Carie's Weight Loss Journey - Week 26

I waited an extra week to do my monthly update because last weekend was Thanksgiving and I was visiting family on the other side of the state. And because it was the holiday! In the past 5 months, I haven't had a cheat day. I've had a few cheat meals here and there, but never a full day of no calorie counting. I let myself have three days of freedom. They were nice... but they were also hard.

The entire first day, I was terrified of the food. I decided to make a plate with a little bit of everything on it. I had the gravy drizzled all over my turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and roll. I ate the candied yams with marshmallows. I ate my Mom's pineapple fluff. I enjoyed every single bite! I was full, but not stuffed. After the meal, I didn't think about the calories in the food, I thought about the conversations I had with my family and how much I enjoyed relaxing with them! It helped me to relax the rest of the weekend. We went to a bakery one morning, and I ate a huge apple fritter. I made a comment about how many calories were in it, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it!

By the time Sunday came, I was ready to get back on track. I stayed under my calories for the day and felt the side effects of the food I ate over the first few days of the holiday. I was in the bathroom most of the day and I had some major headaches. But all in all, it was worth it! I very much enjoyed my cheat days!

My workouts have remained the same this month. Zumba on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week. Power Hour on Tuesday and Thursday each week. I've been getting a 6 mile run in each Saturday (except for the holiday weekend). And I've been swimming laps at the Y when I can, about 2 times a week.

I started doing Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred and stopped about 12 days in. I have no real reason, I have no good excuses. I was tired. I was exhausted. I'm human. I started noticing a difference in the way my jeans were fitting and that I could easily wear a size 13 jean! I didn't need to wiggle or hop to get them on. It was very exciting for me, and even though I was getting results, I still stopped. I'm sad about it... but there isn't a lot I can do about that now.

I have been doing the plank-a-day challenge! I am up to a two minute plank! This is huge for me! It took me up until now to make it the entire two minutes. Doing them each day (except for my rest days) has been interesting. Some days I feel very strong when doing a plank, and other days I can't even hold a plank for over a minute. Some planks I feel like I'm going to die. My back starts hurting, my legs start shaking uncontrollably... but through it all, I can feel my core getting stronger. I don't have to concentrate as much during the first minute of my plank like I did when I first started them. It's only after the first minute that I have to start breathing and focusing on not falling! It feels great to be getting stronger!

I have also noticed that the more weight I lose, the faster my running time is. Seems simple enough to understand, but I guess I really didn't realize it until I ran two weeks ago. I mapped out a 10K run and wanted to run it in under 60 minutes. I have been so close to breaking an hour, but I've been over by about 3 to 4 minutes. When I was on the home stretch, I pushed as hard as I could. When I got to the finish, I looked at my time. It was 1 hour and 1 minute. 61 minutes. SOOOO close! I think that if I ran the same route right now, I'd break under an hour! But I won't run my 10K again until next weekend! I went swimming this morning to get my calorie burn in  for the day!

I changed my photo outfit for this week! I know! It'll probably throw you off for a second, but the pink top that I've been wearing is too big now! It's a size XL and you can't really see my progress as well when I wear it. I changed the bottoms as well. The black ones that I have been wearing are a large, but they've been  stretched out and don't show my progress. So the top and bottoms are mediums. A little tight, yes, but that's the point. I want to fit them nicely at the end of my journey.

Start to Week 3, Week 8, Week 13, Week 21, and Week 26 progression photos:

Start to Week 26 photos:

Week 21 and Week 26 photo:

Starting Weight: 202 lbs

Week 1 Weight: 193 lbs

Week 2 Weight: 190 lbs

Week 3 Weight: 190 lbs

Week 4 Weight: 189 lbs

Week 5 Weight: 188 lbs

Week 6 Weight: 184 lbs

Week 7 Weight: 182 lbs

Week 8 Weight: 179 lbs

Week 9 Weight: 177 lbs

Week 10 Weight: 175 lbs

Week 11 Weight: 174 lbs

Week 12 Weight: 173 lbs

Week 13 Weight: 171 lbs

Week 14 Weight: 172 lbs

Week 15 Weight: 173 lbs

Week 16 Weight: 169 lbs

Week 17 Weight: 168 lbs

Week 18 Weight: 167 lbs

Week 19 Weight: 166 lbs

Week 20 Weight: 164 lbs

Week 21 Weight: 162 lbs

Week 22 Weight: 161 lbs

Week 23 Weight: 160 lbs

Week 24 Weight: 157 lbs

Week 25 Weight: 159 lbs

Week 26 Weight: 155 lbs

Weight Lost Since Week 21: 7 lbs

Total Weight Lost: 47 lbs

Weight To Go: 20 lbs

I cried the day I weighed myself and the scale showed me that I was in the 150's! There were a lot of emotions going on. But the one that stood out the most was the feeling of "I am proud of myself". Through this entire journey, I have been proud of myself. But I never really let it sink in. The day I saw the scale hit 157 lbs, it sank in. And I cried. No one helped me lose the weight. No one can help me... it is something that only I can do. I feed off of other people's motivation, but in the end, it's me. I'm the one who has to do one more burpee, one more push-up, etc. But I know I couldn't do those things mentally without the love and support I get from my family and friends.

I took a picture of the scale this morning to prove that these numbers are legit. I've been accused of lying about my weight because of how my body "looks". I was upset at first, but I just ignored the person for the most part. But I also wanted to prove to that person that I am not lying about this stuff. This is my current weight. My husband was standing right behind me when I got on and off the scale. Every gain is noted above. Just like every loss. This is honest weight loss and hard work.

I still can't believe that I'm SO close to the 50 pound mark! Three more pounds to go! I also can't believe that all I have left to lose is 20 pounds! That's 10+10! Or 5+5+5+5! I am so close to being done! But it is getting harder and harder to lose this weight. I know that people don't go by the whole BMI thing, but my scale shows me what it is and if it's within range or not. Right now, I am 0.1 lbs away from a healthy BMI. I calculate it on Myfitnesspal every so often, and these were my results this morning:

I am restarting Jillian's 30 day shred this month, starting today. The only exception is that I don't work out on Sunday. I know that it goes against the whole "30 day" thing, but it's my rest day! I need my rest days for physical, mental, and spiritual reasons! But I will be completing the 30 days, it will just take me longer than 30 calendar days. I am not going to stop this time! I'm going to stick with it! I want an amazing before and after photo!

I am also going to continue doing the plank a day challenge. I really enjoy it so far! I'm still working for my goal of a 10-minute plank. And yes, I know that I am crazy!

I also won a new pair of running shoes on a giveaway this week! Check it out here: Cherie Runs This! I am very happy to have won because my shoes are suffering terribly right now! I need new ones bad!

This is the last month of the year! December is here! Seems crazy that I started this journey on the first of June. I am 6 months into my journey today. I am 47 pounds lighter. 2012 is almost over! I have a lot of goals and races planned for 2013! I just need to remember this: