Two Month Anniversary Pics

Hi everyone,

It's been TWO MONTHS!!!! Two Months and 25 POUNDS less!!! That's more than 10 pounds per month AND I'm doing it the right way with proper nutrition and exercise - no quick tricks, just hard work and dedication. There is NO turning back now. I am so pleased and proud that I have been able to last this long and I have no doubt I will make it to the end!! This is the longest I've ever TRULY and HONESTLY committed to losing weight and getting healthy!!! I really feel like I am on my way to making this a permanent lifestyle change. The longer I do this, the harder it will be for me to go back to my old ways and I'm thrilled about that because I DO NOT want to go back!!

I feel amazing, full of energy!! I'm feeling so much stronger especially during and after my workouts! It's awesome!

To be totally honest, I don't see a huge difference like in the last pics but I do feel smaller and stronger and for now that's important to me.

What I've Noticed...

The Front Shots: My stomach, hips and legs are a bit smaller, less fat on my chest, under my neck area

The Side Shots: My stomach (especially the lower abs area), less rolls, butt's smaller, thighs just a bit smaller

The Back Shots: My waist and hips are a bit smaller, things feel different, I feel like everything is falling down wards! My legs appear bigger this month - I dunno!!

The Fun Shots: My arms seem smaller and shoulders more defined, thigh is smaller and starting to get some definition, my butt is definitely getting smaller.

Anyway, really anxious to hear what you guys think. I'm hoping that next month's pics will show much Bigger changes!

Anyway, here are the pics. I've posted last month's to compare to this month's!

FRONT (Top: Jan 10/09 - 242 lbs, Bottom: Feb 13/09 - 233 lbs)

SIDE: (Top: Jan 10/09 - 242 lbs, Bottom: Feb 13/09 - 233 lbs)

BACK (Top: Jan 10/09 - 242 lbs, Bottom: Feb 13/09 - 233 lbs)

FUN (Top: Jan 10/09 - 242 lbs, Bottom: Feb 13/09 - 233 lbs)

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Week 9 Weigh In....2 More GONE!!!

Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)
Last Weigh In: 235 lbs (Feb 4/09)
Current Weight: 233 lbs
This Week's Loss: 2 lbs

Hi everyone,

I'm back from my trip (got in last night) and the news is good!!! I was a bit nervous and anxious for this week's weigh in, however, I stepped on the scale this morning and was pleasantly surprised!! Another 2 pounds gone!!! YEAH BABY!! I've taken my 2 month pictures and will post them shortly (I haven't compared them yet, so I don't know if there's a noticeable difference). Another two pounds GONE!!! I've lost 25 POUNDS!! Incredible!! My first milestone....I will be rewarding myself with a new purse - can't wait!!

I will also be posting food pics and stories from my trip to Halifax...

Until then....I'm signing off 25 POUNDS LESS!!!

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

I LOVE Halifax!!!

Hi guys,

Don't have much time so just a quick update.....things are really going well food wise!! The food is amazing and the healthy choice options, just fabulous!! Lots of fresh seafood and veggies. I love this place!! I'll be home in two days so I will post and upload all the food pics I've taken when I return!!!
Thanks for the encouraging and supportive comments!!!

Until then....

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

First BIG Test!!

I will be going away on business all next week so I will not unfortunately, be weighing in on Wednesday or taking my monthly pic on Tuesday (the 10th). I will take the pic and weigh in on Friday morning upon my return and will do my best to post them asap!! I don't think the couple of days will make a huge difference.

On another note, I think my crazy cravings the last few days were based on me feeling a bit anxious about going away and sticking to my diet and exercise plan.

Usually with business trips, I would eat out everyday and for every meal!! This time it WILL be different!! It has to be. It's good practice because life certainly doesn't stop just because I'm on this journey. I have to find ways of working with it! For example, this time when booking my hotel, one of my first concerns was to ensure that the hotel was equipped with a proper fitness facility (which thankfully it is - most of them are but how would I know, that was never my concern in the past), so this will ensure that I stick to my workout plan. Before, it was more like, "what size bed??", "do you offer free breakfast?", "24hour room service??" , "any restaurants and/or night clubs close by??" Everything centered around food and sleep!! LOL! What a difference!

