Week 44 Weigh-In (2 days early)

Current Weight - 239.4 lbs.
This week's loss - 1.6 lbs.
Total loss - 78.2 lbs.
Average calories per day - 2039

Woohoo! I did it! I'm "obese"! :-D Sure, that's not something most people would be shouting from the rooftops, but for me this is quite a milestone. When I started my journey last February, my BMI was over 50 which meant I was "Super Morbidly Obese" and for most of the year I've been "Morbidly Obese" with my BMI being in the 40's. Today, however, my BMI is 39.8. :-)

I'll try to be good with the Christmas ham later today. We bought one of those Smithfield Spiral Sliced hams and they are too good!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Progress Pics

I was hoping to post pics when I reached 240 or less, but these will have to do. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) all of my black short-sleeved shirts are too big and all I could find was a long-sleeved one. The overall effect is still the same.

Maybe next Christmas I'll be posting pics of me making it to one-derland? How awesome would that be?

Week 43 Weigh-In

Current Weight - 241.0 lbs.
This week's gain - 0.2 lbs.
Total loss - 76.6 lbs.

I can't really say what my average daily caloric intake was this week, since I really screwed up on 2 of the days. Another 2 days were pretty bad, too. I did have 3 great days (Sat., Sun., and Mon.) and the scales were showing a loss on Tuesday morning, but I killed the diet on Tuesday while making and decorating another cake with the evil buttercream frosting!

OMG I have no self control when it comes to frosting. Give me the slightest whiff of that stuff and I'm like a drug addict needing a fix! I really hate myself for being so weak sometimes. :-( I was supposed to make yet another cake for a little get together yesterday, but I knew I wouldn't be able to control myself so I went to Walmart and bought a few cupcakes instead. Another disaster averted.

So now I'm back on track. Food since Wednesday has been great (1900 - 2000 cal/day) and I've been eating lots of salads with grilled chicken and mandarin oranges. As long as I keep it up, I will finally reach my mini-goal of being 240 or less by Christmas day.

We're gearing up for our trip to Alabama on Tuesday. I'm still not quite sure what to do about food. I did get a bunch of Kashi Caramel Peanut GoLean Rolls (190 cal.) to take, as well as some strawberry fruit leather (68 cal.). I'll also bring a few natural peanut butter sandwiches on 100% whole wheat bread and bottled water in the van. Once I get there I'll see if I can find some healthy frozen meals or maybe some things to make salads. I'll be bringing a small food scale with me, too.

I'll be sure to post my weigh-in results on Christmas day. Keep your fingers crossed! :-)

Christmas Survey

Found this survey over at Cactusfreek's.


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Hot Chocolate with lots of marshmallows.


2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?

Santa wraps everything.


3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?

As a kid I always wanted colored lights and we only had white on our tree. I swore that when I grew up and got my own tree that I'd use colored lights. Did that one year and realized that the colored ones aren't very bright compared to white and the tree looked very dark. So now I use a mixture of white lights with some blue lights that I got on clearance at Target for $0.19 per strand (90% off!!!).


4. Do you hang mistletoe?

No.


5. When do you put your decorations up?

The day after Thanksgiving.


6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?

Smithfield Spiral Sliced Ham


7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?

Sneaking peaks at the wrapped presents. This was one of the few times my sister and I got along as kids. We'd carefully unwrap gifts to see what they were and we'd go looking around the house for hidden gifts. I don't think our parents ever knew. :-D


8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I pretty much figured it out on my own by 3rd grade.


9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

I don't open a gift, but I started a tradition a couple years ago where my kids get to open a gift I select for them. Of course the gift is new pajamas for them to wear that night. This way they are dressed nicely for the Christmas morning video taping. :-)


10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?

Blue and White lights with both newer and older ornaments. I have a couple of ornaments from my childhood which I treasure. One of them is a foam apple covered with tiny little mirrors so it looks like a miniature disco ball. The other is half of a walnut shell with some kind of fabric, stuffing, and what looks like a thumbtack with a baby's face painted on it. It's supposed to be a baby in a cradle. I don't know why, but I totally loved it as a kid and I keep it for that reason.


11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?

Love it! Two years ago we got a surprise snowstorm the day after Christmas. Since we live in the south, any snow is unusual and that time we got 14"!!!


12. Can you ice skate?

Can I stand and move forward on ice skates? Probably. I used to when I was 10ish. I've never been able to do any kind of figure skating though.


13. Do you remember your favorite gift?

My favorite gift ever was a Barbie Dream Pool that I got in 1981 when I was 8 years-old. I played with that thing forever. It even had a little grill with tiny hamburgers, hot dogs, spatulas, etc. I remember filling the pool up with water and trying not to spill it as I put it on the floor. I had the cleanest Barbies on the block!


14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?

Making sure my kids have a memorable time.


15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?

Chocolate Chess Pie.


16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Driving around to see Christmas light displays...both neighborhood houses and professional displays.


17. What tops your tree?

A fiber optic Santa.


18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?

Giving. I hate surprises.


19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?

Since the question is "Song" and not "Carol" I'll have to say:
Band Aid's - Do They Know It's Christmas?
Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Mad Russian's Christmas


20. Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?

Love the peppermint variety, but the fruit flavored ones are nasty!


21. Do you have music playing while decorating your tree and house?

Yes.


22. Artificial tree, pre-cut tree, or cut-your-own tree?

For the past few years we've had a fake tree, but with the severe flooding we had a few months ago our tree was exposed to water in the shed. We didn't know until we pulled it out a few weeks ago and noticed some rust. I looked for a new one at 8 different stores, but all of the decent looking trees were around $300. Anything less than that looked like a "Charlie Brown Tree". So in the end we decided to go real this year.


