Day 47

This morning, after stepping on the scale, I have lost exactly 9 POUNDS!! Wooo Hooo!! That's 9% of my goal. Which is almost 10% :)

The weekend is coming up and this is usually the hardest part of the week for me. Plus the missionaries are coming over for dinner on Sunday and I am making chicken crepes. I love them so much, mmmm.

Lately I have been eating yogurt and toast with PB for breakfast, apple for snack, I had a big spinach salad for lunch, a small batch of popcorn (i'm cutting down my popcorn portion...) and for dinner Jon brought home a pizza from little caesars and i had 2 pieces and lots of water. I haven't been working out this week so I need to be extra careful, too, of my calorie intake. Next week I will start The Firm again. My nose is still pretty stuffy but my cough has subsided, so that's good. My throat always hurts in the morning but at least it doesn't last all day, plus I don't have the chills/don't sweat at night anymore.

So this morning I am in a good mood. Sometimes when the scale goes down though, I am so happy that I think I deserve a TREAT of a dessert or to binge on junk. That's my mentality. But I still have my 100 Link Chain and once I lose 10 pounds there is a prize. I just don't remember what I wrote down for it... (it is written on the inside of the chain, though) :)

My skin is starting to break out, so I need to be careful to drink more water every day. I really think my green water bottle (that mom bought me at walmart) really helps me drink more. Because this week I left it in the car on Monday and I keep forgetting it's in there (until Jon is already gone to work), so it's not just easy to sip from. I drink more out of straws than just a cup alone. Odd maybe, but that's how it is.

Days 45 and 46

This post is for yesterday and today.

I feel like I have been eating well this past week, except yesterday I was just craving carbs - toast, white rice, popcorn etc. So yesterday wasn't the best, even though I still had a banana and apple and yogurt, too.

I need to not even buy popcorn kernels right now. It's hindering my goal.

I can breathe a little through my nose this morning! I must be getting better. Now I can eat with my mouth closed instead of breathing through it at the same time. We all know how annoying that is.

I feel bad that I haven't been making many meals for Jon this week. I am selfish and hate to work on a meal when i can't even taste it. I still have lettuce and spinach from last week's grocery trip so I think I will make a nice big salad tonight and some red potatoes and whatnot.

Today is Thursday, and since Tuesday I have gone down .2 - not a lot, but at least it's down.

Day 44

I am down another .8 this morning.

I should probably be eating more these past few days, but my throat hurts when food goes down and I just haven't been too hungry. Plus, I don't crave anything anything because I can't taste it, so that helps :)

I took some cough syrup medicine last night. I remember why it's been 10+ years since I have had it. It is soooo gross!! Even though I can't taste anything, I could STILL taste that. Blah.

Days 41,42,43

This post is for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (today).

I have the flu and have been fallen behind on the blog! I feel worn out so fast. I am freezing at night and take a hot shower or bath, but in the middle of the night my pajamas are soaked from sweat. My throat hurts, my nose is stuffed, and I hate coughing because it makes my throat hurt worse. Jon had been sick a week before I was, so by body held out for a week before it gave in and caught it.

I had warm MILK and honey last night to soothe my throat (thanks mom, for setting me straight).

I haven't been eating much these last couple of days - I just haven't been hungry and being sick kind of makes everything not sound very good (plus I can't taste so much).

(Since last Monday, I am down 2.8 pounds. Not too shabby!) I wanted to lose 3 pounds this week, so that's close. Plus on Wednesday, I had gone up 1.2 pounds, so from Wednesday it's really down 4 pounds. haha but I will only count on Mondays.

So all together, in a full 6 weeks, I have gone down 7.4 pounds.

I think The Firm helped kick off those few pounds this past week.

I feel bad that Jon has to go to work - he's finally starting to feel better, but still isn't 100%. Poor guy.

So far today, I have had:

bowl of wheat chex cereal
yogurt
apple and PB
water
pudding

Day 40

Today I am down 1.2 pounds! The scale is finally moving the right way!!

