17 day diet- cycle 1, day 15: Switching it up

Friday is my last day on the first cycle. Since I had a couple less then stellar days last week, I want to extend the first cycle just a tad. I want Sunday to be the end of the first cycle, and start the 2nd cycle Monday. Call me crazy, but I just feel better about this for some reason.

I also decided to switch my reward for successfully ending the 1st cycle. Instead of getting that darling purse, I want to buy a Christmas dress for my reward. The hubby is going to take me on a date to see the nutcracker, and I want something festive to wear. Plus, with Christmas being on Sunday, I want something pretty to wear to church. I found a red sparkly dress (and a clutch to match;) at kohls that I fell in love with. I'm going to go back in the next couple days to get it! I'll most def take pictures :) That purse is definitely still going to be one of my rewards, though. I mean, that purse belongs on my arm. Maybe at the end of the 3rd cycle?

I've been reassessing my goal weight for the past couple months. My goal weight was 120 pounds; but when I look at pictures of myself at that weight, I just don't like the way I look.
120 pounds: However, when I look at pictures of myself at 140 pounds, I do.
140 pounds:So, my new goal weight is 140 pounds. It just feels right to me. I'm a women with curves, and I like that. I don't need to be a stick. With us trying to get pregnant, my 120 pound goal was stressing me out. "Do I try and reach that before we get pregnant?", "That's so far away!". A 140 pound goal seems very doable. After having a baby, I may take a second look at my 120 pound goal, who knows. For this time in my life, 140 pounds feels right.

Not Quite

I got the sudden urge to try on my goal dress. I kept telling myself it wasn't going to fit yet.... but in the back of my mind, I was hoping it would.Nope.
Not even close really.

Wait! What if I suck it in?!
Like really hard?!Then again, maybe not. That made me a little light headed.
Someday.
You watch.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go ask my husband if he can help me get out of this!
I'm stuck. Hopefully we won't have to cut it off ;D

Just Checking In

Hi Everyone!

I was hoping I'd have time to blog yesterday, before things got crazy (busy), but we ended up being at a car dealership until 12:30AM! There's something about the car buying experience that makes you want to dive straight into a chocolate cake!!
Good news: I DIDN'T!!
It's so stressful! Luckily, it's over!!

Today I have to clean my whole house, because my father-in-law is coming TONIGHT! Anyone want to come help me clean? ;D

I'm having slight anxiety about eating healthy, while we have company over. The fact is, is that this is a part of life. I'm going to have visitors, curve balls, and face situations that don't make it easy to live a healthy lifestyle, but I have to learn to adapt and work around them. It's the only way I'm going to be successful. Life can't be put on hold, while I lose weight, and figure this whole healthy lifestyle out. I need to go into this challenge believing that I can do it, and with positive thoughts! So, even though a little voice inside my head is telling me that this is going to be too hard, and even though I'm nervous as to what this week holds, I'm going to press on. I'm going to tell myself that it's going to be an awesome, deliciously healthy week with my father-in-law, and that I can totally do this!!
Wish me luck! ...Although I seriously don't think I need it! ;D

I wanted to acknowledge, and say thank you to the WONDERFUL, and FABULOUS CBG Blog, who awarded me 2 blog awards!!
THANK YOU!!

I'll do a blog post in the next day or two, about it. I'm excited!

I also wanted to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, for all your sweet comments on Fridays post. They gave me renewed strength, helped me believe in myself (a task that is hard sometimes, so I appreciate your help!), and touched my heart! You guys are awesome, and I mean it when I say that I heart my blog readers! (I want a shirt that says that;). Thank you to everyone who stops by my little blog, and for everyone who gives me support! It helps me more than you know!

On Monday I did my weigh in, even though I really didn't want to! It had me at 181. I'm actually happy with this, because when I weighed myself after all my rebellion, I was 182. I managed to lose the extra pound I put on, and got back down to where I was before I decided to be bad! ;D My goal is to be 179 next week!! I'm SO excited to be in the 170's!! It's going to be a good goal to keep my eye on, while my father-in-law is in town!!

