Lazy Day!

Tonight Mark cooked a wonderful dinner for us.  Sweet potatoes,  green beans and grilled salmon!  My most favorite meal now!   Salmon has become my new steak!   LOL!  After that he wanted to watch the movie Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington.  Yea, we hadn't seen it but man it was good.  The great dinner and movie distracted me from writing last night!

In one of my last few posts I told you that I had quit Downsize. Well I got them to put my contract on hold because of finances.   I thought it might be cheaper to go back v to 24 Hour Fitness with a trainer once a week but boy was I ever wrong!!! A unlimited contract with Downsize runs me $209 a month.   That includes a trainer shared with up to 8 other people.  24 Hour... $26 a month and a trainer for 5 seasons is over $430!  Guess I will be going back to Downsize with a lesser contract.  I want to go back to Zumba as soon as I can get this bone spur taken care of and about 30-40 lbs off.  I just hung up the phone with Downsize and I dropped to 10 classes a month and that should work out well for me.  One thing that I hate about our Downsize location is the owner is concentrating so much on getting members the gym is boring and has no set rules.  For example...the Owner's son manages the gym.  He's 24.  That should be all I have to say.  With the Owner over 150 miles away he can do basically what he wants to do.  Downsize is a gym where you signup for a class.  So let's say I sign up for a 10:00 strength training class.  Two others also sign up for the class.  I get there at 9:50, put my stuff up, go to the bathroom and I'm ready to go at 10.  Manager wants to just visit with me till the other two show up consistently 10-15 minutes late.  He WAITS!!!!  So if my plans are to finish up by 10:45 and head for a Dr.'s appt. I don't get my allotted time and I was there first.  I brought this up to the Owner's attention back in Oct. He agreed that I shouldn't have to wait and class should begin on time.  Promised he would send a email out about tardiness and as of today, it has not happened!  That is one of my pet peeves.  Second, the manager/trainer makes up our class as we go along so he spends time grabbing and handing us equipment as he stammers along.  The other trainer who works when he is out has 8 stations set up with everything we need to keep the class going.  I feel like I get an amazing workout when she trains.  Thirdly, you are suppose to be able to sign up for a class an hour before it goes off.  I can't tell you how many times the manager will call me and ask me to come at a later time because he has errands to run!  ERRANDS!!!!!  This gym is a 45 minute trip from my house one-way.  I don't have 2 hours and 15 minutes a day to have to wait and then have a workout that I don't sweat at!  I'm happy to put in the drive time but I don't want to waste time either.  I also want a workout that will do me some good!  My prayer is that the gym will go and my favorite trainer will actually get assigned classes to teach and I will go to hers.  Rant over! Do you blame me for being irritated at this?  Leave me a comment with your thoughts!

I didn't feel the greatest today.  I did cross-stitch for a bit, made breakfast and lunch, took meds and did breathing treatments like a good girl!  I hope I find the energy tomorrow to start taking down Christmas decorations!

Be good!

Happy New Year!!!!

I said I would get out here and get this blog going again and here I am! 

Bad news. Today I spent some time in a ER Clinic. I have pneumonia!  Yes,  you read it right!  Thanks to my sweet grandson who came to see me the day after Christmas croupie and ran straight for me and coughed in my face!  Oh what we are willing to go through for such sweetness!  Right?   They're gone now and I'm missing them like crazy!  I wish they didn't live in Kansas!

Christmas was the norm for my family.  Dysfunctional!   I cried lots of tears and my feelings were hurt but it is behind me.

I decorated more than I have in over 10 years. The house was beautiful and people were amazed.  It felt good.  Now to pack it all back up.  It will get done but I'm going to have to feel a lot better than I do right now.

Food wise the holiday's were amazing.  I stuck to my new lifestyle, adapted to it and didn't look back.  If anything it made me stronger and it proved to myself that I can do this and I want this more than anything.  For once I believe this is going to happen. 

