Small Victories

This weight loss gig is all about stringing together a bunch of small victories.  The individual weeks aren't much to write about in their own right.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love seeing that scale work it's way down to smaller numbers each week, even if it is just a fraction of a pound.  But when we look at the bigger picture and see how those small victories each week add up, it is inspiring!  :)  

But victories aren't just won on the scale.  Sometimes those little differences add up to what we call non-scale victories.  And to be honest, when I thought about this blog on Monday, I thought I'd just be writing about non-scale victories because I really didn't think I was going to lose.  I had not been very faithful to take my Plexus products every day and I had made some eating choices that weren't quite in line with WW guidelines.  So, I was fully expecting to have to admit to the few of you who actually read this blog that I had not lost any weight this week or that I had gained.

In fact, I was so sure that's the direction that my blog was going to take that my subconscious created quite the picture in my dreams the night before weigh-in day.  I dreamed, probably in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, that I was at my friend's house.  This friend is also doing WW and has been a great encouragement to me.  In real life, her birthday was Monday and she had posted pictures of her family birthday celebration, so I'm sure this played into my subconscious story line.  Anyway, her family had prepared this HUGE spread of yummy food.  In my dream, I had stopped by on my way to weigh-in and told my friend that I was going to gain anyway so I might as well enjoy myself...and pulled up a chair!  LOL!

So, before I get to what actually happened on the scale at weigh-in on Tuesday, let me share with you the story I planned to tell about my non-scale victory.  This past weekend, I was outside with my kids.  Our house is on a little over two acres of land, in the shape of a rectangle...which means we don't have a lot of space on the sides of our house, but we have a fair amount in the front and a HUGE amount in the back.  It's one of the things that attracted me to the house because it offered my kids a great area to run, play, and explore.  However, in the four and a half years we have lived in this house, I had never been toward the back of the property.  I don't think I've made it more than a few yards away from our back door, to be honest.  It always seemed SOOOOOOOOO FAR!  I would be out of breath just getting off the back poarch (or lanai, as it is called in Florida) and to the kids' playground.  But this past weekend when I was out in the back yard looking for something my kids had lost, I found myself at the far back and feeling fine!  That, my friends, was a HUGE victory that can't be measured on a scale but came as a result of all those small victories on the scale that helped me get healthier.

So, as I walked into the WW meeting on Tuesday morning to face the scale, I was hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.  I honestly thought if I lost anything, it would be half a pound or less.  BUT...the scale showed that I had lost a WHOLE POUND!!!!  Now, a pound might not seem like much to you...but when you add that pound to the others that have left before it, you find that I've now lost a total of 53.6 pounds!  According to the weight-loss pictures I've found online that compare pounds lost to objects that you can hold and measure, I've lost 21 horseshoes!!!  My nephew would be so proud...because while I have no idea what 21 horseshoes weighs, I bet he does!  He owns and shows horses, so he's held a few horseshoes in his lifetime, I'm sure!

So...while a pound might not sound like much, to me, it was a BIG deal!  It's all in how you look at things!  When I thought I'd lost less than half a pound and saw the scale move more than that, a whole pound was almost enough to make me do a happy dance.  But other weeks, when I thought I'd had a pretty good week and the scale only showed a pound (or less) lost, I could easily get discouraged.

That's why it is important to take those small victories and then look at how they are adding up to get you to that big goal!  I can look at the one little pound I lost this week...or I can look at the 53.6 pounds I've lost since the end of August...or I can look at the fact that I still have probably another 100 pounds to go.  If I focus on the 1 pound or the 100 left to go, I'm probably gonna feel discouraged....but if I focus on the 53.6 pounds that have left my body in a little over 5 months, I'll realize just how far I've come and that the rest of the journey is just as doable...and I'll feel encouraged!  So, that's where I'm trying to keep my focus these days!  :)

Want to know more about WW, Plexus, or my journey in general?  Feel free to comment with your email below and I'll be happy to tell you more!  :)

God bless you!  <3

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I just realized as I went to make this week's blog post that I had posted last week's weigh-in blog on my fostering blog (Loving on the Least of These) instead of this one...OOPS!  ;)

After a 3.4-pound weight loss last week that got me to my 50-pound mark (and maybe a little just too much celebrating that fact), I knew going into this week's weigh-in that I wouldn't be seeing a big drop this week.  I was just hoping that the number on the scale would be less than it was last week...even if by a tiny smidge.  And it was... eight-tenths of a pound to be exact.  Not quite a whole pound, but better than I thought it might be, so I'll take it.

