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

wait, whaaat?

Apparently the tracker I was using to track my weight back in 2010 was a my fitness pal tracker.

So weird. No wonder I couldn't use "myrahhh" as a username and had to go with "_myrahhh" this year. Rofl!

So I entered my current weight

Holy shit.

lazy is not an excuse!

I feel really awful that I haven’t updated in so long. But life happens, and you lose track of your hard work. I am sad to say that I had to stop going to the gym due to the health problems of my husband.  I don’t like to make excuses when it comes to working out. After all the stress that came with the hub’s health problems, I’ve just grown lazy and did a lot of emotional eating.

The lowest weight that I got down to was 190, and as of today I am back to 198. I have been going through problems with severe food allergies. I wonder if it’s because I went back to eating some bad foods. My goal for now is to start eating as healthy as I can and to hopefully lose the weight I gained back by the end of September.

The first things to get rid of this time around? Red meat and m&ms. Ohhhh how I’ll miss those m&ms. lol

|| Gym Time ||

Soooooooooo, I finally got my gym membership Monday. Yesterday was the first day, and it was overwhelming at first. There are so many machines and so many possibilities. It seriously feels like I am starting this weight loss journey all over again.  I guess I would consider this the second chapter in the weight loss story. Seems like everything I did before this was to prepare me for harder workouts.

The gym membership came at the right time. I quit my job at the Gap, due to soaring gas prices. I have been feeling pretty useless and restless at home. Also my birthday had just passed and I used my birthday an excuse to eat awful. Lol. It was worth it….. to a point. I normally don’t consume sugary coffee drinks, drink a lot of beer or eat pizza. My body instantly got addicted to the sugar. I find myself craving sugar all day. I haven’t given in since my birthday, which is good.

Yesterday’s first trip to the gym was amazing. I did a little bit of everything to get the hang out how the machines work.  After experimenting with the weight machines I focused roughly over 40 minutes to cardio and an hour on upper body work outs. I am glad that my endurance has gone up. 75 lbs ago I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with any work out and felt embarrassed. I probably wouldn’t have gone back. Lol. But I am grateful that I have worked so hard on my body. Now it’s time to work even harder.

My arms felt like putty yesterday after the work out. Thankfully my arms don’t feel as bad as I anticipated. I feel like I can do a little upper body work outs today. Though I should just do a little so I can let my muscles heal properly. I am going to focus on getting as much cardio in and then work on my legs.

My new short term goal is to lose 20 lbs by the end of May. The new long term goal for the year is to have a total of 40 pounds gone.  This feels like an overall realistic goal. I am only 25 lbs away from meeting my all time goal of losing 100 pounds. 2012

Created a weight loss group on facebook, anyone is welcome to join!

Weight Loss Support Group

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.

61lbs gone...

Achoooo!

 

It has been pretty much over a year since I started my weight loss journey. The end of November 2011 brings my total weight loss to 61lbs gone. I have gone from a size 22 pant size to a size 14. I am really proud of myself. Not bad considering that I fell off the “diet” band wagon in the middle of the year. None the less I have met my original personal goal, fit into a size 14 jean.

I know everyone likes to start New Years resolutions. I personally don’t like to make big plans. Things can change dramatically in a year. Instead I like to set small goals that will help me meet my ultimate personal goal. For the year of 2012 I want my total weight loss to be 100lbs. It sounds like a lot to lose, but that’s only 39lbs to lose. I am already 10 lbs lighter than I was when I met my husband in 2004. I had always been on the chubby side growing up, but that’s around the time I gained a lot of weight. It was a mixture of over eating because my dad had died the year before and then it was a mixture of over eating because my husband, who has a high metabolism, ate a lot.

The first small goal is to lose 10 lbs for my birthday, which is Valentine’s Day. I plan to lose the 10lbs by ass kicking work outs and eating super healthy. I am going to cut out fried foods, cut down on meat consumption and give up the sweet delicious scones from star bucks. With Christmas on the way, I am only going to allow myself that day to eat sweets, but I also plan on doing a super duper ass kicking workout….

