Teresa's Ponderings

  This was a pretty good week. I've had a couple of, "Ah HA!" moments along the way and thought I'd share those. Ah HA! #1 I'm so tired of having to adjust camera and chin angles because of my double chin. So. Very. Tired of it. If I don't spend time adjusting then I just don't even get in the picture. I had to force myself to take the above picture without thinking about what it might look like.  Ah HA! #2 I caught myself depriving my body of calories. In typical fashion, I can go from one extreme to another and as I came home from the gym one day, I found myself a little shaky and hungry. I could tell my body needed some calories, but I didn't want to eat for fear of weight gain. I had to shake that feeling off and force myself to be sensible. I grabbed an apple and peanut butter (sugar free) and had a snack. Big win.  Ah HA! #3 I prayed my way through some temptations and I realized I haven't been giving God the credit He deserves for His role i...

This week could have gone either way. We have friends visiting and it's really hard to maintain healthy eating when you're feeding 10 people. And working out??  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA But I lost a pound! That feels like a pretty big victory and I'm pumped to up my workout regimen and really buckle down on some less healthy choices. I have one more week to lose more weight to get my reward for this month (see previous blog) and I want to finish strong, but not to the point that I can't maintain weight loss the next week. I've had 4 consecutive weeks of weight loss. That's pretty cool.  One of the harder parts of weight loss is recognizing the unhealthy patterns and then making actual changes. Knowing I'm a stress eater isn't enough. If I'm not willing to make a change and say "no" to putting food in my mouth during those unhealthy times, then it's useless information.  This week I had a moment of wanting to eat during a stressful t...

Have you ever looked back on a situation, maybe days, weeks or even months later and wonder, "WHAT were you thinking?!?!" That's me. Yesterday.  I had just come back from the gym and had my "Aha! moment . As I sat in front of our woodstove after showering, I could tell my body had that aching feeling one has after pushing a little harder than normal. It felt oh, so good.  I had to sit back and reflect on the last time I felt like this and I realized that I couldn't recall. It had been so long that I don't remember the last time every muscle in my body aches in a way that felt productive.  Instead of staying in "Negative Nancy" land, I had to quickly turn those thoughts into future motivation. I want to keep feeling this way. I want forward progress. I want to look back in 6 weeks and see how far I've come instead of what I could have done.  There have been a number of factors getting me to this point, but today I want to thank the ladies of TOPS...

 This was a tough week as far as fighting for what I want. What I want? To be healthier. I'm so tired of all this excess weight and feeling lousy. I'm down 2.4 more pounds 😁. Things I did well:  I fought urges to eat when I know I wasn't hungry. Telling my body, "NO" is tougher than you may think. I didn't eat after 7. Well, 2 nights we didn't get home from activities until 7, so those nights don't count, but the other nights I resisted snacking after 7 (mainly popcorn) I stuck to all the other things I've made changes on: No soda, more water, more veggies, no "bad" snacks, whatever else I've made changes to. Things to improve: Exercising. I need to get moving. I miss feeling like I could tackle anything I wanted. I miss feeling like I could walk out the door and knock out 12 miles on whatever trail I choose.  Portion sizes. I want to start reducing my portion sizes. I feel like this will help reduce my calorie intake significantly. ...

 Super proud day! I've lost 1.4 pounds. May not seem like much, but it's less, and after the last couple weigh-ins I needed that. Things I did well this week: I said no to soda (that's like 8 weeks in a row now), I cut sweets (that was a tough one), and added veggies to more meals.  Things I need to work on: portion sizes and late night snacking. My goal for this week is to not eat past 7:00pm. BTW- Curt is also working on being healthier and this totally applies to our lives right now. Sometimes I hate him...