Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Remember How Far You've Come

That's me 50 pounds ago.


It's important to remember how far we've already come. It's easy to get discouraged when progress slows and motivation wanes. Today let's focus on how much we have accomplished. In doing so, we will be reassured of how far we can go in the future.

19 comments:

Shana A. said...

I accomplished going to the grocery store already today. There was not one single person signed up for the 630 or 8AM session so I went to Kroger and bought up all the fish they had on sale (it's a good deal, ya'll should check it out.) Also got some veggies and Ezekiel bread (I'm keeping that on Paleo since it's flourless and all sprouted grains.)
And, of course, got my coffee creamer.

Pat said...

Good for you, Shana. Thanks for the tip on the fish at Kroger.

Made it thru yesterday with no sugar...that's 3 consecutive days.

Shana A. said...

Pat, that's amazing! Are you craving it badly?

Pat said...

Surprisingly the cravings are not too bad. I'm sure I'll have times when I'm tempted in a major way, but right now, I'm in a good place. I know from past attempts, the cravings lessen over time. If I feed my sweet tooth (more LIKE A sweet DEMON), it grows stronger. If I starve it, it grows weaker. Maybe if I starve it long enough, it will DIE!

(I think you know that I'm still having natural sugar (fruit, milk, etc)...just not refined sugar.)

MelissaR said...

Good morning. Pat, great job on the no sugar!! Woo-hooo!!
You are totally right in that the less you eat the sugar, the less you will crave it.

Shana~ What kind of coffee creamer do you use? Just curious.

I stopped at the store yesterday evening after the WOD for a few things. Just some fruit, coffee, and a few other things. The major trip will be this weekend to stock up.

MelissaR said...

Pat~ You look great by the way. 50 lb loss is awesome!!

My little weight loss journey:
CHapter 1~
I moved here when I was 20 from Southern CA. I weighed 133lbs. I always thought I was fat. I wish now that I could go back and kick my own ass for thinking I was fat!

Chapter 2~ (Melissa meets Chick-fil-a)
Within 6 months of moving here, I gained 30lbs. I ate a chicken biscuit and Dr Pepper every morning for breakfast. I ultimately ended up gaining a total of 50 lbs within 2-3 years of moving here.

Chapter 3~ (First time on Weight Watchers)
I joined Weight Watchers knowing it had worked for my mother. I was in a bad relationshipo with someone who made me feel terrible about my weight. I had that, I'll show you attitude!
I lost the 50lbs and got down to 130lbs. I really didn't stay there very long. Ended up gaining back 60 lbs.
CURRENTLY~ I have lost 30lbs of the 60 that I have gained. That 30lbs has taken me about 2 years to lose. I have been hoving around the same weight range since about November of last year, playing with the SAME 5-8 lbs. I would like to get to my current goal of 140lbs by my 30th birthday in January. I could go to a lesser weight, but I have a lot more muscle mass this time around. At my smallest, I was a size 6, some 4's at 133-135lbs. I am in an 8 now, some 10's and still have a good 20 lbs, at least, to lose. So, 140 is good for now.

So...there's my little weight story.

Pat said...

Melissa, thanks for sharing your story! I loved reading it. Your birthday is in January too! We can both make great progress towards our goals by our next birthday!

MelissaR said...

Yep, I'm January 12th. When is yours?

MelissaR said...

Thanks Pat. I hope my little story wasn't too long. I skipped a few parts to try and cut it down. THe 60 lbs that I gained back took me about 2.5 to 3 years to gain back.
Anyhoo, I was just trying to remember how I got here today. Kind of lets me know it's okay to not lose as fast as I did the first time around. It took me less than a year to lose the first 50 lbs. NOw, it is much slower. Of course, I'm not counting points and not going to meetings. I'm just not as consistent as I was the first time. I think this time I have learned how to maintain though, so i think that will help in the long run. I refuse to be up and down, up and down, for the rest of my life.

Pat said...

My b'day is January 7.

Seriously, I liked reading your story and can relate to all of it! Good for you to learn these things and have such good self-awareness early in your life...before you've even hit 30!

MelissaR said...

Aw, thanks Pat. I think i have learned a lot watching my mother. She lost 131 lbs without exercise on Weight Watchers. She looked great, but had a lot of extra skin, so she still always thought she was fat. When she moved here, and as she has gotten older, she has gained weight back. She is now on Weight Watchers again and has lost 15 lbs so far. My step-dad is doing it as well. He is almost at his goal, as of course, he loses pretty easily.
I just don't want to do the up down thing anymore, let alone for the rest of my life. So, I am getting it done now. I have many risk factors in my family history and for heart disease/attack and stroke. Around the time that I started gaining back the 60 lbs, My cholesterol was high and my triglycerides were over 450. They consider 150 to be too high. My grandmother died at 42 of a massive heart attack. So, I took care of those things with my diet by adding olive oil and avocados daily, among other things. As of my last test, everything was good. So yay!
Anyhoo, I feel like I am talking too mcuh, so I will stop now.

Shana A. said...

This was really inspiring to me so I thought I'd post it here. I've said it before, but with consistency I really think you can get fit as fast as most people get fat! This chick is proof!
http://www.norcalsc.com/index.php/post/what_are_a_few_months_if_its_important_to_you_begin_it_now/

Shana A. said...

Okay that didn't work... here it is:
http://www.norcalsc.com/index.php/post/what_are_a_few_months_if_its_important_to_you_begin_it_now/

Shana A. said...

CRAP!
http://www.norcalsc.com/index.php/post/what_are_a_few_months_if_its_important_
to_you_begin_it_now/

Pat said...

Shana, that's amazing, and very inspiring!

Shana A. said...

Another link, some Paleo recipes (also includes zone block info for the recipes - it's a CF recommended website by Robb Wolf the guy who does the CF Nutrition seminars):
http://performancemenu.com/recipes/index.php

Pat said...

I added some new links to the blog. Check 'em out.

Shana, thanks for telling me about Robb Wolf. I've read his blog before, but had forgotten about him.

Shana A. said...

Dinner tonight, fish and broccoli. Small cup of coffee for dessert.

Melissa, I use half and half for coffee creamer. You should not. Most grocery stores have pretty good non-dairy creamers though. Silk's coffee creamer is pretty good.

Pat said...

I had a good day up through dinner. After dinner I had a snack which turned into eating too much of the planned snack and left me feeling over-full. :-( At least it wasn't sugar. I've now completed 4 days without refined sugar. :-)