I have thought of a hundred different things to say for this week, but at the moment, I just don’t have the time, but I wanted to put the most important thing out there.

THANK YOU.

You guys inspired me!!! My followers. My awesome twitter family. My facebook fans. And all the people who stopped by my blog to comment on last week’s post about my struggles. And my success story and before and after picture was featured on the Weight Watchers facebook page on Saturday, and it is the first success story you see for Online members on the Weight Watchers website this week even if you aren’t a member. That brought many new people to my blog who commented or sent me emails or who commented on the WW facebook post… who have been on a long journey, who are thinking about starting back up again, who just started, who are also struggling, or who are thinking about joining for the first time. You made me tear up, made me smile, motivated me, and inspired me. Thank you all!

I have struggled a lot the last two months, but I came out strong this week! Take that 3.2 lbs I gained last week! I lost 3.5 lbs! And was I perfect? Of course not. But I tracked everything, I started running again, I earned 37 Activity Points, and I thought about what I was putting in my mouth! It’s been a while since I had a week like that!

Since weigh-in was yesterday, I’m already into my new week, and it’s already playing out to be another tough one. I have lots of social events. I have a lot of emotional things going on. I’m just gonna try my best. As much as I preach that I’m good at being unperfect, there is still a part of me that feels like I should be perfect, so don’t think I am not always fighting that!

After a fairly emotional day, in which I did not make the best choices for dinner because of it!, I am taking care of me, and hitting the hay early! I just had to say thank you. Thanks from the bottom of my much healthier heart.

It’s time. It’s time for me to stop messing around. It’s time for me to reign it in!

If you haven’t noticed, I sort of checked out again. I have hardly tweeted. I definitely haven’t blogged. It’s been like two months. (So much for a Weekly Weigh In, eh?) Ok, so partly it is because things got much busier for me in my work and personal life, but I also think I sort of checked out of everything related to my journey. And to be quite honest, I think I might have needed a break.

I gave myself permission to let loose. I gave myself permission to not care. I gave myself permission to not workout and not wear my ActiveLink. Countless times I have let anything be an excuse again… being sick, my birthday, being too busy, being stressed out, being on vacation, the weather, free food at work that will go to waste, and just plain being sick of focusing so much on my weight and what I am eating and how much I am exercising!

Let’s face it. I’m still a fat girl inside. I still just want to sit on the couch and eat a bag of potato chips. And I HATE that about myself. I have binge eaten more time in the last two months than I would like to admit. And that typically resulted in moments of screaming at myself in the mirror about how disgusting I was. Why do we do that? Surely I am not alone.

As I berate myself here, I have to give myself some sort of credit, I suppose. I found moments of will power and caring. There were weeks I started trying to track my food again. Not every meal was a blowout binge-fest. I even ran a few times. And I have been fairly active on the weekends going to festivals and walking around. I could have easily gained 20 lbs in two months, but I’m only 7.7 lbs up from goal.

So now you are thinking, “What the hell is she so worried about? That’s nothing compared to the over 60 lbs of weight you’ve still lost!” You’re right. And thank you! But it’s the fear of a possible slow downward spiral to where I used to be. And it’s also what the weigh-ins don’t tell you… My body fat percentage. I don’t know how accurate that measurement is on my scale, but I was averaging around 24-25% body fat for quite a while now. I wanted to get it even lower. I had goals of getting this body bikini-ready, but with all this craziness, it was 29% today!
I can’t even tell you the last time I saw that! Well, from the chart above from my Withings Scale app, I’d say sometime last year! And I can actually see how out of shape and less muscular I have gotten. So instead of working toward that goal, I went in the complete opposite direction! Why do we do that? Surely I am not alone here either.

What’s even more crazy is that during all of these weeks of slacking off, my official Success Story posted on the Weight Watchers website in March! How exciting, right?!? In fact, it’s featured again on the main Weight Watchers website when you log in as a member again this week! (——>)

And then in April, I started popping up in Weight Watchers Online advertisements on the internet! (<——) One would think that both of these would make me get back with the program, but it was almost like, “oh my god, now the pressure’s really on!” And again, I went the opposite way. And I think I sort of retreated even more. But now I think the world is trying to give me a sign! At a time when others are thanking me for being so inspiring, I was not even following my own advice!

The journey just doesn’t end when you reach goal. Trust that I know I am in a better place now than I was before, but maintaining is damn hard! I feel guilty for bitching about 7.7 lbs when others have so much more to go. My apologies. I do remember being there and thinking it would never happen, but it did. And I definitely haven’t gained it all back. But I do know it’s a slippery slope, and that’s why I get scared. I don’t want to be back to over 200 lbs. I also sort of think I expect more of myself now than before, and that can apparently backfire.

Now here’s hoping that this break is actually over and I can get back on track! It’s not going to be easy! I have a camping trip this weekend and an out of town bachelorette party next weekend, and my social calendar is already stacking up for the month of May! And work is still stressing me out! I’m gonna need a lot of strength and a lot of support from you! I do know that I won’t be perfect though. I meant what I said in my success story: “I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to keep trying.”

So it’s time to try. It’s time to get back to tracking my food every day. It’s time to get back to eating less processed foods. It’s time to do #PlankADay again. It’s time to get back to using fitbolt at work. It’s time to wear my ActiveLink again and achieve my daily goal. It’s time to remember why I like running so much. It’s time to start taking my own advice again. It’s time to start inspiring myself. It’s time to be happy with myself again.

P.S. You can also check out my entire weight log here, and then you’ll see just how many times I got back up, and kept on trying. ;)

First off, let me just say, I cannot believe I am turning 38 today! Wow, how time flies! What is even more exciting? It’s my first birthday in way too many years that I am not embarrassed by my fat-self and will not be avoiding the camera! THAT is something to celebrate for sure! And today is going to get even more exciting for you!

Now, do you know my love for shiny things? Perhaps I have not expressed this enough in the virtual world. I walk through stores, and anything shiny, glittery, sparkly, sequined, reflective, metallic, or otherwise something that you can see the glint in my eye, I stop for. I think I have a Hello Kitty, Britney Spears, show choir/cheerleader-y kinda soul, if you will. For the longest time I thought I was just trying to relive my youth, but then again, diamonds are sparkly, and those aren’t just for kids! Enter Sparkly Soul.

If you have unruly hair like I do, having a secure headband to keep it in place during activity is key. Having a sparkly one is even better! Sparkly Soul was kind enough to provide me with two headbands to review. One of the “thin” headbands (3/8 inch) in the color “Charcoal” and one of the “thick” headbands (5/8 inch) in the color “Silver.” I got those colors because they could go with everything! I absolutely love them! They definitely stay in place, and they sparkle all the away around too! Not like some of the other ones that just have a strand of elastic band on the bottom of them. They totally rock.

They come in many fun sparkly colors: Apple Green, Black, Charcoal, Chocolate Brown, Dark Pink, Kaleidoscope Pink, Maroon, Mint Green, Rose Pink, Sky Blue, Teal, White, Ice Pink, Lavender Purple, Violet Purple, Red, Silver, Blue, Gold, Green, and Orange. And they have striped ones in Blue/Orange, Blue/White, Green/White, Rainbow, Red/Green, Red/White/Blue, and Pink/Red Rainbow. They also have satin non-sparkly 5/8-inch ones (for when you are in a less glittery mood!) in Black, Pink, and Purple. Oh and a “Team in Training” one too!

So how do I rock out my Sparkly Soul headbands? You might see me working out, running, or doing planks in my Sparkly Soul.

Sometimes you’ll catch me writing a blog post in my Sparkly Soul.

I might be rocking out to one of my favorite musicals, Rent, Nine, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, or Chicago, in my Sparkly Soul!

And you might even catch me cheersing you with a glass of wine for my birthday in double Sparkly Soul headbands! (Ok, no. I didn’t start drinking already! But I will be cheersing later!)

You can connect with Sparkly Soul here:
SparklySoul.com
Twitter
Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
Tumblr
LinkedIn

And let me tell you, they are a lot of fun to interact with! You can purchase Sparkly Soul headbands on their website or on amazon.

So, now your day is about to get better! One lucky reader will win not one, but two Sparkly Soul headbands in honor of my birthday! You’ll get one thick and one thin headband, and you’ll get to choose the colors! How do you enter the giveaway, you ask? There are a ton of ways!

Entry #1: This is mandatory to enter. You must leave a blog post comment about “How you do (or will) rock your Sparkly Soul headbands?” for 1 entry.
Entry #2: Tweet about the giveaway for 5 entries. And get 5 more entries when you tweet it each day through March 16th. Feel free to change up the tweet, but make sure you include the blog post link and come back here to enter your tweet in Rafflecopter.
Entry #3: Follow me, @divaonadiet on twitter for 5 entries.
Entry #4: Follow @SPARKLYSOULINC on twitter for 5 entries.
Entry #5: Like Diva on a Diet on Facebook for 5 entries.
Entry #6: Like Sparkly Soul on Facebook for 2 entries.
Entry #7: Follow Diva on a Diet on Pinterest for 2 entries.
Entry #8: Follow Diva on a Diet on Instagram for 2 entries.

You must submit each entry through the Rafflecopter app below! Contest ends Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 11:59pm. Good luck, and sparkle on!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was provided free products for review. I was not given any compensation, and all opinions are my own.