THIS JUST IN: October 4th Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk! I'm IN!

You know - - I have been thinking about this walk since I was last home to visit my Mom a few weeks ago and on Monday I committed to walking 5K in Washington County, NY's "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk".

eep! Now I have to DO IT!

It is all good though! : ) I'm on this great weight loss journey to get healthy and change my life and this will be a great short-term goal that will raise funds for cancer awareness and prevention! I lost my Dad to cancer and my Mom is celebrating 5 years of being a breast cancer survivor. My boss and friend, Mj, fought thee most valiant fight against breast cancer this past year. She was amazing and I was fortunate (sounds odd to say that, but it was a blessing really) to be allowed to know what she was going through day in and out as she is a testament to what willpower can truly do! She would not let up... she continued to do all she could as long and as hard as she could. To look at her now, you'd never know she was bald as 2009 began! All good, like I said.

But CAN I do it? Walk 3+ miles at once on back roads of my home town? Hmmm... I'm a little concerned honestly. But I know I'll make it. It will, indeed, be *good for me*. I walked after work on Monday night (that is a pic of me before heading out the door to walk Monday) and last night walked with WiiFit while I was watching Biggest Loser on television. I think I logged in 800+ steps last night... tonight I'll go for a walk or do the WiiFit again... and gradually I want to get up to 1 mile around the h.s. track by end of the week without having to stop. Mind over matter. I *will* do this!

If you would consider sponsoring me, I would be extremely grateful! The link to my American Cancer Society "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk" is: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/hlgjan If you can't make a monetary donation (and believe me, I understand that many cannot!!), sending some good thoughts my way at noontime EST on Sunday, October 4th would sure be appreciated, too! : )

A year ago I could barely walk from the parking lot into my office without being out of breath... now I'm signing up for 5K walks! *beam*

LIFE IS GOOD!

Lose For Good = Food for the Hungry!

I am no spammer on Twitter but I did post for the "Lose For Good" cause today many times. Probably some of my tweeps thought "Too many times"! lol Oh... I just counted... I posted 26 times.

This is such a great cause as Weight Watchers will donate $1 every time Lose For Good is posted today on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace. It is social media in action at it's very best - helping out a worthwhile cause.

If you'd like more information, check the WeightWatchers.com site or go to http://www.loseapalooza.com/ or http://www.loseforgood.com/ for details!

LOSEAPALOOZA!!!!!!!!!!

Now You See Me / Now You Don't ??

Have I been thinking everyone on Twitter sees my little HungryLoserGal icon and everyone really only sees that weird (and may I add horridly color hued) waffle icon? Do you see HLG or 'weird waffle' when I post on Twitter? And if you DO see the waffle... how the heck come? My icon is under 700k. Can you hear me muttering? lol

*I* see the icon above...

What do YOU see? *grin*

Just LOVE this quote...

LOVE this... "Tomorrow" is disease

Just read this great quote that Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels posted on Twitter:

"When it comes to eating right and exercising, there is no 'I'll start tomorrow.' Tomorrow is disease."

How true is that? As Nike says... "Just Do It!"

Happy September and rededication! : )

Happy (September) New Year!!

I officially declare that September is my "New Year"!

The season changes. School starts again. And I have New Year resolutions...

• My intent for the month of September is to exercise 4x a week and walk 3x a week a mile or more.
• My intent is to be in the 220s by October 1st.

So there you have my September intent and goal which I will achieve. (That's my Power of Positive Thinking in action by saying I *will* achieve my goals! lol)

Feel free to keep track of your intent for September in the comments below!

We can do this!! : )

You Know... Bloody Mary Was One Smart South Pacific Lady!

As I drove from Boston to Vermont today, I was listening to TheSecret DVDs which I really enjoy. I always find some new inspiration in them. Today I was drawn to the lesson of how you have to BE READY to accept the gifts you've asked for! And how the lessons of The Secret are - in a nutshell - really Bible based and very simply put:

1. Ask
2. Believe
3. Receive

Here are some Bible references to back up this:

"And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive." Mat 21:21-22

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have
received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24

But in order to truly put your heart into something to ask and then believe in, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE GUTS TO DREAM IT.

