Day 2

Hi, all!

It is a gorgeous day here in Wisconsin. The next few days are going to be scorchers but then it will cool off and be in the 50's and 60's, which I am incredibly excited for!

Yesterday I made some goals for myself: 

1. Track everything I put in my body

2. Drink water - not soda

3. Workout for 10 minutes, 3 times/day

4. Walk at least 5000 steps

These were the main goals I had and I am happy to say that I achieved them! I tracked everything I ate, even when I did not want to track. In fact, I stuck to my calorie goal! I did not drink any soda. I walked for 31 minutes and had 6,336 steps. All-in-all, day 1 was a success! There were different times when I faced temptation and I succeeded. Honestly, I am proud of myself! 

Today I am giving myself the same goals. I have already faced and surpassed temptation today. My husband wanted to go and get fast food for breakfast, I was close to caving in and having him get me the normal thing I would have chosen. It would have been 1250 calories and there are half of my calories for the day. Instead, I opted for Subway and got a bacon, egg white, and cheese on whole grain flatbread. It was delicious, healthy, and only 370 calories. I added some yogurt and coffee at home to it and it was a wonderful breakfast. 

The rest our day is going to be busy. My husband and I are going and getting a copy of our marriage license. Then tomorrow we can go change my social security card, go to the DMV, and finally change all of my information at our bank and at my school. And of course, I need to continue to work on thank you cards from our wedding. Since we are going to be pretty busy for the next few days, it takes most of my self-control to stop myself from saying that we should just go out and grab food quickly. Instead, I am making healthier food choices. I made a quick and healthy lunch at home before we are heading out. I need to continue to make healthy choices because it will be far too easy to slide back into my old habits. 

Until next time!

~Sara~

Catching Up

Hi, all!

It has been over a year since I last wrote a post. I am ashamed of myself, and a ton of things have happened since January 18, 2016. The person I am today is not who I was during that post. In fact, I cannot even believe how different my life is now compared to then.

Let me take you back to January 2016. I was living in Seattle, in my second quarter of grad school, and single. Life seemed fairly decent back then, there was not much I had to worry about besides school. I had amazing friends out in Seattle that I met at school and life was good. Then on May 31st I met and started dating this guy named Zak. Little did I know then that he would turn my world upside down, in positive and negative ways. He was volunteering at Safeco Field, working in one of the concession stands with a bunch of other guys. Some of my classmates and I just so happened to be going to a Mariner's game to reconnect before summer classes would begin. The thing is, Zak and I met online, so I had never seen him before in person, but that day in June we finally met. During his break, we met up and were able to spend a few minutes together before he had to get back to work. It was incredible to finally meet him after texting and daily phone conversations for a few weeks.

Zak and I moved in together about a month after we started dating. We had a whirlwind romance for the first few months. We were doing everything together, except when I had a few weeks of summer classes. Honestly, we were both very much in love, and we knew that we had a future together. Zak as had some problems with substances in the past but he had worked through all of that and been clean for over 9 months, so I did not mind. We all have baggage, and his just happened to be substances. Unfortunately, in July he had a relapse, and that threw a damper in things a little, but we worked through it. In August I brought him home to meet my family, we spent two weeks with them before we had to head back to Seattle so I could begin my second year of grad school.

After we had got back, I started my second year of grad school and began interning at a Residential Treatment Facility for Pregnant and Parenting Woman who have had substance use problems. It was definitely hard work because I was working with a challenging population. And it definitely impacted my relationship with Zak, I had school full-time (2 days/week) and internship part-time (3 days/week). It was hard for us. We went from spending all of our time together to very little time together. And around this time I developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Also around this time, Zak relapsed again because he was trying to cope with all of the changes that were happening in our life. That relapse lasted for probably 3-4 weeks, and it drained most of our finances.

Then in November, I began having some health problems. I went into the emergency room and found out that I had strep throat, a kidney infection, urinary tract infection, and gallstones. So I saw my family doctor because I was in lots of pain because of the gallstones and he was no help what so ever. Then two days before Thanksgiving, Zak took me into the emergency room again and it was decided that they wanted to admit me to the hospital and that I will need gallbladder surgery. On November 23, I had my gallbladder removed. My mom flew up to be with Zak and me, and to help me recover from my surgery. It was an incredible blessing to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my mom and Zak.

December rolled around, and I went back to internship and school after recovering from my surgery. Then on December 9th, Zak asked me to marry him, and I said yes. So we told our families and friends, and then I began planning the wedding. We went back to Wisconsin for Christmas, we were only able to be there for 4 days, but I was incredibly thankful to spend that time with my family. The day before we had to head back to Seattle, my mom and I went wedding dress shopping. Amazingly enough, we found my dress! We also found my veil, the bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses, my bouquet, and my bridesmaid bouquets. It was truly a fantastic trip.

After getting back to Seattle, real life began for us again. I went back to internship, and then in January, my classes started up again. Unfortunately, at the end of January Zak relapsed again. At that point, my anxiety was through the roof, and I was experiencing anxiety and panic attacks sometimes. Not only that, we were fighting a lot. We were trying so hard to get Zak's substance use under control again. This is the man I love, my fiance, and I did not want to see him destroy his life like that, not to mention our life together. But on February 21st I broke, in every sense of the word. This is hard for me to admit, but I had a nervous breakdown. I called my parents and told them that I needed to come home because I could not live in Seattle any longer. My anxiety and panic disorders had gotten so bad that I had to drop out of school and internship and move home. Zak had a few things to take care of out in Washington, so he moved here at the beginning of March.

We turned a new leaf now. Wisconsin and especially my hometown is a different way of life. Seattle was big, loud, and fast-paced. My hometown is the exact opposite of that, it is small, quiet, and slower. Not to mention that Midwestern people are nicer all around. For me, it is refreshing to be back home, and for Zak, it is a lot different, but he feels at home here already. The midwest can do that to a person though and I am glad that's how it is for him. My anxiety and panic disorders are still here, but now I have a larger support system surrounding me, and I am getting help. Honestly, sometimes you just need your mom to take care of you, and that is how I'm feeling right now. I am incredibly thankful to have such a loving, caring, and nurturing mother. And Zak is great through all of this too. This is a new thing for him, and I can be difficult to deal with when I am in the midst of an anxiety or panic attack. Honestly, I will never understand why he is still with me through all of this because this is not what he signed up for when we started dating. Either way, I am thankful that he is still by my side.

