Was Someone Looking for Me?

Good morning!

Was anyone missing me?  By now, many of my readers may have just assumed I fell off the face of the Earth!  Well let me tell you, for a while there I felt like I did.

Often, doesn’t it seem that we walk thru life with the best laid intentions, for weight loss, to clean up that cluttered corner in our house, to stay better connected with friends.  The reality for all of us humans is there’s a pesky thing called LIFE that gets in the way.  I know personally, last year, with my mom going through a series of health scares, I found myself in a situation where I had a lot of stress on my shoulders.  Rather than using sensible coping, what seemed to soothe me was food.

So me and food, food and me…it’s an ongoing love affair.  I mean I’m from Wisconsin, where not using cheese and butter in 96% of your meal is kind of a sin!  What I didn’t love, however, was that my jeans began causing a muffin top, well let’s face it, the fat under my jeans was just bubbling up into that muffin top, sitting there like an open can of Pillsbury biscuits.  Shorts and tops from the previous summer seemed to have clearly shrunken in the “bad closet air”.  So as I continued to comfort myself with food, it continued to make me more uncomfortable!

Yes, I understand that sounds crazy, but it’s true, and I’m realizing it’s a cycle.  You feel stressed, so you eat, and I’m not talking about eating kale and lean meats either.  Then you gain weight, which is upsetting, so what seems to be the solution?  Nooo silly, if diet or working out was my answer I wouldn’t be back here re-losing this weight!  Yeah, my answer was more bad food.

Clearly, that only compounded the problem.  Being diagnosed with Graves Disease last year, aka a hyperactive thyroid, I continued my reckless eating, and what had once been burned off by my over-functioning thyroid began to settle in for a nice visit.  I got to the point this fall that I didn’t even want to go shopping, and I felt terrible about myself.  I finally said enough is enough, I refuse to go up another size and undo all the hard work I did to lose in the first place!  I know the steps, I CAN do this, I just had to decide I WOULD do this!

So three weeks ago tomorrow, I reopened my handy Weight Watchers app.  I ever soooo gently got on the scale, cursed it for a minute, then accepted the reality I had caused.  I fool-proofed the house by banishing all the badness and making friends with the veggie, fruity, fiber-filled and lean items in my grocery store.  Last week I was down 9.6lbs!  There are many, many, maaany (lol ok I’m dramatic) more pounds to go, but I feel that with my village behind me, there’s no way I can’t make it.

So after this quick hello and catch up for those who aren’t familiar, I will once again begin sharing my recipe, food and fitness ideas and tricks, thoughts on it all, what I feel works, and what didn’t hit the mark for me.  This time around I’m working to make my diet feel as “normal” in my eyes as possible, and thus far I haven’t once felt deprived.  So let’s get started once again on this journey together, because you can start over as MANY time as you like, it’s your life!  Thank you all for your support, I promise to keep it as fun, informative, and interesting as possible!

**Oh and photo cred to our pup Rufus.  Caught him waking up from a nap, and that’s how I feel, reawakened and ready to make this happen!  So I felt it was fitting for this post, and let’s face it, he’s just cute, so I couldn’t resist!  😉

Love and Blessings, now go be great today!!

 

Success and Hopefully Some Inspiration!

Well I’m making this one quick, taking a quick break to let everyone know how I did this week.

After being up a pound when i did a “spot check” weigh in Saturday morning (damn water retention), I was happy to see that I had lost 1.8lbs when I got on the scale this morning!   There’s nothing more motivating than seeing those numbers on the scale drop! 

This morning I was thinking about food.  I am learning that in order for me to succeed, I had to adapt a whole new way of thinking about food.  As I am more conscious of everything that goes in my mouth, I find myself noticing now that sometimes I eat when i am stressed.  I’m sure NO ONE can relate…lol yeah right,   I guess food always brings me comfort, and in those situations the worse for me the better I feel.  Twice this weekend I stopped myself from grabbing something bad for me just because I wanted it, or just because I thought it would make me happy.  Instead I’m focusing on how happy I will be when I hit my goal, reminding myself that all that food is going to do is prolong my goal, and that is one thing I am not willing to do again!

So let’s get it in this week…drink that water, hit the gym, I know I will be!

Will You Forgive Me…Will I Forgive Me?

Well, it’s me!

Still Chesty!

It’s been a long time…as in over a year long time.  I have been struggling for months now to reign myself in.  I discovered that starting a diet is easy…changing your lifestyle…not so much!

So, I won’t bog down the blog with lots of excuses.  I can’t also say that I have gained all the weigh back, but what weight did find me again had me feeling pretty awful.  That awful feeling turned into my eating to make myself feel better.  As I’m pretty sure you can imagine, I wasn’t exactly munching carrot sticks to mask the sadness!  Nope, there were burgers to be gobbled, cakes to me smashed, and the forgiving elastic waistband of some leggings to never make me feel bad about it! 

Progress jeans stopped fitting, and I stuffed them to the back of the closet.  Shirts got snug, and I convinced myself that they shrank.  I was lying to myself, and finally had to wake up and realize that lying is something I don’t tolerate from others, so why would I do it to myself?  I remembered that it wasn’t torture, hell with Weight Watchers it wasn’t even that hard!  I was just acting like I had no rules, and my waistline paid the price!

But rather than beat myself up, I will do like my best friend Natisha did!  She didn’t judge me, didn’t have anything to say when I confessed what I had gained.  Just told me that she was in it with me, and that we could do it!  With that…I’m off and kicking!  There are new recipes to review, new light foods to tip you off to, and I’m even going to get together again with Gym, my old boo!  I’m SURE he’s missed me!!! 

So welcome back to myself…to my new followers thanks for stopping by, and those that wondered where I went, I’m HERE!  This is a journey with no end, this weight loss battle, but this time i’m in it to win it!!

That Time of the Week Again!

It’s Monday yet again fellow fat busters!

We all know what this means…well ok, maybe none of you do!  But if you’ve been following along, that’s weigh in day here at Chesty Changes!  After last week, I was skeptical to jump on the scale.  I knew I had once again busted my butt working out, 5 days last week to be exact, but I also knew I had kicked it into gear the week before and saw only 1.2lbs fall off per my trusty scale.

Forever the optimist, I jumped on the scale hoping for the best.  It was hot and humid, I was worried I would be retaining major water, but to my surprise and delight, I was down 5lbs!  Yes that is 5lbs, not 4, not even 4.5, but a whole 5lbs!  After I jumped off the scale, I did my little naked morning dance of joy alone in the bathroom.  After being “plateaued” for a couple weeks, and off track for a while before that, I had forgotten the euphoria that a great loss gives you! 

Moving forward this week, my plan is to stick with the increased workouts.  I’ve weaned myself off white rice, and when I do carbs I’m doing brown rice or something else high in fiber.  I’ve left the potatoes alone for the most part, so I don’t know if that’s helping, but I think it’s just the discipline and continued hard work paying off.  I’ll end this post with a quote that I read last week.  I felt so bad about myself when I was off track and eating delicious crap…but any time I feel myself sliding, I remember this!  Hopefully it will motivate you all too!

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” ~ Jim Rohn

Chesty is Back in the Saddle Again!

Well…some of you are probably wondering where I have been?  I know the speculations…did she fall off the wagon?  Has she ballooned up to 300lbs again? 

Well, first off I’m happy to report that I have not fallen completely off the wagon…I was sliding for a minute, but I kept riding along with enough of a grip that thankfully I have not gained back weight.  Here is some recent “photographic evidence” from my little brother’s wedding a couple of weeks ago in Minnesota.  I’m proud of where I am…but not where I want to be!

I could claim I hit a plateau…yeah, a self-inflicted plateau.  See, what had happened was….all those good fatty foods that I had knocked off my radar started to creep back in.  I had a couple of months of a cheat here, and a cheat there, followed by enough days of good eating to get me back to my same weight.  To be honest I have been playing this yo-yo game since January…and looked up the other day and thought…this has GOT to stop. 

