Weigh-In … Late again? oops..

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Today’s Weight:  167.5
Loss/Gain:  + 0.5 lb
Well, my Friday just flew by and I never sat down to blog my weight.  Oops.  I really wasn’t trying to avoid telling.  🙂  Usually on Fridays I am home cleaning and I take a break to blog my weigh in; however, yesterday I was out at a birthday lunch, then a basketball game after school and then we had three extra kids for a sleepover.
Time flew by.
So..about this gain.  I’m not surprised, since I did tell you earlier this week that my eating wasn’t so great.
But…
I’m happy to say that things are getting back on track.  I have been tracking my food and really deciding that I am going to do what it takes to keep losing.
I began reading my new book Train Like a Mother and am trying to figure out how I can eat well for running and still lose some more weight.  I want to pursue my running goals, but not let the running take away from reaching my weigh loss goal.
So, that’s kind of where my mind is right now on the health side of things.  We are having warm weather and I’m also getting the itch to reorganize a room and finish up a crochet project.  So, my days are staying busy and I think that is a good thing…to keep me away from snacking.  🙂
I hope you are having a nice weekend and thanks for checking in on me!
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1st Run of 2013

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Leah@MyNewEnding
I did it..I braved the cold and went out for a run yesterday. 
Okay, so it wasn’t the 36 degrees it was when I took the kids to school earlier in the morning, but it was chilly.  Actually, no it wasn’t even chilly.  When I started out I thought, “Ooh..I may not need my sweat jacket.”  About 3/4 of the way in I finally took it off and tied it around my waist.  
It was lovely.  A little cloudy, cool, but not freezing.  
The run was a little rough for me.  I took it easy and ran three miles, trying not to push myself to hard.
I felt slow, which I think was due mostly in part to a lack of proper hydration.  From the little running experience I have, and the little I’ve learned by reading and talking to people, water makes a huge difference in running.  If you’re not hydrated well and then you push yourself to sweat like that…not good.
Anyway, rough or not it felt so good to be outside and to come home having finished [almost] 3 miles.  
It also felt good to wave to a few runners and walkers around my neighborhood.  I love being sociable with my neighbors.  I also love being one of “those people”you see getting their exercise in.  
Is that vain?  I hope not.  I don’t mean it to be.  I just don’t think I’ll ever tire of remembering where I’ve come from and feeling so blessed to have changed with regards to my health.
Weather permitting, I’m looking forward to another run on Friday.  🙂
Note:  Please excuse the photo background..it was laundry day and my only full length mirror happens to be in my room, where I sort laundry.  lol
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Book Gifts & A Reminder

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Yesterday I got some mail…Christmas presents!
Well, okay..we received a gift card to Amazon.com and I decided to purchase two books I’ve had on my wish list with my portion of the gift.  They arrived in the mail yesterday and I can’t wait to start reading. 
I heard about Run Like a Mother soon after it came out and the first copy I purchased I read through before giving it to a friend of mine.  I’ve bought a couple copies since then as gifts, but never for myself.
When I heard the Another Mother Runner ladies came out with a second book I was super excited; though not excited enough to run out and purchase it immediately I guess.  *sheepish grin*  I guess a new shirt or something must’ve caught my eye first.  lol 
Actually, come to think of it, I think I didn’t run out to buy it right away because I figured I wasn’t running any serious distances or races yet, so I didn’t need the book.  Yep, that was it!
However, as anyone who’s read my blog for a while knows, now that I’ve run two 10K races I officially consider myself a runner.  
So, when we received this gift card, and I looked over my Amazon wish list, I decided to go ahead and get both books for my library; one to read again for fun and one to maybe learn a thing or two about training for a race.  Woot!
Speaking of learning…
My food intake hasn’t been the best since my weigh in.  Dang.  Unfortunately, my water has taken a great hit, so that’s my focus right now.  I need to get more water in.  I think I’m munching when I’m just thirsty.  Well, that and I need stop the munching and remind myself that if I’m not hungry I don’t need to eat. 
And that thought is why I was happy to see this little bit of wordly wisdom on a fitness Pinterest board last night: 
I think I’ll print it out and put it on my fridge, and my bedroom mirror, and my computer…Kidding.  Sort of.
Oh, how I need this reminder for my weight loss, and every area of life actually.  🙂 
Have a good day!
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Weigh-In … I’m Back!!

