The Journey to Fit

One year later...

2012-02-08T18:08:00.011-06:00

Here I am, almost a year after my last post, and I've decided to pick this back up again! It's amazing how much has happened this past year.

We got married,

honeymooned in Oregon,

bought a house,

and last but not least ...

... we GAINED WEIGHT! And by "we" I mean "I", of course. 6'9" tall husbands do not gain weight. They just absorb every ounce of ice cream/soda/pizza into all their spare height. For 5'5" wives who work all the time but don't work out at all, those extra calories have added UP! I blame it on the following things:

1. Genetics
2. Wanting to go straight home from work to get dinner on the table for my hungry husband
3. Not wanting to work out after dinner
4. Eating too big of portions. I need to remember that I can't eat as much as Evan does, even though I want to.

The good news is, this blogging method WORKED for me. I think it was just the pseudo-accountability that I found in having to report on my progress in a public place. Not that many people were reading it, but it still helped. My maximum weight before starting this blog was 139. The month before my wedding, I was at 126 ish. Immediately after the honemoon, I was probably back to 129 ish, and it's climbed since then. I'm hovering right about 135 as of January 1st.

As a 2012 New Year's resolution, I gave up all sodas. I did this in 2010 and went about 9 months with no sodas, so I'm hoping to make it the whole year this time. I don't know that I've necessarily lost weight yet, but I don't think I've gained any either. The month of February shall be devoted to getting me back on the running track. Evan and I went out last week for a (very) short run for the first time in MONTHS! I literally think the last time I went running was around September 2011. Needless to say, I was not able to go very far.

Reading through my posts from last year has seriously been inspiring. I remember how it felt to have my jeans too big. I want that feeling back!!

Here's to 2012!!

It's Been Awhile...

2011-03-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

I love using phrases that subtly but intentionally put songs into people's heads. If you don't get this then it didn't work on you. Congratulations - you are invincible to my mind tricks.

Has it really been almost two weeks since I've posted? I am truly sorry for that. Mostly for myself, because I don't think it really bothers any of you too much. But this thing really does keep me inspired and accountable!! So here's an update...

I have been doing REALLY good with my calorie counting. I've only gone over my limit maybe 1 day per week. That's good for me!! Also, I did joyously break the 130 barrier last week! And I stayed under 130 for like 5 days in a row. Today I weighed in at 130.0 still but there are so many fluctuations. I know I've lost several pounds for good because I haven't seen anything higher than 130.4 ish in like two weeks.

My exercising has been lacking. Life is just so busy and FULL of stuff 24/7 that it's hard to push something else out of the way to make time for a run or a workout video. I did go to a Jazzercise class with my mom on Saturday morning though, and that was really fun!! Except I strained my right calf muscle pretty bad, and I've been limping around for two days because of it. Hopefully it'll loosen up tomorrow.

Happy PI day everyone! :)

Donuts? Oops

2011-03-02T23:31:00.001-06:00

My weight this morning was 130.0! How excitingly close to 129! I
haven't been below 130 since spring of 2008... Almost 3 years ago! So
yeah, I was pretty pumped this morning.

Then the free irresistible donuts showed up at work. Then I went to
sonic for lunch. Then I went to whataburger for dinner. WOW! I know
you're thinking that I MUST have gone over my calorie limit, but
actually I was 120 calories UNDER! amazing right!? I didn't snack at
all today, and I pretty much ordered the lowest calorie item on the
menus.

Anyway, Evan defends his thesis tomorrow, so it's a big day! Y'all be
thinking and praying for him at 11am!

Melanie Hawkins

Yogart

2011-02-28T22:27:00.001-06:00

When I told my Grampa I was about to leave for yoga class, he asked me:

"How many classes do you have to go to before you know how to eat yogurt?"

... Judging by his humor, he is definitely related to me.

From HERE

So tonight was week 4 of free yoga class at church. I don't know if I was just pushing myself harder, or if the moves were a lot harder, or maybe both. But my legs were literally shaking when we finished. Yoga works, yall.

