Question for you

Hi ladies! Ok, so I was really excited yesterday to drop below the 170 mark, but today it says I gained a pound and a half. I'm up to 171.3! I was pretty good on my calories and even worked out late last night. There are two possible reasons for this: 1. The nutrition information for Buffalo Wild Wings on The Daily Plate is WAY off and the Honey BBQ Boneless Wings are more than the said 500 calories. or 2. Being on my period is affecting my weight. Since this is the first month that I'm really tracking all of this diligently, I'm not sure if that time of the month will do that to you. Could that just be retained water??? Let me know what you think!!

Oh, another thing - I told Bob about this blog and how much it's helping me push on in this journey. He's really pumped that it's working for me and he asked me the address so he can look at it. I tell him everything - he's my best friend...but I really like having this one thing that I KNOW is totally anonymous. I told him that that aspect really helped and that it was nice to have a place to gush about him as well that I know he wouldn't read. He said he respected that and let it lie. I think it's cute though that he wanted so badly to read what I write on here.

Current Weight: 171.3

Broke into the 160s!!!!!

So I've been waiting with anticipation for the day that I jumped on the scale and broke beneath the 170 line. That day was today!! 169.8!! And I can REALLY see differences in my body. I have this stomach roll that's always been there and it's been going down little by little, and today I noticed a huge difference! I can't wait until it's 100% gone - I can't even imagine. Bob is telling me that it WILL happen and that I'll be able to wear a bikini on our honeymoon. That's fun to think about. I don't think I've EVER had a bikini on! Bob has been in the 340's and on this same morning told me that he reached 339.8! It's fun to be working on this together and hitting new lows at the same time even. I'm really proud of him and his hard work.

Oh - big news here - WEDDING DEADLINE.....shortened!!! Bob had originally told me that the engagement was 5-6 months down the road (and then the wedding is another 6 months out from there). We started looking at houses though. He decided that he doesn't want to move forward with house hunting though until we're engaged - more logical flow. He also realized though that he really DOES want to marry me and DOES want to find a place that will be ours. So he's prayed about it, and is now thinking 2-3 months. This is AWESOME because he is the most wonderful man, I love him SO much, and I want so badly to be his wife and wake up next to him in the morning :) The only down side to this - less time to lose weight!! I'm not sweating this though. I already figured out that I could have it gone in July if I lose 2 lbs a week. I am on track and pacing well for this.

Bob has wanted to do a colon cleanse/detox thing for a really long time. Anyone heard of this before or tried it? We're doing the Colinix and Toxinout products together. I thought it was a good idea but we didn't have the money to drop down on it (the total came to $646 for both of us to do the 3 month program). I have the money to do it though now and so we ordered it tonight. He was so excited and I actually am too! I'm a little scared about what it'll do to my body in the process of getting all of the junk out, but it can only help this weight loss process. When my body is cleaned out, I should be able to metabolize foods much better and for all I know, I could have 10 lbs of toxins being stored in my fat. I can't wait to see what kind of results I see from this!!

Current Weight: 169.8

Back in the Saddle

Hi ladies! Thanks so much for your encouragement after my last post. I was pretty discouraged when I stepped on the scale Monday morning and saw that I GAINED 2 lbs over the weekend. Considering that I only lost 1.5 lbs last week, that means a net gain. But Tiffany was right - I was retaining water from all of the eating out - this was NOT fat that I had gained. Water...that's ok. I ate well yesterday (despite meeting a girlfriend for dinner at Olive Garden) and when I got back on the scale this morning, I was actually BELOW what I was at before the weekend! I weighed in at 170.6. On top of that, I woke up to a voice mail message from Bob that he had reached a new low! He's taken my lead and started restricting his calories. He hasn't started working out yet, but it's awesome that he's watching what he's eating. I feel like we're in this together now! Tonight, I jumped on my Wii Fit and did the stepper for a half hour while watching HGTV :) I called Bob and said goodnight to him and then actually got BACK on it! I did a total of 1 hr 15 mins tonight! Considering that I was under my allotted calories and I got in a great workout, I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and weigh in!!

