Set Backs

Have you ever had a set back? I think we can all answer yes to this question. Many times a set back is something that is not good in our lives. Many of us have different types of set backs but we all know the feeling can be upsetting, over-whelming, anger, hate, and sadness. I recently suffered a set back in my weight loss journey. I weigh myself every saturday morning. I stepped on to the stupid scale, crossing my fingers every time that I lose at least a pound. This morning, that scale did not treat me well. It said that I gained three pounds. That ruined my day. A stupid little machine like that made me so upset. It's not the first time this has happened to me though. About two months ago I went to a friends apartment for a birthday party. I was there for a weekend and of course I wasn't eating good plus I was drinking beer. When your trying to lose weight, beer is not your friend unfortunately. When I got home and stepped on the scale, I had gained three pounds in a matter of one day. Pissed? You bet I was.

The thing about losing weight, is that I didn't want to give up everything that I liked to eat. First off, losing weight is not fun, no one likes to lose weight. So why should I have to suffer? Now I'm not saying that I eat everything I love everyday. No, I eat or splurge every so often. Eating right and exercising are the main keys in successful weight loss.

That next week, I busted my butt during my workouts and I was exhausted. When I got on the scale that next saturday it was awesome. I had lost five pounds! It felt so good to be back on track. I would have to say that set backs for me are what drive me to want to work harder. Yea, it would be nice to never gain weight in a week, but for me I know it will happen. It's a psychological game. If you gain some weight, oh well just get back to working out and do what you do or you can mope around and keep gaining weight. It sucks, gaining weight when your trying to lose weight SUCKS! But you have to stay strong and keep working hard. I was mad at myself for gaining weight. But I would be even more mad if I just quit and let the scale beat me. Stay strong and never give up!

Give back.

Today I did some community service. No I didn't get into trouble and had to do it. I did it because I wanted to give back to the community, something which I rarely do and probably most of us don't either. I helped out at the Waukesha Optimist Swim meet. I participated in this when I was in elementary school.I loved this event because it's a fun competitive atmosphere. Kids learn team work, like cheering on others, giving high-fives and working together to make the team become closer. They learn how to participate, have good sportsmanship, and figure out what helps them get "pumped" before their race. My mom used to coach our team. We were a small school but man we were close. Everyone cheered on each other and it was just a fun time. My mom had this way of getting kids to come out and try swimming even if they didn't want to. Funny thing is, a lot of the kids that came out to try swimming, actually ended up pursuing swimming as they got older. It's amazing how someone can influence you like that.

So, I had to wake up at 8:30 this saturday morning. That's early for a college kid. I got to the meet and it was crazy as usual. Kids running around, cheering on their teammates. Parents screaming at their son or daughter to swim faster. The thing that really got me was how throughout the day, no matter what the outcome of the race was, everyone was happy and smiling. Something that still sticks out to me was when a kid was doing the 25 yard freestyle. Everyone had finished their race and got out of the pool already but he was still swimming. Everyone in the natatorium started cheering this boy on. That kid could have gave up but he kept swimming and finished his race. That's probably one of the best things kids can learn, never give up. You always finish what you start. One saturday out of the year, makes such a difference for so many kids and their families.

What I really enjoyed was no matter what the talent level of the kids, everyone gave their all. That's the great thing about this meet. You can be on an Express swim team or you could just swim because you like to. For many of these kids, this may be the only physical activity they do or have done. But it gives them something to enjoy and have fun with. As they get older, they can look back on this and remember how much fun they had and swimming may be an activity that they will enjoy doing for the rest of their lives. Like I said before, find something you enjoy and keep doing it. I love basketball, and I will never give up playing it or watching it. For some of these kids, they love swimming and they will always have it. Find out what you love and that will make your life better and more memorable.

R & R

What's up everyone!

Back to blogging for me. Yesterday was my off day from working out and let me tell you, I didn't do a damn thang ;) You have to give your body time to relax and regenerate from the stress you put on it. Yesterday, I did something that haven't done in a couple months. I took a nap. I woke up feeling so regenerated and ready to pursue the day. Of course I also watched college basketball (March Madness). I thought my bracket was toast, but I'm still hanging in there with Kentucky winning it all. Enjoy your day off, you deserve it. Go out and do something fun and enjoyable. What do you do on your day off?

I came across this article last night. It opened my eyes to how bad our schools and parents have been educating their children on good, healthy foods. Some of these kids didn't know what a pear or green pepper was! I think a reason why children are so overweight today is because we feed them food that has no nutritional value, but is cheap and easy to make. Looking back on my hot lunch days, I ate greasy pizza, french fries, nachos, BBQ rib on a bun and desserts. All of that is crappy food. Now not all schools are to blame too. Many parents now a days are giving their children lunchables- have you seen the crap that is in those too! You think they may be a healthier lunch choice, but really there just as bad for the children as the hot lunch. Our schools and parents need to change how they are feeding their children or we will forever be the most obese country. British chef helps Milwaukee Schools fight childhood Obesity

I can definitely say that my pallet has changed since I was young, but now being healthy I enjoy better foods. I love peppers- green, orange, red, whatever. Fresh produce is so healthy and good for you. I eat more fruits too, my mom gets these huge strawberries from a fresh market- I can sit and eat the whole container. It's hard to start eating healthy. It took me awhile to get used to eating better choices, but after a while you start to actually enjoy food for what it really tastes like. I LOVE water. If your used to drinking sugary drinks, it may take you awhile to get used to water but its so good for your body when you working out. Begining to eat better is just as hard as working out. It's like a math equation, you have to put the two together or else you won't get the results right. It will be hard, I know from experience, but in the long run your helping you and your body live a longer and healthier life.

