Goals

Alright, so I have some goals for myself.  Actually, I guess they're more like motivators to keep my eyes on the weight loss prize.

I want to lose 2 lbs a week.  Some people say this is nuts.  I think it's a healthy goal-- however, if I don't lose 2 lbs I won't cry about it... I really just don't want to gain anything.  Not even 1/10 of a lb.  My motivation to do all of this is:
1. California- which is soon, but, if I stick to 2 lbs per week I could be down another 24 lbs by the time I get there... I think that'd be quite a surprise for my brother! LoL Plus, going to the land of celebrities and really fit people is daunting.
2. Graduation- I've talked about this before... at both my high school and undergrad ceremonies I was large and well, large.  If I can lose 2 lbs a week I will be down 32 lbs... bonus!
3. Summer- I'd like to be slimmer and less sweaty this summer... just sayin'.
4. 5 Year College Reunion- I'd like to surprise a few of my former classmates... though I had a blast in college, I probably would have had even more fun if I didn't lack so much confidence from my weight self-consciousness.
5. New Year's Eve- I'd like to be in a bangin' dress perhaps at a black tie affair or some other soiree downtown.  If I lose 2 lbs per week that will mean -98 lbs!!  I can't even imagine what I'd look like... a whole different person I think. 

Some actual goals:
New job
Visit people I keep saying I will visit (I really want to! Other things just keep popping up and leaving me broke!)
Volunteer somewhere

This is all very lofty, but I feel like if I keep repeating myself it will all happen.  I made a vision board for myself the other day with most of these things on it.  I look at it to motivate myself and to tell the universe what it is that I want.... because something's gotta give eventually.

Tracking

So being a part of WW, I was so happy a few weeks to learn that points+ and simply filling can be used interchangeably through the week.  This program is more flexible than ever!  I was doing pretty well with simply filling, until I didn't track the things that don't count for simply filling.  So, today I went back to points+.  Yesterday was kind of a horrible day in my world and what's worse is I took it out on food.  I think I ate everything ever.  Today I decided to track all of those points from yesterday.. I was left with 8 weekly points... yeah, it was THAT bad.  But whatever, I haven't done one of those in a loooong time.  I can stay within my daily points+ range the rest of the week, and if I don't, I won't cry about it.  I'll also be working out this week and thus gaining some activity points.

Right now all I know is that I cannot keep my eyes open.  Ugh.  Today needs to be over already.

Hi.

So it's January and I'm sure a lot and not so much has happened since I last reported. 

I guess the big thing that's going on is for the past couple of months I've really been mindful of what I put in my mouth... at last check (about 2 weeks ago) I'd lost 15 pounds or so.  I'm hoping for a big loss next Monday because I've since added beaucoup exercise to my cause.  Yesterday I was on the elliptical for an hour!  Consequently, today my legs feel like they might burst out of their sockets.  I also began training for a 5k Wed night.  No worries, I'm not going to be all hardcore every day of the week like the past two... yesterday was a fluke.  At 30 minutes I felt like I could go forever.  At 40 I questioned my sanity.  At 50 I was unstoppable.  At 55 I wanted to kill myself, but I was way too close to an hour to stop so I did more of a cool down for the last 5 minutes and voila!  Originally I was on the fence about whether or not I was gonna go, then a friend of mine asked if I was going.  After texting her my uncertainty and saying i'd call her in a half hour she said "...K no pressure, just support. :)"  How could I say no to that?  It is so much easier to drag ass to the gym if someone else is dragging ass along with you.

November 1st I received my DIPLOMA in the mail! :D I am a Master, officially.  Huzzah!

My brother moved to California in August and I miss him like whoa.  I am planning a visit out there for April... hopefully I can afford it!

I developed a new strategy with work- any time I get angry or annoyed I fill out an application for something else.  I've submitted a loooooot of applications the past few months lol.  Still nothing.  Sucks.

That's all for now!

Come on Irene...