I think, so many times, those of us on the journey to good health and our perfect weight, have let ourselves slip backwards, that we don't DARE dream of the reality of what life will be like when we're healthy. So, today- I day-dreamed a good deal of my four hour car ride on what my life will be like.

• What will I physically feel like?
• What will I be able to do again that I don't do now?
• Where will I feel comfortable going that I don't now?
• How will I walk into a room?
• Who do I want to have share my life with me? (That was a fun day-dream! lol)
• And how will I continue to maintain my perfect weight and health - what will my joyful daily regime be?

You know what?? - I imagined it all and I hadn't taken the time to do this before. I didn't TRULY have a dream. I kind of had a vision of what I might like. But now I feel differently.

I imagined jumping into a kayak with a two piece bathing suit on and having a gorgeous man who is fun and the love of my life jump in behind me and paddling on a quiet lake and loving life. And now I KNOW in my heart I will get there. I have felt the happiness (just by imagining this!) that I'll feel when that actually takes place.

All those years ago when I watched South Pacific and loved it so much, it was teaching me a valuable lesson that came flooding back to me today as I recalled Bloody Mary's important lesson of "Happy Talk".

Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk,

Talk about things you'd like to do.

You got to have a dream,

If you don't have a dream,

How you gonna have a dream come true?

So DREAM THE DREAM you REALLY TRULY want, my friends. Ask yourself the questions that will lead you to believe in your dreams and feel them in your heart. Dream and believe and achieve. We can do this... no dream is too big for our imaginations and then the Universe to see come true! : )

Dedicated to my dear high school friend, Vincent, whom I sang this song with and acted out the little happy talkin' hands with countless, happy times. RIP .

Another Photo Update

September 4th after work - 237 lbs.

Okay, so I can notice the belly bloat isn't quite as bad. Nice to see the results of the weight loss. I try to take the photo(s) in the same spot and wearing the same clothes or type of clothes month to month. I'm at 40 lbs. lost thru Weight Watchers (insert very big grin here, please!!) and started taking photos around 267 lbs. in late March. I really want to be down another 10 lbs. to 225 (227 I would take! lol) by October 17th, the end of the Weight Watchers "Lose for Good" campaign where lost pounds translate to food for families in need. Such a worthwhile cause!

Peanut Butter with 85% LESS Calories = WOoooHOoooo!

Okay, so I love Love LOVE peanut butter… I admit freely that probably 20+ pounds that I have to lose are probably directly related to over-indulgence in peanut butter frenzies. Not a pretty site, lemme tell ya!

As we talk about in Weight Watchers’ meetings, creamy peanut butter is definitely a “trigger food” for me. I can’t just have one little smidge of peanut butter over a piece of whole wheat toast. Nope. One smidge leads to 1/3 of the jar gone! YIKES!!

With all that said, I am SO thrilled to say that there is an alternative that is REAL peanut butter with 85 percent LESS calories. There is ‘powered peanut butter’ called PB2 that you can search for on the Bell Plantation site to see where it is sold locally. I had to travel about 10 miles and it is a little expensive ($7.50 for the ‘jar’) but I am happy to report

IT TASTES INCREDIBLE!!!

I was very skeptical to try it but my love of peanut butter and my worry that I’m going to go nuts and run to the grocery store at midnight some night to buy a tub of Skippy (lol!) made me investigate this. I first heard of it thru a Facebook post made my Tara Costa (BL#8 finalist) who said right after the final weigh-in she went for the powered peanut butter. That caught MY interest, I can tell you! So I researched, emailed Tara directly and sure enough – it is the Bell Plantation powered PB2!

