Goals for 2011...

I've been very very bad these last few days... I've been exercising less and eating more calories.. Shame on me! I'm even too scared to get on the scale... Don't want to see the damage I've caused. I've therefore decided that my next weigh in will be on January 1st 2011.

That does not mean that I'm going to relax though. I'm going on the treadmill immediately after I put up this post. I've also been compiling a list of goals for 2011. They are as follows:

1. To exercise for at least 6 hours weekly
2. To increase time spent of weight training
3. To eat more vegetables and consume less junk food.
4. To reach my goal weight by 31st December 2011

This is what I have so far... Will add more goals as they come to mind.. Hope u guys are enjoying the Xmas holidays..

Disappointed...

Wow! I haven't posted in over a week. That's really bad eh? Things at work have been crazy and I get so tired that all I do when I get home is drop and fall asleep. Then I tripped when getting off a bus and hurt my knee so exercising was an on and off affair.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when I weighed in at 95.3kg this morning. Yes, I gained 0.8kg :-(. At least I'm grateful that I didn't gain more than a kilo. That would have been too much for me to handle. I'm also disappointed because I realise that I can't reach my goal of getting to Onederland by the end of the year.

Guess I'll have to push it to the second week in January 2011. By then I should weigh either 90kg or 89kg.

Anyways enough blathering. Hope you have an interesting christmas and please... watch out for the calorie-laden stuff...

Aching Pains and Loose Clothes...

Yesterday I decided to do weight training exercises in the morning and walk on the treadmill in the evening but things didn't turn out the way I planned.

First, I used the ab roller and then did some wall push ups, some tricep exercises and dumbbell sidebends. That went pretty well but, the evening workout wasn't pleasant. After 20 minutes on the treadmill I began to experience some pain in my right knee. I therefore had to quit my workout before I could get any serious calorie burning done. Aaaarrggghhh!

Then I woke up this morning feeling sore all over. Guess the weight training exercises did work some muscles. I could only do 20 minutes and really hope that I'm able to put the remaining 20-30 minutes in this evening.

Oh! and about the loose clothes. I guess I'd have to start shopping for new clothes much earlier than I expected. My friends at work have started telling me that my pants look too loose on me.  Yesterday I wore a pair of size 16 pants that I haven't been able to get into for months. I admit it was a bit tight at the waist but I was comfortable.  I seem to be losing more weight on my lower body than my upper body. It's scary but all the weight will go eventually so who cares....

94.5. Hard Work Reaps Rewards...

Phew! Finished my workouts a few minutes ago. I really didn't feel like working out but, I had no excuse for not exercising. So, i just reminded myself as usual "No weight loss, no rewards and, stay obese. Trust me when I say that worked for I was up on my feet and power walking my way to Britney Spears' Circus by the 5th minute on the treadmill.

So, I have a few questions; Why don't people get it when we refuse to take weight loss drugs? Don't they realise that practice makes perfect? How am I expected to learn how to have a good lifestyle if I'm to comtinue popping pills just to stay at a healthy weight? Besides, it's not like the drugs give you a toned and defined body or, do they?

Two days ago, someone felt I was wasting my time by exercising and kept trying to recommend a drug to me. I just said to him "Please, I really want to do this my way. I want to be proud enough to say I did it through hard work, dedication and commitment".

After all, it is hard work that reaps the best rewards.

Cheers..

Why Am I Losing Weight? The Reasons.

So I have several friends who keep asking me why I punish myself by exercising for 40-60 minutes, 6 days/week. The sad part is that most of them think I'm doing it to please my boyfriend. This of course is true to some extent. After all, who wouldn't want to look hot for her man.

Anyhoo, I decided to write down all  my reasons for losing weight. And I'm sure you'll share some points with me.

Here it goes.......

Why Lose Weight? The List

1. To increase my fitness and endurance levels
2. To sleep better and not snore at night
3. To lower my risk of getting diabetes and heart disease
4. To feel fabulous
5. To avoid being called a fatty by total strangers
6. To be able to buy cute clothes
7. To look good naked
8. To find a higher level of confidence
9. To impress my boyfriend
10. To make my parents happy
11. To be able to buy clothes at every clothing store in town
12. To be able to wear tee shirts and camisoles confidently.
13. To be able to put on a bathing suit
14. To live longer and have a bright future

Here it is... At least for now. If any more reasons come up the list will be updated. Do you have any reasons that do not appear on my list? Please share....

95.9. And I'm Back In The Game!

Okay. So last week I missed three workout days and messed up my eating pattern. So I wasn't surprised when I weighed in at 96.5kg on Sunday morning. I realised that I needed to act as quickly as possible.

