it’s almost 4am here but im on a weird schedule.  last night I went to bed at 4:00am and woke up at 4:30pm. hahah ohh the vacation life! its so nice to be home!

but im not home for long!

on tuesday I am leaving for a three week adventure! i will be off in crazy foreign lands half way around the globe and will likely not have internet access! (or at least not often!) so this is my last post for a while!

so i have a couple of goals for food and exercise while I am on my vacayadaventue, and a one main goal for what I will have hoped to acheive by january when i return.

So! Food & Exercise goals for my vacayadventure:

1) I am really happy because one of my biggest downfalls when I am at school is snacking, because my house has a constantly fully stocked kitchen, etc etc.  when i travel, snacking is never really an issue because I’m so busy sightseeing, shopping, etc that food other than at main meal times isnt an Issue. So, this isnt really a goal, but im happy i wont be snacking too much while im gone which should really help.

2) buffets.  i’ll be staying at super lovely fancy hotels and on a ship etc where there are often buffets for 1 or 2 meals a day. my goal for the buffets is to only to go to the buffet ONCE and to put very reasonable portions on my plate and to EAT SLOWLY and enjoy the food, and to not eat a ton just because i know i can get more. that kind of mindset can/will/has gotten me into trouble!

3) other meals at restaurants at the hotels etc.  Pick reasonably healthy dishes, ie lean proteins not stuff that’s super carby etc and also, if i order dessert (which is often included) just have a few bites of it, but don’t eat the whole thing.

4) exercise.  Every hotel and place we are staying on this trip has great and often world class gyms.  my goal is to go to the gym at least every other day on my trip, either on free afternoons, in the evenings, in the mornings if we dont have activities, etc.  try to do hour workouts at least! 45 min cardio and 15 min abs. if i have more time do some weights as well!!

Goal for January when I get back:  In all honesty I have been really afraid to step on the scale recently.  I know my weight has gone up, my 14s are tight and I’m pretty sure I’m in the 190s.  last week’s eating and caffeine habits certainly didnt help.  the friday that I am back from my trip, January 9, I will be stepping on the scale no matter what as my first winter weigh in.  My goal weight is to be 185 by then.  I know within these 3 weeks that there are a lot of possibilities for me to eat healthily, exercise, walk around a lot, sight see and not be consumed by food, etc.  also, i was recently watching the biggest loser and it made me a) feel so accomplished and proud of how much weight i’ve lost and b) made me sad that i’ve stopped fighting for weight loss and gotten so lazy and apathetic. it got me really motivated to let these 3 weeks be a time to think about and act on exercising more and eating well, so that im in the right mindset when i get back to school in january, to go to the gym 5-6 days a week and to track all of my food.  also, january will be the one year anniversary of me joining 3fc and starting my weight loss journey.  my new goal for january will be to lose 30-40 lbs by june which will be my graduation from my master’s program.  we’ll see and talk about that more in january.  Right now i just want to focus on really enjoying my vacation, eating well and healthily, and exercising as much as my free time allows.

I think that’s all for now!!  as always, thank you all so so so much for your support!!

Have a very Happy Holidays!!!

See you in January!

XOXO

travelgal

1 final completed

2 papers, over 30 pages written in less than 4 day

soo tired

so much caffeine

so little exercise

so much random food

home now. loving sleep, my bed and no work.

ill be back tomorrow for a full update and a little entry about what will be happening in the next 3 weeks!

wish me LUCK!

xo

lunch: some veggie pad thai, white rice, and 2 peanut sauce mini chicken drumsticks. 1 oreo, 1 rainbow chip cookie

snack: g sk v latte

snack: some cheetos, triscuits and a bit of camembert—>BOOOOOOO. unhealhty snacking. i have popped some gum in my mouth to STOP THIS MADNESS! stress and doing work is no excuse to eat badly!

dinner: some lasagna

snacks: a bunch of stuff, and diet coke red bullll etc

it’s 4:40 in the am. im working on my first paper still. did not get as far as i was hopign, but its not due until thursday, then i have another one on friday due.

ugh. do i have time for the gym? nope, not if i want any sleep. am i motivated enough to work without procrastinating? no

to answer some of tiny2bs questions haha:

do i get good grades? yes, i get excellent grades. i always work late and am a huge procrastinator but i rarely do badly cuz i work hard. i never get lower than a B, and thats usually a tragedy. i rarely get less than an A-,..

finals week is over on Friday, thank god, at 4pm.

this paper that im working on is 15-18 pages

my next one is 8-10 pages

i’m going home for the holidays on friday, but then i leave for an exciting 3 week getaway next week. so excited for it!!!

also, at this point, when i do make it to the gym i dont do couch25k, im trying to do my own jogging thing, which can be seen on my exercise page or whatever its called. also, i realized i dont care that much about speed or distance, i just care more about getting a good workout.

bahhh back to work, sleep in 18 minutes, and waking up at noon! excellent 7 hours!

just kidding! it’s 6:30 am! going to bed now, waking up at 1:30–>7 hours of sleep! yaya! made great progress on my paper! i feel good! night (HA!) y’all!

