Yikes

I stepped on the Wii today and it said I was 220.8! It also said the batteries were low. Which makes me wonder if it's not taking weight correctly due to low batteries. We shall see!

I forgot to mention that I have officially gone down one pant size! I am not a size 18 at normal stores and a 3 at Lane Bryant. Thanks makes me happy! Though I am still a bit blah due to the fact that I am still so big. Also, I am now able to claps my bra on the tightest loop in the back. Woo hoo!

For breakfast I had oatmeal and yogurt (250 calories) and coffee (70 calories). For a snack later in the morning I had four spicy chik nuggets (non-meat, 180 calories) and a half a cup of carrots and fat free ranch (110 calories). I then went to the gym and did 20 minutes on the treadmill (190 calories), 30 minutes on the elliptical (390) and 10 minutes on the bike (100) for a total of 680 calories. Woo hoo! For lunch I had a tofu Vietnamese sandwich. Not sure how many calories, but it is a small sandwich and had carrots, cucumbers, onions, and jalapenos on a french baguette. I am guess around 500 or 600 calories. Totally worth it! lol I then had a small handful of almonds (100 calories) and part of a pear for a snack (100 calories). I had dinner in two parts, first a garlic na'an with two falafel balls (190 for the na'an and 90 for the balls). I then had a cup of tomato and bell pepper soup with two falafel balls inside (110 for the soup and again 90 for the balls). I then had a drink with lime juice, sugar and vodka (140 calories). Then some white wine (400 calories) and then two and a half shots of tequila (250 calories).

Oy, my total is going to be high. But I did expect that with drinking! So it is.... 2580. Crap! Well with the work out that is about even for the calories based on a 2000 day. Too bad I am kind of hungry right now. Alcohol is really not great calorie wise. And tomorrow will be more! However, after tomorrow I do not plan on drinking until the following Saturday.

Tomorrow I ill be drinking and making homemade pasta. I am not going to add up the calories tomorrow because I know it will definitely be over.

Happy new year!

12/29/09

I stepped on the Wii this morning and it said I weighted 222. I think it might be tipsy from the holidays or something. While I would LOVE this to be true I am a bit cautious. We shall see what the rest of the week looks like.

For breakfast I had...oatmeal! With greek yogurt (250 calories total). For lunch I had an Eating Right mac and cheese (330 calories). I then had some random snacks at work (eh...), I am guessing around 100 calories. Then I had some coffee, 50 calories for the creamer. I then had another Eating Right entree (not buying the Metteranian chicken again) as a mid mid-mid day meal (230 calories). I had a string cheese for a snack (110 calories) and then a cup of grapes a few hours later (110). I then went to the gym. I did the treadmill for 20 minutes (180 calories), the elliptical for 30 minutes (380 calories) and the stair machine for 10 minutes (90 calories), for a total of 650 calories burned. It was another great workout. I came home and had some carrots with non fat ranch dressing (150 calories), a protein shake with non-fat milk and half a cup of strawberries (100 for the protein, 90 for the milk and 25 for the strawberries for a total of 215 calories). I then had oatmeal sans yogurt for dinner (180 calories). I was STILL hungry after all of that snacking and had some cashews (160 calories).

I am afraid to add of the calories. Here it goes....1885 calories. Wow, that's a lot. It actually annoys me because I feel like I didn't get to eating anything super tasty to merit all of those calories. However, I guess it's not as bad because mostly a lot of the extra I ate was grains, fruits, nuts, ect. Plus 1885 is still under 2000 (barely...) and I did get an amazing workout.

On to tomorrow.

Back...again...

It's been a while! As you can guess, my diet as hit highs and lows over the holiday season. I did manage to go to the gym twice while I am on vacation. So that helped. The weeks before Christmas I was going to the gym at least 3 times a week. I stepped on the Wii this evening and it said I weighed 226.25 lbs. Which means I gained about 2.7 lbs. Not as bad as Thanksgiving!

I have been unable to get below 223 for 6 or so weeks now. My goal this week is to get under that number! Therefore, I am back to my oatmeal diet. as a refresher, that is when I trade in my breakfast and dinner for a half cup of oatmeal.

