A Day Off...Kinda

I am planning a day off from my diet. One 24 hour period where I don't worry about my calories. It's been a month. I think it's time.

We are having another party at work tonight and I just bought the ingredients for a friend to make her buffalo chicken cheese dip, which I literally have cravings for. I am also going out for Chinese with my best friend and my family tomorrow. 

I've made myself a commitment though, no fried foods, and instead of my usual two paper bowlfuls of buffalo chicken cheese dip, I'll just have a half. I can totally do that. I also won't go so far over my calories I set myself back. My favorites at the Chinese place is sushi, seafood stuffed mushrooms, and steamed dumplings anyway.

From 10pm tonight, til 10pm tomorrow, I won't go all out, but I will go, and I will be back to the grindstone by Saturday.

Weigh In Day!!!

Another 6lbs Gone!!!

 I'm so stoked. Here's my tally.

     136lbs to lose
   -     8 first week
   -     8 week 2
   -     8 week 3
   -     6 this week
_______________
      106lbs left to lose


That's 30lbs, or six 5lb bags of sugar, or 120 McDonald's Quarter Pounders.

My goal this week is to get to where I have less than 100lbs to lose. I believe that with the ViSalus program, it's possible.I have hope now that I didn't before.I am not one of those people that just talks about it anymore. I can do it, and I will!

When I Need Motivation...

112lbs, though less than the 136 I started with, doesn't come off in one day. It took years to gain. I believe that if I stick to Visalus, I can take it off in a year or less. It can be slow going though. I've been working on motivators to help me when I'm not feeling so strong.

I think I'm nuts. Why shouldn't the weight loss be a motivator in itself? Then again, I got this way.

So here's what I do so far:

• I shop for clothes online that I've not been able to wear yet but have always wanted to. (This is weird for me because I'm not much of a clotheshorse. Maybe my non-materialism has been a subconcious mental defense...lol)
• I visualize my waist. It's been a while since I've seen it.
• I visualize being able to lay out on the beach and not worry about what other people are thinking when they walk by.
• I visualize not having to worry about whether a shirt is covering my tummy and not having to worry about how bad I'll look if I have to tuck my shirt in.

So far, it's working. Any motivational ideas, though, are appreciated. Weigh-in after I wake up tomorrow.

Just Say No! (To Steak & Shake)

So last night was a bit of a challenge. My coworkers decided at 2am to make a Steak & Shake run. I just kept what one of my co-workers (and fellow visalus participant) said "Skinny feels SO much better than Steak & Shake tastes". She was right, and I refrained. It wasn't easy though.

I just thought about how much better I've been feeling since I've quit eating fast food and how much better I'm gonna feel when I can shop for "normal" clothes. I'm not really sure how that feels. I've never really been able to do that since I was in my teens.

Since the ViSalus is helping me so quickly, I'm gonna start strength training and toning at home. I hate cardio. If anyone has any good ideas  for home workouts, message me. All help is appreciated.

Life's Not Always a Bed of Roses

So I'm going through cellphone withdrawals. It sounds stupid when you look at it on paper. I'm ok and should actually be enjoying the peace & quiet. I'm also a little stressed because a regularly scheduled customer canceled on me with no notice today. People don't always take into account that I work for them to take care of my family and that I wake up in my equivalent to "the middle of the night" to do so.

I did what I said I was going to and stuck my nose back to the grindstone yesterday, despite having to work a shift, come home for a few hours, and work another shift. I threw my eating schedule off. I never am sure how to manage my 1200 calories a day. Do I go from midnight to midnight? Do I measure them over my waking hours, which are different than everyone else's?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Today's goal is to avoid stress eating. Yay.
M

A Day

So I've really had a day. I weighed this morning and lost another 8lbs, which makes a total of 24. 24lbs in 3 weeks is really awesome and I'm grateful. I took a friend to have a medical procedure this morning and she took me out to lunch. For the first time, I splurged and went over my calories for the day, but it was Chinese and I stuck to sushi and steamed dumplings and didn't eat anything fried, so I'm proud of myself still. I think I'm gonna eat normally tonight and put my nose back to the grindstone in the morning.

I've had a very stressful afternoon:(. I got back from taking my friend to the doctor and came and got Adam and the kids. I took them over to her house so they could swim in her pool while I planted. She lives a block away and we're doing a cooperative veggie garden and today I planted Watermelons. I jumped in the pool before working so I could be cool while I tilled up the ground. I didn't realize until I got out and felt my pocket buzzing that I'd left my blackberry in my shorts when I'd jumped in, so my phone is shot. I'll have to use email, facebook, and Adams until I get paid. Ugh. I'm totally ready to cry.

Tomorrow will be better, though. After all, tomorrow is another day!

Busy Week!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. I haven't forgotten about it or abandoned it, I've just been working SO hard. Between both jobs, I worked about 12 hours Thursday, 16 on Friday, and 19 between yesterday and this morning. Thank God for work! In this economy, some people can't find it at all. I am blessed to have it.

What hasn't been work, however, is my diet. I spent 16 hours at FHP last night and was worried about my shakes. I drank one on the way and took one in a to-go cup.I took two turkey bacon sandwiches on wheat with the fixins and I was fine.One of my coworkers showed up with a big pan of different Italian food, which is one of my favorites, but let's face it, I have a lot of favorites. I did eat some of that, but I still stayed within my calorie allotment for the day. Big thanks to Noah & Paul for sending it in:). It was awesome!

Tomorrow is my weigh in. I know I've lost. Even if it isn't the 8lbs like in each of the previous weeks, I will be that much closer to my goal. I'm already getting compliments from my coworkers and starting to feel myself being smaller. Thankfully, I feel it in my core. Its so nice to have a waist again. I can't wait to take my measurements at the beginning of April and see what progress I've made.

I REALLY can't wait to see what progress my husband, Adam, has made either. He's been doing the Visalus for 3 weeks too, and I'm starting to see his core shrinking and his muscle definition return. He's more energetic too. 

By this time next year, I'm headed to the beach. I haven't felt comfortable enough in my skin to wear a bathing suit since I was a child. I've always been self-conscious. Next year I'll be able to wear one and be proud. I've never been able to do that before. I'm so excited. I know I can do it. Out of all the diets I've done that have been harmful, I finally found one that isn't and it's the easiest one I've ever done. I've always heard "no pain, no gain". Thank God that doesn't have to be the case.