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! :)