Whew! A Whole Week!!!

I cannot get over the fact that it truly has been a whole week since I have posted here... I know I had intentions to do so at least three or four times but apparently that did not come to fruition now did it!?!?!

Anyways, a lot of fun stuff I have to update on!
First, the five punds lost is totally real!!! YAHOO!!! I waited until this week to weigh in at home and at work, and lo and behold, both scales showed the loss!!! I am way pumped and definitely ready for another week...

My eating wasn't quite up to snuff but to be honest I have not really been that hungry. But when I did eat it was pretty good... I will admit to having hot dogs the other night for dinner but I have been wanting them for a couple of weeks and they sure did hit the spot, plus I did not eat lunch (bad, I know) so I had the room in my diet for the day.

Let me update on my goals for last Friday:
Goal 1: I will work out three times by next Friday for at least half an hour (like I said, baby steps)
I did work out three times this week, once out for a hard core walk and the other two times on my Gazelle!!!! I am so proud of myself for accomplishing this that I am excited to see if I can do it next week as well. The weather here has been gorgeous... fall has definitely arrived so I do believe a hike may be in order tomorrow... will have to see how the fiance is feeling when he gets home from work!

Goal 2: Continue with my fruits and veggies for snacks but also attempt to cut down on carbs and empty calories a bit more... (I don't typically drink sodas and such but have them once in a while so I will stay away from them, juices, and candy/chocolate)
Haven't had sodas or juice this week... so I guess it has been water, and I have had milk a couple of time with dinner. I did make brownies because I was supposed tohave my bridal party over and a girlfriend who will be doing the makeup for the wedding... turns out she couldn't make it and I was left with brownies but I have shown a lot of restraint I must say... Brad will end up eating most of them, no doubt. So I will admit to having had some chocolate this week but have been keeping an eye on it so that I haven't been going overboard or anything!

Goal 3: Maintain the 5 pound weight loss.
Consider it maintained!!! I guess this means I can move my weight loss tracker... although some part of me fears doing that in case I am jinxing myself or something. I have actually lost a little more than 5 pounds but I am not ready to accept that quite yet... I will be looking forward to what the scale says on Wednesday.

So it is the weekend yet again... I am already planning on having some pizza this week but other than that nothing spectactular or anything that will put my 5-pound loss in jeopardy... and with the idea of a nice half day (or so) hike on the horizon I am totally looking forward to it.

I am going to stick with the same goals as above and then change them once I have lost a couple of more pounds... with the wedding four weeks from tomorrow I know I will be concentrating on that a lot along with work being a busy, crazy place!!!

I think, if I find myself with a few extra dollars (yeah right) I am going to go out and get me some new workout clothes... we shall see but not only will I look cute but it will also be motivation...

Two more things and then I am out:
1- I am pumped because I am in an MSN group through the WebMD diet club and this week I am in the spotllight!!! That's cool...

2- I have been considering doing a (half-) marathon. Obviously I am in no shape to do one now but this is an interesting thing... it is called "Train to End Stroke" and the purpose is you sign up, designate a hero (a stroke victim or survivor) and you train with support of the American Stroke Association and then you get donations and end up running/walking, but completing a half or full marathon, in some exotic place... like Hawaii. My mom is a stroke survivor and so it would serve two purposes for me... to honor my mom and to get in shape. Hmm... I will put the link on the sidebar...

Well if that's not enough for one post I don't know what is...

Goal Update

So, here I was this whole day thinking I had nothing to write about but I was wrong. Remembering the goals I posted last Friday with the promise of updating how I did with them this Friday and also revising or making new goals... Perhaps this is something that I should have been thinking about all week and not just occurring to me today.