For breakfast today I had...oatmeal! (180 calories) For lunch I had an Eating Right entree (280 calories). As a snack I had some cashews (160 calories). For a mid day meal I had another Eating Right entree (230). I know this may seem weird, however, I am trying to get my body used to, again, eating smaller portion sizes. This also helped me to not snack on the junk food at work (i.e. an Eating Right entree has less calories than the red hot cheetos). I then had an apple and more cashews (80 calories for the apple and another 160 for the cashews). I went to the gym and did 15 minutes on the treadmill (130 calories), 30 on this odd type elliptical (330 calories) and 10 on the bike (100 calories) for a total of 560 calories. I put in a lot of effort at the gym today and it felt great (though probably not in the morning...). After the gym I ate a cup of grapes (110 calories). I then had for dinner...oatmeal! I added a third of a cup of yogurt to it and it was super tasty and filling (180 for the oatmeal and 100 for the yogurt).

Wow...I ate/snacked a lot today! I think I need to be more cautious of the cashews. I bought some carrots and fat free ranch as a replacement. The overall calorie total for the day was 1480. This is not as bad as I thought, especially for a gym day. Though I do hope that I can get it down a few hundred calories. I need to beat 223!

SO here's to ANOTHER start...

12/02/09

So today has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I stepped on the Wii and it said I weighed 225.5. Which really sucks because I have been eating very restrictively. However, I know weight loss is not always automatic so I am trying to stay positive. I think once I get past this week I will start noticing more difference on the scale next week.

For breakfast I ate two small corn tortillas with two scrambled eggs (260 calories). Plus I had coffee (100 calories for the creamer). I went to the gym and did the elliptical on a high resistance for 60 minutes. The workout felt like it took forever! However, the machine said I burned 638 calories. Woo hoo. For lunch I ate a frozen organic bean and cheese burrito (300 calories) with some steamed veggies (30 calories). For dinner I had a personal size frozen pizza (450) calories and pasta on the side (210 calories). For a snack in the evening I had a cup of imitation crab meat (200 calories).

This brings the overall total to 1610. Which I am totally fine with because it's still almost a fourth reduction in calorie intake (based upon 2000 a day). Plus the great gym exercise.

The next few days are going to be super busy for me. I will be babysitting a lot and therefore have a lot of chances to make bad decisions. However, today was a little easier so I am hoping that Thursday and Friday will be as well.

12/01/09

Today started well. I stepped on the Wii and it was another -2 lbs, so I am currently 224.3 lbs. Almost off with the Thanksgiving weight! I am glad it is going down easily. I am hoping to be 223 in the morning.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I think it might have been due to hunger, so I ate a luna bar (180 calories) at around 11pm.

For breakfast today I had an english muffin with two eggs (300 calories), and coffee (creamer was around 100 calories). For a snack I had a luna bar (180 calories). For lunch I had the same chicken masala as I had yesterday (380 calories). I also had a packet of sugar free hot coco in milk (80 calories). For an early dinner I had a can of spicy rice and meat soup (260 calories). It was actually really good and had little calories for the amount of food. The only downside is that it had a ton of sodium. For a snack in the evening I had a bag of frozen steamed veggies (175 calories).

This make the total today 1475 calories. Not the 1000 I was shooting for but definitely not bad for my second day of calorie restricted eating.

I am proud of myself so far this evening. I have had huge emotional cravings for food. When coming home I wanted to stop at a taco shop or buy ice cream instead of having veggies. However, I used the wonderful tool of thought stopping (over and over....) and reminding myself of my goals. I REALLY want to be 219 by New Years. Which means I need to be several pounds less the week before since I am going home for Christmas and won't have access to a gym. Plus, I am very concerned about emotional eating and simply holiday food temptation while I am around my stressful family.

I am also concerned around tomorrow. My day is not as structured and I think I will be tempted to eat out.

Hopefully I will have some good will power!

