Val

Wow, you’ve got some great goals!! You should definitely go to beachbody.com and check out the turbo fire exercise dvd set. With all your dancing you’d love it! And it comes with about 12 workouts so you’d never get bored.

Stephanie

I hear ya sista! Loud and clear!

After my annual exam yesterday (where it was communicated that I had reached that time in life when weight would now be an issue – thank you very much!), I made a list of all the changes I want to make and have started making them.

A sampling:
-No sugar (this means none, none in my hot tea, none in the form of desserts, and until I stop craving it, not even in fruit)
-No alcohol (nope, not even my 1/2 glass of wine with dinner which I have a few nights a week…until now!)
-No added salt (step away from the salt grinder, lady)
-No gluten (no more wonderful sourdough bread toast in the mornings, but GF bread ok a few times a week)
-Little to no carbs (I have got to cut back on the carbs!)

Back to exercising 5 days a week:
Running/Walking = 5k a day
Weights = 2 sets of all reps
Floor exercises = planks, squats and lunges
Other = Yoga (just got a Groupon for this!)

My goal is to lose 20 pounds by May 10th, our anniversary. Nope, not doing this for him (although I am sure he’ll appreciate it! ), but for myself. I can’t stand the way I feel right now, nor how my clothes fit. Argh!

Come on now, we’re in this together!

Christy

I was nodding my head when you said you pulled into the drive-thru and large-sized your combo…been there when depressed. Half of the items on my 38 list this year are ones that I can’t do unless I lose some weight and get in shape…if I want to really do those things, I need to get my butt in gear. I do have someone in my life that is an enabler of the bad…and I don’t trust anyone in my life to be an enabler of good…so I’m looking forward to reading your posts. They inspire me!! One of my major problems is that I don’t like very many veggies…but I have a recipe for a green drink that allows me to get at least 2 servings of veggies in a palatable form at breakfast….since the fruits and veggies are blended and not juiced I still get lots of fiber. Eating whole grains like Quinoa is good too…people who eat more whole grains weigh less (these are whole grains that have not been processed into flour). I’ll cheer you on! Go Jenny! You can do it!!!

Kerry

You can do it.

Amy B

Jenny, did you look into the pink method? Its everything you want to change in you’re diet but s laid out for you. We have the same weight goal sister! Down 27lbs in less than 3 months. Look it up

Amy Anderson

I have all the same struggles that you do with weight. I am the same weight I was at the end of my pregnancy and my baby is almost 1 1/2 old. UGH! I agree with the “fad diet” idea, they work for temporary but they are not real life. I have choosen to increase my veggie and fruit intake. At first I was doing more fruit then veggies, but I have been trying this week to have a salad with lunch and maybe with dinner. I am amazed at how much my body responds to those veggies – I actually feel fuller and my desire to eat carbs has slowed down. I think we have to give ourselves a break once in awhile, and realize although we fell off the bandwagon, that we can jump right back on and do better the next day. Not just scrap the whole thing because we messed up.
I read your blog and feel inspired. You are real but you are also very determined. I know you will get where you want and even though you have set backs, your life will be great because you take time to reflect. Thanks for doing this blog, it has inspired me to start a bucket list and work toward accomplishing things on that list.
Keep smiling and know that each day brings an adventure that only we can live!!

Marilyn Johnson

Jenny. Here with you, working on getting healthy myself and creating more nutritional choices for my family. It is so hard to balance all that goes on in our lives isn’t it? Know that I am here for you!

Denise von Minden

I’m with you, Jenny! And we can do it! I’ve committed to losing the baby weight. After two years, it’s no longer baby weight. It’s my own and it’s gotta go. I’ve been tracking calories and working out 4-5 a week. For me I have to remember that slow and steady wins the race.

betsy

Jenny

This is something you can do! My husband and I have made some major changes recently in our diet and we have never felt better – I won’t go into our changes, but we have major family health issues that we need to overcome. As a bonus we are losing weight and I have a bit to lose. The only piece of advice (unsolicited) is one that our doctor told us don’t make the children change their diet-offer them healthy food with lots of “kid” type options and they will come around. Both of my daughters are in their late teens and now eat incredibly healthy and exercise because they want to. I am so glad that I didn’t push them and we didn’t battle over food, they are both bean poles and make excellent food choices and when they don’t it isn’t a big deal.
Here is to eating lots of greens, which I am learning to love. Good Luck and enjoy the journey.

Heather

This is so inspiring! I am in bad shape myself right now, and have committed and failed so many times that I am almost scared to try again. I do have a Saturday walk with friends that keeps me active that day, but I spend much more time the other days thinking about what to do than in taking action in a positive direction. Please, please share your progress, I will be looking forward to reading how you are rocking this health thing!

Nicole

If anyone can do this Jenny, you can! I haven’t committed to making exercise a part of my daily routine this month (and hopefully beyond) as I’m desperately trying to get rid of this baby weight. The 30 Day Shred is going to be my go-to workout. It’s scary, and I don’t want to do it, but I know I have to for my health.

And way to go with all of your other goals too! You will love Whole Foods! I would shop there all the time if we could afford it. I need to step it up with the water too. I don’t know that I consume 20 ounces a day. Drinking water in the winter is just not fun to me. Best of luck – have a great weekend!!

Jeri Ann

You sound so much like the voice in my head! Just call me Yo Yo, cuz that’s where I’ve lived for the past many years. I have success only to fail again. Vicious. For the past couple of years, I’ve had fun with warriorxfit.com. Free, online exercise that’s a shorter duration but higher intensity and speed, which the “experts” are all leaning toward, especially for their clients who give the excuse of not having enough time to exercise. You really get more bang for your buck. That takes care of the exercise part, but like you, my battle is in the food part. Go for it and do your best, Jen! You’ll get there; hopefully I’ll follow!