Anyhoo, on to the update:
Goal 1: I will work out three times by next Friday for at least half an hour (like I said, baby steps)
I did NOT work out three times by today- shame on me. I think I got to maybe one workout and if I have to think about it, it must not have been the memorable or good of a workout. Will have to work on this one... *** please see yesterday's post ***
Goal 2: I will also cut out any snacking during the week aside from fruits and vegetables; no chocolate or other candy
I did fairly well with this one. I did have Rita's water ice on Saturday night and had chocolate yesterday (sorry, it is that time of the month and everything- ugh) but aside from that I can't recall where I really strayed from this one!!!
Goal 3: And lose 3 pounds... hmm. Should be interesting considering it is the week before that time of the month!
Well, as of Wednesday morning the scale was hovering at 200 pounds which would mean a solid 5 pound loss... alas we shall confirm this coming Wednesday I hope!

Now, with that said I am going to attempt to revise and update my goals:
Goal 1: I will work out three times by next Friday for at least half an hour (like I said, baby steps)
Goal 2: Continue with my fruits and veggies for snacks but also attempt to cut down on carbs and empty calories a bit more... (I don't typically drink sodas and such but have them once in a while so I will stay away from them, juices, and candy/chocolate)
Goal 3: Maintain the 5 pound weight loss.

Onto other news... so proud of myself today. I asked Brad if he wanted me to meet him for lunch and he said he would and then later this morning requested McDonald's... mmm. I will admit it has been a good while since he and I have treated ourselves to some McD's... and I could have really gone for a big ole sloppy Big Mac with some fries and a big coke... but no. I did instead go with the crispy chicken caesar salad... crispy instead of grilled, I know, isn't the best choice I could have made but it is so good!!! Ah well, it was good although I think I still would have preferred the Big Mac but I know that later on there would have been regret... ahhh.

Now for the weekend... going to a family outing at the smorgasbord tomorrow for lunch. What do y'all think of that?!?!? It won't be so bad though, I typically fill up on salad first anyway so I am looking forward to it! The rest of the weekend should be smooth sailing... will fill you in as to how it goes on Monday.

Some more thoughts...

So I have been thinking more about exercising... I don't know why I cannot get my butt in gear enough to get some exercise. I know for a fact, from past experience, that there is always time for exercise. My reasoning behind this logic is two-fold: 1) When one is sitting there on their butts watching TV or playing on the computer, they could very well be doing something fantastic in terms of health! On the same note, I always fit in at least an hour and a half of exercise while in college, working two jobs, full course schedule and too many extracurricular activies to count. 2) My other point is that if you find the time to get in a good workout you more than likely will find renewed energy and strength and be able to tackle whatever had to be set on a side burner in order to fit in the exercise.
SO... with this logic, I am asking myself, why? I can tell you the TV shows I have watched every night this week... I happen to have a Gazelle- lovely machine those things are- and yet, it sits against the wall while I sit and watch my CSI or some such thing. Now, after asking my self why? I tell myself there is no excuse. I am looking at this as an "A-HA" moment and am sharing it with you as it dawns on me... NO excuses... no logic behind excuses...

I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person!! ~ Og Mandino

Update...

So I can't believe I haven't gotten the time or the chance to get anything on here before today... Ah well. Work is busy, wedding planning is taking up time and then there is this silly little thing called like that seems to be constantly calling for my attention... go figure!

Anyhoo, update on the weight loss. It happened to be later in the evening, what I like to refer to as bedtime, when I was in the bathroom and decided to step on to the scale- very uncharacteristic of me as I am certainly a do-it-in-the-morning type of gal, no sense in bringing myself down- and see where the number was. Turns out it was hovering right around 200... NO KIDDING!!! I am looking at it like what the heck?!?!? Ran in and told Brad that although it is the end of the day and practically that time of the month, it seems as though I have lost at least 5 pounds!!!! I then stated that I would wait and see until this morning if it was actually the same number or not... and you know what, by golly it was!!! Now what do you think of that?!?!? Doesn't make too much sense to me especially because the scale here at work hasn't really changes; I have decided that I need to get a new scale and if we do not get the one we registered for for the wedding then I am going out and getting me one!!! Period :-)

