Life is Try, Try Again

I have come to a couple of conclusions on my health-food hiatus. 1.) Not bothering with healthy food is a bad idea (I gained 20 pounds, having already gained 20 from wedding/college havok) 2.) You feel bad when you eat bad 3.) All calories count, even, and especially, the ones you drink.

I got a new job in February after working at Old Navy for 3 years. The store was rather big and I did work on the placement team a little every week. What does this mean? It means I moved, a LOT. I always kept my calorie intake to around 1,600 to maintain my weight. I had regular lunch hours and snack times. So, it was fairly easy to maintain a weight of 160 (low for me) for 3 years.

Long story short... I now work at a coffee shop and I'm fat. So here's what I'm doing to combat the effects.

The first problem is to resist drinking the mistakes. As with any restaurant, people want their drink the way they like it. If I make it the wrong way or have extra it seems like such a waste to throw it out, however, that is what I must do. A "skinny" latte in the smallest size is still 110 calories! If I need my coffee fix I go for a slightly lower calorie cafe au lait which has about 50 calories. Also, coffee and any caffiene in general spikes your blood sugar levels, so if you've just eaten a sugary cereal or a cereal bar ALL that sugar is immediately turning to fat and not being used as an immediate energy store.

That being said, I eat 2 egg whites with turkey suasage and a bit of low fat and low calorie cheese as a treat sometimes. I do not put it on an english muffin now because of the carbs/sugar AND the calories.

CALORIES? This idea from the 1980s about counting calories is so out-dated!! Guess what? A calorie IS a unit of energy and the simplest way to diet is to measure your calorie intake to the amount of calories you burn daily. It is simple and it works! I consume 1,200 calories daily because my coffee shop job does not allow for a great deal of activity on the job so I need less fuel daily. I make up for what calories may be lacking by eating wonderfully nutritious foods. I consume more protien and vegetables. I have lost 3 pounds so far and I have been eating this way for about a week. Counting calories helps me be mindful about what I put in my body. No more snacking on decadent bakery cookies or pastries from the shop I work at. I bring my bright purple cup for iced water (it has a straw) and it makes plain water taste so much better and makes it seem more fun. I also bring a trail mix bar (140 calories) for a snack because the nuts give me a little protien boost and satisfy me more than a lower calorie cereal bar or a diet bar. Slim Fast bars can be an effective snack as well because they have a lot of protien, but keeping in mind that they have plenty of sugar as well.

Keeping calories in mind helps me think of what I SHOULD be eating versus what I WANT to be eating. I choose what I should eat more often now and I am seeing results. I am quite hefty so the weight will come off more swiftly and will plateau later on, so I will have to keep reminding myself and encouraging myself to move forward and break through those plateaus! I know I can do it! I know I can get back down to 160 and hopefully inch down some more to 150 which is my ultimate goal. 150 is close to the top level of healthy weight for my height, so maybe if I make it there I will actually lose more, but if I don't it's ok. I am totally fine with the 150-160 range as long as it is something I can easily maintain in good health.

Exercise is a whole different ball game and I will be tackling an exercise routine this week and establishing what and when I need to be doing. I DO know that I am going to aim for 45 minutes of exercise a day. So all I can say is that if you fail, don't give up. You don't give up on life when it gets rough, so don't give up on your body. Try, try again.

BAH

Ok so I've looked back on the year and decided that I'm not very good with food journals or workout challenges. I have also decided that that's okay! Not everyone is motivated by the same things. So the difficulty comes to finding something that truly motivates you. THAT is the secret to success. When I started out on my very first journey to lose weight I weighed 230 pounds and I went all the way down to 160! That was a net loss of 70 pounds! I look back now and wonder "How the HELL did I DO THAT?!"

I thought and thought and thought..... trying to remember what sparked that ignition for such motivation. It finally came to me. I felt good about myself. I felt pretty and sexy and accepted myself AT 230 pounds! That was the MOST crucial piece to the puzzle. THAT is what I have to find again. In order for me to value myself enough to be healthy I must find my confidence. That is my next journey to seek and regain my lost confidence.

Hotness....... GO!

Getting Down to Business

Ok, so I kinda failed on the 20 Day Journal thing. But I think instead of starting all over, I'll just pick up where I left off and treat this as Day 10.

It is 12:00 and so far I've had lots of fat free, low calorie coffee and a grilled cheese. I've probably consumed somewhere around 275 calories so far, and I plan to have a snack of a granola bar and a Coke Zero Vanilla. so that will be 180 calories right there.... SO that leaves plenty of room for a nice, satisfying, and healthful dinner. I'll post later with the progress.

