Its Only A Day Away!

Well my friends, tomorrow is the big weigh in day. 25 pounds for my 25 years! I really really hope I made it happen. I will be either frustrated or elated depending on that little number. Or should I say big number cause this takes me only a quarter of the way there.

I just hope it doesnt take me another 25 years!

23 Less Of Me!

Here I am plodding along..... in the right direction at least! I cant say Chanukah really helped but I certainly enjoyed it and I am sad it's over.

Trying to loose weight should be a full time job! Its really hard to teach yourself good habits, unlearn bad ones, and still do all the other thing you have to do, like cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping, ect ect ect! It would be nice if I could get paid for it too!! Well a girl can dream right! I think that if I treat loosing weight as a full time job, I would be more serious about it. Well more serious about it... on a regular basis. 

I mean I have one kid b'h and he is a handful and I find it hard to focus on myself for any amount of time longer than 5 min, so how can a person with lots of kids k'h even begin this really long and hard process!? So kol hakovod to all you moms out there working your tushies off... literally! 

Have a delightful week! I know I will cause it's my birthday this weekend!! Yay!! (I know I didn't make it to 25 pounds but I am giving myself till my english birthday on the 16th)

22.6 Less of Me!

Less than 3 more pounds till I get to my birthday goal! I have to say I am very proud of my self control these days. With all those jelly donuts staring at me all week long I have not caved in.... Yet!

I have my one Chanukah donut planned out and I will enjoy every bite of it! I am also going to have 3 latkes. I think I will be ok if i spread them out. Oh, and I am also going to have one package of white chocolate coins!! I want to still loose some weight so I will be going on lots of walks (hopefully my replacement stroller part will come in the mail!) 

The spacing out of these posts are getting a tad disorganized, but hopefully everything will start going back to normal. This post was supposed to be written on Monday, so its a bit late but not to bad. 

Happy Chanukah Everyone!

20.6 Less Of Me!

I know this post is late in coming but It's been a crazy week and a half! I was not able to go to the weight watcher meeting on Thursday, so I just weighed myself at home. I lost what I gained last week plus some which puts me back on track for my birthday goal!

I really needed to get back on track and I couldn't go walking most nights last week since my toe got badly infected, so I just tried really hard to eat well. It really paid off cause I am right where I was trying to get. 

This week I need to get serious about my walking and tracking!! Last night I got a treat for walking! There were fireworks right on top of us! They were for the grove holiday tree lighting thing but they where shooting them from the park where I walk. They were really really cool! Loud too!

Remember: If you bite it... Write it! (good tip for loosing those tricky 5 pounds that wont budge!

17 Less Of Me

Well folks, the inevitable happened. I gained this week. Not too thrilled about it, but at least you all know that I am human! It happened due to a combination of things the top two being not tracking properly and eating Chinese food on Tuesday night. (a big no-no to have that within a few days of weighing in since there is a lot of sodium and makes me bloated and therefore heavier). I did enjoy that chicken and broccoli though.

So to get back on track to my goal of losing 25 pounds for my 25th birthday, I need to exercise like mad this week and drink lots and lots of water! Oh and Track better too! Tracking really is very important since you can see what you are doing right as well as what you are doing wrong!

A Thought

Losing a significant amount of weight is daunting and it makes starting all the more difficult. I believe the key to success is in being completely obsessed about the ultimate goal while realizing that to get there you have to start somewhere. That somewhere is right here, right now in this moment. All it takes if a seconds worth of strong desire and to turn that into a token action. Do Something small and do it now!

Oh How the Wind Blows

It has finally cooled down enough for me to start walking in the daytime. Moshe'le and I have been strolling around the city. Yesterday we walked up to the Hotel Roosevelt (see yellow video camera below) and did a little site seeing up on Hollywood and today we walked to the park near the grove (see train landmark. we call it the train park cause there is a train he can drive there!)

That's a total of 3.9 miles!

19.4 Less of Me

I lost 2 more pounds!!! Woohoo!!! So I think it's time for some picture comparison!