Regardless of whether I lost a little or a lot, I like to think back over my week to see what worked and what didn't.  The previous week had been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me.  I was so excited about hitting that next big milestone...it almost felt like I'd crossed a finish line.  And yet...I still have a long, long way to go!  In reality, I've only crossed the first major checkpoint.  I let my hair down a bit after that big loss...er, win!  ;)  I'm not gonna lie...I indulged a little.  Life also got in the way of a couple of my workouts.  I also missed a few of my Plexus supplements during the week.  And it all showed on the scale.

If I just look at that one week, I could get really discouraged.  If I just focused on the failures, I could easily give up.  Decide I've come far enough.  Go back.  Give in.  Let the addiction take over yet again.  But, I've played that hand before and it didn't end well.  I lost 80 pounds once before...worked hard for those 80 pounds.  But then Life happened big time.  My cousin who had been my biggest motivator and encourager moved away, I started my teaching internship while still working full time at a conference calling company, and I was only sleeping about 3 hours per day during the week.  Slowly those 80 pounds crept back on...and now, even after losing over 50 pounds, I still have another 25 or so pounds to lose before getting to what I weighed BEFORE losing those 80 pounds!  Talk about humbling!

BUT...instead of focusing on one tough week or where I've been or how far I still have to go, I'm choosing to focus instead on how far I've come THIS TIME!  All those other pounds I've lost and gained before were just training to prepare me for this battle.  I'm stronger now.  My motivation is NOT in another person but in me and what God is doing in and through me!  I'm not competing against what has been done in the past or what someone else is doing, but on what I am doing now!  I have now lost a total of 52.6 pounds since August 27th...just shy of 6 months.  I've lost as much as a 40-inch flat screen TV!  Just for fun (and because another friend suggested it), I decided to weigh my three middle kids.  The older of the three weighed in at 50.4 pounds, the other two weighed in at 41.4 pounds each.  I have lost 2.2 pounds more than my son who will be 7 years old in June!

Tonight, my husband and I have an opportunity to go out to eat with our oldest while the younger kids enjoy a special event.  We are going to Olive Garden because it is my teenage son's all-time favorite restaurant.  Do you KNOW what special they have at Olive Garden right now?  NEVER-ENDING STUFFED PASTA!!!!  Six months ago, I would totally have chowed down on some stuffed pasta...maybe a few bowls.  But instead, I took the time to look through my WW app and make a plan.  I do NOT have to give up the salad and breadsticks I love so much...I'm just going to pair it with a low-point soup and enjoy!  And I'll probably take some Plexus Block to combat the carbs in the breadstick (or two) that I will eat.  I have the points for them...but the Block is a great tool to add in to help make sure those breadsticks don't stay around for the weigh-in on Tuesday!  ;)

It's all about choices.  I'm making better choices and I'm using the tools I have at my disposal to get me to that final goal!  I've got a BIG birthday coming up in July...I'm hoping to be down another 50 by then.  It won't happen all at once...but it can happen one choice at a time!  And just like the turtle in that famous children's fable, I'll keep plodding along.  Maybe I'll hit the 100-pound mark by my birthday...maybe I'll end up just shy of it or just past it...but either way, I'll get there! :)

Finally Finding my Groove & the Tools I've Used To Get There

I started this blog way back in 2013 and last posted in it almost 2 years ago.  A lot has happened in my life during that time and I wasn't sure if I would ever come back to this blog...but today just felt like the day to make a comeback!  :)  After all, I've found some success and seem to have finally found my weight loss grove...so now, maybe, just maybe, I've got something to say that others might wanna hear.  ;)

