Lean Bodies - Sheryl Stokes

Hey everone.  Just wanted to post a quick update.  Down to 165!!  Yiippeee.  Hope everyone is getting some time off for the holidays.  I think after this year, I have really learned to appreciate friends and family members even more.  There is no Christmas present I could get that equals to that.  I am very lucky indeed.

It’s been a while since I last blogged.  I didn’t realized quite how long!!

One thing I realized when I was off my plan during some days for Thanksgiving.  This really is a lifestyle change and not just a diet with some exercise thrown in.  I feel like, by working the plan, I have learned some very important and very basic things about how to be healthy.

I proved this to myself during my “time off”.  I didn’t go all out and stuff my face.  I carefully chose what I was going to eat and only ate until I was full.  Interestingly enough, that wasn’t a whole lot.  I am very used to eating small amounts several times a day now.  Even when I went out to my favorite places to eat, I was thoughtful about what I was eating.  I am not sure I have ever done that before to the degree I am now.

This gives me hope that when I do decide to “fly solo”, I’ll have made a lifelong lifestyle change that will continue to produce results.  Working with Erik has been the only time that I can say that I really believe the change is an actual lifestyle change. 

So…I am now eyeballing the 160s hopefully very soon.  It’s always so great to go down another ten pounds.  All the way, baby!!

Hi, everyone.  Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day.  I sure did.

I have a feeling some of you can relate to this…I struggled a lot with the decision to either strictly adhere to my program or “let loose” a little on Thanksgiving Day.  I put a LOT of thought into this decision.  I had an entire “debate” in my head going on at one point!!  I decided to eat along with everyone else, but to do so sensibly.  I tried to stay away from that all or none thinking of “I’m either perfectly adhering to my plan or participating in an all you can eat stuff-fest”.  It was hard, but I was able to acheive it better than I had in the past.  That was my goal…to do it BETTER, not perfectly.

Sometimes I am reminded of the fact that I still have so much to learn about this new way of life for me.  I was all ready to get on the eliptical and spend a LOT of time “making up” for my eating on Thanksgiving Day and the day after.  Then I read Erik’s blog.  I was like, HUH?  Saved me from making a big mistake, thank goodness.  So instead of huffing and puffing more than I should with very minimal results, I will hop back on my program and hopefully continue doing what got me this far in the first place. 

30 POUNDS……AND COUNTING!!!!!!!! wwaahhoooooooo

Hello everyone!!

I’ve had the best day today so far.  I woke up and joked around and “ragged” my husband before he went to work.  Then I sat and read journals, ate, worked out, played with my cats, emailed some old friends, and then when to get a massage!!  Wow!!  It was so great.  When I left, my body actually felt totally…totally relaxed.  Then I went out to eat and had fish and salad. 

After doing some grocery shopping, I came home and took a nap!  WHAT A DAY!!  My boss at work gave everyone a day off during the week (for a couple of different reasons) so I was going to make the most of it.  aaahhhhhhh….

I am trying to lose another pound so I can finally say I’ve lost 30 pounds!! Come ooooooooon you stubborn little pound!! hahaha  Looking forward to the weekend.  Hope you all have a great one!!  Oh, and thanks a bunch for all the encouragement and support in my journal every day!!  That has really helped so much.

Hey there everyone. 

I am soooo sore.  I got a new plan that includes bodyweight exercises.  aahhhhrrrr  Man those are toughies!!  Love the challenge though.  I don’t EVEN have to guess if I am getting a good workout or not!!

I am so excited to be in the lower 170s now.  Wow!  I can remember being over 200 lbs when I started.  aaaahhhhh…memories.  People comment a lot on my weight loss now.  Some of the people I work with were looking at this website and asking questions.  It’s fun to share fitness convesations with others at work.  When I recently went back to my grad school, they were stunned at how much weight I have lost and how much energy I have now.  I have my eye on the prize and the next prize is the 160s baby!!  Hereeeeeeeeee I cooooooooooome!!  wwaaahhhooooooooo  Love it, love it, love it!!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Well, I got a new plan yesterday.  Erik gave me a new plan to jump kick my progress.  Was sick for while and just couldn’t get it going.  I am feeling SO good now and it is so great to get back on it all the way.

