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Category Archives: Health & Well-Being

This gets me excited for two reasons.

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Three if you count that it means a kidless night out at a holiday party.

If you can’t guess the two reasons, it’s 1) size 14 and 2) a good deal!

The backstory? I needed something to wear for a holiday party. I had NOTHING holiday-ish in my closet at all. No dress slacks, no khakis, no skirts, no dressy sweaters even. I had one dress that would have been okay, but I kind of wanted something new that was a bit more holiday-party-appropriate. So I went shopping at Ross and was looking at 16s. 16s!!! (I now wear size 16 jeans so thought a dress would be the same.) I haven’t bought a size 16 dress in…since maybe high school? So I picked four and tried them all on—and they all fit. Wait. What? I’m used to maybe one thing fitting and hoping it doesn’t look awful, LOL. So I was able to pick the one Iiked the best. And it was on clearance! So imagine my surprise when I got home and realized it was a 14! Holy crap! I never would have looked at the size 14 section! 🙂

I fell off the wagon.

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Phew.

I fell off the wagon at lunch. Too many Biscuits and Gravy potato chips (probably the equivalent of a single serving bag) and about 9 peanut M&Ms when making pretzel/Rolo/M&M treats. Then two pretzel treats.

Since I felt the day was already a bust, LOL, I splurged on a margarita wine cooler while getting dinner ready.

Then we made a batch of garlic toast (amazing stuff) and I had the equivalent of two slices of bread over the dinner hour (before, during, and after)…while still eating dinner, of course.

Overall, today was completely unlike 99.9% of my NS days. Too much sugar plus too much food plus alcohol. EEK.

But.

BUT.

It was still light years different from pretty much 90% of my pre-NS days—today’s consumption would have been a light day. I probably would have eaten half a bag of chips with lunch, two handfuls of M&Ms, a handful of finished pretzel treats, had two drinks, at least three pieces or more of bread/toast…plus twice as much dinner as I ate. Plus I wouldn’t have walked a mile during the day.

So I still call today a win. And that’s why NS is the bomb.

What I’m wearing today.

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They’re a tiny bit tight, but with the long MSU jersey they’re just fine. (While I technically hit 90.2# lost this morning, my official weigh-in isn’t until Sunday.)

And I’m also trying something new—the Short version. I’ve always had to buy Talls my entire life…but in this style, the Average was perfect. Until I lost weight…and shrunk a damn inch! The jeans still fit great overall so I thought I’d try the Short. Well…the verdict is still out. They are almost perfect while standing, but when sitting they pull up just a bit more than I’d like. So I either a) get the Average and hem/fold them or b) get the short and deal with it. 🙂

My 15 minutes of fame?!

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Do you recognize anyone on Naturally Slim’s Facebook page? 🙂

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A week or so ago I Tweeted my current results (81# lost after 26 weeks) and today they Liked it, retweeted it, and messaged me to ask if they could use it on their other social media accounts as inspiration for others. Of course I said YES! A little while later, it appeared on their Facebook page!

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Of course, I’m completely embarrassed that my bedroom is such a hot mess in the Before photos…but I’m hoping that the After photos take people’s eye’s away. 🙂

So I saw a doctor today.

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Yeah.

She was nice enough, but when we were talking about why I wanted a general chem panel run (in addition to my thyroid levels) and I casually mentioned that I had recently lost 80 pounds, she didn’t really even bat an eye. Instead, she asked what I was doing for exercise. And when I told her that I was walking about a mile 3-5 times a week she kind of gave me a look, saw my FitBit, and asked how many daily steps I was getting. I told her about 7,000 and she said “You need to get that up to 10,000.”

Gee thanks, lady. Thanks for showing me any kind of positivity about LOSING 80 F***ING POUNDS.

And on top of that, I shrunk a damn inch. I am no longer 5’10”. What the bloody hell? At least Tom and I are shrinking in tandem (he lost an inch as well).

* Sidenote. I had complained about this to my friends, saying “That’s the problem being military…you get a new set of doctors every few years so no one is ever really invested in you long-term. And even while on station, you might not see the same doctor each time (unless you specifically make sure you are).” And they unilaterally said no way, I had a bad doctor. That any doctor should be THRILLED with that amount of weight loss, new patient or not. So I got a dud. I knew my friends would make me feel better. 🙂

I’m having issues getting dressed. 