So,  feeling like crud,  I kept my commitment and I got out here on my phone no less and happily wrote to all of you.  So... tomorrow night I will write again and share some more.

My resolution is to end this year at a weight that I haven't been in a very long time.  Like over 30 years.  What were your's?  Leave me a comment and let me know.  I'm truly interested!

Till tomorrow...

Amost A Month!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I have been real self-centered!  My apologies!

I've just been caught up getting my life back!  I have lost 35.7 lbs since Oct 20!  That is as of this past Sunday!  362.0!  I'm really on my way.  It sure beats 427 lbs in April when I had the crap scared out of me!

When I hit 100 lbs. I will be receiving a trip to Salt Lake to meet Michael, his colleagues and my friend Janet.  I can't wait for that!

I tried writing a few days ago and upload a video that Michael had me do.  He had me do another one this past Sunday.  I tried everything I could to get them posted here but they would not go!  I you are on Facebook then search for Body By Banks and you will be able to see my progress.

I will be back blogging every single day January 1.  I am also going to have the blog art work changed.  Things have been on the back burner.

Some news is:

I quit Downsize Fitness.  Yes, you read that right.  I'll tell you more next year.

I'm loving what I'm doing!

I LOVE the way I feel!

I'm ready to stop seeing Anna except when I really need her!

I'm off my anti-depressants and....

My heart medicine has been reduced and there's a possibility I don't have A-Fib!!!!!



Lots to talk about that I have learned.  I have to share!

So.....

Merry Christmas to you and yours!  Of course Happy New Years too!

I'll have a post up on January 1!  I'd love for you to share the journey back to life with me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm ok.  Still doing my program.  Little emotional over some family issues but handling them well.  I'll be back next week.  Re-doing the blog.  Taking a different approach to the blog.  Feel like taking it back to what it was during the "My Going To Goal" days.  I need to be recording and sharing the victories.  I don't want to forget any part of this journey.  It's amazing!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your's!

Love you!

Laura

On TV!!!!!

Here is my gym!  And Me!!!!!

DOWNSIZE FITNESS

Catch Up!

This has been the wildest almost 3 weeks of my life in a long time!  I know there is no way that I am going to be able to catch you all up with every detail but I think you'll see the huge change that has happened.  My mentor Janet and Michael Banks have encouraged me to journal this journey so that is what I'm going to do,  I've just have to figure a way to fit it in my crazy exhausting schedule.  It will get better as I get stronger!

I'm sorry that I didn't get back out here as I planned.  I really don't know where to start to summarize all of this but I'm going to try.  So bear with me.

So, I truly believe that God sent Michael Banks into my life.  Interesting this all happened after I made the decision to get WW Mike totally out of my life.  Period end of subject.  There are things about him that I don't want to discuss.  I will say this.  It took me a long time to realize that he was a control freak, thought he owned me, tried to ruin my marriage, knew everything and was always right.  I thank God that I walked away from that very abusive friendship.  I was an idiot but I learned from it all.  That is the end of Mike the WW freak!

Michael Banks is so different.  He is truly a man of God.  He truly believes that this transformation will not happen with out Him.  Not only is Michael going to change me physically and mentally but he is going to transform and restore my spiritual life.  I've wanted this since I got out of the cult in 2002.  I guess God had to let me go on this almost 12 year journey to learn a lot about myself and about transforming my body.  It all starts in my mind.  I have to believe I can do this.  I have to love myself enough to do this.  I have to trust God to help me do this!  I'm ready.