The journey Begins.

Hola!

Wow, I have never felt so good as I did yesterday. So much positive feedback for starting this blog and my Facebook website Fluffy Girl. I'm not going to lie, I was hesitant at first to tell people about this- but by not caring what people think of the blog and website, helped more people grow too. Don't be afraid to take chances!

As I said in my first blog, I am going to tell you about my journey to lose weight. Now I don't want to lose weight so I can be skinny. I am losing this weight so I can live a healthy life. That's something I think people need to think about when actually losing weight. Being healthy is the most important thing, not being a size 0.

I started my weight loss journey on December 18, 2009. My dad made me a circuit. For all of you who don't know what that is. It's continuous exercises over a period of time. So I do an exercise for 50 seconds, rest for ten seconds and then go onto the next exercise for 50 seconds and so on. I do five different exercises in the two different circuits for a total of 4 circuits. It takes me about 45-50 minutes to complete. After that, I go on the elliptical for 25-30 minutes. I do the circuit three times a week, usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I have to say that I am lucky, my dad as I told you before is a gym teacher and he made our garage into a personal gym. We have dumbbells, squat racks, an elliptical trainer, weights ect. I call it the Nitka Gym. It's nice not having to go to the YMCA every day.

The circuit at first made me exhausted. Obviously because I had not been doing anything like that at school. But let me tell you, over the weeks that I did the circuit, I notice that I could put more weight on certain exercises I did and I wasn't out of breath as much. When you notice little things like that, it really motivates you to want to do more and to keep working out. Now, besides just doing the circuit training, I also played a lot of basketball. For all of you who don't know, I LOVE BASKETBALL. I believe that playing basketball all my life has shaped me to who I am. I think that you need to find something you absolutely love and always do it. It doesn't have to be basketball, it could be some other sport or simply going for a walk. Just something that makes you happy and feel good.

I remember the first time I stepped on the scale, I had many emotions going through my head. That tiny scale scared the crap outta me. It can be your best friend or it can be your worst enemy. My first week, I had lost three pounds! To some of you, three pounds is nothing. But when you think about it, three pounds is a lot. To burn one stinking pound, you have to burn 3,000 calories! I felt so happy to know that I worked my butt off and I lost that much weight in the first week. As hard as I thought it was, hard work pays off. It may suck at first, but let me tell you, the feeling you get when you BEAT that scale. Priceless.

Not the Typical 'Fat' Girl.

Hello to all!

My name is Molly and I am "Fat". That's what all the charts say, my doctors says and books say. I grew up being big all my life. Interestingly enough I grew up in a family that played sports- softball, tennis, golf, track, soccer and basketball. Sports was my life growing up and what I was good at. Some of the athletic accomplishments I have had are, being the state Free-throw champ in 5th grade, in high school I was voted Most Valuable Senior Athlete and went to the State Track and Field meet 3 out of my 4 years in shot put and discus in high school. Not the typical "fat" girl resume.

In high school my weight grew as I got older as does it for most people. But for me, it was different. I graduated high school being 5'8'', 225 pounds. I am 20 years old now and recently transferred from a four year school to a tech school. The reason: to lose weight. I new if I stayed at the college I was at, I would end up being 250 pounds or more.

The turning point for me was when I stepped on the scale at my YMCA and it read 231. I felt ashamed at what I had done to myself. I let myself get this big. From then on I told myself that I would devote the rest of my life to living better and I am deciding to share my journey with others. The reason for this is because I have been touched by many stories of weight loss without even knowing it. I believe that it was a sign for me that I needed to get my act together or I would be going down a path that would lead to health problems and possible early death.

Weight has not only been an issue for me in my family but for 2 of my other siblings. I live in a big family. My dad ironically enough is a gym teacher and strength and conditioning coach. My mom, my brothers Cal-25, Matt-24, Mark-15 and my sister Megan 22. My brother Cal grew up a chubby kid like me. He reached almost 300 pounds in college and then he lost a lot of weight and now people think he's a model. ( He's engaged girls, sorry) My sister Megan was never really fat or overweight growing up but she too in college lost about 50 pounds over the course of year and literally was too skinny. Her weight loss affected her body by turning her skin a yellowish tint. We found out her iron levels were very low. She put on about 20 pounds and is doing well.

This is the first time that I am blogging. I guess I popped my cherry,woohoo! Anyways, I didn't want to write too much this first time. I will get more into my weight loss journey in my next blog. Hope you guys and gals come back for more. Thanks!