Here's proof!

Yum!

As you can see, I wasn't drinking quite as quickly as the BF (mine is on the left!)

Lovely weekend!

What a nice weekend I had!

Friday night started off with a trip to the local pub to hang out with the BF and a couple of work buddies. I hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I got some grilled chicken skewers that were served with a delicious peanut sauce. We also had some homemade chips and garlic sauce, but those were shared and I didn't eat too many! Three Captain Morgan and Diet Cokes later, and I was happy :) I stopped drinking way early because I get terrible hangovers anymore, and finished the night with two huge glasses of water. No hangover at all on Saturday morning, woohoo!

Saturday was our trip! I was so excited, I love going on trips! We left around noon and Adam and I were both really hungry, so we decided to stop at Chik-fil-A before we left. I just got a grilled chicken sammy and a fruit cup, it was really good! And then we were off! We got to our hotel a couple hours later, got all checked in and were trying to decide what to do. We ended up heading to the hotel bar for happy hour and appetizers, delish! And then we got all gussied up and headed to dinner at the Hofbrauhaus...it was a ton of fun! So much beer and music and people having a blast. I loved it! Oh and the food was wonderful as well. I can't wait to go back there. Luckily, they've opened one in Pittsburgh, and that's where the BF is originally from, so we'll be be able go to it more often!

As I mentioned earlier, I try not to drink too much anymore because I get terrible hangovers (we're talking they last at LEAST a day)...so I had a large tanker of beer and then a small mug of beer, the lightest they had. That's the equivalent of about 4 regular beers, so that's ok with me. I stopped drinking early enough that I didn't feel TOO bad on Sunday. We got up in the morning and had lunch, then made the trek back home, stopping at some outlet malls along the way. Luckly, I kept the wallet in check and didn't buy anything!

All in all, it was a great weekend. The weather was awesome, nice and cool, and it was so nice to spend some time with the BF with nothing else to do. Today I'm feeling a little icky, mainly from the indulgence on Saturday night and the beer, but I'm drinking tons of water and I packed my yummy lunch of fruit, yogurt,and a PB sandwich, so I'm feeling much better as the day goes on. I'm going to go for a long walk tonight after I go pick up the doggie. This is going to be a good week!

Bad, bad blogger!

I have been away for a while. I just haven't felt like writing anything, partially because I'm embarrassed to say that I've been doing so bad lately. And I don't want to be one of those writers who never has anything positive to say and complains that I can't stay on track!

But right now, I feel like I can't! I feel out of control. I don't like that feeling. I like being in control, moreso probably than I should like that feeling. This is too early in my game for me to be feeling like this. I have a long way to go in the weight that I want to lose, and I can't stop and go back to my old habits, which unfortunately has been the case in some instances this past week. I have disregarded any "points" that I'm allowed and thrown caution to the wind. Oh, you want a SECOND dinner tonight? Why not?! Beer on a Tuesday? How about 3? (I never do that anymore :) ) Popcorn at the ballgame? Sure! Hot wings and cheese fries? Yummy deliciousness.

This has to stop! The emotional eating has gotten to me. I feel lonely and stressed, and I miss some old friends. I feel like I'm all alone in my little world, and that's why I'm turning to food.

At least I am recognizing the issue. Now I need to concentrate on resolving it. Luckily, I haven't gained anything back. I am maintaining, which is good in a way because well, I'm not gaining, but it's bad in a way because I'm also not losing!

I'm looking forward to this weekend. The BF and I decided to take a little weekend getaway. Booked the hotel today and we're looking for things to do. The doggie is going to my parents' house for a little getaway of her own this weekend too! I'm exciting to see a new (to me) city and hang out with my guy, just the two of us. I'm going to make smart decisions and we'll be walking around a lot so I will be able to get some activity in.

And lastly, but certainly not least, thanks to the lovely ladies over at A Tail of Two Kittehs on WW (http://2wwkittehs.blogspot.com/) for the Lovely Blog Award. It's much appreciated! And thanks to anyone that's left me a comment too, I love reading them!

Finally Friday!

Woohoo! It's such a relief when the weekend gets here. Not sure why that is....it's not like my weeks are usually that strenuous! I feel good today though. Stayed on track with eating today (so far) and I plan to get a lot of stuff accomplished tonight! I have to mow the lawn, clean the house, and walk the dog. My usual cleaning day is Saturday morning, but I have plans in the morning and then people coming over in the afternoon tomorrow, so I'll have no time for my usual routine.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. We're bowling in the morning and then going to a baseball game in the evening. It will be nice to get outside and enjoy the weather that's not 95 degrees and humid!

