No Discouragement

260.8, and I'm ok with that. I started this week out strong, and just as I said things have quieted down at work they pick right back up. I have had a constant headache since Tuesday. I'm guessing it got busier because the weight loss gods knew that I made goals and they were trying to throw a wench in my system. The important part is to not get discouraged. So far, so good, not discouraged and this weekend I plan to make some prepackaged soups that I can take to work with me, that seems to help. Like Molly, I think a plan is the best way to keep yourself on track. I have to schedule out what I'm going to eat during the day and then I won't stray. Also, no candy on halloween. I didn't even buy any to pass out to kids. I'm going to hide in my room and pretend I'm not home. I know, that's a little evil, but whatever!

My Friday and My Changes

My weight today: 175.00, down 2.8 from Monday. I am so relieved. I cannot tell you guys how much I was dreading getting on that scale. I have been very careful about what I eat this week and have had at least 8 glasses of water everyday. I've been somewhat active, but not overly so. I just wasn't convinced that it would make a difference. I'm so glad it did!

I also made some changes this week:

1. No more half and half in my coffee. I miss it, like an a abused person misses their abuser. It's a toxic relationship. I love you half and half and all you do it hurt me. Goodbye.

2. I changed my livestrong calorie tracking goal from wanting to lose 1.5 pounds per week, to 2 pounds per week. I also changed by weight because it was 6 lbs. higher than when I originally started livestrong. Goodbye extra 250 calories a day. I will miss you, but my thighs won't.

3. This, I think, is the biggest one. I changed my attitude. For awhile now, weight loss has been something I know I need to do and kind of begrudgingly tried to do, but my heart hasn't been in it the last few months. But this week I decided it's something I really want to do. And I want to find ways to not feel like I'm deprived and missing out on good foods because that's one of my biggest weaknesses.

4. I set some goals. I told you all about the short term goal: shed 10 pounds by Jan. 1. My new long term goal: be under 150. I've only been there a couple times in the last ten years, but I know it's possible. I took the Livestrong dare to lose weight and set my goal at 145, giving myself 5 lbs of leeway.

So, here's to a great weekend! Hope you all have a happy and fun Halloween!

We Can Do This!!!!!

Frustrated on Friday

So EVERYDAY this week I have tracked on livestrong.com, every day I have been under on my calories, everyday I have been right near 2000 mg on sodium, I have been at like 50-75% of what livestrong recommends for carbs. I have been drinking at least 6 glasses of water plus my tea every day. And usually it's more like 12. I have gone and worked out, I have worked in my yard, I have shoveled snow.

I have my calorie calculator set on lightly Active and I KNOW I was more than lightly active this week. I also have it set for 3 pounds a week. So when I got on the scale I was expecting at least a 2 pound loss in 5 days. Instead it was .4 pounds of a loss. .4 pounds for someone my size is NOTHING. Seriously if I lost .6 pounds per week for the next year I wouldn't even be under 200 pounds.

Ug, if anyone has suggestions other than, "well you have to take in less calories than you work off" which is what I have heard from doctors. I would love to hear them! Maybe I am just having one of those weeks and I need to be really good for more than a week but honestly I was hoping for a really good weigh in to inspire me to not suck it up for Halloween. Ah well, I guess I just need to work harder and be more careful.

So my official weight this friday was 236.4. Ug, I just got on the scale again to see if it was lower and it was 238.o AAAAHHHHH!

Shrimp Tacos

In Cabo San Lucas (where my dad lives) there is a taco shop that is right on the beach, so you can sit in a lounge chair soaking up the sun while the waiters bring you tacos and margaritas. Justin and I were thinking about those tacos and the beach and decided to try to make them. They have a habanero salsa that is seriously the best thing I have ever eaten so it was missing that but other wise I would say we nailed it! Here is what we did:

Marinate the shrimp for 10 minutes in:

we used medium shrimp
2T lime juice
1t seasoning salt
1t mexican spice
1T olive oil
sautee the shrimp in the marinade for a few minutes until it is tightly curled

Toppings
monterrey jack cheese
lettuce
pico de gallo with cabbage
sliced avocado

So with 2 tacos with puro maiz tortillas which are like 60 cal and 12 g of carbs plus an ounce of cheese 2 tbls of pico, 1/2 an avocado and lettuce the meal was 328 calories and 26 g of carbs.

