22k(ilograms) for 22q...FINAL WEIGH IN!!!!

It's time!!!

Today is the final weigh in for the first 22k(ilograms) for 22q challenge.  How'd you all do?  My sincere desire is that it was so much more than just a numbers thing for you, were you able to learn something about yourself in the last month?  Did you find the benefit of setting aside time for yourself, no matter what chaos life threw at you?  Did you face an obstacle--be it a chocolate cake or a sleepless night--and find a way to overcome it?  Did you find a way to focus on a healthier lifestyle, and maybe find ways to sneak in some 22q awareness?

This was my first month back as a single mom after my husband headed back overseas again.  The boys are in school.  There's been a lot of change this month.  I also struggled through some life decisions of my own, my husband returns to America (for good) the end of January, and unfortunately returns to no job.  What are we going to do?  Who is going to work?  What will our income be?  I evaluated several options and decided that I want to go back to work.  So I've spent the past couple weeks searching and applying for some jobs.

I've never been unemployed before this year, and I've never faced rejection in the job market.  Anytime I wanted to change jobs, the job I wanted was available to me.  I thought I had found a great job, a job that was a good match for what I WANT to do, not just what will pay the bills.  But I got a rejection email today.  I won't lie, that didn't feel good!  Not all is lost, I have plenty of other applications in, other opportunities to apply to, and I'm certain that the right path will become available for us.  Somehow.

But here's the difference...I didn't medicate my disappointment with food!  That's always been my go-to.  Stress, failure, disappointments, they can all be dealt with through food.  I've always been an athlete, so it didn't matter that food was my vice, I stayed healthy anyway.  But now that I'm well into my 30s, I'm finding that my metabolism doesn't work that way anymore.  Neither do my joints!  I can't work out at the level I used to, which means I really can't eat the way I want to.

SO...  Drum roll please...

My final weigh in is X-7!  (3.175 kilograms)

I'm pretty happy with that!  Just like the title of this blog, I know that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  I know that healthy living is not about crash dieting, depriving myself, or running myself into the ground.  It's about making better choices the majority of the time.  Being active more often than not, even if it's just a walk.  Or maybe some planks at the bus stop while waiting for kids to get home!

So...report in!  Tell me not just what your weight is now, but what you've learned this month!  Give me some examples of challenges you've faced.  I'll begin to tally everyone up tomorrow and post the total :)

Challenges, successes, and...sleep?

I knew last week would be a challenging week, and it certainly was!

Physically

Emotionally

Spiritually

I feel like I got a good wallop!  Not many people have seen this picture, but you're all my friends, right?  There is the small fact that this is a public blog, but oh well, what do I have to hide?!  LOL!  This is a picture of me at about 6am Sunday morning after a string of long difficult days!

See!!??  I'm just as normal as the rest of you :)  I can look normal...sometimes...but often it's just an act! So when you meet me in person, I will probably look more like this:

This is me (in the black and blue, second from the left!) with some other 22q moms during a pre-conference social the night before the 22q conference at Nationwide Children's Hospital kicked off.  This was one of the long nights of the past week, this particular night I didn't get home until 11pm, yet I had to leave the house a little after 6am the next day to get to the conference!

The conference was a wonderful opportunity to get the latest research on 22q, but since I attended the Cincinnati conference just last month, I had heard much of the information already.  Thank goodness I had, because it had been such an exhausting week!

Earlier in the week consisted of some difficult overnight babysitting for a friend's medically complicated son, a very long and emotionally taxing Neurology appointment for Connor, a school picnic for Ian, a newspaper interview and photo session, some volunteer time with A Kid Again (a local group for children with life threatening illnesses), gymnastics for Connor, and then--just for fun--Gavin started throwing up on Thursday.  Ack!!  Then the conference social Friday, the conference itself on Saturday, and then Sunday.  Oh Sunday...usually my day of rest, but not this week!!  Sunday we spent the entire day at Kings Island, an amusement park near us that was hosting a fundraising event for A Kid Again.

Here are my 3 boys and Connor's best friend at the fundraising event this weekend!

So, how did I do with all of that and my weight loss journey?  I did okay.  Not great, but okay.  I have been gaining and losing the same 2lbs for the past 10 days, it's been very frustrating to see the scale go down then back up then back down again.

I'm ending this week at X-6lbs.

Considering this is week 3, that's not bad!  But considering I was as low as X-7.2, I won't lie, I'm frustrated!  But at the same time, I know that I can't expect weight to just drop off without me having to work for it.  Overall I'm doing better with diet than I was previously (especially this summer!) but I'm not getting as many workouts in as I'd like to.  I also have been tracking my sleep and realizing that it's way too variable.  The best way to get a body to adjust to a new metabolism to encourage weight loss is to get stabilize everything possible.  That means as close as possible to the same number of calories, the same nutrients, the same calories burned, and the same hours slept.  Yeah...that's not happening!