Monday weight: 172.9
Tuesday weight: 170.6 *new low*

Good food, bad self control

Hi ladies! I'm a night owl so I decided to post about my weekend. Bob and I went to visit my sister in college Friday night and then went to see my mom Saturday night. We ate out a TON! I started out good on Friday night and got a low cal option from Chili's. Saturday afternoon wasn't bad either - Jimmy John's sandwich (about 550 cals). Saturday night is where it started to go terribly wrong. Bob and I went out to a Chinese buffet with my mom and grandma. The food was so good and I just ate whatever I wanted (which was fried food - and a lot of it). I overate and was SO full. Sometimes when I'm eating, I know that I'm full but enjoy the food so much that I just can't stop myself. That's not helpful. It only gets worse...we went to the same Chinese buffet again for lunch today (Sunday). I did better than Sat night (no ice cream and a little less food) but not great. I told myself that I'd just eat soup tonight and do my Wii and make up for it. What I didn't realize was that Bob and I were doing dinner with three other people that night. We went to a Greek restaurant. It was SO good. I held back some (no wine), but not enough - I ate Saganaki (with bread of course), Spanakopita (spinach pie), rice, potato, AND a few bites of Bakliva and chocolate cake. To make all of this worse - I got home and had no motivation at all to get on my Wii Fit. Bob and I started house shopping and I sat on my couch for hours looking at homes online.

Pretty sure I lost any progress I made last week and may have even GAINED weight. I guess we'll find out in the morning when I hop on to be weighed. Alright, I need to remember that it's a new week and that I can get back on track!

Oh - the one good thing to report though is that my family all told me that I looked great! They could totally see the difference already and that felt great!

Down down

Hi ladies! I know I haven't posted in a couple of days, but I have good things to report! The weight has been going down, down this week! I have made my workouts a little longer (around an hour vs. a half hour) and have also been very selective about what I'll eat. Here's a weigh in...

Monday 172.6
Tuesday 172.0
Wednesday 170.9
Thursday 170.9

I cannot EVER remember seeing the number 170 in my adult life! This is REALLY happening! I truly believe that I can do this! My entire frame has gotten smaller. I went shopping yesterday with a friend and was amazed! I just accepted a new job, and so I bought some clothes to celebrate! I was so pleased that everything looked so good on me! I had a little fashion show for Bob and he was so impressed!

My big thing now is motivating HIM! He needs to lose way more weight than me. I half started this to look great for my wedding, and half to motivate him. I'd like him around a long long time, and he said that if he doesn't shed the weight, it won't happen. I think he's at 343 right now (6'1"). He wants it, but I don't see him counting the calories, and doing the workouts. He has lost 3 lbs over the last couple of weeks, but I know that he could shed so much more if he gave it his all. The new job I'm taking is right down the street from his office and the gym I go to has a location in that town. I think he's going to get a membership and we can start going after work together. That should be good for both of us! Any tips on how to motivate your husband/boyfriend??

Numbers and Deadlines

Ok ladies - Valentine's Day is over and I'm back to talking about weight loss. The wedding seems even more real now since we've looked at engagement rings! I really need to push hard to be at my goal. I was pretty good this weekend, despite going to an event Friday night, 2 parties Saturday night, and a fabulous Italian dinner last night. As promised - I ate lunch in yesterday.

Here are my Monday morning comparisons for the past four weeks...

Monday, Jan 18 - 180.1
Monday, Jan 25 - 178.8 (lost 1.3)
Monday, Feb 1 - 175.5 (lost 3.3)
Monday, Feb 8 - 175.0 (lost 0.5)
Monday, Feb 15 - 172.6 (lost 2.4)

That's 7.5 lbs in 4 weeks!

