Yoga....OMG that was intense

I went to yoga this morning since I am looking for replacement classes for my ones that got cancelled.  I arrived at the studio 5 minutes before class and there was an empty parking lot..I walked in and there stood a very handsome, shirtless guy gleaming with a sheen of sweat.  I went into the studio set up my map and started stretching and in walks the guy and introduces himself and tells me that he is teaching the course.  We wait around for others to show but no one does.  He then procedes to tell me that he is a triathlete, and I totally believe it with his body and that since I was the only person he was going to give me a one on one class.  Great, I think and then he began and even though I had told him my story he did not take it easy on me. This guys was like a trainer on the biggest loser making sure that I did every move and not letting me rest at all.  I did a lot of plan moves today and he made me hold them and then when I felt like I could not hold it anymore I had to slowly lower myself down to the floor.  No dropping from exhaustion!  He also had me get in full lotus postion and do some extraordinary stretches.  He also made sure that when I exhaled that I was tightening my abdominal muscles.  At the end of the class as I laid there breathing and trying to relax all of those muscles that I stressed and stretched.  He came over and lifted each of my limbs and stretched and lightly massage them and pressed on pressure points to further the relaxing aspects.  That part was great....  I left the class feeling good, but well worked out!!

I had avacodo and grapes for lunch.  I had some low calorie sweet and sour chicken for lunch and then headed to music festival with F to enjoy some music and lots of walking.  I enjoyed all the music and the walking was hard with my muscles feeling sore from yoga. Besides being out in the heat made me slightly dehydrated which led to a migraine.  I had a Kashi bar at the festival, but I think with all the walking and yoga this morning had depleted me further.  I had some more sweet and sour chicken when I got home to help with the headache. I also made sure that I hydrated myself once home. 

Take care!!!

Talk to you later!!!

A slow week for weight loss

Today was weigh in day and I only lost a pound...am I upset...NO WAY!! I ate healthy so I know that I did what I needed to do and I am retaining water from flying and not sleeping last night.  So I am taking this with a grain of salt and seeing what it brings...besides I have lost 116 pounds so far. 

I have a busy day today, C is getting dance pictures taken, which means getting her hair done.  So we are spending the day with J and her daughter H which both C and I are looking forward too.

Take care..

Talk to you later...

My favorite lunch in LA and the after effects

There is this little place near my work and they have the best salmon filets (4oz) and grilled veggies..I love this dish because I can have it for lunch and then have some oatmeal for dinner and feel like I ate really healthy.  The only problem is that the having so many grilled veggies for lunch leads to my stomach hurting by the time I get to the hotel.  

I avoided the cake that was inhabiting the break room all day....It looked really good, but I was not going down that road. 

I fly home tomorrow and then I will have to face the scale.  Hopefully my salmon and veggies, do not come back to haunt me...

Talk to you later.

Take care..

Svelte is the word...

I am wearing my clothes that are my new size and several people have commented saying that I look very svelte!!!  I am loving this word!  I would never think of myself as svelte but heck I am going to enjoy the description.  I even had a person say that they had to do a double take when they saw me this week because I looked so much skinnier.  I had a person that I used to work with in VA say that some of my former co-workers saw my new picture and were amazed how different I am looking.  

Breakfast was some oatmeal, lunch I had a small piece of salmon and grilled veggies.  I think too many veggies because my stomach is still full and actually hurting a little.  My plan for dinner since I had my larger meal for lunch is to have some oatmeal later.

It feels good to get compliments, but when I catch my reflection in the glass or a mirror I still see the extremely over weight girl.  I am hoping that as I continue to lose that my preception of myself will change as well. 


Meanwhile I am amazed at myself, because back in October I set a goal for myself that I wanted to lose 130 pounds in a year.  I am 6 months into my journey and I only have 15 more pounds to go meet that goal.  WOW!!!  When I meet that goal...I will be celebrating big time and I might have to set a new goal!!  

Okay everyone, my stomach is hurting and I just want to chill so I am going to relax and wait for my family to call me....

Talk to you later!!!!

Take care!!

Who knew shopping could be fun!!!

I went shopping today because all of my tops make me look like I am swimming in material and no wonder because I have lost another 2 sizes on top and I am down another pants size as well!!!  I bought a couple of of jackets that I can wear over tank tops and a bunch of different colored tanks.  That shoudl get me through the summer! 

I am was having fun trying on clothes and then it hit me.  I have 2 pants sizes away from no longer needing to shop in the Plus size womans store!!  My top size is such that I can could at a regular store for my tops, the only issue on top is my upper arms which has a good amount of loose skin!! Not the most attractive thing but I can live with it and will work on getting it slimmed down.

