Category Archives: 100 pounds lost

My Fativersary – 9 years

I was going back through some old blog posts and got to thinking about hitting 100 pounds lost. That wasn’t the end goal I wanted, but that was a huge milestone for me. When I looked for that post, I went all the way back to 2008!  I cannot believe it was that long ago.

I’m standing next to 100 pounds of coconut oil in that shot for comparison.

Today, I am 10 pounds heavier than that, but that means that I have kept the majority of the weight off over 9 years. My weight has gone up and down a bit over the years, but never back up to where it was or even anywhere even close to that. Also not down to my very lowest point, either.

I thought I would do a winter coat comparison as I don’t have too many current full body shots.  This was old 250-pound me:

Then back in March or Feb of 2017:

Just a little different – even though some days I still feel really big. I would have thought after all these years that feeling would be gone, but it still pops up now and again.

My blog has certainly changed a lot. I don’t post my daily eats anymore and put more of my life on the blog. Maintaining has been a struggle at times and then sometimes not a struggle. I will always love food. There are going to be times when I overeat food. I accept that and am okay with that. I will stress eat again. That’s just me. I also will bounce back and rein things in. I’m pretty confident that I will always do that now. Sometimes it just takes me a little longer than I would like LOL!

I won’t lie and say that I don’t miss eating whatever I wanted whenever. Sometimes I get really tired of weighing the pros and cons of eating – and I do really have to think about it every day. That part hasn’t gotten easier because you can’t just not eat. It’s not like quitting smoking.

I am so much more physically active now, which is great. Now that I’m 49, I find I have gotten more injury prone – very annoying. I want to age well, though. Activity is going to be a huge part of that and I’m going to stay as active as I can for as long as I can.

Maintenance is not impossible. It takes as much, if not more work than actually losing. And it’s pretty mundane. You don’t get the excitement of seeing a loss on the scale to celebrate and keep you motivated. You just have to do it day in and day out.

Thanks for hanging around with me all this time!

My 100 pound lose-aversary

Over the weekend, I celebrated another year of maintaining my 100 pound weight loss.   My yellow sunsprite rose came back again this year along with me.

For those that don’t know, the yellow rose bush is one I bought for myself as a gift for losing 100 pounds 3 years ago.  It was kind of a straggler bush and on the discount section at the garden center.  Like me, the rose bush just needed some love, attention, proper care and nutrition to bloom.

As is always fun, some comp pics.

Big smile in this picture because I had lost 20 pounds in 2004

Love Disney!  From 2004 I will *not* be looking like this in January when we go again!

At the gym in February 2011

In 2011 at the Tulip Festival in May

I need more full body shots.  I had almost none in my photo albums for the past year!  All of me taking my own picture LOL!

This past year has been an interesting one.  I have to say that I don’t know exactly what I weight right now.  This is my scale.

No numbers!  It’s a MaryLou’s Weigh scale which I got to review a couple years ago.  Once you set a starting weight, the scale just tells you (by way Mary Lou’s perky voice) whether you are above or below your starting weight.  I just got on it arbitrarily earlier this year and set it as a start point, so I really don’t know what the official number is.  I am guessing about 5 pounds heavier than last year.  That makes me a little nervous, I will admit.  You just never know how slick the slippery slope can be.

I do feel good about my strength and have pretty good control of my eating most times.  I am more relaxed about food as time goes by and feel fairly normal with it most times.  I do get the occasional binges here and there, and I have spent some time this past year trying to correlate binges with the types of food I am eating and what is going on in my life to see if there is any connection.  I think I might have found a wheat/binge correlation.  I tend have trouble with snacking on days where I have wheat.  Not all the time, but enough that I think that could be a contributing factor.

My exercise front has changed some in the past year as well.  The biggie is a lot less running and  heck of a lot more biking!

So onward another year, with some extra concentration to keep the weight off as I get older (eeek!).

I do have to say that I am about as happy and content as I have ever been in my whole life right now.

I will nurture this rose bush and myself and hopefully next year at this time we will still both be flourishing!

Flashback Friday – The 24W edition.

Friday!  Yay!  Had a nice day off just puttering around and doing things 😀  Started off the day with a good gym work out:

Walked 1 mile on the hamster wheel, then did my lifting:

  • Chin ups:  2 sets of 2, 1 set of 1 (and a lame attempt at 2)
  • Barbell split squats:  3 sets of 8 at 65#

Super set:

  • Barbell incline chest press:  3 sets of 8 at 55#
  • Lunges with bar:  3 sets of 8 with 35# bar

Super sets:

Super set:

  • Dumbbell pliet squat:  3 sets of 10 with 40# DB
  • Dumbbell pull over:  3 sets of 10 with 20# DB

Then I did an interval workout on the stationary bike.  Felt good!  I worked the weights harder today as I am taking a scheduled lifting break next week (which I do every couple of months or so).

