Still out here....even if I'm not HERE

Hi!!
Just popping in to say "I'm still here" even if I'm not HERE on this blog. I'm still doing Spark People regularly and still posting with my YOAD group. I've actually just started blogging on SP too. (It's kind of a pain in the ass to do it here and there).

I started a new full time job back in the hospital on December 8th and I've been busy, busy ever since. It's been a little wild being back at work full time as a nurse, but I'm enjoying it.

I'm also really enjoying watching my hometown boys the AZ Cardinals in the playoffs!! GO CARDS!! Hopefully we'll all be cheering them on to victory on Sunday (keeping my fingers crossed).

My weight is ok. I weighed last Monday and I was 181.2 lbs. I just started the BLC 7 on SP and I'm an "Orange Crusher" this time. They seem like a great team and I'm hoping to use them to draw inspiration and motivation (when I need it). It's an 8 week challenge and I am hoping to lose 10 pounds during that 8 weeks.

I hope all is well with you and yours!! Keep moving forward!!
Shannon

Hi There!

Just popping in to say "Hi There"!!
Things are going very well here. Last week I averaged 18K steps a day and did over 721 minutes of cardio! This week I'm still keeping pace and have done over 20K steps for the past two days. I'm already on pace this morning to keep that up and plan to do just that!

I'm feeling really good! Food continues to be my biggest challenge but for the most part I'm doing pretty darn good with it. I still have a strange relationship with desserts (yes, they are always sugar free and YOAD ok). For some reason they cause a kind of binge trigger in me sometimes. It's weird. Perhaps it's an old habit that is still lingering around at times. I am aware of it though and it doesn't always happen. It may be something I have trouble with forever but I will NEVER let it push me backwards. I've worked too hard and too smart to allow that to happen. I am a MUCH happier me and NEVER EVER want to return to the 255 pound "old me".

I'm staying very active on SparkPeople. I log in daily. I've been tracking my food the last few weeks again. It's kind of a back to basics situation. It makes me much more aware of the volume of food I eat. It's been pretty helpful and fortunately it hasn't been surprising. I am pretty close to my calorie range every day, which is a good thing! I'm always WAY over on exercise but that's a good thing too. It makes it ok to be above calories when I'm burning more off through exercise.

I guess that's about it for now. I hope you are doing well! Keep on, keeping on!!
Hugs from AZ,
Shannon

I am the 5%!! YIPEE!!

Popping in to say I'm still chugging along!
I'm in the 170's now...officially with a strong hold. I think I've been there for a month now, which is VERY cool! I'm at 179.2 as of Monday, which is actually up 1/2 pound from the week before, but I'm ok with that.

I hit a bit of a rough patch and had GYN problems for two weeks that really took me down & out. I wasn't able to exercise and I felt awful. Fortunately that is back on track, thanks to my doc, and I'm going at full force again! WOO HOO!

I just realized something this morning...something profound actually. Did you know 95% of the people that lose weight gain it back within a year? Guess what? I started my journey almost 1.5 years ago AND I'm not gaining it back!!! I am the 5%!! I'm so happy and proud of that! It's one of the things I honestly worried the most about when I started my journey. I am so glad that the weight of that thought is no longer looming in my head. I don't even think about it. I don't give it power. It's just not an option...EVER! What a difference a year makes...it's truly unbelievable!! YIPEE!!

I'm doing great with exercise. I'm doing 30 minutes of aerobics and walking 5+ miles daily. I've started to add a bit of jogging in there too. I'm also working on increasing the distance. It feels good! I feel fit! I know I still have more weight to go but I'm honestly in the best physical shape of my life. The exciting thing is, I know I can even get stronger and faster! NOW that is COOL!
I'm still wearing my pedometer and always going for 10-15K steps a day....gotta do the work to reap the benefits. I know that and I'm living proof of it!

