Day 64 - A Tornado Didn't Eat Me

Hello lovelies!

I don't have much to say despite being kinda MIA for like a week.

We have been experiencing some crazy weather here in Indiana recently. Cold one day, warm the next, and tornados and snow. I don't even know what to expect till I actually go outside. Where I live there were several tornados in the surrounding towns, but fortunately nothing here. A little wind damage and we went 5 hours without power at work one day last week, which was exciting.

I'm on spring break. I just got back from a weekend in Indianapolis. It has been a weekend of complete debautury. Steak and Shake, Russell Stover Store, Dunkin Donuts, lots of crown and coke, gross/delicious gas station burritos at 2am, Starbucks, Godiva chocolate store, PF Changs, amazing downtown Indy pub food... Honestly, I could probably keep going. But I'm not going to. I absolutely love Indianapolis. The concert was awesome. We saw Puscifer. Who I doubt may of you have heard of... Usually this helps: The lead sing of Tool has a solo project. That's Puscifer. I got to meet the guys in the band and get some stuff signed. Pretty freakin' amazing. It was a small venue, which is my favorite. Walking around downtown, in the middle of the night, while it was snowing was also pretty awesome.

I didn't weigh myself yesterday. Mostly because I wasn't home to do so.

I can also happily report I'm back on the healthy lifestyle bandwagon as of today. I missed it to be honest. I had a lot of fun this weekend, but I started feeling really crappy after like 3 days of it. I missed my nutritious food and I got really sick of the bloated, ate too much crap feeling.

I can't wait to catch up with everyone and I promise I won't disappear and go crazy like this again until the first week of May. At which time I will be on vacation in New Orleans, and I will NOT be very mindful of my intake then either. I believe you can vacation and eat healthy... but I'm a foodie and I want to really experience what Louisiana has to offer (:

Here's to hard work and determination!!!

-E

Day 58 - Bleck.

I am bloated and swollen today. And I woke up really queasy. Breakfast didn't help and neither has the gallon (exaggeration) of water I've drank already today. I'm annoyed and would like to know what the deal is. I didn't eat anything unusual yesterday and felt fine when I went to bed.

Ugh.

And TOM still hasn't arrived. This isn't a possible pregnancy issue... It's more a side effect of my new(ish) BC.

I'm grouchy. ): That's all I wanted to say I think...

I'm worried I won't be able to eat much today because my schedule really isn't going to allow it. Had coffee this morning and a light English muffin with grape jam. Lunch will be a crunchy granola bar and a light yogurt. Then snack will be .5oz of almonds. Dinner is going to have to be something prepackaged like a Healthy Choice frozen something... Today isn't shaping up to be anything impressive.

I hope everyone else is having more successful days then me.

Here's to hard work and determination,

-E

Day 57 - Stresssssss

I might've fallen back into old habits today... I have only eaten about 900 calories today and it's 9:22PM. This is mostly due to all the crap I've had to do today. I ate 3 meals and 1 snack. So I'll eat another snack before bed and probably call it a night.

Today was my day off. One day a week I get a day with no work or school. But it's never a day off. It's a save-everything-I-have-to-do-till-this-day day. Had to goto campus for some research stuff, did some cleaning around the apartment, hung some pictures, went to the bank, dropped some packages off at FedEx, took a short 30 minute walk, and did laundry. 3 loads of laundry. How does 2 people accumulate SO MUCH laundry in a week??? uggh.

So I feel like I have to talk about this smoothie I just made. Honestly, I made it because I wanted something heathy to boost my calories for the day. Here's the recipe:

1/2 Cup frozen strawberry & banana pieces - 45 calories

2 Tbls Hershey's SF Syrup - 15 calories

3 Tbls 0% Fage Greek Yogurt - 25 calories

4 Tbls Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk - 5 calories

All together, around 90 calories. Made almost exactly 8oz of smoothie... which is about perfect for me. Much more than that and I get tired of drinking them.

It was pretty delicious. Nice and think and chocolately. I couldn't taste a ton of strawberry, but you could tell it was in there... I wanna experiment with adding spinach to my smoothies. Or maybe flax? Just boost the nutritional value of them, really.

So like I said, I walked like 30 minutes tonight. We have a ton of wooded trails and cross country trails on campus. I picked one of those and walked it. It didn't seem like a long walk, but it was getting dark before I knew it. It's in a wooded area, so it's mostly dirt and natural stone. It was pretty hilly too. It was nice. I think that's where I want to do most of my running. It'll be nice and shady and kind of away from everyone. Seemed peaceful. I'll make my running time my zen time.

I have a statistics test tomorrow that I need to review for. I hate stats soooo much. I'm pulling a good, solid B out of the class right now. And honestly, I hate it so much, I'll probably continue being satisfied with a B. As long as it doesn't get any lower than that, I'm happy. I'd kinda prefer a B+ though... haha

I hope everyone is having wonderful weeks! For those of you that get to enjoy time off on the weekends, only 2 more days! (:

Here's to hard work and determination,

-E

Day 56 - Experiment Successful!

So... who would have thought that eating MORE can actually leading to weight loss when eating less was failing? Yeah... I gave it away, didn't I? Haha Suuuurprise!

As many of you may know by now, and probably many, many more of you don't... Today is weeeeiiigggghhh daaaayy. And the second official rrreeeppooorrtt weeeeekllyy caaaallorriess daaay. (NOT as fun to type OR read).

I'm going to tell ya'll how my weigh in was first, because I'm just a little bit excited. And by a little bit I mean I'm pretty much bubbling over with enthusiasm.

Last Week:     200.2 pounds (for the second week in the row, I might add)

THIS Week:    196.2 pounds

Bing. Bang. Boom.

Down 4 pounds this week. A nice way for my body to make up for not losing ANYTHING last week.

Let me just say... Being below 200 pounds (for the first time in like... years) is pretty much blowing my mind.

So my calories for the past 7 days were as follows...

Tues, Feb 21                             1,562

Wed,  Feb 22                             1,317

Thus, Feb 23                             1,366

Fri,    Feb 24                              1,308

Sat,   Feb 25                              1,432

Sun,  Feb 26                              1,315

Mon, Feb 27                              1,346

I guess I added around 200 calories to my daily goal... Which seems to have worked very nicely. Therefore, I called this experiment a successful one.

Another fun side effect...

I've always hated and battled with my bras. I do this crazy stretch thing with them when I buy a new one and get it home. Where I probably break half the important stitches in it by wrapping it around my shoulders, then pulling the ends together in front of my body. A trick my (yea, overweight) momma taught me to get my bras to fit more comfortably. Then, it was always always always the very last clasp I would use, to make sure it was as loose and humanly possible.

Today, in order to keep my girls positioned where they should be, I actually had to use the MIDDLE clasp. And I did it by accident. Usually I'd be struggle to get it to fasten on the last clasp and I unintentionally used the middle one because that's just where my hands naturally went. Again... Mind. Blown.

I'm liking these new developments.

I'm wearing a pair of kinda of dumpy, lame jeans today though. Not for any other reason than I'm expecting TOM today... I call them my "Mom Jeans" because they give me what I also like to call a "Mom Butt" which is where my butt looks WAAAY longer than it should. They just aren't flattering. And before anyone hates me... I think mom's are awesome and can be super sexy and I totally plan to be a hot and sexy mom someday. But, you can't deny there are some moms out there that wear those really high waisted jeans that make their butts look 4 miles long.

I have a huge, disgustingly sweet treat waiting for me in the fridge when I get home. I'm probably not going to count my calories today... because I think it'll be really hard to find a calorie count for it. But I'm going to make very healthy choices otherwise for lunch and dinner. It's a piece of Tuxedo Truffle Nepolean Cake... I don't know what inspired me to buy it yesterday... because I'm usually a HELL of a lot more in control than that... but I can't let it go to waste. It was like a $5 piece of cake. I'm only going to eat half. And have bf eat the other half. That's a good plan...Exercise will also be in my evening. To make up for a little bit of it, as well.

