Mini update

Hey all,
I am writing this mini update from the comfort of my bed. I have been sick since Saturday night and decided to come home today to a) not infect my coworkers and to b) try to sleep this bitch of a cold off.

I weighed in last Wednesday after going hard for the week. Sticking to my plan and not munching on junk food... I lost 5.6 lbs by making the tiniest changes! It felt really good and I noticed a difference right away. I had gone shopping the week before and bought a bunch of discounted things such as shorts and this cute sweater. Well now they are loose on me. It's bittersweet because I kinda wasted money but it feels sooo damn good!! I can still wear the shorts but they are a tad bit baggy on me.

This week was a bit hard as I was going through some things and have been emotional eating. I stayed within my points completely but I knew I could have made better choices. I snacked on some candy which wasn't all that smart but oh well. It doesn't even compare to how broken up and sad I was feeling inside. I came home Thursday night and found out an old friend had been murdered. I just don't understand it... :(

Now I'm sick... This has been a bad month. Anyways... I'm going to get back to snoozing for the next 15 minutes as my guy and I are going to look at an apartment at 5:30 (this will be the 3rd one so far)

Take care,

Steph

Quote of the week

saw this and it reminded me of my most recent challenges.

I have risen!!

:)

Guess who's back... back again...

I really should have posted sooner.. but I've been really busy and there has been a lot going on.

I wasn't able to complete my challenge. This makes me really sad :(. If you follow me on facebook you may already know that I injured myself pretty badly about 2 weeks ago and I am still recovering.

I fell in the shower and injured my ribs. It was a really shitty feeling. I did the "dont fall" dance which probably resulted in me falling in the worst position possible. I fell directly onto the side of the tub and then fell back and bashed my head on the back of the faucet.

This hurt like hell.

I had to take two days off work because I was in so much pain and even the slightest movement killed me. I am a lot better now but I am not rushing to get back into my regular fitness regimen until I feel 100%. The only thing I've been able to do is power-walking which me and my hunny have been doing more often lately :).

Thursday I have a massage therapy session planned with my amazing massage therapist and hopefully that will help. I'm so pumped! I always look forward to my massages with her.

Anyways I figured it was time for an update :) So here it is.

I'm feeling really good lately and have been on the ball with my lifestyle change this past week. I had a rough beginning in the month of August and emotionally ate my way through my feelings. This resulted in me gaining everything I had lost in the previous three weeks in one week. Yes.. that freakin' sucked and I felt like a fat ass. Then I fell in the shower and things didn't really get better and I continued to emotionally eat (but not as badly.. I didn't gain thankfully). I decided this past week that I needed to make some changes in my life and have since lost 3 LBS!!!

I've consistently stayed within my points and have even had a bit of trouble eating them all which is rare. I wanted to get back to where I was when I was the most determined to lose weight... and I am back there!! It actually feels very refreshing.  I'm really proud of myself.

Anyways me and my lover are about to go power walking so I should go and enjoy this beautiful day. You should too!

Toodles!!

xo

Stephie

Challenge update

Hey all,

Hope you had a swell weekend. Mine was shitty to say the least. I am not going to go into that though.

Anyways.. I successful have stuck to my challenge. I did Zumba on Saturday and boy was it difficult. I hadn't  done Zumba since June! I've been a bit nervous to start doing it again since I fell and had a minor ankle sprain. Anyways.. it was hard, hot and the next day my body hurt like crazy.

Tonight I am also supposed to do Zumba and will be doing that immediately when I get home. Looking forward to it! I am also going to see the new Ice Age movie tonight with my mom so I am pumped for that.

Anyways.. I am going through a lot right now. There is a chance I may be taking a week or so off from blogging as I need to clear my mind and find my inner happiness again.

I will be okay.. I just need some time to pick myself back up.

Anyways.. have a great day! xo

Stephie

Day 1! New Challenge starts NOW!!

So I thought to myself.. Why wait for monday to start this challenge? I've since decided to start TODAY.

