Ignore Negativity

OMG!  So, yeah, you see that number on the right, the one in RED?  That number sucks!  Like, majorly SUCKS!!  That number is suppose to be green and usually I like to have a triple digit green number.  Well, NOT today!
I have found that one of the hardest things to do on this journey is to ignore all the negativity I come up against.  And, it is not just in weight loss but in EVERY aspect of my life (you like how I'm doing some words all CAPS?  I know you DO!)  It is so easy for me to get caught in that negative thinking.  The thinking that says "Awe, screw it!  Today was bad and tomorrow will be too.  Why not just give up and quit?  It is SO much easier!!"  or, not related to weight loss, "You got a not so perfect eval. that last time.  Why not just give up doing what you love and quit, go find something else to do?"
Every time I have this inner voice I have to fight it and I have to focus on the positive side of things.  Yes, today was bad, I made the wrong choices.  However, giving up and quitting?  That would be the WORST choice I could possibly make.  All I can do is move forward from now and make tomorrow awesome!  The same thing goes for the non weight related things too.  All I can do is move forward from today and make tomorrow awesome!  It has taken a lot to get me where I can say that and not wollow, too long, in self pitty and loathing.
So, let's dust off the past, move on from right now, and make tomorrow, or the next hour, or whatever, AWESOME!!

Help!

Sometimes we all need help.  I know it is very difficult to lose weight without a support system.  Even with a support system it is difficult if you are surrounded by people who have no clue what it is like to be overweight and try to lose it.

Here are some of my favorite things for support:

My Fitness Pal Communities and friends 
(BTW, Myfitnesspal.com is also a GREAT site to track calories!)

Facebook Groups and Pages:

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

Fit for Change

Fat Girls Journey to Healthy Divahood

The Biggest Loser (also a rocking TV show on NBC)

Hungry Girl  (also a great TV show on FoodNetwork)

BelieveFit

Zumba Fitness

F.L.A.W.L.E.S.S

Curves of Pooler  I work out here :D (I also admin the page!)


I use all of these to help me stay motivated and moving toward my goal.  With so many pages on fitness my newfeed is FLOODED with healthy lifestyle tips, tricks, and examples!

Gaining while I Lose

Special K has a program known as the Gains Project and thier tag line for that project is "What will you gain when you lose?"  They've been running an ad campaign too that asks the same question.  My favoriate one is the one with the scales and rather than showing a number they show words like Joy, Confidence, Sass, etc...  I tried to find a YouTube clip of said commercial but nothing was cooperating :(

I know, some people may be like "Wait, didn't you just say no to fad diets?  Special K promises dropping 6 pounds in 2 weeks!  Hello, Fad Diet!"  Well, you are right and wrong there.  The Special K Challenge does say that, and yes I think the Special K Challenge is a fad diet and thus will not be participating in said challenge.  However, there are other aspects to Special K such as the Gains Project and they do have lots of yummy "diet" food like Protein Granola Bars (in my pantry), Special K Cracker Chips (SO yummy and I'm out right now dang it!), Special K Pastry Crisps (yummy snack one day last week), and others that I have never tried like Special K Brownie Bites, Cereal Bars, Shakes, and Water Mixes.


Anyway, back to the topic.  Gaining while I Lose:  There are SO many things I have gained while I've been on my journey and I'm not even half way done yet!  So far I have gained strength, courage, confidence, the ability to sit with my knees pulled up to my chest while still being able to breath!  I look forward to so many more gains as I continue to lose all this unnessary weight!  :-D  Now, what will you gain?

Fad Diets

Don't Work!

