Did You Miss Us?

You may have noticed that two weekly weigh in's have come and gone without a blog post from these losers. Um,...yeah.  I week and a half ago(9/15) Katie was in Haiti and my weight hadn't changed. I just didn't have the guts to post again about an unsuccessful week on the scale. Though I have been working hard at the gym and making better food choices (for the most part) it is hard not to be discouraged when the number on the scale doesn't change.
This past Thursday (9/22) I was hoping for at least a small reduction on the scale. Nope. I was up a pound. Not again! The goal of this blog was to have accountability and to succeed publicly not fail publicly. I was ready to shut the blog down. Failing in front of your friends sucks. But, Katie and I talked and we've decided not to shut the blog down.  Instead we will post/weigh in monthly. We both want the accountability and we both want to stay on track, but the weekly meeting with the scale has become torture for me and I've made it even worse by having to go public with the number here. Apparently my weight fluctuates a lot on any given day of the week. For example, I was 169.6 on Thursday morning and then 166.6 on Friday morning! Katie is pregnant of course, and is maintaining her weight well but on a weekly basis doesn't have much to report.  She's still sick, and doing her best to survive the day taking care of her two little ones. (By the way,  her trip to Haiti was vomit free & great!!)
I think this new plan will serve us both well. We will continue to weigh in weekly with each other and post here each month. See you in October!

Whitney:
Current Weight: 166.6
-/+: - 2 lbs
Total Loss: 9 lbs

Katie:
Current Weight: 177
-/+: -1 lb
Total Loss: 1.6 lbs

Things Are Looking Up

Whitney
I'm sorry yesterday was such a depressing post from me. It was definitely a low day. And, I think I secretly wish that this blog would inspire others by our determination, dedication, and success. Instead I feel like it's been more like a play by play in slow motion of a car trying to start and then stalling out. Not too inspiring. But, I have once again reminded myself that this is about being real. There are probably more "stalled starts" people out there than the radically inspiring. But, I am not content to stay where I am cause being here is not fun! Success will come. The pounds will come off. The healthy eating will be permanent. I will not throw in the towel and I will not give up.

I have to say I am blessed with some pretty amazing family and friends. Thank you for your encouraging words and providing me with some hope. After a crying jag on the phone with my mom she told me to get to the closest local gym and join. NOW. Well, I have always been one to obey my parents (Ha!) but this time I did just that.  In the past, I've always belonged to a gym. I did step classes in college and even slide classes(taught by Mary Wannall!) - remember those? I did early morning body pump classes before work in my early married days and the list goes on and on. But, when Forester got sick with cancer I let my gym membership go. Let's face it. The gym is one of the germiest places on earth.  I couldn't risk exposing myself to the funk and then bringing it home to my son who had no immune system. Plus, financially we were rocked. That was two years ago. Though I'd like to think I can consistently work out at home I'm just not good at it.  I need to go somewhere. Show up. Once I show up I'm going to work out. But when I'm at home trying to choose between reading books to Slade or Jillian Michaels, Slade wins almost every time.  So... back to yesterday. I marched myself down to the gym close by (ESAC) and met up with a friend who is also a trainer there. She met me with a hug and a huge amount of hope and encouraging words. I left there with a new membership (that is affordable!) and a plan.  That sweet friend also let me join in one of her group training sessions this morning and kicked my booty! It was great!! I am going to sign up to do this group training at least once a week. And, she is going to help me with my food choices, too! I am really starting to grasp that I have deceived myself into thinking that I know how to eat healthy when really I've only had tricks and cheats to get weight off. On top of all that positive goodness, I have received several encouraging emails and texts and phone calls from you all. Thank you for picking me up when I was down. One special friend who also happens to be a dietitian was able to explain to me that I hadn't really gained 5 lbs in one week.  She wrote: "Any time you have large weight gains and for that matter large weight losses it is due to fluid losses or retention not fat gain or loss.  It is an unfortunate fact that anytime we cut out a nutrient or shift the nutrient intake significantly we will also have shifts in our body fluids." Good to know! And also what my friend and fellow juicer, Andrew, confirmed. (by the way, Andrew has been juicing for 58 days and has lost 50lbs! Check out his progress at: http://juicefatboyjuice.blogspot.com)

So, I continue in the journey with determination and lots of prayer. I'm ready to be healed up in this twisted area of my life and I'm going to continue to seek God for that healing!

Thanks for standing with me.

