Loser Jars and Getting Back on Track

I have been doing an awful job of staying on track since about May. I attribute it to a number of factors, especially being swamped at work and being in a new relationship with a wonderful woman who feeds me too well with things that are not good for me... and I let her. :-D SOOOO I am trying my darndest to get back on track and start anew, all the while educating my other half so we can... or at least I can... make better choices.

I saw a great idea on the Slim Reapers Lose It forum and decided to do it... LOSER JARS! You put glass gems, marbles, or even pebbles in a one jar to represent the pounds you need to lose. In another jar to the side, you place pounds you actually lose. Pictures below will show you what I mean.


All you need are jars, gems, and decorative stickers.

Front View

Side 2

Side 3

Side 4, with my starting weight and end goal weight.

Top view of the gems

I have lost 32 lbs. 32 gems represent lbs.

I have 43 lbs to lose. 43 gems represent lbs.

Before and After - Photo Logging

Do you keep visual reminders of what was and what now is? I do. I highly recommend it as a matter of fact! It's not too late to start unless you already reached your losing end point.

What I do...
1. Take a face shot once a week (usually Saturday in the same location with the same lighting) and post in a facebook album. This permits me to flip through the album and see the progression of my face and features slimming or changing in good ways. I can also do some good side-by-sides after a while.
2. At the beginning and every month or so, take a profile shot. Look at that chin shrink!
3. Take pictures of your bigger clothing to show how much you have shrunk. :-)

Do you do anything like this? Please share!

Some examples of mine...

 Compiled 3.22.12

 Losing inches!!!

 Size 24 ---> 20

Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?

For much of my life, I've been (or at least felt like) "the fat kid". Yeah, there have been short periods of time where something causes me to slim down (like track and field in middle school or converting to vegetarianism in college)... but inevitably I would balloon back up to 200-ish lbs. I would get frustrated with myself because of my lack of commitment to making myself healthy and/or thin. I admired people with perfectly sculpted bodies and felt angry and jealous. And wondered what in the hell was wrong with me.

This year I am grabbing life by the balls and making it what I want so I can enjoy my life the way I want it. I'll pretend like it's a spin off from my emotional healing process. Heck, maybe it's not even a spin off. Maybe a continuation.

Regardless... I returned to my apartment after Christmas Break with my family in the Midwest to find that I had gained 6 pounds... in ten days. I ate like a glutton. I disgusted myself with all of the sweets and food I ate, yet I was the one who put the food there and was the only one to blame for the result. I returned home weighing 215 lbs. The heaviest weight my body has ever felt was 224 in college. And here I was, climbing back up there again. I deemed it unacceptable and decided to make

the biggest decision of my life... 

I was going to get healthy!

Yeah, yeah... you're saying "Everyone says that..." or "Nobody keeps New Year's Resolutions..." FYI, this was no stinkin' resolution! This was for REAL. My friend told me about a site she had started using to log calories and exercise on and she invited me to join her. I thought "what the hell--may be useful", so I signed up. Lo and behold, I loved it. It was like Facebook for people trying to get their lives together. All of these amazing, supportive people trying to kick their bad habits, eat well, exercise more, and encourage each other. How easy it would be to get jealous of someone else who has lost 2 lbs the day you gain 1 lb.  And yet, that component of evil isn't there. It's so positive--strangers embracing strangers in common journeys. I can't tell you how much I love the site and the people. The site gives you access to charts and graphs that track your progress. To date, I've lost just over 27 lbs... I have 48 more pounds to go! More exercise, better choices, naughty foods in moderation... the whole bit. I am there. Every success makes me feel more and more empowered. I know I can do this, and I know I will. If you had asked me a year ago if this was possible, I would have laughed in your face... but now I'm laughing in my past's face. And boy does it feel good.

Website referenced: www.loseit.com
(There is also an Android App -- to use on a phone or Kindle!)