Yo Yo.. That's What's Up

Just ate my snack at 12:00 pm.. Afterall, I am at work. Not for long, though. About to leave NOW and look for a frozen entree at the house for my lonche. Btw the Yogurt has 80 calories. Buh bye

On a Roll

This morning I was kind of skeptical about weighing myself because of eating out yesterday (twice!). But I did it anyways, only to be pleasantly surprised... 254.4 lbs!! That's another .8 lbs!! Woot woot!! It's so exciting to be losing weight. I love it.

I'm at work now, sipping on iced Green Tea. I'm also getting ready to eat my oatmeal. I think today will be a good day..

Fast Food Frenzie!

My family decided to eat Five Guys Burgers and Fries for dinner tonight. I was ok with that because I looked up the nutritional values online beforehand. Usually, I would get the Bacon Cheeseburger and stuff my mouth with french fries..but this time was different. I opted for the Little Cheeseburgr (no bacon, thank you very much) with mayo, ketchup, and A1.. and I had at the most 20 fries. I also ate a handful of peanuts. I think my burger was like around 570 calories..? Something like that. It wasn't the best thing to eat for dinner, but it could've been worse ya know.

I knew I most definitely had to walk after eating a meal like that. Liishladii and I tried a new walking route. We ended up doing 3.69 miles (at least according to my app.. her app said we did more, which I would prefer) in 1 hour and 22 minutes, burning 333 calories. So, I burned off a good portion of the cheeseburger. I'm afraid to step on the scale tomorrow morning though. I don't want it to say that I've gained. Tomorrow I am going to try and eat better. Today I ate out for lunch AND dinner. Ughhh gosh..

Giving Into Temptation (Just a little bit)...

Tonight when I got home we were debating about what to do for dinner, and in fact, we still don't know. In the midst of discussing the different restaurant possibilities, I decided to eat some frosted Animal Crackers! They are yummy, but have lots of calories in them! 160 calories for a mere 8 crackers! Preposterous! But, I ate them anyway, and I savored all 8 of them! Not bad for a snack. If I had eaten, say, 20 of them, that would've been bad. But instead I stuck with the serving size on the label. Bonus points for me!

How Many Calories Should I Be Eating?

I was just curious as to how many calories I should be eating daily. I went to the Free Dieting website and entered my stats (my age, gender, height, weight, exercise level) and they gave me these results:

• To maintain my current weight (NO!): 2962 calories
• Fat loss: 2370 calories
• Extreme fat loss (Ohhh yeah!): 2040 calories

I wonder if I should start trying to count my calories?? I am not sure how many calories I currently consume on a daily basis. I guess it's not a bad thought..

Applesauce

My afternoon snack is a Mott's Applesauce. I waited until now, 4:00 pm, to eat it. I thought since I ate out for lunch that I shouldn't be as hungry as usual. I think that theory is true!

Panera

I had my snack around 10:00 am (my usual Ritz Crackerful). For lunch, however, I did something different. This was the first time going out to eat since I got really serious about this lifestyle change. My mom said we were going to Panera so I did my research and found the nutritional values of their menu items. I found the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad had 520 calories, which wasn't bad at all compared to the other food choices. So that's what I decided to get, and let me tell you, It was DELICIOUS. I really enjoyed my food today. I also sneaked a French baguette (180 calories). I didn't think it was horrible, 700 calories for my lunch.

After lunch I wanted to walk outdoors, but I felt like it was really hot, and I was feeling a bit lazy. My mom suggested instead that I do the Leslie Sansone 1-mile Exercise DVD, and I agreed, but I made her do it too. That lasted 30 minutes and equals 1 mile. I'm not sure how many calories it burned, but I'm guessing about 100. Well, that's it for now!

Morning!

I'm down .6 lbs this morning (255.2 lbs). I'm eating a bowl of Steel Cut Oats and drinking a glass of iced Green Tea! I'll blog later. I gotta get ready for work!

Dinner and Dessert (a walk of course!)

For dinner I made chicken soft tacos (chicken marinated in Balsamic vinegar, sauteed with onion and chile pepper, eaten with homemade corn tortillas, cheese, and sour cream) with vegetable rice. I ate 2 tacos with diced tomatoes, the sour cream and cheese and chiles and a large serving of rice. I only ate about 1/2 the rice, though, and then I ate a few pieces of extra meat. Then I got Charlie ready for bed and proceeded to walk with my brother for 1.39 miles in 18 minutes (some running was involved) and we burned 118 calories. Then, Alisha and I did 2.82 miles in 1 hour, burning 247 calories. So, overall I did 4.21 miles, burn 365 calories. Not bad, not bad. I know I can do better though.

No smoothie tonight (due to no fruit!), but I am making oatmeal for in the morning, as well as Green Tea. I will weigh in the morning! Good night!

More Motivation, More Power

I was doing some more googling a couple minutes ago about motivation for weight loss (afterall, motivation is the key to success). I found a link to about.com. It's an article about weight loss (obviously). It is talking about different skills that help you to keep up with losing the weight. Much of the advice I have started using anyways. It reinforces my motivation.

Thunder Hunger

I decided not to eat my snack until there was pretty much nothing else that I could do, since it was storming and all. The power was flickering on and off a little bit, so we turned off the comps. Then, I just ate my yogurt out of boredom. It was the usual Light & Fit (peach flavored).

Now I only have 30 minutes left before I go home, and then we have to decide what to cook for dinner. Funnnnn... 

Clarification

So you know how I made those rewards for myself, about the 5 lbs equals earrings and all that? Well, I decided that once I hit 250 lbs these rewards can start, because like I said, I haven't gotten down past 250 lbs in over a year. That's why once I get there I will start the reward system.

Sweat Time

I just finished my lunch break walk. I did 1.12 miles in 25 minutes, burning 106 calories. I'm happy. I was thinking, while on my walk, that I never want to live an unhealthy lifestyle again. I feel good with how I am living now, so why would I want to go back to how I was?? That would just be stupid, and I know I would never feel satisfied with myself (Awww the joys that exercise can bring).

Lunchtime Already?

I ended up eating the Crackerful around 10:30 am. Now, I am eating lunch at 11:30 am, only because I want to walk early and get back to my desk early. I am eating a Tuna Sandwich (mayo, pickle, pepper, Mrs. Dash, and lettuce), a few radishes, a handful of carrots, an applesauce, and a Handi Snack. Here's a pic:

Insane In The Membrane

I haven't eaten my 10:00 am snack, yet. I was waiting for the time to pass by (I starting eyeing the clock at 9 am). Now that 10 am has come and gone (it's 10:11 am as we speak) I don't feel as compelled to eat that Ritz Crackerful. That's why I know it's a brain thing. It has to be. That's the only thing that makes sense. Therefore, I must not really be hungry. It's all a game. I just have to figure how to play it to my advantage...

Oatmeal and Iced Tea

Morning weight: 255.8 lbs. (that's down .8 lbs) I'll take it! I'll take it. Now I'm eating my leftover oatmeal (I still have leftovers?!) and the iced Green Tea I made last night. I think it will be a good day.. Catcha later!

I Know It's Late, But...

I know it's getting late and I need to go to bed, but I just felt like I needed to make a smoothie. I used blueberries, strawberries, canned mix fruit, peach nectar, blueberry yogurt, milk, Chia seeds, and ice. To be honest, it's not that great. I miss Alisha drinking it with me too :(   ...But at least I'm getting in my fruits for the day. Oh well, good night!

