I have always liked the saying, "Fake it til you make it." I am working pretty hard to fake it right now. I think  when one is able to truly loose weight and get healthy is when they have a burning desire from the inside out. So I am working on getting the burn back, and until I do I will fake it.

I am also a believer in the power to pretend or envision myself thin and healthy. It's a mind game, if we can convince our mind that this is what we want then the success is bigger and more long lasting. I think this is why I like to post picture of outfits I would like to fit into. I have a hard time picturing myself thin with the frumpy clothes I wear everyday, so I find cute outfits I would like to wear if, "I had the body." here are a few I have found recently.

I love the first outfit, just don't know what I can do to lengthen my legs!!
So here's to faking it and to envisioning fashionable tomorrows!

Alright I am slowly finding my way out of this haze. With school starting and being sick for the last two weeks, I have NOT found the motivation to eat healthy at all!! So because I am scared to step onto the scale this is how I am going to weigh in.....

I have to say I am sad that I didn't stay as committed as I wanted because I was starting to feel so good and I want that feeling back! I am ready to start working for it. I am glad to say that although I haven't been eating great I have continued to exercise. It is such a true fact that you have to be all the way healthy to feel healthy. While exercise it AWESOME! making sure my body gets the kind of food it deserves is essential to feeling great. I found this little saying and it is so fitting to me right now I had to share.

So here's to slowly making my climb back onto the wagon! I guess I may have to go to the doctor to get some help with this sinus situation so I can feel 100% committed!

This is where I say week 5 and post some pictures, but not this week. I have not been feeling well and I hate to say that eating right and exercise have taken a back seat. I was certain that this week would be soooo much better, but I am sad to admit that it hasn't been. I have gotten up and had a good workout, but still am struggling with my eating. I am always amazed at how when you don't feel 100% everything in life just seems so dang hard! I mean seriously how much harder is it to have an apple over a piece of candy?!!

I am slowly climbing back on the wagon tomorrow I am sure I will have both feet firmly planted and ready to go!

So I have been struggling these past few days. I came across this outfit on pinterest and I felt that giddy excited feeling about loosing weight again. By no means is it a glorious outfit, and I don't wear tank tops but there is something about it that made me want to get healthy and be able to wear it on a cozy winter day. Wear this in stead of having to wear sweats because nothing else fits.
I guess whatever inspires a person!! I am going to look at this often to help keep me motivated!

Week 4

WOW! These pictures are just not getting better! I did not do as well as I would have liked on our camping trip. But life goes on and today is a new day. I am one of those people that beats myself up when I give in, and I have found that tearing myself down doesn't work. It doesn't make me want to do better, in fact I think, "Oh I've already done bad, I might as well go ahead and eat that candy bar."

I found this list of fun encouraging saying from Dr. Seuss and I thought it was needed to help pick myself back up and get back on the wagon.

Kind of hard to read but I love it! I might just print it out and put it on my fridge.

Feeling a little bumbed today. I gained a bit, just a tiny but, .4lbs but still it was a gain. At first I was mad and thought, "This is for the birds, I am trying my best and I GAIN!!!" but then I really looked back over my week and thought about what I ate, and I realized that I wasn't as good as I needed to be. I ate over my calories on a few days, and most days ate my exercise calories. Next week will be better. I am going camping so I am going to have to work really hard!

This made me laugh right out loud! So funny, I do exercise and I love to exercise this is not my problem. My problem is I like to eat pizza (cookies, chips, doughnuts) after I exercise! Last night as I was reading my motivating stories I came across one that I really liked. The individual talked about when one has a ton of weight to loose, it can become overwhelming and they give up. She decided to start with one thing at a time. She started eating right and then slowly started adding in exercise. By doing a little bit at a time she was able to focus on one thing, get good at it then move on. I like this, in the past I have felt that it's all or nothing. I am good for a few days and then it is just too much for a busy mom of four to handle and I would throw in the towel. This time feels different, I have already been exercising 5 to 6 days a week and so it was more natural to start eating healthy. Natural, but not easy! I have developed habits, bad habits that are hard to break, and I'm not going to lie I still dream about all that delicious junk food!

This is how I feel right now...

Just kind of a BLAAA day. I struggled with being hungry and wanting all the wrong things to eat (I only gave in once, but still that was empty calories!!) Well tomorrow is a new day and although it may not be any easier I will make it through!

Because I am in need of a little motivation I turned to one of my favorite magazines.

Yep I LOVE Good Housekeeping! This month is perfect because it is full of inspirational stories of people who have lost weight, just what I need right now! Another magazine I love is, Health. It is a good magazine full of tips and inspirational stories.

Week 3

Well, I have to say these are the least attractive of all the pictures I've posted of myself so far. So, they are very much a great motivation for me to keep going!!

Last week was a good week. I had ups and downs but overall I did well, and I can feel the difference. Sunday was mine and Kev's anniversary so we went out to dinner on Saturday night. I did ok I had a dinner that had beef, rice and lots of veggies. So I focused on eating all the veggies first and then the beef with a little taste of rice here and there. It was a great meal and I felt satisfied. I have to admit that we did get a malt afterwards, but we shared it and I made sure that Kev had the majority of it.

Some of my favorite meals that helped me get through the week are:
Lunch: Tuna sandwich (I don't really even like tuna but I crave these sandwich's) to the tuna I add onions, celery, and radishes, and a tiny bit of mayo to hold it all together. I use a really good 12 grain bread, but only one slice and I top my sandwich off with mild pepper rings. SO GOOD!
Dinner: I usually have this salad when the dinner I have prepared for the rest of the family is high in calories, or I just don't have enough calories left. I place a huge amount of spinach on my plate and top it with, toasted almonds, mozz cheese and red onions. I top it with a little bit of raspberry vinaigrette. DELICIOUS!

For this week I am keeping this little thoguht in mind.

So here's to another great week!

It's weigh in day!!!!

I am down 2.1 pounds! That is a total of 4.9 all together!!

I am so excited it feels so good. After I weighed in I told Kev, "It really does work, this eating right and exercising!!" I have tried really heard to stay within my 1200 calories. I have also tried really hard to not use my exercise calories. I can feel a change taking place in my body and it is awesome!

There many different kinds of survivor tools, weapons, what ever you want to call them when one is trying to make a life change and get to a healthy weight. Here is one of my biggest, "Weapons" I use against my sweet tooth.

Yep, gum! Lots of different flavors of gum, makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. Sometimes I find myself chewing so hard that my jaw gets a great workout! I wonder if I should start logging that into my fitness pal under the workouts!!

This made me laugh! Sometimes I find myself thinking that it would just be so much easier to take an appetite suppressant or some other kind of get skinny fast pill. Really think about it one pill and waalaa you're not as hungry, and the weight just falls off. After many hard lesson of you don't get something for nothing  I know that is not the best way to go and so I plug along day by day, eating my celery and exercising.  I have to say, though, it has only been a week and a half and I can feel the difference. I am not bloated and I can feel my body enjoying all this healthy food.

I am one of those people that always does a little better and is a little more motivated when I get a prize at the end of something challenging. So I have been thinking about it, What would be a great prize when I reach my weight loss goal. Here's one of the ideas I have been thinking about....

Aren't they glorious!!! I love, love, love boots!!! These would be a very helpful motivation!!! Better start saving my pennies!!