Weigh-In #12

Salam and welcome to the Twelfth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 78 kilos | 173 lbs

Loss of: 4 kilos | 9 lbs

Total Loss: 30 kilos | 66.6 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

This past month of May has been the best ever!  It took sooo long to get down to below 80 and then it fluctuated for days at 79.5 and 80 kilos. Ugh! Finally the day of the weigh in it plopped down to 78!!! WOO HOOO!!!  OMG I can’t believe I’ve gotten this far and it hasn’t really been that hard looking back at it.  It seems loosing weight is more about what you eat and how you eat it than constant exercize.  I’m still afraid that If i incorporate too much exersize I’ll burn out and then stop loosing weight but the time has come for me to get seriously sweaty.  I took a fast walk up to the mall the other day and it was 8:30pm at night and still so hot that when I got there the sweat was dripping down my back and seeping through my Abaya.  I had to go directly to the ice rink area to cool off.  Unfortionatly my face has a natural red hue and when i exersize it turns bright red so only Allah knew what people were thinking.  i cooled off quickly and luckily not smelly lol.  It was great though.

It has become obvisou that all dieting with little exercize has a bg detrement to the body.  My skin is sagging and not looking so great in it’s deflated baloon shape.  (dare I say it almost looked better with the fat in it?) But Hubby agrees that I’m looking better and he’s happy! And I’m super happy.  I look in the mirror now and I can see a body really forming now.  i can see with a little toning how I might actaully get to a really nice shape someday.  So here’s to reaching the 75 mark by the next month and insha’Allah more!  I really can’t beleive I’ve gotten this low!  I had a friend long agowho couldn’t get past 83 kilos and I thought wow I’ll never be as thin as her, NOW I AM and it doesn’t feel like it yet but I am there.  The scales are not lying!  Wow I’m so Thrilled I might even go work up a sweat tonight.

Thanks for those that are reading this and wishing me well and I wish all of you well too and I hope that my words inspire you to help yourselves.  Never accept anything less than your best.  I can’t beleive I used to accept and resign myself to being overweight “forever”. 

Weigh-In #11

Salam and welcome to the Eleventh Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 82 kilos | 182 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.44 lbs

Total Loss: 26 kilos | 58 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

Well I KNOW I said i had to get down to sweatyness and now it’s post #11 and STILL i’m not the “sweatyhijab”.  Though I have gotten a bit ripe from cleaning out the house of boxes and getting rid of things and the water happened to stop flowing for a few days so it was a bit ewww. So April was just frustrating and still is emotionally because of the cleaning and marriage issues.  I had no time to really worry about the weight and just ate my normal meals which i guess are still doing great to loose consistantly.  I actaully got down to 81 and A HALF kilos but i can’t really count it because it’s stablized at 82.  I’ve had many of these steps where the weight has been stubborn to get lower and it’s sucks it’s decided on 82 because I’m sooo looking forward to my HUGE surprise at 79 kilos.  If I go for a few walks up to the mall or just step up the exercize (like i’ve bene saying i need to all along) then i know it will just fly off and maybe even make close to my goal!  It’s weird seeing my goal so much closer on the scale yet still not quite in reach! I still see lots of tummy fat and of course the dreaded thigh fat to loose but i can see it’s less.  I gotta figure out soon the best way to firm up this extra skin created by the weight loss.  Maybe just exercizing can do it?  I hope so.  I don’t want to have to do any drastic surgeries like i saw this one guy on tv needed for his baggy skin left over from weight loss.  I do have more energy than i ever thought before but still my back aches something fierce from breastfeeding and lifting short (young) kids all day.  I feel like I’m falling apart and i’m only 24.  Of course because of my large weight gain as a pre-teen my body already had too much to cope with at a young age.  Sometimes I really wonder if I can get a nice body shape.  I’ve lost 26 kilos so far and still I don’t feel confortable with myself.  I still need a lot more to go.  Maybe even beyond 75 kilos but we’ll see once i get to that.

