Update!

Like I said, I am no longer going to focus on this blog... However, I am doing weight loss updates on my regular blog. Feel free to check it out.

http://guardgirl-erin.blogspot.com

I have started really working towards weight loss again, and I am updating my regular blog every couple of days.

Time for a change...

I am having a hard time keeping up with this. Obviously. So it is time to make a change. I am going to start up a blog all about me. Not just weight loss. I find myself blogging more on here about my life as opposed to just weight loss. Since it's mostly friends who are reading this anyway, and I don't get to see friends much anymore with life getting in the way, I am going to start a new blog.

But to end this blog, I will let you know officially that I have lost 15 pounds. It's been 2 months, and I'm proud of how far I have come. I have had a huge setback, which you can read about on my other blog. Thanks for your support!

The human yo-yo

Well, my sickness last week definitely set me back a bit, but not too bad. I have been following program, despite going out to eat with the band staff and such. I have this tendency to feel guilty when going out to eat, even though I know that this is real life and I do have to eat when I go out. I'm adjusting to the idea of eating out and staying on program at the same time, even though it's incredibly difficult. The mindset in my past has always been that when I go out to eat, I'm already blowing my diet, so I might as well eat whatever. I almost fell back into that trap, come to find out I was actually thinking diet without realizing it. I went out to Chipotle with Erica last weekend, and I got the Chicken Burrito Bowl. This made me nervous, I thought I was totally off track, and my thinking was that this is the first time I had seen her in 2 months, and if I went off track just this once it would be ok. Then I lost weight. I went in to the center and discussed it with my consultant, and she said I actually made the RIGHT choices without realizing it, which tells me that I have adjusted to the diet and have made it a habit! :)

Workouts have been rough lately as well with being sick. I worked out for the first time in 2 weeks on Friday, and I am definitely feeling it. But it felt great, and I know this week I am going to make a schedule to go in and work out during the week. :) It will happen.

I will complete this entry with some stats:

STARTING WEIGHT: 279.0

GOAL WEIGHT: 130.0

CURRENT WEIGHT: 266.0

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE: 13.0

No, I haven't forgotten...

I swear to you I haven't forgotten to write in my blog. I swear. I'm just like this chicken running around with my head cut off!

Everything's still going really super well! I'm down 14 pounds, which is AMAZING since I've only been on MWL for a month! Measurements are going to be soon, they measure once a month. I can definitely tell in my clothes that the inches are going just as quick. I was actually confident enough on Friday to wear a tank top under a shorter sweater with my jeans. It was great!

I'm still working towards my goal of marching Onyx World... I have started working on rifle more lately at home. In between shifts at work I have been working back up on my consecutives (probably makes no sense to some people reading this...) and I'm definitely getting back into it! I can't wait to see what auditions are like! :)

Well I'm super sick (cold.. yuck) so I'm not going to write too much more or it may start not making sense...

No More Glee During Workouts...

Up - to - date Stats:

Starting Weight 279.0

Goal Weight 130.0

Current Weight 267.4

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST 11.6

Yep, that's right, another pound! I am SO EXCITED! Finally the results are showing on the scale! We figured out the problem, I fixed it, and now the weight is falling off of me!

Today I started working out after work. I love it! It's so nice to go right after work, when I have so much on mind, and I can work out and think about things at the same time! :) The only problem, my Glee soundtrack. I have all 100 songs from season 1, and for those of you that don't know, I have this massive nerd crush on Will Shuester. So every time a song comes on that he sings, I picture it. He's so nice to look at.... However, daydreaming while on the treadmill equals injury for me. So I have decided that although the Glee soundtrack keeps me going during a workout, I need to skip songs that have Will Shuester in them. Not good. But I did have a great workout! It's great that I can now push myself because I'm seeing the results of my hard work. Plus, I know that I need to be strong not only for myself, but for Onyx. (Hello, warmups with 8's on rifle.... yeesh... I'm only at a 6, and it's not solid yet...)

Tonight I had my first major burnage of food while cooking. Yep. Dad was here to answer the phone from our alarm company to inform us that our fire alarms were going off. His response "Yeah, my daughter's cooking." No need to further explain. I hear charcoal is good for you, right mom? :)

Well... that's all for today. I'm feeling all energized after my workout. Not as tired :)

And the grand total is....

New Stats:

Starting Weight - 279.0

Goal Weight - 130.0

Current Weight - 268.2

TOTAL WEIGHT LOST - 10.8

Set a new goal for myself along with the weight loss. I'm getting stronger, getting a whole new body, and I'm finally going to be able to cross something off of my bucket list. Are you ready for this? Drum roll please..... I'M GOING TO AUDITION FOR ONYX WORLD WINTER GUARD. Not this year of course, but next year! :) I'm very excited already, and Daylen has already sworn to hold me to it. He said he would audition with me and march if I make it! I'm not going to say that I don't care whether I make it or not, because that would be a lie. But, if I don't make it, I won't be a total wreck. I just want to audition and see what happens! Here's to getting back in shape!

Sunday, Sunday...

Well, it was a VERY successful weekend. I'm getting to the point where I'm REALLY craving a chocolate candy bar. Well, I found this "rocky road" snack bar in my bars I ordered for my nutrients, and OH MY GOODNESS it was delicious! It definitely settled my cravings! These snack bars are really helping me get through.. :)

I have been weighing myself at home since I've been struggling to get to the center to weigh in. I weigh myself at home and at the center, and the scales are different. But, according to my scale at home I lost 3 pounds this week! That's definitely a good thing! It's been a rough week time-wise, so it was nice to see results from my efforts.

I went in and worked out with Brenda yesterday. Another wonderful workout! I love going in and working out with her, she definitely keeps me motivated. This is, by the way, a record of consistent workouts! I started with Brenda in June (I think, could have been late May), so it's been 3 months! :)

My morale lately has been staying high, despite my early plateau in the first week. Now it appears I am doing exactly what I need to do!

Short and sweet... more to update later!

Another one bites the dust...

So far, so good! I have had all of my food in my system by 9pm the past 2 days! :) AAAAAAND I've gotten in all of my fruit by 6pm, as asked by the consultant!

A major thank you to mom for helping with pre-planning. I've been miss cranky pants lately because I'm so jam-packed with work and guard, but mom has been the rockstar to pull me through and help me plan meals ahead of time.

The part I'm still lacking in is working out. But, with work I am on my feet all day, and I'm walking, which is great. Perhaps tomorrow I will wear my pedometer just to see my steps for the day. That would be an interesting experiment for sure! Especially with it being an average day with work and guard!

I have to go weigh in tomorrow.. I was supposed to go today, but with construction my plans changed! It was a crazy crazy day!

More to update on tomorrow. It may have to wait until Saturday morning with my schedule, but we will see....

Getting into the groove...

