The Challenge to Change: July 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

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!

Stephie

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

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

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

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

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

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: