Weight Loss Journey

Weight loss Journey
Part 1

Once again I found myself never wanting to look at myself in the mirror, go shopping, put on makeup, do my hair or even leave the house. It was in Sept of this year as I looked through pictures of a short weekend trip with friends did I realize that I had to change something. Just looking at pictures, not only was I at my heaviest but I truly looked unhappy being me and that for one was not ME!

I can’t remember a day where I did not battle my weight. I’ve been a yoyo dieter for years. Through HS I was usually between a 14 and 18 and after HS the weight continued to creep up until what I thought was my heaviest in 1997 where I started Jenny Craig and dropped about 60lbs and lost an additional 15 soon after just working on religiously. What I remember most about those few years that I kept that weight off was how good I felt and how I stopped hiding behind the fact that I was a big girl or the “Fat girl” of the group. I felt beautiful, sexy and confident. Now why I put on the weight again is still a mystery on some level. I know how to watch my calories and what needs to be done to keep it off or take it off. So why is it that I sabotage myself and put on the weight again. Of course like all yoyo dieters, not only did I put on the 75lbs I lost, I probably added an additional 10-15lbs on top of that putting me at my heaviest in Sept/October of this year.

I can honestly say that I’m an emotional eater, stress eater and a lot of times I eat out of pure boredom. You name it, I could put it down. I didn’t know and still struggle with stopping the madness. But I find that right now I’m more conscious of what I’m doing. At least I try to be. I know that if I’m craving something, its better to have a nibble of something I’m craving then completely deprive myself of something because that is when I will turn around and eat the entire package. But that wasn’t my sole problem. I’m horrible at eating breakfast in the morning, I hate making lunch therefore I would buy out even though I started staying clear of Mcd’s, Jack or taco bell, I reasoned that having a subway sandwich almost every day was healthy. Right? Ok so my reasoning wasn’t always smart but my head and my stomach don’t always work on the same wave length.

On top of my nasty eating habits I was having difficulty with my asthma, sleep apnea and finally having nothing but issues with my knees and feet. I swear there were days that I walked like I was 100. I’m only 40 and yet my body started to make feel double that. I knew when I couldn’t sit comfortably on the floor to play with my nephews and nieces or just struggled to walk even around the block that something had to give and I sure as hell didn’t want it to be my own heart.

Sadly all this isn’t what got me started on the path I am today. Dad had come back from San Diego looking like he was not doing well and asked about a weight loss program that a friend of ours had been doing had already lost about 50lbs. I thought sure no problem, never thought we would actually try and be successful in the last 2 ½ months.

On October 16th 2010 we (myself, my father and mother) started on the Herbalife plan. Did I think I could do it? I was skeptical but gave it 100% . 2 shakes per day and one main meal, I was afraid that this was a set up for me to fail in the worst possible way. What were my options? Surgery and I didn’t want to do it that way. The first few days were a struggle, I had to mentally prepare myself for not having anything to pick up and put in my mouth, outside of my shake that I was drinking or the fruit I would eat as a snack. Seriously it became a mental game that I had to play in order to make myself realize that I was eating and getting what I needed. I mean come on I am drinking a shake that reminds me of Fruity Pebbles…this can’t be hard. After the first few weeks the shakes, the hunger I felt became easier. I no longer felt all that hungry between meals and the shakes became a part of the routine and so much easier and less thinking on my part.

The first 2 weeks we did this with out an actual scale but having had been to the Dr. not long ago I knew about where my weight was and actually I thought I had put on a bit more weight prior to starting Herbalife. But after 2 weeks my approximate weight loss was 10lbs and it had me jumping for joy. Who knew!!! The last 8 ½ weeks have not been easy. There are things in our lives that change the course of our day and mess with our eating plans. The biggest holidays of the year were coming through and I had to figure out how to get through them with least amount of sabotage I could and I had to learn how to stop binge eating when I was in a mood. And the biggest obstacle…SODA!!! I had to learn to curb my need to drink Diet Coke all day long.

Its December 30th, the new year is just a 2 days away and I’ve joined a weight loss support group with some friends from all over the world (Thank you Duran Duran) and had John Taylor respond to my latest status on Face book about my recent weight loss and I was suddenly re-motivated to continue on this path.