Did pretty good on my calories today. Although I got closer to my limit than I usually do. I splurged at lunch and grabbed some taco bell. BUT they have their "Fresco" menu which is lower calorie, and very delicious food. I think the main way they reduce the calories is they load it up with lots of tomato/onion/pico and not as much refried beans. Also, Evan made some Chicken Lo Mein for dinner, and it was from the Cooking Light website so it was a lower-calorie meal. Here's the recipe: Beef lo Mein (we substituted chicken for the beef). It's delicious and easy!

Can't believe tomorrow's March. February was too short.

One week down... again

2011-02-27T23:45:00.004-06:00

So - it's been a successful week!!

I even did good all weekend long. I didn't once go over my calorie count, even though I was spending the weekend with my beautiful amazing best friend and matron of honor. It's a lot harder to stay under my calorie count when I go out to eat, but she mostly cooked (some really good food), so i was able to not go over my limit. Thanks Kathryn!

The only downside of last week, was that I only got to exercise twice. I did yoga on Monday and I ran on Tuesday. I'm definitely going to try harder this week to run at least 3 times between now and next Sunday.

Haven't weighed myself all weekend, but I will do so tomorrow morning and I'm hope-hope-hoping to be in the 120's soooooooooooon :).

But it doesn't matter! I'm already feeling much better about myself and feeling more healthy, just by paying attention to what I eat for one week!! It's amazing what that can do.

Anyway it's late so this is short. I'm ready for Week 2!!

UPDATE: Weighed in at 130.8 lb Monday morning. Getting close!

Third day's a charm!!

2011-02-23T21:48:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I've posted every day for THREE days in a row now.
This is madness. Now, don't expect me to always post every night, but
I'll definitely try to do it every other day or so.

Ate good today- had to fight the urge to get a snack from the vending
machine when the 3 o'clock hungries hit me. But I made it to dinner!!
I cooked easy chicken pot pie, but it turned out that I grabbed the
wrong bag of frozen veggies from the store, so it was not your typical
chicken pot pie. It had chickpeas, red beans, red bell peppers, and
some other stuff. It was actually the "fiesta" blend of vegetables, so
we had "fiesta" chicken pot pie. Sound weird to you? Yeah, it was
weird. But my fiancé and my grandpa cleaned out the pan, so it must
have been ok.

Didn't do any exercise today, but I've been going all day and didn't
get a chance. Will try to run tomorrow after work hopefully. I'm still
sore from Monday nights yoga class!

Goodnight!

Great Day

2011-02-22T22:33:00.000-06:00

AAAAAND it's another great day in this greatest nation on God's green earth!! (As talk radio's Michael Medved would say)

It really was a good day though. I stayed way under my calorie limit, went for a walk/run with the ev-meister, and apparently lost 2.4 pounds overnight!! That shows you how much my weight fluctuates even in 24 hours. Or maybe it's a faulty scale? Who knows. Either way, I know not to trust it too much. I'm going to keep working hard until I see that illustrious 1-2-5 on the scale!! That would be what I weighed my senior year of high school when I was a super sexy band nerd LOL. And I thought I was fat ... it kills me! I wish there was some sort of medicine you could give teenage girls that infuses their minds with good thoughts about their bodies. I feel I've had a pretty healthy view of my own body since about sophomore year in college. I don't think i'm fat, but I definitely want to get in shape and TONE UP! I just wish I hadn't spent so much time thinking I was fat in high school, because I definitely wasn't.

Anywho, tonight I said NO to slow-churned, "Chocolate Mousse" ice cream (HEB brand), which is by the way, probably the best ice cream I've ever had. And if i'm a connoisseur of anything - it's ice cream. So take my word for it, go buy some of this stuff, and eat a bowl of it in honor of me :).

I'm BAAACK!!

