So, I know that nobody is interested in what someone ate for the day but I've got to do this. I have to be accountable and I know I'm already going to be upset with myself. This is life.
Here's my list:
Breakfast: I started out with great intentions.
Scrambled egg whites with spinach and a few sprinkles of goat cheese
A piece of white/wheat toast with butter and low sugar strawberry jelly
Snack:
12 oz. cup of coffee with butter pecan creamer (not the best choice)
about 10-15 pistachios
Lunch:
2 slices of pizza from CiCi's (one buffalo chicken, one pepperoni)
1 small piece of cinnamon roll pizza (whatever it's called)
Snack:
2 pieces of Dark Chocolate nuggets
Dinner:
Small spinach salad with celery and red onion with italian dressing (little drizzled)
Small bowl of chicken florentina (leftover from my lunch yesterday) I tried to rinse off the creamy stuff, I'm not sure how many calories I actually took off
Snack:
6 oz. of coffee drink (I just wanted to get it out of the refridgerator)
Total water consumption: 3 glasses (not really enough to hydrate the body)
After looking at my meal choices, I think I had a lot of carbs today. I shall try to have less floury stuff tomorrow. It's a dangerous world out there. Too many choices, but I know I can make the right ones.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Fed Up!
I am so mad at myself.
Absolutely fed up.
I am tired of eating junk.
I know, I know. I'm the one making the choice to eat it, but why. Why am I eating it? I know that I need to be eating healthy greens, fruits and lean meats. Do you think once this past week I've had that? No.
Okay, tomorrow is a new day.
This is the road I am on and the journey is a tough. Weight management is not easy people. So, I will keep reminding myself that I don't want to go back to the person I was but I have got to get back in the swing of things. I feel like the little engine that could.
So, tomorrow. I will write a list of everything that I have eaten so I can reflect. And that's that.
Absolutely fed up.
I am tired of eating junk.
I know, I know. I'm the one making the choice to eat it, but why. Why am I eating it? I know that I need to be eating healthy greens, fruits and lean meats. Do you think once this past week I've had that? No.
Okay, tomorrow is a new day.
This is the road I am on and the journey is a tough. Weight management is not easy people. So, I will keep reminding myself that I don't want to go back to the person I was but I have got to get back in the swing of things. I feel like the little engine that could.
So, tomorrow. I will write a list of everything that I have eaten so I can reflect. And that's that.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year's Eve
Dang holidays! They came and stole all my calories away with all the delicious meals, candies, dips, and cheese balls. Then, on top of that, I had zero desire to workout. I feel so ashamed and just plain yucky.
Alright, so this is the reality for most people when they are trying to lose and maintain weight loss. I have yet to master the holidays. My new year's resolution (one of many) is to learn how to control and manage what I eat during any holiday.
I will say it is very tough. Holidays wouldn't be so bad if all the parties and get togethers were hosted at my house with my own healthy menus planned out. Unfortunately, they weren't this year and so I went out to these different places. I'm not saying I ate everything in sight and had more than I should. It's just the type of food I ate was just not healthy. The main ingredient in most of what I had was CHEESE. Now, I'm a cheesehead. I love it but over the holidays I had too much of it. So, my second new year's resolution is to cut out dairy products for about 2 weeks and then slowly add them back in and we'll see how my flabby belly looks then.
Also, a new year's resolution of mine is to begin doing yoga in the morning before work. I already bought a dvd of yoga and a yoga mat. I tried out the dvd today and it was pretty good. I love how yoga makes me get real quiet and relaxed. It's like the only thing I'm focusing on is my body. I'm asking myself, Can I hold this pose a little longer to increase my stretch? I've heard so many good things about yoga, so I thought I would give it a whirl. Plus, I needed something different to do in my workout routine.
Well, I know that 2010 will be a new year with changes to go along with it....We'll just have to see where the river takes us
Alright, so this is the reality for most people when they are trying to lose and maintain weight loss. I have yet to master the holidays. My new year's resolution (one of many) is to learn how to control and manage what I eat during any holiday.