One step

So I went on the Wii this morning, and as suspected I was 2lbs lighter (226). So that's 3 lbs more to go with the holiday weight. I do not think I will make it to 215 by Jan 1st. Therefore, I am hoping to at least be at 220 (though it would be great to get into the teens, so maybe 219...).

I did not go to the gym as planned early this morning. I realized that this would be my only morning to sleep past 6:15am. I think that by giving myself "a free morning", psychologically, I will not be as stressed and therefore eat a little less during this long week.

For breakfast I had an english muffin with one egg on it (around 200 calories total). For a linner today I had a pre-made chicken masala entree from Safeway (380 calories). I ate so late due to a huge fight with the boyfriend. This made me realize that under mild stress/being upset I eat a lot. However, when I am upset to an extreme I lose my appetite. For a snack I had some goldfish and pirate booty (est 300 calories). Then for another snack when I got home from work I had a small quesadilla (total of 200 calories). This makes a total of 1080 calories for the day, which makes me happy! It also makes me realize how much junk food can add up. I had my usual Monday snack during a therapy group I facilitate, which came to 300 calories. That equals between a third and a fourth of my total calories I ate today.

I also did my weights and my abs tonight.

Overall today was a good day and a great start in the right direction. When I get back on the right track I usually find the first day easy and the second day the hardest. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Holidays

So...Thanksgiving has come and sadly not gone from my thighs yet. The overall week was filled with good days and mainly bad days. I think it would have been much better if it hadn't been for wine and rum (and will power...).

I stepped on the scale this evening and it said that I had gained 5 lbs!!! I usually weight myself in the mornings, so I am thinking that since it was night and I had just been at the gym and drank a bunch of water it might be a little high. I am going to weight myself in the morning. I think it will drop by a pound or two.

I went to the gym 3 days this week. While this is not my goal (4-6 days a week) this is still not too bad. This coming week I will at most be able to go 4 times, which is due to babysitting. However, on the two days I am sitting all day I will be able to take walks.

After seeing the scale I did my weights and abs. Which is something I need to start doing more often. I am going to try and start adding one day of weights at the gym a week. This is not much but I do think that since I am (for the most part!) losing weight, I need to try and tone up loose skin. I am hoping that by January I will be doing weights at the gym for most of the days I am going.

I have planned out my meals for Monday and Tuesday already. I have them set to around 1,000 calories a day. I will probably up Mondays a few more hundred since I will be at the gym that day and not Tuesday.

My goal for this week is to have dropped the pounds I gained from Thanksgiving.

11/20/09

Today began well. I had half a cup of oatmeal for breakfast (165 calories). For a snack I had a luna bar (180 calories). I went to the gym and did the elliptical for 60 minutes. Third day in a row! For lunch I had a sandwich from Safeway. I am assuming that the sandwich had a good amount of calories in it. I am going to assume 850 for it. I had a bicardi limon martini, which included around 1.5 shots of bicardi and one shot of vermouth. It was hard finding calorie contents. However, I did find that a shot of bicardi has around 105 calories. So that's around 155 for the bicardi. I will assume that the vermouth has the same, so my overall estimate for the drink is 250 calories. Then me and my boyfriend ordered out Thai, and had about 2 or 3 more glasses of wine. Sooo....considering that a glass of wine has around 100 calories, that's another 300. Then the Thai food... I am not even going to try to add this up. I am sure I went way over my totals.

I am wondering how the rest of the weekend goes. I will be meeting a friend for a movie and am going to try and bring my own snacks. Let's see how it goes!

11/19/09

Today started off well. I stepped on the Wii and it said I weighed 224 pounds! With my BMI finally dropping just below 32. That makes me happy and gives me some motivation.

I had 3/4 cup of whole wheat pasta (200 calories) with a chicken breast (200 calories) and half a cup of marinara sauce (60 calories) for lunch. I went to the gym and did the elliptical for an hour. For a snack I had a luna bar (180 calories). I had dinner in two parts, first were steamed potatoes (from the freezer section, with a butter sauce, 280 calories) and then an eating right mac and cheese frozen dinner (330 calories).

The total comes to just under 1300 for the day. I am very happy with this. Now for tomorrow and the weekend!