Okay, so Irene didn't really tear up the DMV too badly. St. Mary's County and Ocean City were hit pretty hard, but as far as where I live-- wind and rain. There were half a million people without power but fortunately I was not one of them. My eye, however, had been glued to the storm days before she landed in the US. The freak earthquake last week didn't even shake me too much because that was a passing thing (thankfully) without much damage. The only thing though that stood between me and my sweet sweet vacation that I had been lusting after all year was this lady who wanted to make a name for herself in 2011. Irene. She was headed toward the east coast seemingly with a vengeance unheard of since the last hurricane that did a lot of damage to, well, anywhere really. More specifically she had her eye set on North Carolina's outer banks; determined to take them out. I don't know that I've prayed so much in a long time. The list was as follows:
1. Please God just blow her completely east never to be heard from again.
2. Ok, if she has to come to shore just don't let her do too much damage so that
a. No one gets hurt, and
b. I can still go on my vacation
3. Keep everyone up and down the coast safe and (please please please) don't let my vacation get canceled.

Yes, I'm aware we tend to pray when we want something. Honestly, I wanted my vacation but at the same time I also did not want the entire side of the country I live on to be torn to hell.
Anyway, God heard my prayers and answered with this:
Ok, I'll get her to die down a little but she's still gonna rock your coast. OBX will be alright, however I will wipe away the roads leading to your vacation rental with an ocean view. And, uh, enjoy your power cuz lots of people around you will be without.

Thanks God! I think?

So, the weekend was a lot of me being angry at the world and crying a little. But because I am friends with some determined motha-effas, I am currently blogging from the living room of a nice townhome, sound side, in the northern part of OBX. There's no ocean view but damnit I'm on vacation.

Thank God.

Slimmer This Summer Challenge Weeks 8 and 9

Sorry for my brief hiatus... I was crazy busy trying to finish up school. Last week I managed to lose 3 lbs and this week I gained 6!  Yes this past week has been my worst thus far, and I am going to make damn sure it's my last downfall... I don't have school as an excuse anymore... I now have the time I was devoting to my studies to reeeeally focus on my health.  That was painful today though at weigh-in... I felt like such a failure.  But I let that pass and now I am determined to turn my life around!

I also want to apologize... I have like 300 unread posts in my reader... I'll try to get to some soon and comment!  I'm actually busy at work for once and it's kind of nice.

oh yeah and btw, by "finish up school" I mean actually finish.  I can now say I have a Master's degree!! squee!

Slimmer This Summer Challenge Week 7

Ok a lot of things are winding down.  Sorry for the lack of a post.  Last week I lost 2 pounds, this week I gained 1.  I went away with the girls for a night and opted for candy and vodka rather than carrots and diet coke.  Since I weigh-in on Mondays there was no hope for me.  I had a nice work-out yesterday though.  I've incorporated the bike into my routine... my thighs were burning but it felt soooo good!  I'm back on track so I'm not even down on myself from this weekend because I had fun and I ate when I wanted to and tried not to stuff myself which is a good change I believe. 

On another note, tonight is my last class... next week is my final.  Soon, I'll be a Master!  Hahaha.  I can't believe it's gone by so fast. 

Slimmer This Summer Challenge Week 5

So because Monday was a holiday and I didn't have work, I didn't have my meeting at work.  Food has been going well-- I made a HUGE fruit salad over the weekend that I'm quite proud of... so I've been eating that for breakfast and stuff.  However, this week I do feel slightly bloated, which I think is because I'm a woman... oy.  I haven't gotten as much formal exercise in as I hoped to over the past few days-- for example I spent a good portion of Saturday walking around DC and a museum (Crime and Punishment... soooo coooooool).  If I had to guess my weight I would say I'm probably up 1 or 2 pounds.  I seriously blame the bloating though because everything else has pretty much been on point.  Ooh, this weekend I also made a lasagne using (mostly) eggplant in lieu of lasagne noodles!  It's really tasty!  Thank you Hungry Girl!  That's all I got for now.

PS- still am trying to catch up and comment on everyone's blogs... :)

StS Week 4

From Monday 6/27
I lost 4.5 pounds!  I officially feel like I'm back on track.  I have a work out regime going and I learned yesterday that the elliptical for an hour is not really that bad. 

Back to the Present
So I'm sorry for being MIA... I have been running non-stop it feels like.  Yesterday I went to get a temp crown on my tooth and ended up finding out I need a root canal... went for that this morning... now I'm in more pain than I was before I went in there!   

Anyway, I will catch up on everyone's blogs ASAP and give y'all a real update.  Happy Friday and Happy 4th!

Which Seat Can I Taaaaaake?

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!

