Scale Tales - Week Fifteen and Week Sixteen

The last two weeks have been quite a blur of activity with my brother's weddding and my husband and I's trip to New Orleans. I haven't had a lot of time to exercise, and I haven't been eating the healthiest, but I've managed to hold steady at 15 lbs lost. I am looking forward to getting back on track this week. I'm looking to change up my workouts in an effort to get toned and burn more calories. I am going to try to switch up LIGHT weight training with cardio. I still want to do three days a week of cardio, and weight training the other two days. We'll see how it goes. I know that when you build muscle you gain weight, so I'm hoping that I can still drop inches if not pounds.

Scale Tales - Week Fourteen

I lost 1.5 lbs this week for a total loss to date of...

15 pounds!

I have reached my mini-goal of 15 lbs by my brother's wedding! I am so excited and proud of myself. Not so much because of the number on the scale, but because this is the longest I have EVER stuck with a diet/exercise regimen. I think that I have been successful this time because I have not set unrealistic goals. The old me would have said, "I want to lose 15 lbs in 2 months." Then, when the weight didn't come off very fast, I would get frustrated and throw in the towel.

This time around, I gave myself a whole year to reach my goal of 30 pounds. And my mini-goal of 15 lbs in 14 weeks was not too lofty.

I'm halfway to my end goal! And I still have 38 more weeks. I don't think it will take 38 weeks to lose the other 15, but I know the hardest part will be KEEPING it off until June 9, 2009.

Some other things that have worked for me:

• Not beating myself up when I miss a workout or eat badly. I've learned to accept that this is a lifestyle change, and it has to be a change that I can live with forever. There will be times (read: hurricanes) when it is impossible to exercise. That's OK! Just get back on the treadmill when the power comes back on, or take a walk outside. If I forget my lunch one day and I have to stop at McDonald's, that's OK!! Just order a single cheeseburger and hold the fries. You have to be able to adapt to these types of situations without giving up.

• I can eat anything I want (in moderation). Yes, it's true! This lifestyle change means not depriving myself of anything. These are all foods that I have eaten over the past 14 weeks: stuffed mushrooms, crab au gratin, pizza, crawfish etoufee, ice cream, cheesecake, macaroni and cheese, doughnuts, beignets, gumbo, Wendy's, McDonald's, burritos, nachos, Reeces Pieces, scrambled eggs with cheese, sausage, fried bananas, beer...I could go on and on. The key? Moderation! I watch my portion sizes very closely. I eat half the amount I used to. And I try eat at least 2 out of 3 healthy meals each day.

• Celebrate the small stuff. Having to buy a smaller belt. Giving three bags of fat clothes to social concerns. Buying a dress two sizes smaller than when I started this thing. Turning down that second helping of gumbo. It's the little things along the way that will eventually give way to celebrating the big goal.

On to week 15, and here's to losing the other 15 pounds! Cheers!

Scale Tales - Week Twelve & Week Thirteen - The GUSTAV Diet!!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but we were nearly swept away by Hurricane Gustav! Fortunately for me, I have lost another 4 lbs over the last two weeks for a total lost to date of....

13.5 lbs!

I was worried that the hurricane would throw me off track, because I couldn't use the gym (no power), and I was working a minimum of 12-hour days at the parish emergency operations center (EOC). When I wasn't working, I was busy moving things and cleaning up, so I probably did get some exercise in.

I also found that I wasn't eating as much during the hurricane because no restaurants were open and we had no power. For about a week, I ate one good meal every day (dinner) at the EOC, and a light breakfast and light lunch.

My goal is to get back to the gym either tonight (if I'm not working late) or tomorrow morning. I still have 1.5 lbs to go before the wedding in 11 days. I really think I can do it!! I believe!!

Thanks to all for your prayers for us during the hurricane. I must say that my first hurricane was by NO MEANS uneventful. For where I live, it was the worst devastation that this area (especially Baton Rouge) had ever seen. There are still countless homes without power after 8 days. I feel very fortunate that our power came back on Sunday. I have a new sense of appreciation for the little things in life, like air conditioning, grocery stores, gas stations, and traffic lights. I am so blessed that my home was not severely damaged. All I lost was some junk in my shed which probably needed to be pitched anyway (although it DID pain me to throw away an entire storage tub of Mardi Gras beads). My office mate at work lost her house when a tree fell through the living room. My other co-worker still is without power. Please keep the prayers coming for those who were not as fortunate as us. Love to all!