Weight Loss Spreadsheet...

what a nifty little spreadsheet I fell upon yesterday while browsing Billys blog. I have been tracking calories on sparkpeople.com, and its been helping. So I thought Id download this spreadsheet and track on there as well. It will be interesting to see how the graph moves with the 5 day moving average. Im a dork for anything that is tracking and/or organizing so got a little excited when I read spreadsheet. :p

Also yesterday was the first time in who knows how long that I ate 1500 calories. It was awesome seeing the end number of calories I had. I ad to take a double take. I watched my snacking, and knew that I had to limit the servings at dinner. I didnt exercise yesterday...Monday is "rest day" on my trainig schedule due to the heavy walks that are on the weekends now. But today Im back at it. Its a hot one today, so Im sure Ill defintely be getting that sweaty workout I aim for. Its funny I walk and walk and walk, and it never feels like a true workout to me. Mostly I think, psychologically, I feel I need to sweat to have this great workout. But my heartrate is up while walking, and Im burning calories so its a workout. Funny how our brain can mess with us sometimes eh? But back to my rest day...so I decided to watch a movie last night, Black Snake Moan (excellent film by the way), and I wanted to snack half way through, so I had one of those jello sugar free snacks. I could of made that popcorn but I didnt. Baby steps. :)

So is there a way to track peoples blogs...or do you guys just check in on each others blogs daily?

My Story

So I have been known to be quite the yo yo dieter in my years. Ive always been overweight, and a few years back I decided to do something about it. So I joined www.ediets.com, and went full force. In about 6 months I successfully lost 35 pounds. I was in the best shape ever. I was also training for my first Breast Cancer 3 Day walk that year. Well shortly after my walk, I kept eating like I was training but was not exercising at all. Before I knew it, I had gained back all the weight I lost and continued to put more on.

Well last year I topped off my highest weight ever at 175. For a 5'4" woman, I was really putting a risk on my health. At that time I also started to experience thyroid problems, and was diagonised with Graves Disease. While I went through a radioactive iodine treatment, my weight stayed the same.My thyroid was working almost 6 times the normal level so I was to jittery to do anything. Once the radioactive treatment killed off my thyroid, I was than medicated with a thyroid replacement pill. And I had picked up a second job at this time to. Magically the weight started to come off. I really wasnt trying, but the exercise I was getting from the second job was helping. I certaintly wasnt eating very good, and although losing the weight was nice..it wasnt how I intended it to be. So I dropped about 15 pounds. And than it halted. I started to have more thyroid problems, fatigued, weight gain (within a few pounds) and migranes. Ive been at that stage for the last 3 months. While they are still trying to regulate my thyroid, Im trying my hardest to exercise when I can. Being fatigued all the time sure does take its toll on me though.

Im training for my third Breast Cancer 3 Day, so most of my exercise is walking. I dont have a gym membership at the moment due to the training for the 3 day. I never could fit in gym time when I trained previously, so thought Id save some money for now. I did start doing some strength training at home with videos. Which is good for me right now since Im at a very beginner level. Eating healthy has always been a challenge. Ive always been bad at fast food, pop, junk food, and everything in between there! The things I learned my first weight loss time around have seemed to been erased from my brain, so defintely going to need some help in that department. I work a desk job during the day so its helpful in getting my water intake down, and bringing healthy meals and snacks.

So thats my story. And this will be the last time I have a story of how I lost and gained again. This time this weight is coming off for good! Im ready to learn how to live in a new healthy lifestyle :)

So this is it...

my first post :)

I have my own personal blog (wordpress format), but since I was so lucky to find this group through Kristen I thought it might be easier to post on blogger, since most of the members blogs are on here. Ive been reading up on this group for a few weeks now, and have to say they are some of the most motivational blogs Ive read in quite sometime.

So thank you again for the welcome, and I am excited to get to know all of you. Especially excited to learn from all of you, and support all of you when you need it as well.