11/18/09

For breakfast I had a bagel (270 calories), with cream cheese (90 calories) and bacon (70 calories). I also had a coffee (est 100 calories). For a snack I had some chocolate milk (200 calories). For lunch I had a small baked potato (110 calories) with a little butter and cheese (est 90 calories). I then went to the gym and did the elliptical for 60 minutes (est. 542 calories burned). I then had 3/4 a cup of whole wheat pasta (200 calories), with a plain grilled chicken breast (est 150 calories) and a half cup of marinara sauce (70 calories). For a snack later I had a Luna bar (180 calories).

So today wasn't too bad. No pizza at least!

Pizza

Once again, emotions are my undoing.

My day began with a half cup of oatmeal with coffee (60 calories from the creamer). I had a doughnut (originally going to be my one treat for the day) which I am guessing cost me around 250 calories. I then found out that I did not get the job in which I was told I was going to get. For lunch I had the eating right mac and cheese (330), with hot coco (water, not milk, 60 calories). I was pretty proud of myself for not eating out. I then had for an early dinner an eating right ravioli (280 calories) and cracker trail mix (I am estimating 250 calories). Overall this would not have been bad. However, I had to run to Target to get some office supplies and ended up buying the personal pan pizza (650 calories)AND bread sticks (three at 140 a pop adds to a total of 420 calories!). This was PURE emotional eating. I even noticed that I felt full after the pizza and eat all the breadsticks, simply for the feel good feeling of taste. Therefore I went from what would have been a 1500 calorie day to a 2500 calorie day. Which just defeats all other efforts.

I have to admit that I am pretty mad at myself. All those extra calories for 5 minutes of great taste, 2 hours of upset stomach and several days of guild. So not worth it.

However, this is a great data point in this whole process. So instead of dwelling on the past I am going to move forward and get my ass to the gym tomorrow.

A Day

So today the Wii said I am 228, which was a little disconcerting but I know how weight can fluctuate easily. The good news is that I measured myself and have lost 2 inches around the waist so far! Not quite enough to fit into the next size down. However, I am hoping if I make my 10 lb goal by the new year I can buy a new pair of jeans!

For breakfast I had oatmeal (instant package, 160 calories), and coffee from home with creamer (60 calories for the creamer). For an early lunch I had a roast beef sandwich from Subway (405 calories). I then had an Eat Right frozen serving of mac and cheese for an early dinner. For a snack later (around actual dinner time) I had half a cup of veggie soup (60 calories) and a few handfuls (like 4) of a crack trail mix (I am assuming around 250 calories).

I finally did my weights today! I really hate doing weights. However, I am hoping to make this more routine. I want to first begin doing it at least once a day. Once I have this down, I want to up it to twice a day. However, one day at a time!

So overall I had a good day. One down, many more to go.

Topsy Turvey

So today went okay. I had a Luna bar for breakfast (230 calories). I went shopping and caved in and bought a pizza hut personal pan cheese pizza from Target. It was pretty tasty and cost me 640 calories. However, I did go to the gym (though I came VERY close to not going) and worked out for an hour on the elliptical (est. 555 calories burned). I am really happy I went, I do love the feeling I get after working out. I just have a problem getting there to do it. For dinner I had a frozen bean and cheese burrito (organic, lol, and 300 calories), with it I had a big bowl of steamed veggies (60 calories). I also had half a cup of raw milk with my dinner (a new thing I am trying out and it hasn't killed me like much of the propaganda out there would suggest). I also had one 100 calorie beer and half of a regular calorie (?) beer. Altogether, not too bad but obviously I could have done a little better (pizza and beer...).

I won't be able to work out for the next two days due to time constraints. However, I am hoping (and planning!) to make healthy eating choices.

It's Been a While

So...it's been a while. The BF came home, then another sprained ankle, add a dozen more excuses with a splash of laziness and there you have it.

I was dreading stepping on the Wii two days ago. I haven't been to the gym much in the last month but I have been taking walks while babysitting. As for my eating, I have been either eating really well or really not so well. However, my weight was 226, which means I actually lost one pound.