2011-02-21T19:11:00.000-06:00

Wow, my last post was December 13, 2010. That was more than TWO MONTHS AGO!! oh well, it's water under the bridge. I'm not going to dwell on how I failed to blog for two months, or how I failed to eat right or exercise very much. I'm going to focus on the GOOD!! So here's the scoop of the last 2+ months:

-I have gotten settled into a busy yet very happy life here in Waco
-I haven't been eating as bad as I used to, but it's not as good as it has been either.
-I have still managed to go running at least once per week, and most weeks I run 2-3 times per week. (ok except those two weeks at the beginning of February that were FREEEZING cold. I admit, I'm a wimp and didn't run in 15 degree weather.
-I have been attending a Monday night yoga class, and it is SO awesome and very hard. I'm going to start going more often starting next week.
-I am currently 132.8 lbs as of this morning, and my goal is still 125. So that leaves me 3 months (exactly) to lose 7.8 pounds! I can totally do that. Or at least get close.

I'm not going to be posting pics of what I eat, because that was really bogging me down and making me not want to blog (blog=bog). So I'm tracking my calories on a handy dandy iPhone app, and I'll post updates on here every day or two about my exercise, and a general overview of my eating habits, and a current weight every week or so.

It's good to be back!

Also, today I refused a piece of very delicious-looking leftover cake from my co-worker's 2 year old son's birthday party this weekend. Score one for me. :-)

Falling off the Wagon

2010-12-13T21:03:00.000-06:00

I haven't actually fallen off the wagon yet, but this past week I can definitely say I was barely hanging on!

It was a rather crazy week. My little sister came to visit for two nights, I packed/cleaned my apartment, had my last day at my job in Houston, moved to Waco, and started a new job, all in 7 days! It was pretty intense. BUT I just got settled here in Waco with a fridge full of good healthy foods and an awesome 2.2ish mile trail conveniently located ultra close to my job and my fiance.

I did week 4, day 3 of c25k last Wednesday, before all the chaos of moving, and today I did week 5 day 1. It was awesome!! I thought I wouldn't be able to do it since #1 I hadn't run in 5 days, and #2 it was a harder regimen, and I barely could finish the week 4 day 3 run. But I'm super psyched that it went so well, and now I'm itching to get at it again on Wednesday to see how I do. I'm definitely seeing progress!!

I've also been seeing progress in my weight. Although I haven't weighed myself since early last week, I've noticed that several of my pants have been slightly loosey-goosey if you know what I mean. It's such a good feeling!

Going to start the food log again tomorrow :). WOO!

Day 16

2010-12-07T13:44:00.000-06:00

Exercise: almost didn't do ANY exercise because my cute little sister came into town to visit. But after we vegged for awhile and watched the movie Avatar, we did my ab video! And in fact, we did TWO of the ten minute sessions! I actually got another awesome ab workout after the videos, when we were laughing so hard... laughter is the best exercise :)

Food Log:

Breakfast: the classic multigrain cheerios. all out of bananas! :(

Lunch: (sorry the pic is sideways and I couldn't figure out how to flip it) Lean Cuisine Lemongrass Chicken

Dinner: Freebirds burrito bowl with no tortilla! just lots of good veggies and some chicken

Dessert: Hot Chocolate with Peppermint from starbucks, along with a rather yucky chocolate chunk cookie made at home

Day 15

2010-12-05T21:33:00.000-06:00

Exercise: Did Week 4, day 3 of C25K tonight. I could have pushed a little harder honestly, but I didn't quite do the whole thing. Almost though!! I think I'm going to do one more run of the week 4 program before moving on to the week 5 program, which seems to be quite a bit harder than week 4. Also did like 4 hours of tough cleaning around the house, which definitely counts as some physical activity!

Breakfast: the usual. This jelly is seriously so good! go buy it! Cascadian farms organic blackberry spread

Lunch at Chuy's: had 7-8 chips with salsa, and lunch was this "lite combo" with a tostada and a chicken soft taco

Dinner: Roast beef and swiss on toast, with plenty of blackberries!! love that fruit

Dessert: strawberry yogurt with a few mini chocolate chips mixed in to satiate my sweet tooth

It was a good day! got sooooo much done - my apartment is SUPER clean now. YAY

Day 14

2010-12-04T23:09:00.000-06:00

Exercise: Did another 30 day shred video this morning. It really makes me break a sweat! good stuff. Tomorrow is a weigh-in and summary of the past week. I can't believe I've been doing this almost two weeks. Hope I can keep it up!


