Two Sides to the Story at Christmastime

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I’ve had the worst time getting a thought out correctly today…here goes yet another attempt. 🙂

First side of the story is this: I’m saddened by people who are beating themselves up on their weight loss blogs for eating things “off plan”, seeing a slight gain or maintaining or not finding time to get in the exercise like they normally would.
Folks, it’s a busy time of year. From extra baking, parties, gift purchasing, wrapping and even mailing, programs, the list goes on. For some, weight loss takes a back seat. If you have a slight gain or a maintaining type of backseat, then I think it’s fine.
Don’t beat yourself up for not living up to your normal standards of weight loss when you are so busy. It’s not worth it to be stressed out over your weight during a wonderful time of year as this. Please, just keep in the back of your mind that you want to keep working on getting healthier and enjoy the season! As soon as the holidays are over you’ll have plenty of time to get back into motion with the weight loss goals.
The other side of the story: For me I’m finally “getting it”. My desires as to what I want during the holidays have changed greatly and I rejoice in this fact. I’ve had one too many high calorie days this week already, but I am still journaling all I eat.
I’d still like to see a small loss during December and I think I might. I’m enjoying baking, parties and the like, but I’m also making time for exercise at least three days a week.
Last year I think I all but gave up on exercise during Christmastime. I just didn’t make time for it. This year I feel so much better getting that exercise in that I really am trying to do it when my time allows. Walking into the gym during December is a great feeling – like, “Yea, I’m trying to stay healthy during Christmastime!!”
To sum it up, let me say this… Yes, I’m working on trying to continue my good choices, tracking my food and the like, during the holidays, but if you aren’t that’s okay. I won’t think any less of you if you indulge and quit exercising right now. I may blog about how good I feel about my different attitudes this holiday season, but if it’s not your way lately that’s fine.
We each have our journeys and I hope you don’t lose the joy this season brings because you’re too busy comparing yourself to others. It’s not worth it. Please just keep your chin up and we’ll enjoy hearing about your holidays and what your plans are for getting back on track after the holidays are over.
***BIG HUG***
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One Bit of Red

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I had to edit my update from Friday to note that I did not get that last day of exercise in yesterday. It was a busy day for us and it just didn’t happen.

This week the exercise should be a little easier to get in, or at least I am not working, so that will help.
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Weigh-In … Hot 100 Update #12

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Today’s Weight: 187.5
Loss/Gain: -2.0 lbs
Total Loss So Far: -43.5 lbs
Well, as many of you know my biggest happy moment this week was reaching my running goal of jogging at 4.8 mph on the treadmill for 25 minutes straight!! Today as I was jogging I realized that it’s a good thing I reached this goal a little early, because I won’t be going to the gym after next Wednesday. My husband is taking his final boards’ exam on the 29th & 30th of this month and isn’t around much to watch the kids unless absolutely necessary.
I won’t keep you long as I’m sure you’re all busy with holiday preparations. So, here’s my Hot 100 Challenge update for this week:

WEIGHT GOAL: Lose 0.5 – 1.5 lbs a week (Beginning weight 194.0). I am down this week, which puts me just a pound above my lowest weight so far. Technically I’m doing well, because my minimum of 0.5 lbs a week would put me at 6.0 pounds lost so far and I’ve lost 6.5. yay..I guess. 🙂

ACTIVITY GOALS:Exercise four days a week, no skimping down to three during the holidays. *edited on Sunday* I did not get that 4th days of exercise in…was planning on it for Saturday, but something was added to my already busy day, so it didn’t happen. It was a good reason to miss it, so I’m not too worried. Should be easier next week.

Be able to jog at 4.8 mph for 25 minutes. This gives metime for slight warm up and cool down on the treadmill that has a 30-minute limit at the gym. Done!!!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!! I did this on Tuesday and am thrilled. Actually today I jogged 2.0 miles in seconds under 25 minutes, so I did this two times this week. SO HAPPY!!!

FOOD GOALS: Drink at least 64 oz of water daily. Done . Been getting more like 96 oz in a day lately. 🙂Journal all my eats and drinks and stay within my calorie goals daily, with the exception of one high-calorie day that I allow to throw things off a bit. Yes.

EMOTIONAL GOAL: **I’ve decided to make my emotional goal the goal of visiting one new blog each week. Connecting with others on this journey is the emotional support I need at this time. Yes.

