End of month progress - August 2014

The month is coming to an end and summer is almost over. Change is in the air and it feels amazing. Summer in Georgia seems to last forever. The mornings start out cool and crisp while it gets hot and humid during the day. Halloween and fall decorations are starting to litter store shelves. Cinnamon brooms are hoarded near the entrances of stores, forcing that pungent spicy scent to burn your sinuses. Starbucks unveiled their pumpkinless pumpkin spice lattes earlier than usual. Yup, this is my favorite time of year. I am looking forward to it getting colder and Thanksgiving.

This month has been a bit rocky for me. I started off with an ulcer that left me with little to no energy to workout. Not to mention, I had to eat frequently so my stomach wouldn't be empty. No worries though, as soon as o started feeling better I got back in to kicking ass in my workouts. I didn't really bother with weighing myself much this month. I was pretty sure my progress wouldn't be where I wanted it to be. So I already set myself up for disappointment. I didn't eat as strict as I normally do, and just said fuck it. Staying within my calorie limit, of course. Lol.

Today I weighed myself and found out I lost 4lbs since my last weigh in. Which was at the beginning of the month. I am pretty proud of myself. Even though I didn't eat as strict, I still pushed myself to work out hard. Even on days I wasn't feeling like it. I met my first goal, to get under 200 lbs. Now it's time to finally push myself harder than I ever have. To get to as healthy as I possibly can. I wonder where I will be in my progress by the end of the year? I'm excited!

August 30th -          June 29th

August 30th

August 1st

July 7th

June 13th

August 7th 2014

After being MIA from working out for a week and a half, I am finally back! I did a quick workout this morning and instantly felt great. My stomach is still weak and my energy is low, but I felt great to get the endorphins flowing.

I joined the Walgreens fitness rewards program. Still not sure what will come out of it, but hey, can't hurt right? Lol.

I am finally down one pant size. I can fit into my size 12s now and it feels great. I am slightly annoyed because I have to buy new jeans now. I didn't really get to wear my nice jeans I bought on my Texas jeans for long. This is when consignment shopping comes in handy. Trade in my name brand 14's and get "new" Jeans.  :)

Here's more food porn!  :

Ginger Chicken with Rice noodles and lightly cooked veggies

Homemade Jalapeño popcorn

Snazzy cookies that I didn't buy. They sounded delicious though! 

3 month arm progress. (photos)

July 29th           June 29th

I've always kicked myself in the ass for not recording progress of my arms in the past. I have always had insecurities about my arms, and really never cared about wearing tank tops in public. But I've been working really hard and I am extremely proud of my progress so far. I know I have posted some pics but I am uploading them again and today's picture for comparison.

June 13th 2014

July 7 the 2014

August 1st 2013

July 10 2014

Well, I wrote this long entry and for some reason my phone copied and pasted the last entry instead of the one I just wrote. Ack, super freaking frustrating. 

Any who, sometimes when we work hard to lose weight, it doesn't really turn out the way we wished. Skin gets loose and flabby. Sometimes we lose fat in areas we don't want to lose fat in. Like in the boobs. So far I have gone down a whole cup size. Seems like there's a possibility of going down another cup. 

September 2013                            July 2014

But on the up size I am almost down another pant size. I started this journey at a size 16, and am currently in a size 14. By the end of the month I should be able to fit my size 12 jeans comfortably.  They are currently a little tight on my thighs and hips. When I first started this journey I was wearing a size 22 and got down to those size 12 jeans. I was also almost able to fit a size 10 at my thinnest.  

I'm proud of myself for making it to the halfway point of my first goal. So far I have lost 15 lbs and I have another 15lbs to go! This time around seems alot easier. Each week that goes by, I gain more and more energy to work out.  

wibbly wobbly flabby wabby stuff...