Breakfast: Multigrain cheerios with bananas and raspberries

Lunch: Sonic's healthiest menu item - the grilled chicken wrap with light ranch, also triscuits with red. fat cream chz


Dinner: delicious ravioli and spinach (made by Chef Heather), and a salad

Day 13: Exercise

2010-12-03T21:29:00.000-06:00

Did the week 4, day 1 run again tonight after work. And this time I actually finished it! I stopped for like 2 seconds in the middle of my last 5 minute run, but that was it!

I'm feeling good! I'm going to do another 30-day-shred workout tomorrow morning, so we'll see how that goes. I'm still working out some soreness from when I did it on Wednesday night. But SORE=GOOD!

Day 13: Food Log

2010-12-03T21:20:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: another English muffin with blackberry spread -- I like these a lot if you can't tell

Lunch: Half of the turkey sandwich from last night at BJs. I didn't eat any of the fries- they were mushy!

Afternoon Snack: This kept me going for my run after work!

Dinner: General Tso's chicken with some white rice and an egg roll. Also had one crab rangoon.

Day 12: Exercise

2010-12-02T22:43:00.001-06:00

Technically... I didn't exercise today. BUT I did participate in the physical activity of an hour long softball game!! I'm planning to do my run tomorrow after work. I actually missed running today. That's gotta be a good sign right? I'm gettin there.

The Seam Rippers. We finished the season 3-6!! Hey... compared to last season that is pretty good. We were 0-8 at the end of last season -- a perfect record!

Day 12: Food Log

2010-12-02T22:41:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: delicious multigrain cheerios with half a banana. no milk of course :)

Snackeroo: yummy granola bar!! These things are so GOOD! I recommend.

Lunch: turkey and cheddar sandwich with blackberries, raspberries, and pomegranate seeds on the side

Dinner at BJ's with the softball team: ate half of the turkey/provologne sandwich and half the fries

Also had a bite (or two) of Shannon's Buffalo Chicken Pizza and a couple spoonfuls of vanilla bean ice cream. SO GOOD. It was a delicious day. AND we won our softball game 7 to 6! (I made two points, thank you very much!)

Day 11: Exercise

2010-12-01T22:59:00.000-06:00

I swung by Target tonight and bought a couple of five pound dumbbells to work out with. Also snagged a copy of this:

Source

And did the Level 1 workout. It was hard!!!! I did about 80%, so I'll be doing this again for sure! It was actually a really good combo of cardio, strength training, and abs -- highly recommend it! I can definitely see this one yielding some good results.

Going to wait until Friday to run next, since I have a softball game (the last game of the season) and a celebratory softball team dinner tomorrow night.

I'm still feeling very positive and motivated about this whole process. Maybe it's just the exercise endorphins speaking right now -- but I'm really feeling GOOD!! :)

Have a great day!

Day 11: Food Log

2010-12-01T22:50:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: DELICIOUS English muffin with blackberry spread

Snack: a piece of fudge with pecans... OOPS!

Lunch: Lean Cuisine Chicken in peanut sauce with edamame and snap peas. GOOD!

Part of Lunch: reduced fat wheat thins and a cereal bar

Snack: my hunger buster after work. Shared with Duke of course


Dinner: A salad with a small side pizza ;)

I also had a chocolate chip cookie at lifegroup. I kinda cheated a little today, didn't I? But overall i'm still eating much better than I was before! Plus, starting today, no sodas except on weekends (and diet sodas only even then). Back on the bandwagon tomorrow!

Happy December!