HOLIDAY GOAL: Only one or two “foo-foo” coffee drinks from Starbucks the week I am visiting my mom in November. I will stick to regular coffee and cream the rest of the weeks. Done. I’ve actually been ordering hot tea when I go now. My favorite is the Hot Cinnamon Spice, which you can only find at Barnes & Noble’s Starbucks these days. Yum!

Do you see all that green?!? 🙂 Just a little happy over here in Oklahoma! I tracked what I ate all week and stayed under or just at 1500 calories daily, with the exception of my one high day.

I’ve even allowed myself a cookie or some cinnamon roasted pecans here and there. I simply tracked it and fit it into my day. I also only had one cookie if I had one.

Funny how being careful shows on the scale, huh? =)


I’m planning to stay on track this week and see another loss before our day of festivities. Have a great weekend everyone!!

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My Biggest Loser Confession

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding
*Caution: I’ve wanted to get this off my chest for a very long time.*

Well, I have to admit that I watched every single episode of The Biggest Loser this fall. We don’t have a television, so we watched them a day later online. It’s only the second season we’ve ever watched, but I enjoyed it..most of the time.

My confession is that I have not liked Jessica (red from Arizona) or Elizabeth (yellow from the east coast) at all. They have irritated me. Mainly Elizabeth, because of her quitting attitude. Yet somehow she made it to the final four.
I have no really good reason for not liking Jessica, but she resonated the wrong way with me.
As for Elizabeth…
This is the critical, ugly Leah coming out, but I did not feel that Elizabeth deserved one bit to make it to the final four. She was up for elimination how many times???? [shaking head] She kept not giving it her all how many weeks??
Or did she?
This is the thought that is hard for me to handle, and why I must confess.
I have a feeling that the reason I didn’t like Elizabeth so much is because I saw so much of myself in her. Now, I’m not that whiny one bit. For the most part I also don’t try to act like I’m doing the best I can – I know when I’m not giving it my all – but I do see the need for someone else to push me, congratulate me and the slacking when I could do better in me.
Ada has been my hero on this show, but I think I’m more like Elizabeth than any of them and that bugs me. (Um, I think I see some of myself in Jessica too, so maybe that’s part of my dislike for her.)
Argh…. If you know me personally, or even as personal as blog following can get, you might agree with my husband that I’m nothing like Elizabeth. But don’t they say that the person you usually dislike the most is most like you?
*sigh* So, I while I have tried to be gracious with Elizabeth when watching the show, it’s been hard.
There. That’s my confession. I find so much inspiration from that show, but this season she really had me upset at times. I think, in a way, maybe it was a good eye opener for me as to how I’ve treated my weight loss journey.
While I know the changes I’ve made in my life are great and life lasting, I know I could do better. I will do better. And I guess I can be gracious enough to say that I was happy to see her comment during the finale that it’s not over for her, she will keep working on it until she reaches her goal.
Me too, Elizabeth, me too.
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My First Year As A Runner

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

One year ago on December 16th I posted about how I jogged my first mile all the way through. It took me 16 minutes and I was never so proud of a workout as I was that day.

I still can’t tell you what spurred me to try running, but after seeing I could run a mile I decided to try more. I had caught the running bug.
In January I started the Couch to 5K running program and ran my first 5K in April. It was a turtle pace, but I jogged that entire 5K in 43:44.
On and off since then I’ve continued my running. Today I’m happy to say that I reached my running goal for the Hot 100 Challenge by jogging for 25 minutes straight at 4.8 mph. I actually felt like I was at a quick, easy pace for me for the first three quarters of the run. It didn’t become really difficult until the last 5-10 minutes. By then I was almost done, so I knew I couldn’t quit.
One year and twenty some pounds later and I’ve improved my running from a 16-minute mile to a 12:30-minute mile for two miles consecutively. Glory!!
With improvements like this I’ll be quick as a cricket in no time! (Mom, that was for you… *grin*)
Have a great day everyone!!
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Weigh-In … Hot 100 Update #11

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding


Today’s Weight: 189.5

Loss/Gain: +/- 0
Total Loss So Far: -41.5
My weigh-in days are back to Fridays since the Throwdown Challenge. It will workout well because the Hot 100 Challenge last weigh-in will also be the last day of the year! 🙂
It’s been an interesting week for me. Busy, a little stressed at moments and not the best in eating. Though I journaled daily I didn’t not stay within weight-loss calories daily and it showed. I’m happy that I didn’t see a gain, but I knew I would not see a loss.
Nonetheless, here’s my update:

WEIGHT GOAL: Lose 0.5 – 1.5 lbs a week (Beginning weight 194.0). Maintained this week and now I feel like I’m falling behind. So, I’m not too pleased with my weight goal today.