I was all set for grains this morning for brekkie!  I actually did that work out fasted to see what would happen (nothing).  I was hangry, though.  I made some banana custard oats with a whole egg today:

Topped with some raw honey and PB.  Yum!  This raw honey has some bee pollen in it too, which was interesting.

I was able to get up to all kinds of stuff with not having to work.  I made some maple coconut pecan butter (like a liquid praline 😯  )

and got some slow cooker stew started for dinner.

Flashback Friday:  I was flipping through some old photo albums last week and I saw some photos that just made me freak out a little.  When I think about how my mind’s view of myself has changed, these photos looks so alien to me.

Here I am at my heaviest weight in 2002, standing in front of our first home (John was probably at his heaviest, too).

I loved that house and the garden I put in the back.

And then this photo, a few months later.  I know I probably had a bulky sweatshirt or sweater on under this, but the jacket (24W) is almost bulging:

Same smile though :mrgreen:

These 2 photos make me laugh a little because the first one is little head on big body, the second is big head on little body 😀  More and more the 2nd picture is becoming the norm in my head.  It’s just taken a couple years for that to happen.

Which leads me to this FAQ question set:

Do you track calories or record your food intake at all? (besides what you record on your blog) Yes, I use Dailyplate or Fitday to record what I eat.  I have been experimenting with not recording food a few days a week as an experiment, but I will probably always have some sort of tracking going on.  It’s kind of a habit now.

DO you try to stay within a calorie range? Try would be the applicable word here 😀  I can lose weight if I can get my calories down to 1500, but that is really hard for me.  Maintaining is around 1900-2100 most days, depending on activity.

Best advice for someone who wants to lose weight? If I could say something to the old me in that photo, it would be that it is never too late to start, and it isn’t impossible, and it doesn’t mean you have to give everything up or become a social outcast to change your eating habits.  Start small, as all the little changes add up to big results over time.   And that it takes time.  Patience is so important, especially when you have a lot to lose.  It takes a long time, but that’s okay.  But probably the most important thing is to speak kindly to yourself.  Never, ever talk down to yourself because you are worth so much more than the weight on the outside.  Positive talk leads to positive self-worth.

I went out and did some consignment browsing today, but didn’t find anything I wanted to buy.  I did bring home snacks for John and I.

There were a few snacks today.  Not a good day as far as following my ‘no extra snacking’ thing I was trying to implement.  This is really hard!  I am craving bread type of things for some reason.

The stew I put in the slow cooker turned out awesome!  The stew meat was local grass fed meat from the smokehouse and it was really, really tender.  With some biscuits!

All day of cooking and 20 minutes of eating. 🙂

All in all, a nice day and to know that I also have Saturday off feels like a real treat!  We are taking my folks out for breakfast if the weather is okay.  Think I will save my run for the afternoon.

Question:  What is one thing that you would tell  your past self if you could?

Dr. Oz taping

Show airing:  Tuesday February 16, 2010!!


Phew.  I don’t even know where to start!   I had a complete blast!  I could barely contain my excitement for most of the time (dork!!)

First off, there are no pictures of the actual taping, as that was not allowed, and I was a good person and followed those rules.  There is no way they would not have seen me take them, either, as I was sitting in the center on the end of the row!  My mother came with me as my guest (Yay!).  The staff had train tickets for me, so we boarded up on Tuesday afternoon:

Mom and I on the way to NYC! I love riding the train!

After we got into Penn Station, we took a cab to the Hilton hotel.  It was so cool to give them my reservation number and they said “Everything is taken care of”.  :mrgreen:

We were on the 39th floor 😯

It was a cushy room!  We went down to the lobby area and bumped into Dawn, whom we spent quite a bit of time chatting with.  She was so warm and wonderful.  So neat to put voices to faces.  Didn’t see anyone else until the next morning.  We had an early call at 7:20 am to meet in the lobby.  There were about 25 of us at this hotel.  There was much gabbing to be had in the lobby. I finally met Sarah in the lobby. She is such a wonderful lady:

I also met Diane, but very briefly.  I would have liked to have chatted with her more.  There just was not enough time to talk to people as we were moved around so much and in various lines.  However, that led to meeting so many people! Some of these people lost an incredible amount of weight.  Some over 300 pounds!  Ironically, at 105 pounds lost, I was one of the ‘smaller’ losers LOL!  That perception thing.

We spent a *lot* of time in lines:

I think we spent as much time in lines as we did actually taping.  The ‘losers’ then separated out from the other guests and got our special tickets and tshirts.