I then headed to my yoga class, but it was not happening because the instructor was sick!!  It has not been a good week for me to do my yoga!! POUT!!


Talk to you later!!!

Another week and more weight lost....

I am going to start with the weigh in results for this week.  Another 3 pounds lost...brings the total to 115 pounds off my body and I feel fabulous.  It is amazing to me that if you told me today that I had to wear a vest that had 115 pounds in it and do everything I usually do that I would probably last 15 minutes before I would be unable to move anymore, but I carried that weight around on a daily basis and never said a word.  No wonder I was tired and whined every time F said lets walk downtown.  It makes me so sad to think about all the time that I have wasted not getting this weight off.

I was so frustrated yesterday after my OB/GYN appointment because one of the reasons that motivated em to start this journey was that I have been trying to get pregnant for awhile now (awhile being 3 years)  and while no one said anything I know being obese makes getting pregnant harder.  I really want to have one more child (a little boy if I got my choice in the matter but I would be happy with either). So here I was in the doctor's office, and I have taken active steps towards getting healthy.  I am doing things the right way.  I feeding my body and exercising.  I mentioned that I am still concerned that I have not gotten pregnant and her response was "keep trying" as she headed out the door.....ARGH!!  I wanted more than that!  I wanted a plan, like get your BMI to this level and if you are still having difficulty we will do A to find out why you are not pregnant!!  Anyway that is why I left frustrated. In addition when I mentioned an article that I had read recently that said that the risk for Ovarian Cancer increases every 2 inches over 5'0" your risk for ovarian cancer increases by 7% and for every 2 1/2% your BMI is over 20% that your risk increases by 10%.  This scared me because I am 6'0" tall and can not do anything about that!!!  I mentioned this to her, because I wanted to see if she could do a screening test of any kind.  Her response...I have not heard that..  Case closed she has not read it so it must not be true.   I have the added issues that since my mom died in her 40's that I have not alot to base my maternal history on as far as these type of things go.  My Maternal Grandmother is still living but she has a totally different body type, she is very petite and short.  I just felt like she was rushing and did not want to have any conversations.  As CH said last night, she was probably having a bad day considering that she was running really behind on appointments. 


So now that I have mentioned my mom let me share another motivation to get healthy.  My mom died in her 40's due to misdiagnosed pneumonia.  It was a week from the time, she was admitted to the hospital until she passed away.   It was a very hard time in my life as you can imagine.  She was overweight, but she seemed "overall healthy".   Her sudden death, left me feeling like I am this ticking time bomb that is going to go off some time in my 40's.   I can tell myself that what happened to her was a series of medical errors that all came together, but it is hard to turn off that voice in my head that my mom never made it passed 45. So I am trying to get as healthy as possible before I hit my 40's so that I can know in my heart that I am doing everything possible to be here on this earth for as long as possible!!!

Alright enough depressing stuff!!!  I HAVE LOST 115 POUNDS!!! 

I need to spend time with my wonderful family...including going to see the Chimpanzee Movie this weekend and maybe getting a few tops that fit me...all my shirts are too big, except a couple of tank tops that I bought for yoga. 

Talk to you later!!!

NOOOOOO!!!! Not my Yoga class!!!!

Today was one of those days when you wish you could hit the rewind button and start it over with a different outcome.  I had a GYN appt. today and no she had no clue I lost weight...not that she was in the room for more than 5 minutes to discuss any concerns that I may have had...

Then I got home and started working, when I got the e-mail!!!  My Yoga class has been cancelled and rescheduled for tuesdays and thursdays at 10:00 am.....This sucks because when I am home that is when my work day begins!!!  I have to find another class!!  YUCK!!!!

My bright spot today was going out with my husband and some friends.  It was so nice to talk to CH.  We get along really well.  I was disappointed in I at the get together though.  He is a super nice guy, but he has not seen me in months and did not even seem to notice that I have lost over 100 pounds!!! 

Food was boring today.  I had a Kashi bar on the way to the MD's office this morning and a Smoothie for lunch.  I had the teriakyi chicken for dinner.

Talk to you later!!!!

Watching the Biggest Loser

Ok...I know it was on Tuesday, but I am finally watching the show and I am a little disgusted...Here are these people that were given a chance to have full time dietician, personal trainer, and medical support to help them lose weight and to top it off they can win a lot of money.  Instead of being grateful, they whine because there is a twist in a game..  Do they know how many people would love to have those resources at their disposal.   Just had to say, stop whining!!!

