week three update

So I was a total slacker this week...

I mean, I still tried to eat healthy and count calories.  I rarely went over my goal of 1200/day.  And I could make excuses all day for why I got off track:

• Work was extra-stressful
• I was tired
• I needed my B-12 shot
• I didn't prep to pack my lunches

But, all excuses aside-- I didn't work out like I should have.  Although I stayed under 1200 calories, I probably did not eat enough veggies and too many carbohydrates.  I also went out to eat last night.. to Red Lobster.. and have two (yes, two) cheddar biscuits. 

It was amazing.

And then I got icecream.  BAD!!! (Not really.. we went to Chill which serves frozen yogurt.  I had a decent serving of my favorite strawberry and chocolate with a little whipped cream.  Based on my calculations it was around 265 calories.  Too much for a treat-- but better than a lot of other things.)

Still, expecting to gain... I weighed myself this morning.  I promised myself before looking at the scale to try and do the following things next week to get back in the right frame of mind:

• Be more mindful of the types/combinations of food I'm eating
• Calories are important, but so are the right types of calories-- nutrients are key!
• Go to bed as early as possible (at least by 11!)
• Aim for workouts every morning, and a few in the afternoons.. it really does help with energy levels
• Try and manage stress more positively

So, after reaffirming that even if I gained, I would still be able to keep a positive mindset I checked the numbers on the scale...

....down 5 more lbs!!!!

Now imagine what that number would have been if I had kept on track!  Time to get motivated!!!

two week progress update

As of my unofficial weigh in this morning.. I am down twelve pounds. Unofficial because I am using a standard home scale and not the serious slidey block scale at the doctor's office. Still....

that's twelve pounds in two weeks...

Impressive, but I'm a little concerned I'm doing something wrong.  My goal is to be healthy.. and this just seems a bit too fast.

Still, I'm just following doc's orders, so maybe this is just a jumpstart for the rest of my life of healthy living..


Only 108 more to go!

i heart pita

I had a student ask me at lunch over this past week what the "heck-all" I was eating.  Apparently, she had not yet been introduced to my latest friend-- whole wheat pita bread.

image found over at SlashFood

Part of the doc's meal plan is that all breads must be whole wheat/whole grains.  I picked up a pack of pitas (try saying that five times fast!) because I thought it would be a good solution for fairly no-fuss lunches. 

 No-fuss being key. 

It's hard to get into the habit of food prep for the next day. Granted, I'm used to planning meals.  I've been meal-planning our dinners for the past few months now in an effort to save on grocery bills.  However, it's taken another level of planning to figure out breakfasts, lunches, and dinners (and sometimes seperate meals for the Man) while keeping up with everything else going on. 

Our grocery bills have grown considerably, but I'm hoping that will drop once I have a bit more of a stockpile to pull from of doc approved foods. Thankfully the pitas are pretty inexpensive, at only about 50 cents each...

and they are worth it! 



my new pal

I knew that in order to be successful with this whole "get healthy" thing, I'd need a way to track my calories.  My initial thought was to pick up a cute mini-notebook and a few pens in fun colors (cute school supplies do wonders to motivate me).  I thought I'd just keep my notebook with me and manually log everything....

thankfully the Man recently convinced me that we needed smartphones.  I felt it was a HUGE indulgence (and still do) but I am using mine for everything!  When I finally thought to check the AppMarket for calorie apps, I was overwhelmed by the number of options available. 

After reading a few reviews, I decided to go with the myfitnesspal app.  It seemed pretty easy to use, ranked high in reviews, and was free!

I've only been using it a week, but I love the simplicity of the calorie counter.  It's great because I can search for the foods I'm eating and it automatically totals the calories

(as well as other detailed nutrition information.) 

image from cnet reviews

I also love the fact that the app syncs with the website, so information can be added through either method.  I haven't really explored the site very much, but it seems to have a lot of fun features. 

 I'll be sure to post more when I have time to check it out.

the early bird gets the ... workout?

I've never really been able to stick to a regular exercise routine.   I've kept one up for a few months at a time.. then slacked off... picked it back up again, but never enough to be considered a legit routine. I always felt I needed to exercise after work. One main reason being, I'm not a morning person, to say the least. 

 Usually in the morning, I resemble this:

Notice the head buried against the arm of the couch-- begging to be left alone and returned to his kitty dreamland. 

But instead, as part of this whole "really being committed thing" I've asked the Man to bear my grumpiness and wake me up when he gets up (at around 6:30ET) so I can sweat it out a little while before I need to start getting ready for work. 

It's only been two days, and I still feel like I'm going to die a little bit each morning, but the concept is working.  It does start my day off right, and I hope to exercise in the evenings too... but if I can't due to dinner plans/working late/grocery shopping/etc. it doesn't eliminate my much needed workout time. 

I still have my mini-morning session, and though I may still be half asleep-- it counts.  Right?

and so it begins...

To give you a few basics-- I am 26 years old, 4'11" and weigh around 265lbs.  I've managed to gain around 60+ lbs in the past two years.  That's about a five-year old child a year! This is my highest weight ever. I'm wearing a size 24, and the smallest size I've worn since 6th grade was a women's 14 (and then I remember my pants being tight!). 

Health, and a little bit of vanity have prompted me to seriously lose the weight.  In the past two years, I've had issues with recurring headaches, back pain, swelling feet and hands, joint pain, and fatigue. Recently, I've been working with an endocrinologist and I have an unofficial 

goal to lose about 120 lbs. 

That's about the size of the average chubby highschool cheerleader. I know it will take time, but more importantly it will take a LOT of changes.

My doctor, after taking enough blood to equal a sacrifical goat, determined that I am "insulin resistant" but not diabetic.  I'm grateful that insulin injections will not be in my future.  He said that the insulin resistance is most likely attributed to PCOS (poly-cystic ovarian syndrome) which I have a number of qualifying symptoms.  He put me on two medications and a strict diet.  I'll start off the first two weeks trying to maintain no more than 1500 calories a day.  Then I'll drop down and remain at a 1200 calorie a day intake.

This along with excercise should not be that complicated.  However, it's one thing to drastically change my meals and my daily routine--- it's something entirely different to change the Man's. 

He's supportive, but due to negative experiences before with his womenfolk dieting--I think he's a little apprehensive about me going whole-hog to not be such a porker (haha, punny). My biggest worry is that me making this change in my lifestyle could make our life together more difficult. I spent some time yesterday mapping out meals that wouldn't require too much extra prep to make them both Eva and Man friendly. We'll see...

So, today I finish my preparations which include:

• Cleaning out the kitchen cabinets
• Purging the freezer and fridge
• Setting up the scales (one to weigh me, the other for my food)
• Prep meals for the work week
• Do a little secondary grocery shopping for "low fat" rule-abiding food

I know this is a positive life-change for me, but I am super anxious about everything-- meeting my goals, keeping our grocery budget down, more work in my daily routine, failure, new medicines... I could go on.  I just hope I can tame my emotions a bit, get focused, and do what I need to do. 

Here's to the start of something good, which will become something great, and possibly even amazing.

Holy shit, I'm scared!