WOO-HOO -- Stage 3 Complete (and successful!!)

GOAL REACHED. . .40 lbs GONE!  (Before and after pics coming soon)

I have reached the end of my second round of dieting, therefore completing Stage 3 of my (diabolical?) plan!  Now on to Stage 4. . .

• Stage 1: Initial round of dieting
• Stage 2: 9 week period of stabilization
• Stage 3: Second round of dieting
• Stage 4: Stabilizing, slowly losing down to final goal weight

On the advice of my excellent chiropractor and wellness coach, Dr. Michelle Robin, I have decided to reach my final goal weight in 10 lb increments.  But as of the end of Stage 3, I have succeeded in reaching my initial goal of 40 lbs lighter! (this is after both rounds of dieting, not just during stage 3)  From here I will slowly, through clean eating and exercise, reach for 10 lbs off at a time, and see how I feel at those benchmarks and decide whether or not I can maintain or continue losing.

Stage 4 is all about smart eating--I'll be posting strategies and tips for doing this, exercising 3-4 days/week--more tips, and lots and lots of love and grace for myself and my relationship with the scale.

Even though it's been almost a month since I've posted, you have all been on my mind.  Knowing that there are a handful of people out there pulling for and praying for me has made a difference, and I am grateful!  Even if you can't post a comment here on the blog (crazy sign-in requirements, etc), please comment on Facebook if you can. . .I'd love to hear from you!

One word of explanation: I have specifically not shared the specific plan I have used to lose weight because there are those who would (and have) criticize and judge me.  I understand that what I have done is extreme, but it worked and is working for me.  Just yesterday I spoke with my doctor about stopping my blood pressure medicine completely.  My energy levels are at an all time high.  For me, that's success. Plus, I have a plan to go forward.  One that is NOT extreme, but healthy, and designed just for me.  What works for me, may not work for you.  But be encouraged by my success, know that SUCCESS can be yours too.  It's just a matter of finding what works for you and giving yourself the grace and permission to see it through, no matter what the critics say.

Many blessings, my friends!

~Dawn

Steady as she goes!

Day 17 of my second round, and I'm doing quite well, thank you!

This round has been about the same as last, with one important exception: I've know what to expect.  At the beginning, I didn't experience the headache and "detoxing" feeling I had the first time, but other than that it's been precisely what I anticipated.

I am now down by 18.5% since starting at the end of May. And after taking my measurements this morning, I've lost a total of 24.75 inches!!  I'm still too shy to share my actual weight, so maybe at the end when the goal is closer, k?

This time has seen more temptation.  I'm alone most of the day, for most of the week.  There are no people around to witness any cheating, so I have to be true to myself and stick to the plan.  And so far, so good.

Having an incredibly supportive husband goes a long way, let me tell you.  He's taken on the responsibility of feeding himself and our girls dinner each night.  I've planned the meals, but he is doing the cooking and overseeing dinner while I fix my own separate meal.  Tonight he's going to grill up a bunch of chicken for me, too.  I am so blessed!

No great words of wisdom today (have there ever been??), and no big revelations.  Except to say, "I'm plugging along!"

I hope your day is blessed!!

~Dawn

Genius idea. . .possibly!

This post may seem a little "off topic" but for me it is not.  Simplifying and stream-lining my life and work has always been a passion of mine and it seemed like a fun idea to share one of these ideas in blog-land!

With the new school year off to a roaring start, I noticed that my children, both girls: Fashionista (9) and Mini-Me (6), were having a terrible time getting ready on time in the morning (without me pushing, prodding and otherwise coaxing them).  In addition to that, they resembled tornadoes upon arriving home in the afternoon.  Over the summer we had gotten away from any semblance of structure, so it was time to brainstorm how to bring order to this chaos. 

This is where the "healthiest me" comes into the picture.  If I am a screaming mess by the time I get them to school, that's not good for anyone.  And if I spent a morning or afternoon picking up and cleaning the house, I'm NOT happy when my kids walk in the door and start leaving a trail of shoes, backpacks, papers, barrettes, socks and lunch bags.  So this is as much about self-care as it is teaching responsibility to my offspring !