Needless to say I have fallen off the wagon. For dinner tonight...I ate way too much, really like two dinners. This sort of behavior really needs to stop. Food is definitely an addiction, and I have a problem. This is quite amusing being that I am a substance abuse therapist. Jokes on me I guess, especially since I know what I should be doing yet I continue not to.

Therefore, my next goal will be to lose 10 lbs by the new year. I am not sure if I will make it. I am setting it a little higher because I think I need that.

Tomorrow I am hoping to make it to the gym, and then simply to take it one day at a time.

Day Back

So I am back from my three day trip in San Diego. I didn’t do too badly with eating while I was there. I think that I stayed at the 2000 calories a day mark (if not lower) for all three days. I was hoping I would be able to get a few workouts in while I was there but I wasn’t able. I did have a taste of some nice greasy fries from El Pollo Loco. They might have been the best thing I tasted all weekend. It’s amazing how good salt and grease taste!

I ate at IHOP one of the days. Apparently in California they now put their calorie content next to each menu item. I was completely horrified! There were very few items under 1000 calories! If I had not seen this, I would have ordered a dish that had a whopping 1500 calories! For their base omelet, which includes just the eggs and cheese (this is before you add any other toppings) it was 890 calories! I could not believe this. Anyways, on the back on the menu they have a light menu! All the items were ranged around 400-500 calories and my dish tasted amazing. I wish that all restaurants, chains and mom and pops, listed calories for their items. It’s also amazing how just a little change cuts large amounts of calories. For example, in the dish I ordered, they traded normal bacon for turkey bacon, eggs for egg substitute, and 2 normal buttermilk pancakes (possible a sugar substitute was used, but they tasted amazing) and it was all only 400 calories! I also wish more places simply offered more substitutes.

For my first day back, I went to the gym and did the elliptical for 60 minutes. Woo hoo! For breakfast I had my oatmeal. For lunch I had 3/4ths a cup of pasta with ½ a cup of marinara sauce (total calories for the meal was 260). Then I had a snack of a Luna bar, around 160 calories. I unexpectedly had to babysit this evening, which messed up my dinner. I had a small bean and cheese burrito and then a small proportion of nachos (both had avocado and tomatoes on them). These were homemade, not from a restaurant. I added the values of the cheese, beans, tortilla and chips and it came to 510 calories. Plus whatever the avocado and tomatoes added. I think overall this was not bad. I was happy because the portion sizes were very small. I also had my hot coco (150 calories).

I stepped on the Wii today and it said I am 232 lbs. I guess this is okay, only a 1lb gain. However, it’s still a tad annoying because I didn’t go crazy in San Diego. What’s a girl to do?

I know tomorrow is going to be a high calorie day. I am making lunch for a friend, and then for dinner I am going out to a nice restaurant because my boyfriend is finally coming home (been gone 2 months)! So I am sure the restaurant and drinks will kill my day. However, I will be at the gym and try to eat a small proportion for lunch. We shall see!

A Good Day

Today was a nice day. I began with my oatmeal, followed by 60 minutes on the elliptical again. Thanks to Dan Brown’s new book for assisting with that. I then had lunch with a friend I haven’t seen in a while. I ate what I said I would last night, turkey with honey mustard on wheat bread (with lettuce and onions) and a side of mushrooms. The only down side was that when I looked at the mushrooms on the serving bar when I ordered they had no cream sauce. When I got my plate, a cream sauce was added. This can add a couple hundred calories easy. I still ate them though. I wasn’t even tempted by the bakery items!

I was really worried about my cravings today. When one burns a lot of calories, the body doesn’t want to lose weight, so increases signals saying you’re hungry. However, my cravings were minimal! Which was great. The two and a half hour nap from 2:30 to 5pm could have helped too.

In the evening I made a strawberry-banana smoothie. It was made with a cup of frozen strawberries, one banana and one cup of non-fat milk. It was SOOO good and super filling. I was not super hungry after that, so instead of having my oatmeal for dinner I ate a 100 calorie pack of popcorn.

The Wii says that I am 231! Woo hoo!