My sleeping schedule has been extremely erratic and maybe that is slowing my body down mentally because sometimes i just feel i wanna nap all day and have no energy to finish things.  I take a good shot of soda or coffee I KNOW! 2 big no-nos but when you have 2 kids to deal with you just HAVE to be mentally alert. I just hope to finish this sorting and get on with organizing my life. So wish me better this month that i can loose past 79.  Soon I will update my site about HOW I eat and what methods i use.  Take care and I hope you all are having success too.

Weigh In #10!

Salam and welcome to the Tenth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 84 kilos | 186 lbs

Loss of: 4 kilos | 9 lbs

Total Loss: 24 kilos | 53 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

March was very trying because for the first two weeks me and my family were sick with flu.  After that it was very hard to get under the 85 and stay under it.  Everyday it would fluctuate wildly and finally I got it under to the 84! I admit still I havn’t gotten sweaty but this month of April I’m going to have to rock hard to stay on track! It’s getting harder and harder to loose the weigh now just by eating habits alone.  I’m sure I can do it and I won’t give up though.

Weigh In #9

Salam and welcome to the Ninth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 88 kilos | 195 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.4 lbs

Total Loss: 20 kilos | 45 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

My surprise for Feb. was a pick of a semi-expensive watch. My watch (cheap ones I buy every few months) broke long ago and I’ve been timeless since. We were leaving Carrefour (supermarket) at Al Jimi Mall and my darling hubby said, “Let’s go pick out a watch!” I was estatic! We aren’t very well off so it was putting him back to buy me a nicer watch than I usually get. I struggled weight wise and so he felt struggling moetary wise was worth it. So we browsed and the thing about my husband is he has modern tastes and I have elegant old fashioned tastes so our choice of watches were way off. My dream watch was a jewled face and jewels on the points of 12,3,6,9 and no numbers. Ahh they had it! They had a lovely collection of just the right style i love and my darling hubby gave in and let me get my style. He origionally wasn’t going to go very high (not more than 150dhs (about $35USD) he first said) but the plain but less expensive ones weren’t my dream watch. We hemmed and hawed around and me batting lashes every so often to get him to pay more…..
Finally for 200dhs ($55) we got the one I’ve always wanted with 2 year warantee. Ah it’s my joy! He got himself a free NICE pen with my purchase so we exchanged purchases like presents hehehe it was funny. But he was seriously proud of me and that felt good!
This was at the begining of Feb since I lost the kilo to 89 quickly. This month has been great for weight loss and I’m looking forward to really stepping it up now that I passed my origional goal in it’s entirety (20 kilos by 20 months). At the end of Feb I thought I should really try my best this coming month and do more exersizes in March! I’ve completed my goal and I will keep striving to reach 70!

Weigh In #8

Salam and welcome to the Eighth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 90 kilos | 199 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.4 lbs

Total Loss: 18 kilos | 40 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

I really enjoyed January, having a blog and goals to keep me centered really is wonderful. I haven’t really been exercizing too much a few minutes of situps on the Ball now and then. I traded the Ball for the computer chair and I bounce along as I type….
It’s the begining of Febuary now and I’m striving hard to get under 90 so I get my surprise! I dipped to 89.5 kilos a few days before the 1st of Feb. but it went back up so I only take that day’s account of the 1st of the month. I really wanted to go into my weight issue on my new blog but i feel it doesn’t have a place so I keep it secret for now….
All the stress of the month helped me learn not to eat even less junk foods. Now when we eat out I’m allowed nothing but a filling salad and juice and that’s starting to be ok with me. I still sometimes want more and sometimes when I’m tempted I give into a chocolate here and there but nothing like before.
My mom and I agreed to have a weigh off back when she was hear for my delivery and I really understand more about having motivation to succeed. My motivations are:
To look good in a short skirted summer’s dress
To be thin enough to please my husband
To be thin enough to please myself of course!
To run without feeling winded
For my marriage to be healthy and happy
For myself to be healthy and happy

I’m not saying my mom doesn’t have good motivations she’s struggling with new borderline diabetes I just hope she continues to try and loose weight. I want her too beat me in this race. I want her (and my dad) to be healthy too so she and my dad can be around longer and watch my kids growing up too. Please all those out there who think they can never be thin don’t listen to yourself! I’m am THE laziest person (and a procrastinator) who makes every excuse not to loose weight and exercize and look how much I’ve lost already by mainly just changing how i eat and a little exercize thrown in when i can’t get under the next kilo on the scale. I hate to use a cliche line but IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!