General Stats:

Starting weight: 183 lbs
Current weight: 172.6 lbs
Goal: 129 lbs
Weight lost: 10.4 lbs
Weight to lose: 43.6 lbs

I wonder if I need a deadline on this goal. Clearly, the wedding is the ultimate deadline, but I don't know when exactly that will be and I don't want to try on a dress that in 6 months I can't wear. I'd prefer to be at my goal weight when I start that process. With 43.6 lbs to go, and a healthy rate of 2 lbs a week, that's about 22 weeks. 22 weeks out is July 19 (Bob's birthday!!). I think that I want to allow a little wiggle room though, so let's call it Monday, August 2. That's 24 weeks to lose 43.6 lbs (avg 1.8 lbs a week). It's a little daunting to think of that big number, but if I just think about 2 lbs a week, and what I'll look like after 24 weeks of doing that at 129 - I think this is something I can do!!

RING shopping!!!

Hi ladies! This post is NOT going to be about weight loss for once. I just have to share my Valentine's Day with you because it was pretty much one of the best days! (Some of this may seem choppy and abbreviated. I just can't fit in every detail or you won't want to read it!) So.....Bob and I went to church this morning, we came to my place for lunch and exchanged some gifts. My gift from Bob was mainly what we were doing that night (a mystery to me), but he also gave me a rose plant, a card with the best letter in it, and a really cute mug from Starbucks that I liked. I gave him this great thing that I spent hours on. It was a framed scrapbook page. On it was a picture of us, a poem I wrote for him, ribbon, cute stuff, etc. He loved it! I'm not bragging - but it looked good :)

Bob gave me this made up story about how he forgot some papers at his downtown (Chicago) office that he needed for a meeting the next day. He said we had to leave right away because our plans for the evening were in the suburbs. I thought this was fishy, but wasn't sure what was up. We got downtown and he told me that we weren't down there because he had to go to his office. He parked at Millennium Park and we were going to ice skate. He did not know that you have to wait a super long time for skates, so that part didn't quite happen. We decided to take a walk instead. We had an hour and 15 mins before our dinner reservations. It was cold, so we stopped into Walgreens and Phil bought me a fun hat and some gloves for himself.

We started walking...I thought...why aren't we going down Michigan Ave or State St? I didn't know where we were going. All of the sudden I see jewelry shop after jewelry shop. They're all dark though and everything's put away. There's this one that's open though. Bob looks at me and says "do you want to go in?" I'm trying to play it cool and am like "yeah". We cross the street and the guy is AT the door and unlocks it for us to come in. Bob makes some comment about how he's the only one open and he said that he had an appointment that he was open for but that they're usually closed on the weekends. I'm wondering if we're the appt (still not sure - Bob said we weren't. He said he just wanted to look in the windows and see what I liked, but this must have been a sign from God. I don't know that I believe him. Same guy that had to get papers from his office. He's sneaky). So we go in, and the guy asks us what we're interested in. Bob looks at me, then at him and says "well...we haven't really looked before...we're looking at engagement rings."

