Here I am at my goal weight, in Greece in 1994. On April 14th, some of us homeschool moms launched a Biggest Losers Club. Follow my progress as we compete in 8 week increments to help the journey toward our long-term weight goals go a little faster, a little more fun, and a whole lot less lonely! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 1 Nov 2008 19:31:00 -0500 Sat, 1 Nov 2008 19:31:00 -0500 As of Wednesday of this week, I arrived at 179.8 lbs.  This put me at a nice round number of minus 50 pounds.  I still have about 35 pounds to go, according to my edited goal (now 145 lbs., vs. the starting goal of 155 -- who would have predicted I would raise the ante on my goal??).  However, I genuinely believe that I will attain my goal now, which is an altogether new thing for me.  If you read this blog much, you know I've failed many times and fully expected to do so again.  Noone is more amazed that I've accomplished as much as I have as I am.  Part of me is still waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I wake up in the morning and pinch myself as I slide on some size Medium or Large shirt, compared to my previous 2XXL or 20W size.  It's bizarre, and much harder to wrap my brain around than I would have ever predicted.  I struggle, actually.  People say "Oh, what a great thing to have to go and buy new clothes," but I groan at the thought.   I have had to replace everything, right down to my skivvies.  If you have unlimited access to money, this could be fun, I'll admit.  But my hubby grumbles and says, "Can't you just buy a belt??"  As though it weren't hard enough to become comfortable in my new skin.  (No offense, honey!)   You ladies out there know that a belt doesn't fix most  female wardrobe problems.  It's kind of funny, actually.  Just add up the times I had to go out and buy something new because I had GAINED weight and couldn't fit in my clothes!  On the other hand, it is super depressing that the size 16/XL clothes I bought in June (and was so excited I could fit into) don't fit anymore.  Oh, I suppose I could make them work with liberal use of duct tape, but even Mason and Dixon had to draw the line somewhere.   But, without further ado, here are some of the really, really good things that I've noticed about being 50 lbs. smaller (and I'll update this blog as I think of new stuff, so you might see it pop to the surface again, sometime):   1.  Bath towels fit all the way around me.  What a concept.    2.  I can cross my legs again.  Seriously, for about 9 years, there, I couldn't cross my legs.  Now it is my favorite thing to do.    3.  I now wear a size Large.  There are many more options in that size than in a size 20W.  I no longer need a special store (Lane Bryant -- where everything seems to be made for a teenaged girl who weighs what I weighed, only has a lot of décolletage she wants to show off...) or a special section of any store.  That's a "good thing," as my friend Martha says.  So my #3 good thing is:  No special size needed.   I know a number of ladies who struggle to stay motivated in the face of working to lose many pounds.  It can feel insurmountable.  I know, as I've certainly been there.   I'm hoping this will be motivational, so I'm asking you readers for help.  Have you lost a lot of weight?  What good things did YOU notice?  Please post them in comments.      http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/613256/ Sat, 1 Nov 2008 19:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/613256/ I can't claim to have invented all these strategies, but I really have no idea where I got most of the ideas, either.  So you'll just have to trust me - each of these things work.  As of yesterday, I was down 38 pounds, total.  That would be 34 Biggest Losers pounds.  I'll probably add things to this list as time goes on, as I'm still learning new things all the time.  Feel free to add your own strategies in comments.   In the beginning…   Measure everything.  Your idea of a serving size is probably not accurate.  If you need more than one serving size just starting out, don’t sweat it.  Do, however, OWN it.  Know you ate 2 or 3 servings.    Food journal:  You need to write down every morsel you put in your mouth and every drop of every beverage that you take in.  This is for several reasons.  1.) To understand your eating patterns.  2.) To put a barrier between you and eating.  3.) For accountability.  Send this journal to a partner, friend, or someone you trust.  4.) As a record to look back on if you do very well, or do sort of poorly.  It is hard to hit a moving target, so having concrete evidence of what you have done to accomplish so much or so little is a great tool.   Eat with a baby spoon or fork.  This is not a “forever” strategy.  This is to help get you going.  