Day 2

The Good: I had another great day of sticking to my meal plan and exercise plan. I was proud of myself for not caving in to any temptation today. I wanted to so bad but instead of reaching for a snack, I diverted my attention and did something else. This really helped because it changed what my mind was thinking. I actually ate under my calories today and have felt full!

I went to the gym today and had a great workout! I completed 4 miles on the elliptical and treadmill. I wanted to give up several times because workout out is hard, especially after I have already felt what is was like to lose weight before. I can feel the weight I have gained back....every single pound....and I am ready to get it back off!


I also watched Jennifer Hudson on the Dr. Oz show today and it was amazing! She is an incredible person and her story is so inspiring! If you get a chance to watch the show, please do because it had tons of great information! She gave recipe ideas, exercise tips, WW tips, etc. While watching it, she was showing some of her favorite meals and one of them was the turkey burger. Shawn and I made turkey burgers all of the time last year and they were one of my favorite meals as well! I left the gym and went straight to Publix...to my surprise the Jenni-O turkey was on sale!! I stocked up and bought 8 packs so I could freeze some. When i was making them, I decided to double the recipe so I could freeze individual pattys that I could pull out and cook when I am in a pinch. I think this will be helpful to me because the worst thing for me is to stand in front of the fridge, freezer, or pantry without a plan in mind. That is when I start to eat whatever I can find and not keep track of my portions. PLANNING IS KEY to SUCCESS!! You are less likely to veer off of your plan and eat something else if you already set a plan for the week.



The Bad: My legs hurt today from working out yesterday. It made it a little harder to talk myself in to doing a long workout today but I was able to push through the soreness and complete a great workout!

The Ugly: I am exhausted! Getting back into working after Christmas break, not sleeping well at night, working on Doctorate work, working out, fixing meals, etc. has made me feel exhausted. I am hoping that I will be able to get into a good routine in the next week or two. I have to create a balance with the various parts of my life and I hope I can get it figured out in the next week or two. Once again, PLANNING IS KEY to SUCCESS! Plan for food, exercise, work, etc.

Day 1

The Good: I had a great day today overall. I made a plan yesterday for my weekly workouts and meals. Creating this plan helped me stay on track (for the most part) today. Having a plan gives me less to think about, removes unwanted options of foods, keeps me accountable to myself, and creates barriers for me that I need. I also recorded my food intake on BodyBugg and wore my armband all day to keep up with my calories burned and steps. It was very interesting to see how much I have back-tracked from 6 months ago. Wow! It is reassuring to me to know that I will get back to where I was before, it's only a matter of time.


I also got in a good workout today. I wanted to work out for an hour but I was not able to due to 2 meetings I had. I did a 30 minute weightloss workout program on the elliptical. I have done this program before and it is great! It creates resistance and changes the incline for you. I hope to get a good hour of cardio in tomorrow after school! One thing that I did notice today again that I needed reminded of was how much energy and effort it takes to burn calories. Reminding myself of this was good because it will make me think twice about eating something that isn't within my calorie allotment for the day.


The Bad: I did not get anywhere close to the amount of calories my BodyBugg set for me to burn today. I know this is partially because I couldn't get in a full hour of cardio but it also makes me aware of my daily movement and walking. I need to make sure I move more regardless if it is in a gym or not.

The Ugly: I caved in after school today and ate 2 reese's cups and 2 bite-size peppermint pattys. :( I had them leftover from a Christmas gift one of my students gave me and I definitely need to get rid of them since they are a temptation. I did however record them in my daily food log and they racked up to over 500 calories!! Yuck! I would have done a LOT better without them and I can assure you they were not as good as 500 calories tasted! I definitely need to remind myself of this if I try to reach for any again!

5 Tips for Healthy Eating

I came across this short and simple article from Everyday Food Magazine and had to share. :)

1. Have breakfast. A morning meal jump-starts your metabolism and helps prevent overeating later in the day.

2. Fill half your plate with veggies and fruit. Fill the other half with whole grains and lean proteins, such as fish, chicken, or beans.

3. Eat the rainbow: in general, the darker or brighter in color the fruit or vegetable the more nutrients it packs.

4. Don't supersize your portions. As serving of chicken should be the size of a deck of cards.

5. Before shopping, make a list and stick to it. Avoid the aisles that contain processed foods whenever you can. Shop the perimeter of the store.

Calorie Counting

Today was my first day back to calorie counting. I know people have mixed feelings about wether counting calories is the way to lose weight or not but in my opinion it works for me. To me it is the easiest way for me to keep track of what I am consuming. It makes sense to me that I can only have a certain number and it allows me to chose what foods I want without limiting any. Similarly Weight Watchers in essence does the same thing. I like what Weight Watchers does but for me it is easier for me to look on a box or bag of food for the calorie count rather than calculate how many points something is or not. They are pretty much using the same method.

Today I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone for FREE and it was great! Very easy to use to log in my calories, set my caloric daily goals, and log my daily exercise. I was very impressed with how easy it was to log in my food and keep track of my calories. When I first logged in my weight, height, activity level, and how much I wanted to lose a week, I saw that it calculated me to have 1800 calories which is what I started with last year when I first started my weightloss journey. I thought to myself, wow that is a lot of calories BUT by the end of the day I had eaten all of them plus some....yes....rude awakening! It reminded me that it was going to feel good to get back on track and set my "boundaries." It also gave me a goal (if I follow my calorie goal every day) that I would most likely lose 10 pounds by February 11 which gets me really excited! :)


I also searched around and found a Weight Watchers app called iTrackBites that does the same thing but keeps track of Weight Watchers PointsPlus or points. What I like about it is that it keeps an ongoing track of how many points you have left throughout the day and also has a easy area where you can log food intake. I would highly recommend downloading this app if you are a Weight Watcher!