Well, after my shock yesterday of "you need to eat everything before 9pm" is wearing off a bit. I'm full. All the time. And I feel like I'm stuffing myself like the Thanksgiving Dinner turkey, but hey, it's all worth it, right? Keep in mind, this is Wednesday. So I'm good today. Talk to me tomorrow when I work all but 2 1/2 hours of my "eating time".

I had fresh tilapia for dinner. YUM! I must say, I used to love the breaded tilapia from Sam's, but now I'm all about this fresh no additives tilapia!

No workouts since Monday. :( My job is killing my legs. I'm adjusting, then getting into serious workouts after work (um, when I can, which means Tuesday and Wednesday).

Short and sweet, just how I've been today.

P.S. - The Biggest Loser season premiere = major letdown. However, Glee season premiere = EPIC! Can't wait for the Britney Spears episode next week!

You mean I really stayed the same weight?

So after my bragging blog yesterday about how I'm losing inches and I can tell... I weighed in today at MWLC and guess what? I'm the same exact weight. The consultant's response? "It's ok, Erin. You're still 2 weeks ahead of program with your 8 pound weight loss. Don't let yourself get frustrated."

We went through my food journal. Apparently I've been doing the whole "protein" thing way wrong. She gave me some tips. And we had to set a goal - get all food and nutrients in by 9:00pm. Did I mention I work 8am-12:30pm, 3pm-6pm, and on guard days I go straight to guard until 8:30 or 9? This should be fun. But I'm not getting frustrated... until Thursday, when I have that crazy hectic schedule.

The good news, though, is that I feel great, and I know I'm really accomplishing this goal. I don't care what the scale says (lie... I do care), I'm going to do it this time.

Thanks for listening (well reading, technically...)

Losing Inches!

I can't wait to get measured in a couple weeks... my body looks SO DIFFERENT already! I am so excited! :)

Yesterday I was talking about how much support I have surrounding me. Well, it's only getting better. Yesterday afternoon we had a party for my Grandma, everybody brought food, and most of it I was able to eat! It was great! My mom and dad made my chicken special since I can only have certain seasonings... so good!

I have also continued to work out... with the new job I'm trying to mold my new schedule with a new workout schedule. I'm going to take my clothes with me when I'm working the day care shift and I will work out after work! That's the plan for now. I am so tired from working with the kids... I forgot how much energy they take! But I'm loving it!

Well not much to update... so that's all for today.

Busy Weekend!!

Sorry for the lack of updates the past few days, but I have been busy with guard. So here is my update!

I'm starting to get into the groove of this diet and what to eat. I'm getting to know portion sizes, what works and what doesn't (especially cooking... I'm learning to cook every meal!), and how to eat away from home without preparing food and making it work! Friday night was the marching band's chicken BBQ, and I have to admit, I was scared to eat the food! I thought it would be overly salty (I haven't had salted food since I started the diet...) and I wouldn't enjoy it. Actually, the chicken was pretty bland (might have bothered other people, but not me) so that was good, and in the meal was a potato (also allowed on my diet), cole slaw (good, but not allowed... I still ate it), a biscuit (yep, I ate it), and cookies (had a bite, then gave the rest to Daddio). This was my "success" I only ate half of everything. If it tasted salty, I stopped eating. The only part that I could actually taste things I'm not supposed to be eating was the biscuit. I worked it out, and we're good. And I'm feeling thinner, so something is working! After the game Friday night we went out (like always), and I talked to Shelley, the guard mom who also did MWL. She gave me some great tips for when we go out and how to get creative with what I'm allowed to eat. It was great! I am so much more confident now! I feel like I'm conquering this diet already!

I have worked out with Brenda twice already since Tuesday. I went in Friday to work out by myself, and she had a free 1/2 hour so we did some weight training, then I jumped on the treadmill for 20 minutes, and finished it off with some abs. Then yesterday I went in the morning for a workout with her involving my martial arts (such a workout, seriously...) and weight training. I love working out with her! She is awesome! And of course we get in our laughs! :)

Everyone is being so supportive with my new eating habits, it's awesome! I am so thankful to have such a great support group around me! We will have to have a party when I reach my goal weight!

Well that's all for now. I'm going to go get ready for Grandma's birthday party! She's 89 today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAM!

9 Pounds in 1 Week!

It's official.. weigh in for the week was today and I've lost 9 pounds in one week! :) So exciting! I have never had results like this in 1 week. Ever.

Today went really well. I had a workout with Brenda, which was amazing! I had lots of energy to release this morning (I GOT A JOB! YAAAAAAY!), so of course punching and kicking was exactly what I needed! It was awesome! Thanks, Brenda! :)

I'm getting more and more used to my diet. I have to eat so much protein, it's crazy! I get 8 ounces of chicken and 9 ounces of fish! It's absolutely insane! I can't eat it in one meal. I now save half of it and eat it later. Too much! But I love my nutrients that I have to eat. They are delicious! (especially now that my pudding is thickening up for me, LOL)

Well that's all for today. I start the new job on Monday! WAHOOOO!

The pudding is finally pudding... :)

I feel like I haven't really set the stage for the official weight loss... so here it is. And some of you may be just starting to read my blog... so welcome! :)

A little history of me: I have been overweight a good majority of my life. I have also been a yo-yo dieter most of my life. When I was 15, my parents and I joined Jenny Craig. It was the end of my freshman year of high school, and I was ready to be the girl I knew I could be. I lost a total of 50 pounds, then an additional 10 after leaving the program. I was a healthy 160 pounds, and I stayed that way for 3 years. Entering college, I got back on fast food with always being on the road with class and winter guard, so I rapidly gained my weight back, plus some. I continued to yo-yo diet with everything from Jenny Craig to counting calories to working out with a personal trainer. I finally have gotten fed up enough that I put the money into Medical Weight Loss, and so far have had great success (and I've only been on it for a week!)

Medical Weight Loss is very similar to Jenny Craig, only slightly more intense. I started off with a 3 day cleanse (see previous entries) to rid my body of all starches, carbohydrates, and sugars. Then I started the actual program. Now for the first week I have to go to the center every day, weigh in, and talk to a consultant. Starting next week I have to go in 3 times a week. I have a limited amount of foods I am allowed to eat, and no salt is allowed. At all. Yep. All of my meat has to be fresh, not injected with salt (incredibly difficult to find, by the way), as well as all of my fruits and vegetables have to be fresh.

So, that being said, here are the stats: (and again, I've only been on this for a week)

STARTING WEIGHT - 279 pounds

CURRENT WEIGHT - 270 pounds

GOAL WEIGHT - 130 pounds

Total Weight Loss start to goal - 149 pounds

Weight Loss so far - 9 pounds (almost into double digits! WAHOOOO!)

