Saturday, April 21, 2012

Quilting helps you lose weight???

I'm really excited to have a guest blogger today for
"ON MY WEIGH"
She is such a fun, great gal!  I met her a few months ago during
Modern Quilt Group at one of our local quilt stores.  When
she came and sat by me...I could feel her HAPPY energy as she
gave me a big friendly smile!   You can visit her in blog land HERE
============
I was so honored to be asked by Annie to be her guest blogger today.  She asked me to share a bit of my story.  So here goes ;)

Six years ago, this past Christmas, I found myself with 6 children, one of them a brand new baby, and 80 lbs overweight.
Not sure when this was taken.  I guess about 2003 :(
 I was miserable and disgusted with my weight.  I had been overweight my entire married life and just HAD to change.  I set some goals for myself right there as I laid in bed feeding my beautiful new son.  I told myself that I would lose all of the weight and get in serious shape.  I decided that the year I turned 37 I would run my first 5k.  The year I turned 38 I would run a 10k.  For the year I turned 39, I would run a ½ marathon and for the big 40, I would run a marathon.
Me at the finish of the Utah Valley Marathon 2009
I knew that I would need some “professional” help with these goals, and after talking to my sister in law (one of my best friends since I was 13), I joined Weight Watchers with her.  She was a lifetime member and also had just had a baby too.  To make a very long story short, I did really well with Weight Watchers and accomplished all of my running goals!  YEAH ME!! ;D  I even became a leader for Weight Watchers for 4 years.
At my goal weight, Christmas 2008
So lets get to the good stuff.... the part of the story where we find the big conflict that shakes everything up ;)  In the summer of 2010 my sweet hubby was seriously injured when he fell from our roof.  His accident was not only physically traumatic for him, but it was really hard on our family.  A few months after his accident, I was hit by a car while out on my morning run.  Aside from the obvious problems that come along with being hit by a car ;), one of the HUGE issues for me is that running was my stress reliever.  I eat when I am stressed and without running, my stress shot up through the roof and so did the eating :(
The truth about weight is that if you consume too many calories, you gain weight.  Your net caloric intake must be lower than your calorie expenditure to lose weight.  It’s pretty simple.  Eat less, move more, lose weight.  Now as simple as the science is, we all know that it is WAY more complicated to apply it and get the results we want ;)

So fast forward to this past Christmas 2011, when we find out that my sweet hubbs has to have surgery again :(  We are getting closer to the day... just a few weeks away and my mom calls after a trip to Broadbents in Lehi, Utah.  Broadbents is a WONDERFUL fabric store... they have other things too, but I never get past the fabric ;D  Well, she wants to take a quilting class and wants to know if I’d like to take it with her.  I say yes, and she heads to Seattle for a month.  Now, I had made a few patchwork quilts here and there, I had even attempted to make a baby quilt for each of my children when they were born, but I had never done anything like “REAL” quilting.  Let’s just say, I dove into the deep end, head first!  I started my first quilt on Wednesday the 18th of January and had it quilted and bound by the following monday.  I am getting ready to quilt #15..or is it 16 today and #17 is topped and ready to be quilted as well ;)  You can see them all HERE.

So, you may be asking yourself, “What does this have to do with dieting or managing food?”  Well, when I had originally lost all of my weight (87#’s total), I found that if I had a hobby, I managed eating much better.

 I am really good at letting “eating” be my favorite hobby :(  I put 2+2 together and realized that quilting would be a perfect way to distract myself from the stress of my hubbies upcoming surgery and our 6 week house arrest ;D  ….and to avoid gaining the weight I gained the last time he had this surgery ;D... and after the car accident :p
Currently, I am up 25#'s from my low :(  I am back in physical therapy, exercising most days of the week and TRYING desperately to manage my food intake.  One of the biggest tricks to managing weight is understanding why I eat and finding ways to manage those situations!  There are SO many reasons to eat ;D

Here are my favorite weight loss tips:
     #1  "You CANT eat it if your don't HAVE IT!"   This goes for the good as well as the bad.  You can't eat an apple if you don't have one ;)  You also cannot conjure Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, no matter how hard you try! (Take my word for this, I have tried and TRIED!)
    #2 Love it or HATE it, you have to exercise ...or be REALLY active.  It's just true, I'm sorry :(
    #3 None of us have been forced fed in a LONG time, like since we were 18 months old, so if we ate it, we fed it to ourselves.  We only have control of a few things in our lives, and pretty much, what goes into our mouths is one of those things :(  I try really hard to tell myself that this is not true, but it is.

