WooHoo!

I can't believe I'm going to say this. We got weighed this morning and I'm happy to say that we both put on weight!!!!

Now, you may be wondering if I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not. Lee and I have been working hard doing Sweatin' to the Oldies, and we've noticed the muscle we're putting on. We know muscle weighs more than fat, and we know that building muscle will eventually help to burn fat. Therefore, for the first time ever, we are psyched to see that we've put on weight: muscle weight!!

The cool things we've noticed about adding muscle: Lee can now pick things up off the floor and he can do so by squatting, instead of having to bend over and hurt his back! WooHoo!! I was able to help pull Lee off of the couch this morning (it's a low couch and with his height it can be difficult to stand up from it) instead of just being an anchor for him to get up! WooHoo!! Along with that, Lee can get up off the couch on his own now! WooHoo!!

So, for probably one of the few times in our lives, we are excited to tell everyone that we've gained weight . . . muscle weight!!!!

2 things

I don't have a lot to say, but I want to mention two things that are on my mind right now.

First, today I am more proud of Lee than I can ever tell him. I got a text from him this morning with a picture of him showing that he had walked a mile and a half by himself!!! He then did 35 minutes of Sweatin' to the Oldies with me this evening! How awesome is that?!?!!

To think that not even a year ago we started this journey, and he wasn't able to walk more than a block. Now, we're both moving better, have more energy, and feel so much better! It's amazing what can be accomplished with the love and support of everyone who loves us. We are so very grateful to everyone who has been there to cheer us on and offer support. Without all of your help, and the help of Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost, we couldn't have gotten even this far! You are all awesome!

Thanks!

OUCH!

Now that the sun is going down a lot sooner (and the temps will start going down a lot more), Lee and I had to decide how we're going to exercise. I've had a Sweatin' to the Oldies DVD for many years (I know several of the routines by heart, which shows that I've had them for many years) so we decided to start with that this week.

The best way to describe it: OUCH!!! We very quickly found out that walking doesn't really prepare the body for other types of exercise! We managed to do 25 minutes yesterday and today, and last night we both slept poorly due to pain, haha. Today was even harder because our pain hasn't completely eased. Still, it will be more than worth it, right?

Our new routine for now, then, will be Sweatin' on weeknights and walking on Saturday and Sunday. I've started doing some yoga in the mornings, as well. Technically I'm doing it for the stress relief, but it's good exercise, too.

We've been doing well enough lately that Lee lost another 6 lbs since we last weighed in, and I'm at least still fluctuating within the same 10 lbs. I had another thyroid test almost 2 weeks ago, but I can't get in touch with someone who can give me the results. Keeping at it, though.

Lee and I have discussed how much change we've noticed in our eating habits. We definitely can't eat as much as we used to without feeling sick (which Lee found out the hard way on our walk last Friday night), and certain foods don't satisfy as much. The cravings for sweets and junk food are still there, however, but it's sometimes easier to resist . . . although not always, haha.

The biggest problem we have, I think, is getting enough vegetables. Lee and I both have such a hard time with that since neither one of us really like many veggies. In fact, I'm really not fond of fresh veggies in general and can only tolerate them if I force myself. They seem much too bitter to me, & I really don't like bitter foods. It really isn't getting much easier to eat our veggies. We still try, though. We are eating spinach in place of lettuce on our sandwiches, as well as in our smoothies and with our salads. We also try to at least eat some cooked veggies more often.

I guess all we can do is keep plugging along. As I've said before, it definitely isn't easy; I'm really hoping it will be worth it. :-)

Snags, backsliding, and success!

I know it's been quite a while since I wrote. I don't have a good excuse, we fell back into some old ways. I don't think we completely fell off the horse, but we were half-on/half-off.

The biggest setback has been exercise. We have continued to go walking intermittently, but not every day. On our walk tonight we discovered how it has affected us. On the negative side, it was a lot harder going the full mile, we tired and were out of breath more easily, and we really felt the distance we walked. On the positive side, we are still walking twice as fast as we were when we started, we were still able to walk the full mile, and we still didn't need to stop and rest for 2-3 mins after every block.

We stopped eating the healthier foods as much, too. We've kind of gone back and forth between smaller portion sizes and the amounts we used to eat. It's sort of like how we've gone walking occasionally. We catch ourselves eating more again and less healthy food, so we back off. Then we backslide and start eating more snack foods and less healthy foods. Then it starts over again when we notice it and try to correct it.