Today I’m 28lbs lighter then I was in Sept 2010, I feel healthier, I feel good in my clothes and when I look in the mirror I’m beginning to feel good about me and who I am. This is what I’m suppose to feel like.

My Goals for 2011:
1. Lose an additional 22lbs by April or so
2. Regain my confidence and learn to love me
3. Start moving,
4. Stop hiding behind the “fat girl” syndrome and let people see me.
5. Get closer to final goal of about 150-175lbs weight loss.

I know with the support that I have found through family and friends that this is possible. Every single goal is within reach and I want it. So here I go moving into a new year and making the changes to make my life that much better, healthier and happier.

Happy New Years Everyone!

Adult 3L, Region #2 and YC. #1 Christmas Party.

We had our annual Christmas party on December 12th and like always we had a blast. We all know that it’s the youth that make this party fun, filled with laughter and nostalgia. It’s all about them and Santa and I’m so glad that over the years we’ve all begun to do our Christmas together as a whole versus separately as we had done in years past.

We had our annual Christmas party at the SDES Alvarado, our home away from home. In all the years I’ve been a part of this area SDES has really stood back and supported our youth and adults. They allow us the ability to have a place to rehearse, have parties and are always ready to have the kids dance. 20 plus years and presidents later they continue to help us and while I’m not the youth director or even a youth leader at this time for YC #1 I know I am grateful for all they do for Adult #3L, Region #2 and especial YC #1.

We started our Christmas party with the YC and adults creating cards and putting together donations. Our Youth has always created Christmas cards for Children’s Hospital but this year it was decided that the cards would be sent to the H&S company unit 73679 stationed in Afghanistan. In conjunction with Region #2’s activity of putting together a gift box to send over with small necessities and just things that the soldiers would want to make their day just a little bit brighter, easier. At the end of the day Region #2 shipped off 8 boxes of goodies to H&S Company filled socks, soups, coffee, books, movies, candy, gum, etc. If we could bring a smile to their faces and bring a piece of home for just one minute then it’s what we did. I’m so proud of the turn out the Region had and so proud of Brienne for putting it together and getting it out and shipped. Her friend who is in this battalion is as well as the rest of our soldiers are in my prayers and hope they come soon. The Youth Council also had a toy drive for Viola Blythe and collected a mired of toys and wrapping paper to give to the children who don’t have as much as they do. All in all I felt as though it has been year of paying it forward. I’m proud of each and every one of you for doing all you could to bring a smile, a piece of home and for just thinking about those that do not have all that we may have.

Of course you can’t have a Christmas party without food and there was a ton of food and deserts brought by all of us in the groups. From potato soup to pizza to taco salad to red velvet cup cakes, cookies and so on. We ate well and enjoyed a nice afternoon with friends and family.

While waiting for Santa to make his appearance the Region kept the kids entertained by playing a couple of games. There is nothing funnier than watching 42 kids running up and down the hall and trying to sit on a balloon (some with helium this year) to pop it!!! Classic fun! They also made a Santa’s beard on a fellow team member where they put shaving cream on one persons face in the shape of a beard and throw cotton balls at it. Pretty funny even if some of the bigger boys didn’t really want to get their faces dirty. :p

It wasn’t soon after that the bells began to ring and in came Santa. He must have been on herbalife like many of us because he seemed a tad thin this year. Must remember to send him a package or 12 of cookies. LOL 42 kids, 42 presents later, all kids have had their moment with Santa and some even held on for dear life to their parents for fear of the man in the long white beard. (I mean honestly who could blame them..he is a bit scary when you think about it. An adult man, asking kids to sit on his lap and hands them candy…lol)

Another Christmas party gone by, more fond memories, a lot of laughs and this means the closer we are to the kids beginning their programs for the 2011 convention.
Time flies when you’re having fun!!!

Thank you Adult #3L, Region #2 and Youth Council #1 for being such a wonderful area. I’m proud to be a part of you and look forward to many more years of our family and traditions

Merry Christmas to my Luso Family!!!

