Day 12 - 1/22/2017

While my meals have been gluten free today, I definitely snacked on non-gluten free things. Seriously, Girl Scout cookies are so yummy.  The serving size is only 2 cookies!  Really?  I had 10 today!  Not a great day for me with that.  Tag-a-longs are my favorite.

I got the produce baskets full again for the week.  

I managed to stab my finger on the spiralizer tonight when I was making zoodles (noodles out of zucchini).  It was quite painful.

Dinner was FANTASTIC!  Chicken Zoodle Soup.  However, like all gluten free meals, I find myself hungry just a couple hours after eating.  

Day 11 - 1/21/2017

Well, today I woke up with my swelling induce trigger finger acting up badly.  My hands were really swollen.  The increase is swelling is likely because of the belt test last night.  So, I guess it's not all gluten related.  So far, I managed to be gluten free all week and this morning.  I don't know how long I can keep it up.

Well, I broke gluten free at lunch time.  I had Subway.  However, at dinner I had Whataburger.  eek!  I know, that's definitely not on the path to weight loss.  I was just so tired, and I couldn't bring myself to cook.

Day 10 - 1/20/2017

We had our Taekwondo belt test tonight.  We earned our first stripe on our brown belt.  It is always a rough 2 hour test, but I made it through.  

This morning, my hands were less swollen and no trigger finger.  We'll see how they do after the test.

Day 9 - 1/19/2017

Well, I have "lost" 8 pounds since my first post.  However, not eating gluten is a slow, painful death for me.  I'm really hungry, and I don't have enough variety of fruits to snack on.  I finally had enough spaghetti squash, and now I gag just thinking about it.  I really do love the stuff, but I guess I had too much.

We went out to Chili's tonight.  I had the gluten free Grilled Chicken Salad with a side of corn-on-the-cob.  It's now 8:48pm, and I'm hungry.

We did skip Taekwondo today.  I feel a bit bad about it, but my younger son fainted in the car after a blood draw today.  He slept for 3 and a half hours after we got home.

Day 8 - 1/18/2017

Today was pretty good.  My son and I were supposed to do our mile running trainer this morning, but his stomach hurt.  So, I spent a little extra time on the treadmill this morning.

Dinner tonight was pretty good.  I'm not a fan of crunchy onions or bell peppers in general, but these were not too bad.  The cauli-rice was really good.

Day 7 - 1/17/2017

Today was a decent day.  I got in 40 minutes on the treadmill and went to Taekwondo.  Work is starting to get a little stressful, so I hope that doesn't impact my results.

Day 6 - 1/16/2017

Today is MLK Day which means - holiday!  I slept in until about 9am which is a nice change. I went walking/running with my son this morning.  However, the app decided that after our second run that it was going to back up a run or two. We finished up what we think the app would have had us do and then we walked around the block once.

I spent some time looking for a new app after we got back.  I have one that I want to try out. It cost $2.99, so hopefully, it will be better.

Breakfast this morning was 2 boiled eggs with a little sea salt and an orange.

I then walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes.

I was excited that my produce baskets arrived today.  I love them!  They are really sturdy.

Lunch was left over spaghetti squash with meat sauce and fresh tomato.  It was delicious, but not as filling as I was hoping.

I went on an evening walk.  It was a bit chilly, but it was nice.  Walking outside is so much easier than on the treadmill.  It was already mostly dark when I started.  I can't wait until spring when time changes.

Day 5 - 1/15/2017

Last night, I was talking with my sister, and she told me she was following a Gluten Free (or mostly Gluten Free) because her hands would swell overnight with a swelling induced trigger finger.  Oddly enough, I have the SAME issue for the past 5 years or more.  The doctor said it was the start of arthritis, but I'm only 37 years old.

My sister referred me to The Nourishing Home  that is full of free Gluten Free recipes.  The Nourishing Home also has a Whole 30 meal plan.  I decided to do the first week of Whole 30 from The Nourishing Home because it uses most of the ingredients that I already bought.  I went back to the grocery store and bought more vegetables and meat.

I spent a few hours in the kitchen doing some meal preps and started the whole chicken in the crockpot.  Dinner will be a little late tonight.  

Right:  Dinner tonight, but I started it late. 
Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes.






Bottom: Preparing items for Chicken Bone Stock in the Crockpot after I shred the chicken.  The bones are used to make the broth.

 Dinner prep for the week.

Top down - Butternut squash puree, sirloin steak in marinade, pico de gallo, Cali-rice (cauliflower).

I also made two spaghetti squash today.  Yum!  I'll use them for my lunches throughout the week.  

I did walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes this evening, but man, it was difficult.  I don't know if it's because I walked in the evening, the lack of gluten, or that I've been on my feet most of the day (or maybe all three).  


Left:  Treadmill screen from my walk.







