Not letting it get to me March 25, 2010

Sitting in the waiting room of my bariatric doctor and I’m actually excited. Just five short months ago I was so nervous and upset about my weight loss. I felt like I had no control. The doctor found I had a goiter and Hashimoto’s disease so I needed mess for my T3 and T4. He also put me on Phentermine to help with my hunger. After a month, I had lost a little and then the second time back, I had gained everything back. I left the office in early December distraught. I had to face the fact that I wasn’t going to lose weight with just medicines and no major effort on my part. I was walking, but not much and not often enough. That day I changed my mind. I knew that I had to take charge and I had to monitor myself – calorie counting and exercise. I did. I’ve now lost almost 30 pounds since that appointment and I’m learning how to eat healthier. I’m not just making sure I only eat a certain number of calories…I’m trying to make sure I get in my Good Health Guidelines also to use a Weight Watchers phrase. I’m feeling good too and I’m in control.

I have had a rough time the last few weeks dealing with some well-intentioned people (one of my sisters included) who have said that I’m looking good and that the medicine must really be working miracles. This just burns me up because it makes it seem as if I am not doing anything. I’m busting my butt out there – I’m exercising regularly, I’ve completed a half- marathon just this month and I’m counting everything I eat and do. I’ve lost 30 pounds. I think I feel they’re taking my hard work and making it out to mean that I’m doing nothing and the medicine is doing it all.

Moving Onward March 18, 2010

My Personalized Results Page

Received my personalized results page this week and thought I’d post it so you can see how I did.  It really was a great race and I loved being able to share it with my sister, Jessica.

Lost 1.8 pounds this week – I now weight 181.  When I went to the YMCA last night and entered my weight into the treadmill, it was such a big thing for me to be able to enter those numbers.  I was very excited.  I’ve been doing so much walking outside to build miles that I hadn’t been on a treadmill since before I was under 200 pounds.

I updated my LoseIt! program on my iPhone so that I have a new goal for myself of 162 which is 10% now of my body weight – this means that I have 1240 calories a day – this is a major change for me from the 1740 I have been eating.  This is what the program says I need in order to lose 2 pounds a week.  It just means I need more exercise to add calories if I want to eat them.  That’s not a bad thing.

Hope you have a wonderful day and do something healthy for yourself.  I’m moving onward.

This Princess Completed 13.1 Miles March 8, 2010

On Sunday, I walked the Disney Princess Half-Marathon with my sister, Jessica and her sister-in-law, Kim.  It was a great experience.  I loved it.  I have been training for the past few months and it feels so good to accomplish something after giving it so much effort.  I have uploaded photos to our flickr site and on my Facebook page.  You can access them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundianderic/sets/72157623450310627/.  I am going to have to work on learning to eat better and work up to exercising more often for longer periods of time because at the end, I nearly fainted due to low oxygen levels and ended up in the medical tent.  This could either be because my body isn’t used to the exertion for that long a period of time or because I’m a little anemic.  I’ve got to figure that out, but I’m so excited that I completed it and I’m ready to move on with a new goal.

I love doing races because the experience is a good model for life.  You have to come up with a goal and work hard at it.  You can’t get there right away – it’s too big a monster. 13.1 miles was a long way!!  However, with a lot of work (like my three months of training), I was able to walk the entire 13.1 miles and have a lot of fun along the way.  It was very nice to be able to complete it with my sister, Jessica.  Hopefully, more of my sisters and friends will sign up for races with me this coming year.   This is just like my weight loss – at 264 pounds, I thought weight loss was hopeless, but it wasn’t.  I’m down to 182 – maybe even lower (I weigh in tonight).  I’m pushing onward to my goal and am so excited about getting to my current goal weight of 150.  I can do this.  I am strong.  I’m a princess.  I’m a half-marathon finisher.  I’m a weight loss success story.  I’m Sundi.

My Then and Now Photos February 25, 2010

May 2002 at our wedding with my niece, Cheyenne

February 2010 before heading out to see Wicked with my Pierce sisters.

May 2002 at my sister’s high school graduation

February 2010 at Buca di Beppo for dinner before going to see Wicked.

Photos of my weight loss progress from May 2002 (260+ pounds) to February 2010 (182 pounds)

This week, I earned another five pound star at Weight Watchers for a total of 82 pounds now.  I’ve been a little concerned the past couple days because I’ve been fighting off a cold and so I haven’t been working out and I don’t feel I’ve counted my calories as well as I should have.  I’m trying not to be too hard on myself because I need to focus on getting better.  Only a little over a week until my half-marathon.  I’m very excited about it.  This weekend I’m going to complete 10 miles in preparation.  I have felt much better today so I think tomorrow I’m going to try and go for a short walk.

I wanted to share some photos with you that show my before and now photos.  I’m very proud of how well I’m doing.  It feels great to finally be losing weight again and knowing that I’m giving it my all.

So close February 18, 2010

This week at my Weight Watchers weigh-in, I lost .4 pounds from last week.  This was a little frustrating because I was only .8 pounds from getting another five pound star for a total of 80 pounds.  So exciting.  I’m thinking this coming Monday, I’ll be there though.  I’m very excited.

Eric has been feeling under the weather this week.  He awoke Monday morning with a sore throat and it’s just kinda made him feel yucky all week.  We got some sudafed for him this morning and that seemed to help during the day.  Praying he feels better quickly.

Jessica and I walked this evening.  Becky came over and rode the stationary bike.  We then went over to Subway and had dinner and worked on studying for Jessica’s GRE exam.  I’m not sure how much help we’re really giving her sometimes.  The math is so tough.  I am so not a math person.  This weekend is our nine mile walk.  We’re trying to think of something cute to do for our shirts for the race.  We don’t have any great ideas yet.  Only three more weeks until our Princess Half.  YEAH!  I don’t know if I’ve posted this or not yet, but I’ve been trying to think of something I would like to do to celebrate getting to my goal weight in the end.  I have decided that I want to complete the Chicago marathon for my celebration.  I am very excited about it and I may not be able to make it by this year’s marathon – especially since I don’t know when it will fill up.  I want to get to my goal weight before signing up.  I should definitely be able to get to my goal weight and sign up for Chicago Marathon 2011.  I wanted to let you all know what I am working towards.

I’ve been very excited lately at how many people are starting to notice my weight loss.  It feels great to have people really notice.  Eric took me shopping on Saturday and I got some new clothes as some of mine are starting to get too large to wear.  I can’t tell you how nice it felt to fit into a size 12.  It’s been SO LONG since I was a size 12.

I’ve started my new Beth Moore book on insecurity.  Haven’t gotten very far yet, but I like what I’ve read.  I really appreciate her sincerity and openness.  Jessica and I were talking tonight about how imperfect we are and how God uses imperfect people – Beth Moore discusses this in her books I’ve been reading – just think about how anxious and messed up some of the people from the Bible were.  God loved them and used them to do great and mighty things.  We need to realize that we don’t have to be perfect.

Getting Out of My Pit February 11, 2010

Good morning, everyone.  It’s 5:30 in the morning and I awoke early and thought I’d spend some time with my Bible and a book I just completed.  I just finished reading Beth Moore’s book Getting Out of That Pit.  It was amazing.  Because it is so fresh in my memory, I wanted to share some of my favorite parts with you because they really hit home with me due to my weight loss and struggle to get out of the pit of being unhealthy.  It’s kind of interesting that the reason I fell into this pit of being unhealthy is insecurity, I’m sure of it, and her book that was just released is about insecurity so I’ll be getting that one for my nook next.

In one of the last chapters of the book, Beth Moore talks about deliverance from our problems.  How sometimes God chooses to bring things around instantaneously and other times, he makes us wait.  She talks of how most of the time, it’s a waiting game.  This has been so true for me in many areas of my life. .

“Without Jesus, history reads like prophecy.  Far too many of us feel that the pattern of the past dictates and inevitable future.  The fact that you already have means you always will.” – Beth Moore

This is so true.  When I get stuck, I feel like it’s just hopeless sometimes until I realize that I can’t do it, but God can.  I can’t move mountains, He can.  I can’t drag myself out of the situations I fall into, but He can.  I can move past and dig out of the pits because He makes the way possible even though it may take time and waiting.  The pits I get myself into usually do need much waiting and learning to climb out of them.  I don’t learn very easily, it seems.  :)

Losing weight has been a very long trip for me.  I have had a lot of detours and some times that I’ve tossed the map to the side.  Some of those detours have been medical or things I had no control over and others have been areas that I just did not want to follow the directions I was given.  However, because I had been obese for so long, I didn’t think I could ever not be.  I knew people lost weight, but I don’t think I ever really thought it could be me.  I also knew a lot of people who would go back and forth so much and I knew I didn’t want that.  I knew I needed to work at living a healthy lifestyle - not just dieting until my weight was a certain number.    That mental change took a long time!!  I’m still driving down this road and I know that I may still have to take some detours, but I know I’m going to get there.  I’m not fearful of staying in this pit anymore.  The insecurity that got me here, I’m going to have to work on.

I think God puts some of these detours in our life to see if we will continue to trust Him.  My sciatic problems really put a dent in my active lifestyle.  I had never been active in my entire 31 years – for one year, I worked my butt off to become an active person.  I took every class at the gym to find out what I would enjoy, started cycling (the only thing I liked as a kid that was active, was riding my bike) and running.  However, I think God wanted me to slow down and know that He was in charge, so I have a slight setback.  I think my sciatic/piriformis pain help me to take things slower than other people out at races and I can now appreciate things I didn’t appreciate before.  For example, my dad always had back problems as I grew up.  He could never stand for long periods of time and I remember being impatient with that, I can certainly understand that now because standing in one place is NOT FUN.  I also think God allowed this thyroid condition to stall my weight loss efforts so that I could learn the importance of being healthy and not just thin.  At first, I think I wanted to just be thin and have all this weight gone.  Don’t get me wrong, I want to be thin.  However, being healthy and attempting to combat my family history of weight-related diseases are my number one priorities along with being an example to my family and friends of how important living a healthy lifestyle really is.

I know I talk about losing weight and being active all the time on this blog and I hope you’ll forgive me, but this has become a mission and a trip that God and I are on together.  He’s teaching me a lot and hopefully, I’m learning my lessons.  Thanks for listening.

Yes, I can! February 5, 2010

I’m spending the day at USF with Eric today.  It’s fair day for Hillsborough county students as the Florida State Fair kicked off this week.  I’m not a fan of fairs so it’s not a big deal to me, but I do enjoy getting to spend the day with Eric.

So excited about my weight loss!  I have lost 19 pounds since December 4th which puts me at 186.8.  My current goal is 180 so I am quickly approaching that and I’m very excited.  Five years ago, when I first stepped on the scales at Weight Watchers weighing in at 265 pounds, I wanted to be successful and I truly feel I’m getting there.

Becky started back to Weight Watchers also and lost a little over five pounds last week.  I’m very excited for her also.   She’s working extremely hard at it.  I think she wants to compete about our weight loss which is okay, I guess, but I am not into competing with my weight loss because this has been such a long journey for me that becoming healthier is my goal no matter how long it takes.  I’m not in this to fit into something for an event and then go back to eating whatever.  I’m in this for the long haul and I was so glad to hear that Ali Vincent, the biggest loser, says she still tracks her food every day.  That will be me.  I’ve learned that I have to be honest and straightforward or I won’t lose.  This is way too important to me.

This week’s Weight Watchers theme is “Yes, I can!”  It is really important to find ways to stay motivated throughout life, but especially when we’re reaching for a goal.  Weight loss can be so difficult and we really need to know that we are important and worth the wait.  Sometimes as overweight/obese people, we tend to think we don’t matter.  We let things just run us over and we try to hide in the background.  We start to think that it’s just always going to be this way so we take a step away and don’t live life to the fullest.  I’m tired of doing that.  I want to show up for my life everyday.  I want to take whatever comes my way and learn to handle it without being afraid (just saying that makes me a little afraid).  I’m done with being insecure and right now that means I need motivation.  You do too.  We all need to look for places and people that will bring motivation in our lives and we need to move away from things or people that bring us down.  You are important and you need to believe that!  God does!

Some of my friends have let me know within the past couple weeks that because of my weight loss or activity, they have either started losing weight or started running and I am lost for words about this.  All I can say is that this is one of the major goals I had – that I would inspire my family and friends to live healthier lives and it has made me feel incredible to know that I have made a difference in sticking with this.

Until next time…

At the end of January… February 1, 2010

This has been a really good month.  I’ve lost 7 more pounds in the month of January, claimed my prize for 75 pounds at the Weight Watchers meeting (a little medallion for my keychain, a 5 pound star and a magnet) and I’ve really worked very hard on my walking so that I can do well at the Princess Half-Marathon in March.  I’m very excited about it.  Today, we signed Becky up so now Becky and Jessica will be doing the Half-Marathon with me and Eric and Brenda will be cheering us on as volunteers.  Very exciting.

This week at work, we have a four day work week which will be nice.  I’m excited for a relaxing Friday and an amazing February.

SixteenPounds January 21, 2010

I haven’t posted in awhile I think because I’m afraid I’m going to jinx myself.  I’ve been doing really well with my weight loss and exercising and I’m afraid to post about it.  I have lost 16 pounds since December 4th.  I am tracking all of my eating with my iPhone and it’s helped a lot, but I really think the doctors have gotten my thyroid medication straightened out. I have gotten so much more done in the past couple weeks – I think the weight loss and the medication are really helping. I told Eric last night that I’m also scared to talk about my weight loss because I’m afraid people will think I’m only losing because of the weight loss medication they’ve put me on.  However, I’m working really hard at this and I do know it’s helping me, but I want people to know that I’m working hard too!

I am walking the Disney Princess Half-marathon in March and am very excited about it. I have been training for several weeks now and did a six mile walk on Monday afternoon.  The weather has been so beautiful which has made walking so nice!  I have set a goal for myself to walk 10,000 steps a day and 15,000 steps on the weekends.   I really enjoy using my pedometer.

Learning to just be December 18, 2009

I am proud to announce that I’m doing really well with keeping track of my eating. I’m staying at about 1500-1600 calories a day and I’ve lost 7 pounds in two weeks. Keep praying that I stick with it. We’ve had two parties at work this week and I didn’t eat anything at either party!!! I brought my own foods and ate them.

Yesterday I found myself being upset with someone at work because they had not planned something out and God really spoke to me about how I need to quit expecting others to be perfect when I’m not either. It’s hard to know where to draw the line sometimes, but I’ve got to let people know what I wanted and then forgive them and give them another chance. Something for me to work on.

Today is my last day of work before break and I’m so excited to have two weeks to spend with my family and friends.

Hope you have a wonderful day, reader!