I haven't worked out yet today. Still on my to-do list. I only did half of The Firm yesterday. I got interrupted by a phone call and didn't want to go back to it... I think  today I will do the elliptical and then do the abs part of The Firm - those are killer.

I went grocery shopping today and I spent $80. To me, that's not bad. I got a lot of stuff. Here, I will name some:

2 bags of popcorn kernels
dishwasher detergent
2 pounds each of bacon, hamburger, and keilba
lots of cans of beans
eggs
bread
apples
bell peppers
peaches
lemons
onions
spinach
frozen corn (lots - I am going to make creamed corn for the chili cookoff tomorrow)
bananas
yogurts
milk
cream cheese (3!)
whipping cream
2 blocks of cheese (mozzarella and cheddar)
lettuce
...and even more! I love HEB. I'm pretty sure it's cheaper than walmart. :) And everything is so close to our apartment, it's so easy to get there. And the old man bagging my groceries said "See you Monday!" with a wink. I had a lot of groceries, haha. He was cute.

I think I will go do elliptical right now...just to get it over with. I haven't learned to love exercise yet. It's still a chore that needs to be crossed off my list every day.

Day 39

I was down .2 this morning. Why do I kill myself doing The Firm if these are the wimpy results? Yesterday I was UP 1.2.... I WAS motivated during the beginning of the week and wanted to lose 3 pounds. Now I need to lose 4 to get to my goal by Monday. Yeah, I don't think that will be happining.

Can I even lose 100 pounds in a year? I'm not sure if it can happen anymore. It's almost Day 40, and I have only lost a (hopefully) SOLID 3.5 pounds. In 40 days. I wanted to be down 12 pounds by now!

Day 38

I was up again this morning. One whole pound. Whatever. maybe it's all my muscle. LOL.

This morning for breakfast I had a yogurt and a piece of toast with peanut butter.

Lunch was an apple and leftover spaghetti.

Tonight's dinner will be leftover chicken from last night, and I'm not sure what else. Probably spinach salad so we can use up the spinach before it goes bad.

I just finished working out to The Firm. My arms feel like jello. But I did make sure to stretch better so I won't be so sore tomorrow (we'll see what happens).

I'm still indexing and have done over 3000 names now, and I applied for a few more jobs today. I don't care if they say degree or bilingual preferred anymore. I'm going to apply anyway.

I can hardly type because my arms are so tired!

Day 37

I can't believe I was up .8 today. I was sooo good yesterday! (at least I THOUGHT so).

My bod is soooo sore. It hurts to bend, squat, sit, etc. The Firm has those effects.

Today I did 1/2 hour of The Firm (the standing portion), just did 30 minutes on the elliptical, and then I will do the other 1/2 hour of the video a little later. I was dying a bit. I need to stretch better, I know that will help.

Days 35 + 36

Here is the update for Sunday AND Monday. It's hard to blog during the weekend!

Here is yesterday's food:
Breakfast: bowl of cereal
Lunch: apple and ramen
Dinner: pulled pork, vegetables, baked sweet potato, and a toffee brownie trifle for dessert

I feel more motivated today. I am sick of slowly going back up. Those ounces and pounds creep up so easily!!

I have plugged in the VCR and The Firm is all ready to go. I am in my workout clothes and am just waiting to mentally prepare myself. It's not that big of a deal, but I really do struggle to work out! I don't like struggling! haha.

Today's menu: (I am trying to eat healthy, and also incorporate some of the 3 day diet ideas)

Breakfast:
Piece of toast with peanut butter
yogurt
grapefruit juice

Lunch:
tuna sandwich - with spinach and tomatoes (need those veggies!)
apple

Dinner
chicken stuffed peppers

OMG these were my favorite! And I put all of the ingredients in a recipe calculator and each serving was 275 calories. Not bad!! (I made 3 peppers). MMM  I didn't expect them to be so good. It was chicken, rice, onion, garlic, marinara sauce, cheese, salt and pepper, and stuffed into the peppers. I will make that on a new regular basis (plus it was a cheap meal - it was only one chicken breast between all 3!)