All of that being said, I have not stuck to a fitness or nutritional regimen since before Zak, and I started dating. Honestly, I have not done much exercise or eating right in a few years. Needless to say, I gained all of the weight back that I had lost and gained 15 more pounds. On March 6th Zak and I joined a gym and started working out the next day. Our gym offers some great things in our membership costs, including fitness evaluations every 30 days and program development. We had our fitness evaluation on the 8th, and my numbers were a tough pill to swallow. I weighed in at a staggering 330 pounds, with a body fat percentage of 46.8. During this evaluation, I learned how many pounds of fat I have on my body and how much lean body mass I possess. As of the 8th, I have 149 pounds of body fat and 177 pounds of lean body mass. Honestly, the lean body mass number surprised me. The trainer I worked with told me that if I wanted to be 22% body fat, if I did not gain any lean body mass (which is unlikely), then my goal weight should be 226 pounds! I was astounded by that number. When I first began my weight loss journey in 2011, my goal weight was 160 pounds because that was in the "healthy" range for my height. I had no clue that my goal weight could not be attained, and in fact, I should be at a lot higher weight than that. At this point, I just cut 66 pounds out of the weight I need to lose. Do not get me wrong, I still need to lose 104 pounds, but that is a lot more attainable than 170 pounds.

I have been tracking my food intake and fitness since the 7th, and I am proud of what I have done so far. My calorie goal to lose 1 pound/week is 2400, and I have been at of under that goal every day besides yesterday. And according to my scale at home,  on Monday I weighed in at 324.6 pounds. That is a loss of 5.4 lbs in 5 days. I have also logged 261 fitness minutes since the 7th, and that's including 3 off days from exercise. Honestly, I cannot wait for my next fitness evaluation next month to see how I have progressed.

Yesterday was an incredibly rough day for me, my anxiety was high from the moment I woke up in the morning. Zak and I didn't go to the gym, and in the afternoon I had a small binge. I did not track my food that afternoon or evening, but I am hoping that it was not too bad of a binge. Today is a new day, and it is going much better. I have tracked all my food thus far, and Zak and I hit the gym. We did cardio and strength training today. My legs and arms are killing me but I love the burn, it means that I worked my muscles hard and they are repairing themselves so they can grow stronger.

Well, I think that my short novel here will be catch up enough. I am going to try to start blogging more again. Not only will it help keep me accountable to my fitness and nutrition, but I am also hoping that it will help me work through some of my anxiety. Until next time!

~Sara~

2016, New Year, New Me

Hi, all!

Happy Thursday! How are you all? I haven’t written in so long, so I’m not sure if anyone is still listening. My last post was in August, which means it’s been five months. Honestly, though, I haven’t been posting regularly since the end of May/beginning of June. There are a variety of reasons that I haven’t posted in so long, including that grad school has kept me insanely busy and that sometimes things simply were not going well, so I didn’t post. I have definitely had my ups and downs over the past five months, no doubt about it. My winter break just ended and so many times I thought about posting. I had all of these thoughts in my head about what to say, but I never wrote them down. My problem is that I have so much to say and sometimes I don’t know how to articulate those thoughts.

On Monday, I returned to Seattle after spending 3 weeks in Wisconsin with my family for my winter break. It was a wonderful trip, I didn’t realize how much I missed my family until I saw them again, it was definitely bittersweet coming back and having to leave again. After being back with my family for a few weeks, I realize that after I graduate, I may want to return to Wisconsin to work. The time that I have to make this decision is far from now, so I definitely have some time, however, it is something that I will be thinking about a great deal.

Yesterday, I began my second quarter of grad school. It is hard to believe that I’m a quarter closer to being done, only 10 quarters left. I know that my time at SPU will go by quickly and I need to learn as much as I can from my professors and colleagues. It seems like I just started college and here I am with an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree and working toward my master’s degree, time flies. Honestly, it feels like I just graduated from high school and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. At the same time, it feels like high school was so long ago, which, depending on your definition of long, it has been. By the end of this school year, I will have been out of high school for 8 years, which is a scary thought. Nevertheless, here I am almost 8 years later, in grad school, with two degrees under my belt already. Life is definitely a journey.    

Now it’s time in this ridiculously long post, to share some of the not so positive things that have happened over the past five months. I wish that I could say that everything in my life is perfect and that I stayed on track with my fitness and nutrition over the past months. Sadly, I need to report the exact opposite. I have not made healthy food choices and I have done a very little exercise. This has caused me to gain back all of the weight that I lost and then some. It is really hard for me to admit this but my weight is up to 321, a new high. I promised myself that I would never see a ‘3’ as the first number of my weight again, but here I am. For a while, I simply stopped caring and let my food cravings take over. I didn’t step on the scale and I avoided looking at my body, besides seeing if my clothing looked okay. Then when I was in Wisconsin, I went to the doctor and I had to step on the scale. I knew that I hadn’t been doing well but I never thought that I would have gained so much weight. When I saw that number on the scale I almost cried because never in my life did I imagine that I would weigh 321 pounds. At the rate I was going, I was just killing myself slowly.

To be honest, I have been really struggling with my food choices. Food has taken over my life again and it is so hard to try and stop. There have been days where I would try to make healthier food choices and I did for part of the day but then toward the end, I was just so hungry. It goes to show how many calories I had been eating, though, it was a very high number. So, I am now trying to plan out meals that are lower in calories and have healthy ingredients. I am hoping that if I eat lower calories foods I’ll be able to eat more of them and that will trick my body into not being so hungry. For Christmas, my mom gave me her old crock pot, so I’m searching for a lot of healthy recipes. I know that doing some meal planning will help me each day and also will help me when I am grocery shopping. I’m hoping that it will help me stop buying all these foods that I don’t need for my meals.

I have written out some weekly, monthly and yearly goals, so that is a step in the right direction. At this point, I’m not going to share my specific goals because some of them are quite personal, but I will share my major goals. I need to simply make healthier food choices, reduce my calories and start working out more again. My most important goal is to break the unhealthy habits that I have created. If I don’t break these habits, my health will deteriorate. My health and life are more important and precious than the foods I desire.

Well, there you have it, I have shared everything that I need to. Life is about to get busy again because my classes have started up again, but I promise that I will start posting on a regular basis. I don’t know how many people read my posts but I hope that my honesty can help at least one person continue on with their journey. If nothing else, sharing what I am going through helps to keep me accountable and that is definitely something that I need. This is a long and hard journey and I need to keep myself going strong along the way. I hope that you all are having an absolutely wonderful beginning to your new year! This New Year is a clean slate for each of us and we can start over. Honestly, I believe that each day is a new beginning and we can become whoever we wish to be, all it takes is a little hard work and perseverance. We can do this! I promise that I’ll post again soon. Until next time!

~Sara~ 

Weigh-In, Recapping Goals and Weekly Goals

Hi, all!

Happy Sunday! How are you all doing on this gorgeous day? The sun is currently shining, however, it did rain this morning. I'm sorry that I haven't been updating much lately, it's been a struggle. This coming week I'm definitely going to try harder all around.

It's Sunday, which means it's time to share my results for this past week. I'll be honest, I had an absolutely horrendous week, both nutritionally and with my fitness. I was lacking the motivation to work out and I made far too many unhealthy food choices. Also, I ate more calories than I wanted or needed. Honestly, I only tracked my food three days and those were the only three days that I made healthier food choices.

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 306.5 lbs

Current Weight: 306.2 lbs

Weight Lost: 8.8 lbs

Amazingly enough, I lost .3 pounds last week. I truly do not know how that happened, but it did, and I won't turn it down. I've been feeling a bit down on myself because of my lack of progress this month. So today I decided to look back at my numbers from April 27th and I'm actually sort of amazed by how much progress I've made since then. In 48 days, I've lost 7.2 pounds. So, in just about 7 weeks, I've lost 7.2 pounds, which equates to .97 pounds each week. Losing almost a pound each week is nothing to be sad about, that's continuous progress. Yes, I have a long way to go still, but I'm making progress either way.

Now on to recapping my goals from last week, let's just say, I did horribly with them. Plain and simple. I didn't lose at least .5 pound, but I did lose .3, and after my week, I'll count that as a win. I did work out four times but only had 138 minutes instead of my goal of 180. I most definitely did not eat within my calorie goal 6 days, I was under or right around my goal 3 days for sure. As I said earlier, I didn't even track my calories from Wednesday on, so I'm not sure what the actual totals were, but they weren't good. I did weigh-in each day, so I accomplished that goal. I most definitely did not stay positive each day and did not blog at least 3 days. My last post was Sunday, which I'm disappointed about, I should have blogged more. One thing that I did stay up on was my water intake, I made sure to drink at least 64 ounces each day and usually surpassed it. I did continue to work through my food addiction, but sadly, I let my food addiction take over. I ate when I was stressed, frustrated, upset, and happy. Overall, I did not only eat for nourishment, but for comfort.

Now onto this weeks goals:

1. Lose .5 - 1 pound

2. Cardio - 4 sessions, 45 minutes/session (180 minutes)

3. Eat within my calorie goal (2290) at least 6 days 

4. Weigh-in daily for weight loss study

5. Stay Positive

6. Blog at least 3 days

7. Drink at least 64 oz of water/day

8. Continue to work through food addiction

This week I'm really hoping to do better and I'm going to work hard to achieve my goals. I have to work Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, so I'll be a little busier, plus I'm planning on meeting up with a friend right after work on Wednesday. This week I'm going to focus more on nutrition and make sure to stick with my calorie goal and making healthier food choices. I'm also going to try and do some cardio each day I'm not working and do at least some strength training on the days that I do work.

Well, I'm off to go and spend some time with my family. I hope that you all have an amazing evening. Until next time! 

Weigh-In and Goals

Hi, all!

Happy Sunday! How are you all doing on this gloomy day? I'm doing alright, definitely tired and ready to relax for a bit before bed. It has been an incredibly long day, I had to run some errands this morning and then I worked this evening. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be busier again, but I'm definitely tired out. My normal busy doesn't usually involve being on my feet this long, but I'll get used to it soon enough. Here's hoping that it'll be sooner rather than later.

Well, it's Sunday, which means it's weigh-in day. My week was pretty off, I had more days off than on and I let my food addiction take over. I'm not proud to admit that, but I promised to be honest with myself and all of you.

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 308.9 lbs

Current Weight: 306.5 lbs

Weight Lost: 8.5 lbs

Amazingly enough, I did lose weight. It was probably because there was one day where I was about 1000 calories under, my first day of work. The days that I did go over my goal, thankfully I didn't go over by a lot. Either way, I lost 2.4 pounds last week. This week is a new one and I'm going to try to work harder.

Now onto reviewing my goals from last week, overall, I didn't have a great week. As I said, I lost 2.4 pounds, which surpasses my goal. I did have four official workouts, but I only had 144 minutes instead of my goal of 180. However, I did begin work, so a few days I was on my feet more than usual. My calorie goal was definitely not achieved, I was only on three days last week. Thankfully, I wasn't over by too much each day, but it is still not as good as I had hoped. I did weigh-in each day, so that goal was achieved. I stayed positive each day, so another goal achieved. My blogging was down this week and I think I only posted twice, but it is what it is, hopefully, this coming week will be better. My water intake was great, I drank 64 oz of water or more each day. I'm going to count my food addiction goal as failed this week because I let it overtake my day way too often last week. As I said, it wasn't a very good week.

Here are this coming week's goals, they're pretty much the same as last week, but I'm hoping this week will be better.

1. Lose .5 - 1 pound

2. Cardio - 4 sessions, 45 minutes/session (180 minutes)

3. Eat within my calorie goal (2300) at least 6 days 

4. Weigh-in daily for weight loss study

5. Stay Positive

6. Blog at least 3 days

7. Drink at least 64 oz of water/day

8. Continue to work through food addiction

9. Work each of my scheduled shifts without letting my pain get in the way

Okay, well this post is long enough and I'm exhausted, so I'm off to bed. If anyone wants to offer a foot rub before I go to sleep, I wouldn't say no. I hope that you all have had a wonderful day and have an amazing week. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weigh-In, Recap, Goals and a New Month

Hi, all!

Happy Monday and happy June! It's a new month, which means it's a new beginning and a great time to come up with some new goals. Today is a gorgeous day, a high of 66 and sunny. Don't forget to write out some new goals today and get working toward them. I have so much to cover today because I haven't blogged in a few days. Sorry about that, by the way, over the weekend my cold turned into something a lot more. I'm still feeling pretty under the weather, but I'm trying to move forward with my week.

Yesterday was Sunday which means I had my official weigh-in. My results were not where I wanted them to be, especially as it was the end of the month, but it is what it is.

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 308.8 lbs

Current Weight: 308.9 lbs

Weight Lost: 6.1 lbs

As you can see, I gained .1 pound, so I'm not all that happy, but it could have been a lot worse. I need to be honest with everyone though, I didn't do as well with my fitness or nutrition this past week and you can see that with my weigh-in. Most days throughout the week, I was under my calorie goal, however, I made some unhealthy food choices. Plus, my calorie burns from my work outs were down a little this week and I know I didn't push myself as hard. Overall, I'm not happy with how this week went but, these things happen. Today is a new day and a new week, so I'm going to try harder.

Now onto my recap of my weekly goals, I actually accomplished all of these except for my weight goal. As seen above, I gained .1 pound, so my goal of losing .5-1 pound was not accomplished. The positive that I'm going to take out of last week though is that I worked out 5 days and had 214 minutes, which is 94 minutes over my goal. Also, I ate within my calorie goal 5 days, which was my goal. Each day I weighed in, tried to stay positive, blogged 5 times and continued to work through my food addiction. Overall, I did pretty well with my goals for the week and I'm going to keep working hard.

Okay, now it's time to recap my monthly goals and share my results. I didn't achieve my goal of losing 3 pounds, but I did lose 2.5 pounds, so that's still a win in my book. I worked out 23 of 31 days, which surpasses my goal and I had 1118 fitness minutes, which is a little more than double my goal. I ate within my calorie goal 24 of 31 days, which surpasses my goal of 21 days. Each day I weighed in, stayed positive, blogged 24 days (double my goal) and continued to work through my food addiction. Although I didn't achieve all of my goals, I do think that I made some good progress in May, especially with my food addiction. I took more steps forward than I did backwards, so May was definitely a good month!

June is upon us, which means it's time for some new monthly goals. My goals for this month are going to be pretty similar to May's goals, but I'm going to tweak them a little bit.

1. Lose 3 pounds
2. Cardio - at least 22 sessions, 45 minutes/session (1000 minutes/month)
3. Eat within my calorie goal at least 21 days (out of 30)
4. Weigh-in daily for weight loss study
5. Stay Positive
6. Blog at least 12 times
7. Continue to work through food addiction

I increased my fitness minute goal because I'm averaging at least 1000 each month. Also, I increased my amount of days eating within my calorie goal. One thing that I like to do when coming up with monthly goals is to take a look at my yearly goals and see how I'm coming along with those goals. I did that today and I already know that I won't accomplish my weight loss goal for the year because I'd have to lose 11.7 pounds each month, so that goal is definitely out. I'm not going to change that goal but I know I won't accomplish it, instead I'm going to push myself and try to lose between 24 and 48 pounds the rest of the year (1-2 pounds/week).

Finally, we're on to the goals for this week, they'll be pretty similar to what they always are, but there will be a few minor changes.

1. Lose .5 - 1 pound
2. Cardio - 4 sessions, 45 minutes/session (180 minutes)
3. Eat within my calorie goal (2300) at least 6 days 
4. Weigh-in daily for weight loss study
5. Stay Positive
6. Blog at least 3 days
7. Drink at least 64 oz of water/day
8. Continue to work through food addiction

Well, there you have it. This has been a pretty long post, so I hope you've all bared with me through it all. Well, I'm off. I'm going to get a pretty light walk in today, even though I'm sick. No more excuses because I won't see results unless I push myself. I hope that you all have an absolutely amazing day, week and month. Don't worry about what happened earlier this year, last month, last week or even yesterday, it's a new day. We each have a new beginning and we need to push forward. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weigh-In, Recap and Weekly Goals

Hi, all!

Happy Sunday! How are you all doing on this lovely day? Today marks the beginning of a new week, did you achieve your goals last week? Don't forget to set some goals this week! It's in the lower-70's here today, which makes me a very happy girl. Today's been quite busy, I had church in the morning and then had to run some errands for half of the afternoon. Now I'm back home and able to relax for a little while.

It's Sunday, which means it's my official weigh-in day! I was surprised by the number on the scale today, but I'm trying to not let it bother me.

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 309.4 lbs

Current Weight: 308.8 lbs

Weight Lost: 6.2 lbs

I weighed in at 308.8, which is a loss of .6 pounds. Honestly, I was expecting a bigger loss this week but I'm not worrying about it too much. I think I'm retaining a bit of water because I've been drinking a lot of water lately. Especially because my nutrition and exercise warranted a bigger loss. Weighing in daily has made me focus more on the number on the scale, so that is something that I definitely need to work on in the coming weeks. I'm going to continue weighing in daily because of the study I'm participating in, but I'm going to focus less on the number and more on how I'm feeling each day.

Okay, now it's time for a recap of last weeks goals. I lost .6 pounds which means I achieved my weight goal. During the week, I worked out 4 times totaling 197 minutes, which is 77 minutes over my goal. One thing I'm really proud of is the fact that I ate within my calorie goal each day! This is something that rarely happens but I'm making changes to myself and it's definitely showing in my eating habits. I weighed in daily for the weight loss study. Each day I stayed positive, even on those days where I was feeling fatigued. Throughout the week, I blogged every day except one, so I definitely achieved that goal. I'm really proud of the progress I've made with my food addiction this week. I didn't stop for fast food three separate times when I normally would have and I made good food choices throughout the week. Most importantly, I didn't let food control my life, I was in control. That is huge for me! Food always consumed my thoughts but now it's not. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this feels. I know that it won't always be like this and there will be certain times where maintaining control will be difficult, but I'm thankful for the easier time I had this past week.

