Day 19...Nervous

Tomorrow is my weigh in & I'm so nervous!!



These last three days have been sort of like free for alls.  Well, mainly just the last two.  Although I did track my calories.  I made sure that even if I didn't stick to the 1700 & under amount I was still determined to at least track what I ate, and let me tell you, yesterday was a doozie!! I tracked everything I ate & honestly I didn't "feel" like it was that much.  I mean to me it was only 3 meals, which is normal right?  How bad could it be?? Oh it could be bad, and what's worse is that I used to do that every day AND MORE!!  And just in honor of full disclosure let me tell you what that consisted of:


Breakfast:

1/4 cup of Oatmeal

75 Calories

Lunch:

Jimmy John's Italian Night Club
Jimmy John's Sea Salt & Vinegar chips

1248 Calories (Can you believe that!!!!!!!!)

Dinner:

Roast Beef
Butternut Squash Casserole
Broccoli & Cheese Casserole
Loaded Mashed Potatoe's
Coconut Creme Pie
Jack & Coke

1197 Calories

Snacks:

2 Cheddar Peppers from Sonic
1/2 container of Ranch dippping sauce
KFC Original Recipe Chicken Wing

377 Calories

So tomorrow's the day.   Can't say that I'm feeling too confident about it.  I'd be ok with not losing anything, but what I'm really afraid of is a gain.  Of course I know it won't be a permanent gain, mostly just bloating, but still....Oh well all I can do is face the music & move on. 

I'll be sure to let you know.  :)

Day 15 Struggling...

Do you ever just have one of those days where you just want to eat everything!!!!!!  Well today has totally been one of those days.  Acutally when I think about it, yesterday was one too.  Fortunately yesterday I was able to control myself.  I only ate 1525 calories & I even managed to get in some exercise, and just to prove it here's a scary sweaty picture of me & my baby girl after we had done 20 minutes of a low impact aerobics workout we found on youtube.  :)

 

 

 

According to MFP (My Fitness Pal) that activity burned 204 calories, therefore my net calories were 1321.  I love seeing the difference that exercise can make.  And I'll be honest, I love knowing that I have the extra calories there IF I want them.  Of course, last night I didn't but whew, tonight may be a different story! Right now it's only 5:21 pm & I only have 503 calories left!! Of course if I do that workout again then I'll have 707 calories left.  I have to admit, I feel like I'm getting a little obssessed with counting these calories, in a good way, not in a crazy way.  I love the feeling I get from knowing that I am in control of how many calories I am putting into my body.  Even when I WANT to go crazy (like today) I still measured & tracked my calories.  I don't know what is up with today, I guess it's probably the weather.  It's NASTY out today, it's rainy & cold & I guess I just feel like bundling up & eating everything in sight!!  But, so far I've restrained myself.  I'm supposed to make pork chops & rice for dinner, but just one serving of that has 413 calories so I'm thinking maybe I'll just stick with pork chops & veggies.  I have a great recipe I'm going to try called buffalo cauliflower bites, & they're very low in calories so I'm excited about that.  I'll make sure to take a pic & post it on here tomorrow.  But for now I'll leave you with my food log from yesterday. 


Breakfast:

Liquid Egg Whites
Piece of turkey

Calories 75

Lunch:

2 Tostadas

Calories 255

Dinner:

Cabbage Casserole over rice (recipe from Katie)

Calories 485

Snacks:

SF Cherry Jello
Flour tortilla w/light mayo & turkey breast
80/20 Hamburger patty w/ketchup
Banana with 1 T. peanut butter (SO delish btw)
2 Ritz crackers

Calories 710

8 glasses of water
20 minutes of aerobic exercise -204 calories

Total calories 1525 minus aerobics 1321

Ok, well I hope you guys are having a better day than I am!!!


Blessings,

Day 14 New followers!!

Well hey there!! I am so excited to have new followers!! I hope that we can encourage each other along this journey, share recipes & basically just cheer each other on as we acheive our goals for 2013!

So I have to tell you about my dinner last night, it was so DELICIOUS!!  I took a recipe from Skinnytaste & tweaked it a bit.  Here is the original recipe

 

 

And here is my version

 

 

 

 

 

Total calories for the dinner came to 422, which was pretty darn good considering how yummy it was!  I'll post the recipe on my recipe page. 