I'm Just Walkin'

For dinner, like I said in my earlier post, I ate the Chili Mac, and I had one big serving (although I didn't eat all of it). The corn, however, was a different story. I had 3 ears! I was planning at most to eat 2 ears, but they were so darn tasty I couldn't help myself. But, as planned, I did walk with my brother after dinner. James and I walked for 33 minutes and did 1.85 miles (153 calories burned). Then, Alisha and I were able to walk at 9:!5 pm and we walked 1 hour and 3 minutes, which equals 2.99 miles (271 calories burned). That's a total of 4.84 miles 424 calories burned. Liishaladii and I had a little heart to heart, and I know this process is difficult, but it is worth it.. and Alisha, if you're reading this, I have confidence in you and I know you can do this. We have to stick this out, and soon it will be so second-nature to us. Don't worry! Have faith in yourself!!

Snack Pack

When I got home I ate a Handi Snack. It is 110 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. I don't think it was especially worth eating, but it temporarily satisfied my cravings. For dinner, I have made a beef Chili Mac Skillet (ground beef, red beans, leftover macaroni noodles, sour cream, salsa, onion, chile pepper, garlic). We haven't sat down to eat yet but I probably will have a big helping (but just 1!) and then we also have some ears of corn, and I might eat 2 of those. Afterwards I plan to walk (alone for now). I'm hoping Liishladii will be able to walk when she gets home from dinner later this evening. I'm also hoping she eats something healthy!! Hasta Luego!!

Picture This!

I think it is a good idea for me to take weekly mugshots (ugly pictures) of myself to show how much progress I'm making. This will allow me to see how I am changing.

Yogurt Break

I'm eating a Dannon Light & Fit Peach Yogurt (80 calories) now at 3:24 pm. I held out 24 minutes after 3! After this, I will wait until I get home (around 6 pm) to have another snack, if I really must.

Walkin' On Sunshine

Lunch was as follows:

1. Tuna Sandwich (2 slices bread, mayo, pickle, pepper, and Mrs. Dash)
2. 100-Calorie pack Goldfish
3. Applesauce

Then it was out for my daily walk (this time I was solo). I did 1.05 miles in 23 minutes, which burned 100 calories. It is really hot out there (and I thought yesterday was bad)! I was feeling a little down (idk why?) but I'm feeling better now since I know I accomplished something!

Snacking Off

My rules are to wait until 10:00 am for my morning snack. Well, around 9:00 am, I already wanted a snack. But, I held out and kept busy, drank some iced Green Tea, and did my work. Before I knew it, it was 10:30 am!! So I had forgotten about food. That means I wasn't really hungry! I hate my snack, though, a Ritz Crackerful! Lunch will be in about an hour.

Is My BMI TMI?

According to the National Heart and Lung Institue I am obese.. Gosh.. I know I'm fat, but obese.. really? My BMI is 36. It needs to be between 18.5 and 24.9. That means I need to weigh 178 lbs. But imma get there. Just wait and see!

Down for the Count

This morning I weigh: 256.6 lbs! Down again! So exciting! I'm eating my leftover oatmeal from yesterday and I heated it up for longer so it's hotter and tastier today. Not sure what I'm going to do about lunch but I'll scrounge up something to take with me to work. I'll keep you posted!

Chuggin' Along

For dinner, I ate 2 helpings of the Macaroni Chicken Parmesan, and I should've stopped at one because I was getting full. But, Charlie and the dogs shared with me. At 8:30 pm, Liishaladii and I took our evening walk around the neighborhood. We did 2.72 miles in 1 hour, burning a total of 249 calories (Great!). It felt good, even though we were sweaty and gross. Afterwards, we went to Giant to pick up a few things, and I got a few cravings. I almost drove Alisha crazy with naming every other product on the shelf and acting like I wanted to buy them (even though I had no money on me). But, we survived that. Now we are at my house, just finishing up a fruit smoothie (1 apple, 1 banana, strawberries, blueberries, a can of fruit cocktail, Chia seeds, Benefiber, ice, and peach nectar). Well that wraps up this post!  