Bottom:  Indoor Walk from the Workout App.





I'm not sure why the two vary for the same workout, but I'll take a guess it's related to weight and heart rate.

Day 4 - 1/14/2017

Even though today was rainy and overcast, I felt great today.  Taekwondo went well, but I know I need more upper body strength. My instructor had me working on the 3 sectional staff.  Thank goodness it's padded!  It really makes my bicep muscle hurt.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for a late lunch to celebrate a birthday.  I did not make good choices.  Three glasses of Dr. Pepper and Four Cheese Pasta probably put me over a weekly calorie allocation.  

On the plus side, I wasn't hungry for dinner tonight.  I went to the grocery store and got plenty of fruit and some vegetables.  I *had* to order some baskets to hold all of the fruits and veggies from Amazon.  They'll arrive on Tuesday.

I have been craving spaghetti squash.  I know my family will groan when I make that, but none of them like it.  However, I absolutely love it!  I can't wait to make it!

I have put the snack fruit and veggies that need refrigeration on the second shelf instead of the crisper in hopes that it will encourage me to snack healthier.

I guess it's already working since I got some pineapple to snack on.

I did not walk on the treadmill today, but I figured that I needed to let my feet rest.  The blister is feeling a little better.  Despite Taekwondo being 45 minutes long, Apple only counted 21 or the 30 minutes.  To be fair, I didn't use the Workout app.

I'm looking forward to starting fresh tomorrow.

Day 3 - 1/13/2017

I did manage to wake up early enough to go running with my son.  Unfortunately, the app that I usually use for our training was giving permission errors.  I didn't have the time to try to figure it out.  Finally, the app gave me the error but let me in to use the trainer.  I went back to Week 1/Day 1.  However, when I started the trainer, it didn't talk to me like it should.  We still went forward knowing the screen turns from blue (walk) to orange (run) for pace changes.  After our third run, the app decided we were finished. So, we winged the last run. I have since removed the app and reinstalled it.  It seems to be working now.  My son did great!  I made it.  It was a little easier this time than the first time I did it back in October(?). 

Today, I walked on the treadmill with a pace of 3.2 (instead of 3.1) for 30 minutes.  However, my Apple Watch still didn't count all of my exercise.  Between the run/walk with my son and the treadmill, I have 45 minutes of exercise, but Apple thinks differently.

Left:  Not cure what's with the grey bars during my run.  

Right & Bottom:  I did take off my watch around 5:30 pm when I started cooking dinner.  However, I did miss some some stand minutes during the morning.  Work was pretty busy.

I did have two small slivers of fudge and a cup of hot chocolate.  I wanted to go to the grocery store to get more fruit and vegetables, but work was too busy.  

The bottom of my left foot continues to hurt and somewhat blister.  I know it'll get better soon.  I just have to be patient.

During work, I went to close my double office doors.  Somehow, I squished my thumb between the two doors.  I have no idea how that happened.  You can see the blue/purple under my nail.  It still hurts!  I guess for Friday the 13th, it could have been much worse.  

I did more thinking about the fully raw lifestyle, but I know it's not for me.  It does inspire me to eat more fruits and veggies.  

Tomorrow will be a bit of a challenge between after Taekwondo, we are going out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory.  I love their pasta!  Ugh.  I feel like there's sabotage written all over my plans.

Day 2 - 01/12/2017

Today was a pretty good day overall.  I still managed to avoid the soda in the house, and I did eat more fruits and vegetables.  I walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes and went to Taekwondo.

Yesterday, I mentioned about the leggings and shirts I bought from LuLaRoe.  Well, they didn't quite work out as I intended.  I ordered two Irma shirts, but the pics only show one in light purple.  I did order 3 pair of leggings but only show one pair in the pics.  

       The Irma with jeans.  A little better as long as I keep it bunched up.

The Irma with the leggings.

Not a great look.  The Irma

clings to my belly and you can

even see the seam lines.

The Perfect T really is perfect for me.

I do have leggings on underneath.  

I don't know if I'm entirely comfortable

going out in leggings in public.

Even though, the outfits were a bit disappointing, I still really like the Perfect T.  I wouldn't mind trying it in a slightly smaller size.  I'm wearing a 2XL Perfect T.  The Irma shirts are XL. They say to size down 1 or 2 sizes.  However, I'm not sure that worked out for me.  

These pictures just make me even more passionate about losing weight.  I have got to do this.  I watched some videos about people who eat fully raw.  I don't think I could do that because I don't like enough vegetables.  However, I am intrigued.  I may think about making my breakfast fully raw.  We'll see.

So, I've had my Apple Watch for well over the 6 months now.  However, even though I walked 3 miles yesterday on the treadmill, my green exercise ring is not full.  I guess I'm not walking fast enough?  I walk at 3.1.  However, it's strange that some of the minutes would count and others don't.  Maybe it's based on heart rate?  I did use the Apple Workout "Indoor Walk".