I look so much better now!! almost 20 pounds makes such a difference! A new shaitel also helps!! Anyways I have never had so much fun losing weight before! I am finding all sorts of new treats and trying all these new recipes. It's become my hobby and my job and I am loving the success! 

Goal for this week: Do that ab workout that I didn't get a chance to do this week!! No reward for me :-( 

17.4 Less Of Me

This week went by so fast I hardly realized it was Thursday already! I went down 0.8 pounds this week, even though my home scale told me I lost a little more than two pounds. I guess I will see it next week!

Tonight my weight watcher leader told me I should become a weight watcher leader since I inspire so many people at the meetings. Though I do have to tell those people that all I can offer are words but the part that really pays off is action! Keep up the good work everyone!!!! Anyways I thought that was a really big compliment. 

I don't know if this is true, but I feel like I weigh more on the days I spend most of my time standing up (rather that driving or sitting). Today I was baking and decorating cakes all day, and I feel so heavy! Maybe its just the ache in my feet and my lower back.... hmmmm

Goal for this week: do an ab workout at least once this week

25 Pounds for 25 Years

As a birthday present to myself, I am going to lose 25 pounds.

So I have 7 weeks to lose 9 more pounds. I can do that! If I have learned anything these past few months, it's that I can do anything I set my mind to doing! It's one thing to be told that all your life, but another entirely to realize that it's true!

If I could get to my 10% mark of 27 pounds I will be even more thrilled with myself! That would be a terrific start to a new year!! I just have to maintain my focus and keep up my motivation! Keep my eye on the prize (without turning into a blueberry!!)

16.6 Less Of Me!!

Woohooo!!!! I am so thrilled! This week I hit two milestones: 5% of my starting weigh (14 pounds) and the 15 pound mark. Two in one week is awesome! I will use my word for the week here: I am doing FANTASTIC!

I feel really great, It's easier to walk, and I am looking good too (in my humble opinion)! The best part is I'm still focused, and staying on plan! I feel like I'm really taking control of this part of my life. It's not easy saying no to myself especially when it comes to some of my favorite foods. The feeling I have right now makes it all so worth it! I am really proud of myself! Go Yehudis!!! 

My goal for this week: 30 min of activity, 8 cups of water, and to track for 5 days this week. 

Woohoo!! Go Me!!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S

Its raining outside which means no walking, and my plans to drink more water are sort of working.  I am feeling really good and I'm also starting to get compliments from people who I have not seen in a while. Both of those things are really fun parts of loosing weight!

I started doing this really interesting thing called planning. I sit down for 5 min before I go to sleep and decide what I am going to eat the next day. I mean, what a concept! LOL I crack myself up! hee hee....

For real I decide what I'm having for my main meals with leeway for changes in availability and mood. It takes the panic out of the "oh my goodness I'm starving what should I eat!" moments. It's kind of like being the chef and the customer in a restaurant. I order off my "menu", I make it, I eat it, then I pay myself....compliments for a job well done!

Just want to say Thank You to all my blog readers...I am so much more successful because you read it and care.

Oh and if you are confused about my blog title, I'm finally learning how to spell. I'm studying for the TEAS test to get into nursing school which is on everything you should learn in elementary school through high school that I never learned. So I have been teaching myself how to spell and do fractions....Better late than never!

12.8 Less of Me

Well, that was rather disappointing!

I know I lost and all that and it's still better than a gain, but come on! A measly .4 when I was aiming for 1.6! I know why it happened and it's really not my fault! I mean I just can't do anything about being super bloated. There are parts of nature I just can not fight!

I know it will all show up next week, cause I have been eating well, drinking lots more water (thank you everyone for your tips), and I'm still walking between 40-60 min every night. It was just a real bummer cause I really wanted to get to my 5% goal. well I guess next week I will get to my 5% and hit 15 pounds!! 

Goal for this week: Not to get lazy with my tracking!

I think I can, I think I can.....

I have been working very hard the last few days to get to my 5% goal. In English that means to loose 5% of my staring weight, so for me that would be 14 lb. so I gotta loose at least 1.6 pounds to get there. I would be nice to get to 15 pounds this week, but I know I have to be realistic with my goals and I don't think I can loose 2.6 pounds in a week. I have been walking every night since Sunday (thanks Mimi for being a great walking partner!!) and I even climbed all the stairs in the grove's parking lot! When I do make it to my 5% goal my prize is a new Shaitel! I know that's a big prize, but Its what I need and It's what I want!

I weigh in tomorrow night.... can't wait to see if I made it!

Bronchitis and Over-eating-itis

Being sick makes it really hard to stay on track. First there are all the extra fluids which don't come cheap (points wise). Then there is the "I'm not in the mood to eat anything"... except for strawberry slush, honey cake, and challah! Well, now that I'm better, I gotta refocus. I have till Thursday to work it all off. 

12.4 Less Of Me

This week brought me down .8 for a grand total of 12.4 pounds lost. I now weigh 258 even, which still sounds like an awful lot, but at least I am headed in the downward direction! I was hoping the scale would be kinder to me since I was very good over Yom Tov and did all that exercise.... I hope it decides to show up next week!

Part of what keeps me so motivated is the goal. I see myself as a thin and healthy looking person in my mind. I want it so bad I can taste it! So to nudge me along I have made myself a reward chart. The problem is there are so many 5 pound intervals between 15 and 100 that I am running out of ideas. So I did some research, but none of the "bucket lists" out there seemed to be something appropriate for me. So, I am putting it out there... any reward ideas??? Something you would do to reward yourself for accomplishing something you never thought you could? I will be anxiously waiting for any responses...   


Goal for Week #8: Drink more water. Its one of the basics of weight loss, but I just never seem to get around to it. Gotta focus on this one!

And Yaakov Went on his Way

Wow!! What a Month!! Tishray is over and life goes on!

Yom Tov was nice. I didn't have to do much cooking since all the meals are in the Shul. I was worried at first about the type of food that was going to be served, but it was really nice! The buffet was really manageable and I was not stuffed when I was done.

So Life continues and now I have a clear path in front of me. Two months till the next holiday. Ill be walking and writing down what I eat and getting the job done! 11.6 pounds down 93.4 more to go!

Easy as (fat free) pie!

11.6 Less Of Me

Boy was I glad to see that number on the scale! I was so stressed out about how Sukkos was going to be my downfall!

Last night I was feeling so yucky from not being able to exercise for the past week, that I was even prepared to not weigh in. I was going to go the the meeting of course, but use my no weigh in card. B''H I managed to find a pool at 9 pm and go swimming for about 20 min. I felt so much better after that!! I decided I was going to get on that scale anyways!! 


I think the hardest part of Yom Tov for me was not being able to write down what I ate and not being able to measure how much I was eating. I hate to admit it but the two most annoying part of the plan are the ones that help the most!


I sure hope this heat wave ends soon so I can get back to walking. I have started to really enjoy it!! Whoda thunk!

Yom Tov Blues

I'm not so thrilled with how my eating went on Yom Tov. I really could have done a lot better, plus I only walked to shul one of the days. I was just really hard to plan everything out and go shopping properly since I was so worried about our Sukkah (the parts didn't come till noon on erev Yom Tov!)

In the end we had a wonderful Sukkah and lots of guests for all the night meals. Even though the heat was terrible, our house was 90 degrees, and our Sukkah was swarmed with termites on the second day. we had a very nice Yom Tov! 

In terms of weight loss..... I gotta get my tush into action and do some serious exercise between now and Tuesday night!! I want to get to 14 pounds (5% of my starting weight) cause then I get to go shopping!!

10.4 less of Me

So I am now in the double digits!

I think its really nice that since Tishray is all about rectifying our character flaws, that I am really doing well at overcoming my laziness and my natural inclination to be a couch potato!
 
I am well on my way to becoming a potato popped chip!

Goal for this week: Survive Sukkos by following my Rosh Hashonah Guidelines and Walking Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday! 