So my plan this week is to do my best to get myself onto a better sleep schedule while continuing my focus on healthy eating and getting in a workout whenever I can.  I'm trying to remind myself that a workout doesn't have to be running 3 miles, it can be crunches in bed right after my alarm goes off, arm circles while cooking dinner, lunges while putting away laundry.

How are the rest of you doing?  Is anyone else experiencing the same up and down fluctuations I am?  Does anyone have any thoughts on how to counter this?  I'm looking forward to hearing from the rest of you!  Report in everyone!!!

Slipping is not falling and does not mean give up!

When I reported in on Monday night, I mentioned that I was at X-5, but had been at X-7 until a weekend where I was a little less careful.

Well, I'm happy to say that as of today (Wednesday, actually it's after midnight, so it's Thursday now!) I'm officially at X-7.2!

BAM.

Take THAT!

So yeah, I had a little slip, 2 steps forward 1 step back, but I didn't get discouraged, I set my focus again, and kept chugging along.

And, I have a mini-success to share!  Connor had a long appointment at Cincinnati Children's yesterday, and for many reasons it was a bit more of a stressful trip than usual.  Yet when I left my house at 6am, I left with a Shakeology in hand, not an over-priced calorie-ridden store-bought coffee.  When I ate lunch in the cafeteria, I enjoyed a Ceasar salad (with some ranch dressing, but not even half the packet it came with!), I didn't stop for food on the drive home even!  THEN at a picnic later that night, I had a single glazed pumpkin donut hole after eating a meal of the healthiest food choices I could find (considering it was a putluck style picnic!)  I had a treat, but I kept it small and avoided the temptation of all other treats.

And now I'm being rewarded with X-7.2!!

We'll see what happens the rest of the week until Monday's weigh-in.  I'm still struggling with some girly issues, so I'm expecting to see a bit of weight fluctuation for a few days, but that's normal for me.  I have a big dinner social Friday night that I need to try to be good at, but I have faith that I can do it!  Lunch is being provided for me Saturday (at a conference) and Sunday (at a fundraising event) so I'm going to do my best to plan ahead and stash some healthy snacks in my purse to help me avoid the temptation of any bad food.  A little pre-planning goes a long way!

Now to end this post with a cute picture of Connor, because...why not?!  He loves to color and is quite good at it!

Week 2, are you still hanging in there?

I've heard that it takes 2-6 weeks for something new to become a habit.  This is crunch time people, these next weeks are the times that will decide if you are in this for real!  Are you dedicated?  Are you ready to make some serious changes?

My name is Samantha and my week 2 weight is X-5!

WOOHOO!

That's great, but unfortunately I was as low as X-7 until I fell to temptation of some good food this weekend and wasn't able to go on any runs (although I did walk several miles)

This is the boys at Charleston Falls, a park near us with trails through the woods.  We walked at least 2 miles, and a lot of it was up and down steps and rocks.  

Also this tends to be my heavier time of the month on any given month, lovely how all this female stuff works, isn't it?!

But, I am going to try my best to lose those 2lbs and more this week!

I did get 2 runs in this week, and I downloaded a cool new app on my phone that tracks my run as I go.  It counts off the miles for me while I'm running, then sends a run overview to my Facebook page for me!  It's been fun to play with it, but it drains my battery really fast.

This is me all flushed and sweaty at the end of a 2.6 mile run this week!  

This is going to be a difficult week, I'm going to have to get creative with exercise.  Today I started babysitting a friend's 2 year old who is very medically complex.  I was able to sneak away from a shower, and he napped through an interview and photo shoot I did for our local newspaper, but otherwise I wasn't able to go on a run or walk.  Tomorrow (Tuesday) Connor has a big appointment with his new Neurologist at Cincinnati Children's.  I have to take my friend's 2 year old with us, and we have to leave at 6am, so it'll be a busy morning!  Then in the evening there's a picnic for my oldest son's gifted school.  *IF* my friend picks up her son in the afternoon, then I can hopefully squeeze in a workout at my church before the picnic.  Then Wednesday my day should be more free until evening when we have speech therapy then Awana at church, there shouldn't be any problem with me getting a run in in the morning I hope.  Thursday is the same, I'm busy that night (babysitting again, different family this time!) but the morning should be free.  Friday the boys are off school and we're heading to Columbus for a 22q conference, so probably no running that day.  Saturday is the conference, so no run, but Sunday we're going to King's Island, a local amusement park, for a fundraising event so I should get in plenty of walking all day.

Whew!!!!  And I thought I was busy when I was a working mom!  Somehow I'm just as busy as a stay at home mom!

