Another milestone....

I started back on The Fat Smash Diet on Monday.....I had put on a couple pounds and was up to 194.8.  Well, as of today I weigh 189.2!!  Whoo hoo!!! Under 190 for the first time in probably 3 or 4 years...I am so excited!!  I am never going back!  I am going to try to stay on it until Thanksgiving and then take a break so I can enjoy mom's home cooking. :)  I am going to be very careful, but still eat what everyone else does. 

I went on a six mile walk with Sean on Sunday and then on Monday I did 2 miles, but ran a lot of it and also did 5 hill intervals where I made myself run as fast as I could up the hills and then walked back down.  Killer!!

I am going to run my first 5K on January 1, 2010.  I figure I might as well start off the year right and never look back!!  

I am so thankful that God is seeing me through this, no matter how slow I go. :)

Holy Cow!

Holy Cow!  Has it really been almost 2 months since I've written something on here?!  Where has the time gone?  The last few weeks I have not been exercising like I should be and haven't been as strict with my diet.  The good news is, I haven't gained anything, but the bad news is I haven't lost anything either.  I guess the good news is that I shouldn't have any problem maintaining when the time comes.  I have also gotten down to 191 lbs. since my last blog post.  Yee haw!! Only 2 more pounds til the 180's!! 

I was so disappointed because I was really going to hit my workouts hard this week, since I only have to work one day this week.  Well, I've been sick since last Thursday night, so that has fallen by the wayside.  I have worked out a couple days, and the week is not over, but it won't be hard workouts because I feel like crap.

I am signing up to do my first 5K on New Year's Day in Knoxville...I have been very intimidated by the idea of doing a 5K, but Sean has encouraged me to do it and he is going to do it with me....so, here goes!!  Wish me luck.  I know that I can do it, but I'm afraid I won't be able to run it all....I know it doesn't matter, but it matters to me! Ugh!  Why do I have to be this way?!

I would also like to thank a friend who called me tonight, who will remain nameless, but you know who you are.  Thanks for your kind and encouraging words and for getting me back onto this blog!! :)  Good luck with your journey and I am excited to compare notes down the road!

God bless you all!

I made it!

Ok, so it's only been one day, but hey, that's a great thing for me.  I need to take it one day at a time and I will succeed.  I was able to stick to the diet for day 1 and now we are on to day 2.  Yesterday I walked Syd to school (1 mile) and then in the afternoon I did intervals.  I found a guide for being able to run for 30 minutes....it has me doing run/walk intervals for 40 minutes.  This week I warm up for 5 minutes, then run for 2 minutes/walk for 3 minutes and repeat that 6 times.  Then finish with a 5 minute cool down walk.  Each week you ramp up the running until you can run for 30 minutes straight.  Today I am going to do Tae Bo or else my circuit training workout that I found on Womenshealth.com.  I really need to do the circuit training because it has strength training exercises in it.  We shall see.

We are going to an Orioles game tonight, so I am praying that I can resist the temptation of ballpark food! 

It's Fat Smash Time Again!!

I have been eating whatever I want for about a month now, trying on and off to get back on the Fat Smash Diet. It hasn't been working. Today, that is all going to change!! I am starting the diet again, and I think what I am going to do is be on it for 1 week and off 1 week, and so on and so forth. I've noticed that while I have been off the diet, I have maintained my weight, which is a good thing, but I haven't lost anything either. :( Sooooo.....

I have been pretty faithful with my workouts though, and I'm sure that is what has kept me from gaining. The good news is, I feel that once I get all the weight off, I will be able to keep it off. Hallelujah!

Great way to start the week...

Got out of bed this morning, started walking down the stairs and, BAM, down on my rear I went! Slid almost halfway down the stairs (they are wood, not carpet), and hit my left forearm hard and my back. Ouch! And I used to laugh at the dog when she slipped on the steps...won't be doing that again! LOL Now I normally would have let that traumatic event (ha ha) keep me from working out...but, Praise the Lord, I didn't! I did my 4 1/2 miles today and then a work out I found in my Prevention magazine....the only thing that hurt was when I was trying to do the plank, leaning most of my weight on my bruised forearm didn't feel so great, but I did it! Whoo hoo!

