I did it! I led my first meeting, it was awesome!!!!

Today I led my very first WW meeting, and it was a total success!!!!! It was such a rush to be in front of a room of members, and they actually participated! It felt totally natural to be up there, I wasn't nervous, and it just flowed :)

Today's topic was "Tricks NOT Treats" and challenges with Halloween temptation. I decided early on, I wasn't going to do a whole lot of planning. I wanted to go into it casual and carry a natural conversation with the members and it went exactly how I hoped and then some! Minus the part that I closed the meeting 5 minutes early not being aware of the time... oops.

Success! I loved every minute of it, and the feedback from the members afterwards gave me an extra boost of confidence that I needed to top the cake! My next meeting is Tuesday, and I am hoping it will go just as well. After the last 3 months of training, it is finally coming to an end and I can put all of the tools I have learned to good use :)

Children & Weight Issues

I am warning you, this is can be a controversial issue and I am certainly not one to push my beliefs/feelings on other people but this is a topic that I feel passionate about and well... I want to talk about it. These are MY feelings, and not meant to start a fire of opinions/facts/right/wrong.

I had a weight issue for most of my adult life, and have first hand seen/felt how different people treat you when you are obese. People can be cruel, judgemental, and it feels like the world is against you. As an adult, I could have controlled my actions, been active and prevented myself from gaining weight. I didn't, therefore, I was obese. Children don't always have the tools to make those choices, who's job is it to guide them and help provide a healthy environment? The parents? School? Who? At what point does a parent step in and take matters into their own hands?

I recently had a very emotional conversation with a co-worker who shared with me that her 12 year old daughter has a serious weight problem and has now reached over 250lbs. My heart absolutely broke. The feelings that she must be feeling as an overweight child must be overwhelming. But most importantly, how did she get to that point at 12 years old? What went wrong? Why didn't her parents step in and help her when they noticed she was heavier than the "average" child her age? Are there other reasons that a child can be obese? Hereditary? Metabolism?

As a mother to two young children, it is my job to teach them these tools their entire life. It is my job to keep them healthy, and surround them with a safe environment. It is my job to protect them. As of right now, this is not an issue in my house. But I will be damned if I sit back and watch my children's life fade away day by day without intervening. This topic boggles my mind, it saddens me and I wish there was something I could do to help this little girl gain her life & self confidence back. There is a whole world out there waiting for her, and as an obese woman in today's society unfortunately she will not be treated the same as a woman of "normal" weight.

What resources are available out there for children w/ weight issues?
What resources are available for parents with children w/ weight issues?

Recipe - Indian Summer Butternut Squash

Last year I found a new love for butternut squash and inspired by a side dish in a Lean Cuisine frozen meal, I made this up and it is my favorite fall side dish! I named it Indian Summer Butternut Squash because of the beautiful fall colors that the dish has. Seemed fitting :) I didn't take any pictures tonight of the recipe, I just didn't think of it...

Indian Summer Butternut Squash

1 - Medium Butternut Squash, peeled and cut in cubes
1 - Onion, chopped
1/3 Cup - Dried Cranberries
2 - Granny Smith Apples, chopped
1/3 Cup - Water
1 Tbsp Cinnamon (or to taste)
1 Tbsp Nutmeg (or to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Spray glass casserole dish with cooking spray

3. Add prepared ingredients to dish; squash, onion, dried cranberries, apples, and water

4. Mix ingredients well, top with cinnamon & nutmeg to taste - cover casserole dish w/ lid

5. Bake for apprx. 1 hour 15 minutes or until squash is soft

6. Let cool slightly, serve, and enjoy!

Serving Size 3/4 Cup (4 WW PointsPlus per Serving)

Go away saggy skin :(

Have you ever seen a deflated balloon? Or the jowls of a dog? Yup, that's my stomach. For the most part my body has bounced back pretty good and I don't have a lot of saggy skin from losing weight. But my stomach is terrible! No matter how hard I work at it, it's hard underneath but the skin literally just hangs there... It is probably one of my biggest insecurities about my body.

I often say "if you don't like what you see, don't look." I have worked very hard to get where I am today, but I am human and still have insecurities. I can't help but stare at it, and feel it in my clothing.

