I have a love hate relationship with Wednesdays.  I hate that i’m stuck in the middle of the work week, but I know that when I get home, I love that there are only 2 days until the weekend.  Today was a pretty good day.  Brandon and I woke up late.  Only 1 of 6 alarms set went off!  How does that happen!  Only by the hand of God…I take it as we were “supposed” to be late this morning.  I woke up as Brandon should have been walking in the door at work.  I still had time to get ready for work, but needless to say I didn’t go to the gym this morning.  I did, however, make it a point to go directly after work.  

I ate well all day long.  I even went to a meeting that had 6 different types of candy available.  I actually sat across from a woman who ate a handful of jelly beans, 12 now-and-laters and 8 peanut m&m’s.  I don’t even know what was said in the meeting!  I just couldn’t believe all she ate.  And here’s the kicker, she had weight loss surgery 2 years ago and is at her goal weight.  She’s having plastic surgery in January to “shape” her body up and will come back as a size 6 i’m sure.  I have NOTHING against WLS, my mother actually had it 6 years ago and it was a miracle for our family.  But….but….but….my mom doesn’t eat like that! Now Comeon! Before I was dieting I didn’t eat candy like that!  (Alright, I’m done screaming about that)  Back to my story, there was a variety of candy in the meeting and I had 1 sweetart.  Just one.  And it was wonderful.

My workout was really great today too.  I think I ran a total of 7 minutes at a high speed, and 20 minutes at a “brisk” pace.  It wasn’t a long workout, but I’m following a program and have decided to stick to it, just as it says, even though I could have gone a bit longer.  I’ve only been at this 3 weeks now and want to continue to enjoy working out, no dread it b/c it’s too difficult.  I did find that I enjoyed the running part though.  I can’t wait until i’m a runner.  One day.  

Its 9:45 and i’m exhausted.  I want to go read a little and head to bed.  Night.

I know, I know…it’s been a while.  Partly due to the fact that I’ve been really busy, and party do to jumping off the diet train the past few days.  This past weekend was rough and I just didn’t want to write about it.  I had a brownie Friday at work, along with Chipotle, which is practically my entire calorie intake for the day.  I used to eat Chipotle up to 3x a week, and I hadn’t had it for almost a month, so I indulged.  Saturday and Sunday I didn’t take my vitamins, didn’t eat 3 proper meals or snacks throughout the day, and had a wonderful meal from Houlihan’s on Saturday, WITH DESSERT!  I did go to the gym Saturday, but not Sunday….and not Monday either.  And of all times to weight myself to see the loss for the past week and a half, I chose to do it Saturday afternoon after my first indulgence since the diet started.  And, as you can imagine, I was a pound heavier than the last time.  I tried my hardest to stay off the scale so that when I finally weighed in I would have dropped.  I was SOOOO disappointed.  I understand that it was the absolute worst time that I could have weighed myself.  But still.

Today I got back on track.  The gain in a pound, which is a big deal since I’ve only lost a whopping 6 pounds, really whipped me into shape again.  I got up this morning and went to the gym like a good girl, and I decided to start counting calories.  It’s quite the learning experience, but after a few weeks I think I’ll have everything figured out.  The website I’ve been using has me consuming 2,000 calories a day, but I think that might be too much.  I think I’m going to cut it to 1,800 or 1,900 so that I’m losing.  I think the 2,000 is a maintaining calorie count.  I need to look into that a bit more. 

Tonight I’m going to Houlihan’s (again) for my mom’s birthday, and I already looked up the calorie count a few items there so I know what I’m able to get.  Some things aren’t as high-cal as I expected.  This will be tedious for a while, but once I get my staples entered I can just click and log rather than having to look up all this specific nutritional info. 

Exercise is good.  I’m still doing that walking program, and I will be for a while.  I’m about 1.5 weeks in and it’s a 6 week program.  I walked for 38 minutes today and was a bit sweaty when I was done so at least I’m pushing myself a little bit. 