I only closed my exercise ring today because of Taekwondo.

I want to redo the refrigerator to make fruits and vegetables more prominent.  I've found that I have been storing many fruits and veggies incorrectly according to this link.  Then, I spent a significant amount of time looking for fruit and veggie stands for the counter.  I haven't decided on any yet.  

I promised my youngest son that we would "go running" tomorrow morning before he has to go to school.  He's 9 and has issues in P.E. at school.  Back before the dishwasher door attacked me, he and I were doing a 1 mile running trainer (where you alternate walking and running).  So, tomorrow, I hope he and I can start it again.  We'll have to start over on week 1.  

My left foot has a blister on the bottom or at the very least, it's very tender from all the walking.  I hope that I can keep up with him tomorrow!

Time for me to get to bed.

Day 1 - The Realization - Jan. 11, 2017

First, I don't want anyone to think that I'm not happy.  I am truly happy with my family, my life, my job, and all aspects of happiness.  However, my weight does not make me happy.  The stress when I need to buy new clothes. Nothing fits.  As I'm typing this, my shorts are too tight (I'm in Texas, so shorts in January is a completely normal thing).  

I'm frustrated with myself because I gained more weight.  Fourteen pounds in 3 months!  I go to Taekwondo 2 to 3 days a week, but yet I'm gaining weight.  In all honesty, my eating habits turned poorly over the last few months.  I started drinking 1-3 sodas a day.  My other downfall is cracker cut cheese slices.  I love cheese.  However, it's not doing me any favors.  So, this week, I have decreased my soda intake.  Monday, I didn't have any sodas.  Yesterday, I had one.  No more cracker cut cheese slices until I can learn to control how much I'm eating.  I also LOVE ice cream.  I have made a deal with myself that I can have a small amount of ice cream on Tuesday and Wednesday during WoW (World of Warcraft) raiding.  

I have set these goals for myself for this week (and hopefully to continue forward):

• minimum 30 minute walk everyday
• walk around the house at least once every hour during the day
• eat fruits and veggies

The "eat fruits and veggies" means that I haven't been great at eating any fruits or veggies (other than what's part of dinner).  So, I want to make sure I add fruits and veggies as snacks and part of breakfast and/or lunch.  This will be a little easier next week when I have more fruit/veggies in the house from going to the grocery store.  I do have some, so I will do what I can with what I have.

Here I am today, the heaviest I have ever been 275 pounds.  I wear a 44DDD bra, 2X / 22/24 pants, 2X and shirt.  Though, the shorts in the pictures below are 1X and a bit snug.

This past weekend, I ordered some LuLaRoe Leggings and shirts.  I think they may arrive today.  I'm super excited to try them on, and hope they fit!  I want to be able to wear cute clothes and look good.  I hope I didn't waste $163!  Even if they don't fit now, I'm sure they will at some point down this weight loss journey.

Let's get into the WHY I want to lose weight.

• health
• happiness
• ability to shop in stores or order online and not worry if something will fit
• feel better - I don't want to feel achy and tired all the time.
• look better
• fit in airplane seats - but I don't fly that often, so I'm not sure how much motivation that will be.

This is not my first weight loss journey.  I have been down this path many times.  Why have I failed?  Well, different reasons for different attempts.  My most recent failures were because of injuries.  One time, I tripped over the open dishwasher lid.  It gave me a pretty nasty cut on my leg that then got infected.  Then, I had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic for the skin infection.  😥. Incident happened Oct. 24, 2016.

Left:  fresh wound

Right: a day later 

Left:  Hives starting (they got much worse and covered most of my body!)

Right:  3 months later

My previous incident was on March 13, 2016.  I went biking, and my slipped on the concrete trail in the Nature Preserve.  There was a little water and mud (not a lot), but it was enough for my road bike to slip away from me.  I fell on the concrete and ended up tearing my MCL (inner knee ligament) on my right knee and bruise the bones on the outer portion of my knee.  I also had severe bruising on my lower left leg (the one that was cut by the dishwasher).  The bruise is on the inner part of my leg around the same height as the cut.  To this day, I can still see the bruise and it's a bit harder in that area.  I was in a long walking leg brace for months, it seemed.  Then, I moved to a smaller (but still hinged) brace.  It's been 10 months, and while my knee is much better, it's still not 100%.  I don't know if it will ever be 100%.

 Left:  day after bike fall

Right:  a week after bike fall

Bottom:  leg brace

Even though, I don't want my injuries to sound like an excuse as to why I failed.  It is certainly a big contributing factor for my last 2 attempts.  As you can imagine, with the torn MCL injury, I wasn't able to move around a lot.  It took a long time to heal enough to get me mobile again.