In the past, we have used lists to help the girls stay on track.  When they were very little and pre-readers we used pictures that depicted what they were to be doing: making a bed, brushing teeth, etc.  Then we graduated to written lists. The challenge with both types of lists was that they were in one location (in the kitchen on the fridge or whiteboard) so the girls had to run back and forth to check their lists to see what they needed to do next.  While I don't usually enforce a strict 1,2,3 order to their tasks, I think doing it this way does encourage the formation of habit and can very quickly lead to auto-pilot-like behavior. I hoped. . . 

So enter my brainstorming session.  How can I make it easier to check the list?  I had tried putting separate lists in the various rooms where the tasks took place.  

• Kitchen: eat breakfast, take vitamin
• Bedroom: make bed, get dressed
• Bathroom: go potty, wash hands, brush teeth

But that didn't work very well either (in fact, worse then one central list).  So I then the light bulb came one: LANYARDS!  Yes!  I could make lists specific to each daughter and attach it to a lanyard that she would wear until everything was done. 

So I set about finding some.  Fortunately, a friend had some extras laying around at work and was kind enough to let me use 2 of them.  (Thanks, friend!)  

This morning I followed these steps to make my girls' lanyards:

1. Typed up lists for each daughter - for morning and afternoon - giving specific details if necessary (Wednesdays-put library books in your backpack)
2. Cut out, attached to both sides and laminated to 4x6 index cards using packaging tape
3. Clipped lanyards to the cardss

Here's what they look like (I chose index cards in their favorite colors):

Morning list on left, afternoon on right

And if there is something usual that needs to happen, then I can simply attach a sticky note to the card, on the appropriate side.  I'm also going to employ our kitchen whiteboard for various daily tasks for which they are responsible.

I am so excited to see how these in action!  Maybe I'll snap a pic of the Fashionista and Mini-Me using them, and post those later.

Here's to your healthiest self!

~Dawn

Here we go!

Today marks Day 1 of the next phase of my weight reduction plan.  This diet will last for a set period of time, after which I plan to be at my goal weight.  Watch the ticker above for updates as my weight falls.

I'm excited about this part because, from past experience I know a few things:

1. I know HOW to do it.  Food lists, timing, cravings, etc. I know what to expect and can be adequately prepared for whatever comes up.

2. I know it WORKS!  My last round saw a loss of almost 25 lbs. and because I know what I'm doing this time, I expect the same or better.

3. My family does just fine.  From making two different dinners to eating out to family events.  I have an extremely supportive husband and children.  During the last round my youngest was concerned that I was sad during my diet, but I explained that it was for a set amount of time and after it was over, I'd be healthier.  That made her happy and I hope taught that the lesson of "short term sacrifice, long term gain (so to speak).

I've added a new feature to my blog: Followers.  If you'd like to be notified automatically when I post, just use the link to the right.  To be honest I'm not positive about how it works, but try it and let me know what happens!

I begin this new challenge at only 1.7 lbs over where I finished at the end of the last round.  And that was 8 weeks ago!  Needless to say, I'm eager to get this show on the road.

Going strong!

Just "hanging out" here in maintenance-land...but have not been more than 4 lbs over my ending weight almost 7 weeks ago!  I still have more to go as you can see from ticker on the right.  But I have absolute confidence it will happen.

The plan right now is to begin the next phase of dieting right after Labor Day, and finish up right before my husband's birthday.  More importantly, I'll be done with stabilization well before the holidays begin!

The challenge this time around is that I am going back to school.  Yes, I've just registered for a class at our local community college as a prerequisite for entering a training program which give me the training I need to enter the career of my dreams!  Fortunately, it is only the one class for this semester. However, it's been a LONG time since I was in school and back then I didn't have a husband, house and children to care for along with my studies.  But I know I can do this, so I'm going in with my eyes wide open, readying strategies for challenges and set-backs.

This can-do attitude has permeated my life in the last several months and it's a beautiful thing!

Maintainence, baby!

Sorry for not posting for. . .oh my. . .a month!  Even though I haven't written about it, I've been hard at work getting used to my new body shape, new eating habits and strategizing for the next stage of my weight loss.

And to my shock and amazement it hasn't been nearly as difficult as I once feared.  For many years I used the excuse that if the weight cam off I wouldn't be able to maintain it. . .but with a few new habits I have been able to prove myself wrong.  It hasn't been a long time, but the scale has stayed within 2.5 lbs of my ending weight (from the diet) for the last month.  Here's what I'm doing:

1. Tracking, tracking, tracking!  It cannot be over-emphasized, you must track what you eat, water you take in and weigh yourself at regular intervals.  I do all 3 on a daily basis.  Some of the food tracking I do is frustrating because I don't really know how much I had of something (I do NOT measure everything) but I record it anyway and make my best guess.  Just that simple awareness of what I put in my mouth and the ownership of that behavior has helped me to walk away from the fridge or pantry many times in the last month.  Water is another crucial factor.  I learned very recently that the body can only metabolize fat stores with proper hydration!  And as for weighing myself.  I give myself a lot of grace and weigh on a daily basis.  If I start seeing an upward trend over the course of a few, I know what I need to do and I do it without judgement.

2. Add exercise, in any form you love (or can learn to love).  A long time ago I went to a gym that was fairly small and as such, had the cardio equipment close to the weight machines (not sure of the proper term for them).  So I got used to circuit training and LOVED it!  That gym has since closed and I've had to improvise at home.  Now I am doing a walk-at-home video as well as yoga and firming exercises.  I alternate the days and give myself the weekends off.  I've even set up a time and rotation schedule for when my girls go back to school, so there's no getting out of it.

3. Plans for breakfast, lunch and snacks.  I know what I like to eat, what I can eat and still maintain my weight.  So that's what I get for my food.  I try to stay away from prepackaged food if I can, even if it is low-cal, etc.  It may be convenient, but my body doesn't like it very much.  I have 2 options for breakfast that are quick and easy.  And for lunch I peruse the Weight Watcher's website to find a lunch which has several servings which I can make all at once and then reheat all week long.  This week's lunch has been a Bahn Mi-style Turkey Burger and it is DELICIOUS!  Hopefully you don't have to be a WW member to see the recipe.  As for snacks, I've kept it very simple: popcorn, fruit and veggies (a few).  Little or no dip for the veggies keeps things under control and I only choose what I know I'll eat.

I'm a long way from perfect and still have a ways to go before I see my goal weight, but I'm further down the road than I've ever been in my life and knowing I CAN DO THIS is one of the most amazing feelings ever!!

Stabilization. . .here we go!

Well, here I am in my first round of stabilization. I've not reached my final goal weight, but am taking things in stages so that I don't make myself crazy with deprivation. And, I have to say: so far, so good!

I'm learning that the processes which helped me lose weight are completely different from what I have to do to keep my current weight steady. And while that means more to eat, it also means a landslide of decisions on a daily basis. While wrestling those mental gymnastics, I came across some very good advice: set up your environment for success and pre-decide as much as possible. So yesterday at our Fourth of July cookout, I had my grill-master husband sear up about 4 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breast. My plan is to to divide it all into meal size portions and freeze. Then each evening I'll pull out frozen chicken (or shrimp or fish of some variety) to thaw for the next day's lunch. I have a variety of veggies and fresh fruit on hand too and will make one selection from each group to round out the meal. Breakfast, during the warm months, will be green smoothies--LUV them!  Not sure what the plan will be for cold weather. . .hmmm. And on it goes, planning the habituation of my meals and snacks.  For right now, I'm following a plan that worked very well for me during the final weeks of my first pregnancy when I was borderline diabetic, basically limiting the number of carb servings per meal or snack but also spreading them out over the course of the day.  I've decided to just be a smart as possible about dinner, but not to get too worked up about it.

The next area I'm working on is exercise.  This is a tough one for me because the best time for me to fit it into my schedule is first thing in the morning.  The problem is, I love to sleep.  No, not love, it's more than love.  It's complete and total adoration, devotion, an obsession.  But oddly enough, if I do get myself up, I feel just fine.  So I'll be brain-storming ways to wake up each morning happy to exercise my bod and keep this good thing going!

Goals for tomorrow regarding stabilization:

1. Plan a rotation of meats, fruits and veggies for lunches. . .purchase needed items for first week.
2. Plan a rotation of snacks (1 carb serving limit). . .purchase needed items for first week.
3. Purchase items for green smoothies.
4. CELEBRATE stabilization!!!