I have a doctor appointment tomorrow, it is with my GYN who I have not seen in 2 years, and I am wondering if she will notice the change...probably not she only saw me once and it was 2 years ago, but never the less a girl can hope. 

I keep thinking that when I reach my goal, that I would like to somehow use what I have learned to help others.  I am learning so much about myself and the struggles that I have went through and the road blocks that I have put in my way through out the years.  I wish I had made this decision a lot earlier.

I had some oatmeal for breakfast, a smoothie for lunch (which I thrilled to have again), and the teriakyi chicken that was in my fridge for dinner.


Talk to you later.....

Yoga was a struggle today

I got up this morning and was looking forward to my Yoga time.  Once in class this quickly faded as I struggled to hold positions that I was able to hold on Monday and in general just felt uncoordinated.  It was  trying to find that inner peace but instead I felt like I was anything but peaceful.  It was not until the end of class as I lay there in my moment of silence that I thought...there are going to be days like this and that is okay.  I am not always going to improve every day and that is okay too.  The most important thing is that I show up for the next yoga class and try my best...

Once I got back from yoga I had a Kashi bar for breakfast before hopping on the phone for my morning conference calls.  Lunch was some oatmeal and fruit.  I have not had dinner yet, because I am waiting for F to get home. 


Talk to you later....your imperfect blogger and that is okay!!

My body is telling me....

My body is telling me that it really wants a no processed food day and I think that tomorrow sounds like a good day since I have yoga in the morning.  Life has been typical, lots of work and not a lot of play. My body felt really sluggish today and that could have been due to the weather, it was raining and yucky, or the fact that I have not done a no processed food day in a little while. 

Today I had oatmeal for breakfast.  Lunch was a ham on a slice of bread, and dinner was a low fat teriakyi chicken with vegetables and brown rice.

I am loving yoga, but I checked out a regular gym today.  It was busy and loud, but looked nice and the price was not bad and it open 24/7 so I can go when I can not sleep at night. It is not far from C's dance studio, so I coudl go then too.  I think the fact that the Yoga studio is quiet and relaxing is one of the reasons that I like it so much.  I find that I can let go and just focus on body in that environment. 

Well I want to spend time with F and chill...

Talk to you later.

Migraine today but looking forward to Yoga tomorrow

I woke up at 5:00 am with a Migraine headache and that put a damper on my day.  Around 9:00, I had an avocado for breakfast and lunch was oatmeal.  Dinner was some turkey and vegetables and some grapes for dessert.

A boring day for food, but a migraine usually wipes me out. 

I am looking forward to yoga tomorrow, migraine or no migraine. 

Talk to you later.

6 month weigh in results!!!

Today was weigh in day and also the 6 month point in this journey.  I lost 6 pounds this week.. AMAZING!!  considering that I was in LA this week and eating out.  That makes the 6 month total 112 pounds!!!!!  I can not put into words how amazing it is to me to write that number.  If someone had told me 7 months ago that if I changed my eating habits that I could lose that much I would have laughed at them.  I am finding the side of me that I have missed, the woman that likes to sing in her car and dance in her seat. 

My new look has been a total hit, with every one saying how fabulous I look and how they love my hair.  I am more comfortable in my own skin.  I am becoming the person I want to be and that person likes being noticed.  Weird I know!!  I am looking forward to yoga on Monday. 

Well I will blog more later!!

Take care

I think I need a vacation!!!

I need time away from life.....it ishard some times working so far away from my family and the fact that I work a lot....I need a vacation, one where I can let my hair down and just let go.  That does not mean letting go of my new healthy choices, just letting go of the stress and constant variability that my life contains.  I have a hard time turning my brain off or for that matter turning my phone off.  Yoga is my me time.  I never take my phone into the yoga studio, one because it is a peaceful place and two because it is my time when I try to turn off my mind and just concentrate on getting my body into so weird position.  I will let you know if I ever take a vacation, though if I was you I would not hold my breath....

I had a apricot scone, low fat and no sugar.  Lunch was grilled Mahi and steamed veggies and dinner is oatmeal.  Overall a pretty healthy day.

I love blogging about my day and about my challenges...so here is my little shout out to my precious daughter C.  She is the cover girl for her Dance program!!! She deserves it after working so hard at school, dance and soccer.  She deserves the recognition of being on the cover and getting to be a special girl the day of her recital!!! 

Talk to you later!!! 

Is it hair or attitude?

