236-196-Accomplished! Now down to 176!! (All Wishers welcome to post)

[lmhall2000]

Okay- for all those reading my journals thinking- WOW she's really exercising!! (I'm doing 20-25 miles a week walking) well I hit a crappy day today. I had a stressful day and my dh said he really wanted to go to Chili's for a steak (I started him on Atkins because it's probably the best diet for him and he had that 2nd day headache- so I obliged him) the kids were very cranky- long day so I indulged them and got them the chocolate volcano thingie- I had about 8 bites- and they were the good ones soaked with excess chocolate- I also had the lettuce wraps for dinner (thinking it was a healthy choice but with all the sauces on it maybe not) I was supposed to slimfast this night for dinner because I had a salad for lunch. And just today I said I would allow myself 2 cheat coupons until the end of June and I used both in one day- a donut gem this afternoon- not anticipating a night out and then dinner. UGH! So now I'm forcing myself to walk on my day off and try to burn some of this off. Now the tough part- no cheating until July 1st! hmmm it's June 19th- I better stick to it!!!
I hate these days.
Tara

 

[lmhall2000]

I'm just not a garage sale person- I can't see wasting my weekends away taking in money for things I'd gladly give away! So when paralyzed veterans of America called to see if I had anything to donate I thought- "Let's do some cleaning of the closets" I saw these 1x pants and 2x tops that I wore last year and thought- NOPE not keeping another "X" item in the house. I'm officially probably a size 17 right now- the 18's are too big and the 16's fit but are not that comfortable- in about 10 more pounds I'll call myself a true 16! But I went ahead and threw all those X clothing out- they were all fall/winter clothes anyway and I WILL not be wearing those ever again.
By then end of my gathering- I had 5 bags of clothes from me, dh, and the kids to pass on. It felt wonderful!!!

Now updates....
Weight as of 6/26 is 212.5!

I've lost 24 inches since April 16th!

And I've consistently walked 4 miles Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and on Sunday anywhere from 5-8 miles. I'm trying to drink more water and am almost completely off slimfast- haven't had one in over a week. Just watching portions and adding fruits/veggies.

ONWARD & DOWNWARD!!!
Tara

 

[geetey]

Can I post here? Oh, she says Yes at the top! WOOO HOOOO!!!

TARA!!!! I swear we are twins!!!! I SWEAR!!!!!!!!! Guess what I was doing today?? Getting rid of my X clothing!!!! A poster had mentioned that no one had noticed they had lost any weight until they bought new clothes. Well, since no one is noticing my loss I decided to get rid of those huge flowing shirts (which isn't what they were meant to be

) and buy a couple of new shirts. I got 4 new ones at Kohls today. Granted they are extra large -- OOPS, did I just bring x's into the house?? DRAT!! - but they fit SO much better.

Tell me now... did you go shopping too?

 

[lmhall2000]

I think the Whoosh fairy visited!!

Well, maybe I didn't get the full-fledged WHOOSH- more like a Whish- but this morning 3.5 pounds were gone from last week!!!! I now weigh 210! Which means I qualify for my 25 pound clippie!!! (Total pounds loss is 26 since 4/1) And I'm 3 days away from my 7/4 goal - I need to just lose one pound by then to be in the 20x single digits!! I know I can do this!!



26 bouncies for 26 pounds!!! Hard to believe I'm only 11 pounds from Onederland!! Oops- I was so excited about the weigh in I forgot to measure!- I'm off to measure those inches!!!

April- 10 pounds
May- 8 pounds
June- 8 pounds
Predicting
July- 8 pounds
August - 8 pounds
September- 6 pounds
For a revised goal weight of 188!!!!! by our Disney trip 9/23!!!

