Vacay a success- well mostly.

My boys and me

I would say vacation was mostly a success. When I say mostly that's because we had to battle sickness along the way. My oldest son got a quick 24 hour bug the day before we were supposed to leave, my husband got sick the day of the wedding, I got sick the day after the wedding, and BACK to my oldest sick on our last day of vacation. However, all the time spent with my amazing family was great. All my hard work over the last 13 months had paid off, I felt good too!

Seeing people I have not been in contact for almost 15 years was different to say the least. To them, I had never changed. I looked pretty much the same as I did when I was 18 years old. Little did they know I have gone to hell and back battling weight loss and gain. 85 lbs later, I felt good. My dress fit. It was a little tight (I never had a chance to buy Spanx, darn it!) I received multiple compliments and it felt REALLY good.

My aunt and uncle hosted a barbecue the day after the wedding and I didn't do as well as I had hoped. Especially because I didn't feel well it made it a lot easier to justify my poor eating choices. I also had a hard time tracking while on vacation. I was still very much aware of what I was putting into my mouth, but there were so many delicious dishes!

My Fast food ban has now been broken. I had my FIRST fast food in 13 months. Burgerville has my favorite plain old cheeseburger in the whole wide world. They are only located in the Pacific Northwest and the food is fresh and delicious. They have a special sauce which I can only conclude is a mix of 1,000 island and mustard? It's just plain AWESOME! You can even buy it in a jar. SO, this was my first fast food in a long time. My husband ordered me 2 cheeseburgers and a regular fry. If I would have eaten everything, it would have been 27 points. I was completely satisfied with 1 cheeseburger and 1/2 the fries. Making my new total 14 points! Totally worth the splurge :-) That's what it was, a splurge. Since coming home I have not fallen off the wagon and made runs to McDonalds, Taco Bell, Burger King, etc. I still want to steer clear from that as much as I can.

So you ask, "Now the wedding is over, is my hard work done?" NOT EVEN CLOSE! I feel so great and I want to keep going. I want to get to a point where I can just be in maintenance mode. If that means 10 lbs, 15 lbs, 20 lbs? I don't know. I just want to go until my body tells me to stop. This new lifestyle just feels awesome. Have a wonderful long weekend- we'll be witnessing the Harley 110th Anniversary here in Milwaukee! Do you have any fun plans?

VACATION Time!!!!

Well it's here. The time has arrived. In just 36 short hours, I will be on my way to Chicago to catch a place to Portland, OR- my hometown. Let me tell you, I am THRILLED! All my hard work has definitely paid off. I made sure not to slack on my workouts and my diet has been REALLY good these last few weeks. These things have put me solidly into my Size 10 Cache dress! Even better, I am actually excited to wear it!

After my weigh in this weekend, I lost another 3.4 lbs and my new weigh loss total is 84.4 lbs! Woo hoo! It's completely surreal. A fellow weight watcher friend today even asked me if I was close to my goal weight. I had to stop and think because until now, my only goal was to wear that dress for the wedding. So, now what am I going to do?

Realistically I don't know how much more weight I will lose. I am 166.2 lbs. I am comfortably wearing a size 10 Dress, slacks, and Medium shirts. Even my workout clothing is size medium. Will I ever be a small or in essence, COULD I be a small or SHOULD I be a small? In my mind, I just want to keep doing what I am doing healthfully until I stop losing weight. My healthy weight from my doctor is 160, but if you look at
"standards" of weight, then I should weigh between 120-159 depending on my frame. If I got to 120, I think I'd look like a skeleton.

Overall, I am so thrilled with the progress and so happy with how I feel. My knees don't hurt. My back doesn't hurt. I don't have to take Blood Pressure Medication. I also don't have heartburn everyday, in fact haven't had it for months now! The sheer health reasons of my weight loss are solid enough, but the way I FEEL about myself, now that's the true reward.

I only wish I would have started this journey sooner. Even looking back over the last 14 months, I wish I would have started working out sooner. Maybe I'd be down another 10-15 lbs? BUT I cannot dwell on that. My new lifestyle allows me to eat healthfully, but also have the occasional splurge.

Pictures to come from the wedding. Watch our Oregon, here I come!

My beautiful hometown....

Things happen sometimes.

First off, let me share I had a bad weekend last weekend. Now I don't need to go into it because this isn't that kind of a blog. However, let me tell you, my life changed pretty quick and I was sad and upset. There's nothing that can prepare you for when a massive change occurs in your life. Things happen sometimes. Life is messy. It's how you handle that "thing" which truly shows what kind of person you are. Or in my case, what kind of person I have become.

My journey has been a long, difficult one. I never thought losing weight could be so hard, but yet so rewarding. It doesn't mean I don't miss my days of being able to eat whatever I wanted (then feel guilty about it, and then eat more). In fact, I do get tired of being so attentive to my food consuming.  Looking in the mirror isn't painful. Trying on clothing doesn't make me want to cry. I am just so much happier with myself. Overall, I am doing really well. Until this weekend.

Episode occurs and I am devastated. Life had definitely thrown me a curve ball. That being said, my kids are perfectly safe and healthy. After this curve ball, there was a part of me that almost went into a downward spiral of eating. I thought about going to the local diner and getting a cheeseburger and fries. Oh, and probably a shake. Oh, and they have brownies and other treats there too, so maybe one or two of those. I deserve it, I've worked hard, right? OK, so yes, I do deserve an occasional treat. But, this wasn't going to be just one little splurge. It would have been a big one. AND hard to recover from.

It took taking a step back and looking at myself inwardly. All the little changes I've made have accumulated into a whole new lifestyle. One year ago I would have eaten all that food and then some. My feelings were always a big contributor to my over eating. My emotions would also keep me hiding out in my room under the covers, too tired to make a change.

This time, I took the issue in stride. I ate my lunch and I even worked out after it. I didn't undo 14 months of hard work just because I felt sad or upset. It was almost empowering. How things have changed....

Turtle Sundae Makeover - little changes!

Someone asked me today, "What do you miss eating most now that you've changed your lifestyle?" That question definitely got me thinking. My eating habits have changed drastically in the last 13 months. Pretty much everything I knew then, doesn't apply to what I know now. I think the best things about my new lifestyle, thanks to Weight Watchers (and no they don't pay me to say this) is that I can still eat ANYTHING. You heard me, anything! It's all about what I want to sacrifice or if I want to work harder to have it.

Sweets are where it's at for me. They are my weakness. Not necessarily sugary sweet, like nerds or sprees, but chocolaty sweets! Even better chocolate and salty sweets. A turtle sundae was pretty much a weekly occurrence before I changed my lifestyle. A Culver's Turtle Sundae has a whopping 60 grams of Fat, 98 Carbs, and 900 calories. It's 27 points on the Weight Watchers plan. To put it in perspective, I get 27 points per day. So to eat this one Turtle Sundae, I would use ALL of my points for the day. Probably not going to be a wise choice. Looking back, it's not surprising how I gained my weight.

Since makeover shows are such a success and it's a trendy thing to do. I've discovered a variety of ways to makeover my favorite foods to be more figure friendly. Since these sundaes are something I have been missing, I found a way to make and enjoy this delicious treat for a lot less points. It's still a mini splurge, but it can easily be accounted for and not considered a "slip up"!

Here's Michelle's Turtle Sundae:

1/2 cup Breyers No Sugar Added Ice Cream (2 pts)
2 T. Hershey's Lite Syrup (1 pt)
1 T. Caramel (1 pt)
1 T. Chopped Pecans (1 pt)
2 T. Redi Whip (FREE)

Total Points: 5
Difference in 22 POINTS!

It's a small sundae, but it gives me the satisfaction of what I am craving. In addition, if I do my workout, I can trade out those points and still keep my remaining daily points. It's awesome! Making little changes will help me to achieve my goals.

For my next makeover I'll tackle a BIG, JUICY, Cheeseburger. That's another one I really miss. I've been working on some delicious alternatives. Keep an eye out for that share!

To update you all, the wedding is exactly 2 weeks away, I am 81.2 lbs lighter and only 19.4 lbs away from my Goal weight! Woo Hoo!! AND I bought my first pair of Size 10 capris in 15 years!