My work outs have been consisting on toning my thighs and butt, and trying to tone my arms. Most of the weight I have lost has been from my lower body and the chest area. I am still hanging on to the weight in my stomach and arms. I would really love a gym membership so I can get back in to weight lifting and have access to new types of exercise. I have more energy and am less tired so my work outs are more enjoyable. I feel like I can really challenge myself though, I think that’s why I have been trying to ways to feel the burn.

Nothing is Something Worth Doing

I did a little bit of journaling whenever I had the chance. I didn’t have internet access for a good bit, and really didn’t feel like hauling my lap with me to find a free wifi hotspot. I didn’t journal as much as I would have liked, but something is better than nothing. :)

December 19^th 2010 – The key to a happy life is to keep experiencing new things. To learn who we are deep inside is a lot easier than you would think.  You cannot have any success with weight loss if you don’t dig deep in yourself and keep putting yourself down.  Changing the way you think is the first key to any thing you are setting your mind too. Everyone’s goal in life is to experience new things.  Don’t think of weight loss as a tedious task… just think of it as a new experience. once you start to realize that you can do anything you set your mind to, you’ll learn that losing weight really isn’t as hard as it seems. Just don’t keep obsessing on the weight, keep your mind on how you feel. 

December 20^th 2010 – I have been drinking a lot off Izzy Sodas lately. Even though it doesn’t have “sugar” and it is all natural, fruit juice is still a sugar. I need to slow down or cut it out completely before I start getting addicted to it. Lol. Being an ex-hardcore soda drinker, this is the last thing I need. I don’t need anything to replace the addiction to soda. 

December 26^th 2010 – We have been here in Georgia since the 3^rd.  I have been doing a lot of emotional eating. In this case it’s nostalgic.  When I first met my husband back in October 2004, it became almost like a ritual to go out to eat in Downtown Savannah. We would find new things to try and discover what we liked and didn’t like. It’s pretty nice to be here and follow almost the same footsteps. I can feel deep in my soul that I am genuinely happy. I haven’t been too worried about my weight, but I have been focusing on what’s healthy. In diets, it tends to be really strict and sometimes I feel like you are not allowed to have fun with your food. But what I just discovered in these few weeks is you can make eating healthy pleasing to the soul. We as humans, tend to follow the same footsteps that will lead us to remembering the good times. What if we started a new ritual, what if we tied healthy food to good times? In this case, I have a strong obsession for an avocado sandwich from the brighter day health food store near Forsyth Park in Savannah Georgia. It has slices of avocado, veganaise, sprouts, red onions Swiss cheese on gluten free bread. I don’t know what is about this sandwich, but I cannot get enough of it. I am always extremely happy when I have this sandwich.  Also, one of my favorite things to do on the weekends here was to grab a sandwich from Publix, Lenny’s, or Larry’s Giant subs. There’s just something about a good sandwich that just makes me weak in the knees. Lol. I guess it’s just the whole experience in grabbing a sandwich and enjoying it on a beautiful day.

January 3^rd 2011 - So it’s the New Year’s… people always use this time of year to start something new, to change and to improve themselves. I personally don’t care about New Year resolutions.  The only good thing about the New Year is that gyms often offer discounts and department stores offer their exercise equipment sometimes for half the price.  I wish that I had the time to join a gym. Right now my husband and I are in the process of renovating our new place. If I am lucky, I can get an exercise machine and maybe rebuy the weights I left back in Texas…. Oppsies.  

Today I compared a picture I took on the 1^st to that picture from January 2009… you can see a huge difference. Looking back at it, I can’t believe that I had gained so much weight, and that I lost it.

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.