Ok, I'm done with that.  So this week has been so-so.  I am having to spend a lot of money over the next week so I'm not really happy about that.  My car needs some things, I needed a new cell phone, and I have to get a crown on my tooth.  Oh and I still have to finish paying my tuition and another doctor bill from a couple months ago... oops!  Just when I think I have my debt under control... there it goes piling up again.  The American dream, right?


Oh well.  I'm hoping this weekend will bring some much needed time to sort out clothes and do laundry and stuff.  Otherwise, my brother just might sign me up to be on Hoarders or Clean House or something... just me and my room.  LoL!

Will be working out tonight... huzzah!

I never really watched much tv as a teen/young adult... until on-demand and dvr came about.  I was never around much to watch what I might have wanted to.  But thanks to those two inventions, I almost feel like a tv fanatic.  That being said, True Blood starts Sunday-- yay!  Weed and The Big C are on Monday-- double yay! 

Happy Friday!  Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Keeping Motivated

I don't know that my title is grammatically correct, but whatever, you get what I mean.

After having soup with a sick friend last night it took all of my strength to not just go home and veg out.  It was getting late and I knew I wasn't going to make it to the gym, but my buddy had sent me a text motivating me to go (she was out of town) so that was in the back of my mind.  I made a compromise.  I called another friend and asked her to go for a walk with me, so we did!  It was a lovely walk... I have no idea how far it was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was at least 2 miles.  It's going to start getting really hard again to go to the gym because I'm in a lot of pain from my herniated discs.  My hip/butt area kills.  This always seems to happen when I try to incorporate stretching and weight machines.  I think I'm just going to have to stick to the elliptical and occasionally treadmill, though that tends to bore me.

I have class tonight and I forgot my backpack at home!  Where's a mom when you need her? 

Slimmer This Summer Challenge Week 3

I do WW at work, but today I had a meeting during the time of what would have been my weigh-in.  I will try and locate another meeting somewhere else this week so I know how I'm doing, but I'm wary to weigh-in on another day with a different scale... thoughts?

I believe my week went well.  The weekend was a little rough because a cousin of mine was visiting, but I tried to not over-indulge.  I also took my dad to a baseball game yesterday for father's day and I did have a hot dog ;).  Oh, and a huge daquiri, but the only other thing I ate yesterday were some crabs and shrimp so I actually stayed within my P+ for the day.  Mmmm crabs.

Also last week I worked out Monday and Wednesday.  Trust, it will be more this week.  It takes me a little while to get used to new routines.  I have a buddy now and that makes all the difference.

Wahoo!

Today was amazing.  I was in a good mood pretty much all day.  I ate pretty well and had an AWESOME work out.  It was really hard and I pushed myself a great deal, but in the end I felt great afterwards, well, great and starving haha.  I came home and made myself some tofu shirataki noodles and melted some laughing cow light cheese in them.  I also heated up a morningstar grilled chikn patty and steamed some snap peas.  I mixed that all together and it was delish! 

Class was alright last night.  We actually got out early... 9:15 instead of 9:40... I'll take it!  Tuesdays are so long.  Just six weeks left though and I'll have a master's degree! 

I appreciate all the support I've received thus far from StS challengers and other readers.  Does anyone know what I should do for my "bingo arms," i.e. the flabby mcflabsterness that's going on?

Oy, I'm tired.  Goodnight for now! 

STS Challenge Week 2...

Alright, instead of simply avoiding my blog like I have done in the past, I will own up to my setbacks.  I did not work out at all last week.  Not for lack of want, but for a lack of time.  I seriously never got home until late every night. I also for some reason was incessantly hungry and that trend is sort of carrying on through this week.  I weighed in yesterday and gained 2 pounds.  Not cute.

I did work out yesterday though.  I got on that elliptical and called it my biotch.  Luckily, I had some sweet man candy to ogle while I was at the gym :).  I totally nullified my working out though by eating two slices of pizza, two chicken tenders, a couple spoonfuls of crab dip, and curly fries.  You may be wondering if I'm really serious about this challenge?  Well, I'm not trying to make excuses for my poor decisions, but I really wanted a 3rd or maybe even a 4th slice of pizza.  There was also one lone chicken tender left in the basket that I was tempted to eat just because I didn't want it to go to waste... but I didn't.  I really kept thinking about how I had done enough damage already just by eating what I ate and how I don't want to be (pardon the expression) a fatass anymore.  I know we're not allowed to say the "f" word in WW, but that's what I feel like sometimes.  