snack: sugar free redbull (10) and some almonds (50)-60

total so far: 550

see a caffeine pattern?

lunch: some chips and salsa, and a tortilla with grilled chicken and cheese. also a few pieces of turkey jerky.

dinner: indian food, rice naan and chicken.

dessert: some frozen yogurt and coffee

could tiny2b, grabthebull, callmejj and tylerdurden comment or send me your email address to gringaparasempre AT gmail DOOOTTT com

because…

I got a little down about my progress and lack of motivation, and I saw a photo progress thread on the daily plate site and it got me motivated to put some of my photos together to see if I could notice a significant progress or change in my weight/looks since I started this journey over a year ago.  i ended up making a small ppt (i dont know how to do much on comptuers haha) and I figured it might be nice to share it with you all, since you guys have been open about your photos and progress. but, i am still verrry afraid of putting my photos on the blog/internets for the whole world to see, so if you want to see them (and id love to share them with you!), email me and I’ll send you the pics.

if there’s someone i’ve forgotten who’s been a blog friend for a while, let me know and i’ll send them to you too. but please respect the fact that i DONT want these photos anywhere on the internet, so please keep them private and in your inboxes etc. i dont need the whole world to see my progress photos, just my lovely and dear blog friends who have been helping me all the way.

xo

travelgal

(also, i thought it might be nice to have a face to the name!)

pps- obviously, if you dont care/want to see the photos, it’s no biggie at all, and i wont be offended or hurt, i know we’ve all got busy lives!

but, i realized, that if I was perfect, I probably wouldnt have a blog in the first place.  so my new goal for this week, and completely in the future is to blog EVERYDAY and write down everything I eat, no matter how horrific it is, and to also write down my daily weight, even though only friday weigh ins will count. (next friday will be the next official weigh in…i was too afraid to weigh in today.)

So starting tomorrow I’m writing down every single thing I put in my mouth, and hopefully an estimate of calories not going about 1200-1300 per day.

Also, this week is really tough because it’s finals week/the end of the quarter so I have 1 final to study for on monday, one 15-18 page paper due thursday and 1 8-10 page paper due thursday.  Realistically this means that all I have time to do is, eat, STUDY, and hopefully get 8 hours of sleep per night so that I can study well and focus each day.  In an ideal world I would also make it to the gym for a little bit each day, but I dont want to make that a goal for this week because I may in fact be setting myself up for failure.

So my realistic goals for this week are:

1) to be completely prepared for my final and to do really really well on my two papers without feeling stressed or procrastinating. if I focus on doing my work, organize my time properly and dont procrastinate, I can definitely get it all done in a timely manner

2) get 8 hours of sleep every night

3) eat 1200-1300 calories per day and record EVERYTHING I EAT

4) weigh in everyday to keep myself on track and weigh in somewhere under 190 on Friday for the official weigh in.

ok! i can do this!!!!!! wish me luck! i need all the help i can get!

xox

tgal

on track so far

breakfast: small piece of pumpkin bread and some ff cottage cheese and iced tea

lunch: some salad with two egg white, some white rice and soy sauce and some tofu and barley soup

snack: a few tortilla chips, some lf choc cat cookies, and 2 pieces of turkey jerkey

dinner: some potatoes, grilled chicken breast, some bread and a brownie

snack: popcorn

goals for today:

1) eat on plan and in control–>i feel like i did okay about this, could ahve been better, i kind of wish i counted calories or at least estimated, may get back to that tomorrow

2) go to the gym and do cardio and weight training–>schedule got way busy today (it’s almost finals), but im going to the gym tom for yoga and cardio, and now i have a gym buddy for wednesday which is good.

im being less vigilant this week because i think if im less stressed and more social, there is less of a chance that i will eat alone out of stress. i am excited for the gym tomorrow, and for eating on plan

I’m thankful for:

My incredible family who I love soooo much

My great friends, especially my bestiest friends

My incredibly education and university which I love sooo much that my parents are supporting me through in every way which I know costs sooo much money but is really priceless

My good health

The 40 lbs I’ve lost

The motivation I have to keep at this crazy challenge every day

The gym at my school and my relative consistency in going to the gym

Coming across 3fc and making a blog

THIS BLOG and the support I receive on this blog from all my incredible 3fc friends and life-lines: tiny2b, joy, m3at49, grabthebull, bigprof, tylerdurden. You all are incredible and have been so supportive especially in the hard times when I often want to just give up. And everyone else who has commented and been so helpful and supportive.

I’m also really thankful for my great, fantastic life.  While I’m struggling with weight loss, I know there are millions of people in America and throughout the World who are suffering from so many problems both material and other and I know that I am so lucky to be where I am.  So I really really thankful for that and the life I have.  I also am truly thankful that i REALIZED that I needed to lose weight and started on this journey!!

Happy thanksgiving everyone!!!!

xoxoxox

Travelgal

P.S: I’m so incredibly thankful for our NEW AMAZING PRESIDENT!!!!