I also did some research to find a grocery store close by where I could pick up some fresh foods and keep in my hotel room for snacks and meals etc. This will be one of my first BIG tests to sticking with this plan and I am trying to do everything I can in advance to ensure my success!

So that's it...wish me luck with this week...I have a feeling I'm going to need it! I will bring my laptop so I will post if and when time permits!

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!)

Joania - 1, Cravings- ZERO!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys,

Okay, so I've been having a rough few days with the cravings...but it looks like it's over for now (I HOPE)!! This is the worse it's ever been and I know it will happen again, but I won this round!!

I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you for your suggestions and advice and just overall support!! It really means a lot. Although I agree that some times you need to let yourself have a break and give your body something sweet to change things up, I just don't believe that I AM at the point where I can SAFELY do that! So I didn't!! What I mean is that if I was to allow myself just one cookie or even a chocolate bar, that would just open the flood gates, unleash that eating machine that still resides inside of me!! So in this case, I decided to heed the advice of my trainer. I made a huge cup of cinnamon tea - the real deal - I boiled the cin sticks in a pot of water!! It smelled amazing....like I was doing some Christmas baking. It was suprisingly sweet, even with no sugar added!! Now, the tea was great but I still felt like eating something so I made a huge salad and threw in some roasted chicken breast strips and almonds...it was good. I was stuffed!!

I really see the value of cleaning out all the junk out of your house because I tell you, if I had anything in here, it would have been ugly!! Anyway, I'm back on track...

The journey continues.....

Joania (2KMINE!!)

Arrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

Hi guys,

I am going nuts. I've just had a great week!! I lost another pound, lost a ton of inches, my clothes are loosening day by day, great workouts....everything is awesome BUT I just keep thinking of bad foods..it's driving me nuts and it's not because I'm not enjoying the healthy foods that I'm eating- I'm actually loving it...but my MIND is playing some serious games with me and i just don't know why!! I can't take it!! You should see me pacing around this house and what's even funnier, is that my son is following me around laughing (he thinks my pacing is a game - at least he's having fun!)

I find myself wanting to eat all sorts of things, like waffles, warm white bread dripping in butter, hot dogs, ice cream and WINE! WHY??? I don't know...this is just how I'm feeling. I have been drinking so much water today just to keep my tummy full in hopes that I won't want to eat anything!! Still not working!! I'm craving wine like it's nobody's business!!!! Chocolate cake!! Arrrrrghghghhhhh!! It's not that I'm hungry at all...I don't know man....today just sucks!! It really does. I guess this is just part of it. I don't like this part, don't like it at all! I had chicken breast and some roasted veggies (will post pic later) for dinner..it was delicious and satisfying but still not enough to shake these cravings.

I don't know what to do with myself right now - it's so frustrating.... I can't really go anywhere....I've got my 2 year old and it's mighty cold outside today...plus it's getting late..almost his bed time!! I just finished dancing with him (he loves dancing)....my goodness, if I had anything bad in the house to eat, it would be on right now!!

Part of me wants to say, "screw it!" and just pick up that phone and call Gabriel's (my fav pizza place - speaking of which, I need to take that number off speed dial) but I can't, I've come to far, worked to hard and I know this is a phase that won't last (HOPEFULLY) !! I just need to push through it...Damn!!!

Today is not fun.....today, this journey is getting on my nerves!!! That's all I got right now....

Joania (2KMINE!!! although right now a piece of chocolate cake would be FINE!!)

Week 8 Weigh-In...1 POUNDS DOWN!!!!!!

Starting Weight: 258 lbs (Dec 10/08)

Last Weigh In: 236 lbs (Jan 28/09)

Current Weight: 235 lbs

This Week's Loss: 1 lb

One more pound GONE!! WHOOO HOOOOOOO!! Gotta get off to daycare/work...will be back later....

Also, I did take my measurements and they are screaming volumes!! Check this out:

INCHES LOST

BODY PART/DEC 08/FEB 09/DOWN

Neck/16.0/15.0/1

Chest/48.5/46.5/2

R Arm/15.5/14.5/1

L Arm/16.5/15.0/1.5

Waist/44.5/40.0/4.5

Hips/50.0/48.5/1.5

Thighs/30.0/25.5/4.5

Next time I will use a chart ...no time right now...

