Day 2 on program. Calories were a bit high today around 1700 but I had an awesome run on the treadmill before hand so I think that made me more hungry than yesterday, which was around 1350 calories. I think somewhere between 1200 and 1400 is perfect for optimal results in my case.

Now I just need to work on getting back in the habit of working out at least 6 times a week like I used to. For a while there during the remodel, I was lucky to get two good workouts in.

Well I’m up a few pounds since our move in, which is to be expected when I skipped so many workouts and fast food is easier. I’m biting the bullet and trying to lose some of the bad habits I’ve been indulging in like eating late at night or adding sugar in the raw to my cereal to make it sweeter.

Here’s hoping I get back down to move-in weight ASAP and then I can work back on the under 120 goal. I need to start logging again.

05/08:

Ah yes, I am a slacker. I’m owning up to it at least ;). Melanie came to visit last weekend (or so) and I’ve been trying to get my act together ever since. I didn’t go all out and trash my diet or anything, but I wasn’t good either. Wait, scratch that, Hallowe’en candy was my downfall for a couple days. Thus, I’m up 2 lbs (even though there is NO way I ate 7000 calories worth of candy to even merit 2 lbs. That’s the way the cookie crumbles when I get apathetic. Set backs may be a part of life, but they still suck nonetheless.

On Thursday I’m having another wisdom tooth extraction (I’m a bonehead who is doing them all separately instead of biting the bullet and paying the grand or whatever it would cost to have gotten knocked out.) Which, as an afterthought, would probably have been money well spent. I’m hoping this won’t derail my progress as I’ll have to take a few days off, at least exercise-wise (don’t want to dislodge that clot and get another dry socket OMG KILLER PAIN!)

So I’m working back into hardcore mode. This is exactly why I can’t take these little breaks when I have visitors, getting the motivation back is not as easy as it used to be. I’m mostly just being paranoid about the above-mentioned procedure and mentally tell myself that I might as well not bother as I’m going to have take another break for this. This is the wrong attitude. I know all the “right” things to say and think about weight loss, applying them when I see cookies, uhhhh not so much. Help kick my arse back into gear. I can’t stand the 120s anymore!

11/07:
11/06:

So after the beverage blip this weekend, things are back on track. This is especially good because its that TOM and I will hopefully have the usual whoosh of bloat weight come off (usually 2ish lbs.) So here’s hoping to crack back into the teens as I was 121 today.

I got some sexy new jeans and have been fitting back into a pair of size 4’s that I abandoned over the summer as the only way they were comfy was to unbutton them when I sat down (great visual there ick!). It is really weird to have pants start to do some of the plumber/coin slot sagging because they are getting too big. Even only a few pounds down, this really means I’m toning up.

Eating better does get easier as time goes on. I’m not eating as clean as I’d like, but it is a process. I’m loving anything sweet red pepper right now. MMMM. I’m working in new recipes too. I made some basil chicken in the crockpot yesterday. Just chicken broth, skinless chicken breast, carrots, celery, and onion. With sea salt, ground pepper, garlic and basil on top. I made up some cheddar biscuits (about 110 cals a piece) and it was fabulous!

Anyway I’m playing catch up on checkboxes below. Eek!

10/17:
10/16:
10/15:
10/14:
10/13:

Whoa I ate wayy too many calories yesterday. I blame the pizza work party with the best pizza evAr (Hot Lips Pizza MMM!) Well and of course I blame myself. No excuse for it though (my motto). Also its not a good idea to buy a box of Dots. OMG I love Dots. Esp. Lemon dots. They should just make packs of lemon ones. Anyway, one major drawback of eating junk is that it really affects my workout stamina. Another reason to eat as healthy as I can.

I plan on just making that my cheat day and besides the bit of drinking debauchery for Friday night, this weekend will be cheat meal-free. I plan on indulging in only a few low-cal diet cola based cocktails or just wine (at around 70 cals a glass). I’d prefer to just wait til Hallowe’en weekend to drink, but we were invited out on the town for the first time in months. There was also a lot of business stuff going on this week, so a big night out with friends sounds fun. If they plan on going out to eat, I’ll probably eat before we leave or else have a really light lunch and do a larger dinner. I don’t want to lose my momentum now. Gotta plan ahead for these things.

10/12:
10/11:
10/10:

So today I’m around 120.5/121 and an awesome thing was when I got up today, my pajama bottoms almost fell off (they are elastic waist). Even if I rolled the wasteband up a few times, I was crackalicious! I’m down .5″ in most measurements this week (total to date) too. This progress is definitely encouraging to stay on track.

I’ve been having weird dreams lately. The most relevant here was that I was a new cast member on Celebrity Fit Club (even though I’m not a celebrity… so that made it weird.) Then another night I had a dream I was the 5th “Sex and the City” girl that no one could remember. But Carrie and I were best friends!! Maybe I do watch too much TV!

Tonight we are having people over for Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars night. I’m making Slow-Cooker Beef-and-Bean Burritos. I will probably make these more taco style with lots of veggies and not a ton of meat and beans to keep the calories low. Maybe even as a shredded beef salad MMM. Whole wheat tortillas are a good substitute too.

Yesterday for a work treat, I made Pumpkin cupcakes (as I would LURVE to have my own cupcake shoppe). When made as cupcakes, the calorie content comes out about 145 per cupcake. Definitely a great treat if you are going to share (and not gorge yourself on frosting… I had to throw it out or I would’ve been licking every drop). I definitely had to get these out of the house they were so good! If you make them for yourself, try to only make 1/2 or 1/3 of the recipe (full makes about 26 cupcakes).

10/9:

Alright well those cravings I was bragging about not having. OMG they hit me like a rock on Friday night. I held out all Friday night and we went to the Olive Garden on Saturday for lunch. I had a bowl of minestrone soup (very low cal and YUMM) as well as a large plate of salad (dressing on the side). And I only indulged in 1 breadstick. The naughty part was the piece of lemon crumb cake Jeremy and I split (its basically lemon cheesecake with cake on top and bottom and a bit of lemon strusel, basically to die for.

Later in the evening, I estimated all the calories and with a bowl of bran flakes and some applesauce, I was at my calorie limit for the day around 9 pm. About 11:30, cravings hit hardcore. I staved them off for about a half hour, but couldn’t resist and had Jeremy get me a chicken quesadilla a small nachos from Taco Bell (one of my favorite comfort meals). This put me at around 2000 calories for the day, WAY over my limit, but I made that my cheat meal (plus the lemon cake from earlier). I was really good today (under limit) so I hope that will counteract Saturday’s debauchery. I was at 121 on Sat. morning too, I really hope I didn’t fark that loss up. We shall see tomorrow. If not, well I can’t let those cravings overcome me again.

I want to make it to Hallowe’en weekend (when Mel is visiting) and only have one weekend day (when we are going to parTAY) as my naughty day. It’s definitely something to look forward to and focus on when the cravings hit.

10/8:
10/7:
10/6:

Still going strong which is good. Luckily I haven’t had any mad cravings for anything in particular. I’ve just been enjoying a lot of salads mainly. I am up a pound today most likely because I was up earlier than I usually weigh, but hopefully tomorrow morning will be better. I had vegetable soup for dinner last night, so no real reason to be up a pound from that. Meh.

I need to encorporate some more protein in my dishes, especially chicken. I’ve been so burned out on traditional chicken breast since The Diet™ of 2000-2001. Shari sent me a recipe hopefully I’ll try next week. Mexican sounds good.

Going to work in office is a bit of a challenge too. Lots of yummy goodies are just an elevator ride away, and Starbucks is always a threat. So far I’ve controlled myself though.

I’m not sure what is going on this weekend which is fast approaching. I go into it full force but then opportunities to socialize come into play and all my rules go out the window. I also hate looking like crazy dieter around people who are not calorie conciecious, or having to explain why I’m eating normal (but normal means small) portions. Normally eating/drinking socially is one of my favorite things to do but its kind of a stressful thing when trying to get back to goal weight. I really really would enjoy clubbing it this weekend, but I’m saving that energy up for Halloween. Metabolically drinking is BAD. Fab low-cal cocktail recipes anyone?

