Day 118 is almost done!

117 days left to go! Today was a good day. I ate like I planned and had a great workout with my friend Haley. (Thanks for the Jillian Michaels-style butt kickin'!) I've been getting a lot of awesome feedback from all of you and it is really helping to keep me motivated!

Here's how my food log looked today:

Breakfast:  Instant Grits     100 cal

Snack:  100 calorie popcorn     100 cal

Lunch:  Smart Ones Swedish Meatballs    279 cals

Snack:   Baby Carrots & Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge      70 cals

Dinner:   Homemade Pizza (Whole Wheat Tortilla, Chicken Breast, Goat Cheese, Low-fat Mozarrella, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, Spinach)       365 cals

Snack: Weight Watchers Fudge Cone     140 cals



TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED  1054


Okay, so it looks still need to eat about 200 more calories to get to my 1250 intake goal - I'm thinkin' maybe some peanut butter on a slice of Orowheat Sandwich Thin bread.  Also, I didn't get all of my fruits and veggies in like I wanted because, well, I don't really have any in the house right now. BUT, I'm going to the grocery store tomorrow, so that little dilemma will be fixed! I really would like to replace a lot of the carbs that I'm getting from starchy foods like bread, with fruit. :)

Yum! Yum!

118 Day Challenge Starts Today!

Today is the first day of my 118 day challenge! I'm going to lose 50 lbs. by May 29th....yes, I said I'm am going to - notice, I did not say, "I am going to try to." So, my plan of action is going to be pretty much the same as what I have been doing, except I am going to try to incorporate more fresh fruits and veggies into my diet. I'm going to continue to drink lots of water - and absolutely no sodas. I have pretty much cut out all sodas, but I have had a diet drink occasionally.

As far as exercise goes, I will continue to workout 5-6 days per week for at least an hour each day. I plan on kicking my own a$$ in the gym today!

P.S. I lost another pound! -15!

Things I have realized...

I know I am at the beginning of this long journey to lose weight and get healthy, but there are some things that I have realized about myself that I think are key to being successful.

1) I have used food to comfort myself in the past.

2) Eating bad foods, temporarily make me feel better when I am stressed or upset (very temporarily).

3) In the past, I have not committed to making exercise and staying active, a part of my everyday life.

4) I have not put myself first.

5) I have lost focus on my health and my appearance.

6) I cannot lose weight and keep it off by going on a "diet"

7) Eating healthy is not something that only has to be done while losing weight.

8) Maintaining my weight loss will be more challenging than losing the weight itself.

9) I will NEVER be able to gorge on pizza, hamburgers, chocolate cake or candy, on a regular basis.

10) I will NEVER be happy being fat - no matter how happy I appear to be.

So these are just some things that are going through my mind today. From now on, I am not on a "diet"...I am changing my life and my relationship with food and exercise.

Girls Trip coming up!

Okay, I decided today to go on a little trip in a few weeks with some friends. It will be a much needed getaway! It's about 3 weeks away so my plan is to lose 10 lbs. by the time we go. Also, my 118 day challenge starts tomorrow....soooo excited!  :)  My weight loss this week was a little disappointing, but I am hopeful that my hard work will show this week. I've been working out really hard and I'm sore, so maybe my body is retaining some water....it's probably in shock since the most I moved before I started all of this, was to fix myself something to eat. ;) Plus, I think I have actually not been eating enough this past week, so I'm going to make sure that I reach my 1250 calorie consumption goal everyday.

So here's what I've had so far today:

Breakfast:      Cinnamon Cherrios    110 cals

Lunch:     Homemade Pizza (whole wheat tortilla, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken breast, goat cheese, low-fat       mozzarella, spinach, balsamic vinaigrette); Salad (romaine lettuce, balsamic vinaigrette)    410 cals

Snack:    Weight Watchers Fudge Cone    140 cals

Snack:    Sugar Free Hot Chocolate w/ Hazelnut Coffee Creamer    85 cals

Dinner:    Salad (romaine, chicken breast, boiled egg - whites only, sun-dried tomatoe, fat-free feta, sunflower seeds, balsamic vinaigrette)   263 cals



TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED:  1008


Ok, so that leaves me with 242 calories to eat before the day is over...I'm sure I can figure out something yummy to use those calories on! :)

The scale is back...

The scale was set free from the dark, depths of the storage closet...and it didn't seem very happy to be back in the bathroom. I thought that after all my hard work this week, I would see at least 3-4 lbs gone, but that didn't happen. I think the last time I weighed myself was on Tuesday and I had lost a total of 14 lbs. Guess what? I DIDN'T LOSE ONE SINGLE STINKIN' POUND! That is why the scale is evil - and I hate it!

I'm not going to get discouraged because I know that my hard work will eventually catch up with me and show on the scale. But Mr. Scale, you are headed back to the closet!

My scale is lucky that I didn't do this to it...

Yesterday:

I didn't get to post my food last night, so here it goes:

Breakfast: (I skipped this yesterday...oops)

Lunch: Subway 6" Roasted Chicken on wheat bread (spicy mustard, lettuce, spinach, banana peppers, pickles, jalapenos, vinegar & pepper), Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge         366 cals

Snack: Blueberry Nutri-Grain Bar      130 cals

Snanck:  Grapefruit      96 cals

Dinner: Open-faced Peanut Butter & Jelly (on Orowheat sandwich thin w/ all-natural, no sugar added peanut butter and no sugar added jelly)      190 cals

2 glasses white wine      200 cals


TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED: 982

Workin' on the weekend...

Yuck! I have to go to work today at 1:00 to give a certification test. No fun! Since I knew I would be at work til late tonight, I decided to go get my workout in this morning. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then worked out my upper body. I also did some lunges in between sets. I didn't get quite as much cardio in as I would have liked, but I plan on talking my roommate into playing Just Dance with me tonight so I will definitely be burning some extra calories! :)

Girls Night Out

So, tonight I went to dinner and a movie with some friends that I have not seen in a very LONG time! It was lots of fun and I am so glad that I went. I tried my best to stay on track tonight and I think I did a fairly good job. Here's how it went...

When I got to the restaurant we had to wait on our table, so we sat at the bar for awhile. My plan was to either have a glass of wine or a rum and diet coke...I knew I would want to have a drink, so I figured either one of these would be the best choice. Well...I didn't exactly make the best choice at this point of the night. Instead of making a good calorie-conscience choice, I opted to order a mega-fruity, jumbo margarita - that came with an extra shot of some sort of margarita flavored tequila. I know that drink was probably loaded with calories, but I did keep my calorie consumption very low throughout the day, so I didn't worry about it too much. When we sat down to eat, we ordered some spinach dip to share. I had a little bit of it, but I tried not to over do it. I probably had about 8 tortilla chips and about 2 tablespoons of the dip...not too bad. For dinner I ordered the Key Lime Chicken and Shrimp (served on a bed of rice). It came with two sides, so I chose the steamed broccoli and the green beans. Now, normally I would have devoured the entire plate...maybe leave a bite or two, you know, so I wouldn't look like a pig...but tonight, I ate about half of my plate - maybe even a little less. I can't say the same for my drink though...I finished that off before my food got to the table....and then ordered a second one...what can I say - I've had a rough week. ;)  The good news is that we had to leave to make it to the movie on time before I could even finish a forth of it!

Okay, so my normal routine at the movies is to get a large Diet Coke (because I try to save some calories somewhere - even when I was being a total fat kid) and a  BIG bucket of popcorn - with extra butter - sometimes I would even get some candy, in case I needed dessert after I inhaled my salty snack. But tonight, I made much smarter choices. Instead of getting soda, I opted for a large bottled water...and I totally ignored the bag of Peanut M&Ms that were calling my name. "Chericeeeeee....eat me....I'm soooo yummmmmmy....you know you wanna...." Instead, I got a bag of Welch's Fruit Snacks and ate about 5-6 pieces before I realized that I wasn't really hungry for them and was just eating them because I always eat junk at the movies. So, I put the nearly full bag of fruit snacks back in my purse and enjoyed my bottled water and the movie!