Joania (2KMINE!!!!)

I'm Eating Good in the Neighbourhood, Y'all!!

Hi guys,

I've been working it out in the kitchen lately. I absolutely love cooking and I think I'm a pretty good cook as well HOWEVER, I totally suck when it comes to cooking healthy meals (well at least, I used to)!! The problem is that as much as I love to cook, I TOTALLY LOVE TO EAT!! I LOVE foods that are rich in flavour and different tastes and spices. So, I've decided that it's time!! I'm turning over a new leaf!! I've been doing some research like it's nobody's business!! I'm on it!! I've been trying new things, substituting this with that....etc etc. I am on a mission to prepare tasty HEALTHY foods!

So far so good!! If only I could figure out a way to substitute 3 cheese homemade baked macaroni with healthy stuff, it would be awesome!! Anyway, here are a couple of my latest creations for supper.

I love jambalaya!! However, I have been avoiding rice and fatty meats (pork sausage) on my new eating plan - those are two of the key ingredients in jambalaya. Here's my replacement, which by the way is a work in progress. The next time I make it, I will add more stuff (peppers, different veggies etc.).

For this one I used shrimp, turkey sausages, onions, garlic, broccoli florets, black pepper, red pepper flakes and I served with a side of sweet potato (my fav). Here's what it looked like AND it was YUMMY!!

This is what it looked like while cooking in the pot....yummmy!!!

Now, here it is plated with a side of baked sweet potato! Looks good, huh??? It tasted awesome!!

Here's Supper #2!!!

This is Steamed Talapia & Veggies with Sweet Mash

I lined a baking dish with parchment paper (or wax paper - which is what I called it before Martha Stewart came along). Placed some frozen spinach. Then placed a Talapia fillet on top of the spinach and seasonned with onions, garlic, black pepper, curry powder, red peppe flakes. I then wrapped up the parchment so that the fish & veggies can cook by steam when placed in the oven (375 for 25 minutes). In the meantime, I baked a sweet potato, scooped out the potato from the skin and mashed it. That's it!!! YUM YUM!!! I'm two for two thusfar....lets see what happens tomorrow. Here are a couple shots of it!

I'm really enjoying cooking and coming up different creations...can't wait for tomorrow!

Until then...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Weekly Weigh-ins will Continue!!!

I was getting a little anxious about not seeing a big loss on the scale in terms of numbers and thought that maybe I should change the frequency of my weigh-ins. The last thing I want to do is get discouraged even though I know how well I'm doing. I made reference to this in a previous post (ToWeighorNottoWeigh) and decided to create a poll to see what you guys thought. I left it up to you to decide - majority rules. Should I weigh myself once a week, once every two weeks or once a month. First off, thank you to all who voted!

Well the voting is over and the winner is......................................................WEIGH EVERY WEEK!!

• 55% of you thought I should weigh in once a week
• 27% - every two weeks
• 18% - every month

So majority rules! I will continue to weigh and report my results every week! I feel confident after this week's amazing 3 pound loss!! Anyway, thanks again for helping out with that decision.

Until next time...

Joania (2KMINE!!!)

Oh Happy Day!!!!

Wow!!!!

What a day it was yesterday!!! I was up at 5:00am (did my cardio) and didn't get to bed until after 11:oopm!!!! When I finally put my head to pillow, I was exhausted - funny, I had so much energy all day (I think that was 1 part adreneline, and the rest this new level of fitness)!!

Anyway, I am on such a high from the incredible displays of support and encouragement received from SOOOO MANY especially after reading the article in the Ottawa Citizen. I wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for the ongoing support!

I quite enjoyed the article myself (thank you again to Alison Korn for doing such a stand up job on it).

So that's it...just a quick post to say thank you to all who checked out the story. I plan to use this momentum to keep me motivated as long as I can or until the next 'big thing" happens. My plan is to continue thinking and being positive, stay focused and DREAM BIG because you never know!!!!!! Who would have thought that trying to lose weight and get fit would be so interesting!!!!!??!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again all!!!

Joania (2KMINE!!!)