We went to a family reunion up in the Smokies today and it was gorgeous autumn weather. We had a great time with the Reagan clan for lunch and also with both of my sisters' families as we took a hayride around Cades Cove later in the afternoon. My food choices were a little off today due to potluck and then a late supper tonight, but I stayed within the high WW points range. I didn't overeat at lunch and that was a great victory because there was a lot of good home cooking there! I didn't get any cardio in today, but I plan on that being a priority tomorrow!

Today was a lovely fall day, one of those perfect blue sky, cooler temp days we have in the autumn in East TN. We spent the day planning our remodeling project and going to the home show. What does that have to do with my extreme makeover? I walked for hours!! Even though it wasn't exactly a cardio workout, it was still burning calories. Great food choice day also. I really enjoy this getting in shape thing!

Great WW points day. Great weights workout. Great cardio workout. I'm really tired and going to bed now!

Still doing well! For some reason, I was hungrier today and I ate a bit more, but I was well within the points allowance for me. And I got my cardio walk in. I have a workout early tomorrow because my day will be so full. I continue to do things daily that will get me closer to my goal on this "journey." That's the mindset that I have to keep or I will get REALLY discouraged with the long road ahead for me.

I really felt bad with a migraine today, but I still got my walking done because I was determined! Tomorrow is supposed to be my weigh-in day and I was sooooooo looking forward to see how the scales had moved because of all my work this week. BUT I just got an email that my leader won't be there tomorrow because she had to go out of town. Since I go to a meeting away from the WW center, I have to wait until next week now!!! OK, I have to remember that the scale is just a tool and I'm having a great deal of success every day now. Perspective is an interesting thing. We were watching the Biggest Loser Show last night and most of the participants were losing 2, 3, and 5 pounds and they were so disappointed with that. At WW, we would be thrilled with that kind of loss! Then again, we don't work out for 8 hours a day like they do either. They are in sort of a concentration camp at the moment and they're looking for some big weight loss numbers. Although I DO NOT want to do that kind of thing, I can appreciate the people who do. I was thinking about it today: I really like what I'm doing and the freedom that I have to still be with my family and friends. I like the food choices I'm making and the activity level I'm at even though things will be tough sometimes. Enough of this rambling...........except for a headache, I had another good day!

Many of my friends have told me that they check daily to see how I'm doing. Didn't want to disappoint anybody so I'll get this blog in while it's still Tuesday. I'm still doing well, feeling great, not sore. Tomorrow is another work out day for me. Thanks to everybody I've heard from who are so supportive! The encouragement really does mean so much, especially during the times when I start to doubt that I can do this for the long term.

It sounds boring, but I had another great day! My food choices were good and I met with my trainer for my second real workout (strength training) this morning and it felt great. I wonder if I will get sore like last week because for this workout, Kim pushed me a little more and I had more to do than last week. I have so far to go and sometimes, that's REALLY discouraging! I can't think about that---I just have to stay the course and continue with the program. Eventually, I'll get there. Maybe years from now, but I'll get there............

Another good day today!! I'm trying to get into a pattern of a new lifestyle here and each day adds to that achievement. That's really important right now as I build good habits, but I have to remember that eating extra points or not getting exercise does not make for a "bad" day. I'm in this for the long haul and I plan to have lots of good days in this journey, but I know there will be days when I don't do well with both the exercise and the eating. Don't get me wrong! I've done well these last few days, but I'm trying to approach this weight loss attempt differently than before so that I get long term success this time. I plan to forgive myself and get back up and move on if I stumble, (when I stumble). My new thought process has to be that more "good" days than "bad" days for the longterm equals success. For right now, these last few days are great beginning days!!

I've made it through another day staying within my WW points range and doing my exercise. I'm also drinking more water. I went to the store today and it was actually fun to read labels and plan healthy meals and look at all the stuff that's available now. I really look forward to weighing in on Thursday morning to see what the scales say about my progress, but even if they don't budge, I have made some good choices and I believe I'm headed in the right direction.

Today was a beautiful fall day and I had lots of energy! I was able to stay within my points allowance for the WW plan and journaled all the food I ate. My trainer called early this morning and said she was sick with a sinus infection and couldn't come in the the Y workout center today. Since she wanted to work along with me on the strength training the first few times so that I don't hurt myself, I wasn't able to do that today (we rescheduled for Monday), BUT I did get in my cardio workout. It was a great day all the way around and I felt good about making progress toward my goal!!

Today was my official Weight Watchers start day! I have been a member for a while (several times!), but after missing several weeks, I needed to start over. I have joined with a group of really nice ladies (and a couple of guys) that meet early on Thursday mornings at my church. Our leader is really energetic and encouraging. After careful research on what would work for me and on advice from my doctor friend Janet Purkey, I decided to join again with WW because it is a healthy program and lifestyle change, not a fad diet that you can't continue after the weight is lost. The way it works is that all food is given a "point" value based on calories, fiber, and fat content. It's very easy to count these points and stay within the points amount set for me. No food is off limits which is great because I can still have dessert and more importantly, chocolate! The program advocates fruits, vegetables, whole grains, "good" fats, lean protein, etc. It is a plan that I believe I can follow for the rest of my life. My family can benefit with this way of eating also. Sometimes it can take just the right combination to work for a person and I pray that the food plan I am using and the exercise that I am doing will work together to make this project a success.

A funny thing happened to me last night. As bedtime drew near, I started to feel kinda weird, sort of like I was getting the flu. I felt achy all over and got under the electric blanket on high. David laughed at me and said, "You don't have the flu. You worked out today, remember?" That was it! I was starting to feel sore from all the exercise yesterday. It was a funny moment because the exercise had not occurred to me as the reason for my weird aches. I feel fine today, a little sore in spots, but not terrible and I don't hurt ALL over. But I sure can tell that I had some activity yesterday! Today I plan to do at least 10 minutes of cardio and my other goal is to drink 4 cups of water. That's a good goal for me because I usually don't drink much water. I will increase that amount as time goes on. I read that water is supposed to be good for losing weight and washing toxins from your body. Baby steps...........

Today was my first real workout day with my new personal trainer, Kim. She is so encouraging and pushes me just enough. I told her that we would not get along if she were a "Jillian" on the Biggest Loser Show! She is a good fit for me. I am not sore yet, but she said I might be. She had me do both cardio and strength training this morning. I go back on Friday for more of the same. She told me that cardio is my friend and to do it daily for 10 minutes for right now during this early stage. I am not posting my starting weight right now (I will later when I am much closer to my goal). Let me just say for right now, I am losing 10 pounds at a time and it will be a total of several of those 10 pound goals! I will also be posting the horrible "before" pictures soon. I can't wait to get to the "after" pictures!

I'm ready! Finally, I've made some choices to make this extreme makeover journey work. For years, I have lost weight (hundreds of pounds!) and then gained it right back. I have found that I had to do several things at once to really make this thing happen. I always concentrated on the food plan of weight loss before, but not on the exercise that it takes to get really fit. I have now made that commitment to do everything it takes to get healthy. I want to share this journey in a blog to help make me accountable and because so many friends have prayed for me to get to this point and I want to share this journey with all of them. I know that I will not be perfect in this journey---life is not meant to be lived "perfectly." But I do promise that I will do my best and that I will get back up if I fall down and keep going. I've prayed about this for a long time and I realize that blogging about this extreme makeover journey really lays everything out there for all to see. That's a major step for me! I can only do this through God's help. I want to give Him the glory for any success I achieve. I pray that He will use me and my story later in some way to help other people.