I'm FIFTY!

Ok... for those of you that DIDN'T watch SNL in the late 90's early 2000's, that joke is lost on you. But because I still quote it to this day, and if I stretch the definition a little it's almost fitness related, I will share it with you.

Moving on! This is our 50th blog post. Can I just say how proud I am of Tiff and myself for not letting this blog die away like so many others? And for not turning it into a long list of excuses as to why we're struggling with our goals? I think we've both been pretty good at admitting "well... that was dumb of me to have 18 milkshakes and 4 cheeseburgers... no wonder I gained my weight back." Not that I think either of us has had a milkshake since we started this thing (I have had a few cheeseburgers), but you get my point!

So, as promised, I was going to explain further about my lack of progress. To be perfectly honest, I don't know what happened to make me gain that 2 pounds back that I had lost. I stuck to my calorie goals and drank plenty of water. I was a little lazy with my strength training, though. Maybe that was it. The last pound I gained came from going out with Greg twice for his birthday, once to Smoky Mountain Brewery and Once to Red Robin (I told you I had a cheeseburger) and eating waaaay too much on Easter. Between all that overindulgence and working more days, I didn't have time for working out. Lamesauce on my part.

This week I am trying to do better. I'm still working towards my goal of a total 20 pounds lost by my birthday... which is only a week from Saturday. I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't make it, but I think I still need to work towards it. Plus, even if I don't make it by my birthday, at least I'll be that much closer to making it at all! Positive, positive, positive.

Speaking of positive, I decided to reward myself for making it to -10lbs. Greg and I were killing time at Target before his Red Robin birthday dinner, and I bought myself a bracelet (I would have posted a picture, but the target site is being ridiculous). It says "dreams become reality one choice at a time." I thought that was appropriate given the circumstances. I have also decided on another reward for myself when I accomplish a my C25k goal.

I found it through a website called One More Mile. I had posted a status on Facebook about how I was always pleasantly surprised when running didn't kill me, and a friend (who is a runner) posted a link to one of their shirts that says "Running won't kill you, you'll pass out first." Ooh, a new place to shop?? So I started looking through their stuff and saw a tab that said "penguin." Now if you know me at all, you know I had to click! I saw this and decided that I would use it as motivation towards that goal. I mean, hello! Inspiration and a PENGUIN?? It will be mine... in about 2 months, lol.

Speaking of my running, I'm doing pretty well if I do say so myself. This week is week 3 and it (obviously) didn't kill me! Almost. I actually had to stop half way through the first time I tried because I was having trouble breathing. It was an Allergy thing, not an exercise thing, but it still upset me. The next night I went through it again and finished. I prayed for 25 minutes straight, but I made it. Seriously! It went something like "Ok God... I know this won't kill me, but I might need some help getting through... just help me breathe through the next 90 seconds... ok, thank You... now let's get through that 3 minute run... ok one minute down, God, help me get through the next 2...." and before I knew it I was in the cool down stage and I was fine. I needed to go again yesterday, but uhm no. I don't know if any of you heard about the storms passing through the South, but it was pretty bad out there, and I was not about to risk my life (or my car!) for I a run I could do today.

Ok, I guess I need to get to that run. I don't have a lot of time before going to work, and I really want to get it done. Later all!

- Jen

Lazy Morning

So I'm sitting in my bed watching Regis and Kelly banter in a weird, flirtatious way. I feel like I'm still recouperating from the previous work week. I went to the gym but I didn't meet my goal for gym. I ate out and I ate cookie dough. But mostly I worked. I worked nine days straight. I'm not complaining, but I had no time for me. It was work work work. I got really upset, I would come home, exhausted, so I would go out to eat instead of making a healthy dinner. I tried to eat healthy out for the most part so that's a plus. My husband had also been gone for quite some time now, and on top of that we are still dealing with the stressors of home buying and the financial aspect of that. So anytime I hit a bump in the road with that I'd grab a spoonful of cookie dough. I am lucky I didn't gain all my weight back! As it stands I'm fluttering around my last weigh-in weight of 188.8 and 190. But today I'm like at 189. So at least I am maintaining. I really don't know how to balance everything in my life. Before, I didn't have a job, and when I took this job I was skeptical about still having time for my goals. I was right in my doubts. I need to figure all this out but it isn't going to happen in the near future. Mitch comes home, my mom comes to visit and we are loosing a good, trained worker this week at work and we have SIX new trainees coming in.

Overwhelmed doesn't begin to cover it.

Short and (Bitter)Sweet

I have a friend picking me up in 10 minutes to go help her move furniture all day, so this is probably going to be a little rushed. Sorry.

So my goal..... *sigh* Not only did I not meet my goal, but I actually gained a pound from my weigh-in 2 weeks ago. I'm now 237.6. I'm not surprised, but I am disgusted. I weighed myself this past Wednesday and saw that I was back up to 235.8 or so. Then the rest of the week dissovled into birthday meals and eating my feelings. Both bad.