Thanks for being patient with me during this quest!

Day 9 Down But Not Out

Day 9

I am a little depressed today. I am glad I didn't eat my feelings too much today. This is actually a milestone in a way, because this one of the only times that I have ever not blown my eating habits out of the water based on the way I was feeling! It is really nice to be able to feel good about myself at the end of the day even when I don't feel good about much else.

I encourage everyone to stick with their guns even when they are down and don't see the use in fighting. If you lose one battle, you might wave that white flag whenever it gets difficult, and that, my friends, WON'T do your body good. Keep fighting and keep moving forward even when you feel like everything else is falling apart! <3

12:00 Orange cream yogurt (100)
12:00 Coffee w/creamer (60)
12:00 Veggie burger w/spinach, onions, and cheese (310)
12:00 24 oz water {my tummy was very full and sloshy so I sat still for a while and watched a movie}
2:00 Diet dew (0)
3:30 Diet snack pack of strawberry cakes (100)
4:00 Pomegranate herb tea (5)
5:00 Small baked potato (100)
5:00 Yogurt red velvet flavor (100)
6:30 Water
9:30 Veggie burger (same as at lunch (310)
9:30 Fiber wafers (120)
9:30 Coffee (instant w/creamer) (60)

Total calories 1265 today! I hit pretty close today too!

Exercise
10:30-11:15 Walk Away the Pounds

That is a workout video I LOVE because you can do it at home without too much equipment and you can blast your tunes!!

Day 8: Going Strong!

Here it is, Day # 8! Man, is this month flying by or what! It is super crazy how that happens. Anyway, I'm in a really good mood today. I did well on my calorie intake and I got plenty of exercise.

Food
10:30 Water
10:30 Yogurt Boston Cream Pie flavor (100)
12:00 Veggie burger w/lettuce, tomato, and cheese (275)
1:00 Coffee (60)
2:30 Carrots w/ laughing cow lite cheese (50)
3:30 Sample of fudge (150)
5:45 Yogurt Strawberry Shortcake (120)
7:30 Leftovers small portion (1 oz pork, some squash, and broccoli) (250)
8:00 Jello sugarfree pudding (60) x2 {I couldn't resist... it was SO good}
9:00 Fiber wafers (120)
9:00 Hot mint tea (5)


YAHOOOOO 1250 calories! I hit my goal so close I am counting this as a victory!!

Exercise.
3:00-3:30 Walked downtown to get a sample of fudge lol
9:00-10:00 25 minute workout, then danced

BOOYAH! I mastered today! I did a great job. Except for the fudge, but I kept my calorie count near my goal! Having a glass of water first thing in the morning helped me a lot with my energy today. I felt much better and more energetic. See you tomorrow!

Almost Halfway There!

So, it is day #8 of my challenge. Which means that I'm almost halfway there. Time really flies! I am sorry my posts haven't been very interesting lately, but now that I feel MUCH better I promise to give it my all!

Here is a review of the challenge. My beginning weight was 184.6 pounds. Here at Day 8 my weight is sitting at 180.2 pounds! I have lost a total of 4.4 pounds in the last 8 days which is a little fast, but I'm thinking that weight loss is a little speedier the first couple of weeks dieting. Also my BMI is 28.2 down from 29! I am REALLY excited to see this go down!

My goal for the next 12 days is to lose an additional 5 pounds which will take me to 175 pounds. Let's see if I make the cut!

Day 7: Not Feeling So Hot

Ok, so I think I figured this whole "not feeling good" thing. My body is used to a 2000+ calorie diet a day and cutting its calories by half made it unhappy. My body is sluggish now that it has to use fat reserves for energy instead of the quick energy I supply it with in the form of carbs and sugar on a regular basis.

This is the hardest part of adjusting to a new eating schedule, but it will pass if I am patient. Until then I will have to drink lots of tea and water and DEAL with it ;-).

I slept 14 hours straight, so I did NOT get up at a decent hour. I got up around 1:30 PM.

1:45 Yogurt (100)
1:45 Coffee (50)
2:00 Salmon sandwich with bacon, spinach, tomato (300)
2:30 Diet Dew
4:00 Low fat ice cream bar (100)
4:00 Herb tea (5)
8:00 Veggie burger plain (210)
8:00 Herb tea (5)
9:00 Yogurt (100)
10:00 Water

I felt that 870 calories was sufficient for the day since I am only going to end up being awake for a measly 13 hours.

As far as exercise, I only got a few sit-ups in today. I will have to do better tomorrow. Hopefully I will feel better in the morning! Goodnight everyone. Stay on track and don't let a few disappointments keep you off the path of reaching your goals and dreams!