ACTIVITY GOALS:Exercise four days a week, no skimping down to three during the holidays. Done!! I even got up an exercised early this morning before working today. Go me! I felt so good and was very happy that I didn’t wait until Saturday to get that fourth day in.

Be able to jog at 4.8 mph for 25 minutes. This gives metime for slight warm up and cool down on the treadmill that has a 30-minute limit at the gym.I’m really hoping so. I jogged one more day this week and it wasn’t as easy as a month ago. I’m determined to get as close to 25 minutes at 4.8 mph as I can. 🙂

FOOD GOALS: Drink at least 64 oz of water daily. Done Journal all my eats and drinks and stay within my calorie goals daily, with the exception of one high-calorie day that I allow to throw things off a bit. Done, though my calories weren’t weight-loss many days, so this is in yellow. It wasn’t even sweets – just crackers and carb-o junk. hmm….I’ll be working on this.

EMOTIONAL GOAL: **I’ve decided to make my emotional goal the goal of visiting one new blog each week. Connecting with others on this journey is the emotional support I need at this time. Yes.

HOLIDAY GOAL: Only one or two “foo-foo” coffee drinks from Starbucks the week I am visiting my mom in November. I will stick to regular coffee and cream the rest of the weeks. Done.

Have a great weekend and thanks for checking in!

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An Epiphany?

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

It’s late so I have to make this quick…

This week my husband and I have been talking about our health some more. We’ve also been talking about the health of our children, none of which are or ever have been overweight. He said after the first of the year he’s heading back to the gym. I casually asked him if he’d consider being okay with me not buying any more soda for the house? He said that was fine, and “we can all just start ordering water at restaurants.”
HUGE. Just HUGE, because there was a day he said, “I’ll never quit drinking soda.”
Now, he did say he might grab one at lunch or here or there once in a while, but he okay’d for me to quit buying it.
So, we told the kids we are going to try and eat better, not for weight, but for health, and we are going to stop buying soda. They seem okay with this.
I also suggested that maybe we would cut out chips, or limit it to one bag in the pantry at a time and only eating a serving at a time with a meal, not as snacks. My girls pipe up with, “We don’t need chips.” and my son is not paying attention.
I reassured them I’d still put candy in their stockings because they were only a little concerned about that. 🙂 I also said that we would bake, but limit how much we ate.
The kids are totally into this, well, the girls are. My son hasn’t commented much and I think he’ll have the hardest time with the snacks. I know he’ll get used to it, because I’ve never really allowed him to eat as much as he wants anyway.
These changes sound more drastic than they really are, but they are the ones we are committing to starting this week.
My epiphany in all of this?
I realized tonight these changes are going to require some responsibility on my part. I’m going to have to make sure there is fresh produce around for snacking all the time and not get lazy about cooking healthier meals.
And I can no longer hide behind my family as an excuse for not losing weight. If they are fine with no chips, crackers and soda in the house, then there will be no reason for it to be there. If my husband is willing to eat a little healthier, then I can no longer say that I will cook certain ways simply to please him.
Folks, this scares me. It scares me to think I have to come out of hiding and rise to the challenge that leading a good example will be at times. I can’t expect them to stay away from junk if I’m dipping into it in secret.
It also scares me to think that now I need to learn how to be the “healthier mom”. I believe all things in moderation are okay (read: I’m not cutting out desserts, but saving them for special time), but I’m wishing tonight I could have a cook here for a month to show me how to do this.
There’s more to our healthiness conversations, but this is all I have time to share for now. It’s a huge deal for me and I am going to face it and come out the victor. The first step is acknowledging it and realizing it’s something I need to learn how to deal with.
Thanks for reading. 🙂 G’nite all!
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Happy Monday Thoughts

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

Some happy weight-loss related thoughts this Monday:

I no longer am double the weight of my almost-13-year-old twins! They weight just over 100 lbs. and I’m under half of their weight.
…..
I ran into someone at the store on Friday who used to walk regularly at a gym I went to. We commented on how we haven’t been there in a long time, but I said my reason is because I have been going to the gym at the base. They both himmed and hawed about how they just got busy in the summer and hardly go anymore. It felt good to know that my not going to that particular gym since last spring was only the result of my changing gyms, not quitting my exercise. How many times have I been those ladies in the past? Lots.
…..
My slip is getting so big that it hangs and buckles under my skirts. It’s starting to bug me, but it’s also a fun reminder that I’m losing weight!!
…..

I only want one candy in my stocking ( a Reese’s PB tree) and no more. My husband has agreed to do my stocking this year. (yay for him!) The fact that I’m not drooling over how much candy I can buy and eat is another sign of change in my healthiness attitude.
I’ll stop there for today. I hope you’re week is off to a good start. Maybe you can take a few minutes to stop and jot down some happy thoughts about your weight loss journey this week. If you feel you don’t have any, then pick one unhappy one and see if you can turn that proverbial frown upside down.
That’s what this is all about – one day at a time, one step at a time. Have a good one!
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Vanity, Vanity

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding

I had to stop in and say that I did indeed get my fourth day of exercise in today. We’ve had a busy and productive Saturday, and quite honestly I didn’t want to workout. Well, I did want to workout because I knew I needed to and I would feel better if I did, but in all my vanity and laziness I didn’t want to.

This morning I slept in a bit, worked on a computer project and then got ready to go out. I tell you truthfully that I felt I had gotten “cute” for my day of errands and a soccer game for my son and I didn’t want to ruin that.
Sad (giggling), but true. Pure vanity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “bling” type of girl, but it was a good hair day and Ih ad on my new cargo pants that make me feel slim and “cute”. LOL I knew once I worked out I would be sweaty and looking more like cleaning house than out Christmas shopping.

I got over my vanity and did the 30-day shred. I sure do feel better now that I did it, so of course I’m glad I did. Now I can get dinner going, shower and relax for the evening. (still giggling)
See you on Monday!
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Hot 100 Update #10

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Leah@MyNewEnding


Well folks, we’re entering into the last month of our Hot 100 Challenge. Now that my Throwdown Challenge is over I feel I can really concentrate these last four weeks on the Hot 100 and on meeting my goals.

This past week went horrible. I have to say that I ate fine at my Thanksgiving dinner, but the days following I fell into a slacker, sort of vacation mode that left me with a rather large gain. I’m a bit upset by it, but I know what went wrong and I will deal with that.

WEIGHT GOAL: Lose 0.5 – 1.5 lbs a week (Beginning weight 194.0). I am up 2.5 lbs this week. yikes. I know where I went wrong, so I am fixing that. I’ve decided that I will not be in the group of people who gains weight over the Christmas season this year. I’m determined to lose five pounds this month, and I’d really like to see how close to 180 I can get. We’ll see… I’m typing this post while on an endorphin high from exercising, so I may be a bit optimistic at the moment. LOL

ACTIVITY GOALS:Exercise four days a week, no skimping down to three during the holidays. Three down and one scheduled for tomorrow.

Be able to jog at 4.8 mph for 25 minutes. This gives metime for slight warm up and cool down on the treadmill that has a 30-minute limit at the gym. Today was my first day running in almost a month. It was hard, but I left with such an awesome feeling of accomplishment. I drove home thinking, “If I could just bottle up these feeling and sip on it all day…” 🙂 It reminded me why I enjoy jogging. I get the hardest workout ever, but the best feeling of strength and accomplishment right afterwards that makes it all worth it. 🙂

FOOD GOALS: Drink at least 64 oz of water daily.I think I’ve gotten this done four out of seven days. I honestly can’t remember… Journal all my eats and drinks and stay within my calorie goals daily, with the exception of one high-calorie day that I allow to throw things off a bit. No. THIS IS MY PROBLEM and it will be fixed this week. I started journaling again yesterday.

EMOTIONAL GOAL: **I’ve decided to make my emotional goal the goal of visiting one new blog each week. Connecting with others on this journey is the emotional support I need at this time. No. However, I am keeping up with a person I met through this challenge, so that is nice.

HOLIDAY GOAL: Only one or two “foo-foo” coffee drinks from Starbucks the week I am visiting my mom in November. I will stick to regular coffee and cream the rest of the weeks. Done. I almost had one last night, because I wanted one and was going to not care about good choices until today. Then I realized that was kind of dumb thinking. I knew this would probably be the one thing I have managed to keep on top of in this challenge, so I didn’t want to break my green color for my holiday goal. 🙂 I’m adding to this holiday goal to actually see a loss this month.

So, there you have it. This past week I enjoyed some wonderful company with family and then let myself fall back into old habits without caring…until the scale went up. Well, I’ve realized that I can’t be that nonchalant yet with my eating. So, yes I am very busy this next month, but I will be sure to journal daily and make those moments recording my food moments to also keep myself focused on my health goals during a season of baking and eating. 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone!

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