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Now I’m finding myself much more choosy about what I look like and how clothes feel.

I have three pair of size 20 pants (not jeans) that technically fit…but they don’t fit well. The waist is too high or the thighs are weird in comparison to the waist or they just look odd with whatever shirt I pick. So in the donation pile they go.

My favorite real (i.e. non-yoga) pants are actually jeans! The pair Nancy handed down, a Jennifer Lopez pair from Kohl’s, and still those silly $14 Gloria Vanderbilts from Costco! That’s hard to get used to.

And a lot of the tops I’ve loved—that still technically fit and are technically wearble—are just a hair too big and while they’re okay…they’re not quite right. So this morning I’ve added about six more shirts to the pile.

I keep thinking I don’t need that much more in the way of clothes, but every time I get dressed, nothing seems right.

Flu shots for three!

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We finally made it in for flu shots at the hospital this morning! I figured what better morning than the morning when we were all already up and showered by 7:15. :/

Owen was adamant about not wanting the shot so got the mist. Katie probably could have gotten the mist but one of the rules is you had to keep your hands completely out of your face all day and we weren’t sure she could do that…so she got the shot. She squawked for the 1.3 seconds it took and then she was fine. Owen made more of a stink about the mist than Katie did about her shot! He knew it wasn’t a shot but he just gets himself so worked up over nothing it’s silly. And then when it’s over and it was no big deal, he acts like he knew it was no big deal the whole time. Kids.

Katie showing Owen her band-aid. (As she repeated many times: “Mama and me got band-aids because we got shots. Owen got drops.”)

Enjoying her stickers:

What a discouraging week. Blurg.

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I’m really bummed this morning. I just weighed myself for my weekly weigh-in and…I’m up about four pounds from last Sunday!

WHAT?!?!?!?

Now, granted, last Sunday I weighed on a different scale (at my mom’s house)…BUT it’s the exact scale we have and my previous weighings on her scale showed similar results to mine (meaning I weighed myself Sunday night when we got there and it was up 2-3 pounds from my house, which was likely attributable to weighing at night with clothes as opposed to naked in the morning).

If our scale is right, I didn’t lose anything at all the entire week we were in Michigan when I was eating like a bird because I wasn’t hungry. Seems highly unlikely. Gah.

THAT SAID, I know I haven’t been 100% on my game because this past week just felt off all week. One or two days I ate a few pieces of Halloween candy (like a few sweet tarts, a mini kit kat, and a mini Reese’s cup—allowed, of course, except I didn’t eat them at the “right” time)—then I ate “dinner” (1/3 cup mac and cheese and 1/2 a brat) at 8:00 even though I wasn’t technically at the correct hunger level. And I didn’t exercise like I normally do. And on more than a few days it felt like I just wanted to eat ALL THE FOOD ALL THE TIME (even though I didn’t). It’s not “that time of the month” because that doesn’t happen on the birth control I’m on…but whatever the reason is I hate it. I don’t want to eat. I’m not hungry. But I want everything. And my normal willpower has dissipated.

Fortunately, this is a new week and I’ll just get back to basics (again) and hopefully I’ll lose another seven like I did a few weeks ago.

But in the meantime, I do try to remember that I’ve already lost a serious amount of weight in quite a short time and I should be thrilled (which I am!) but it’s hard not to be somewhat discouraged about such a huge unexpected swing. 🙁

Whoopsie Daisy

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So after the big boohoo I had this weekend about my .4 weight gain…I finally opened my spreadsheet today to input the info (I skipped it because I wasn’t ready to input hard proof of a gain) and…WHAT IS THIS? I lost .4 pounds?! That’s what you get for weighing more than once a week and you look at the wrong date it Fitbit to calculate your weekly loss.

So, it was still a sucky week and I still needed to get back on track, but at least I don’t have that small upward blip anymore! And it made me look back at previous weeks…and I had one other week where I only lost .2 so this wasn’t even my worst week. 🙂

Here’s my chart thus far on my Excel spreadsheet:

2015-10-13weightlosschart

And with the same data at Naturally Slim:

I love it. 🙂

A day late…but it’s 70.