Weeks expected to reach goal weight start to finish - 50 Weeks (August 25, 2011)

Now that the intro is done.. today was another huge success! I started off my day with an interview for a classroom assistant in a Montessori school! Of course, the major thing on my mind was the job, but since I got to do an observation for an hour and a half I tested the waters on drinking and eating, since I am supposed to have a morning snack before lunch... I have it figured out! We are allowed to bring in a drink, so what I can do in order to get in my "morning snack" (AKA nutrient), I have a powder that gets in my nutrient to put in my water, so I could do that. Mission complete!

You may notice that each day my weight loss number is getting larger.. yesterday I had lost 8.4 pounds. Today when I went in after my interview (which went really well, by the way), I weighed in at exactly 270 pounds. That was -0.6 pounds, which set me at exactly 9 pounds lost so far! More to come tomorrow on that note!

Last night I made that pudding that was a nutrient. Well... from what I was told today I wasn't mixing it fast enough and the water I put in it wasn't cold enough, because it NEVER thickened. It was like eating chocolate soup. Not good. :( Very disappointing. But tonight I made it ahead of time so if it didn't thicken I could figure something out, but I didn't need to! It thickened right up, no problem! I haven't eaten it yet, but it looks delicious!

Well, not much else to update on... I hope this post wasn't too terribly boring!

Until tomorrow...

8 Pounds Down... 141 to go...

Yep, you read it right! I am officially 8 pounds (well, more than 8, but not quite 9) lighter! I came downstairs this morning, looked at mom, and said "I feel lighter". I knew it! They put my name and weight loss so far on the "brag board" in the center because it hasn't even been a week yet!

I picked up my "diet book", man does it feel better to know what I am supposed to be eating! I'm a little disappointed in some items that are not on my list of what I am allowed to eat (no carrots, no bananas... that's all I'm missing SO FAR.. oh, and peanut butter, but that's a major duh), but there's so much I'm allowed to have that I'm not really too disappointed. Plus, I know eventually they will be back in my diet, but right now they're gone. :(

Unfortunately I had to reschedule my workout for tomorrow with Brenda... I usually work out with her every Tuesday and Thursday, but tomorrow I have an interview/observation at a Montessori school! YAY! So I will probably go work out after that if I'm not too tired from being with kiddos again! But I have such an abundance of energy lately with my new diet, it's CRAZY! So workout is a must tomorrow! For sure!

Mom and I (with Gram in tow) took a grocery shopping trip with my food allowance. It was great! But the hardest part is that I'm not allowed to have a whole lot of sodium, so they say that when I go to get meat, it needs to be fresh and not injected with salt. Do you have any idea how ridiculously hard that is to find? Yikes... But we were successful, and I measured and weighed the chicken, then put it in baggies so that I can just pull out a serving when I need it!

This is good.. I have a great feeling! :) And tonight for a snack, I get one of my "nutrients" that I have to buy from the center, and it's chocolate marshmallow pudding with chocolate chips. YUM!

More to update tomorrow, I'm sure!

Cleansing... CHECK!

Well, the cleansing program has officially ended (well, as soon as I eat my orange...). Thank goodness! I am so over red meat.. Mom, chicken for dinner tomorrow? LOL

It's all just starting to hit, and I'm totally ready! Tonight we had a mini-guard rehearsal, and Miss Jackie took us out for ice cream. I ordered a Diet Coke. The end. I was very proud of myself, because my old self would have gotten a blizzard with extra goodies in it. No more!

Not much to say today... but tomorrow morning I go in for my first day on the diet! WOOHOOO! I need to get my folder that I left there on Friday. Ooops! So I need to go in first thing tomorrow morning.

More to update tomorrow, I'm sure!

NO MORE CELERY!!!

Let me start by saying if I ever decide to eat celery by itself ever again, shoot me. Yuck. Painful! This cleansing program isn't too bad, except the whole "no seasoning with salt" issue. But I must say, Mom did a spectacular job with dinner tonight making sure I don't have anything in my food that isn't on the cleansing program. The purpose of the cleansing program is to rid my body of starches, carbohydrates, and sugars. Fun Fun Fun! But I must say, I do feel full and energetic.

I walked a 5K this morning with my work.. it was a benefit for Sunshine, and I had to wheel one of my residents in the walk. It was a blast, and I felt really good afterwards! (That is, until a maintenance man tried to give me a plate of food filled with carbs, sugars, and starches. The apple crisp squares smelled DELICIOUS! :( But I didn't cave, I stayed strong with the help of a coworker!)

I have a good feeling about going in on Monday! :) I feel like I'm going to have more good results. Probably will have my best first week ever. This is going to work, I can feel it!

So the diet works like this: I am allowed to have a set amount of starches, veggies, fruits, yada yada yada per day. Then I also have 3 "nutrients" that I have to eat, which are in the form of yummy foods (this week's choices were chocolate marshmallow pudding, double chocolate crunch bars, and a flavored drink mix kindof like crystal light that you put in a water bottle and mix it in) throughout the day. The only downfall is the expense, but it's totally worth it! (And I was given a website by a guard mom to tell me how to get them cheaper.. hehehe)

Tomorrow is my last day of "cleansing", and I can't wait to eat normal food again. My major deprivation is ketchup. Especially with eating all red meat. :( Hamburgers just aren't the same without ketchup...

3rd Time's a Charm!

Ok, I'm back, and this time is the LAST TIME I will have to say those words! On Wednesday I went in to check out Medical Weight Loss (NW Ohio/Michigan), and I wound up signing up for it that day. I don't know all the specifics yet, I learn about my diet today, but here's what I know so far...

I have been in twice and am going in the third time today. Yes, that's every day so far. But the people there are so nice and so supportive! It's great! Given my family history of diabetes and heart disease, they are doing blood tests to make sure I am good to go with blood sugar and all that fun stuff.

Today I began a "cleansing diet" that is for the first 3 days on program. Basically all I am allowed to eat are oranges, eggs (2 a day maximum), red meat, and green vegetables (but not ALL green vegetables!). I am only allowed to use certain spices on these foods - this is to cleanse my body of carbohydrates, sugars, and starches. I am feeling good already, and I've only had my first meal!

This morning I am going in to learn about the actual diet, so I will update you more on that later. But I did weigh myself this morning and so far I have lost 2 pounds. Wooo!

Oh, and did I mention that they tell you when you will reach your goal weight? I have 149 pounds to lose, and they base the date on losing 3 pounds a week. According to this, it will take me 50 weeks to reach my goal weight, which puts me at August 25th, 2011! Yes, next summer I SHOULD be able to wear a 2 piece swimming suit, maybe showing some belly? :) We will see! VERY exciting!

I will definitely have to update this more often, because I know this is it, and I want to remember every detail!

See you soon!

**Correction: I just weighed in for my class and I have lost 3 pounds since Wednesday! :)

4 Pounds Later!

I know, I know, it's been forever! But believe me, I have done my job! In the past 2 weeks I have lost another 4 pounds! :) Yay! I bought my own scale for my bathroom so I'm not constantly back and forth into my parents' room, so I hope it's right. But I'm pretty sure it is!

I have been trying some new things. I have been watching not only my calories, but fat intake. So far so good! I did take a day off yesterday, though, and it was a BAD BAD BAD idea! My parents and I went out to dinner for Mexican, and Mom and I got fajitas. By the time I got home my stomach was turning. Not good. A good 15 minutes later, I was a goner. I am just now recovering and it's almost been a whole day!

The exercise program is great... I haven't been in as often as I have hoped, I have been picking up hours at work and with my Grandma, so it's not like I've been Miss Lazy Bones (though I do have my times, believe me... True Blood has literally sucked the blood out of me when it comes in the mail from Netflix, LOL) I have been working with Brenda twice a week for an hour each session, then I come in at least once or twice other than that. I also got those balance ball technology running shoes from Reebok... AMAZING! I jogged for like 2 minutes and my legs were burning! It definitely enhances your workout, even though they are somewhat on the expensive side.

We have been trying new recipes as a family. We are in the process of buying Jillian Michaels' cookbook, but until then Mom has found some recipes and I am currently (literally, as I'm typing) making Jillian Michael's healthy brownies from scratch! Can't wait to try them! She previewed them on her show last week, and I got the recipe online. If they're any good I'll let you know! :) Promise!

Well... that's all for today. My brownies should be done soon, here! I will also give an update on my job situation. So far nothing, but I'm still staying confident in at least having an interview in the next few weeks, if not getting a job! :) Later on!

2 Pounds!

Well, I weighed in on Saturday and I have lost 2 pounds. Slow and steady! :) But the good news is people are starting to notice my loss. I am finally looking like I am losing weight, which is awesome! It appears as if I am losing inches more than pounds, and I'm finding that I have the shape I have always wanted! Once I'm thinner, much thinner, I will have a killer body, and I can't wait for the day that I look in the mirror and I look exactly how I have always wanted. It's coming, I know it is!

I am very consistent lately with my workouts. I go to the gym 4 times a week, and I am there for at least 45 minutes each time I'm there. Brenda and I are routinely twice a week, and I am LOVING martial arts!

That's all I have for today... I think I may take a nighttime swim before going to bed! :)

Workout Confidence... Complete!

So this morning I woke up and told myself my objective of the day: to go in the gym and give it all I've got. I did that today. I actually think I found some confidence in the gym, as well! First thing I did was jump on the treadmill (well not literally "jump", but I was pretty stoked to start my workout!). I started off light for my warm up. I was only intending to do a 5 minute warm up then lift weights. 20 minutes later, I had done 4 one-minute-and-a-half jogging/running intervals. It was great! What I do is this: I started off just at 2.5, then worked my way up to 3.5 by 10 minutes. Then at 10 minutes I turned it up to 5.0, 5.5 at 10:30, and 6.0 at 11:00. Then I backed down to 3.0 for a couple of minutes. I kindof staggered the cycles based on how I was feeling, but I completed 4 cycles of that. It was great! At 25:00 I started a cool-down. Then I went and lifted weights. I'm telling you what, I have NEVER been so confident working out by myself. I did a few of the weight lifting techniques I've done with Brenda, not all of them. I wanted the weight lifting to be a little bit light. So that's what I did. But I did focus more on my abs. I love to do crunches! Then when I was done with weights I decided I still had some workout energy left, so I got on a bike (not "jump", because I don't really like the bike that much, but I know it's good for me to do every once in a while) for 25 minutes. I didn't realize how intense it was until I got off the bike. Yikes! Talk about leg spasms. So I stretched out a little bit before I left, which I know should totally be routine at this point, but I always forget! I get into such a high of working out that I don't take the time to relax at the end and stretch. I'm thinking I need to make a good mix of workout songs. I had to keep skipping random songs like the Up soundtrack and Dane Cook... perhaps that should be a project in the next couple of days before I work out on my own again! :)

My Fitness Pal

On Thursday when I was working out with Brenda (again, she is AMAZING!) she mentioned to me a website to track calories and calories burned through exercise. I love it! I was previously using the "LoseIt" application on my iTouch, but I found it to be hard to actually sit down, search everything, yada yada yada... this website is so easy to use! Anyways, for those wondering, the webiste is http://www.myfitnesspal.com

I am still working super hard... not getting in a lot of extra working out, but I'm working towards it this week. Going in to work out tomorrow morning. Maybe get in some jogging? We shall see! Or maybe I'll just go to a spinning class! Only time and energy will tell! :)

A quick congratulations to Brenda, she got married on Friday!

That's all for today, have a great Monday! (I sure hope no one gets a case of the Mondays! LOL)

Why is it different this time?

Here are 5 reasons of why my weight loss is different this time:

5. I officially made up my mind that not only do I WANT to be healthy, but I NEED to be healthy!

4. I'm not sick of working out.

3. I'm not obsessive about the weight loss this time, I am being very laid back and not thinking about it every minute of every day.

2. I have the support system I need to have around me.

and finally..... *drum roll*

1. I have changed my lifestyle completely!

Still going strong, but a lot is going on with finding a job... pretty soon here I should be getting calls for interviews, so things are heating up and I'm calling principals and using my networks that I have established.

Did more martial arts today with Brenda - it's feeling GREAT! And I'm building up my stamina, which is awesome as well (even though she says I have great stamina.. pshaw!).

Have a great day - I know I will... it's a DCI kind of day! WAHOO! :)

Officially official!

I started REALLY counting calories today. Now that the birthday/graduation/holiday excitement is over, I am now taking the time to count out my calories. The weight loss is very slow lately, so we need to kick it in to gear. At least it's a loss, though! Right?

I worked out with Brenda again today. More martial arts, and I'm LOVING it! I had a lot of extra energy today, and she definitely kicked it out of me! We warmed up with kicks, lifted weights, did more kicks, lifted more weights, did punches, lifted more weights... it was AWESOME! I'm telling you, I think I found what will help me lose weight without even thinking about it! I'm considering a tag line for the martial arts... ;-)

Short and sweet! Have a great day!

Happy Birthday to ME! :)

Yep, it's official, I'm 23 as of like 6:45 this morning! Crazy Crazy! I have given myself the day off of counting calories because I know it's gonna be crazy anyways with going out to dinner, and I don't want to have to worry about it.

I promised an update, and here it is! I have lost another 2 pounds so far, which is AWESOME! :) I am experimenting with foods to find what is good and what is not good calorie-wise and how filling it is. I have been working out with Brenda twice a week lately... it's awesome! I just recover and I'm back at it! For my birthday workout yesterday, we did some martial arts! AWESOME! I got to let out some of my aggression from the past few months, punching and kicking things. It was great! And an amazing workout, might I add! I loved it, and I hope we do that more often now that she knows I love it so much!