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Today’s Weight:  167.0
Loss/Gain:  -2.0 lbs.
aahhh… *contented sigh*
Yesterday I had a great chat with my healthiness buddy/best friend/motivator and boy was it great!  I am back in the groove. I feel like the old/new Leah is back and there is hope once again for weight loss. 
Over the past week I’ve been thinking about what do I need to change to get back on track.  I had a moment or two in my overeating days around Christmas where I wondered if I would be able to keep losing, as in be able to get myself back on track.  Some scary thoughts tried to creep in.
Thankfully, I reminded myself I never want to go back and just kept thinking about what I need to do to get back on track.  These thoughts kept coming to mind:
  • Just do what you already know.
  • Get back to the basics. (track food, drink water, exercise, eat healthier, etc.)
  • There’s no special plan.
  • Eat less and move more.
Those thoughts were confirmed by this great post, “The Magic Secret“, my friend told me about.  
To top it all off I also found it kind of cute and timely that my new calendar is titled like this: 
Every month has some drawing about reaching for goals, trying again, etc. etc.  I just love it.  It’s like the extra little push I needed to get going back in the right direction.  I’ll have to thank Mary Engelbreit for her divine inspiration.  🙂

Thanks for checking in folks, and as always…it’s not over!!! 🙂

Have a great weekend! 

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Happy 2013 !

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Well, here we are….a new year.  I am appreciating this time of year; time to refresh myself after a very busy holiday season.  The Christmas decor is put away, the kids will head back to school in a couple of days and I feel I’ll be able to focus on weight loss again.  Which is a good thing, because I have a slight problem…
We bought new University of Oklahoma t-shirts for our family for Christmas and I misread the sizes when ordering mine. Um, it’s too small.  I thought I was buying it a tad fitted, but turns out its definitely too small to wear in public. 
Instead of exchanging it I decided to make it a motivator for me to get back on track.   I’m a little nervous, because I keep thinking what if it’s still too snug at my goal weight? It’s an 8/10.  Hhhhmmm… 
Well, I’ve decided to just try and see.  
So, my main goal for 2013 is … to fit into this shirt:

I would also like to run another 10K, or two, this year.
Okay..interruption…I have a confession…
When I look at those pictures I’m amazed it’s me.  I haven’t been this size, and stayed there, for so many years that I was surprised to see how small I look when my daughter showed me the shots.
So, while I grin when I realize I’m this thinner version of my[old]self…having this t-shirt be too tight was a good reminder for me.  It gives me a motivation to deal with a deeper issue that I still struggle with in my health — eating when I’m not hungry, too often.
It’s not about the size of clothes for me, it’s about getting control over the overeating and making healthier food choices. (I’m fighting with the healthier choices sometimes still…)
So, 2013…I’m ready.  I know it won’t be easy, but I also know I’ve come a long way and with God all things are possible!  
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Reviewing 2012 Goals

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Leah@MyNewEnding
It is New Year’s Eve and yesterday I took some time to look over my first post of 2012 to see if I’m anywhere near where I wanted to be with regards to my health. 
While my weigh-in was less-than-stellar, I looked over my 2012 goals and realized this year wasn’t all that bad.  
Here is a bit of the post and goals I set and how I did.  

So, in the spirit of life goals and resolutions I have the following plans for 2012:

  • I will continue striving for better, in all aspects of my life – especially getting cards/gifts in the mail on time…I’ve gotten really bad about that lately.   I did make progress in this area.  Not all packages got out on time, but the majority of them did.  I’m becoming more conscious of this and continue striving for better.  
  • I will stay focused on reaching a healthy weight without allowing myself to feel like a failure if I have a setback. It is time to finish the losing leg of this journey.  Officially I am 12.5 pounds lighter than the last weigh-in before the New Year last year.  I knew I could have been to goal by now, and I won’t lie..I kind of wish I was.  However, I’ve learned something about me and my weight over the past 4-5 months (pretty much since hitting 170) and I think if I can embrace what I’ve observed, learn from it and put the learning into practice..I can truly finish the weight loss.  Oh, and I have done much better about not beating myself up for setbacks.  I lost weight this year.  That is victory!
  • I will run in a 5K race this year. I decided it’s time to run another race. My plan is to lose more weight and in turn better my race time since I’ll be carrying less weight. I’m thinking next fall will be a nice time to race. My time to beat is: 43:44  Well, I did not run a 5K race this year…I ran TWO 10K races instead.  🙂  And over the course of the year I’ve had many 5K runs with times down around 35 minutes.  I think this is my greatest accomplishment this year.  I not only beat the 43:44 for the 5K time, but I was challenged to run double the distance and I did it.  Go me!
*whew* This year was not as bad as this past week.  The good out-measured the bad and I’ve come out on top.  
And that is what life is about…as one of my favorite quotes states: 
Success consists of getting up once oftener than you fall down.  
Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and I’ll be back tomorrow with some new goals for the new year.  
Oh, and as always..thanks for checking in on me.  I always appreciate the support of my friends and family through this journey.  🙂 
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Weigh-In … Expected Holiday Gain

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Today’s Weight:  169.0
Loss/Gain:  +1.5 lbs.

Okay, first off…I meant to hop on here Friday and post this weight quick, even if I didn’t have time to write anything else, but my time got away from me.  After days of being lazy I got busy again cleaning up house and preparing things for my twins’ birthday.  My girls are 15 years old today!

Back to my weight…

Short Story:
I was embarrassed of my weight, but want to be honest.  This was a weird week and I overate way too much.  Now I am ready to reign things back in, so I knew the weight will come back off.  Silver Lining is I did exercise two days last week…which is better than none.

Long Story:
I must admit I almost didn’t post my weight on Friday.  I was embarrassed in a way.  Not so much because of the number, but because of how I’d been eating from about Christmas Eve on.  Oh my! I texted my mom and my accountability partner/best friend, but I was like “oh my!! I’m a horrible example during the holidays!!”  So, I didn’t want to post my weight.

However, one thing I have always committed to on this blog is to being honest and posting my weight every week no matter how bad or good it is.

So, there it is.  Three pounds heavier than when I started my last-100-days-of-the-year-challend, and ten pounds over where I wanted to be.  Darn.

Now, I titled this post as the “Expected Holiday Gain”, but something happened this past week or so that I did not expect.

My mind went into a sort of pre-weight loss journey mode and I was eating like I used to.  There’s lots of thoughts going through my mind about why this happened and maybe if I figure it out I’ll come back to write more about it later.

It was just plain weird…and scary.

And it didn’t even feel well.

The food–mainly junk and candy–tasted good going in, especially early in the day, but as the day progressed my stomach would begin to get upset.  Tums became my evening snack more than a few evenings.

My body is simply not into eating like I used to, but for some reason I didn’t stop.  That’s the part that scared me a little.

Thankfully, it has scared me enough to remember that I don’t want to go back to a 232-pound inactive mom.  So, my mind is ready to get back to work eating better.

I also want to figure out what possessed me to binge like that.  I hate that word, but I think that’s kind of what I was doing.  After the kids go to school I’ll have more time to think and get my thoughts down and in order.  I can’t help but feel like if I can figure out why I did that, then I’ll be better prepared to not repeat it next year.

Oh, and I did go to the gym twice last week and once my son and husband joined me.  There’s the silver lining to this cloud of mixed-up-ness.  🙂

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Tuesdays Unwrapped – Christmas

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Leah@MyNewEnding
This post has been brewing in my mind since late Christmas Eve, but I was busy enjoying time with my family and was not able to write it until just now.  This is the last of my “Tuesdays Unwrapped” posts for the Christmas season.  

Tomorrow will be back to normal weight loss blogging.  🙂  


This Christmas was wonderful for me.  It has been an absolutely crazy busy month for us and while we had fourteen extra people over for dinner on Christmas Eve we spent Christmas Day alone.  
Fun.  Quiet.  Lounging.  Eating.  Peaceful. 
It was glorious.  
We didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything specific.  I prepared meals throughout the day that were simple and didn’t do any major cleaning until cleaning up the kitchen after the evening meal.  
I loved it.  
More than all the lazy, lounging fun I also loved the reason for such peace in our home. 
The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  
My husband and I are born again Christians.  Our devotion to Jesus and making God the head of our home is why we can all stay home and enjoy our time together.  
He is why we all want to be together on a holiday.
Not everyone’s home is like this, and I’m aware of how very blessed I am that no matter what happens in my life God is in control of it all.  
We sing a swing beat worship song in our church with a verse that goes like this: 
God is greater than my problems,  greater than my fears,
He is greater than my failings and faithful through the years
He is greater than the enemy and every human plan
Every word of God will always stand
Yes, God is greater and His word will always stand.  And this Christmas I was reminded of that.  May we never forget the reason behind this season…
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Weigh-In … Enjoying Myself

