Week 15...

Hi guys!
I've come to a little conclusion. I don't think I'm going to post...at least not for a little while. I'm not stopping dieting altogether. But as you've seen I've been slacking off checking in. I'm just trying to get back into the rhythm of working (I know I've been working for about four months now) and also getting The Weekend Groomer up and running, that and right now there's my son's first birthday and vacation coming up. I feel slightly overwhelmed right now, and any little thing I can worry less about is better. Sorry if this disappoints anyone.
Plans for the future, however, is to start bike riding. My husband bought a bicycle and he's started riding it in the park. I tried riding it (note that it's a man's mountain bike) and almost crashed, so I think I'd do better with my own. And that way we could also ride together occasionally. We also want to get a seat for the back for our son. But we'll see how that goes.
Anyhoo...so I guess this is me signing off...for now...

Week 13 and 14

Hey, guys!
Sorry I missed last week. I've been kinda out of it here lately with the dieting. I've had a bunch of stuff on my plate, what with vacation coming up next month, planning my son's first birthday at the end of this month, and getting my grooming on the side business going (which is doing pretty well, thankfully!). So I've been slacking...a lot. I'll just get right into it...
Weight: 248 even
Belly: 53 inches
Hips: 51 inches
Yeah, it's kinda bad. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things here soon.

Week 12 (again)

Hey, guys!
Thanks for joining me on my new check-in day. Not much different. I hate to say it but no picture, yet again. I gained some weight between Monday and now. We had pizza the other night and I wasn't thinking. I won't give the stats, so I guess this is more of a check-in, instead of weigh-in. I'll be here next Friday, and hopefully with better results!

Week 12

Okay, so I've decided something. I'm going to start checking in on Fridays now. Why? Because I've discovered that I tend to eat a little more on the weekends, therefore screwing up my diet. It may be kinda cheating, and I'm sorry, but I do so well during the week and then wreck it on the weekends, no matter how much I try. So starting this week meet me here on Fridays. Yeah, I said this week. I'll check back in.
I'll just jump right to it...
Weight: 245.8 (down a couple tenths...I'll take it!)
Belly: 51 (yep...still the same)
Hips: 49 1/2 (up some)
Goal: Well, hopefully I can snip this yo-yo string and go down...and STAY down.
Picture: Sorry, guys, but I'm going to cheat you out of one today. Hopefully by Friday I'll feel a little more photogenic.

Weeks 10 and 11

I am so sorry for the cold shoulder last week, my friends. Things have been a little cuckoo here, what with trying to set up my grooming side business and some dealing with a work situation (old work, not new work...don't ask). So, with all of that, I haven't been as good as I should have, either. Some pluses, some minuses...
Weight: 246.0 (Ick!)
Belly: 51 inches (up some again)
Hips: 49 inches (down some...yay! at least something went well!)
Now, next week is a fourth week, which means a picture. I'll try to do a better one than last time. The outfit I wore was really baggy and didn't really show my shape. So come back next week...I promise I'll check in on time!

Week 9

Hey, all!
I would have been on time, but I had a few issues that I had to deal with yesterday and after having dealt with them I had the biggest migraine. So I figured I'll just check in today.
Not a lot going on new. I haven't gotten back to the exercising like I'd said I would, unfortunately. I may hold off on that for just a little bit longer for now anyway and focus more on the eating portion, then add in the exercising more gradually. That being said, here's my stats...
Weight: 243.2
Belly: 50 3/4"
Hips: 49 1/2"
Not too shabby!

Weeks 7 and 8

I'm so sorry I didn't check in last week. I've had a bunch of stuff on my mind here lately, what with trying to figure out how to start a small grooming on-the-side business. But I announced that I've officially started, so if there are any readers out there from the Culpeper/Orange/Madison areas of Virginia, send me a message and I can give you info on it.
As for the weight-loss...I've been slacking a little the past couple days on my exercises, though I do have legit excuses. I think tomorrow I can get back to my regularly scheduled program, though, since I don't have to take the baby anywhere and I don't have to get in to work early. I've also been slacking on my food journal, which I've started up again.
All that having been said...
Weight: 244.2 pounds (Yay!)
Belly: 50 7/8 inches (Double yay!)
Hips: 49 1/2 inches (meh...)
Goal: Okay, so I didn't hit my goal of losing 10 pounds by the end of the month. But, supposedly the good average (according to mom and Weight Watchers) is about 0.8 pounds a week or something like that. So that's not too shabby! I guess I'll set the weight goal at about 2 pounds by the end of next month. As for inches...that fluctuated so much, so maybe an inch by next month for the belly and at least maybe half an inch for the hips.
And, I believe I owe you guys a picture as well...