Long Time No Post.

Ya, I haven't posted anything since September 11th. I'm totally on top of it. If you haven't heard, my work life has been crazy and it is just now starting to calm down. My diet has been crazy as well and unfortunately as of Monday I was up to 263.8. After some miracle of eating I lost 3 pounds overnight and I weigh today 260.8. I don't want to be obsessive about weighing myself and so I am just going to be weighing myself once a week and I am rededicating myself to posting every Friday. Otherwise, I'll go crazy!

I have recently taken a step back to re-evaluate goals and life in general. Vegetarianism is out for right now. I was having to go to the store like every other day and one week I spent almost $200 in food. The husband wasn't too happy about that. I felt that I was constantly preparing food and worrying about what I was eating. I still believe that a Vegetarian lifestyle is a better way of life, and one day it will happen. For right now I am starting small. I've been slowly cutting out Dairy products, my body does not digest them properly and I just feel better when I'm not eating them. I think that is a good place to start.

I can't make it to the gym for some reason? Every day I set my alarm for 5:00 am and everyday I change it to 7. This is a pretty weird thing for me because I have always been a morning person and lately I haven't been able to pull myself out of bed. After looking through a few other warning signs I am going to be seeing the Dr to determine if I have Type 2 Diabetes. I got tested about 3 years ago and they said that I was almost there and if I didn't lose weight it would turn into that. Don't you think that is enough to scare a person into losing weight? What is wrong with me?

I have a friend that told me I need to do positive affirmations. Talk positively to myself daily. So I have this standing mirror in my bedroom that I wrote some positive affirmations with a erasable marker on. She said that the phrases should be in the present and that I should put them somewhere I would see them all the time. The mirror was the perfect place, I have read them so many times! Here is what I wrote:

*You are losing weight
*You are exercising 5 times a week
*You are controlling your eating and portion control
*You are taking control of your body

This is my goal this week. To read these affirmations every time I pass this mirror. Its a small goal but a good one.
Short term goal: 235 pounds by January 1st 2010
Long term goal: 200 by April 1st 2010

Happy Chubster or Skinny Bitch

So, I think we all know I'm on an anti-depressant. I take Lexapro, which, it turns out has a possible side effect of increased appetite and weight gain. I was just reading up on it on Livestrong.com (they have everything on there!). My doctor may have told me about this side effect, but honestly I don't remember. Anyway, there was a discussion about weight gain from anti-depressants and I read part of it. One woman commented that she and a few friends, all on various anti-depressants, including Lexapro, had all gained an average of 40 pounds. So they decided against doctors' advice to wean themselves off. She said she had lost around 20 pounds without changing anything else. She also said she would "rather be a skinny bitch than a happy chubster." Just for the record, I think that's insane. I would MUCH rather be a "happy chubster" than a skinny, miserable, depressed bitch. Been there, done that. It sucked.

But the point is, I now realize that I have to work harder and be more diligent about my eating. Like I was doing last spring. Because I can't quit my anti-depressant. So, if I'm going to reach my goal of losing 10 pounds my Jan. 1, then I need to step it up.

So, goals for today:

Track on Livestrong
Eat 1500 cals
Create a weight lifting regime using my dad's bowflex
Drink 3 bottles of water
Go for a walk

Tuesday Goals

So Molly setting a long term goal for herself made me think that I need goals too. So I am setting a short term and a long term goal for myself. My short term goal is to weigh 230 which is 6.8 pounds and is close to what I was at our reunion. My long term goal is again to be under 200 pounds. I don't know if it's just because I have been eating better and thus feeling better, but being in the 230's seems a lot better than the 240's.

Ok so today's goals:

Track on livestrong and keep it under 1400 calories
Drink 3 bottles of water
Walk
No carbs after 4pm (let's try this one again shall we?)