But now I think my ride is here. I will try to post more details and a new goal tonight.
- J

Happiness :-)

I'm in a pretty good mood these days! First of all, the scale is moving in the right direction, and in a consistant manner! I've lost about 16 pounds, which feels awesome! It's hard for me to tell much of a difference by looking at myself in the mirror. We don't have any full length mirrors in the house, so I can't really examine myself (or take self-portraits lol). I am noticing a difference though. I take a yoga-ish class at the gym, and of course there are mirrors there to check your form. I used to get disgusted with how big I was. During the last class I noticed that I look a little leaner. Yay!

I'm also in a good mood because of my oh-so-wonderful boyfriend. He said I wasn't allowed to talk about him on Facebook anymore, but he didn't say anything about my blog! [insert evil laugh] Apparently, my bragging about how wonderful he is was ruining his street cred. For those of you who have never met this man, street cred is not something you would have considered him having to begin with. Anyway, Mr. Wonderful is very supportive of my new eating habits and exercising. He's actually the one that got me going to the gym 2 years ago. And for Valentine's day he got me a Smoothie King gift card because I told him I really didn't want any candy. But back to his more recent wonderfulness! Yesterday he told me he could tell that I was starting to slim down. The fact that he, a GUY, noticed and told me that made my freaking day! He didn't even notice when I got a haircut and had bangs all of a sudden. He also said it was easier for him to pick me up (also for those who have yet to meet him, he is a 6'5" goofball who likes to pick me up just because it seemed like the thing to do). That's not saying much, though. He works out like a machine, and I used to fight him every time he started to lift me. I guess I was embarrassed that he might throw his back out or something. Anyway!

More good news has been my workouts. I have been sticking with my c25k training. I did w2d2 today. It didn't kill me! I thought it might there for a minute, but I lived! Part of my problem was not eating enough before I started the jog. I just started running out of steam at the end. I made it though! I may do Week 2 for a few extra days before moving on to Week 3. When I survived today's session, I don't think I'm ready to move on just yet. I also had a session with my trainer the other day. It was the first time I've seen her since October! She kicked my booty, and I loved it! My legs were pretty sore though, which did not help my running! Oops!

In other news, I posted yet another recipe. I have really enjoyed this one! I took it for my lunch yesterday. I will definitely be making it again. And soon probably! I need to start playing with more breakfast ideas. I seem to be stuck in cereal rut, but that's mostly because I'm lazy. Oh well! Alright, I think I'm done for this update. Hope everyone is doing well!

- Jen

What??

Have you ever looked at the scale and been confused? The numbers just didn't make sense to your poor little brain. Well that happened to me this morning. Huh?? I'm sorry, but I'm having trouble processing the fact that I have actually lost 15 pounds! My first reaction was "those 4's must be in the wrong place. It should say 244.3." So I did it again. Nope 234.4! So I took a picture. I'm so excited. And this means I'm right on track for meeting my goals. Tiffany better be picking out something good! I already have hers lol. Anyway, I have more to share and a recipe to post, but I'm actually at the gym waiting for a class to start. I was just so excited I wanted to share! - J

The time has come....

...My local weight loss competition has ended and I didn't win, I did, however, come in 3rd place (at least that's how it's looking as of right now!)

Since January 3rd when I started this whole mess I have: lost a total of 22.2 pounds. 10.25% in body fat. Gone from a size 16 to a size 12 (and those are starting to get baggy). found my waist! Gone shopping in my own closet and completed a 10k in under 3.5 hours. IN THE MUD. I have newfound self confidence and I am loving my new body.

But my time in weight loss world is not over. I am glad that the competition is over, towards the end I feel like it dragged by, I love who I met and who I've made friends with throughout it and the motivation and support but after awhile I felt that we were just repeating ourselves and we all had lives to live as well. So I am not terribly sad it's over, I am happy that we all made it through and now we can move on to the next step in our lives. That step for me is continuing on to lose another 40 or so pounds by the end of the year. I want to be skinny AND healthy.

I need to get back on track with goals just like my buddy Jen. I am ready to start posting goals again. Nothing crazy big but enough to get me motivated. So my goals are as follows:

Gym: 6 gym workouts before next weigh in
Pounds: Lose 5 pounds before next weigh in
Target: abdominals and legs. I may be losing but I still feel squishy!

Lastly, I'll leave you with a little mosaic that I put together of my time in the local competition!

Goal Reboot

Ok, so it's week 15 of this lovely little blog, and Tiff and I have been kind of slacking in the goals department. I don't even remember the last time I set a weight loss goal, and I definitely did not meet my running goal. Although, When I weighed myself this morning the scale said I was 236.4 pounds. That's a loss of 13.4 pounds! I'm very excited about that. That being said, I still want to recommit to setting and achieving goals. So, I declare today to be a new day and a good restart! So here are my current goals:

1. Lose 4 pounds in 2 weeks. Sound familiar? I figured I'd go back to the basics for this one. So hopefully I will weigh no more than 232.4 on April 25.


2. Be down a total of 20 pounds by May 7. That is my 27th birthday and I would love to have that as a present to myself! That means I have 26 days to lose 6.6 pounds. I think that's doable, especially if I can lose the 4 pounds in 2 weeks!