I drank a lot of coffee yesterday afternoon and now I can't sleep. So I decided to look at weight loss instagram motivation pages. It's nice to see the natural body during wight loss rather than the Hollywood version. Some bodies are flabby and some bodies get easily toned. My problem spots have always been my arms, stomach, and thighs. More so my arms. I have posted through out how I hate my wibbly wobbly flabby wabby arms! It's thinking like that, that makes me a little self conscious. Fuck that thinking. I've come a long way thus far and I've toned my arms from doing a lot of push ups and weight lifting. I wish I had kept my before pictures of my arms so I can compare them. I got disgusted at my own arms and deleted them a while back. But I did take a pic back on June 13th that a can compare to later. So here's to breaking down those self conscious walls and building a happier "me".

June 28th

June 13th

June 13th

June 13th

|| Photo progress for Late January/ Early February 2012 ||

I forgot to post my photo progress of Late January/ Early February.  If I don’t forget, I will post pictures at the end of March.

and just for comparison here are some before pictures.





Trying to overcome insecurities

We all have certain parts of our bodies that we are insecure about. When your body starts changing due to weight loss, it can be hard to change the way you view things. Often times one might still see themselves at their heaviest while they are in the best shape of their lives.

It is always better to push yourself to try new things. New ways of how you view yourself. As humans, we are constantly changing, and growing into something better. Trying to evolve. Trying to grow. Insecurities are the one of many things that hold us back and keep us from becoming better people.

This is where I am at in my weight loss journey. I am trying to grow into a new person. I have been trying new styles of clothing, new hair styles, and just trying to adjust my views on life. The one simple, tiny, little thing that I can’t get over is my arms. To me it’s a huge deal. I still view myself as I was when I was close to 70 pounds heavier. It’s silly. I know it’s silly, but it’s just one of those things I can’t get over yet.

Normally I tend to wear cardigans to cover my arms. Today I put on my favorite Old Navy shirt and went for a walk down town. It was invigorating and at the same time nerve racking. Sometimes it’s just better to push yourself and say “fuck it”. I look forward to summer time now. I still can’t believe that I have lost close to 70 pounds. It’s insane. As more weight melts away, I gain more confidence. Of course I have moments of weakness, but that’s only natural. And that’s when I push myself into my workouts. If I know a certain part of my body is bothering me, I tend to visualize that part getting smaller as I work out. And of course I am always thinking about my arms. Lol.

I really wonder how much weight I will lose in 2012? I keep pushing myself to eat healthier and make healthier choices. I never thought that this whole dieting thing would be easy. at first it was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. But making healthy choices just comes natural now. And as each day goes by I am grateful that I have turned my life around. I was for sure on the fast track to type 2 diabetes and possibly high blood pressure. I haven’t really had and desire for sodas and fast food. I’ve just have a strong repulsion towards soda. Can’t imagine how a think corn syrup drink can be refreshing. Actually, just the thought of a soda burns my throat.

Photo time!

Just felt like posting a before and after photo of my lower back. Same pair of jeans, and poor lighting. Before i could barely squeeze into these jeans, and now, they are a bit baggy. I am need to go shopping for new pants, i only have two pairs that fit me now. Not that i am complaining. lol.

Cheeeeeeeese

So my work outs have been getting more and more hard core. I keep trying to push myself harder and motivate myself. I am trying to be strict with my eating habits. At this point I have cut out beef and am trying to cut out cheese. Cutting out cheese is not as easy as I hoped it would be. Cutting out sugar was easier than cutting out cheese. lol. Believe me, I am a Mac&Cheese type girl. My mantra as a child was “cheddar makes everything better”…. My favorite foods were grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese pizza. Saying good bye to cheese is the saddest thing I’ll ever do. Lol. I know I will eventually budge and allow myself something with cheese once in awhile. No one is perfect, we all have some type of weakness… lol mines is cheese. : (


Body image wise, it’s getting weirder and weirder each time I look at a full length mirror. Mentally, I still feel like I look like I did when I was 270lbs. I spend more than an hour getting ready for work, trying on different shirts and pants. By the time I get to work and am able to look at a full length mirror, I don’t really understand why I took so long to get dress. I feel like a completely new person. And I am slowly starting to embrace the change and feel more confident wearing cute tops. Sometimes I wish I had a shopping buddy, because I am completely clueless on what to wear. I have been wearing jeans and t-shirts for as long as I can remember. Trying to get myself to wear something i never could have worn before is really hard. I was shopping at Lane Bryant/Avenue and now I am wearing stuff from Old Navy/Gap. Things have changed a lot in over a year. Nothing is easy; this is going to take some serious adjustment.