I have planned out my entire 30 days of work outs. I'd like to add that these workouts are only tentative. I will DEFINITELY be working out the day I had planned on doing so but if it's down-pouring on a day I planned to power walk outside.. guess what. I'm jumping on the treadmill. I've also downloaded a bunch of apps on my iPhone for working out specific parts of your body so I may opt to do one of those too. I'd also like to point out that if it says I am only on the treadmill for 30 mins on a certain day.. and if that day comes and I hit that 30 mins and want to keep powering through.. I'm going to keep going.

Also, Mondays I don't workout as I work 9-6 and then volunteer 6-10:30 so fitting something in there is just exhausting so I choose to have that as an off day (forever).

Here is the calendar:

Think positive thoughts for me!

:)

Toodles!
Steph

Another success!

Is it really August already?? How did the year fly by soooooooo quickly??  I really just can't believe it.

Anyways.. what a busy week! It's been insane. Which has made it a tad bit hard to stick 100% to my challenge. I did go off a bit but still stayed within my daily points allowance and didn't use any activity or extra 49 points. I had difficulty getting my activity in every day but I was also out of town for two days last week.

With all that said.. I weighed in this morning and lost more than I did last week! I'm trying to figure out how but I really have no idea lol. It has to be me sticking to plan and not going over my points allowance. Being strict.

Feels good though :). I really feel as though I am powering through and am SOO motivated.

I feel like the upcoming week may be a bit harder as it is a long weekend as well as mine and Pete's 1 year anniversary. (hehehe ahhhh!!!! This is super exciting) We're going to one of my favourite restaurants so it will be hard to be careful that day but I think I can do it! No.. I KNOW I can do it. How am I going to do this? I am going to plan my day ahead of time. I am going to look at their menu and decide beforehand what I am ordering and will calculate that before hand. This is one of the easiest things to do when you are trying to lose weight and are going out to eat. ALWAYS be prepared. You don't want any surprises when you calculate after the meal and find out the entree you ordered was actually 50+ points.

That would be no good at all. Always plan.

Plan, plan, plan!!

I've been thinking about the challenge I want to do this week. I think I am going to aim to get at least 25 activity points in this week. This is very attainable and shouldn't be too hard if I plan my workouts ahead of time to ensure next Tuesday I don't have to work out for 3 hours straight (just kidding.. i'd probably pass out ha!)

This brings me to my next "30 day challenge". Which I think I will start on Monday. This is my idea.. to pre-plan my workouts week by week for an entire month (30 days) to get into the habit of planning 4-5 workouts per week every week in my schedule. I love working out so this shouldn't be TOO hard. When I say 4-5 workouts per week I mean WORKOUTS not "gaining activity points". These are two very different things. When I say working out I mean working my ass off until I can barely walk anymore and am dripping in sweat. Gaining activity points can be things such as power walking, washing the car, zumba, cleaning, chopping wood etc. Most of my activity points are earned via workouts but I do accumulate the odd point or so by doing things such as cleaning and washing my car.

Anyways I must take off!

Thank you all for your support!

xo

Steph

Best Week I've had

I can honestly say this has been THE BEST Weight Watchers week I've had in awhile.

 I've stuck to my plan.. made good choices, haven't used extra points and have been feeling much better about myself. MUCH better about myself. 

 I've had multiple people come up to me this week and tell me how amazing I'm looking and that whatever I am doing is working. I've had people tell me that I am their inspiration.. that they read my blog and immediately become inspired to change the bad habits in their lives. I can't believe that people consider ME their motivation! It feels sooo good :) 

It feels so good being able to go to bed with a few points left.. to be able to say "I'm bored.. But I AM NOT hungry!" to think "Just because there is chocolate available doesn't mean I NEED to eat it". To be able to think "If I eat this now I won't be able to eat that later".

I've been planning entire days ahead. I've been figuring out how to fit activity into my life. I've been eating healthy lunches.. I haven't been snacking throughout the day.

All of these changes by setting a single challenge. 

This week I re-realized what TRUE dedication feels like. and DAMN IT FEELS GOOD!