Week 8 Weigh In 9.8.11

Whitney

Wow. That's about all I can think of to say. I'm up 5.6 pounds this week. #!%!$!! I'll admit I've had a few splurges during the week/long weekend. But, seriously?? Some of the things I had were wine and sushi, a turkey burger and a few fries, a gin and tonic. But not all the in the same day and not in huge quantities! And, I still stayed within a 1400 calorie budget.  I've added protein, like plain tuna or deli turkey to my salads this week with my usual no dressing except red wine vinegar. I've been having greek yogurt for breakfast... I could see me being up a pound or so because of the alcohol and carbs but 5.6? What in the world is going on with me?!?

I've thought about going back to just fruits and veggies but I can't do that for LIFE. I don't want to lose 40 lbs that way just to gain it all back as soon as I eat other foods again. It's not realistic for a long term lifestyle. I need to figure out how to lose weight and keep it off in a healthy way that is doable for life. I don't want to be making meals for my family & then meals for me for the rest of my life.
I'm at a loss and to be honest I'm feeling quite defeated yet again. I see it working for others around me but maybe I'm destined to be a chubby girl.  I feel like throwing in the towel. Hard work without much pay off is very unmotivating. What's the point?  It's been 8 weeks of trial and error and not much to show for it.  Sorry for the "poor me" post but it's just where I am. This sucks.

 Week 8 Weigh In: 168.6
  +/- this week: +5.6
Total loss in 8 weeks:  7 lbs

Katie
Whit's post makes me sad and frustrated that we don't live next door to each other so we can just be constantly building one another up and eating together, working out together, etc.  It doesn't seem right that we're not sharing a kitchen :( My only suggestion would be to start a hard core workout routine (with weights) and cut the alcohol completely for 6 months.  I would also research any meds to make sure that's not throwing things off.  That's just my two cents, but I'm sure any other comments would be appreciated. Anyone been in this same boat before?? I feel like she's being very diligent.

On the flip side, I have a little good news that has nothing to do with weight at all!  I got a 13 week ultrasound this morning and everything looks great with the baby GIRL.  Yep, Ryan is going to have a little sister.  Yes...how frightening is that to envision.  I'm already imagining the newborn having to wear a helmet when she hangs out with her sister, just to be safe. Pray for us :)  We could also use an extra dose of prayers for our trip to Haiti. Steve and I leave Saturday morning and will be gone for the week.  I know God is going to do amazing things and I'll be anxious to provide the update.

They weighed me at my appt this morning and it was 178, so I'm pretty much keeping steady.

Week 8 Weigh In:178
 +/- this week: -0.5 lb
Total loss in 8 weeks: -0.6 lbs

Week 7 Weigh In 9.1.11

Katie
Still sick. Still not making it to the gym. Still hoping for better days.
In the meantime, though, I got to hear a sweet heartbeat and it was wonderful :)  It was 170 bpm, so the nurse is already guessing girl.  I feel like it's a girl, too, but we hope to find out for sure next Thursday at a 13 week nuchal ultrasound.  This is when we found out the sex for Jack and Ryan. We'll see. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you something at next week's post.  For now, we're starting to prep for our mission trip to Haiti on September 10th. Steve and I are both going and we're so excited.  For any of you that have helped us raise funds, THANK YOU SO MUCH. We'll be sending out a letter soon that will tell more details about where we'll be staying, etc.

Week 7 Weigh In: 178.5
+/- this week:  +.5
Total change: - .1

Whitney 
My reboot fast is over! I actually extended it by 2 days since I was out of town on a retreat and completed 17 days of fruit & veggie juices & smoothies, as well as raw and cooked fruits and vegetables. I drank only water and hot green and herbal teas. Of all the things I could have craved or missed, I really missed coffee. So...I'm back to drinking coffee but only one cup in the morning and it's my only caffeine for the day.  Otherwise, I'm quite unsure of what to eat these days. Too many choices! I'm actually considering going back to the reboot plan. If I do I think I would add whey protein to my smoothies and some other proteins to my salads.  But, I'm just in the thinking stage right now. I feel like it's inevitable that I will gain back a pound or two just because I'm eating more of a variety. Does that make sense to anyone else or is that a twisted way of thinking? I like seeing the numbers on the scale go down and I want it to continue.  I'm even back into a couple pair of jeans and shorts that were too tight to wear a few weeks ago. Yahoo! Now for the weekly stats.

Week 7 Week In: 163
+/- this week: -2.0
Total Loss: 12.6