I’ve had loving and well-meaning friends and family tell me that no…I don’t ned to continue and knock off these last 30-40lbs…but in my heart, I know where I will feel comfortable, and I know I need to get there.  I’m not sure if it was all the compliments that I have gotten about my transformation, or just laziness that got me into stall mode, but rest assured as of yesterday…things are changing back for the better.

So last night, in 90+ degree heat, husband at my side, I hightailed it back to the gym.  I realized that was where my motivation, in large part, was coming from.  I had really been so focused on things going on with my family and life that I was not taking the time for me.  In my mind, I was taking the time for me by feeding myself all the badness I was craving, but I never felt “good”, even when it tasted great.   I know now that this journey will have ups and downs…let’s hope we don’t have any more of these LONG dry spells, but I’m proud that I nipped my lack of forward movement in the bud before I found myself gaining back everything that I fought so hard to lose!

So be prepared for many more posts…I’m going in hard…and let’s hope by the end of this year, we can put a bow on the gift of weight-loss that I am giving to myself!  LOVE to all of you for reading, and support!  MUAH!!

Breaking Pants News!!

EXTRA!! EXTRA!!

I know it’s been on your minds…there have been many sleepless nights.  It’s just one of those things you think you will NEVER get an answer to!

Ok, truth is that you probably haven’t thought about my progress pants since last I mentioned them.  In case you had forgotten, let me bring you up to speed.  When we started in September, the pants did not fit…I mean like at ALL.  I could pry them just barely up over my hips…and they were no closer to closing than the two sides of Korea are at making peace!  About a month or so ago, I tried them on again.  To my surprise, they fit.  They did not, however, fit well, and I couldn’t wear them in public for the muffin top squeezed out of the top of them was not ready for prime time!

As I hit my 50 lbs milestone, I realized that once again it was time to try on the pants.  I looked at them, sitting innocently on a hanger, sucked in a breath, and carried them with me into the bathroom. (Heck, I needed privacy in case the results weren’t good.)  I slipped into the pants, slipped them up, and realized…these pants just SLIPPED ON UP!  I was able to zipper them without sucking in massive breath, and once zipped, absent was the voluminous muffin top!  After doing my own little personal victory dance, I had to take a picture of the moment.  I do have more than one t-shirt, I will say, but happened to have the SAME blue one on in both posts. 

So, with that mission accomplished, I am now plotting out what my next piece of progress clothing will be.  This part could get tricky, as those pants were the smallest item of clothing I owned.  I will have to go shopping, and am debating what size I want to shoot for.  I’m thinking maybe a cute pair of jeans in a size 14.  Might take me a few months to get there, but if we don’t aim high, who will?

No Spanx, All Thanx!!

I would NEVER have taken this picture.

Like NEVER..ever.

6 months ago, hell even 3 months ago, there is no way I would have crammed myself into some leggings and a fitted t-shirt and posted a picture anywhere.  I said there were going to be some changes…and I haven’t let myself down.

I took measurements today.  Before I say that, let me make the big announcement!  When I did my weekly weigh in last Monday, I hit the 50lbs mark!  Actually 50.2, so let me say that I SURPASSED the 50lbs mark.  Never in my wildest dreams when I started my serious weight loss journey in the first weeks of SEptember did I imagine that I would be able to say I had lost 50lbs by year end.  I knew I’d seen people do it, with the assistance of a reality show’s dilligent trainer, or even a risky weight loss surgery, but I knew what I was going to try was going to be a new type of challenge.  I don’t take away from anyone who loses weight through surgery, because without the very same willpower that I have they won’t succeed.  But I guess I doubted myself, that me and my “hard work” approach would get such fast, good results.

As I hit that scale the morning after Christmas, I thought about how many people would have “gains” that week, but a gain was not even an option to me.  I did enjoy some Christmas treats in moderation, but knew the best gift would be to see a number that showed i’d reached my goal.  I couldn’t believe it when the scale hit that number, with a week to spare until the end of the year.  I have not felt so proud in a long time, nor have I felt so motivated to keep going.

I have to give a BIG thanks to my health club, Anytime Fitness in West Allis, WI.  Without my membership, and the fact that I USE it, I guarantee there is no way I would be seeing such great loses, as well as so much transformation in my shape.

So keep up the good work.  I know I want to lose at least 50 more pounds, and I no longer feel like that goal is far from reach.  I hope that this new year leaves you with a commitment to yourself, to the ones that love you, and to a better 2012!!!

Where Have You Been?

I know…where have I been?

I could come up with alot of good excuses for why my posts haven’t been abundant…but excuses are only made to satisfy yourself, so I won’t bother to make any.  I will say with the holidays and everything else going on that it’s been a busy month or so.  I have still been working hard on my diet and exercise, with an almost two week break from the exercise part due to a bad “welcome to winter” cold. 

I’ve got a few great things to post about today, but wanted to shoot a quick apology for my absence.  We’re entering a new phase of “Chesty Changes”, and I will be keeping you up to date with even more recipes, fitness tips, and fun along the way.

The Light, White Fish…My Recent Obsession With Tilapia Loins

Food is on my brain right now.  But it’s a good thing, because this new weight loss lifestyle is really making me stretch my culinary imagination.  I’ve always loved to cook, just never cared too much how healthy my food was, as long as it tasted good.

Now that my focus is on health, I’m always looking for the most delicious ways to eat the stuff that’s good for me.  Protein is a major thing for any dieter.  Not only will it help you build muscle, but it fills you up.  And if you are anything like myself, you’re just a carnivore to begin with, and would die without MEEEAT!

I’m finding the lightest protein comes in the form of white fish and other shellfish such as shrimp.  I’ve fallen madly in love with tilapia loins.  I bought them the first time thinking that they would taste pretty much like a filet of tilapia did.  When I opened them for the first time, I was surprised how thick, pretty, and white they were.  I cooked them up in my favorite diet way, blackened (recipe to follow), and was in love.  When I say i could eat them every day, I mean I would eat them and savor them.

For someone not to fond of anything that tastes fishy, these loins are a perfect selection.  There’s no skin, bones, or anything yucky, and they have a clean light taste that really just absorbs whatever flavors you add to it.  The other plus is that it cooks up firm and flaky.  I personally am not a fan of mushy or overly dry fish, and this cut cooks to perfection!

The best part, you ask?  A 4oz portion is only 2 Weight Watchers points!  With a protein that low in points, you can have a good sized portion and feel really satisfied!  I highly suggest, no BEG, that you try the delicious Blackened Tilapia Recipe that I will feature next, but I know this cut of fish will be great however you prepare it!

Progress in my Pants!

Let me start off by wishing everyone a happy Sunday!  It’s been a busy week, and weekend, but I wanted to take a little time tonight to update the  blog world.  Weigh in day is not until tomorrow, but there’s some positive progress that I’ve got to share!

I’m sure you all remember the progress pants!  If not, let me update everyone.  Basically, it’s a pair of expensive Seven for Mankind jeans that I bought probably 7 years ago, and wore less than 7 times.  They were too snug when I bought them, and I didn’t fit into them for long.  They are not the final size I want to be, but I set them as my progress piece, to see that I was making steps in the right direction.

I didn’t blog about it, but I tried those fateful pants on a few weeks ago, they were closer to closing, but still a good inch from buttoning.  Well last weekend, after an invigorating workout, I slid into the pants to see what the deal was…AND *dramatic pause* they FIT!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now when I say “fit”, that means that I could get them buttoned without laying down or busting a blood vessel.  I won’t say that they fit well, as there is still some serious muffin top bubbling out of them, but I’ve come pretty far from barely being able to get them up over my rear 6 weeks ago. 

Now as you can see, there’s still some work to be done before these get worn out in public.  It’s just a great feeling to see some real success when you’ve been working so hard.  I’m excited to see what I’ve lost this week, but even more than the number on the scale, I’m starting to see a real change in my body.  To me, that is what keeps me moving.  I’ve decided it’s going to be an ongoing adventure.  I’m calling it, “Let’s see how fine I can get”!  LOL…I’ll keep you all posted! 😉