Weigh In #7

Salam and welcome to the Seventh Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 92 kilos | 204 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.4 lbs

Total Loss: 16 kilos | 35 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

December was torture because my husband said he’d get me a surprise when i got under 90 kilos! I did try hard but I couldn’t do more than 2 kilo loss. Still it’s moving and when you put it all together like that it does give impressive numbers. So you see time flies but if you keep going even slowly it does add up. I’m almost to the 90 mark and tot he 200 mark, which will be awesome!!!! I did pass my origional first goal of 10 kilos in 10 months! From 104 (after birth total) to 94 last month and under it now within really 6 months. I’m happy and satisfied that I’m going to make it eventaully. I’ve slacked off on push-ups and sit-ups….. and I haven’t touched the other equipment in a while but the diet is going great. I’m learning to reist sweets more and control my eating size. I can feel uncomfortably full if I eat too much at once and it makes me feel just sick! I haven’t gotten very sweaty this month and that’s bad for me. I feel so lazy and tired all the time and may hair is everywhere. I feel like a cat. My hair is just falling out very quickly. I’m not sure why…maybe lack of vitamins… so I need to make sure I’m getting enough veggies! Everytime I brush it maybe a hundred strands are gone. It i rub my hair maybe ten are gone…. too much hair dying maybe? Maybe it’s brittle after all this coloring and changing it….. I do have fabulous conditioner I got at a salon in usa so that is saving it from falling out completly at once. It’s the new Year now and of course I have so many resolutions!!!! It’s the Islamic and the Christian New Years so close to each other! So I will do my writting more and I vow to do more exercizing and to meet each month’s goal of 2 kilos loss! I will start a blog http://americanmuslimawriter.blogspot.com/ and keep up with it.
So I hope all out there are keeping up their resolutions. This is the first year I’ve really made any (I used to think it’s corny and pathetic) and now I understand the determination needed to keep something going long term!

Weigh In #6

Salam and welcome to the Sixth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 94 kilos | 208 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.4 lbs

Total Loss: 14 kilos | 31 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

November was a better month. I’m getting into the swing of things and trying to give myself treats but still loose weight. It was extremely hard to reach under 95. I was starving myself a few days, and walking a lot to the mall, and just doing everything to get under this plataue! I really did a lot of push up and sit ups this month (not daily but maybe you can say bi-weekly). My idea is to do as many of these exersizes as I can in one minute and then if I’m not tired just keep going until I collapse. It’s not scientific but it works becuase I can see myself getting stronger each time. I see my face getting thinner a bit around the jawline. No one else sees it though because I wear my hijab properly and don’t show everyone the fat under my chinbone like some women do. Also my upper abs (what I fondly call the tummy above my belly button) feels less now at 94! I’m so excited that now I can SEE on the scale 90 coming up! For Thanksgiving we went to Dubai and went to Papa Johns there! (In Oud Metha across from the American Hospital..in case you’r wondering where it is) This our treat when we go to Dubai because it’s the only pizza place with garlic sauce which we LOVE!!!! Being on a diet though do you think my charming hubby was going to let me cram pizza down my throat? No way and in retro-spect that was good but at the time smelling that delicious pizza i was sad. I had one and half slice and a big salad and i was hankering for more but i promised him i wouldn’t. So the next day for leftovers of course I had one more slice and everyone else finished off the leftovers making it impossible for me to splurge.
I’ve been trying to walk more and no it hasn’t gotten cooler so I still walk mainly at night to the mall (dusk really).
Hmm I’m looking at those workout videos but still haven’t gotten around to them. Last time i did it I did get sweaty so I’m kinda avoiding it…. lazy me i know…..

