New Year's Eve

Our plans have changed for New Year's Eve.

We have decided that we are DONE with the holidays and all of the eating, drinking, and excess that it brings. The thought of attending another party, having another hangover, or eating more unneeded high-cal food is extremely unappealing. We are both looking forward to a good, fresh start and want to start this health-kick off in style.

My boyfriend and I will be attending a silent, candlelight hot yoga class tonight! The yoga goes from 10:30 TO 11:30, followed by a long meditation. Then people gather in the lobby all sweaty and uplifted for refreshing snacks and drinks, and a toast to 2011.

I am REALLY looking forward to this. I am not even disappointed that I won't get to wear my new dress :) We will then be spending Saturday and Sunday on a fresh-juice fast, using the new juicer we got for Christmas. It's not for weight loss but for kicking all the processed junk from our systems. We will clean out the cupboards so that on Monday when we go back to eating solid foods there are only good choices in the house.

What is more relaxing, refreshing, and renewing than a hot yoga class and raw food/fresh juice fast?

So Happy New Year! This is the year of GOAL for me... Not only will I reach my weight loss goal this year (I will! Notice this is not "I might", or "I hope"), but I am also graduating university and reaching my goal of becoming a teacher. Both projects took 5 years to complete... I started my weight loss journey only a few weeks before entering first year university.

To all my friends who have helped me along the way - may 2011 bring health, happiness, peace, and see many goals achieved :)

DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!.....

This is what I woke up to this morning:

355 - 204.8 = 150.2 LBS LOST!!

Took long enough, didn't it?? haha...

But finally, I can say I did it! It is a very nice Christmas present to myself :) And what a motivator!! I feel like I could say no to any thing that is shoved in my face today, any fresh-baked treat, any sugary-goodness. Seeing that number was exactly what I needed to get through the holiday season!!

Here is the picture of my dress that I promised. KEEP IN MIND that it was taken after 4 hours of shopping. My hair is a mess, and hey - I'm not wearing any Spanx!! I will be wearing them on New Years so I will look even slimmer :)

I will put up a more polished photo, and maybe some before-after pictures to show the 150 lost as soon as I get a chance.

Now, on to kicking the 200's out of the picture...

Pardon my emo-ment

So last night I was having a bit of an emo moment. I was really upset that the dress I bought was too tight. Today I returned it and spent 4 hours shopping in the mall, boyfriend in tow, looking for a more suitable outfit.

I found it! I found a purple dress at Ricki's (in Large!). I loved it and bought it. Then, I went across the way and saw ANOTHER perfect dress. I tried it on and my boyfriend liked it better than the one I'd just bought. So we went back to Rickis to return the purple dress and went home with the new, prettier (also Large) dress from Guava. Good Gawd, after 4 hours of shopping I am glad I found SOMETHING. I think I tried on 30-40 dresses. haha

It's beautiful. I will post pictures when I'm not so tired. All that walking and getting changed is very exhausting.

~ H

Well this is mighty embarrassing.

Who am I kidding? Seriously.

The look on his face this evening was a major reality check. It's amazing how an expression can speak volumes. Volumes that say "That dress does NOT fit"

He didn't even HAVE to say anything. I could see he was surprised, speechless even. And no, it wasn't because I looked amazing. It was more like a deer caught in the headlights, really. I saved him the horror of having to tell me I looked like an overstuffed sausage by turning around and walking out of the room... taking off the pressure to either patronize me or be truthful.

This sucks.

Tonight was a big wake up call, and something I think I needed.
Reality check: You are still fat.
Reality check: You are NOT a size medium. Period.

I think I got a little carried away with feeling great. Compliments have been pouring in, I've been feeling better than ever in my own body. I was actually starting to feel happy with my body and myself. THEN it appears I got delusional for a moment.

At 206ish lbs, one does not fit a size medium. With a gut like mine, one does not wear a tight black dress. It is unflattering and silly. What was I thinking? Who allowed me to go shopping ALONE? Better yet, how did I actually think that looked GOOD??

I am getting up in the morning and I am going to the gym. I am then promptly returning to The Bay for a refund on my many-sizes-too-small dress. I considered keeping it, as a goal type thing; but I don't know that it will ever look good on me so why waste good money. I will always have a gut, even at goal... that is an unfortunate bi-product of significant weight loss. Oh well.