I'm not sure of my calorie count for today because, honestly, I have no clue how to figure out the number of calories in my drink. I had about 700 calories left for the day before I went to dinner and I think it is safe to say that I went over that number - because of my beverage. BUT, I did reach my calorie burn goal, so unless I ate over 3170 calories today (which I know I did not) , I shouldn't gain any weight.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to wake up and go to the gym - try to sweat off some of the damage from tonight. I may even hang out in the sauna for awhile - a little extra sweating couldn't hurt. :)


Meals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal     130 cal

Snack:  100 calorie bag of popcorn      100 cal

Lunch: Fruit and Yogurt Parfait (McDonald's)      160 cal

Snack:   carrot sticks and Laughing Cow cheese wedge       70 cal

Dinner (all of this is kind-of a guessing game using the BodyBugg website):
              Big-ol-Margarita   800 cal (Yikes! This is what the website says for 1.5 cups of Margarita!)
              Tortilla Chips       70 cal
              Spinach Dip          80 cal
              Chicken Breast (3 oz.)    140 cal
              Shrimp  (6)                       45 cal
              Green Beans  (1/4 cup)    11 cal
              Broccoli  (1/2 cup)           12 cal
              Rice   (1/4 cup)                55 cal
              Butter   (1 Tbsp)              27 cal
              Cooking Oil  (1 Tbsp)    120 cal

**I'm not sure if all of the portion sizes are correct - I probably over-estimated on some. Also, I added the calorie counts for butter and oil because I know it was used to cook the food.

Movie Snack:  Welch's Fruit Snack    33 cal

TOTAL CALORIES CONSUMED  1794


Hopefully the number that I came up with is pretty close. I highly doubt that I underestimated by over 1000 calories.

A Birthday Challenge

Every morning since I've started blogging, I find a couple of weight loss blogs to follow. This morning, I found For The Love of Me. Right now, she is working on a challenge to lose 40 lbs. in 111 days! She even made a super-cute, tear-away, countdown calendar to keep her motivated. I loved her brilliant idea, so I'm borrowing it :)

Here's the link to her challenge: http://1girlgettinfit.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-homage-to-111-days-to-go.html

My challenge to myself is to lose 50 lbs. (not counting the 14 lbs. that I have already lost) by my 32nd birthday (May 29). I'm going to start the countdown on Monday, so that gives me 118 days to reach my goal. If I can continue to lose weight at an average of 3 lbs. per week, then I'll make it!

50 POUNDS IN 118 DAYS!

I'M READY!!!!!

P.S. Have y'all seen that show, "I Used to be Fat," on MTV? If those people can lose 90-100 lbs. over a summer...then I can lose 50 lbs by my b'day!

Giveaway!

Just started following a new blog today and decided to enter myself in her contest. She has made a super cute food journal!

Who wouldn't love this??

If you would like to enter her contest just go to her blog, For the Love of Me, and scroll down to the entry titled: "Time for a Little Giveaway!" (1/20/11)

Recap of the day...

Another good day today. I went to work, went to spin and now I'm comfy on my couch. I was going to try Zumba tonight, but my body is exhausted so I decided to take a little break and not over-do it. I went to spin so I think that is good enough for today. I'm going to just relax and watch American Idol.

Here's the breakdown of my food today:

Breakfast:   Oatmeal   130 cals

Snack:   Single Serving Kettle Corn Popcorn   100 cals

Lunch:   Homemade Lentil Soup (1.5 servings)   219 cals

Snack:    Baby Carrots and Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge   70 cals

Snack:    Grapefruit & Sugar Free Hot Chocolate    117 cals

Dinner:   Sandwich & Lentil Soup     304 cals


TOTAL CALORIES:   940 Calories

Recipes?

Does anyone have any yummy, healthy recipes they would like to share? I need anything you've got...breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or snacks. The simpler, the better! I'm trying to start cooking more, because frozen dinners are getting old, fast!

;)

My Scale has been Kidnapped!

Well, my roommate locked the scale up tonight. We're both dieting and agree that weighing everyday is not good for staying motivated and on track. I couldn't be trusted to not get on it, so it is now outside in the storage closet...hopefully I will not be soooo crazy that I go out there in the morning to pay it a visit. We've agreed that weigh-in day will be every Friday.

