I Have Not Fallen Off The Face of the Earth

After a bit of an absence, I am back! I have been hard at work getting food and workouts that I am actually able to stick with lined out, and it seems to be working in my favor. The "Biggest Loser" style challenge group I am in is getting a fresh start on Monday. A new start means a NEW PARTNER. This is all done online, but it is pretty awesome. It has helped me stay on track in the past and I have no doubt it will continue to do so.

I am slowly but surely trying to nix my soda habit...again. I went 8 months without so much as a sip and after just half a can, I couldn't stop drinking the stuff. I've limited myself to one can a day for about the past week and it seems to be going well. My water consumption has also been much higher lately, which is great considering I went from drinking 15-20 eight ounce glasses per day, to drinking right around two...if that. Definitely not a good thing, but something I am slowly overcoming once again. :)

Workouts have been much more regular as of late. I had a big accomplishment recently with my longest workout / highest calorie burn since I purchased my Polar FT4 back in June.  

I am absolutely loving my new Leslie Sansone 5 Mega Miles DVD. It sounds like it would be easy, but believe me...easy it is not. I work up an awesome sweat and the way the video is set up, I can choose to mix and match miles but still get the warm-up and cool down segments without spending forever fast forwarding. It is cheap on amazon and if you're just starting out or looking for a bit of a challenge without plyometrics to add to your library, it has my vote.

I also have found myself throwing TurboFire HIIT workouts in every now and then. I like the way they make me feel and how much shorter they are than other workouts when I am in a bit of a time crunch. These workouts keep me from skipping workouts altogether which is ultimately where I begin to fail. So, there will be none of that today. Excuse the sweat and the mess, as the following photo was originally created to post to my 'closed' weight loss group, but it makes me feel good, so I'm sharing anyways. 

On a completely different note, I can't wait until spring...or summer... At this point, either will really work for me. We have received way more snow than normal this year, accompanied by more than our fair share of ice. Now, while I am a child at heart and love the snow, I do not love the ice. Ice means power outages, wrecks, and busting your butt when you walk off the porch. Although it was not I who fell this time, it was the hubby and now he has some pretty gnarly bruises on his back and knees. There is also the fact that people all around us have lost power due to the recent snow and ice storm, and things are just now returning to normal. Bleh. Honestly, I just love the fresh air and the ability to go outside and walk with the sun shining on my face. Dear spring, please hurry.

I hope that each of my readers are successful in their weight loss journeys and that we all may eventually reach the pinnacle of our journeys.

Until next time,

The Events of the Last Week

I know my posts have been non-existent since the beginning of last week, but I've had a pretty hectic and emotionally trying seven days. Let's start with school. I was so excited about getting my classes situated for the semester, so I could officially say in December I would be able to graduate. One thing led to another and I ended up having to withdraw. I couldn't force myself to take classes I didn't need for my major to ultimately only have to tack on another semester anyways. The five day class schedule wasn't something I would prefer to deal with, but after lots of praying and soul searching, I know that this was in my best interest and besides...when you've been in school as long as I have what's six more months?

Now moving past that, Sunday my darling little nephew turned 2. He had a Monsters University / Monsters Inc. themed party and my sister and I spent days making all of his decorations, baking cupcakes, and making him a smash cake. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with my family and all the snuggling with my nephew and niece. There is nothing better in the entire world than the sweet baby kisses that they so willingly give. Their laughter is just music to my ears. They are both so small still and have so many life experiences ahead of them. You never know what they are going to do and they never cease to amaze me. 

The picture above is a prime example. He didn't want to smile and was being rotten, so we played airplane and when he was in the middle of chuckling his mommy snapped this picture for me. I just love it. My hair is a mess, he's not even looking at the camera, but it is one of my favorites. ♥ 

Even though you can clearly see my double chin, I also like the next picture, too. On the left is Carson and on the right is my niece, Harmony. 

Now away from the party and on to today. It's SNOWING!!! We never get good snow here in Kentucky. Let me rephrase, we never get snow in the part of Kentucky where I live. You get the occasional dusting, and the 1-2 inches that school gets called off for, but it has been snowing since roughly 5:00 this morning, and I am looking out the window at a good 5 inches on the ground. I love the snow. I know some people think I'm crazy, but that is one thing that I haven't lost from childhood. Even though school doesn't get called off for me, I love seeing the pretty white flakes fall from the sky and coat the ground and it takes me back to my childhood. I remember sitting and drinking hot cocoa or tea with my Nanny as we watched the snow fall. Now that I'm an adult and married, that doesn't happen so much anymore. But, that doesn't keep me from doing these things alone. The hubby doesn't really care for the snow and I hate the fact he has to drive in it, but... there's still that little girl inside of me that is jumping up and down for joy and wants to get her hands on a warm beverage and a good book. Ahh, childhood!