The extra time it takes to eat will ensure you are satisfied with the smaller amount you are eating.  As you probably know, there are many more reasons to eat than because you are hungry.  If you are significantly overweight, you’ve definitely been eating for other reasons:  to medicate your stress level, to provide a reward for yourself, to entertain yourself when bored, etc.   Brush your teeth after dinner.  Odd as it sounds, it signals your brain you are done eating for the evening.  You are less likely to idly stick something in your mouth if you have already brushed your teeth.   Remove all barriers to exercise.  Put your tennis shoes and a clean pair of socks at the front door.  Or in the car.  Or next to your workout machinery.  I keep a small backpack at the ready with my dog’s leash, my arm weights, my iPod, and a chapstick in it.  Include whatever you need to make exercise a no-brainer.    Use your Tivo, your DVR, or whatever your TV recording function is.  When you want to watch your favorite show, do so from that exercise machinery you previously only used to hang lingerie from when it needed dried.  Or, don’t just sit on the couch and watch a show – in that same amount of time, you can get the exercise done that you were sure you didn’t have time to do.    If you have no exercise machinery, and have no way of leaving the kids to go for walk or to the gym, then get yourself a good, solid exercise video or two.  In this technology age, there really is NO excuse for not exercising (unless you are sick, or your doc says no!).  I wholeheartedly recommend Leslie Sansone’s Walking DVDs.  You can actually get in 3 or more miles – just doing the easy moves in the airconditioned comfort of your living room.  Too expensive, you say?  Just go to half.com.  Buy one used for what you would have paid for a Starbuck’s Caramel Macchiato!    On staying motivated:  have a friend take photos of you.  The camera doesn’t lie.  Strangely, the mirror does.  (Really, our brains are what is lying when we look in the mirror and still think we look fine at 230 lbs.!  Our brains are looking to protect us, really.)  So, have a BEFORE photo done.  Then have a friend keep doing them in increments to keep your self-image real.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/563244/ Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:27:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/563244/ Today, I went on my first true shopping trip since embarking on my support group's moms' weight loss enterprise.  I had planned to just make do with my clothes until I landed at my goal weight, but as my friend Mrs. MonkeyParade said, people were getting tired at looking at the top of my underwear, which is what shows around the waistline when the crotch of your britches is hanging down at your knees.  TMI, maybe!  Plus, my mom would say, "Are you bragging or complaining?"  But truly, I was (and still am) having a closet crisis, so off I went. I had exactly one hour, and exactly one two-year old.  While it wasn't exactly a fruitful expedition, I learned a number of things.  1. I think big, pun intended.  I am incapable of looking at clothes and estimating whether or not they will fit me.  I believe this applies both directions, size-wise.  I just am not able to keep a realistic picture of my volume in my head.  I took a ginormous pile into the dressing room and came out with 2 dresses that fit.  For the most part, I'm no longer a "Women's" size.  THAT felt good!  And Mrs. MonkeyParade graciously shared the moment with me from the comfort of her own home when I called her from my cell phone in the dressing room.  I'm apparently a size 16 -- which they evidently sell in the regular ladies section.  I think that still qualifies as a "plus" size, though.  I found the sizes absolutely baffling.  Can anyone tell me how that works?  What's the dif between a 16W and a 16?  What is one less than a 1X?  Most of my 2X shirts still work, so I won't need to purchase any of those yet. 2.  I was terrified to leave the Women's section in pursuit of clothing that fit.  The dress section was doable, because they are on the same side of the store as the Women's clothing, but I felt like everyone was staring at me.  "What is she doing there?  Doesn't the poor dear know that these are the REGULAR ladies' sizes?"  Do you think they were really looking at me, or could they have been looking at the baby, or might I actually be paranoid??  Nonetheless, I'll have to get someone to go with me next time.  3.  Clothes actually exist that make me look nice -- instead of just covering me up.  Now that was a real mindblower for me.  As a plus-size lady for much of the past 12 years, I have programmed myself to seek clothing that looks like it might have been produced by Omar The Tentmaker.  You know the stuff.  The clothing that HIDES you.  Or even worse, I usually avoided buying clothing at all and instead bestowed my retail therapy energies on shoes.  After all, I never had to wear plus size shoes or go to a special store exclusively for shoes in my size.  My point is, I did a lot of compromising with tastes.  I don't own a lot of clothes that I really like.  Just clothes that fit -- at least from my perspective.  Or clothes that hide my sins.  So while I have a long way to go, more than 50 pounds by my reckoning, I can see that this clothes buying thing could be fun.  That reminds me to say that I adjusted my goal weight 10 lbs. south today to 145.  My husband asked if that would be healthy.  I thought that was amusing, since he used to complain that the weight I was at was very unhealthy.  I'm not sure it is doable, but I did see a dietician a good 8 or so years ago and she did the bone measurement, etc., and declared that I should weigh 147.  So I thought my 155 pound goal might be going too easy on myself.  I suppose if I get there and it doesn't seem right, I can say uncle then.  I realize that I shouldn't count my chickens before I hatch, but progress has been quite steady and I remain hopeful that this time will be the time that I permanently change my life and maintain a healthy weight. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/552267/ Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/552267/ We had the final weigh-in for our homeschool support group's Biggest Losers Club on June 9th, so the results are in!   As I mentioned before, we have provision for two winners.  We judge by both percentage of body weight and total number of pounds.  A fabulous lady named Margaret, who has 6 children, won for losing the highest percentage of her body weight.  She lost 11.41% of her body weight!  I lost for the highest number of pounds lost -- 24.5. This was 10.84% of my original body weight lost.  I was very happy with this, since I expected to only lose the 15 lbs. we set as a goal for the 8 week round.    Here is my BEFORE picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27890812@N06/2598843057/   Here is my shortly thereafter picture:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/27890812@N06/2598843139/   I have a long way to go, of course, but certainly, I've made progress and I'm very pleased with that.  Most importantly, I was invited to accompany my 74 year old father on an 11 mile hike with a marked upward pitch, and I was able to accommodate him.  Would I have even DREAMED of doing that prior to April 14th??    To avoid any backsliding, we began a new round on the same day, same meeting as the finale for Round 1.  5 new ladies joined, which is really nice.  I look forward to seeing them make progress and their confidence soaring as well.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/551033/ Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:26:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/551033/ Today was the day!    I dropped a couple of pounds all of a sudden and voila!  I suddenly was one pound less than I weighed when I first started my series of over-40 pregnancies a few years ago.  That was something I really wanted to get behind me, because there has been a lot of emotion wrapped up in it.  My sister even speculated that perhaps that was why I couldn't seem to get back there, weight-wise.  Anyhow, I'm 21 lbs down (17 Biggest Loser pounds) and I now have 54 pounds to go to meet goal.    That's a lot better than 75 lbs., isn't it? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/536103/ Wed, 21 May 2008 22:35:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/536103/ I am now four weeks into the Biggest Loser experiment, and fourteen pounds down (18 total).  We had our second weigh-in yesterday (they are every 2 weeks).  According to the official Biggest Loser scales, I weighed 212 pounds yesterday.   I still blush when confessing my weight, because I'm still over two-hundred, which I find quite embarrassing (perhaps I should start giving my weight in kilos)!  But since my starting weight was 226, I know I should be ecstatic.  Truth is, it IS fun to put on your clothes and have them be actually baggy instead of binding.  And it sounds a lot better to say you have 57 pounds to lose than 75.    I know I tend to be too dogmatic about these things, but I am now convinced that EVERYONE actually has the time in their schedule already to get in shape and stay there.   I lamented for years that there was no way I could find time to exercise because there were only so many hours in the day.  Turns out, I just needed to recycle hours that I already had.  I mentioned in a previous blog that I've been exercising while my kids were in piano lessons -- time I used before to run errands. You can add to that now Boy Scouts.  So that is at least 2 days a week that I have more than an hour of free time.  