The unhealthy lifestyle is so much easier. I think it's why so many of us aren't as healthy as we can, or should, be. It is so much easier to just eat whatever we want and avoid exercising. How many of us drive to the store when we really can just walk or ride a bike? Especially if it isn't too very far? How many of us give in to the temptation of that piece of cake, or that chocolate bar, or especially that soda pop?

Lee and I started naming positives as we were walking so that we won't get too depressed. First of all, when we fall back on old habits, we don't let ourselves give up, we DO try to get back on the horse (figuratively speaking). We have still been going walking when we used to give up for months or even years every time we stopped. We have also still been eating less most of the time. Sure, we splurge a few times every week, but we are more conscious of what we're doing and how we're eating. We also haven't gone back to the amount of junk food we used to eat. I think the most important part of all this is that we haven't given up.

We knew going into this that it wasn't going to be easy. We had a lot of success at first, we were bound to hit some snags. The best part of all is that we keep on going and we're doing it together!

So proud of my husband!!

Boy, I have got to work harder at keeping the blog updated, don't I? Ha ha ha.

Last week we went in to get weighed again. I am so proud to announce that Lee has lost another 12 pounds in one month!!!! He has now lost a total of 63 pounds!!!!

We weren't able to keep up with walking every day because of Lee's heel, but we have kept up with his home physical therapy and he seems to be nearly healed. We went to some appointments today and decided that we would get our exercise while we were at it. As I think I've mentioned, we don't own a car so running errands involves a lot of walking when not on the bus. Although we didn't walk a mile and a half straight, we made sure to increase our speed so that we were still getting in a workout while we walked. He didn't have any problems with his heel and we were happy to be out walking together again. We both really enjoy our time walking together.

Lee's a little confused that he has still done so well, even without walking as much. I want to say here what I told him: Since this day last year, Lee's daily exercise and movement has increased more than 3 times from what he used to do. Although we still struggle sometimes with eating really healthy, our eating habits are also much better than they used to be. Last year we were eating probably half of the fruits and vegetables that we eat now, and Lee (and myself a little, too) was snacking a lot more. Our liquid calorie intake has been up and down in the last year, but overall we consume less daily, and our meals are a little smaller, too.

Sadly, again, I haven't lost anything. I look in the mirror and see some changes, but the measurements and scale don't show any indication. I am feeling healthier and I'm trying to focus on that and the fact that I (and others) can see some improvement. I don't know what is happening with my body. I know that as a woman, it is much harder for me to lose weight than it is for guys; and Lee has a great metabolism which makes the comparison harder. However, in the last few years I have only lost about 4 pounds.

Even our doctor is a little confused. One of our appointments was a follow-up for the appetite/metabolism meds he prescribed last month. He was expecting more of a change. He took me off of them since they didn't seem to help, either.

If I can find the willpower to do so, I'm going to step up my diet and exercise to double what Lee is doing. I can't really remember if I've said it before, but the only time I have ever been able to lose any significant weight was when I was severely depressed. I starved myself (literally, I had no appetite due to the depression) and I exercised for several hours every day: about an hour in the morning, an hour at night, and walking all over town instead of taking the bus.

I don't plan on being that unhealthy. We have a great system that uses advice from our doctor, our nutritionist, and many other sources. However, I think I need to just step it up. I just need to find the willpower to cut my food intake in half (perhaps eat 4 - 5 small meals per day instead of 3 medium meals and small snacks), and up my non-walking exercise to twice what I'm doing now. I'll still go walking with Lee, but I need to do more on my own. Lol, with Lee's great metabolism, I'm sure that he'll catch up to me soon enough.

Where did the time go?!

Wow! I shouldn't let so much time pass between posts! It just makes so much more work for me when I have to update.

This past month hasn't been great. There've been ups and downs in terms of both our personal lives and our weight loss goals.

Lee developed Plantar Fasciitis in his heel, and the doctor is sure he has at least one bone spur. Ouch! The 2 really frustrating things about it are that it was most likely a result of the walking (it's supposed to be helping, not hurting), and we haven't been able to go walking for a month! I have also had difficulty with a very old injury and arthritis, possibly aggravated by the walking. Needless to say, it's been frustrating.

