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Jan 17, 2012

I’ve Got Exciting News To Share!

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I’ve been sitting on a big secret for weeks, and I’m so excited that I can finally tell everyone about it. As you may know, I did a review for the new Slim-Fast shakes a few months back. I loved the new shakes and the swap from can to plastic bottle, and easily incorporated a Slim-Fast shake or meal bar into my diet when I needed a convenient, on-the-go meal.

So then last month, Slim-Fast contacted me and asked if I’d like to be one of 10 blogger brand ambassadors for Slim-Fast to start the new year. With little hesitation, I said YES!

What does it mean to be a brand ambassador? Well, for the next 3.5 months I get to be one of the Women of WOW! (cool name, no?) sharing my experience with losing weight and getting healthy with the help of Slim-Fast shakes, meal bars and snacks. I’ll be posting tips on how to lose weight no matter how hectic your life can be, and providing as much support as I can to anyone else trying to reach their WOW moment.

 (and I got some goodies to get me started…yum!)

Slim-Fast is asking everyone to make a Vow to Wow in 2012. What’s my vow, you ask? It’s simple: all of my adult life, I’ve been “overweight” and even “obese” by most standards. I’ve worked very hard to lose most of that weight, and I’m currently about 10 pounds away from being what the medical and insurance industries consider the top of the “normal” weight range. For the first time in my adult life, I’m determined to be at a healthy weight for my next birthday.

I hope you’ll all follow along on my journey with me, and join in if you’d like. (Whether you’re using Slim-Fast or not – setting and working towards a goal for the year is a fantastic way to improve your health!) I’m starting my journey tomorrow with, well, a real journey to New York City for the Slim-Fast Studio Wow event which will coincide with the launch of the Women of WOW! tab on the Slim-Fast Facebook page. I’ll be posting regularly on the Slim-Fast Facebook page, and you’ll see some giveaways hosted right here very soon.

I promise this blog won’t be all Slim-Fast, all the time – it’s still me, and while I love the convenience of the products, there’s a lot more that goes into weight loss that I plan to cover as well.

Watch my Twitter and Facebook posts tomorrow for updates of my day in NYC, or follow along on the Slim-Fast Facebook page or the Twitter hashtag #SFStudioWow.

I said at the beginning of January that this was going to be my year to shine, and I feel like I’ve got all of the tools to make it happen. I hope you’ll all support me, and I’d be happy to return the favor in kind.

Full disclosure: This post was created in connection with my appointment as an Ambassador in the Slim-Fast Women of WOW! Program. Visit www.facebook.com/slimfast to join the conversation.

Filed Under: motivation, sponsored · Tagged: ,


Jan 4, 2012

Let’s Do This

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Alright, new year, new goal. This is it, 2012 – I’ve got big plans for you.

I declare that this will be the year I hit my goal weight.

I’ve steadily lost weight for the past three years, ending each year smaller than the previous one. Since I started tracking my weight again, I’ve gone from 212 pounds to a low of 166 pounds earlier this year. As is usual with my holiday season hibernation, a few pounds did sneak back on, but they won’t be there for long.

A goal weight I’ve always had in my head is 158 pounds. That’s the number provided by the BMI charts as the absolute highest weight I can be for my height and be considered a “healthy” or “normal” weight. I’ve never aimed for anything lower than that because I’ve never been anywhere close to it in my adult life. The closest I’ve come – other than at the moment – was back in 2003, when I was ~170 pounds for my wedding. Even my wedding wasn’t enough to get me to that magic number. (Wait – no negative talk here. 170 was still damn impressive considering that five years prior to that I was nearly 250 pounds.)

But this year, 158 is in sight. I know I can get there with a lot of hard work, sweat and willpower. I’ve come this far already, so I know I have the strength in me to do it.

In 2012, I’m going to make it to 158 pounds and officially be considered normal by BMI standards and insurance charts.

Which is probably the only time in my life I’ll ever be considered normal in anything.

I stepped on the scale today, and the current number is 170, which is a number I’m already pleased with. Holiday indulging for the past three months only resulted in a four pound gain from my lowest weight – that’s a win in my book. It tells me that the lessons I’ve learned from years of doing this are taking hold, and even indulging isn’t the same as it used to be. I can have a piece of pie – or even two – and not spiral out of control into a free-for-all binge. All Charlie Sheen jokes aside, I’m winning at this.

New year, new me. I’m ready.