Thanks to everyone for your encouragment and my special PM buddies- y'all are the greatest!!!
Tara

 

[lmhall2000]

I can't believe I can button 12W pants from Talbots- I said I could button them- but I don't feel comfortable wearing them yet! But I can fit in the 14W pants and am loving it! (They're really 16's in any other brand but I like seeing that 14 number and I like their clothes esp. when on sale!) So I went and bought a couple of outfits at their 70% off sale- I can't wait to get on that plane in September and feel space between me and the armrests! Very exciting!
I'm hoping to be at 199 by August 5th- that's my first weigh in in August. I just really want to see that Onederland!!! So I'm aiming for 10 pounds this month rather than 8 pounds. I'm walking 6 days a week atleast 4 miles and I'm sticking more diligently to my slim-fast program- I slimfast in the am and at dinner and eat a healthy lunch- today it's chicken salad on lettuce with a slice of Hawaiian bread. For in between meal snacks I had wheat crackers (4) and cheddar cheese slices, and this afternoon I plan on having some blackberries. I'm only drinking water and lots of it- in fact I need to go pour a glass! Here's to onwards & downwards and hopefully posting a new picture that actually shows some weight loss!
Tara

 

[TigH]

Tara, I KNOW you will make your August goal and you will be bouncing with joy at the ONEderland scale reading!!!

You must be burning up the pavement with all the walking you are doing! Have you gotten any new walking shoes yet? Make sure you check your treads to see how they are wearing. I love getting new walking shoes, my feet feel so much lighter and it's fun to break them in!

You are doing such a great job. Congrats on buttoning up those 12s!!!!!! That is awesome! I bet in a month you will feel GREAT in them and proudly wear them around in public! WOO-HOO!!!

Keep up the great work. Your posts just burst with enthusiasm - I LOVE to read about your workouts and your success!!!

 

[Kelsie]

Bump!

 

[lmhall2000]

I made my goal of 196 a month EARLY!!! WOWZERS!!! Now I'm off to change the title of my journal and here's how I'm doing it.....

I walk 4 miles for 5 days straight (at 5:45am- it's the only time I can walk because dh has to go to work at 7am)- take a day off then start over again....if it rains I work out at the YMCA in the evening when dh gets home- at the Y I do the treadmill for 30 minutes- about 15 minutes at a 4.0 pace and 15 minutes at 3.7 no incline- just going for speed right now- then I follow it up with 45 minutes of nautilus machines- arms and legs and stretching....now for my eating.....
I'll just give yesterday as an example....
Breakfast: Slimfast
Snack: Grapes
Lunch: 1 piece of Orowheat bread (they're big so I only use one) a good portion of turkey/roast beef, slice of American cheese, 3 pickles, mayonnaise- just a little, 3 potato chips (couldn't resist the cheddar sour cream flavor!), and a handful of cashews, for snack I had a small handful of chocolate chips and some more cashews, for dinner I had a Slim fast and sneaked some pieces of chicken out of the Rotel Chicken casserole I made my children- I'll get to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow! And I drank about 6 12 oz glasses of water today.

We eat out about once a week and I do sneak about 3-4 spoonfuls of the dessert my kids split- + a full meal- the biggest change for me is making myself eat a snack in between meals it really keeps my energy up- I typically go for some apples slices, cashews, wheat crackers/cheese, or some other fruit.

Now I'm going to shoot for 176!!! That'll be my next goal!!!
Tara

 

[lmhall2000]

Well, I made it to 45!!! YEAH!! Reading back over the journal posts- I'm amazed at how far this weight loss has come or should I say come OFF!! I've got 3 weeks to hit 186- even adjusted my previous goal of 188 so I could grab that 50 pound clippie by the time we leave for Disney. I'm soo excited about walking around Disney with 50+ pounds off! When I went to the OB they had weighed me at 248 at my last check up- and that was our last trip to Disney- so between now and then I'll hopefully have lost over 60 pounds!!

I've rearranged my exercise once again- 5 days in a row was too much- so now I'm walking 4 miles for 4 days in a row then I'm taking one day off then repeating. I really feel stronger and my legs are really starting to suck in- so glad to see that.

