Just saying a quick "hi!"

Hello out there to you people who found me through Huffington Post!!  Welcome to my humble little corner of cyberspace where I share my dreams, aspirations, successes and failures (thankfully more successes than failures...).

Feel free to take a look around and I hope you'll stick with me through this next, and possibly last, phase of this weigh loss journey.

As you can see from my last weigh in I've gained a few pounds back from the time that I wrote that Huffington Post piece, but I'm back on the wagon (I took a breather for various reasons) but I always come back stronger and ready to concur the world.  I will admit I've peeked at the scale and you'll be happy to know it's going back in the right direction...

Anyway, I hope that you pop back in and visit my little blog from time to time!

Have a good night and see you on Wednesday for my weigh in!!

Weigh In Wednesday is back - The Oopsie Daisy edition

Current Weight:                                                   228.2
Last Weight:                                                        223.3

Weight Gained:                                                       4.9

Okay, I'm back in this thing.  Obviously I've been off the wagon for a while, as you can see from the weight that I've gained in the last few weeks.  But I'm ready to shed this current gain and hopefully even more.

As I mentioned in my last post, I joined another Diet Bet, but this one is slightly different.  It's a six month long bet, and I am betting that I will lose 10% of my starting weight rather than the 4% in a month.  I like that it's a slow and steady kind of race, rather than the extreme of the other one.  Each month has weight loss goals and each month you place money on making it.  Like for instance, this first month's goal is to lose 3% of my starting weight, and I bet $25.  If I don't make it, the goal for the second month is another 3% (for a total of 6% of my starting weight).  If I don't make the first month's weight goal, the weight goal for the second month doesn't change, it just means I have to play catch up.  At the end of each month, if you make your goal weight, you can win money but if you don't make it you are still eligible for the next month's bet as well as the grand prize pot at the end.

My weight goal for this first month is 221.9,  and the weigh in days are October 3rd and 4th.  I'm obviously not going to make that weight, but I'm okay because I'm doing this for the motivation and to have set goals to strive towards.  I was late joining the game, and I really only found my stride and motivation this week.  My eating is pretty much back on track (no really!  We have kitchens in our hotel this week and I've been tracking everything I eat!  Yay!) and I've been really good about exercising.  So, while I might not be able to drop 6 pounds in a week and a half, but I might get pretty darn close.  The bonus is if I make my 10% goal, I will be at 205.  That's a great number to see on the scale in March when this thing ends.  I really can't wait to see that number on the scale!

Other than this Diet Bet, I've just been adjusting to life back on the road.  For this week and next week I'm in Washington DC, and my show is playing at the Kennedy Center.  It's gorgeous weather and I'm really enjoying being here.  I can't wait to see some of the sites I've never seen before and to just enjoy my time here.  After this we head to Boston, another city that I'm REALLY looking forward to.  I've only been to Boston one other time in my life and that was for a long weekend.

Alright my friends its time for me to get ready for my day.  Have a good one!

Oops I forgot!!

Sorry for no weigh in yesterday!  I have been a bit busy with work and preparing to leave NYC to hit the road and I honestly just plain forgot!!

To be honest, I'm okay with forgetting.  I'm feeling really gross right now.  I just feel puffy and disgusting and I think it's because my diet has been sub-par and my exercise almost non-existent.  I'm ready to get back out on the road and back into my routine.  I've enjoyed being in NYC but I've allowed myself to cross that line of "relaxing and enjoying myself" over to "giving myself excuses to eat poorly at every turn."  I think I needed to finally cross that line so that I could mentally be ready to get back on the bandwagon.  I was burned out before and needed to hit the point that I'm at now.

Which brings me to my next point...

I know you're probably all wondering why I'm doing this, but I've decided to do another Diet Bet.  This one is different than the others though.  The website has set up a beta version (by invite only actually) of a 6 month version.  In this 6 month version you are betting that you will lose 10% of your starting weight.  You are actually betting every month and you are actually held accountable each month (and have to pay additional money to the pot each month) and still have goals that you need to meet each month in order to continue on with the bet (this way you aren't crash dieting at the last minute.)  This first month I need to lose 3% of my body weight, or about 7 pounds.  I don't honestly care if I win this bet or not, but I would like to have this bet to keep me accountable and on track so that I don't allow myself to completely let go this next year.  Plus, if I win this bet I will be at my goal weight.  I would LOVE to be at 200 pounds 6 months from now.  I would actually LOVE to see a 1 at the beginning of my weight, but I'm getting ahead of myself there.

We'll see how I do with this one.  I may end up hating this bet and getting burned out and quitting.  Or, I could end up loving the different structure and killing it on the scale.  Only time will tell.

I do know that I will be changing up my workout routine for sure this year.  I'm going to only run AT MOST 3 times a week.  I want to try and find Zumba classes while out on the road (whenever that's possible at least...)  I want to continue using my Jillian Michaels' DVDs.  I want to crosstrain and lift weights.  I want to start toning up my weaker muscles.  I know how to do cardio, but I don't really know how to get fit.  It's time to get fit.

Alright, that's the current game plan guys!  I'll post my official starting weight for the Diet bet tomorrow.  I might even post my official weigh in photos - we'll see how I feel.

I'm ready to start feeling better again.

Three Year Fativersary (and Weigh in!)

Starting Weight 9/4/10:                                     310.0
Current Weight 9/4/13:                                     223.3

Total Weight Lost in Three Years:                      86.7 (gained 1.5 since last week)

Total Weight Left to Lose for Goal (200):          23.3

Well here it is folks!  Today is the third anniversary of having an epiphany and deciding to take control of my life.  I really can't believe that it's already been three years!  Time really has flown by!

I look back at my old self and I don't even recognize her.  I never even could have imagined what my life would be like now.  I know I say this every year, but I'm really proud of myself for having recognized that I wasn't happy and changing my ENTIRE LIFE.  I really think that almost nothing is the same as it was then. (Well, except maybe my shoe size...)  I have completely transformed into a different person and I have to say that I'm quite fond of this new Maia.

Maia circa 2013 is a strong, healthy and (most importantly) happy person.  I struggled a bit this last year, not with the health and weight loss portion of this journey but with the happiness aspect.  I found myself getting angry and frustrated all the time and I started to not like myself.  So what did I do?  Basically the same thing that I did before!  I told myself that I was going to change it, and I did!  I feel like I'm looking at things in a brighter light.  I find myself smiling more.  I find myself laughing more and honestly, I'm just enjoying life more!

I'm hoping to take this new perspective back out on the road with me when I leave NYC for tour once again. (I depart September 17th!  I can't believe it's right around the corner!)  I still have this last bit of weight that I want to lose and I'm determined to lose it, but I also want to enjoy myself a bit more this next year.  I was so gung ho this last year that I actually very rarely went out and enjoyed myself in the various cities we visited.  I'm going to allow myself a few more indulgences this year and not let them stress me out like they did last year.  Last year, if I had a popcorn at the movies I was beating myself up for days!  That's no way to live life...  We'll see how it goes!

I can't wait for this next year of this journey.  I'm sure that so much will change and I'm ready for the new adventures that life will bring my way.

Life is good.

I'm happy.

And that's awesome.

Sharing my happiness with Mr. Darcy