Today was a pretty good day. My body was feeling a little tired today, but I went to workout anyway. I did 30 mins on the AMT machine and then 50 mins on the elliptical. I kept a slower pace tonight, so my heart rate didn't get up as high as I wanted it too, but I'm proud of myself for going and pushing through the fatigue. I burned a little over 600 calories during my workout. All of my BodyBugg targets have been met today too...right now I'm at 3309 calories burned! One thing that I have learned from the BodyBugg is the calories burn benefit after a workout. My normal average calorie burn when I am not being active is around  2.2 - 2.5 calories per minute. During my workout my burn is usually anywhere between 8-12 calories per minute, depending on the intensity. Here's the really awesome part...for about an hour or two after my workout my burn stays between 4-6 calories per minute! That's at least twice as much as my normal burn! It's so cool to know what my body is doing and to know that I am still burning calories at a faster rate, long after my workout is done!

I thought it may be a good idea to start logging my food on here too, in case anyone is interested in what I'm eating to stay under 1200 calories per day...if I cheat, I promise I will put it on here too!

Breakfast:
Michaelina's Lean Gourmet - Breakfast Muffin w/ Canadian Bacon, Egg and Cheese    -   180 cals

Lunch:
Smart One's - Salisbury Steak and Mac n' Cheese   -   280 cals

Snack:
Mini Oreo Snack Pack (I had a sweet craving, but check out the calories - not too bad)   -   130 cals

Dinner:
Homemade Lentil Soup w/ Potatoes and Spinach - 199 cals
Open-face turkey sandwich on slice of Orowheat Thin w/ a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheese  - 180 cals

Snack:
Blue Bell Frozen Yogurt - The Great Divide - 1/2 cup   -   110 cals

Oh, and LOTS-O-WATER!

Total Calories Consumed:  1079

Scale-a-holic

I have a problem. I am addicted to my bathroom scale. I told myself that I would weigh once a week but I have weighed myself every morning. I just can't help myself! I've been having so many good days, that I can't wait to wake up and see what the scale says. I'm seriously thinking about putting my scale in the storage closet outside and pulling it out once a week. It calls my name every morning...."Chericeeeeeeeee.....step on me....I'll show you what you want....you know you wanna...."   Aghhhhhhh...that's it! I'm locking it up today!!! ;)

P.S. The scale was nice to me this morning...I lost another pound! -14 lbs! Woohoo!

Another Successful Day in the Books...

Today was awesome, diet/exercise wise. I came in a little under my calories consumed goal annnnndddd...I  exceeded my calorie burn goal by A LOT!! As of right now, I have burned 3577 calories! I didn't end up making it to Zumba tonight because my mom decided not to go and I wasn't ready to go by myself, but I did go to spin class and then did 50 mins on the elliptical! In spin, I rode 15.5 miles! I'm really proud of what I accomplished today and it only makes me want to continue to reach my goals.

That's all I've got for tonight. I. AM. EXHAUSTED!

:)



UPDATE: I am about to go to bed...just checked my BodyBugg...final calories burned for the day.....

3803!!!!!!!

Goals & Rewards

So, I thought it would be a good idea to set some small weight loss goals and reward myself when I reach those. Just another added incentive to keep going. Here is what I have come up with so far - need some ideas for the "???" :

-25 lbs...........Painting Class at Painting with a Twist
-30 lbs...........Facial
-40 lbs...........New Jeans (I figure I will need some at this point)
-50 lbs...........New Sneakers (my current shoes will be worn out, I'm sure)
-60 lbs........... ???
-70 lbs........... ???
-80 lbs........... ???
Reach Goal.......Shopping Spree and a "Me" spa day! (Guess I should start saving $$$$ now!)

I've got another extra incentive too! My mom told me that as soon as I can fit into some Miss Me jeans, she will buy me a pair! I can't wait!

So, that's what I've got so far! I would appreciate any ideas that you guys have. :)

While I wait for some ideas, I'm going to snack on this:

I'm in love with the Laughing Cow! 

I'm so EXCITED!

I'm so happy that people are actually reading this thing. Thank you all so much and please keep on reading...it's really keeping me going! I cannot believe that I am actually excited about going workout today - like super excited...I can't wait to get changed into my workout gear and start sweatin'! I'm going to a spin class right after work and then I'm going to try Zumba for the first time later tonight.

Wish me luck!

TOTAL. WORKOUT. SUCCESS.

GOOOOOOOOO MEEEEEEE! I just got back from the gym and I accomplished exactly what I wanted to do! I am soooooooooo excited!!!!! I did an hour of cardio on this thing...