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So my weigh-in day came yesterday and I didn’t lose anything. In fact, I gained weight. It was only .4 pounds, but that’s disheartening after consistently losing 2-4# a week for 20 weeks. 

You may think that’s a bit of craziness after gaining less than half a pound…but gaining is not an option. 

Oh yes, there will be times I gain weight during the rest of my life (think a vacation or special event), but the program has ways to deal with it: When you catch it immediately, you go hard core and within a few days, the “fluff” weight should fall right off. If you let it go and let the .4 turn into 1.4 turn into 3.2 turn into 5.6 then you have a problem and it takes more work to drop the extra pounds. 

Sooo…I knew I hadn’t been following the principles as closely as I should have been for still being in weight loss mode (vs maintenance) and it was my own fault. So, true to my word—I said as soon as I stopped losing I was going back to the hard core principles—I did.

I went on a double walk (I did our 2-mile hiking trail instead of my usual 1-mile treadmill), drank my H2OJ religiously, skipped lunch because I wasn’t hungry, then ate my small dinner S…L…O…W…L…Y (and when I say small dinner, I mean 1/4 of a grilled hamburger, two bites of avocado, and about four chips—and I honestly wasn’t even hungry but you should eat at least once a day).

And this morning I had lost 1.6—which officially dropped me into the 23X category (my next goal!) and upped my overall loss to 70#! 

That said, it annoys me to no end that I have that tiny upward blip on my weight loss line. I keep vacillating on just switching my Sunday weight to today’s weight but then I don’t. 🙂

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this week will be a banner weight loss week to keep up my average 3.3# loss per week. 

If you need me I’ll be on the couch.

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There’s nothing like tripping on nothing? a small rock? in your driveway, falling and scraping both feet, smashing a knee, and scraping and smacking your wrist to make you appreciate how good you HAD been feeling. 

Within 10 minutes my back was hurting along with everything else and I had to take some painkillers. 
I knew I should have left the garbage and recycling bins for Tom to bring in. 🙂

65 in 18 weeks!

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Friends who are also doing Naturally Slim joke that it’s voodoo because it’s SO easy to lose… Where else can you eat what you want and lose weight? I even felt like I wasn’t doing too well this week…and I lost 3.2 pounds! And I never once felt deprived! And I ate homemade ice cream with Oreos, homemade mac and cheese (twice!), southern biscuits and gravy potato chips, honey BBQ meat sticks, apple pie… 

And I agree! It IS voodoo! And it’s amazing. I’d honestly be happy if I never lost another pound because I feel awesome and I think I look good (which rarely happens)..but I’m just over half done (my first goal is 100, but my real goal is 130). 

It’s so awesome to be able to go into a store, grab an XL (in a top or a bottom) and most likely have it fit! I’ve gone through my closet again with a harsher look and taken out probably another 1-2 garbage bags full. (It’s hard because some of the clothes still fit and I like them…but they’re really too big and don’t look nice.) One of my newest favorite shirts (bought the day I decided to start losing weight back in May) is SOOO comfy—but makes me look SOOO frumpy! In the pile it goes! I did keep a few bigger [long- and short-sleeved] tees to wear as PJ tops, but that’s about it. I can’t even fathom what size I will end up when I reach my goal?!

Showing off my new belt. 

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Remember I needed a new belt? A friend recommended one and actually gifted it to me as a reward for my weight loss! We selected the XL (the biggest size) even though I didn’t think it would fit (my waist inches were the upper limit of the belt so I thought it’d be too tight). Turns out it’s perfect—and I could actually wear it 80s style. 🙂 I had Tom take a quick pic and I was surprised that I liked the first pic. I seem to like most pictures of me these days. 🙂

  

So this happened today. 

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Two belts broke at the same spot. Obviously I haven’t worn these since the last time I was this weight…and they were already very worn. I guess I need to hit Kohls soon.

  
I didn’t throw them away, though—I trimmed the ends and will keep them for wear in about 20-30 more pounds. I rarely wear belts, even when thinner…so these are probably 10-12 years old (though only with maybe 2 years of wear). 

The great closet clean out, part 2.

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Tonight I went through my fall/winter clothes.

Most of that stuff is too big, though admittedly there are a few things that I could still wear…but I’ve had them so long I just don’t like them anymore or I’ve never really liked them. I did keep a few big comfy shirts for PJs so I’ll just have to get some PJ pants (and I know Costco has some when I’m ready).

