So I have slipped

I know lately I have slipped on blogging about my journey. Things at home have been hard on me and very stressful, but I can say that I have not gained any weight back. The last two weeks I did the #mamavation #bobharperlive challenge and I'm starting to feel good about myself. For me a hard part will be the holidays coming up because I LOVE ham & mashed potatoes which we have for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. If any one is looking for a twitter workout buddy you can find me @AllNewHealth Have a blessed end to your week.

Trying hard to stay one fire

This journey has been a challenge for me. A journey that is full of ups and downs, reaching goals along with moments of failure. For once I decided to do this for me, but in the last week I have lost some of my fire that keeps me going. Some of my fall back moments were: McDonalds (more than once), Whataburger, Taco Bell (more than once) and Sonic. The most frustrating part right now is that I had done good to stay away from Soda and in the past week I have had it 4 times plus the crack food that I have been working hard to avoid.
So tomorrow will be a new weekend to push away my mistakes of the past week and focus on getting back on track and kicking butt. There is still 3 months until my birthday to lose 30lbs. I know if I recommit to eating cleaning and training hard I will reach my goal. I just have to remember that once I commit to the changes I will be able to get my family to stay on track with me and we can ALL get healthy together.

A weekend of blessing

The past few weeks have been really stressful for me here at home. For me the biggest struggle had been with me working out and losing weight yet my husband had no motivation to get his work outs in. We knew his APFT was coming up this month at drill and I had been stressing that his lack of consistency would show during it which would result in him not passing. Well thankfully we were blessed by my husband finding that little bit of extra "Umph" in him and he was able to pass the test. They say that when you finally give it over and quit focusing on the negative, that the positive is soon to come. This weekend was a perfect example of that.
On a personal note I did slack on my eating and I am frustrated at myself for that, but I know that tomorrow is a new day to refocus and get back on track. Several great things have happened the past few days and I know that if I keep my head up that I can continue to be successful on this journey. My moto is #NoExcuses and I really need to commit to my gym time and not give in to over sleeping or cowering away from my daily workout.

Starting a new challenge

I have committed to the 90 day-Body By Vi challenge. After a lot of research I thought that I would use this as a tool to get past the plateau I have reached on my weight loss journey. During this challenge I will still eat healthy and workout, this not an excuse to do whatever I want. My hope is to lose 30 lbs just in time for my 26th birthday that is coming up in January.
My starting measurements are as follows:
Chest: 48"
Waist: 60"
Hips: 54"
Weight: 304lbs
These pictures represent me at the start of this 90 days.

Reaching my first big goal

During this journey, the past 4 months, I have reached the point more than once where I just wanted to give up. I had come to the conclusion or so I thought, that I would never lose the weight or get to where I felt like I was making progress. Thankfully though I found the willpower to give up and just keep at it. Four months after I started this I have FINALLY overcome the stalling point of 300 pounds and weighed in at 299.6 this past week. It has been a big sigh of relief for me to know that my dedication is paying off even if it does take time to get there. I am so thankful that I have a great group of friends who are my cheerleaders and support me on this journey. If you want to follow my daily struggles and triumphs check out at http://www.twitter.com/allnewhealth
I am here to help others who want to achieve weight loss or live a healthy lifestyle. Feel free to join me.

Losing weight and Feeling great

The past 4 months have been a hard journey for me. Between personal up & down moments, trying to continue to eat healthy and get my work outs in, I was afraid that I would give in and then I would be back where I started 4 months ago. Now I knew this journey would be a determining factor to see if I could REALLY commit to taking care of myself and I have discovered that I can.
Throughout the first part of this journey I have made MANY lifestyle changes that I plan to keep in place. If these changes can help me drop 32lbs in 4 months on my own then it means I am doing something good. Healthy food options, drinking more water and keeping my body moving has made me feel great. This morning when I saw the scale say 299.6 I knew that I had FINALLY found my groove for progress and success.
Back in May I NEVER thought I would feel this good when I finally made it under 300, but it has been AMAZING. For those who say "I don't have time to work out" or "I can't do it because of the people in my family" well I am here to tell you that there are NO EXCUSES! If I can do this in my situation then ANY one can do it if they want it bad enough.

