Lacking Conviction

Hello 2015, you look a lot like 2014 to me.  Me? I am about 30 lbs. lighter, which is nice, but I find myself at a similar crossroads.  Poor eating habits, lack of exercise and general malaise have set in post-holidays.  My hair is currently brown though.  I think it was red this time last year, so that's new.

What's new with my love life you ask? Well, I met a guy from an online dating site for coffee a couple of weeks ago.  He took his profile down after we met.  His passive way of saying no for date number two I suppose.  I am definitely not good with first impressions and this especially rings true in the dating world.  

• Nervous, inane chatter - check.
• Make a really dorky reference that only two people in the universe would get and laugh about it - check.
• Try to explain dorky reference to guy and fail miserably at explaining why said reference is funny - check.

Thank goodness I already have a cat.  Single women who cannot circumnavigate the dating world need their special feline friend to talk to on lonely Friday nights.

Last night I ate Chinese food and french fries.  Not going to lie, it was pretty epic.  I also watched two lame movies and went to bed early.

I know, my life is so thrilling, how can I handle it all?  I'm special, what can I say?

So, as it is with most Saturdays, I am: 

1. At work with the special project that won't do the right thing and just throw itself on its sword.
2. Resolving that this week will be the week I get back on track...my resolve usually caves around Tuesday.
3. Plan my shopping list...today, must include cat food or feline friend is going to leave me for someone else.
4. Do laundry...because no one has invented self-cleaning clothes.

2015, I think you agree that I need to doing something different this year.  You don't want to be a tired rerun of your predecessor do you?  What do you think I should do?  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  We see where my ideas lead...to fast food and early nights in.

Here's to a new year.  It’s you and me 2015.  Maybe we can do something awesome.

Juicing...Not as Bad as I Thought

Good morning!  I am struggling with a sinus infection so staying home today to try and recover.  This morning I hopped on the scale and I am officially down to 212.8 lbs.  The lowest weight I have been at since my post-op weigh in back in 2012.

I have been reading and watching documentaries on juicing and debating the pros and cons of trying it.  In the end, I bit the bullet and bought a $99 juicer (no sense going all crazy with a top of the line one in the beginning) and picked up some extra vegetables and fruit.  This morning I made a ginger shot.

Ginger Shot
1/2 apple
3/4" ginger root

It wasn't too bad and it is supposed to help with allergies.  It really is just a small shot of juice.

After that, I decided to really try a "juice-juice".  I had a couple handfuls of spinach, 2 1/2 apples and 3 carrots.  Overall, it wasn't bad.  I could drink it without grimacing and after 15 minutes, I felt pretty full.

Even with buying my extra vegetables and fruit, I was able to keep my weekly budget for food to $70 this week.  Of course, I am cooking just for myself, but eating healthy is not cheap as we all know.  This week I am incorporating black beans in to my lunch and dinner meals.  Black beans are cheap and go a long way.  I am also using some Ezekiel bread that has been in my freezer for a while to serve as my morning snack with a tablespoon of almond butter.

I'll let you know how this week goes.  Hopefully, next Sunday I can be slow 210!

"Nothing happens until something moves." ~ A. Einstein

Ain't that the truth!  When I sat on my couch eating ice cream and lamenting about being fat nothing changed in my life.  I had to get up and move purposely towards what I wanted.  Losing weight doesn't happen for the passive.

You must be active!

Not just in moving your body, which is obviously necessary, but in making choices in everyday things to be different than you were the day before.  I can't look at my life and say I'm on a diet.  Diets don't work and they're temporary.  I am changing the way I eat because I don't want the things I ate before.  All they got me was fat!

I don't just want to sit on my couch every night.  Now I go to the gym and I move.  Tonight I experienced my first exercise induced high.  There I was, sweating like a dog and feeling absolutely on top of the world.  Never thought my life could be like this.

I love it.  I love my life!

Making Progress

Today I weighed in at 215.4 lbs.  That is 31.4 lbs dropped since January.  During the last 10 months, I have had successes, stalls and back pedaling.  Between July (where I was at my lowest of 213 lbs) and September, I had gained 11lbs.  I have nearly worked all of that off and am on pace for a goal of being 199 lbs or less by Christmas.

