Well THIS is embarrassing....

...but in a good way, I suppose. Official before and after pics:





Start date: 2/3/07
Goal reached: 7/10/07
Total weight lost: 42.2 pounds
(yeah me!)
;)

Before's and After's....

So....Here I am, 2 weeks after hitting my goal (losing over 40 pounds), and I am STILL at my goal weight. This, after completely indulging over a weekend in NYC...including BBQ, cookies, cupcakes, and all around snack-a-licious-ness! People always ask me "So...what now? Do you get to eat whatever you want now?" Well, not exactly...I mean, that's how I got HERE:

....in the first place. This shot was taken at the beginning of February, right before I started my Jenny Craig program. I must be honest, it was the most humiliating experience I can remember, even trumping my colonoscopy in 2000...and if you've ever had one of those, you know that's quite humiliating. Woops, back to my original point....

So, people are wondering if I can just eat anything on the planet. Well, yes...in MODERATION. I have NO designs on going back to the girl you see in the picture above. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty ok with this girl:


If you go back to my very first post, one of my goals was to wear a bikini this summer...and well, I did it! This picture was taken over the weekend at Long Beach, NYC....and it was fabulous. Now, I fully realize that I am no Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model in this shot...but I must say, that for the first time in my life, I got up from my beach towel, and walked down to play in the ocean, without feeling like I had to grab an oversized t-shirt to cover myself up on the 30 foot walk. I have NEVER done that. And once I was done playing in the water, I didn't have to have someone standing at the water's edge, waiting to hand me a huge beach towel to cover me up for my way BACK. It was liberating. It was almost spiritual (as corny as that sounds)...

I'm still eating Jenny food, but I'm able to add a few more calories here and there during my maintenance phase..and honestly, after this past weekend of debauchery, I was actually looking FORWARD to my Jenny food! It's so perfectly portioned and delicious, and it brings me back to a comfortable feeling of being in control. Just because I'm at my goal weight does not mean that the journey is over...it's a lifelong journey to a happy, healthy lifestyle. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure the girl in black, at the top of this posting, never comes back!!

More pics to come as they're taken...and as always, if you have any questions, or if you want to know about the program, PLEASE...do NOT hesitate to contact me. Email me (laura@b95.com) or just pick up the phone and call 800-Jenny20. Or check out www.jennycraig.com....whatever you do, if you want to lose weight, and you've tried everything, LIKE I HAD, do yourself a favor: Make. It. Happen.

Why the weight???? ;)

Till next time,
~L

Guess who hit her goal today......?!?!?!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? I'm THERE! I hit my Jenny Craig goal! Better yet, I went a pound PAST my goal! I haven't weighed this little since, I don't know, Junior High? Possibly High School?

I have officially lost 40.3 pounds in 23 weeks. I have also lost 24 inches overall. When I think about it, I'm really still in awe....this means that 5 months ago, I was carrying around 4 sacks of potatoes, and 2 feet-worth of fat around my body.

Looking back, I can say with complete honesty, I NEVER thought I'd get here. NEVER. I have done every single program on the planet: pills, shakes, points, starvation, high protein, high carb, protein/carb ratio'ing...everything. All along, I was hoping for some magical secret - some quick fix - some instant gratification...after all, it took me over 30 years to develop these bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle, why SHOULDN'T I have immediate results?!?! (See how RIDICULOUS that sounds???)

The truth is, once you get your head in the game - and that DOES take time - you CAN do this. I have been at least 20 pounds overweight my entire life...usually more. No, I've never been 100 pounds overweight, but the pain is just the same. We are bombarded with images of perfection everywhere we look, and we can sink so low into the fake reality, that we finally get ourselves to believe we're just going to have to settle for the crappy way we feel. Some of the things that were said to me and the names that I was called in my childhood/adolescence are still VERY much there, and VERY much real. And yes, part of me wants to go to every single one of those jerks that called me "747" and "Laura Fat Laura" (those really were a couple nicknames I had...) and strut my stuff, and honestly, give them a really, really inappropriate hand gesture. But, I'm going to take solace in the fact that I have done something they will never do - I did something about it. They're probably still jerks. Maybe we'll reunite on some Maury Povich episode....hahha!