I'm still pluggin.... just stick with me! Just because I'm not blogging doesn't mean I'm not still watching, because I am! I'm kicking it into serious full gear next week... I've been a little lazy with calories this week :(

Have a wonderful weekend!

Still going!

Sorry, I know it's been a while since I've written... I promise I will update soon. Things are going well, just trying to get through the job search and such...

I will leave you with a quote: "Self determination is what life is all about. Without it, you might be alive, but you wouldn't be living - you would just be existing."

How do I breathe?

So today (yesterday) was a fun one. I went and worked out with Brenda again! It was great... she had me jogging in intervals on the treadmill since I told her that I like to jog and my ultimate goal is to be able to run a 5k. That's all I needed to say! I was already sore from Tuesday, so she told me anytime my legs tie up just to stop. But I wound up jogging 4 out of 10 minutes. Not bad! My first interval was 2 minutes, then I did two 1 minute intervals. My main question for her was "How do I breathe? I don't understand breathing when jogging.." so she taught me some breathing techniques for running, then afterwards she showed me how to stretch out my legs.

Diet wasn't so good today, but I kind of layed off for a day. The weight isn't coming off like it should be, so I think it's time that I seriously keep a journal of what I eat and my calorie intake. So here's to the new beginning of my food journal! LOL

Well, I have a lot going on today, so I need to stop writing and eat breakfast! Have a great day!

Summertime!

So, this is my week off, and I have spent it thinking about the coming school year. I'm officially a teacher, huh? LOL! The good news is, with all the craziness going on around me, I have not only found time to relax, but I have also stayed on track! :) Good stuff!

With diet, I have done amazingly well! I have been home, which has helped the process quite a bit, but also I find myself more hungry when I'm at home. I have way too much time to think about eating. But, what I do is I find a healthy snack to tide me over. For example, this afternoon I got hungry and it was like 3:00, so I got out some pineapple that was already sliced, and I had a bowl of pineapple. Water has also been tiding me over quite a bit. I try to drink more water to not allow myself to get hungry. But then I'm going to the bathroom 12 thousand times an hour!

I worked out with Brenda again yesterday. She is so great! She has a very relaxed approach which seems to be working for me. I don't feel as though I'm going over my head with the workout, but I am sweating more than I ever have before! And I know I'm working harder than I ever have. I don't find myself complaining anymore. I just do it. And my determination really does take over. While lifting weights, I find myself saying (out loud, might I add) "Ok, Erin, you can do this. Work through it!" I can't wait to weigh in on Friday and see where I am! :)

Since I am off of work this week, Brenda and I talked about me working out twice this week with her. So I go to see her again tomorrow! :) I'm still sore from yesterday! But it's good... I'll work it out! I always do!

Have a great day, and keep your fingers crossed for me for a job! :) We're getting there I think!

Crazy Crazy Crazy!

This weekend was absolutely INSANE! I worked Saturday all day (literally), then came home, went upstairs to go to bed, and on the TV was a tornado warning. I alerted my parents, we watched the news downstairs and what do you know? There were like 3 touchdowns in NW Ohio between 2 storm systems. Absolutely crazy. Then I worked again on Sunday until 3, then I finally got to come home, but then we had the Moloney birthday/graduation/baptism party. I finally got to pause today and relax a bit! Thank goodness!

The good news is I did stay on program this weekend! I won't go in to detail, because that would be ridiculous. I don't know that I can even remember what I ate yesterday, worse yet Saturday! But I did stay on program, and I feel amazing. It doesn't even feel like I'm dieting... it just feels like I have made the necessary changes! :)

Obviously working out didn't happen this weekend, but I can say that I do still feel as if I worked out this weekend! I was being shadowed at work, and with lifting and bathing and all that at the home, I worked up a sweat and definitely was raising and lowering my heart rate!

This week is more relaxed since orientation is over. I am working on jobs for teaching, though, and that will definitely keep me plenty busy. Not to mention I could get called in to work. I work out again with Brenda tomorrow. I'm sure it will be as crazy as it was last week! :) Or at least I hope it will be! :)

Please keep the families whose homes and families were destroyed this weekend in the round of tornados in your prayers. It has been a rough weekend on the NW Ohio and SE Michigan area.

Have a great day!

24 Hours of Fun!

Well, I had an amazing day overall today! Lots of exciting things happening for me lately! :) I am officially a licensed teacher - I got my license in the mail today. It feels AMAZING to know that I have accomplished a major goal of mine. And another goal has been accomplished... I lost 6 (yes, that's right, SIX) pounds in the past 2 weeks! So exciting! :) I feel so good to have that much weight off already!

Today was kindof a mish-moshed day with diet. It was our last day of orientation at work today, so we had a celebration at the end of class. I started off my day with my organic cereal. Then at our party I had a couple small meatballs (homemade and apparently healthy, but I still only ate a couple) and a cupcake. I had a late lunch after that party, and I had tuna fish (made with light mayonnaise) sandwich and on some crackers. Then for dinner I had sister bonding with Amy, and that was my meal off for the week. I didn't really go all out, but I can tell you right now, I'm not feeling so hot from the chicken chunks. Greasy... blech! It tasted good, but it's so not worth it anymore.

My workout today was just yoga on Wii Fit. It helped stretch out my muscles from the workout with Brenda yesterday! It was great. And I broke a sweat! :)

This weekend is going to be rough. I picked up 12 hour shifts for both Saturday and Sunday. So take it easy on me! I'm going to try to update, but if not, you know why! :) Have a great weekend!

My determination can get the best of me sometimes...

That's a direct quote from my workout today. When I was working out, Brenda said to me at one point "Man, you're really doing well! Most people would have given up 2 reps ago!" and I looked at her and said "My determination can get the best of me sometimes, which can be both good and bad. In this situation, it's working out for me." Needless to say, it was a good day!

As far as diet, I did amazingly well! I started off with my Bob Evans Burritos (ultra YUM!). When I got home from working out I had lunch, and my mom made me 2 eggs over-easy with toast (I don't usually like breakfast food when it's not morning, but for some reason that's all I wanted after working out... weird!), to which I again say YUM! For dinner I took a Kashi frozen lunch, and I had the sweet and sour chicken. Organic! Wahoo! Then when I got home from work I had chips and salsa, then some chocolate frozen yogurt to finish off my day and my chocolate craving! Super delicious!

My workout was great, and Brenda really taught me a lot! We talked about eating organic, we talked about strength training vs. cardio.... It was great! I can't wait to keep this going. Brenda is very laid back, but ass-kicking! I feel my workout already... my arms feel dead right now!

