ALIVE?!

WAIT, WHAT?!

There's a new post on this blog?? Someone must have hijacked LNDQ's blogger account (because we all know she's moved to the infinitely-better wordpress anyway) and decided to wreak some havoc on this hopping operation...

So anyway, it's been a month and 17 days since I updated last. Life got in the way. Of life. Yeah.

Buuuut, I'm almost finished my third month of work and WOOOOOT about three weeks ago, I moved right around the corner from work, so I'm no longer wasting 2+ hours of my day commuting! Which meannnnnns, I'm getting back into the swing of this whole being healthy and losing weight thing.

Two really good things about this move:

• My apartment complex has a gym that has the essentials and usage fees are included in rent.
• My roommate, aside from being sheerly amazing, is totally into working out and getting on this healthy kick for me. We've been helping each other out in the willpower department.

We started working out last week, I guess. But this week we've kicked our plan into high gear. We went to the gym on Monday and kicked each other's asses, then went to the grocery store while we were still on our health kick and made sure to get lots of healthy food. We came back with only one "unhealthy" item - Kraft macaroni and cheese. On sale for a freaking dollar a box. And that's my hangover food of choice, so we need it on hand. All the other stuff is super healthy, so that should get us in the right frame of mind.

Tuesdays are our weekly happy hours, so we were unsure how we were going to fare today. Well, we intended to get up and go to the gym at 6:15 this morning to counteract the happy hour action after work. Fail. We both slept through our alarms (AND beyond our normal wake-up times...double fail) and didn't make it. But after happy hour, we came home, I dug out my Billy Blanks Boot Camp DVD and we did that and some other exercises for about an hour. We were very proud of ourselves, but will probably hate ourselves (or Billy) in the morning.

Our plan is to alternate going to the gym and doing workout videos for a bit of variety in the routine to keep our bodies from getting into a slump and getting used to what we're doing.

I'm hoping to start updating this (as well as my regular blog) more often now. Obviously my initial goal of 20 lbs by January 1 is NOT happening. I guess the new year will provide a good catalyst for setting new goals, so I'll be back on Sunday with a weigh-in, goals and specifics of the plan!

This is a weak update

Bad news first: I gained back a little of what I lost, but I've still lost overall. I've been really bad about keeping track, so I'm going to try and get better at that.

Good news: Today, I went to the gym and pushed it hardcore on the elliptical. It felt incredible. And of course by "incredible" I mean "exhausting and sweaty and painful." But seriously, it was a great workout. Somehow, I managed 3.65 miles in 33 minutes. That has to be a new personal record. Either that or miles at the YWCA are shorter than they are in real life.

Up next: figuring out a way to eat healthy when all of my healthy foods go bad so quickly :[

♥Sassy

I suck at updating this.

OK, OK, so I haven't updated this. I haven't really tracked my eating. And I haven't exercised nearly as much as I had wanted to. But in the three weeks since my last post, things haven't been all that bad.

For two weeks, I maintained that weight, which I was perfectly content with. And then this past week? Yeah, I lost another two pounds.

Starting weight: 185 lbs.

Sunday's weight: 178 lbs.

This week's change: - 2 lbs.

Total change: -7 lbs. (And if I count the first weight-loss attempt this summer, that means I'm down a total of 14 pounds since July!)

There is no doubt in my mind that the biggest cause of this weight loss is the fact that I'm at work for eight hours a day and I'm not sitting around my house, bored and snacking whenever I want.

I've only had a handful of chances to work out lately, but I'm getting it in when I can. And if that means I count our happy hour bar crawl on Tuesday night as a workout, I'm fine with it (and you should be too). I mean, we walked at least a mile, probably more. And I only had two drinks, so not too shabby.

I am starting to feel a definite difference in the way my clothes are fitting. My jeans pretty much don't fit me anymore. They fall off. I can remove them without unzipping the fly. I also just got a sweater I ordered from Gap today. It is a size medium. I need to return it because it is too big. I'm going to try a size small (WHAT?!) and see if that works.

I'm still not getting enough water in during the day, or my fruits and veggies. So I bought V8 Fusion the other day to get my extra servings of fruit/veggies. And flavored sparkling water to get more of that in (I seem to crave soda-like beverages at work for some reason, even though I don't really like soda).

So, good news overall! Still looking to get into more of a workout routine, but it'll happen! Thirteen pounds to go to reach my goal. Let's do this!

Week Three Wrap-up & Weigh-In

This is gonna be a quickie because I'm tired (that's what she said?).

Starting weight: 185 lbs.

Today's weight: 180 lbs.

This week's change: - 2 lbs.

Total change: -5 lbs.

YIPPPEEEEE! I was so worried I wasn't going to loss this week with not really having the time for exercise, but I did!

Weekly goals wrapup:

• My main goal for this week was to exercise daily. I FAILED. With the hour (one-way) commute, I've been too exhausted to do anything.
• Eight glasses of water? False. I don't drink as much water at work. I wouldn't have time to DO work if I kept refilling my water bottle (and subsequently peeing!)
• Fruits and veggies? Definitely not.
• Reducing alcohol consumption? Errrrrr...thanks to #pbandtuna, not so much.

Setbacks: I sit on my butt all day. I drive two hours every day. I get home and want to sleep. Thus, no exercise.

Goal for this week: Exercise. Take healthier lunches.

I guess that the lack of exercise has evened out with the fact that I'm not eating as much since I'm at work. I'm OK with that. But I miss exercising. I did get home tonight with a boat-load of energy, so I went for a powerwalk, which was great, but that's not gonna happen often, unfortunately.

Week Two Wrap-Up & Weigh-In

It's that time of the week! Weigh-in day!

Starting weight: 185 lbs.

Today's weight: 182 lbs.

This week's change: - 2 lbs.

Total change: -3 lbs.

Progress! This week was a loss of two pounds, which I attribute to the ridiculous amount of working out that I did and my renewed focus on eating well. Hopefully I can continue to lose two pounds per week from here on out.

Weekly goals wrapup:

• My main goal for this week was my multivitamin, which I remembered five out of seven days. I think that this will get better as I start working and have more of a routine.
• Eight glasses of water? Check.
• Fruits and veggies? Could've been better.
• Varying the workouts? I did great with that. Focused on strength one day, cardio the next.
• Reducing alcohol consumption? CHECK. Two drinks total. I'm OK with that.

Setbacks: The biggest challenge this week was being away for two and a half days. I went back to my alma mater for the weekend and that of course meant eating out for every meal. I probably ate too much and didn't make the best choices, so I think that the restaurant dilemma is going to be something that plagues me for a while.

Goal for this week: Make sure to exercise daily. I start my job tomorrow and I'm concerned that since I will now be losing my gym time, I'm going to let it slip. So I am hoping to make myself go out walking/jogging every night when I get home.

Holy cow!

This is going to be a short post, because I have to get ready for work and class, but I wanted to update y'all. This week went pretty well in terms of eating, though there were two or three meals when I either ate more than I should have, or a little bit of something that was incredibly unhealthy. It was relatively easy to get back on track, but I was a little worried about those missteps.

Well, I weighed in this morning, and I'm down 3.8 pounds! My snazzy new scale has users and all of that fancy stuff built in, and it tells you how much you've lost or gained since your last weigh in (which is great for those of us who can't do mental math early in the morning...or most other times, for that matter), and I literally had to crouch down and stare at it to make sure it said what I thought it did. So I re-weighed myself, and yes, it's true. Such a fabulous feeling.

I think I owe it to portion control. Last night, I made dinner for two of my friends, and instead of piling all of the food in the middle of the table, I made up our plates and brought them to the table. I didn't feel compelled to get up and get more, and it wasn't just within my reach. Earlier this week, when I ate in the dining hall, I got my big salad and just a few buffalo wings, and I used my little bit of self-control to not get up and get more. It seems to be working, so I'm excited to see what happens when we throw working out into the mix!

The Beginning

Alright, so I guess I should finally update this and let you all (umm, all three of you...) know how this week has been so far.

I went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of healthy food so I can start cooking for myself again. Let me tell you, it is really hard to cook for one person And to eat by yourself. I feel like such a loser. But a lot of times, if I'm going to a friend's apartment for dinner, I might as well drive myself to the hospital afterward to have my arteries unclogged. Luckily, some of my friends have been kind enough to let me cook for them, so I made a delicious and healthy stir fry the other night and it was great. I need to do more of that. Or just start cooking for myself.

Next week starts the butt-kicking workouts. I've been really, really terrible about getting to bed at a reasonable hour. Mostly because I go and sit in my friends' apartment for a few hours every night. I should probably nip that in the bud, but it's hard when I live by myself and get really lonely when I just sit in my apartment and do my own thing. Anyway, I need to start getting to bed by 10:00 (oh geeze) so I can get up and be at the gym by 5:45. I figure I can still get seven hours of sleep with that kind of a schedule; it's just a matter of sticking to it. I'll probably do the gym on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, since the previous nights aren't too terrible.

I talked to Pinks last night (btw, that's the new nickname for ALP, the bride) and she was asking what I see myself in for the wedding. We got to talking about O: GWH, and she was so incredibly supportive. Not at all because she wants me to look a certain way for her wedding, but because she wants me to be happy. It's great to have such awesome friends :]

Alright, so now for the goals. By Christmas, I want to have lost 20 pounds. That's in 11 weeks, so it's going to mean some serious business. But it needs to be done. Ideally, by July, I would like to be down at least 50 pounds total. I'm not sure if that's feasible or not; it assumes more than a pound a week overall, and I know from experience that when I get to a certain point, I hit a plateau and can't get past it. I think it really is about having a goal in mind, in terms of how I want to look for the wedding, and just always striving for that.

Now, a practical question...how do I get a bridesmaid dress in the next few months when I'm hoping to lose so much weight?!