Physical Changes

From: make-up-not-war.blogspot.com

Well I am finally beginning to see physical changes! 

I am weighing in as of Friday 3/16/2012 at 192 lbs! 

Thursday I looked in the mirror and I finally noticed a change in my face. I mean I have lost 13 pounds, but it has taken nearly 5 weeks for me to see any difference. One of my least favorite parts of being overweight is/was that my jawline is nearly non-existent. I don't have a strong jawline and at 200+ pounds my face seemed to run right to my neck. Drove me nuts! I can finally, faintly, see my jawline! I'm so thrilled! I can also tell a slight difference in my abdomen. My figure is a little more hourglass and a little less...well, circle! 

I am also finally fitting my clothing differently. For years, from around 12 or 13 years old, I wore jeans too big for me. I had horrible self-esteem and hid my body even when I wasn't overweight. Last summer I finally realized what I was doing and went and bought some new, fitting, jeans. I had been wearing 20's when I should have been in 16's. I put on a pair of my 16's today and they are getting too loose. I figure if I lose 5-10 more pounds I will either have to buy new jeans or a new belt! Woo-hoo!

Yes, 192 pounds yesterday. I'm planning on exercising and keeping my calories in my goal range so that hopefully by Monday night weigh-in I can be at least 190! Either way, I am nearly 5 weeks in and I feel SO good. My cravings are decreasing, my energy increasing. I'm getting healthier and I'm NOT looking back!

Energy 2 & 1/2 Weeks In

I am 2 and 1/2 weeks into changing my life. My body has not felt this healthy in a very long time, if ever.
My energy is getting better every day and I am finding that sitting around is not working anymore as I have the urge to get up and do something, anything! So I'm exercising daily, cleaning daily (which my parent's must be happy about) and organizing. Cleaned my room out the other day and am thinking about tackling the spare bedroom this weekend. Plus when the weather quits being so stormy for a few days I'm hoping to get outside and work in the yard.

I weigh myself once a day or so, even though some people tell me I shouldn't. It helps to keep me motivated because I want to see the numbers drop. I'm really hoping to drop at least two more pounds in the next week and a half so I can say I have lost 10 pounds in a month. But if I don't that's okay too.

I tried the whole wheat bread. I like it. I knew I would. It has a different taste than white (duh) but I like it. I'm looking forward to putting the chicken or turkey slices I bought on it. I made the mistake of not buying enough protein bars the other day to make it through the week, so I'm bummed to not have one for breakfast in the morning. Cheerios and skim milk will be breakfast I suppose. I had a delicious dinner tonight thanks to my Mom. Skinless grilled lemon-pepper chicken breast, steamed broccoli and carrots, and mashed potatoes & gravy. I only ate around 3 tablespoons of the mashed potatoes though. I LOVE the chicken. Mom is the best at cooking that!

Yesterday my cravings were awful. I wanted something chocolate SO bad. I didn't cave though. I ate a handful of Nilla wafers and that helped. Plus I'm stubborn and want to lose weight very bad so that helped keep me from raiding the stash of snack cakes we keep for my Dad's lunch.

And my awesome sister did cardio with me yesterday. I have a Wii and Just Dance 2 so she and I had some fun and embarrassed ourselves trying to dance. We may not have been very graceful but I know it got my heart rate up! Plus it was a blast!

Soon I'm planning on adding some more pages to this blog including recipes I find that are healthier. Any suggestions on other pages I could add?

Good-bye Diet Coke...

Well today is nearly a week since I have had even a sip of Diet Coke!

I started out in college addicted to Mountain Dew. I realized that Mountain Dew was making me keep gaining weight and it was hurting my kidneys. I gave up the Dew only to switch to Diet Coke. Oh I love Diet Coke, but it doesn't love me...When I decided to get healthier I knew that my consumption of Diet Coke was one of the things that I was going to have to change. On a daily basis I would drink at least 6 cans of Diet Coke! I know that sounds awful, and I knew it then. So on February 13th I began limiting myself to one can a day and drinking at least 8 glasses of water. I am constantly thirsty so drinking 8 glasses was not a problem; Usually I drink 9-10 glasses. 

I was enjoying having my one can of Diet Coke a day...until one day last week when I realized I hadn't even had one sip! And I was fine with that. 

Never in my life did I think I would be drinking only water. I hated the taste of water (Or lack of taste I should say...)! But here I am, sitting here typing this with my trusty bottle of water right next to me! 

Good-bye Diet Coke!

Two Weeks

Today is the two week mark. Two weeks ago today I signed up on Sparkpeople.com and decided to start making some life changes.

Two Weeks In:
*I am effectively drinking only water. I take a sip of a Diet Coke only once per day, if that. My kidneys haven't felt this good in a long time! I have yet to get sick of the water, but when I do I have some Crystal Light I can add to it. It's funny, I used to hate drinking water; Now I crave it!
*Cutting my portion sizes in half seems to have already had an effect on how much I can eat. Even if I wanted to eat more I won't. It makes me sick.
*I am getting stronger everyday. Starting out 5 crunches hurt SO bad. I'm up to 20 with ease! 2 or 3 push-ups at first, now I can do 10!

I still have so far to go though. I have to say that I don't yet regret making these changes. I feel better already. Not so sluggish. I feel like I have more energy and I feel like I am sleeping better. This week I plan to increase my cardio if the weather cooperates so I can go outside and walk. If the weather doesn't cooperate, I may have the cleanest house in the country!

I started out making Sunday night my weekly weigh-in night, but I've decided to move it to Monday night. No particular reason, just decided it yesterday.

And so tomorrow begins week 3...

One Week

I started last Sunday by weighing myself.  I weighed in at 205 lbs.  On Monday I started watching what I ate and exercising a little every day.  One week later I weigh in at 198.5 lbs! I haven't been under 200 lbs for a long time.  (At least 8 or 9 years!) I am elated but I honestly would have been happy to have only lost 2 or 3 pounds.
It hasn't been easy by any means.  I mean last Tuesday was Valentine's Day and my Dad always buys me a box of chocolate! But I've been watching my calories every day, trying to stay between 1200-1500.  And I at least do crunches, lunges and squats everyday, but more than that more days than not.
Honestly this little bit of weight loss has only firmed my resolve to keep going.  I can already see small changes in my body, and I can't wait to see what I look like "after"!
So tomorrow begins week 2 and I'm hoping to up the exercise.  I decided a long time ago that if I ever dieted and exercised that it wouldn't be to get skinny; I want to be fit!