Week 6

Hi, all!
To start out, I'd like to say I had a pretty awesome weekend! That being said...it wasn't the greatest weekend for a diet. Friday, I helped set up for my friend's reception. I was hoping I could wait for dinner, but I hadn't eaten breakfast by accident that morning, so I grabbed a value meal at McDonald's. At the rehearsal dinner, Rodney Lillard's Mill Valley Barbeque catered. If anyone is from around the area, they know how good his catering is. So, of course, I ate WAY too much! Saturday was the wedding, and guess what! Rodney catered that, too! I did better there, what with having a big salad and only having one helping and one slice of cake. Plus, I danced my BUTT off! I had so much fun! And finally came Sunday, with mom's home cooking. We had lamb, salad, green beans (I didn't have any of those), scalloped potatoes, homemade rolls, strawberry jello/whipped cream/pretzel salad, and pineapple cake pudding stuff. Plus, lots of homemade candies and hot cross buns. I did pretty well with dinner, again having a big salad. The candies were what killed me, however.
I've also been keeping up with my "Six-Pack Abs Month" (which is KILLING me!!!!!) I did skip only one day and that was the wedding, but because I danced so much that I was aching the next morning, I hope that you guys will let it slide this one time. And I'm still walking several days a week. And now, the reveal...
Weight: 245.8 (Yay! Going down!)
Belly: 51 3/4 (That's up a little)
Hips: 49 1/4 (I think that's up some, too)
Though there's not much of a fluctuation, I'm feeling pretty good. Isn't seratonin released with exercising?

Week 5

Yay! I'm on time!So, ever since revamping my plan, I've been feeling pretty good. Another thing I started is exercising as well. I started walking around the neighborhood last week. Then I found this thing on Pinterest (love that site!) that has exercises each day for a month that center on a certain part. Technically this month is the focused on the butt, but last month was the abs, which is what I was more interested in. So, I'm altering it a bit to suit my needs. I started with the first day today and let me tell you, a plank is a lot harder than it looks!
So, I've been feeling pretty good. And as for the reveal...
Weight: 246.2 (yeah, it's the exact same as last week...it sucks a little because I'd weighed myself earlier in the week and had actually lost some weight, but apparently gained it back by today)
Hips: 48 inches (lost a smidgen there!)
Belly: 51.5 inches (two whole inches! Woo-hoo!)
I'm going to keep up with the daily workouts and walking and we'll meet back next week.
Oh, and a special thanks to Sam for suggesting keeping tabs on my inches as well. You're right! Inches do help make me feel a little better that what I'm doing is still working, even if my weight doesn't go down.

Week 4

Okay...I have had a little epiphany (with a little help, like the suggestion from Sam!). I have an account on Pinterest and my boards are a wide range from homemade products to recipes to fashion and beauty I like to words of wisdom (well, I think they're wise). Recently I made a new board for myself, and titled it "Inspiration and Motivation." Why I did this is because certain things were said and insinuated in the past couple days that, well, frankly hurt. And they've hurt my whole life, really. I'm not going to go into full details and call people out, because I think highly of most of them and don't want others to think any less of them. Plus, some of them I don't think realize they do it and I'd rather not start any drama.
That backstory aside...I found a sight on Pinterest that gives little tips specifically for female weight loss. I'm completely guilty of comparing myself to men in all ways, having grown up with four older brothers, and believing the mantra "Anything you can do, I can do better." And in some cases this is true. But in weight loss...not so much. I realize that men and women really are built differently, aside from the obvious. And as much as it SUCKS that all men have to do practically is cut out soda and they drop the pounds, moping about it isn't gonna do anything.
So I think I'm going to kinda "micromanage" in a way. Before, it was just checking in once a week, but obviously that isn't enough. I'm going to check in once a week still with my weight progress, but my measurements as well (I'm thinking just my hips and belly, unless someone else has any reason I should do any others). I'm going to keep track of what I eat in a journal (that helped me once before). I'm going to start exercising (starting slow with just walking or some simple exercises I've seen, also on Pinterest...I love that site!). I'm going to set goals for myself, so I have something to aim for (you don't want to drive around without a destination, do you?). All of that, and I think I'll be pretty good.
There are those out there that doubt me. Go ahead. You can doubt me like you've doubted me my whole life. Just please keep it to yourself, though. That doubt is part of the reason why I am the way I am today.
Weight: 246.2 (part of the micromanaging...I'm putting the full number my scale says)
Hips: 49 3/4 inches
Belly: 53 1/8 inches (yeesh!)
Goal: Since it's basically next month...10 pounds down by the end of April (roughly about 2 1/2 pounds a week). Since I've never kept track of inches before, those that do track theirs...what's a good goal? I know an ultimate goal, but I don't want to think about that right now because it's too big of a picture and more room for discouragement.
Picture: There is none this month. Sorry for those who were expecting it. I figured that since I am making over my plan and the fact that I've lost hardly any since I started, it's pointless to post one. Just look at the previous picture.

Week 3

Late again, I know. I'm sorry. This time I didn't even weigh myself yesterday. But I did it today. I'm not going to sugar-coat it. I haven't been very good about watching myself this week. So I'll jump right to it.
Weight: 246
Yeah, I'm back up a pound. It's early still. I've gotta get back into the routine. Obviously, since I keep forgetting to check in. I've been working outside here lately, so hopefully it'll pay off in other ways. Remember, next week is picture week!

Week 2

I'm here! I'm here!
Sorry I'm late checking in. I did weigh myself yesterday, but got sidetracked. Not a bunch going on last week. This week I'm hoping to get out in this gorgeous weather and:
1) Start a compost heap.
2) Clean up the yard of dead leaves and stuff.
3) Weed the front flower gardens.
4) Dig up the overgrown scrubby shrubbery type things along the front walk.
5) Dig up the veggie garden in the back yard.
Yep, it's a hefty workload, but hopefully I can get it done. I'm really excited about the garden. I can't wait to grow my own veggies. Vegetables just taste better fresh from the garden versus buying them in the store. Even a farmer's market isn't as good. I know I can rent a tiller, but we don't have a lot of money. Dad was going to loan me his, but it's dead and it's going to be a while until someone can fix it. I might be able to borrow one from my coworker, but we'll see.
So, as for the weigh-in...
Weight: 245
I'm getting there. Slowly but surely!

Week 1 (I guess kinda officially)

I know, the title is weird. But I just thought about it...technically this should be week one because it's telling about the first week of my diet. Anyhoo...
This week wasn't too bad. A little hard, but not bad. I managed to not have any sodas. A lot of water. The hardest part was this past weekend, when I had a bachelorette party, my make-up done, and a bridal shower, all of which had a whole bunch of food. I tried to be good through it all, but I probably wasn't as good as I could have been.
All that being said, my weigh-in results is 246. Only one pound, but a loss is a loss I suppose. I'll try better next week.

Week 1

And here it is, folks. The first official day. First day of my new job. First day of my diet. And I am determined to do well at both. Not much else to say, so here's the reveal...

Weight: 247

Picture:

As the Blog Title Says...

All right, folks. Any faithful followers out there, I thank you for sticking with me. It's been a REEEEEEEEALLY long time since I last checked in and I deeply apologize for that. I kinda gave up even trying to seem interested anymore. But I have a purpose again. Well, a couple purposes, actually, but the main one to get me back on track is that in barely over a month I am going to be a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding. I tried the dress on last night when I got home after picking it up...it fits me very well. So well that I don't believe I'll need alterations. "That's a good thing, isn't it?" you ask. Yes and no. Yes, for obvious reasons that I don't have to go and get it altered (or have mom do it, as the case usually is!). No, because the dress size is a 26. Yep, that's a pretty big number for a dress size. And if you look at the picture of me in it, I look more like a 36. Okay, maybe a little exaggeration, but I look huge!
So I am going to get back to losing weight. MY way of losing weight, not Weight Watchers. Nothing against Weight Watchers, it really does work. But I have to count points and keep track and, to be frank, I'm a little lazy in that area. So I'm going to go back to proper portion sizes, more veggies, more water, less pasta (which has kinda been our staple here lately), and just in general less. I start a new job tomorrow, which is a good thing on many levels. Specifically on the weight loss level because it'll get me moving again. I've gone on walks and stuff since I quit my old job, but they were few and far between. Don't get me wrong...I'm not solely going to rely on work to get me moving. When the weather gets warmer I fully intend to take advantage of either walking to downtown Culpeper or go to the park with Jake and Mike.
On one final note...I convinced Mike to diet with me! I know it's going to be hard on him because he HATES diets. And I even told him he doesn't have to do what I do, just as long as he cuts back a little to help me out (for example: I'm going to try to cut out other drinks besides water or milk unless those aren't available, whereas he's just going to switch to more diet sodas instead of cutting them completely out).
I won't keep track of Mike's weight on here (unless he tells me that it's okay), but I will go back to weekly check-ins and monthly pictures (since Eric seemed to really want those before). I will start tomorrow morning with weigh-in and picture. I actually started dieting today, but I forgot to weigh myself. Plus with tomorrow being my first day, it'll kinda be a marker for me when I look back on when I started. So tune in tomorrow, kids!

(One final side note: The encouragement and constructive criticism really did help me before, so and comments are highly welcome! And hopefully this time a pregnancy won't get me out of whack...it had better not, anyway!!!)

I really need to get better at this, I know! Sorry, guys! (those few that are still reading this!) I've gotten myself back on track with Weight Watchers. Even though I had to quit subscribing to it (due to financial reasons), mom got me the calculator, which is so freakin' cool! Those of you that don't have one or have never seen one, it looks like a small compact. Not only is it an actual math calculator, but it keeps track of the points you use for the day/week, how many you have daily based on your information, and can even calculate the points in a food item if you have the nutritional information. Yeah, this thing ROCKS!!! Thanks, mom!!!
So, now that I've gotten back on track, I am now down to 236. Yes, you read right. 2...3...6!!! I don't know the last time I was this little! Okay, so it's not "little" by any means, but for someone in my position, it feels good!

(And look, Eric...there's a new picture!)

Yep, I'm slacking again. Sorry, guys! It's a little difficult to blog when you work all day, come home and spend time with the young'n, then go to sleep as soon as he's down. I'd like to say I'll try to be better, but there's no guarantees.
Anyhoo...so now I'm down to 240. Woot! Just keep it coming! Or going, as the case may be. I do have a little worry, though. Yes, I'm on Weight Watchers. But I'm also breast-feeding. And the latter alone helps burn up calories, therefore helping me to lose the weight. The worry is that once I stop breast-feeding, will I be back where I started? It was so hard for me to lose weight without a baby. Even with me keeping at it. I just got fitted for a bridesmaid dress for a wedding I'm in in April of next year. The sample dress I tried on fit, but it was a tight squeeze. I explained to the woman helping me my situation, and she said that as soon as she stopped breast-feeding her child, she started to gain all of her weight back. I guess I'll adjust when the time comes, but I'm nervous.

I'm baaaaack!
I know it's been awhile. I survived (barely) my first week back to work, and as I promised, I'd start keeping track of my weight again. Over the break I joined Weight Watchers. Now, I know I said that I wanted to do this on my own and not do any "fad" diets, but let's face it...I need a little help. I was starting to slack off at the end of last season, if you want to call it that. I picked Weight Watchers because I know it does work, plus going to the meetings has gotten me to start thinking about other foods and other ways to prepare food we already eat. I had started getting into a food rut, between tacos, spaghetti, burgers, and take-out during the week. Even though Mike's not doing it with me, he is being very encouraging and being more concious about my portion sizes when he makes up a plate of food for me. Plus, I think he kind of likes me on this "diet thing" because I'm trying out new foods and recipes and he gets to be the guinea pig! Like this low-fat frozen cheesecake dessert recipe I found while at the beach...he LOVES it!
As you know, before I got pregnant I was at 250. My highest weight when I was pregnant was 283 (ugh!). Between breast-feeding, playing around with my son, and Weight Watchers, I am already down to 246! I can finally fit back into my pre-pregnancy pants (thankfully...I was getting tired of the belly band!). I'll try to be better about getting pictures posted. I know before Eric was wanting to see more pictures to further document my progress. And I promise not to lie to you guys again. If I gain weight, (unfortunately) I gain weight and it will be told to the whole world on here. Hopefully, that will be incentive enough to not gain weight! So, without further ado...who's up for round two?!

The Next Step...

Hello all!

I know, I haven't written in a while. For those of you passing through, or follow but don't personally know me, I had the baby. Jacob Thomas Kestner was born June 24 at 10:16pm weighing 6 pounds, 4.3 ounces! I had to be induced because my blood pressure was getting high as well as Jake's movements were starting to slow down. They induced me at about 10:30 the night before, so almost 24 hours of labor...but I only pushed for 5 minutes! Our little family is doing wonderfully...Mike was off for two weeks, but he started work again last night (much to his chagrin). I'm still off for about four more weeks and then (unfortunately) I, too, must rejoin the living, working world.

As for the blog...as of right now I'm still going to keep up with it, going back to it's original purpose of tracking my weight loss. Hopefully, I'll keep going, and not slack off as I had been towards the end. I don't have my gym membership anymore, but I'm thinking I may go to mom and dad's after work on some days, seeing as they have some exercise equipment. Not to mention, maybe by going there I'll have someone to nag me into doing it! (sorry, Mom!)

I'm not going to "officially" start until I go back to work, which is when the posts will start. But I will leave you with this...My highest weight when I was pregnant was 283. I weighed myself a couple days ago (just for curiosity's sake) and I had dropped down to 257. Not too shabby!

Week 37

I had my appointment yesterday. Not very much happened. The doctor checked my belly size and listened to the baby's heartbeat and sent me on my way. I'm a little surprised...I had thought he would have checked to see if I was dialated, but maybe they do that later. When asked if I had any questions or concerns, I told him that Jake hasn't been moving around nearly as much as he used to. I mean, this kid used to have knock-down, drag-out parties in my abdomen and now there's next to nothing! He said that he wouldn't be too concerned, that there's very little room in there to move around too much and also because he had heard the heartbeat, but to do fetal kick counts. For those that don't know, basically I give myself a starting time (perhaps after I eat or something) and then start counting all the little flutters and flickers (hiccups don't count because they're involuntary). If there are less than 10 within two hours I was to go to the hospital where they'd put me on a monitor for a bit. Well, apparently my kid just needed some sugar, because I had a glass of kool-aid and he started jumping around quite well. Still not as much as he used to, but a decent amount.
I'm hoping it won't be too much longer until he makes his grand entrance (however un-grand for me!). However, I have a kinda funny story...
I love my clients. Everyone has been informed of my pregnancy and I have had so many well-wishes and presents given to me. This morning at work, two of our really great clients came in. While they were in there, they asked how I was doing and we started talking about the pregnancy. Then they made their prediction...I will not have the baby for another four weeks (aka two weeks late). According to them, because there was a full moon this week, that will end up pushing back my due date, and therefore the date will be around the 14th of July. They said they've been pretty accurate with determining friends' due dates. All I could think to myself was, "Noooooooo!" Of course, people also say women can go off of how their mother's pregnancy. If that's true, then their prediction really is accurate. My pregnancy has gone pretty much like all of my mom's, which isn't comforting considering all five of us were late...the younger four being two weeks late and my oldest brother being around five weeks late! Don't get me wrong, I like being pregnant. It hasn't really been so bad, other than some discomfort and shortness of breath in the past couple weeks. But I'm ready for him to be out now!