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One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation. ~Arthur Ashe

I love the quote above because it’s so true. In order to succeed and be self-confident you must be prepared! This post is all about preparation for to me the most important part of the week! The weekend, this is the time where our schedules get all jacked up. Most of the time our weekends are reserved for letting loose,partying or relaxing. Because of that we tend to slack on all aspect of healthy living.

I know for me I have a totally different work schedule on the weekends so it’s been difficult at times to keep up with what I do during the week. Sometimes the schedule change gets me all discombobulated and I just throw my hands up. Other times I try to stay on track but only end up partly succeeding. The things that unites bothe of those statements is the fact that with either one I usually end up gaining weight over the weekend or not losing what I should have from my efforts over the week.

Because of that I have come up with these simple steps to avoid weekend weight gain. They have helped me tremendously and I hope they help you too.

1. Stock up on Healthy food

I know weekends are lazy and who feels like cooking but in order to keep you from just ordering pizza or chinese stock up on healthy foods that are easy to prepare. What I like to do is check out what I have on hand Friday before I leave for work and prior to returning home I hit the store for anything that I need. That way Friday night/Sat/Sun I have no excuses.

2. Be Consistent/Don’t skip workouts

The weekend is reserved for sleeping late and hanging with friends I know but studies have shown that people who successfully lose weight and keep it off long term are also the people who are the most consistent. If you don’t wanna do an hour long work out that is perfectly fine. Instead try a quick 30 min work out or throughout your day do 10 min bursts of high energy activity.

3.Don’t Skip meals

We have all done this before. Plan a big night out and in preparation for that night we try not to eat anything or we eat as little as possible. This is a huge mistake since in the end from being so hungry you will more than likely end up eating more in that one sitting than if you would have eaten meals throughout the day.

4. Watch your alcohol intake

This is a biggie since there is no work/school etc the next day some of us may indulge in “happy juice” more than we should. Those yummy mixed drinks pack lots of sugar and lots of calories. I try to stick to 1 mixed drink and 1 (or 2) glass of white wine. I don’t drink too often so that is usually more than enough for me to get a “buzz”.

5. Keep your goals in mind

Keep your goals in the back of your mind at all times. Don’t obsess but try to remember what you are trying to achieve and remember it’s all about balance. The weekend should be a time to relax and unwind…so have fun!

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.~Thomas Merton

This post is destined to just be all over the place. Sorry in advance.

Stats

Highest weight: 293
Starting blog weight: 279
Last week’s weight: 243
This week’s weight:241

Total lost this week: 2

Thoughts

I must admit I am super happy about my 2 lbs. I tracked 7 days last week and exercised 5 days last week. I made a plan and pretty much stuck to it. I’m happy because last week was pretty stressful and I could have just said f-it and ate mindlessly. Also Halloween was a win! Yes I ate candy but I also made sure to walk it off. I swear we walked a good 2 miles with my son up and down hills.

Weird thing has happened in my candy eating. I don’t like most chocolate candy. It tastes artificial to me. Like the Hershey’s,Nestle crunch, baby ruth etc the chocolate makes me feel kinda sick. I think because it’s alot of crap because I received some Lindt truffles and they were amazing! So my candy of choice has been dots. I know I know HORRIBLE! I just love the chewy goodness.

In halloween news: On Friday we had family night where we carved some Jack o’ lanterns. Sorry for the Crappy pic, it was taken with my blackberry. Naeeme was a character from Kingdom Hearts which is a video game. I dressed up as a witch when I went to a Halloween party on Saturday.

One Year Anniversary

Today is my 1 year anniversary of my starting this weight loss journey. In that time I have lost 52 lbs. I’ve already written about feeling somewhat inadequate about not losing as much as others have in a year so I won’t go into that. Instead I am going to be happy that I have accomplished something which I thought would not be possible. This has been an amazing journey and I am looking forward to losing the next 72 lbs to get to my goal weight! Below I have compiled some before and after shots. I haven’t really taken lots of before shots for the specific purpose of tracking my weight so all of these pics were chosen from pictures of the past and present at various events.

2008 to 2010

Sept 2009 to Sept 2010

Oct 2009 to Oct 2010 copy

I intend on posting some more before and after pictures in a few days. Until then, thanks for being such great readers,supporters and blends (blog friends).

~Randi

Hello My name is Randi and I am NOT on a diet.

It’s funny how many people ask you what diet you are on when you lose a significant amount of weight. It’s also funny how shocked they are when you tell them that in fact you are NOT on a diet but have changed your lifestyle.

“Oh that’s too much, I’m way to busy to do xyz.”

I find that quote particularly hilarious because I myself am extremely busy. I am not the norm by any means. I mean I work two jobs (I work 7 days a week), own a home, have a boyfriend and two sons. With everything that is going on in my life I am amazed that I am able to do half the things I get to do. It’s simple though, especially since most of the people I am talking to are in their late 20′s and have all the time in the world. Would you rather get healthy now or pay the consequences later?

That is what it boiled down to for me. I have 2 growing boys and both Tony and I saw how our eating and exercise levels were effecting them. Granted they were both still super active but our food that we ate demolished any good they were doing for their bodies. We would notice things like intense cravings for unhealthy foods over the healthy foods and some overeating. We were basically sabotaging our children. That isn’t something that either one of us wanted.

A diet is temporary. It’s something you do for a while but eventually it tapers off and you go back to the way you lived life before. How can I do all this good for myself and my boys only to (once I lose the weight) go back to how we previously lived? It makes no sense. Especially since this “lifestyle” isn’t so hard to maintain and makes us as a family and individuals feel spectacular.

Another point is I am still young and I fully expect to have another child in the future. What I am doing now is prepping my body for the wonderful journey of pregnancy (don’t scoff, my first pregnancy was surprisingly easy and I’m hoping for the same *fingers crossed*). I need my body to be strong and healthy to nourish my future child.

It took me a good 6 months to come to this realization. Once I did I swear it made everything easier. Not easy though because it’s still something I have to work at and pay attention to since we all know it’s much easier to be lazy than it is to be active.

~Randi

Image courtesy of Eden diet

How do you measure success? Is it being the best of the best? The most popular? Achieving  a set of goals set by you? Do you use others as a measure of your own success?

As I approach my 1 year weight loss and blog anniversary (36 days away) I have been getting more and more down on myself. I began to ask myself how do I measure my success?

 You see I somewhat feel like a failure. Actually let me scratch that, I don’t feel particularly successful. How is that you ask? I know I am approaching 50 lbs lost and that in and of itself is an accomplishment but compared to others I feel like I could have done better. I know I know why compare yourself to other people. Everyone is different blah blah. I just need to have a moment to sit back and reflect.

When I set out on this journey of healthy living/weight loss I had no expectations other than losing a shitton of weight. I lost about 30 lbs. In that time frame which was about 3 months the only ppl I kept updated were my friends. Figuring they were tiring of my daily/weekly rants and raves, I decided to start a blog. Again I had no expectations. I didn’t even think people would read (or at least read often) what I had to say. Fast forward to now, I don’t have a huge following but the readers I do have are great. This blog has helped me tremendously in sticking to what little goals I did have set out.

I feel like there are things I could have done better. I am a true Gemini.  I change my mind more times than I can count. I can go hard for two days and then not even a glimmer of exercise for a week. I always bounce back wishing I never stopped my momentum in the first place. I am quick to do a few new exercises and despite loving them, I won’t do them again for a month. It’s frustrating but I guess I should be happy because I’ve learned many lesson about myself and my resolve.

”Success means having the courage, determination and the will to become the person you were meant to be.” G. Sheehan

This past weekend while looking up quotes I stumbled upon the quote above I don’t know why but it has stuck with me. Yesterday  morning I posted it on both Facebook & Twitter. I it made me realized a few things about myself:

Courage: I became courageous as soon as I decided to take the plunge and become a healthier and fitter me, while also deciding to chronicle the entire thing in the public eye.

Determination:Each and every slip-up that ultimately lead to a NSV or weight loss victory has strengthened my determination to continue this amazing journey.

The will to become the person you were meant to be: 293 lb Randi wasn’t my true self. My spirit and personality was there but my body didn’t match how I felt. Not to say I didn’t feel beautiful, I did and was told I was beautiful everyday (I have such a great bf). I knew there was more I could do and being an extra 100+ lbs made things difficult. I was hidden, waiting to break free. I was lost, stuck in a dream world where weight loss would quickly as so as I got fed up enough.

Once I got to that point  and I realized that this will probably one of the hardest journeys of my life. I am grateful that while I never allowed my weight to hold me back, I am discovering new and wonderful ways to challenge and push myself to achieving my ultimate goal.

With all those things I realize I am successful. I have only lost a fraction of what other people have lost in a year. I do not have weeks upon weeks of straight losses.  I am not a hugely successful blog with tons of readers and oodles of comments on every post. Doesn’t mean I am any less successful than the next woman or man on a similar journey. I am me and the fact that I was able to make it this far and stick to my guns to achieve my goals makes me successful.