If you've never been on one of these, you should. It's called an AMT machine. It's sort of like and elliptical, but it mimics various exercises based on your stride. For instance, a short stride will give you the effect of stair climbing, and a large stride will be more like a running motion. IT IS AWESOME! Such a good workout! I cannot believe I stayed on this thing for an hour...I did over 5 miles!!!

After I finished my cardio, I did an upper body workout....just like I planned!

So, after this very successful day, my calorie burn is 3362...more than 150 calories over my goal and I still have about 2.5 hrs before the count ends for today. I actually exceeded all of my BodyBugg goals...went way over my step count goal - 11,535 steps (my goal is 10,000)...and exceeded my activity goal by 45 min!

Tomorrow I'm going to a spin class that my friend is teaching and I may try Zumba tomorrow night. There was a class going on at the gym tonight and it looked like so much fun!

Inspiration Pictures...

Just some old pics of myself...this is what I'm trying to get back to!

My twirling line in college...that's me in the back with the short blonde hair.

Me again in the plaid top.

That's me in the front...next to the vintage Miller Lite can.

And me again...

And one more...in those super snazzy overall shorts!


Off to the gym now to try to get back to lookin' like these pictures!!!

Off to a good start!

Today has been a much better day than the last few! Other than Pandora playing every sappy love song ever made, it's been an okay day. I started the day off with another Michaelina's Lean Gourmet Breakfast Muffin. Around mid-morning I had a grapefruit. I had brought a frozen dinner for lunch, but I went to lunch with my parents instead. We ate at a Mexican food restaurant and I managed to not kill the chip basket! I had about 6 chips - just broke them up into smaller pieces and ate them with lots of salsa. For my meal, I ordered two chicken soft tacos on corn tortillas, with no cheese. I left feeling satisfied but not stuffed. For my afternoon snack I had a 60 calorie Dannon Yogart. Also, I've still been drinking lots and lots of water!

Tonight, I'm going to the gym again. I want to do at least an hour of cardio and workout my upper body. I will update later!

I'm pretty sure I may look like this after an hour of cardio...tongue hanging out and all!

Here's a fun little game...

From Kenz's blog.

 If you've taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you're new, please take a moment to answer this week's question on your own blog then add a link at the bottom of this post so we can all see your post. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts.

Answer each question using only one word...

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand

2. Your most significant other? confused

3. Your hair? blonde-ish

4. Your mother? best

5. Your father? best

6. Your favorite? twilight

7. Your dream last night? none

8. Your favorite drink? tea

9. Your dream/goal? skinny-ish

10. What room you are in? bedroom

11. Your hobby? painting

12. Your fear? loneliness

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy

14. Where were you last night? parents'

15. Something that you aren't? hungry

16. Muffins? yum

17. Wish list item? everything

18. Where you grew up? texas

19. Last thing you did? phone

20. What are you wearing? pajamas

21. Your TV? off

22. Your pets? romeo

23. Friends? yes

24. Your life? uncertain

25. Your mood? sad

26. Missing someone? yes!!!!

27. One place that I go to over and over? facebook

28. Something you want: happiness

29. Your favorite store? Target

30. Your favorite color? pink

Making Progress!

Today was a better day. I had my moments, but overall, it was better than yesterday. I went to workout tonight and did about 35 minutes of cardio. I was wanting to do at least an hour but after the weekend I've had I was feeling a little drained so I'm really proud of myself for going at all. I ate breakfast and lunch at my parents today...breakfast was a pillsbury crescent roll with 1/4 slice a bacon and a little sliver of pepper jack cheese and lunch was a salad, small bbq'd chicken breast and a small serving of baked beans. (Just a sidenote, after lunch I totally kicked everyone's butt in Scrabble.)

 For dinner, I made an egg white omelet with spinach, fat free feta, and a chopped up thin slice of turkey lunch meat. It was yummy and I found the best thing ever for portion control dessert tonight!

This whole cup has only 150 calories!

All in all, today was pretty successful. I got some exercise, ate healthy and stayed within my calorie allowance, and the biggest news of all....drumroll please.....

I'VE LOST 13 POUNDS!!!!!