As far as food, water, and exercise goes.. the first two have been well, except for the cupcakes and hot dogs that I consumed on Sunday. My exercising on the other hand, has like my blog, been nearly non-existent. I think I exercised twice this week, three times tops. Definitely not one of my best weeks, but not one of my worst either. I'm making chicken for dinner tonight, per the hubby's request. I'll try to be better about posting during the upcoming week. Now that I'm not stressing about school and what I'm going to do, maybe I'll have time to do some of the things around the house that have been neglected. 

But before I go, here are some pictures of the decorations we made for Carson's party. It's not all of them, but I was proud of what we did. He will definitely be able to look at pictures when he is older and tell that even though we knew he wasn't old enough to care about how much work went into these decorations and all the baking, that it was important to us. He is one very loved little boy.

Until next time,

First Day of a New Semester

After a not-nearly-long-enough Christmas Break, classes resumed for me today. Only this semester and next semester stand between me and graduation. It's not like I'll be done with school, as to pursue my intended career I need to get my Master's anyways...but I will finally be able to say that I have a BA. It seems like the last several days has been one hurdle after the next. Our water is fixed. That's a definite plus. I'm kind of aggravated with the college I am going to right now, as firstly, my advisor transferred to a different department, and the school apparently didn't think enough of me to assign me a new one. This really bums me out not because she transferred, but because I have spent all day emailing professors and other advisors, trying to be placed in a class that I need. Without my advisor...this is impossible. Catch is, I now have to wait to be assigned a new advisor, which doesn't look like it will be happening anytime soon, since even my old advisor can't get an email back about my issues. How frustrating! As if it weren't already frustrating enough that I live 45 minutes away from campus and I am stuck taking classes 5 days a week.

I just feel like anything that could possibly go wrong starting out this semester, has. My textbooks haven't arrived yet either. I ordered them last week when the funds became available, yet here I have started classes and my package has apparently yet to even be shipped. Okay, enough ranting about school and how crummy these last two semesters will likely be.

As far as food goes, I've ate like crap for about 2-3 days now. Last night my poison of choice was a Chicken Deluxe from the local Mexican restaurant. Cheesy, carb-filled goodness. Today while I was at school, I chose to eat Chick-Fil-A and fries. Definitely not what I should have been eating, but there was room in my daily calories for it.

Now on to what I have been doing right. The main thing I see is that I have been drinking a lot of water. I am working on getting back on track to limit my sodium. This is something I struggle with, especially if I'm not making a home cooked meal. I'm opting for salad tonight, maybe with some chicken. Sounds good and much healthier than any alternative I could be thinking of at this time.

I am also getting ready to do my workout, so it is done and out of the way. Today starts my challenge group's 100 days of exercise. We've committed to working out 6 days per week Monday-Saturday, alternating between cardio and strength. I'm pretty excited and think this will help keep me on track and keep me motivated.

Until tomorrow,

Counting my Blessings

While you can see from my first post, the last couple of days have been horrible in general. Food and water haven't been terrible, but there are many improvements that could be made for my general mood and mindset. The water pipe must still be replaced at the house, but, on a bright note I did power through the Firm 30 segment of my DVD last night.

Also, a major improvement to my mood came when I found a picture from early January of 2013 and was able to compare it to a picture from yesterday. I am ecstatic. Although I have a long way to go, the loss of an entire chin is very promising and rewarding. So for your viewing pleasure the picture on the left is of me from early January 2013 and the one on the left is from January 9, 2014. 

The hubby and my dad are working on the water pipes as I type, so fingers are crossed that it is fixed this evening and we can stay home. I hate sleeping anywhere but in my own bed. It's the little things, I guess.

Workout planned for this evening, will post after I get done with it tonight just to keep myself accountable. :)

Until later,
Ashley ♥

Cold Weather Problems...

Yesterday was awful. My day started out fairly well...until we were trying to thaw the pipes leading to our kitchen sink. Keep in mind the water to the bathroom and even lines running to the washer (which is on the opposite side of the kitchen) was perfectly fine. We were only missing water to the sink...sure enough when it finally thawed we ended up with a leaky pipe under the house. Oh the joys of cold weather! At this point it was too late for the hubby to go up under the house to assess the damage, so as I type this entry that is where my wonderful and persistent hubby is.

We ended up packing up our dog and heading to my husband's sister and brother-in-law's house to stay the night because we have the water to the entire house turned off right now. I was so upset after all this that I considered throwing my workout to the wind and not even worrying about it...but at 3:00 am, prior to going to bed for the night, I did a Burn 30 workout. I sweated, a lot...and with the sweat I felt some of my frustration leave my body, if only temporarily.

Now today we are back home, and the hubby, as I mentioned before, is under the house assessing the damage. I am trying to stay positive and hoping that the amount of money that will have to be put into fixing the water won't be horrible...but we shall see. If luck has anything to do with it, we might as well just empty our wallets now.

I'll try to post an update later after I do my workout.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Until later,
Ashley

Day 2: A Semi-Success

I won't consider today a failure, but I won't consider it a 100% completely successful day either. I had an awesome workout.

But... an awesome workout does not make up for a crummy food day. I did good...until about 5 pm. It's freezing here, our kitchen feels more like a refrigerator than a kitchen...and I suggested that we get McDonald's. What was I thinking? Obviously, convenience interspersed with a lot of laziness. But, at least I worked out, that's what I keep telling myself. Meals are planned for tomorrow, so hopefully I can do better about staying on track. I know this is a short one, but I'm tired and need a shower, so I'm signing off for tonight and ready to get a good night's sleep.

Plus...tomorrow is a weigh in day. Let's do this! :)

Until tomorrow,
★ Ashley ★

Each Day an Opportunity

When I woke up this morning, I knew today was the day. I spent all evening yesterday visiting with family and helping take care of my nearly two year old nephew who has the flu. When I came home, I came to the realization that I spent all last week either feeling like crap or being lazy. It's that simple. So, I spent all evening pinning health-related items and new meal ideas on Pinterest. So, when I woke up this morning, I knew it was time to hop back on track and not look back. It also helped that my new Leslie Sansone DVD: Walk it Off in 30 Days. This is by far the quickest and toughest Leslie workout I have ever completed. I was sweating before I was even 5 minutes into the workout. 419 calories burned in 33 1/2 minutes. I am ecstatic. Can't wait to see my 30 day results from alternating between this workout and the "Firm 30" disc that is also included.

But, that's not all... I was so excited that I pushed myself to work out today, that while on my endorphin high, I chose to do a 3 mile Leslie Sansone HIIT workout. It got my heart rate up, but I don't feel like it was as tough as the first workout. So...overall... I burned a whopping 1060 calories today for a little over an hour of hard work, sweat, and determination. Water intake was on track today and I only had one can of Diet Pepsi. I had completely kicked the habit previously, but around the holidays I let myself get away from many of the healthier habits I had created, so I am slowly but surely getting back on the right track.

Regardless of what any other person thinks, I believe in myself and even though I've had a pretty crummy two months that could have been spent being healthy and losing more weight, everyone needs a break from the "all healthy, all the time" lifestyle. You have to indulge every now and then, and if you fall down, you have to get back up. That's what I'm doing, getting back up, dusting myself off, and going on my own merry way. There may even be some skipping, who knows?

Now to get some rest and prepare for another stellar day tomorrow...

Until we meet again,
Ashley ♥

Just a Quick One...

I keep seeing this quote everywhere and I think it is very fitting for how I've been feeling lately.

The hubby and I went and visited an old friend from high school today who just came back from being deployed overseas. While I am still lacking in the exercise department, I was able to stay under my calories today. I let go of my stress a bit today and enjoyed myself. It was wonderful catching up and letting go a bit. With all the stress surrounding me as school is about to resume for the Spring 2014 semester, I am thankful that I had today to just relax and enjoy time with my hubby and our friend. I am not sorry I didn't exercise like I had planned, but instead I am thankful that I know there is always tomorrow.

On another note...the hubby and I had a serious discussion tonight about getting a "couples" gym membership at our local gym. It is something I've been too nervous to even think about for the longest time, worrying that others will stare because of how overweight and out of shape I am. However, after the last few months, I am much more confident and much less worried of what others may have to think. I'm simply glad that the hubby is planning to join me in my journey to a healthier me. He is so motivational sometimes without even realizing it. I am so thankful that my significant other holds me up instead of putting me down, whether I succeed or I fail, he is always on my side. On that note, I'm going to go and get a good night's rest. 

Love and best wishes,
Ashley ♥

A Rocky Start to the New Year

Getting back on the "health-wagon" presents challenges. Sometimes you overcome them and sometimes they overcome you. We are all human. Today the hubby and I decided to order pizza. I knew it wasn't what I needed to eat, it simply sounded good. Days like today are those where I must remind myself that indulgences every now and then are not going to bring me down, cutting these foods entirely out of my diet would be setting myself up for failure. So, even though I was over my calorie count today, I plan to make up for it tomorrow. I already have my meals planned out and a nice long walk with Ms. Leslie Sansone on the schedule. Instead of doing a 3-mile walk, I have decided to do a 5 mile walk, which I haven't done in weeks. They work up a good sweat and the calorie burn is nothing to scoff at.