Now onto this weeks goals, they are exactly the same as last week.

1. Lose .5 - 1 pound
2. Complete 4 cardio sessions, 30 minutes each (at least 120 minutes)
3. Eat within my calorie goal (2300) at least 5 days
4. Weigh-in daily
5. Stay positive
6. Blog at least 3 days
7. Continue to work through my food addiction

I'm hoping that starting my new job this week won't affect me achieving my goals negatively. Okay, well, this post has gotten long enough as it is, so I'm off. I hope that you all have a wonderful afternoon. Also, if I don't get to post tomorrow, Happy Memorial Day! Until next time!

~Sara~ 

Weigh-In, Recap and Weekly Goals

Hi, all!

Happy Sunday! Did you all have a good week? My week was pretty good overall and I made some great progress toward my goals. Today is a dreary and hot day, I'm not a fan of it, at all! I don't mind the dreary, but this hot weather is not my cup of tea.

Since today's Sunday, that means my official weigh-in day is here and let me tell you, I had a fantastic result. This morning I weighed in at 309.4, which is a loss of 2.4 pounds!?! Throughout the week, I had a feeling that I would have a bit larger loss than last week, but I wasn't expecting a loss that big. Oh well, I'm pretty happy about it.

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 311.8 lbs

Current Weight: 309.4 lbs

Weight Lost: 5.6 lbs

My goal was to lose at least half a pound, well I definitely achieved that goal! In fact, I have achieved my monthly goal, in regards to pounds lost. This month I began at 313.4 pounds and my goal was to get down to around 310, well I achieved that and surpassed it. What's even better, I still have another full week to try and achieve more. Hopefully, I'll be down to at least 309 at the end of the month, which would be a loss of 4.4 pounds for the month, I would definitely take that big of a loss.

Okay, onto how I did with my goals this week. As I said, I definitely achieved my weight goal, in fact, I doubled it, almost tripled it. I worked out 6 of 7 days, which was above my goal. I need to workout 4 days this week to achieve my goal for number of sessions. Although I'm still working on achieving my workout session goal, I have surpassed my fitness minutes goal already. My goal was to have 510 minutes and I'm already at 908 minutes, with another week to go. When all is said and done, I'll have my goal at least doubled. I was at or below my calorie goal 6 days this past week, which was amazing. In fact, I was 432 calories under my weekly goal, which contributed to my bigger loss this week. I've weighed in daily, as needed for the weight loss study. It's amazing seeing the number getting lower each day (for the most part), it motivates me to keep making healthier choices. Thankfully, I was able to stay positive each day and even though I gave into temptation a few times, I made sure that it didn't throw me off track. I definitely achieved my blog post goal of 3 days, in fact, I blogged 6 days. I'm continuing to work through my food addiction, I will always be working through it. Right now, I'm just trying to find out what works for me, what keeps me from giving in to temptation. I've found that having the foods that tempt me is helpful. There are two types of foods that are major temptations for me, ice cream and chips. During the week, I had ice cream at night 2 or 3 times, but I measured the serving and made sure it would fit into my day. I did the same thing with chips, if I wanted them, I would have them and measure them. One thing I refuse to do is deprive myself of the foods I'm craving. I've learned that when I deprive myself, sooner or later I will binge on the food or foods I've been craving. Those types of days always throw me off, so I'm trying to avoid them.

Well, now that I recapped last week's goals, here are this weeks goals. As always, they are pretty much the same.

1. Lose .5 - 1 pound
2. Complete 4 cardio sessions, 30 minutes each (at least 120 minutes)
3. Eat within my calorie goal (2300) at least 5 days
4. Weigh-in daily
5. Stay positive
6. Blog at least 3 days
7. Continue to work through my food addiction

There you have it, my weigh-in, recap and goals for this week. It was an amazing week, in all facets and I can't wait to see what my results for this week. I hope that you all are having an amazing Sunday and have an even more amazing week. I wish you luck conquering all of your goals. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weigh-In and Looking Back

Hi, all!

Happy Sunday! How are you all doing today? How are all of your goals coming along? Mine as going fairly well thus far. :) It's been a wonderful weekend and I'm looking forward to seeing what this week has in store. Plus, my best friend got to town today and we'll be spending time together numerous times throughout the week. :) I'm going to go over how Friday and Saturday went before I say anything else.

I had a good day on Friday until the evening. I ate more than I wanted to at dinner and then my two youngest nieces and I made cookies together. If I wouldn't have eaten so many cookies, I would have been fine. I did workout more to make up for it, so ultimately I was only 80 calories over, but it wasn't as a good a day as I had hoped. I let my food addiction take over, it's as simple as that. I did not make good food choices in the evening and I ate way too much. Overcoming this addiction is hard work, but I need to move forward. One bad day will not dictate how the rest of the week and month goes. On Friday I received the scale from the weight loss study I'm a part of and I'm in love with the scale. UCLA sent me a $100 scale for free! Plus, I downloaded a free app on my phone and the scale syncs with it, so that's amazing. The even better news, when the study is over, I get to keep this scale. :)

Saturday was wonderful. I wasn't planning on working out, but I felt the need in the morning. So, I got in a nice 25-minute walk. Then in the evening, I made this delicious peanut butter, chocolate, strawberry/banana smoothie, and it was healthy! It tasted more like a shake and I added some protein powder to it, so it had some added protein. :) I love having a blender again! I weighed in for the weight loss study's official beginning weight and it was back up to 311.4, so my loss from a few days ago was not correct (just as I suspected). So, I'm correctly my weight from 308 back up to 311. Overall, I had a great day Saturday! I was under my calorie goal and worked out. :)

Okay, now on to today. I'm weighing in every day for the study, but Sunday is my official weigh-in day. So here are those results:

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 311.4 lbs

Current Weight: 312.4 lbs

Weight Lost: 2.6 lbs

Well, the scale showed a gain this morning. I'm not too worried about it because I know I didn't eat enough to actually gain a pound. In fact, according to my records, I should have lost at least .75 lbs. So, I'm probably retaining water or something like that. I worked hard last week and I know that as soon as my body is used to what I'm doing, I'll start seeing results. This week I'm planning on adding more strength training, at least 3 days and cardio at least 5 days. 

