After Pic!

I've had a few people ask for an "after" pic, so I had Mike snap a pic of me this morning before I walked out the door to work.

People keep asking me if I feel like a totally new person and really, the answer is no. I just feel like ME again!

GOAL!!!

Well, today actually started off pretty icky, as I had a dentist appointment at 9:00 am this morning for some fillings (my weight was not the only thing I neglected over the last 10 years... ) and when I got home I was feeling pretty rotten. It was this weird combination of complete numbness (which is annoying) and yet still some pretty significant throbbing where the numbness was slowly wearing off.

So after sitting around for awhile wishing I could eat (dentist said not to because I could easily bite my lip), hubby said that while I was gone, the floating SlimGenics Manager (who was my center's manager when I signed up) called and said that he was at my center today and would love to see me. I figured, well, I can't talk well, but I also can't eat, so I might as well go weigh-in and say hi.

I weighed in yesterday and was .75 lbs away, so I wasn't expected much today, but I was stunned to be down an entire pound from yesterday, putting me .25 lbs BELOW my goal weight!




I started Week 1 of Balance on Tuesday and it's been awesome. I feel like I'm eating so much more normally (even though it's not really that big of a change), but so much healthier than I used to. I really feel like I can do this for the long haul!

Thank you SlimGenics, for giving me the tools to get here and the tools to STAY HERE!!

Getting Soooooooo Close!!

I now have only 2 weight loss weeks left (well, I actually have 14 left that I either paid for or earned) and as of my weigh-in on Saturday, I have only 4.75 lbs to go! I lost 3 lbs on the week (yay!) for a total loss of 94.75 lbs!

Of course, as has almost always been the case when I've been close to milestones, I ended my week .25 lbs away from another one! But hey, getting under that 5-pound-to-go mark is also a milestone and I hit that this week!

So hopefully I'll hit 95 lbs when I weigh in on Monday, and then the next milestone up will be GOAL!!!

While sometimes it feels like I've been dieting FOREVER, it hasn't even been 9 months since I started SlimGenics! I would say that I have most definitely experienced a "results not typical" amount of weight loss by giving it to God and doing the work to strictly adhere to the SG plan. He must have known that I would need to finish a little early since we would be leaving Minnesota this summer! (Imagine that! )

I need to lose just under 2.5 lbs each of my last 2 weeks in order to hit goal before starting balance. I had said that I would be happy just getting within 5 lbs (I am stopping the weight loss phase 2 weeks earlier than the original weight loss weeks I purchased; I've earned an additional 10 along the way), and since I'm already there, I'm obviously extremely pleased with how this has gone. I know I have a shot at hitting goal before balance, but I'm honestly not counting on it. I know I had a great 3-lb week this week, but I've had many more 1.75 lb type of weeks lately.

Either way, just 2 weeks to go and we'll be onto the next phase of the diet! Please pray that I have the motivation to end strong as I transition into Balance!

Taking Back My Winter Pound!

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile, you might remember in the fall when I finally caved and put on jeans and went to weigh in. I had to make the leap at some point, because I wasn't going to wear capri pants all winter long and I really don't feel like changing every time I weigh in. So, I bit the bullet, put on the jeans and weighed in, knowing that I would "lose" about a pound of weight loss, since the jeans weighed about 1 lb more than cotton capris. I continued to weigh in wearing jeans all winter long... until TODAY!

Today I took my pound back! I weighed in wearing cotton summer pants today (not capris, but they still weigh a lot less than jeans, I'm sure) and I think it couldn't have come at a better time. I ended up down 2 lbs for the week, putting me at 90 POUNDS even!!

I am now less than 10 lbs away from my original SlimGenics goal. I do plan to lose more (shooting for about 10-15 MORE than that original goal), but I am going to stick with this goal for now, since I have only 4 weeks left before they put me on Balance for my last 4 weeks in Minnesota. Once we get to Texas and get settled, I am going to go back to the weight loss phase until I hit my new goal and then I will do maintenance (though I assume I'll have to do Balance again first).

I'm counting on you guys to keep me accountable during that time. I know full well how easy it would be to NOT go back to the weight loss phase once we get down there, but I NEED to. I know I've come a long way, but I'm NOT done yet!

So, even though it may have taken a change of clothes to do it, I ended up with a 2 lb week!

Have a great weekend everyone and if you're in Minnesota, enjoy this rare, beautiful day in the 60's. We're smack dab in the middle of our moving garage sale and we're thankful to have at least one of three days give us a little sunshine!

Preferred Rates!!

So I haven't had health insurance at all since I left my full-time job when my son was born, because I've been too heavy to qualify for individual insurance.

Well, we've recently started working with an AWESOME financial planner through Thrivent Financial (they are a fabulous Christian non-profit organization = financial planning services are FREE!!) and they found us a great PPO health insurance plan for the whole family that costs only about $45/mo more than we have been paying for just Mike & Zach! Sweet!!

I know I'm definitely not too heavy to qualify anymore, but here's what I DIDN'T know: my weight is now low enough that I actually even qualify for PREFERRED rates!!

Now, I'm only in by about 1.5 lbs, but I don't care! That's enough!! And I'm not done with this journey, but it still feels great to know that I'm healthy enough for even the greedy insurance industry!

Oh, and just another little thing. I hit my 80-lb milestone today too! 80.75 lbs total; 2.25 lbs on the week!

Despite Pizza, Another Good Week & Milestone Down!

I didn't expect this week to be one of my better ones, considering the cheese bread and pizza dinner I had on Monday night, but luckily I was surprised!

Just had my final weigh-in of the week at my SlimGenics center and my total loss for the week is 2.5 lbs, putting me past a HUGE milestone with a total loss of 75.75 lbs!! WOOHOO!

I think the key really is not letting one bad choice turn into 2, 5, 10, etc... I've gone off plan enough times during this journey to see that as long as I get right back on and don't let it become endless bad choices on top of bad choices, I don't have to pay too much on the scale and it actually comes off quickly after getting back on track and acts like a little quick start.

I am so thankful for this program - I have less than 25 lbs to go and that feels incredible!

Another One Bites the Dust!!

Another milestone, that is! :-)

Just got back from my final weigh-in for the week at SlimGenics and I was down another 1.25 lbs from Thursday, putting my total weight loss at 71 pounds!! WOOHOO!

Another thing that feels REALLY good is having a "2" in front of the number of my remaining weight loss. Having 28.5 lbs to go isn't much less than 30, but it sure feels nice to have 20-something lbs to go and not 30-something lbs to go!! :-D

So now the prayer is that the vacation eating really did jump start the loss and it keeps going!

No Matter Which Diet, You Have to WANT it...

One thing that has become abundantly clear to me in the last week: wanting to change is the majority of the battle with weight loss. It doesn't matter which diet you choose if you aren't ready to make the changes!

I've had moderate success with other diets in the past, but SlimGenics has truly been something amazing for me. I mean, 60 lbs in less than 5 months? That's INSANE. The difference? I think I finally got fed up enough with being overweight and prayed enough about it that I was ready to do what needed to be done to see these changes in my life.

Does that mean that I didn't want to be thin and healthy in the past? No, of course not. But wanting to be thin and wanting it bad enough to be willing to do the work, (I mean REALLY willing to do the work) are definitely two separate things.

As you all know, my motivation has been slipping lately and the scale has reflected this. For the first 10 days of the year, I think I only lost 1 lb. Considering I was losing, on average, over 3 lbs a week, that's obviously very low. But I was NOT "all in" and it made a difference. I didn't want it more than anything else, and the results followed my heart.

This week, I've really made an effort to get back on track. By Wednesday, my motivation and desire to again be "all in" had started to return. I had hoped to get to the center for my weigh-in on Wednesday, but I just had too many meetings at work to sneak away. So I went in yesterday (Thursday) and was so glad I did!!

61 lbs officially!! (for those who have been watching my Facebook updates via myfitnesspal.com, those lbs lost are on my scale at home since the beginning and the loss is a little higher than their scale shows, because they aren't counting the 2-3 I gained the weekend before starting and it doesn't fluctuate with different clothes, etc.). I finally hit my 60 lb milestone and I'm off and running again.

But even better than the 61 lbs is that they did measurements again and I've lost a total of 35 inches on my thighs, hips, waist, chest and arms! 11 inches alone off my hips!! WHOA!! Almost an entire FOOT off my hips!! CRAZY!!

I've seen so many other people have major success on the SlimGenics diet, but then when I went to the SG message boards I also saw so many people really struggling. After reading some of their posts and what they were struggling with, I realized it sounded like me when I was doing weight watchers a year ago. Yeah, I wanted to lose weight, but it wasn't a priority, I wasn't ready like I was when I shelled out the money for SG, etc. etc. And I knew it then, but I would never have admitted it. I didn't want to stop eating bacon. I didn't want to stop eating cheese. And those things were overriding the fact that I wanted to be healthier and thinner.

By late summer, I realized that I was ready, because I knew I wouldn't have to give up those things forever, but it was worth it to give them up for the time it took to lose the weight.

And it's been worth every sacrifice because I WANT THIS!! I know now that I can finish strong and be where I want to be before it's time for summer clothes again! :-)

HUGE Milestone and Year-End Goal

As you can see by the ticker at the top of the page, today's weigh-in at my SlimGenics center yielded 1.5 lbs for the week for a total of 50 lbs lost!! WOOHOO!! I am past the half-way point and what a huge milestone to hit only 3.75 months in!!

Still having some pretty big cravings and I'm certain it's mostly due to the weather. It's cold (and there's 9-13 inches of snow minimum on the way tonight and tomorrow!!) and I just want warm comfort food. I had a salad for lunch and it was NOT what sounded good. ;-)

However, the good news is that I've discovered flavored herbal teas. I never realized all the flavors you could get these in (never really been a tea person), but Sugar Cookie tea does actually help with cravings. The Bengal Spice tastes almost identical to a Starbucks Chai Tea Latte, which is my favorite drink they have! And, since herbal teas are unrestricted on the diet, I'm enjoying 3-4 cups a day in a variety of flavors and they are treats. :-)

It's probably not great that I am counting down the days until I can take some time off the diet. I am not very far in, but for some reason I really need it. I think it's because most diets allow you something every single week (one cheat day, 35 extra points for the week, etc.) and this diet affords you NOTHING off plan. Of course, most diets don't yield the results I'm seeing either, so it's worth it to me. But, around the 23rd of December, my plan is to not go crazy, but not really deny myself anything for the celebrations either.

I want to make my son real Christmas cookies and I want to eat a few. I want to enjoy my department celebration at work, Christmas itself and my Small Group family fun night.

So, I'm hoping that between having a couple more weeks to lose some weight, taking into account what I will gain back during that time (probably about a week of sporadic off-plan food), I want to ring in the New Year having lost 50 lbs, then I can jump back on and finish the 2nd half of my journey.

Well, time to hunker down and make sure I have everything I'm going to need for the weekend, as the latest models are predicting up to 2 FEET of snow here in the metro area, so I don't plan on going ANYWHERE this weekend. Couple that with highs BELOW ZERO on Sunday and I'm staying put!

Have a great weekend everyone!

40 Pounds!! 40 Pounds!!!

I woke up this morning to a few inches of snow on the ground and it really coming down. We are under a winter storm warning with the threat of as many as 11 inches of snow today. Ick.

I could see by looking outside that the roads were a mess. But, they looked slushy more than slippery.

So, I had a decision to make. Journey out into the storm to do my 3rd and final weigh-in for the week, or let the week stand at 1 lb and a total of 39?

Of course, being as close as I was to 40, I had to go!! So I got ready and figured the earlier I went, the better. Less people on the road and less snow than there will be later.

I ice-skated my way to the SlimGenics center (almost literally; we still have desert freeway tires on the rear-wheel drive Expedition, so it was a very dicey drive), but it was SO WORTH IT!

Not the best week, as I only lost 2.25 lbs (which would be great on any other diet!!), but I don't care about that, because that puts me at 40.25 lbs total in 11 weeks! YAY!!

So, now I'm home safe and sound with the knowledge that I've lost 40 lbs in a very short period of time. It sucks outside, but I'm glad I went. ;-)

I'm too Picky and Uncreative!

My week this week was all out of whack. I normally weigh in at the SlimGenics Center on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This week was Monday, Thursday and Saturday. I felt off kilter all week (not because I didn't get to weigh in when I normally do, but because of the schedule upheaval that caused the odd weigh-ins).

That being said, I also had a frustrating week. I knew I would hit my 35 lb milestone, since I only needed to lose the .25 lbs to do it. And I did, I hit it on my Monday weigh-in. But, then my Thursday weigh-in showed me UP .75 lbs from Monday (although I was wearing a fleece top and jeans after wearing capris and a light shirt on Monday).

Still, that wasn't my major source of frustration. What has been tough for me is that I just am flat-out getting sick of eating the same foods day in and day out. Is it worth it? Of course. But does it lead to instant frustration when I don't see extreme results on the scale? Yep. 

The problem is I'm very picky and also have no creativity when it comes to cooking. So, when it says a 6 oz chicken breast is a protein portion, I literally grill up and eat a 6 oz chicken breast.

It's all getting very old and I want to not have to think so hard about what I'm going to eat next and figure out how I can eat something that sounds remotely appealing without tons of planning. I don't even need to eat terrible-for-me foods, but there are mornings that I just want to grab a bowl of cereal, because it's easy, and not have to cook up some eggs or whatever. Food prep is just not my thing. I like convenience.

So, I have this SlimGenics cookbook and I have to resolve to use it. I need to pray that God would give me some skills in this area, supernaturally, because I absolutely must keep going on this journey, but I really need some help here.

I can hardly complain about my progress, this I know. I'm losing weight at a pace most people would be thrilled with. I do know this. But a long, cold winter is staring me in the face and I'm all about warm, soft comfort food when it's cold. And soup is not my thing either. I want pizza, cheese enchiladas, pasta with white sauce, etc. Eating literally and straight-forward from my list of approved foods does not make good comfort food. So... I'm going to spend some time today going through the cookbook and pray that I find some recipes that I actually want to try!

Oh, and for the week? I weighed in this morning and I lost 3.25 lbs this week, putting my 10-week total at 38 lbs. Maintaining a 3.8 lb/week average this far in is really incredible. And as thankful as I am for that, that doesn't mean I want to eat food that doesn't appeal to me on a regular basis. 

Please pray that I can find some ways to get creative and stay on plan!

Great News for a Not-So-Great Week

Well, I weighed in this morning and I didn't have very high hopes, because according to my scale at home, I am only down .2 lbs since Monday. UGH. I had such great hopes for this week and hitting my 30-lb milestone after being down 29.25 lbs on Monday.

So I went in, kinda feeling defeated before I even stepped on the scale, because I doubted I would be down any more since my 29.75 lbs on Wednesday. I get on the scale and... drum roll... I'm down another whole pound since Wednesday! WHAT!?

While this is good news indeed, I'm still a little confused as to why they are showing the loss and I am not.

So I lost 2.75 lbs for the week, which is not great for the week after a Plateau-Breaker, but still a good loss! My total loss is now 30.75 lbs! Woohoo! That puts me at an average of 3.8 lbs/week for the first 8 weeks. That's pretty insane. Thank you SlimGenics and thank you God!

I seriously don't understand why my scale doesn't show more than .2 lbs since Monday and theirs shows 1.5 lbs, though. I guess we'll wait and see how it looks over the weekend when I go back in for my Monday weigh-in.

At least I'll be on the "progress board" for another week, but this time in the 30# category! Yay!

Have a great weekend everyone.