I will continue to post as I make my way through Maintenance. It won't be as often (come on now, really, how often was I regular at this anyway? hahah!), but I want to keep committed to this...for both our sake's. This is a LIFESTYLE change, not a I-lost-my-weight-now-I'm-all-better type thing.

Thank you so much for your well-wishes and support along the way...I have to say, Jenny Craig's food and personal support really made this as easy as was in THEIR power, but I also worked my butt off! It wasn't always easy or simple, and it wasn't always painless, I will admit. But where I am right now...if I could talk to myself 5 months ago, I'd tell her, "Suck it up, do the work, show up, and you CAN do this!"

Now...tell YOURSELF this, and lets get goin!

Till next time,
xoxo
~L

Short and sweet....

Ok, so it's been TOOOO long since I updated you, and I apologize for my complete negligence of this! To spare you the gory details, I'll keep it short and sweet.

Last weigh-in, I GAINED a pound. A FULL POUND. Water retention, "cheating", cocktails...whatever the reason, I was HEATED. Mainly because the week prior, I was 1.7 pounds away from my own goal. Now, I'm up to 2.7 pounds...and that might as well be 30 pounds to me. So, last Monday, I vowed to work my butt off as well as stick to my program. BUT....once again, life happens.....

A holiday right in the middle of the week, 2 events, and a kajillion more things that I had to deal with this past week, didn't exactly make for an ideal "stick to the plan" plan! I did my best, even at another work party I had to attend on Friday...Saturday I power-shopped and had lunch with some girlfriends, and unfortunately, shopping had brought me to the point of STARVATION, so EVERYTHING on the menu called my name. I didn't make a great choice, but I did only have half of what was on my plate.

Now, I have NO idea what will happen at next weigh-in, and I have what may be the most stressful week of my life ahead of me. I'm pretty good with not "emotionally eating" any more, but I'm pretty sure there will be some situations in which I won't be able to "stick to the plan" all the time. I'll do what I can, and understand that I need to be a bit easier on myself, because I've been beating the hell outta myself since last Monday. It's DEFINITELY harder to lose weight when it's 30 degrees and snowing outside. There's just too much going on during the summer, ya know? UGH!

If anyone ever tells you making a HUGE lifestyle change is always going to be easy, run and get a ruler and smack the back of their hand...because THEY'RE LYING!!!

Onward....

Till next time,
~L

Guess it's the weekends that really screw me up...

...because, determined to get to my goal this past week, I was so strict and so good about following my menu! But, as I've said before...life happens, and with life comes unexpected eating situations. And after all my hard work, I'm not about to stop "life" from happening, just because I'm wrapped up in 1.7 pounds to go.

Friday evening I joined some coworkers for a Trivia Happy Hour, and I enjoyed some of the "happy"-ness...which included skipping dinner (that was unintentional...), and a few cocktails. It was a hell of a work-week for all of us...there was much steam to be blown off!

Saturday I was determined to get back on track, so I started off with a yummy Jenny breakfast. I went out to lunch and had a really, REALLY tough time deciding what to order, because it happened to be that the minute I sat down, I was STARVING. EVERYTHING on that menu looked amazing. I settled for a turkey wrap with apple stuffing and cranberries...hey, at least there wasn't cheese and mayo all over it! However...there were some fries, and I ate some fries...some delicious, salty, greasy, crispy, fantastic fries. I must note here, that I literally left half of my wrap and about 3/4 of the fries on the plate, and that's mainly because I listened to my stomach, and waited for IT to tell me when I was full. That's something VERY important that I've learned...I actually LISTEN to my body now, instead of finishing every morsel on the plate, just because there's food in front of me. Bravo!

