I Debby, Challenge you, Julie (week one)

To make sure each serving of food is really a serving.

Julie has a fairly healthy menu! She enjoys her fruits and veggies (BLEH).
I remember when I first started on this journey, I was amazed how 'off' my guesstimate of a measurement could be. Portion distortion!

Id pour a bowl of Cheerios and on My Fitness Pal, I count it as a cup. One day I decided to put the Cheerios in a measuring cup first.... I was actually  eating 1 1/2 Cups instead of 3/4 Cup!!!

My challenge to Julie is to concentrate on serving sizes this week. Weigh and measure and use portion control.

source 

I am also going to be joining Shrinking Jeans Challenge of the month.
Planking!!! My core is so weak, and this is at the center of all exercise.
Visit the website for more information.

Getting ready?

So November 1st is 3 days away and what am I doing to prepare for this most awesome adventure Deb and I are going to embark on? Well I had big plans to be ready set go but like it seems more and more I am behind. It won't stop me though cuz it's time to give back all I've lost (gained really) and more.
My computer won't let me do much right now so am using my tablet and the stuff I had saved for the start of this will just be a bit behind.
Deb and I are going to challenge each other each week with something new or something we need to work on. My 1st challenge for Deb is to eat at least 1 large serving of vegetables a day. I love veggies, Deb not so much so that is her challenge and I will make sure I get them too times two.
I will see what Deb has up her sleeve for me and I will make a side bar with our running challenges. Everyone is welcomed to join us and also give us ideas for more challenges. They will get harder as we go.
I had to quit my gym so exercising at home will be on the agenda 4 times a week, 30 minutes each time to start. I so want to learn yoga so will begin that along with normal fish flopping exercises. Maybe I can find a beginner DVD, a vey beginner since I know nothing about yoga.
So 3 days to the start, want to join us?
Blessings!

Julie, getting to know me….

To meet someone that can relate to you, that has been in your shoes, that can understand you is awesome and Deb fits that to a “T”. 

In December 2010 things changes a whole bunch for me. Before that I had lost 50 lbs, I had the world by the tail and I was happy. However things change and I didn’t roll with the punches very well and those 50 lbs I lost, most of them found me again. Not all, I got to my scream weight and had held there until my sister passed away 3 months ago and life got harder. My sister was only 49 and left behind two parents and a sister (and her 2 sons) that were devastated and so hurt that she chose her way of life over taking care of herself and having a long life with people that really loved and cared for her. And than this past August my father was diagnosed with front temporal lobe dementia which is a form of Alzheimer. And now to get my parents to eat anything I have to eat too and with both of them losing weight and getting older the foods we eat are not diet food. So that means I am above my scream weight and screaming quite loudly. With all of this came graduation from college for my son, a job that was too good to be true filled with promises that a company couldn’t keep so now a son living at home. BUT….yep there’s a but, life must move forward and my son has been rewarded with patience and now has the job of a life time, with a home he’ll be moving into shortly. My parents are doing better and moving forward with one daughter instead of two. Things are starting to fall into place, a rhythm and it’s time that I got back to where I was 3 years ago, happy, healthy and learning to take care of me to take care of everyone else.

Starting November 1st Deb and I are going to put our health first. We are going to work on getting to the place in life where numbers are good, body feels good, we feel good about us. I hate the feeling of being fat and I am fat. I have lost so much muscle tone that what was once a fairly toned body is jello. Muffin tops are mega muffin tops. My once shapely legs are lumpy and droopy. I have to many chins and cheeks that touch my glasses again. This can not remain. With a decent calorie amount, exercise 4x a week and some mediation I know very well that I can get back to where I was.  It’s 27 weeks or so from November 1st to May 1st that means I can set a goal of 40 lbs to lose or 175 lbs and have a good beginning of the new me.

So as you can see I’m a mess but a mess can be fixed and I am going to try my best to fix this and Deb, my partner in crime, is going to make sure I do just that. Would you like to join us?

Debs Get to Know Me

Welcome to our blog!! Julie and I met over the internet thru our personal blogs. We did several group challenges and shed some weight. We quickly became friends.  This spring we challenged each other to weight loss, and exercise and we lost some weight. This summer we both had some tough times, and the weight loss stalled, and exercise took to the back burner.  

Join Julie and I as we document the next season of our journey.

A little background about me. 

Grew up in a very conservative family. Money was limited, and chores were abundant. 

We had a garden and did tons of canning and freezing. 

Church and faith were very important, (Still are!!!)

I left home the same day I graduated High School to start working. 

Met my husband, completed two years of college, and started a family. 

Three kids. Oldest two are now in college, and the youngest is a senior in High School. 

Each pregnancy I used the 'eating for two excuse' and gained weight (and didn't lose it after the child was born). 

When my last child was born I weighed 275 lbs. 

Over the next 15 years I tried multiple ways to lose weight

Weight Watchers (3 times)

500 calorie a day eating.

Slim Fast

Dexatrim and other weight loss pills

My husband was diagnosed with melanoma in Sept 2009. I was working full time and we were going for treatment (1 1/2 hour drive each way) every day of the week. I ate to stay awake. AND it wasn't healthy food that I ate!! (My husband is still in remission!)

December 2009 I weighed in at 258 lbs, and this is where I start the 'official' weight loss journey.

In June 2010 I decided that gastric bypass surgery was my last option. I went to a class and started the six month weigh ins with my family doctor. After the I jumped through all the hoops, did all the lab work, proved I could lose some weight.  I met with the surgeon and I weighed in at 220.  She told me I had to stop losing on my own or my insurance company wouldn't pay for the surgery. LIGHT BULB moment!!! I can do this on my own!! I told them I was not longer interested in surgery. 

That started my final SLOW weight loss journey. For weigh ins you can check my personal blog debsdailylife.  There have been ups and down, and stand still months. 

Join us as we fight this fight together!