Weigh In #5

Salam and welcome to the Fifth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 96 kilos | 213 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.4 lbs

Total Loss: 12 kilos | 26 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

October was hard becuase I was depressed trying to organize the hosue and unpack lots of boxes. I re-arranged my whole house at least 4 times. It was difficult too to get my son settled thuogh my daughter loved going to the garden. We bought these camping chairs for picnics and now we keep them in the garden. I also had my 5 year wedding anniversary~! We didn’t do anything special because of finances but it was nice to know we’ve made it this far!
I got my exercize equipment out and tried them out (played with them) and did some new dances for fun. I used my precious money to buy two DVDs about arobics with specialty abs. More about that on another page…. I WATCHED the videos and later tried to do the easier one but my daughter wanted to do it with me and we only have one step stool so now i will have to wait until she’s at school and I’m not sleeping in the morning.
I had a few relapses while at the mall. Sneaking Baskin Robbins or a Hershey Pie But I paid the price of watching the scale pop back up to 97/98 a few times after i got it origionally down to 96.
Speaking of this weigh fluctuation I’m starting to learn if I hit 2 kilos loss mark, in the middle of the month, it takes me the rest of the month to keep it from going back up.
I enjoy my walks now to the mall (only 15 minutes away) and take the stroller with the kids. It get them out of the hosue and me too. I walk as quickly as I can without sweating too badly in my hijab. Remember people hijab for me normally isn’t hot unless it’s 50C/120F out, so for me to reach the stage of SWEATY HIJAB means I’m really uncomfortably hot and doing something that uses a lot of energy. It’s supposed to be cooler this month of Nov. but this is Arabian country so I’m not betting too badly on it. Last year was pretty hot still in Nov. If I don’t get out in the morning to the mall i haven to wait until nearly sunset or take a taxi because it’s too hot.

Weigh In #4

Salam and welcome to the Fourth Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 98 kilos | 218 lbs

Loss of: 2 kilos | 4.4 lbs

Total Loss: 10 kilos | 22 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

September was crazy because we had to move. I’m glad though because there was no way I was able to run around in hijab in this neighborhood! I lived in Sanaiyya (Industrial) Area of Al-Ain, UAE. Not only was it HOT HOT HOT outside but there are no trees. The only shade comes from the buildings and if there is no dust storm then it’s ok to walk to get a taxi or something but pleasure walking no way! Especailly not in hijab. I’m sorry but I will not show up at the mall in a sweaty hijab! I’ve taken my kids out a few times just to get used to walking around and such at the mall. But then it was PACKING PACKING PACKING.
Now our new home is near Al-Ain Mall and I love it, it has a small garden that I love. Though now it’s just weeds and dead short palm trees the dreams are filling my hubby and my head about how it CAN be. Within a week of moving in my hubby had someone clear the rubbish and flatten the land. We planted randomly a few flwers and my hubby threw food stuff seeds all over the ground so we’ll see how those turn out heh…..
I found my exercize equipment as I was packing and carefully remebered which box I put it in to take out later. My Goal is to Loose at minimum 2 kilos per month. If I only loose one i will be happy because my origional agreement is to loose 10 kilos in 10 months and 20 kilos by 20 months. The faster the better as long as they stay off though.

Weigh In #3

Salam and welcome to the Third Weigh in!

Begining: 108 kilos | 240 lbs

Weigh in: 100 kilos | 222 lbs

Loss of: 4 kilos | 8 lbs

Total Loss: 8 kilos | 18 lbs

Goal of: 70 kilos | 155 lbs

All of Aug. was so very difficult in life becuase of the hassles and pain of breastfeeding problems that eating less became second nature. Yet I was happy to step on my trusty scale on Sept. 1st, and see a drop of 4 kilos|8lbs! This kilo/lbs conversion is making it hard to calculate everything. So I go mainly with kilos and the lbs is an approx number ok. (Kgx2.22=Lbs)
My tummy feels slightly lighter on the upper abs but the lower still is sagging from the babies it’s carried. I haven’t delt with exercize for healing reasons and that will come later…