Saturday night was the B95 Cruise on the Dutch Apple, and again, unintentionally, I didn't eat dinner before leaving the house. I knew there would be appetizers on board, so I figured I'd just nibble on those as I mingled. Again, starving by the time they came out, I was challenged: Chicken Cordon Bleu balls, deep-fried veggie egg rolls, philo stuffed with ricotta and spinach, chicken skewers...the options were endless, and not exactly "health-conscious". I helped myself to a few, again, until my stomach said "You're all set...you can stop now..." and that's where it ended. And I only sipped on water with lemon, so no additional calories and fats from cocktails! :)

Sunday came, and after a 2 mile run, I again had lunch out...salad bar, low fat balsamic dressing, and half a veggie burger. I requested steamed broccoli instead of fries (I had had my quota of fried stuff for the week!), so once again, I did the best I could! However, beneath the "steamed" broccoli lay a suspicious oily, light-yellow liquid...You'd be amazed how difficult it is to find a restaurant that actually STEAMS their veggies and serves them straight-away. Most will end up spraying them with butter or oil, after they've been cooked. But they don't tell you that on the menu...they just say "steamed". Ahh....ya do what ya can...

I'm finishing the other half of the veggie burger for dinner, and then, it's go-time. Monday is the weigh-in, and if I actually lost 1.7 pounds this week (doubtful), I'll be at my goal weight. I'm not optimistic, but I've been surprised before. Leave it to me...it'll end up 1.5 pounds. Arrrgh!

Either way, I'll let you know! Hope you had a great weekend!
Till next time,
~L

PS....

...I thought you might like to see this....it's a graph from JennyCraig.com that I chart my weight on...And yes, I've strategically I've cut off the left-hand side to hide my actual weight. Hey, to us girls, some things are ALWAYS sacred... ;)



Gotta say...I love that downward slope... ;)

Shut. UP!

This morning, Ric and I were talking about how this has become an increasingly acceptable statement...kind of a "Holy Cow!" or "Are you serious?!?" type thing. Whether you like it or not, it's here to stay, and something I say at least once or twice a day...including today, to Christine, when I stepped on the scale.

Lets briefly go back to last week...it was ANOTHER crazy one! There were meetings here, events there, and everything in between. Hell, there was even a Moe's Burrito and some chips thrown in! Missing a day at the gym, I was sure I wasn't going to lose any weight this past week, but I really didn't think I GAINED any either. So I'd have to take solace in the fact that I did the best I could, given the set of circumstances, and that I'd just have to add on another week that I wouldn't get closer to my 40 pound goal.

Well, prior to stepping on the scale, I gave Christine the short version: there were a lot of unexpected situations that came up, some indiscretions on my part, and I wasn't expecting miracles. If anything, maybe a couple tenths of a pound, as I've gotten so in tune with my body over the course of the past few months, I can sometimes feel if I've lost an ounce! I stepped on the scale, and saw a number that I had to double-check....did it REALLY say that? Had I really...LOST another three pounds??? How in the hell did I manage that??? I joked with Christine and said "Shut. UP! There's no way I lost weight this week. Watch, I probably have some foreign form of typhoid fever or something that's making me lose weight..." Hey, if ya can't joke about typhoid, what can ya joke about? ;)

I digress. I am now 1.7 pounds away from my goal weight. It's still unbelievable to me. I can't believe someone called me "skinny" today. I don't know if it's a woman thing or a mental thing or a woman-mental thing, but I still see that heavier person in the mirror sometimes...actually, often. I imagine that sometime I'll see what other people see, but right now, I'll take seeing a new exciting number on the scale...I was going through some pictures from Free Money Friday, and came across this one:

I literally did not recognize myself. I literally did NOT realize that was me, until I took a closer look, as I asked "Who the hell grabbed the mic in the B95 gazebo on Friday? Wasn't I there the whole time?" Weird.

Keep goin....the journey is long, not always easy, and sometimes frustrating...but it's soooooooo worth it! I'm with ya!

Oh, and by any chance, do you ever walk into your office to find something that looks like THIS:

This is what I walked into this morning at the office. Cookies, homemade goodies, and brownies. WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO TO ME????

Just thought I'd share...
Till next time,
~L