Its a beautiful day...

Hello!

So many exciting things to share so I think I will do a bullet post...

• I am FINALLY in the 260's range...i weight 269.9 which makes my total weight loss 39 pounds so far in just 15 weeks! WooHoo! I have not been in this range in at least 5-6 years! I am SUPER DUPER LUPER excited!
• I got my FIRM transfirmation DVD's and weights in yesterday! The weights are pink and I love them and I have heard the workouts in this system are awesome so I cannot wait to get better so I can start working out again!
• Speaking of getting better...i am still getting over this bug...chest wheezing still going on and a runny nose but my tightness and soreness of chest is almost gone so thats a plus! I miss working out so I hope I get better soon so I can start back working out with the FIRM!
• I am leaving in an hour to go with some family and family's friends to Women of Faith Conference in Columbus, OH (just a few hours from here). We are staying with my mom down there for the night! Its tonight and all day tomorrow! Hubby is coming down tomorrow and him and I are staying an extra night with mom and dad and going to their church on Sunday!
• Its so gorgeous here today! Its 75-80 and sunny and breezy! Just beautiful! LOVE IT!
• I picked out my swimsuit I am going to reward myself with when I reach 45 pounds, which is only 5.5 away! Its from Lands End! Its really cute! Its a pink/teal pattern tankini top with a pink skirtini bottom!

Love, april

SICK!

SICK! That is what I am right now! I caught a nasty head and chest cold from my parents when I was at their place this weekend! I caught up to me late Sunday night/early Monday morning! Its Wednesday and I cannot blow my nose enough! Did not know I could produce so much snot! Yuck!

Monday was my rest day but I have had to miss yesterday, tonight and maybe even tomorrow with my FIRM workouts because of being sick! I so badly want to workout but I know my body just cant do it right now! I am afraid to slow down my weight loss but also because I just miss the FIRM workouts…its fun and it makes me feel so good afterwards!

I went to my bi-monthly check up with the nutritionist/doc I am seeing and my body fat has went down a lot since last time, I lost 8 ¼ pounds since last weigh in making my weight 273! WooHoo! I have lost a total of 35.5 pounds so far! I have lost 34 inches also! I am doing so well, he has bumped my appointments out every three weeks now instead of two! YAY!

I am going away this weekend to a Women of Faith Conference and to see my parents! I am SOOO hoping I am back to normal by Friday so that I can enjoy the beautiful weekend! I do not like being sick at all…especially since I have been feeling so great lately with my new health! I still have lots to go...but already with just 35.5 down, I feel so much better!

Love, april

Quote of the day...

"It's so hard to resist the desserts and junk food but its even better after I eat a healthy meal and workout with the FIRM...knowing I did my body good."

This really isn't a quote per say...its just something I wrote on my header I made for this site...so now its a quote of mine because I LOVE it. Its so true for me...i LOVE desserts so badly...its hard every time I see desserts or my favorite junk food or meal that I cannot have...BUT I love the feeling I get every time I eat a healthy meal, every time I make wise food choices and every time I work my butt off with the FIRM workouts! Thats a WAY better feeling in my eyes!

If I went along with my first reaction to my desserts/junk food and ate them...afterwards my body would feel sick, i would be lethargic and tired and gain weight and I would be mad at myself for eating them...but instead I choose not to eat those and I eat the things that I know are going to properly fuel my body to run and work better for the long run and in return...i get energy, better quality of life, and a great feeling of knowing I am getting healthier!

So...next time i am faced with a dougnut or a piece of cake...i will turn it down and think to myself...how much better I will feel after a good healthy meal and workout...knowing I did my body good!

Onto other things...today i worked out to Rock It Off with the FIRM using the wave. I bought a pair of 3 pound weights today at wal-mart for $3.77 each and incorporated them into my workout and WOW did it work..i was sweating buckets it felt like! Weights will make a difference...but you can only add weights or increase weights once a workout seems easy enough for you to do so...most of my FIRM's I still cannot use weights but the wave ones, I can! I am excited to weigh myself tomorrow and see if I am to 273 1/2 yet...that will be 35 pounds! WooHoo! Friday I was at 275!

Love, april

Quote for the day...

In my series of blogs that I am doing on my quotes in my header, I have done two so far and I have decided to think about this one today...

"Just remember ... take it one day at a time."

I like this quote! Simple and true! I have found that I am getting the most success this time due to a few things and one of those things includes me taking it one day at a time! Especially in the beginning months of this eating change for me, it was so hard and difficult that I HAD to take it a day at a time so I wouldn't go crazy! :0) This quote reminds me that I need to just focus on today... focus on clean eating today...focus on my exercising today...my health today...and not worry about tomorrow! Sometimes I think when we start looking at how long of a ways we have to go in our weight loss or how hard it is, we get frustrated because it feels like it will be forever until we are there .... but if you take it just one day at a time, you can be thankful for the small accomplishment you did in your eating or your exercise or you can take into account that your energy is up or your clothes are looser...it helps us to get by if we just think...if I can make it through today successfully on my plan...I'm doing good, I can do this! I have been trying to remember each day to pray for strength to help me through each day as I tackle it since even though I am three and a half months into this journey....its still hard many days!