Sorry if I've been a bad blog friend! Life has been a little busy these past few days! I've still been reading along, but sometimes it takes me twice as long to leave a comment, than it does to read your posts (because I obsess over what I'm going to say;), so I've been skipping that part lately. I should have time this week, to keep up on my blog, and yours! :D

XOXO

Goals, and a Recipe

Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a great Superbowl weekend!

I really, really appreciated all of your comments on my last post.
This is why I love you all so much! I love the support, and motivation I get from this community, and the knowledge I'm soaking in!

I'm an amateur dieter. This is the first time I'm trying to lose weight the RIGHT way. I don't know the right or wrong way to do things. I don't know how to do certain things, I don't know what's reasonable, and what's not. I don't know what's healthy, and what isn't.

But that's slowly changing, as I'm learning so much from all of you!

So, I sat down, and re-valuated my goals.
As far as the "numbers" go, I think I'm going to leave them as they are. My motto for that is: Reach for the stars, because you may just reach them. ;) I don't think it hurts to have high goals, as long as I know I may not reach the exact number, and remember to not beat myself up if I don't reach those numbers. It's like Tammy said, "It's better to shoot for the 5, and land around 3...than to shoot for 3 and only lose 1." That's pretty much what I'm going to do ;) If I find that it's having a negative affect on me, and my weight loss journey, I will adjust my goals.

Jenn also got me thinking, as she said, "Make goals to eat a certain amount of calories per day, a certain amount of water and a certain amount of exercise - these are goals that you can control, and will give you weight loss - no matter how long it takes."
Makes sense doesn't it? :D

This weekend, I thought of some more goals to set for myself... ones I CAN control!

Here's what I came up with:
*Eat 1,200-1,500 calories a day.
I don't know if that's too little for a 5' 1", 194lbs, 22 year old female. I think it's lower then what most people consume when trying to lose weight, but I'm also not able to do intense workouts like most people, because of my RA. That makes me think I need to cut my calories more then normal. ?? But like I said, I'm an amateur dieter :D
It's not a problem for me to not go past my calories, it's hard for me to reach them. I haven't been doing very well at this, this past week. Today I've only had 850 calories (I'm starting this post late Sunday night). Yesterday I think I had 700. I'm honestly not meaning to have my calorie intake be so low.
My stomach is usually queasy when I wake up, so in the morning I usually just sip on a Slim Fast. A little later I have a snack, usually about 100 calories. Before I know it, it's time to start making dinner. Dinner is usually 300-400 calories. After dinner I sometimes have a 100-140 calorie dessert, and then that's it for the day. I haven't been feeling hungry, or deprived, but I know this isn't healthy, and will definitely hinder my weight loss.

*Work on eating a healthier breakfast, and make sure I eat lunch.
I'm realizing that I normally skip lunch, because I get preoccupied, and 4pm sneaks up on me. Doing these two things, will help me reach my goal of 1,200-1,500 calories for the day.

*Drink more water!
Totally bad at this one! I normally only drink 2-3 glasses a day! My goal is 8!

*Don't eat past 7:30pm

*Go swimming 3 times a week, and take 3, 5min walks a day with the doggies.
I found a gym not too far away from my house, that has a lap pool. Sometime this week, I'm going to go down, check everything out, and hopefully sign up! As far as the walking, I need to work on being consistent with it.

*Try at least 1 new workout a week, to do at home, on the days I don't go swimming.

*Keep a food journal.

*Work on keeping and making new goals.
I'm going to make a goal chart, or something along those lines, so can keep track of my goals, and the progress I'm making. That way I don't just make em, and forget em, like I normally do! I also want to work on revisiting goals that maybe need to be tweaked, and continually making new goals for myself.

