Saturday, February 11, 2012

How I did it.

People have been asking me how did you lose the weight? "Are you sick?" "What are you taking?" First off, I thank them for their concern, no I am not sick and I am not taking anything. What you see was done by sheer will and determination, a lot of sweat and even some swearing. So it started off with me getting a job where I have to walk, more than I have ever had to walk on a job except for Wild Rivers. I also got out of the house, so there wasn't a chance to sit on the couch, watch TV and eat what ever and when ever I wanted to.

My first pair of pants, I couldn't even button, so I did the old pregnancy trick, rubber band in the button hole. After a few weeks, something changed, low and behold I could button them. So, I started walking outside of work, in the neighborhood around the savanna anywhere I could and with anyone that wanted to come with me, the kids, the husband and friends. And it struck me one day on the way home from work, I was watching the kids run the neighborhoods and I realized I actually missed running. So, that was my next goal, I was going to run. Started slow and worked my way up to 3 miles. I ran my first 5k. And while the first mile is always the hardest, the sense of accomplishment outweighed the pain.

Getting active wasn't the only thing I did to change, I changed the way I eat. I cut out all soda, tea and juice. I drank only water or occasionally milk. I eat more veggies and salads. If we go out to eat, I cut my dinner in half and box it up right away so I don't pick at it. If we eat fast food, which we try not too, I order a kids meal. There have been plenty of nights I have gone to bed hungry. It was not easy to start off with, Diet Coke was my sweet treat and a large one was only $.99 , and there are days when I still want one, but I know if I have one, that will be the end of it, the same way with donuts, they are my crack.

I am now on my 3rd pair of pants, and I am still doing it. I have added working out with weights, and have actually started eating a bit more, but still watching the portions. And I have never felt better. I decided that if I don't reach my number goal and I am toned, I won't care, a number is just a number. My next goal is a half marathon with my sister, and who knows where I will go from there... the skies the limit. It isn't going to be easy, but dang worth it.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Fat to not so fat

I was fat, there is no way around it. I loved to blame the kids on it, but really, they are 13 and 10, how long can you keep pushing that off on them and not take some responsibility? About 4 years ago, I lost 50lbs, I didn't do anything to loose it except pay for Nutri-system meals, and maybe walk a bit. Once I stopped eating their food, I put it all back on, even added a few pounds just for good measure...sigh. I was working from home, which means eating what ever I wanted when ever I wanted and not having to move much, except from my bedroom to the office and maybe downstairs to get more food. And for reasons only God knows, the company I worked for no longer needed me, I got laid off. So, I went back to school and got my CNA. I desperately wanted a job in a hospital, unfortunately, it is very rare for a hospital to give a job to a brand spanken new CNA, so, I applied to be a patient transporter.

I got the job, so for 8 hours a day 5 days a week, I push, pull and transfer people from one spot in the hospital to another. This was not a job for an overweight, out of shape, old woman. The first pair of pants they gave me were a size 22, and I couldn't even button those, how embarrassing. I started walking at work, and after about a month, I could almost button the pants, whoo hoo. There were women at work that actually ate healthy, and I decided I can do that, I can eat fruit and salads, and food that is not fried to death. I decided I wanted to start walking during the week, on my days off. I gave myself a goal 10lbs per month, pretty ambitious I admit, but I figured I could do it.

There were plenty of nights I went to sleep hungry, and listened to my stomach make noise, just to fill it up with water. The weight started to come off, those pants I couldn't button started to get baggy, my jeans were no longer my jeans, they were now called my clown pants by my husband. I was walking more than just a mile, I started adding more, I was up to about 5 miles when I stalled with the weight loss. I was driving home one day and the high school was getting out, the cross country runners were practicing, and I remembered how it was to run and decided I want to do that again. I ran cross country in high school, I wasn't very impressive, but I got my behind out there and did it, so I figured I can do that again, start slow and work your way up. So one mile at a time, I started running. I ran my first 5K since high school, and it felt good.

Back to the fat becoming less. The new work pants started getting baggy too, they are now a size 16, and I was told by one of my co-workers, "I look like a 10 year old girl wearing my big brothers clothes". I agree, they are crazy ridiculous, but I have some more to go before I buy new ones. I know many woman who don't want to say what they weigh, but here goes, full disclosure, I started at 210lbs in March 2011, as of 4:30am today I weigh 145lbs. I am not longer shy about it. I would like to get to 130lbs, but we will see. Below are some pictures, so of me really fat, weighing more than I know because I wouldn't get on a scale, and some from when I was a little smaller.