Last night I measured out 2 tablespoons of the power and added a tbsp of cold water and mixed, mixed, mixed ‘til it was smooth. And it DID get smooth. It was a little too dry at first so I added a few more drops of water and VOILA! Creamy, spreadable peanut butter and only 50 calories / 1.25 WW points as opposed to the 190 calories /5 WW points in 2 tablespoons of my beloved Skippy! In Healthy Loser Gal terms that means I can have a peanut-butter-craving-fulfilling-time with eight tablespoons of PB2 for about the same calories as two little tablespoons! Count me IN! : ) And yes, I plan to have celery and peanut butter tonight as a happy snack (maybe with Granny Smith apples, too!) while watching the Red Sox game!

If you get it and try it – let me know how you like it. Oh!, for you chocolate lovers… there is a powered peanut butter and chocolate variety!! You just add water and you have peanut butter cup taste with less than half the calories!! Wooohoooo!

Ode to my water bottle...

For Christmas a year ago my sister from Florida gave me a really cool water bottle as a stocking stuffer (it stuffed the whole thing! lol) which I have grown to LOVE! I think the company in Florida that originally produced them has gone out of business as the 1-800 number on the bottle no longer works, but I've narrowed down the company that sells this remarkable piece of my personal weight loss to Innova Pure Water found at: http://www.innovapurewater.com/html/products/all_water_filtration_products.htm

My water bottle doesn't look anything like the ones on their site but the product seems to be the same in the long run.

I fill this bottle up a few times a day at work as shown in the photo above - no tossing plastic into the recycle bin for me as tons and tons and tons of plastics are killing our oceans, natural resources.

Cool thing about the filters in bottles, too, is - if you're a hiker - you can refill the bottle in any stream or fresh water lake and not worry about what you're drinking. : )

Cheers!

July is going to be my month!

"X" marks the spot... I'll be back later - definitely over the 4th of July weekend if not tonight - to catch up on blogging and what is going on with my life...

But let me say this for the record:

I DECLARE JULY 2009 AS MY MONTH!

New Pics of Progress ~ Before and "On the Journey" Shots

Now I know what you're thinking, why on God's green earth would she post these photos of herself? And a year ago I would not have - believe you me!! But the truth is, I have to stop hating who I am in order to change for the better. I have to accept I was that big, see the small changes, accept them and keep going. So... there you have it, or have me, as the case may be!
I proud of myself for having the courage to post these... I'm ashamed of myself for not facing a long time ago that I needed to get busy on reclaiming ME!

I 'photo shopped' in the hats, I couldn't resist! *grin*

Kinda fun exchange w/reality tv celeb...

I am on both Facebook and Twitter and was trying to help Kristin from the Biggest Loser out since she's new to Twitter... she responded with the below:

Ten percent of me is history!! : )

The Ten Percent Keychain I was given during the meeting tonight:

And the frig magnet for losing 25 lbs.+ total to date... which is proudly on my frig already! : )

FINALLY I hit both 25 lbs. and 10 percent at Weight Watchers. In twelve weeks, so that is not too shabby! At this rate I could lose another 50 before years end! That would be sweet to be in "one-derland" at the holidays! : )

Nice to meet you again...

Who WAS that at the gym last night?!?

Oh yeah... that was ME!!


I finally did it - I went to the YMCA in Waltham last night and completed the weight room part of Orientation. My trainer, Vinnie, was great... I told him my condition and he took it all in stride, explaining the weight machines in details and reviewing the computer system they use there to track your reps and weight "pushed", etc. For example, just in the training last night, I "pushed" over 2000 lbs. of weights. lol ME! Pushing weights at a gym. Too much to comprehend almost. And what is more - I liked it!! I felt invigorated afterwards... proud of myself.

About 4 o'clock in the afternoon yesterday I was dog tired. Really felt like I could sleep in my office if I closed my eyes. By the time I was heading home at 5:50, I'd pretty much talked myself out of keeping my appointment at the Y. But then, as I drove into my driveway, I thought, "Nope! I am going to do this!" And my mood changed completely. How many times have I bought gym memberships in the past and never gone... three times that I can remember. There are probably others. Wasted money and I don't have money to waste!


But last night I was victorious and that is how it felt. I asked questions, I asked Vinnie to repeat things I didn't understand. I asked him to show me the locker rooms as no one had done that when I joined... he explained about the pools, and the work out regimes, about cleaning off the machines, about logging in my workout, about the aerobics room and spin class and the equipment in the aerobic rooms. He told me that if I didn't understand something - go find a trainer or go to the front desk and ASK - that's what they're there for. He was a dear.

And so... for over an hour, I was at the Y... doing leg thrusts (that photo is a leg thrust machine... I'm sure it isn't called that, but still...), and quad presses, and lateral machines - I don't even know what they are all called! *grin* But I do know I feel confident enough to go again so I signed up for the next hour of orientation for tomorrow morning at 7:30am!


Did you read that? I am getting up early to go to the gym tomorrow morning!

Who am I?


Oh right... I'm the healthy girl in the overweight body, kicking to get out! That's who I am.


"Hello, I'm Healthy Loser Gal."


"Oh! I remember you. Nice to meet you again!"


I'm doing it... I'm reclaiming ME!

PS: Thank you, God, for listening to my pleas and helping me! With you all things are, indeed, possible! : )

Last Night at the Meeting

I was wary going to weigh in last night because 1) I'd been on vacation in Austin and had been eating less carefully than I do at home and... 2) my birthday was Tuesday and as a result I had cobbler with ice cream in Austin with DS and his GF, DF got me a little delicious individual serving cake for my birthday, and a slice of cake with the girls at my office when they surprised me with cake! Sooooo... being that I was on a plane on Tuesday and weighing in Thursday and my ankles still looked like grapefruit, I was "concerned".


NO NEED!


I gained one pound ONLY! Which I consider a Non Scale Victory (NSV)! One little pound which - when I stepped on the scale at home this morning - was already gone and I was done into the 240s (barely, but it had 249.6)! So I was psyched.

While I was on vacation I truly did make conscious choices about my food. I avoided cheese and heavy sauces and opted for the fresh, spicey tex-mex foods. I ate one hot dog at the ballpark and didn't get crazy with any huge food frenzy. I had a few margaritas over the time I was there, a glass of wine. But I also walked alot and swam a couple of times and got exercise when I could. Plus the 90+ degree heat doesn't make you want to eat too much. My big night was a planned night out for bbq and it was soooo delicious! I ate a huge plate full and enjoyed every bite and had cobbler following which we shared. That was the only night I felt uncomfortable in a long time. I noted that feeling and don't want to feel it again.


So one little pound isn't gonna wreck me... quite the opposite, I'm motivated. Also... what I really want to remember is the wonderful woman I met at last night's meeting who has lost 101.6 lbs. AMAZING! She is probably late 50s and is a little slender woman now. Probably about my height at 5'9" or so and so nice. She told her story during the meeting and showed her pants (size 26) and blouse (3x) that would not button on the bottom. She passed around a photo of herself. But what she SAID was what got to me...


She took it slowly and stuck to the plan. She makes a lot of her meals herself and plans everything. It took her over 18 months to lose it all. Now she is a lifetime member. She talked about how she regrets she didn't lose it earlier and all the problems she has had due to the weight - knee replacements, broken bones, etc. Not good! She has photos of herself at family events she cannot look at without crying. I know that feeling. She'd lost 70 lbs. before her daughter's wedding and you could see how proud and relieved she was to be able to say that.


Her name is Donna Parker and she lives in the town next to me. She talked about doing the Avon Breast Cancer walk with her friends for the first time and how great it was. We talked after the meeting in the parking lot for a bit and she was sooooo inspirational. She showed me the packet of Kraft Free dressing she carries in her purse... and encouraged me on keeping the almonds with me for a quick pick-me-up plus told me that it is great for asthmatics who need to counteract the prednisone in their system.