These are the goals I'm going to put the majority of my focus on. These are the goals I can control. Because we all know, you and the scale aren't always on the same page! :D

***

Here's the recipe, I was supposed to post on Thursday!
It's oh so tasty, and super-de-duper easy to make. If you haven't noticed, I like things that are easy! ;)

Mexican Chicken Skillet:You will Need:

~4 skinless boneless chicken breast.
~Chili powder
~Salt
~Pepper
~1 tablespoon vegetable oil
~1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
~1 1/2 cup frozen corn
~1 1/2 cup salsa
**UPDATED: I've recently added chopped red and green bell peppers to this, and it's delish!
just throw it in the skillet, when you add the corn, beans, and salsa!

Directions:

Sprinkle salt, pepper, and chili powder, on both sides of thawed chicken breast. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet, over medium heat. Cook chicken in skillet for 8-10 minutes, or until the juice from the center of the breast runs clear. Stir in beans, salsa, and corn. Heat to a boiling, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes. ~Makes 4 servings
**I usually sprinkle a little low-fat cheddar cheese, and add a dollop of low-fat sour cream to mine. LOVE!

Here's what I'm thinking:
Calories: 320 for 1 chicken breast and about 1 cup of salsa mixture.

Enjoy!

****
Now I'm off to go catch up on all of you!
I decided that on the weekends, I'm going to take a break from the computer, as I can easily lose 2-3 hours on it. It was pretty darn hard to not read all of your blogs for 2 days, and now I have a lot of catching up to do! We'll see if I can keep it up every weekend! ;D

XOXO

Goals

Lately I've been realizing, that it's time to bump it up a notch, and it's time to set some goals.

To be honest, I think I've been a little afraid of setting goals for myself. Afraid of setting myself up for disappointment I guess. The only goal I've really set, is to weigh 120lbs...someday. I've come to the conclusion, that I NEED to set goals for my weight loss.

If you don't know what direction you're headed, how will you know where you'll end up, and how long it will take to get there? If you don't visualize it in your mind first, how can it ever become a reality? If you don't have specific goals you're working towards, how are you ever going to achieve anything?
I need to set goals for myself, so I have something to push myself towards. Setting goals for myself, gives me something to believe in. To believe that I will achieve the goals I set. The opportunity to set myself up for success!

So, I sat down, and stared to think of goals to set for myself. I sure did get a dose of reality, as I started to look at the numbers. I thought to myself, "this is why I haven't sat down to do this..." But it was needed, and I'm very happy I did it....even though it made me a little nervous :)

Here's the 411:

Joe and I are going to start trying to get pregnant in May. That's 3 months away (Yikes!). It's my goal to weigh 150 by then. That means I have to lose 44lbs, by the first week in May. Yeah. That's a big number. I pulled out the old calculator and calendar, and figured out that in order to reach that goal, I have to lose 5lbs a week for the next month, and then 3lbs a week from then, until the first week in may. With my PCOS, we are going to have to get fertility treatments, to get pregnant. The first step is for me to take a pill, that will hopefully get me to ovulate. My husband and I have decided that for the first couple months, we want to try without any fertility treatments. So, I feel like we're really not trying until July, as that's when I get put on the ovulation pill. I'm going to stay on my diet, until I get pregnant, and once I do get preggers, I'm going to keep watching what I eat. I'm hoping that I will weigh 130 by July, if I'm not already pregnant by then.

Let me lay it out again for ya:

*Feb 5th-March 5th, Lose 5lbs a week, or 2olbs for the month.
*March 5th-April 5th, lose 3lbs a week, or 12lbs for the month.
*April 5th-May 5th, lose 3lbs a week, or 12lbs for the month.
*By the first week in May, weigh 150 pounds.
*From May-June, lose 2.5lbs a week, or 10lbs for the month.
*From June-July, lose 2.5lbs a week, or 10lbs for the month.
*By the first week in July, weigh 130 pounds.

Also, Remember THIS dress? Well, my husband is graduating with his bachelors degree April 1st, and I want to wear it to the graduation:When I bought it, I weighed 185. I remember thinking that I could probably wear it if I lost 15-20lbs. If I stick to my goals, by April I should weigh around 160, so I should be able to wear the dress!