This is already too long, so I'm going to wrap it up. I do wanna thank everyone that comments and gives me support and advice. (: And also all you creepy readers that don't comment but read anyway... I know you're out there. And knowing you're all there keeps me coming back and sticking with it. You're awwwwesome people. I really love this little community.

Here's to hard work and determination,

-E

Edit: Apparently, after very little searching... A piece of Tuxedo Truffle Napoleon Mousse Cake is around 380 calories. Which means I'll be eating ABOUT 190 calories in my half a piece. Aren't the internets wonderful? I mean just freakin' amazing. Yes... yes they are. haha

Day 54 - I Feel Like I've Been Gone Forever!

Now... Please, no one believe that because I have been a little absent that I've been slacking.

In my last post I said I wanted to start eating a little more each day... because I thought I was possibly dipping into the "not enough calorie" range. Well, I'm not going to go into my calorie breakdown for the week. Mostly because I'm saving that for Tuuuesday! (: I can say though, I have absolutely incorporated more calories into my daily diet. So pat on the back for me. We will see soon enough if that's positive or negative.

I am reading an awesome book I picked up and Barne's and Noble on the Last Chance table this weekend. It's called, "Skinny Girls Don't Eat Salad." I haven't gotten too far into it, but I'm really liking what I've read to far. Basically it's talked about how our body uses glucose and how our bloodsugar levels can affect the way we feel/eat and our weight. All she's said so far is that you should eat frequently, so you don't have a bloodsugar drop and then a spike when you eat some crap instead of something nutritious. So that all makes sense and I agree with it so far. I'll keep you posted on the book and if it's worth a buy!

This weekend has been a lot of fun, but I'm ready for some down time. We went out for drinks on Thursday like I said... I ended up drinking a little more than I wanted, but still not too much. Then I babysat a friend who DID drink too much and had his head in the toilet for a couple hours. I ended up going home after he stopped power puking, but apparently he ended up passing out on the floor, in the doorway between the bathroom and the hall. Unfortunately I missed that... Oh, boys. Some of them just don't know their limit. Emmmmbarrassing.

Then last night we went out with some other friends to a new Sushi place on the other side of town. Terrible, horrible experience and we will definitely never be going back. We all had a few good laughs and the restaurant's expense... but overall not a fun time. The food wasn't bad. It was the 2.5 hours we spent there. Basically it took 45 minutes to get PART of our meals... Then an hour later the other people got their meals. The waitress couldn't keep our waters full. And one of the girls at the table wasn't given a spoon for her soup. But the time the waitress came back, the soup was cold and not worth eating... Ugh. There's so much more but I just can't get into it or this will end up one horrible rant.

I don't really have much else to report right now...

I still have around 350 calories to eat tonight... So I'm going to make myself a snack and maybe some tea with honey. (: Then we are going to watch The Walking Dead!! I don't know if anyone out there watches that show... but I absolutely love it. I'm a big horror movie fan and zombies are definitely my favorite.

Oh yeah! My work pants are practically falling off of me now. Which is awesome and makes me happy because in December they were getting almost too uncomfortable to wear. Given how my clothes are fitting, I'll be pretty surprised if I don't lose something this week.

Alright my pretties, everyone have a wonderful night and don't let Monday get you down TOO bad!

Here's to hard work and determination (Almost forgot that tonight!)

-E

Day 50 - Asthma Sucks...

I've made a decision... I've decided I'm not eating enough and my body is telling me so by completely refusing to lose weight. As a result... I'm going to start eating an absolute minimum of 1,350 calories a day... never to exceed 1600. I feel like this is a very good adjustment to my calorie plan. I like it. We'll see how my body responds at next week's weigh in.

I also really liked listing my calories for the week. I know that is probably painfully boring for you reading this... but I like having that information in one place every week. So. Tuesday will now become weigh day and calories for the week day. I like it!

I am having a stupid asthma attack. Not a full-blown one... but it was bad enough for me to get my nebulizer out. I feel so much better after I do a breathing treatment... It's almost worth all the twitchy, tingly feelings I get with it.

I have had an awesome day today. As far as food goes... I had a bowl of cereal and coffee this morning and a baked potato with cheese and sour cream and chives from a place in the mall for lunch. Then, a skinny mocha from Starbucks. Yumm...All together I've had around 730 calories. I've still got dinner and a snack to eat before bed though. So I'll make my 1,350 goal.

I took my measurements yesterday. First time in like 3 weeks. All together I've lost like 7 inches from all over my body. I thought about posting my measurements somewhere. I dunno. If I do, I'll make a page for it. But I've only done it twice. So I'm going to wait till there are more impressive numbers to report.

Tomorrow I'm going out with some friends. A local bar in town has Nickel Beer Night on Thursdays. I don't work early on Friday, so I'm going to take advantage of that and go out and have a good time. While I'd love to stay within 1350-1600 calories tomorrow, and I very well might, I'm going to accept that I also might not.

This week is an experiment. Less strict daily calorie goal... A night of moderate drinking... A little more exercise than I normally get to compensate for the extra calories... And come next Tuesday I'll see if it was a god change or a bad change! Next week is also my TOM. If all goes as expected... Tuesday should be when it arrives. I have to wonder how that will affect my weigh day. We shall see!

I guess that's all I've got tonight... I have some homework I need to work on before class tomorrow afternoon. My first class of the day (9am) and my last class of the day (6pm) are both canceled tomorrow, which means this is going to be one of the besssttt Thursdays ever.

Here's to hard work and determination,

-E

Day 49 - Trying To Be Optimistic... (it's not working)

Let's cut to the chase. Today is weeeeiiiggghhh daaaay. Except I really had to force myself to even type it like that because I'm just not excited. Today hasn't been a particularly good or bad day, really. Just kinda, meh.

So... the results.

Last Week: 200.2

This Week: 200.2

Absolutely NO change. None. While I know I should be realistic and keep in mind I won't see big changes every week... I am completely disappointed. I would have been happy with a little bitty loss. I want so badly to be below 200 and back into the 100's Even if it's just 199.WHATEVER.

I've debated how to handle this today... Instead of moping, which is what I want to do... I'm going to analyze what I ate for the past week. From my last weigh day to this one. My calories were as follows:

Tues, Feb 14                             2,196 (Valentine's Day Feast/Too Many Chocolates)

Wed,  Feb 15                             1,224

Thus, Feb 16                             1,145

Fri,    Feb 17                              1,079 (Worked till 10, Always messes up my intake)

Sat,   Feb 18                              1,307

Sun,  Feb 19                              1,143

Mon, Feb 20                              1,153

It's official. I'm a slave to numbers. Sigh.

So there's no way over the course of this week I ate "maintenance" calories. I've used 50 million calculators all over the internets. My maintenance calories for my weight/age/activity level is in the 2,000's. More like 2,300. Which is easily 1,000 calories more than I ate on any day last week, barring Valentine's Day.

I absolutely refuse to believe that ONE day I ate so much, it prevented weight loss the rest of the week. I refuse.

My only other thought is I'm not eating enough. I'm no dietition... And looking at those numbers, I'll accept a few of them are low. Okay. Several of them are low. They are low because I'm a control freak. I obviously don't have a problem eating a lot... I think Superbowl Sunday and Valentine's Day can attest to that. I have a problem with eating enough on days I am on plan and feeling good about it. I like routines and schedules and planning... So some days, when those things have been thrown off, I might not eat as much. I think ideally, I like 1,300-1,350 calories per day. But I guess you wouldn't know that by looking at my last week's consumption. ): Would you?

Bllllllaaarrrrrgggggggeeeeeiiiijjjffmfmmm.

That's how I'm feeling right now. Like making that noise. And then burrowing in bed the for rest of the day. BUT I can't. Duty calls and I'm sitting in a comfy chair in the basement of the Liberal Arts building, killing time during the break between classes.

My question: Can being on the borderline between calories to lose weight and too few calories cause a halt in loss?

Noooo optimistic and chipper conclusion today...

Here's to hard work and determination (of course),

-E