At this point, I don't know how I was controlling myself. He asked me what I liked, and he showed me a stone that I fell in love with. Bob said he didn't want to look at the rings themselves because he'd like me to be surprised. He asked the guy for his card and said he'd call him. I'm like "you're going to pick out a setting BLIND over the phone?? Don't you want to see what I like anyway?" So Bob says he already has an idea but that we can look at 2 - one that I pick out and one that he has in mind. They're pretty different - I'm glad he asked me! The one he picked out wasn't BAD, it just wasn't my first choice. I put the one I had eyed on my hand and fell in love with it. Bob got the idea that that's the one and he asked me if I wanted to chill outside for a bit while he talked to the jeweler. When I was outside waiting for him - I think I looked crazy. I could hardly contain myself and was even laughing a little I was so excited! He was in there for 15 mins!! I do NOT know this for a fact...but I really think that he ordered it (they custom make each one - so cool!) The reason why I think that is because we came across another that was open and we just looked in the window at them and were comparing. We found one that was slightly similar and Bob said, "Yeah, but notice how that one has the little diamonds only on the top, and yours has them all around" Did you catch that ladies? Not "that other one has them all around" - "YOURS has them all around"!!!!! Not knowing at all if I picked out something in his price range or not, I asked him on the way back if the one I loved was super expensive. He wouldn't tell me, so I asked "well, is it doable??" He said that he thought it was a fair price, and yes - doable. At this point in the story, everything else is just going to sound boring. It was quite wonderful, but I don't have the energy to explain it all. He took me to a wonderful italian dinner, we walked downtown, and we came back to my place for some tea and just gazed at each other for a while. Pretty much on cloud 9!! All of that being said - he did tell me to be excited, but not TOO excited. He explained that this doesn't mean that we're getting engaged tomorrow or anything. It's probably another 5-6 months away, but this was a big BIG step!!!!!! Ok...I'm spent from telling that story. I am just so excited and had to share it!!! Hope your Valentine's Day was great too!!

New ALL TIME low!!

Hi readers! Your support and encouragement is working (along with my workouts and calorie counting)! I am so pumped right now! I jumped on the Wii this morning and got the lowest reading I have ever seen (that I can remember - I clearly wasn't this weight ALL my life - but it's been quite a while). It read 172.2! This is a new low and I'm so excited to see these results. I think that even when I was in high school, I was 175. I ate well yesterday, conserved my calories for the mystery dinner, and didn't overindulge when it came. I had a glass of wine with my friends afterward which was nice too. When I got home around 1am the LAST thing I wanted to do was work out, but I hadn't done anything all day so I decided to do my 6 minute shake weight video and a half hour stepping on the Wii Fit while I watched "Property Virgins". I usually watch the skinny people on E! as an incentive to push harder but they weren't on that late :) Ok, so now the real challenge ahead - can I manage to NOT backtrack over Valentine's Day weekend??? Bob and I are going to two valentine's day parties tonight and he's taking me out to some mystery restaurant tomorrow. We'll probably go out for lunch after church too. That could be bad. Eating out twice a day totally kills the calorie goals. Ok - hold me to this readers - I will NOT eat out on Sunday after church. We'll go back to one of our homes and eat something low in calories. Alright, I must make some lunch, the tummy is growling. I probably won't be back until late Sunday or early Monday - so let me take this chance to wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day!

Weight: 172.2

Back on track

Hi readers! Oh, so exciting that I actually have readers now!! I don't have much time but wanted to report an update for today. I was under my allotted calories for yesterday and also was active. I go to a group in my church every Thursday night for people in their 20s and I'm usually walking around a lot and on my feet that night. At the end of the evening, my friend was having a hard time (she ran into her ex boyfriend there) so we started walking laps around the church. It's a big church, and a woman that works there told us as we were walking that 6 laps is a mile. We did 7 and then stopped because I was wearing furry boots and my feet were too hot. It was nice to get in that added exercise though. They had chips out all night but I stayed clear. When I got up this morning and got on my Wii for the body test, I had dropped the extra poundage that I'd put on this week! That was nice news. Tonight, Bob (fake name for the man) has plans with a guy friend, so I'm going to a Valentine's Day event with my girlfriends at my church. The women are to dress up, and come to be served a three course meal. Because I have limited control about what I eat tonight, I made sure to eat a very light lunch. I had a lean pocket and will probably have a little oatmeal about...now. Ok, must finish V-day present for Bob. Ta ta for now ladies!

Weight: 173.7

No Surprise

Ok, it was expected. Weight did not go down today after the three meals (and drinks) I had out yesterday. It's so hard to eat out and still eat well. I went out to lunch today with a couple girlfriends and we went to the Olive Garden. I got the soup/salad/breadstick combo. I limited myself to one breadstick - so hard - those things are so good! I've calculated that I had just over 500 calories. NOT bad for eating out (especially at Olive Garden). For dinner, I plan on eating in, so it'll be much easier to control calories.