 

 

And since I don't have any words of inspiration today I'll just leave you with my food log from yesterday.  I was super hungry/snacky last night, but then I realized that I hadn't had ANY water all day long & so before I went overboard I quickly downed 6 glasses before bed.  Luckily I go to bed very late so I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to pee :)

 

Anyhoo, this is what I ate yesterday:

 

Breakfast:

 

3 T. liquid egg whites

1 slice turkey breast

1/2 cup 1% milk

 

Total calories 105

 

Lunch:

 

Homemade pizza

 

Total calories 385

 

Dinner:

 

Shrimp & rice

 

Total calories 392

 

Snacks:

 

Imitation crab meat

Noosa blueberry yogurt

1 c. Golden puff cereal

1 c. 1% milk

1 Cutie

1 cucumber, peeled

 

6 cups of water

 

Total calories 1508

 

 

How about you?  Have you noticed that lack of drinking water has an effect on your feelings of hunger?  

Day 12 Bicycling, new recipe!

Tommorrow is my official weigh in & I can't wait!! As I said before, although I only "technically" count my weight on Sunday, I can't help but get on the scale daily & I have to say I am pretty pleased with what I'm seeing!!  I'm amazed that if you just feed your body less calories it will fall in line & start to lose weight....what a novel concept!! ;)

Still haven't really incorporated daily exercise.  But I have decided that cycling is going to be my exercise of choice.  As I said before, I really don't like running/walking, but I love riding my bike.  And to make it official I have decided that I'm going to start training for my first century (100 mile bike trip).  Actually it's more of a Century & a half.  It's in Tennessee & it's called "Bike to Jack & Back" & it's a ride for MS. 



While I would LOVE to do it this year, I just don't know if that will happen, what with school & all.  But, I did get a confirmation from hubby that when I did decide to do it, whether it be this year or next, that he would do it with me!! Yay!! I love doing stuff like that together.  Of course since we're newby riders we definitely need to get some more info on the bikes/rides/training etc. 

Finally, here is what we had for dinner tonight

 

 

 

This is my version of Katie's "Chicken and Noodles"  and I have to admit, it is DELICIOUS!! And SO super easy to make (which makes it even better in my book!!).  This is definitely going to become a staple around here!  I tweeked it a tiny bit.  Instead of egg noodles I used fettucine, just b/c it's what I had on hand.  Also, I used a 16 oz. bag of veggies instead of a 10 oz bag & I added a little seasoning salt.  I also found that although her recipe says it serves six 1 1/3 cup servings, I found that mine only made five 1 1/4 cup servings.  But still, SOOO Yuuuummmmmyyyyy!!! 

 

And now for yesterday's food log:

 

Breakfast:

 

1 Egg omelet (1 egg, 1/2 Roma tomato, 1 piece 97% FF cooked ham, about a T. of chopped onion)

1 English muffin

1 T. Light Mayo

 

Calories 283

 

Lunch:

 

English Muffin Pizza (see recipe in recipe section)

Small salad w/just lettuce & onions & some light ranch & taco sauce

 

Calories 274

 

Dinner:

 

Tuna Salad

 

Calories 460

 

Snacks:

 

1/2 of a 20 oz. French Vanilla Cappucino

1 1/2 KFC chocolate chip cookies (seriously they are my weakness, they are SO good!!)

1 SF Cherry Jello

1 Cutie

 

6 cups of water

 

Total calories 1491

 

What about you guys? Have you tried any new recipes lately??