I feel blessed to have gone to the meeting and heard her speak. To have met her... and I told her so. To meet someone who has lost 100+ lbs. was so good for me.


People Magazine 2007 100+ Loser feature


She did it. I can do it, too. We need to be as important to ourselves as other people in our lives are to us. In fact, we need to put ourselves FIRST and lose this weight and get healthy.


We're the ones who can do this. No one else can.


No more excuses/lamenting for me... forward... onward... I can see a beautiful happy healthy woman at the end of this journey and I'm not going to veer from that path!



(This is where you all shout "Amen, sister!" lol)

On Never Giving Up, Never Quitting When the Goal is In Sight!

An Inspirational Poem

"Don't Quit" by Edgar A. Guest

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
when the funds are low and the debts are high,
and you want to smile but you have to sigh,
when care is pressing you down a bit - rest if you must,
but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow - you may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man;
often the struggler has given up when he might have captured the victor's cup;
and he learned too late when the night came down,
how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out - the silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
and when you never can tell how close you are,
it may be near when it seems afar;
so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit - it's when things seem worst,
you must not quit.

More Food for Thought on Quitting

Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do. Napoleon Hill

Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. Vince Lombardi

Restoration

I'm writing this at 5:30pm EST June 2- my 51st birthday - as I travel home from Austin, TX... somewhere over the Eastern US ~

res·to·ra·tion

Pronunciation: res-tə-ˈrā-shən\ Function: noun Date: 14th century

1: an act of restoring or the condition of being restored: as a: a bringing back to a former position or condition : reinstatement b: restitution c: a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition d: the replacing of missing teeth or crowns 2: something that is restored ; especially : a representation or reconstruction of the original form (as of a fossil or a building)


I have had my heart restored to where it should be… full again after seeing my son in Austin for five days. God, I love that kid ‘o mine. He is a good soul. He was glad for my visit, too… said so often. He had a lot on his mind to tell me about – mainly his situation with his girlfriend and where things stand for them right now.

I arrived on the night of Friday the 29th of May and drove straight from the airport to meet DS at his apartment. He came out with GF and I was sooo thrilled to see him. I felt pretty good about the weight I have lost. It felt so incredibly good to be on the airplane and not feel so BLOATED! I didn’t have to worry about whether or not the seatbelt would fit around me, too… so huge nsv there. I just honestly felt better about myself. I realize I still have a long way to go but I am ready to really spend the next four weeks (until 4th of July) on one heck of a mission.

NSVs this week:

• No asthma difficulties
• The plane ride. No worries about the seat belt.
• Swimming in the pool with DS & his GF and then by myself
• Walking without having to stop
• My clothes fitting fine or being a little big! (Big!!)
• Being in 90 degree + weather daily and not having it slow me down other than what it would anyways
• Not ordering fattening food
• Even when out with DS, watching what I’m eating – making conscious decisions about food
• Realizing after the night we went for bbq the harm it did to my system both with upset stomach and then with the bloat of salt intake, an awareness has been born, not just mindless "eating to eat"

So here is the plan...



Water. Tons and tons of water.


Walking. I like to walk… and I’m going to do so every morning.

Wednesday, June 3rd – 10 mins
Thursday – 10 mins
Friday 15 mins
Saturday 15-30 mins.
Sunday 15-30 mins.

• Orientation tour/workout at the Y
• Swimming at the Y
• Spin and pilates at the Y
• Wii Fit 3x weekly (buy the boxing gloves for Wii w/birthday money)
• Weekly WW meetings
• Track everything that goes into my mouth (BLTs - bites, licks, tastes)
• Keep journaling and checking in on 100+ and 8 week forums

That's all for now - landing soon ~

A ha! Moments...

No, that isn't me. *grin*

I haven't written this past week and cannot believe how quickly the time went!