My first assignment from Michael was to drink a gallon of water a day.  Right!  That is what I thought.  We are talking about a person who lived on 2 different types of fluid pills.  Of course I must inject here that WW Mike bugged me so much about fluid retention that I talked the Dr. in giving me more.  WRONG!  Anyway,  I truly didn't think that I could do it.  His assignment was to drink half the bottle by 2 p.m. and to finish it by 7 p.m.  The first day I did it.  I was amazed but I also lived in the bathroom.  I felt awful but I did it.  The other assignment was to get a book by John C. Maxwell called Failing Forward and to read it.  I'm in the process of doing that now.  All this water is sued to not only keep my body properly hydrated but to also cleanse my body.  Guys, there is truth in all of this.  I called it bullshit for years but after hitting rock bottom I thought I would try it I will never ever stop drinking my gallon of water a day.  I now crave it and I thirst for it.  One other thing the water is to be room temperature and not cold.  Also coffee, green tea and smoothies are extra and they don't go against your water.  I have yet been able to drink more.  Now a lot of it is because I don't have time. I could drink the extra fluid but I'm so busy everyday.  More so in a long time.  This transformation requires a lot of work.  It is worth it!

Michael left my mentor Janet to work with me on the Food Plan, however he has taken more things away from me.  They gave me what he calls an Essential List and that contains what I'm allowed to eat.  This is it in a nutshell:

No Diary - this includes butter, yogurt, sour cream, all cheese etc.

The only diary that I can have is coconut milk, creamer and butter.

No nuts

I can have all veggies with the exception of carrots, broccoli, any white potatoes.  No iceberg lettuce but lettuce that actually has a nutritional value I can have.

I can have sweet potatoes.  All that I want.

The only fruit allowed is blueberries and avocado.  I can enjoy as many avocados as I desire.

All meats.  (beef, chicken, turkey, pork, fish, shrimp etc.)  No ham and no bacon.
I can have 3 slices of turkey bacon a week

egg whites.  I can have 1 egg yoke a day.

No grains.  So no bread, oatmeal, pasta, rice etc.  The only grain I'm allowed is Quinoa which once I learned how to properly prepare it I love it!!!!

No diet drinks and no artificial sweeteners whatsoever!  I can only use pure Stevia.

I can have pinto beans, black beans, white beans and garbanzo beans.  Fresh or in a can.  I just have to rinse them and heat them using chicken broth and seasonings.

So...You can see I am eating very clean.  It is very limited the first 45 days.  Things will slowly come back.  I'm told that dairy and grains will not.

So, this is a TOTAL lifestyle change!  I can't even cook like I use to.  I'm having to learn all over again.  Janet is a genius at this.  She is helping me so much.  I will start sharing things with you.  I can say that I have had no cravings and I am never hungry.  It is amazing what being hydrated and eating whole foods does to your body.  Food has been killing me.  I am so totally convinced.

So, I started this hardly being able to stand.  I have been cooking 3 meals a day!  My knees are handling it ok but my right foot is not!  By the end of the day I can't walk without a walker.  I just keep telling myself that it will get better each time the scale moves.

I have more energy than I know what to do with.  My energy level is that I could run and do all day long.  I don't take naps, I sleep like a baby.  My body is keeping me from doing more!  THIS IS AN AMAZING JOURNEY!

I'm going to close today with what has happened in regards to weight loss in the last 3 weeks.  I started at 397.6 lbs.  Today I weighed 378.4 lbs.  That is 19.2 lbs in 3 weeks.  3 WEEKS!  And... I have not taken one fluid pill!!!!!

Am I jazzed?  You bet I am!  Michael says I will be down 25 lbs by Thanksgiving.  I think that he had better change my goal.  He said by January 1 I will not believe where I'll be.  Janet says that she thinks by the end of Spring I will be in the low 300's.  Ready to follow me and see?

Keep coming back!

Sick!

It has been crazing learning a bunch of new things.  This afternoon I started having chills and I feel like a have a lump in my throat at the base of my throat and my extreme upper chest hurts when I cough. Some discomfort when I swallow.  Started having bad chills this afternoon.  Luckily I got an appt. in the morning with my Dr.  I did lose 12.5 lbs my first week!  I will catch you ll up as soon as I am back on my feet!