I love my new eliptical.  It comes in handy when it is dark and cold outside at 5am!!  I think I am as excited about this new plan as I was when I first started.  I’ve lost 27lbs. and have much more to go. 

People at work were kidding me about my baggy clothes!  Another therapist and I have been losing weight together and they were calling us the “incredible shrinking therapists”. haha  I have gone down two pant sizes now!!  waahhoooo  Do I hear three?  Even my chiropractor was like…what are you doing again.  I love telling people who ask “Who is your trainer” that he actually lives in Canada.  They look at me like…HUH?  Very funny. 

Well, time to rock the new plan!!  Up, up, and awwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!!

Hi everyone.  Happy Monday.

Well, I had a setback this last week.  I let being sick, personal difficulties, and other things knock me off my program for the last few days.  My version of off the program is mostly skipping meals and workouts although I did eat a couple of things not on my program.  I wasn’t going to post this because it is a bit embarrassing to admit, but if I am going to be honest about my journey, then this is a part of it.  I also went back and read Lyn’s posts in her blog and that helped me very much.  I had to go back and read my last post and remind myself that this is only a “failure” if I choose to make it that.  What it really is…is a chance to show my dedication to a healthy lifestyle and that is what I plan to do.

Time and time again, I have seen people on this board get tripped up and pull themselves back up with the help of others.  That is my goal right now.  So far, it’s going good today.  My plan is to pick up right where I left off and go, go, go!!

I got another eliptical today…goodness there are a lot of parts to put together!! haha  Can’t wait to use it.  It’s a little cool here and it will be great to get up and exercise INSIDE at 5am!!

So…here is to today….to doing it right!!

Hello everyone!

I was thinking the other day about something I see a lot…how the fear of failure keeps people from trying new or challenging things.  I have had so many people ask me how I keep losing weight and when I tell them about half say, “Oh…well…I could NEVER do that”. I started asking why and the answer I got was usually about not wanting to screw up, mess up, or fail at something.

I felt that way about trying some of the bodyweight exercises on my plan.  I tried them and could only do a 1 out of the 24 reps.  Is that a failure?  Should I just quit trying since I couldn’t do ALL of my 24.  Is not being perfect a failure?

I don’t think so.  I became frustrated at myself for not being physcially able to do them ALL. ”Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic”…I said to myself. Then, I decided I was going to try to do as many as I could. Pretty soon I was dong one more, then two more, then three more (hopefully will continue to increase).  If I had let my fear of failure stop me, my fear of not being “perfect”, I would have robbed myself of the accomplishment of overcoming adversity to acheive a goal.  I would have been stuck in the “I can’t do this” place.

I have found that this generalizes to everyday life too.  It’s a risk every day to work, to have friends, to love, to be passionate about something, ect…  Taking small (or large sometimes) risks helps us grow and accomplish and keeps us from being stuck in the “I can’t” place. 

In closing, this is one of my favorite quotes….”The only way you are 100% certain of not being able to acheive something is to never try at all.”  

Hello there everybody!!

Conference was fantastic and the presentation went well.  I stayed on the program except for some ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery.  My roomates were fantastic and very accomidating when we were choosing where we went to eat.  Our hotel was right on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theatre.  Fun, fun, fun!!  It was so good to see old friends and make new ones.  I love learning about my profession.  It was so much fun  having so much energy this time around.  Energy to have fun and talk and listen and laugh and run around and exercise, ect….  Weight loss, baggy pants, ohhs and awwws from others are wondeful, but the amount of energy I have now is just the #1 best thing about being on the program.

I tried to have a focus, eating-wise, while traveling and being at the conference.  I tried very hard to be aware of when I was actually hungry and when I was just craving something.  I was surprised to find that about 75% of the time I wanted to snack from the many available food choices, I was really just craving something that I saw and not actually hungry.  Up until now, I didn’t really know the difference.  I though craving and hunger where the same thing.  I even noticed on the plane when the cookies and such were offered, I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t eat them…but I wanted them.  Make sense? Anyway, I found that very interesting and helpful.

Yesterday for my all day cheat I had pizza, breakfast at La Peeps, and a Cappucino Blast from B&R!!  It was great.  I am paying a price today.  My stomach feels horrible, but I know it will come back fast eating clean again.  It was a lot of fun though. 

Well, hope everyone has a great week full of successes!!