Laundry

Did you know that doing housework like laundry, sweeping, or anything else that builds up a sweat, is considered activity. 8 points worth of activity actually!

I spent an hour and a half cleaning the kitchen, doing laundry, and cleaning the laundry porch. That burned about the same amount of calories as running up stairs for 40 min!

And who said housework was wimpy work!?

8.6 Less of Me

3 days of non stop eating + 2 days of non stop walking = loosing another 1.8 pounds!

Now this kind of math I like!

The truth is I thought it would be more, but I ate dinner right before I weighed in so I think that threw it off a little. It will show up next week I hope!

Now that Yom Kippur is over, I can concentrate on my battle plan for Sukkos. I'm going to weigh in on Tuesday for the next two weeks since Yom Tov is on Thursdays. I will be walking Monday and Tuesday both in the morning and at night. That should give me a head start for Sukkos.

I Love Sukkos! I can not wait to eat out in the Sukkah!!! Hot butternut squash soup, yummy stuffed turkey breast, and cranberry sauce!! Yup, I do Thanksgiving food for the first days!! Cant wait for it all to begin!!

4 Weeks and Going Strong

I made this chart for myself so I could have some fun, and stay empowered to accomplish this seemingly daunting task. I filled in the numbers with 265 on the bottom (since I have already lost 6 pounds) and going down (well upward on the chart but down in number) in two pound increments to get to 165. 

I have to say I am very excited to fill it all in..... 

 Anyone who knows me will understand! 

If anyone wants a custom version I would be happy and honored to share! 

Really Yummy Things to Eat!

Just in case anyone thinks I am surviving off carrot sticks, think again! 

Try this recipe out:

Bean, Corn, and Tomato Quesadilla 7 points

2 whole wheat tortillas
1/4 c yellow corn, canned
1/4 c black beans, canned
1/2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
4 thin slices of a large tomato

Place first tortilla in a pan over a medium fire and spread half the cheese on it. Then lay the tomato slices on top. Sprinkle the corn and beans on top of the tomatoes. Spread the rest of the cheese on top of the beans and corn. Place the second tortilla on top. When the bottom layer of cheese starts to melt, flip the quesadilla over. It is ready when all the cheese is melted. Serve with some fat free salsa.

Walking Away the Yom Tov Pounds

Whoever thought I would be this motivated to get my tush out the door every morning to walk for 40 min. Then go out again at night to walk for another 40 min. 

I have to tell you all that ADD medicine really works!

I am sending out an open invitation for anyone who is interested to walk with me at Pan Pacific Park every night at around 8pm. Its a very nice track, lots of people on it so its safe, and it goes up and down hill to put a kick in the workout. Facebook me if you are interested.

Anyways, I really think this walking is going to help me out on the scale. I am very excited for Thursday to come along!   

5 Days Till Weigh In

I don't know about the rest of you, I am sure glad tomorrow is a fast day. My body needs a day to recuperate from the last three days of eating. The sheer number of meals was overwhelming, but what also made it hard was not being able to eat till after shofar. How well can anyone control what they eat when they are famished!

The good news is I did stick to my plan, and the better news is that I have 5 days till my meeting! So that's 5 days of getting back on track and exercising like mad!


So in short it was a wonderful Yom Tov and now its time to start the new year with lots of blessing for good things and success in all of our endeavors... like loosing 98 more pounds!

6.8 less of me

Yay!

Great pre Rosh Hashanah news! I am extra motivated to stick to my plan! 

Goal for this week: Stick to my plan for Yom Tov, and keep on walking!! (Thank you Shaina for being a great walking partner!)

Busy Busy Business

All this running around for Yom Tov is getting pretty intense! Well at least I got most of the baking done yesterday. Today I am making all of the proteins and tomorrow is all of the veggies. Lots and Lots and Lots of veggies! 