3. Stick with my 5k training! I have started a 5k training program again. This is the actual Couch-to-5k program. My last one was a little demanding for a beginner. I think C25k will be a little more reasonable for me to stick to.

So, I have declared my intentions publicly. And I have every intention of keeping them! But now, I need to go to work! Both on these goals and to that place that pays me for working! Have a great day all! -J

Late Night Posting

Well, I guess it's not that late. Anyway I'm updating. I don't have much to say, but I felt the need to post. Here we are!

First of all, I just finished a book that I'd like to recommend to you.

I really enjoyed it. She talks about several things that I had not thought of before, and it's really helped me recognize a few things that I needed to change about my eating habits. I bought another book, but I haven't started it yet. I'll let you know once I get into it.

Next, I believe that the time has come for Tiffany and I to get back to our goal setting and such. We both kind of got off track with that. She's been really busy (as she's mentioned) and I've been super stressed and unfocused. I've done really well with my calorie intake lately. I finally broke that 10 pound wall! And I've restarted my 5k goal. Needless to say, I did not meet that goal as I had hoped. But I'm going to start again. I'll leave the details for tomorrow, but I have a better outlook this time.

Hmmm, I guess that's going to be it for tonight. There's more I could say, but I want to wake up early tomorrow so I need to get to sleep early! Plus, I want to save some of it for my goal posting. I hope you all had a good weekend. See you tomorrow!

- Jen

Breakfast Recipe Posted!

I know, it's 11:00 and I'm posting a breakfast recipe. Crazy times. Anyway, I made my meal for in the morning, tonight. Here, I'll even give you a preview....

Doesn't that look yummy? And less than 200 calories a serving.... Just saying...

Ohhh, I know I need to post more. I need to give a good, detailed update. I also need to take and post some recent pics! Maybe I can get those taken tomorrow. I'm not making any promises, but I will try! Anyway, I hope that you all are enjoying the recipes! Be back later!

- J

First Week of April Already?!

So here I sit, 4 days into april...actually 3 months into this weight loss challenge we set for ourselves/each other. That's a quarter of a year. There are only 3 more quarters to lose the weight. At this point I have sat down and really reevaluated my goals in the numbers department. As I continue to lose weight and my body changes I am beginning to realize that I might not look "healthy" at 130 lbs. As much as I'd love to say that I weigh that much, I'd also like to keep my curves and not look sick. On the other hand I also want to stick with the goal I set originally and not "quit" it. It's a tough decision. So I'm doing what I do best. I'm waffling. What does that mean? It means that if I make it to 145-155 I might start to maintain my weight/health and not strive to hit 130 lbs as suggested by many weight loss sights and even my doctor (for my height and age group). I won't make that decision until I get to that point and I evaluate how I feel and how comfortable I am in my new body/new weight.

Make sense? Good! So my new goals/numbers are as follows (tentatively, of course):

Starting Weight: 211 lbs
Current Weight: 188.8 lbs
Lbs lost since January 3: 22.2 lbs
Lbs lost this past week: .2 (I'll get to that later in the post)
Body Fat Percentage lost: 10.52%
Lbs Left to Lose: 43.8 lbs to get to 145/ 33.8 lbs to get to 155
Height: 5'5"
Age: 24

It's all about being and staying healthy...if my body doesn't look right at 130 lbs then why struggle to get there? Ya'know?

So onto this past week...I only lost .2 lbs...a half of a half a pound! Ugh! At least the week before I lost 1.2 lbs! I've had a lot of stress this past week...coupled with the fact that I've been at work 7/7 days and factor in a wedding with an open bar and a delicious meal...and I'm happy I actually lost weight instead of gained weight!!! I also canceled my gym membership this week. Whhaaaaat??? Yeah, I loved that gym, but the money is needed somewhere else currently (buying a house, every little bit helps) and I get in free on base...no the classes aren't as good but hopefully I'll be able to go back to the big gym in a few months...we'll see! I can still use the gym until the end of June.

So here's my picture for the week! It's NOT a full length, I'm sorry, but it's my favorite of the week and I think it shows how far I've come and how comfortable I'm becoming!

I seriously love this picture...I bought that dress last Summer but couldn't wear it. Now I can! 

More New Recipes

Tonight's dinner was delicious and healthy. So I posted the recipes. I suggest you go try them. I made Roasted Vegetables and Potatoes. There were tons of leftovers, so I think I may make a frittata for breakfast tomorrow. Hmm, sounds good already.

So, in other news..... I FINALLY LOST 10 POUNDS! Actually, I had lost it a week ago, then I went out of town and gained 1.6 pounds back. But now I'm back down. Yaaay! It took me long enough! But seeing this progress gives me some encouragement. :-D I'll try to take and post pictures soon. I know I've been slacking in that department.

I also met my goal for working out 10 out of 14 days. It was a little hard with me being out of town, but I made it work.

Alright. I know this was kind of a lame post, but there you have it. I'm gonna go... do something else. Later!

- J