This was interesting, too. This dress/pantsuit/duster jacket outfit came out of the skinny box. I used to love it. So I tried it on. In the first photo, look how awesome (not) I look in a shapeless ill-fitting dress. But if you suddenly make it form-fitting…wow! Much better. But in the pile it goes since 1) I can’t sew and 2) even if I did sew (or had someone else sew), I really don’t have anyplace to wear it to make it worthwhile to get altered. 

The great closet clean out!

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Tom and I have been sorting through all the clothes that no longer fit. This is my first bunch—I still have to go through the long-sleeved shirts, summer stuff I’m making last through the end of summer, and more jeans:

  • 18 shirts
  • 11 pair comfy pants
  • 10 dressier shirts
  • 3 dresses
  • 3 shorts/2 Capri/2 jeans/6 dress pants
  • 3 PJ sets
  • 1 swimsuit
  • 4 bras
  • 2 sweaters

I look forward to having fewer clothes in my closet, that’s for sure. (Honestly, it doesn’t look like I took anything out—it looks like a normal closet now. That’s what you get when you keep clothes in four sizes!)

I pulled out a fall jacket that I’ve only worn once and it’s been too tight for years—and now it’s too big (which I could say about a lot of my stuff).

I know it’s a great thing to be losing weight, but I’m having a hard time putting some of my favorite pieces in the donate pile. I keep wondering if maybe I shouldn’t try to get them altered so I can keep wearing them…but then I realize I will just buy cuter clothes that actually fit. But it’s still hard. 🙂
Every time I get dressed now I just shake my head in awe because I was literally thisclose to getting rid of all my clothes that were too small that I hadn’t worn in years and were just pissing me off seeing them there. And those are the clothes I’m wearing now!!

Genetics Revisit

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Owen’s pediatrician wanted to revisit his genetics results to see if any new information has been discovered in the past 2.5 years…so it was off to Bethesda to see a specialist.

In the waiting room, Owen made a beeline for the one kid he saw who was also using a tablet. 🙂

The short story is that there is nothing new regarding his previous test results and we don’t have to worry about revisiting them for another two years unless something changes drastically with his health or behavior. We also don’t have to worry about getting Katie tested.

I fully believe it’s something that could’ve been handled over the phone without actually seeing Owen in person but I obviously that would make things too easy. (Fortunately the drive there did not give me an anxiety attack as it has in the past—the traffic was fairly light and I left plenty of time.)

Me and Owen got treats!

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To celebrate my weight loss, I went shopping. 🙂 I was hoping to find a pair or two of capris on sale that would last me the rest of this season (and most likely through the spring when I will hopefully need another new size—the way my body apparently fits into pants, I may be wearing these for 3-4 months (if I keep losing at the same rate)). This was me trying on new jeans—and kind of liking how they looked and feeling good! I sent the pic to Tom saying I wasn’t sure—they were a little tight but they were stretchy—and he said GET THEM. Smart man, I know! 🙂

And then we got Owen a future treat at the Lego store (we’re changing his chore chart reward system), and he was giddy about the Minecraft displays. 🙂

50#!

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I DID IT! I lost 30# in 10 weeks on Naturally Slim (my goal was 25!)…and 50# overall in just 14 weeks! Hopefully I can lose the next 50 in another 14 weeks!

I debated posting my official “before and after” pics because they’re actually not all that impressive—plus me in yoga pants/tank tops isn’t very flattering!—but decided to go ahead because I’m still damn proud of myself!

I owe all this to Tivo friends Brad and Bryan who brought NatSlim to my attention, Tom for being amazingly supportive (he lost about 25!), and all my TCF friends for the daily online support!

And my Fitbit app congratulated me as well!

2015-08 Fitbit50loss

We dug out the “skinny clothes” bin!

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Tom tried his stuff on last night and found a new wardrobe! I found a ton of stuff, too—some things that are already too big, quite a bit that fits now, and a smaller stack that will fit in another 10-15#. After that, I get to donate everything and buy a new wardrobe!

I haven’t worn these since maybe 2005. It’s fun shopping in your own stuff. 🙂

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My total loss as of yesterday was 43.4# — still 56.6# away from my first goal, but almost halfway there in just 12 weeks!