Surprise!

Hi,

When I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting on Friday, I had no idea a news reporter would be there and I also had no idea it would be the day I hit 300 lbs gone! She was there to cover me winning a first prize award in Weight Watchers contest 'Inspiring stories'.

So here is a link!

http://news-herald.com/articles/2011/12/10/news/nh4843121.txt

Julie

December!

Hi !

I can't believe December is already here. This year has gone by so fast.

Last year at this time I was getting used to Weight Watchers changing its program. It was a hard transition at first but I am so pleased with it now. I really feel it helps me make better choices. I was definitely guilty of slotting food in for points, rather then think about what I was eating. Now I am much more thoughtful about it.

Well I didn't get picked for the magazine. I really wasn't too upset, I never thought I had a real shot -winning would have been surreal.

I am also very close to my highest allowable weight with Weight Watchers. The weight range goes by your BMI and I am only 3 pounds away from not even considered 'overweight'!! (Weight Watchers 'highest weight' allowed for my height)

So crazy to me. I would like to try to be right in the middle of my 'acceptable' weight range, so maybe 13 more pounds total.

This time of year is really hard for me-I got through Thanksgiving and did great (pre-planned my day, pointed it all out) and ended up with a loss the next day at Weight Watchers. Christmas is harder for me because there is just stuff EVERYWHERE. Every catalog seems to be selling cheesecakes, fancy chocolates, baked goods. Plus so much baking I have to do-for teachers, bus drivers, neighbors, cub scouts etc. My head is spinning.

I did not have any dessert with Thanksgiving, but think I am going to try to save some points for it on Christmas day.

I am really looking forward to the holidays and seeing my sons face on Christmas morning! I hope you all have a fabulous holiday season, no matter how you celebrate it.

Here is a picture of me taken on Thanksgiving last week. Total loss is 296 pounds!

Julie

Last day of September...

Hi!

I entered Weight Watchers 'inspiring stories' contest and needed some 'after' photos, so I had my mom take some new pictures at Penitentiary Glen a few weeks ago.

I am now 13.6 lbs away from my goal, I have lost a total of 285 pounds!! I feel amazing! My Weight Watcher leader Dawn shared my story with my Friday group today and the support and encouragement were amazing.

On another note-my daily medicine is going fine, I think I am pretty luck in so much is I have had zero side effects.

Hope everyone is doing good!

Julie

New picture

Hi,

Just a quickie post with a new picture taken today. Before and after pictures are what people always ask me to see, so here is the latest! :-)

Total weight loss to date: 278! Getting very close to a Weight Watchers goal weight! Totally crazy!

Whats been going on...

Hi!

Hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation. It 's been really great but as usual gone really fast.

Personally it's been extra hectic for me. I have written and re-written this post 10 times in trying to get my thoughts down.

So this summer I found out I have a serious disease. It is NOT cancer and is not life-threatening but there is no cure and my life & how I do things will be forever changed.

I am not ready to reveal anymore about it except that my reason for bringing it up at all is that after I sought a second opinion with a specialist she basically told me that in making the changes I have made in the past couple of years I have been "self-medicating" in so much as I have warded off symptoms and issues due to 1. BMI being below 30, 2. cholesterol is great, 3. I do not smoke , 4. I exercise faithfully.

She said she literally could not tell me anything else to do! I was doing it and living it.

I have said before I great I feel and how happy I am in myself and in my life but now I feel like I have even MORE motivation to stay the course. In the past (5 years ago) I did lose a lot, and then gained it back. I have never come this far before, or felt this way. Even before this interruption in my life, I just feel different. I am trying to 'eat to live' rather then 'live to eat'. I know that eating well and exercising every day is adding life to my years. And it is so worth it. If I can tell anyone advice it would be "don't put it off, start today!" I will still need to start taking medicine that I most likely will be on for the rest of my life, but I am not going to let that rule my life.

So on another note, I am 27 lbs away from Weight Watchers goal. I literally cannot believe it. I feel awesome and have not hit the dreaded plateau! I have lost 271 POUNDS!

This has been a summer with mixed emotions but I heard a quote that I am taking to heart-"There Are No Victims, Only Volunteers… "

Here are two new pictures my husband took yesterday.

Julie

xoxo

I can see clearly now...

Hi!
Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of summer. So far mine has been great! I'm really lucky that I can be home with my son and watch him swim, play, bike ride.

So I am still creeping towards that personal goal and have about 4 more pounds until I am there-but today at my meeting, I realized something else-I am getting close to a goal weight! Like an actual goal weight-the END. I thought for sure I had done the math wrong and came home and checked again and I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Don't get me wrong, I am still 45 pounds away, which may sound like so much to some people, but not to me-remember I have lost 255 pounds-45 seems like nothing! :-)

I keep waiting for the weight to suddenly stop coming off or a plateau to hit me, but I would like to think all my hard work helps push it along. I still feel really motivated to be on this program and keep working hard.

