Day 39

This weekend was great and horrible at the same time... Matt took me to Glenwood Springs, where they have the biggest hot springs in the country or the world or something. Very cool. We played miniature golf and Matt won by two strokes. (even though I definitely should have won... he cheated!) :) Then we had dinner, got massages, and relaxed in the hot springs. Such a nice, relaxing weekend! However, it was really difficult to get out of the "this is my vacation" mentality with regards to food. "I can have a pop, just this once, because I'm on vacation"... "I can have a cheeseburger & fries, just this once, because I'm on vacation"... "I can have dessert, just this once, because I'm on vacation"... etc, etc, etc. You get the idea. But, as bad as it sounds, I really don't think I did as bad as I could have. I didn't eat the best of meals, but I only ate meals... I didn't binge and snack and get so full I thought I was going to explode. So, it could have been a lot worse.

Last night I tried Suz's veggie soup idea. I made a huge pot of vegetable soup (onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, canned tomatoes, and tons of fresh herbs). I had a bowl of that with dinner, and it definitely did the trick! It was so yummy (the first time I've ever made soup) and Matt actually ate a whole bowl (he is the most anti-vegetable person I know!). Plus, it definitely helped fill me up so I didn't need as much of everything else. Thanks for the tip, Suz!

So, despite my bad weekend dining and the not-so-fun weigh in last week, I'm looking forward to this week. I'm definitely going to get some extra exercise in, somehow. And I'll definitely be eating very clean and healthy. I'm hoping for my 10lb mark this week!

Day 35 - 273.2 (+.6 this week, -8 total)

So, I actually gained .6 lbs this week. :( I am NOT happy. First of all, I didn't even get to go to my meeting, which makes me mad. I've been trying to sell my computer, and someone finally was interested. I told them I'd be around between 4:30 and 5:15, and that I had a meeting at 5:30. So, he shows up at 5:20, talk on the phone for 5 minutes, then starts picking out bad points of the computer (dude, do you want it or not?!?!?!).... I was asking $220, and he started haggling. I was so flustered at this point that I gave in and sold it for $165. So, I leave my place, head to the meeting (knowing all I could do is weigh in, not attend the meeting since it was practically over), and then I get THAT news! UGH! I ate a few bad meals, but I didn't go crazy... I guess I kinda figured I wouldn't lose a lot, but I thought I would lose SOMETHING, or at least not gain. I'm bummed. I'm not going to let it get me too down. I'm not going to jump off the wagon or anything. I just had a healthy dinner... subway sandwhich with turkey, no cheese a tiny bit of mayo, and lots of veggies. I'll have some fruit or something in a bit. Maybe I'll even go for a walk tonight, assuming the rain stays away. And, tomorrow is a whole new day, right? :)

Day 33

Sunday and Monday nights were not great meal-nights... I already talked about Sunday, and then last night I had calamari and spinach pasta... which, wouldn't be too bad, except I ate A LOT of calamari. So, to make up for it, I'm eating just fruits and vegetables today, with the exception of a mini-bagel for breakfast and a few cubes of low-fat cheese with lunch. But, man, am I hungry. Today has been yet another crazy day... deadline deadline deadline. I also went spray-on-tanning at lunch in preperation for our trip this weekend. I'm defintely darker, but I smell like fake-tanning lotion, and its driving me nuts.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for dinner, which is usually a bad thing because I'll make an impulsice decision. Especially since I can already tell I am going to be absolutely ravenous by dinner. I'm definitely not going to stop by McDonalds or anything, but I may cook something thats quick and easy as opposed to super healthy. Who knows. We may even go out for dinner.

Anyhow, even though I haven't been perfect lately, I'm still striving for my goal of 270 by Thursday. It would be doable on a good week, but who knows with this week. I'll be happy if I at least hit the 10-lb mark (271.2). We shall see!

Day 32

Man, I am horrible at writing on the weekends. This weekend was especially bad because I was so busy. I have ONE MORE LOAD to take over to Matt's and then everything will be moved! YAY! Well, there is some more stuff, like a computer, microwave, random stuff... that I'm trying to sell. Therefore, I'm going to leave it there until I sell it instead of moving it for no reason. :)

Yesterday was a VERY stressful day. I had to work all morning, then head over to my apartment to meet a lady who was buying my entertainment center. Then I went back to work, and worked while I waited for my boss to come. He was going to help me move my couch and table in a bigger truck. Well, we get all the way down to my place in the truck, and he doesn't have the right key to open the back cover and remove it. So, that was a wasted effort. So, between Matt and I, we tried to fit my couch and table in our vehicles. We barely squeezed the couch in my truck, and in the process of putting the slate table top in Matt's car, the interior got a scratch on it. And let's just say he wasn't happy. Well, I wasn't in a good mood to begin with, and that didn't make it any better, so I closed my truck and stormed off back to our house. (Sorry Matt!) That frustration/annoyance/stress carried through the afternoon, and I just wanted to eat something REALLY REALL BAD. I ended up not going too crazy, but I didn't eat as healthy as I'd hoped. We had chicken burritos and salad. (regular tortillas, fat free beans, low fat cheese, low fat sour cream, and spanish rice... not too terrible). Then we shared a yummy (but horrible) dessert. What a day. All I can say is that I am MAJORLY looking forward to our weekend getaway this weekend!

Again, I didn't get any regular workouts in. But, there was lots of stairs and walking this weekend, so I think I'm okay. I need to find something else I can do besides the bike, because until my feet start cooperating, it is just no fun.

Day 28 - 272.6 (-2.8 this week, -8.6 total)!!!

Yippeee! I lost another 2.8 lbs this week. Overall, I'm down 8.6 lbs in three weeks. Not too bad at all. I'm determined to hit the 10-lb mark by next week. I'd really like to hit my goal of 270 then, but I'd be happy with 10.

So, I'm ALMOST finished moving. I basically have my office furniture, my bed, my couch, a TV, and few random boxes to move. I've cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms, so all that's left is to vacuum and spot-bot any stains, and I'm good to go. yay! :) Then, next weekend, Matt is taking me on a surprise trip. I have no idea where we're going or what we're doing, but I'm excited! Well, except for the "bring your bathing suit" part of it. That should be interesting. I need to remember to go spray-on-tanning next week before hand... that way I won't blind anyone. :)

Thanks again to everyone for their support and comments this week! Much Appreciated!!!! :)

Day 19

I'm becoming quite annoyed with restaurants. Last night I went out to dinner at TGI Fridays. I got a smaller-portion of a cedar salmon salad that was very, very yummy. However, I cannot find any nutritional information for it anywhere. The reason I'm so intent on finding it is because I want to know if it's really good for you or not. I got a salad at Chili's a few weeks ago, with what I thought was their best-choce dressing (a citrus vinegarette)... turns out the salad had over 40 grams of fat!!!! I think it should be outlawed for any salad served at a restaurant to have more fat in it than you should have in an entire day! The reason I ordered a salad is because I was looking at their "healthy" menu, and it said those menu items all had approx. 10 grams of fat and 500 calories! FIVE HUNDRED CALORIES! (for like 4 pieces of shrimp and some broccoli, none the less) Well, frankly, none of them looked that appetizing for the number of calories I'd be spending, so I got a yummy salad instead. I will be very upset if I find it is horrible for you!

Okay, enough of my rant. :) This weekend I got two workouts in... basically just the stationary bike, plus some leg-lifts and sit ups, and an emerassing attempt at push ups. For some reason the arches of my feet kill when I'm doing the bike... I don't stop because I'm tired or my legs hurt, but because my feet are killing me. I tried it both with and without shoes on, and the same thing happens. It is driving me crazy! If the weather would start behaving, I'd go for walks more. I think tomorrow it is finally going to clear up, so I'll probably do that. Plus, I'm STILL moving... we're hoping to have everything moved this weekend. I've pretty much gotten everything in boxes, and everything out of the kitchen, bathrooms and closet. So, I'll be getting more exercise that way, too. I've also started taking the stairs at work... I usually park on the 5th floor of the garage, so I go down the stairs, and up and down the stairs to the office (3rd floor). I'm not to the point I can go up to the 5th floor, but I'll get there eventually!