10/5:
10/4:

So it’s Sunday night and I didn’t do too shabby. Ate out 2 meals this weekend, but the one on Saturday for lunch was a fresh salad dish from our favorite pho place (Pho Van) so I could’ve made something similarly low calorie at home if I was more talented at vietnamese cuisine. Tonight I went with the boys to Buffalo Wild Wings (which gives me good memories of Uni. and they just got the first one here) which was the weekly “cheat meal.” It definitely isn’t a place I’ll regularly go and I was counting the whole time (portion control big time!). Calories for the day still came under 1500.

Best meal this weekend so far was trying Cindy’s protein crepes/pancakes for lunch, made with just oats, nonfat cottage cheese, eggs whites, vanilla and cinnamon. Topped with thawed frozen (unsweetened) berries (added spenda to kick it up a bit) and sugarfree maple syrup. OMG these were REALLAY GOOD! I’m not sure on the calories but they can’t be much more than a bowl of oatmeal, some egg whites, and the cottage cheese.

Main changes so far are reduction in visible cellulite on back of my thighs (ick so gross!), bum isn’t feeling as “Badunkadunk” and less shelfy on the top if you know what I mean. Bewbs aren’t quite as plump, but I think thats a cyclical thing. Tum is definitely flatter too. What a difference only a week can make. I’ll probably re-measure tomorrow to see if anything has come down too.

And can I get some comments? I’m lonely! I definitely am more motivated to post (and stay on track) if I know I have some readers again.

10/1:
9/30:
9/29:

Day 5 and things are going good. Down around 1.5-2 lbs. so far. After the first few days of detox, I am able to feel when my body is starting to dip into my fat stores. If its not too late at night, I try to eat a little something so I don’t binge on naughties which is what I would’ve done before. Peppermints have been helping. I realize its not a long term solution, but sometimes changing habits just enough so that they take hold without these little crutches takes time. I feel like I’m quitting smoking or something. I know I won’t ever be able to fully quit sweets, and really would life be worth living if I had to? I just can’t let them rule my life. Boundaries must be reset. All this coming from a girl who would love to own her own cupcake shoppe!

A lot of dieting initally is getting used to not enjoying food as much as you used to. The first bit is all about getting through the day not hungry. Sure I’d like to enjoy every low-cal/fat/carb etc. meal, but right now enjoyment leads to eating more than necessary. I really think right now I have to get my stomach to shrink back to normal size.

Next week the local aquatic center opens back up after yearly maintenance and I plan to start taking water aerobic classes next week. I took a course in uni. and remember how wiped out it would make me (esp. deep water). I can use the extra boost. If I like the classes enough, I can get a cheap pass (something like $70 for 3 months) and use the gym/cardio facilities as well.

I’m planning meals for the weekend already. I’ve seriously spent the last 2+ years going through the same cycle. Eat well during the week, lose a pound or two, then go nuts over the weekend, and by Monday that pound or two is back. Lather rinse repeat. Thus after so many weeks of this, I’ve permanently kept on an extra 10ish pounds. Not horrible for 2 or 3 years, but I’m not happy with my reflection. My tone from daily workouts doesn’t show with this extra padding.

More new FIRM workouts should be arriving today (I hope!). So far I’ve tried Allie’s Cardio Dance Slim Down and Ultimate Fat Burning. I highly recommend them. The sets are sparse, but I thought they were fun and it was nice to not have to lug all the usual equipment along. These will work great when traveling!

Anyway so the ones that should arrive to are the new FIRM Resistance Cord, Pilates Band, and Sculpting Ball workout. There is also a Stability Ball workout and a Yoga one (with mat), but I haven’t ordered those yet. It is a lot of side equipment, but I ordered the workouts with stuff I didn’t have (the 8 lb. sculpting ball and resistance band one most notably).

9/28:
9/27:

The past two days on program haven’t been too bad. The first week usually isn’t too bad until the detox kicks in, usually in the form of sugar deprivation. I actually wish it was harder because once I’m over the hard hump, staying on program is pretty easy.

My main goals for this first week are to get my calories under control and increase my water intake. I’m also trying to do extra boosts of 5-10 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical (below “tm/et”) in addition to my normal workout. I’m also trying not to eat after 10 pm. I did have a pudding cup a little while ago because I had the calories left for it, but I want to get used to not having anything late at night.

Anyway, I’m tired and will try to write a more interesting post tomorrow.

9/25:               
9/26: