I've lost inches and weight!!!

Well this exercise thing has it's ups and downs. First, let me start by telling you my starting weight: 264.2.

Last week was fabulous. We, my fabulous workout buddy Jeannie, whom I mentioned in my other blog, worked out everyday for 6 days straight. We were sore and tired but we did it. We didn't want to finish but we did it. We treated ourselves to a night of the Three Musketeers and delicious movie snacks. Our hard work paid off. I lost 2 pounds and 3 1/2 inches. Jeannie was pretty much the same :)

This week was not so good. It's been a bad week for us. We only worked out 2 1/2 days. Neither of us had much motivation this week. Either we weren't feeling good or we just weren't up for it. However, this week we're going to kick butt! We're going to get to everyday and have a fabulous week. We'll be sore and tired, but we're going to do it.

My long term goal is to be about 166 pounds. It's right in the middle of my healthy weight scale. I don't want to be on the heavier end, but I also don't think that I'd look good, for my height, as a 130 pound person. However, we'll see what happens.

I'm starting with smaller goals right now. I want to lose inches at the moment more than I want to lose poundage. Inches looks nicer. With my exercise routine I've been gaining muscle mass as well so the weight won't come off in huge increments. However, two pounds a week is absolutely perfect as well.

Next stop: working on my diet. My diet is atrocious. I need to find out how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my days. However, being on a very tight, very limited budget means that I can't buy too much. I'll figure it out. I have this handy dandy app on my phone that keeps track of the foods that I've eaten and will help me to count calories. I need to start using it. Maybe this week will be the beginning of this. Wish me luck!!

P90X

I've recently started doing P90X with a new friend. We met this semester doing a project for a class. I've been having a blast. I'm sore, but I know that I'm doing good things. I haven't really fixed my diet per say. I have almost completely stopped drinking soda. I've been limiting myself to about one soda a week, but I have found that I'm not liking it anymore. It just doesn't taste very good. I need to start drinking more water during the day. I haven't been keeping myself as hydrated as I should. I've also started going to a chiropractor. It hasn't helped with my weight loss, but it has helped with so much more. It's helped with headaches, energy, and, oddly enough, my period. I wish I had more money to continue going, but this will be my last week. I hope that this month of adjustments will be enough.

With the P90X I have decided to weigh myself at the beginning of every phase, which is about every 2 or so weeks. That way I don't get discouraged by daily weigh ins and I can see the progress that I've made. I'm excited about it. I'm also going to do measurements. As soon as I get that done, I'll post the information. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon so I'll be able to post an accurate weight later. I'm really excited for this. I already feel more energized and better. I haven't seen much result yet, but it's only been 1 week and we only did 3 workouts. This week, and subsequent weeks, will be so much better. I'll do my best to get on here more regularly to let you all know how it's going!

I'm such a bad updater!

So, I keep slacking on writing on here. It's the week before finals so I've been very stressed and extremely busy. I still have some problems with saying no to some foods, but I think it'll get better after school ends on the 24th! I have been drinking lots of water and keeping active. While my food choices aren't the best, I've been doing better at not eating way too much and incorporating more fruits and vegetables in my meals. I drink a lot of juice as well. It really helps to get in some of the things that I'm missing.

My aunt asked me yesterday when we wanted to start Weight Watchers. I'm hoping soon, within the next month or so. Weight Watchers is the only sort of plan that I really like. It lets you choose what you want to eat, but you have to pay the points. I've done it before with my friend Tianna and I lost 20 pounds on it. It'll be nice to go back on it. I really liked it when I was on it.

I've noticed that my endurance on the elliptical has gone up. I've found that if I don't push myself to the extreme I can go for about 40 minutes and get over 3 miles done. It really helps me to think and let go of all sorts of things. It also helps me during the rest of the day. If I want to eat something super unhealthy, I don't really want to eat it because it'll undo everything that I've just done. Why fill up those lost calories with a candy bar? I eat a lot of baby carrots and apple slices instead. It helps with the sweet cravings. Now I have to find something that is healthy that will help with the salty cravings! Any advice or suggestions?

Day 5, 6, & 7

I know it's been a couple of days since I've last written. Lets just say it's been a crazy couple of days. I've had the house to myself since Thursday and will have it to myself until tomorrow! It's been very nice and very quiet. I've also been in the process of trying to buy a car and yesterday I got approved for a loan to buy my sister's and brother's-in-law car! I'm super excited and can't wait to be able to pick it up in July.

So, I've been using this first week to kind of figure out what I eat and how much of it and how often I do eat. I've found that I do a lot of spontaneous eating and snacking. While that isn't too bad, it's not good either when the snacking is on foods like candy, chips, processed food, etc. I need to start packing my lunches and bring along snacks. I know that I can buy string cheeses, and snack sized packages of vegetables and fruits. That will be lots better for me in the long run (and cheaper too!).

The last few days, I haven't eaten so well. I have found that even though I'm eating not so well, I kind of feel guilty about it. Most of the time guilt isn't a good feeling, but I think in this area it is a good thing. I'm going to use that guilt for something good from now on. I'm also going to be more diligent in writing in my food/exercise journal. It helps to keep me more accurate and faithful to what I'm eating and doing for exercise.

I told my good friend Orlando that I don't want to start a diet. I want to eat healthier by incorporating more fruits and vegetable into my diet. I'm going to have to go slowly because there are a lot of things out there that I don't like. I'm going to have to train my body to like them and to accept them. It's going to take a while and there are bound to be set backs, so be patient with me when there are. I'm also going to have to figure out how to incorporate them into my meals. Living with a family that eats ok, but not perfectly, will be hard. They also like a lot of those vegetables that I don't like. I'm going to have to stop being so darned picky! I think this will be a true test of conviction, but I'm ready for it. Today, my baby sister, Laura (8), got her ears pierced. According to my mom, she didn't even cry. We are all so proud of her for deciding to do something that scared her. She set her mind to do something and did it! She is an inspiration for me. If an 8 year old can do something that scares her, than a 26 year old can as well.

Oh, awesome side note! I found out that my home scale is not accurate! It was telling me that I weighed 275 pounds. I used one of the doctor scales that the school has in the exercise room and found out that I'm actually 263. It was like an instant weight loss of 12 pounds. I loved it! I'll be using that scale now instead of the one here at home.

Thank you everyone for this wonderful first week. You are all a wonderful inspiration to me and I know that I wouldn't have been able to do this with you guys. I love you all!

Day 4!

First off I want to say thank you to all of you who leave comments, suggestions, or just motivation. You guys are the only reason I'm able to continue doing this. I have gotten many website recommendations, that have wonderful tips and motivational sayings. I have gotten healthy snack option ideas and encouragement. You all are all amazing and thank you for everything. Yesterday was a fun day. I got another 1.62 miles on the elliptical machine done. I didn't have quite the same energy as before but that's ok. I can't wait to be able to do more and go farther. I only go for 20 minutes at a time. If I set a time limit it works better for me. I don't think at the moment I can go much longer. I don't have enough stamina and energy to keep at it for too long. It'll be wonderful when I can either get further in the 20 minutes or go for longer than 20 minutes. There are some girls in the exercise room that seem to always be there when I'm there. They go further and faster than I do. The first day, I wanted to just keep going because I didn't want to seem like a wimp. However, I realized, I don't have to keep up with them. I don't have to impress them. I have no idea who these women are, so why do I have to compete with them? I'm going to go at my pace and at my level. It was kind of liberating to think that. Walking is such great thinking time.

I ate:

1 piece of dry toast

1 sausage, egg, and cheese muffin sandwich (not from McDonald's)

1 Naked Red Machine juice

1 large hot dog

3 20 oz. water

1 medium raspberry ice tea

1 medium Fanta orange soda

1/2 Cafe Rio's Chile Roast Beef Burrito

2 glazed donuts

1 3-egg omelet with diced turkey, parsley, and gouda cheese

Not a really healthy day. I tend to be a spontaneous eater. I need to figure out a way to stop randomly deciding to go to a restaurant or eating whenever and whatever. I think another goal is to make out a meal plan, not just what I'm going to eat, but when and where. I'm going to leave room for spontaneity, because where is the fun in life without it? It's hard to have that sort of a plan when I'm in school. I don't want to put it off for too long, but I may put it off until the end of this block (June 24). If I do do that, than I'm going to just slowly start incorporating it into my routine. I think having a better set schedule will not only help me to stay healthier physically but also mentally.

Day 3

Monday was a good day. I had class and we got out early. I really don't think I like summer semester. It's way to short, goes way to fast, and the classes go on forever! Luckily, I was able to get in some exercise in between my two classes. My school has an exercise room that's free for students to use. I used the elliptical machine and got in 1.72 miles in 20 minutes. It isn't very far but I'm very out of shape and I don't have much endurance. I'm hoping that that will change eventually! I'm a even a little sore today. I'm going to have to add some weight training into my routine in the next couple of weeks.

I ate:

1 small lemon poppyseed muffin

2 20 oz. waters

1 taco salad

1 serving of spaghetti

3/8 of a Totino's pepperoni pizza-it was cut into 8 pieces and I ate 3

1 large glass of water

I've found that I'm not drinking enough water. I need to start drinking more. I'm finding that the more that I write what I'm eating or drinking or exercising the more I'm realizing what I need to do. I'm loving that I can figure out what I need to do. I've taken classes and read many articles on what is necessary to become healthy. I need to now apply all that I've learned into my life. I think I'm going to take a couple of days and figure out what I want and what I need to do to get there. Just exercising and writing down what I'm eating won't be enough. I need to start eating more fruits and vegetable (blech) and drink more water. I need to add more exercise than just the 20 minutes of walking on an elliptical machine. I'll also need to set a schedule and stand by it. I'm sure once school gets out it'll be easier to schedule all that needs to be done. I can't wait for this to really get going and I can start seeing results.

Day 2

Sunday I didn't do a darn thing. I had a pretty bad headache so I stayed home and didn't do much. I played a game of Ticket to Ride with the family. I actually won! It was kinda exciting. It was a crazy hot day too! It was gross and I think helped contribute to my headache :( I don't do well with the heat.

I ate:

• My leftover chicken alfredo from the Olive Garden, so about a 1/4 of a plate
• 3 bread sticks from the Olive Garden
• 2 scoops of taco soup, with crackers, cheese, and buttermilk ranch dressing mixed in
• 4 large glasses of water
• Small slice of cheesecake with whipped cream

It wasn't a very busy day and since I didn't really do anything, I didn't really work up an appetite. I wanted to snack some, but I didn't because I didn't want to have to write it down and be accountable for it. I know in the past, I've stopped myself completely from eating what I've wanted to eat and it makes me have panic attacks. This time around I'm going to eat what I want to eat, but in healthier portions. Rather than sit in my bed with a bag of chips, I'll sit at the table with a small handful. It'll be hard to get over that, but once I get over that hump I think the rest will be smoother sailing. I've also decided to have Blow Days. They're something I've learned from my second mom, Darleen and her daughter, my best friend, Tianna. Once a week we're allowed to eat what we want. That way it helps us to get through the rest of the week a whole lot easier with less panic attacks. My blow day will probably be Saturday since that's the day most people do fun things like Bar-B-Que's!

I've also decided that I'm not going to post a picture on here once a day. I'll do that once a week on Mondays. I'm still going to take a picture everyday (starting today) to show my progress, but I'm only going to post that Monday's picture. That way it won't be too much on here!

So, here is Monday's Picture: