! I have three different sizes of pants, I have my fat ass pants, my acceptable size pants, and my desirable sized pants.  Nevermind what those actual sizes are lol.... But when I realized that I was living this horrible nightmare of me vs the scale, I was only able to squeeze into my fat ass pants...  couldn't even pull my desirable sized pants up over my extra large thighs.  Today I was able to pull on all my acceptable size pants and do them up comfortably.  It's time for a celebration!!!! Not a really big celebration but a little one.

Just remember it's those small steps that will consistently and assuredly lead us to what we want, the big leaps often leave us with less then sure footing so we fall back and often have to start again. 

Hiccups in Goal #4

So I have been trying hard to go to sleep at the same time every night with the intention of getting my full 8 hours of sleep then getting up and starting my day at a normal hour.  However, Little Man does not think I need, nor deserve 8 hours of sleep.  He has gotten into some otherworldly routine where he does not want to sleep in his own bed at night.  It's becoming a problems.

I haven't even written out my ideal bedtime routine because he's been such a little monster.  But I guess I can't blame him, and I should do my routine around him regardless.  I have a basic routine just not a set routine, which I feel I need to make this goal successful. I believe it's just my need to follow a schedule that has me set on creating this to see success, becasue without I am more whimsical and to make changes being whimsical is not going to help me.

Little Man's problems stem from not wanting to be put in his crib.  He has this inate sense when I am putting him in his crib, he wakes up, tenses his little body and starts to cry.  I try to soothe him but it's not use, he just cries, so then I let him cry.  I am trying to let him cry it out, but after an hour, I've heard enough.  So I go and get him and cuddle with him in my bed until he's asleep then I put him back in his crib.  Usually he will stay asleep then, but not always.  He has also attempted to give up napping as well. 

We have ended the midnight feedings and things were going well.  Then Little Man got sick and he started to wake up in the middle night and won't go back to sleep.  So now I have a sick child who is waking up at 1:30 and not going back to sleep until close to 4.  Then he's up again at 6 and that's when I take him into bed with me.  I would love to be up at 7 and getting ready for my day, but apparently my son has other plans for me.

I am not sure what to do, but I am open to suggestions, because I am coming to the end of my rope.  What do you do when your baby just cries and cries??  How do you get them into a good night time routine where they sleep for 8-12 hours??

Weight Loss, let the Journey begin

I find it confusing that I can gain weight in the blink of an eye, but it takes eons to lose it.  So I am starting, I know that maintaining and losing weight is about making changes to your life and eating better, being more active and shutting down those excuses, but it still seems so hard.  It also seems very discouraging when it seems to take forever to lose any weight, but it seems like no problem to pack on the pounds.  I know that the weight gain is my fault, I don't blame anyone else it is simply me not being diligent with my exercising and eating habits.  But I am changing those now....

So here are some of my before pictures they are so not flattering, but they are my encouragement to change and work towards a weight at which I am comfortable and feel good and healthy.

Update June 11, 2010

Last Friday I went away on holidays.  I went to Prince Edward Island for five days.  Usually when I go on holidays I go for food and shopping, my two comfort items.  But as I was determined to begin my Lifestyle Lift I was consciencous of what I put into my body.

The food part was taken care of but I didn't do so well on the exercising part.  I did quite a bit of walking, but no real aerobic exercise to get my heart rate up.

Other areas where I struggled were with spending money, I don't think I did to bad.  I spent $400 in total while I was there so that it acceptable, but I could have done without  buying some of the things I bought. 

I stayed on schedule with waking up at the same time and generally going to bed around the same time.  This stayed truen until the night we came home.  Silly time zones and silly planes coming in late at night.  It definitely threw me for a loop and yesterday was a write off. 

Well more later, must go to the other blog to blog about Prince Edward Island.

Long Term Goal #4

By October 2010 I will have a set routine for my daily life with little man, this will include getting up in the morning and going to sleep by 10:30 -11:00 every night.

Short Term Goals:

1. Write out ideal Bedtime routine and follow it for 21 days straight.
2. Write out ideal morning routine and follow it for 21 days straight.
3. Set alarm clock and sleep clock on tv to coincide with sleep times once routines are established.

This goal is more for my sanity and to help keep me motivated during the days I don't want to get up and to keep me on track when it feels like my day is running away from me!!

Long Term Goal #3

By November 2010 I will have a budget by which I live reducing my spending and creating a lifestyle that is cash based only, using credit cards to secure purchases only.

Short Term Goals

1. Create a monthly spreadsheet for spending and income and fill in for the month.  Monitoring all little spendings as well.
2. Evaluate bills by September 15, 2010 and make reductions where we do not need to be spending.
3. By October 2010 have all credit cards paid off and only use them in emergencies.

This will be a hard goal for me to maintain or would be a hard goal to maintain because I have a habit of spending money, but I am making a change and I will beat this goal and live a life where I don't have to worry about money!!!

Long Term Goal #2

By August 1, 2011 my diet will consist of 6 glasses of water, 5 servings of fruits or veggies, 1-2 servings of protein and 1-2 dairy servings and 3 carbohydrates, completely eliminating fast food, chips, candy bars and soda.


Short term Goals

1. By August 15, 2010 I will have not had Pepsi (soda) for one full month or more.
2. By November 9, 2010 as a family we will have eliminated Fast Food Restaurant dining from our eating menu including delivery and take out.
3. I will drink at least 6 glasses of water a day and record this in my exercise journal.

I like to set dates for certain criteria that way I can work on portions of the goal and thus complete the goal fully but not feel like all my vices have to be given up cold turkey. ;)

Long Term Goal #1

1.By August 1, 2011 I will be 150-155 pounds in weight, which will put me at roughly a size 8.


Short term Goals:

1. I will creat an exercise journal and exercise at least 3 times per week recording those exercise times down in the journal.
2. In four weeks I will have lost 10 pounds and will have completed 540 minutes of exercise.
3. By October 28, 2010 (one year after the birth of little man) I will have reached my prepregnancy weight and maintained or dropped below it for four weeks.

Here is a chart that I am going to use to help me maintain this goal and Goal #2.  Thanks to Nellie for the idea!!!
Goals: To lose 10 pounds in 4 weeks                    M T W R F S S Total M T W R F S S total


Exercise for twenty to sixty minutes (3 pts)

Not eating junk food (1 point)

Eating 6 servings of fruits or veggies a day ( 1 point)

Not eating after 8pm ( 1 point)
Drinking 6 glasses of water a day (1 point)

Not drinking pop (1 point)


In it's chart form on my computer it looks great, but for this it didn't copy so well.  However, what happens is each day I complete one of these goals I give myself a stamp and total up the points at the end of the week.  It will then give me a visual representation of how well I am doing at maintaining my goals.  Some areas I have to work more dilligently at, but others I am well on my way to perfecting!!!

Setting Goals

I have never been good at setting goals, or sticking to them.  Often times I will set them then promptly forget about them until something reminds me that I have not been fulfilling my goals.  Well that is the first change I wish to make.... I am going to set goals and stick with.  I am going to set 4 long term goals and then I will set 3 short term goals for each of those long term goals.  That way I can see myself progressing.  As I reach a short term goal I will re-evaluate the long term goal and make changes I see fit.  I will never lessen the goal, but I will increase it if it seems like the mark is too easy to reach.  Especially if it is only a partial goal.

So after much consideration here are my first four long term goals:

1. By August 1, 2011 I will be 150-155 pounds in weight, which will put me at roughly a size 8.
2. By August 1, 2011 my diet will consist of 6 glasses of water, 5 servings of fruits or veggies, 1-2 servings of protein and 1-2 dairy servings and 3 carbohydrates, completely eliminating fast food, chips, candy bars and soda.
3. By November 2010 I will have a budget by which I live reducing my spending and creating a lifestyle that is cash based only, using credit cards to secure purchases only.
4. By October 2010 I will have a set routine for my daily life with little man, this will include getting up in the morning and going to sleep by 10:30 -11:00 every night.

I have set these long term goals and will post separate blogs with explanations into my short term goals that will enable me to reach my long term goals.  With the wedding approaching in just over a year I want to be healthy, and looking fabulous, with no money stresses from the big day!!! 

Taking Back Control

The other morning started as all other mornings do in my house, the waking up to a baby crying and two other members of my household preparing to go to work and school.  Slowly, the baby and decided to begin our day.  I got up checked my emails and Facebook accounts, I always check my emails first as they will tell me if there is anything interesting on Facebook that requires my attention.  I turned on the television to have Ellen playing in the background.  I served myself breakfast and made breakfast for the baby.  I had two English muffins with pb and j, the baby had cereal.  After I changed baby into a clean diaper and outfit for the day I placed him down on the floor in my room so I could begin to get dressed.  That's when disaster struck!! 
I had grabbed a pair of jeans out of my clean laundry basket.  I pulled those jeans on, right leg first then the left leg.  I hoisted the jeans up over my knees, skimming over my thighs and tugging over my arse to my waist.  (Not really my waist but two inches below as is the style of this particular pair of jeans.)  Placing my hands on either side of the buttons I pulled,  and pulled and yanked to make the button hole and button meet, but WHAT THE HECK (wth)!!!  I couldn't make these two meet, there was a solid inch of skin in the way of letting this happen!!! These were jeans I had only worn last week WTH!!
So out of the blue I had packed on a bunch of weight, weight I never saw coming.  I didn't think I was eating like a porker, or gorging myself to justify gaining so much weight and frankly so many inches.  I don't feel like I look fat, I don't feel like I am obese.  Ok maybe obese is an exaggeration but I don't think my WII Fit will agree.  It will most likely call me obese. 
How come it always seems to go this way??  You are always very conscience of when you are losing weight because of all the effort you are exerting to get to your desired weight, but when you gain weight it happens so slyly that it just smacks you in the face one day when you least expect it.  I had thought I was losing weight or at least maintaining my weight, but nope, not EVEN close.  Has this ever happened to you?  It's the time when you realize you are simply a passenger in YOUR life's drive, not the DRIVER.  It is at the time when you are simply going through the motions and the motions have made you sedentary and unhappy. 
The unhappy reality, for me, is this has very recently happened to me.  I am letting too many outside variables direct my life and I have decided to make over my life.  From this day forward I am taking back control and giving my Lifestyle a Lift. 
Like a face lift, my Lifestyle Lift will take me to a point in my life that is very altered from here, where I will be healthy and happy with all the choices in my life. 
Do not be surprised to hear me talking about the 7 habits of Highly Effective People, or Grace Cirocco, or The Secret because these are influences I have come across and I feel the need to incorporate them into my life.
First things first let's set some goals!!!