On to other fun things, my eating has been pretty good if I do say so myself. I am most proud of my Sunday- football day- eating. Instead of our typical pepperoni, cheese, and cracker tray that we like to have we instead had a small veggie tray with carrots, cucumbers, peppers and broccoli and also tostitos with salsa... and then for dinner we had kabobs with chicken, marinated beef, peppers (red & green), onions and mushrooms!! MM good... we also had corn on the cob which I will admittedly declare that I tore up!!! Git-R-Done! It was so good.... I swear those Amish are magicians when it comes to produce.

My portion sizes have been shrinking, I've notice. Not a bad thing nor am I complaining, I am actually really excited about it because, as I have mentioned before, that is one of my biggest trouble spots.

Oh well, I ought to get back to work...

Another Friday...

How is everyone doing out there? Glad it is Friday... I know I am.

So a little update on my whole little weight loss trip... I think I got lost on a side road or something. I have been eating fairly well, although I am not entirely sure as I have not been tracking my foods (mistake #1); I have been eating chocolate, I just can't stop myself (mistake #2); not exercising as much as I could and should be (mistake #3), and so on.So here, let's edit the preceding sentence together, replace the word mistake with the word lesson... there, I feel better now!

Moving on... I have decided to go baby steps and set little goals for myself; presently I think my weight is hovering somewhere between 205-210 and I know it is not going to get to 200 all by myself, that is where I come in. I am going to attempt to make weekly goals for myself every Friday of which I will report out on the following Friday and make new ones depending on my result. Whew- did that sentence make sense?

So I am going to start small, and dare I say, a bit easy:
1. I will work out three times by next Friday for at least half an hour (like I said, baby steps)
2. I will also cut out any snacking during the week aside from fruits and vegetables; no chocolate or other candy
3. And lose 3 pounds... hmm. Should be interesting considering it is the week before that time of the month!

So, with those few and small goals made I am looking forward to next week and a healthier me...

Have an awesome weekend!

The 100 Acre Personality Quiz

Well, I got the quiz of Becky's site... it looks like I fall in with 25% of folks who have also taken the quiz. I would say it has me pretty much pinned though!!!


Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Fittings & Posts

I had my wedding dress fitting yesterday... I already knew the dress was too big but the damn thing was falling off of me yesterday; I am blaming my weight loss on the price of the alterations... if Brad ever knew how much the alterations alone cost he would kill me!!! It did feel good though, I will admit, that the dress was so loose.
I even got complimented yesterday on my weight loss by one of the supervisors at my plant... I am still trying to decide if he was sincere or just buttering me up. But whatever, a compliment is a compliment and I am going to take it gracefully and roll with it.

Now on to my post; a little background: I am a member of the WEBMD chat board Dieting Club: 50-100 pounds and usually make it to the board at least once daily to check out the posts and even add a few of my own; it is a great support system. Okay, now that the promo is done, I happened to be checking out the board this evening when I saw a post from a 16-yr old gal who stated she was overweight and ready to change (after saying she was tired of being overweight, stared at and made fun of)... long story short it broke my heart and this was my response to her:
Hi [her name here] and welcome to the board!
First let me say I know how you feel; here I am 5'7" and around 205 but I also remember being a teenager and weighing at least 40 pounds more... luckily my body holds it well but that still doesn't mean I wasn't uncomfortable in my own skin or didn't feel out of place in a lot of situations.
Second I would love to applaud you on wanting to do something about it now and actually looking for the resources to get you there... I knew I was way overweight- fat even - and yes, I was active to an extent but it certainly didn't stop me from eating chocolate, chips and other bad-for-you food that you can think of!!!
I lost a lot of weight while in college and part of the weightloss was attained the right way while the other part was lost in a not-so-good way. I am now losing every pound the right way and the way that works best for me... here goes and hopefully this may help you out some:
I have to watch my portion sizes!!! That is one of the biggest things... I love either a full plate or seconds... mmm! One of the biggest things for me is realizing that I am full before I am stuffed- ugh.
Cutting out the bad-for-you snacks... I consider chocolate another food group and could eat it at the drop of a dime, 7 am... whenever. I love chips and stuff too... but they're not worth it.
I count calories because it is good for me to see how much (or how little if you can believe that) I am eating and then I adjust if I need to.
I also journal my foods (fitday.com)... same as calories, it is good for me to see what I am eating.
So those are some of my tips...
Good luck to you
Tiff