I don’t know why we do this to ourselves. Success is gained through believing in yourself and achieving the goals you have set out. No matter how long it takes to reach them by striving everyday with those goals in mind you are becoming increasingly success ful with each step. We all need to remember success is set by the individual NOT the crowd.

“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough” Og Mandino

I wasn’t going to post this picture because it’s not really relevant considering the Now picture is actually a few months old. I actually made this when the now picture was taken but totally forgot to post it. Anyways her it is now. Just know the Then picture is probably me at my highest but before I actually knew what my “high” weight was. I thought I looked too fly! Now I see I looked too fat! The “then” picture actually kind of makes me sad because I am asking myself now did I not see how big I was getting? I mean..well I don’t know. Can’t dwell on that now.

The “now” picture is from 2009 maybe even the very beginning of 2010. I can’t remember. I had probably lost about 30lbs by then. I remember I went out for my aunts birthday and felt great.

When I hit 50lbs lost I plan on doing another one of these Then and Now pictures because seeing the side by side comparison is amazing to me.

Thanks to everyone who has read/commented on this blog. It has helped tremendously!

~Randi

So I know I probably said this before but I hate waking up early. HATE IT. If I don’t have to wake up for work until 7am getting me up any earlier is almost impossible. If you do get me up I am a grump and please say nothing to me until I am fully awake. Sometimes though when I know I have a busy day ahead of me that may not allow me to get in my customary evening workouts I have wake up early to ensure I get my exercise for the day. Because of  the reasons above I have come up with some fool-proof ways to ensure that I actually wake up and get out to exercise.

1.Prepare everything the night before

I make sure I gather all my workout gear in one place. This includes my sneakers, HRM (Heart rate monitor) and earphones. The fact that when I get up I don;t have to look for stuff (just the thought of it is enough to keep me from getting out of bed) is an automatic motivator. I usually make sure to leave a granola bar with my stuff also.

2. Grab a buddy

This is huge for me! Having a friend (or your SO) come with you to the gym or for a run ensures that you will wake up. If you don’t that means they will have to hit the gym or run alone which defeats the whole purpose of asking them to come along with you. Plus it’s kinda rude and who wants to be that type of friend?

3. Do an activity that you actually like.

Make sure you plan your activity according to your mood. If you don’t feel like a run early in the am don’t run. Plan ahead sometimes I am in the mood for a run, other times I am in the mood for a quick 20 min Biggest Loser workout. Also plan for how long you intend to do said activity. Make sure it’s something you want and actually somewhat enjoy doing to make it that much easier to get out of bed.

4. Start slow

When I first began thinking of early morning workouts I knew that it would be hard for me. So I chose in the beginning to only wake up 20 mins earlier than usual. I didn’t get much exercise done usually just some stretching but it allowed me to acclimate my body to waking up earlier than usual.

5. Choose specific days.

This is a great motivator. If you know that your morning workouts only land on Tuesdays and Thursdays this allows you to get yourself ready. Leaving it up to chance and saying “maybe I will workout out in the AM a few days this week” is almost always gonna lead to you hitting the snooze button and saying “tomorrow” before you know it the entire week has past and still no exercise. Also it doesn’t have to be the same days every week, you know variety is the spice of life!

Do you have a hard time getting motivated for early morning exercise? Do you have anything that you do to ensure you will wake up and exercise? If you have any suggestions please leave a comment!

~Randi

I love to sleep. Anytime I can I will try to sneak in a nap. Doesn’t matter if it’s only 10 minutes, if I can get it you better believe I will take advantage.  That being said lately I haven’t been getting much sleep. For the past few months I have been working extra hours, staying up late to watch movies or sporting events and in turn I have been slacking on everything else (exercise, healthy eating etc). Why? Because I am tired and by the time I can sit down for a second my body is so relieved to be sitting still that trying to will myself to get back up and do something strenuous is enough to make me want to cry. Also on top of that at work I find myself reaching for all types of unhealthy snacks or hitting CVS for my favorite gummy neon sour worms. It’s a cycle that I bet most of us are in and a cycle that needs to stop.

According to this Newsweek Article adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night to feel fully rested. It’s no surprise that most Americans are sleeping an average of 6.9 hours a night. During a study conducted by Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania volunteers were restricted to less than 6hours of sleep per night. Guess what, the volunteers felt only slightly more sleepy and functioned regularly. Too bad after about 2 weeks they were as impaired as subjects who had been awake continuously for 48 hours.