Filed Under: holidays, weigh-in · Tagged: , ,


Sep 19, 2011

A Success (Sort Of)

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So early last week, my husband reminded me that the March of Dimes Night Moves 5K was approaching at the end of the week. And that he had signed us both up for it.
Wow, September 16 sure arrived quickly.
I had forgotten about it. I knew Aaron was training for the 5K, and I had agreed to sign up for it, too, but then life and work and my need for sleep got in the way and I put it out of my mind. So as Friday approached I realized that I wasn’t ready for this at all. I haven’t put on my running shoes since before BlogHer. I haven’t even done any kind of workout in a few weeks. In short: I was going to suck at this.
The day of the event was even worse. In a pure fit of denial, I only took a 2 hour nap after getting home from working all night and then decided I wanted to stay up for the afternoon so I could get some house cleaning done. Again, I forgot about that 5K we were doing that night.
Finally it was 5pm and Aaron went upstairs to change into his running shorts. Oh yeah, we’re supposed to go to a 5K, aren’t we? I trudged upstairs, still tired from a lack of sleep, and pulled on some workout gear. It didn’t help that it was supposed to be cold that night – do I dress warm, or will I be too warm?
At the race, I still wasn’t feeling it. Aaron planned to run the entire way, and I was ready to cheer him on. But I was doubting my own contributions to the run. I decided I would run/walk the race, probably with a strong emphasis on walking. This was the same 5K where I ran the entire thing last year – I was fully prepared to be disappointed with myself this time.
Blurry photo of us – it was already getting dark and cold.
The bell sounded and the pack took off. It was chilly out at this point so I decided running would be the best way to start, if for no other reason than to keep warm. I ran for about a half mile before I needed to slow to a walk. Two minutes later I felt good enough to run again, but my stamina was quickly fading. I passed the one mile mark and was surprised that I had a 14 minute mile.

The second mile was even more walking, with occasional urges to vomit when I did run. My side ached so I tried to take it easy and focus on my breathing. I passed the second mile marker and again had another 14 minute mile. How was that even possible?

I was determined to not just walk the final mile and a bit, but I had practically no energy left. I used a section of road that sloped downward as one stretch of running, allowed the lack of incline to work to my advantage. And then with the end in sight I ran the final block, crossing the finish line with a time just over 44 minutes.

Aaron found me in the crowd, and I had to grab his arm to keep from falling over. One Gatorade later and I felt a little less wobbly, although still very exhausted.

(Aaron ran the entire race in under 28 minutes – go him!)

At the time, I thought I was less than a minute off from my time last year. I looked back through this blog, though, and realized I was actually three minutes slower than my time last year.

But still…only three minutes slower than last year, where I ran the entire race, and when I had prepared for it and got plenty of sleep beforehand and actually remembered the damn race? Not bad.

Of course, this does nothing for my motivation. After all, if I can run/walk a 5K with 2 hours of sleep and no training or preparation ahead of time and STILL only be three minutes off of my running time, why bother training?

Just kidding.

Well, mostly.

I was proud of myself for finishing, even with everything going against me. It’s good to know that even without working out for a few weeks, my body hasn’t forgotten everything I’ve been trying to teach it. And maybe I will start pushing myself to run again so I can shave a few minutes off of my next 5K.

Although at the moment I’m dealing with the one downside to taking on a 5K with no training: I can’t move my legs. I don’t think my legs and hips have ever hurt this much. Lesson learned.

Filed Under: running, success ·


Aug 19, 2011

After the Event: Staying Motivated

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It wasn’t hard to remain motivated to watch my food intake and exercise in July. Knowing that BlogHer was around the corner kept me in line – I wanted to look my best when presenting myself to so many people.

At the conference, I ate and drank whatever I felt like having – it was a special occasion, and so I felt no need to count calories or worry about gaining weight. I’ve always had the philosophy that one day (or even a few days) cannot do that much damage, especially if you aren’t stuffing yourself to the point of feeling sick. I kept my portions in check at the conference, and for all of that food I didn’t gain a single pound while in San Diego.

But now that I’m home? Motivation is harder to find. I arrived home to a stressful situation of having my children home during the day while I needed to sleep, thanks to summer camp ending two weeks before school starts. (Not cool, summer camps. Not cool at all.) Plus I had plenty of work to catch up on. Add to that a slight depression at returning to my “real life” of responsibilities and work, and healthy living has become the last thing on my mind.