So, I upped my exercise time and the intensity of my workout and voila! I weighed in at 95.9kg. I really want to reach my first goal by X'mas so I can celebrate my progress with a photoshoot at a professional studio. :-) I therefore plan on working out twice a day for 3 weeks. Now, I've talked about doing this before but just didn't seriousy consider it till now.

Hopefully I will be 5kg lighter by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Tired....

Wow! Been a while since I last posted. Sorry guys, the stress from work leaves me too exhausted to type. Thank God I'm sill able to work out in the mornings! Anyways, weighed in this morning at 96.2 kg. Yeah, kinda slow this week but eventually we'll get to 90kg.

Getting Emotional....

Somewhere last year, when I was about 110kg. Someone I truly loved looked at me and said "Enyonam, you'd be a stunner if only you would lose a few pounds." Obviously I was hurt. What did he mean by that? Especially since he had told me that he really loved me no matter what. I smiled and said I was working on it even though deep down I was hurt. Then I found out he was trying to woo a much slimmer girl. The betrayal nearly killed me.

But now, I realise that was my wake up call. As I was crying, I looked at myself in the mirror and, hated what I saw. That was when I decided I was going to lose the extra weight. What did I do? Started jumping rope twice everyday and watching every single thing that entered my mouth. the result; I lost 11kg. Then the next guy I fell in love with made me feel fat so I worked harder but because I was doing it to please him, the weight just refused to come off. Then we broke up and then I stopped exercising and went back to late night eating. I ended up gaining 3.8kg and moving to 102.8kg.

So one night as I was in blogsville reading several weight loss stories, one caught my eye. The lady said she started to lose weight the moment she learnt to love herself for who she was and gained confidence in herself. This gave her the strength to wake up at 4am every morning to walk around her house. She lost 80 pounds just by doing that and eating right. That just triggered my vim. I've learnt to love myself and I'm losing the weight 1kg at a time.

I want to thank you guys for reading my blog and leaving your comments as I share my triumphs and failures with you. It's talking to you that keeps me sane and on track.

Love you all.......

96.9, I'm A Survivor.

As I was burning serious calories on the treadmill at 4am this morning and listening to music on my Ipod, Destiny's Child's Survivor started playing. I actually paid attention to the lyrics and smiled as I raised the incline from 6% to 8%. See, it reminded me of all those who felt I couldn't lose weight even if I wanted to. It reminded me of the guy who said "Enyonam, don't kill yourself. You are beautiful just the way you are" and yet left me for a skinnier girl. It reminded me of the number of times that people have said mean things to me about my weight and how I was "losing my figure because of food". (Sigh).

I actually smiled because the lyrics were on point. In spite of all those mean words of discouragement, I'm here.I'm doing things my way and it's working. Infact, I couldn't help but sing along with my slight panting..

I'm a survivor

I'm not gonna give up

I'm not gonna stop

I'm gonna work harder

I'm a survivor

I'm gonna make it

I will survive and

Keep on surviving.

After all of the sadness I've felt, losing weight is the best thing that has ever has happened to me and even if it takes me a year, 2 years or more, I'm definitely not going to stop exercising and eating right!

Oh! and I weighed in at 96.9kg this morning, meaning I've lost 5.9kg/13pounds since I started this journey in October. I will keep surviving! :-)

97.8, Crunches Make Me Nauseous!

I'm so tired. Thank God I'm not doing any serious exercises today. The walking that I'm going to be doing whilst shopping and cooking is enough exercise on my "off" day.

So, I've been trying to balance my workout with the usual dumbell, resistance bands etc . plus cardio workout but, there is one problem. I can't do crunches without feeling like I'm gonna throw up. The leg raises are fine, the side bends are fine but the crunches..... ArggggHHH! It can be frustrating. Any ideas on how to stop this? I need you guys....

Weighed in at 97.8kg this morning. Good. I'm just gonna take it easy and hope I don't eat the wrong things today since Saturdays are like the best days for the food devils to strike.

98.1, I've Lost 10 Pounds!!

So today is a very memorable day for me. Wanna know why?  I've lost 10 pounds! Yay!

Now I know it's not much when compared to how much more weight I have to lose to get to my goal weight but, like my Dad always says: you never get to the finish line if you don't partake in the race. I'm gonna continue working hard and persevering. I will get there even if it kills me!

I must confess that I feel good now that I'm losing the weight. The confidence is high and I must confess, I can't wait to see the look on the faces of those who didn't believe I could do this when they see me next year.