Home Sweet Home

Home from work and changed into my exercise gear (so I will be all set for later this evening) and I'm cooking a macaroni version of Chicken Parmesan. During the whole sautee process of the chicken and onions I really started getting the urge to eat something. I did actually feel a little hungry, but I really really wanted to eat. Afterall, I did say I could eat something to tide me over until dinner. But what? We have these little Cheese Balls that looked so good, but I didn't touch those. Instead, I poured myself a glass of my iced Green Tea and opened a pack of those Little Bites. They are 4 mini chocolate chip muffins. They are soooo good! They have 190 calories, and Charlie shared them with me. Now I feel like I'm ok. I'm still ready to eat din din, though! Afterwards will be a nice long walk!

Forgot to Mention...

I forgot to mention that at 3:00 pm I ate a hard-boiled egg mixed up with some mayo, pepper, and Mrs. Dash. Basically it's like egg salad and I ate it on one piece of bread. That was my afternoon snack and I must say it was delish!

Rewards R Me

I've got to make losing weight fun somehow. I'm thinking that I should reward myself every time I reach a little milestone. I've read this online and I'm up for the idea. I love shopping and buying stuff for myself, especially when I'm feeling good and confident about myself. So I got thought it over and came up with a rewards system for myself when I lose a certain amount of weight. I'll just go shopping and buy these things for myself whenever I reach the little goals. Check them out:

• Lose 5 lbs-   1 pair of earrings (not too expensive)
• Lose 10 lbs- 1 blouse
• Lose 15 lbs- 1 work uniform (top and bottom)
• Lose 20 lbs- 1 new exercise spandex (top and bottom)
• Lose 30 lbs- 1 pair of jeans or capris (I can only wear my maternity capris from over a year ago!)
• Lose 40 lbs- 1 nice piece of jewelry (such as a necklace or bracelet!)
• Lose 50 lbs- 1 really really cute dress (whatever season we're in...fall, summer)

These are my ideas.. and I hope I lose this weight fast (not too fast, though!) because I wanna go shopping!! I'm so excited and motivated right now. I never want to go back to my old eating habits! More later... 

It's Kinda Hot Out There

We finished up eating lunch, and then my mom and me went for another walk. We would have done better but my mom was in pain, so we did .96 miles (practically a mile!). It was really kinda hot and we are so sweaty, but I told her we have got to keep this up everyday to build our stamina up and so we can be skinny!!! HAHAHA! Our "almost" mile took 27 minutes, and we burned 99 calories! That means I basically I never really ate that cottage cheese. I'll keep you posted on how the rest of my day goes. :o)

Chow Time

It's lunch time here and I'm chowing down on a bologna sandwich (2 slices bologna, 2 slices cheese, mayo, and black pepper), a Lowfat Cottage Cheese, and a few veggie straws. After that my plan is to walk another mile with my mom to burn some calories and enjoy the great outdoors. Around 10:00 am this morning I ate a snack of a Ritz Crackerfull. I noticed that I was having some cravings at 9:30 am, but I distracted myself for another 30 minutes before I ate anything. I think I have made some rules up for myself that I should follow.

If I eat breakfast around 7:30 am (hopefully it will be Steel Cut Oats), then NO SNACKING UNTIL 10:00 AM! I can have one snack at 10:00 am. Then, I must wait until lunch time to eat my lunch (something small/healthy). After lunch, a brisk walk must be taken. No other munching on anything until at least 2:30 pm (preferably if I could wait until 3 pm). One snack allowed at this time and then when I get home (around 5:30-6:00 pm) I can eat something light to hold me until dinner. Once I eat dinner (around 7:30-8:00 pm) I can't anything else until my late night smoothie (around 10:30 pm). Those are my rules that I'm going to try and follow. If I can do that and stick with these I think I will be fine!!

They're Just Numbers..

I decided to measure myself to see how much I will improve in a few weeks.

Here they are:

Neck- 16"

Arms- 13.5"

Bust- 45"

Waist- 44"

Stomach- 47"

Legs- 28"

Below knee- 16"

Good Morning!