They also had a paddle for each of us with how much weight we lost!  Here are Dawn and I posing:

Why does my hair look so bleached in these pictures??  Surreal moment happened as I was walking with my paddle alone in Rockafeller center and I see Richard Simmons and his entourage come through.  He must have seen my paddle because he starts walking in my direction. I didn’t think he was coming to me, but he came right up, hugged me and kissed me 4 times on the cheek and said “Congratulations” and then walked away.  I was totally flabbergasted!  And no one was around to take my picture LOL!  He was exactly like you see him all the time on TV.  The man never changes. 🙂

The taping itself was a sensory overload.  I ended up sitting in the center section of the stage the rotates around so you are always facing were the doctor was, which was pretty cool.  It basically taped in 7 segments, where the tape would roll and the action would happen.  Then sets would be moved around and we would be given some instructions before the next live set.  Diane did a segment on stage with Dr. Oz.  She was so calm and cool about it and very professional.  And tall and slender!  (Everyone seemed tall to me, what is up with that lately?).

At the end we were all on stage with Dr. Oz.  I have to say that I was so impressed with him.  He honestly and truly seemed so genuine.  There a point where the stage crew were saying to have the audience leave so they could do promo pics and he said “No, we made these drinks for them and I want them to have them” (referring to smoothies you will see during the show.)  It was like he really noticed us and cared about us instead the cattle moving in and out.  Not that the staff was not nice, they were, but you could tell they just wanted to move us along.

Dr. Oz was also very accessible.  At the end while we were still on stage, I went up to thank him for letting me be part of the show, and he hugged me and said the show was for us.

I have to say that this show was so emotional in many ways – joy, tears, pride, enthusiasm and just so much energy!  While only a few people were featured on the show, they could have pulled any one of us up there and had an inspirational story.  It was almost overwhelming.  Please, if you are struggling or if you know someone who is, they need to watch this show.  Heck – even if you are maintaining, doing great, or just love healthy living, watch this show.  There were 2 moments for me that I loved, and that was when a woman name Merrill (??) came out and talked.  She was fabulous.  And then Richard Simmons said something about when you wake up every day, you never know who you are going to inspire that day and how.  That really struck a chord in me.

I felt so privileged and honored to be part of this.  We are all big losers, but really – we are all big winners!  What a special connection to have to all of these people.

Of course, as you know – there was a blizzard hitting the city the day of taping! I was so worried about getting home, but they actually booked us all for another night in a hotel, which was very nice of them.  However, since we were going north, our train was still going ahead, so we were able to board and go home.

I did have a NY bagel, though – you all know I wouldn’t leave there without it!  I was hangry by this time:

Nice quiet train ride home, where we had only an inch of snow (sorry mid Atlantic!)

All of this happened in 24 hours.  I kept saying to my mother that I couldn’t believe all of that had happened.

I have a lot of thoughts and realizations that I came to because of this, and I need to mull them out into a post.  I am still trying to process the whole experience.

More thanks and my camera is back!

Hope you are all having a great holiday week so far!  I woke up and noticed the temp was around 40, so I went out for a quick 3.2 mile jog.  I normally do not jog 2 days in a row, but tomorrow will be a rest day in case I run the Turkey Trot on Thursday.  It might rain Thursday, and if so, I will run at my gym.  Odd that my gym was closed on Columbus Day, but will be open for Thursday morning. ❓   Try to figure that one out….

Had a beautiful crepe this morning, only used Aunt Jemimah wheat pancake mix instead of Bisquick.

brekkie1124

Topped (and filled) with blueberry sauce with a tablespoon of ricotta cheese on top.  Yum!

My camera arrived right before lunch.  Olympus is fast!  The camera left my hands last Wednesday, and it is back in my hands today.  Now that is customer service!  (All under warranty, too 😀  )

You know you want to see the macro:

lunch1124

More things I am thankful for:

  • John (did I already say that?? I will again!)
  • That I live in an area with 4 seasons
  • I am so thankful for all of you blog readers, both lurkers and non!
  • That I have the ability to move around every day
  • That I have been able to maintain a 100 pound weight loss for almost a year and a half.

Snack of homemade granola bar:

gb1124

Delicious!  Pixie could not care less about the excitement of having my camera back:

Pix1124

She was sleeping next to me while I was working. 🙂  Our nickname (one of many) for her is Pixie Peanut Butter because it looks like someone wiped peanut butter on her nose.

We were having trouble with the router for our internet connection today.  I work via the internet, so that was really frustrating – but I am so thankful (another thankful!) that it was just the router and not the laptop, which is what I thought it was.   Funny how I realized while I couldn’t get on the internet that you can actually use the computer for other things….