Tomorrow morning I have an interview for a freelance data entry position, so I'm pretty excited! It's just a temporary position, but it could possibly lead to other projects and give me some more experience. Something else exciting, my best friend is getting into town later this afternoon and she'll be here for a week! I'm either going to see her when she gets here or we're getting together tomorrow sometime. :) I can't wait to have some one-on-one time with her again. Well, I'm off, I've got to do some things around the house and then make some lunch. I hope you all have an amazing day and week. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weight Loss Study and Small Changes

Hi, all!

Happy Wednesday! How are you all doing today? It's a sort of gloomy day here, but I'm thankful for the day, nevertheless. I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of April, this month is flown by. Since tomorrow is the last day of the month, I'm going to weigh-in and see where I'm ending the month. Which means that I'll also take some measurements, it'll be interesting to see what those numbers are now. I'm excited to see what May has in store for me and what progress I make.

Here are some of my goals for May:
1. Lose 3 pounds
2. Cardio - at least 17, 30-minute sessions (510 minutes)
3. Eat within my calorie goal at least 21 days (5 days/week)
4. Weigh-in daily - for weight loss study
5. Complete at least 200 tasks (on the website I work for)
6. Stay positive 
7. Blog at least 12 times (3 posts/week)
8. Continue to work through my food addiction
9. Drink at least 64oz of water/day

I am happy to say that I have exciting news, at least for me. Last night, my mom made these high-calorie cookies and I was really close to giving in and eating one. But before I did, I realized that if I ate one, then I'd want two. So, instead of eating 400 calories worth of cookies, I ate a 90-calorie Fiber One bar instead. It is small choices like that one that causes big changes. Overall, yesterday was a good day though, I was under my calorie goal and I got in a good workout. :)

I don't know if I mentioned yesterday that I have been selected to take part in a weight loss study done by UCLA. So in a few days, I'll be receiving a wireless scale and then I'll be weighing myself, at the same time, daily for 4 months. Typically, I wouldn't weigh-in daily, but I'm looking forward to being part of this professional study.

I know this is a shorter post, but that's all for today. I hope that you all have an absolutely amazing day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Moving Forward

Hi, all!

How are you all doing on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon? I'm doing wonderful today, a little bored, but wonderful nevertheless. Yesterday afternoon I turned in my final paper and presentation, which means that I'm officially done! Now I just need to wait for my grades and I will officially have my Bachelor's degree! :) It feels really strange to be done with my degree, especially since I went from being extremely busy to not having to do anything. So today has been filled with a few new things, which are time-consuming.

I began applying for jobs today, mostly on this freelance data entry and virtual assistant website. However, I also applied for a few online tutor positions as well. I'm hoping that I will get a few of these positions and I can begin saving up money and paying off some bills. Plus, I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue doing these things once I move because they'll offer a more flexible schedule. When I start grad school in September, I'll need a more flexible schedule because of when I have classes.

Also, I wrote out some monthly goals for May and weekly goals. It's been a few months since I wrote down any goals, but I always seem to do better when I'm working toward something. While I was thinking about what I hope to accomplish, I decided to view my yearly goals that I wrote back in December. God, I am not doing so hot thus far, however, I should graduate having a 3.9 GPA for my Bachelor's degree. So that's one goal that will be completed, plus, I will be starting graduate school in September. I have been reading at least 30 minutes/day as well. The rest of my goals haven't been going so well. There is no way that I will get down to 240 lbs because I'd have to lose 73.4 lbs over the next 7 months. It would be amazing to be able to do that, but it would be incredibly unhealthy. My current goal is to get down anywhere between 280 and 260, which would be 1 or 1.5 pounds each week.

My dad closed tonight at work, so I was unable to exercise right away in the morning, and I almost pushed it back until this evening. However, around when I was going to be making lunch, I decided to bite the bullet and get my workout in right then. I still am not able to do a ton, but I did some more walking today and I loved it! While my lunch was in the oven, I walked and it ended up being 53 minutes. Right now, I'm trying to not focus on the calorie burn but the fitness minutes because I'm trying to get back into the routine of exercising again. My hip is definitely feeling it after walking so long, but I'm icing it down and enjoying the burn.

Yesterday, I have a really good day. I got in a 30-minute walk and I was under my calorie goal. Today, I had a great workout and I'm on track to be under my calorie goal again. Last night I did have a snack, some delicious homemade applesauce that my grandmother made. So, what I chose was lower calorie at least. I know that at times my food addiction will be more difficult, but if I want to overcome this, I need to put in the work now.

Well, I'm off, hopefully, tomorrow I'll have more positive news to report. I hope that you all have a wonderful evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weigh-In and Weekly Goals

Hi all!

Happy Monday! How are you all doing today? It's a eh sort of day here in southeastern Wisconsin, both weather wise and emotionally. That loss in the football game yesterday afternoon was brutal, but it is what it is, congratulations to the Seahawks. Now it's time to focus on schoolwork even more and looking ahead to baseball season :)

Yesterday was weigh-in day and I was pretty excited for it, I had a great week in regards to fitness and nutrition. I had 200 official fitness minutes and bunch of unofficial fitness minutes on Saturday. I was also about 1200 calories under my weekly calorie goal before exercise calories were added. I didn't have a huge loss, but the water weight is finally coming off a little. -.4 pounds last week, so I can't complain. Hopefully the water weight will completely come off soon though. 

