I'm Alive!!

Ahhhhhhhhhh. I haven't posted for quite some time & tons of people have been asking me, "Where are you?!" and "When are you gonna post again?!" 

Well ladies, I have arrived. 

BAD NEWS: I fell off the wagon during the holidays. I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake goodies. With hubby's birthday, our anniversary, my birthday, thanksgiving, christmas, new years & PINTEREST.... I could not help myself. 

THIS WAS ME:

GOOD NEWS: I ate enough healthy food & stayed active enough to at least be at a stand-still & not gain back the weight I lost. I am still at 206. I don't know how. I think it would be safe to say that I ate 30 too many cookies this holiday season. 

I am making this my year. In less than 3 months my husband, best friend & I will be driving to Alaska in a van to camp out & work at a resort until the end of September. I MUST be able to hike all over the place. We will be staying in & around Denali National Park, which is over 6 million acres of gorgeousness that needs to be discovered by mwah. 

So far this year I have started doing Jillian Michaels' 30 DAY SHRED workout video... & Goodness it makes me reaaaaaaaaally hate jumping jacks. Haha. The video is less than 25 minutes, so it is easy to fit in for me. But those 25 minutes I am kicking ass! You are constantly moving, working in 3 circuits of the 3-2-1 method. 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes cardio, 1 minute abs. The first week my cousin Heather was staying with me and did the workout with me for 5 nights. We used Soup cans as weights & sweated our butts off. We ate 3 meals a day, plus snacks & cooked together some delish food. The 3rd day she busted out these huge tomato sauce cans to use....Needless to say, our arms killed us the next few days.  We were sore the entire first week we did this. I could hardly move on the third day because my legs were so sore. We were walking like penguins at the grocery store...it was pretty hilarious actually. At one point she had to pull me up out of the car! Laughing is a really good exercise as well, and we seem to do that a lot. :)

Heather & I BEFORE workout:

AFTER Workout: 

I'm trying my darndest to stay doing this workout. I haven't been doing it every single night, but at least 5 days a week. I want to get back on my walking routine this week as well.

This week's health goals:
-30 day shred at least 5 days
-Have a full water bottle with me AT ALL TIMES. DRINK NOTHING ELSE & drink at least 6 bottles daily
-Take the pups for walks daily.
-ZERO sweets at all this week!

-Ashlie.

Week 4

Well it is week 4-

 I have lost 7.2 pounds.  My 3rd week was the hardest so far.  I felt so hungry, all the time.  Nothing satisfied me.  I ate even though my body wasn't telling me I was hungry.  It drove me crazy.  When I went to weigh in, I was bloated and had horrible stomach pains.   I gained the 3 pounds I had lost, plus .4.......I felt horrible.  This past week I have concentrated on waiting for my body to tell me that I was hungry.  Which is growling, weakness, nausea, things like that.  Not just eating because I walk by food and want it.  It was not easy, don't get me wrong.  But , toward the end of the week, I found myself not "munching".  I could think in my head that I wanted something, but when my stomach wasn't feeling it, I would tell my brain no and find something to do to get my mind off food.  It worked well.  

The other thing that I have been doing is , really enjoy every bite.  Not just scarf down the food as if it were going to jump off my plate.  I slowed down, enjoyed every bite, truly tasted every bite.  I found that I was feeling satisfied with food still on my plate.   

Oh happy day.  

I am doing it......I am changing my habits, my thoughts, my life.  

I hope to lose 10 pounds each month, so this week I will be tracking my food religiously and continuing with my exercise.  

I am off caffeine, yippee......Now I just need to add more water.

This weeks goals:

 -More water

- Exercise

- Track food and measure properly...

Lets do this!

 -Hollie

Hollie's Week One

Well, week one went pretty good for the scales, but it was so hard for me.  

I lost 3.4 pounds, yeah.  I am feeling better as far as energy level, feeling bloated, etc.  But mentally, this has been very hard.  I am still not past the point that I believe I can do this.  It's like a mind game, daily, telling my brain-your not hungry-you just ate.....

So, that brings me back to my addiction recovery.  I have been working on my personal inventory for quite a while now.  I realize that I have so much "baggage" that in order to feel lighter, to feel worthy, to feel good about myself, I not only have to do step 5, confess, but I have to forgive and let it go.  I will not grow spiritually or otherwise until I do.  So that is what I am working on and I know with out a doubt that all this "baggage" has a whole lot to do with why I eat.......

So, bring on week 2.  I am shooting for my 5 pound sticker.....so less than 2 pounds this week, so totally doable.  This week I am going to move more.  

Let's do this......

-Hollie.

New Year, new goals, new start......

New.

That is the word I am focusing on.  A new year, new goals, new start, and a new me that is going to emerge.  In looking at myself and why I am this weight, it is clear to me that it is my choices.  I have no one to blame but myself.  I have decided that this is going to be my year.  I am almost 42 years old and I feel like I am 72.  I started back at weight watchers.  I am going to focus on little goals, not the whole shabang...  I have a whole person to lose, it feels so overwhelming and impossible.  A couple of new quotes I like are:     

"It's choice, not chance, that determines your destiny." 

         "Your belief determines your action and your action determines your results- but first you have to believe."

I am taking this one week at a time.  No excuses.....I always seem to find many.  But not this time.  This is for me. 

I just have to believe......

-Hollie.