Texas Girl Starting Today

[LeslieM]

Hey there everyone! I am officially starting my transformation today. I will be recording my progress in a personal journal, but will share here too. A little background. I was raised in Texas on a southern diet. I never really struggled with my weight much though. I think because we rarely ate out and I was and still am an outdoorsy type. Fast forward..23 years old, married and expecting my first child. This is when my yo-yo weight started. I've taken weight off and on for the last 18 years. I was in sight of my goal this time last year. We moved back to TX after being gone for 20 years. I was overwhelmed by tex-mex! My personal physical goals for the next 12 weeks are: 1.Reduce my current weight(138.6) by 13 lbs. Reduce the size of my waist and upper thighs and get rid of the jiggle in my arms. 2.Have more energy 3. Increase my flexibility
My personal goals are: 1.Record at least one different thing each day for which I'm thankful 2. Read 6 pieces of quality literature 3. Complete training to work with human trafficking victims in Houston 4.Start the process to go back to school
I don't know how much sharing of my personal goals will be appropriate for this forum, but I did want to get them recorded!
I'm really looking forward to the mutual encouragement!

[LeslieM]

I wanted to also record a few of my nutrition weaknesses. Might as well let it all hang out!
So my food weakness are:
1.cheese...if you give me cheese, I'm gonna want chips and if you give me chips, I'll need guacamole. If I have guacamole, I'll need some more chips. You get the picture.
2. Sugar..sugar is only an issue for me when i have it! If I don't eat it, I rarely crave it. When I do eat it though, a switch flips on and it takes herculean effort to flip it off.
3.Wine..red wine in particular..I like it a lot. I've tried to create an "only 2 glasses a few time a week" rule...I know I will have a headache if I break the rule and I know that I will likely say something unkind trying to be funny if I break the rule. I still break the rule.(fyi..this is not up there with cheese, but it's enough of a problem to make me want to fix it). I also think it stalls my weight loss and fitness goals. Cause who wants to think about exercise or wise food choices with a headache man!
That's it. I can do a lot of damage with those three!

[Craig Ballantyne]

Hi Leslie, I've recently instituted a 2-drink maximum as well. For me, it's Black Russians. So far I've been good with it, and tonight I avoided all booze...even though I'm surrounded by amazing restaurants in Miami.

Stay strong.

You might also want to check out www.SugarFreedom.com by CTT, Catherine Gordon (Pageboy9). It's quality literature!

And the more you share, the better. In past contests, people have gotten quite open, and it helps.

Keep up the great work. One last thing to check out, my Gratitude Journal here: http://www.earlytorise.com/journal/

In that journal, you create your own quality piece of literature!

[LeslieM]

Wow! Friday night, Miami and no liquor? You're a rock! Thank you for the links. I'll check those out.

[LeslieM]

Okay so per something I read on here somewhere,(feeling a bit of information overload) I took measurements for the contest. I measured:bust,waist,abdomen,hips,upper thighs and upper arms. Did I miss anything? Okay, nighty-night fat loss warriors!

[PeterJankowski]

Wine is my nemesis as well. Red especially also.

Speaking of which I'm off to the bottle shop!

[LeslieM]

Although my official start date was yesterday(my photographer goes back to college today), my first workout is today. I overdid it a bit with squats and lunges the day before I purchased the program and my legs were still screaming. I'll have to improvise a bit as I do not have a bench yet for the incline presses.

-Today I am thankful for a mild winter climate that allows me to be outside comfortably in January.
-First book-Beautiful Boy by David Sheff (it's heavy, I'll need a work of fiction next, I think)
-Made it through Friday night w/out so much as a sniff of fermented grape!
I hope all of my fellow transformers are healthy and strong today!

[RobB]

Originally Posted by LeslieM

Although my official start date was yesterday(my photographer goes back to college today), my first workout is today. I overdid it a bit with squats and lunges the day before I purchased the program and my legs were still screaming. I'll have to improvise a bit as I do not have a bench yet for the incline presses.

-Today I am thankful for a mild winter climate that allows me to be outside comfortably in January.
-First book-Beautiful Boy by David Sheff (it's heavy, I'll need a work of fiction next, I think)
-Made it through Friday night w/out so much as a sniff of fermented grape!
I hope all of my fellow transformers are healthy and strong today!

Glad you are in a good climate........32 F here in the Midwest US this morning and that is a heat wave compared to the rest of the week. The weekend outdoor runners said it was slick in spots this morning as they maneuvered their way around town.........

[LeslieM]

Rob-I spent 2 long years in Duluth,MN(or southern canada as I like to call it!) I was not built for that kind of cold. I love the snow though. Spring in Duluth was amazing, liliac bushes and butterflies everywhere you looked. Our house was on a hill so we had a beautiful view of Lake Superior. If I could have picked up that beautiful town and moved it south a bit,quite a bit, I think I would have been happy to never leave! Hope you have a great day in spite of the cold!

[LeslieM]

uggg...I'll have to try later. The video keeps stopping and starting. Maybe too many people online.