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 293.8 lbs

Current Weight: 293.4 lbs

Weight Lost: 21.6 lbs

My goals for this week:  

1. At least 200 fitness minutes 

2. Lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday

3. East 2200 calories daily (15400 for the week)

4. Get through week 5 on my schoolwork

5. Stay positive (no matter my motivation level)

6. Blog 3 days

7. Push myself (especially with my strength training sessions)

Time to go and work on my schoolwork now. I'm about 2 weeks ahead of schedule, so here's hoping that this week I'll be able to keep that pace and get even further ahead. I hope that you all have a great day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Yearly Goals

Hi all!

Happy Tuesday! How are you all doing today? It is freaking freezing out right now, where did these below zero temperatures come from? I am SO over winter, it can be done at any time. This sickness is really starting to get on my nerves and its only been 4 days. :( It's really having an effect on my appetite and that's not a good thing. I've had to force myself to eat the past few days at pretty much every meal time. I'm trying my hardest to get in enough calories each day. Well, my weigh-in on Friday should go well at least. 

I cannot believe it is almost the end of December already, which means it will be 2015. Coming in to a new year means that I need to review my goals of 2014 and write up my goals for the upcoming year. When I was reading through my 2014 goals, it made me incredibly sad. It was definitely not a good year in regards to accomplishing my goals. The difference in my weight makes me the most sad though, I looked at my records and I gained 20 pounds since January 1st. My goal was to lose weight and I gained 20 pounds!?! This is just one of the many ways of showing that a weight loss journey is a lifelong thing. It takes a great deal of work, daily, and it is not for the faint at heart. Let's be honest, losing weight is freaking hard. Just because I know what I need to do to lose weight, doesn't automatically mean that I'll do those things every day. Sometimes I don't get to exercise, for whatever reason. Other times I make unhealthy food choices or choose to eat more than I need to be eating. But that's life, we have to enjoy it and live with our choices, good and bad.  

Anyways, here are my 2015 yearly goals:

1. Get down to 240 pounds (-53 lbs from today)

2. Get into a strength training routine - at least 3 days/week

3. Work out at least 4 days/week for at least 30 minutes

4. Make healthy food choices

5. Drink at least 100 oz. of water/day

6. Keep a positive attitude

7. Stay motivated

8. Never give up

9. Blog at least 3 posts/week

10. Take time to read - at least 30 minutes/daily

11. Graduate B.S. in Psychology with at least a 3.9 GPA

12. Begin graduate school 

I'm going to weigh-in on Friday (as I said before) and also take my measurements. I'll make sure to do a post that day to share my results for not only my weigh-in but the past year in general. Plus, I'll be looking ahead at 2015 and probably writing about my monthly goals. This is where I'll end things off today though. See you all again, Friday at the latest. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Until next time!

~Sara~

I'm back!

Hi all!

Look who's back! It has been about a month since my last post and as promised, now I'm back. This past month has been ridiculously crazy and busy. As most of you know, I was in three classes in 5 weeks, so it was crazy! This past week was finals week and on Saturday afternoon, I turned in final number three. I can finally take some time to relax, so I am going to enjoy it. 

During my month off from blogging, I sprained my ankle and it was in a boot. On Saturday, I took the boot off and now I'm trying to strengthen it back up. I go and see my doctor on Friday for a follow up and hopefully things will look good. Yesterday morning I tried to workout a little by walking on the treadmill, but I didn't last very long. I am definitely not a treadmill person, my equilibrium went insane. This morning was a lot better because I just walked around the house. I got in 35 minutes and my ankle feels pretty good. Honestly, I'm really happy that I'm able to work out again, I have missed it so much. 

On a happy note, I have a man in my life again. We originally met a few years ago and then stopped talking, while we began talking again in the beginning of November and we're together now. :) It is still quite new but he's an absolutely amazing man. He is incredibly sweet, phenomenally supportive, and makes me smile and laugh on a daily basis. Not to mention that I find him really attractive. I'm not going to talk about him a ton today because it is a new relationship, but he makes me incredibly happy and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. 

I know it's already December 8th but I want to write up my goals for the rest of the month. 

1. Lose 3 lbs

2. Walk for at least 30 minutes, 4/week

3. Focus on nutrition and get back on track with my eating

4. Increase protein level 

5. Limit sweets

6. Blog at least 5 times/week

7. Relax!!!

8. Stay positive

9. Say at least 10 positive things about myself/daily

10. Don't be so hard on myself - especially in regards to my body

11. Stop late night, unhealthy snacking

12. Don't try to change the things that are out of my control

13. Focus on being the best me, I can be

Oh, I also weighed myself yesterday, so it's time to post that as well. I'll be honest with all of you, I've been really down on myself lately because of how much weight I have gained back. At one point last year, I was down to almost 250 lbs and now I'm back up to 294 lbs, it's frustrating. I won't say that I've been depressed because I haven't been but I have been really hard on myself. It is something that I really need to stop because it is not helping matters any. My boyfriend has been great at telling me how beautiful I look in all my pictures and that he finds me attractive, but it is incredibly hard to see it myself. 

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 293 lbs

Current Weight: 294.2 lbs

Weight Lost: 20.8 lbs

I am going to try really hard to stay positive about myself and my body because it is what I have right now. It is strong, heck, it carried around 315 lbs at one point and now it carries around almost 21 lbs less. It's time to start looking at the bigger picture again because I have come far. I haven't been continually gaining weight, I've been maintaining over the past few months, so that is a positive. I'm wearing a size 20 pants instead of a size 24. I haven't taken measurements for awhile but as of my last update, I have lost 14.7 inches, 2.7 points off my BMI and 20.8 pounds. 

So tomorrow I'll be taking new measurements and today I will begin my other goals. It is time to start fresh and change my life for the better. I hope that you all have a wonderful day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weekly Goals

Hi all!

Happy Monday! How are you all on this lovely fall day? It's a little cloudy out today and there is a major chance of rain this evening but the temperature is absolutely wonderful. What are you all going to do to make this week a great one?

