Looking Forward and Setting New Goals

As I sit down to write this I can see how far I've come and yet the next part of this journey may prove to be even more challenging. I come to you today to share my success and my failures. On March 6, 2014 I started Isagenix. Around the same time I joined what's called the IsaBody Challenge. This is a 16 week challenge to inspire achieving your goals and a chance to win prizes. I completed this challenge as of last night. In four months, I lost 35 lbs and a total of 23 inches. I planned on adding exercise, but never did quite manage it. So, this release of weight was done without adding fitness.

I dutifully had my husband take my "after" pictures and naturally needed to compare them to the before pictures from March. I'm nervous to post these because there's so much of me in them, but I'm the queen of the over-share so why stop now?

Before and After Photos from March 2014 and June 2014

There you have it. My successes! I am quite proud of myself for sticking it out, but this next leg of the journey I want to make even more changes. Lately, I've done a lot of self-reflecting and I have more willpower and determination that I ever imagined. However, I can see where I really need to put in some serious effort to make lasting changes. My issues with food are far from over. I'm sure my weight loss would have been even more astounding had I managed to better deal with my emotional eating.

I started a new IsaBody Challenge last night. This time I am focusing more on energy and performance than weight loss. Obviously, my ultimate goal is still weight loss, but I need to change my overall focus. This challenge will run until October 18, 2014 and over the next four months I plan to work on my emotional eating as well as getting fit. I've already started a fitness class that I will be doing twice a week for 11 weeks (possibly longer). As for the emotional eating I will be working on awareness and finding new ways to work with my emotions. It took years to develop my emotional eating and it's going to take time to replace bad habits with good ones. I believe support, awareness, and creating a new reward system will be the keys to success in this next part of my journey.

The biggest help to achieving any goal is having a great support system! I'd love to hear about your weight loss journey or struggles with emotional eating. Feel free to contact me anytime! 

I Once Was Blind....

As you know I've been following the Isagenix program and I've lost some weight. I've lost 35 lbs to be exact! The thing is I haven't felt like I've really lost that much. That is until I came across some pictures from my birthday last November.

I guess being so big for so long I still see myself as 35 lbs heavier even though I know I've lost this weight. And a big part of that is also because I've struggled along the way. I have to constantly remind myself that I didn't gain an extra 100 lbs overnight by creating good habits. It's going to take time for me to develop better habits. I made it this far and haven't included regular exercise (although it's always on my to do list).

I've decided to show you what I can finally see. Although, I admit that this is really difficult for me to put out to the vast interweb. I feel like I need to. I need to show you the progress I've made. If only to record this moment in time for myself.

I've still got a long way to go, but I'm going to give myself this moment in time to just be proud of myself for getting this far.

Way to go me! 

Birthday pictures from November 2013 compared to Progress pictures June 2014

This is what I've accomplished in 3 months. My next three months my focus will be more on getting fit. I've signed up for some super intense training. I'm really excited and completely terrified, but I'll share more about my new fitness regime soon! 

A Mass Update - Writing/Isagenix/Balanced Challenge

Balanced Challenge
I've been reading another Tricia Goyer book, Balanced - Finding Center as a Work-at-Home Mom. She's such a fantastic writer and so down to earth. Tricia really is my kind of woman - completely imperfect but she is an inspiration because of these imperfections. This book isn't just for the work-at-home moms. It's really for any parent who is trying to find that balanced life.  For the next eleven days I'll be posting my personal answers to questions from each chapter.

Writing Challenge
So, for those of you who are keeping up...Yes. I am doing a challenge within a challenge within a challenge. (31 Days of Writing Challenge, 12 Week IsaBody Challenge, and 11 Day Balanced Challenge) This of course is on top of all the other things I do...I work full time, have three kids and a husband. Plus there's church things, and a board of directors I'm involved with. Plus there's the mystery thing I'm working on too.

I'm starting to think I may need to scale down on some things.

Hmm.

Isagenix Update
I have to say today's been a pretty amazing day. I was pretty tired this morning, but I've had so much creativity today it's insane! I spent my 30 minute lunch break working on my mystery project. And the creativity just keeps on coming. You know the last three days I've actually done a little bit of house work. Yes. For me, that IS a big deal. It's not even like I set out to do these extra things on purpose. I've just been doing them. It's like I'm seeing things differently. This is pretty fantastic.

Isagenix where've you been for the last 9 years?!

Writing Challenge Day 8

Today marks my 3rd day on Isagenix. No headache today! I'm doing fairly well without the coffee. I did pass out for 45 min this afternoon, but who doesn't enjoy a nice Saturday afternoon nap? It's only been three days, but I'm sticking to it surprisingly. The added incentive of not wanting to waste my money must be helping. That's not to say I'm not tempted all day long, because I am. The hardest moment today was while talking on the phone. I guess I'm a fridge scrounger while talking on the phone. I opened the fridge door several times during my phone call. Thankfully I was able to resist. I think evenings will continue to be a challenge until my body gets used to eating less.

I joined the IsaBody Challenge today. It's runs for 16 weeks so my end date will be June 28, 2014. I decided I'm not going to post my before pictures until there's some progress pictures to compare to. I will, however, admit that when I started Isagenix on March 6th I weighed 266.9 lbs. A little less than my heaviest which was at the 270 lbs mark the last time I weighed myself and it's been a while. Right now my goals are simple:

• Stick to the program for one month
• Gain some much needed energy
• Start working out in a couple of weeks
• Complete the 16 week challenge

As for any ultimate goals? I'm not ready to talk about those yet. I want to be able to say that this is working before I try to give myself some final goal that seems impossible.

Until tomorrow my faithful readers! This gal is headed to bed shortly.

Writing Challenge Day 7

Happy Friday! It's now Day 7 of my daily writing challenge. This post marks my 9th in 7 days. I think that's something worth celebrating.

I'm on my second day of Isagenix and it's been quite difficult. I shared my struggles from last night. This morning most of the problems stem from my head cold. I woke with a very sore and swollen throat. My skirt had a tear in the back. And I just had this complete mental fog all day long. There were a few moments at work today where I wasn't quite sure what I was doing. However, as always I found a way to get to everything done.

My hunger level while at work was okay for the most part. I am finding this afternoon quite challenging. My kids asked for some popcorn as a snack and I didn't eat ONE kernel of popcorn! I wanted to so badly! Even the cold mac and cheese my kids left uneaten from their lunch looks tempting. Gross, but still tempting. I will prevail. I'm glad it's the weekend. I'm hoping a couple of days off will help my body get used to eating less.

I've had a headache for most of the day, but it's just a dull ache now. Here's hoping tomorrow I won't have one at all. At this point I'm not sure what is head cold and what is toxins leaving my body. Either way it's a pain in the neck. I've been told it's all worth it. A few days of misery to get to feel amazing? Come on, I've GOT to be able to handle that!

I mentioned that I would think about posting my measurements for the world to see. I've decided I will, but not yet. I'll either put the details up with a post about starting the IsaBody Challenege or I might wait until the end of 1 month to post the differences.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Have a great weekend.