31 MORE Days!

This Blog:

Basically, I was very inspired & encouraged by Roni’s blog. I’ve been reading her blog everyday for months and months now. I’ve been to blogs all over the internet and haven’t found a single ONE that actually kept up with their site so faithfully. BUT, hundreds of people visit her site everyday to read about her journey- built in accountability! I wanted and needed that (and still do!!) so much, but knew I wouldn’t be able to get that from a blog (yet) because I figure no one would read my blog. So, I thought for a while and decided to write this email to friends and family members- some because I knew they’d be supportive, and some because I would never want them to see me fail. Trust me, this was totally out of character for me!!

The e-mail I wrote to friends and family:

Subject: Feel free to just delete… just don’t tell me!

Hey everyone,
I hate to bug all of you on a daily basis… but I’m going to do it anyway! :oD Like the subject line says, feel free to just delete my emails if they get on your nerves, just DON’T TELL ME!! I need the accountability. I thought about starting a blog, but it’s too easy for me to think “no one will read it anyway”. So, instead I’m planning to email all of you on a daily basis. (I’m apologizing now!)

As you all know, Miss Jenalyn (my sister) will become Mrs. Smith this May, and well.. our dress fitting is in only 4 weeks!! I’ve been doing Bootcamp with Jason’s (my hubby) chiropractor- which I LOVE and plan to do again and again, but I still have some more weight to lose before the fitting. There are only 2 more weeks of bootcamp left, and after that I am going to do a 2 week free trial at the Total Body Fitness up the road. Since it’s also beginning to warm up, I plan to walk/jog everyday as well.

While the exercise has been really great and I’ve seen some exciting results (-15 INCHES total overall!!), I KNOW that if I don’t eat right, I’m just chasing my tail. When I first started in January, I was tracking everything I ate every day using the Weight Watchers points system in addition to bootcamp. The weight was coming off consistently every week and then, we hit a bit of a stressful time and I stopped tracking, then I stopped trying to make the best choices in food, and by the third week I was so depressed because the past two weeks were so bad I just let it continue and get even worse. By the time I was brave enough to get back on the scale at the end of the third week, I had regained 1/2 of the 8 lbs I had lost in January!! :o( But, I started tracking my food and making healthy eating choices again, and now I only have 1 more pound to lose to get back to where I was a month ago.. how frustrating!!

Anyway.. since my lapse, I’ve found it to be really hard to keep writing down my points and tracking like I should. It’s the same excuse- “no one’s going to see it anyway”. It just makes it too easy to not track or make good choices and just think I’ll work out harder tomorrow. So, I’m going to email my daily menus with points to all of you wonderful people everyday and I’ll send you my weight loss totals each week too. Comments are welcomed, and if any of you want to bug me with your menus on a daily basis I’d feel less guilty about bugging you! :o)

Jenalyn almost gave me a heart attack this morning when she (mistakenly) told me we had 2 weeks until the fitting, but it was a good kick in the butt! I have 31 days, and I know it’s a little bit faster than ideal, but I’d like to drop 10 lbs by then. With WW, I get 22 daily points and a total of 35 extra (”flex”) points per week as well as the option to use any extra activity points that I earn by working out. The count DOWN is on!! :o) Talk to you all again tomorrow!!

So, from that to here- I’ve been sending them emails (which I’ve cut & pasted into the 31 Days of March) every day for just about the full 31 Days now. Hopefully I’ll be starting my second round of 31 Days of accountability & healthy eating in another week, and another 31 Days after that and so on. That’s the idea anyway… we’ll see what happens!! :oD

Me & My Family:

My name is Jynell, and this is my second attempt at blogging. My first attempt, which I’m trying to recover & add back into this site, was unfortunately lost when Roni’s community crashed. So, we’ll see how it goes here… Anyway, I am 27 year old SAH MOM & live in Pennsylvania with my wonderful hubby of 8 1/2 years, Jason & 3 awesome kiddos, Ellysha, (5), Emmelia, (3 1/2) & Ezekiel (1 1/2). Here they are, the most important people in my life!! (Notice I’m hiding in the back…)

Anyway, my little man is just getting too big to have any kind of an “I just had a baby” excuse, so I figure it’s about time to take my body back!! The other motivation I have (had) is that my younger sister Jenalyn is getting married in May & I have a really cute dress that I am going to (hopefully) look HOT in!! :o)

My fitness goals are pretty much to improve EVERYTHING (I’ll take anything!!) & to get to a point where I am really healthy again. I don’t really care so much about what the scale says as long as my body is healthy and looks good. In high school and college I was always involved in sports and in great shape without much effort. But, I’ve always loved to cook and bake, and once Jason and I got married there was only the two of us to eat it all instead of the crowd I was used to at home (I’m the oldest of 6 kids!). So, over the first 3 years of our marriage I slowly gained about 50 lbs!! Yuck! I was miserable and decided that I was going to lose the weight. I started eating less and choosing better foods. I also played competitive volleyball (doubles or quads) 3-4 times a week. And 6 months later, I had lost slightly over 30 lbs & 20 some inches overall!! Then I got pregnant, and again, and again! :o) Three pregnancies in four years has definitely taken it’s toll on my body!! After each one however I had been able to lose all of the baby weight- BUT, after I had Zeke I began to stay home full time. When all the kids were napping in the afternoon I’d relax by sitting on the couch & watching a little tv while having a snack (or two). I regained almost 20 lbs!! :o( Now that I am about 99% sure that we are done having children, I figure it’s about time to pick up where I left off, getting back to my wedding weight, size & (hopefully) relatively close shape! :o) I just finished my first session of BOOTCAMP!! NO, not the actual military- my husband’s chiropractor used to be a Marine Drill Instructor & he runs a great Bootcamp at the local gym. It was a 10 week class from 5:30-6:30 AM, Monday, Wednesday & Fridays & it is a REALLY GOOD WORKOUT!! I was sore in muscles that I didn’t know I had after the first week!! But, it’s been really neat to see my endurance, strength & overall health improve. The next session will start up in a few weeks & I can’t wait to get going again! I really miss it!

Anyway, I hope to make some new friends here as I continue my journey in weight loss. Feel free to comment or shoot me an email. I’ll try to keep up with getting back to you as best I can! Thanks for stopping by!! :oD