Well that's all for today... I hope you all had a wonderful day! Have a great one tomorrow!

Busy Busy Bee!!

Ohmygoodness! I didn't even realize that I didn't write a blog last night! I am so sorry! LOL! I worked both jobs yesterday, and I think I got caught up in trying to keep on track that I forgot to update you all! But the good news is, the past 2 days have been AWESOME! I started packing good lunches at work, so I haven't been hungry at all! I started this whole taking a frozen meal, because I am so sick of sandwiches and chips for lunch... yuck.

Since mom and I went grocery shopping, I have noticed my eating habits changing. Not only with lunch, but with everything else. My breakfasts are no longer just toast or oatmeal. I got some healthy breakfast burritos, organic cereal, smoothies... YUM! It's been awesome. The family has been so super supportive, it's amazing!

My workouts were limited the past 2 days. My workout yesterday was guard. We have a HUGE guard this year, so I'm running all over the place trying to make sure that the girls are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Today I woke up not feeling so well, so I took an afternoon off. I've been so GO GO GO GO! and I think waking up not feeling well was a wake-up call to me. However, tomorrow I start personal training again! :) I can't wait!

Tomorrow will be a long day, but I promise I will update! :) Have a great day!

Memorial Day

Today was a VERY challenging day! With the family get-together, a family sleep-in, messed up eating schedule... YIKES! But overall, I can say I did very well. This, of course, was thanks to a very supportive family! :)

Did I work out? No. I was very sore upon waking up from Yoga yesterday. I decided to give myself a day off of working out. My shoulders were KILLING ME! Which was very unexpected, because I thought my knees or wrists would be bothering me today. But my shoulders were so sore! I'm telling you, it was a tough class! No Joke!

As far as food, I had a successful day. I started off with some organic cereal, which was super yummy and filling! For lunch we had our cookout. The options for food were: Ribs (yep... yum!), Hummus and Pita bread, Veggies and dip, Chips and Dip, and the leftover macaroni salad from yesterday. I may have overeaten slightly on the Chips and dip (thanks, Moloneys! LOL), but that's ok, because I didn't really overeat for the day. When I came home from work, I had 2 pieces of vegetable pizza and a piece of carrot cake. Now here I am!

I apologize for yet another boring blog.... still exhausted from work. I put in 5 hours today, which is significantly less than I did last week each day, but still... on a holiday. :-\ So anyways, off to bed I go. I have orientation again tomorrow, and I start guard practice! Extra small workouts once a week! Wahooooo! :) See you tomorrow. Have a great night!

No-Go Yoga

Yep, you heard me! NO MORE YOGA! Ouch! Great workout, but VERY hard on my wrists and knees. Yowza! I think our instructor was mixing Yoga and Pilates, which is great for the workout! But a lot of it was new to me, and I've done Yoga before. I just won't be able to go back until I have more weight off, because my wrists and knees are in bad shape from guard, and until I get more weight off, I'm going to kill them even more doing Yoga! But I did break a sweat, and it was so fun to go work out with my mom again! :)

Mom and I tried some new things today with diet. We had smoothies for lunch. We bought 2 different kinds of smoothies. My favorite was this off-brand. I'll have to get the brand to post on here... but all it is is fruit and ice. But it was sooooo good! And healthy. :) The best kind! We also wanted some macaroni salad, but we wanted to make it healthier. So mom used 1/2 lite mayonnaise, and 1/2 regular mayonnaise. And, if I'm not mistaken, she used whole wheat macaroni, too. Yum!

Overall a great day! I think I'm making the life change I need to. I'm just changing my decisions as I go along. And I scheduled my appointment with a personal trainer, I'm going to be with Brenda at St. James now! :) Big Dave was all booked up, but that's fine. I trust all the trainers there! It's such a great place to work out!

Tomorrow is the first holiday since I started this up... we will see what happens. I know I'll be fine, but I always get nervous around holidays, because I know there's usually pressure with eating bad food. I just feel different this time around. Like I can do this. Anyways, that's all for tonight. Have a great Memorial Day! :)

Another one bites the dust...

And here we go again! :) Another great day today! It was nice and relaxing to not work today. I actually got a minute to reflect on things, and it's a good reflection.

Mom and I went grocery shopping today. She enjoyed me actually being involved in selecting healthy foods. I am trying to make a transition to organic foods. I'm giving it a shot this week in some meals. We got some organic lunches for when I'm working, and an organic cereal. We will see how this works out!

I got to talk to Julie (personal trainer) today. She is like super duper busy and I have been wanting to get back in with a personal trainer. I asked her who she would recommend, and she recommended "Big Dave" (hahaha, I've seen him before, and he is "big") for me. We are going to talk tomorrow morning because I'm going to go into the club to work out tomorrow... maybe spinning or body pump? We will see! Body pump is later in the morning... ;-) And I'm thinking tomorrow I am going to start really keeping track of calories. Not obsessively, but enough to where I have an idea of how many calories I'm eating!

Anyways, I hope your holiday weekend is going well, and I will see you tomorrow! :) Happy Saturday!

Who said that?

Today was a wonderful day in the life-changing world all too commonly referred to as "dieting". I hate that word. Anyways.... for those of you wondering, YES, I did work out. I didn't go to the gym as I thought I would, but I did even better in my opinion. I chose to use my Biggest Loser Wii game, and I did a moderate 30 minute full body work out, and I have to tell you, my heart was POUNDING, I was sweating like I have never sweat before (gross, right?), and I am already feeling it. It was an amazing work out! :) Plus, Jillian was yelling at me, and that was part of the overall Biggest Loser experience! HAHAHA!

My food choices were great today, as well. I started off the day with my new favorite, oatmeal. I used splenda brown sugar and skim milk in it as well. For lunch I was trying to be creative with lunch and dinner since I had a long day of work ahead of me. So I went to Subway and got a $5 footlong with chips. I also packed some extras like the fruit crunches and a Kashi granola bar. I got the Black Forest Ham on Wheat, lettuce, cucumbers, green pepper, and oil and vinegar (to which I said "Wait... who said that?" because usually in this situation I get light mayo.... not today, my friends!). This was when I realized that this is real. I'm doing it without even thinking about it! AMAZING!

This weekend I'm off of work, so I will have lots of extra time on my hands. I want to make it in to a spinning class at some point, and I would really love to get hooked up with a personal trainer again. The determination is driving me crazy, so I'm thinking I need to utilize this energy for woking out! :) And for those wondering, my birthday is exactly 3 weeks away! WAHOO! Goodnight, my friends, and have a wonderful and healthy Memorial Day weekend! See you tomorrow!

Believe in yourself, trust the process, change FOREVER!

Thank you to Bob Harper for speaking those amazing words. It's great how when you really find yourself in weight loss, those words speak true! Needless to say, I have had yet another amazing day. Let's explore it together, shall we?

