Thursday, May 31, 2012

Le Sick

It figures. The end of the school year is approaching and summer vacation is close. How do I get to celebrate? With a cold! It was only a matter of time before it got me. The sniffles, coughs and stomach virus were spreading like wild fire through the kindergarteners. I hope it get over this by Sunday.

I cannot wait to sign up for spin and Zumba classes tomorrow. I'm actually considering whether or not to stay up until 12 a.m. so I can grab my spots fast. I'm told the classes get filled up quickly. It will be great to have something to look forward to every day this summer. I'll let you all know how it goes!

I also have had two great Weight Watchers days. When I did the program before in 2007 I stuck to those points like nobody's business. I was a point counting fiend. Lately, I've been pretty lax with counting my points. This is a silly thing to do considering that in a week's time I could lose a pound just by eating correctly. My very first week of Weight Watchers resulted in a 6 pound weight loss. Next Thursday morning is my weigh in (I do the program online, by the way). Let's hope the report is good. If I stick to the plan, it should be.

My week's goals:

1. Stick to tracking my Points.
2. Sign up for spin and Zumba classes.
3. Make a visual reminder of my weight loss goal.
4. Write down a mini goal.

Well I hope everyone else is in good health! Enjoy your Friday.


Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Past, Present, Future

Once upon a time, in a hot, humid land lived a girl who was newly graduated from high school. She was ready for the next big step in her life. College was drawing closer and she thought, "Hey, why not look good in the process?" So she joined Weight Watchers with her mom.

Everyday she followed her eating plan. She felt better, had more energy and felt more sociable. In fact, she felt so great she joined Circle K (college version of Kiwanis, not the gas station!) She had the time of her life going to to new places, fixing up camp sites, cleaning up roadways and nature preserves. She even found her future husband. 2006-2007 was a great year.

Then she kept hanging out with her amazing boyfriend and began to neglect Weight Watchers. She'd rather go to the movies with him than walk around the mall with friends. He would take her to get ice cream, yummy food she never tried and even liked playing Mario Kart with her. Life was going great.

Then she went from community college to the big leagues - USF. It was intense, it was crazy and she thought she'd fail. At the end of her first semester at USF her mother went into cardiac arrest. Her mother survived but it was a roller coaster ride. Between school,work, mom and her boyfriend the girl got very stressed and could only focus on the few things that were important to her. Exercise disappeared like a magic trick. Eating healthy became a thing of the past. It was survival mode.

One day, right before she got married, she looked at herself in the mirror. Why would her future husband want to stay with her? In 2007, when they first met, she was at her lowest weight and felt amazing. She loved herself and therefore could love her future husband. But from then until now the weight started to come back. She tried to ignore it. Her future husband would love her no matter what-even if she couldn't love herself anymore. She tried to deny it, but she could not anymore. She had gained back every pound she lost, plus more. What a sad girl she became.

The end.

Nope! I refuse to let that be the end. I made this picture to really make myself see what I have let happen to myself over the last five years.
The "me" on the right is from 2007 when I first met my husband. God I felt awesome. The  "me" on the left is the day we got married, December 2011 (I notice I put myself into the future based on the date I labeled). I have gained 101 pounds. Seriously? How did I let that happen?

While I think about how I let it happen, I really need to focus on the "how will I make it go away?" part. I have joined Weight Watchers again. Also I am signing up for a summer spin and Zumba class. Those two smarter choices have put me on the right track. Now I have to think of my goals. It's hard to get some place when you don't have goals to get you there.

I know what I can accomplish by looking at my past, I've finally opened my eyes to the present, and now I have to focus on the future.

I know I can't be the only one out there who has gone through such a drastic weight loss and then another drastic weight gain. If you want to get healthy again, come along for the ride. Share your struggles because one thing I do know, from past and present, is that trying to make a life style change on your own can be pretty tough.

I can do it, you can do it. Let's do it!

Monday, May 28, 2012

New Beginnings

I'm ready to make a change. I finally got to that breaking point where I am over what I look like. I am tired of feeling down on myself. Why feel bad when I have the power to make the change? Change is hard, I know because I did it before and fell apart from the stress of it. It's time to get over that stress now and put my big girl britches on (which ironically I want to shrink). I have the tools and support to make good on my change; what I lack is the accountability and that is where this blog comes in.

Why is this blog called From King Size to Queen Size? Well, my last name is King and it is amusing to the kindergartners I teach. In their world a guy is a king and a girl is a queen. When I started teaching them three months ago, pretty much every one of my students came to me with a smile on their face and said, "Mrs. King, your name should be Mrs. Queen. You're a girl!" I sometimes get called Mrs. Queen everyone now and then. 

As adorable and heart warming as that anecdote is, it got me thinking. I wish I looked like a queen to those students. I want to be a role model of health for them. They are observant to the point that they will notice anything. I want them to see me have healthy habits. I want to go from feeling like one of those cartoon kings with the round bellies who scarf down chicken legs (we have all seen this exaggeration before) to a regal queen (think Kate Middleton- a queen-to-be). My journey begins now.