If you know me or you've read this blog, then you know my struggle with my weight has been a life-long battle.  I've found some success...and I've had lots of failures.  I came into this world weighing 9 pounds...pretty big for a newborn...but not if you consider I was about 3 weeks late.  I guess I'm just a late bloomer.  ;)  Overall, I was normal size until I was about five or six years old...when adjectives to describe me might have been "chunky" or "husky" or "plump"...or even "healthy" (but not in a good way).  There are some psychological reasons for that, I'm sure.  A lot of changes were happening in my life around that time and food became my way of coping with those changes.  It became my drug of choice if you will.  I vividly remember the first time I recognized that food had an impact on my mood.  I was about 17 years old or so and was really upset about something.  I stopped at DQ for a Blizzard and a few bites in, suddenly felt calmer.  However, I did not make the connection between that and my weight issues.  It only fed the addiction and when I was upset, I began to turn to food even more to comfort me.  My weight has fluctuated up and down for pretty much the rest of my life.  I go in cycles of trying to lose weight, getting frustrated & giving up, swearing never to diet again...only to decide to give it one more go sometime later.  

But here I am, five months into a new rhythm and finally finding a measure of success.  It started innocently enough.  A conversation with my mother about WW.  She offered to pay for my initial start if I would give it another go (I've lost count of how many times I've tried WW and failed in the past).  The conversation happened at just the right moment and I agreed.  Deciding to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak, I asked my hubby if I could go ahead and sign up.  He agreed...and so my journey began on August 27, 2018.  

In addition to following the WW plan, I decided to get more consistent with using Plexus...and tried a few of their new products as well.  I now take Metaburn and Edge every morning with my Plexus Slim drink.  At night, I take the ProBio pill and when I eat a high-carb meal, I pop a couple pills of Block.  I discovered this combo (WW & Plexus) is just the one-two-punch I need to be successful!  I lost 10.4 pounds my first week and have consistently lost an average of 2-3 pounds per week since.  Another factor has been the encouragement of others who are on the same journey and my own determination to get it done this time.  The last time I was this successful, I had the encouragement of my cousin Kathy to push me along.  She saw me at my then heaviest weight and, having successfully dealt with her own life-long weight battle, knew the struggle well.  We started with exercise.  She had recently given birth to her daughter, whom I adored.  She invited me to take walks with the two of them.  Since I loved spending time with my cousin and her daughter, I agreed.  Then she started a weight loss group at our church and I joined that as well.  I lost about 80 pounds or so...but when my cousin and her family moved, I lost my motivation.  Slowly, the weight crept back on.  I tried several times to lose the weight again, but without the motivation my successes were short-lived.  My addiction to food was more powerful than my desire to lose weight.

But now, Kara's got her groove back!  As of my weigh-in last week, I've lost a total of 48.4 pounds this time around.  This past weekend, I was in Sam's club and happened to see a 48-pound bag of dog food (pictured above).  Realizing that's almost the exact amount of pounds I'd lost to that point, I decided to pick it up and feel the weight I'd lost so far.  MAN!  That was one HEAVY bag of dog food...and I'd been carrying the equivalent of that weight around on my body for quite some time!  No wonder I was tired all the time & found it hard to get off the couch to play with my kids!  I've still got a long way to go...but realizing how much I've lost already and how much better I feel now, I can only imagine how much better I'm going to feel when I get a couple more of those bags worth of weight off!  :)

All this to say that if you need to lose weight...whether you need to lose 10 pounds or 100, you CAN do this!  I found some tools that really helped me find my groove...but none of them would have worked without my determination to make it work.  I had to be ready.  I wish I'd gotten ready years ago...but I can't go back and change that.  I can only start from where I am and make the change going forward.  It's not easy, and every day...shoot, sometimes every minute...I have to make choices about whether I'm going to let the addiction win or my desire to be healthy.  Today, it's been my desire to be healthy.  Tomorrow, I'll weigh in again and hopefully, I'll have hit that 50 pound mark I'm hoping for...if not, there's always next week.  :)