What Happened to My Life?

I haven't blogged in over a year. In that time, much has happened, both good and bad. I'm still searching for a teaching job, but I've been subbing. I got married in December. And I gained back every last pound that I had lost. Every.Single.One. I'm not going to say "I don't know how I let myself do it" because I do. It was easy and delicious. But I can say that I'm not happy about it and I want to do something about it. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know anyone that it's happened to? I could use some support. My husband is on board to change our diets in whatever way I see fit, but it's not the same as having a banded buddy to talk to. Although, I can't say I'm much fun currently...with the job search not going well plus all the weight gain, I feel so defeated with life. Like I know where I want to end up in life, but I don't know how to get there. I've been so emotional. I know I want to have kids and I wish I could have them soon, but I'd like to get down to 170 and get some decent income before we start trying. I just feel stuck, I guess.

There. Whine over.

Anyhow, I just caught up on some blogs that I used to read, so if you're still out there and you remember me, I could totally use your support right now. I'll love you back.

xoxo

p.s. guess if anyone's interested I shouldn't say I got married without posting a wedding pic...that's just mean :)

Sugar, We're Going Down

Ok, so I ripped the title of this post off of a Fall Out Boy song. It's appropriate, because that's exactly where the scale is going...DOWN!

I was supposed to blog yesterday, but between feeling like utter poo and the computer keyboard malfunctioning, it just wasn't happening. Feeling better, but the keyboard is still messed up, so today's entry will be short and sweet. I'm down to 234.4, 1.1 down from last week and 3.6 down from New Year's Day, which I'm ok with.

Hope everyone's well. Will be reading your blogs today since I didn't get called to work!

xoxo

Weekly Weigh In

This week I weighed in at 235.5. Not a great loss, only .7 down from last week, but Aunt Flo was in town, so I'll take any loss I can get :)

Don't have too much to report this week. Maybe later in the week something exciting will happen. We'll see. So, on that note, I'll leave you with a super fabulous picture of me in the wedding dress that I tried on at the bridal show last week. It's not THE dress, so it's ok to post, right? Yeah, I think so.



:) I felt beautiful in it. And while Ben always tells me that I'm beautiful, I'm not sure how long it's been since I've actually felt that way. It was awesome.

Hope you're all having a wonderful week!

xoxo

Busy Busy Busy

I've been much busier than expected, which is why I haven't posted yet. Anyhow, last post I talked about how I'm pretty much on Cloud 9 and loving life. Here's why:

On Sunday, Ben and I went to our first bridal show together. No, he hasn't proposed yet, but I figured it couldn't hurt to get our feet wet with the planning process. While we were there, I tried on a wedding dress for the first time. It was beautiful and I loved it. Almost bought it, actually. As I was being helped into it, the girl who was helping me said, that it's a size twenty four and I'm absolutely swimming in it so we'll have to clamp it in the back. CLAMPS ON THE DRESS!!! EEK!!! It was so exciting! See, the dress was discontinued and that was the only size they had. It was so fantastic to be told that it was huge on me. I loved it. So, anyway, we got some great ideas for what we want our wedding to be like and we've been kind of planning every day since Sunday. It's been great. I love it. I know the proposal is coming soon. He's supported me financially while I was in school and now that I'm out, I'm finally able to start helping with bills again because I started working as a substitute teacher! That's the second reason for my "flying high" feeling. It's so great to be able to go back to the school where I student taught and see my kids and actually get paid for it, too. I'm loving life right now. And, to top it all off, I took a sneak peek at the scale this morning and I've lost some more weight. I don't think I could be any happier at the moment. Everything seems to be going my way. In addition to subbing at this school, the principal from another local school emailed me and asked me if I'd please come sub for them because she needs someone who is certified to teach secondary English, which I am. She said she got my information off of  one of my professors, so it's awesome to know that someone thinks highly enough of me to recommend me to them. So, things are really starting to shape up for us. Super excited about what this year will bring!

xoxo

The Scale Moved!

Last week's weight was 238.0. This week it's down to 236.2. It was lower earlier in the week, but, with more protein come more bathroom issues...you know how it goes. At least the scale has moved in a downward motion. I'm still doing yoga and walking and things are going well. Better than well, actually. I'm pretty high on life right now. But more about that tomorrow. It's been a long day and I need to go relax and get my yoga on.

xoxo

New Year New Jackie?

I'm back. For real this time. I'm so sorry for my absence, bloggers. This year, I'm resolving to remain active within this wonderfully supportive group of bandsters, bypassers, and anyone else who happens by my blog. That being said, if anyone is still reading this blog, then they need to be caught up on a few things since my last post. I finished my wonderful student teaching experience on December 7th and on December 15th, I became a college graduate. In my immediate family, I'm the first and only to graduate with a bachelor's degree. I'm just waiting for my Pennsylvania Teacher's Certification and then I'll be ready for the job hunt. I've been accepted as a substitute teacher at the school where I did my student teaching, but I'm waiting for my replacement social security card to come in before I can begin working. I can't wait. Hopefully within the next year or two I'll be able to find a full time teaching job and won't have to rely on the uncertainty of substitute teaching.

In some less awesome news, I rang in the New Year at a whopping 238 pounds. Over the course of student teaching and the holiday season, I gained back 30 pounds! It sucks. Bad. But, I'm doing something about it. I've been planning my meals, writing down every single thing I eat, and making sure I drink all my water. I'm really having to get back to basics with this. I've even started exercising daily (well, every day since New Year's day, but I'm going to keep it up). I've never been good at exercising regularly, always finding excuses. However, at my last trip to visit my PA, she told me that I can do yoga and count that as exercise. Not hot yoga, not fat burning yoga, just regular old yoga. I'd never done it before, so I was skeptical, but on New Year's day, Ben and I pulled up this video on Youtube and we gave it a try. For the past 6 or 7 years, I've had chronic back pain. I tried this video and while the pain isn't gone entirely, it sure has helped. It's so relaxing. We were both surprised at how much we enjoyed it. In only four days of doing it, I can definitely see an improvement in my flexibility, too. It's great. In addition, we've been doing this walking video. It's snowy here in Pittsburgh, so I didn't want to go outside and walk. This video is a great alternative. With these new habits in place, I've already lost some weight. I'm not going to say just how much yet, but since the new year started on a Tuesday, I've decided to make Tuesdays my new weigh in day. Nothing wrong with a fresh start, right?

So, here are some goals for 2013:
-Start reading and commenting on your blogs again (I feel terrible for not implementing this sooner!)
-Blog at least twice a week
-Follow bandster rules (tracking calories, protein [and fat, per my PA], getting water in, timing eating, etc.)
-Do yoga at least one time per day and the walking video at least 5 times per week (until I feel like expanding my horizons and maybe trying Jillian Michaels again)
-Onederland by my birthday (April 19)
-Fit into size 16 dress that I picked up for $17 at Fashion Bug for my cousin's wedding June 15.
-150 by 2014.


I'm anxious to read your blogs and get caught up on what you've all been doing. It'll be a slow process, so please bear with me while I get caught up. It's been quite a long time. Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a happy and safe  New Year's Eve/Day.

xoxo

fat.

I miss you guys. I'm a little sad. I need to get back into Blogland. I haven't read or posted in a very very long time. I've been struggling, quite clearly, as my weight ticker has crept back up to 226 (18 pounds higher than my lowest--yikes!)
I thought I'd exercise more and eat better during student teaching. Not so. I'm not sure why I let myself get so bad again. My cooperating teacher is selling candy and chips and stuff in her classroom to help fundraiser for a trip she's taking the kids on to Boston and Salem (we cover the witch trials in our class) and today for lunch, I had a bag of Ritz bits sandwich crackers and a Butterfinger bar. Forgot my water bottle today so I went to the faculty lounge to get a bottle...they were out. I tried getting the only other non-carbonated beverage in the machine, which was iced tea. Also sold out. I'm sitting here drinking a delicious regular Coke that I tried (to no avail) to flatten. Sigh. Old bad habits. How do you get rid of them once you've found yourself slipping back into them?