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Today’s Weight: 167.0
Loss/Gain:  +1.5
So…my scale has been down the past couple days and then I gained two pounds last night.  Um…whatever.
This week has been busy, but not as crazy as last week and I’m grateful for that.  I’ve been enjoying getting some wrapping done and last night I got some baking done.  No, I did not eat two pounds worth of fudge and cinnamon roasted pecans.  lol
Anyway, so I’m not sure why the scale decided to jump today, but it is what it is.
I’ve had three days of great workouts and drank 64 oz of water daily.  I have not tracked my food, but instead tried to make good choices and eat more like weight loss portions.
Over the past week I’ve wondered a few times if I’ll ever be a person who reaches for veggies and hummus instead of bread and cheese.  Hhhmm…not sure, but definitely something I’m going to work on in 2013.
I can say that I do find myself eating less than I ever did before during the holidays.  I’m much more aware of how much I’m eating, as in feeling full and learning I’m done.  I am also reminded that my body prefers less greasy foods – read: unsettled stomach after heavier meals.  blech.
So, while I shall once again not be the gold medalist of healthy eating at Christmastime I can say one thing…I am a new Leah with regards to the holidays.  I am learning to enjoy the memorable moments and not just how much extra food I get to eat.
Speaking of moments…I need to go get ready for a puppet performance my children and I are in this afternoon.  We are performing a puppet Christmas play with our church puppet team on the military base during a family fun event.  Joy!
Have a great weekend.  I hope you have fun getting the last minute items checked off your to-do lists and can find some time to relax too.
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Tuesdays Unwrapped – Quality Time

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Leah@MyNewEnding
Yes, I’m behind…but this was lower on the priority list than shopping, mailing, exercising, etc.  I know you understand.  🙂
*****

Years ago, when our children were about five and three years old my husband decided he would give each child $5.00 and take them one at a time Christmas shopping for their siblings at the dollar store.  Over the course of a single day he took them one by one to make their purchases and then they would come home and wrap their gifts. 

They loved the shopping and wrapping, and they especially loved getting to keep the change.  I loved being at home and watching each one return to the house with their treasures and then come out of the bedroom, wrapped gifts in hand, and place their gifts under the tree.  They were always so excited!
As they grew older I  began a chart for each child and they started earning their Christmas shopping money by doing extra chores around the house.  The first chart had boxes worth twenty five cents each and I would say things like, “Will you put this in the other room for Mommy?  You can mark a box off on your chart!”  They would gladly do extra little things around the house to earn their money.  
Then payday would come and they would go out on their little shopping trips with Papi to purchase something for their siblings.  Our hope was to teach them to be giving at Christmastime and to also learn how wonderful it feels to know you paid for your gifts all by yourself.  
Time has past, the gifts are more than a dollar now, but the tradition continues.  While this fall and Christmas season have been the busiest one we’ve seen in a long time the kids have managed to find some time to do a few extra chores around.  My son did some weeding and extra yard work, one of my daughters did extra kitchen cleanup one busy day and her twin sister polished all my silverware for Thanksgiving dinner.  
This year I took each of the kids out on the shopping trips because my husband has been busy with military responsibilities taking him out of town, or preparing to leave out of town.  I’ve taken them out on three different evenings.  
We start with a trip to Starbucks for a drink, coffee for me and a hot chocolate for them, and then we head out to the stores.  We’ve enjoyed chatting while we shopped, running into folks we know at different stores and just spending time together. 
What I’ll remember forever about this year’s shopping adventures is how each trip I was able to learn a little more about each one of my children individually.  It’s interesting the topics that came up and how each one of them shared in their own unique ways about their daily life.  
They are growing up, these kids of mine.  I’ve written in many a Christmas card this year that I’ve traded changing diapers and chasing toddlers for driving my kids all over the place.  And while there are moments I miss them as little ones I am greatly enjoying the young people they are becoming.
Now, more than ever, I’m also grateful for these little bits of quality time I’m able to spend with each of them.  I’m also grateful that they want to spend it with me.  
Some day they will grow up and begin lives of their own away from our nest.  I know it won’t be easy to let them go, but I also know I’ll always have these memories to treasure forever.

Read more Tuesdays Unwrapped here.

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