I mentioned to my husband yesterday that I bet he'll love me more when I lose all my weight and he said 'but I love you just the way you are', so I replied with 'yes, but you'll love me more when I'm thin', and his reply was 'no, I'll just love you more per square inch'. Isn't he wonderful?! Just one more reason why I love him so much!!

Oh, and I am down to 197 lbs! Whoo hoo!! Who says lifestyle changes and exercising doesn't work?

I am SO excited!!!

I will get right to the point. This morning I stepped on the scale and I weighed 200.8!!! Only .8 more pounds and I will be forever under 200lbs!! What a wonderful feeling! I actually started to cry when I saw the number......it means to me that all this hard work is paying off. It IS worth it to be out there working out 6-7 days/week for an hour at a time. Praise the Lord!! Thank you Jesus!! Can you tell I am a tad bit excited about this?! :) Funny thing is, I was afraid I had put ON weight due to not following the Fat Smash diet to the T...anniversary celebration, eating on my own the last couple days, etc. Oh, I can not put into words the feelings I feel right now... I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me!! :)

What a wonderful day!!!

Another day, another pound

Happy Tuesday! I'm now down to 203...only 3 more pounds to go and I will be UNDER 200lbs!!! I am NEVER going back again...I'm so tired of being over weight and I am finally seeing success. I worked out 6 days last week, even going over 5 miles on Saturday. That is a definite first for me...working out on the weekends is hard enough, much less choosing to go 5 miles. Sean did a 42 mile bike ride on Saturday also. He has signed up for a century ride in September...I am so proud of him. He actually walked home from work yesterday....over 5 miles! Wow! I did a 20 minute run yesterday and then 20 minutes of weights in the morning and then walked for 20 minutes last night.

Dustin has started working out for football....he is not real thrilled about three days/week for 3 hours, but I know it will be good for him. I figure if I can do what I've been doing, it won't kill him to do his football stuff. I need to be strong for him too, because he doesn't want to go right now because it hurts. Oh well!!

I need to go, I think I will do 3 miles today and then I am working out this evening with a different neighbor at 6pm. Just a walk around the block, but it will get my two-a-day in.

Happy losing! :)

What a night.....

What an exciting day in the McCool household! First, yesterday evening we spotted really dark clouds that looked just a tad bit freaky to me. :) I thought I was seeing things, but they were actually rotating and moving fast! Then the sky turned this funky green color....oh boy. Syd was really starting to freak out, but I told her we were fine, there was no funnel cloud dropping out of it. Then the wind started to blow like crazy and the rain came down...along with lots of thunder and lightening. Needless to say, we were ok...no tornado, just some damaging winds.

Then, thanks to the rain cooling everything off, we decided to sleep with the windows open instead of using the A/C...save a few bucks, ya know? :) Well, we were rudely awakened by the wailing of sirens around 1:45am, it just sounded really weird and then it wound down like it was dying and then never went past the house. So, me being the curious, ambulance-chasing person that I am, I looked out the window and was like 'it's right behind us, you can see the lights reflected on the windows of the house across the street!'. So, we threw on our clothes, ran to look out Syd's window and there was this weird glow and smoke billowing everywhere! We ran downstairs and you could really smell the smoke in the house, so we quickly closed all the windows and cranked up the A/C. Then Sean ran downstairs to get the camera and raced out the door. :) We both went out the back and into the alley to the road and saw it was the 3rd townhouse in the row behind us. Talk about close! Thankfully, they were able to get everyone out, but what excitement! There were firetrucks everwhere...even a big ladder truck. You could hear the firefighters smashing in the windows and just the sounds and smell of everything was a little overwhelming. I stood there watching, remembering when gram and pop's house burnt down so many years ago, and praying for the safety of the people inside. It was so difficult getting back to sleep again after coming in, but I'd say we finally fell into bed after 3am. Whew....what a night!