Tough Day

Had a tough day today....one of those "feel bad about myself" days. I know it is a mix of not feeling well from my surgery, stress at work, and my clothes not fitting as well as they used to a few months ago. I got rid of all of my "big" clothes so all I have is my "smaller" clothes and they are not fitting very well. :-( Today was the first day that I actually realized how much weight I have gained back. In some ways, its a good thing because it is waking me up as a reality check to get back on track. Not being able to eat a ton of things right now besides soft foods is not helping but I am using this time to get back on track with my thinking and tracking.

I know that this journey is only one step at a time, one day at a time, one pound at a time. All of these small steps are going to lead to bigger successes.

12 Goals for 2012

I decided to post 12 goals I want to accomplish for 2012. I did this last year and enjoyed checking them off as the year went by. There 12 goals are going to keep me motivated and help me accomplish by ultimate goal which will be lose 100 pounds this year!

1. Walk (at least) 30 miles every month. This would equal around 1 mile a day. I can do more some days if I need to but I want to walk at least 30 miles each month. The total miles for the year would be 360 miles. Ultimately I would like to walk 365 miles this year to equal 1 mile a day for the whole year by December 31, 2012. I will keep track of my miles on the ticker at the top of my blog.

2. Start a Weightloss Journey group. I wanted to do this last year and never got around to it. I have so many ideas for this group and I am really excited about the ideas I have for it! I already have 2 of my sorority sisters joining me and helping me get it started and I cannot wait to see where it goes! Send me a message on Facebook if you would like to join us!!

3. Get rid of SUGAR! I did this last year at the beginning and I felt AMAZING! I bought a book called Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett and am looking forward to sharing more information that I learn about sugar addiction as I read it. I know it is an addiction and I can feel it every day. I know that I will never be able to get rid of it all but I do hope to drastically reduce my sugar intake this year.

4. I want to run a complete 5K this year. In 2011, I walked/jogged in 6 5Ks and was extremely proud of myself considering I had never completed one! This year, I want to run a full one. My friend Meredith Taylor and I have set our goal to run one in 2012 and I am looking forward to starting the training soon! Thanks Mer for being my running buddy! :)

5. Blog at least 2-3 times a week. I was doing so well last year with blogging but then life got in the way and I got too busy. Blogging keeps me accountable and lets me write about my ups and downs. If I stop blogging, keep me accountable and message me to get me back on track. :)

6. Write down my food intake. This was the BEST thing I ever did last year and I know that it is what keeps me accountable with what I eat. Good or bad...I have to write it down.

7. Wear my BodyBugg every day. I was wearing my BodyBugg every day last year and it helped me stay accountable for my food intake, calorie intake, and exercise. I need to take time each day to wear it, upload my progress and track my caloric intake.

8. Read a "health" book or motivation book every month. I have read so many good ones and I know there are a ton out there. Last year, reading these books kept me inspired and when I stopped reading them was when I started to lose sight of my main goal.

9. Organize and declutter my life. One of the things that I have noticed that gets in my way is the clutter that is in my life. When I am constantly cleaning up my house, putting things away, etc. I am taking time away from blogging, exercising, getting my meals together, etc. I have to take time to get rid of clutter that is in my life that is getting in the way of my goals.

10. Pray more. Last year I prayed about my weightloss journey. I know that I cannot take this journey alone...I have to allow my heavenly Father to guide me through this journey that has been difficult for me. He is the one that can lead me from temptation and can help me find inspiration when I need it most. He is all knowing and he knows the plan for my life. I will continue to read the book Made to Crave to help me with temptation.

11. Treat myself for every 10 pounds lost. I did this last year and it was very motivating! Little goals will help me achieve the big goal in the end. 10 pounds is very doable and I need to celebrate the small successes along the way!

12. Help others. Isn't the ultimate goal in life to help others achieve their goals? I found an incredible amount of inspiration from hearing others stories and helping motivate them along their own journeys. I am making it my mission to help at least 12 people this year with their own weightloss journeys.

A New Year, A New Journey to a New Me

What is it about a new year and a fresh start that gives me inspiration again? I know that a new year always brings resolutions that normally are not kept up by many but a new year does give you a fresh plate to start on. I am ready to start this journey over again as I did last year. I am finding inspiration again from books, articles, blogs, etc. and I know they will continue to inspire me as I start my journey of weightloss again.

During the last week, I have made a commitment to myself once again to get back on track. The biggest reason I got motivated again was the fact that I had surgery. It was not a surgery due to my health but one on my wisdom teeth that I had to have. BUT what it did do was scare me back into the real-world because I realize that with the unhealthy weight I am carrying, I am putting myself at greater risk for a long list of health problems and I am NOT cool with that! One of my biggest fears has always been related to doctors, needles, etc. If I don't change my habits and get healthy, I am signing myself up for a life of medical issues which scares me to death. Having the surgery helped put the fear of motivation back in me which is what I needed!

I do have to take it easy the next few weeks physically due to my stitches so I what I am going to do is plan my meals, read articles on weightloss, and plan out my workout schedule so I will be ready to start it in a few weeks. I am not going to waste these weeks just because I cannot work out, instead I am going to get my mind back on track and make plans for what I am going to do.

Tonight at the grocery store I picked up the new People magazine with Half-Their-Size. I never read People except for the first issue in January when they showcase the Half-Their-Size stories. I just love the stories and they always get me motivated. If you can, go pick up a copy, I promise it will motivate you!

Here's a toast to 2012...when I am going to make the 100 lbs lots happen! Thanks for joining my journey and hanging on for the ride! It's always an exciting and fun ride but one with many ups and downs. :)