Today...i am at my parents! Emma is not use to the sounds at their house so we are up at 5:45am. Its now 6:09! I actually feel great and have plenty of energy...i believe my eating and exercising is playing a big part in this! Thank you Lord!

Love, april

What a beautiful day...

Today is such a BEAUTIFUL day! The sun is shining, the sky is gorgeous and the temperature is an amazing 70’s! I love weather like this! I am also having an extreme happy day because of my weight loss and measurements! I have lost 33 ½ pounds and 31 ½ inches in three and a half months! WooHoo! Thank you God! I could NOT have done it without Him! I give all glory and praise to Him because without His strength that He gives me and the guidance and well…everything else…I could not have done it!

I feel SO good…even though I still weigh 275…I feel so much better and healthier! I can stretch and move so much more easier now and I have lots more energy! I have gone from a 26 to a tight 20. WooHoo!

Had a yummy chicken teriyaki salad today for lunch! Going down to parents tonight to visit and make a wedding cake for someone in their church so I will probably eat some chili or something on the way down there! No workout tonight for me! Back to the wave tomorrow! :0) I did SSS and Cardio express on the wave last night and LOVED it!

To God be the glory!

Love, april

Next quote...

“Don’t put it off until tomorrow, do it today”

I picked this quote to go on my header and I like this quote because I have used that excuse so many times in my life and I do not want to do that anymore! I would think, I will start my diet tomorrow or I will exercise tomorrow! I love this quote because it reminds me that I should not put off anything for tomorrow! I should do it now! We are not guaranteed tomorrow so I should live for today! I love how I feel when I eat healthy each day! I love how I feel when I choose to exercise each day! I love the feeling of not saying, “I’ll do it tomorrow”. Today is great for me! I love how eating a healthy meal TODAY makes me feel! I love how exercising TODAY makes me feel! I want to live in the now! Not in tomorrow, for we do not know what tomorrow holds! Which the bible tells us that! So today, I am choosing to not put off my healthy eating or exercising, instead I am CHOOSING to DO my healthy eating and exercising, Lord willing!

love, april

This and that...

Scales read 277 ½ this morning! Even after eggs, turkey bacon and skim milk! So I am happy with that! Down another ½ pound in just two days! Thank you God! Yesterday I had 2 eggs, 4 turkey bacon and small glass of skim milk in the morning, 1 string cheese, small handful of peanuts and raw broccoli and dip for lunch and spaghetti squash spaghetti with ground turkey! Very Yummy dinner! I am having left-overs of that for lunch today and cannot wait! :0)
I did Complete Aerobic & Weight Training (CAWT) last night! Emily kicked my butt in that video…although many parts of it were quite fun! I LOVED it!

Today is my rest day (exercise wise) BUT my new FIRM WAVE system is coming in today so I will get that out and do the 10 minute introduction to the wave on it just to try it!

Tonight I have to decorate a small wedding cake for Jim’s co-worker who is getting married tomorrow! Jim was nice and baked the cake last night for me so that all I have to do is icing and decorate it tonight! Its hard being around icing and cake…but the strength of the Lord helps me get through it!

I am SO excited that my sister and mom and I are kind of teaming up to encourage one-another and help each other along with our weight loss! My sister wants to lose 30, my mom just wants to keep losing and getting her diabetes better and better and I want to at least lose another 30-70 pounds! Most of all, I want better health, energy and all that!

I found some SUPER CHEAP FIRM DVD’s from their past systems…and they were between .94 cents and 1 or 2 bucks on amazon…how exciting…so I bought 4 of them, including shipping and tax it came to $15 which is awesome compared to $60 which is what I would have paid when they first came out! WooHoo! I LOVE amazon! What’s great about the FIRM DVD’s are that no matter what year they came out in or what piece of equipment they use, they are great! I love having a combo of all the different old and new ones so I can have a better exercise rotation!

Out for now,
April

Where will I be in a year???

I have decided to do a series of blogs on my thoughts on the quotes I have above in my header! It will help me reflect on them and have them really soak in!

The first quote I am going to do is from a fellow FIRMY and it says...

"Think about how you will feel a year from now."

So here goes...

I am going to break my year down into segments!

I hope and imagine that by time fall comes in October that I will be at least 60 pounds down from my starting weight! I imagine myself preparing to go on the FIRM believers trip to SC! I imagine Jim and I starting to try and conceive again!

By Christmas of this year, I hope and imagine that I will be pregnant! If so, then weight loss will be less I am sure but I will continue on my eating/natural supplement plan and feeling great but might back off on exercise some because of scare of miscarriage again! If I am not pregnant, I hope to 75 pounds down by Christmas, which would put me at 233 1/2.