Good news is, when I woke up this morning, I lost another 2 1/2 lbs!! I am officially 205lbs....I started back on the Fat Smash diet after going off of it for a week or so. I also have gotten serious about my workouts...Monday I walked for 60 minutes and ran for 10 minutes in the morning, then came home from work and jumped rope for 10 minutes/intervals and then did my weights. Yesterday I went walking with a neighbor for 1 hour and 15 minutes and covered 5.2 miles...that's averaging 4+mph! Awesome! Then today I walked Syd to school (it's about a mile to/from school) and did my weights when I got home. It feels so awesome! I am so glad that God is helping me be motivated and helping me do this! I couldn't do it without him. It is great having Sean's support also...on Monday he was out there with me jumping rope and then helping me with my weights when we came inside. I have such an awesome husband and I am SO glad that he is mine. :)

I'm back again! :)

Well, we are in Baltimore now and have been for a month now. I can't believe how the time has flown!! I started my new job on Friday and it is going very well. I have started a new diet....The Extreme Fat Smash Diet by Dr. Ian K. Smith. It is amazing! Kelley, my new boss, gave me the book and she said how she was able to lose 12 lbs. in three weeks....I was like, yeah, I'll be lucky to lose 5 lbs. in three weeks!! Well, I am starting day four of the diet and have already lost 4.2lbs!!! Wow!! How is that to stay motivated to stick with the plan?! Sean's 20th high school reunion is August 15, so my goal is to lose 45 lbs. by then...that is 3 lbs/week. I really hope I can stick with it this time...I think I can. I will have the encouragement of Kelley who is very health conscience anyway...so it helps that she has really healthy food around the house. :)

I'm on a roll....

I did really well again last week with my diet. I found by the end of the week, I was actually telling myself that I needed to eat and what was I going to have. That is a big deal for me, since I'm usually already thinking of my next meal while I am eating my current meal! I love food, but I am learning.....Praise the Lord. I lost another pound and am now at 208.6. Yay!!!

Sean came home for the weekend and he had to stay over Sunday night also due to the storm up north. He fortunately has a great boss who told him to stay as long as he needed to. I am so thankful for this opportunity that God has placed in our lives. We had a wonderful time together and I can't wait to be together for good in 5 weeks. We will be traveling up to Baltimore over Spring Break, so that may be hard on the diet....I am praying that I can make wise choices even when eating out all the time. I know I can do it!

What a great week....

Other than the fact that I miss Sean like crazy, this has been a great week! I have been writing everything down that I have been eating AND logging it on my health tracker at Prevention.com. It must be working. I am down to 209.4!!!! Last I weighed I was 212.4...that's 3 pounds gone!!! Yippee! I didn't even work out this week either....I decided I was going to ease into the diet part and the exercising will follow.

April 3 will be my last day at work here in TN, then the big move to Baltimore. It's nice to have a date set, so that part is settled, now the house part, job part, etc. I know God will provide and will lead me to the right job, it is just hard waiting and not knowing. Sean is going to look at some houses this weekend and hopes to put a deposit down on one. We have decided to seriously downsize....as in going from 3400sf, to maybe 1500sf if we are lucky. :) It will be an adjustment, but I grew up in a house that size with 2 sisters and survived. :) It's also a sacrifice we feel we must make to take pressure off of us financially. If we can get the townhouse that Sean is looking at today, it will be in the best school district in Baltimore County, but only 6 miles from Sean's office so he can ride bike to work and we won't have to buy a second car. Praise the Lord!! Things are looking up...now if we could just get the house sold! :)

Failure is a good thing.... :)

I started reading Bob Harper's (The Biggest Loser trainer) book "Are you Ready!" this week. I am trying to put into practice some of the things he mentions. I need to find something about myself that I DO like and focus on that. Learning to love ourselves and accept ourselves as we are is the first step in all this weight loss mind game. Because, that is really what it is....a mind game. Our mind is an amazing thing but it can hinder us when it comes to doing things we want. If we doubt ourselves, put ourselves down, etc., our mind remembers and doesn't allow us to accomplish what we set out to do.

In a nutshell, we have to reprogram our brains to be able to let the weight come off. Stop setting ourselves up for failure, which is what we are ultimately afraid of anyway. Who really wants to fail at anything?! But, if we don't allow ourselves to take risks in ANY area of our lives, we will never have the chance to succeed! Today is the day that I allow myself to take risks, to not be afraid of failure (because it is in allowing myself to fail that I succeed!) in all areas of my life, not just with my weight! I will program myself to push forward toward my goals, even if there are setbacks along the way...I will dust myself off when I fall, and I will get back up and get right back at it! I will be a much stronger person because of my failures. I would much rather try and fail, then to have never tried at all!

Here's to my success! :)

It's a good day....

I am back and I am kicking butt this week! :) Yay! I am still working out on the elliptical, but have started a routine that I found in this months Prevention Magazine. It is a 7-day/week schedule, which may be hard, but if I can get at least 5 or 6 days in, I'll be doing good. :) Monday, Wednesday and Friday I add a weight circuit that consists of 5 different exercises that KICK MY BUTT!!! Oh man, I had such a hard time walking up the stairs on Tuesday...it was pretty funny. Then I had to do it all over again on Wednesday....it wore me out, but it felt so good. And, I'm not as sore today as I was on Tuesday....guess it might be working. I found muscles that I didn't even know that I had!

My diet has been going pretty well this week also. Maybe I am finally settling into a routine, and getting used to the fact that Sean is not here. Don't get me wrong....I am still missing him like crazy, but I am making it. He comes home for the weekend tomorrow and I am SO excited. Maybe the NEXT time he comes home (in a couple weeks) there will be more noticeable results. I am going to continue to work hard and NO MORE EXCUSES!!

This is so depressing....

This past week has been very hard for me. Sean has moved to Baltimore to start his new job and I am at home with the kids, still working. On top of that, the kids had off school almost all week due to bad weather. The stress is piling up on me (which is hard because I consider myself someone who doesn't GET stressed!)....working, making sure my kids get to school on time, trying to keep the house tidy for showings, and then having to work out and eat right on top of all that.

I watched the Biggest Loser last night and something Gillian and Bob said hit home. I need to STOP MAKING EXCUSES!! There are plenty of women out there with tougher lives than mine, and they still find time to eat right and work out hard. I need to change my mindset on a lot of things, and I need to start now! I want to look so good when Sean comes home!! If that's not motivation, I'm not sure what is! I guess I am becoming complacent with the fact that Sean loves me anyway, but the thing is, I know he would love me just as much or more if I was thin. Mostly, because I would be a lot happy with myself and in my own skin.

Pray that I can take control of my life and my weight loss!! Thanks for reading.

My picture

You know, it is very irritating that in my picture I look like I could be at my goal weight! I think I look awesome, if I dare say so myself. And to believe this picture was just taken a week or so ago. How is that possible? The sad thing is, if you look below my neck I'm still F-A-T!!! I'm so tired of people telling me I have a pretty face. Isn't that nice people speak for 'she's fat, but she's nice so let's tell her she has a pretty face'? I know people are trying to be nice, but if you haven't been in a fat person's body, it's hard to understand! I absolutely HATE being fat!! Why can't I seem to do anything about it?! Of course, I've been through the, 'oh I must have a thyroid problem', etc., but who am I fooling? I can't keep my fat little fingers away from the food!! That is the bottom line and I need to learn to stay away from it or I'll be fat all my life! Good grief, food is like a freakin' drug....it is a disease, whatever you want to call it. It is a nasty 'habit' that I have been trying to break for years and for some reason I can't break it! Maybe I should go to a 'fat farm' or something....who knows?! Do they have 'rehab' for fat people?! Maybe I should start one.

Sorry about the ranting! I normally am such a happy, positive person, but I'm disgusted with myself....with the way I look, I'm embarrassed for my husband to see me, and think he must feel the same way I do. Why wouldn't he?! He looks at the same fat that I do...why would he feel any different about it?! I don't know...maybe he loves me because I have a pretty face, like everyone else says. At least I have that! LOL

Ok, I'm done now. Hopefully you won't have to listen to this again. Hopefully, I can pull it all together and turn my life around! With God's help, anything is possible. Thank you God, for loving me even when I don't love myself!!

Day ?

Back again. I have been SO bad this week. I've only worked out one day so far and I have really slipped on my eating. Once again, not as bad as before I started, but not good enough. I think alot of it is I am a tad stressed about the move, selling the house, finding a new job, etc., etc. I know that God will provide and we will be fine, but deep down, the doubt creeps in. :( I'm sorry God, I know that you are powerful beyond words, but that stupid devil keeps telling me differently. But, I know he is wrong and I will win this battle!!