Being healthy takes a lot of discipline.  I have to be on top of my eating and exercise all the time or I slip back into bad habits.  I shop on Saturdays so I know exactly what is going to go in my mouth for every meal for the next 7 days.  Doing this is making me successful.  Going to the gym 6 days a week is making me successful.  I am losing weight.

It is hard, but it is so worth it.  Yesterday, I could tell how much smaller I was while on the elliptical.  The shirt that used to be so tight on me is a lot looser.  What a great feeling!

Once I hit 210 I am going to post another picture.  Only a few pounds to go!!!

Dealing with Injuries

So two weeks ago, I lost a pound and the last week I gained a pound.  That was a bit frustrating.

I am not going to let this derail me though.  Yesterday, I bought and prepped my food for the next 7 days.  High in protein, fiber and complex carbs.  If I prep, I am more likely to eat right the whole week.

My only problem now is that I have aggravated my Achilles tendon in my right foot. This means changing up my cardio, adding in new stretches and ice.  I hate when my body isn't able to do something.  It is hard enough to lose weight, I don't want to affect anything by not being able to workout.

Hope I can get past this soon.

Secrets to Weight Loss: Working Out, Eating Right and Sticky Notes

I am trying to stay on the path to healthiness and it is more difficult than ever.  In July, I got down to 214 lbs, my lowest to date.  Then I pulled back on the amount I was working out, I cheated more than I should when it came to dietary choices and before I knew it, I packed on 11 lbs.

It is so frustrating how quickly I can get off track.  Also, I just hate that you can gain weight way faster than lose it.  How unfair is that!

So three weeks ago, I signed back up for personal training twice a week and hitting the gym for cardio four times a week.  No more spur of the moment meal choices for me.  Each week I carefully plan out my meals and shop accordingly.  I still have a sweet tooth so I found an awesome healthy recipe, Vegan Raw Cookie Dough.  Its not really cookie dough, but it tastes just like it!  It is made up of chick peas, almond butter and dark chocolate chips.  I have a tablespoon or two with an apple for an afternoon snack.

With all this effort, I am down 7 lbs.  So besides working out regularly and eating right, what is my other motivation?

Sticky notes.

I have them on my fridge, walls, and doors.  They are filled with reminders of things to avoid, things to strive for and goals achieved.  If I don't have constant reminders....I just fall off the wagon.

One area that I am just really struggling with is the scale.  My trainer has asked me to only weigh in once a week.  Before last Friday, I was weighing myself every day and now I am constantly worried.  What if my eating isn't as on track as I think it is?  What if I am not working out hard enough?  What if the scale tells me that all my work is for nought this week?  I wonder if this is what goes through the mind of people struggling with anorexia and bulimia?  If I'm not hyper focused on losing weight, I don't do what I need to do, but when I am, I am completely panicked about weighing in.

I don't know how to combat that.

I'm Still Around!

It has been a full two months since I last posted.  I warned you that I was flaky!  Since I staggered through the tulips, I have packed up and moved into my new home, learned how to use a lawn mower and experienced the not so great joy of weeding.  Yesterday, I discovered I have a mole in my yard and now have to figure out how to deal with that.

As far as healthy living and my weight go, there have been many ups and downs.  On a good note, I have dropped 7 inches in my waist and hips and hit 33 pounds lost.  On a bad note, these last couple of weeks I did not go to the gym like I should nor ate healthy so my weight has climbed up a bit.  It is hard when you get in a funk to break out of it.  I did meal plan today and bought all the necessary ingredients so my eating should be on track this week.  The plan tomorrow is to get into work early so I can head out and hit the gym before my hair appointment and then go to the movies.

So here's to a good week!  On the same note, I was gifted a beautiful grill from my office on the occasion of purchasing my first house and one of my co-workers will be stopping by for a steak dinner on Tuesday.  I will be making steak (of course), spinach and strawberry salad and for my co-worker, a chocolate peanut butter pie.