Ugh, it's so darn sneaky!

Jeff and I went to dinner tonight. And I was very aware of what I was eating and what was in it. After we went home, I got online and tracked my calories.

My husbands burger had (according to calorieking.com) had 1,052 calories, and my chicken wrap (part of the tortilla which I didn't eat) had 1,526 calories!!! How does that work?!?

I should've just gotten the burger. Here I was, aware and trying soo hard to make better choices and I got completely sabotaged! AhhhHHHHHhhHHHH!!!!!!!! I'll do better next time.

Well, this weekend was really bad. I tried and kept myself aware of what I put into my mouth, but at the same time, I couldn't seem to resist it. Like an other-worldly experience, eating something that I know I shouldn't be.

None-the-less, I lost 2.4 pounds in that week. YAY! It was funny because during the week, I weighed myself once, and it said 304, which would've been a huge loss, but I think it was maybe the normal fluctuations that seem to happen, so while it looked really nice, down there between my feet, I decided to discount it, and not write it down. I'm really only weighing on Sundays anyways. Another thing, I weighed myself last night and it said 303. Weird. Maybe I drop during the week, but my weekends make me gain. Hmmm. Now that I think of it, that could be true. I might try weighing myself daily for a couple of weeks. I don't seem to obsess when I do, but it would give that same down swing that I'm getting by the weekly weigh ins.

Thanks for the great idea Laura! Let's see if i can remember to do it now. In the mornings, I'm usually barely awake. But I could try the evenings too. We'll see.

I'm still sick!!!

Luckily I only caught a cold. I had a sore throat on Friday and Saturday and a runny nose Sunday and today. I ended up not exercising on Sunday because I really felt crappy. But on Saturday, Jeff and I went out to the corn maze and spent about 2 hours walking around it, looking for the punches to get a prize at the end.

Unfortunately, it was night time and I only got 2 of them, but I walked steadily for 2 hours. I usually enter my fitness minutes into Sparkpeople, but I wasn't sure how to enter that into my fitness reports, since I wasn't tracking the distance or anything, but in the end, I picked the slowest mile (24min/mile) and put that down for 2 hours.

I was trying to be as realistic as possible, but at the same time, I also try to overestimate (not underestimate) calories, so I don't go over them, and underestimate my fitness, so I don't have a blown up idea of how much I actually did. If I wasn't trying to underestimate it, I'd probably have chosen a 17-20 minute mile because we were moving quite fast. But I want to be as accurate as possible, and I think, for myself, that's the best way.

I hate being sick

I swear, my immune system used to be really strong... Until I married my husband. He gets sick all the time; sinus infections, bronchitis, strep throat, pleurisy, etc., etc., etc. And in the last year, I've gotten sick too many times to count. And last night, my throat started getting sore, and then my sinuses started doing their thing, and this morning, I don't sound (or feel) too hot.

Seriously, I was just sick three weeks ago! Why now?!? But I still exercised last night, just not as hard as I do when I'm not sick. I didn't do the kicks and sidesteps and knee lifts. I just walked. Which, I've gotta say, is really boring. But I didn't feel very strong. I felt like kicking my legs would have taken enormous effort, which I didn't want to make. But I still walked two miles.

This weekend, it's my goal to journal both days, and track what I'm eating both days, and to get on Sparkpeople both days. AND I get to weigh myself on Sunday! (The scale was sitting on the bathroom floor yesterday, and it was taunting me! Kept telling me to weigh myself because I've been really good this week, and I couldn't resist the temptation. So I weighed myself and things are looking very positive, but I won't "officially" let it out until Monday.

Progress

Over the last 3 weeks, I've been doing pretty well. And the areas where I haven't, I have at least discovered that I haven't, and can make changes.

I haven't hit that hill yet, that everyone seems to hit right at the beginning of their weight loss journey. I'm not anticipating it, yet at the same time, by continuing to journal and keep track of my calories, I'm preparing myself to do battle, to make it through and over that hill and onto the next one.

I've woken up every day still positive about what I'm doing. I have such big dreams, but none work with a big me. So that needs to change.

Those cheapskates!

I went to Taco Bell tonight. I know, not the healthiest of choices, but I picked things that were better for me than others. And I ordered their "vegetable medley" which is actually quite yummy; it normally comes with their fish plates.

Well, when I got it, it didn't even fill the container half way. When I got home, I measured it to see, and they gave me less than half a cup of vegetables!!! I paid $1.59 for vegetables in a container half full, when I could've got the entire heaped container of deep fried cheesy potatoes for $1.19. Seriously, you try to make better choices, and they charge you 40 cents more for less than half. Wow.

Where's my tapemeasure?!?!?

I couldn't find my sewing box last night (Jeff tends to move things when he cleans) so I didn't have a tapemeasure to do my measurements.

I'll print one off the web today and tape it together for now. Something is better than nothing. Yesterday, I walked 2 miles with Leslie! AND I stayed under my calorie limit. YAY! I realize it was just Monday, and that could be why I stayed so on track, but I'm determined to see this through the weekends

The weekend was...

Well, the wedding was really nice. The reception was very interesting, and my dress soo cute! Luckily they only served sandwiches, fruit, and pasta salad, although i still went over on my calories.

I've been tracking them in my journal, along with my calorie budget, and I'm beginning to see a pattern. I do really well eating and staying under my calorie limit for the first 2-5 days of the week, but then towards the end, I go over a bit. So now that I see it, that'll be what I work on next. I also haven't been journaling over the weekend, since we're usually out and about, but I'll have to work on that too.

Now, for the good news, Jeff and I got a digital scale on Sunday, and weighed ourselves. I have lost 1.2 pounds since the last time I weighed myself, YAY! And Jeff has lost 6 pounds since he was last weighed. He was pretty sick in between then and now, and that could be why, but he seemed a little motivated by it, which is great! This pound is the first pound I've ever lost in my life by dieting. I was deathly sick about 5 years ago, and lost 24 pounds in 19 days in the hospital, but I don't count that.

Firstly because I was barely eating anything (mostly soft foods and liquids), and then because I wasn't trying to lose weight, and it jumped right back on my butt. But now that I've seen a tiny bit of progress, I know I'm doing something right! So I'm planning to weigh myself on Sundays only (so I don't focus on that too much) and measure myself as well, which I should do today to get a baseline

Plans

I did exercise last night. I started with Chalene Johnson where she teaches the basic steps, but they do this thing where they pull in their abs, and then pull in their butt, and my lower back is sore this morning. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I have very good posture normally, and the only time I get a little relief from the soreness is when I bend forward a little bit. So I only got through about 3 steps before I gave up for now, and walked 2 miles with Leslie Sansone! It was definitely a workout and a bit of a push since they're only 17 minute miles, and I felt like I was going forever! I wanted to quit at 1, but pushed myself to go 2. So I'm very proud this morning.

I'm going to do that again tonight. Now that the weekend is nearly here, I'm going to work on staying within my calorie budget again. We have a wedding to go to tomorrow (Disney themed, if you can believe it) and I don't know how that will go. I suppose the positive part is that it's at noon, and since we have to be there a little early, I'll eat breakfast, and then the reception will be my lunch and snack. I should be able to do it. I just won't be able to bring my notebook with me and log in all I eat.

We went shopping on Wednesday for a new dress for me. Went to Fashion Bug and tried on about 10 dresses, and they looked horrible! They all seemed to catch on my stomach roll and then hang there watching me as if to say look at your stomach! Then we went to Ross and I found about 5 there to try on. I must say, this season's dresses are definitely shorter than I would normally go with. But I found the perfect dress for me! It's all black, knee length but a little longer in the back, thick straps, and the bodice (the part over my boobs) is straight across and ruched. So no cleavage! Then there's this neat beaded design just under my boobs, at the high waistline. I'm going to wear it with my small black bolero jacket (which will make my arms look better) and some adorable 4 inch heels (if my feet don't swell up, but just in case I'm bringing an extra comfy pair).

I'm really looking forward to it, especially since the bride has been my friend since we were 6 years-old, and the groom has been my sister and brother-in-law's friend for about 5 years (he's my nephew's godfather) and she and I helped to set them up. This is the second couple that I've had a hand in setting up and then them getting married. Pretty neat!

Working out

I was exploring around Sparkpeople the other day and found a cool page where they compare the calories you've eaten to your BMR (or the calories my body burns each day). While I certainly don't intend to focus on that, it made me feel even more positive.

A year ago, even a month ago, I know that if I'd been tracking my calories, I would have gone over my BMR (2640 calories) almost daily. After all, I got where I'm at somehow. But in looking at the last 2 weeks (the entire time I've been on Sparkpeople), I have only gone over my BMR 1 time. ONE TIME!!!!!

I give myself credit for making a difference for myself. That means that I've burned more calories than I've been giving myself credit for! YAY!!! I've also decided that I am going to start working out. I'm going to do some Leslie Sansone walking (maybe 2+ miles each day), or I just bought Chalene Johnson's Beach body workout video. It just looks alot like dancing around which I can do. So I'll be starting small, just 10 days. But after that, who knows?!? I might do a 15 day stretch.