Welcome to Amercia where we want what we want and we want it NOW!  We want to have our Large Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal and our bikini body too!!  And thus, we have fad diets.  The problem with fad diets is that they are FADS which, by definition, don't last long.  Most of the time once the diet is over individuals gain back all the weight they lost and sometimes more.  Now, we've probably all fallen victium to fad diets at one time or another, 17 Day Diet, Low Fat, Low Carb, Atkins, South Beach, Special K etc...  Part of the reason we like Fad diets is that they offer quick results, which is awesome!, however, the results don't last, which sucks :(  Usually "diets" in general don't work long term because most of them have you eat speical food, limit certian foods, or eliminate certian foods.  When the diet is over and you go back to eating "nomally" again all the weight comes back again.  I have found, for me, the best way to lose weight and keep it away is to completely change the way I think about food, nutrition, and diets.  I have had to have a COMPLETE lifestyle change not go on a diet for a week, a month, or a year.  Lifestyle is the key to weightloss not diets.

Enormity

Sometimes the sheer enormity of how much I have to lose is hard for me to handle.  I know it is not as much as some but it is still about 100 pounds!  I started at 260 and needed to lose almost 130 pounds, half myself!, to be at the "ideal" weight.
In order to deal with this enormity I have broken my goal down in smaller, more manageable bits.  My first goal is 194 which I hope to make this year and then I'll move on to between 150-130 :-)
I really believe the breaking down the goal makes it more managable and I get less discouraged.  I don't have to lose 100 pounds, I only need to lose 36 and I've already lost almost 30 so that is not that bad right?  I will be SO happy when I have lost more than I need to lose.

Dragging!

Man, these last few days I have definatly been dragging.  I don't know why I've been so tired lately but dang!  Lucklie I've been making myself go work out and that has made me feel better.  However, I can't go work out until the afternoon so I'm sleepy ALL DAY!  I've even tried gonig to bed earlier.  Here's hoping with this new Curves Complete diet (which I've been on for 4 days now) and added exercise ( 4 days instead of 3) will help add some energy :)

Curves Complete

If you happen to check out the Get Moving section of my blog you may notice I recently talked about Curves Complete.  In case you haven't checked that section out (yet) I am SUPER excited about it!  Basically Curves Complete provides diet, exercise, and motivation for a perfect triangle of weight loss goodness!  You have to be a member to get ALL the goodies but here is an overview of the program.  
Last year I did a one week trial and was really bummed out when it ended and I was no longer able access the website and forums :(  I am really excited that I get to do it for real now and, once you finish the program, you still have access to the website!  Awesome :)
If you are a lady, and you are intersted in getting fit, then I STRONGLY suggest you find a Curves near you!

Biggest Loser

I LOVE the show Biggest Loser!  It is one of my great motivators :)  Last year I was the most active in weight loss when the show was airing.  I can't wait for 9pm TONIGHT on NBC!

Biggest Loser FB Page 

Season 14 Preview:

Biggest Loser on NBC

At it again!

UGH!  I REALLY slacked off in 2012 which is probably why I'm not at my goal weight yet.  I'm not even at an intermitiant goal weight yet!!  Well, it is January 6th and here we go again.  I have been BAD lately and have been totally off the weight loss wagon for 5 months.  And when I say off the wagon I mean OFF THE WAGON!  I have not tracked my food, exercised, or blogged for 5 MONTHS!  Talk about a break.  Although I have been bad for the last few months I have only gained about 10 pounds which makes me VERY happy and VERY unhappy all at the same time.  

This is a picture of me at my
heaviest and then about 8 months
 after I started getting serious!
 See...I CAN do this!

And, here I am currently at 232
after gaining 10 pound
over my 5 month hiatus from all this goodness

With the new year I've recommitted to my weight-loss journey and am looking forward to a great year.  I'm doing some new stuff this year to help me accomplish my goal of REACHING FIRST GOAL WEIGHT BY DEC.  My first goal is to lose 18 pounds by June of this year.  Once I do that I'll be down to 212 and only have about 18 more pounds to my first goal weight of 194.  My final goal weight is about 134 and I hope to reach that sometime in early 2014.  I would be much closer to that and even within reach this year had I not slacked off for 5 months.  It is time to let the past go however and dive head first back into getting healthy.