I have decided I am not going to beat myself up about this...I am going to take this week 'off', get the yard sale done, the house cleaned up to put on the market and see my hubby off to Baltimore. This too, is getting to me, because I am going to be in charge by myself. I have to get 5 kids to 4 different schools each morning (only 2 are mine, the other 3 are the kids I nanny for) and then be both mom and dad for awhile til we are all together again. I can't wait for that day....I hate being apart. I am so glad that I have friends and family praying for our marriage and for this move...we couldn't do it without them!

Sean leaves on Sunday and on Monday I am starting back on this new way of life with a vengeance. I will work out every day, and push myself like I never have before. I will only eat what I am 'allowed' and nothing more! I will knock Sean's socks off when he sees me again! I WILL WIN THIS BATTLE!!!

Week 6.....

I'm back again. Missed the last few days, but have been busy. We are moving to Baltimore, MD and things are a little crazy here. I have not been sticking to my diet and exercise as planned, but still doing better than I used to. I only worked out 3 times last week, but I am not going to dwell on that fact and I am moving on. It is a new week and I am going to conquer the world....and my weight! :)

Today is a good day....at least in the diet world. :) When I put on my jeans this morning they felt really loose on the thighs....great thing! :) They also felt a little less tight on the waist. What a great feeling! I can do this and I AM doing this! I am so excited to be losing weight steadily (even if slow), and I can't wait to be that '1 skinny chick' that I know is inside me. I realize that it is not going to solve everything being thin, but just feeling better about myself makes the world a better place. I will be more confident in myself and not always trying to hide in a corner because I think someone thinks I look fat. The thing is, I need to realize that people aren't looking at me, I am not so important that they should waste their time looking at my weight.

I am so blessed to have a supportive husband and family in all this. I can't imagine going it alone. I don't know how people do it! I've had a glimpse of what I can look like when I lose 40 lbs., since I've been there before so I can only imagine how smokin' I'll be when I lose 80!!

Another week down....

I have made it through another week, another weigh in and measurements taken. So far, I'm down 4.8lbs. and have lost 9 inches. Not really where I want to be, but at least I am losing. Praise the Lord for that!

This week I haven't been as diligent with my eating and workout habits. I only worked out 3 times this week, and I really snacked more than I should have. Not as much as before, but still.... I think I am a little stressed due to the fact that my husband has been offered a new job (which I am excited about) and it involves moving to Baltimore from Knoxville, TN. He leaves in two weeks and the kids and I will follow by the beginning of April. My goal during that time, is to work really hard at this diet and exercise thing, and be on the way to 'smokin' by the time we see him again for good. :)

I have a few friends now that are starting to do this same thing, so we are trying to support each other. It is hard not being able to see them, but at least we have our blogs, Facebook, etc., as means to communicate. I need to be blogging everyday, even if it is to say 'this sucks!', just to get in the habit of putting my thoughts onto 'paper'. I really think it will help the process. I am not much of a writer, that is my husbands job, but I guess I can try.

I'm looking forward to another week, and kicking my butt on the elliptical machine at work. I really need to prove to myself that I truly can lose 1 1/2 lbs./week!!!

Back at it again!

Well, after a few months and a few pounds added, I am back. And this time, it's for me!!! I started at 216.6 on December 21, 2008. That was a little hard to take, but I decided I am going to do something about it this time. So, I started working out on my boss' elliptical machine. I take the kids to school, come back to the house and throw a load of laundry in and then go upstairs and work out. I try to burn between 450-650 calories per workout. I have been doing that 5 days/week for the past three weeks. Imagine how excited I was when I stepped on the scale last Saturday and realized that I had lost 3.6 lbs....and over the Holidays even!! I have been keeping track of my food intake and exercise on Prevention.com using their 'health tracker'. It has been working very well for me.

Sean suggested I go out and buy an 'inspiration' outfit and hang it where I can see it often. So, the other day I went to Kohl's and bought a work out outfit in a size medium....I don't EVER remember wearing a size that small....except maybe middle school?! LOL