The weight in my arms and stomach is slowly melting away. I lost weight faster in my legs, butt and back. I am starting to notice that I have saggy skin in my armpit area which I have no idea how to tone or get rid of. Lol. I know that skin is extremely elastic, but I am crossing my fingers over time that it will tighten up as I lose fat in that area. I guess that this is just one of those weird things you have to deal with. Anyone have tips out there? Feel free to send me an email or comment below. It’s always nice to talk to other people who have come across the same “problems”. lol

Almost There. Close to the first weight loss goal.

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Weight Loss Tools

 

I know that I said that I wasn’t going to blog before I moved, but this is so special that I couldn’t keep it in. lol.  I just realized that I am 3 pounds away from my first weight loss goal.  To this day, I have lost a grand total of 47 pounds. I am pretty fucking happy. I can’t believe that by hopefully the end of the year I have lost 50 pounds.  

It wasn’t an easy process. I had to fight through crazy food additions, learn what to eat, and force myself to exercise.  With this big move on the way, I am a little worried. I tend to eat out of boredom. But luckily for me, my husband cannot stand fast food, hates sugar and is gluten free. we basically have the same diet, so it’ll be a lot easier to pack things to eat. 

Also because of this big move, i really haven't had a chance to work out. As soon as we get to Georgia I plan on getting a gym membership, hopefully my sister in law will join me. I am excited for what the new year brings.

Monthly photo progress November

click to enlarge

I’m really excited with the results. I still can’t believe that I am doing so well with this diet, and I can’t believe that I lost 43 pounds! It’s insane, and seeing the progress inspires me to keep going. I still have roughly 57 pounds to lose before I meet my overall goal of 100 pounds. On my post yesterday I said I was really impressed with the weight loss on my back. If you seen me right before this weight loss you know that my problem areas were my lower stomach and my lower back. Well, I still have a little bit of a gut, but my back looks amazing. I’m still a little hesitant to show my pictures, but part of this blog is to grow into a different person and gain confidence. I never thought that losing weight could be this easy. It just shows that you can do anything you put your mind to.

Read more>>>

Full length mirror freak out. (lol)

The other day I got bored and decided to go to Wal Mart and try on some pants. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen myself in a full length mirror. When I finally saw myself, I flipped out. My waist to so much smaller and my upper body is a lot smaller. It’s crazy.  I can’t wait to take my monthly weight loss pictures to compare to October 26^th’s picture.  I had stopped obsessing over my weight loss since I saw October’s pictures. Even though I am technically 2 pounds lighter since then, the weight lifting I have been doing has helped out a lot.  I haven’t been running as much as I should be, but I pretty much do my weight lifting every other day. I plan to get back into running every day. It’s just hard to motivate myself into running some days. I do slip up and not want to exercise. I am not awfully worried about it because I eat pretty healthy every day. The only slip up I have food wise is French fries.  That’s honestly the worse food I eat. I have a hard time kicking French fries. But I don’t eat it as often either. I really don’t see the harm in having French fries every once in awhile.

I think tomorrow I will post some pictures. Of what I am not sure yet, but I am impressed with all the fat I have lost in my lower back. I have been thinking about getting a tattoo there, but my husband keeps telling me I should tattoo that spot when I am finally done with my weight loss. I’m just excited, I’m just a nerd for new tattoos.

i also forgot to post a picture of Arti yesterday.