Back in the Groove after a Move

I haven't been able to post lately due to no internet and the chaos of trying to get moved from our old house into our new apartment. The move was not easy because I was trying to pack and get everything set-up in less than 2 weeks which meant no time for the gym. However I will admit that I did continue to eat healthy, so although I did not get rid of any weight I also did not gain any either. The one thing that I love about our new place is that it is close to my gym, but there is also a fitness center onsite. Having a fitness center here means that I can walk there and work out any time without being able to use any excuses as to why I can't make it to the gym.
Moving is never easy and on this journey it makes it even harder for me to try and stay committed to being healthy. Meals lately have included salad which is easy to make even when I am running short on time and coconut water to stay hydrated and my body balanced. Although I have not had a serious workout I have been doing squats and counter push-ups every day to keep my body going. I promise to update this more often as I continue to work on getting rid of the last 125lbs before I reach my goal weight.

Squat September Challenge

For the month of September I am challenging myself to do squats EVERY DAY. Each day though I will add 5 squats to the amount that I did the day before. Although all of the squats do not have to be done all at one time you can spread them throughout the day as long as you reach your goal before you go to bed. I am super curious to see if squats really are good for butt shaping and leg toning. Good luck if you decide to join me.

Sept 1~10 Done
Sept 2~15 Done
Sept 3~20 Done
Sept 4~25 Done
Sept 5~30
Sept 6~35
Sept 7~40
Sept 8~45
Sept 9~50
Sept 10~55
Sept 11~60
Sept 12~65
Sept 13~70
Sept 14~75
Sept 15~80
Sept 16~85
Sept 17~90
Sept 18~95
Sept 19~100
Sept 20~105
Sept 21~110
Sept 22~115
Sept 23~120
Sept 24~125
Sept 25~130
Sept 26~135
Sept 27~140
Sept 28~145
Sept 29~150
Sept 30~155

BeachWeek day 2

Well day 2 started off a little rocky with over sleeping due to only 4 hours of sleep. I was not able to get a workout in because I did not want hubby to be late to work. This mornings breakfast was 1 serving of cheerios with a little bit of 2% milk, scrambled eggs, and water. Lunch was a little better with a nice salad, easy dressing, the other half of my fruit shake from yesterday and an orange. Tonight for dinner though I crashed and gave in to my bad feelings of myself by eating 8 tacos from Jack In The Box. I had been really proud of myself, but after how my husband had talked to me and talked about other girls I was really feeling disgusted about myself. Although to try and get his words out of my mind I went to the gym and did upper body weights which caused me to feel REALLY SICK due to all the grease from the tacos. As of now I am OFFICIALLY committing to NEVER having another taco from Jack In The Box EVER again, no matter what.

BeachWeek Day 1

Well day 1 of ToneItUp.com BeachWeek went pretty good with a yummy breakfast, a morning workout, healthy snacks, good tasty lunch that ended with dinner and a great evening workout. Breakfast was good with scrambled eggs, very thin whole wheat bread topped with Nutella and green tea. Lunch was great with baked fish, Avacado, and a yummy side salad. Dinner was a salad that was filling and delicious. My after workout recovery was a smoothie that consisted of Strawberry, Blueberry, Mango, and Pineapple with Greek Yogurt and Almond milk. With day 1 I also became willing to try Coconut water and Almond Milk which both taste extremely good. The one thing I don't want to forget either is that I made sure to drink plenty of water with my total coming in at 185oz for the day which is just shy of my 200oz daily goal.

A trying week

Well my weekend went good and Monday was starting off right, or so I thought. Soon what was a good week tail spinned quickly and I had lost complete control over everything, all of the hard work I had been putting myself through no longer mattered because no one else was worried about any one other than what they consider their priorities. Monday and Tuesday I was unable to make it to the gym which means today I am exhausted, sluggish and all around feeling really down. Last night in the midst of chaos and frustration I broke down and had 7 tacos from Jack in the Box which is probably the biggest reason I feel so :( but I started myself back on track this morning. For breakfast I had scrambled eggs and half a piece of toast and lunch was homemade healthy "chicken salad" which was yummy too. I am a little disappointed that I gave in yesterday, but I will hold myself accountable and get back on track.

Feeling great!

This journey has been a huge change from what I had been used to doing all my life. Changing my eating habits and committing to going to the gym has been hard, but I'm loving how I feel after getting my workout finished. Today I feel great, but I am SO sore and I don't think that I have been this sore since the Fire Academy and that was 6 years ago. Also what is helping me feel great is that I have been able to stay on track getting all of my water each day. This journey has been a boost in confidence because I have discovered that if I really commit to something that I can do it. There is a long way still to my goal weight, but as long as I continue to eat healthy and keep moving I will get there!