Oh, there are so many more things I could share, but this blog post is already 4 miles long.  Here is my current picture at my current weight.
Christmas Eve 2011
I am SO happy to have found quilting.  It is an AMAZING creative outlet and really does help me to redirect my energies away from the kitchen into AMAZING fabric.
Thank you SO much, Annie for letting me share my WAY too long story :) xoxo to you all!!
-Marion

================
~~  Recipe  ~~

(makes 7 servings / 103 calories ea)


1 can (20oz) pineapple chunks
1 can (11-15 oz) mandarin Oranges, drained
1 Large banana sliced
1 kiwi fruit, peeled, halved and sliced
1 cup frozen strawberries, sliced and partially thawed
1/4 teaspoon grated lime peel (optional)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey

Drain pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup of juice
Combine pineapple chunks, mandarin oranges, banana,
      kiwi and strawberries in a large bowl.
Stir together reserved pineapple juice, lime peel,
      lime juice and honey in small bowl. 
Pour over salad and toss to coat.
===========================================
 ~~~ Ruby's Report ~~~
Treadmill - 6 days...one cut short of 2 miles and several at 3 miles
Food - I was quite good with food choices this week
Weight(loss?) - down .8 this week.  (I have 16 more pounds to go!)
======================================
Yep!  I'm lookin - atchoo... =P  and BEEyun quite NOSE-eee...
How didja do this week with YUR goals???  Did you set a
goal last week?  Iffin so,
(if you left a goal-comment on last week's post)
 please...furSHORE leave a comment
so ya can be entered into the drawing!!!
(Entries will end next Tuesday April 24th midnight MT)
It's still a surprise what you will win!  But, I'm sure
it will maka YOUZ happy!!
If you didn't set a goal last week....howz about setting one
today for next week???  =D

28 comments:

Jennie P. said...

Marion, you look great, keep up the great work!!

Myra said...

Marion you are wonderful! I loved reading about your story! I had no idea you were hit by a car! I'll have to email you and get the awful details - I'm so sorry! You are a great inspiration and make such beautiful quilts! : )

Wendy said...

Really enjoyed your weight loss journey! I have got 16 gone with about another min. of 25 to go. My immediate goal is to take off 4 pounds before May 5th. It is a bit of a stretch, but I so wanted to have at least 20 gone before our trip to Europe in May. Spending a week in Italy and a week in France is bound to do some damage, but hopefully I can keep it to a minimum. If anyone had told me when I was 16 I would have this struggle I never would have believed it. I do quite well on weekdays but really struggle on weekends. I need the structure of a working day to keep me on track. Oh well, I am starting to ramble...now I am off to check out the link to your quilts.

Shanna said...

I was so happy to read this today...I feel like I am in a same situation and it's good to know others have the same battles. I have a weekly link up on my blog on Tuesdays, called Fit Tuesday, and it has helped me be more accountable! My main goal it to get more exercise, at least 10 minutes a day if I can.

Christine M said...

I enjoyed reading Marion's post. Well done on another loss this week Annie. Keep it up!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Wonderful guest with great information. I thought I was doing a good job on my 'labeled' water bottles to be sure I got the fluids - then realized, I wasn't the one drinking all that water. People stopping by or here to sew were drinking my water (tea, etc...). I don't think I am a water drinker. But it was wonderful weather each day, so I got in one or more walks a day.

Rebeckah Austin said...

Well good for you! YOu look beautiful! I realized too that if I spend the day crafting I "forget" to snack, and I end up only eating when I need nurishment. :) Great Tips too.

Tangos Treasures said...

Wow great story!! You have re-inspired me!!!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Good luck to the guest blogger. I haven't weighed since earlier in the week. I was up .5 at that time. I've been trying to eat better, fish & rice, but, it's hard, especially since I had to cook for groups twice last week, and have another big thing to cook for next weekend. My problem is snacking. I always seem to be hungry.

Linda said...

What a wonderful and encouraging story! I'm afraid I've become more sedentary with my quilting. This past week, I got outside more and worked in the yard. I plan on doing that more often.

tpott said...

First I LOVE the nostril photo, very funny. What a great inspirational story, you're my hero. I'm overweight for the first time in my life, the last 7 yrs. When my son was 4 yrs old I found out I had hypothyroidism, after many many doctors. 2005 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, chemo radiation the works. I went into menopause right away. I was on adjuvant meds for 5 yrs, which really wrecked my left knee and right hip. I love to see that you've won the battle. You look fantastic! (I'm sorry this comment is so long) Also congrats on your new hobby, your a very prolific quilter. I have to go to your blog now, bye. ;-> Toni Anne