Food-wise today has not been that stellar of a day... just pray the profs bring Subway again for dinner and not pizza tonight.  I will not get home until after 10 so I will not be working out today.  However, I will be there tomorrow for sure.  (Especially since I now have man candy motivation).

I did drink more water this past week, but not enough, especially not over this past weekend when it was near 100 degrees and I was outside in it.  Oh!  But it was my Goddaughter's 2nd birthday and she is SUCH a doll!  Her parents built her a playset for her birthday and she just had a blast all day on that thing.  She was climbing and sliding and swinging and everyone was doting on her.  It was a lot of fun.  We also had the traditional keg... lol... which we finished by midnight that night.  Note: no children were given beer, only juice boxes.. hahaha. 

Wish me luck on a better week!  And good luck to y'all StS challengers!

Watch This

So I watched this and I'm now paranoid more than ever about developing skin cancer/melanoma.  I am a fair ginger who has been burned so badly as a youngster I got blisters.  Searching for a dermatologist pronto.

Remember to wear sunscreen y'all!

 

Panic! At the C-Store...

Yesterday I rounded off the day with a 6 inch sub from Subway, chips, cookie, and Diet Coke.  All of which was provided by my professors because they're beast.  My classmates, however, are annoying.  Maybe it's because I'm a senior amongst freshmen and sophomores?  Or perhaps I would like to be further along than page 6 of 16 after 3 hours!  Seriously people, send an email or something. 

However, today, is not going so well.  I had the incessant craving and NEEEEEED for Cool Ranch Doritos.  So instead of trying to eat around what I really wanted, I just bought the chips and ate the whole 2 and 1/8 oz bag.  And you know what?  I feel satisfied.  I feel slightly guilty, yes, but mostly satisfied.  I looked up the PPV (PointsPlus Values) and that bag just cost me 8.  That's cool though because while looking that up I recorded my weight finally and since March 21 I have lost 13.1 lbs!  That's a little over a pound per week... not bad I say.  That really just made me excited and not want to eat Cool Ranch Doritos for a while haha.

Keeping my eyes on the prize though.  The prize being the beach at the end of the summer.  Would LOVE to be slimmer for that!  

School Daze

So I originally started this blog to help me get through grad school while working full time and maintaining a social life.  I also started talking a lot about my weight loss journey that has been a long winding road of ups and downs, smiles, frowns, woohoos and boohoos.  Seeing as I am in my last semester of grad school, it's probably good that I start finding other things to discuss. 

The hardest part about this semester is going to be myself.  Staying motivated, focused, and doing what I need to do to get the grade I know I can get in this ONE class that I'm taking.  All that is asked of me is to read and show up (oh and take a 3.5 hour final at the end of it all).  I read for the first time today.  Class started two weeks ago.  Epic fail.  I really want an A, but I'm not exactly starting out on the A path.  Usually I'm all gung-ho at the beginning of a semester.  Now I fear that I've caught Senioritis.  I'm just so tired all of the time, reading will only make me fall asleep... right?

Now more than ever I need to push myself.  I need to finish up with the amazing grades I've maintained all along because this is my second chance at proving what I can do in school.  July 26th is just around the corner.  

Slimmer This Summer Challenge Day 2

So it's not really necessary I guess to post every day, but I wanna get into this.  I will calculate my points later but so far I've had:
1 scrambled egg
3 pieces of turkey bacon
1 ginormous salad (romaine, shredded carrots, egg whites, a few garbanzo beans, green pepper and couple grape tomatoes, Italian dressing with a splash of honey mustard).
1 20 oz. Diet Coke that I still have about a third left of.
1 20 oz. water that I'm not finished yet.

I know, I know.  I need to drink more water!  I'm working on it! 
I won't be able to work out tonight because I've got class til almost 10.  I have been walking around a lot at work today though in order to get some movement in.  Tomorrow I will definitely be hitting the gym.

Slimmer This Summer Challenge

I am still doing Weight Watchers, but I want to try and be more of a part of the blogger community so I am signing up for the

challenge. I actually had another loss this week of 5 point something lbs!  I am totally pumped. 