I have been working on price checking books for college all evening, trying to get the best prices possible. College is so expensive, especially when you know that the insane amount of loans you're having to take out are putting you in debt well over your head. I have decided to pick back up on my coupon clipping as well. With a 5 day school schedule starting back in a little more than a week, I'm hoping I can find the time. Who knows, this might be how I make use of the time I sit on campus as I'm waiting for my uncle, with whom I ride to school everyday, to get off work.

I've also decided that since I am required as a student to pay for a membership to the REC center on campus, whether I use it or not, this will be the semester that I venture down that road. I'm still overcoming the "all eyes on me" phobia, but hey, everyone starts somewhere and I'm already partially through my journey. Also, I'm hoping that getting back on track will alleviate the hair loss I'm facing right now. My hair has been coming out in clumps every time I take a shower and I'm noticing a spot on the back of my head that is really thinning out. I'm convinced that this is due to my out of whack hormones caused by my PCOS, but it really has me down. When eating the proper things, drinking at least 8 cups of water per day, and exercising regularly, my hair was looking good and my face was clearer than it had been in well over a year. Now, I'm facing those issues again. It's just time to start making those baby steps again.

This year has a lot to offer and if all things go as planned, I'll be a college graduate in December. Wouldn't another 70 pound loss be a great accomplishment to celebrate at the end of the year... possibly even MORE?!? This is all for today. I have a lot of reflecting and a lot of planning for the upcoming weeks to do this evening. Also, I have decided that I will be sticking with the weigh-in day established by my challenge group, Wednesday. At this point I will start posting my weight every week and my measurements once per month.

Until tomorrow....

All the best,
Ashley ♥

Introduction

It is a new year, but the second leg in my weight loss journey. Before I get into my goals for this year, let me first introduce myself to anyone who may not know about my journey thus far.

I am a twenty-four year old wife, sister, daughter, and grand-daughter. Within the last two years I have also added "Auntie" to an adorable little boy named Carson, and a sweet and beautiful little girl named Harmony to that list. I absolutely love playing the role of Aunt, and those kids mean the world to me! I am also a full time student pursuing a degree in Literary Studies, which I plan to follow up with a Master's Degree in Library Science. I also have a Bichon Frise named Toby, and two cats: Moo and Boo. Now on to the love of my life. We met in high school and got married the day after I turned 18, and unlike most people I know who get married so young, it was simply because we wanted to, not because we had to. My husband is my everything and other than to make MYSELF happy, he is one of the main reasons I am trying to lose weight. I love him more than anything in this world, and want to spend a long and happy life with him. Now, on to the part I have been dreading the most, my weight. 

I have been overweight my entire life. I have always been overweight and gradually I let my weight get away from me and got to the point I am at now. Most of my family is overweight and although I would try to diet and get discouraged and give up more often than not, I have just gotten to the point where I know that if I want to live, I'm going to have to make some MAJOR lifestyle changes. I  have high blood pressure, diabetes, and I also have PCOS. My hubby and I are both wanting to start a family and I know that my weight is a major factor that will be there to hinder me. I normally start dieting, get discouraged, then give up.

However, this all changed April 2013. I joined MFP over two years ago, but in April I started actively trying to lose weight as I hit my highest weight ever... 396 lbs. Over the last eight months, I have actively worked to change my eating habits, incorporate exercise into my daily routine that once only encompassed sitting on the couch and watching television. I have noticed a great change in my eating habits. I know the weight I am now took a long time to put on, so I know it's going to take time and lots of hard work to get it off. So, I'm making friends and trying to build a support system. I am blessed with many friends on MFP that have been a great encouragement and I strive to help encourage others. It is just so much easier with friends and people to keep you accountable. I have also been in a "Biggest Loser" style weight loss group on Facebook where I have gained many friends and tried to start eating cleaner.

Like many others, the holidays have put me in a rut. I ate things I shouldn't have and my exercise became nearly non-existent. However, this is a new year and I want to continue with the progress I've made. At the current time after post-holiday weight gain, I have lost 59 pounds. I am hanging steady at 337 pounds. Normally I would be embarrassed to admit that, but I've worked so hard to get to where I am. All of my weight loss has been done through hard work and eating right. I do all of my workouts at home and while I have dabbled with Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred and TurboFire, my favorite workouts ever are the Leslie Sansone walks. She is so inspirational and after a long day at school, I can come home and walk away my worries.

That's where this blog comes into play. I will be posting my workouts, my successes, my failures, my weekly (sometimes daily) goals, and anything else I feel will encourage others while keeping me accountable.

I am looking forward to the second leg of this journey and can't wait to see what 2014 has to hold for me. This is a year of progress, change, and hope. So...LETS DO THIS!

Love and best wishes,
Ashley ♥