:-) Cheers and y'all have a lovely day!

Resisting Temptation...

Saturdays are usually busy days for many people. Some do their laundry and others go grocery shopping. I did the latter yesterday and my! talk about food temptation. There were a lot of great bargains for foods that were calorie laden. Why don't they ever have sales for fruits and veggies but rather the ice cream, pizzas, sodas etc? It's so unfair. No wonder a lot of people are obese... The cheap foods are the ones that make you fat!

So I spent almost two hours reading the nutrition information on food products and asking myself whether this or that was worth putting in my system; is it worth struggling to burn later? Why have Digestive biscuit which has 71 calories per biscuit especially when, there is no way you are going to eat one and will probably have half of the box before letting go of the box? I don't think so.  Anyways, I ended up resisting temptation and bought all the stuff I needed for the week. I didn't even look at the pastry section  ( I love meat turnovers but the ones here are fattening as hell!).

Resisting temptation is hard. We all want what we can't have and its even more difficult when we can afford to get it. But I will try cos I don't want to miss out on the manicure and new shoes I will be getting myself when I reach my first goal...

Did 45 minutes on the treadmill and situps on the exercise ball and felt  really good after that workout this morning. Oh! and I weighed in at 98.5.  This is definitely a step in the right direction. Woo hoo!

 

98.8: It's Gonna Get Better.

It feels so good knowing that the weight is coming off with hard work. Met a good friend yesterday evening and she also noticed that I was losing weight. Yay! That's enough motivation if you ask me.

Anyway, since I don't really have much to say, I'm just gonna leave you with good wishes for the weekend. Do by all means, try to resist temptation. ;-)

Ta ta.....

One of Those Days...

Woke up feeling tired this morning so I settled for 40 minutes on the treadmill.

Anyway. I have good news. My dad actually noticed that I was losing weight. How great is that? Especially since my Dad has always complained about how I was taking my health for granted by being overweight/obese.

Weighed in today at 99.2kg. With hard work I'm hoping to reach 89kg by the end of December. Realistic goal right?

So, I have heard people praising Jilian Michaels 30 day shred program and I was wondering what your views were on it? Have you tried it? Was it worth it?

Kindly let me know your experiences.......

99.6

Thank goodness! I was so sure that it was going to read 100.0kg. Don't get me wrong; I did all the rights except one little mistake I made last nite. My stir-fry had a little too much salt in it.  I'm so relieved to know that the week has started on a somewhat good note. Somewha cus its PMS week. I hate this but these cramps are not gonna stop me from getting my calorie burning on.

Last week I wasn't able to fulfill my goal of exercising in the evenings. Was only able to do this on Tuesday. Maybe I'm not ready for this yet. :-(. Perhaps I should try again this week.

I'm really looking to a great week. Hope you are too...

99.7

Last night I had pasta and hot pepper sauce for dinner. My Mom seemed to be worried because she felt it was high in calories but what I ate wasn't even up to 100g which is equivalent to 362 kcal, making me sure that it was ok.

Sometimes it's easier to say "I'm not eating this or that", but what happens when you crave it? Do you look the other way when deep in your heart you really want a bite. I would rather look at the moderation factor and caloric content. If I take in something, I make sure that it's subtracted from the daily requirements and balance it at the next meal. It helps and prevents a binge-fest later.

Weighed in at 99.7 meaning I've lost 0.3kg. Not bad, right?

Today is rest day for moi though, I may go for a walk and lift some weights later in the day. I think my joints need a break from the jumping so the jumprope will be off duty today.

Hope you all have good news to share. And if you don't have any, please don't be discouraged. Just keep doing your thing and you'll soon be smiling.

Y'all have a great weekend......

P.S I pray we resist all temptation since it's the weekend and we are at home.

The Clothes Say It!

Today, I wore a pair of pants that was killing me last week (they were cutting into my skin at the waist) and, it felt so comfortable and slightly loose! I am so excited. Hard work does pay.

Things were different on the scale though. I weighed in at 100kg. I'm not bothered though since I know I did all the right things. Hopefully tomorrow will be different :-).

Hope my fellow bloggers had a good day.

Hurray!

It's indeed a good day. I finally left the 100s zone today-by 0.1. Yes, I now weigh 99.9.  I know its a long way from my overall goal of 60kg but, like they say "how can you walk if you don't crawl?". :-)

Did the usual workout this morning. Wasn't able to workout last nite as planned; I was way too exhausted to move. My laptop's hard disk was giving me unnecessary problems and I had to have it replaced and reinstall Windows. Technology can be a bitch sometimes.