2 a day weekends

During this journey I have decided that for me to keep a good pace that I would go to the gym 5 days a week. Well last weekend I came to the conclusion that since I have so much time on the weekend I would do 2 a days so that I don't overdo it all at once on those days. Last weekend went well and on 1 visit I did cardio followed by weights on the other visit. Today I did another 2 a day where I did strength training this morning and then did cardio this evening, but the best part is that besides a few sore muscles I feel AMAZING.
Beginning this journey was not easy because I was so afraid to fail after giving up the last time that I tried. Lately I have had days where I get really disappointed at myself that I could have ever let myself go so much after being so dedicated to firefighting. The great part is that firefighting has been one of my biggest motivators to go on this journey, so that once again I can be able to help others.

Chaos in life

For the past month things around my house have been complete chaos. The thing though that has made me feel good about myself is that I use the chaos as motivation to get to the gym instead of using as an excuse not to go like I used to. It is amazing at how great I feel to go to the gym and workout instead of being at home moping around feeling sorry for myself because I cannot change what is going on around me. Lately though that hardest part has been not having support from those closest to me instead it seems that they would rather sabotage my progress.
When I started this journey my husband said that he wanted me to workout with him so I said I would except now I go to the gym and he just wants to stay at home. It has really become hard to understand my family since everyone in my house needs o loose some weight and get in shape, but I'm the only person putting the effort in with the foods and exercise. I just wish I could understand how someone says they want to loose weight but eats junk food and fast food all the time along with not using their free gym membership.
My latest motivator though to get healthy has been from my dad's mom being put in the hospital, a week later my mom was, and then two weeks later on this Monday my mom's mom was put in the hospital. It made me understand that if I don't get serious to loose the weight I might be in the hospital next and it could possibly be soon.
Emotionally I am feeling better about myself than I have in a long time, but physically I still have not reached a point where I can notice a difference. To all of my friends who are supporting me, thank you because you make a HUGE difference for me & motivate me.

Progress on my journey

When I first decided that I was ready to get healthy and fit without using any excuses to stop me I was weighing in at 332lbs. After having spent so many years as a firefighter I could not figure out how I had let myself get away health wise where I was at the point of almost 160 lbs overweight. This journey has had so many rough moments, but I am starting to see results from my hard work of eating healthy and working out.
As I started this phase of my journey I was coming in on the scale at 316lbs. This phase I really decided that I would commit to eat healthy (get rid of junk food & soda), drink LOTS of water (160 oz) & workout in some way EVERY DAY. Well the results of my first week have blown my mind with a 9lbs weightloss and for once I actually feel good about myself because I know I can do it. There is still a long way to go on this journey for getting healthy and fit, but now I know that I CAN DO IT!

Motivation for my weightloss

For many years I have been overweight, actually I cannot tell you the last time I was not because it has been so long.
The beginning to discovering I needed to do this journey was being placed on 6 different meds in 2 months for different health issues. Although last night my husband added to the issue when he told me your a fat lazy witch, you will never loose your weight". So today I am going to my favorite gym and restarting my membership since I live close to one now. The other pushing factor is this week one of my grandmother's has been placed on hospice and the other got news yesterday that she has cancer, so I need to get healthy so I can be around for my family.
This morning I got on the scale weighing 314 lbs, but I am going to make sure that number is GONE and never coming back.

Day 1 towards an all new me

This morning did not go as planned but I got up took care of the important stuff and started on my way. In the chaos of this morning I was a bad girl and completely forgot to eat breakfast. Lunch did go better with a Subway foot long wheat with chicken, lettuce, tomato, pickles and even baked BBQ chips. The first day has not been perfect, but it takes small steps to make major life changes. Have a Dr appt this afternoon so I am hoping for some good news there.

Journey to All New Health

For as long as I can remember I have ALWAYS been overweight. Pictures for school, sports and even with the family all have me as "the chubby one". Time and time again I have said "now is the time that I am going to loose the weight", but someone says something to me and I give up like I have every other time. Well this time is a game changer because I am sick of being 150 lbs overweight and being more than 50% body fat. So, today I am committing to myself to change the game and get serious about the weight loss so that I can become healthy and discover the health for my life that I need to be able to keep going. Today I am setting my goal weight to reach 175lbs after having reached my heaviest weight of 332lbs. This blog is where I will keep myself accountable by tracking the ups and downs of my journey. This journey is for me and I will no longer let any one else tear me down by saying that I cannot do this because "I CAN & I WILL!"

~All New Health~