So that was my post... I hope it helps her out cause I think in a way it helped me. I remember some of what my feelings were when I was younger (and heavier) and less confident in the person I am (despite my extra weight) but it also is one of the first times that I have actually written down the tips that help me lose weight...

That's all I've got for now!!!

I Wonder...

Okay, so I was thinking about it and I am wondering about things that will likely change wby the time I reach my goal... not too deep of thinking, just simply the changes with my body and overall appearance. Here goes:

• I wonder what my face will look like... will it change? become thinner perhaps? will my eyes look bigger than they already do?
• What about my boobs? They stayed big the last time I lost weight and so far they haven't gone anywhere yet... I wonder if they will be big when I am around 150-160... (part of me hopes so)
• My BUTT!!! I have a generous bottom... I realize that it will not be quite so large and in charge but still having a nice rounded bottom wouldn't be such a bad thing.
• And finally my thighs... I wonder what they will do. What will it be like to not have them be so big???
• Overall I think I am wondering how I will feel in my own skin when I reach my goal weight... will I like the way I feel? Will I feel different? Will it feel marvelous? Will I want to flaunt it? So many questions about what it will feel like...

Oh well, that is just what happens to be on my mind today... quite randomly.

I had better get back to wedding stuff... we have to get the invites ready and so forth.
BTW: My dress fitting is on Monday and I am so pumped!!!

Today Could Be Tricky

Soo, on Fridays I usually work from home. Why? you ask; because my work is 60 miles from my home one-way and gas prices are out of this world! It is nice because one doesn't realize how much a two and a half hour (total) commute a day can drain a person... so, I work from home on Fridays.

Anyway. Working from home can make things difficult as far as eating goes but simpler in the way that I can usually fit in a good exercise (if I get my butt motivated, that is) just because I am home and then have the time. I haven't been too hungry this whole week but have been having cravings which has been a pain in my derierre... I have been wanting chocolate and ice cream in the worst ways and chocolate ice cream happens to be the best solution. Ironically, I grew up not having snack until 8 pm in the evening, well after dinner and now I do not usually eat until around 7 pm (please see above explanation of commute) and by then I am tired and ready to watch some TV but not hungry enough for ice cream... the ironic part (back to my point) is that I do happen to have some chocolate ice cream in the freezer that I haven't touched since either Sunday or Monday!

I am curious how this weekend will be for me eating... I am not too worried about it as I don't really foresee us eating out this weekend. I do have to go to the grocery store and I am hoping to make it to the orchard for some end of season fruit and corn- I just can't help myself as I love corn on the cob when it is in season, other than that I hardly ever eat it. I know we are planning on grilling some Kabobs and that would go well with my corn. I also need to remember while shopping to purchase yummy stuff for my snacks for next week cause if I don't do that it is a pretty sure sign that not only will I cheat but somewhere in there I will likey start falling off the wagon; and we can't have that as I would hate to have to confess it here. Ugh.

Anyhoo- here's to hoping it will be a great weekend all around; eating-wise and everything else!!!

New Stuff

I'd like to call your attention to a coupe of new links on the sidebar... first I added a few links to some other folks who are on their own weight loss journeys- consider it inspiration if you will;I also added a few tools that are helpful...

