Progess Tracking

Well it's July! My daily weight tracker is slowly moving down, so that is a good thing. I've lost 8ish lbs since May. Which actually doesn't seem like a huge accomplishment in a 2 1/2 month time span, but I will take what I can get. Another 2 lbs and I will be in the 220s, and can work on knocking those down too.

I've been working out, which I am happy about. I am attempting to do a Jillian Michael's workout DVD, but it kicks my ass. Tonight I just couldn't bear 30 minutes of her, so I went for a 1.10 mile walk/jog instead. Tomorrow I'll have to put in my time with Jillian though.

Also, I'm looking into a personal trainer. I *NEED* someone to hold me accountable and kick my ass and not take my whining. A friend of a friend goes to one near my work, so my friend is investigating cost for me. If it's reasonable, I am all about it. What can it hurt?

I also make and take my lunch every day. That's helping a lot....although - secret - I totally was having a bad day and today and went downstairs to get some fries from the grill. It's so bad having that place in my building... their fries are amazing. But, the weight is looking pretty good, I'm hoping to be another .5-1 lb down again tomorrow. :) We'll see if the weight fairy is good to me or not!

Happy dieting...... (oxymoron?)

The Post With Two Parts

This posting has two parts:
Part I: in which I tell you how well I did (diet-wise) during a dinner out last night.
Part II: in which I take out my frustrations on the women's clothing industry.

Part I:
So, yesterday was the Beau's 27th birthday. I told him I'd take him out to eat anywhere that he would like to go. So we went to Texas Steakhouse. I ordered a 12 oz steak w/ baked potato and a salad. Now, I realize I could've been much more healthy with the sides, but baked potatoes are kind of my weakness, and I love them. But back to the story, I ate my salad and the rolls when they were brought to the table, but when my steak and potato were brough to the table, I *immediately* cut them both in half and only ate 1/2 of each.... then boxed the other 1/2 to take home. I was mildly proud of myself. Granted, I could've gotten 2 sides of steamed veggies, or gotten a vinegarette to put on my salad, but I was very proud that I didn't gorge myself. Baby steps, baby steps.

This morning, I was down 1 pound from yesterday. Yay! :) This makes me 1.5 lbs down for the month so far - not as good as I would like, but I'm working on it!

Part II:
So, as I mentioned, yesterday was the Beau's birthday. I got it in my head that I wanted to buy something sexy-ish to wear out to dinner last night. I was really just looking for a hott tank top or something. However, the garishness that I was faced gave me the strangest mix of emotions - disgust, disappointment, self-loathing, annoyance, frustration, sadness, and a twinge of hate, just for good measure.

Seriously, what is up with those people who design women's clothes for sizes 14 and up? I was wandering through the "woman's" section at JCP yesterday, and I was slammed in the face with Alfred Dunner seperates (which I won't be interested in for about another 45 years) and a collection of the most off-the-wall, in-your-face, loud, obscene patterns ever. It's like they figure we'll just throw the most outrageous patterns and colors on a shirt, and the public's sensory system will be so overwhelmed, they won't even realize how fat this person really is.

And really, there is no originality. It's the same basic shirt in 17 different patters or color tones. Really, it can't take that much more material to make a shirt for someone with a DD bra size than a C bra size. Or someone with a little bit wider shoulder span. And if it's really a huge deal, take a page from the wal*mart book - add 3 or 4 more dollars onto the clothes that are over a certain size (they do this in the men's section for extended sizes, fyi).

It just frustrates me that I have to look like a circus tent b/c designers assume since I can't wear a size 8 I want to hide my body. Seriously, I have a great rack and love to show it off. I love some of the looks out there that are unavailable in sizes over "L". WHY PEOPLE. WHY.

Okay. Now that that's out. It does give me more motivation to keep losing weight. Even though I've said that for ages. Maybe it's time to be really serious. Day by day.

Over & Out.

Wow.....

Wow, so it's June. Which means I haven't written in 6 months almost. Clearly, I'm a slacker. What's going on in my life now... I finally found a full time job, and have moved to the Tidewater area of Virginia. The Beau and I are enjoying living together, but it's brought out the worst eating habits in the both of us. We lived in food gluttony for about 2 months, going out to eat a lot and snacking after dinner. HELLO AGAIN, weight. AK. I am having none of this. I read an article that couples tend to gain 10 lbs (EACH!!) the first year they live together - well, he's definitely hit that mark, and I almost did. Wake up call again, back on the fitness plan.

I did buy 3 Jillian Michaels work-out DVDs, plus a cookbook called "Cook Yourself Skinny" with lots of great recipies. I've been eating really well, and have been losing some weight. Yay. I hope to be 30 lbs light by October, when I will be a bridesmaid. I'll keep you posted! =) I promise

Back In The Saddle Again, Round II

So. Wow. This is awkward. So, I haven't written in a while. I also.... man... I also have not been on my diet at all. This whole challenge my boyfriend and I entered into kind of fell flat. I gained almost 10 pounds, and he gained more than that. But, we've both turned a corner, I think. At any rate, I've gotten uber-serious.

I was very upset with myself for gaining the weight back after I worked so hard with my Emmalou to loose it. But, being temporarily with my parents made me revert to my pre-teen days (when I had crazy high metabolism could eat what I wanted) and just being lazy at home in general. My mom made amazingly delicious foods that I ate waaay to large portion sizes of. Also, I've been stressed out a lot about finding a full-time job, plus on the road every weekend to see the Beau. I just haven't made good choices.

So, I decided to go on weight-watchers. I sort of did it last year with my former co-workers, but I didn't follow it too tightly because I was training for a 5k and swimming 2x a week, plus was on a self imposed fast food restriction... hence the loosing 17 lbs. Well, I'm going full force this time. I'm going to meetings with my friend Christina. I'm in the middle of my 2nd week doing it. And I have some exciting news. At my first weigh-in..............

..............I LOST 2.4 pounds! I was pretty stoked. My plan is to lose 2 lbs a week up until May... I have a wedding to go to that I'd love to be 30 lbs lighter for... so hopefully I will be able to reach that goal.

I'm also adding mini-goals each week. My first week's goals were to watch portion sizes, be good about tracking points, and make healthy choices. I was successful with that.... next week's goals are to drink more water and add running back into the mix.

Also, the ladies at my church have started a work-out group on Tues/Thurs. That is really nice, I've been going to that. It's laid back but still makes me sweat.

My biggest concern is actually getting the job (even though I really really really want it). I'm worried I won't stick everything, since I'll be going to a new job and I'll be living in a new place, and will be setting new routines and the like, but since the Beau is supportive of the losing weight, plus he needs to lose weight, I think it will be good. I just have to find a WW group to go to down there, which shouldn't be a problem at all... I'd really like to find a running group or something down there to - or at least a running buddy - so I have something that will make me run.

All in all, I have high hopes for this go 'round. Plus, you never know, I may need to be planning for a wedding soon, so I might as well get a jump start on the losing weight to look amazing in my wedding dress, right? :)

Over & Out - E

Struggles....

Hello, hello! I have been very very neglectful of my blog lately. I am staying with my parents for a while, substitute teaching at my old high school until I find a full-time job (long story, better served for a different blog) so I don't get on the internet as often as I do when I have high speed internet (satelite internet is painfully slow).... sorry about that!

I have also not been very good about keeping up with stuff in my weight loss challenge - I have lost 2 lbs. I do have an excuse - not a good one, but I have one! I left my running shoes at the Beau's house so my only options to work out were my Reefs or high heels. I did pull out this ski thing that my mom has and tried to work out while I was watching TV one day, but I think it needed some WD-40 because it didn't really work that well.

But now I have my running shoes, so I can go work out..... yay! I do have a big problem when I am home all day - last week I subbed every day an I ate SIGNIFICANTLY less that I do when I don't have a sub-day. So I need to control that, I definitely need to work on my "bored eating". But today I've been grading papers for my dad, so I've actually been pretty good. I had a piece of toast w/ pb for breakfast, some s'ghetti for lunch.... I did have a snack of a brownie with whipped cream on top, but I am proud of myself for not gorging myself with food like I did two weeks ago! I'm too distrated with doing algebra, which I haven't used in quite a number of years!

So, to sum everything up, I am trying hard to get back on track, and hopefully I'll have good news to report in the coming days!

E

Back In The Saddle Again

So, the beau and I went for a jog tonight. I wanted to be normal and jog around the neighborhood together (i mapped out a course on runthere.com and everything!) but he wanted to go to the soccer park and run... so I obliged, since he was actually going with me. It was so ITCHY!! Especially since the grass was fresh cut and I couldn't find my long pants so I was wearing shorts. But I digress. I don't know how far we ran... we did 4 laps around side-by-side soccer fields. I looked up soccer field dimensions to see how far we ran, but apparently, there is no "set" soccer field dimension... there is a min for length and width, that varies 30 yards length wise and 50 yards width. Next time, I guess we need to go with a pedometer. At the least, we did 1600 yards (0.909091 miles) and at the most we did 2640 yards (1.5 miles). I am going to go with the maximum because it took us almost 18 minutes to do it, and I only walked about a a lap and a half, and I know I'm not that slow. Even walking I can do better than an 18 minute mile! :)

So I feel really good about myself. :) At Em's insistence, I am going to start training for the Richmond 8k. The website has a great training program to follow, which starts Sept 22, so that gives me plenty of time to get back in shape so I can really use the training program to work on my time (the training schedule is set up for people who are just starting out with their running). I would really love to get my time down. When I ran the Race for the Cure 5k, I did it in 45 minutes, averaging about a 14.something minute mile. I'd love to get down to a 12 minute mile (hey, baby steps! :} )

It's time to get SERIOUS! :) I need to surround myself with pictures of the beach to keep me inspired :)

Really Bad Weekend

So, I went a little hog wild over the weekend. Tsk, tsk, I know. But I'm back on the straight and narrow I think. I didn't gain any weight, at least, so that is good. I am waiting for the Beau to get home, and I'm going to try go convince him to go running with me, because he's been complaining about gaining weight too. That's really the only update that I have today. For lunch I had delicious blackberries and cottage cheese. For breakfast, I had a chick-fil-a sandwhich that we got for free yesterday... probably wasn't the best choice, but it was plain and delicious.