Sadly, we also stopped with the other exercises, as well. We tell ourselves that it was in part because of the nearly-100 degree weather at the end of June, but it's really just an excuse. We just got lazy again.

On the plus side, for the most part, we've stuck to our eating habits. We keep fruits and vegetables in the house and limit the snack foods we keep at the house. Of course, we still eat snack foods, but we're still doing so much better than we were even 6 months ago.

At the end of June, we went and got weighed again. The results were fantastic for Lee and not so great for me. Lee has lost his first goal of 50 lbs!!!!!! Actually, according to the doctor, it's 51 pounds! I am so proud of him, I really can't say how proud I am. Now on to the next 50 pounds! If he can do 50 once, he can do it again!

As for me: I still haven't lost anything. In fact, I'm 1/2 a pound more than I was the last time we were weighed. (I know, that 1/2 a pound doesn't really matter in the long run, but it's discouraging anyway.) We talked with the doctor about that and we think that, because my body is used to walking (we don't have a car so I walk and take the bus all over town), the walking isn't really doing much for me. The improved diet should be, but it's not. So, my doctor has put me on a pill that suppresses the appetite and boosts the metabolism. I will go back at the first part of August and see if it has helped.

I also wanted to change up some of my exercising and start swimming. I love swimming. However, due to financial strain we haven't been able to afford it. Instead, I'm riding my stationary bike, but still walking with Lee. Hopefully, it will help.

Speaking of walking with Lee, today we got to go out and walk the mile again!! By following the doctor's instructions and taking some good painkillers, Lee has been able to do more and we decided to try for the mile today! It felt so good to be out again. We're still not pushing it, and it could be awhile before we're up to the mile and a half, but we're back at it. Once again, we fell off the horse, but we're getting back on. I would have to say that that's a win, right?

Small setback

This last week we haven't done so well. I'm not terribly surprised. We've had so much success that we were bound to have a few setbacks. After all, losing weight isn't easy, right?

This is how I'm feeling right now.

In the last week we've been dealing with Lee's new job, my disappointment with not finding a better job (interview after interview with no luck). I think we just slacked off. We've exercised a little, but not to the extent that we have been. We also slacked off on our eating habits. Today's measurements showed the results: I haven't lost anything at all in the last week, but on the bright side, Lee has still lost a little in a few areas.

This is why they say that losing weight is a hard road. There are so many ups and downs, so many barriers to overcome. Breaking a lifetime of habits isn't going to come easily. I went shopping the last two days, however, and I didn't pick up any snack foods. We will allow ourselves to have a snack if needed, but only purchase it when needed. It really is true that if you have it in the house, you eat it.

I also think that we're falling back onto old excuses in terms of exercising: namely that we are exhausted or don't have the time. We started this journey saying that we are going to do something every day. If we don't have time to go for the mile, we can at least go around the block. I think we forgot that. We determined together this morning to get back to that idea. We don't always have to keep making improvements with our exercising, we just need to keep going.

Ups and downs

I was going to post more this last week, especially when we were able to increase our walk (once or twice) to a mile and a half. We've had some personal issues to deal with that didn't have to do with losing weight and I totally forgot. Sorry about that.

We did our measurements again this weekend. Lee has lost 1/2 an inch to an inch in some areas but gained a little in others. I've actually gained about a 1-inch average. It's a little disappointing, as you can imagine.

We did such a great job of walking for 3 1/2 straight weeks, every day. Then with those aforementioned personal issues, we missed a little. We tried to at least do our upper-body exercises, but missed both yesterday. I am proud to say, though, that we went out again today. Here are our 2-month photos:

Right: March 31; Left: June 1

Right: April 1; Left: June 1

I don't know what the difference is, but for some reason, this time when we miss a day or two, we get right back on track. In the past if we missed a day, we would get discouraged and give up for a few months. We have done so much better in the last 2 months. Maybe we really are more motivated, or maybe it's just time to make some changes. They say that when we are truly ready to do something that has been tried before, it will be easier to stay on track. Whatever the reason, it does feel good to know that we are able to keep going.