My weight this morning: 258.0. It's down a wee bit more, so I am happy. I plan to have a successful day, except for one thing... I left my iced green tea at home!!! ahhh!!! I hope this doesn't mean I will resort to soda for lunch, but I just might have one. I doctored up my oatmeal last night and it cooked for about an hour. I put in some brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts. It actually had an ok flavor to it this morning.

I would like to start setting weekly goals for myself. This week I want to lose 5 lbs. By next week I want to be under 250 (like 249 lbs). I haven't been there for awhile. Well, I will blog later. I gotta stay busy at work!

The Dreaded "Before" Pics

Tonight, Lisha and I did something daring..we took pictures of ourselves in spandex..and we are posting them on our blogs! Hark! They are a little embarassing (at least mine are), but hey, this is who I am (and what I hope to not look like soon)!

Here is the lineup:

Wow..I'd be afraid of me in the night, too.
I didn't realize how stout I am.
Gosh, that has got to shrink!

Keep on Movin

Tonight was a great night! After I got home from work I ate a Baby Bell Cheese with a few Ritz Bitz. Then, for my dinner, I made some rice with shrimp and eggs (spicy), but I didn't care for it too much. So, I ate even less of it than I planned. I also had a very small salad with fat free Feta cheese and Italian dressing. That was it. I didn't even think about eating anything else. I really paid attention to how my body was feeling with regards to hunger. I was actually full after the rice and shrimp, but still opted for the small salad. Around 8:45 pm, Liishaladii and I took a walk. We went 3.28 miles. (Yay us!) It was awesome. We vented and came up with different ideas about sticking to our weight loss plans. It is always good to have an exercise buddy and just a good old friend to be with in general.

Now we're on to our almost nightly smoothie. We put in 1 apple, 1 orange, 1 banana, blueberries, strawberries, peach nectar, part of a cucumber, and some Chia seeds (with ice, of course). It tastes kind of refreshing but you can really taste the cucumber. I will blog again later. See ya!

The "M" Word

Motivation. It is a very powerful thing but, at times, can be hard to find. This is what everyone needs to get something done (whether it be to lose weight or to just get up out of bed every morning). I find that when I have motivation I do so well with exercise and diet. Being healthy almost seems to come naturally to me. Yet, when I can't seem to find it, I am lost, like a sheep separated from it's flock. Kristen's guide, an online motivational guide, seemed to enlighten me a bit when I stumbled upon it last night. It's very helpful. If I could just read this over and over everyday, it would probably do me good.

Anyways, I'm still at work. I leave at 5 pm. After my 1-mile walk at lunch I didn't eat anything else until around 3 pm. (a blueberry Chobani Greek Yogurt). I've been trying to tune into my belly and see if I feel any true hunger pains coming about. So far, NO. I haven't felt these pains. But, I have felt the "urge" to eat something. You know what I did though? I just poured me a glass of my iced green tea. I found out that if you add 2 Splendas to it and let it set out for about 5-10 minutes, it actually is GOOD! Yay me! I will definitely make another pitcher full tonight.

Something else that I'm trying to do is distract myself from eating when I feel the urge to eat. For example, browsing for skinny clothes (pretty dresses and skirts). I used to do this before when I was skinny. I would look at clothes and accessories. Fun, fun, fun! Gotta go. Blog more later!

I am Proud

I'm so proud of my mom and me right now! We just finished walking a mile on our lunch hour. We are hot and sweaty, but feeling good! I had one cottage cheese for a snack around 10:00 am and then for lunch at 11:45 am I ate a bologna sandwich. (2 slices of bologna, 1 slice of cheese, and reduced fat mayo on 2 slices of fiber bread). To accompany the sandwich I had a package of the 100-Calorie Goldfish. They are really tasty. I also ate my lunch slow, to try to fill myself up faster. So far so good. I am feeling good about this day. I just hope I can keep up the good work.

