Walking Works

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I just read Diane’s blog post “Is Walking Alone Enough To Lose Weight?” today and was encouraged that walking does work as exercise and in being successful in weight loss. It’s not that I didn’t know this before. My friend Chris and I both walked when we lost the weight before, but I have heard comments that insinuate walking alone is not challenging enough, or is too easy.

Ha! Well, tell that to my friend Diane!
Just kidding. (kind of…)
Actually, I know of quite a few ladies who have kept their weight down over the years simply by walking daily, so that’s why I know it works. It was just encouraging to read a post by someone who not only controls her weight with walking, but has lost a significant amount with walking as her main exercise.

I agree with her that we have to make sure and push ourselves to walk more intensely as our bodies are able, and that’s why I especially love Leslie Sansone’s Walk At Home DVDs. Leslie pushes me sometimes when I just want to take it easy.

Walking is the exercise that just clicks with me and I’m so happy to once again hear someone say that it works.
p.s. I love step aerobics also…but I love being to workout at/near my home more – and it fits my budget better! 🙂
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Month Two Pics

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I’ve taken and uploaded my month two pictures. Sorry, they aren’t open to the public, but for those who can check them out here’s the link: Month Two Pics

I’ll post a photo on this blog when I lose my first 20 pounds. Deal? Deal. 🙂
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Back-To-School Challenge

Posted on July 19, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding


I see weight loss challenges all over the place, but I never do them because..well, I haven’t really been serious enough, or brave enough, to think I could do it.

Well, my best friend Chris and I are working on getting healthier together and we decided to start our own little challenge. Our kids go back to school in just over 3 weeks and we have both lost 12 pounds so far. So, our challenge is to lose 8 pounds by August 8th, so we will have lost 20 pounds total before our kids go back to school.
Here goes!
Stats as of July 18th:
Chris’ loss so far: -12.3
Leah’s loss so far: -12.0
I’ll update this next week. As Chris always says, “Power on Sister!”
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Knowledge & Planning Work

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding


(I was waiting to see if I had a loss this week before posting this.)


I just have to say that planning does work and so does working the plan.  I say this because it was my birthday on Thursday and my husband invited friends over to celebrate with a bar-b-q dinner.  That included my daughters helping a friend of ours make the cake.  This was probably the best cake that’s been made for me since my mom used to make my cakes.  
I knew that I wanted to have a piece of cake (even before I saw it), so I planned for it.  I ate lighter throughout the day, I did a 65-minute walking DVD and I was careful during the dinner to make sure I had room for the cake.  
And I still lost weight!  
After the party I journaled everything I ate – down to the piece of chocolate cake that had a cream filling made of peanut butter and chocolate frosting mixed together with milk.   
Knowing where I was before the party and where I stood afterwards made it easier to fit this celebration into my week.  If I can make it through this week, then I know I can make it through this weight loss journey. 
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Weigh In … Payoff

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Today’s Weight: 219.0

Loss/Gain this week:  -6.0
Total Loss So Far:  – 12.0
Last Monday I finally decided that I needed to adjust my eating habits if I’m going to lose the weight.  I’ve gotten myself into a pretty good exercise regimen and, though I was fighting it with most everything in me, I knew I had to change how I was eating in order to see steady weight loss.  
I decided I would journal what I was eating and stop eating late at night (unless it was a small light snack).
Diane suggested utilizing sparkpeople.com, so I joined them this week to use their food tracking tools. It really helped me to track everything and I found myself being more careful about my choices.  It keeps a running total of your calories, fats, carbs and proteins for the day.  Their calorie “limit” for me seemed low, so I usually went over it by just a bit, but I think that was a quick start thing or something.  Like I said, I’m only really using the site for a quick, easy FREE way to track my food. 
Back to the subject….
Well, it paid off!  I know this is a large loss, but I feel like it was the first real week of working on my weight loss.  It was the first week that I watched what I was eating with the serious attitude of reaching a healthier weight.   
I don’t expect this large of a loss in the weeks to come, but I tell you that it is a thrill to know I’ve finally loss my first 10 pounds, and I’m out of the 220’s.  🙂  
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It Came To Pass

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

When I go through a trial or struggle my mom always reminds me that her mother always used to say, “The Bible says “it came to pass”, so it didn’t come to stay….”  [grin] I was remembering that thought again today as I realized that yesterday and today have been very good post-PMS days.  

