I love to read!

Wow, this is turning out to NOT be the medium/vehicle I was hoping for as far as being accountable for my weightloss.

First of all, I can't access the blog from work, which is where I spend most of my time in front of a computer. Second, when I get home from work, I usually have a lot of things that need to get done (preparing, eating and cleaning up after dinner and preparing my lunch and gym bag for the next day) which means I really don't have much time to sit in front of a computer and write blog entries. Third, I don't really WANT to sit in front of the computer at home since I'm doing it all day at work and I'd like to use that time be more productive around the house or in other ways.

All that verbose-ness was just so I could justify why I haven't written in the blog as often and as in detail as I would have liked about my weight-loss journey so far. It's also an excuse in case I continue to not write much. (LOL)

Now that I have that off my chest, let me delve into other things. Since my crappy weigh-in on Monday, I've been doing exceptionally better. The first few days were a *bit* of a struggle having to re-break my addictions to that crappy stuff I had gotten my hands on, but now I’m golden. I'm back to eating what I'm supposed to be eating and I’m working out like a fiend. Now that I no longer have to work two jobs, I can get to bed early enough to wake up and go to the exercsies classes at my gym at the azz crack of dawn. I'm taking step and spin classes during the week and trying to make it to pilates and yoga on the weekend. I *try* to get to the gym 4-6 days a week, but that doesn't always happen and that's ok with me. We've gotta just try to do our best everyday, right? I'm expecting a good weigh-in this upcoming Tuesday! (yay!)

I've been reading a lot of 'health' books lately and they've really opened my eyes up to a lot of things. I'm trying to decide how I'm going to eat once I get off this Smart for Life regimen. There is so much information out there and a lot of it is contradictory, so you have to either take it with a grain of salt or make an education decision about what to believe. I think I've decided that I agree with the 'clean eating' thought process and plan to start trying to eat that way after SFL. It's just basically keeping your eating to the 'natural' things like fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains. I'm sure this is common sense to everyone, but what defines 'natural'? Should I stick to strictly organic? Steer clear of 'low fat' or 'reduced fat' items? Shun 'enriched' or 'fortified' products? Eat only grass-fed beef? Free range chickens? Wild caught seafood?! I think it's clear that we should all avoid processed foods, but it's a grey area as far as how 'natural' you want to go. I’m still contemplating that factor of the diet. How feasible is it to go COMPLETELY natural? I’m going to keep reading and hopefully get to a point where I can make a real decision by the time I'm done with SFL.

More than weight-loss, I'm concerned about my health and the environment (including humane treatment of animals) now. It's just a damn shame how corrupt the food and drug industries are and what they'll do (or overlook) for the sake of making a buck.

Another aspect I've been reading more about is your way of thinking/energy. For example, if you are a negative person, your health will be affected negatively. Positive thought encourages positive experiences in your life. Now, on top of losing weight/being healthy, I'm trying to become a more positive person. Get rid of all that negativity and improve your life. That is turning out to be harder than I expected though because I just don't spend that much time thinking about how I'm thinking. LOL. Baby steps.

Becoming a better version of yourself is a complicated and tedious jorney, but it's a labor of love. =)

SFL Weigh-In 5

Nothing good to report today. I kinda went off the deep end this week with the snacking and totally ended up GAINING weight today. I guess it didn't help that I had also done a 1 hour step class, sat in the sauna for 15 minutes, had 2 cookies, 3 oz of lunch meat and 40 oz of water before I went to weigh-in. =\ Oh well, you live and you learn and I’m not trippin' over it. Today is a new day and I've got my eye back on the prize! The next few days are going to suck though as I re-break my addictions to refined carbs/junk food. *le sigh* Why does this weight loss stuff have to be so hard??

Only about 7 weeks until I go home for my sister's wedding. Must lose at least 15 more lbs before then. MUST!

Ta Ta!

SFL Recap of Month 1 (and weigh-in 4)

So this morning was my 1 month anniversary (if you will) of being on the SFL plan and so I had to meet with the doc. She went over my progress and asked me all kinds of questions to make sure everything was going well. This week I lost another 3 lbs, which brings me to 15 lbs lost total since my first weigh-in at SFL. 15 lbs in 1 month! That's so insane!! Also, I've dropped 3% body fat in that month. Rock on! This success has given me renewed vigor to stay on the plan and follow the diet exactly.