Speaking of, on of the tools happens to be the BMI calculator... So I calculated my current BMI and it is a whopping 32!!!! This puts me at the bottom of the obesity scale! Ugh. Obesity is a score of 30 or greater, overweight is a score of 25-29 and so on. Sooo, right now I am striving to just be overweight. Does that sound awful? The, kind of, silver lining is that at my starting weight my BMI was 37... so at least I have improved 5 points. Another 5 points from my current score and I will just be overweight!!!
On the same note, I also did the calorie calculator and it was no surprise when it told me that I should be eating 2000 calories in order to lose weight... I knew that because I had done the calculator on WebMD... presently I shoot for eating around 1600 calories and if I get up to 1800 calories that's okay with me. Ahh.

This is feeling like a never ending song sometimes. It's like I lose a few pounds and somewhere in the deep, dark depths of my brain I feel like I am allowed to have some type of reward and it is typically in the form of food; probably not the best approach if I am trying to lose weight. I know, shame on me. And this is even after I have developed a rewards list for myself. It doesn't matter right now anyway as I have no money to reward myself. Ugh.

I am starting to be able to picture myself thinner and "they" say a lot of it is mind over matter... so if I picture it, it will come (so to speak). We shall see... I did get in a good walk last night and am hoping to get in another at some point today or this evening.

Another day

So I made it through the holiday weekend farely unscathed... at least as far as I can tell. I did enjoy some yummy BBQ but not too much nor did I eat much of anything else, I think I averaged a meal a day. I didn't necessarily choose to eat one meal a day but I guess that was all I was hungry for.

Today, aside from the few pieces of chocolate I have eaten, I had some yogurt, popcorn and a Lean Cuisine. I am feeling good and not too bloated so I can't wait to see what the weigh-in will look like tomorrow. We shall see I suppose! I think I will be disappointed if it turns out that I gained weight as it felt so good last week to see such an awesome loss but I am not getting my hopes up (at least not too high).

I have decided at some point I am going to have to start posting some before and after pics... I don't know if there is much of a difference to see now or not but if I keep going the way I am I am sure there will be something to see. I have also decided that my first post of the week will include something inspirational... good way to start off the week if you know what I mean! It can't hurt right?

Inspiration for the week:
An article from WebMD on obesity, losing weight and sex!!! Enjoy!

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/102/106815.htm

Real Quick...

Okay so I am actually getting ready to go up to the fiance's parents' house for the weekend... to return sometime late Sunday afternoon!

I hardly ate anything yesterday, a yogurt for breakfast and watermelon for lunch, so when I finally had dinner it was the Big Mac extra value meal from McDonald's... I wouldn't recommend this diet to anyone. Nor would I recommend eating McDonald's, period, after not having had fast food for an extended amount of time... it does some crazy things to one's stomach as both Brad and I found out last night.

I am hoping that I can keep the eating in check for the weekend... I am anticipating beer upon our return- all of those empty calories- but whatever. Bring on the BBQ and beverage... I have found that if I am paying attention I am still able to keep my cals reasonable.

So have an awesome weekend and here's to Labor Day and a three-day weekend!!! Woohoo

Drumroll Please!

So... I usually weigh in on my scale at home, as I am there every day and can just hop in the morning- naked- and get a reading... but every Wednesday I will also get onto the scale at work and, even though the numbers are different the losses and gains are the same. It just so happens that I remembered to get on there yesterday, late morning, and.... ready for this.... 6 1/2 pounds gone!!! IN ONE WEEK!!! Now I am positive that when I cut out my snacky foods, chocolate, and watch my portion sizes things really do happen... I guess those doctors and fitness people do have some clue as to what they are talking about!!! Hee hee

On another note, I thought I had a great idea for a stuffed animal and money drive here at work... but alas, after checking out the American Red Cross site I have found that little local drives usually end up costing more money than actually helping. So I guess I will stick with my original plan of donating some money and blood (although in my world they are practically one in the same, you know what I mean?!?!)! I wish there were more I could do...