KatieQ said...

My goal for the week was to exercise at Curves 3 times. Unfortunately, I only got there twice, but on the bright side I went to the NY Botanical Gardens with my husband for the orchid show and walked the grounds. I wore my pedometer and walked over 12,000 steps so I am counting that as a workout. I did manage to drink 64 ounces of water each day.
My goal next week will be to drink 64 oz of water each day and to workout at Curves 3 times.

Anonymous said...

great story and thankyou Marion for sharing.xx

MB in MI said...

What a truly wonderful post--thankyou to both of you, Marion and Annie. Will be saying little prayers of hope and healing for your hubby's surgery.

Kristy fordhook1 said...

Great! Now I have another good reason to make more quilts, too lose weight! Maybe I'll challenge myself to every quilt I make I must lose 5 lbs (1 month). If I don't lose, I can't make another! Thanks for the inspiration from your success.

Pamela Kieffer said...

Congratulations, on your inspiring story. I belong to weight watchers and have l.5 pounds left to make goal so I know what a battle you have had. Pam

Barb Neiwert said...

Well, it looks like I did pretty well on my goals for this week - didn't exercise one day due to migraine and sickliness from that. But I have been more diligent about getting out there. It's fun to track on that Daily Mile. Great guest blog - thank Marion for taking time to write it, and thank you for taking time to put it together.

This week's goals: keep up with walking and get more serious and focus on healthy eating plan.

Josie McRazie said...

Well, here's the long and short of my goals for last week... i only got to the 10000 step once, down to the bike twcie, but I did go Zumba with my son!! That was a hoot!!
I will set my goal again for 1000 step twice and bike three! Sheesh! I can do this, I can do this (Also the weather did not cooperate for the walk last week :(

renae said...

ooops, I missed reading this yesterday. I thought it was titled, Quitting helps you lose? Using the word quit instead of quilt. my bad!
You are an inspiration to us all. I haven't exercised for a year - if you want to know why, (it's a long story) but your story has motivated me. thanks!

ThreadCatcher said...

Great to read your guest blogger's story. So many true tidbits to be found in there. Knowing why you eat and if you don't have it, you can't eat it hit home the most. I did accomplish my goal of walking five days last week. I almost talked myself out of going one day but thought of the goal I set with you and it motivated me to get up, get out and walk. Same goal for this week only longer distances. Have a good week.

Izzy said...

Great, great post! Such a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing. I've been working on losing 40 lbs since January 1 and so far, I've lost 20. My goal for this week is to exercise 3 times and stay within my max number of calories every day.

Cecilia said...

I enjoyed reading your post about loosing weight and I hope your husband continues to recover. Congratulations on meeting your goals.

Perfectly Printed said...

Love reading your blog and tips. I will continue to read and hope I can get going on losing weight. I belong to WW through work... and can't see to get into any kind of routine! Crossing my fingers this week is better.

chris

Quilt n Queen said...

I enjoyed reading Marion's post...I am a stress eater too...I did set some goals last week...I did eat smaller portions and drank more water but I did not get on the tread mill. I did loose 2 lbs and I am happy about that. So if I continue with the portion control and drink my water I'm sure I will loose again next week. My goal this week is to eat more veggies and get on the tread mill at least 2 times... I have to get back to exercising again...bad foot and all. A little exercise is better than no exercise. Thanks Annie for your inspiration and congrats on loosing again this week. Have a great week...(o:

Chatty Crone said...

Thank you so much for blogging about this - this has given me such inspiration. sandie

Alida Sharp said...

Thanks for sharing your journey! What an inspiration!

Rosa said...

Thankks for this lovely post and congrats on get your goals,that`s inspiring.

Miss Hillbilly said...

Clicked over here to grab your blog link for a certain link I am typing and I just had to read this. This post was so inspiring to me. And a bit frustrating too. I know that I could spend more time quilting and it would help my stress SO MUCH. If only my family would understand that. I get stressed--I eat. Today Stephen was really really fussy and it just stressed me to no end. I gave up, went to the store and bought cookies. Bad! Bad! I now have them locked in my teens room out of site and mind...until the next stressful moment.

But I am going to try really hard for this month. It is MAY for ME time. If I can do this in May then I should be able to continue it on afterwards. I just have to for me....

I am going to link to this post sometime in May. Is that ok with you?