I am really excited about my cravings being so minimal recently. I am hoping that because I am eating small portions, that my tummy no longer feels like it needs to be super full to be satisfied.

Cravings

Today was a good and super hard day. I began my day as usual, with my oatmeal. I followed that up with a 60 minute work out on the elliptical (500+ calories burned)! It felt great! However, I’ve been hungry every since. I ate a Subway sandwich for lunch. No mayo, wheat bread. Total calories, 400. I then had a cup and a half of broccoli a few hours later. An hour later I had a cup of imitation crab meat. Then for dinner I had… oatmeal, followed by another ½ cup of crab meat. At the end of the evening I had my hot coco. I stayed up kind of late and then had a popsicle with my roommate. I did snack more than usual, however, I kept it pretty healthy. I REALLY wanted fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit. Ahhh, it sounds so good. I would definitely say that today has been the worst cravings ever!

I also realized that my hot coco proportions were pretty large. I measured out my mug today and it holds 2 cups. So in my head I was thinking one cup of nonfat milk (90 calories) and really it was double, so 180 calories. Add on the 60 calories from the coco mix, and this little snack has 240 calories in it! This is how many calories are in my oatmeal! So now I will be using a smaller cup, so that my treat comes down to 150 calories, which I do not mind.

Tomorrow I am meeting a friend for lunch. This could possibly be a big no no because it’s easy to be super hungry after the gym and then to say f*it at the restaurant and order something pretty unhealthy. Like fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and a biscuit!! So I have looked at the menu and already decided what I should get. I am REALLY hoping that when it all goes down tomorrow I will have the strength to order my sandwich with veggies instead of the garlic potato rings that are offered. I wish that every restaurant showed what the calorie content of the food is. Because sometimes it is worth the extra calories, yet much of the time how much calories are really in a dish is astounding. This alone being displayed I think would help with better choices. I hope that this reminder will assist me in choosing the better choice (like honey mustard instead of the lowfat garlic mayo…).
Good luck (strength!) tomorrow!

9/14/09

Today was a pretty good day. I started with my oatmeal, followed by 40 minutes on the elliptical at the gym. This was exciting because since my ankle sprain I have been only able to be on the stationary bike. It was nice feeling like I did a good workout. However, judging by my ankle pain later in the day I don’t think the ankle appreciated the workout as much as I did. Anyways, for lunch I had a cup (dry) of pasta with half a cup of marinara sauce and ¾ a cup of imitation crab meat. After this meal I was having major cravings. I think it might be a combination of the good workout and the left over cravings from the pizza. Anyways, I did give in and had ¾ a cup of low fat vanilla frozen yogurt mixed in with a 100 calorie pack of chocolate wafers with hazelnut cream. For dinner I had oatmeal and later I had my hot coco.
After my lunch I checked in with the Wii and am at 233. I like seeing the numbers decrease like they have been. I know there will be a point in which they began to slow and I will plateau. However, I am glad that I am not there yet!
Overall, I think it was a good day. I am proud that I resisted the cravings to order out (pizza or Asian) as well as a slight one to have a drink. It will be interesting to see if these cravings increase throughout the week or if they will die down instead.

Pizza shall be the death of me

Today was…not the best. I knew that I would be eating pizza already. I began my day with my oatmeal. Then for lunch I had two pieces of Pizza Hut cheese stuffed crust pan pizza. I tired to look at the calorie content online, however, the files on the website are damaged for this particular menu item. Interesting… I was assisting my friend unpack at her apartment. I was there all day and ended up have two more pieces of pizza for an early dinner. I am estimating that these four pieces of pizza were at least 1,000 calories combined, easy. After eating them, I began craving more savory food when I got home. I then ate a 100 calorie pack of South Beach Diet chocolate wafers with hazelnut cream. I then had an once or so of mozzarella with 4 sundried tomatoes in olive oil. My evening snack was again my hot coco.
Overall, I know that again like yesterday I probably came out eating a normal calorie day. However, to loose weight I need to reduce calories. I didn’t even work out. I did do my abs though and I do expect I worked my muscles a bit with all the box moving.
Tomorrow will be a much better day. I will be going to the gym and back on my game. Four more days to go with the oatmeal experiment and then off to the wedding in San Diego.
Here’s to hoping tomorrow will be a step forward.