For dinner, I had some brussel sprouts with scrambled eggs and feta cheese.  Simple stuff, but delicious!  Plus a little Forelle pear.  Isn’t it the cutest thing?

din1124

For those that don’t know – I work as a medical transcriptionist from home.  That’s why I am working on Thanksgiving.  Even though I don’t work actually in the hospitals, they are open 24/7 – and the medical files for every visit need to be done within 24 hours.   I work Sun – Thurs, so Thanksgiving falls on one of my regular work days (although we get paid extra).  Lucky for me, Christmas and New Years fall on my days off this year!

Agenda for tonight: I will be making my special cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving to bring to dinner.

Question:  Do you have a dish that only you can make for special occasions?

100 pound anniversary post!

I had alluded to this special rose bush in my garden a couple weeks ago:

100lb1This was the reward I gave myself for losing 100 pounds.  I wanted a rose bush, and this one is the one I selected.

Today is a huge milestone day for me.  1 year ago I stepped on the scale to have finally reach 100 pounds lost.

That means I have maintained  at least 100 pounds gone for a year!  I can’t say that I am not a little disappointed to not be at goal now, but I realize that I have kept off an enormous amount of weight.  I made it through a bunch of holidays, the Superbowl, New Orleans, birthdays and the like to varying degrees of success.

1 year ago, I was a fledgling runner  – in 3 weeks I will be doing a sprint triathlon!  Who knew that I had a little athlete in me that wanted to get out all this time??  It only took me 41 years to give her a chance!

I have spent a lot of the last year learning more about what my body is actually capable of doing, and that it can look pretty good in clothes!  I still get great satisfaction and amazement out of shopping and being in the ‘normal’ department.  I wonder if that will ever go away (I hope not).

The rose bush made it through the winter and is blooming now, and a celebration of the time passed since its first planting.  It is my sincere wish that I will be posting again in a year with the same success (and even to be at goal LOL).

Old me:

250

Taken a couple weeks ago:

shirt1

Maybe I can do this maintenance thing after all!

I was also honored to provide a guest post recipe today at Healthy Living Blog!

Maintaining 100 pounds gone since June.

So, no, I have not reached goal yet. But, I realized that I have lost 100 pounds as of mid June, and I have kept that off, plus lost some more over the last 6 months. I hit 110 pounds gone in November, and have kind of wobbled with the same few pounds since then.

I am pretty proud of that! No surgery, just diet and exercise. Yes, it has taken years, but I could have spent those same years staying fat (or getting fatter!!) and doing nothing about it. Plateaus, gains and frustration were all part of it along with the victories. I can keep this weight off, I know it. It means working at it for the rest of my life, but I’m game!

I am off to New Orleans tomorrow (speaking of gaining weight…..), so I will catch all of you on the flip side of the weekend!

100 pound rose bush

I love gardening, and do what I can in our limited space. When I lost 100 pounds, I decided to buy a rose bush. I wanted something different, and I’m fairly picky about the type of roses I get (no tea roses, nothing fussy, and they must hardy and fragrant).

We were at Lowe’s, and I wasn’t actually planning on buying any plants there, but I usually check out their sale area (neglected plants). I saw a floribunda rose there, and it looked solid, but just neglected. For some reason, the plant really spoke to me and I thought “Guess this is my 100 pound rose”. I saw that the structure was good, it just needed pruning and watering. So, brought my Charlie Brown rose bush home and planted it.

Now, a month later, it’s thriving and just started to bloom again. The name is Sunsprite, and it has wonderful yellow, fragrant blooms.

Awesome shopping day!!

I went out to pick up a few more birthday presents for John. Well, I just happened to go by the consignment store that I like to shop at, and she had a bunch of end-of-season racks out, plus a storewide discount going on.

I got 2 exercise tops, one pair of running shorts, a pair of denim shorts, a pair of jeans, 2 shirts and a dress!! All for $50. Unbelievable!

And!!!! All the bottoms were size 10!!!! Except the running shorts which were an adult small – a freaking size small!!! Can you tell I am excited??

John absolutely loved the dress, too. It’s a black dress (he loves me in black), just above the knee and is a slip dress with a lace covering on it. I love it. And the dress was only $14! I am really loving clothes shopping now.

I had my first experience telling someone who didn’t know that I lost 100 pounds, too. I was chatting with the store owner about needing a new wardrobe, and a customer overheard me and asked how much weight I lost. I said 103 pounds and the stares were hilarious! You know that saying about jaws dropping and eye popping, well I saw that big time from the store owner, the customer who asked and another lady standing by. It was weird, exciting and embarrassing all at the same time.

So, when I get to goal, I think I might be around a size 8 when all is said and done. Pretty cool. From a 24 to an 8 (would be smaller without the loose skin, I bet).

Today is one of those days that I found radiance 🙂