Busy Losing Weight.

New Tips & Tricks on making weight loss easier & more enjoyable!

I apologize for my absence on posting updates & tips!  Big, big life changes have been happening and I've been quite the busy bride!

In April my fiance was offered a great job with BNSF railroad but it required him to move 16 hours away to North Dakota so I've been adjusting to that!  Finishing up our wedding planning with him 16 hours away isn't ideal but we're doing the best we can!

But now that I finally have a little down time I wanted to post allll about the progress I've made as well as a few new tips!

Now, I started my blog hoping I would maybe help a few people get motivated, stay inspired etc but WOW the amount of emails, messages and posts I've received have been so encouraging and inspiration TO ME!  I never thought I could reach out to as many people that I have.  It literally brought tears to my eyes.  The best feeling is knowing there are so many people in the same boat as you and when the waves start rocking that boat and things seems tough it's great to have people push you and rescue you and get you motivated and inspired again.  So THANK YOU to everyone who have shared similar stories and for all the kind words of encouragement!  I started my weight loss journey March 1 & am still going strong!

I wanted to first talk about my current motivators:
1. My wedding.  It is the biggest motivation I've ever had.  If you want to lose weight set a wedding date and get a dress.  Nothing will make you want to work hard and start eating healthy like knowing you have a beautiful dress you want to look your best in.  Seriously! Once it hit me I was getting married soon I went into overdrive trying to shed the pounds.  My one and only regret this whole journey is that I didn't start trying to get healthy sooner.  I should have started this years ago instead of just 6 months before my wedding but I just didn't have the motivation!

2. When I can finally see my fiance... Being 16 hours away we don't see each other much. at all.  Maybe 2 weekends a month if we're lucky.  The last time I saw him was July 1 and I won't see him again until July 26.  That time in between is a great motivator.  When he sees me after 3 weeks I want him to notice a difference! It can be hard to see a difference in a person when you're with them often but working out and eating right for the 3 weeks we're apart should be enough for him to notice some changes!  

3. Boudoir photos.  As  a wedding gift to my fiance I'm getting tasteful photos of myself done.  MOTIVATOR!! A year ago I would never, never, everrrr get photos of myself done. Absolutely not. NO.  But now that I've lost some weight and am feeling better about myself, hell yes I'm going to flaunt what I got!  It's pretty motivating knowing I'm getting photos done so I've been swimming my butt off! I know I want to lose even more weight so I probably will look back at the photos thinking I look heavy in them but you know what, I feel great right now, my fiance loves (always has loved) the way I look and I'm going to celebrate my body and the hard work I've done!  Side note: you should check out  Jennifer Lee Photographee.  She's doing my photos and she's insanely talented so I know they'll be beautiful & classic.

What are your motivators?  How do you stay motivated?!

Well.. I have some tips for that!

I've always said make your goals visible.  They won't slip to the back of your mind, you won't go for that oreo double chocolate cheesecake fudge dessert, and seeing them should make you want to work out, go for a walk, swim, etc.

Along with making your goals visible.. make your weight loss visible.  What do I mean by this?  Make it known and show that you've lost weight! Acknowledge what you've done and how far you've come!  Here's what I did:  I listed my weight from my heaviest to my goal.  I have two goals- a goal on my wedding day and a goal overall that I probably won't reach until a few months after my wedding.  Well, every pound I lose, I mark off that weight!! It's so great seeing all those numbers crossed off knowing what I'm doing is working and paying off!! I only weigh myself once a month- (the beginning of every month) so it's SUPER exciting to go to my chart and cross off 7 or 10 pounds!  This also works if you weight yourself weekly- crossing off 1, 2 or 3 pounds still shows you're working hard but that it's working!! I hang this on my fridge next to my reward chart just as a reminder of how far I've come but also how far I have to go.

Some people have asked why I have the charts visible... isn't it embarrassing you were that fat asked one of my friends.  And you know what I say?  I say I'm not embarrassed.  I'm embarrassed I never did anything but I'm more proud I took action, changed my lifestyle and have worked hard to lose weight.  That is nothing to be embarrassed about.  Please, please don't ever be embarrassed or ashamed of your size or weight.  If you're exercising and eating right to lose weight you should be most proud you've done something to make yourself healthy.    