My actual bologna sandwich

Starting Out on the Right Foot

My morning weight: 259.4.. It's better than last night, at least. I'm just thankful it didn't go up any. I ate my Steel Cut Oats for breakfast and I added some raisins and cinnamon. It wasn't horrible. Plus, I ate half a banana (Charlie shared it with me). And, I drank my iced green tea. It's not sweet at all, but it's not bad, either. I'm trying to keep up the "skinny" thinking today. I am also trying to eat at the most 1 snack an hour. I will keep you posted on how my day's going. I think it will be a good one!

The Sad, Sad Truth

I know I keep blogging tonight. There must be something wrong with me (or maybe I'm just bored?). Got some really really sad and painful news to reveal.......I weighed myself about 2 minutes ago. The numbers on the scale didn't look too pretty, I must admit. I'm ashamed, embarassed, and kind of disgusted. 261.2 lbs it says. I can't believe this! (Well I can, but actually admitting to it, I can't). That is just gross. I'm 5'11 and 20 years old and YES I WEIGH 261.2 LBS! How disgusting is that?! If seeing how high that number on the scale is doesn't make me change my lifestyle and eating habits, then WHAT will? "Skinny" thinking has got to stay with me. Here's the deal. Tomorrow I will commit to a day of thinking "skinny" and we'll see what will happen. I'm going to wake up in the morning with some positive thoughts and eat my healthy oatmeal and drink some milk, go off to work with my pitcher of iced Green Tea and snack on healthy foods. In the evening I WILL exercise with Alisha. I will put forth an effort. I'm going to start "weighing in". I will weigh myself every morning and keep you posted on where I stand (or weigh). I have got so many ideas in my head right now. I should probably sleep on them and sort them out.

"There is no failure except in no longer trying."

 

Elbert Hubbard

Good Night... or not..

Ok, so I lied. I haven't gone good night, yet. I'm in my kitchen as we speak, making Steel Cut Oats for tomorrow morning's breakfast as well as some Green Tea. I emphasize the Steel Cut Oats because I heard they were healthier than the go-to Instant Oatmeal. I did some googling and found some interesting information on types of Oats info on oats. According to this guy, oats can reduce blood sugar levels and help build muscle.. good enough for me. Anyways, my oats are cooking right now. I'm thinking about putting in some raisins to make it taste better.

As far as the Green tea goes, well.. I could gush about Green Tea all night. But instead, I'll provide you a link where someone has already done all the gushing for me. Try this: Health Benefits of Green Tea. It's pretty exciting to read about all the benefits that one simple herb can provide your body. Remarkable. As you know, the only problem with this is actually following through with drinking the tea everyday. But, I'm on the right track. My tea is done, so just waiting for it to cool down and will put in the fridge. There's nothing like a glass of iced tea on a hot summer day.

Lost This Battle but not This War

I am ashamed to say that I did not follow through with my ideas of eating healthy this weekend. Not only did I not eat a salad, but I ate pizza and ice cream.. Gosh.. I frustrate myself. But, I can say I did one thing positive. sort of.. So this morning around 10:30 am I ate 3 slices of leftover pizza and then I didn't eat anything else until like 6 pm tonight. I had fajitas at On The Border with the Kahlua Ice Cream Pie. So I had two meals today instead of 3. I guess that's kind of good, right?

Even though this weekend didn't go as planned, I am NOT giving up. Just because I fell off the very short wagon ride doesn't mean I have to stay down. I have got to pick myself up and keep chugging along. Alisha and I have got to get back to the late-night exercise again. Fruit smoothies have got to start up again, too. I generally make fruit smoothies every night with my Vitamix. (I love that thing!) I figure those things give me all the nutrients I really need a day. Plus, I take a 4 green pills. I can't remember the name of them off hand but they pack all the greens that you are supposed to get each day. They smell kind of funky but they are worth it. I really need to start doing a better job of planning my meals out. Like Liishaladii said in her blog, I have hardly ever felt hungry. That's because I always have something in my mouth before hunger has a chance to set in. Tomorrow will be a better day. I will do better. I will find motivation. Until then, good night.