Annual Luso Christmas Party

Let me be start with OMG what a riot this weekend was. Starting with Friday night through Sunday. I can’t believe the havoc we all caused in Visalia.

Anthony and I started our road trip to Visalia Friday afternoon. It was a fairly quiet ride down with very little traffic and some really good conversation. But then Anthony and I always have pretty good conversations. It was sad that our usual road trip buddies were not with us and we did miss Anna and Nicole being in the car with us. We arrived at the Lampliter Inn around 4:30pm, got ourselves checked in and into our rooms. While we didn’t get to stay in adjoining rooms, Anthony was only a few doors down. The Lampliter Inn is exactly that, a small little Inn on the side of the freeway. Very quaint, well groomed, clean and a tad retro. The rooms were clean and comfy although just a tad hot. Couldn’t seem to get the heater to turn off and that seemed to be a consistent throughout the entire hotel. I still don’t understand why hotels don’t put groups like us all in one area so that we don’t have noise issues at night. I don’t think I ever will. Might have kept the complaints down to a low minimum had they done that.

We headed to the bar at the bar and grill next door and decided to have ourselves a drink while we decided on dinner….All I can say is that the bar closed at NINE pm…WTH..I found thought odd that a bar would close at 9 but who am I to say different. We headed out and met up with a bunch of ladies from SPRSI. I didn’t really know many of them but was glad to meet them that night. They were nice enough to invite us to join them for dinner and we headed out to Big Bubbas Bad BBQ. Nice place, great atmosphere and really did seem like a great place to take your family for birthdays, or just to have a good night. We managed to get Julianne and Hilary on the bull, sang, laughed and got to know each other. Again reminded that Fraternalism is important, that it was important to set aside differences and remember that we are all out for the same goal, to keep Luso going and enjoy our culture and our friendships. After dinner we headed back to celebrate Tish and Erica’s Anniversary and I learned to play Beer Pong which I was immediately fired by Anthony because I couldn’t make a shot..lol Good times people…good times.:-)

Sadly I spent the weekend nursing a cold and ended up heading up to bed early that night and spent most of Saturday morning trying to get a handle on the stuffy head, ears and nose. After the Education Foundation luncheon, Luso Federation meeting we all got ready for the Christmas party that was hosted by Visalia Convention Committee for Mr. Tony Sozinho, who is slated to be Luso President in 2012 in Fresno, CA. The hors d'oeuvres were delicious, the drinks as always great but most of all it was great to see old friends that we only see maybe once a year or at a visit.

The food was great, desert and a shotzinho of Porto followed by a Portuguese group from the HS dancing folklore then followed by dancing thank you to Frank Rosa’s Iphone. We laughed, we drank, we danced, we drank some more, we danced more and just had a great time all in all. When the party was over we moved to the hotel where I believe we were chased out of a total of 3 rooms by the Visalia Police Department. Don’t these hotels know that when Luso and SPRSI come together they need to lump us all in one building…so that we only disturb our own!!!! I am not all together sure the Lampliter or Visalia wants us back again! Good times and thank you to Visalia and the Convention Committee for the wonderful holiday party!

Sunday started off with a fraternal meeting and then we were off to Tulare for Council 29B’s Breakfast Brunch and Toy Drive. What a great idea and wonderful turn out. I had never been to Nielson's Restaurant but had already started hearing nothing but good things about it. The brunch was delicious especially their biscuits and gravy.omg..yum! It was a great way to sit with friends, get our bellies nice and full before our 4 hour trek home that afternoon.

Anthony, Anna, Nicole, Joe, Lenor, Marilia and Americo headed home around 1pm. WE may not all have been in the same car but managed to share in some laughs as we trekked down 99 heading back to the bay. Thank you Anthony for letting me bum a ride from you and Thank you everyone in Visalia and Tulare for an amazing weekend filled with laughs and some amazing memories. I’m very glad that I was able to attend this year’s Christmas Festivities.

I wish you all a very wonderful Holiday filled with love, family, friendships and fraternalism! Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year.

I’ll see you all at our first official visit of the New Year on January 16th in Watsonville!