How are the rest of you doing?  Keep encouraging each other, you can do this!  Are you starting to feel better at all?  Noticing any changes?  I'm already seeing some clothes fitting just a bit easier now, which is a welcome change!!

Week 1 results!!!!

It's Monday, which means the end of week 1.  Time to report in!!

My name is Samantha, and my weight is X-2.2lbs  :)

Congratulations to Becky (X-2.4), Dan (X-5), and Fiona (X-2).

That means, just the four of us who have checked in as of now, have already lost 11.6lbs, or 5.26 kilograms towards our goal of 22 kilograms!  And it's only week one with only 4 people responding!!!

You guys blow me away :)

But more importantly, I hope that you are blowing yourselves away!   You should feel really proud for this initial accomplishment!  We all are facing a lot of personal challenges, but somehow each of you found a way to focus on YOURSELF this last week.  I'm really proud of you all :)

So, let's focus on this next week now!  Does anyone have any plans for exercising or eating better?  Is anybody trying any specific program, or are you just winging it?  I'd love to see some more of you sharing your daily activities *and* challenges with me!  Let me cheer you on, let me be your shoulder to cry on too.

Here's to week 2!!

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5k for 22q!

Happy to say I can report that I have achieved 5k for 22q!

A 5 kilometer race AND 1.3 kilogram weight loss!  1.3 kilograms down, 20.7 kilograms to our goal of 22k(ilograms) for 22q!  I've had several people ask me about the shirts I wear when I run, I'm getting the word out there, one run at a time.

I've been having some shin splint problems and Achilles pain, unfortunately this is pretty typical for me.  I've been doing a lot of icing and wearing a splint at night trying to help it.  I also took several days of rest this week, focusing instead on my diet since I couldn't run.

But not today!  Today I ran a race!  Just a 5k, nothing big or long, and I didn't try for any specific time. I ran with my oldest son, Ian (age 8) for part of the race, and both of us had a lot of fun!

How's everybody else doing?  Anybody take up some new exercise?  Anybody working on changing their diets any?  I've been drinking Shakeology every day to ensure I'm getting the right nutrients.  In addition I've been eating some rather tasty salads, made with lots of baby greens, sometimes topped with chicken sometimes with sauteed mushrooms and onions.  I've also been working on adding more water into my day, I realized I had let myself turn into a camel!  But now I'm drinking at least 40oz of plain water, which is still under what I need to be drinking, but it's definite progress.

Along with drinking, I'm sad to report that McDonald's ended their summer-long any size iced coffee for a dollar special.  But, I'm also happy to report that McDonald's ended their summer-long any size iced coffee for a dollar special!!  Huh?  That's right, I'm sad, but I'm happy.  I thoroughly enjoyed drinking them all summer, but my waist line is showing it!  Do any of you have a food or drink that you just love, even if you know if's horrible for you?

Monday is when the first reports are due from everyone!  I'll post then and you can all add your results to the comments.  But please tell me about your progress!

My name is Samantha, and my starting weight is X

I'm so happy!  I had no idea if anyone would think my 22k(ilograms) for 22q was a good idea or not, I had no idea if I'd get anyone to join me, but today it officially kicks off and I have 12!!  That means only about 4lbs each to meet our goal!!

Now, since today is the day it starts, our next "weigh in" isn't until *NEXT* Monday.  That means we still have all week to recruit more people!  Is it possible to double our numbers you think?

So here's what I'm envisioning.  This isn't just about us getting healthy (although that's the main objective!) this is about us getting healthy WHILE spreading word about 22q!  So post about this on your Facebook pages!  Tell friends what you're doing!  Maybe each week when you share your progress, include a fact about 22q.  If you are working out, wear *something* that says 22q on it (your zoo shirt, a Dempster Foundation shirt, even a plain white t-shirt that you took a black marker to and wrote something about 22q!)  It doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be expensive.  Post pictures of yourself wearing that shirt and working out.  Walk your dog with that shirt on, mow your grass with that shirt on, somehow make 22q part of this journey.

If you take pictures and you want to share them, post them on my son's Facebook page and I will share them!  If you haven't liked his page yet, head over there and like it, then start posting pictures of your workouts!

Has anybody done anything yet?  Has anybody made some changes they want to share?  Post in the comments!  Tell me what you ate today!  Or tell me what you *didn't* eat today!  Did you pass up a second piece of pie at that Labor Day picnic?  GOOD FOR YOU!!!

I did 2.89 miles with my dog, Ruby today.  It was *hot* and she wasn't feeling it today, she made me stop in the shade a few times and I ended up cutting the run short because of it.  I guess dogs have bad days too, right?  Look at poor Ruby in this picture!!

I was hoping to get in another 1 mile walk with the kids tonight, but things kind of fell apart after dinner, so I declared early to bed for everyone.  Is it a full moon or something?