Another quirky little thing I do to make my goal visible is:

literally write it on my hand.  I've said before I swim as the biggest form of exercise and sometimes I just want to quit.  I'm tired, just want to go home, eat pizza and watch Real Housewives instead of being in the pool. But I look down at my hand.. see the reminder I want to be a skinny, beautiful, healthy bride and I get my second wind.  Try it!

Another tip: ride your bike or walk anywhere you can.  I've been riding my bike to work.  Which, let me say my work is about 8 miles away from my house.  Not 8 nice, even miles.  8 hilly miles.  I leave an hour before I have to be at work and don't get home until an hour after I'm off.  It's hard. I get sweaty. My legs ache.  But I always feel so damn good.  I'm a nanny so my bosses don't care if I wear tennis shoes and athletic clothes to work so this happens to work out for me.  I ride my bike to Target, the post office, almost anywhere.  It adds exercise to my day and obviously saves me $$ on gas so its a win win!  I know it's not practical for everybody but it's worked great for me!

2 months ago I bought a size 8 dress that didn't fit.  I couldn't get it over my head because I thought I'd hulk through it and rip it.  But I bought it because I obviously couldn't live without it and knew someday I'd be able to wear it.  That day was yesterday! I tried it on again just out of curiosity to see if I could fit in it yet and it fit soooo perfectly!!!! I took a picture of the size 8 tag & sent it to a few friends because I was so excited! Buy something a little too small.  Hang it where you can see it.  In a month or 2 try it on and I bet it'll fit if you're working out.  It's a huge uplifting moment when it fits.  You realize what you've been doing is working and you don't want to stop working until you've reached your ultimate goal!

My other tip:  Don't.Stop.  I've lost over 40 pounds so I'm about 170 pounds which compared to 215 pounds, my biggest, is phenomenal.  But it's not the 135 goal weight I have.  Yes, I feel great but I keep in mind I have more to go.  If you have a goal weight of -30 pounds, losing 10, 15, 20 pounds is going to feel so so good but don't stop.  Keep going until you reach that ultimate goal and you will never feel better!! I think it's easy to forget our end goal when we start feeling so good after just a few pounds lost.  Don't stop because you've lost some, keep going!! Hopefully that makes sense!

One more thing I wanted to touch on:
My overall health.  Obviously when you are overweight, weight loss is going to help you feel better but there's really more to it.  Losing weight and being healthy helps your entire health in general.  I go to the dr. once a month just for blood work and to make sure everything is going well.  Well.. I happened to notice my Blood Pressure when I was at my heaviest and my blood pressure now.. yeah there's a difference!
March 1: my blood pressure was 130/80
June 1: my blood pressure was   122/74

According to my Dr. 130 was getting to the 'higher normal' range and the 120s are the optimal range so even in my physical health I've seen how my weight loss has helped.  PS- I'm not a dr, dietician etc.  I'm simply a girl working hard to lose weight and change to eating habits and lifestyle to a healthier way.

Here are a few before/after (during) photos:

I was my heaviest in the summer/fall 2011:  My face was FULL- puffy cheecks & double chin, I looked like I was 6 months pregnant too:

My face, my arms, my stomach, my legs.. everything just ballooned on me which you can see above.  I was wearing a Large shirt and size 14 shorts 

That T shirt I'm wearing is a size Medium and was wayyy too tight.  Now Med are getting to be a little big :) 

These are more recent photos taken on the 4th of July! ::

Everything is smaller about me & I can really tell a difference! my face isn't as puffy, my gut isn't out as much and those are size 8 shorts :) PS that cute puppy is my new English Bulldog, Artie! (my early wedding gift!) 

At my heaviest I never wanted to take photos. I felt disgusting but I already feel so much better about myself.  I've noticed the biggest difference in my face with my cheeks not being so puppy and my double chin basically gone :)  Also- I AM wearing a shirt, just a tube top :) Which I would have never fully exposed my arms before! 

I sincerely hope my tips and story help at least just one person out there either get motivated or stay motivated.  I'm already working on a blog post about how to use your smart phone to aid in weight loss!

I'll keep you updated :)

xoxo