Weight Loss Challenge

It’s Tuesday, May 8th, and I’m kicking off my May Day Weight Loss Challenge hosted by Tales from the Scales (Finding that Skinny Girl One Pound at a Time). Here are the instructions from the site:
On Tuesday, May 8th, you post on your blog:

How much weight you want to lose: 11 lbs.

Your weight history: I have been overweight pretty much all of my life. At least all of it I can remember. After high school and marriage I got really big. Then after having Skylar, I learned to control my eating through weight watchers. I lost about 70 lbs in the months after she was born. I never did quite reach my goal (I would have liked to have lost another 15 pounds) and eventually gained about 10 pounds back over 3 years. In January of this year, I made up my mind to get back on track. Since then I have lost about 15 pounds and I still have 11 to go to reach my original goal.

What other goals you have for this challenge (creating activity, cutting out soda, etc.) and any weaknesses you have: While I have been exercising for the last year and a half, I would still like to be more active - I would like to do more outside activities. My weakness is overeating when a variety of food is put in front of me. Give me the proper portion and I have no problem stopping but put me at a buffet or potluck and I can't quit until I am overfull.


Report your loss/gain for that week on Tuesday.

I think I’d like to try this. How about you? It would give us a lot to share about, wouldn’t it? And we could encourage each other through the inevitable plateaus.

Up All Night...

Up all day - hey wait - that's not how Slaughter sings it. But so goes my life. Friday night was the Relay for Life and needless to say there wasn't much sleeping going on, but I did enjoy it anyway. The plan was for me and the kids to leave around nine and go home and get some sleep, then Brian would come home around two and I would go back. But by the time the luminary service and the fireworks were over (which the kids insisted on staying to see) it was nearly 11:30 before we got home and in bed. Then at 2:15 I was up again. Nobody could believe I actually came back. Trust me it was tempting to stay there in my nice warm, comfortable bed, but when I say I will do something, I try my best to do it. I went back and stayed until 6:45. I was back home by 7, and after walking almost 38,000 steps or 12.5 miles in 24 hours my body was weary. But I had a hard time sleeping. I napped until 9 am then I was up the rest of the day. I still haven't completely recovered, but I will survive.

I went to a family reunion Saturday. I wasn't really in the mood considering my lack of sleep, but I did enjoy getting to see some cousins that I haven't visited with in a while. It was also a boost to my ego because several people that had not seen me in several years had to ask who I was. They couldn't believe how much weight I had lost. That was definitely an nsv for me.

You Asked For It

Well the two of you who actually read this asked for it...so here it is. A recent picture of me. Special thanks to Melanie for snapping this with her phone. For some reason, I never seem to make it in front of my own camera.

It's a big change from the before picture. I don't know how long it will take me to get used to seeing myself as anything but fat. It has been almost 4 years since I started losing weight and I have been within 15 pounds of my goal for the better part of 3 years, but I still see myself as bigger than I am. It is wierd because I didn't see myself as big as as I was when I was fat - if that makes any sense at all.

On another note, tonight is the annual Relay for Life in Morrilton. I will spend most of the night at the football field raising money for the American Cancer Society. I am looking forward to spending time with some friends, and raising some money for a good cause.

I am Normal!!!

Never thought you would hear me say that did you? Well according to the CDC website my BMI or Body Mass Index falls into the normal catagory - probably for the first time since I was 4. While I am at the top of the normal range, I am not overweight. It is amazing to know that I have gone from being obese with a BMI of 35.4 right before I got pregnant with Skylar to being normal with a BMI of 24 now. And it is going to get better!!!!

What is even better is my 15 year class reunion is coming up in about a month. Many of these people haven't seen me since the last reunion which was about the time I hit my highest non pregnant weight. Here is a picture of me at that reunion.

Not pretty is it...I will post a recent picture soon...you won't even recognize me.

Busy Week

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted. I guess I have been busy. I took last Thursday and Friday off work, but it was no vacation. I spent all day Thursday cleaning house. I finally got around to some of those jobs that I just put off too long. I found the floor in both Skylar's and Stephen's rooms. I took advantage of not having them at home and got rid of some junk. It was a good decluttering. I need to do that more often.

Friday, Brian, Skylar and I went on a field trip to the Little Rock Zoo with Stephen's school. It was a wild day. There were probably 20-30 other schools there visiting that day, so needless to say it was a bit crowded. And after what seems like years of construction and renovations on that zoo, there are still many exhibits that either aren't open or are empty. The kids all seemed to enjoy it though.

The rest of the weekend was spent generally goofing off. It was nice. Too bad we can't do that every weekend. This weekend we will be participating in Relay for Life - the big fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. We will spend most of the night Friday walking the track at the high school. Needless to say Saturday will be spent resting.