How is it that I can feel so good about myself, but this one thing holds me back from feeling completely confident in my own skin? At 203.4 lbs I would've given anything to look this way now, and feel how I do about myself. Our bodies take a serious beating and are absolutely amazing how they can bounce back time and time again... Maybe after two pregnancies, and losing 55lbs+, this is as good as it gets? Just part of the deal?

My Love/Hate Relationship with The Scale.

Not that this is healthy, but possibly obsessive... I weigh myself every morning when I wake up. Literally, every single morning. I have been around the same weight for a couple of months now give or take a pound or two, but lately the scale has not been my friend. I really didn't intend on losing much more weight, but my "ultimate" goal is to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 143. I decided when I got to my goal of 50lbs loss, I would keep doing what I am doing and my body would eventually get there. I haven't been overly concerned about it, but it seems like no matter what I change up I am stuck at the same weight, 148/149.

I started tracking again, and have been very good about it for the last several weeks. I was training hard for my marathon, and now I have started back at the gym with my freed up time. And still, the scale won't budge.

Maybe this is the weight I am supposed to stay at? I really don't think so, I think my body can get down another 5lbs. I am not a big girl, I am 5'4" (barely) but yet for months, I am still here. Some days I am way down, and then the very next day I am up 2lbs. SOOOO frustrating.

But instead of throwing in the towel, I am going to keep trucking. Continue working out, eating right, and most importantly tracking. This just goes to show, that even after you have lost the weight it is still a struggle. Nothing comes easy, at goal, you still have to work to stay there.

Let's hope for some scale movement next week :)

I did it!!!! Marathon - done, done, and DONE! :)

I did it, I did it, I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only did I finish my first Inline Marathon (26.2 miles), I knocked it out of the park! It was the absolute most amazing thing I have ever done since starting this process, and I can't wait to do it again! My dear friend Sarah and I have been training for this together, and I can't imagine doing it without her. She was a great partner, we started together, finished together, and kept each other motivated along the way.

Leading up to this past weekend, I was having some anxiety about the race. I was scared, nervous, anxious, excited, and just the fear of the unknown was eating at me! We have been training hard, so the distance was not my concern, I am not sure why I was so anxious. When we arrived to Duluth on Friday, we went to the DECC to pick up our racer packets. Once we got to the arena, I saw the finish line, and was surrounded by the atmosphere of the race - I WAS READY! I just wanted to get started and do it already :) Sarah and I agreed that we were not going to push for a certain "time" to finish, but just wanted to finish. We have been pacing at apprx. 2hrs and 30 min while we have been training, and thought as long as we did our best and stayed near our training time we would be happy. THEN, once we got around everyone, we decided it would be even more awesome if we finished around 2hrs 15 minutes. Hey, what can I say, we are competitive :) Saturday morning, we woke up, ate a nice protein filled breakfast and headed down to the race! My nerves faded, and I felt more ready than ever to get this under my belt. Team "Pink" was ready to dominate!

Once we got moving, and started the race we felt strong, and confident :) The view was amazing, it was along the North Shore of Duluth, and was truly breathtaking. Each time we passed another mile marker, we were getting closer and closer to our victory, and making GREAT time at that! Our husbands were our biggest fans, and stopped along the 26 miles to cheer us on, and take pictures of us in action. It was such a great feeling to have them there pushing us along the way. The support of the local residents was so incredible. It was very emotional to see the people lined up, just to support all of us. This is nothing like I have ever experienced before!

The last three miles, we pushed it hard, and wanted to finish strong! Crossing that finish line was the best feeling ever, hearing the crowds, I get chills just thinking about it. We both killed our time and finished 2hrs 7 minutes! Woot woot! Cannot wait for next year :) So awesome! Here are my official stats: Time: 2 Hours 7 Minutes 41.8 Seconds Paced: 4:53 per mile (view kilometer pace) Placed:1005 out of 1586 Placed: 240 out of 603 Females Placed: 32 out of 108 Females in the F2529 Age Group

Update - I've been tracking!!!!!! Yay!

Since my last post was setting the goal to start tracking regularly again, I am proud to say - I am sticking to it and have tracked every single day!

It's been a rather eye opening experience to see how relaxed I was getting... But is making me more aware again, and it feels great to be "on track" :)

It's been sort of crazy lately, getting super excited for my first Inline Marathon on Saturday (YIKES!)

More to come, wish me luck and pray for decent weather!

Goal for this week: Continue tracking, and make the best choices I can!