It's ironic... don't ya think?

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Growing up we never had name brand clothes unless we found them at a garage sale, which, since I was overweight even in high school that rarely happened.  Before my senior year of high school we were in Oshkosh at the outlet mall and I bought my first pair of name brand jeans.  A pair of Levi's that I'd use in my senior pictures.  I thought that these pants made me cool (wrong) and I loved wearing them and was sad when I couldn't fit into them any longer.  However, I never had the heart to get rid of them because I always thought that one day I'd fit into them again.  A few months ago I pulled them out to try them on and while I could get them on I couldn't button them or zip them so I put them back in the closet and I forgot about them.  Until last night.

I have no idea why I got it into my brain that I should try them on last night especially since I gained so much weight on vacation but I did and I couldn't go to sleep without trying them on.  I pulled them out of the closet and this time they went on with ease and I was able to button and zip them.  Awesome, until I looked in the mirror and realized that the thighs were too big.  I think Jen would be proud of me to know that this is an accomplishment (realizing that the pants don't need to be of the MC Hammer variety) but I was mad that I missed the opportunity to wear these pants again.  Especially considering I went out and bought a new pair of jeans to take on the trip!  Bollocks!

So, when I went to my meeting today I told this story and one of my meeting mates said to me "you can't be mad about not fitting in them, can you?" and I was a little taken back by the question.  It wasn't really the question but the fact that I actually didn't know how to answer it.  I mean, I know that I am not mad that I've lost the weight!  This might take some more thinking...

In the meantime, in case you missed my new pumpkin recipe you should check it out.  It is super yummy and only 3PP per huge serving!!  Even Dan likes it (and he generally hates sweets!)

While you're checking things out don't forget that you can still donate to my fundraising campaign.  I have already raised some money but need to raise even more.  The donations are tax deductible because the money is going to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) which is an "A" rated charity.  Please take a minute to donate and feel free to share the link/information with others!  http://www.active.com/donate/illinoisLV12/LV_JMcElro

GUEST BLOG: From Abby - She's Back At Square 0

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Hi Everyone!

Even though I'm gone I didn't want to leave you guys hanging... so I'd like to introduce you to one of my Twitter friends, Abby.  She's very inspiring to me and I think this post will show you why.

Hello all,

I'm Abby from BackAtSquareZero. A while ago I decided to change my life and get in shape. I went from barely being able to run to the mailbox to training for my second marathon. People ask me what in the world would make me crazy enough top want to run 26.2 miles, or how my training is going, but the question I get asked the most is - "How do you stay motivated?"
Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect (unless you ask my Oma) so I struggle with days I just don't want to work out. Either I am too busy, too tired, having too much fun doing something else, or just don't want to leave the couch. These are the things I have found that help me out the most when I am having one of those days:

Motivation Tips:

1. Schedule it in - Whether you use an iPhone, Blackberry, tablet, or old fashioned pen and paper be sure to write in your workout just as you do every other task or meeting. It is just as important and you should make sure you treat it as such. Schedule in runs/walks or find classes at a local gym or fitness center that you have to go to at specific times.

2. Find a friend - Recruit one of your own or join a local running, walking, biking group. Exercising is more pleasant if you have someone to commiserate with. Plus when you schedule workout dates you are less likely to skip out (because then you're the jerk that cancelled).

3. Register for an event - Having a set goal means you have something to train or work towards. I always try to have something on my calendar to look forward to. On days I don't feel like running I remind myself of my next race and how I need, and want, to be prepared for it. (I'm currently participating in the Runner's World Summer Run Streak and it gets me out the door ever day.)

4. Be accountable - Track everything you do. I keep a blank monthly calendar on my desk and use it to record my daily workouts. Just be glancing at it I can see the days I missed a workout (marked with a big X). I hate having to cross out the days and love getting to write in big workout numbers. Some days when I am not very motivated I'll record my workout before I leave. Then I feel like I have to stick to it because I don't want to cross it out and change it to something less. I also use MyFitnessPal because I love seeing how many calories my workouts burn. That really motivates me.

5. Give yourself rewards - I don't do anything big or do it very regularly (teacher's salary), but I do allow myself rewards after I meet a fitness, training, or weight loss goal. At first all my rewards were food - Whoops! Then I realized that was not helping me on my quest to get healthy and fit so now my rewards are fitness based. For example: I promise myself that if I ran all 38 days of the Runner's World summer run streak I could buy myself a new Lululemon running tank top. As hot as it is running in my old t-shirts right now (over 90 today) thinking about that tank really keeps me going. (This is the one I have my eyes on. Cute right?)

6. Reflect - Think of how far you have come and be proud of yourself. I keep a before and after picture of myself near my workout stuff where only I can see it. When I feel like I don't want to work out I pull it out and think about how much I have accomplished and how I don't want to go back to my old life style. Don't have an after picture yet? When I first started I kept a picture I hated of myself next to my run shoes, it reminded me of why I wanted to run.

…and my biggest tip….

7. Get out the door! - Once you make it out and go a few steps chances are you'll want to go a few, or a lot, more. To do this I put my run clothes on the minute I get home even if I can't run for a bit. If I still lack motivation I'll hop on iTunes and download a new song, pop it on my iPod, & press play. Usually this new music makes me want to get going and I head out the door. Plus by the time the song is over I'm already into it and continue. I'll spend $1.29 a few times a month in order to get my workout in.

I'd love to hear it - What do you do to stay motivated? Any special tricks?

Any work out, running, or motivation questions?

Please comment and let me know

Want to keep the conversation going?
Feel free to talk to me any time. I love to chat about healthy living and working out.

Abby

You can find me at the following places:

www.backatsquarezero.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/BackAtSquare0

www.pinterest.com/ BackAtSquare0

Twitter & Instagram @ BackAtSquare0

Sister + Text = Fun Times

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Today I got a text from my sister (Hi Brenda!) asking me if I had plans on May 19?  Hmmm... No?  What's up?  She told me they were looking for a 4th person to join their team in The Color Run in Racine.  Wha??? Is this the race where you get some sort of funky colors sprayed at you while you run a 5K?  Oh, yes it is.  I thought for a minute (about the time it took me to get Dan on the phone to confirm we didn't have plans that weekend) and then said YES!  The only rules to the race are that the runner must wear a plain white t-shirt and to have fun.  That's my kind of race!!

Now... to think of a name for our team.  Do you guys have suggestions?

On another note... While at my meeting today a new(er) member asked about my weight loss.  I shared that I've lost 172.6 pounds and she asked if I had a before picture.  I didn't have a *real* before picture but I had one from about a year ago when Diane made goal.  In the picture (which isn't electronic or I'd share it with you) that I showed her I was wearing a long sleeve red t-shirt and she looked from me (when I was wearing a long sleeved purple t-shirt) and she exclaimed, "Oh my god you went from a red apple to purple asparagus!"  Having never been compared to a fruit or vegetable before I busted out laughing.  I don't really have anything else to say about that but I thought it was hilarious (and really something I would say) so I wanted to share it with you.

Also, some folks from the meeting asked for my blog address so I hope they found it.  Hi Peoples!!  Post a comment below to say hello.  Go, now.  :)

Goals and Pants... (Clever title, eh?)

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About a month or so ago I had to go into the office on a Tuesday for a lunch meeting but I left early to make it back for my meeting.  Please pause and read my original post about spring races (if you haven't already) cause otherwise some of the rest of this post won't make as much sense.  Go on, we'll wait.

The photo I texted people

Ok... for those who are caught up ... on Monday I received a meeting invite that requires me to go to the office on Wednesday so I made a quick dash to some stores to find a new pair of pants to wear.  After hitting a few stores I stopped at Old Navy on my way home.  I grabbed a pair of pants and tried them on and thought that they were a little bit big.  So I went back to the shelf and grabbed another pair and tried them on.  They were a little snug (though the last pair I bought stretched a little and I could feel that these would too) so I wasn't sure.  Having no other choice I took a photo of myself (right) and sent it out to Jen, Mom and Brenda.  Jen replied that they were good, Brenda replied and said 'Perfect', Mom replied and said "well the next size up is going to be too big". Aside from this being a 'yes or no' question rather than short answer I didn't know what to do so I did what any logical person would do - I bought the pants in 2 sizes and brought the smaller size to my meeting today to get approval from my Tuesday regulars about whether they were too small.  All the ladies agreed they looked good.  Even Tim, the one guy who comes to the meeting (and hardly shares anything), said I looked good.  Awesome!!!

This is a big deal people because these pants are TWELVE number sizes smaller than the pants I was wearing when I joined Weight Watchers.

In yet other news... I was named included in the Real Life Biggest Loser stories at FUdiet.com this week.

And finally ... Are you getting out and enjoying this beautiful summer-like weather we've been having?

Spring races are a comin'

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Oh my gosh you guys... I just registered for my first 5K for 2012!!!  I'll be heading up to Oshkosh for the Oshkosh Half Marathon and 5K in April.  I still have to register for the Egg Shell Shuffle which comes before the Oshkosh Half/5K but I wanted to register for this one before the registration fee increased.  I mean I want to do a lot of races this year so I'll save money wherever I can.  Plus, I figured I'd give you guys a few days to decide that you're gonna come and pace me for the race.  Right?  Go on, you can go register for the race too.  I'll wait right here.