I just push Baby along in the stroller and he enjoys these brisk walks as much as I do, as does whichever Big Boy I have brought along.  And don't we all have a favorite TV show?  I sure do.  One hour of watching Lost from my perch on my exercise bike does a whole lot for my waistline than the exact same hour spent riding the couch.  So there you go:  recycled time.  We all know I was going to watch Lost either way!   The other good thing about exercise is that your husband is much more likely to cooperate when you say, "Honey, can you watch the kids?  I need to go work out," than he is if you say, "Honey, can you watch the kids?  I need to go lock myself in our room and read a book!"   My workout time has become the cherished daily, private, kid-free time I really need to stay sane. Which should tell you something about my state of mind BEFORE embarking on the Biggest Loser journey.    And I'm enjoying food so much more.  There's no need for pangs of guilt when you have a plan and you stick to it.  You can truly savor each bite you place in your mouth.  Everything tastes much more dramatic to me, I think because I eat so much less.  I don't buy "large" anything anymore, but eat and drink everything in a moderate fashion -- even things that don't have a lot of calories, like diet soda and coffee.     In short, my life is much richer even while I strive to become smaller.      http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/531584/ Tue, 13 May 2008 11:26:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/531584/ Today was the big day, the first weigh-in.  I was as nervous as I was on my wedding day.  Well, not quite.    The results?    I lost 10 pounds in the two weeks since our initial weigh-in!  (Weighed in at 216 pounds.) Another lady lost 8 pounds -- which amounted to a greater percentage loss of her body weight, since she is smaller than me to begin with.  So we both sort of won!    And the Club's total loss was 41 lbs, spread over 8 of us.  That's terrific, I think; an average of 5.1 lbs per person.  I've seen some pretty heroic efforts from this group.  One lady sprained her ankle, but did she let that stop her?  NOOOOOO.  She found exercises that she COULD do, and before long she was doing crazy stuff like walking 3 miles to the grocery store and 6 miles to church...   My own life has changed significantly.  No longer do I go days at a time without leaving the house.  No longer do I eat to comfort myself, or to reward myself (okay, okay -- there were these 5 sweet, fat, juicy grapes I ate today to celebrate a successful weigh-in!).   No longer do I feel that my circumstances prevent me from exercising.  But the strangest thing of all is that I have found myself becoming more moderate with everything.  Where I used to drink a whole pot of coffee, I now limit myself to 1 cup.  Where I used to swig diet sodas like nobody's business, I limit myself to 2 a day (preferably one, for a treat).  Could it be that you CAN teach old dogs new tricks?  Can a severely obese 43 year old learn to get a grip and enact a permanent lifestyle change that will support a healthy weight?   Because of all my failures in the past, I find myself wanting to believe, but at the same time, listening for the sound of that other shoe dropping... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/524081/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/524081/ Starting a "Biggest Loser" Club within my homeschool support group turned out to be exactly the right move for me.  Thankfully, a couple of my blogger buddies were game, and the responses to the announcement about it were enthusiastic.  We limited the Club to those who were at least 20 lbs. over the top of their healthy weight range for their height and to those who could commit completely to losing 15 lbs. over the length of the 8 week competition.  All had to be homeschool moms and members of this support group.  We will have formal weigh-ins every 2 weeks and there is a planned activity on the weeks there isn't a weigh-in.  Members agreed that journaling their food intake in detail, and exercising a minimum of 30 minutes per day, 5 times a week would be our primary strategy.  Each had to choose her own diet plan and form/s of exercise.  We are not only competing individually, but have divided into teams.  This gives each of us a stake in the other's progress.  If someone on the team GAINS weight, well, that erases the fact that someone else has LOST weight.  Also gives you a big sense of responsibility.  And accountability.  In short, it is proving to be a recipe for success.   I had been floundering in my efforts to lose the necessary 75 lbs. before, but the specter of a public weigh-in got me on track abruptly.  