This is my strategy for dealing with all the meals:
Step 1- Eat at home so I know exactly how everything is made
Step 2- Cut the sugar in half in every recipe! (except Challah)
Step 3- Substitute half the oil for applesauce (except Challah)
Step 4- Have one plain steamed vegetable at every meal and fill half the plate with it. it could also be a green salad with no added nick-knacks (ie Flat bread, croutons, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, or anything else thats not HoAdoma) and a fat free dressing
Step 5- Pick one treat a day, so if I really want some honey cake I can eat it. That's why I made myself Ice cream. 


Anyways, that's the plan. Im going to weigh in today since I wont have the time tomorrow and I can't on Thursday. Ill let you all know how I did! I have really been to busy to eat, so I have been under my points almost everyday, but on the other hand I'm all bloated.... we shall see!

5.8 Less of Me

Alright! Now that's what I'm talking about!! Just 100 more pounds to go!!

Goal for week 3: Go for a walk 3 times
 
Now for the Yom Tov battle plan! Um..... still working on that one! Wish me luck! 

Weigh in Day

I feel really good about this week. I did the plan, I wrote down what I ate, and I even did the two workouts I committed to.

So, no matter what the scale says tonight, I was successful!

I Am Very Proud Of Myself!

Just saying it makes me feel good!

I am doing a really good job sticking to the plan, tracking, and even throwing a few min of exercise in here and there.  Talk about motivated!

I couldn't be more proud of my ADHD self!

How to track on Shabbos

At first I figured why track on Shabbos. It's a mitzva to eat and enjoy yourself on Shabbos so being on a plan is not really in the spirit of Shabbos. I now that's Halacha, but I think it may also be my yiddishe yetzer horah trying to get me to not be serious about this. On the other hand it is also a mitzva to be healthy.

Then I thought, well I will make a plan before hand. That could work. I just need to be hungry at my scheduled times. That doesn't always work. I could also use paper clips or something to mark how many points I'm eating. I think paper clips are muktza

So I'm putting it out there. How do I track on Shabbos while still keeping with the spirit of Shabbos?

Bumpy Roads

Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Friday I rushed out the door with out really eating... low and behold it was a day of hunger, snacking, and late meals. :-( not so good.


So, now I know I need to make breakfast a priority even if it means running a little late.

3.8 Less Of Me

Yay me! 

I am now down to 266.6!

I will be announcing my weight, since I believe that the first step to recovery is admittance. I will no longer be embarrassed of how much I weigh because I know I am doing something to make it go down!

In any case, Goal for week #2: Do an exercise video at least twice. 

Barbecues and Bedtimes

Tonight is the night of the grand Berghoff BBQ and sleepover. The kids are all out like the lights, so they must have enjoyed themselves! I really did my best in terms of the food choices, but I'm not sure if my efforts will prove fruitful. I guess I will find out tomorrow on the big weigh in day.


It's not like I went over my points or anything, I just didn't feel as confident when I finished eating. Maybe I just felt too full...?


Besides for that, I did a darn good job this week! The awesome thing is I can tell I am motivated. Not just mentally but it's permeated my being. I don't even want to eat the things I know I am not supposed to eat.


I feel like my brain and my taste buds have finally reached an agreement.

Party Success!

The engagement party for my baby sister was amazing! The backyard looked absolutely WOW! My grandmother made all her dessert specialties like chocolate chip cookies, lemon bars, mini pies, and brownies! Mouthwatering... I know!

Guess What??

I didn't eat a single one!!

Week one of my epic journey

Here I am, once again, trying to battle my way through weight loss. I'm thinking that making it public will make me more accountable. Right now I weigh 270lbs. My goal is to weigh 165 before my son turns 3. I know there are those out there who weigh 165 and think they need to loose weight, but for someone who has never been under the 200 mark in all my adult life, reaching 165 will be nothing short of miraculous.

I'm 24 and married with a 20 month old son. We live in LA along with my very large extended family. That means many parties and many reasons to get together to eat!

The weight loss program that I am following is Weight Watchers. The reason being that it works! Consistently! Last time I did the program was back when they had Core Vs Flex and I lost 42 lbs. (Then i got pregnant and all hell broke loose!!) My weigh in day is Thursday.

Goal for this week..... STOP GAINING & START LOOSING!