I plan on staying on track this weekend, hoping for a loss next week! I am looking forward to the scale continuing to go down! Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

What a good day

Well, apparently tonight was not the night that I start the C25K program, but I did get in a nice long walk with the dog! It's funny because we always run into so many people around the neighborhood, and they all just think my dog is so cute. I suppose I'm a little partial, but I think she's pretty cute too! She's a cocker spaniel and she's very little for being almost 3 years old, so everyone always thinks she's still a puppy. I will try to post pictures when I get my camera back from my parents.

Today was good. I ate pretty sensibly today, had a good, productive day at work, did some laundry so my house smells like Tide, and had the nice walk. I also scored a really cute pair of high heels from Payless and a new turquoise purse from Kohl's! The only thing that would've made today better was if I was able to see Adam (BF), but those stars didn't align for us today. Tomorrow definitely!

Two blog posts in one day....huh, what's gotten into me?

Get a move on!

I need to be getting more exercise. Walking is good, but I never feel like I'm getting a really good workout when I walk. I have been thinking about doing the C25K program. I've started this so many times in the past, but I never made it past week two. I've never made it past week two because I am lazy and just quit, not because I can't do it!

A couple of years ago I was in the best shape of my life. I don't know why then, something just clicked for me. I worked out at the apartment gym every day after work for at least an hour. I was up to being able to run about 2 miles without stopping, and I've never been a runner! I looked great and I felt even better. But then a few things happened that took me off course, and I've never been able to get back on! Hopefully now is the time.

I do have a treadmill at home, so I think I will start the C25K either tonight or tomorrow night, depending on how I'm feeling. I am still a little leery on running. I had my ACL repaired in my right knee last May, and while I can walk and everything fine (and I played softball this summer), I get a little nervous because I don't want to hurt it again. I will just have to take it slow!

I still plan on walking every night I can, because my little Molly needs to get her energy out somewhere, and she sure loves walks! I can't even say the word or else she's all over me, like, "CMON MOM! Geez! Take me on a walk already!!" Dogs are funny :)

On another note...I was sitting her at work today thinking, "Gosh, I'm really hungry and it's not time for lunch yet, what should I have?" I COULD have gone over to the candy bowl, but instead I ate a cup of applesauce that I keep in my drawer. It's the little things, that was a victory for me and it held me over until lunch, yum!

Have a lovely Thursday everyone!

Re-focus

I find myself slipping a little bit lately. I am not paying attention to what I'm eating as I have in the past month or so. I'm not sure why this is....my guess is that I'm getting bored. This is the reason that I am not following Weight Watchers to a T -- because I know me and I know I get bored with one thing after too long. I figured that if I just was smart about what I ate and "loosely" tracked points, basically had a general idea of what I was eating, I would be ok. I think that it's now time to re-focus my efforts and start following the plan a little better.

I previously had been doing really well with getting in the fruits and veggies, whole grains, dairy, etc...but again, I've been slacking. Also, I haven't been exercising regularly. I did very well this weekend, but decided to skip yesterday (for no reason other than I had 2 margaritas and didn't feel like it).

I also wanted to share that in the past week or so, my boyfriend and I have been having some troubles. I know this is directly related to why I have been slacking on taking care of myself. I need to switch that up though!! Instead of negatively effecting (affecting? I never know) how I take care of myself, I should just use the bad times as motivation to BETTER take care of me!

In a moment of weakness on Saturday, out of boredom and feeling a bit depressed, I got a frozen pizza from the store. In the old days, I would eat most, if not all, of the pizza. Saturday I had one piece. I was full after one piece. I recognized that I was going to binge, but I stopped myself because I was full. I think this is a good thing, and maybe my issue with binging is going by the wayside! I am doing very well with eating when I am hungry and stopping when I am full. I think that's a good start.

I'm going to focus this week on tracking better and making smarter decisions. Wish me luck!

A loss is a loss is a loss.....

Down .2 lbs this week, but I'll take it! Those will add up sooner or later!

I'm really focusing on positive energy this week.

Weekend projects and sore muscles!

I spent the past two weekends doing projects around my house and yard. I've been searching for matching bedside tables that wouldn't cost me a fortune, and I finally found some at Wal-mart. I love them! I spent a couple hours on Saturday assembling these babies, and I think I did a pretty good job! I also (finally!!) hung some prints that I've had sitting around for at least 6 months. Here's a picture of the final product:

I have also been working in my yard. It's a mess! Last summer I pulled up a lot of bushes and such, but I just haven't had a chance to re-plant anything...so as you can see, it was overgrown with weeds! That's my little doggie in there too....I think she was a little bewildered by the overgrowth!

I planted 2 Rose of Sharon plants (they're already flowering now with big beautiful white flowers) and some purple mums in the front. Here's the finished product!