Yesterday my four year old was laying her head on my chest- I realized my boobs no longer provide that cushion they used to- her head was hitting bones!! Now I know what it means when a bra says lift and "separates!!" Before my chest could not be separated with a steel trap bra- but now there's a valley down there! And my collar bones are back and the little bone on my wrist is back- it feels great!!! I'm hoping to be at 176 by mid-November- then I'll shoot for 156 by mid-February and shoot for anything below 146 by the end of March and the one year mark for this weight loss journey!!!
ONWARDS & DOWNWARDS!!!
Tara

 

[tiggerlover]

Hi Tara, I finally found this post. It is great to put a face with the name and let me say you are beautiful!!! I can't wait to see your new pictures after this weeks formal! Keep up the fantastic work!

 

[coyote]

Imhall

Just found your post. I am just starting but you have been an inspiration for me to get through another day.
Good for you! Keep on moving.

Coyote

 

[lmhall2000]

It's been awhile since I posted...it's truly amazing to see where I've come- I'll post a new picture at 176- I'm only 7 pounds away from that!! I had a rough month after returning from Disney- just guess I walked my immune system off! I had pneumonia and my family went through stomach flu, croup, you name it- it's now a week before Thanksgiving and I feel like I'm back on track when I find out my husband's company will probably move us to New Orleans- so since we have to move we've been checking out jobs in Texas, NC, really any southern state but TX seems to have the most in his field. So between trying to get the house ready to sell and homeschooling- I may not be able to post much- and the stress has made me need to go full force on slimfast- there's just too much opportunity to give myself comfort food....ya know "Hey, you cleaned 3 rooms today, packed up 2 closets, just go to Chili's for dinner- less dishes to clean up." So even if I let myself go to Chili's I'll have been good my other two meals so I won't wreck my weight loss goal.
ONWARDS & DOWNWARDS wherever we may be!

Tara

 

[lmhall2000]

Reading my first post- I can see how the weight came off so easily! But these last three weeks (December now) the morning temps at 5:30 am are below 35 and I just don't do that. So I have had nooo exercise besides trying to keep the house clean, putting up Christmas decorations and keeping up on laundry. With all the folding going on I do think my arms have trimmed down a bit! I'm really missing the exercise and I've not been as motivated as I should to hit the Y- gonna change that. But I have been stagnating between 182-184 for 3 weeks now and decide I had had enough- so I started low carbing (really almost no carbing except what's in lettuce) on Tuesday and by Saturday I'm down to 180! YEAH! So I should hit the 170's by Tuesday and then I'll slowly add a few good carbs in- whole wheat bread/more veggies/fruits.
Doing low carb really does 1. curb my appetite 2. teaches me to listen to when I am full (looking at a big ribeye and thinking I can eat the whole thing on this low carb approach- and only being able to finish half is really amazing!) 3. makes me drink my water when I'm craving something. But I can't stick on it for long- after a week or so I notice my blood sugar really dropping and I'm way too dizzy. But it's a great way to shock you into eating right- instead of the cookie dough/bread I'd been hooked on the past few weeks- no wonder I wasn't losing!
Once the weather warms up- usually mid-January here I can start back to my outdoors walking. But I'm gonna commit to doing the Y (30 minutes treadmill 30 minutes nautilus & may even join an aerobics class now that I don't feel so HUGE and my knees can handle it) atleast 3 days a week until I can get back with my walking program. In four more pounds I'll post a picture! YEAH!!! I love seeing my waist again!
Onwards & Downwards gang!!!!

Your ever faithful loser buddy,
Tara

 

[ZerasPride]

Hi Tara. Just wanted to say that you look amazing! It's so nice to see pics of WISHers before, during and after reaching goal. I'm on the South Beach Diet and it sounds very similar to what you are doing now with adding good carbs. I stay away from refined flour and sugar and have so much more energy now. I also have found, like you, since low carbing that I don't eat as much and am more in tune with my body.

Keep up the good work! You look great!