I'm hoping this week's weigh-in will be good. I've checked my weight twice this week, and it fluctuates so much I can't go off of any of it. Saturday night I was at 272.3, yesterday I was at 274.4. Who knows. I think it's just best to wait until Thursday. :)

Day 14 - 275.4 (-1.2lbs this week, -5.8 total)!!

Woohoo! Down another 1.2lbs! Not a whole lot, and not as much as I'd like, but it's still a loss and I'll definitely take it! Almost 6 pounds in two weeks... not too shabby! This week I'll definitely kick up the work-outs, and hopefully next week I'll have a better loss.

Thanks you all for the support this week! You have no idea how much I appreciate it! :)

Day 14

Today is weigh-in day... we will see how it goes. Part of me is pessemistic about the outcome because I haven't noticed any other changes this week (ie: clothes fitting better) and I also haven't gotten in any structured work-outs. But, the other part of my is optimistic because I've stuck to my points allotments and have been very active.

I was going to workout last night... but man, what a day it was! I took off of work at 2:00 (I was at a standstill on a project, so instead of burning up the budget, I took a few hours of vacation to do errands)... I went to WalMart to return some stuff and also buy more painting supplies. Then I got gas, and headed home to paint a second-coat on two of the walls. Then I headed back to my apartment (I'm in the middle of moving, so I have two 'homes') and packed up about 4 boxes of stuff. I stoped by Walgreens to get a prescription, stopped by subway to grab dinner, then headed home to unpack. Not only did I unpack everything, do a load of laundry, and re-arrange the fridge/freezer, I also painted another wall and vacuumed. Phew! I absolutely collapsed at 9:00 and slept like a rock... but, needless to say, a work-out simply did not fit in!

Anyways, I'll stop rambling... the point is, I'm unsure about the weigh in tonight. Hopefully tomorrow (or maybe tonight) I will bring good news! (I have a sudden urge to run around the office 5 or 6 times just to ensure I lose SOMETHING tonight! hehehe But, I won't... I'd look pretty silly!) :)

Day 12

Wow, already Day 12! In the whole scheme of things, it's not very long at all, but it seems like I just started this yesterday! Not sure if that's a good or bad thing... hmm. :)

Easter weekend went well... I stuck to my cooking plan, and we had a very healthy dinner. But, as expected, Monday was the worst. I walked into the kitchen at work, and the tables were covered with cookies, candy, cheesecakes, danishes, etc... Basically, anyone who had leftovers from Easter and didn't want it at their house, brought it to work for everyone else to eat! I walked by the table about 4 times throughout the day without eating any of it... but, after lunch, I gave in and ate a couple pieces of chocolate. Not as bad as it could have been, but definitely not good, either!

I still haven't had a real work-out as of yet. My back was feeling better on Friday, and I thought I'd get a work-out in, but instead we moved Doug, which turned out to be a major workout in itself! Then Saturday we moved some more, and Sunday we started painting the extra bedroom. And yesterday, all of those stairs finally hit me and my legs and shoulders killed all day. Today we are going to finish painting... so, maybe tomorrow I will get a real, structured work-out in. I don't feel too bad about not doing it thus far, because I've definitely been getting my exercise... I just need to get into a routine.

I also find that getting my water in is a lot harder on the weekends. At work, I keep a bottle (or 6) at my desk, and mindlessly drink it throughout the day. But, on weekends, we tend to eat out a lot, where I always get a diet coke, and the rest of the time we're mostly home, when I also drink diet coke or tea or juice. I think getting a workout routine going on the weekends will also help me drink more water (that's about the only time I actually crave water)... We'll test it out this weekend and see how it goes.

Two more days until my next weigh-in! I'll definitely have to buckle-down on the excess office food and get in some extra exercise in the next few days! I'm hoping to see some inches lost this next week as well as pounds... My clothes don't seem to be fitting any loser, which is what I'd really like... We shall see!

