Week 24

Alot is happening since I last put in a blog I was sending in a Blog everyday during the Robs Big Loser Competition but now that is over I will catch up  and continue.  My highest weight was 370 my weight on Christmas day I weighed 335 and my weight to date is 284 I am close to my 100 pound weight loss and that is my half way point.   I have been working out the Caine Halter YMCA at the Y along with your membership they have something that is called Wellness Works and with that you get to meet with a personal trainer or coach and they do an assessment they will give you a workout plan and you meet with them  once a week.  It is  a 12 week program and you  can start it over every 12 weeks.  I have been in this wellness works since January when I started  I was weighing 329 45 pounds later and more than 12 inches I am starting my second 12 weeks and am looking forward to the next 45 pounds.  I have also started taking exercise classes and that is the reason why I have had  such success I absolutely love Body Combat it is a tough  class but you get an all body workout and I contribute this class to why  I have lost so many  inches.  I also take hydrocycle, kettlebell, body sculpt, Zumba classes and I took one yoga class I found out that class was not for me.   I found out that I needed to find the things that I like to do and to live an active lifestyle.  For me the classes push me harder than I would work out otherwise.  I won 7 out of 12 weeks and I won 140.00 of gift cards to Dicks Sporting Goods I bought something I had wanted which was a bicycle and now I ride it to and from the Y which is 5 miles each way which adds to my workouts.   My next goal is 270 and then after that 244 so my goals are set.  There is something that I didin't expect to happen and that is that people at the y would get encouraged by me I never thought that would happen.  I hear something from someone different every day.  I never thought that someone would watch me and believe in me to where they decided to pay for my membership for 4 months.  It actually  makes me work harder because now I have a responsibility not only to myself but to others.  Bishop always says your gift will take  you to a place that your charcter can't keep you.  I thank God for the gift that God has given me and I  thank God that my Charcter can keep me.  Lord, Jesus thank you for the charcter to sustain.   Next time I will talk about the changes in my diet because food is actually 70% of weight loss.

Week 2

Saturday Morning we have a woman’s meeting at church.  You know that means food.  So I turned down sausage biscuits and sunny delight and drank water and you know it wasn't even hard it was just I can't have that just like it's a normal thing now. I am so excited about this boot camp on the 19th I challenge all of Rob's Big Losers to be there.  We have a ton of things to do that day but this is all about choices.  I have 2 wonderful kids and if I want to be around to see them grow up and to see their ministries I have got to take care of myself.  I want my kids to be able to introduce me to their friends and not be known as the fat mom.  I don't want them to be ashamed of me. My son many years ago when he was in Kindergarten would walk 6 feet in front of me at school because he didn't want anyone to know that I was his mom. Let's not get it twisted my son has always loved me but he got teased at school because of me how awful.  My son has since grown out of it.  He told me mom it has nothing to do with how much I love you and I knew that.  However, this has everything to do with how much I love him.  I want to leave him a legacy I want him to say I remember seeing my mom loose close to 200 pounds and kept it off.  It wasn't easy but she didn't stop. When he is asked how she did it.  I want him to say by the Grace of God, if it wasn't for God giving her the drive and determination she wouldn't have been able to do it.  I want to be able to give my testimony regarding weight loss and what all I have learned from it.  Obesity doesn't have to be hereditary lets break the cycle right now.  Let’s give our kids a better legacy let’s not make them a statistic. 

Portion Control

We are working on portion control.  Ok we are from Texas when they say that everything is bigger in Texas that also means portion sizes.  I remember when we first moved here from Texas and we went IHOP we ordered some pancakes and they were so small and thin.  In Texas a stack was a stack thick and big and full of calories.  So tonight we decided to have Spaghetti and Meatballs which is ok as you use Wheat Pasta and even then you need to be careful and make sure you have your veggies.  So we are figuring up how many calories are in the meat balls so I decided how many calories I wanted to eat and how many I can have.  It is so much easier to pre plan then to be sorry later.   What I am learning that when you fail to plan you just simply fail.  The Spaghetti with meat balls per serving has 340 calories.  My suggestion is to fill up with vegetables also a trick we learned on Dr. Oz to drink an 8 ounce glass of water before you eat and it will make you feel full and you won’t eat as much. 

Yesterday, I talked about walking at Cleveland Park on Sunday what I failed to mention is that it’s a good way for you to have some one on one time with your kids. Yesterday while we were walking and talking my son and I was able to talk and deal with some of his issues that he is going through.  I know my kids are getting bigger and every moment I can spend with them is a blessing. 

YES YES YES YES SUNNY IN GREENVILLE SC

What a beautiful dayit is  today we left church and I said, wow a perfect day for a walk.  I said, Cleavland Park here we come.  Ok Picture it I haven't walked in a couple of years and back then I was walking 10K a day.   I just got some brand new shoes and what do I do try to push out 3 miles.  Ok I did the 3 miles but my knee and feet are saying WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  I simply replied to myself I said, self I am Rob's Biggest Loser and I am losing weight, getting healthy and enjoying this beautiful day.  Then I went to the Y to hopefully do some weight training and my coach said, on Tuesday he is going to set me up with a weight routine.  He said, he would rather not have me do the weight machines because he is going to work me on the free weights.    We had a good workout and we are getting ready for tomorrow morning we will be back here in the morning.  The elliptical machine is calling my name.  My coach did say he is proud of me and the weight that I have lost.  He said, your doing good he also said, this week we have been concentrating on the Big changes and now he wants to start to fine tune things.  We are going to  be working on portion control and getting on a good schedule as for of what I eat and when.  He has advised me to go to pyramid.gov to get some good recipes because I have no imagination outside of chicken breast and salad or veggies.  So I need more of choice of what to eat.  Looking forward to this week and all the awesome changes that will be done in every area of my life.

I want my blog to be upbeat because hands down this is a long road.  However, I also want it to be real and honest.   This morning after my workout I was feeling good and then I looked in the mirror and I didn't like what I saw looking back.  All I could say is I wonder how long it will take before I don't see you looking back at me.  Meaning the obese person.  I know it takes time and I know I didn't just put it on overnight.  Yes, I can see that my clothes are getting bigger on me. I can see that my wedding rings that was tight and wouldn't move even with force moves around all time now.  I will let these thoughts hit once in a while but now it's time to come out of the dulls and look at what I have accomplished.  I no longer drink soda, I haven't had any since before Christmas, I don't eat sweets, or chips or junk food anymore.  I am no longer a couch potato.  I am working out at 5 iin th mornings.  I am an inspiration to the world.  Mostly, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.   Lord, I want to thank you for giving me the strength, for increasing knowledge in me everyday. 
Lastly,  Thank You His Radio for this oppurtunity I love you all.

Day 3

The alarm rang at 4am this morning and my body said, Mary are you stupid lay back down and go to sleep.  There was a time that I would listen to my body but I told my body to shut up!!  Yes, sometimes you have to be hard with yourself. Then I got up I went to wake up my daughter and she said, oooohh Mom I asked her if she was going and she said, yes. we really feel good working out in the morning nothing like feeling like you accomplished something early in the day.   After this monings workout I weighed myself and I was down by 6 pounds since Monday and all I could say was thank you Jesus!!   After a long day it's time to go back and we had a good work out although I sure am sore tonight and the thought of 4 am is more than what I can bear right now.  I also know this is a mind game also.  So many things has to change in getting healthy it's not just working out, and eating healthy it's about changing the way you think and old habits.  The thing with getting rid of old habits is creating new ones but only healthy ones.

Day 2

You never know who is watching you.  When my daughter and I arrived at the Y this morning at 4:55 there was a gentleman who said, this is day 2.  Then he said, you know do it for 23 days straight and it will be a habit.  Well, 30 minutes of hard Cardio is what the checklist is today, the first thing we did was the Treadmill for 10 minutes, then 10 minutes on the Rowing Machine, and we finished it with 10 minutes on the Elliptical Machine, by the time we were 3:00 Minutes into the Elliptical I was quoting scripture.  I can do all things through Christ strengthens me.  By my Coach’s description of having a good work out is if you feel like you can’t take another step you left it all on the gym room floor.  So I definitely had a good workout.  The working out is the easy part for me not a problem I will work hard and I don’t mind that I am putting in the time so I might as well give it all I have.  My problem is with the nutrition and drinking the water.  Then again Rome was not built in a day.  We are on a very tight budget and it’s hard to feed a family of four the way we need to eat.  I have adopted the motto that there is no backup plan.   What I mean is that if I don’t have the right healthy foods that I desire that something up healthy will not do.  Drinking soda is not an option no matter what.  So yesterday we had poptarts in school, this morning cereal but the kids had a choice of Froot Loops and Frosted Flakes.   So they knew that what they get is 2 fruits they had an apple and a pear.  So my next step is to start taking their breakfast and lunch to school.  For lunch soup and a croissant with cheese so they had soup without the sandwich and since I work with them I ate what they ate.    A lady at work said, to start carrying raw veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, carrots, or bell peppers.  I think that is an awesome idea.  Then I didn’t eat until after Church which was a sandwich from you know it Subway which was a quick way for me to get everything in.  I need to have a variety of things in my recipe box my problem is I have no imagination in that area and I am looking forward to adding.  My problem is evidently I don’t know how to eat healthy evidently that’s what got me to over 300 pounds for over a decade now.   By the way my first goal is to get less than 300 pounds that will be a glorious day everyone all over the state of South Carolina will hear me shouting.