Breakthrough... Kinda?

So today I decided I was going to go walk.  I hadn't done it in awhile.  I had made the decision to really concentrate on the fact that I wanted to get my eating under control and then I'd start the exercise portion.  I felt like last time I put too much pressure on myself to do everything perfectly and when I didn't I totally gave up.  Mix all of that with some serious health issues and it isn't a pretty picture.

Anyways, so I had a less than stellar eating day and really needed to burn some cals.  So I told myself I was going to go walk for 45 minutes with some gusto.  I wasn't trying to walk any certain distance, I just set the goal of walking for a set time.  I didn't have my phone with a timer on it, so I decided that since the average length of a song on my iPod is about 4 minutes I would walk for 11 songs.  That would be roughly 44 minutes.  So I got started and didn't stop.  Not for one second.  I just kept walking and kept up the pace.  I have been watching Extreme Weight Loss show and there was a guy who weighed more than me who ran like 6.2 miles, so I knew that I could walk for 45 minutes.  Well I walked for 50 minutes.  I was so happy with myself.

I know I have done it before.  That it wasn't a huge of a deal, but the difference is I had never done it myself.  I had never done it without people asking me if I was going to walk or wanting to go themselves and basically beg me to do it.  This was me doing it myself and for myself.  It felt good - it was hard, but it felt really good.  I was sweaty and I thought I was going to get sick a couple of times, but I know that my body can do a lot more than my mind thinks it can so I just kept going.  On the show, the trainer kept saying you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and that until that happens you can't make a change.  Well, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with being uncomfortable (in terms of exercise) but I'm getting there.

So walking again tomorrow - I don't care how hot it is.  I can do it.

For Fun - Monday "Get to Know Me"

1.) Mood:  Kind of having a little anxiety but other than that I'm good.
2.) Are there any summer trends you're loving this year? Any you're hating?  I'm loving neon.  But I think everyone is.  I'm not in to maxi dresses.  They just aren't that nice looking on anyone to me.
3.) Do you like to cook?  Yes.  I am getting much, much better at it.  And getting more creative.  Thank you, Pinterest!
4.) Current nail polish: none, but getting ready to paint them with Essie's Sugar Daddy
5.) What is something you are excited about at the moment?  I'm not sure - just getting to the weekend?
6.) Current outfit:  Straight leg jeans, a bright turquoise top.  I like bright colors!
7.) Are you a heavy or light sleeper?  Totally a heavy sleeper.
8.) What size handbag do you prefer?  I used to be a fan of a big handbag - but they are so hard to find your stuff in so I've been going with a medium size one that I can manage.
9.) Do you like karaoke? LOVE!
10.) Weekly goals: Hmmm.  Be happy and healthy.  The rest I'm trying to figure out.  Such a simple but hard question!!!!

Love with Leftovers and a Confession

I think a lot people know what its like to have leftovers.  Not so yummy.  I used to be the type of person who didn't eat leftovers.  They were pretty disgusting.  I wouldn't even think twice about eating something from another meal.  Just not an option.  Well, after realizing that eating fast food for lunch everyday is a bad idea - I have really adopted using leftovers.  For instance, I had a huge chicken breast  for dinner a few nights ago and just could barely eat much of it at all - I had already eaten a cup of broccoli and a serving of brown rice and a salad and was pretty stuffed.  So I saved it and have been able to make two lunches out of it - both days I made a chicken taco with a little cheese and tomato.  Pretty good.  And last night we had the most amazing pork tenderloin - so good.  We had a ton left so hello to a good sandwich today and probably dinner tonight!  It is as if I crave healthy foods.

This weekend was interesting.  I had some not so healthy food.  On Saturday one of my dearest friends from college was in town and we decided to go to lunch and he wanted a Chinese Buffet.  So I knew that was going to be a disaster.  And it wasn't as bad as it would have been a year ago, but it wasn't pretty.  After that I had a turkey sandwich and carrots for dinner but got weak and had a small french fry and small Frosty from Wendy's that night.  So I have confessed - and I still logged everything.  I didn't go over by a massive amount, or even enough to gain back any weight.  However, I'm sure I ate enough sodium to keep every drop of water I consume from now to eternity.  So I have hopped back on and have been drinking so much water and eating my normal diet.

Hope everyone else survived their weekends!

Water.

I have had a few frustrating scale days.  Basically, despite getting exercise and eating properly, I haven't seen the scale budge at all.  In fact, it went up a couple pounds in one day.  Thank goodness I am pretty rational and knew it was mathematically impossible for me to have gained anything.  Just knowing what I am doing, I can rest assured that there is some strange fluctuation.  Well, I was reading around the internet about different things and saw that one reason people might have issues with the scale is if they don't drink enough water.  Well, I know I don't drink enough water.  In fact, I don't drink much anything.  I usually have one diet soda with dinner -- I just like having the fizzy drink when I eat and diet cola has 0 calories so I go with that.  But this said that when you don't give your body the water it needs it will save every drop it gets because it doesn't know the next time it will get water.  This can account for weight on the scale.  That was enough to get me going!  I downed a huge thing of water.  So this morning I got back on the scale and it reflected that I lost more.  That was more along what I had expected.  That made me decide that my new thing would be making sure I get enough water everyday.  I know people always suggest using flavors and stuff, but I am just not a fan of those kinds of things.  I like water plain.  It's just I don't always think to drink it.  So now, if I have a soda I follow it up with double the water.  And I have been keeping a big thermos of water with me to drink throughout the day.

One thing on my mind is going out to dinner for Mexican soon.  It's been about a month since I had it but I have a goal that I want to accomplish and I have about 3 weeks to do it and I'm worried that if I do indulge that it might make me retain water (like usual due to all the sodium).  I'm thinking maybe pushing it to my birthday (AUG 10!!!) and then having it as a reward.  I don't know.  In the last month I have only went out once (Mexican) and had fast food once (as I detailed earlier).  It is this back and forth that I have going on.  I literally have 3 weeks to lose 7 lbs.  I just don't know.  I'm sure that if I start to pick up my exercising and keep up with the water I will be ok to have it but I keep second guessing myself.

Good luck with ya'lls choices!

It is so hot and other pointless things about the last two days

It is so hot!  Here we have a heat index of like 105-109 degrees today.  I don't know about anyone else, but that is hot.

Ok, I have been frustrated since dinner with the family last night.  My mom decided she wanted to have Mexican food for dinner.  This is no big deal.  I don't mind what it has in it and it is stuff I eat - vegetables, some ground beef, cheese - no big deal.  So my sister and mother went to the store to get everything and basically come back with a load of groceries full of their snacks and stuff for dinner.  They did forget my baby carrots and celery, but that isn't the point.  So they got cheese dip - one of my favorite things.  I have to be honest.  I wanted it bad.  Like a crackhead bad.  On top of it all, my sister tried to lure me to have some.  I stood strong.  I stayed out of the kitchen and when it was time to make dinner I weighed and measured out all of my food.  But I did allow myself to try one chip with the cheese dip.  It wasn't that good so I didn't really mind not eating it.  I at least tried it.  The only fail about yesterday was I didn't have enough calories left to give myself a snack.  Well, I did, but I wanted a deficit on my cals for the day.  Tonight we are having my favorite - spaghetti, which I am making because I am the only one in my house who can make it and it not taste like crap.

Lastly, I hate the scale.  I have been so happy with the rate of loss that I started looking at it every day.  Such a mistake.  I'm going to go back to once to twice a week.  I can't deal with the disappointment or seeing it creep up due when I know it is mathematically impossible to gain so much when I have exercised and eaten well.  The scale can be the devil.

Anyways - stay cool!

For Fun - Monday "Get to Know Me"

1.) Mood:  Kind of blah, but not in a bad way.
2.) Did you do anything fun this weekend?   Not really, hung out with my sister.  Hopefully next weekend we can do something fun!
3.) What is the closest object to you that is pink?  My makeup bag that has my nighttime face stuff in it.  I really like it!
4.) Current nail polish:  Essie's Power Clutch with Shine of the Times on top.  I really like it.
5.) If you could snap your fingers and be anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?  Not sure.  But somewhere on a beach.  Miami?
6.) Current outfit:  Black tank top and teal shorts.  
7.) What is the last movie you saw in theaters?  Magic Mike :-D  (I was a bit obsessed)
8.) If you could only be one age for the rest of your life, which would you choose, and why? 25 - it just seems like young enough to be taken seriously but not when you start feeling old.
9.) When is the last time you played on a swing set?  Hmmm.  Don't remember.  It's been awhile.
10.) Weekly goals:  Continue with my healthy eating habits, walk everyday, get all of my laundry done,   some personal goals ;)


PS:  I got this from www.amarixe.com - she is one of my favorite YouTube beauty gurus.  Check her out!

Whew!

So last night I went to kick my own ass for the second day in a row.  Well I really did.  I tried to pick up my pace from yesterday and that was successful.  I really kept up some speed and didn't let being a little uncomfortable get in my way.  I mean, it is going to be hard.  I can't expect for it to be super easy.  If I just walked at a slow pace it doesn't hurt anyone other than me.  So I pioneered through the humidity (which was OOC) and bugs that like to fly around where there is a lot of grass and I successfully dodged all 23482 kids that were playing there.  I even did an extra lap for good measure.  More of a cool down lap, really.  I knew that since I had pushed myself for the mile that taking an easy lap would be good.  I mean, its a bonus.  On top of that Courtney and I had brought our soccer ball to kick around for fun when we finished.  Boy, did that kill me worse than the walk did.  I was running after the ball and really freaking moving.  After the walk, all this running really kicked my ass.  But in a good way.  I was glad I did it, but when I was going to leave I really thought I was going to puke.  I felt like I was going to pass out and was sweating like it was going out of style.  Despite feeling so bad, I was kind of proud of how hard I had pushed myself.  Also, I know that every time I do that I will be that much stronger.  I hate that I started doing this again in earnest in the summer, but whatever.  The fall will be here soon enough.  Cooler weather will be welcomed!  But right now, I am trying to get this second 10lbs off by August 10th and each day I really work hard I will be that much closer to that goal.  Starting my thirties (which I don't look forward to) at that point will be the biggest gift I could give myself.  And considering that I have 9.4 lbs to lose until then every time I go to do this I think that I am that more encouraged.  I have faith that I can accomplish my goal and I know I am going to work my ass off at getting there.  These attainable goals are really what keeps me going.  It is exciting to try to reach it.

Have a great Monday!