Jessie's wedding

So... not as much time to post pics (Chris stayed home tonight) But.. I promised and wanted to
get some on here. :)


This was toward the end of the night and I had a HUGE headache...thus the very tired looking eyes. :)

Angie, Haley, JESSICA, and me. :)

Me and Amy :)

Chris, my parents, and I.... sorry for the wierd shot of my mom.

I have about 8 more tries that I'll switch this with.. just have to find a better one.

Pics...

COMING tonight!!!!
Chris is gone learning how to install solar energy panels... so I'm on my own!!!
AND I don't have a car... so LOTS of time to post some pics!
:)

Smokin' hot Cheryl on her way...

Last week on Thursday I did my fitness test for New Leaf with Tahna. I was strapped into my little black mask and hopped on my treadmill. It's a cool one with the new television screens....but there was no time to watch Oprah! Tahna started me out at a normal for me speed but ramped it up and kept increasing the incline and speed until she got all of the numbers she needed. Normally it takes 15 minutes to a half hour to get all of the readings she needed but for me it took ALL of 6 minutes! Pretty crazily pathetic at this point. It's a HUGE reflection of how much I HATE doing cardio. I'm sure it's a combination of not liking to push myself and not really knowing HOW to push myself. There is something in me that freaks out when my heart starts pumping faster and I start not being able to breathe.

The cool think though, is that after they do the readings, they print out a 12 week program that if done diligently will take me from where I was on Thursday to a much better place in 12 weeks! So I have a 3 month program that if I follow it will help me lose 2 lbs/wk and increase my cardio ability in amazing ways! How exciting is that? Chris does his test on Sunday! I'm SO excited to do this with him and see where it takes us in 12 weeks. My other niece, Nicole, is getting married next summer, so it'll be amazing to see how far we can get before then. I plan to be smokin' hot myself!

I'm supposed to start the New leaf tonight, so I have to see if I can get to the Y or take Tig for a walk. Our car was hit last night by the pizza delivery person so Chris won't let me drive it until it is looked at by the estimator. :( I would take Tigo for a walk but it's raining right now. So... pray that it stops raining so I can at least do that. If not though, I have a back up plan! I have two days off...Wed and Fri that I can fill in with today's and Sunday's workouts! It's just so cool that it seems like such a no fail plan... If it fails, then it's all on me. I really feel like I have a great tool that'll help me get to where I want to be!

So stay tuned......

Sorry, no pics yet...

So... Sorry that I promised some pics and didn't deliver! We went right after work to get Chris clothes for the wedding this weekend, ate supper, and went to the Y. Needless to say, after walking my 5K distance on the treadmill, my hair was in NO shape to show you. TRUST me!

Tonight is Tahna after work so tonight won't be good either. But soon, I promise soon!
;)

Hope you all have a great day!

Did I mention that I'm wearing flip flops for the FIRST TIME of the season today!?!?!
yay!
It's officially now spring!

New Leaf-New Plan

Hey there... I hope you all had a great weekend! I'll post more about the Easter weekend
tonight with a pic of my new hair, but first I wanted to tell you about my Saturday morning experience!!!

The Y that Chris and I go to offers this program called NEW LEAF. I've been trying to get Chris to do it for a long time and finally WE (I wasn't really planning on the WE part) signed up for it.
Chris has to wait for his trainer to be available to do his, but Tahna was ready to start things up on Saturday morning!!!! So bright and early we showed up at the Y on Saturday and I was
taken into the back office, fitted with this crazy looking black mask that had a tube sticking out where my mouth was. I'm sure I was super hot! After she hooked me all up she shut off the lights and left the room for 15 minutes. She, for the first time ever, told me to sit back, put my feet up and RELAX!!! Can you imagine being told by your trainer to relax? I LOVED it!

The mask/tube thingy was hooked up to a machine with a computer that measured my carbon dioxide output... thus somehow determining my resting metabolic rate.
HOW cool is that?

Results... My RMR (Resting metabolic rate) was 2226 calories. So... if I did nothing all day and sat on the couch I would burn 2226 calories. That basically is what my body needs to function. Tahna then entered a level for my daily activity which since I have a desk job is LIGHT.
That gave us a final rate of 2894. So if I did not excercise and just did my normal daily routine, then I could eat 2894 calories and not gain anything or lose anything. BUT...the point of all of this work is to LOSE weight so we had to have a plan.