So, super excited!!! My goals this week are to workout at least 4 days, stay within my calorie allowance, drinks lots of water and hopefully drop another 3-4 lbs! I'm going to take progress pictures for every 10 lbs. lost. My first picture that I posted was after I had already lost 9 lbs, so now I have lost an additional 4 lbs....after 6 more, I will post another pic! 

It's a new day...

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you that have left such sweet comments. I woke up this morning feeling sad and empty. I hate this feeling. I know it will get better as time goes by, but these first few weeks are going to be the hardest. I've decided to just really throw myself into working out...I need to keep my mind occupied and stay focused on the goals I have set for myself. Today, I am going to go to the gym that I have been "donating" money to for the last year and a half! ;)  Seriously, I have been paying $45 a month since July 2009 and I may have gone to workout about 10 times. So now, it is time to start getting my money's worth. They just expanded and I hear it is awesome! I'm actually excited about going. I will let y'all know how it goes!

Empty Stomach...

Because of everything that has happened today, I haven't had much of an appetite. When the break-up happened, I hadn't even had breakfast yet...needless to say, I never did. I finally decided to eat a little something tonight. I had a lean pocket (pepperoni)...that was all....oh, and 3 large glasses of wine. Not the most nutritious meal, but it's good enough for today. I'm not really feeling like getting off of the couch...lovin' these pj pants, fuzzy socks and this blanket.

Didn't think my heart would have to go through this again...

Sorry for all the sad posts...I just feel like I am entitled to one day of feeling sorry for myself. :(

Worst day of the year...

Today has been a really bad day. My boyfriend and I just broke up...like hours ago. :( We've been together for over a year but we were going in different directions. It's not what I wanted, but it's life, I guess. It is going to be tough, but I will just continue to focus on myself. On the upside, I survived mexican food night with the girls...always a silver lining, right?

Happy Friday!

Good morning everyone! I'm so happy that the weekend is finally here. This week has been great, I got back on track after derailing in New Orleans and have been meeting my mini-goals that I have made. Tonight I'm going have Mexican food with some friends - that will be a little challenging. I can order something healthy, but the real test will be to NOT eat a basket of chips and salsa before my meal comes out! My basket usually looks something like this by the time I get my actual meal....

chip crumbs....

My biggest problem with going out to eat, is that I have gotten in a bad habit of feeling like it's a "free pass" to eat whatever I want, just because I am at a restaurant. If I made a burrito at home, I wouldn't stuff it with beans cook in lard, a pound of ground beef, deep fry it, cover it in shredded cheese and then top it off with a latel of queso...so why do I feel that it is ok to eat a lard-filled, deep-fried, queso-soaked burrito at a restaurant? From now on, it is NOT ok! There are plenty of healthier choices that I can make when I go out to eat...so I'm going to start making those better choices tonight.

 I am going to try to keep my calorie intake low throughout the day so I can give myself a little room tonight. Even though I'm going to make healthier choices, I know that anything at a restaurant is going to be higher in calories than meals that I cook at home - plus, I may want to spend some calories on a margarita or maybe a Bud Light Lime ;)

 To start my day off, I've had a bowl of oatmeal and then I just had a little snack of 1/2 of a small bag of pretzels with a Laughing Cow cheese wedge. So far, so good. Still drinking my water too!

The Hunger Monster has left the building!

Woohoo! Today my appetite has been back in control...thank goodness! The last two days have been a challenge...I can't really say that I was hungry, but I just wanted to snack...wayyyy too much! Actually, today I have had to remind myself to eat...that doesn't happen often, so I'm taking full advantage of it. I haven't had my dinner yet; I'm thinking I'll have another black bean burger. I have one patty left, so I guess I'll get rid of it tonight. I still have over 700 calories available today...don't think I'll be using all of those! I've been playing Just Dance and Just Dance 2 for my workouts almost everynight so I was thinking about going walk this evening to change it up.........BUT.........mother nature decided to make it freezing and super windy this afternoon, so looks like I'll be dancing it up again in my living room. Right after American Idol, of course. :)

Hello Again...

Today is off to a good start! Had another Lean Gourmet Breakfast Muffin this morning with a bottle of water and had a grilled chicken salad w/ light balsmic vinegrette for lunch...yum yum!

Soooo Delicious!