I have been amazed by the reaction that my new hair do has gotten on facebook and at my job.   It is like I am a totally new person.  It seems even guys are looking at me differently.  Though that part does not really matter to me because I am VERY happily married and the only guy's opinion that I really care about is F's!  The new hair is making me feel sexier though and that is shining through my whole body!!

I had some oatmeal for breakfast.  Lunch was a trip to one of my favorite lunch places in LA where I got 4 oz of salmon, grilled veggies, and fruit.  I felt great after lunch.  I was not hungry at dinner time so I had a Kashi bar and some Oatmeal for dinner.  

I am so thrilled to have lost so much weight so far, but there is this fear in the back of my mind that it is going to stop and I am going to get stuck.  I do not want to and will fight it with all that I have, but the fear is there.  I was talking to D at work about that fear today and she said that if I get to that point I would only need to read my blog from the beginning to find the motivation to continue to fight.  I have heard from lots of people that read my blog that I am an inspiration and a motivation, but really for me it is the opposite!  You guys that follow my blog or read it on facebook are my inspiration.  I gain strength through your positive comments and encouraging words.  It makes me realize that I can touch our peoples lives and maybe my  battle can help someone else start the fight.  I keep thinking that maybe when I get to the point that I have reached my goals that I can somehow turn this journey into something bigger. The question is how, how can I use my journey to educate others that losing weight is not about some fad diet, it is about making the choices that are best for you.  I have got a long way to go, but I hope before this journey is over I will figure it out. 

Talk to you later!!! 

They used to be skinny leg jeans...now they look like relaxed fit!!

Happy Easter...the Easter bunny came to our house and delivered lots of goodies for C.   I, then, spent the day avoiding the sweets....so I distracted myself by cleaning my house and doing laundry.  I go to LA this week so it was needed anyway.

For breakfast, I had some avocado and an orange.   Lunch was some oatmeal.  Dinner was a mixture of things.  F offered to grill for Easter, so I would not have to spend the day slaving over food that I most likely would not eat.  He made steaks.  I cut up some fresh cucumber and we had gotten some German potato salad.  In addition, I made some chicken breast and vegetables.  C and F had steak, I had a small slice of the steak so about 3 bites.  I had some of the cucumber and a bite of the potato salad and then I had my dinner.  

I wanted to wash the pants I was wearing so I changed into an old pair of jeans.  They used to be a skinny leg jean and when I put them on they were so big on me that they look like a majorly relaxed fit.  I have to be careful that I don't show my underwear because they are really falling off of me...and I love it!!!!

Talk to you later.

The smock fit!!! and weigh in results.

I weighed in this morning an I have lost an additional 6.4 pounds since I last weighed in bringing the total to 106.4 pounds lost since I began my journey.  I am so thrilled!!! 

After I left there, I went to get my hair done.   This was really me celebrating the new me that is emerging.  I have really long hair and it was easy to hide behind.  The salon I go to has you change out of your top and wear a smock so that the color does not get on your clothes.  In the past, I have had problems with the smock being too tight and in general I would feel uncomfortable.  It was different today as I buttoned up that smock and felt like I was just another woman in the salon getting her hai done. Today I got a good amount cut off, but kept it still long because F loves my long hair!!  I had dark brown hair with grey especially at my hairline.  So I decided to get it colored too, mostly to remove the grey but also to be a little free spirited.  My hair is now base of reddish brown, with red and blonde highlights.  I love it!!  I told the stylist that I wanted hair that was sexy when it was down, but that I could pull up easily to have that Mom look as well. 

I am really trying to embrace the new me.  I am trying to let out my inner sexiness.  I am no longer hiding from the world.

Talk to you later!!!

Another day of Yoga and plans for tomorrow...

This morning I got up and for some reason was thinking "I want to lay back down and sleep some more"  Instead I got dressed in my Yoga clothes and headed to the studio.   I am so glad that I went because I felt so good at the end of class.   It was a lot of floor work which was harder for me, but I tried my best.
I am determined to eventually be able to the Half Bow and Full Bow since I could not do them today. It is great to have goals.

For breakfast, I had oatmeal, Lunch was a Kashi Bar and some grapes.  Dinner was chicken breast and broccoli.  I really do love eating healthy!!!  It makes me feel stronger and better. 

Tomorrow, I have an early hair appointment to get the gray taken out of hair and have some length taken off my hair.  I am considering it my first step in my makeover plans.  I may even take a picture once I get my hair done. I am hoping to be able to weigh in before my appointment so that I can share how much I have lost.  

The best part of my day after yoga, was watching C have fun on her day off.  She was practicing soccer and that was followed by choreographing dances!! I love how athletic she is naturally.  She is just not the video game type of kid. 