I know it doesn't look like much, but I usually would just pay to have someone do this for me (I hate yardwork) or call the BF or brother to put stuff together for me. I decided this time to do it myself! And I'm proud of my work.

I am finding that since I feel more in control of my eating and my health, I have a lot more enthusiasm and such for projects like these. I gotta get it into my mind to "just do it!" I think that will take me places! Man, Nike was smart when they came up with that slogan.

Oh, and to the second part of my post title....my hamstrings were SO SORE from pulling weeds and planting! I looked like an old lady trying to hobble around :) But that kind of sore is a good kind, I don't mind it one bit.

Glad it's over!

Whew, I'm so glad that week is over with. I was in a Funk all week. Funk with a capital "F". I have no clue what my problem was. I was grumpy, didn't exercise, didn't eat that great, and so on. But, I woke up this morning and feel a lot better. So on to a new week!

The scale seems to be down this morning though, thankfully. I have one of those scales that never gives me the same reading twice in a row, so I end up hopping on and off about 5 times to get something I can work with. After 3 different readings this morning, I finally settled on the one that came up 3 times in a row after that.

I guess I should say that I started getting serious about my health and weight about a month ago. I was just back from a wonderful trip to Vegas and I was fully planning on starting back on Weight Watchers the next day. The night I got home, I was really short of breath and couldn't figure out why. It got so bad to the point where I called 911, because I was really scared and I was alone in my house (hadn't even picked up my dog yet!). The EMT's checked me out and couldn't find anything wrong. My BP was ok, my sugar was ok, I had 100% oxygen saturation in my blood, and they even did a little mini-EKG because I was freaking out that I was having a heart attack (I wasn't). But everything looked fine. I ended up going to the doctor the next day and they still couldn't find anything wrong. Took a chest x-ray and bloodwork and everything seems to be fine. I now think that I have a slight case of asthma and that night I had an asthma attack, which made me panic because I've never had that before.

Who knows. But, it made me really think about my health and realize that even though everything is ok now...cholesterol, sugar, etc., it's not going to be in 10 years if I keep on going the way I'm going. I've abused my body long enough that it's time to start treating it with the respect that it deserves.

In the past month I've lost 10 lbs. I'm hoping this week is going to be another loss! I want to lose about 85 lbs. total, but I'm really not looking at the big picture yet. I really just want to feel better and be healthy. I need to focus on making this a lifestyle change and not just try to lose weight really fast so that I look good. I know that doesn't work for me. I'm not concerned with how long it's going to take, just that I know I'm headed in the right direction.

Whew, long post! Thanks for reading :)

What was I thinking?

It's been a rough week....I haven't been to the grocery store, so of course that means my necessaties are running out and I haven't packed a lunch since Monday. I've been doing pretty good with eating though...mostly Subway this week, yum! However, today I decided to try the new boneless chicken things from Wendy's. I figure, I've been good, I can have a treat (need to lose that mentality too!). But, I regretted it almost immediately. They looked good, but I don't think they tasted that great. And I'm thinking, "Why am I eating this crap anyway?" I know when I don't eat "good" stuff, I feel worse, so why don't I just eat the good stuff all the time?

So, that's what I'm going to work on for the rest of the week....going to the store tonight so I can pack a lunch tomorrow, even though it's Friday. And I'm getting back on my walking schedule tonight too....I've skipped the last two nights and that's plenty, I don't need any more rest! And my doggie will love me even more for taking her on a walk :)

New girl in town...

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately, and I really wanted to start one of my own. I am so inspired by people that share aspects of their struggles so candidly, and I hope that my blog will help me along in my journey, and maybe inspire someone out there like me!

So, where do I begin? I want to get healthy. I've struggled with my weight for my entire life. I've seen the home video from when I was 4 years old and my aunt picked me up and said, "Wow, they've got to stop feeding you!" I've endured ridicule and I've ignored it, but I still remember all those hurtful words. I feel the difference in the way I'm treated since I'm a "big girl". I want to enjoy my life, and I feel very held back by my weight and my lack of self-confidence.

I want to be healthy. I want to be able to run around the bases on a softball diamond without feeling like I'm going to die. I want to want to take the dog on a walk instead of feeling like I have to. I don't ever want to deal with the diabetes that runs on both sides of my family. And most of all, I want to be comfortable in my own skin.

How will I do this? I've lost weight before with Jenny Craig, but I don't think that's reasonable and it's too expensive for me. I've done Weight Watchers for years on and off, and have been most successful with that program (when I actually stick to it), so that's my plan for now. I think I have a pretty good grasp on what to eat and nutrition, it's just realizing that I have to combine this with exercise and coming to terms with the fact that I have to do this for the rest of my life. There is no other way.

Welcome to my blog.