I ordered a shake weight online a few days ago (www.shakeweight.com) and it came in the mail today! I just tried it out and did the 6 minute workout. I love it! It's pretty easy but I can feel that I really worked my muscles. I think if I do this every morning, it'll help me further tone my arms. I'm pretty good about hopping on my Wii Fit + but it doesn't do a whole lot for my arms. This should be a nice compliment to that. Ok, hope to report back good things tomorrow! Thanks to all of you new followers! It's motivating knowing that people are with me on this!

Weight: 175.5

Bad day for weight loss

Hi readers. Well today was a bad day for weight loss. To start with, I jumped on my Wii Fit + in the morning to weigh me, and I was up 0.9 lbs. I know this isn't drastic, but down is clearly better than up in this venture so gaining a pound wasn't my favorite way to start the day. I didn't get nearly enough sleep as I was up with a racing mind about a couple job interviews I had today and I was up much earlier than other days this week. I got ready, spent 20 mins scraping snow off of my car, and headed off to my first interview. What am I leaving out? Breakfast! In my rush, I neglected to take a LOW calorie breakfast bar along and instead scarfed down an Einstein Bros. bagel/cream cheese before my first interview. Nice. Blow 1/4 of your daily calorie allotment on a bagel. For lunch, I met my boyfriend and had Chipotle. This is ok to eat if my other meal is soup, but I knew I was going out for dinner. Dinner was the real kicker. We went to a bar before a sporting event and I had 2 martinis, 1 beer, a greasy cheeseburger, and french fries. I refuse to enter all of this into my calorie counter (www.livestrong.com) because I think it would be depressing to see how far over I went. I suppose I'll still wake up in the morning and weigh myself, but I can already see how this will turn out. Another increasing number versus decreasing. :(

Current weight (before all of said food): 174.8

What is this about?

Hi readers! I have decided to start a totally anonymous blog so that I can be brutally honest about my weight loss journey. I have struggled with weight my whole life (thank you dad for the slow metabolism). I can't stand the people who can eat and eat and still look like a model (no offense if you are one of these people - I'm just jealous is all). I had it in my head that I would just always be fat. I am trying to reprogram my thinking now. I don't always have to be fat. It's not written in stone - it's written in the choices I make day to day. I can change those. I can change the way I look.

My highest point was a couple years ago when I tipped just over 200 lbs. High point for weight, low point for self esteem. After a break up, I decided I would work hard and lose weight. I lost just over 25 lbs! I worked out hard at the gym 2 nights a week and ate very small dinners (think steamed broccoli or cereal). The last year and a half though, I have been dating a quite wonderful man. What happens when you date a quite wonderful man? You stop eating cereal or steamed broccoli for dinner and find less time to work out. I had gained some back and was averaging mid 180s.

A thought crossed my mind though - I don't want to look fat in my wedding photos! This will be the most special day of my life and I don't want to watch the videos and photos and think "wow - I look chunky". I want to say "wow - what a hottie I am!" So begins this quest. You may ask me - are you engaged then? Well....no...not yet. However, I know that will happen sometime this year and I don't want to wait to get thin until then. We want a six month engagement and that's not a great deal of time to work with. I'm guessing I have about a year, maybe less before the wedding. That means 10-12 months to kick my butt into shape and drop the lbs for good! I'm already down to an almost new low and want to keep pushing. Will you help me, reader? Will you empathize with me in this journey? Will you encourage me to press on? Will you let me know that someone, somewhere cares about this??

Stats:
Height: 5'4"
Starting weight: 183 lbs
Current weight: 173.9 lbs
Goal: 129 lbs
Weight lost: 9.1 lbs
Weight to lose: 44.9 lbs