Week 22: The Year of Change

     The finish line is almost here!!  There are only 5 more school days left!  Woo-hoo!  This past week was a crazy one!  We had something going on almost every night.  I have one more "evening" event for the year and that is a parent meeting for my pop groups for next year.  After that, we are done!!  Even though it was a crazy week, I got all of my workouts in and even added one more Body Pump workout in on Saturday.  I even added a 2nd workout on Friday evening because for some reason I had some extra energy.  A very cool thing happened this week.  My brother ordered me a Garmin vivosmart.  It came in on Thursday afternoon.  I am so excited.  I noticed that it doesn't really pick up any "steps" during my weight workouts, but it does on my Body Combat workouts.  It's 11:am and I'm only 1,062 steps away from my daily goal of 7,500.  I might need to up my goal because I've been going over 10,000 a day so far.  I think that part of that is because I added that 2nd workout on Friday night and danced at our Choir Banquet last night.  Speaking of Choir Banquet...

     I can't remember if I've mentioned this in a previous post, but when I started this journey back at the end of December, I had a goal to fit into a red dress that has been sitting in my closet for 8 years.  I haven't been able to fit into it for 8 years.  I'm so glad that I kept it because...I made my goal!!

Ann & Elsa made a guest appearance at our Banquet.  The theme was "Once Upon A Time."

Me and my fabulous colleague, Dana.  We've both gotten skinny this year!

Here is a picture from last year's choir banquet and one from last night.

My new fitness tracker.  Do any of you have one of these?  How do you feel about it?

   
I can't believe the transformation!  For the first time in 8 years, I actually danced at my choir banquet because I felt more confident and better about my body.  It was so much fun!!!  I'm not sure if I'll make my next goal (150 lbs.) before I leave for Disney, but that's okay.  I have come so far and I am commited to this journey.  For my friends and family that we are visiting over the summer...don't be surprised if I pull out my workout dvd's while we are visiting!  :)

     I love the quote above:  "Your body is a reflection of your lifestyle."  I want to reflect a healthy lifestyle to my daughters.  I want to set an example for them.  I don't want them to struggle with their weight like I always have.  I'll try to post some updates during my trip.  We are very excited to hit the road and get to our Happy Place and to visit family and friends!  Talk to you again soon my friends!

Ann

Week 21: The Year of Change

     I meant to post last week, but life is crazy at the end of the year.  In my last post I had mentioned that I was about to start my next round of 21 Day Fix Extreme.  Well, I am here to confess, that I kind of gave up on that idea.  I have been watching what I've been eating, but I haven't been doing the strict clean eating of the 21 DFX plan.  I don't know why, but I just didn't have the discipline or motivation this time.  I actually still use the portion control containers to plan out most of my days.  I haven't gotten on the scale much, but I am seeing some non-scale victories.  Last week I wore a shirt that used to be tight around my arms.  Mid-morning I realized that it wasn't so tight anymore...

   
     I have still been consistent in my workouts.  This is the longest since moving to Texas 8 years ago that I've stuck to any workout program.  I have come up with my own workout schedule.  It's a mixture of Body Pump, Body Combat, Lower Fit Extreme (21 DFX), Upper Fit Extreme (21 DFX), and whatever else I feel like trying from Beachbody on Demand.  This keeps my workouts fresh and keeps it from getting boring.  This weekend, I tried on my goal dress that I wanted to fit into for my Choir Banquet that is coming up on the 30th.  Guess what?  It fit!  I would like to tone up my lower body just a little more this week if I can.  I may try to throw in another Body Pump or push out some more cardio this week to see if it helps.  One more non-scale victory that happened this weekend was that I put on this shirt that I haven't worn for a while because it was snug.  I remembered that I had a picture from a year ago (why my friends let me wear that out in public, I'll never know).  I put them together for a comparison.  This is the result:

     This is super exciting!  I don't know if I'll get down to my goal weight of around 150 pounds before our summer vacation, but I'm close!!  In other news...I can't believe that I'm about to have a Kindergartner and a 1st grader!!!  Here is a pic of my sweet soon to be 1st grader:

My soon to be Kindergartner turns 5 in 13 days!  Agh!  Only 9 days of school left, and 12 days until we get to the Happiest Place on Earth!!  Woo-hoo!

Game night with these goofballs!!

I'll try to give you another update next week.  Make it a great week friends and don't give up!!

Week 18: The Year of Change

      Well, I can't believe that I'm ending week 18.  I also can't believe how busy this semester has been and how I've let 6 weeks pass since my last blog.  Even though work has been crazy busy I've still been on my weight loss journey.  I have been consistent

in my workouts, but I haven’t been as consistent in the eating area.  It’s usually the weekends that I tend to struggle with my eating choices.  I always tend to crave the healthy stuff though so by Monday I’m back on track.  Here is where I stand on my journey so far:

Starting:  177.6, Current:  154.6, Total Loss: 23 pounds

     Tomorrow, I start the next round of 21 Day Fix Extreme.  This is kind of my last shot to lose 5-10 pounds before Disney.  I was going to try and do only the 21 DFX workouts for 21 days, but the more I thought about it, I think that I'm gonna change it up.  I'd rather enjoy my workouts.  Some of those workouts have burpees.  Ugh!!  I'll add her Dirty 30 along with the Lower Fix Extreme and Upper Fit Extreme (I've been doing those two consistently).  I'll still do my Body Combat at least once a week and my Body Bump once a week.  I tried PiYo on Beachbody on Demand this past Saturday.  I'd like to keep that in the routine and do that instead of her Yoga and Pilates days.  Tomorrow, I'll start with Body Combat because I love it and I know that I'll get up for it.  :)
     I had Mia take my measurements and we did another round of pictures today before I start this next round.  Are you ready for the transformation pictures?

I've gone from a siz 14/16 to a size 8!

It's so cool to see where I started 18 weeks ago and where I am today!  I am now a firm believer in taking before and after pics.  I see the same person in the mirror every day, but when I see the pictures I am amazed!  This has been a process.  This is the longest that I've stuck with a program for years.  The next 5 weeks are going to be a challenge.  I am exhausted and so ready for summer!  Tonight I looked at the calendar and said "you only have to pack lunches for 5 more weeks!!!"  I can do this!  This mama just wants a day (or two) to sleep!!!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel though!  We are almost there!  I'll just keep pushing play.  Hopefully the next few weeks will be a little easier to keep you posted!  Until next week...