Our plan is to create 1000 calorie deficit each day by dropping 500 calories off of my daily caloric intake and then burning 500 calories per day with exercise.
So... I'll be eating 2394 calories per day and then burning 500 calories with whatever I do for working out each day. THUS giving me a 1000 calorie deficit that adds up to 7000 per week.

A pound is 3500 so I should be able to lose 2 lbs per week getting me to 250lbs by Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure hitting 250 by then will deter me from the Pecan Pie!

On days I don't work out, then I should drop 1000 calories off of my diet and days if I slip up, then I would work out more to burn those calories. It's all just simple math, right?

It'll be a lot of work, but I've got it in me. It'll help that Chris is doing it to!
More about the weekend to come.....

CONTEST CONTEST CONTEST!!!

I know I owe you all a post about how it's going.. BUT I wanted to let you know about a cool contest on a super cool website!

The contest is based on this great site www.mixmygranola.com I just checked it out and you get to seriously mix your own granola with lots of yummy healthy stuff! I just entered the contest, but plan on trying it anyway, even if I don't win!

ANYWAY... check out the contest on Jen's blog at www.priorfatgirl.com
GOOD LUCK!!!

(Stay tuned...I got a sassy new haircut/color that I'm going to show you all later this afternoon/tonight!) One more step to the new Cheryl!

7 lbs in 7 days

Just a quick post.... when I started this blog on 4/1/09 I weighed in at home at 316. On 4/7/09 I was SO pleasantly surprised to see 309!!!

Yep folks, that's SEVEN lbs in SEVEN days!

Yee haw for me!

Dig Deep and Get Over It....

So yesterday I was listening to a Jillian Podcast at work and she had a great quote that at first made me chuckle a bit and then made me think even more.
She said...
"DIG DEEP AND GET OVER IT.... YOU'RE KILLING YOURSELF"
She was actually talking about smoking. But I believe the same can be said for weight loss, or really anything for that matter.
Sometimes we just gotta dig deep. You never know what you're made of until it's tested, and trust me we're made of a lot! I have found over the last year that there have been times where I have fallen, but there are SO many MORE times where I've been able to NOT fall and keep fighting. These are the moments where it's worth it. The hardest fought battles are the one's that bring us the most growth and joy after we make it through and win.

I took Tigo for a walk yesterday and I think I need to wear my new shoes as about 1/4 mile in, my right shin and calf muscle started to THROB....My first thought was... "See, this is why I don't walk. I can't do it. I should just turn around and go back." But I looked at Tigo's sweet little face enjoying every single step and decided to keep going.

My next thought was..."I'm NOT going to die, I'm not even injuring myself. I can do this and I won't let the pain stop me." It's funny how after I made that conscious decision, I really don't remember being in pain. It just went away. Kind like since I fought, it gave up and left.
We went a little over a mile and I pushed myself to go as fast as I could with as few breaks as I could. We made it home with Tigo still having several miles left in him, but that's for today! I'm going to fight that pain again and go faster and farther!

Just one step at a time, one battle at a time, one victory at a time and I'll get there. I'll get to my goal weight. I know that it's going to take time, but time I have! Along with the desire, will, and dream to do something GREAT!!!

Long post but a good place to start...

OK, I'm finally home today and have time to write a bit more thoughtful of a post.

Last night I had a session with my trainer, Tahna, and it did NOT go well. I just felt weak and out of breath and pretty much just plain pathetic! I really don't want to talk so negatively about myself, but man, I'm serious!!! It was BAD! I usually can do the workouts ok, and I take what she gives me knowing that it will make me stronger and in better shape. It's why we hired trainers in the first place. She gives me a great workout and I get to carry the skills that she teaches with me, to pull out and do on my own. Last night was a different story. We basically did a lot of walking squats and lunges...part with a barbell. When I wimped out she switched to dumbells. That was a little easier, but in no means was I anything close to impressive!

I just felt bad...and angry.... I felt bad that I was wasting Tahna's time and angry because I know I should be in a much different place and be able to do SO much more. It was all just ridiculous.