Marna

Jenny, You can do it! You are so determined in so many areas of you life so I know this is frustrating. I struggle with this too as I love to cook as you know. Love you friend!

Marcia Froese

Hi Jenny,
I think you are lovely the way you are. I understand though your frustration that you are having with your body, and feeling overwhelmed by so much information. It looks like you have some good goals set and that you are on your way to starting a new beginning in your health goal journey!!! Yay!!!

I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Endometriosis, which means b/c of the PCOS I can/could easily become insulin resistant (had major fertility issues for 12 years). What I wanted to share with you is that I use a product called Isagenix(they have all kinds of health products, shakes etc) that is real nutrition.

I use their shake and ionic supreme, I can’t recommend it enough. It has helped me with making sure I don’t gain weight, since I am only maintaining my weight right now, and also it helps me with my hormone issues in a major big way so that I don’t become insulin resistant.

I will tell you that I will not be found without those two products at all, even my husband can tell if I am out of either of those products b/c my hormones start going all over the place, and I am uneven!!!. I am at risk for certain female cancers b/c of the two different diseases I have….keeping my hormones balanced and the diseases under control, my weight balanced, not becoming insulin resistance, and also watching my diet is key for me to being my best self, both with my physical health and my mental health. Of course reading my bible daily, is so key for my spiritual health too! : )

It is a home based business, and I am not trying to sell you anything at all, since I am in Canada you wouldn’t be able to buy from my mom, so I have no ulterior motive other than to just tell you about the product. So now you know about it, and if you desire to check it out with your hubby, then you can decide (when you are not feeling overwhelmed) if that is something that you feel would be helpful for you. I would encourage you to check it out.

By the way, since you had such a rough day yesterday, I know today is going to be better, it can only go up from here!!!! Just remember to give it to God every day, let Him fill your bucket up!!!

Hugs,
Marcia
BC Canada

kelly

Have you ever read any of Geneen Roth’s books? I am just working my way through them and have read “When Food is Love”, “Overcoming Emotional Eating”, and “Women, Food, and God”. They are great and sensible books and also very easy reads as she is a good writer. Anyway, just thought they might help because I am pretty sure they are going to help me.

Stacey K

A tip for drinking more water is to set an alarm on your phone to remind you to hydrate. I used to have one that went off every hour or so & I would have a drink, after a while I would find myself already drinking when the alarm went off. I need to turn that alarm back on now though because I am not drinking enough at the moment.
I find myself emotionally eating, making bad food choices & choosing not to cook because of the head space I am in, the thing I found that worked for me was meditation, I was lucky enough to go on a weekend retreat last October & for 2 months I did yoga, walked & meditated everyday, because my emotional tank was full because of the medtitation I did not even look for comfort food. But as the festive season got busier I stopped meditating & my emotional tank drained & now I find myself eating boxes of icecreams in 2 days & making all the bad choices for myself, I won’t be able to get on another retreat for a while so I am slowly filling my tank by doing yoga & a quick mediation first thing in the morning, in the dark by myself & it sets me up well for the day, the other day I didn’t do this & I had one of my worst days in a while my Jane was here & it wasn’t just me she was lashing out at. My goals for March are to drink more water & meditate in the evening as well as the morning. Good luck with your project health, I will cheer you on. You are very inspiring.

Melissa

In 2007 I hired a trainer. It took 14 months, but I lost 30 pounds. I went to the gym only three days a week. It was FINALLY what worked for me, after trying everything else. I have managed to gain back 10. I now practice some of the South Beach principals (less carbs and sugar) and it makes it easier to at least maintain my weight that way. I recently had to stop exercising for 3 months due to a HUGE project that consumed my life. The project is now done and I can finally get back into the gym and concentrate on my food again. My goal is 22 pounds by June 1st. I like your goals of exercising on an empty stomach, drinking more water (I really struggle with this) and the weight training (which really worked with the trainer, but I haven’t done since and need to do now). The one thing I actually do well is the protein. Good Luck Jenny! You can do it!

P.S. I just ate an entire sleeve of thin mints.

Nichole

Jenny, thank you so much for this post. I absolutely love your blog every day, and have saved several of your posts in my Project Life book. I am so glad you told me about Maria Emmerich. I bought her book on iBooks last night, and have spent the morning browsing her website. Such great information! Good luck in your fitness journey.

SHERRY

i started a diet last sunday, im only lookin to lose 15 lbs, however, i am a creature of habit. as long as i plan things out i succeed. one slip and everything is loosey goosey. i also tend to taste alot of things, or have just one cookie every time i pass thru the kitchen. Ive decided that if it goes in my mouth, it gets instagramed. i have my itouch with me at all times, even if im just leaving for 20 mins. when i feel like im gonna slip i go thru my photos, it really has helped me this week. Im hoping, it continues. I have a good feeling , good luck, and thanx for the constant inspiration.

Julia

Okay, sweet Jenny. I posted last time that you blogged about your weight that I would be accountable and post my losses when you updated. And…drumroll…since then I have lost 13 pounds and this is my final week of C25K. Resources I like? Bodybuilding.com, the cut the fat podcast at iTunes, and google for Tom Venuto, his book is worth the $. I still have a ways to go; I think I wll focus dropping out of this set of tens, it has been a beast,up and down a few pounds for a few weeks now. But, better still, I want to laser focus on staying consistent and fit, more than have a restriction mindset. Best wishes and God bless you, Jenny.