I feel embarrassed that not only did I rave about this dress to my boyfriend, and then put it on to be met with speechlessness, but that I raved about it to on my favourite message board and got so many wonderful replies. Please excuse my temporary insanity...

~ PJ

water water water... exercise!

Today my mission is to drink 4 or more liters of water.
I am only .8 away from my 150 lbs lost...

I am having fresh fruit for snacks, hummus and pita for lunch, and a nice homemade veggie spaghetti for dinner.

My boyfriend went and renewed my gym membership for me while I was at work yesterday, which is really sweet of him. (It would have been even sweeter if he had paid for it :P)

So I'm going to eat fresh today and drink lots of water, go to the gym after work and then relax with movies this evening. I have my fingers crossed that that will be the boost I need to lose the last .8... and reach a really big mini-goal :)

~ H

Long catch-up post :)

Rum and soynog... YUM!

I think I'm getting into the Christmas spirit, as I've been enjoying my fair share of baking and drinks. I am SO HAPPY to be finished my practicum and there has been an awful lot of celebrating. There are Christmas parties this weekend and next, then Christmas (and then New Years!). A good 3 weeks of celebrating are upon me.

I don't feel worried, or stressed about weight. I'm still at my lowest weight (208), and I've been keeping an eye on it. I am going to get my arse back to the gym starting either Monday or Tuesday. If not for losing, I'd be happy to exercise for the sake of exercising and keeping any Seasonal Pounds from creeping on. My boyfriend and I are excited about having a few weeks off together, and one of the things that is so exciting is being able to get some good quality, scheduled exercise in. :)

I am asking for some weights and resistance bands for Christmas, and Joe & I are going to try out the P90X workouts. It is an intense at-home workout routine that yields AMAZING results when done properly. I'm excited :)

I have had a few neat experiences recently. People are noticing my weight loss and it's really nice. The other day I was out for a birthday dinner with my family, and my mom said the strangest thing to me in the ladies washroom.

"Heather, you're looking very... normal."

It was a sideways compliment I guess, she meant it in the best way possible... what she was trying to say is that I don't look overweight anymore. I know I'm still overweight but I finally LOOK fairly normal! I don't stand out in a crowd (at least not because of my weight). :)

This next bit might sound a bit vain, but I feel safe to blog it, so here it goes:

I have a girl friend who I have always thought "she looks great. She's not too small, and I'd be happy to look like that!!" Well, the other day we were talking about weight loss efforts etc, and she divulged her weight to me. She's only TEN POUNDS lighter than me. TEN! I know our bodies are shaped differently, but we are the same height and similar build otherwise. I was secretly so happy to hear that because I have always thought she looked great... that means I'm probably not too far off :)

So overall, these past few weeks have been a little lacking in exercise and a little heavy in treats, but I'm maintaining my weight and a good attitude. I am going to ride it out with a stay the same or small loss this holiday season, I'm hoping :)

~ H

It's over, but it ain't over...

So, Although I'm disappointed, I'm not dwelling on it.
I missed the week of bootcamp and it was entirely due to end-of-semester busyness and very little to do with motivation. I've been wanting so badly to get out and get exercising. I've been wanting fresher foods around the house and cannot WAIT for my break do I can clean up and work out.

Today would be the day that I take my measurements and pictures and what not, but I feel like it wouldn't be that accurate of a comparison. I lost 22 lbs in 9 weeks, and then week 10, 11, and 12 were written off. One for laziness, two for business. I knew getting into the program that that would be a possibility.

Would I do it again?? Heck yes!! I love that kind of accountability and butt-kicking :) It's too expensive for me right now, but I do enjoy it a lot.

In my 3 weeks away from tracking and working out, I went up, up more, down, down more, fluctuating all over the place. This morning, I stepped on the scale (sunday mornings are my Official WI day) and I am back down to my lowest. :) Thank goodness!

Start 231
Current 208.8
Total 22.2
Total lost to date: 146.2

I don't know that I'll make 199 by New Years Day, but I'm sure I can make 150 lbs lost by New Years day. That's only 3.8 lbs away!