My goal is to lose 3 pounds this week. I am going to do The Firm every day, and really watch what I eat. I just want to have one really perfect/great week!

10:45AM update:  Just finished doing The Firm. My legs are like JELLO. Man, I forgot how much floor/leg work she does. My booty hurts so bad doing those side/turned in leg lifts! Sheesh, she even turns the stretches into exercise. I think her waist is as big as my thigh.

Day 34

No change of weight since yesterday.

Today I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and a banana.

For lunch we met up with Jon's friend and his family at a really good bbq place called Rudy's. Mmmm. I looked at the nutrition ahead of time and got the turkey. But then they gave out samples of the creamed corn. ooh mmmmy gooooodness. So Jon and I got one to split. It didn't last long. It was soooo good!! (Why are the things that are really really reallly good have so many calories?!)

And for dinner tonight we just made simple salads with craisins/slivered almonds/bacon bits.


Tomorrow we are going to my friend Maryanne's house for dinner. I am bringing dessert. A brownie trifle. Mmmm. But I plan on eating only a little bit!!

Day 33

There is no change in my weight since yesterday.

Right now Jon and I are watching The Hunger Games (and I am also looking at weight loss before and after photos online. It motivates me). I know I didn't eat well today. Tomorrow we are meeting one of Jon's friends at a bbq restaurant for lunch. After this post I am looking up the menu to plan ahead. I feel extra motivated to be good.

I did exercise for 30 minutes and tonight while we are watching the movie I did arm weights, abs (those were burning so bad). And I did those wall-sit things. My thighs were on fire after 15 seconds! But I did 2 sets, and one minute each. I thought I was going to collapse! haha. Then I timed Jon while he did it, too :)

I used to put things up like these cartoons/jokes all the time, so I'm going to start that again.

My abs/quads/arms burned tonight, so this is appropriate, I think.

Day 32

After yesterday's post, I realized that the 'month' doesn't really matter so much, because it's 100 pounds in a YEAR, not 10 pounds per month. I honestly almost gave up and was going to go back into my regular days. But then I look at pictures and realized I want to be healthy. And I really want to get pregnant in a year or so, so I want to get healthy before that, also.

This morning I was down 1.6 pounds. I am still not down to where I was last Friday, but at least it's in the right direction.

Last night for dinner I had a big salad, and before bed I had some grapefruit juice. Like I said in an earlier post, I really do think that really speeds up my metabolism!
I also did weights and abs last night.

Breakfast:
1/2 banana: 50 calories
peanut butter and toast: 200 calories
grapefruit juice: 50 calories
Total: 300 calories

Lunch:
romaine/spinach salad: 10 calories
1 T of poppyseed dressing: 90 calories
toppings: 50 calories
Margherita pizza: 300 calories
Lunch total: 450 calories


I worked out a drank a bunch of water, too. I still need to set up the VCR (I found it though!) And I still need to do weights and abs. I have realized I have no abs under the flab. Those bicycle sit up things are so hard haha! I do them, rest, then do them again a few times. And I thought my arms would look different after doing weights almost every day, but to me they are the same. I feel like I work hard on those, too! My arms are shaking and I can feel the soreness afterwards and throughout the day.

I just really want to get out of these same 10 pounds that I have been in for a long time now. I want to be in a new set of numbers!

I want to get my life in balance - I want to balance health, play, work, service/church, friendships, relationships. I want to find balance financially, also. I just want to have a VISION or a GOAL of something MORE in my life. I feel like something is just missing, and I don't know what it is.

Day 31

Ok, there are going to be 31 days in my made-up month! I'll figure all the days out later.

I was UP again. I am TIRED of going UP.

So at the most, I was down 8.6 pounds. Now, It's only been 4.6 pounds. I went up 4 pounds!

So I need to start tracking my food/excercise better. I got a little lazy in that area.

Breakfast:
Banana

Lunch:
chicken breast
mashed potatoes
green beans

Dinner:

Day 30

Day 30 already?!?!

I have realized that when I don't blog first thing in the morning, it means that my weigh-in sucked. (sorry I used that word, mumsy).

I get down and depressed about it all so easily. Which means I just want to eat more junk, because I think I deserve to be lower. When in reality I obviously am NOT working hard enough to be a lower weight. I just wanted to be different!!

I'm done with my rant. But I also didn't eat any veggies or fruit today. I guess I am an emotional eater. I just ate carbs. Blah. Well, I had chicken for dinner, so there's some protein.

Tomorrow is another day, I suppose. I feel despondent.

Day 29

Monday - the start of a new week!

The first 'month' or 30 days is almost over. I did not lose 10 pounds, but I did lose some. I will try harder next month and be more careful of what I eat. I will also up the exercise. This month was Beginners Month :) 
Today I am going through boxes to find the VCR and cords so I can start doing The Firm.

I also made my grocery list and put a lot of good things on there. I need to be better with planning meals out.

I was down .6 from yesterday, so that makes me happier. I keep a daily Word Document of my weight. My current weight, goal weight, etc, for every day. I like keeping track of it and seeing the numbers.

So after 4 weeks, a total of 6.4 pounds is gone altogether. I know I can do better, but I'm not going to wallow too much, because then I will get down and depressed and just quit. I know myself, and that's what I would do.

Later...

Ok, I just got back from grocery shopping. I bought lots of good things: apples, lettuce, spinach, bananas, carrots, some fresh basil (so I can make margherita pizza tonight, mmm and use up the mozzarella cheese that has been sitting in the fridge), and also some more tuna, green beans, and broccoli, etc (for the 3 day diet). I couldn't find any pita bread - I  really wanted some so I could stuff scrambled egg in it with lots of spinach and canadian bacon. Oh well. I guess I could look online for a recipe...what a novel idea!

Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: piece of banana bread, 200 calories (smaller piece than last night)

Lunch:
tortilla with beans and cheese: 400 calories
apple: 50 calories

dinner:
margherita pizza: 300 calories

Dessert:
No-Bake Nutella cheesecake: 450 calories (but it was so good, and I made sure to only make 2 servings, so no leftovers)

1400 calories

Day 28

Today is Sunday. I didn't work out, but I was up a pound. Blah. I did celebrate too fast, for sure.

Today I ate:

Breakfast:
bowl of cereal: 350 calories
Yogurt: 80 calories

Lunch:
Tortilla with cheese and beans: 500 calories (I had 2)
apple: 70 calories

Dinner:
slice of banana bread: 300 calories

Total: 1300 calories

Day 27

Ok, I probably jumped the gun when I was celebrating that I was at my lowest yesterday. It went back up :(

But it's alright. It was Friday, and my day off. I still tried to be good, though. And I still worked out and did weights and abs. I think I need to unpack my VHS player and do The Firm (the lady in yellow!) I like that one - I just need to find where I packed it...

Day 26

Yesterday wasn't my lowest weigh-in, today is! :)

I was down a pound this morning.

So in the past 25 days, I have lost 8.6 pounds.

I am happy. Sometimes I read articles on how to lose 20 - 30 pounds per month, or even 5 pounds per week. Wouldn' that be nice?! But no, I am happy for this and it's so close to 10 pounds! Once i hit that I will be doubly happy!

I did the diet the past 3 days. I kind of like having a strict diet for 3 days, because I know that if I really want something, I just have to wait a day or two to have it. And that's totally tolerable.  (Ok, right after I wrote that I did remember that I cheated yesterday and had a tortilla with beans and cheese. I got pretty hungry between lunch and dinner). But that was it. And i drank a ton of water to help curb my appetite.

I'm not sure what I will eat today. I have been looking at a lot of budgeting blogs and how people plan out all of their meals and only go grocery shopping once per month. (This lady also has a huge freezer and put milk/yogurts/cheeses/a LOT of things in there to store for the month). But if I plan and even go twice a month, I would totally do that. I usually plan for the week, but I feel like it takes up more money doing that (I also read the same thing).