Some months the hormones aren’t so bad and some months are horrid.  This was a horrid month and I had almost a week solid where I was about to give up on thinking I could ever lose the weight.  I hate those kinds of days.  It’s like my thinking is all clouded up and even though I know deep inside I will do it, I can’t get my emotions to cooperate.
Well, as is true in every month, those days didn’t come to stay – they “came to pass” and I’m so grateful for that.  I am once again in my sane mind and can picture myself making it to goal.  🙂  Glory!!!!  
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Not easy, but possible

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I admire people who have lost weight and kept it off for any length of time.  I also admire a good friend of mine who has worked hard to keep her weight down, when she also has overweight women in her family history (Steph!!).  

Diane, at fittothefinish.com, said in a recent guest post about her story that “It wasn’t always easy.”  My aforementioned friend has also said before that she just knows it’s going to be something she has to be careful about for the rest of her life.   Notice neither said it was so easy and the weight just dropped off!!  
When I hit those rough days or moments where I just want to eat too much I have to remind myself that no one said it was going to be easy; but they did say that it is possible and can be done.  
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Hard Work

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

My husband is making the kids do some pages in math workbooks throughout the summer so that they don’t forget what they’ve already learned.  It seems harsh (to me), but it’s good because they always have a hard time remembering multiplication and figuring out word problems.  

So, my 8-year-old son just came to me and told me that something was “too hard”.  As we chatted I began to tell him how in just a year he’ll know this stuff so well that he’ll look back and think how easy it is.  I encouraged him that he’ll be so smart!!  I told him how it may seem hard right now, but he’ll get it and it will be worth all the hard work.  
Suddenly I realized that I was preaching to myself.  It may seem hard now to cut out certain foods and calories, but in the end it will be worth it.   Just like my kids’ hard work in school will pay off so will my hard work on losing weight.   
It may not get easier with time for me, but it might; and whether it does or not I will look back on these heavier days and see that hard work really did pay off. 
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Weigh-In … Not surprised

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Today’s weight:  225.0

Loss/gain this week:  + 1.0
Total loss so far:  – 6 lbs.
In all honesty I wasn’t surprised about this gain considering the past week; and last night I really didn’t care what the scale was going to say.  I didn’t pig out on anything, but I do know where I ate a little too much of high-fat-content foods.
Some non-scale positives are that I stayed faithful to exercising every day, even when I didn’t feel like it, and I also stayed away from regular soda this week for the first time in a long while.  I opted for diet when I felt I really wanted a soda.  That’s a big step, because it seems I’ve been drinking regular soda for so long now. 
I know I can’t make excuses for myself going up and down and up and down, so I won’t try.   I really have no desire to be on a strict diet, but I am realizing that in order to lose the weight I’m going to have to be a little more careful about my food choices.  I have the knowledge I need to make it work.  Now I just need to stick to it and get it done.   
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Endorphin Relief

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Leah@MyNewEnding
endorphin:  en-ˈdȯr-fən (noun)  : any of a group of endogenous peptides (as enkephalin) found especially in the brain that bind chiefly to opiate receptors and produce some pharmacological effects (as pain relief) like those of opiates.     
  -Curresty of http://www.merriam-webster.com

I was just about to do my 4-mile workout today when a few things were said within two phone calls and 30 minutes that started to upset me.  They weren’t big issues, or anything that should change my otherwise-good day; however, I felt my emotions take rise and my spirits begin to fall.  

Though I wanted to cry for a minute, I didn’t but just began my workout.  A family member asked me a question and I answered in the least-biting reply voice I could.  
As the workout intensified I began to notice my anger diffusing.  I no longer had the energy to be upset because I had to focus on keeping up with the workout.  Then I no longer had the desire to be angry.  It was as if the anger melted away to the realization that the two things that were upsetting me really weren’t worth being upset about in the first place; one was someone else’s opinion and the other was something that I can’t change.  Finally I realized that this must be the chemical reaction in the brain to exercising.
You see, I’ve heard endorphins are flying through your body after a good workout, and that’s why you feel so happy and ready to conquer the world when you’re done.   Well, I may not understand the science of it all, but I was grateful for those endorphins today.  I felt better physically and emotionally after exercising and was able continue on with my good day!
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