It’s been a few days since I posted.  I’ve been to busy to actually sit down and catch-up.  I didn’t get up today to work out, and I didn’t Wednesday either.  I really messed up with that this week.  I’m going to head to the gym after work though so that I get it in for the day.  I also haven’t been eating my healthiest, but I haven’t been eating full portions either.  For example, I went to olive garden last night and should have probably gotten soup and minestrone, but instead my husband and I split chicken scampi.  So…I didn’t leave stuffed, but I still probably had a lot of calories.  I also only ate about 1/2 of a breadstick.  For some reason it really get’s me down when I don’t eat as healthy as I can, even if i’m eating soooooo much better than I used to.  I’ll just write it off as a bad day. 

I’m still doing the walking program, and it’s going pretty well.  Yesterday it had me walking and running every other minute.  It was the first time I felt like I was really pushing myself since I started working out.  The past few times I’ve dieted, I felt like I had to absolutely kill myself at the gym in order to make any difference in my weight.  With this walking program I don’t get sweaty or anything, but my heartrate is in the right area for 30 or more minutes, so it should be working.  Anyways, I was sweaty when I left the gym yesterday, so maybe this program is picking up a bit. 

So I haven’t updated my blog with the most exciting and motivating news that i’ve had recently.  I’ve gotten in touch with an old friend from highschool who is also starting to get in shape, and she said that she would love to jump on board with my marathon goal.  So…we decided to take it slow, as we should, and we’re going to start getting in shape to train for a 5k race that we found in our area in March.  Then after that we’ll train for a 10k in late summer, the 1/2 marathon (possibly) in fall, and then take the following year to train for the marathon.  Things will change with that i’m sure, so we’re taking baby steps.  As of right now, neither of us can run…at all, lol, so we’re going to get in shape to train for the 5k, like I said.  We’ll accomplish that and go from there.  I’m VERY excited about this.  I want for people to look at me and know that I’m a runner.  I can’t wait!!!!!  We also spoke with our other mutual friend, and both of our siblings and I think they might join us in the adventure.  So there might be an entire group of us running in this 5k for the first time.  It will be soooo inspiring to actually get to that point, be able to run the entire race, and finish.  So, that’s what’s going on with me right now. 

This weekend should be fun, hopefully I can stay on track and exercise both days and focus on good meals b/c we’ll be eating out quite a bit. 

Today is my my first wedding anniversary and I am VERY excited.

 I woke up and worked out this morning and got a pretty good workout in.  Ate well at work, and tried not to eat too much because we’re going to the Melting Pot for dinner.  We’re leaving in about an hour to go and I’m starving!  I ate about 3 times today but cut back on the portions to make up for dinner a little.  The first person complimented me on how I look today.  I really think she may have just been saying that I look good to be supportive and motivating.  So…I called her on it, and she claimed that she wasn’t.  She told me that I was starting to motivate her.  That was nice to hear.  My dress pants fit me well today.  They fit me like they should, not too tight.  They were comfortable.  I also noticed, every time I went to the bathroom today (counted 11 times!) that my stomach isn’t as full looking as it has been the past few months.  Another thing I noticed for the first time was the change in the look of the back of my neck.  You know what I’m talking about.  When you get a little overweight, the very bottom of your neck kind of humps up.  lolol.  I don’t know how else to explain it.  Well I noticed that happening to me the past few months and it was making me sick.  I didn’t want to have that!!!  But today, I noticed that it wasn’t as bad as it was in the past.  I’m slowly making progress.  I still haven’t stepped on a scale since last Thursday and it’s killing me! I feel like i’ve lost weight, but I really want to hold off unitl next week so that I can REALLY celebrate.

I just got my anniversary gift, and I got….ready……?  TIFFANY’S EARRINGS!  I am soooo excited.  My husband is just wonderful.   I have to get ready to go to dinner.  Life is good.