After breakfast and lunch, my calories consumed are 456. That leaves me with 794 for the rest of the day! I'm going to try not to snack too much today so I can have a bigger calorie deficit to make up for going over a little the past 2 days.

Also, I have burned 1304 calories since midnight!! Yay!!! I've been trying to get up from my desk as much as possible today since sitting on my butt does not burn very many calories - I am alllll about running errands all over campus today!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE my Bodybugg???? I know I have - just thought I would say it again. I love seeing my progress through the day. It keeps me motivated to keep going and makes me aware of exactly what my body is doing. Another great feature the Bodybugg has is a "Step Count." It has a sort-of, built in pedometer. Right now, my daily step goal is set at 10,000 per day. I googled the distance that 10,000 steps equals and it's roughly 5 miles!!! I try my best to reach it everyday...I would say that so far, I hit it about 50% of the time and come pretty close the rest of the time (7500-8500 steps/day).

Weighing In:

I've decided that I am going to try my best to NOT get on the scale every morning. In the past, I have always thought of the scale as a motivator...when the numbers went down it kept me going; but, it also can be discouraging. I know that your body can fluctuate daily by a few pounds, but when I'm trying to lose weight, it's hard to see it go up...even if it is just water weight so, I am going to weigh-in once a week. Besides, I would much rather see 3 or 4 lbs lost at one weigh-in, rather than see -.3lbs, -.7lbs., etc....every morning.  :)



Blogging...day 2

Today was a pretty good day. I still fought the hunger bug for a lot of the day...really from after lunch until tonight I just wanted to eat. I wouldn't say that I was really hungry, just bored I guess, and wanted to eat stuff. Pretty sure that how I got to the point that I am at really now...eating just to eat...because it taste good...lol. Good news is that I wasn't craving unhealthy food - there's always a silver lining! When I wanted a snack I chose healthy options; carrot sticks, pickles, and fat free yogurt. I had another black bean burger and more "faux mashed potatoes" for dinner. After I ate, I was craving something sweet, so had a banana with a little peanut butter and a very, very, very tiny drizzle of syrup. That took care of the sweet tooth.

Exercise:

I worked out in my living room tonight by playing Just Dance 2 on my Wii. It's sooooo much fun and I burn a ton of calories doing it. According to my BodyBugg, I burned 670 cal in a little over an hour tonight - and an hour of dancing goes by so fast! My total calories burned for the day, as of right now, is 2838...and I still have a little over an hour of the day left before it resets for tomorrow. My goal is to burn 3200 and to take in about 1250. I should come close to the 3200 by midnight...unfortunately, I did exceed my food calories, but only by about 150 cal.

Goals:

I achieved my mini-goal of drinking 5 bottles of water today and will continue to reach it everyday.  My goal tomorrow is to exceed my calorie burn goal and NOT exceed my calories consumed! 

Thanks for reading! Good night!

Picture Time...yuck

Ok...here it is...my "before" picture:

Is that really me?

Not that I was expecting to look like a supermodel, or anything...but geez! This picture makes me want to eat celery sticks for every meal and workout for like 10 hours a day!!!! But, I'll be patient and do this the right way...there's no quick fix that'll work for me. I'll post a new picture every fews weeks - hopefully seeing progress will keep me going! Whew...ok, so now I see where I'm starting (-9 lbs already gone!)

Good Morning!

The day has started off good so far! Still no "before" picture...I'll have to take it tonight instead. I've decided to set mini-goals every few days so today's mini-goal is to drink five 20oz. bottles of water! One down, four more to go! I've tried to elminate drinking any of my calories, so no sodas or juices - not even diet. I know there are no calories in diet drinks, but I hear they make you crave sugar so I'm going to cut those out as much as possible and just drink water. I've done great so far, with the exception of last weekend.

I'll be having lots of you, H20, from now on...

Good news for today - I'm not feeling near as hungry as I was yesterday. I guess all of the junk I ate this weekend, is getting out of my system now. I had a delicious breakfast this morning; Michaelina's Lean Gourmet Breakfast Muffin and a 60 calorie Dannon yogart.

So yummy...I always want to eat the second muffin that comes in the box, but the serving size says one muffin, so that's what I eat!

I just had a mid-morning snack too...8 baby carrots and a Laughing Cow cheese wedge.

If you like cheese, you will LOVE this!

