The first step is a doozy

The journey of weight loss is long and arduous. It's a journey that I've struggled with for 15 years and one that I'm growing increasingly frustrated about. It wasn't until a few days ago that I realized just how low I had gotten about it.

My buddy, Kat, suggested a book called "Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It". The book essentially talks about why having a carb heavy diet is a huge factor in the obesity epidemic in America. The author supports his case with a ton of scientific evidence and really gave me a lot to think about. He advocates eliminating carbs from our diets for weight loss as well as long term health benefits. This isn't a new concept.

You have probably heard of the Atkins diet, which begins your road to new food choices by eliminating carbs during the "Induction Period". Basically, eliminating all of my favorite foods. Pasta, bread, fruit, nuts, candy, cereal, cake, etc...

And so after reviewing this list of non-approved foods, I cried for about an hour. And then I got angry about getting THAT upset about not eating the foods that are making me so miserable. I couldn't believe that I was seriously crying about not eating bread or potatoes for a while. That was a new low for me. To mourn food.

Tomorrow begins the first day of the rest of my life. A life that has a new light. A life that includes a healthier and THINNER me. Tomorrow I am starting on the Atkins food plan and I'm excited and nervous and a little scared. But most of all, I am hopeful. Finally.

Weigh In Wednesday

It's time for another weekly weigh in!

Shannon's starting weight: 218

previous weight: 219.8

current weight: 219.2

weekly gain/loss: -0.6

overall gain/loss: +1.2

Well, at least I'm on the right track! A loss is a loss, right?

I've done really well the last 3 days... back on track with drinking water. I also went walking twice and one morning played Wii tennis for a good 20 minutes. Yay me!

The only thing is I wonder how much I could've lost had I worked hard ALL of last week and not just the past few days. Ah, well.

I'm trying to get my focus back! I CAN and WILL do this!!!

Angie's results are here!

Angie's Starting Weight: 221.4

Angie's Previous Weight: 220.2

Angie's Current Weight: 219.6

Weekly Gain/Loss: -.6 lbs

Overall Gain/Loss: -1.8 lbs

It figures that Shannon & I had the exact same loss this week. Ha ha! I continued with drinking at least 6 glasses of water each day and I have nearly squashed my bad habit of snacking constantly. At least snacking with the bad stuff like chocolate and chips. I've been keeping lots of fruit in the house and actually eating it. Yay for progress! This week I want to try and get a meal plan back in rotation. Now that summer has arrived and my schedule is much more flexible, it should be much easier to attain.

And Shannon & I are going to start walking together now that our kids are out of school. Yay!! Next week will hopefully produce some great stats for both of us.

Thanks for your support and for the wonderful comments that you guys leave! We really appreciate it!

Weigh In Wednesday

This isn't going to be pretty.

Shannon's starting weight: 218

previous weight: 218.8

current weight: 219.8

weekly gain/loss: +1

overall gain/loss: +1.8

Honestly, I thought that was going to be a lot worse. I knew I would have a gain this week, as I've done nothing as far as exercising goes. And I've slacked on getting my 6 glasses of water each day.

I'm quickly losing the motivation to do this... it's like, the weight isn't coming off so why even bother?

I know that's not the attitude to have, but it's how I'm feeling right now. Somehow, I need to find a way to get this weight loss endeavour going.

~Shannon

Alright, Angie here and I'm almost afraid to post my results for this week, especially in light of the fact that I've done nothing but complain about EVERYTHING to Shannon for the last week. Gulp...here goes.

Angie's Starting Weight: 221.4

Angie's Previous Weight: 221.6

Angie's Current Weight: 220.2

Weekly Gain/Loss: -1.4 lbs

Overall Gain/Loss: -1.2 lbs

Ok, let's review the things I did right this last week. I religiously kept up with my food intake on my Droid App for Sparkpeople. I'm telling you, that accountability has been great for me. I tried to maintain my water intake, especially since I had a delicious Peach Margarita with dinner the other night & have enjoyed a couple of Cokes. I did not exercise, but my music classes were very active this week and I ended up doing some other activities that exerted more energy than I realized. I am both stunned and thrilled with a loss this week, especially since "Aunt Flo" paid a visit, but hey, I'll take it!

For the next week, I want to continue with tracking my food intake and try to get in a workout. And I want to work out a schedule with Shannon for us to get in some exercise together. Now that school & work schedules aren't holding us back, we have no excuse not to fast track some progress on this project!

Until next week!

Weigh In Wednesday

Another week, another weigh in! Angie is up first, so let's see how I did.

Angie's Starting Weight: 221.4

Angie's Previous Weight: 222.7

Angie's Current Weight: 221.6

Weekly Gain/Loss: -1.1 lbs

Overall Gain/Loss: +.2 lbs

YEE HAW!!! FINALLY, I'm moving in the right direction with a loss that I can really smile about. I didn't get in any workouts (but I need to mention that I teach Kindermusik classes at least 4 times a week, which involves a LOT of movement). However, I really focused on getting in my 6 glasses of water each day and I reactivated my Sparkpeople account and kept a close eye on EVERYTHING I was eating each day. It never ceases to amaze me how much more careful I am about what I eat when I'm logging it all and can see those stats staring back at me. I reduced my fast food intake and have started cooking again. This summer I want to focus on good eating habits for every member of my family! For the next week, I want to continue working on tracking my food and see if I can make another great loss next Wednesday!

My turn!

Shannon's starting weight: 218

previous weight: 217

current weight: 218.8

weekly gain/loss: +1.8

overall gain/loss: +0.8

It's that time of the month.  'Nuff said.

Weigh In Wednesday

It's that time again! Let's see what this last week held for us in results.

It's Angie, and I'm happy to say that despite the stress and sleepless nights of the last week, I actually lost a little bit. Let's see the breakdown.

Angie's Starting Weight: 221.4

Angie's Previous Weight: 223.1

Angie's Current Weight: 222.7

Weekly Gain/Loss: -.4 lbs
Overall Gain/Loss: +1.3 lbs

I got in no workouts this week, but I did make a conscious effort to look at how much I was eating at meals and try to reduce my portions. I also tried to curb snacking, which was surprisingly easier than I anticipated. Today, I am starting my food journal and working on integrating some healthy meals into this week's rotation. I ate out a LOT last week and want to avoid that as much as possible in the next week.


Shannon, here... it's my turn to see how I did this past week:

Shannon's starting weight: 218
previous weight: 217
current weight: 217
weekly gain/loss: 0
overall gain/loss: -1

Well, at least I didn't gain anything, right?

I'm happy to report that over the past week I managed to go walking not once... not twice... but FOUR times!  Very thrilled that I was able to meet my goal... now let's see if I can do it again.

I'm pretty much on track with my water, but there were a few days last week that I didn't meet my daily goal.

As Angie has done, I also need to start working on food portions and making a conscious effort at what I'm eating.  However... I kind of feel as though I should get consistent with excercising and meeting my daily water goals before adding anything else to the mix.  I don't want to get overwhelmed, but it is frustrating to not see any difference when I step on the scale.  I'm trying to remind myself that I didn't pack on the pounds overnight, so they're not going to come off overnight.  Before I tackle any food issues, once again my focus for this week will be exercising at least 3 times and meeting my water intake of at least 6 glasses per day.

So here's to having a good week!