Obviously losing 2lbs, every 3 weeks, isn't going to cut it. I'm glad I sat down to crunch the numbers, because it lit a much needed fire under my tush! It's definitely time to bump it up a notch! Over the next few days, I'm going to research places that have pools, so I can start doing laps. I think it will be a very good workout, and will work well with my RA. Hopefully by next week, I'll be in the pool, burning some calories!

A part of me thinks these goals are too unrealistic.
What do you think?

On a side note:

This morning I peeked at the scale, and I weighed 194! That means I'm down .5lbs!

I was going to post a recipe on this post, but now I don't have time. Hopefully I can post it tonight. Stay tuned, because it's totally yummy!

Wish me luck!... I think I'm gonna need it! ;)

My Motivation

It's the weekend!
I love the weekends, I seriously do, but when I'm trying to eat healthy, weekends sometimes make me nervous.

Joe and I usually ALWAYS go out, and eat lots of unhealthy goodness on the weekends. It's a habit. It's what we've been doing since we've been married. When you take that away from us, we find ourselves tapping our nails on the table saying, "Well what the heck do we do now?" Food is our entertainment. When we can't pig out, we're bored. It's pretty funny now that I'm thinking about it.

That's the moment I say, "What the heck! Lets go have some fun!"
Then, we come home with leftovers, so the naughtiness continues on into the next day. Before you know it, next weekend rolls around, and we are still trying to recover from last weekend.

So, like I said, weekends make me nervous.

To avoid this from happening, I'm trying to find things in advance that we can do to have fun together, so eating out isn't our only option. I've also decided to give myself some visual motivation, to help me get through it.

#1. I'm going to put a picture of myself weighing my goal weight of 120lbs, where I can see it. Being healthy, will bring me so much more happiness then food ever can. Being at a healthy weight again, will bring me joy, every minute of every day. Versus that cheesecake, which is only going to bring me about 3min of happiness (because you know I would scarf it down that fast;), and then it's followed by feelings of regret and disappointment for hours after.
When I look at it that way, the choice is simple.
Choose to be healthy.
Choose to be happy.
DON'T choose the cheesecake!

#2. My blog friend, Dawne did a post about being able to fit into a shirt for the first time, that she had bought 7 years prior. I thought of how she must have felt after reaching that milestone in her weight loss. I thought of how much her hard work had paid off, and how fitting into that shirt must have brought her more excitement and joy then food ever could have.

Then I thought about the clothes I have, that I either want to fit back into, or have never been able to wear. I thought of how happy that would make me to one day see how much my hard work had paid off, by being able to fit into those clothes.

I have a pair of pants that literally fit me for 1 day, back when I was 18yrs old. For that 1 day, I was happy with my weight. Looking at these pants makes me think of how I felt on that ONE day, when I was completely happy with myself. I'd like to go back to that feeling. Only this time it will last a LOT longer then one day!I also have a dress, I bought about 3 years ago, knowing it didn't fit. I thought I would lose weight soon enough to wear it. Huh! Little did I know I would only move farther and farther away from being able to fit in it! I used to look at this dress with a heavy heart. I would get upset at myself for gaining even more weight after buying it, instead of losing weight like I was supposed to. Then I would start to think about the time lost, and would day dream about what my life would have been like, if I had in fact gone on a diet when I 1st bought the dress.
Although now, my perspective has changed. Now I get excited when I look at the dress! I picture in my mind that beautiful day when I will finally get to wear it! I will twirl, I will dance, I will cry, and I will probably sing (even though I'm a horrible singer!)! Looking at this dress now, motivates me to continue on down this path.
Because the day I fit into this dress, it will all be worth it!I'm going to hang these clothes on my bedroom door, so I can think of how happy it's going to make me when I can finally wear them, and how I'm not going to let food take that away from me.

Sticking to my diet = A happy, healthy life.
Going off my diet to pig out = A life being over weight, unhappy, and unhealthy.
Makes sense doesn't it?

I'm armed and ready to take on the weekend!
BRING IT ON!

****

Happy weekend everyone!
I hope it's lots of fun, and very :Deliciously Healthy!