So today I think I am going to go through some blogs, write down recipes, figure out breakfasts/lunches/dinner, and do it for 2 weeks. (but won't bananas go bad?!) I don't know what I will do yet, but I just want to be smarter grocery shopping and with money spent there. And not letting Jon come with me, because all of a sudden we 'need' this and that. (I don't think we needed it until he saw it on the shelf, though. haha).

I AM going to have a bowl of cereal, though. The frosted mini wheats have been sitting on the counter calling my name.

Breakfast:
cereal and milk: 300 calories

Lunch:
apple and peanut butter: 200 calories
grilled chicken: 100 calories
Total: 300 calories

Dinner:

Day 25

This morning I weighed the lowest I have been in the past few months! So a total of 7.6 pounds lost. I need to lose .6 by Monday, and I'm thinking that won't be too hard (famous last words).

Yesterday I did a lot of abs (I could feel the BURN in my stomach!) And also did weights. I love doing chest flies, I think those are my favorite. (And because I get to lay on the floor while I do them....I know - laziness...I just stay down there for a while, and then start again!)

Today is Day 3 of the diet. I messed up the first two days. I didn't look at the menu and I just mixed up the two days' lunches. No big deal. I am also drinking grapefruit juice twice a day. (On the diet, you only drink it during breakfast on the first day. I am drinking it every day now - I think it makes a difference (I read that grapefruit really helps boost your metabolism).

Day 24

I haven't been blogging very well the past few days. But I am still doing weight every day (yesterday it seemed harder than ever before, even though I am still doing the 8 pounders). And I am either dancing or doing elliptical every day.
And for eating, I am doing the same diet as I did last Tues-Thursday, so I won't rewrite it all down here. Although I didn't eat my apple last night I was too full! (but of course I could eat the ice cream...ha).

I weighed .2 higher this morning. That's not enough to make me upset.

Day 23

This morning I weighed the same as yesterday. And I start the diet again! So I weighed my lowest last Friday morning, and I am up .6 from that, so I think I kept those couple pounds off for the most part!

I went grocery shopping this morning and instead of buying a grapefruit, I bought grapefruit juice - nothing added or taken away. It's 100% grapefruit. Aaaand it tastes just as bad as the real thing :) But at least I can gulp it down. I need a straw so it doesn't hit my tastebuds, but goes straight down my throat!

So, breakfast was some grapefruit juice, and a piece of toast with peanut butter.

Day 22

Ok I was down .8, so I am right on track with 2 pounds per week. So all together I have lost 6.2 pounds.

This morning I did weights and abs and just did a bunch of leg lifts, etc. I still need to do some cardio.

Day 21

I didn't finish yesterday's post! Whoops!

This morning I was up .8! BLAH! Ok, so by tomorrow morning, to keep up with my 2 pounds lost per week goal, I need to be down .8...

This week I have planned out the meals, and I start the 3 day diet again on Tuesday (thru Thursday).

So today was Fast Sunday, so we didn't eat until dinner.

For dinner, we had:

Tortillas with cheese and beans: 400 calories
Apples: 50 calories
Total: 450 calories

Snack:
a few crackers with cheese: 200 calories

And then Jon made cookies...:
I ate 3 cookies. I really have no idea how much was in each cookie. He made chocolate chip. I am just going to guess 200 calories each, since I really have no idea.

Total: 600 calories

Today's total:
1250 calories (I drank a ton of water, too)

Day 20

So I was up .4 this morning. It's alright, Jon and I split a shake from Sonic last night, so maybe THAT'S where they came from, haha.

Breakfast:
Piece of toast: 80 calories
Peanut Butter: 90 calories
half a banana: 50 calories
2 pieces bacon: 80 calories
Total: 300

Then Jon and I went swimming for a while and read outside by the pool.

Snack:
Yogurt: 80 calories