Hi guys!

I know, it's been a while since I've posted. I'd say that I didn't have anything to post, but I have. I was just super busy finishing up with my degree (yay!!) and doing all those wonderful things you do when you graduate. Took my state registry for xray and passed. Started applying for jobs and haven't heard anything back yet. Started another program in school so that I can perform mammograms (and get paid more). Yup, I'm a busy lady.

I'm also a lady that's been working out again!

I don't remember my last post, and frankly I'm too lazy busy to go back and look (no really - I have to read 2 chapters for a quiz that I have this evening in class) so I'll start from the beginning.

I stepped on the scale a few months ago and nearly cried. I was at 212 pounds and miserable. My knees hurt. My ankles hurt. My feet hurt. I hated the way I looked in the mirror and everything just SUCKED. I didn't have time to go to the gym, but I figured since I'm on my feet all day and I know exactly how many calories I burn (thanks to the MedGem Metabolic Analysis I did at the VA's nutrition clinic), I could at least count calories and eat better.

So I started eating more fruits and veggies. Less fried crap. No soda. TONS of water. I only took in 1500 calories per day AT MOST. And I started dropping weight. Quickly. Then, I talked to one of my friends who works with PK about weight loss and she told me that she goes to the gym every evening at 6pm. Since I'm now finished with school, I can totally do that! Turns out, she works out at her apartment complex's gym and it's really nice.

The first day, I hopped on the elliptical and I swore to God I was going to DIE by the end. I lifted some weights and did some situps on the yoga ball. I went home and cried like a little girl. But I made myself go back the next day. And the next. And the next. Pretty soon, I was actually looking forward to going to the gym!

My knees aren't hurting anymore (unless it's going to rain, then there's nothing I can do about that. Arthritis sucks). My ankles aren't hurting anymore. My feet... well, I have heel spurs so they're going to ache, but they don't hurt because I'm too heavy to cart myself around anymore.

I'm down to 190 and feeling awesome. Still have 40 pounds to go before I hit my goal weight, but I have faith that I'll make it.

I'll leave you today with a link that my friend NinjaKitty gave me on the science of weight loss. It covers a lot of things I've previously talked about (back when I was actually posting here regularly) but it's good info to know.

Pushing forward sitting still

I've been trying to make an effort to walk to the school every day to pick Monkey up. But one day I had a meeting and didn't have time to walk all the way back home to get my car so I drove. It's been chilly and I didn't want to make Monkey walk in the cold weather. Yesterday, it was supposed to rain. Today, I just plain didn't feel like it.

I knew when I started this that my feet and knees were going to hurt. I'm literally standing all day at my current clinical site (we're not allowed to sit in the rooms while we wait for patients, and since it's such a slow hospital most of the day is spent standing in one position while we pray for someone to need a testable xray), so that's  enough of a cause for my feet to hurt right there. But add on the fact that I'm 50(ish) pounds overweight and it makes it even worse.

I know this. I know what it's like to not feel that pain when I first step out of bed in the morning because I'm not putting too much weight on them. I know what it's like not to want to cry when I step on the scale. But because I do have that pain and I do want to cry when I step on the scale, I'm depressed as hell.

I'm eating a LOT of fruits and veggies. I'm going to try to do Weight Watchers with my crit partner Elise (who's lost quite a bit of weight already!) and I'm going to join that stupid gym even if it kills me (and it might - financially, anyway). And tomorrow, I'm going to walk to the school and maybe on Thursday when I don't have to be at school early, I might even walk Monkey TO school instead of just FROM school.

This weight will not beat me.

Measure This!

So, it's been awhile, twitloss! 

I think we all had so much to do, blogging about this just fell by the wayside.  But, luckily for me, actually doing it has stayed pretty consistent.  Since we've lasted talked (October 17, 2011) I've lost about 25lbs, according to the scale. Some of that is muscle, though, because I've taken up lifting heavy things.  I like the heavy lifting!  There is something about the constant challenge and the immediate goals that make it appealing. I mean, constantly working up to lifting the next weight is a very satisfying.

Anyway, I also recently started C25K after saying I would NEVER run. One of the people at the gym talked me into trying it, and it hasn't killed me yet.  I'm only on week 2, but I'm considering this a milestone.


The 18th is also Measurements Day.  I'm trying to get this to be a monthly holiday, but so far no one is feeling it but me. This seems like a good place to track measurements though, so here goes:

Between December 18 and January 18:  Waist 1.5 inches gone, Hips 1 inch gone, Chest, same.

This is also month 6 of taking measurements so in 6 months, I've lost 6 inches from my waist (yippee!); 4 inches from my hips (hoooray!); and 2.5 inches from my chest.

A total of 12.5 inches gone in 6 months. And that's not counting biceps and thighs and calves and all the other things that people measure. I can barely remember to measure the big 3, adding anything else would be pointless. Still, I'll take 12.5 inches. I certainly DO NOT want or need them back.

So, this was me in November 2011, shortly after my last post.  And on the right, me on Monday, January 14th.  Apparently, wearing a nametag makes you look much heavier.  Who knew! 

Onward!

New day. New year.

I just read Una's post on Twimom227.com and was inspired. Her story felt a lot like my story. She's always been chunky, I've always been chunky. She gained a lot of weight while she was pregnant, so did I.

But, while I did manage to lose 65 pounds two years ago, I didn't keep it off. I haven't changed my lifestyle as much as I need to. I gained 20 pounds back and am sitting at 200 pounds. I'm stuck in a cycle of depression, I don't exercise as much as I should, and I hate it.

I recently made the decision to get back on the exercise wagon. I'm still committed to that. I get up and move more often than I did before and it is helping. I've lost 4 pounds, and would like to keep losing.  I've always said that I won't set a goal weight because I don't want to aspire to something and possibly fail at it, which would only send me spiraling out of control again. I want to be healthy. 

According to my height/weight chart, I should be somewhere between 120 and 150. I have never been 120 in my life. In high school, I was 150 and happy. In the Navy, just before I got pregnant with Monkey, I was 143 and I looked sick. It's a fine line.

At some point, I'll be happy with my body again. I just need to stay on track.