Anyways, last nite my big sis and I were talking about how I became obese. Truth be told, she did play a major role in what I am today. She introduced me to late nite eating, spring rolls, and all the junk you can think of. Unfortunately, she has a crazy metabolism unlike me who......

We do grow wiser as we grow older, don't we?

Have a lovely day y'all.......

100.4

Its a good daayyyyyy! I'm sure by the end of the week I'd probably be at 100.0 or better still, 99.9 :-). Guess what? I was able to exercise last night. yes, after the morning workout. Did some resistance bands and 500 jumps with the jumprope. Oh! It felt real good afterwards.....

I'm off to eat my dinner of rice and chicken salad. Catch you guys tomorrow!

Exercising Twice Daily.....

Yesterday evening I was a bad girl, I took too much palmnut soup (made with palm fruit and consumed mostly in Africa). I knew I was going to pay for that decision so I wasn't surprised when I checked my weight this morning and the scale still read 100.5. Guess it means i will be taking lesser amounts of palmnut soup from now on.  

Now, to the topic of discussion. I've read several articles that suggest that exercising twice daily is a very effective way of ensuring weight loss. My friend who happens to be a dietitian also suggested that since I love jumping rope, doing that twice daily in conjunction with resistance bands wasn't a bad idea. So I've decided to try that from today and see what happens by the end of the week. I however, will be variating my workouts to include going  for walks or doing the treadmill in the evenings.

This morning I found out that I finished 1000 jumps in just 20 minutes; a huge achievement since a few months ago, it took me almost 45 minutes of panting to get there... Yayy! And, since I had to work out for thirty minutes, I added another 500 jumps making it a total of 1500 jumps this morning.

Diet-wise, I seem to be lacking my appetite this morning so I had a Diet Coke (I know that's bad!), and a small pita bread. After taking that, I decided to sip my usual green tea. Perhaps by lunch I will be able to consume the brown rice and vegetable sauce I prepared.

Now that I'm a lot wiser, I'll definitely have a tuna/chicken salad for dinner.

Hope your day is as good as I 'm hoping mine will be....

P.S: Thanks to all the followers/comments.

100.5

Slow but sure.... I was a bit disappointed when I stepped on the scale this morning but then again, 0.1 is still a change.

This morning started well. I did 1000 jumps with the jumprope before taking a shower and heading for work. I think the menu is healthy enough - I'm having green tea for breakfast and pineapple with some cashew nuts for lunch. Still not sure of what I wanna have for supper but, the day is still young.....

100.6

Can't wait to get into the 90s zone. I didn't even do my workout yesterday. Guess all the chores were enough to burn some calories.The day was a very busy and tiring one for me. Did some laundry (handwashing) and helped my mom with the cooking. It was so hot ( I live in the tropics)  that I ended up drinking lots of water that kept me full. 

The exhaustion made it impossible for me to prepare my dinner. So I all could think of for a quick meal was to prepare scrambled egg whites and have it with tea and some pita bread.

Thanks to the visitors and followers. My blog is new and its motivating to know that I am sharing my thoughts with others who know what I am going through.

Lets see what happens today.

100.9

This morning was a good one when I stepped on the scale. Thank God that I'm finally getting there. I hope I'm able to eat well and exercise.

I've set my first goal to lose 90kg. God help me.....

Shake It Off!

There's no denying it, I sometimes hate to exercise.Lets face it, sometimes getting on the treadmill for 30minutes to an hour can be boring. But I guess you gotta do what you gotta do if you wanna see results at the end of the day.

I'm taking things one day at a time... Better do my 45 minutes on the treadmill, shower and go to bed.

Cheers.

For Real This Time!

Here I am, asking myself why I didn't do this sooner. My dietitian said to me, pour out your feelings to someone, but I felt too embarrassed to do so. I just felt too insecure talking bout my weight.  The last personI tried to discuss it with was always pestering to take pills (definitely not my style).

See, in the month of June last year I decided to stop making excuses and get rid of the excess weight on my body. I succeeded in getting rid of 10% of that weight but, getting the rest off has been a real battle. Now after several months of inconsistencies, its time to get back on the wagon.

I'm tired of looking for plus size clothing. I'm tired of being restricted in the clothing styles department and I'm definitely tired of putting my body through unnecessary stress. That's why I decided to start blogging about my weight loss journey; to serve as motivation.

Wish me luck as I try to get rid of the extra 83 pounds that need to go....... I always tell my friends that the next time I buy a pair of jeans, "its gotta be a ten"!