Week update......a little late

Got off track with blogging....OOOPS!!! So, one week in (last Friday), I was down 11.6 pounds and Erik was about 2 oz. shy of 14 pounds!!!! Absolutely amazing!!! :) Then....the frustration began. For me, anyway. The scale didn't budge again till this morning! ACK!!!!! No idea what was going on. I totally stayed on program, no form of cheating at all, yet nothing. I was really quite upset yesterday morning, being the third morning at the exact same weight. I guess that's why it's recommended to weigh in weekly and not daily, because it really is demoralizing. :( I posted my frustration on the Facebook Medifast page and got a lot of encouragement and just told to keep on keepin' on and really push the water. So, that's what I did. Oh my gosh, I'm not a water drinker and this is NOT easy for me. But, we bought a case of bottled water and I find that I can down one pretty easily in no time at all. So, I had to have had like 8 bottle fulls yesterday (about 17 oz each) at least(refilled at the tap, not totally environmentally unconcious ;) ). Add to that two glasses of Crystal Light lemonade and any water IN my food. So, the scale moved again this morning and it felt like a triumph! lol Our weight loss now stands at 13.4 lbs for me and 17.8 for Erik. Yes, he sucks!!! ;) lol

Woohooo!!!

Scale moved again this morning. :) I am now >< this close to being at a 10 lb loss. :) If other days' losses show anything, I know it's possible. But, then the scale didn't move at all yesterday....so who knows. Erik is doing freaking awesome....but I will reveal that number tomorrow as well! I must say, that it's really unfair that men lose faster than women! But, considering that my "visitor" did in fact show her ugly face this morning, and the past few days have been leading up to her arrival....my numbers are also freaking awesome! :)

When the scale doesn't budge.....

We're not even a week in and I know that being able to boast the 8 pound loss I've already had is AMAZING....but this morning, the scale didn't budge for me. To add insult to injury....Erik lost over 2 lbs and is now at 11 pounds lost. Yay for him....but sucks for me! ;) It's so weird when you totally follow the plan and that happens. I did feel like maybe I was retaining some water this morning, so maybe that's what was happening. Maybe my "visitor" is trying to stop by. But, I've been living in the bathroom today.....so maybe that will reflect well on the scale tomorrow. ;) I have to say, that I don't think I've ever pee'd as much a day in my life till starting this diet. lol At least nothing went UP on the scale....but it was the exact same number as yesterday. I don't think if you stay on plan, that it's even possible to gain weight on this diet. The calories are way too low for that to happen. So......here's hoping for a better number on the scale tomorrow! :)

Day 5!!!

We are now on day 5 and I am down 8.2 lbs and Erik is down 8.8!!! Go us!!!! It would be awesome if by Friday we could both claim a one week 10 lb. or more loss. At this rate, it doesn't seem out of reach. But we will see. The best part is, I feel amazing!!! I have a lot of energy and my usual (TMI) bowel troubles have pretty much disappeared. So, definitely already feel a difference in those things with the change in nutrition and small weight loss. I am very happy that we decided to do this! :)

How did I get this way???

I have battled with weight nearly my whole life. I wasn't a "fat kid" so it's not really like that. But, I've definitely struggled since my later teens/early twenties. The "funny" thing is....though I consciously *know* I'm overweight, I haven't until recently seen what I've become. I've never really seen myself as "the fat girl" or "the fat friend." Which is good, I suppose. I know how weight can really make people struggle with self esteem. Some, way more than others. I have skinny friends and relatives that seem to be really hyper conscious of their weight to a negative degree and really beat themselves up over it. It's never really been like that for me. So, it's great that I don't have zero self esteem.....but it's bad because I think that also enabled the issue that I have now. So, how did this happen??? I know that I've really packed on the pounds over the past going on two years, since I lost my Mom. She died and then we had a very stressful time for more than a year afterward. While still grieving Mom really hard, Erik's Dad died 7 months later. Being his only child, that left us with A LOT on our plates.....on top of now grieving the loss of two parents. 4 months after he died, Erik got a job in TN and came here while the boys and I stayed in NM to sell our home there. We were apart for 3 months. Lots of stressed out and emotional eating occurring from all of the above, I guess.
Since moving here and settling in and being more than a year out from the losses of our parents, we are both feeling happier and more content and at peace. Not that we don't still have very emotional moments.....but it's not a constant feeling either. So, I think we are both in a good place mentally and emotionally for losing weight.
Now, that I'm out of the "fog" I'm definitely noticing the toll it has taken on me. I'm now really feeling the physical effects of it too. I'm too young to be feeling so darn old!!!
So, yesterday, I got out the scale. I've never been one for weighing myself. I love to live in blissful ignorance. lol But, the number that popped up shocked the crap out of me. :( I really had NO IDEA!!!! But, it's made me more determined than ever to FINALLY do something about my weight problem. I know I didn't become this way overnight and I guess that's how it snuck up on me too. :( I'm still too embarrassed at this point to actually publicly admit to that number. Maybe someday, when I can look back and say with a fit, hot body...."Look how far I've come!!!" I will admit to it. :)

It has begun...........

Erik and I weighed in and started on our journey this morning. :) I'm feeling tired, but I think that has more to do with poor sleep and waking up at the crack of dawn to get kids ready for school, than with the diet. I have a kink in my neck too. Fun. Have had one Medifast bar this morning so far. It was actually pretty good! It was very interesting making it last 15 minutes though, as recommended by Medifast. lol These bars are not large. Pretty much the typical size of a granola or cereal bar like you buy at the store....so you literally have to nibble at it to make it last that long. lol Think for my next meal I'm going to try a soup. We're going to place another order either tonight or tomorrow and I think we're going to need to order more of the bars, pretzels and puffs than we got with this order. Erik has to go to the VA for an appointment today and it's not like he's going to really be able to mix up a soup, eggs, oatmeal, pudding or shake while he's gone. So, for convenience sake, I think we're going to need more of those things on hand.
Speaking of appointments at the VA. This is a follow up on his sleep apnea. I'd known he has it for YEARS and finally got him to do something about it. He started using a cpap machine a couple of months ago and this is some sort of follow up to that. I don't know that his sleep apnea will ever go away. He was like this even when he was thin when we got married. But, I'm really hoping that losing weight will cure his issues with diabetes and high blood pressure.
It wouldn't surprise me if I have these issues too. But, I'm a naughty girl and haven't been to a doctor in YEARS. Haven't needed to otherwise for illness, so I just haven't been for general check ups either.
One funny note.....I was explaining about me and Daddy going on a diet to our 5 year old and what we're going to be doing to get skinnier. He says, "Why do you need to get skinnier?" and I told him, "So, that we can feel better, be healthier and so I can be a HOT MAMA!!!" and he totally rolled his eyes at me! lol Love that he loves his Mommy unconditionally though and thinks I'm perfect no matter what! :)

Getting Started.......

Today is prep day. Sort of like packing for a vacation. I'm getting everything ready and in place today, for the journey we will begin tomorrow. :) I decided that it would be fun for Erik and I to document it all....the ups and downs, the highs and lows of losing weight. But, also wanted to separate this from the rest of our lives and the blog I keep about myself and family. So, I created this blog specifically for this purpose. :) I'm a blogger...so I will definitely be writing and hopefully Erik will pop in once in a while and share his thoughts as well. :)

So.....how this started. Erik's parents started the Medifast Diet several weeks ago. They had urged us to try it too, because they know several people that are having such great success with it. We poo-poo'd it at first. The cost factor seemed daunting. Medifast is *not* a cheap diet. It's really not. I find it aggravating too....because the food isn't really much. It shouldn't be so expensive. I wish that they would make it more attainable for people. It could only help the obesity epidemic in this country by doing so. But, after thinking about it and realizing how much we'd be saving on eating out alone....it didn't seem so bad because that won't be a factor anymore. We decided that since the starting off is the hardest part financially (cuz you still have to live and eat in the mean time) that we'd wait for our tax return and make the investment in ourselves with part of it. His parents are doing really well with it, by the way!! So, I'm excited to get started and start losing too! :)
We finally placed the order last Saturday evening.....and it's on the truck out for delivery TODAY!!! So....while we wait for the delivery, like I said, today is prep day. Got to get out the dreaded scale and dust it off. ;) I'm going to make us a dated log to tape up in our bathroom cabinet to keep a log of our weights daily before getting in the shower each morning. Going to create us each a weight loss ticker to set small goals with. For example, first goal would be losing 10% of our body weight each. Second goal, getting to 50 pound loss each. Etc. Etc. I figure that baby steps and shorter term goals help make the long term goal seem less daunting and are celebratory milestones in themselves. :) Going to take the awful "before" pics. ;) Then, of course, I created this blog to document it all in one place. Oh...and as pathetic and unproductive as it is in losing weight we are going to our favorite restaurant tonight to enjoy what I'm jokingly referring to as our "last supper." :)