I'm BACK!

Hello all!

Not much has happened in the "redux" department for several months here, but a lot has happened in my life, which is why I've neglected this blog so darn much. Let me catch you up:



My Spring-Summer loss. 245# to 215# in 4 months!

After my last post, in early June I was in a fairly serious head-on collision. At 45mph, while I had minor muscle/tendon injuries, the bruising can be pretty severe. I gained 10 pounds immediately, from swelling alone. I also had hip and lower back issues, which meant my exercising ability was affected. The seatbelt caused these injuries, but it definitely saved me from what could have been much, much worse. So buckle up, people!!!

Also: my 2.5 year old daughter was in the car. Because she was still rear-facing, in a properly installed car seat, she had zero injuries. We went to the hospital for a check anyway, and the doctors panicked when they heard "45mph, head-on collision." Until the EMT smiled and said "she was rear facing," then they relaxed and thanked me. Had she been forward facing, she could have sustained some pretty severe trauma. Please, please, please, make sure your child is as safe as they can be, and buckled properly into the correct carseat for them! Please check out http://csftl.org/ (Car Seats for the Littles) if you have questions.

Now, off that soap box!

After my crash, my swelling went down pretty quickly, but I didn't have the opportunity or desire to work on anything but healing my bruises. I stayed at a 25# loss for a while, and then slowly started working back towards losing again. I was at a 30# loss in July, and by the time summer was over, I had lost...*drumroll*....45#!!! My goal was to be under 200 pounds by the time I went to Disney World in late September. I hit that goal about 3 days before I left!

 

My 2014 Weight loss. 245# to 198# in 6 months!

While I was at Disney, I ate what I wanted, because it was HOT, and we were walking a LOT. Pretty much any calories I was eating would be burned off, to some extent, and I wasn't going to affect the vacation of the decade by being worried about calories. Did I decline some things because I knew they would make my stomach upset? Yes. Salads over fries, lots of veggies, and small portions of fatty, cheesy things that would make me feel sick. But overall, I didn’t give a rat’s behind about my weight. I just wanted to have fun with my family.

 

When I got back from Florida and stepped on the scale, I had gained a whopping 10 pounds. A large part of that was from water retention, though, and I quickly dropped the first five with just drinking all my water.

From there, and through the holidays, I postponed my Nutrisystem boxes until February, knowing that I would need the time to save my money, and it gave me leeway to see just what I could do on my own. The end result? I simply maintained my weight within a 5 pound radius. I wavered between 202# and 206# with fairly little effort, which was a pleasure. I felt great, and I honestly wasn’t concerned about continuing my weight loss. Living life was the most important thing at that moment, and I was pleased that I didn’t gain any of the weight back.

During that time, I also began moderating a group on Facebook, dedicated to followers of NutriSystem. The other moderators needed to bow out, and I was trying to help motivate first about 800 members, now almost 1,800 members, and keep the group a judgement-free zone. The conversations have been great, and it is wonderful to see just how many people are so positive towards each other. Whether someone is posting a success or a frustration, whether they are being body-positive or down on themselves. Aside from spam, I have never had to ban anyone from the group for negative behavior, and only removed a small handful of posts/comments. This is such a difference from so many groups I am on, and part of the reason I have neglected this blog.

In February, I postponed again, until March 28^th. I also decided to buy the shakes and do the “fast five” this time, as my weight had gotten above 205 and stayed there for a bit too long. I wanted a “jump start.” I began the week of “Fast Five” at 207#. At the end of the week, even though I cheated a few times, I was down to 202#! I also received a shipment of frozen food this time…just a small “sampler”…and may I say, WOW! I never minded the shelf stable stuff, or at least most of it. It rates as OK on its own, and easy to doctor up to fit my taste and be pretty good. It will never be “gourmet” food or “just like mom used to make,” but I never expected that from packaged food. But it’s pretty darn good, as far as pre-packaged stuff goes. I’ve only had the cinnamon roll from the freezer so far, but dang, it may be tempting me to increase my subscription to include some frozen meals in the future!

Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to be posting again soon!