Food is ok. I'm doing well with choices just constantly working on portion or just the amount eaten daily. That's my true nemesis. For some folks exercise is their worst obstacle, for me it's food. I'm aware of that though and I continue to work towards better portions, better choices and healthy options daily. I'm proud of where I've been, more proud of where I am and the most proud of where I am still going!

I hope all is well with you in your world! Keep on, keeping on!
Shannon

Checking In....

Checking In.....

I'm doing SUPER right now! This week has been great! I've just finished the first week of the South Beach Diet and I feel really good. The only down side is I truly have felt like I was "on a diet". However, I am hoping that when I get on the scale tomorrow it will be worth it.



I've done lots of exercise this week and feel very healthy. We went grocery shopping yesterday and are stocked up for the next week to 10 days full of healthy choices and a great meal plan!



I'll be sure to check in tomorrow and post what the scale says.



Have a super day!
Shannon

This week.....

Weight-181.8 lbs (down 1.9 lbs this week)
Steps-76,164 this week (thanks to two days of 20K plus---whew)

I'm feeling really good right now. I recenly finished reading "The South Beach Diet" and started it on Sunday with my husband. I feel pretty good about it. It's very close to the YOAD way of life that I've been living but it varies a bit. It's scientific and based on the glycemic index. I'm all about the science so anything that's scientifically based is interesting to me.

I think the fact that my husband really is going to make the effort to make some changes is very important. I need his support and help to stay moving in the right direction. It makes it so much more fun & easier to have support from someone you love! It's so hard to go this alone!!
It'll be nice to help him as much as he'll help me.

I better run....I've been sitting at this computer for a while now. I can't burn any calories at the keyboard.
:-)
Talk soon,
Shannon

A Quick Hello!

Hello!
I wanted to drop in for a quick hello before going to bed. It was a busy day today. We went to a badminton invitational for my middle daughter (which lasted about 5 hours), went to lunch, went to the movies (saw Ghost Town which was great!), went to the gym and then finally got home about 30 minutes ago. I've since showered, posted on SparkPeople and am now winding down for bed.

I had a pretty good day yesterday, with the exception of a large piece of chocolate cake & veggie pizza. I didn't want to de-rail my wonderful week with an evening of bad choices. I let that go....made my YOU turn, if you will and moved forward today. I exercised a little harder at the gym and made my time there count. The decision to have cake will not take over my drive to succeed...it was just cake for heaven's sake. I did allow myself to feel guilt but I didn't allow it to go farther than that. I didn't allow it to ruin my day, or my weekend or my resolve. In some ways I'm even proud of myself for my "post cake reaction". LOL!

However, in the end, I decided no more large pieces of cake. My stomach hurt all night long....I'm just not used to that kind of sugar anymore. It was a bummer and totally not worth it in the end. (Which isn't an entirely bad thing).

OK...that "off my chest", I think I'll head to bed. I'm feeling great! I'm moving forward and I'm looking forward to my Monday weigh in.

Hugs for now.....
Shannon

A quick hello!

Hi All!
Just a quick hello to say I'm doing and feeling great! I had such a great day of eating and exercising yesterday. I got in 60 minutes of aerobics and 60 minutes of brisk walking. I hit 12,726 on my pedometer. I'm really happy!

Today's already going well too. I've gotten 30 minutes of aerobics in (WATP) so far and am at 5K steps already (it's barely noon and I haven't even really started walking yet).

I've got a great dinner planned that's healthy and wonderful (from the RealAge website)....so I'm excited!

The Biggest Loser Challenge is up and running again. I watched the show last night and it's just so motivational to me. I love to see the transformation of the people and the teams. It's so interesting and I'm just so happy for them. Hopefully over the next 12 weeks I will do some pretty great transforming myself! ;-)

Off to go get some lunch, my stomach is saying "HEY! Aren't you going to feed me something yummy and healthy??". :-) YEP! I sure am.

Have a super day,
Shannon