Monday #3,  these past couple weeks have gone by really fast.   I woke up fine today and went to the gym.  I’ve been doing the prevention walking program and had to do a sprint/walk workout today.  Truthfully, I felt kind of funny because I was in the gym surrounded by runners and I was running for 30 seconds then slowing down to a slow walk (as the directions state to do).  Supposedly you burn more calories and burn fat when you change things up a bit, but it was weird running for that short amount of time.  After the 8th transition I hope people caught on that I was doing this specifically and not pathetic enough to only run 30 seconds at a time.  ALRIGHT!  LET’S BE HONEST! I probably couldn’t run much longer than that anyways.  :(

I ate well today despite the fact that I forgot to take my vitamins.  If anything changes up at work it really throws me off on my eating schedule.  I had a regular breakfast: yogurt, almonds, granola, and raspberries.  Banana for snack, salad at lunch, plum for afternoon snack, and then I went to Panera for dinner and got a turkey sandwich and garden vegetable soup.  I got a caramel latte too….not good.  But I was out with girlfriends and it was necessary!  

Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary.  Ahhhhh.  I’m excited because my husband got me something really special.  It’s small and in our safe.  It’s been there for 2 whole weeks.  I can barely wait to get it!  We’re also going to the Melting Pot for dinner.  That’s where he took me the day we got engaged and that’s the last time we’ve been there.  It’s going to be sooo good, but not that healthy.  I have to try not to stuff myself, and not to eat too much during the day.  

I have yet another motto!  I love ‘em!  My mom had WLS about 6 years ago and is currently smaller than I am!  ugh.  But when she was losing weight her support group always used the motto: “Nothing tastes as great as thin feels.”  I completely agree with that.  I have foods that I generally love, Pepsi, McDonalds fries, Chocolate Chip pumpkin cookies, fried chicken….etc, you know, all the good stuff.  But on the days I eat well and exercise and just feel good about myself and feel comfortable in my skin….NOTHING compares to that.  

Nothing much to report from this weekend.  It wasn’t entirely bad, wasn’t completely good.  I ate well at times and bad at times, but I just try to focus on the fact that I could have eaten a lot worse.  I worked out both days and got a lot done around the house. Other than that, nothing else is going on.  I haven’t weighed myself since Friday, and I want to try and wait for another week so that I know for sure the scale has moved down.  :)  

I have nothing to report today other than I went to the gym this morning and realized again how much I prefer it to sleeping in on days that I have to work.  I spent about 10 more minutes at the gym than usual and feel like I got a better work out in.  I ate well today to.  Usual breakfast and then my company supplied everyone subway for lunch.  I chose the turkey over the BMT (my favorite) and loaded it up with peppers.  I took the baked chips and passed on the pop and cookies.  I noticed that it wasn’t as difficult as normal to pass on the food I prefer.  I’m kind of in the stage now where I don’t contemplate the goods and bads of what I’m eating, but instead just get the healthier thing as if I don’t have a choice.  That makes it nice because when there is something I really really really want, I can have.  For example,  I passed the pop and cookie earlier today, so when I got home to my husband holding a batch of my most favorite cookies that my mother-in-law made, I could actually have one and truly enjoy it w/o feeling bad.  

Anyways, Hooray for another weekend! 

I hate to say this, but I DIDN’T get up this morning and go to the gym!  I hate hate hate that I didn’t make myself go, but it was just too difficult this morning.  All the alarms went off as usual and I just laid there awake until I fell back asleep about 20 minutes later.  Then I woke up soon after that having to get up anyways! and with a headache!  Hopefully that will keep me from doing that again because It wasn’t worth it.  I’ll just have to work out on Saturday AND Sunday this weekend.

Besides the unfortunate sleeping in incident, I did eat well today.  Good breakfast, protein bar and some fruit for lunch, and more minestrone for dinner (not as much bread).  Now it’s time to relax a little and watch Grey’s Anatomy before heading off to bed so that I can wake up on time tomorrow!  