Day 10: Exercise

2010-11-30T23:09:00.000-06:00

Got on the treadmill and did C25K, Week 3, day 3 tonight! Completed the whole thing. I'm looking forward to challenging myself with Week 4 starting Thursday

Duration: 28 Minutes
Approx dist: 1.75 mi (alt run/walk)

Day 10: Food Log

2010-11-30T22:35:00.001-06:00

Breakfast: Carnation Instant Breakfast

Lunch: Salad with lots of carrots and bell peppers, with a banana

Snack: Kashi Go Lean around 3:30

After workout "dinner": Plain yogurt with granola, raspberries, and pomegranate seeds

Dinner: Roast Beef and Swiss on whole wheat with Mustard

Movie snack: Kettle corn!

Day 9: Exercise

2010-11-29T22:52:00.000-06:00

Went to my apartment gym tonight and did a 5 minute walk/run warm up, then some biceps/triceps. Then did about 2 crunches before they kicked me out in order to lock up the place.

SO I turned on my ab video and did not one, but TWO sessions! Granted, they're only about 10 minutes each but DUDE they are so hard! I usually can't make it through one session, but I pushed myself pretty hard and I feel good about it.

Tomorrow is week 3, day 3 of C25K! Looking forward to a nice run after work. I usually get really hungry right around 4 oclock, so I eat dinner pretty soon after I get home from work (530 ish). So I got some energy bars at the store tonight, and plan on eating one in the afternoons before I run, that way I can push dinner to later, and I'm not famished while running.

This is what I got:

They are 170 calories, 8g protein, 5 g fiber. I don't know much about energy bars, so do you guys have any suggestions? Are these going to work for my purpose? or will they just add too many calories? Chime in!!

Day 9: Food Log

2010-11-29T20:46:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: Strawberry cereal bar

Lunch: Quesadillas from the cafeteria. I swear it's like the lowest calorie lunch on the whole menu, unless you get a salad.

Dinner: Alfredo chicken pasta. May not be that healthy, but it was pretty much all i had in my whole house!! I went grocery shopping after dinner, so you'll be seeing some better foods here hopefully.

Snack: BANANA. Shared with Duke - he loves nanners.

WEEK 1 Summary

2010-11-28T22:12:00.002-06:00

I did it! I made it through a whole week!! This is big folks... real big. Here's a summary of my week:

Exercise
Ran three times. Although the runs weren't the best, it was still good to get back out there and discipline myself to complete the runs to the best of my ability. I was especially proud of myself when I got up on Thanksgiving morning and braved the cold to do my second run. I'm really hoping that will set the tone for the rest of this journey, and that I'll be able to get myself up and out there even when the situation is working against me.

Strength Training: I'm really beginning to enjoy this part of it. I feel like I've shied away from weights in the past because I didn't know a lot of exercises to do with them, but I'm really going to try to learn a couple new moves to incorporate every week, whether its for arms, abs, legs, whatever! I think I might go get a few sets of dumbbells from Walmart so I can do some strength training at home, along with the shake weight.

Diet
I can't believe how effective this method is of logging photos of everything I eat! It really REALLY makes me super conscious of each and every decision I'm making about what to put into my mouth. While it was a hard week to start this new diet (it was SO tempting to pig out on my mom's delicious thanksgiving dinner), it may have been a good trial to put myself through. If I can make it through thanksgiving, I can make it through anything! I would say I ate probably 70% of what I would have eaten, had I not been taking pictures.

Weight Loss
For consistency's sake, I like to weigh myself in the mornings before I shower. Since I've been out of town most of this week, I haven't stepped on a scale since Tuesday, so I'm anxious to see if there have been any significant losses this week. If there's not, I'm not going to freak out. I know this is working. I feel better after only one week of exercising and watching what I eat. I'm going to keep going no matter what the results, although I may need a little more encouragement from my reader friends! I think a major moment will be when my weight drops below 130. It was spring of 2008 that I last saw the 120's, and I'm hoping to see them again here shortly! I'll update this post after weighing in tomorrow morning.

Thanks for all the support and AWESOME advice! It really is helping me stay focused and excited about this journey! Keep the tips coming!