Basically by the end of this summer I want to have gotten into the habit of eating all the important nutrients I am supposed to daily.  In WW language these are the "good health guidelines."  It's going to be tough, especially the dairy part, but I think I might be over my fear/hatred of yogurt so that's a good thing.  I also need to remember to track everything and stay within my allotted points plus values.  And hydrate hydrate hydrate!  Which means water-- not Diet Coke (aka the elixir of life). 

Also this summer I want to build up a real honest to goodness work out regime... and by the end I hope to be gymming it up 5 times a week.

I don't really have a goal weight by the end of the summer, I would rather just maintain good habits, but I guess I would like to lose 10-20 lbs by the end of August.  I know that's kind of lofty, but maybe I'll land somewhere in the middle.

I've finally been losing every week for the past few, but it's not because I'm necessarily doing things right.  I want to reach a happy medium.

Weekend (and beginning) in review

This past weekend was chock full of fun and excitement!

On Friday night I can't really remember what I did but it involved going to bed early because Saturday morning I was up at the buttcrack of dawn (otherwise known as 8 am).  We bought tix for Catherine (for her bday last month) to go on a tour around DC of all the different places movies have been filmed.  Cool, right?  Right, we thought so.  She loves movies and is always trying to go be an extra if she hears they are filming in the area.  Here is the tale of our (mis)adventure:
Picked up two of the three ladies around 8:45 and headed to Metro.
Platform said 11 minutes.
Waited 20-25 for said Metro.
Told third lady to hustle so she would make our Metro otherwise she may be screwed.
Third lady gets to platform in time to see the doors have closed.
Get to Union Station to meet up with tour.
Wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
Third lady shows up, yay!
Tour guide finally shows up and tells everyone to go to the bathroom or get a drink or something and sorry he's late.  (I'm betting he was stuck somewhere on Metro).
Tour guide tells us about some movie things in the station and walks us outside to the bus.
Everyone piles on.
We drive maybe a mile (prob not even that far).
Turn around.
Street closed because of festival.
Also, DVD that is part of the tour experience won't work.
Back to Union Station.
Everybody off the bus.
Kbye.

So what to do?  It's a beautifully sunny day in the nation's capital.  Well, duh, go walk and see what that festival was that was blocking the road your bus couldn't drive on.  Turns out it was the Asian Heritage Festival.  Walked around there for a little bit then took a cab over to SE to Ted's Bulletin for adult milkshakes.  I highly recommend the tomato soup and grilled cheese with the mocha kahlua shake... delicioso!  The place is really cool too.

Then it was back home for a little rest and relaxation before I hung out with Lauren!  We grabbed dinner at Eggspectation and I turned her fears around with that place I think.  Then we saw Bridesmaids!  It was actually my second time seeing it, but I thought it was HI-larious both times so it was all good.  We ended the evening with a little nightcap in my kitchen then parted ways.

Sunday I slept in and did some tidying in my bedroom.  Then I met Cyndi up at the mall then went to Kelly's for a little feast and to watch Mean Girls.  T'was fun!  Thing I was most proud of?  Making it home from downtown DC in 22 minutes.  Not bad, not bad.

Monday I went to work and then worked out!

Tuesday class started up again.  Legal Aspects of Contracting.  I think it's going to be a good class, despite it being 4 hours every week.  After that I was starving so I raced to the pub to hang out and eat with everyone.  Catherine finished a comic that is AMAZING and HILARIOUS and debuted it last night.  A lot of people came out last night.  Special shout out to my girl Lucy who turned 21 at the stroke of midnight! <3

Today I have an appointment then I'm going to work out again... huzzah!  Oh btw, I weighed in and lost again this week!  HUZZAH!  Of course I just ate ice cream, mac n cheese, and an egg roll.... oops.

Boring

I am totally enjoying this short break from school.  When I leave work I get to go home!  What a novel idea! 

Not much to report on, I'm getting my appetite back after averaging 1-2 meals per day last week.  I wasn't sick, I just wasn't hungry.  So that I'm sure helped with my 2.4 pounds lost this week.  When I do eat, it's not much.  Last night for dinner I had a couple bites of potato salad, 1/4th of a cucumber, 97% fat free popcorn, and a WW ice cream sandwich.  For lunch I had a small salad and a few pieces of sushi. 

Like I said, not much to report... will hopefully carve out a workout regime for myself.  Excited for the weekend and it's only Tuesday... :)

**This just in**
I may not be as excited for the weekend... we shall see.  :-/