9/12/09

So today was an okay day. I knew that I was going to have brunch out, so for a light breakfast I ate a 60 calorie non-fat yogurt. For brunch I ate huevos rancheros (tortillas, two eggs, cheese and black beans) with water. I had half a cup of imitation crap meat for a snack, 70 calories. For dinner I had…oatmeal!!! I then decided that tonight would be my one night this week to drink. Looking back in hindsight I should have chosen another night, one in which my lunch was no such a high calorie one. This is hopefully a mistake that I will learn to remedy. Anyways, I had my usual evening treat of a large mug of nonfat milk with no sugar added hot coco. However, I added a shot of vodka to it (around 100 calories). I then had a White Russian, with nonfat milk, a shot of vodka, and half a shot each of kaluah and baileys.
While overall, with the oatmeal, I might be inclined to say I had a “good day”. However, looking at it overall I had a “the amount of calories one should intake” day. I think this is problem with weight loss that many people encounter. Two healthy meals can be completely ruined by a large restaurant meal and alcohol. I guess that it’s good that I did not go way over, however, I know I can do better.
As for exercise, I did use my Wii Fit for 30 minutes today, did my crunches, and took my normal Woman’s One a Day, Emergen-C packet, and vitamin D3 table.
Overall, I think that my cravings are becoming less prominent. For example, I was walking around the Haight today, and there were all of these amazing smells from so many different restaurants. However, that overwhelming craving did not seem to hit me. From past experience, I do really well with my eating during the day and in the evening I totally ruin it. However, even with the smell of rotisserie roasted chicken in the kitchen from my roommate’s dinner this evening, I was able to stick to my oatmeal.
Small steps.

The Beginning: Phase I

I’ve decided that I need to make a major change in my life. I’ve made a change before in the past and saw results. However, here I am, once again: 235 pounds. Last time, I was 255. I then lost 60 pounds. I was at 195 for two years. Then back up to 233 and then down to 209. Then a sprained ankle, school, stress and excuse, excuse, excuse and here I am again. In March, I was 245. Now at 235, I am here again. I have lost 10 pounds in the last few months, mainly due to calorie reduction and small amounts of exercise. Yet I want, no need, to see bigger and more permanent results.

So why exactly have I began this blog? I was to chronicle my ups and downs, my obsession (addiction?) with big proportions and food that is high in calories and low in nutrition. This blog might very well never be read by anyone other than my self. However, this will be a place where I can see patterns related to my food intake and simply discuss thoughts/ideas I have related to this. Additionally, it will quite possibly give my self not only reinforcement (be it positive or negative) but motivation. Hopefully, the combination of this and my Wii Fit will assist me in tracking my progress and will result in getting me back down to 195 by this spring. Even further, to 175 and stable by this time next year.

To jump start this, I have been walking, exercising at the gym, or using my Wii 30 minutes a day and reducing my caloric intake. I have begin my oatmeal experiment (I believe diet is a word that inevitably sets one up for failure). Perhaps “oatmeal phase” is a better term. I want to kick start my body into weight loss. Therefore, beginning on the 10^th of September I began eating a half cup of Quaker Oats with a tablespoon of brown sugar for both breakfast and for dinner. Lunch has and will consist of something bigger, though hopefully healthy too. Though, when I do decide to eat unhealthy (and I will) it will be for lunch. For example, today I am going to brunch and tomorrow I am having pizza for lunch. Yet Oatmeal will be there with me too. This phase of my project will last until next Friday morning (I leave town for a three day weekend for a wedding).

If anyone is actually reading this, and actually made it this far, you might be thinking “Oh God, another fat chick starting a failed weight loss blog.” This could very well be the case. I am unsure as to what this will turn into. Only time will tell. Yet I hope, if I am successful, I will be able to look back at this blog and be mindful for a future that will hopefully never see me above 200 pounds ever again.