On top of that a study conducted by Researchers at the University of Chicago have shown that too little sleep changes the body’s secretion of some hormones. The changes promote appetite, dulls the feeling full sensation after a meal, and alter the body’s response to sugar intake. All of these changes that can promote weight gain! So after reading all of this the good news is all of these things can be reversed by getting a good nights sleep. The University of Chicago study on sleep duration and appetite found that allowing the study subjects to sleep 10 hours for two consecutive nights returned the hormones to normal levels.

This article really opened my eyes and I am currently making a huge effort to make sure I get enough rest. This makes me happy that my kids are old enough where me taking an hour nap and letting them amuse themselves won’t hurt anyone.  Granted I know nothing will change overnight I still have a super hectic schedule. As a matter of fact I am scheduled to work a few extra shifts this weekend but I know on the days where my schedule is regular making sure I am in bed at a reasonable hour shouldn’t be too hard.

Do you get enough sleep? Are you a pro at naps and like me will take one whenever you can?

~Randi

We’ve all heard it before “you’re cute for a big girl” or “you have such a pretty face”. If you haven’t then count yourself as lucky. Seriously I hate those phrases and the fact that people allow them to come out of their mouths kind of pisses me off. I even had a guy tell me I was “fluffy” and that he likes “fluffy chicks” (really?). I guess you can say those phrases are better than being called “disgusting” or “fat pig” which thankfully I have never been called but I know some of you have. My go to retort is always “I can always lose weight but you can never change your ugly personality”. That usual shuts them up which is a good thing because I try not to be a violent person.

This isn’t about snappy retorts though this is about what phrases like the ones I have listed above and others can do to your self-confidence. I have always prided myself on being a pretty confident person. My mother taught me to love myself despite what people may have to say or think about you. As long as I am happy with myself  who cares what the world thinks.

Too many times when I read weight loss articles or blogs it seems like the person is waiting for the weight to come off in order to feel happy with themselves. They are waiting for the weight to come off in order to live the life they think they cannot live while they are heavy. Actually I take that back because it’s not just us big girls/big guys who do this, I know plenty of women (and men)who are not heavy who will say “oh jeez I can’t do (insert activity) until I lose 10 lbs”.  Especially with summer coming up everyone is in a mad dash to drop the pounds in order to feel comfortable in shorts or a bathing suit.

I am here to thell you this:

Plain and simple pounds lost does not equal happiness. You have to love yourself in the here and now. You have to love your rolls, cellulite and belly now. You have to wake up in the morning and tell yourself that you are beautiful, worth it and that no matter what happens in life the only thing that matters is that you love yourself.  I know this is hard especially for us, the ones with huge amounts of weight to lose. How can you love what makes you so miserable? Easy as soon as you accept that your weight does not define you as a person and can begin the journey to change.

While embarking on this change realize that you do not need to wait until you are at your “goal weight” to do the things you want to do. If you want to to start running…run. If you want to start taking dance lessons…dance. If you want to swim..throw on that bathing suit and swim.  The point is live the way you want to live regardless of  your weight. Things can only get better, like the proverb says “Time waits for no man”.

This takes practice. It’s not something that will happen overnight but you can change your thinking and boost your self confidence over time. Try this:

• ~ Only think positive thoughts.

As soon as you feel a negative thought coming…nip it in the bud. Or spin it and make it a positive.

• ~ Use positive reinforcement.

Tell yourself you look cute (or handsome)!

Congratulate yourself on a job well done

• ~ Try a new activity.

This is self-explanatory. Something you have always wanted to do..DO IT!

• ~ Stop worrying about what other people think.

You love you and that is all that matters.

• ~ Talk to yourself.

Seriously wake up, look in the mirror and say “I love you” and then give yourself a big cheesy smile. It will make you feel better.

Remember

“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely” ~ Carl Gustav

~Randi

I don’t know about you but I love quotes! Here are some of my fav quotes that I sometimes write down or recite  when I feel like I don’t want to get up and exercise or when I want to eat that super yummy but also super bad for me dessert.

“You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.” ~David Viscott

“Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.”~Ralph Marston

“You don’t drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.” ~Unknown Author

“No matter who you are, no matter what you do,you absolutely,positively,have the power to change” ~Bill Phillips

“A setback is a setup for a comeback.” ~ Unknown

Do you have any great quotes that keep you motivated? Leave them in the comment section

~R