Day 9 Getting nervous & exercising

So, I may or may not have mentioned before that I am a full time, BSN nursing student.  It's actually one of my motivating factors for wanting to lose this weight.  But, today I was thinking about the fact that school starts in 8 days & it got me a little nervous.  When I started this journey I was on break from school.  Therefore I haven't really left my house in the almost month that I've been watching my calories (Ok I've left my house, I mean I'm not a hermit, but you know what I mean, I haven't had to be away from home for meals).  I don't know about you, but this makes counting calories so much easier.  I am able to make fresh lunches and get all of my water in.  But, knowing that school is about to start has me a bit nervous. My plan is to obviously take a page from Tiffany & bring my lunches/snacks with me when I go back to school, but I have to admit, being in a group is one of my triggers.  I'm that girl that wants to go out to eat along with whatever else we're doing.  Example:  We have a study group, I want to meet at the deli to study so that we can grab something to eat.  We're going to the movies - Well of course we need to meet up early to grab some dinner first, and then still indulge in some popcorn & a cherry coke.  You want to go for a healthy hike?  Wouldn't adding a picnic to that make it even better?  You get the picture right?  I'm that girl.  I'm the fat girl who wants to add eating to EVERYTHING. So, of course going back to school with ALL the millions of eating places right at my disposal is a bit of a trigger for me.  On top of the fact that my nursing bestie never brings his lunch, so we usually end up going to the student union to get something to eat.  Now, I know you're thinking "Well, just take your food with you to the student union building" & I will.  BUT, I'm also that girl that doesn't like to be left out.  And when I see other people buying lunch then I want to buy lunch too.  I guess that sounds stupid huh?  Anyhoo, I know I'm borrowing trouble before it gets here (I'm horrible at that), and I know that the only way to get through this semester without totally blowing my new healthy way of eating is to be prepared, so I guess I need to do that.  I guess planning is going to become my new best friend.  I am going to seriously have to plan out not only my lunches, but also our dinners, on top of full time nursing school.  Ok, starting to get a little stressed, going to stop obsessing now. 

On to the topic of exercising. Something cool I saw on Katie's blog today really clicked with me.  She was posting about losing weight & I guess she has lost weight a couple of times but she posted a picture of her at the same weight two different times.  Both times she weighed 153 lbs (I can't find the stupid post, but when I do I'll link to it) but the first time she weighed that much she did it w/o exercising & at that time she wore a size 14.  The 2nd time she weighed that much she was running & she wore a size 4/6.  Now, that really hit home with me.  I mean I know I've said I'm a calories in/calories out girl & I just really didn't think that exercising would make that much of a difference.  I know plenty of people that have lost weight just w/counting calories alone, BUT to see how much of a difference there was in her at the same weight w/exercising REALLY opened my eyes to the fact that I NEED to be exercising.  I mean what's the point of losing 100 lbs if I'm still not going to be at my best?  Sooo, I guess I'm going to sit down & really plot out my work out routine.  As I stated above, I start back to school full time in 8 days, so it's going to have to be something that I can incorporate into my schedule.  Fortunately my school has an AWESOME gym (I mean, so I hear, I haven't actually been in there) which I have full access too.  So, maybe I can somehow incorporate that into my workout plan.  Whatever it is, I'll let you know once I figure it out, but I know now, that working out is not an optional thing.  I want to be the best 178 lb person I can be!! 

What about you?  What kind of exercise do you do?

What I ate today:

Breakfast:
English muffin
1 Egg, with a small amt of onion & tomato
Taco sauce
Calories 210

Lunch:
Veggie Chik Patty w/bun
1 T Light Mayo
Calories 295

Dinner:
Black beans & rice w/turkey smoked sausage
2/3 cup corn
Calories 390

Snacks:
Coffee w/cream 70 calories (next time I'm going to buy a lighter version for creamer)
1 Cutie
1/2 c. Baby carrots w/1/2 T. Ranch
Kiwi
1 T. Heath Bits o' brickle
Calories 326

Total calories for today 1221

Day 7, maximum overload...

This post is definitely for the ladies (not that I have any fellows following, heck for that matter I don't have any ladies either, lol). Yesterday was a day, and not just any day. I swear I felt like I was STARVING all day! Now, the old me would have just eaten mindlessly all day long, which would have resulted in no telling how many mindless calories, but I have changed, no seriously I have! While I definitely went over my alloted calories for yesterday I was still mindful of what I was eating, AND I kept track of it. I knew that I was eating more than I needed & my skinny self, let's call her skinny Minnie shall we? Even Minnie was trying to tell me that I wasn't hungry & didn't really NEED to eat, but this time I totally didn't listen. I couldn't figure out why I was constantly at the fridge. But, I went with it, made some mindful choices & did end up eating over 1800 calories yesterday. What, you're wondering did I eat? Well, let me share with you exactly what I had yesterday:
 

Breakfast:

Noosa blueberry yogurt (DELISH!)

260 calories

Lunch:

2 Tostada's w/beans, tomatoes, olives, onions, jalapenos & Taco sauce (again delish!)

1 cutie

287 calories

Doesn't that look delicious? It is!





Dinner:

Cheeseburger w/bun, light mayo, ketchup, tomato & onion

Baked potato fries

643 calories

Snacks:

2 servings of imitation crab meat

1 salad w/lettuce, tomato, olives, & onion

1 english muffin w/smart balance & SF (sugar free) Strawberry Preserves

2 roasted marshmallows

Bowl of frosted flakes w/whole milk

1 cutie

Tropical punch Greek Yogurt

1078 calories
 

Total calories consumed for yesterday 2228 (428 over my allowed amount)
 

So, as I went to bed last night I was pondering the days events & wondering what in the world would cause me to #1 ignore my inner skinny Minnie & #2 to feel SO FREAKING HUNGRY all day long! And then it hit me like a ton of bricks, duh! It was that time of the month. Yesterday was the first day of my cycle, and honestly I have NEVER even considered that causing a change in my attitude, behavior, or well anything really. But what I figured out was, when you're ALWAYS mindlessly eating, how do you differentiate when it's out of the norm? You can't, because THAT is the norm! Sooo, yesterday was quite an epiphany for me. I actually realized that this time of the month causes some food triggers that I was never aware of before. I mean seriously guys, I am not tooting my own horn, but I feel like I have done really well with my eating. Even listening to Minnie when she tells me I don't need to eat/overeat something, but yesterday was just beastly. But I went to bed feeling so happy, knowing that there was a reason for my "hunger". There was a reason that I was constantly at the refrigerator. And it made me so happy to realize that I was actually thinking about it, I wasn't just eating until I couldn't eat anymore, I was eating, but trying to make better choices & also I was actually trying to process where this "hunger" was coming from. How exciting is that?! I still have control, even when my body is giving me major signs to do otherwise. That was a big step for me. So now I just need to be aware that when those days come to maybe be prepared. If I know that I'm going to crave a few more meals that day then I just need to plan ahead so that I can indulge in more chewing time with less caloric intake. That makes sense doesn't it? Anyway, I was totally excited to realize that I am starting to actually get in tune with my body & actually listen to it. Something I've never done before. And I'm happy too to see that this may well become a learning process that I wasn't expecting, and I love to learn new things. Way cool!

So, what about you? Have you learned anything new on your weight loss adventure?

Day 4 (Measurements & stuff)



Ok, so I finally caught up with the day.  Today I have decided to go ahead & list my measurements.  I will track those along with my 20 lbs weight loss.  So for every 20 lbs I'll also list my measurements. 

Small confession.  I still haven't added in exercise yet.  I can't find my dance dvd.  I may try to look something up on Youtube.  Surely there's a workout video on there that I can do for a while.  I'm sure that dvd is around here somewhere though, I just have to locate it. 

So here goes:

Calves:  L  - 16 3/4 inches  R - 15 3/4
Thighs: L - 28   R - 27
Neck: 16 inches
Waist: 46
Hips: 58 (Whoa!!)
Bust: 50 1/2
Biceps: R - 17 3/4 L - 16 3/4

Wow, I can't believe how big those measurements are!  And just because I am such a completely obsessed freak huge fan & follower of Tiffany's, I wanted to list her measurements as well.  Just to compare ya know?  So here are her measurements at the beginning of her journey:

Biceps: 21''

Forearms: 13''
Neck: 15''
Chest (incl. boobage): 51''
Stomach: 50''

Hips: 61''

Thighs: 38''
Calves: 22''

It's interesting to look at her measurements at around 325 lbs & see how close some of them are to my measurements at two hundred & seventy something lbs.  It's amazing how a few inches in height can make all the difference doesn't it?  She is 5'10 & I'm a measly 5'5 (almoooost 5'6 but not really).  I've never really wished for height until now.  Anyhoo, it is what it is.

I got my school schedule today for this semester & found out that I will have the hardest part of my semester at the beginning half (this semester is divided into 2 sets of clinicals) & I'm not sure if that's going to help me or hinder me with my eating.  I plan on bringing my lunches to school this semester.  Last semester I ate at school a lot, but that wasn't really helping my waist line or my pocketbook (I suddenly turned into an 80 year old woman).  This semester I am going to completely steal one of Tiffany's ideas, AGAIN take a page out of Tiffany's weight loss strategy & try to plan all of my meal's for the week ahead of time & take them to school with me.  I don't mind eating the same thing for a week.  I'm better with structure than trying to come up with something on my own. 

Last night I went through this cookbook that my neighbor had given me called Simply Delicious by Weight Watcher's. 



I found some pretty good appetizer/finger food items that I really think would work well for lunches.  And the good thing is, since they're appetizers they make enough servings for me to make ahead & then have for the whole week for lunch.  We'll see how they work out.  If I like them I'll be sure to post them on here for you guys!! (Don't know who I'm talking to at this point, lol). 

So, what have I been eating lately?  Well, let me pull out my phone & fire up my trusty app & I'll share what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast:
2 Eggs, fried w/half a slice of cheese & some onions (Butter flavored Pam spray)
Coffee w/1 1/2 T of Almond Joy Creamer (I was going for 1 T, but I oversplashed)
1 piece of toast w/1 tsp butter
325 calories

Lunch:
2 cups of Bear Creek Creamy potato soup (SUPER DELISH!!)
5 black olives
345 calories

Dinner:
1 cup sauteed yellow squash & onions w/oil & lemon pepper seasoning
1 baked chicken leg quarter
360 calories



Snacks:
Light Cherry nonfat yogurt
1 bowl of Malt O'Meal Frosted Flakes w/one cup of milk (I buy full fat for my kids, they won't drink any other kind, but I'm going to start back on my 1% to save me some serious calories.)
511 calories

Total calories yesterday was 1541.  My max calorie count is 1800, so I was happy that I was able to eat less & still be satisfied.  :)  **doing the happy dance**

I drank 8 cups of water & did no exercise, but hey I'm getting there!!

How did everyone else do??

December 19, 2012 (First set of pictures)

So yesterday was my first day of eating 1800 calories (I actually ate 1745 calories).  I weighed in at 283 lbs & I am going to take my measurements today.  I asked my hubby to take some "before" pictures of me & I can't believe I am going to share them, but I am.  You know what's funny?  When I look at those pictures I don't really think I look all that big.  Tiffany & I definitely have that in common.  I've never think I "look" big.  I know I AM big, but in my mind's eye I am smaller than what I actually look like.  When I look at these pictures I think the biggest thing that stands out is my lower stomach.  It is so big and hangs so low.  I'd have to say that that is my most hated part of my body, not that I hate myself by any means, I just hate that part of my stomach.  I am apple shaped & my stomach is where I gain/carry all of my excess weight.  The rest of my body is pretty porportioned.  Needless to say I would NEVER go out of the house showing what I'm showing in these pictures, but if it will encourage someone else, I am willing to do it!! So here goes my first before pics:





283 lbs. and yes I was tempted to suck in for vanities sake, but I refrained! Sizes are 24 for pants & XXXL (some XXL) for shirts.



 

I guess I could have actually smiled, but I felt a little silly taking these pictures in the first place.

Don't know why I can't make this pic the same size as the others!

 

 

Can you see the apple! I sure can.


 

So I started to track my calories using a notebook, but instead I thought I'd come into the 21st century & downloaded the app "MyFitnessPal" to my phone.  I am able to look up foods & just plug them into my daily food diary.  What I like about this better than the old written journal is that if I'm out to eat #1. I know how many calories I have left for the day & I can look the foods up immediately to know what will fit into my daily caloric schedule.  I think that's pretty nifty.  And #2 it tracks my weight & also deducts any exercise from "net" caloric intake & shows my weight loss (when I start to have one) on a cool graph.  All in all I like the app & I don't have to carry around my notebook. 

 

You want to know what I ate yesterday?  Well let me just pull it up on my phone & let you know :)

 

Breakfast:

1/2 c. oatmeal

1 boiled egg

220 calories

 

Lunch:

Beef bologna sandwich w/light Miracle Whip, mustard & pickles

1 pickle

245 calories

 

Dinner:

Beef stroganoff (homemade)

1/4 cup salad (It was all I had left)

1 tbsp Ranch dressing

580 calories

 

Snacks:

1 boiled egg

1/2 c. Vanilla Spice Eggnog

1 container of Great Value mixed tropical fruit

1 cup Frosted mini wheats w/1 cup milk

700 calories

 

Of course the snacks were throughout the day.  I am a big sucker for cereal at night.  I guess I just need to get a lower calorie type of cereal :)  All in all I did pretty good as far as calories were concerened.  Another cool thing about this app is that it breaks down the food into carbs/protein/fat & here was my breakdown for yesterday:

 

49% carbs

37% fat

14% protein

 

I'm thinking maybe I need to round that out a bit, but hey I'm new at this, I'm sure it will get better. 

 

Hope you're having a great day!!