Thursday, March 8, 2012

my journey continues

Just a little update on my weight loss journey. Today I'm at minus 57 pounds and 2-3 pant sizes from where I started. I think I started some dieting in January 2011 but it didn't get serious until we joined the YMCA in March 2011. There's been some ups and downs these past couple of months. I had a goal of meeting my first weight loss goal by Christmas. LOL! That was crazy. Did I really think I was going to loose weight during the Christmas season?!?! My inlaws visited for a few weeks. I ate whatever I wanted and didn't go work out, spending time with family instead. Several pounds slipped back on. Grrr! Messed up all of that hard work. I got back on track in January, took the pounds back off... that is until I did all of that baking of cupcakes for Hannah's birthday and then the dragon cake. Having icing and cake sitting around my house is a horrible idea. A few pounds slipped back on again, and then I had to work hard to get them off, once again.

Right now I'm at minus 57 pounds. At this point, this is the lightest I've been in at least eight years. While trying to get pregnant for a year and then starting the adoption process, I lost about 30 pounds via diet alone and no exercise. While waiting for Hannah to come home I gave up, and the pounds crept back on because of eating whatever I wanted and not exercising.

In the past two months I've added lap swimming and water jogging to my exercise routine, heading to a middle school pool once or twice a week. Swimming is not hard, burns so many calories, and my body feels all stretched out and great after 50 minutes of swimming. Water jogging is especially fun to do with a friend, as one can girl gab while doing this. Lap swimming just leaves me and my thoughts to entertain myself. Sometimes I can't help but wish I could have my iPod and headphones on while in the pool. I wish my schedule worked out so that I could get into the pool more often. When I'm on the treadmill I'm continually thinking "When can I get off this thing?" I don't think the same way when I'm in the pool.

I had some nice feedback last time I posted about this
, so I thought I'd fill my readers in on how things have been going. I'm in this for the long haul.

10 comments:

  1. congrats!! weight loss is hard! :) I've lost 110 pounds, and have been struggling to get off the last 50. Oh, and you can have your tunes while you swim!! I've seen lots of waterproof ipod cases. (here's one site: http://www.h2oaudio.com/store/waterproof-cases.html) just google 'waterproof ipod cases' and you'll get lots of results!

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  2. Good for you! Glad to hear about your progress. You go, girl!

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  3. Fantastic progress Sarah! It is a big commitment and life change that you going through. I am so happy that you have found an exercise that you enjoy. That makes it so much easier. I am with you on the treadmill. My least favorite...although watching E! news does make the time go by faster. Keep up the great work!!!!

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  4. Woohoo!!! Go Sarah!!!! That is awesome!!!! I am so excited for you!! I can't wait till I can say I have accomplished what you have!!!! Keep up the great work!!

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  5. I love walking in the pool! It burns so many calories. I have a waterproof case for my ipod and it makes it so enjoyable! I like to listen to books while I walk and sometimes find that I spend more time in the pool because I don't want to get out until the end of the chapter.

    You will get funny looks from people when you use the ipod in the pool. I have had many people caution me that I was going to ruin my ipod. One older gentleman jumped out of the pool because he thought I was going to electrocute everyone in the pool. Many people will also want to know where they can get their own.

    If you decide to purchase one, you need to be very careful to buy the correct one for you EXACT ipod. The littlest difference can be HUGE.

    Congratulations and keep up the good work!!
    Barbara
    Mother of twins from Jiangxi, China

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  6. You are amazing!! What an inspiration! It's awesome that you've found something that you enjoy such as swimming and that really motivates you to exercise. You are doing a great job!!

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  7. Keep it up!! Your story was the catalyst to get me back into the gym too. I totally hear ya on the weight lost by a certain date thing. I had no idea how hard it was to lose weight in your *ahem* 40s. I started on 10/10 with a goal to lose 26# by Xmas. Well, to date I have lost 15# but its SOOO hard. I work out 1-2hrs per day, 5days a week. and I watch the food intake too. No clue how folks can lose weight as fast as they do cuz its not going fast enough for me for all the sweating I am doing. You should be so so proud of yourself and all that you have accomplished. Keep it up absolutely. Every # gone and kept off is a victory. I too struggled around the holidays, then there was illness and then a family death. and lots of eating out. I will say though even as I am eating all the things I know I shouldn't. at least I AM thinking about it and trying to limit. Every little bit helps..this is a lifestyle change. Stay in it for the long haul and keep on going! I'd love to know what menu changes you've made for your progress. I struggle to get enough protein into our meals.

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    1. I made another post of what I've been eating. Sometimes we make something different for Hannah, sometimes she eats what we eat but we'll slip in a lot of butter in her version to add on the calories for her. It's hard to try to serve calorie rich foods for skinny kiddos AND limit the calories in foods for Mom and Dad.

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  8. PS, A lady at fitness lady has an ipod shuffle thing and she does her hair in a ponytail and then the last time through leaves a little bunched that she doesn't pull all the way througha and puts the shuffle in her hair. It works for her because she does not go under for swimming. Someone siad that you can put a swim cap over that for actually swimming but no clue if that would really work.

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  9. Way to go, Sarah! I'm so impressed at all your hard work!

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