New Vistas...

We are on the verge of a new year.  There are so many things running through my head!

I have so many things to be thankful for...

Most of all, I am thankful for Elvis.  Without him, I'm sure I wouldn't be where I am.  He is a wonderful man and the perfect one for me.  He is strong for me.  He is good for me.  He takes care of me.  I'm incredibly lucky have met someone that loves me, encourages me, cares for me, and is just the best blessing.

I am thankful that I quit smoking.  It's been a year and a half.  I can't believe that!  It's been a difficult road but I know it's for the best.  It has allowed me to get better, and stonger!

I am thankful for the Atkins diet.  It's working for me!  I'm really wanting to see 264 when I get on the scale tomorrow, but if I don't, it's not the end of the world.  Last New Years Eve I was 304.  I'm just happier to say I'm SMALLER than I was last year!  :)  It's not the goal I had... but it's smaller... and that's good enough for me.  I know that I'm going on.  I'm not done.  I'm going to keep it up all year long.  Last year, I did really good for a month, and then I started slacking off.  I didn't go back on the diet until the end of October.  I tried on and off thru out the year, but didn't stick to it for very long.  If I lost 40 lbs this year, and I didn't really do what I was supposed to be doing, Imagine what 2012 will hold...  I'm really wanting to see 199 by next new years.  I'd love to see less, but 199, I don't ever remember that weight...  So it'd be really awesome to get there.

I'm having knee surgery on Wednesday...  I'm hoping that - with that surgery - I'll be able to get my ass back out there and work out.  I'm dying to ride the bikes that Mom and Dad got us for Christmas!!  I'm also dying to start walking again.  It's pretty cold outside, and I love walking when it's cold.  Lastly, We got a kinect on Black Friday.  I hurt my knee on Black Friday.  SO I've never gotten to play Dance Central 2.  I can't wait to get out there, get my groove on and look like a fool.

I have so many wants... so many resolutions for next year.  I want to get under 200 lbs.  I don't care if it's 199...  I want to be under 200!!  Losing 100 more lbs would be incredible.  That would put me at 164...  But I'm not sure that nearly 9 lbs a month is a possibility for me...  I'm a slow loser.  I know that.  I read about a guy... Gene Boley, who was on strict induction for an entire year.  If it wasn't on the approved Atkins food list for induction, he didn't eat it.  He moved on to OWL last week.  He's running 12 miles a day!  I want to run.  I really do.  There is something really freeing about running.  One day I will run in a race.  I may not win, but that doesn't matter.  One day I will run.  That is a goal.    I have a girlfriend online that is going to work with me to getting to 199.  She seems to think we can do it sooner.  I really hope she's right!!! :)

Here's to 2012...  I'm going to kick your ass!!!

The dreaded holidays...

So Thanksgiving came and went....  I did just fine with it.  I didn't cheat once, and the scale luved me for it!  I had turkey, salad and such a wonderful time.  I even had some chicken with green mole sauce.  Yummy!!!  :)

I went to my parents for 10 days.  10 days in Florida and resisted all temptation. I even made Twice baked faux potatoes and they were SO yummy!!  :)  When I got back, my scale had the same numbers as when I left...  but I'm kinda used to that.  Sometimes it happens.  I might have accidentally had some chocolate that wasn't low carb.  Oh well, it happens.  I was ok.  On Christmas eve, I was down to half a pound from 40 lbs lost this year.
Christmas eve and Christmas day were a different story...  We made tamales at Elvis's parent's house.  I ate my weight in tamales over 2 days.  Bread, Corn meal, sugar, chocolate, tres leches..  I knew I was bad.  I didn't worry about it.  I knew that I'd start back again today, with renewed vigor.  I got on the scale this morning and I gained 4 lbs in 2 days.  I know it's mostly water weight, but I'm completely ok with it.  So, I have until Saturday to lose 4.5 lbs!  :)  I think I can do it.  I'd like to say I've lost 40 lbs by Jan 1.  Next year, I'll continue my work.  I'll continue my diet and I know I'll lose more. I wonder how much I'll be able to post as a loss next year?

I have knee surgery scheduled for next Wednesday.  I tore my miniscus 2 days after Thanksgiving.  It's been slowly healing, but I'm afraid that with out surgery it won't heal completely.  It's swollen most days and sometimes quite painful.  The surgery will mean that I'm out of work for 2 weeks to a month.  I want to come back to work stronger, skinnier and more beautiful than ever before!  I want to hear WOW you look incredible when I come back to work!  :)  In addition to continuing to lose weight, because I'll be sitting on the couch, healing for 2 weeks, I'm planning to take this time learn spanish.  I can't do much of anything else...  SO I'm going to sit on the couch, and work my rosetta stone as hard as it can go.  :)

Let's see how this goes.  I'm still very excited about my changes.  I'm getting smaller, and loving it.  :)

Results, Thanksgiving and more results!

So on the 15th, I weighed in... and I was terribly surprised when the scale told me 276... I hadn't lost ANYTHING!  UGH!!!  I was so frustrated.  I started logging my foods.  I was still walking every day.  I learned that I was eating too many veggies.  Yea, the carbs were good...  but they were still carbs.

I cut back.  I ate even more fat, and less carbs.  I was very careful with what I ate.

I debated on cheating for Thanksgiving...  I debated until the morning of Thanksgiving if I would cheat or not.  That morning, I decided... I would not cheat.  All day long, I was tempted.  Pies, Stuffing, Mashed potatoes!   OH MY!!!  At Elvis's parent's house, I was tempted with rice, tortillas, and eventually birthday cake.  Anyone that knows me, is that cake is my favorite thing in this world!  For me to say no thank you, to CAKE, is amazing.  I was so incredibly proud of that.

This morning, I weighed in as part of our biweekly weigh in for the Atkins group I'm a part of on facebook.  I hoped on the scale this morning and I wanted it to read what it had a few days ago...  I chanted that weight in my head over and over...  finally, I looked down...  it read 270!!!  Huzzah, I lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks!  AND, on top of that, it was an additional .5 lbs than I was hoping for... so, more huzzahs!!!

Going forward I'm just going to keep it up... Let's pray I can get thru these holidays like I did the last one!