We were told by our nutritionist that as we add the good foods into our diet, we will start to crave them more, and the junk food won't taste as good. We're starting to see a little of that. We are craving fruits and vegetables more, and when we treated ourselves to a little fast food this weekend, it wasn't as satisfying as it used to be. However, most junk food is still hard to give up. . . . That's okay. We're not trying to give anything up, right? We're just going to keep focusing on adding the healthy foods and limiting our intake of junk food. As Lee likes to say, "Team Earl!"

Making Changes

We seem to be making changes a lot lately. My theory is that we are now feeling the positive effects from our efforts, so we want to see what more we can do to continue to make things better.

Two days ago we didn't feel like walking for a mile and quarter, but thought that we should still get out and walk. We decided to try walking faster and walk a half mile at the faster pace. It was sort of like an experiment. If we found out that we weren't ready to walk at a faster speed, we would start going back to the mile and a quarter. Happily, we discovered that we can do a half mile at almost double our original speed, as long as we stop at each corner to take a breath and drink some water!

We have also noticed a lot more change in our lower body, with little in our upper body. We felt like we were ready to start making changes there, too. As such, our new exercise routine is now the mile and a quarter every other day with the fast 1/2 mile in between. In addition, every night before going to bed we are doing upper body and arm exercises. We go to bed at night sore and tired, but in a strangely good way.

Today we took our measurements again. In one week, I have lost an average of an inch, and Lee has lost an average of 2!!!!!

Here are our pictures from last week's walk:

May 22, 2015

We owe everything to the Lord

Today we had a very spiritual experience on our walk. It was such a beautiful thing that we want to share with everyone our testimony, and how the Lord, Jesus Christ, helped us get to where we are right now.

Lee and I are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons. I was raised in the Church, and like so many others, had to develop my testimony of the different aspects of our faith. I admit that, although I always believed in the Church, I struggled with some of my belief. Most of it was directed inward. I didn't believe that I was worthy of all of the Lord's blessings. I believed that I wasn't being blessed because I wasn't good enough. I also have a practical mind, and when it came to some of the practices, like paying tithing, I couldn't see how paying 1/10 of my earnings would be a good thing if that meant paying $20 that I could use to pay a bill or buy food.

Lee didn't grow up in the Church. He was baptized as a child, and his family did attend church occasionally (more when he got older), but it wasn't as big a part of his life. When we met, he was still starting to learn more and develop a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. However, with his past and problems with mental and emotional struggles, accepting everything about the Gospel has been a struggle for him.

We would like to pause for a moment and thank my parents for their help in our Spiritual development. We had to live with them for a number of years near the beginning of our marriage because of financial difficulties. Although it still took a few years after moving back out on our own, their guidance and example started us, & Lee especially, on the path to Spiritual Enlightenment.

A few years ago, Lee had a very significant moment with our Bishop. I won't go into the details, but it started us reading the scriptures and praying together. From there, with help from the Bishop and the wonderful members of our Ward, we started to gain stronger testimonies and started to return to Activity in the Church. We are proud to say that we are now going to church regularly, we pay a full tithe, we read scriptures and pray daily, and are getting very close to being worthy to return to the Temple!

What does this have to do with today? Well, although we've noticed and acknowledged His help in everything we are doing, today we truly felt like the Lord was walking beside us, encouraging us, supporting us, and leading us forward. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we wouldn't be where we are today without His help. Without His help, we wouldn't have gained the confidence, the strength, or even the ability to be here, getting healthy mentally, physically, and spiritually.

We testify to all who read this that Heavenly Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are there for us all if we are willing to turn to them in good times and bad. These three men work together to help us if we just remember to ask. Lee and I have started to use the mantra "Team Earl!" On that team are the two of us, the people supporting us, and Our Father, Brother Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. We are all a team and we can do this because of the team!

We say these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


Now, I have one more thing to say about our walk today. We added some new exercises to our walking routine today. At the end of every block, we are now resting temporarily, doing some knee lifts and standing crunches, and moving on to do another block! We got home today feeling the pain of the extra exercises, but the euphoria of being able to do more!

Great news today!

Before I get to the news, I want to bring you up to date on how all of this started.

We have been trying to lose weight for a few years, but we weren't always dedicated enough. Over the years, we've learned a lot about losing weight. We've learned that Lee has a great metabolism that just needs a kickstart and he can lose weight quickly; we also learned that I don't.

In the past, the only time that I've actually lost any significant weight has been when I practically starved myself, did hard exercising for over 30 minutes in the morning, over 30 minutes before bed, and walked 5 - 10 miles a day because I didn't have a car, and it was often faster than taking the bus. I was severely depressed at the time, as well, so I was using it all to forget and/or get a rush of endorphins to make me feel better. Obviously, it didn't work. Don't get me wrong, I lost weight, but I was also really unhealthy, and didn't know how to keep it off once I stopped feeling so depressed.

Lee has had his own struggles with mental health issues that have made it hard for him to be dedicated enough to continue losing weight whenever he started. He's a little more private than I am, though, so I won't go into as much detail.

Our second week walking

Over the years of trying to lose weight, we've had a great personal trainer, seen a nutritionist, and worked with both our doctor and physical therapist. It has all led to where we are today, it just took a little time for us to truly be ready.

Lee has gotten to the point where he has had to pursue Disability because he physically hasn't been able to keep a job. It has been such a stressful and depressing time. I would advise not trying to pursue Disability unless it is absolutely necessary. It is not for the feint of heart. They really dig into your past and present, and it is not easy to get a positive result.

Although the process has been very trying for us and our marriage, one of the best results was that it helped us realize that we are finally ready to commit to losing weight. We took all of the advice, all of the knowledge, and all of the training we've had over the years and built our own Lifestyle Change Plan.

One of the best lessons we learned about nutrition is that diets don't work. In fact, our nutritionist even told us that until we have changed the way we eat, we shouldn't even count our calories. According to her, until you can learn to eat right, counting calories ends up with people binging and starving themselves. If you aren't in the habit of healthy eating in the first place, and you start restricting yourself to so many calories a day, most people meet that requirement by lunch, then starve for the rest of the day. That makes it harder to avoid binging, and it also makes people feel worse, not better.

We missed a week of pictures, but this is week 4 of walking.

Following her advice, we haven't taken any item out of our diet, either. Instead, we've started adding more healthy foods (especially fruits and vegetables), and limiting our intake. We started out by simply putting a spoonful or two less on our plates, and when we were full we stop eating, even if the plate still has food on it. If we still wanted to eat a donut or a candy bar,  etc., we let ourselves. Denying foods and quitting cold turkey is another way to end up binging. However, we started limiting how much junk food we eat, as well (that includes soda or other sugary drinks). Instead of having junk food every day, we cut back to every other day; and if we felt we needed it on a bad day but it wasn't the scheduled day, we let ourselves have it. Then we got right back on the horse, so to speak.

We've spent a lot of time trying to start a walking routine. We both like walking, especially together. It's time together without daily distractions, and we support and encourage each other. A year ago, Lee couldn't walk even a block from the house without endangering his health. Over the year, although not daily, we've started walking more and more. About 8 weeks ago, we realized that we could now walk a mile! It was still difficult to walk that far every day, but we determined to start trying. Nearly 7 weeks ago, we decided to start tracking our walks and sharing with our friends and family on Facebook as a way to prove to ourselves that we could do it, and get support from those we know and love. It's been amazing to see how much support we really do have. We want to let everyone know how much it has meant to us, and how much it has helped. 

This was last week. Over the first 5 weeks, we had a lot of good days and a lot of discouraging days. We also had a lot of days we didn't make it out walking at all, and days we didn't follow our eating plan. But I am proud to say that we always started back up again.

Now for the news I promised in the title. Two days ago we completed an entire week of walking every day! Yesterday we started walking 1.25 miles (and survived, ha ha)! Today we went to get weighed and Lee has lost another 4 pounds in a month, and I've lost 3! That is now a total of 47 combined pounds lost in the last 6 months, and most of it was Lee! I think that the above photo fits the news well, don't you?

This is us on the first 2 days of starting our mile walks, Mar 31 and Apr 1, 2015. Together we weighed approximately 870 pounds. We didn't actually weigh ourselves, too ashamed of how much we might weigh. However, from previous weigh-ins, we're pretty sure that number is somewhat accurate, give or take 10 - 15 lbs. Our goal was to go walking at least a mile, or do other exercise, every day. We were also adding more fruits and veggies and starting to cut back on our intake.

Over the next few days, I will fill in our history and what we are doing to improve our lives and health, along with the pictures that have been taken since we started. Our purpose in doing this is to show how difficult and rewarding it will be, and hopefully encourage others to start making their lives healthier, as well.