So, I'm off to a good start today...woohoo! I've got my BodyBugg on and plan to really step up my calorie burn today (since I didn't quite reach it yesterday). My goal is to burn 3200 cals per day - which I have managed to exceed almost everyday, so if I come up short every now and then, it's ok. Just have to work a little harder today. So far, I've burned a little over 1000 calories since midnight! :)

Dinner Time!

After having frozen dinners for breakfast and lunch today....and trying to fight off the snack monster for most of the afternoon, I decided to cook tonight. I made black bean burgers on sandwich thins instead of hamburger buns, and "faux mashed potatoes" (pureed cauliflower). 

Pretty yummy stuff! Now all I have left to do is get my workout in....oh, and post a "before" picture.

Fat Picture...

I've decided that this blog is no fun for anyone to read if they can't see any progress. So, as much as I do not want to do this, I will be posting a "before" picture this evening.

Will I be brave enough to post a photo in this kind of outfit?????

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I borrowed this image from The Biggest Loser site and unless I have a shot at winning $250,000 my butt is not getting in spandex and a sports bra to take a picture! I won't go any further than maybe wearing a shirt that is a little too snug...

Back on it today!

Ok, today is a fresh start day for me. Usually, the "fresh start" day would be on Monday, but I was off work and still in New Orleans yesterday so my do-over day is today. Yesterday would have been a complete failure of a "fresh start," being that I had Port-of-Call as my first meal of the day.

http://portofcallnola.com/

Pretty sure you could get fatter just by looking at this...



So, I'm off to a much better start today with a bottle of water and a Smart Ones English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich. It's only 210 calories per serving and taste yummy!

Lunch will most likely be a Lean Cuisine today or maybe Subway - if I decide to leave the office to go pick it up. I've been eating a lot of frozen dinners because they are so easy to just grab on the way out the door in the morning. I'm going to work on cooking more of my meals and saving the leftovers. Frozen dinners are great and all, but I get sick of them and I know I can cook a healthier meal on my own.

So, I guess I'm a blogger now...

   Well, I just came back from a great weekend with Todd in New Orleans, unfortunately, it was not so great for my diet. I got a BodyBugg about a week ago, started exercising daily and counting my calories. It's been going great...when I weighed myself on Friday I had already lost 9 lbs! Super-duper excited about that!! Anyway, spending a few days in the yummy city of New Orleans could easily kill anyone's diet and it definitely got the best of me this time. So, I'm sittin' here in my living room, feeling a little guilty about my lack of will power so early on, but still determined to get back on the wagon tomorrow, and I see this article on Yahoo about bloggers who have lost weight.

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/weight-loss/8-amazing-blogger-weight-loss-transformations

Feel free to read it if you want...I'll give the Cliff Notes version. Basically, all of these people blogged about their weight loss journey. Blogging about their good days, bad days, and ups and downs of dieting, helped to keep them motivated and also added the factor of accountability by knowing that people were reading about their progress. So, after reading the article, I figured I would give the blogging thing a try too.

I will be posting daily updates about what I'm doing, how I'm feeling, what I'm eating...all that good stuff. I hope people read it, but if they don't I won't really know. I'm just going to tell myself that 1000's of people are viewing my blog everyday - so I better stay on track!

As of right now, I will not post my starting weight...this is not an episode of The Biggest Loser - I don't need it to be public knowledge just yet ;)  I will, however, post how many pounds I lose...and when I get to a weight that I'm not embarrassed about, then mayyyyyyybe I'll post what I started out at....no promises though!

Oh, in case anyone is wondering what a BodyBugg is, check it out:

http://bodybugg.com/

It is awesome and I absolutely love mine! I just wear this thing around the top of my arm (all day and night, except when I shower) and the watch tells me how many calories I've burned - not just when I work out, but how many I burn doing anything - sleeping, eating, sitting, standing - EVERYTHING! You keep a food log on the website, recording all nutritional info from everything you eat or drink. Just make sure you burn more calories than you're taking in and like magic, the pounds start falling off...lol. Common sense, right? Not sure why, in my whole life, I haven't been able to figure this concept out.  Anyway, the BodyBugg is not doing anything for me, it's just making me aware of what my body is doing and what I am doing to it.

Ok, so that's my first post, people! I'll see ya tomorrow!