I started in earnest the week before the first BL Club Meeting, in a conscious effort to avoid the "I'm going on a diet Monday, so have to pig out all weekend" syndrome.  This got me down to a not-so lean, but very, very mean (drumroll,  please) -- Two hundred and twenty six pounds.  I know, I know.  Scary.  I'm 5 ft. 6 and one-half inches tall, so it isn't like I'm carrying it well, either!  This was at the first official BL Weigh-in on April 14th.  If my scales are to be believed, I'm down to Two hundred and eighteen and one-half pounds, as of this morning.   So that is 7.5 lbs -- and if you add on the 3 or 4 I lost before the program started, I'm really making some progress.  Already, I've broken the plateau that I had reached in my earlier efforts.    At times, I'm sure I'm just having an out-of-body experience, for I seem to have developed some very non-Queenlike habits.  Now, instead of driving around doing errands or shopping while waiting for my kids in their classes and lessons, I pop the baby into his stroller and hit the Greenbelt to get my exercise in.  That's easy, because I now carry a pair of tennis shoes and some socks in my car.  And sometimes, the kids' bikes, so they can have fun, too.  I keep my iPod in my purse at all times, just in case an opportunity to go sweat in solitude should arise.   Oh, and water bottles everywhere.  (Don't worry, I'm recycling...)  All these years, I've honestly believed I didn't have time or opportunity to exercise.  I think I've debunked that pretty thoroughly now, since the King has been out of the country for 2 weeks and I've still managed to do something every day that I needed to.  Mostly, it is walking, and sometimes, it is my exercise bike.  Once, I did a workout video (I was skeptical before, but no more!), and another time, I played soccer and frisbee with 2 of my Club Cohorts and all the children present.  Nothing like a game of soccer with a gaggle of 8 and 10 year olds to show you how pathetically out of condition you are!   I'm not saying that I haven't found myself on the exercise bike at midnight a couple of times, because that was really the first opportunity I had.  But generally, where there's a will there's a way .  Somedays, the will may not have been where it needed to be, BUT a team member was there to make sure I didn't falter.  Every day, I've learned something new about myself, or about addiction, excuses (many of them my own!), or people in general.  It is so nice not to be "in it alone."  As I mentioned before, a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.  But the trip will sure go faster if you have a companion -- or 8!     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/522535/ Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/522535/ No, I'm not contemplating ending it all.  In fact, I'm feeling rather joyous!  I've remembered who I really am.   A memory hit me this week when talking to my dear friend Mrs. MonkeyParade about our new initiative.  (Yes, Adult ADD is a real condition!)  As I walked tonight, I remembered this incident from long ago in greater detail.  I've skiied about a hundred million times and never once hurt myself.  I played basketball ONCE in college to fill in for someone and tore a bunch of ligaments in my ankle.  I wound up with a cast on my leg and crutches for a really long time.  Not a fun thing to deal with in college, might I add.  I had to work through a lot of surprising challenges everyday and it was a very humbling experience:  how to carry my books to class (find some boy to do it); how to get my meal tray to a table; what shoe to wear on the other foot, etc., etc.  Well, I was really starting to feel sorry for myself for a while there, when I bumped into Eddie Stephens.    Eddie had blown out his Achilles tendon.  HIS cast went practically from the bottom of his foot to his armpits.  He was going to be on those despised crutches forever, compared to my 4 to 6 weeks.  He was much worse off than me.  But was he feeling sorry for himself?  NO!  Eddie was absolutely injected with life.  We started hanging out, helping each other, and before we knew it, two other girls injured themselves and joined our little gimp's club.  Soon, we had figured out how to play flag football, on crutches, roller hockey on crutches (we could share skates, since we each had only one good foot), climb a few campus trees, and countless other things.  What started out to be an isolating, social semi-catastrophe, turned out to be a real test of our mettle.  And I passed with flying colors.  I became MORE active than I had been when both legs were operational.  It was with some pride that I heard the doctor say something along the lines of "Gee, this cast is broken in 3 places and covered with grass stains!"    Well, THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how I want to leave this world.  With all obstacles to living life at its best broken in three places and/or at the very least, covered with green stains from the trying.    I remember how badly I longed to be able to go running, or climbing, or whatever, when I was locked into that body limited in mobility by that cast and crutches.  And for a long time after that, I remembered to squeeze as much life as possible out of every moment lest the worst ever happen and I got permanently stuck like that.  But eventually, life happened.  The single largest contributing factor in that 75 lbs. gain is that I had children, and with that came a million excuses for not "getting out there."  Now, I'm trapped in a cast of my own making.  About 75 pounds of it!  So the things I love to do are difficult for me, if not impossible.  And if I manage them anyway, I'm somewhat embarrassed about it.  You should see people stare when a 225 pound woman skis down the hill!  And I'll never forget when I was getting into the kayak at the bioluminescent bay on Vieques, PR, and the guy said "Um, you'll need to get into one of those kayaks" pointing to some larger ones.  That was at the height of my denial, so I thought "What the heck is he talking about??"    When you are young, there is always time to do it tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year.  But I'm not young anymore.  I hit 43 this year.  Noone can deny that my life is more than halfway over, according to the actuary tables, at least.  Do I want to go out sitting in a wide-bottomed cushy chair, remembering all the fabulous things I've done in my life, but really unable to replicate any of them?  Or do I want to go out the way I lived when I was happiest?  Maybe a few broken bones here and there, and lots of grass stains, but with a grin firmly planted on my wrinkled face.   I know the answer to that question.    The odds are against my success.  Most people who get to a BMI with the label "Severely Obese" are not able to permanently change their condition for the better.  Over the years, I've lost and regained more pounds than most of you weigh to begin with.  But I have to try, don't I?    Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I've started a Biggest Losers' Club.  There will be lots of adventure to report in the weeks to come.  And hopefully, those adventures will include at least 8 others who are temporarily handicapped by extra weight, but are game to start living life at its fullest.    A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.  Unfortunately, so does a journey of 100 yards.  So, my friends, I'm asking for help:  Please pray that my Team members and I can stay the course and meet our goals and achieve a permanent healthy lifestyle change.    I'm going to be posting some very embarrassing information about myself in this blog in the near future.  So check back!  I need the accountability.      http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/515310/ Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/515310/ ...doesn't necessarily mean I'm not doing something!    The King and I slipped away for 2 glorious days of skiing last week.  In Utah.  Where they have actual snow versus mere "vertical ice rinks."  That was last Sunday and Monday for me (3/2/ and 3/3).  The King is in better shape and actual skiied during a veritable blizzard on Tuesday as well (he later admitted that 8 degrees Fahrenheit with hurricane-strength winds had rendered it sort of a waste of money).  Happily, we had fabulous weather the day before, and jolly snowflakes intermittent with startling sunshine the day before that.  The Thursday before that trip, I had skiied some 6 hours or so up at Ober Gatlinburg.  There was a good snow fall (8 or 9 inches) so we just canceled school and hit the slopes!   I felt the burn that day, to be sure.  I was practically a cripple from the burn in Utah.  So, I've got a whole new resolve to get in shape.  The King promises to give me another shot at Utah if I can pull myself back together by next winter.   So, both yesterday and today, I snuck out of the house for 2 mile walks.  That's the distance to my mailbox and back.  I must say, I was moving kind of slow by the time I made it up the hill and back on the driveway both ways.  The secret is to turn the volume on your iPod to a level that camouflages the ragged sound of your breathing and the noisy beating of your heart.   Do that, and you can totally believe yourself to be young and slim again.  Throw in Alanis Morrisette, and you are guaranteed to burn off some hostilities.    So strap on your iPods, grab your bottled water and whistle for the dog -- let's hit the slopes of Walland together. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/497022/ Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:40:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/QueenTeamX365/497022/