Weekly Weigh-In: June 24, 2012

This month has been crazy! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last did a weigh-in post. I haven’t been able to weigh myself in a long time. It seems like every Saturday has been incredibly busy! I finally did weigh myself yesterday morning before all of the wedding festivities began.

Unfortunately, since the last time I weighed myself, I have gained 5.2 lbs. I know the reason behind the weight gain is my eating habits. I’ve been going to the gym pretty regularly, sometimes twice a day, so I know the weight gain is due to how I’ve been eating. I didn’t eat very well while at my grandparents’ house and since our kitchen was being remodeled, my family ate out quite a bit the past couple of weeks. This past week was especially challenging what with the bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, and wedding reception. So combine vacation, kitchen remodel, and wedding plans, and it’s no wonder I gained weight.

It’s interesting though… In the past, a gain like this would cause me to lose faith in the diet plan and I’d throw in the towel. Sometimes it didn’t even take a gain for me to quit; making a few mistakes here and there would be enough sometimes for me to give up completely. But now, this gain has given me a boost of motivation. I know what I need to change and I have every intention of making those changes. I know that if I continue to eat the way I have been the past few weeks, I’ll slowly gain all of the weight I’ve worked so hard to lose. I refuse to let that happen. I don’t want to be overweight anymore. I don’t want to put my health at risk because I can’t make healthy choices. I’m determined to take control of my choices and turn bad habits into good ones.

Here are my plans for this week: I will make healthy eating choices, which means not going over my daily WW point allotment, no fast food, no junk food, lots of fruits and veggies, and no diet soda! I will also workout daily, and if possible, twice a day. With these plans, I can’t wait to see what the scale will say next weekend!

A Lovely Day For A Wedding

Yesterday, my friend Makeila got married. It’s still so weird to say that! Married. Wow! The whole day was kind of surreal. Not only was it bizarre to watch my friend experience a major life milestone, it was also weird to experience the day I had worked so hard towards. Losing weight for the wedding had been such a big goal of mine. Now that that goal has been accomplished, I need to find something else to take its place.

I think one of the best feelings of the day was the confidence I felt while in my bridesmaid’s dress. I wasn’t ashamed to be standing up in front of everyone in that dress. I wasn’t embarrassed standing next to the other bridesmaids. And I absolutely loved taking pictures with everyone. Confidence is a great feeling, and it feels good to have mine returning.

I had a great time yesterday. It was fun to watch everyone get ready and then watch my friend walk down the aisle. Below are some pictures from the day that I wanted to share. Enjoy!!

 This is the side view of my hair. My stylist did a braid around that became a side pony. Loved it!!

Side pony! 

Me and the bride getting ready 

My friend Kait, who was also a bridesmaid, did my make up. Love this girl! 

The bride and I after she got her hair done.

Kait also got to do the bride's make up. 

 This picture was taken just after all the bridesmaids got to see Makeila in her dress for the first time. We all cried!! Makeila then asked us to help her get her shoes on.

Makeila, the goregous bride! 

 

Emotional moment

Kait and I waiting for the ceremony to start. 

I absolutely love this picture!! 

There were some extra flowers from the centerpieces, so each of the bridesmaids got to wear one. 

The Bride & Groom 

Makeila with her sister Katelyn, the Maid of Honor 

At the reception with my friend Lauren 

Trista! Love this chick! 

My friend Erin 

One of my favorite pictures from the day!! Kait changed out of her bridesmaid's dress because her dress was too small for her! It took several people to zip it up, and the boning in the front of the dress was stabbing her ribcage. So after dinner at the reception, she gladly changed out of it. 

Waiting in line for cake! 

At this moment, Makeila's cousin was singing "One In A Million." He has sung that song at each of his cousins' weddings. Special moment! 

First Dance! 

Father Daughter Dance! Her dad cried through the whole thing. Precious!

Kait helped decorate the married couple's car.  

I’m very happy for Makeila and I wish her and her husband all the very best!! Thank you for asking me to be a part of such a special day. 

An Update On My Ticker

In my first blog post (to read, click here) I mentioned that I was having a fluttering feeling in my chest and that I had made an appointment with a cardiologist. The cardiologist ran some tests and I had my follow up appointment last Wednesday to review the results of that test.

Thankfully, my heart is just fine. That fluttering feeling in my chest was the result of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). PVCs are exactly what they sound like: the ventricles of the heart beat earlier than they should. The cardiologist told me they are nothing to worry about since my heart is structurally sound and still pumping blood effectively. He said to just be aware of them when they happen and then move on. He said, “If you think about it too much, you’ll go crazy.” I just have to go back to the cardiologist annually for a check up.

What a relief!! I was so worried and conflicted about the heart stuff. On one hand, I wanted to be healthy and normal. I didn’t want to have yet another health issue. But on the other hand, I knew something was wrong and I wanted answers. The cardiologist actually said, “Well, at least it’s not all in your head!” And that’s exactly how I felt, too!

I am still just as motivated, if not more, to take care of my health. It’s like I know my heart has a “disadvantage” so I want to care for it even more. Kind of like getting a puppy that has three legs. The puppy can still run and play like all the other puppies, but you just want to take care of it because the poor thing only has three legs. That’s how I feel about my heart. Poor thing can’t even beat correctly. I should really make sure to take care of it.

I Said Yes To The Dress

In my very first blog post, I wrote about shopping for bridesmaid's dresses and how I was determined to lose weight and have my dress be too big when it arrived.

The day has come.

I went to pick up the dress today and tried it on… It’s definitely too big! I wanted to take a dramatic picture of me holding the dress on because it was falling off of me (much like this one)… It’s not THAT big, but it definitely needs alterations.

This was the best picture we could get of it. (Don’t mind my sunburned face and messy hair. My arm looks unnaturally large, but that’s just the angle, I promise.) The dress is too big in the chest and waist, but it looks good everywhere else. The dress has an empire waist which should fit just beneath my chest, but it actually can fit around my natural waist now, so it kept sliding down. So to show you just how big it is on me, I held the dress up where it was supposed to be. Now I just need to get it altered before the big day!

I’m very happy that I can see the results of my efforts. I wanted the dress to be too big, and it is. That was one of my major goals and it feels so good to have that accomplished. I know I’ll feel much more confident on the day of the wedding than I would if I hadn’t lost the weight.

And a thought occurred to me today: since the dress is mine now, I should try it on again once I reach my final goal weight and do a before/after picture! I love the idea of doing that!

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty

My family and I had an event to attend today and over the weekend I realized... I have nothing to wear! All of my nicer, dressier clothes no longer fit me. I didn’t want to look like a slob, so I decided to go shopping for something nice to wear.

I ended up trying on a few dresses and found one that fit me perfectly! Seeing the dress on the rack, I didn’t really care for it, but the sales associate at the store suggested I try it on. I’m so glad she did! I wanted to pair the dress with a little shrug because I’m still a little uncomfortable with having my upper arms exposed. The sales associate found one that matched the dress perfectly.

Wearing this dress made me feel pretty, and to be completely honest, I haven’t felt pretty in a long time! And I normally don’t feel comfortable wearing a dress, but I loved wearing this one. It felt so good to try something on and have it look amazing. My weight loss efforts are paying off! I can’t wait to see what I’ll look like when I reach my goal weight! And I know shopping will be even more fun.

Weekly Weigh-In: June 8, 2012

I know today isn’t Saturday, but I’ll be flying home tomorrow and probably won’t want to blog. So I decided I should write about my week now.  I won’t be weighing this week since I’m not at home, so I’m just writing about the goals I set for myself last Saturday. I’ll weigh next week.

Last Saturday, I predicted that this week would be a challenge for me. Boy was I right! The week started out pretty well; I didn’t buy peanut butter M&M’s at the airport, which I was very proud of myself for. I did go grocery shopping and bought healthy snacks and meal stuff. I didn’t go walking like I had planned on… I could blame the cruddy weather, but instead, I’ll take full responsibility and admit that I was being lazy!

It’s amazing to me how easy it is to slip back into old habits just by changing my environment. Going to my Grandad & Granna’s house has always meant that I’d get to eat lots of sweets. Even as a young kid I knew that any time spend with G&G meant I’d get to enjoy cake, brownies, ice cream, cookies, and lots of other goodies. I’m going to have to start rewiring my brain to not expect sweets just because I’m visiting with my grandparents. Otherwise, any time I go to visit them (or any time they come to visit me), I’ll binge on junk food and start gaining again. And since I know family gatherings mean there will be lots of desserts, I should start making healthy dessert options, that way I won’t be tempted by my Aunt Desiree’s delicious cheesecake!

I must say, though, that eating junk food the past few days has made me feel like…well, junk! No wonder they call it “junk” food. Not only do I feel bad physically,  I also feel bad mentally. I felt guilty eating those peanut butter cookies, and I could feel myself slipping back into the cycle of guilt and shame that I was stuck in before. I’m looking forward to eating right and working out with a friend of mine once I get home. I know jumping back on the Weight Watchers plan will be easy because my house is filled only with healthy food, and my mom (who is my own personal cheerleader) will be there to kick my butt into high gear. I don’t want to feel like junk anymore! Like a friend of mine said, I’ve learned that the food that tastes oh so good makes me feel oh so bad! I just need to keep that in mind the next time I come face-to-face with a brownie.

So here are my goals for this next week: I want to lose some serious weight over the summer, so I need to jump on that and make some serious changes. For this week, I will set a goal of eating a minimum of five servings of fruits and veggies each day. Also, I will work out for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. Let’s do this!

Weekly Weigh-In: June 2, 2012

I’ve decided to do Weekly Weigh-In posts every Saturday to track my weight loss. I think blogging about my weigh-ins will create some sort of accountability, and an opportunity to map out a plan for the next week.

This week, I wasn’t expecting to lose any weight. I went out to eat several times throughout the week (including fast food- eek!) and I didn’t work out. I also had dessert a few times. I assumed that I didn’t eat healthy enough to warrant weight loss.

To my surprise, I lost one pound this week. It’s not much, but I’ll take it! One pound lost is better than nothing, and it’s definitely better than gaining.

This next week might be a bit of a challenge. Tomorrow I’m flying to Dallas to visit my family. This will be my first big trip while on Weight Watchers. Every time I fly, I always get peanut butter M&M’s at the airport, and there’s usually plenty of desserts and treats at my grandparents’ house. I’ve decided to be prepared and plan ahead. I plan on packing some snacks in my purse so I won’t be tempted to grab candy at the airport. Once I arrive at my grandparents’ house, I plan on going grocery shopping to make sure I have plenty of fruits and veggies and other healthy snacks for the week. As for exercise, I plan on daily walks/runs around my grandparents’ neighborhood. I probably won’t weigh-in next week, though, because I’ll be traveling back home next Saturday. I’m sure my Granna has a scale I could use before heading to the airport, but I’m trying to use the same scale every time I weigh myself, just for consistency’s sake. Every scale is a little different. So next week I may just write a post about the choices I made throughout the week (did I buy the M&M’s after all?) and the following week I’ll do a weigh-in.