Day 2

Don't worry (who am I talking to? I don't actually have readers.)...I don't plan on journaling about this journey EVERY day.  I just need to vent.  Already.

I'm hungry.  Yesterday I actually used 10 of my weekly points.  I RARELY dipped into my weekly points on the old plan.  Granted, the items that sent me over probably won't in the future.  I didn't have Splenda on hand, so the sugar in my coffee hurt.  I also had a piece of gooey butter cake and a glass of wine with dinner.  So, yeah.

Note to self - hit the grocery store & stock up on WW-friendly items.  And try not to be too hard on myself this first week.  I'm already eating better than I was a week ago, even with the slip-ups, so that's something.

But I'm hungry.

Starting Again

I signed back up for Weight Watchers this morning. 

I lost 25 of the pounds I gained back while pregnant, but have not been able to lose any more.  The good news is that for 2 months I haven't gained a single pound.  The bad news is that I still have about 35-ish pounds that I want to lose.

I'm a little nervous about the Points Plus program, but am excited to get myself back on track and get to a place where I like shopping again.

It's been a looooong time!

I haven't posted in almost a year. Here's why:

I found out I was pregnant with #2 last July and Julian Tadeusz was born at 37 weeks on March 14, 2011.

I stopped doing Weight Watchers as soon as I got my BFP, so I didn't really feel like continuing to blog about that journey...especially since I ended up gaining EVERY.SINGLE.POUND back that I had lost on Weight Watchers.

That's right. I gained 43 pounds this pregnancy. *sigh* No excuses...I ate like a horse. Maybe I took advantage of being able to eat things I didn't eat while on Weight Watchers. I KNEW I was pregnant with a boy this time - my appetite was insatiable! With my daughter, I craved fruit. With Julian, I craved Mexican food & chocolate brownies (with chocolate chips & chocolate frosting, of course). I have some SERIOUS work to do. I am currently 12 weeks PP and have 18 pounds to go to get back to where I was before I got my BFP. I still haven't joined Weight Watchers yet, but that will be happening next week.

I will be blogging again (I hope) to talk about my adventures in weight loss, part II. If I still have readers out there, stay tuned!

Hungry

I'm hungry.

For the past 2 days, I've been super hungry. I'm not doing any extra activity, not eating less than I usually eat. I just don't get it. I'm not craving "bad" foods, it just seems like I can't fill myself up.

I'm hoping this passes soon.

GOAL +!!!

Hello. I may need to re-introduce myself. You see, I've undergone quite a transformation. It appears that I am a contradiction - I don't look like myself, yet I look more like the Artist Formerly Known As Jenn. I now weigh 42.5 pounds less than I did at the beginning of 2010.

It is such an awesome feeling! I am wearing clothes I haven't worn in 4 years (I don't feel so silly for holding on to them now), and enjoy shopping again. Oh, and I wear skirts and dresses now! It's so unlike me. :)

On the other hand, when I hear compliments about how good I look, even though I still have more to lose, I reminds me of just how BAD I must've looked before! I feel so embarassed about how far I let myself go.

I know I shouldn't dwell on the past and just focus on my journey. But it's hard.

Regardless, I'm moving forward. I've decided that I want to lose 10 more pounds...anything more than that would be the icing on the cake.

Some comparison pics:

My beautiful family, almost exactly a year ago, at my daughter's 1st birthday party. Pretty much my heaviest weight.

A few weeks ago...sorry, I thought this was rotated.

Father's Day 2010. In my new dress.

-34.5

I've been busy.

Florida was a blast! I actually did really well sticking to WW on vacation. I came back about 7 pounds lighter! Not only did I meet my 20 pound goal, I surpassed it. I was extremely happy. Of course, spending every day at the pool and beach chasing around a toddler helped my cause. :)

For the most part, I've just been sticking to the plan. I haven't been to the gym since before vacation *blushes*. That's partly because I haven't made time to go, and partly because we came back from Florida with a toddler going through a MAJOR separation anxiety phase. Being in an unfamiliar place really messed her up. She's getting a little better now, but it was so bad that I couldn't even leave her to take a shower!

Anyway, in the past 2-ish months since my last post we've been through a big life change - we moved. We actually had a scary situation hit a little too close to comfort with the family who owned the condo that we rented, and when they decided to sell, we seized the opportunity to break our lease. Due to the short time-frame we were working with, we moved in with my parents. This will allow us to save money to buy a house in the meantime. My husband is still looking for work (ugh)...he's been on tons of interviews and nothing has paid off yet. We're basically saving $1300 (at minimum) per month by living with my parents...it's a nice change. Of course, living with my parents is an adjustment...but it's only temporary and the benefits DEFINITELY outweigh the inconvenience.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised that I've been able to continue with my weight loss given all these stressors I've been dealing with. The old Jenn would have been comfort-eating up a storm!

So today I weighed in and am down 1.5 pounds. That brings my grand total to 34.5 pounds since January 14th. 34.5 pounds!!! I am overjoyed. I now am at my wedding weight. I haven't been this "thin" since 2006. I don't have a "goal weight", but I have a "goal size". I'd really really like to go down 3 or 4 more sizes. But we'll see. :) I'm just enjoying the ride.

I'm including some before and during pictures so that my 1 reader (Hi!) and anyone else who stumbles upon this blog can see my journey so far. I still have a way to go, but I'm feeling more like myself every day.

My mom, my sister & me before my wedding - 2006

Me in Kansas City - 2007

Me & Amelia - Christmas 2009 - Pre-WW


Valentine's Day 2010 - 2 weeks into WW

Mother's Day 2010

Current -34.5 pounds

As a P.S. to this post, I've discovered that I don't have a lot of good pictures of myself. I'm usually the one TAKING the pictures. And, of course, the main star of the pictures is Miss Amelia. Now that I'm feeling better about my body, I'm making a resolve to have my picture taken more often! :)

-18.5

I am only 1.5 pounds away from losing 20 pounds. Kind of shocking. Before I started WW, I thought losing 20 pounds was a mountain too high for me to climb. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been EASY. It just hasn't been impossible.

I gave in and bought some new clothes. It felt really good to have things fit and look pretty good on. There has been a remarkable transformation in my appearance...I LOOK thinner. My face, my stomach (except for that darn extra skin from being pregnant), my legs - EVERYTHING is smaller.

So what did I do this week? I slipped. :( We've eaten out 3 nights this week (I still tried to make somewhat healthy choices, mostly). I dipped into my flex points more than I ever have (I guess the positive is that I haven't used them all). And I haven't been to the gym at all this week. I don't anticipate reaching the 20 pound mark this week.

I'm OK with that, for the most part. I just don't want to GAIN weight.

Oh yeah, and we're going to Florida for 2 weeks one week from today. I'm super excited to go (even though it means 2 weeks with my in laws, but that's a whole other post!), but am concerned about sticking to the plan while on vacation. I have no control over what I will be eating down there. I know, I know, that's not totally true...I CAN control what I put in my mouth. What I mean is that my mother in law will control the grocery shopping and the kitchen. She knows I'm on WW, so I'm really hoping she'll take my needs into consideration.

Overall, I am giving myself permission to be human while on vacation. I am even forgiving myself (in advance) for gaining a little while on vacation.

I guess this will really be a big test for me! :)