Weigh-in Saturday ~ Week 51:WOW!!!

Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)
Last Weigh In: 175 lbs (Nov 28/09)
Current Weight: 173 lbs (Dec 5/09)
This Week: 2 MORE INCREDIBLY FABULOUS POUNDS GONE!!!!
Total Loss: 85 pounds!!

WOW!! WOW!! WOW!! OH MY GOODNESS! I AM OVERWHELMED!!!

ONLY 16 pounds left to go to 101!! Well I know that won't happen! The only place I've ever seen a 16-lb loss is on the TV show the Biggest Loser!!! I am not bothered by this one bit!!! I AM THRILLED with my weight loss and more importantly my fitness and health this year!!

Next weigh-in will be my 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! One whole year since embarking on this incredibly amazing journey, where to be honest, I wasn't sure that I would last 1 MONTH!!!

I am at a loss for words today! I can't imagine how I will be on the 10th!! Those of you who have come to know me over the past year (and those who've known me for years), know that I am RARELY at a loss for words, but today, I am. Truly.

I've lost 85 pounds - I am 1 weigh-in away from my 1 Year!! This is just wonderful. I am so proud of myself and more importantly, so excited for the future....I'm in a "so what's next?" mode!! The wheels in my head are in constant motion, thinking of all the things I want to try out - there are so many!! One is that I want to join some local sports team (soccer, softball, volleyball, hockey) - who knows??? I just want to try!!

I'm going to get my hair done on Monday and will probably just make a whole spa day of it (mani, pedi, facial etc.) WHY NOT??? Gotta look good in those pix!! My girlfriend (who's been my friend ever since I was 7- so more like my sister) bought me a hot little black dress!! Whoohoo!! can't wait to see it...I'll take pix!!!

Putting the final touches on the celebration dinner. My little man (3-year old son Malcolm will be my date for the evening)!! My husband will be there as well but has to leave early as it is also his annual staff Christmas party!! The date couldn't be helped - quite difficult to get reservations for a large party at restaurants around this time with all the Christmas parties going on - so we'll just make the best of it!!

This morning I had a 4-egg white omlet ( chopped onions, mushrooms & green peppers) with a turkey sausage for breakfast. I drank about 1.5 litres of water by that time. I made 2 pancakes for my son (and did not have 1 bite, nor a lick of the syrup!!_ :)

Today's lunch will be a salad with some left over grilled salmon!

Dinner - SPAGHETTI and MEATBALLS!!!! Okay, here's the truth. The "pasta" will actually be spaghetti squash and two meatballs made from extra lean ground sirloin with fresh tomatoes, a bit of tomato paste and veggies - it's really good!

Today's plans...no exercise!! I will be cleaning the house from top to bottom and putting up the Christmas tree and decorations - finally!! Then later this evening, hitting the malls to get started on the x-mas shopping!! I think I will be burning a few calories in there somewhere.

On Sunday, I may be trying a "SPOGA" class!! It's a combination of Spinning and Yoga!! It sounds interesting and tough. I hope I will be able to make it - I'll let you know how it goes!

Until then...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Let's Check Out My Food...

Hi guys,

I have been really trying these past few days to take pictures of my meals - I find that it truly does help me to say on track and let me tell you, I can use all the help I can get. So here we go...

Dinner: this is baked chicken breast (with onions, garlic, mushrooms and red peppers) with mixed veggies (broccoli, spinach, red pepper, mushrooms, onions, skim milk, seasonned with pepper, curry, garlic & onion powder) with a very small amount of whole wheat spaghettini. It was delicious. I don't usually have pasta but I splurged. It really wasn't a lot (maybe 1/4 cup); more veggies than pasta!

Close-up... The following was for lunch one day. A simple garden salad (spring mix & cherry tomatoes) with left over roasted chicken breast shredded on top. About 1 Tbsp of home-made dressing (EVOO, pepper, vinegar). It was great, quick, tasty and more importantly - filling! :)

Close-up... (you can see...very, very light on the dressing).

Dinner: My husband cooked this one. He was the grillmaster on the BBQ...Salmon skewers with grilled zucchini. There was also corn on the cob which he prepared on the grill but I didn't have any.

The following was another quick lunch. Sliced cucumbers with canned sardines (in water). I literally sliced up about 1/2 of an English cucumber, opened the can of sardines and poured it in the same bowl, added pepper, mixed it all up and ate it!!! No dressing required as the water from the sardines did the job. It was yummy - I've always liked sardines.

Close up...

Dinner: Roasted chicken leg with steamed broccoli and sweet potato mash! I baked a whole chicken (seasonned with pepper, garlic & onion powder, cayenne pepper). I baked the sweet potato in the oven, once it was done, scooped out the potato from skin and mashed it up in a bowl. It was quite moist. That's it!! This was a very filling meal and I had a lot of chicken left over to use in salads and for another dinner. Below is a close-up. So that's it so far. I have also been drinking between 3-4 litres of water each day. Hoping I can continue taking these pics. Just knowing that I have to take a picture helps me to plan what exactly I will be eating! Anyway, that's it for now, just a "food pic" post.

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

On the Road Again...

I knew going into this that this journey would be long and as I'm learning each day, it will be filled with ups and downs. How I deal with those ups and downs is one of the things that will impact whether or not I succeed on this journey. I just need to stay on the road and I WILL succeed on this journey. I am so appreciative of the amount of support that I have from my family, friends, trainer and blogging friends/family!! Thank you so much for the kind words and always rooting me on!!

Now, I'm coming off a 2 pound gain last week which put me back in the land of Twoterville. A place where I am unfortunately quite familiar. As I sit in this "land", I am comfortable and I'm nervous at the same time. I am nervous that the feeling of comfort comes so naturally. I can see how easy it would be to fall back into my old ways. I think the nerves are here because I know for a fact that this is no longer for me. My time has come!! I am also CERTAIN!! I am certain that I no longer want to live here and although I left this place before (during this journey and on a few other "unhealthy" occassions), this is the first time that I'm giving it this much thought. I now have a better understanding of why I've lived here for such a long time even knowing that I needed to move out and everyday, I'm finding out a little bit more.

It is very easy to live here in Twoterville...it requires very little to no effort on my part, but it also means that I don't make myself a priority and that I take myself and my health for granted. Making that conscious move to Onderland will be difficult at first, but I will get use to it and will start reaping the benefits. I'm ready. I may be somewhat dramatic here, but I really feel like this is turning the page to start writing a new chapter of my story, always remembering (but not dwelling on) the events of my past. I've got to remember where I came from in order to get to where I'm going but I need to make the necessary adjustments to make it successful. In this case, I must always make the effort to remember how long I stayed in Twoterville, including how close I came to moving to a place where the name starts with "Three...."!! Most importantly I need to understand the reasons why I stayed there and FOCUS or should I say, RE-FOCUS on the reasons I have for getting out!!

So all this is part of working out those "mental muscles" as well as the physical ones!! I'm back on the road and the journey continues. I will give it my best and I know the results will follow.

Cheat meal over and back on track. I had a bowl of creamy fettuccini pasta with a nice piece of chocolate mousse cake for dessert and 2 glasses of white zinfandel. It was yummy. This morning, I had a 3-egg white and spinach omlette for breakfast, a grilled chicken breast with salad for lunch, a boiled egg for snack...lots and lots of water (about 3 litres so far) and I haven't yet decided on dinner...probably fish..salmon on the grill with grilled veggies!! I'm back on track and feeling great.

Anyway, that's all my ramblings for now.

Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)