That being said, last week was not a good week 'diet-wise'. It was actually the first time since I started SFL that I actually 'cheated'. As I may have mentioned before, I work as a seasonal tax preparer at H&R Block during tax season. Well, on April 15th we were SO BUSY that we didn't even have time to stop and eat dinner. My office manager had forseen this and was kind enough to buy a veggie tray and some toasted wheat thins. So that night my dinner consisted of handfuls of veggies + ranch dip and toasted veggie wheat thins. I ate more than I should have and I think it sent me sort of into a carb-craving tailspin. I guess it didn't help that Aunt Flo had just arrived also. Over the course of the next week or so, I ate bites of my hubby's cereal, a whole wheat banana crumb muffin, rosemary pita chips + hummus, organic cookies sampled from Whole Foods, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on honey wheat bread and some other things I have surely forgotten by now. I, by no means, went way overboard into a full out binge, but I fell off the bandwagon nonetheless.

I'm back in full force now and am rededicating myself to this program. I'm looking for another 15+lbs in the next month. The doc said today that I should be at my goal in another 3 or 4 months. 3 or 4 MONTHS?! That is so insane because it sounds so SOON. I've been struggling with my weight my ENTIRE LIFE and I *might* actually be at my GOAL WEIGHT in 3 or 4 short months? I can't even fathom that.

My jeans that were previously super tight on my azz are now fairly baggy. I think the shopping is going to be necessary a bit sooner than I had hoped. Oh well, it's good and it's bad. Hopefully I can shop at 'normal' stores now instead of the 'fat' stores. =) I think I've gone down a size and am in serious need of cleaning out my closet of clothes that no longer fit! New wardrobe - here I come!

My mom and nephew are planning to come out and visit me around Memorial Day. Wouldn't it be awesome to have dropped another 15 lbs by then and surprise the HEX out of my mom? She's never seen me this thin in my entire teenage/adult life. Crazy! Then I hope to take off another 10 lbs or so by my sister's wedding and shock the pants off the rest of the fam.

I refuse to be known any longer as the 'fat' girl in the family.

Is it completely vain to want to do a big reveal with my old friends from back home too? I MUST acquire a rockin' outfit!!

SFL Weigh-in 4

Today I clocked in at 196.8 with all my clothes on, so that means I'm down another 2 lbs. That is an awesome loss, but I'm a little disappointed because it should have been more. I know it should have been more because I know that I've been slacking a bit with my portion control this week. I haven't been weighing my portions like I should and last night I ate too much chicken with dinner. That is the first time in the whole course of the diet that I actually knowingly 'cheated' on the diet. Granted, I just ate a little more of what I was supposed to, but the fact of the matter is that I knew I was eating too much and I didn't stop. Anyways, it showed up on the scale this week, so I'm going to try much harder this week to be more strict. No more slacking!

Also, it's TOM, so I'm sure that accounted for some weight retention.

No matter, I'm going to try my best this week and hopefully see something more to my liking next week when I see the doc for my 1 month check-up. =)

Oh, so I just realized that if I lose 0.8 more lbs, that I will no longer be considered 'obese', just 'overweight'. NICE! Can't wait for next week's weigh-in!!

Also, my second job is finito after tomorrow night so I should be able to post more often and with more substance. Not that anyone is reading…

ciao

More Fun Observations

I dunno if I'm mentioned this before, but I prepare taxes as a second job a few months out of the year. Right now we are in the midst of the crazy final crunch time before it is all over until next year and I'm working hella hours. I have to work every weekday and even all day Saturday during this end-of-season rush, which means I have to wear dress clothes/shoes everyday. This is only something to be pointed out because at my regular 9-to-5 job I don't have to dress up, so it's out of the norm for me to dress like this daily. Anyways, I've noticed that a lot of my dress slacks/skirts don't fit anymore!

How can a measley 10 lb loss do this, you ask? Well, since I've been continually trying to lose weight for the past several years, I've slowly but surely been going down in size. When I break down and buy something expensive, I try to wear it until it looks completely ridiculous on me. That means for this whole winter (beginning part of tax season), I've been wearing size 18 dress slacks that were on the verge of being too big because I was too cheap to buy new ones in a size 16. They were a tad big, but didn't fall off my hips so they stayed in rotation. The newly achieved 10 lb loss has made those slacks completely unwearable - they will not stay up to save my life. The skirt I'm wearing today is being held on with pins! I just need to hold out until next Tuesday and then I won't need to wear dress clothes again until next year. That will give me enough time to save money to restock those items - business attire is expensive!

(Note: I don’t necessarily have that problem with my casual clothes because they are all made out of cotton or elastic type material, so they shrink in the wash. That means I can shrink them down and then stretch them out to my new smaller size when I put them on. =) Most of my dress clothes do not have that elasticity so once they are too big, my only option is to buy new ones or have them altered (which I found out is almost as expensive as buying new ones!!).)

So, the point I was trying to get to with all the above verbose-ness is that I'm actually shrinking because the non-stretchy clothes do not fit anymore! Yay! It's hard for me to look in the mirror and see the progress, but I can definitely gauge it by how my clothes are fitting (or not fitting!).

Also, I LURVE heels, but the cutest ones always hurt my feet. I love the ones with the highest heels the most, but they tear my poor feet right up everytime. I love them so much that I will torture my feet by wearing them even though I know my feet will suffer the consequences the next day (or few days!). Even with just the 10 lb loss, I've noticed that my feet do not hurt as much when I wear heels (which I've been wearing all week and most of last week). I used to bring flip flops to my first job because wearing the heels all day was just too much for my feet, but now I can wear the heels all day without being in agony. Shoes that used to give me blisters, no longer bother me like they once did. Woot! Stilettos here I come!!!

A not-so-fun observation is that I feel like I'm cold ALL THE TIME. I don’t know if it's the weight-loss or just a general freeze going on at my job, but I never used to get cold very often. I guess I’m losing all my insulation. LOL!

Make it a great day everyone!

SFL Weigh-in 3

Start Weight (Weigh-in 1): 208 lbs
Weigh-in 2: 202 lbs

Weigh-in 3: 198.8 lbs (with all of my clothes and jewelry on!)

OMFG, did I ACTUALLY finally make it into the 100's?!?! That's craziness! I've been trying for 2 years to get here and I can't believe I'm finally in ONE-derland! This diet has changed my life the last 2 weeks. I really have no problem sticking with the program and each day seems to get easier and easier. The flavors of the cookies are fine, I'm drinking all my water, everything is hunky dory. Thank goodness I decided to give this program a try. =)

Day 7 without diet soda and I'm going strong. Wow, I'm on a roll. How did I find this new determination? How did I get so motivated this year? I'm not sure where all this inner strength came from, but I'm not going to question it. Im going to ride it out as long as I can!

Today is a GREAT day, people!!

2.8 more lbs and I will no longer be considered 'obese', just 'overweight'. OMG, second milestone!

Little Victories!

It's the little victories that pull at my heart strings. Today, I put on my jeans (fresh out of the dryer) and noticed that I had a MUCH less prominent muffin top (dare I say, almost NONE at all?!). Oh the joy! That totally made my day. =) Also, a button up shirt that is normally tight fits perfectly today. I'm bursting with joy at the thought of what more is to come with my diligence.

Did I mention here that I'm giving up sodas for the month of April? My train of thought is this - I can give anything up for just a month, right? I gave up all sweets for Lent and am still not eating any. Score! Now, I will attempt to give up diet sodas (don't drink regular sodas) this month. I don't have them often, maybe just one every 2 or 3 days, but I want to completely cut them out. It's for various reasons, but mostly because (1) I hear that artificial sweeteners are bad for your health, (2) I hear that artificial sweeteners can stall your weightloss/cause you to gain weight and (3) I'm slowly but surely trying to cut everything unnatural/unhealthy out of my diet. Who needs 'em anyways? Well, I thought I did for the occasional caffeine boost, but I guess I'll just have to make sure I get my requisite 8 hours of shut eye eh?

Day 1 of the diet soda revolution and I'm not missing them too much. =\

It's been a good day and now it's cookie time! *munch munch munch*