Crash and fad diets are a piece of shit

To me a crash diet should be considered to be a type of eating disorder. The definition of an eating disorder is extreme emotions, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding weight and food issues. People are constantly pushing their bodies to the point where they might be harmful. Deprivation diets and intense exercise can be extremely harmful to your heart. Why do people think that it’s okay to push your body so hard? Times have changed and food has changed.  Food portions at restaurants have tripled, which are causing people to become fatter and fatter.  People aren’t as active as they used to be. People are sitting on their asses all day watching tv, staying on the computer or staying on their beloved video games all day. Then they wonder why they are gaining all that weight. Well, since I have been exercising and changed my eating habits, I no longer feel sorry for people. It’s like they have an excuse for everything. It’s not hard to get off your butt and go for a walk; it’s not hard to give up soda or other junk food. You have to be willing to change. One positive change to your life style will reward you and will inspire you to make another positive lifestyle change.  It’s like a domino effect. 

With more and more people gaining weight, more and more crazy diets are popping up left and right. Some diets tell you to eat nothing but cottage cheese, eat cabbage soup, and just eat lima beans for a certain amount of time. Sure you’ll lose weight, but you will also make you sick. Rapid weight loss can lower your metabolism and cause you to gain all that weight back eventually. Not to mention that a long term low calorie intake (anything below 1,000) can lead to heart damage. All that “yo-yo” dieting can cause heart muscle loss which leads to all sorts of heart problems.  

People are so impatient and want rapid results. They never consider that the crazy diet they are doing can lead to death. I don’t know about you, but I am not dying to be skinny. If you really want to lose weight or be fit, you should stick to a healthy life style change and stick to it.  I know I’ve said this a lot, but losing weight takes time. 

Mental side of weight loss

The first part of my weight loss was pretty quick. I really wasn’t expecting to lose as much as I did. My first freak out was when I realized that I was no longer a size 20, but now a size 18. Lucky for me, for the 5 years I’d been married; my pant size would fluctuate between 20 and 18. Since I can remember I wore a size 18. When I started running more, my pant size dropped down to a 16… I remember the first time I tried a size 16 jeans I flipped out. I wanted to yell up and down the store that I had lost enough weight to wear a size 16 jeans!!!!!! I really can’t remember a time that I wore a size 16 jeans.  I still kind of freak out when I pass by a full length mirror. Even when I look down at my legs I kind of freak out. I can’t believe that my thighs are smaller. To me, I still think I look like I should wear a size 20. I think it is all because I lost most of my weight in my lower body and my back (as I would like to call it, my muffin tops lol). It would be nice to just lose all the weight in my upper body. 

With all the weight lifting I have been doing in the past month, I can see that my stomach is smaller and my arms are starting to get toned. Keeping a photo blog has helped me keep track of how much my body is changing. What I really need to do is buy a cloth measuring tape to keep track with everything. I have always feared what the numbers would be. 

But as the pounds keep shredding off, my confidence is getting higher and higher and I am starting to feel like a different person and I am starting to view weight loss in a different light. I have been reading a lot of articles about how people accidently turn anorexic and bulimic. It’s easy to become obsessed with the scale and the things you put in your body, or don’t put into your body. When I was 13 I had a problem with bingeing and purging. I was always chubby and I got made fun of a lot for being a little fluffy. It’s something I couldn’t control, or at least I thought I couldn’t control. Do you even know how bad a Mexican American diet is? Horrible. Most of the food is consumed with flour tortillas and covered and smothered with cheese. ROFL. Then you have the refried beans that are most of the time made with lard. I never understood that.  Mexican cookies are even made with lard. In the menus at the Mexican restaurants, it’s mostly beef. now you can understand how some Mexican Americans can get so hefty. I grew up on this food…. and I still love it even though I can’t eat it anymore. But I always try to make healthier versions of everything I crave. I do make a mean grilled chicken tacos on corn tortillas. 

As a close to this entry, I am proud to say that my size 16 jeans are starting to get lose on me. I think in the New Year I might be able to fit into a size 14. I’m not going to worry about it, but I will be excited for that day I try on a size 14 and it fits.

 

I also leave you with a few pictures of my bird, Niko. I will post pictures of my other birds later! <3

Eating his favorite snack out my hand

 

climbing the side of his cage

he is the most photogenic bird i have