The time at my Mom's house with my brother was... as I like to make my visits there... "short and sweet". It is the "short" that keeps it "sweet". lol For instance, we drove from my house in Boston to visit her on Sunday afternoon - about four hours or so with stops along the way. We went out for a nice dinner (I stayed SOOOOO on plan, it was great - not even any desert for Mother's Day!) and then came home.

By 8pm Mom was ready to get back into her regular routine (aka, she'd seen us enough!!) and TOLD us not to talk while her show (one of many... but this one was the Apprentice final show) was on for THREE HOURS!! My brother took off for awhile to just get out of the house and when he came back she 'shhhhushed' us to be quiet so we say in the dining room to talk while she was in the living room. She would turn down the volume while the commercials were on to see if she could hear what we were saying! lol My mother is a trip. Oy!

We stayed overnight and saw my uncle the following morning for breakfast and had a nice, friendly reunion with him. Then we said goodbye to my Mom and took off for Boston again. My brother wanted to do some shopping at an outlet mall on the way home so we stopped, he shopped, and I leaned up against the car in the sunshine while he bobbed around. He left the following morning but we had a nice dinner that evening with DF. We went out to Chili's which was a bit of a struggle for me, but I made good choices and felt in control.

I have to tell you that I LOVE Chili's "classic nachos" but a few weeks ago I read on dietfacts.com that the regular serving is 37 POINTS!!!!

THIRTY SEVEN!

1450 calories without the guacamole (which, I would slather on, of course!!) and 108g of FAT!!!

And I wonder why I have over 100 pounds to lose in total? I would think nothing of having the nachos FOLLOWED by a chipotle bleu cheese burger plate... another 27 points!!!

When I say "Holy Cow", I was eating like one! Jeez!

But with the WW program comes knowledge, so I know better now. I am not saying I will never eat Classic Nachos at Chili's again, I know I will... but I also know each nacho chip is about 2 points, so it would be a good appetizer to share (new concept for me!) instead of eat on my own or as a meal!

BACK LATER... WI is tonight (Thursday) for me and I'm hoping to get below the 250 mark... it would be sooo great to finally get on 'the right side' of 200 (not that there IS a 'right side' of 200 other than 100+, but you know what I mean...)!

This and that - - -

I think it helps me stay accountable if I go to meetings and keep checking in on the WW boards. The girls are all so nice on the 40+ group that I tend to always check in there, but I've also been posting on the 100 pounds to Lose group and they're a fantastic bunch, too. And, like me, they have a lot of weight to lose. A few are really inspiring, too. One of the girls, Sondra, was a "Success Story" in this past issue of WW Magazine and also is in the online success stories. And she's just as encouraging and nice as could be as she has BEEN THERE and now is running marathons! : ) Pretty inspiring stuff!

If I drink three big 64oz bottles of water daily (they say you're supposed to drink your weight in oz!), that does seem to help me keep on the right path. I also think it helps keep me full... well... let me rephrase that... "fullER". I don't remember the last time I was truly push-that-away-I-couldn't-possibly-eat-it full.

So weigh in was disappointing for me last night. I only lost one pound this past week. I know it is still 'in the right direction' but - jeez! ONE pound? Not even 1.2 lbs.? lol C'mon!! I am consoling myself by believing that it is more than that and next week will be a huge loss when and if I finally get my period. I HATE peripause. I just am so darn achy - and not in the most cheerful of moods. Blah. Oh, and I purposefully stopped at the local market on the way home from the meeting and bought tons of fresh veggies and fruit but ALSO purposefully bought not one - but two - cinnamon rolls and this chicken salad and dinner rolls I have been craving. Ate them all last night. I knew what I was doing - I know it means I am out of flex points for the week but I did it - I got it over with - I logged in the points (yikes!!!) and it is over. The scale showed no difference this morning but I am sure it will. I got THAT out of my system!

Do you have plans for Mother's Day?

More soon - - - I feel like I am writing a book here! lol

Big hugs and happy (early) Mother's Day!!!