//UPDATE: I weighed in at 132.0 lbs this morning, meaning I've lost 1.4 lbs since last week! Good start, I'd say! :-D

Day 8: Exercise

2010-11-28T21:30:00.000-06:00

I did the C25K Week 3, Day 2 run this morning with Evan. We almost slacked off, but we forced ourselves out there and completed the run. YAY

Duration: 28 minutes
Distance: Approximately 2.0 miles (alternate walk/run)

Day 8: Food log

2010-11-28T21:16:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: None (overslept)

Lunch: I left my phone in the car *on accident*while eating at the Coffee Station in Crawford, where President Bush frequents when he's in town. But I did order something fairly healthy! I had grilled chicken breast, steamed broccoli, green beans, and a side salad with light ranch. YAY I did so good. In a restaurant full of fried foods and hamburgers, I managed to avoid even the french fries!

Dinner: Ate at McAlisters, Greek Grilled Chicken Pita with fruit cup for the side

Dessert: fat free cherry yogurt

Day 7: Exercise

2010-11-27T19:44:00.000-06:00

Didn't have a lot of energy today, and neglected to do my run. I like running much better in the morning, so when I didn't wake up in time today, I knew it was going to be much harder to make myself do it later in the day. SO I will go running tomorrow morning! AND I'll have a running buddy for that, so it'll be much better.

Kind of a down day, but I know that heading back to Houston/work, and getting away from all these cakes and pies will do me good. Plus, just having a routine again will be helpful.

I did try on wedding dresses today, and realized I want to look much better than I do right now!! So when I think about slacking again, I'll just motivate myself with that.

Day 7: Food log

2010-11-27T19:38:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: one biscuit with red plum jelly

Lunch at Red Robin: BBQ chicken wrap, no cheese, light ranch on the side, ate about 3/4 of everything

Lunch at Red Robin: Appetizer - a few Chips and Spinach artichoke dip, celery

Dinner: all beef Chili dog with cheese, fresh green beans, red skin potato salad

Dessert: this will be my last slice of chocolate chip pumpkin break for awhile - so I savored the heck out of it!

Day 6: Exercise

2010-11-27T00:31:00.000-06:00

Didn't do much today, but I did use my dad's weight set and do some arms and abs for about 20 minutes tonight, and some good stretching. Planning on doing another run tomorrow morning! WOO! Feelin good.

Day 6: Food Log

2010-11-27T00:27:00.000-06:00

Breakfast: BANANA! Also, not pictured, a biscuit with red plum jelly. MMM

Lunch: Turkey Sandwich, a few olives, chocolate chip pumpkin bread with a dollop of cool whip!

Dinner: Another turkey sandwich (Are you seeing a pattern here?), fruit salad

Snack: Tangerine and carrots

Day 5: exercise

2010-11-26T00:44:00.002-06:00

I wasn't very happy when I couldn't finish the wk 4, day 1 run of C25K (on Tues night), so I decided to bump myself back to Week 3 day 1 for today's run. I don't want to cheat myself out of getting this running thing down. So I woke up (late) this morning and got my shorts and tshirt on, expecting 70ish degree weather, as it had been the last several days. One step outside and I was already shivering! I ALMOST said screw it I'm not going, But I gathered my courage, grabbed a zip up hoodie and some earmuffs, and headed to a nearby park. I'm so proud of myself! The old me would have never gotten there. It's like that Mary Poppins quote "just begun is half done!" (i think). Thats SO true for me. The hardest part of working out is getting my butt up out of bed or off the couch and GOING. So this morning was promising, and I actually competed the run with no slacking off! So here's the summary:
Total miles: 2.0 (1/4 mi track, alternating walk/run)
Total time: 28 min ish
I was really worried about how I would do today, given that it's thanksgiving and all, but #1: I ran, and #2: I didn't over-eat! So, I'm calling today good. :-)

Day 5: dessert

2010-11-25T22:01:00.002-06:00

A cookie, fluffy pumpkin pie, cranberry chocolate cake, peanut butter and chocolate pie. Ate about half of what's pictured here.

Day 5: dinner

2010-11-25T21:49:00.002-06:00

Leftover turkey sandwich, fruit salad, chocolate mint chip cookie, chips and black bean dip, deviled egg, and olives! A schmorgasborg of deliciousness!

Day 5: TURKEY

2010-11-25T15:01:00.001-06:00

Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, cheesy vegetable casserole, homemade bread, fruit salad, sweet potatoes. All around delicious!!

Day 5: Pre-thanksgiving appeteasers

2010-11-25T12:56:00.002-06:00

Had this x2! So good

Day 4: dessert? Oops!

2010-11-24T22:55:00.002-06:00

Had a teeny weeeeeny piece of chocolate chip pumpkin bread. It's my weakness :(. But hey!! Pumpkin is good for you!! Yeah...

Food Thoughts: Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T21:00:00.001-06:00

I stumbled across an interesting article that I thought very appropriate for the next several days, as Americans everywhere stuff themselves. Whether its ham, turkey, duck, chicken, or Turducken (thanks Jena!), we tend to eat a little too much. But why do we do it? Is it truly a celebratory feast to gather with loved ones and thank the Lord for who He is and for all He has done for us? Or does our focus tend to drift from true thanks-giving and focus more on self. More turkey! More stuffing! More PIE! Get in mah BELLY! I know I've felt that way, especially at Thanksgiving.

Turducken, from here

An interesting point the author makes, is that we need to see food as a gift from God, and not as a god itself. That sounds silly, but when we allow ourselves to submit to the power of food, that is, in essence, relying on it to satisfy us in place of being satisfied by God. However, by all means we are to ENJOY the precious and delicious food God has given us, for it is a gift! Anyway, read the article! It's really good.

I'm going to try to apply this to my daily eating, as well as on Thanksgiving day. Because, you know what? EVERY day should be lived with thankful hearts to God! And I really believe that controlling the power of food in my life starts in my head. By acknowledging that food is God's gift to me, before I even eat it, I won't feel like I have to devour everything in sight. Neat concept, huh?

Day 4: dinner

2010-11-24T18:55:00.002-06:00

Vegetable lasagna with a salad. Looking forward to tomorrows meal big time!!

Day 4: lunch

2010-11-24T18:54:00.002-06:00

I had the pleasure of lunching with two beautiful ladies this afternoon at Potbelly's! Had a Skinny Hammie, Sun Chips, and Diet Coke. Yum!!

Day 4: Breakfast

2010-11-24T08:45:00.001-06:00

Some yummy Carnation Instant breakfast. Lots of vitamins in this glass of milk

Day 3: exercise

2010-11-23T22:47:00.002-06:00

Just ran the week 4, day 1 of the c25k program with Evan on the good ol' bear trail here at Baylor. Had a little trouble finishing but overall it was great!!

EDIT:

Total time: 32:00
Total distance (walk + run alternating) 2.3 miles
-- running distance unknown--

Day 3: dinner part two

2010-11-23T22:46:00.002-06:00

Gas station snacks near college station. It's hard to find healthyish foods there!! I shared the crackers with Duke (sisters dog).

Day 3: Dinner part one

2010-11-23T22:44:00.002-06:00

Egg salad foldover with pickles before I hit the road to Waco. It doesn't look very yummy but believe me... It was :)

Day 3: lunch and snacks

2010-11-23T12:39:00.001-06:00

Leftover spaghetti made with ground turkey(getting my tummy prepped for thanksgiving I suppose), strawberries, and mixed berry diet green tea. I had a cafe mocha this morning as well from the Starbucks cart on site. I'm saving the yogurt (yoplait light key lime pie) and 1/3 apple for afternoon snacks! I usually get hungry again around 2:30, because I eat lunch right at 11 typically.

Day 3: Breakfast

2010-11-23T08:38:00.002-06:00

One fried egg on whole wheat toast, with a banana. It kind of looks like a smiling cyclops! Happy Tuesday everyone!

Day 2: Exercise

2010-11-22T20:51:00.000-06:00

Today was a good day. I think just being more conscious about what I'm eating and how I'm exercising will help so much. I took the stairs THREE times today (that's 68 stairs each way), and ate a salad for the first time in forever.

So I have a few tools I plan to use as far as exercise:

#1. The Couch to 5k iPhone App:
This is a nine-week program that can take anyone from a completely sedentary lifestyle to running a 5k in 9 weeks or less. It has a 3x/week running schedule that starts off very slowly and increases each day. It times everything for you, and tells you when to alternate between jogging and walking, and it allows you to have a playlist going at the same time! awesome. Now, I'm not going to start at the very beginning -- although I'm not in the best shape of my life, I am young and slightly active, so I'm going to start at WEEK 4 (is that too ambitious? I hope not!).

#2. The Shake Weight:
HAHA yes, I know... this is a questionably-used exercise device, but it really is a pretty great workout. It has a 7 or 8 minute video, and by the end of it, my arms are burning! Also - I'm extremely self-conscious about my arms and I want to be TONED!

#3. Denise Austin's Belly-Fat Blasters DVD
This DVD has 7 workouts, each about 10 minutes long. And man, they are HARD!! I can usually only do about 75% of one workout, but I'm hoping that will change as I do it more often.

So here's my workout summary. No running today.
Weight (this morning) 133.0 lbs

10 minute ab workout
10 minute arm workout
204 stairs climbed

Starting Week 4 of C25K (Couch to 5k) program tomorrow after work!!

Any workout or running tips for a beginner?

Day 2: dinner

2010-11-22T20:04:00.001-06:00

An egg salad sandwich on whole wheat toast, edamame, and apple slices with a glass of water on the side :). Easy peasy

Day 2: afternoon snack

2010-11-22T15:56:00.002-06:00

That salad earlier just didn't do it for me. So diet coke and pretzels to the rescue! Is this a bad snack? I don't know-- you tell me!

Day 2: Lunch

2010-11-22T12:29:00.003-06:00

Took a trip to the cafeteria-- settled for an iceberg salad with red bell peppers, black olives, cucumbers, a little cheese, and Italian dressing. With some strawberries on the side. Diet green tea (mixed berry) from home.

It took me awhile to figure out this mobile blogging thing, but it's so awesome now that I know how to do it!! I just send these posts directly from my phone. That way there's definitely no excuse for skipping. I'm the queen of excuses, and not proud of it.

Maybe that should be my motto: NO EXCUSES!

Day 2: Breakfast

2010-11-22T12:12:00.002-06:00

I forgot to take a pic of my breakfast before I ate it-- but here's the wrapper! It was a rushed morning, but I'm hoping for bigger healthy breakfasts to take over from these quick on-the-run types.

Day 1

2010-11-21T21:00:00.001-06:00

Someone once told me that if you don't like something about yourself, don't complain about it -- change it! I have taken this to heart, and I'm bound and determined to get fit over the next 6 months (or less). Why 6 months you ask? Well, I'M GETTING MARRIED 6 months from today. I know, right - scary!

I know my future husband loves my body just the way it is, and would accept me and love me even if I was 300 pounds heavier. This is not for him (although I do want to look great for the wedding night *wink*wink*). This is for my own sense of self, my own confidence, my own accomplishment. I have never been able to successfully diet/exercise and lose weight, because I lose motivation half way through and go back to my lazy ways of not caring what I eat, and not properly taking care of my body.

SO... this blog will be about chronicling the next 6 months of my Journey to Fit. If I know myself (and I think I do), I know that accountability is the biggest motivation for me to stick to something. Therefore, you, my dear readers, will be my accountability partners in this! I will log all my exercises, take pictures of everything I eat, and talk about my experiences. I will share the highs and the lows of this journey, so be prepared--it's not always going to be pretty! Your job is simply to read the entries, comment every once in awhile to let me know you're there, and give me all the tips and encouragements you can!!

Here's my first day's log. No food pictures today (I just thought of that tonight)

DAY 1

Treadmill: Walked 0.25, Ran 0.5, Walked 0.25, Ran 0.5, Walked 0.5

SubTotal: 2.0 miles
Journey Total: 2.0 miles