In other news... today I had to go to the office for a lunch with my co-workers.  Since I haven't been anywhere that I couldn't wear yoga pants, jeans or pajama pants I didn't have anything to wear.  I made a trip to Old Navy on Saturday and was delighted to buy pants off the shelf from a "regular" store.  I tried them on and they fit and I proudly bought them, some pajama pants (cause really can you ever have enough?), and two T-shirts.  Seriously I was kind of giddy about buying clothes apparently.  Really after 20+ years of buying clothes online both because I don't like shopping and two because it's hard to find clothes that I like/fit when you are an overweight person so it was kind of refreshing to be in an actual store.

Fast forward to after work today when I went to my WW meeting and I told people about my shopping experience and I stood up and did a little twirl.  At which point Melany asked if I'd just bought the pants?  Uh, yes on Saturday.  To which she replied, Jen those are too big.  You should have gone one size smaller.  Clearly I have no idea how to shop for myself when I'm not trying to just buy the biggest size available.  Oops!  Oh well, it's a lesson learned, right?

In one more bit of news, I gained a little this week.  Whether that was due to my new pants/belt combination or the fact that I logged 16 miles so far this month (4 miles per day for 4 days is not too shabby) I'm not tremendously worried.  A little disappointed but last week was a big loss so we're just gonna ride this out and see what next week brings.

Have you ever lost weight and not known how to buy clothes that fit?  How do you know?  I don't want to buy something and wear it thinking it looks good only to have someone tell me that it looks painted on.  Did you take someone with you to tell you when something was too big/small or am I just an idiot?

It's experiment time again!

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Remember a couple of months ago when I shared my story of four pairs of pants?  Well, apparently it's time for me to do that again.  I have accumulated a number of pairs of pants over the years and as I've gained and lost weight I've donated a few pairs when they no longer fit.  However I retained a stack of pants that I assumed, incorrectly of course, were of smaller sizes that I hoped to one day fit in.

No such luck.

All of the pants are slightly to way too big, though I did find one pair that is the exact same size that I was wearing when I started on this life altering journey.  I'm going to keep them so that at the very least I can, when I get to my goal and in the privacy of my own bathroom, have one of those "look how much weight I've lost when I drop these pants" type scenes.  So stay tuned for more updates on that.  :)

On another note... There is a lady at my weigh-in who started around the same time I did.  She hit her goal today of 100 pounds!!  I'm almost certain she doesn't read my blog but I'm still incredibly proud of her for that.  She is someone I really look up to for support during meetings.  As you may or may not know I am going to be starting a new job on Monday and the hours will not afford me the opportunity to go to my regular Tuesday meeting so I'm going to miss those ladies.  While I may not be able to attend my regular meetings I'm going to try to go to meetings but for certain I'll still go weigh-in and of course, I'll still be providing my own brand of humor right here for your enjoyment.

A (New) coat ... and a funny story

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I write this blog post because I think that you laugh at my funny little stories as much as I do.  So, first let me say that I was feeling a little inspired today.  I was feeling good, even though weigh-in wasn't great yesterday.  So, when I got out of the shower this morning and looked in the mirror I laughed at myself.  See, about 6 years ago I had an appendectomy because my appendix had ruptured and I had an open appendectomy which resulted in a scar that was about 9 inches long.  I remember this because my sister-in-law had c-section around the same time and we were comparing scars.  But I digress...  Today I noticed that my scar had moved, it appeared that it is now closer to my belly button.  I mean, I knew I was losing weight but the fact that my scar would move was never a thought that would have crossed my mind.  At this point, I literally laughed out loud.  So did my friend Sheri and my mom when I told them.

A little while later I was putting something in the coat closet downstairs where I've had a coat hanging, literally, since we moved here nearly 4 years ago.  The problem is, I haven't worn the coat in probably 5-7 years but I loved it.  It's this really pretty red with black *fur* cuffs and hood.  I think I only wore it for one season and I paid a lot of money for it when I wasn't making a lot of money which is why I kept it. 

Today I decided I wanted to put it on.  And it fit.  My day got better that at point!

Well I haven't grown

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I've tried, hopefully I've been sucessful, to find some common thread or comical story to share with you about what I've learned or how my week went and today is no exception.  Two I actually have two stories to share with you.  It should also be noted that if you don't know my  husband he's kind of got that sense of humor that is pretty dead pan.  If you don't believe me I'll post the video from our wedding when the best man did an impression of him that, to this day, cracks me up every single time.  So... at least you've been warned!

 

For those who know me outside of work or school know that my daily wardrobe consists of t-shirts and either sporty pants/capris/shorts depending on the season. When I say sporty pants you know what I'm talking about they are like yoga pants but since I've never really done yoga it seems inappropriate to call them that. Now that I think about it given the purpose of this blog it seems slightly inappropriate to call the sporty pants too. Anyway...

 

At the scrapbook retreat a couple of weekends ago Sheri looked at me and said 'your pants are too big'.  I kind of knew this before she said it because the moment she said that I was currently pulling them up because they were falling down!!  Anyway, the fact that she said this was totally fine because I told her early on that she would have tell me when clothes didn't fit right because I'm a fashion catastrophe and my husband... well... he's no better.  She agreed, as true friends should, though she may have agreed a little too quickly. 

So, I ordered some new ones in varying sizes, same as I did for my jeans.

 

I put on the largest of the sporty pants I bought and showed my husband who promptly said 'those are too long'.  Which, duh, I was well aware of having stepped on the bottoms twice already. 

 

The following day, because I do not enjoy trying on clothes, I put on another pair, this time one size smaller than the day before. I was ecstatic! I said to Dan, look I've got little-er pants on to which he again promptly replied, 'those are too long'.

 

I looked at him and said, 'duh, I'm in a weight loss program not a height gain program.  I haven't gotten taller since yesterday!'

 

Anyway, I love the fact that I'm ordering smaller clothes and can fit into them.  I'm even going to send back the pants that were the bigger size.  Oh yeah, I really just said that!  Which totally gives Sheri permission to ask make fun of me until I do.

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The second thing is that I hit a milestone last night at the weigh-in. 

46 pounds

Yes, I totally get that it's funny I made the font on that BIGGER when I'm trying to make myself SMALLER!  Anyway, this is an excerpt from the meeting last night during the celebrations.

 

Leader:  And we're celebrating with Jen because she lost 46 pounds
Sheri bursts out laughing
Leader:  Why is that funny?
Sheri:  It just seems odd to celebrate 46 and not 45
Leader:  I just want to give full credit for the 46 pounds
Sheri:  Well were there ounces there because she'll want to celebrate the ounces too
Jen:  Yeah, I will
Leader:  (Laughing) No, it was 46 pounds even.

 

I thought the whole interaction was pretty funny.

 

Enjoy your week folks.

Clothes....

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I like to shop online because I do not like crowds, I get a little panicky if there are too many people around.  I also don't like pushy sales people.  This makes shopping online for many things, especially clothes, very convenient.  I am, however, not so good about returning things that I do not like or that don't fit properly.  I've been getting better about this but traditionally, I'm not so good at it.

This is where my great fortune happens to come into play this week.  About two years ago (I think, maybe it was last year, I don't know for sure) I bought a Chicago Bears sweatshirt.  It is really nice, looks like it's been worn for years but it didn't quite fit.  I said to myself, I'm not going to send this back because someday I'll be able to fit into it and it'll look great.  Apparently, that day is today.

Today, my bestie Sheri and I are going to stamp camp and I was looking for a sweatshirt to wear in case it was cold where we are going.  I thought to myself, just try on that sweatshirt and see, who knows?  Well.... it fit.  How awesome is that?  I also pulled out the third pair of jeans in my 'I'm going to order 4 pairs of jeans all in different sizes' to see if I was close to fitting into the next smallest size.  Apparently, I'm on a roll because those fit too.  The work towards weight loss is really paying off!!!

Though I suppose this also means that I only have one more pair of pants to fit into so I'd better start looking around for new pants again.  :)

Two bad things and a good thing

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A few weeks ago my bestie Sheri told me that my pants were noticeably too big.  Like really big.  So, I went out and ordered four new pairs of jeans in different sizes.   I did this both as a reward for losing 20 pounds and a goal to keep going.  That and I had a coupon for 40% off!  I opened the biggest (which was still smaller than any of the pants that I currently have) pair and wore them a few times.... including on Oktoberfest, then I threw them in the laundry pile.

I had lunch plans with my friend Judy today.  I was so excited because I haven't seen her in awhile.  So, I took a bunch of laundry downstairs including the aforementioned pair of jeans.  When it was time to go I went to the dryer and pulled out a pair of jeans and then realized I knew what the 'thunk-thunk' was while the dryer was running.

I'd left my pedometer on my pants.

CRAP.

But I had to get going so I took the pedometer off the pants and felt in the pockets to make sure they were dry.  Then I looked at the pants and found a hole on the back thigh.  Seriously?  I'd only worn these pants a few times, literally.

DOUBLE CRAP.

What made this even worse was that I was afraid I didn't have any other pants that fit.  I went upstairs and found the next biggest pair of pants I had.  The same style jeans but one size smaller.  I pulled them out thinking that these probably wouldn't fit but I had to at least try.  So, you can imagine my absolute shock when I put them on and was able to zip and button them.  I had to go look in the mirror and make sure I hadn't split the pants or something, but nope, they fit.  They were maybe even a little bit too big. 

HOLY WOW!

This was one of those things that was a major victory to me.
So I ask you - what do you do to celebrate these kinds of victories?

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go try on my other smaller pants and see what happens!