By this time next year...i hope and imagine that I will be between 1-7 months along in my pregnancy depending on when we get pregnant! I see myself having a very healthy pregnancy, keeping my weight off and maybe healthfully (doctor said I could during pregnancy) losing weight at a slow healthy pace for baby and I! If I am not pregnant, i imagine and hope that I will be down to my goal! I dont have a specific number but I know I would love to be below 200! Any number below 200 would be goal for me! So to be 199, I would need to lose a total of 109 pounds total! Most importantly, I believe I will feel so much better, i will have better healthy, get sick less often, have more energy to play with my neice and nephews and run with my hubby and dog for the first time! I will be able to sit in stadium/arena seating without being squished!

I am 30 pounds closer to that 109 goal! So I only have 79 more to go! With Christs strength that He alone gives me, I can do this, Lord willing!

Love, april

30!!!

I am SO very happy this morning! For the past two weeks I have been having trouble losing weight! I was eating and exercising the same way I had been all three months that I have been losing but the scale was not going down, matter of fact it went up a few pounds. I had no clue why since i was not doing anything different, so I decided to keep with it and try to eat even better and exercise more to see if I could get out of this slump! Well...today the scales finally moved (in the right direction) and I have finally reached 30 pounds of weight loss! I was so close for so long and now I have finally hit the mark! Thank you God! I have lots of weight to go, but with Christ as my guide and strength and taking it a day at a time... I know I can do it!

Here is what I did to get out of the slump:

Started eating more raw and steamed veges instead of tortilla chips and salsa and other things.
Started eating plain steamed veggies instead of veggies in cheese sauce because I found out how much more sodium the cheese sauce added!
I ate more chicken and fish and less red meat!
I went from walking to working out hard with the FIRM workout DVD's!

Thats pretty much it besides the big one, which is praying! I am so thankful to God for helping me through this journey! Its a hard one, but one that is worth it!

I took some quotes from the FIRM ladies at the FIRM forums! They all had some great motivational quotes and I also took some scripture and some words of my own and made the header of this blog up top! Reading those definitely keeps me motivated also!

On to other things...

I had a wonderful easter weekend and resurrection Sunday! Friday night we had game night at church. Instead of eating the cake, doughnuts and cookies they had, i ate the raw veggies and some cheese! For exercise, I did ultimate calorie blaster!

On Saturday we had a pretty lazy day, but it was nice! I had eggs and bacon for breakfast, wendys chili for lunch and chicken tenders with low sodium cream of mushroom on top with steamed veggies! For exercise, I did aerobic body sculpting!

On Sunday, we had a beautiful easter cantata and all of the songs I sang with our group were so beautiful! The words so powerful and true! After church I went home and made my mex-style white chicken chili and deviled eggs! Around three we took emma to the dog park and then headed over to my sisters for dinner! I played tetherball with the kids, which was more of a workout than I thought it would be! I had a wonderful evening with family!

I plan on eating left over soup/chili for lunch today and making orange ruffy fish tonight for dinner with some veggies! For exercise, I am going to clean some and do Calorie Killer!

Love, april

My first post...

Hello.

I am super excited to start this blog! It will be a nice way to write out all I am feeling as I go through this health journey! I will have happy moments and not so happy moments and I want to chronicle them all on here! Feel free to follow my blog and/or read and comment whenever you like!

I am focusing on getting healthy! I am not interested in a specific number! I am more interested with my blood labs, how I feel and in general how my health is! I have been doing the Nutrition Response Testing program with a doctor for the past three months. I am on more natural eating plan and taking natural supplements. So far I have lost 27 1/2 pounds! I also just starting doing The FIRM!!!! For those of you who do not know the FIRM...boy are you missing out! They are a workout studio in South Carolina BUT they have been so popular and succesful for the past 25 years that for several years now they have come out with different FIRM systems for us around the world to buy and workout to in our own home! They focus on sculpting, cardio and a combination of the both to increase your metabolism and burn the most calories! Whats also amazing about them is they are so much fun and I get such a high from working out to them! I always feel so much better afterwards! Check out their site for more information www.firmdirect.com !

I am just three workouts in with the FIRM! I am using the transfirmer system until my new WAVE system comes in and then I will use both! SUPER EXCITED! I am so sore today from my awesome workouts the past three days! I also have been loving getting to know all the other FIRMies on the forums on their site!

I have done great this week with my eating! I am on a plateau right now so I am working extra hard by eating cleaner than I have been (which i have been doing great) and working out harder! I am hoping to get past this plateau soon! I am so close to that BIG 30 I can taste it and I want it! I was at my highest 308 1/2 and now down to 281 1/4 !!!

For right now goals I would love to accomplish are:

1. Losing another 30-50 pounds at least!
2. Getting off insulin meds!
3. Having children in the future, Lord willing!
4. Running with my dog this summer!
5. Getting in enough shape to go to the next FIRM believers trip in South Carolina to their studio and meeting all the ladies and master instructors!

So...thats is for now! My first post! Thanks for reading! Me and my sore legs are going to go rest now! :0)

Love, april