F keeps hugging me and saying "there is so much less of you to love!"  It melts my heart and makes me feel so beautiful.

Talk to you later.


 

Should I really be checking the calories on Tums?

I got a little heart burn today and I grabbed some Tums, it was only afterwards that my husband said I think Tums has sugar in them.  I cheked the bottle and sure enough they are 5 calories a piece.  So I had 15 calories and did not even enjoy them.

The question is should I really be worried about 15 calories? Should I be checking a bottle of Tums for calories or am I getting too obsessed? 

I had oatmeal for breakfast and an avocado for lunch. Dinner was turkey breast and vegetables for dinner and an orange for dessert.  Meanwhile my husband sits on the couch eating Nestle Chocolate Eggs like they have no calories, that is after he had Samoas Girl Scout cookies for breakfast, and Pizza and Hotdogs for dinner....He has not really eaten much the last two days so it probably works itself out, but I know for me if I had any of those things then I would gain 15 pounds over night.....

C is off tomorrow!! F has been off all week!!  I, of course, am working as usual.   I am going to Yoga early in the morning while they are both home to have some fun and find my inner peace hopefully...


Talk to you later!!

Rain Rain go away!!!

I was really looking forward to yoga this morning, but it was cancelled due to the weather...Sadly I braved the weather instead of staying in my bed.. 

I had some oatmeal from breakfast.  Lunch was a smoothie.  I had chicken breast with a low sodium low sugar teriakyi sauce and brown rice.

I spent the afternoon watching my daughter rock it on the soccer field and this is one of my favorite things to do.  We got home late and now C is in the bathtub and I am watching survivor. 

Talk to you later..

I need a makeover

I just finished watching "The Biggest Loser"  I have lost 100 pounds and I do not see myself as looking that much different.  I think I need a makeover!!  I want that experience of going and trying on clothes and having fun.  I am still in the dreading shopping mode.  To that end..I am at least getting my hair done this weekend, so that I can start to see my face differently!!

That is all...just felt the need to share!!

Looking for races.....

I looked at the couch to 5K app today and started evaluating how long it si going to take me to get ready to run a 5K.  The program is 9 weeks and I figure that it is going to take me twice as long to get to the point that I could run that distance so that puts me in August or September before I could run.  I looked for 5Ks around that time frame and found a few races. The question is do I register now and put the pressure on myself or do I wait until I see how the program goes?


Breakfast was oatmeal and Lunch was a smoothie!! Dinner was turkey with vegetables.  

Today was a busy day and tomorrow is another busy day.

Take care...

I rather be strong than lucky!! and revenge is going to be sweet!!!

My friend H posted this picture on facebook last night and I fell in love with it!!! 

I am a girl that is in middle of the fight and I feel stronger every day.  So now I am sharing something that not everyone knows about me.  I have a tattoo around my ankle that I got after my mom died, it is a vine of purple roses around my ankle in remembrance of her.  I love my tattoo and I have always wanted another one and the I really wanted one on my lower back.  So I have decided that I am going to get another one after I run my first 5K.  I am going to get  the scripted word Stronger with some flourishes across my lower back to reminded me of the strength that I have gained during this journey.    I am totally excited about it..

Breakfast this morning was a Banana Nut Vita Top, Lunch was Oatmeal and dinner was stirfried veggies. 

Now on to the revenge....as some of you may remember there is a certain MD that talked about, "people like me"  and how weak we were and how we either need gastric bypass or to have our meals prepared for us and delivered to our door and only eat that which is delivered...I was so mad and I complained about him...Anyway, what office should call me today to set my follow up appointment for June....I originally said that if he was there I would leave...now I am thinking if he is there I am insisting that he come in and talk to me and I might even buy him a shirt and give it to him and it will read,  "I am a judgemental doctor who does not know anything about people like Crystal.  She lost over 100 pounds all on her own.  She was right and I was wrong!!! Please do not listen to me if I tell you can't lose weight on your own!!!"   and I am thinking I should bring a Dunce cap too...but knowing my luck he won't be there that day!!!

Ok take care and talk to you later..

Party with lots of temptations..but I held strong.

Today was another busy day for me.  C's end of season soccer party was today and there were lots of tempting foods, like hanburgers, hot dogs with chili, dirty rice, chips, cheese puffs, and a cookie cake.  I held strong though and did not have anything.  I made sure that I had a food that would keep me during the party.  So I had an avocado and some oatmeal.   I know weird combination, but it was filling. 

I would love to blog more, but really today was a boring food day and I am starving right now..

Talk to you later!!!