I will say it is very tough. Holidays wouldn't be so bad if all the parties and get togethers were hosted at my house with my own healthy menus planned out. Unfortunately, they weren't this year and so I went out to these different places. I'm not saying I ate everything in sight and had more than I should. It's just the type of food I ate was just not healthy. The main ingredient in most of what I had was CHEESE. Now, I'm a cheesehead. I love it but over the holidays I had too much of it. So, my second new year's resolution is to cut out dairy products for about 2 weeks and then slowly add them back in and we'll see how my flabby belly looks then.
Also, a new year's resolution of mine is to begin doing yoga in the morning before work. I already bought a dvd of yoga and a yoga mat. I tried out the dvd today and it was pretty good. I love how yoga makes me get real quiet and relaxed. It's like the only thing I'm focusing on is my body. I'm asking myself, Can I hold this pose a little longer to increase my stretch? I've heard so many good things about yoga, so I thought I would give it a whirl. Plus, I needed something different to do in my workout routine.
Well, I know that 2010 will be a new year with changes to go along with it....We'll just have to see where the river takes us
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
A Running Story
Alright, let me give you the background to my running history.
Everyone remembers in middle and high school the physical fitness test. It began with how many crunches could you do in a minute, moving to the bar for pull ups, doing some kind of stretch exercise, and then finally the dreaded mile run. Yea, I wasn't bad at most of it but I absolutely hated the idea of running. The idea of me at 175 lbs (in middle school and a little more in high school) running just was not what I wanted to do. So, I did the bare minimum which actually wasn't even enough. The girls were suppose to finish a mile in no more than 13 minutes. I finished my mile in 15 minutes, sometimes if I was lucky 14 minutes. So, as you may tell, I wasn't keen on the idea of running.
Fast forward to ten years later, and you will find a different type of runner. Still on my weight management journey, I began to feel a little stale. The contest was over and my workouts began to get bland. It was like go, workout, eat, and sleep. I needed a challenge, a goal of some sort. That's when I became friends with Leigh. Leigh is the yoga instructor and leader of the runner's club. She also was a coach in the biggest loser. So, she saw my transformation. At the last challenge of the biggest loser, we had to sign up for a 5k Run/Walk. Well, here was my challenge. I could either sign up for the 3.1 mile run or I could walk it. It intrigued me. Could I really run 3.1 miles the whole time? So, I decided to take on this challenge. I wanted to see how losing weight had affected my health. Was I strong enough? The week before the 5k run I decided to start training on the treadmill. I started with just seeing if I could run a mile. I did. The next day I tried running 1.5 miles without dying. I was so surprised that I could run that long and not feel out of breath. Then, I did two miles. Still, I didn't feel out of breath. This was awesome. I was so excited. Well, by now, it was time for the 5k. I stretched, got myself some water, and then headed towards the start line. All I could think about was just keep running. I knew I could do it and didn't even care what place I finished in. I just wanted to finish. I began running and I just kept telling myself, catch up to the next runner. Soon, I passed a whole bunch of runners and I was feeling good. Next thing I know, I could see the finish line. Seriously? I'm going to finish this race and I'm not even out of breath. That adrenaline gave me the push to finish the last tenth of a mile and I crossed the line at 29:31.
That was the beginning of something.....
I was hooked on running. Leigh saw my finish and she invited me to join the runner's club. In the runner's club, I met some new faces, Carol and Julie. These ladies are regular ladies who just want to run. We ran a couple of nights a week and once the summer hit I could run in the morning with Leigh. One day, we were all running together and decided we should run a half-marathon. Now, this was a challenge. I knew I could run 2 and 3 miles, but the idea of running 13.1 miles was another story. So, we began training. We ran 3 days in the week and a long run on the weekend. With each week, I could feel myself getting stronger and healthier. Soon, we were running 7 and 8 miles on our long runs. I couldn't believe that I was running for more than an hour. To think that in high school, I didn't even want to run for a mere 13 minutes. Then, our last long run came up. 10 miles. I have to admit I was nervous. With the girls by my side, we started in on our run. To help you understand what it's like to run 10 miles, it goes a little like this. You start out with the idea of just get through the first mile. Miles 2 through 5 are a breeze because you're getting into your stride. Mile 6 you start to feel your energy drop so you take your gel-pack (nothing but sugar kinda taste like frosting) and keep moving. Miles 7-8 felt like Forest Gump, I just kept running and running. Then, at mile 9, the gel-pack kicks in and I feel like I can do this. We cross our own finish line after one hour and 40 minutes. I couldn't believe it. I just ran ten miles. I was on cloud nine.
Now, it was time for the half-marathon. We geared up at 5:30 am and traveled east to Greenville where we would get all of our gear (our number and chip to clock our time). The race began at 7 o'clock. I was ready as ready could be. We started the run like normal. The first few miles went fine and at mile 7 we took our gel pack which gave me enough energy to get to mile ten. At mile 11, I could feel my body start to ache. I did different running tricks to ease the pain but nothing really seemed to work. On top of the pain, I couldn't see mile 12. It just felt like I would never finish, but I couldn't give up I had come too far. So, like any good runner, I pushed through the pain and soon I could see the end of mile 12. As we got closer to the end, I could hear the crowd of people cheering and I knew I was almost finished. Leigh and I had stuck together throughout the whole race. Julie and Carol were already finished. Then, all of a sudden, I saw my dad and he was taking pictures of me. He was so proud of seeing what I had done over the last few months and even now. Finally, the finish line was in sight and I sprinted. I crossed the finish line at 2 hours and 26 minutes. The lady took my chip and I stopped moving for just a few minutes. All of a sudden, there was an immense amount of pain rushing through the bottom half of my body. Luckily, Dustin was there to hold me up and help me walk around. Mom and Dad were so amazed that they told everyone they knew about their marathon runner child. Of course, I kept telling them it was only a half marathon but they didn't care they were proud. I was amazed and totally accomplished.
So, that's the beginning of my running story.....
It continues to this day. I'm still in the running club and we still meet. We haven't met in a while because of the winter season and then Christmas happened. But, I just got a call from Carol and she is having running withdrawals. I'm in the same boat. I need to run. So, I'm setting up another goal. I am going to be running in the Crystal Coast half-marathon at the end of February. I can do this. If you think you can't run, I say that you can. All you need is the proper shoes and a willing attitude. Just try it, you just might like it.
Everyone remembers in middle and high school the physical fitness test. It began with how many crunches could you do in a minute, moving to the bar for pull ups, doing some kind of stretch exercise, and then finally the dreaded mile run. Yea, I wasn't bad at most of it but I absolutely hated the idea of running. The idea of me at 175 lbs (in middle school and a little more in high school) running just was not what I wanted to do. So, I did the bare minimum which actually wasn't even enough. The girls were suppose to finish a mile in no more than 13 minutes. I finished my mile in 15 minutes, sometimes if I was lucky 14 minutes. So, as you may tell, I wasn't keen on the idea of running.
Fast forward to ten years later, and you will find a different type of runner. Still on my weight management journey, I began to feel a little stale. The contest was over and my workouts began to get bland. It was like go, workout, eat, and sleep. I needed a challenge, a goal of some sort. That's when I became friends with Leigh. Leigh is the yoga instructor and leader of the runner's club. She also was a coach in the biggest loser. So, she saw my transformation. At the last challenge of the biggest loser, we had to sign up for a 5k Run/Walk. Well, here was my challenge. I could either sign up for the 3.1 mile run or I could walk it. It intrigued me. Could I really run 3.1 miles the whole time? So, I decided to take on this challenge. I wanted to see how losing weight had affected my health. Was I strong enough? The week before the 5k run I decided to start training on the treadmill. I started with just seeing if I could run a mile. I did. The next day I tried running 1.5 miles without dying. I was so surprised that I could run that long and not feel out of breath. Then, I did two miles. Still, I didn't feel out of breath. This was awesome. I was so excited. Well, by now, it was time for the 5k. I stretched, got myself some water, and then headed towards the start line. All I could think about was just keep running. I knew I could do it and didn't even care what place I finished in. I just wanted to finish. I began running and I just kept telling myself, catch up to the next runner. Soon, I passed a whole bunch of runners and I was feeling good. Next thing I know, I could see the finish line. Seriously? I'm going to finish this race and I'm not even out of breath. That adrenaline gave me the push to finish the last tenth of a mile and I crossed the line at 29:31.
That was the beginning of something.....
I was hooked on running. Leigh saw my finish and she invited me to join the runner's club. In the runner's club, I met some new faces, Carol and Julie. These ladies are regular ladies who just want to run. We ran a couple of nights a week and once the summer hit I could run in the morning with Leigh. One day, we were all running together and decided we should run a half-marathon. Now, this was a challenge. I knew I could run 2 and 3 miles, but the idea of running 13.1 miles was another story. So, we began training. We ran 3 days in the week and a long run on the weekend. With each week, I could feel myself getting stronger and healthier. Soon, we were running 7 and 8 miles on our long runs. I couldn't believe that I was running for more than an hour. To think that in high school, I didn't even want to run for a mere 13 minutes. Then, our last long run came up. 10 miles. I have to admit I was nervous. With the girls by my side, we started in on our run. To help you understand what it's like to run 10 miles, it goes a little like this. You start out with the idea of just get through the first mile. Miles 2 through 5 are a breeze because you're getting into your stride. Mile 6 you start to feel your energy drop so you take your gel-pack (nothing but sugar kinda taste like frosting) and keep moving. Miles 7-8 felt like Forest Gump, I just kept running and running. Then, at mile 9, the gel-pack kicks in and I feel like I can do this. We cross our own finish line after one hour and 40 minutes. I couldn't believe it. I just ran ten miles. I was on cloud nine.
Now, it was time for the half-marathon. We geared up at 5:30 am and traveled east to Greenville where we would get all of our gear (our number and chip to clock our time). The race began at 7 o'clock. I was ready as ready could be. We started the run like normal. The first few miles went fine and at mile 7 we took our gel pack which gave me enough energy to get to mile ten. At mile 11, I could feel my body start to ache. I did different running tricks to ease the pain but nothing really seemed to work. On top of the pain, I couldn't see mile 12. It just felt like I would never finish, but I couldn't give up I had come too far. So, like any good runner, I pushed through the pain and soon I could see the end of mile 12. As we got closer to the end, I could hear the crowd of people cheering and I knew I was almost finished. Leigh and I had stuck together throughout the whole race. Julie and Carol were already finished. Then, all of a sudden, I saw my dad and he was taking pictures of me. He was so proud of seeing what I had done over the last few months and even now. Finally, the finish line was in sight and I sprinted. I crossed the finish line at 2 hours and 26 minutes. The lady took my chip and I stopped moving for just a few minutes. All of a sudden, there was an immense amount of pain rushing through the bottom half of my body. Luckily, Dustin was there to hold me up and help me walk around. Mom and Dad were so amazed that they told everyone they knew about their marathon runner child. Of course, I kept telling them it was only a half marathon but they didn't care they were proud. I was amazed and totally accomplished.
So, that's the beginning of my running story.....
It continues to this day. I'm still in the running club and we still meet. We haven't met in a while because of the winter season and then Christmas happened. But, I just got a call from Carol and she is having running withdrawals. I'm in the same boat. I need to run. So, I'm setting up another goal. I am going to be running in the Crystal Coast half-marathon at the end of February. I can do this. If you think you can't run, I say that you can. All you need is the proper shoes and a willing attitude. Just try it, you just might like it.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The First Post
Where do I begin?
I haven't had a blog in a long time but I thought I would give it another chance.
I am dedicating this blog to my health. All of it. Mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Here's where it all begins:
A little over a year ago, I began a journey of weight loss. Physical health was my main concern. At 5'4" and 193 lbs, I was in denial. I had gone for my yearly doctor's appointment just waiting for the results from the scale. Phew! Only 190 lbs, I guess it could have been worse. Sitting there talking to my doctor about my health, she said, "Jessica, if you don't want to take medicine. You will have to lose 25 pounds." She said it so blase I wanted to tell her then you have to go pick up my car. Right now. She didn't understand that every time I ate it was like an experience. I mean I don't just eat food for nourishment, I ate it because of all the flavors and the experience. It would not be easy to give up all of that. People always talk about losing weight (especially me) and they say they are going to do it but really they just say it. Sometimes I believe when I said it I thought to myself, "Well at least your conscious of your weight problem." But that day in the doctor's office a light bulb went off or at least it was starting to flicker. I left the doctor's office feeling like this is it. I've got to make a change for better or worse. I didn't want to believe that I was really overweight. I thought when I looked in the mirror I was doing okay that I wasn't really THAT big. Sure, I had a roll or two. Okay, and my face had gotten very round and rosy. But, I didn't feel like I was fat so I kept on eating.
A few months later, I had made the decision. July 1st 2008. I would no longer be fat. The first thing I had to do was realize that I was not really happy with my weight anymore. This is the number one way to really lose weight. You have got to get to that point where you say, Enough is Enough. I did. So, I made a commitment to begin working out everyday for at least 30 minutes. Some people can go walking, others playing a sport. I had to get into a cardio class. I needed somebody else yelling at me to push a little harder and to keep moving no matter what. Soon, I was in the groove of doing cardio for almost an hour five days a week. Now, I had to begin tweeking my eating habits. I wasn't necessarily a bad eater. I was not the kind of person who would go to the McDonald's and order 2 big macs and fries for lunch and then have a big pasta dish for dinner. I didn't really cared for fried foods either. My weakness when it came to food was just the amount of food I would eat. I just couldn't help myself. It was all so good to me. First, I had to give myself smaller portions. I would have others split food with me and I would take boxes home. Sure, I was hungry at first because my body was like, "Wait, there's still food on your plate you can have some more." Over time, though, I began to realize just how many wasted calories I was intaking by simply overeating. Also, I noticed that before I would eat just because something was there. Shortly, I noticed that I was only eating when I felt hungry which was a good sign.
Time was moving along and I was losing weight. The best feeling I had was when I went to a store and I put on a size 12 and it was too big. I had to go to the next size and even they were beginning to be loose on me. I was so excited. At six months, I had my doctor's appointment. I had hoped that I had lost more than 25 pounds because I really wanted my doctor to be impressed. I wanted her to know that I was a patient who really took her advice to heart. So, I arrived on time and they scooted me into the dreaded scale room. I stepped on the scale. 163 lbs the nurse told me. I was so excited. I had gone from 193 pounds to 163 pounds. Down 30 lbs. I moved into the doctor's room and she said with much joy, "I'm so proud of you." She was proud and so was I.
My journey, however, didn't stop there. Although, I had lost 30 pounds my goal from July was to lose 50 lbs by the following July. So, that January, my local gym hosted its own Biggest Loser contest. With determination, I was going to lose the weight and win the prize of $1,000. The contest was the best way to keep myself motivated. At the end of the contest, I had lost another 13 pounds which was wonderful even if I didn't win the thousand bucks. I continued my journey losing a total of 45 pounds.
Fortunately, my journey does not end at just losing 45 pounds. It is still continuing even today. I am finding different ways to challenge myself. I will say that maintaining weight is a much bigger challenge than losing it. This is why I have stepped back into the blogging scene. I am hoping that I can keep myself accountable and may be encourage others to get healthy.
This my story and let us continue it together....
I haven't had a blog in a long time but I thought I would give it another chance.
I am dedicating this blog to my health. All of it. Mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Here's where it all begins:
A little over a year ago, I began a journey of weight loss. Physical health was my main concern. At 5'4" and 193 lbs, I was in denial. I had gone for my yearly doctor's appointment just waiting for the results from the scale. Phew! Only 190 lbs, I guess it could have been worse. Sitting there talking to my doctor about my health, she said, "Jessica, if you don't want to take medicine. You will have to lose 25 pounds." She said it so blase I wanted to tell her then you have to go pick up my car. Right now. She didn't understand that every time I ate it was like an experience. I mean I don't just eat food for nourishment, I ate it because of all the flavors and the experience. It would not be easy to give up all of that. People always talk about losing weight (especially me) and they say they are going to do it but really they just say it. Sometimes I believe when I said it I thought to myself, "Well at least your conscious of your weight problem." But that day in the doctor's office a light bulb went off or at least it was starting to flicker. I left the doctor's office feeling like this is it. I've got to make a change for better or worse. I didn't want to believe that I was really overweight. I thought when I looked in the mirror I was doing okay that I wasn't really THAT big. Sure, I had a roll or two. Okay, and my face had gotten very round and rosy. But, I didn't feel like I was fat so I kept on eating.
A few months later, I had made the decision. July 1st 2008. I would no longer be fat. The first thing I had to do was realize that I was not really happy with my weight anymore. This is the number one way to really lose weight. You have got to get to that point where you say, Enough is Enough. I did. So, I made a commitment to begin working out everyday for at least 30 minutes. Some people can go walking, others playing a sport. I had to get into a cardio class. I needed somebody else yelling at me to push a little harder and to keep moving no matter what. Soon, I was in the groove of doing cardio for almost an hour five days a week. Now, I had to begin tweeking my eating habits. I wasn't necessarily a bad eater. I was not the kind of person who would go to the McDonald's and order 2 big macs and fries for lunch and then have a big pasta dish for dinner. I didn't really cared for fried foods either. My weakness when it came to food was just the amount of food I would eat. I just couldn't help myself. It was all so good to me. First, I had to give myself smaller portions. I would have others split food with me and I would take boxes home. Sure, I was hungry at first because my body was like, "Wait, there's still food on your plate you can have some more." Over time, though, I began to realize just how many wasted calories I was intaking by simply overeating. Also, I noticed that before I would eat just because something was there. Shortly, I noticed that I was only eating when I felt hungry which was a good sign.
Time was moving along and I was losing weight. The best feeling I had was when I went to a store and I put on a size 12 and it was too big. I had to go to the next size and even they were beginning to be loose on me. I was so excited. At six months, I had my doctor's appointment. I had hoped that I had lost more than 25 pounds because I really wanted my doctor to be impressed. I wanted her to know that I was a patient who really took her advice to heart. So, I arrived on time and they scooted me into the dreaded scale room. I stepped on the scale. 163 lbs the nurse told me. I was so excited. I had gone from 193 pounds to 163 pounds. Down 30 lbs. I moved into the doctor's room and she said with much joy, "I'm so proud of you." She was proud and so was I.
My journey, however, didn't stop there. Although, I had lost 30 pounds my goal from July was to lose 50 lbs by the following July. So, that January, my local gym hosted its own Biggest Loser contest. With determination, I was going to lose the weight and win the prize of $1,000. The contest was the best way to keep myself motivated. At the end of the contest, I had lost another 13 pounds which was wonderful even if I didn't win the thousand bucks. I continued my journey losing a total of 45 pounds.
Fortunately, my journey does not end at just losing 45 pounds. It is still continuing even today. I am finding different ways to challenge myself. I will say that maintaining weight is a much bigger challenge than losing it. This is why I have stepped back into the blogging scene. I am hoping that I can keep myself accountable and may be encourage others to get healthy.
This my story and let us continue it together....
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