Day 9

This has been a busy weekend, and it's only Saturday afternoon! Matt and I are moving his brother, Doug, out and into his new place. I didn't think it would be that bad, since he only has one bedroom here and doesn't seem to have a whole lot of stuff. Well, it wasn't the ammount of stuff that was bad, it was the amount of stairs! Matt lives in a two-story townhouse with a garage in the basement... so, we had to pack everything down two flights of stairs into the cars. And, at Doug's new place, he lives on the second floor, so everything had to go up another flight of stairs. It was definitely a workout! I don't think I've climbed that many stairs in the last 6 months combined, especially not lugging boxes!

Anyhow, I'm excited about this weekend. I just bought some yummy (and healthy!) stuff for Easter dinner. Ham, potatoes, salad, green beans and corn. I haven't figured out dessert yet, but I'm sure I can find something tasty and healthy. I'm definitely not going to let traditional holiday food keep me from losing this week!

I hope everyone has a great Easter sunday!!

Day 7 - 276.6 (-4.6 this week)!!!

Yay! I'm down 4.6 lbs from last week! I am SO excited! Now, I must make a confession... last week I was wearing lace-up boots because it was snowing, and I didn't take them off for weigh-in... So, I probably didn't lose a whole 4.6 lbs. But, I just tried to weigh them, and they wouldn't register on my scale... however, I have 3lb weights, and they are MUCH lighter than one of those.. so, my guess is they are about 1.5lbs. That still means I lost 3.1 lbs! Yippee! And, that's without exercising all week due to my back... douple yipee! :)

This will definitely keep my motivation up for this week. At the meeting tonight I also bought a comfort-foods cookbook, which has some really yummy looking recipes that I'm excited to make.

Tonight the meeting was all about meeting the challenges of the holiday weekend... I realized that its a good thing and a bad thing that I don't have any family here in Denver. Obviously, it sucks that I don't have anyone here to celebrate holidays with (aside from Matt). I definitely miss the family gatherings and such. But, on the other hand, there won't be any pressure or temptations this weekend to eat that horrible food. For one, Matt is Jewish, so he could care less if we have Easter dinner. Secondly, even if I do cook a nice dinner, I can make it healthy with none of those deal-breaking foods.

Well, its off to dinner... Thank you all for your support this week! You've been awesome!

Day 6

Well, my back is finally feeling better... it's still sore, and I definitely won't be doing jumping jacks anytime soon, but I think I can get a mild workout in tonight, which will be great since I haven't worked out since Saturday! Yikes!

Today I'm really making an effort to get my water in. I buy those large 24 oz bottles of water, and I try to down one just on my drive to work... today I actually did it... now I'm half-way through my second bottle.

My official weigh-in will be tomorrow night, but today I have to go to the doctor and get weighed. I'm not going to put too much thought into todays weight, because it is a completely different scale, but it will be interesting to see if there is a difference between today and my last visit.

I've discovered that I actually need to make an effort to use up all of my daily weight watchers points. I'm definitely more conscious of how much I'm eating, but I think just making the switch to healthier foods throughout the day (like avoiding the candy bowl and soda fridge) is making a huge difference. It's day 6 and I've only used up 5 of my extra 35 weekly points... and the great part is, I have no desire to splurge tonight to use them up! :)

I really hope tomorrow's weigh in goes well... I'm really motivated right now, and a no-change or gain reading would hit me pretty hard. Not that I would just give up... it would just make next week so much easier if I had a loss this week! We will see!

Day 4

So, I've encountered my first setback thus far... on Saturday I majorly tweaked my back. It was so bad that even breathing deeply made me curse at the pain. Luckily it is getting a little better each day, but it completely abolished my exercise goals for the week.

Last night I celebrated Pesach (passover) a day early with Matt and his family. It was fun. I felt a little out-of-place at times, but there were a few other non-Jewish people there, so that helped. There was also lots of really yummy food. I think I did pretty well, all things considered. I hadn't eaten very much earlier in the day due to the pain and inability to move, so I splurged on a couple chocolate covered strawberries and a few bites of ice cream.

Anyhow, today should be a little better, although there still won't be any exercising... it took everything I had just to get in and out of my truck to get to work this morning. I'm hoping to bribe one of my coworkers to get me subway for lunch so I don't have to drive myself... I'm sure I can find someone to do it! :)

So, depsite the bad back, things are going well, and I'm still very motivated and determined to stay on track this week and have a good weigh-in on Thursday.