Back on Track!

I know it's been a pretty long time since I've posted. I spent about an hour and wrote a great post about 3 weeks ago, complete with funny stories, pictures and weight/measurement updates. But by the time I went to post it, something happened and Blogspot lost it all. I was so discouraged, that I just got up from the computer and have not returned until today.

So, the family weight loss challenge is officially over. My mom took home the grand prize mostly thanks to her surgery and lack of appetite and/or approved foods she can eat. I came in with about 2/10's of a percentage behind her in total percentage body weight lost. That's pretty discouraging. But I'm not bitter considering it took her a couple hospital stays to win. I say give it to her with all the love possible.

I was only able to get that close because I had been really sick myself. For about 2 weeks I had what I think may have been tonsillitis or strep throat. I wasn't able to swallow ANYTHING, much less my own saliva. That was pretty frustrating. My throat was so swollen and sore, it hurt to talk. Not that Pasquale was complaining. Or Sophia for that matter. (She could pretend she couldn't hear what I told her to do and run away before I repeated myself.) Yeah, she mastered that pretty quickly.

Towards the end of being sick, I was finally able to eat, but it was very limited to liquids and Jello. I didn't realize how much I really like Jello until that was my lunch and dinner for about 4 days straight. I also added beef broth, hot herbal tea, yogurt and cottage cheese (my favorite) and some frozen Gogurts to my diet. It wasn't very balanced, but it got me through the day and Dominic only had to eat baby cereal once each day- since I wasn't producing enough milk for him anymore. The worse part is I still wasn't able to sleep through the night or even more than a couple hours at a time because Dominic still doesn't.


I thought that by the time I was better, I would have dropped 30 pounds. Sadly, that is not the case. But over the course of the 3 months we allotted for the challenge, I did manage to lose about 26 pounds- which I was very excited about. I really wanted to take that head start and build upon it more and more. However, when solid food crept its way back into my diet, that 26-lb head start quickly whittled away into about a 10-15 pound loss total. That's not bad in itself, but I can do better.
Pasquale signed us back up for Lifetime Fitness. Which as some of you may know is just about the coolest gym ever! There is now one in Summerlin for all you Vegas dwellers. However, I found out there is actually a waiting list to join. (Yeah, it's that cool!) But I was going all throughout being sick. I think the steam room was the only thing that was making me feel better. They infuse the room with eucalyptus extract so it opened up my passages and helped me breath better. I always left there actually being able to talk. Of course, that went away after about 2-3 hours when I got home. I really hate being sick!
So I am approaching this weight loss/healthy lifestyle with new ambition. I have a gym membership that I can go to every single day if I want and bring my children. Sophia begs me to take her to the gym because she has so much fun. I weigh myself each and every morning. I'm going to try to check in each day with my new progress. My posts probably won't be as convoluted and extensive as they have been in the past. I know I can tend to ramble, but I think daily updates will help. I'll also add weekly measurement checks. Weight doesn't always testify health, you know.

I am 10-15 pounds lighter than I started, but you can't really tell yet. However, I am much stronger than I started. I have much more endurance and I don't look at the elliptical machine with malice anymore. I actually look forward to spending my time on it. I just need to download a few audio books to my iPod and we'll be good.
Wish me luck!