I started off my day with all intentions of going to work out. However, silly me, I forgot to set my alarm last night when I went to bed. I woke up at 8:00, and had to be at an appointment for work at 9:30, then had to work from 12-9. The workout in the gym didn't quite fit into that plan if I didn't get it done early. OOPS! However, at work today we were working on lifting and range of motion. So I definitely still fit in a workout! :) I'm sore from yesterday, and fatigued from today! Yeesh!

The food plan was a bit rough today, but not too bad, really. I just let myself get hungry. I didn't get a break today, so that proved to be difficult. I had oatmeal for breakfast, a sandwich and veggie chips with a banana for lunch, around 2 I had a sandwich and chips, then I just ate a BLT and had a dish of frozen yogurt! SOOOOOO GOOD! :) And much better for you than ice cream! (not to mention that it really filled my chocolate craving!)

The determination is definitely getting stronger and stronger as the days go on. I really think this is it. I think I'm achieving my goal! :) I did, as previously mentioned, write myself letters. I chose to not just do one for when I reach my goal, but I wrote 4 (yes, 4!) letters to myself to get me through this process. Each of them has a certain milestone.

My first letter is to me at 216 pounds. This was a reminder to myself that I started my weight loss plan that worked in high school at 216 pounds. So this is my reminder of how far I let my weight gain after that go, and to remind myself that I've been here before, and won. Then I wrote a letter to myself at 199 pounds, to congratulate me on making it into the 100's, which I haven't been at since 2006 when I performed at world championships for winter guard! My next letter is a major milestone, a letter to myself at 175 pounds. This is a major milestone for me, this is what I weighed in high school, when I was miss hot stuff! :) LOL! This was when I got my first boyfriend, found myself, and was voted on to homecoming court. This is also when I quit losing weight because I settled. I didn't hit my goal, but I was happy. In this letter I tell myself not to quit this time, but to reach my goal. Then I wrote myself a letter at my goal - 130 pounds. Some of you may be thinking yeesh, you will look so thin at that weight! But truth be told, I'll look great. I have the muscular body that if I get to that weight, I will look healthy still! I was told I should weigh 115 pounds. That is too thin. I would look sick. But anyways, back to the letter... LOL! I wrote in this letter to congratulate myself on FINALLY reaching my goal that I've never reached before. And to remind myself of how unhappy I am now with my body, and how great this life change will be for me. And also to make myself promise to NEVER gain my weight back. This is good. I can feel it. It's really, really good!

Anyways, I am totally and 100% exhausted from work today (my first day with the residents), so I am going to go to bed. The plan is to work out in the morning. Someone text me to remind me to set my alarm, LOl! Have a great night, everyone!

Here we go again... :)

Again, I suck and am short on time. I had to watch American Idol and see if Crystal won! So sorry!

I had a great day today. I turned down cookies tonight! Seriously! Mom and Dad can confirm it! I had a glass of milk instead! Wahoo! And I started off my day a little bit different with Oatmeal for breakfast instead of toast! :) As you can tell by the exclamation points, I am so happy with my day!

After work I came home, changed, and went straight to the gym. I had a great workout today, as well! I felt good about it. I did 4 jogging intervals, so that was great! :)

More to come... tomorrow I work until 9, and it's training with my residents tomorrow, so my update may be slightly later tomorrow. I promise to update a bit more tomorrow! Have a great day tomorrow!

Self-Determination

Lots of determination is going on with me lately. I don't know what it is, but I'm loving it! I have to work in a little bit, so this will be short but sweet. Basically I'm going to put together everything I have learned about weight loss, and lose it. For real! Starting weight is 274. I am going to work until 4 today, come home and change, then go work out at the gym. My goal weight is 130. :) Here we go. Starting a new, long journey that will end in serious happiness. See you later today! (p.s. I wrote my notes to myself last night. I will explain more later!)

First day of work...

Well, today was the moment of truth. I started work, and I have to tell you, after sitting through a 9 hour lecture, the last thing I wanted to do was work out. Not to mention I've had to take care of Grandma tonight.

I had a slightly larger breakfast this morning not knowing when I would be eating lunch. So I had 2 pieces of toast today :) Lunch was at 12, and I packed a sandwich and sunchips. So yummy! And my major success of the day - I avoided the vending machine!! The guy next to me took like 3 trips, and the M & M's smelled soooooo good, but I didn't get any! Grandma and I just had stuffed chicken breasts and potato salad (needed to finish it off - but there wasn't much left, so we split it).

As you can probably tell by my boring blog, I am 100% exhausted. So off to bed I go... or at least time to relax...

Rough Day...

Day 5 proved to be slightly more challenging, and I'm not sure why. It was a weird day. My allergies were AWFUL to start with, so I took some pills, and I'm pretty sure they made me a bit sleepy. I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon! So I'm pretty sure that's what ruined my day... but who knows!

I did stick to my 5 meals today... though some were slightly smaller than others. French toast was our breakfast (family breakfasts on weekend mornings), then I had a PBJ and a banana around 11:30, then I had a tuna fish wrap with crackers, then some carrots and peanut butter, and for dinner I had a turkey burger (no bun), pasta with veggies, and a medium blizzard from dairy queen (my real weekend splurge, lol).

I did not get to work out today. I figure I've been pretty good the past couple of days with working out, so I took a day off to just kind of chill. Plus that medicine really threw me through a loop! Oh well, tomorrow is a whole new day!

Tomorrow brings another major challenge... I am now officially working full time starting tomorrow! Yikes! So I work 8am - 5pm tomorrow, and I get a lunch break. I will take extra snacks just in case we are allowed to eat snacks or whatever, just to ensure my 5 meals a day! We will see how this works...

Day 4 = 3 meals :-\

Well today was a bit different from the others... I WENT AND WORKED OUT! As in I got in the car, drove the couple of miles to the gym, got out of my car, got on a treadmill, got on an arc trainer, got back in my car, drove home! So proud of myself! :)

I didn't do as well with my meal plan... I only had 3 meals today. But that's just a Saturday for you! :) I had a late breakfast (mom made coffee cake, SUPER YUM!) at like 11:30, so that kind of threw me off a bit because I'm used to 11:30 being my second meal! Oh well... still feels like a successful day!

My workout was was great. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5, then I did the weight loss program on the Arc Trainer for 20 minutes! But let's not talk about how 1/2 way through the Arc Trainer workout my iPod went flying and I had to pause my workout, which then cancelled the workout... I went back and finished the last 10 minutes of course, but I was ticked for the first like 2 minutes! LOL!

That's all for now. Kind of an uneventful day. Tomorrow will probably be much the same. Then I start work on Monday! WAHOOOOOO! Have a great day tomorrow!