23. Do you have Christmas decorations in your bathroom? Or, where is the oddest place you have decorations in your house?

We keep it simple around here. Just a tree in the livingroom and a wreath on the door.

Week 42 Weigh-In

Current Weight - 240.8 lbs.
This week's loss - 0.0 lbs.
Total loss - 76.8 lbs.
Average calories per day - 2434
Treadmill - 2.15 miles in 35 minutes burning 443 calories.

As you can see I had another bad week. This week there wasn't as much "undocumented nibbling", but I still had too many calories. Yesterday, however, I seemed to turn a corner. I was pretty good and had just under 2,000 calories--which I haven't been able to do in a while! Keep your fingers crossed, I might just be re-gaining some kind of control here.

I'm still just 0.8 lbs. away from my Christmas goal and I really, really want to meet it! Originally, I had planned to get to 240 by my last weigh-in before Christmas (12/20), but I'm changing that.

Since we'll be out-of-town on Wednesday the 27th, I'll move my weigh-in to Christmas morning. As long as I weigh 240 or less by the 25th, in my eyes I'll have met my goal.

I haven't exercised since last Wednesday, and I'm not sure when I'll pick that up. I'm sort of tempted to just put off exercise for the next 2 1/2 weeks and start over with the new year. With everything going on between now and then, it would be one less thing to stress over, and with me stress = binge eating.

Tooth Update

Well the tooth was split so badly that the dentist couldn't save it. Thursday I went to an oral surgeon and had it removed along with one of my wisdom teeth. Yes, I still have those at 33!

Although I haven't experienced any pain (not on pain meds either!), this has been a terrible experience. My mouth bled like you wouldn't believe and it still tastes like I have pennies in my mouth. Yuck! I know my breath must really be kicking too! :-D

The molar I lost was pretty far back and even when I stretch my mouth into it's widest smile I still can't see the hole. Despite that, I'm still considering an implant. The surgeon said it really wasn't necessary since the hole was so far back, but if I really insisted that I could get one since my sinus cavities are high. Ugh...do I want to spend $2500 on an implant? I don't know. I have to wait 6 months before I could even think about getting one anyways...have to let the bone heal.

Any vigorous activity leads to a bloody taste in my mouth right now, so I haven't been exercising at all. Not really sure what I'm going to do with the whole diet/exercise thing for the next few weeks. Caloric intake hasn't been any better either.

If I can just get through the next 3 weeks without a gain, then I can have a fresh start on New Year's Day. Easier said than done, I know. In the next 2 weeks I have to bake and decorate 3 cakes! Temptations are everywhere. :-/

Week 41 Weigh-In

Current Weight - 240.8 lbs.
This week's loss - 4.2 lbs.
Total loss - 76.8 lbs.
Average calories per day - 2164
Treadmill - 6.42 miles in 1 hour 35 minutes over 3 days burning 1,329 calories.
Exercise Bike - 4.01 miles in 20 minutes burning 120 calories.

Well at least most of the gain is gone. I have to be honest here, at some point in the past few weeks between Thanksgiving and being sick, I've lost my groove. Not too long ago I was doing so well and I just can't seem to get back to that point in my head. Even running isn't where it was just a few short weeks ago.

Maybe it's because it's that time of year? With Christmas right around the corner, I find that I want to slip back into old habits. I'm sure it's a familiar pattern to most...absolutely gorge yourself between Halloween and Christmas and then plan to diet after the first of the year.

I keep hearing that little voice in my head telling me to eat those cookies, it's the holidays after all, and I can just pick the diet back up on New Year's. I know I shouldn't, but I'll take a nibble here and there and then "forget" to document it in my food diary. I know I could have lost a lot more these past 2 weeks if it weren't for all of the "undocumented nibbles".

No matter what, I'll keep plugging away. Every day is a new start, you know? I know I'll find that groove again...hopefully in the next few days and not weeks!

Later today I have a dentist appointment and it looks like I'll probably be getting a root canal. Yipee! What fun, eh? I've had one before so I know the drill (pardon the pun). They aren't fun but neither is running around toothless! :-D There's a slight chance that they won't be able to save the tooth (it's a molar that has a 20+ year-old filling and the tooth has developed a crack), so there's a chance it may have to be pulled. :*( In that case, the silver lining is that I won't be able to stuff my face for a few days.

I've been tagged

Kimberly tagged me so here we go! :-)


4 jobs I've had

• Pizza Delivery Driver
  
• Assistant Manager at Pizza Hut
  
• Office Assistant
• Cashier
  

4 Movies I watch over and over

• Ever After
  
• Tommy Boy
  
• Rat Race
  
• Gone in 60 Seconds

4 places I have lived

• Hampton Roads, Virginia
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Berkshire County, Massachusetts
• Anniston, Alabama
  

4 Tv Shows I watch

• Desperate Housewives
  
• The New Adventures of Old Christine
  
• The War at Home
  
• The Biggest Loser US & AU
  

4 Places I've been on Vacation

• Wells, Maine
• Orlando, Florida
• Boston, Massachusetts
• Williamsburg, Virginia
  

4 Websites I visit Everyday

• Google
• Drudge Report
  
• Weather Channel
  
• You Tube
  

4 Favorite Foods

• Marshmallow Peeps
  
• Peanut Butter Fudge
  
• Breyer's Ice Cream
  
• Anything Reese's
  

4 Places I'd rather be right now

• Playing in the snow (we rarely get snow)
  
• Shopping at the mall
  
• 1989 (ahh...the good ol' days)
  
• Driving on the open road
  

4 Favorite Bands/Singers (my taste varies widely)

• Greg Page (Greg Wiggle, Yummy Yummy...soooo sad he retired)
  
• Weird Al
  
• Joan Jett
  
• Enya