I started with small changes early on in the week and they stuck. It feels natural again. I have absolutely no desire to stuff my face.. no desire to have a "cheat day".. cheat days are for people on diets ;). I have no desire or cravings for greasy or fatty foods. I actually CRAVE fruit. I would choose fruit over a big mac any day because I KNOW after I ate the big mac I would have wished I had made the opposite decision.

Small changes erupt into bigger lifelong changes. 

With that said .. I've decided to make this a 2 week challenge and continue on for another week. This week will be a bit trickier as I am heading out of town for Friday and Saturday. I enjoy the challenge so it will be fun!

Anyways.. I must go. I will be announcing my new challenge at some point over the next week. Really excited to start it!

Toodles!

xo

Stephie

Setting Goals & Making Better Choices

Guess what I did in 2011? Made better choices which resulted in me completely turning my life around. 

And what did those choices result in? Me basically losing the equivalent to an entire human leg off my body. That's right.. the amount of weight I have lost equals out to an entire leg.. or a 5 gallon jug of water but I think the leg comparison is much cooler.

I think back and wonder.. how could I have carried around that much extra weight? I pick up 40 lbs and I think.. "This is how much I lost? This is what was on my body?" I don't think I could walk around all day with 4 bags of potatoes now.

It completely reels me.  I feel so happy and content with the progress I have made in the last year and a half. 

In a year and a half I went from an unhappy, obese, moody person to someone who can't stop smiling, feels good about herself and absolutely loves the idea of change. Loves life.. and the people I have CHOSEN to keep in my life. 

How did this happen? Because I set a goal. I told myself that if I wanted things to be different in my life I needed to make better choices and I was the only person able to do that. ME. JUST ME.

For once in my life I set out to focus on just myself. To stop caring about what other people thought I should do and to change my life the way I wanted to. To make this a slow but steady journey of success.

You guys think I succeeded?

I do :)

See how happy I am? It's because I did it for me.. I lost the weight for me. I didn't have an asshole boyfriend telling me to lose weight.. I did it for ME. 

Me, Myself, AND I.

I've been having flashbacks lately to how things were with my ex. How unhappy I was and how large I was. I wonder if things would have been different had I stayed? Would I have chosen this journey? Would I have gained more weight and tipped the scale at 300 lbs?

Who knows... All I can say is I chose the right path. I have a boyfriend who would NEVER try to tell me to lose weight and I'm happier than I've ever been in my entire life. 

It makes me so sad when I see females saying "I'm trying to lose weight to make my boyfriend happy" or "My boyfriend is unhappy with my weight even though I wear a size 4" or "My mom/dad makes fun of me for being fat" . Yes this happens.. check reddit. I read that shit every day and wish I could find the men who say that to knock them upside the head. 

If you want to change yourself for someone else you're making a mistake. Do it for you.. real change happens when you're doing it for yourself. Set goals, tiny or small. They will help you get to where you want to go. 

Joining weight watchers and turning my life around was the BEST choice I made in 2011. 

Make better choices.. it's a simple step to a lifetime of good changes. 

Cheers!

xox

Stephie

Making Changes

Oh boy.. has it been a crazy week.

A hard one too..I had a pretty nasty blister on the ball of my foot so it made even putting the slightest bit of pressure on my foot painful. Working out was out of the question.

Boy .. does working out make a difference in my life. I've really noticed it this past week. Last week I felt like shit.. which resulted in me eating like shit. I was not very careful at all. It did open my eyes though.. it's like I had an eyeopening experience where it just hit me. "What the fudge am I doing?! I need change and I need to get back into that mindset I was in when I first started Weight Watchers!"

I woke up Monday feeling like absolute shit and I thought "Today is going to be different". I planned my lunch.. planned my day and stayed within my points. I ate healthy and when I went to refill my water bottle at 11:30PM I tossed that "snack" thought out of my head and thought "you just want to eat because you're stressed and lazy" and guess what? I didn't eat. I wen't back to my room and did my nails.

Good for me.

*Pats self on back*

That is an achievement for me.

You know what? Today I feel better.. I feel healthier and less bloated and less pissy. I am in a good mood with a clear mind and I am looking forward to going home tonight and jumping on that treadmill. I am getting back into the right mindset.