Day 3

I forgot to post my update last night... oops! So here I am to post about my day yesterday! :) First of all, I got a very exciting phone call yesterday to start my day off - I got a full time (part time, but I can pick up shifts to be full time) job at Sunshine, and I start next week!

I started off my day with the usual - toast with peanut butter and a banana. I wanted to change it up, but I wasn't in the mood for anything else. (I'm changing it up today, though. Mom is making coffee cake! YUM!) A couple hours later I had a cheese quesadilla (again, YUM!), then a couple hours later I had 2 turkey hot dogs (no bun) and fruit salad. For dinner we had pizza from walmart, which actually isn't as bad as other pizza. I stayed in my calories, and got in 4 yummy meals! Oh, and I forgot my cookies and milk! It doesn't sound like I'm dieting, does it? LOL. Love it!

I am dog-sitting Erica's dog, so he has been my exercise! Chasing him around this house is a job, for sure! But today he's more comfortable around the house, so that's good. :)

Have a fabulous day, everyone!

SUCCESS!!

Thank you to those of you who have stuck with me through this process, and please know that your time has not been wasted! Despite my "failed attempt" as I thought it was, I have lost 8.6 pounds since January! The stress must have worked with me while student teaching! :)

So, as you may have guessed, I played a little bit of Wii today. I did Wii Fit today and clocked 9 minutes of exercise! I could definitely feel that I hadn't worked out in a while, because I didn't do much, but I felt it! I realized how bad my balance was, which was a point of pride for me! With guard, I knew I always had my balance, but YIKES! It left me! :( So here's to some serious hard work on the Wii to improve EVERYTHING, including my balance!

Today I didn't get to my "5 meals" still... I have had 3 meals, but 2 of them were fairly good sized meals instead of small meals. I started off my morning with toast and coffee (the toast had butter and peanut butter this time around), then a couple hours later I was at Erica's house and we went to Panera for a pick two! I had the Sierra Turkey sandwich and my Broccoli Cheddar soup (and let me remind you, the soup is low cal! It's not as bad as you would think!) But now I'm thinking I may have some of that Greek Yogurt (YUM!) with granola and craisins to finish off my day! :)

Positivity is key, and it's working! :) I feel good! Day 2 can officially be marked as success!

Here we go... Day 1

Well, day 1 of the new beginning has been successful (despite being knocked down by a migraine...). I know I said I was going to work out, no excuses, but come on, I had my first true blue migraine. It was not fun, and I did not enjoy myself, that's for sure! The headache is still holding strong, but not even half as bad as it was a couple hours ago!

I stayed true to my word and tried the whole "5 meal" plan, and it worked! I wasn't half as hungry as I usually am, and I found myself making better choices! I started off with breakfast (toast, banana, and coffee), 2nd meal around 12:30 (ham sandwich with carrots), 3rd meal around 3:15 (crackers - this was when the migraine really set in), 4th meal around 6:30 (bbq beef sandwich, veggie straws, and bread & butter pickles), then my 5th meal was just about an hour ago (egg whites scrambled with toast). I hope my migraine didn't contribute to the fact that I wasn't hungry. Hopefully tomorrow will be the true test of how this works out for me.

Tomorrow I will work my way in to working out again. :) Should be fun! I think I'll start it off on the wii so that not only will I be weighing in, but also getting in a mild workout for my first time in a while! Wish me luck!

And so it is...

Well, life (again) got the best of me, and I lost track of my goal. But, like I said, I'm determined this time. So I had a bad week. It happens. Anyone who has dieted knows that. But, a week later, I'm feeling it again. That itch to lose weight. It's going to happen. I know it is. I can feel it!

I have started thinking ahead. This morning I woke up and gave myself some time to think about what would be a good breakfast. So I started off my day with a piece of toast and a banana. Not the best choice, but I needed to start small. My goal is 5 small meals a day, like it's supposed to be. So I'm getting ready for my 2nd small meal, and I'm thinking a half of a sandwich and carrots.

I was going to go to the gym today, but I'm really not feeling it. I do want to get in exercise, so I'm thinking I'll do some of my Biggest Loser Wii game to get in some exercise. :) Plus it will give me a starting weight to track my weight loss.

Here we go.... take 3! :) See you tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

Well, it's official, tomorrow is my official day of kicking things back into gear. I have teamed up with a friend from school, Kylee, and we are going to start working out together. :) I'm super excited to have someone to work out with again! Especially someone that's under the same workload I was under, so she totally gets it. It's awesome! No excuses this time!

Tomorrow the plan is to go on a nice 5 mile walk at Wildwood (if not, backup plan is to go to the gym) right away in the morning. Plus, I'm beginning the whole "counting calories" plan again. I feel determined this time. Call me crazy, but this could be it.

I got the idea from The Biggest Loser to send myself a message. They do it via video, but since I'm not all into advanced technology (videocamera, haha) I'm going to write myself a letter. Starting at the end of week one (my usual "I give up" or "I've done it for a week straight, let's take one day off", which turns into giving up....), then one month in, then halfway to my goal, then at my goal weight. Just to remind myself of why I am doing this. Good stuff.

I'm going to start this off on the right foot, I am going to get lots of sleep tonight! Going to bed early, getting up usual time (8am... teacher time!). Wish me luck! (p.s. I will get a new starting weight in the morning via Jillian Michaels Wii)

I'm Back! :)

I know I've been totally MIA lately... student teaching has been a major time vacuum lately! But, now I'm only 2 weeks away from graduation, my responsibility at school is diminishing rapidly, and I am finding that I have extra time! (ssshhhh, I took a nap when I got home from school today! I haven't done that in a LONG time!) So now it's back to focusing on me! :) Which includes counting calories.

Today was just the start of what I hope to be yet another experiment in losing weight. I am trying to eat kindof normal foods that I would usually eat, but in a different way. Does this mean I am stopping off at McD's on the way home and eating a kid's meal instead of a value meal every day? No. (Not that it was every day anyways, but still....) I'm just changing things up a bit. For example, tonight at dinner instead of having a turkey burger with a bun, I had it without the bun. A small change, but major in terms of calories! I also had a sandwich wrap today instead of a normal sandwich. Again, lower in calories, but this time it was more food for less calories! Wahoo!

My plan is to start working out after school. This week I am kindof trying to relax a little bit, which I haven't done since I started student teaching. So I am giving myself a bit of a break until this weekend, when the workout will begin!

On a bit of a side-note, for those wondering, I have had a wonderful experience student teaching! We have our OAT (Ohio Achievement Test) next week on Monday and Wednesday, and we also have a field trip, so technically I'm only teaching 2 days next week, and I only teach Social Studies now. :) This will be a tough transition to have to say goodbye to my students, whom I have grown so close to! (Yes, all 60 of them!) But this is a good transition. I'm ready for my classroom! BRING IT ON! Now I just need for my body to be ready.