Well, the session ended and I decided I wasn't quite ready to go home. The plan had been ahead of time to walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes after my workout. I wanted to stick to my plan and just needed some time to clear my head a bit. I also knew that if I didn't stick to my plan and run out of there like I wanted, I would have only felt worse.

Getting to my point....While walking, I realized that I am SUCH an externally motivated girl! I so often give others the power to encourage me or destroy me. THAT is ridiculous! This is MY life and I only get one. So when Ali on the biggest loser told the contestant that it was his MOMENT TO CHOOSE.....I grabbed hold of that. I have a moment to, as we all do. I not only have this moment, but I want it. I want it more than anything.

I've been told by so many people that if you want something bad enough you'll make it happen and do the work. I don't yet know if this is true I just know that so far...I haven't gotten what I have wanted so much for so long. I can't imagine that I could want to be thin any more than I already do. I think it's more about the willingness to work through the pain, physical and emotional and get to the other side. So that's what I'm working on getting through the stuff..

This blog is a chance to tell my story so that someone else's journey might be a little easier. If I truly can do what I'm trying to do, then maybe others will believe that they can accomplish their wildest dreams as well.

(Long post I know, but hang in there....)
My story.......
I've been "chubby" since about 3rd grade...maintained that chubbiness and just lived life...I continued to gain weight until about a year ago when a OBGYN Oncologist, yep a CANCER doctor basically told me that I wasn't capable of losing weight (which would reverse my "condition" that was threatening to develop into cancer) and she thought the best thing was for me to have a surgery to remove my uterus. I really really don't like to be told that I can't do something, add in her quick response to remove a body part due to her unbelief that I could lose weight.. and I was so angry!!! This wasn't just a snap decision!!! This was my life and future and Chris' future as well! NO WAY!!! After that, for a couple of months I focused on eating less and moving more. In July of 2008, Chris and I went to the Y and hired personal trainers. That has been the GREATEST thing I have ever done! They keep us on track and pull us back when we get off track.

I started in May at 361 and had reached 307... EXACTLY 55 lbs lost!!! I recently have gained a bit back.. So now.. on April 1, 2009...

MY OFFICIAL WEIGH IN IS 316. (On the home scale in the morning)

I promise to you and to me that I will make that number go down!!!

Here are a few pics of my progress thus far!!!

Can't wait til these are a more distant memory!!!

May 2008-361 lbs


November 2007-not sure, but a good full body shot

I was trying to see how close I could get to the Pelican.

Brave sometimes I AM!

December 2008

Sorry that this pic is so small.. I'll try to fix it. We used this as our Christmas card!

AND it was a full body shot!!! This is seriously the FIRST full body shot pic I have let anyone really see for a LONG long time!

Jan 2009...I was close to my current weight of 316 in this picture.

I don't have any recent pics, but this is pretty accurate as to where

I'm at now.

Thanks for reading this SUPER long post! Pray for me if you can. I know that I can get there, especially with amazing people in my life like YOU!!!

My Moment to Choose...

If you know me at all, you're aware that my very favorite show in the entire world is The Biggest Loser. I watch it religiously and actually even avoid answering my telephone unless it's during a commercial and we're not watching it on Tivo! Chris and I even sent in an audition tape for season 5, but sadly weren't chosen. ;) Anyway... to get to my point...there was a comment on last nights show by Ali, season 6 (I think) winner. She was doing the weigh in for the contestants who had the chance to rejoin the show and one of the contestants was less than thrilled at his weight loss at home. She said to him...

This is YOUR moment, this is your moment to choose.

That comment resonated with me so strongly. This IS my moment. It IS my choice. I can choose to be and get healthy or I can choose to stay in the junk and continue to let myself get thown around by life and the people in it. For me, I'm choosing this moment to reach my goals. I'm choosing THIS moment and every moment after.

I hope you can join me for this journey. I can't wait for the day when I get to post pictures of ME looking great and doing things that I'm not able to do on this day. I am barely able right now to figure out what those things even will be.

But I'll figure it out. I'll dream, and sweat, and work, and take chances. I'm convinced that I have it in me to get there. I have what it takes to beat this. I will be thin someday. It's going to take every day to get there, but I'll get there.