Just because I have the points available to eat that chocolate bar or the fries from McDonald's does not mean I'm going to. Just because I could doesn't mean I should. Just because I want that burger does not mean I NEED that burger. Just because I have 17 points left for dinner does NOT mean I need to fill those 17 points with crap that will make me feel like crap after.

I need to be in weight-loss mode.. not maintenance mode. This is my journey.

Today I craved chocolate. I could have had chocolate as I had 13 points left over after all my planned meals. Did I? Nope. Why? Because I knew better.. I needed to make a point to myself and need to start retraining myself to NOT eat crap. What did I do instead? I waited for the craving to pass.. after 30 mins I was still hungry so I opted to have a bowl of popcorn. Much more filling and much healthier for you.

Another achievement.

I have a challenge set up for myself and my motivation buddies starting tomorrow. Getting 100% back on track. This means I WILL NOT be eating junk and sugary foods. This means I will ensure I am getting the correct amount of everything I need everyday. This means once I've used all of my 34 points I am done.. there will be no more snacking. If I need something I can eat some fruits or veggies. This means I will be getting on that treadmill more often throughout the week.. that I will be getting the 10 activity minutes every day that weight watchers requires.

This week I am also going to come up with a set plan on how I will move forward for the rest of the summer.
I am going to reread all of my weight watchers material to refresh my memory.

This will be good :)

I need this.

Anyways.. I must go!

Thanks for reading.

Stephie

I'm Back!

Bonjour!!

Hope you are all doing well and have been enjoying this beautiful (yet overly hot) summer!

Once again it's been quite awhile since I've blogged. So much has been going on...

Last weekend was the Canada Day long weekend which was nice and relaxing and this past weekend Pete and I made it extra long and went up to Ottawa. We had a BLAST. 

I decided I wasn't going to hold myself back.. that I was going to treat myself and truly enjoy myself in every single aspect. You know what? I realized that this thing I call my "lifestyle change" really has changed my life! I make better decisions even when I am not thinking of weight watchers. I did something bad and didn't track all weekend. Sunday night I sat in my hotel room looking out over the water and back tracked. You know what? I didn't go over ONCE on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. All three nights I stayed in a hotel.. All three days we traveled far distances. I stayed within my points without even thinking about it. It was a bit hard to control how much Fruit/Veg/Protein/Dairy I consumed as I ate out for all of my meals but I did make sure I got fresh fruit from the market and even opted for salads or a side of veggies (except when I decided to burg it up). I succeeded without even thinking about it. I must say most of my choices weren't ideal but we did a lot of walking and I shook my booty something fierce Saturday night at the wedding we attended. 

I weighed in yesterday and I am down 1.2 lbs this week. I was surprised to say the least.

Anyways.. now back to the fun part! Ottawa friggin ROCKS. I love our Capital. What a fantastic place.. I can't wait to go back again. Our hotels were absolutely beautiful.. the people were friendly as can be and the views.. breathtaking.

Here are some pics:

The lovely view from our hotel room in Kanata, ON. Brookstreet Hotel.. I highly recommend it! Great service and the room was TRULY beautiful

Parliament Building!

A lot of war memorial stuff around Parliament. I will never forget.

Good ol' Wilfie

Old vs New Parliament

The view off the Rideau trail we walked

This is the Tomb of the unknown soldier. 

So many people were painting on the streets. This one was my favourite. Yes I did give him money :P

View from my hotel room in Gatineau. Absolutely beautiful and relaxing. 

Yummy strawberries I picked up at the market. Gotta love fresh Ontario berries!

Could see Parliament from my hotel room!

Me before going out for a fancy dinner to Empire Grill in Byward Market

Pete carrying his dog around. He is not a happy camper

Me learning to fly

This was my fave plane we saw in the Canada Space & Aviation Museum

This sign made me laugh hysterically. Had to share :)

There you go! There is my update. I promise I will update you all more often. Maybe I should make a challenge of posting every single day? lol

Who knows..

Gotta run!

xo 

Stephie