Day 33 & 34: Busy Busy!

Oops, I missed a day! I have been pretty busy with being sick and trying to finish a wedding cake. I have my sleeping schedule all out of whack from being on vacation and I really wanted to try to keep from doing that!

Today is the last day of 2011. I can't believe a year has already gone by. Before the start of the challenge, I had two previous failed weight-loss attempts. I think I lost 12 one of those times and can't even remember if I lost anything at all the other time. Pitiful. But this time has been a whirlwind of change. I truly believe that I am on the path of success this time and I'm really excited about it!

Have a Happy New Year! I will write more tomorrow....
<3 Honor

Day 32: A new frame of mind

Everybody gets sick. Everybody has days when they don't feel like doing anything at all and just curl up on the couch and don't do anything at all...and today was that day for me. I feel like I have a ton of bricks in my pants holding me down and keeping me from being successful! I pulled up to the gym tonight and just sat there... I just couldn't muster up the will-power to go in. All I could think about was everything I would rather be doing. And eating something absolutely terrible for me was at the top of my list.

This has been the hardest day so far, and I did something I absolutely should not have done. I gave in to one of my triggers and went to eat Mexican with my husband. And because it was a spur of the moment thing, he took forever to meet me so I sat there, feeling sorry for myself, and ate way to many chips with salsa. I was utterly ashamed of myself. And even as I was eating I knew exactly what I was doing, and yet I continued to eat chip after chip. My only redeeming quality was that I broke the chips into smaller pieces so that I didn't eat as much, and what I eat at a Mexican place actually isn't crazy high in calories, but it's white rice instead of brown and that cheese sauce! So my dinner ended up being around 660 calories if I calculated properly. I did not go over my calorie goal, but I still feel like dirt. I shouldn't have given in. And the last week and a half or so has seemed like I throw in a little something (like cake) that fits into my calorie goal, but I know I shouldn't be eating. Or going out to eat. Eating out isn't a big deal for most people, but for me, it's a trigger. I almost feel like I'm losing control over my decisions a little bit at a time. Which is why I am writing all of this instead of keeping it to myself. I almost feel that once I've put it down in my blog...it's done. And now I have to do better...and I can!

So as I am writing this I am feeling better. Much better than at the beginning of today's blog. I was near tears and feeling defeated. And now, just a half of an hour later, and a few words later...I'm feeling empowered and I'm going to head to the gym to do a workout on my own. Maybe that''s what I needed in the first place, instead of a group workout. I just think that tonight, I would have made any excuse to do something else, because that was the mindset I was in.

Thanks for reading and encouraging me!
<3 Honor

Day 31: Sickness is coming!

Today has been a rough day. I'm pretty sure I'm fixing to be dealing with a cold and I'm NOT excited about it! I work up with a sore throat and feeling achy so I know this week is going to be super tough...

As far as food goes, I had a great day! I made while wheat waffles for breakfast with sugar free syrup and had a big salad for lunch. I ended up having quite a few calories left at dinner time, so me and my hubby had dinner at Subway.

My workout today was really good! We did some circuit training and then of course I had my Zumba. :-) I'm really a little freaked out about my workouts after my vacation. I have been getting off around 5 every day and now I'm going to be working until 7. So no Zumba on the days I work. :( plus that will cut in to my personal training and my other workouts. So I'm going to have to regroup and figure something out:( boo!

Thanks for reading friends! I have a cake to work on that I have to have ready on Saturday.

<3 Honor

Special Edition: Pictures of my Smart Food Choices & Calorie Counting

This is a beef eye of round steak, with green beans and a small baked potato with Salsa (a yummy low-cal alternative) and the whole dinner was 480 calories!

 This is Chicken Tenderloin on brown rice (I cool the rice with chicken broth instead of water so tastier) with broccolli, carrots, and sauteed mushrooms. And this whole plate was only 255 calories!!

 These little things are my Hero! Put a little spritz in your water and you have a tasty zero calorie drink.

 This was my home-made pizza fix :) I just put some blended up tomato on the bottom with some seasoning to make it taste like tomato sauce. With cut up Turkey Slices, Mushrooms and fat-free shredded Mozzarella on Joseph's Pitas (I'm not a huge fan of the flavor, but it sure cured my craving) Weighing in at 350 calories

 This stuff has been on almost everything I eat! It has a light buttery flavor and Zero calories, so I use it as a spritz on my brocolli, pan spray for cooking chicken, or shrimp, or beef, or when I pop up a 100 calorie bag of popcorn at night for a snack, I spray this on for a little more flavor. Yummy!

 This is sauteed shrimp with some garlic and herb spice from McCormik, broccoli of course, and a small potato with a half serving of fat free sour cream, and a whole serving of salsa weighing in at 266 calories!

 This is what I like to call my Turkey and Mushroom Scramble! It's really yummy! All it has in it is 3 egg whites, seasoned with Dill Weed (this stuff really makes it tatsy!), and a little bit of garlic powder, and then diced up slices turkey, mushrooms, and fat-free mozzarella cheese. With the broccolli and carrots it's only 296 calories for the whole plate!

This one is one of my favorites, simply because it's a ton of food and VERY low calories! And it's a way for me to get a variety of veggies in a way that I like them, because I'm really picky otherwise. This is an Oriental Stir-Fry (it comes in a BIG bag in the frozen section at Wal-Mart) with 3oz. of boneless skinless tenderloin and a side of baby carrots, and weighs in at only 225 calories!

 This one I am particularly proud of because it's a really delicious spin on something that could be a diet-no no...Taco Salad! The 'shell' is 20 Light Sour Cream Pringles (100 calories), and then there's lean ground beef (4oz) seasoned with some Oregano, Cumin, Chili Powder, and Garlic Powder, so it has a nice 'Taco meat' flavor, and then lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, fat-free sour cream and topped off with some fat-free cheddar cheese. This one weighs in at 361 Calories!

This is a really nice hot tea, that will settle a sweet tooth AND a sore throat! The fat-free coffee mate says a serving is 4tsp. for 50 calories, so I cut that in half and enjoyed a 25 calorie hot tea that was DIVINE!

I hope these ideas give you an idea of some good choices you can make and enjoy! I plan to do this every now and then to share some of the tasty combinations I come up with that are good for ya, but still have some flavor! And I'm no chef, so Anybody can make this stuff!

I track all of my food intake on www.myfitnesspal.com and I use the iPhone app for convenient tracking while I'm at work and even while I'm cooking! (they have a barcode scanner, so I just scan stuff as I put it one my plate) If you are on there send me a friend request to Username: honorwarren

Thank you for Reading!!
<3 Honor

Day 30: Weigh-In Number 4

It has been a month since the beginning of my journey and I'm still going strong! Nothing about it has been easy, but I am definitely starting to feel better. I feel like my pants are getting a little looser and that's exciting!

So, my starting weight was 350 pounds. And today...after 30 days of making healthier choices and exercising 6 days a week...I have reached my first goal (to lose more than 36 pounds)!!! I weighed in at 310.4 which is a total loss of 39.6 pounds!!!!!! I am SO proud of what I've accomplished and am feeling invincible!

I will be heading to the gym in a short while and I'm pumped up and ready to give it my 100%! Today is one of my long days of exercising. I will warm up on the Arc trainer and then 45 minutes of Ypump and an hour of Zumba. Fun stuff!

Day 29:Bye-Bye Birdie :(

Tomorrow will be one month since the beginning of my journey and I can't wait for my weigh-in!! I am fully expecting to reach my first goal tomorrow and I'm excited to find out!

The time I got to spend with my family over the Christmas weekend was wonderful. I did indulge a bit yesterday and had some Christmas Candy but stayed disciplined and kept under my calorie goal. I had initially given myself a 2500 calorie goal for each day (Christmas Eve and Christmas Dat) , but I actually managed to stay under 2000 each day!! However, I did pay for my decision to indulge yesterday. Because last night I started feeling awful, and ended up losing my dinner! Alrighty then...lesson learned!

One of my best associates ever is leaving me at work and I'm sad about it! I'm actually eating dinner with her now. She has become one of my close friends and I really hate to see her go! But I definitely can't blame her for leaving. Our Regional planned to demote her to part-time after the first of the year and she has done nothing wrong! They just don't want to give out the hours. :( so I'm losing a really good employee! I'm trying really hard not to stress about work while I'm on vacation, but it's my studio, and even though I have to deal with some crazy corporate garbage...I still love the fundamental part of my job. So it's hard to disconnect. But I am trying. :-)

Have a good night everyone!
<3 Honor

Day 28: Christmas!

Today is Christmas day and it's all about Jesus and spending time with my family. But I still have my goal at heart. I still am on this journey, even though today is a special day. I decided a few days ago that I wouldn't be strict with myself and pay the consequences tomorrow. :-) One day of being naughty does not mean an end to my journey. But...I still managed to do a pretty good job! I did indulge! I had 5 peanut butter Bon bons and two pieces of fudge! BUT...I still had under 2000 calories. :-) that makes me feel Amazing!

For Christmas my hubby got me Zumba for the Wii and I'm really excited to try it out! I'm hoping it will cure my problem with not working out at home! I know there are other things I can do, I just don't.

On a serious note:
I don't think people who have never battle with obesity realize how difficult it is to inhibit this body. Comments like, "move your big butt" or "I'll sit on your lap, you have plenty of room" may not seem hurtful to them, but to me it's a big slap in the face. Yesterday I heard multiple comments of that nature that weren't meant to be hurtful, but maybe I'm just extra sensitive right now, I'm not sure. But it still hurts. I know that I am a big girl. But I'm still a woman with feelings and my emotions seem to be on a roller-coaster as I dig deeper into this journey.