I’m going to do my regular exercise tomorrow and then start the prevention walking plan on Saturday.  Hopefully I can get in the groove and figure out the program so that I can do it all in the mornings before work.  I also have a crazy goal that I don’t expect to obtain for…well….years.  Here it is.  I want to run a marathon!  It’s a crazy goal coming from someone of my weight who hates running and could probably not run a tenth of mile at this point, but I think that in the next 3 years, I should be able to do this if I really work at it.  We’ll see.  I just think that it would be an awesome accomplishment and an unbelievable feeling if I were actually able to do it.  I told my husband and he just raised his eyebrows and said, “do you know how many miles are in a marathon?”  lolol.  I just laughed with him b/c it is a pretty outrageous thought at this point.  Time will tell!

I felt really good today despite the fact that I didn’t exercise.  I felt small for the first time in a LOOOOOONG time.  Small in the way where my hands felt tiny and skinny, and my stomach wasn’t bloated making my pants feel tight in the waist.  Probably just water weight that i’ve lost, but it feels good.  

Lastly, I just want to write that I found another motto today that really made sense today.  It said something like, “Being on a diet is hard. Maintaining your weight is hard.  Being fat is hard. Pick your hard.”  I love this.  Being overweight IS hard but in completely different ways that dieting and exercise is hard.  I never thought of it that way.  I always considered being fat the easy way out, but it definitely isn’t.  You’re going to suffer in one way or the other.  I will never look at being overweight the same way again.

First bad day.  Well, I’m not sure if it could be considered a completely bad day.  I still got up and exercised, and it was a good workout.  I did well eating today up until dinner.  I was excited because I made homemade minestrone.  Doesn’t get much healthier than that, except for the half loaf of bread I ate with dipping oil.  Ugh.  I overate for the 1st time since I started dieting.  Now I remember how awful this feels to be stuffed.  Maybe it’s good to have these reminders every once and a while.  

Today was another good day.  Woke up on time, was at the gym, and got a decent workout.  The only bad thing about going before work is not being able to take my time and get a really good workout.  I was getting into the groove, starting to sweat, and it was time to start cooling down.  Next week i’m going to start getting up earlier so I can spend maybe 45 minutes there.  Eventually i’ll start getting there when it opens, but i’m going to give myself a while to work up to that.  haha.  

I ate really well today too…well, so far I have.  We had a a fire drill in my office building this morning, and to treat everyone for a job well done, the building owner brought in donuts and cider for all 23 floors available at the front desk lobby area.  I considered getting the apple cider, but I knew I would have grabbed a donut along with it, so I steered clear.  All that hard work just to get on an elevator with 10 people with cider and donuts in hand.  Needless to say, my mouth was watering when I got back to my desk and ziploc bag of carrots and cucumbers.  Quite the effort.  Tonight my husband and I are meeting with our friends for dinner like we do on most Tuesday nights.  I normally get chicken wings at the place we go, They’re soooooo good.  I’ll try and get a turkey sandwich or something, and end up stealing maybe 1 wing to curb the craving.   

I’m feeling smaller today.  I weighed myself this morning right when I woke.  I was 6 pounds lighter than my starting weight.  225 to 219.  I’m very excited, but I keep wondering if that really is the amount I’ve lost.  The starting weight I used was one at work and it was from mid-morning, after I ate breakfast, the current weight, again, was on my own scale this morning.  So there could be a significant difference because of that alone.  But we’re going with 6 pounds lost.  My husband said that he would give me a backrub for 5 pounds that I lose, which is great incentive.  He’s a really good back-rubber, and in our house, you have to give one to get one.  This will be nice to say the least.  So…let’s take a second to celebrate the loss.  6 pounds!!!!!!  YAAAAAAAAAAAY!  6 down, 54 to go!