It’s been two weeks now. While I haven’t thrown all of my healthy habits out the window, I haven’t exercised in these two weeks, and I’ve eaten more than I probably should of foods I really don’t need. I’m still motivated by a goal of being healthy and feeling my best. But the external motivator of BlogHer is gone and there’s no external motivator in my near future.

I’ve scheduled a boot camp class for this Saturday. Hopefully my trainers still remember who I am after this break. And hopefully they won’t think I can do exactly what I could at the end of July – I’m a little frightened that it’s going to really hurt to get back into my workouts again.

As for food, well, I’ve eaten my way through most of my BlogHer samples, so much of the temptation is gone now. I’ve already gone back to bringing Healthy Choice meals to work again, and as soon as a routine can be established for back-to-school time we’ll probably begin cooking at home again, too.

The new, healthier habits are still with me. They just need a little encouragement to beat down the sloth that tries to take over whenever it sees an opening.

Filed Under: motivation · Tagged: ,


Aug 12, 2011

BlogHer Recap: The Good, The Bad and The Bob

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So I’m back from BlogHer. It was a crazy whirlwind of five days, and during that time I can admit to a lot of eating and drinking. I never eat a lot at individual meals at BlogHer, but I do snack and drink my way through the entire conference. I mean, who can resist this:

Yum. Hershey’s s’mores. I could have spent all day in there.

As for drinking, I scaled it way back this year. I mean, I did have several alcoholic drinks, but at the end of the weekend I’d only used three of my drink tickets, and one of those was for a Diet Coke. San Diego is very fond of the margarita, but tequila is not my alcohol of choice. It wasn’t until the CheeseburgHer party that I found someone who could make a good vodka mixed drink.

Yet for all of my “sinful” eating, when I stepped on the scale the morning after arriving home, I was greeted with the same number that I left with: 167.

While I missed out on the workouts at BlogHer, I did get more than enough walking in. The blister band aids on my feet will attest to that. And I tore up the dance floor at the CheeseburgHer party – that had to be enough exercise to counter the McDonald’s cheeseburger and small fries that I inhaled.

But the best moment of the weekend for my little fitness heart came from having breakfast with Bob Harper. (If you’re drawing a blank, he’s one of the trainers from The Biggest Loser.) He had a workout earlier in the morning that filled up before I could claim a spot, but I did get registered for the breakfast Q&A session.

Kari, Laura and I got there early and quickly scoped out the best seats. We claimed the center front table, making sure we had prime position to see Bob and hopefully get noticed when it came time for questions. After a quick intro speech from Bob, he sat down in a chair less than five feet away and was ready to answer some of our questions.

Laura went first and asked about how to time your eating when you have a third shift schedule. (It’s like she read my mind!) He discussed making sure you eat regularly with a solid mix of carbs, protein and fat.

As soon as he started to wrap up his answer, my hand shot up again. Normally I’m shy about asking questions in a session, but when I’ve got an expert like Bob in front of me, I’m not going to miss my chance!

Kari was far smarter than me and recorded the entire thing (you may need to crank your volume way up to hear it):

OK, so he berated me for my choice of words. For the record, YES, I’m happy that I’ve lost 80 pounds. When I think about how much I used to weigh, and how heavy and weak I felt all the time, I’m thrilled that I will never have to endure that again.

However, my goal weight is so close I can nearly touch it. No longer a vague number way out on the edge of the horizon, it now has shape and substance to it. I can imagine what I’ll look like at my goal weight, and I like the idea. So yeah, I’m happy with 80 pounds lost. But I’ll be even happier when I reach my goal weight.

Sadly, I didn’t take many full-length photos of myself during my time at BlogHer, and I don’t remember finding myself in front of many camera lenses, either. I did receive lots of compliments on how good I looked and – being completely honest and vain at the moment – I ate those comments up like fine chocolates. It felt good to receive that outside validation of my hard work.

Fine lookin’ group here (photo courtesy of Melisa)

I think Elmo is checking me out…

I’m 80 pounds away from the time I stepped on the scale after graduating college and saw myself at nearly 250 pounds. I like the course I’m on, even if I’m not getting there as quickly as I’d like.

I remarked to a friend that I’ve been one dress size smaller at each BlogHer since my first in 2006. She joked that the trend can’t continue or I’ll disappear. True, but I’m hoping that next year will be my triumph, when I declare my weight loss complete at BlogHer 12.

And then will begin what Bob told us was the hardest part of the journey: maintaining the loss.

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