If you are needing motivation, I can only tell you-just start or just keep going! It will happen!

I want to ride my bicycle....

So I got my new bike!

It was really hard to decide what kind of bike to get. My husband patiently traipsed through many bike shops with me. I really wanted someone to kind of know what I would use it for and direct me towards that bike. I knew I didn't want a racing bike or a beach cruiser. Ian at Eddy's bike shop helped us out.

I really went back and forth between a Townie and the bike I ended up getting, which is this one. I really liked the Townie, but think the one I did get is more suited to me. I truly love it. I still work out 5x a week, but am trying to average 15-20 miles a week bike riding.

My son has suddenly wanted to go bike riding with me and he is doing 6-7 mile trips, no problem! I think that's pretty impressive for a 7 year old!

My city doesn't have bike paths, which has been disappointing for me. I think I would be riding all the time if I didn't have to go in the street or on the sidewalk. Also, since I am really trying hard to teach my son the right way to do things, you would not believe how many crosswalk signs do not work. Especially at major intersections. Very dangerous.

I am almost in summer mode. We have wrapped up most of the activities until fall, and now only 2 days of school left. I love this time of year. I also think that now coats are coming off, capris are going on, my weight loss is even more apparent.

I have now lost 250 pounds! I'm happy to hit that goal, but I have a more personal goal in 10 pounds. So that is the one I am striving for now. People ask me all the time how I can stay motivated for so long. The answer is: I dont know! I really dont think its one single thing. Everyone says to lose weight for yourself, but I didn't-I started this to make sure I live as long as I can for my son. Yet now that I have made it this far, the benefits are so wonderful. Life is just easier. Period. Every single thing is easier, nothing is a struggle. Being 300 lbs overweight; life is hard. Another thing is when I do have a 'cheat day', I end up feeling sick all night, stomach ache, headaches etc. I don't know whether my body is not used to the junk, that much food or both, but I just can't physically keep putting my body through that. Hopefully that will help me in the long run in keeping it off.

Here are some new pictures so you can gauge my progress yourself.

Hope everyone is doing great!

Julie

Ready for spring...

Hi!

I really do mean to be better about blogging, but the weeks just end up speeding past. Totally used to points plus by now, and have pretty much stopped comparing the "old" plan and the "new" plan-which is good. The new plan has pretty much forced me to choose things differently and ask myself if it something is worth it. Which I know, is exactly the point.

So a few updates in my life: I celebrated my 40th birthday, which was a little traumatic for me. I'm not sure why except it made me feel like I wasted so much of my life being so, so overweight I didn't get to enjoy it and now I feel I'm coming into my own so late in life. ANYWAY, it's past, so onward and upward, right?

One of my birthday presents was from my mother in law and it was money, with a specific directive to use it on a "good" bike. I have a bike..from Walmart and it was okay for the past few years. Last summer, I tried out my brothers "good" bike and fell in love with how much nicer it felt and rode. So I am super excited to go and get fitted for my bike soon as the weather gets nicer for good.

I also found myself dropping out of 'plus-size' pants for the first time as an adult!! It feels AMAZING to be in regular sizes! I have also dropped shirt sizes, just not as fast, but I can actually see where I won't be in plus-sizes on top either. It's so weird because if I go to a store, I still look at plus size pants first because I FORGET! It wasn't so long ago I had to buy all my clothes from a catalog, because nothing in a store would never have fit me.

Last thing that happened recently, my sweet little boy turned 7! I can't believe how fast it has gone by. Makes me very sad to think the next 7 will past as fast.

Hope everyone who reads this (mom?) is doing great!

I am posting some recent photos-I have lost 239lbs as of today!

Bye!

Julie

Hello 2011!

Well it's another holiday season come and gone, I hope everyone had a great Christmas/New Years!

Last time I posted I was just about to get introduced to the new Points Plus program-obviously you have heard that Weight Watchers changed it all up.

I'll be honest, first week was really hard for me. To be fair to myself, I switched online mid-week which changed all my points (automatically) that I had already done for the first 3 days of my week, and then made it hard to have any points left for the rest of the week. But since then, smooth sailing! I am really liking it and having no issues at all.

I think my best example for dealing with the new program is when I used to live in the UK, all I found myself doing was "well, in the States this would cost...." over and over again. Until I decided I had to stop-I wasn't IN the States, I was living in the UK! I had to deal with how much it cost (and it cost a lot!) to buy things and live over there. That's how I feel about this program. Yes, sandwich thins USED to be 1 pt.-but now they are not, deal with it and accept the change. The program is not changing back, so may as well get used to the new regime.

So since the new program started (6 weeks), I have lost 13.6 pounds! I actually can't believe it myself. Every week I am having really great losses and not changing what I normally do-i.e. work out, eat normally etc.

Also the 13.6 pounds was over thanksgiving/Christmas and New Years! I planned every meal and tracked everything and the results are there!

Total loss is 223 pounds!

Here is a new picture taken this week!

Julie