Yesterday I bought a bunch of delicious stuff to eat the next two weeks, including a new addition to my food routine. Tomato juice is one of my favorite things to drink besides water, it's low calorie and absolutely delicious! Not to mention that one, 8 ounce glass of it has two servings of vegetables in it. Let me tell you, vegetables are one thing that I just do not get enough of daily. I'm usually lucky if I get one or two servings a day, so at least a glass every day at breakfast will jump start my vegetable intake. I just do not enjoy eating salads or vegetable based meals a great deal, so my vegetable intake is extremely low. This week I did buy a bunch of ingredients to make vegetable based soups and other meals with vegetables as a main ingredient as well, so hopefully this will help.

It's Monday, so that means it's time for weekly goals again.

1. Eat about 2200 calories/day

2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 times/week

3. Burn roughly 300 calories/workout

4. Blog 5 days

5. Complete homework by Friday

6. Limit snacking to pre-approved snacks and only eat one serving of them

7. Stay positive, no matter what

8. Focus on keeping heart rate between 120 and 130 during workouts 

9. Do at least 30 minutes of pleasure reading/daily

10. Deal with stress/worry with exercise or reading and not food

11. Drink between 80 and 120 ounces of water/daily

12. Stay focused on all goals - nutritionally, fitness and school

This week and next week are my final ones before things become insanely busy and I start up three classes. So I'm trying to relax as much as I can, while still trying to work ahead on my current classes homework. Next week I can begin viewing my new classes, so I'll be trying to get a head start on there week 1 assignments as soon as I can, as well. So after this week, my posts may begin getting shorter because I just won't have the time to do a whole lot besides, eating, sleeping, and schoolwork. I suppose, I should get some of my school work done before my lunch time workout. I hope that you all have a wonderful day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Mini-Vacation Recap and Weekly Goals

Hi all!

Happy Monday! How are you all this evening? It has been a beautiful October, fall day here. Honestly, I still cannot believe that it's October already, this year is going by so quickly. I'm sure this month and the rest of this year will fly by as well, it always seems to. 

I had an amazing weekend with my best friend, it was much needed and so nice to just get away for a few days. It's nice to be able to sleep in my own bed again and have internet access again though. On Friday, I got there in mid-afternoon and we went out to our favorite coffee shop for a late lunch. It was so good, this places coffee is phenomenal and I've had a major craving for it. We had a low-key dinner at her apartment and went to a small group she's a part of. The small group was amazing, incredibly thought provoking, I wish I was able to go to each meeting. On Saturday, we started out our morning by going to the farmers market and picked up a few things. Then we went back to the coffee shop for brunch and I caught up with one of my college friends. In the afternoon, we went to her town's fall festival. I got a great workout that day, 700+ calories burned according to my HRM. Let me tell you, my legs still hurt from all of the walking. Later that evening we went out for this delicious pizza and then got a slice to cheesecake to share, it was so delicious and worth the 300 calories. :) And then on Sunday, my final day, we went to church in the morning. Finally, we went out for lunch at this delicious Mexican restaurant and then I was on my way back home. 

It was an absolutely wonderful time away and it was amazing to spend some one-on-one time with my best friend. :) My drive home was incredibly long and made my entire back stiff, but I wouldn't trade that time with my best friend for anything. I made a stupid decision and bought some snacks at the half way point because I was ridiculously tired and it helped me wake up. So, I was WAY over my calorie goal yesterday. Plus when I got home, my grandparents were over having dinner and my grandma made an apple pie, which is my favorite. Even though I was incredibly full, I had a piece of that but I felt so gross afterwards. 

Now onto last weeks goals and my new goals for this week. I didn't reach all of my goals but I did reach most of them. :) The lower body strength didn't happen but that's because the chiropractor told me to not over work myself. Plus I had 1 binge day, it wasn't horrible but still more calories than I should have eaten. Thankfully, for the most part, I was right around my calorie goal most days. So overall, it was a good week, in regards to reaching my goals. Now my goals for this week.

1) Eat around 2200 calories (my goal) daily

2) No binge days

3) Work out for 30 minutes/5 days a week - at least 300 calories burned/workout 

4) Blog 5 days/week

5) Complete my schoolwork by Saturday - at the latest

6) Drink at least 64 oz of water/day 

7) Eat slower (take at least 30 minutes to eat meals) 

8) Take at least 1 hour/day to relax 

9) Do at least 1 hour of pleasure reading/day

10) Burn between 1500 and 2000 calories this week

11) Track everything that I eat

12) Eat a bigger breakfast/ daily (at least 300 calories)

13) Don't worry so much

14) Do at least 20 tasks/week

This post has gotten quite long because of my recap. Now I'm off to do my homework and watch two of my favorite movies that are on TV :) I hope that you all have an amazing evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

October Goals and Other Thoughts

Hi all!

Happy October! How are you all on this beautiful fall day? I am so excited that it's finally October, it is my favorite month of the year. Here in Wisconsin, the leaves are changing colors and ultimately falling off the trees, so it's absolutely beautiful. Plus, the weather is gorgeous, it's colder but it becomes my perfect temperature. I'm able to wear, a 3/4 length sleeve shirt, skinny jeans and boots and be extremely comfortable. Can it just be fall all year round? One of the reasons I want to move to Seattle is that the temperatures are so much better than Wisconsin's, all year round.

Okay, so a new month means monthly goals. I feel like my goals are similar each month or week but I always want to accomplish similar things. So here we are:

1. Lose 3-4 pounds

2. Exercise at least 30 minutes/5 times a week

3. Burn at least 300 calories/workout

4. Blog 5 times/week

5. Eat a healthy breakfast/daily

6. Eat within my calorie goal at least 6 days/week

7. Stay positive

8. Continue staying ahead school work

9. Monitor stress levels and make sure to not become overly stressed

10. At least 1 hour of pleasure reading/daily

11. Don't focus so much on the number on the scale or clothing but focus on how I feel

The past few days I have been seeing an ad from Special K and I just have had the urge to write about it. This ad takes places in a store that sells jeans but this isn't like every other clothing store. What's different? There are not numbered sizes on the jeans, the employee has to measure you and the tape measure gives a positive word instead of a number. This word correlates with a jean "size". I wish that is how stores were, not these stupid numbered sizes that we have today. All of us compare our size to someone else's because their smaller or larger, that is such an emotionally trying thing. If we were a size confident or strong or whatever other word, how could we compare ourselves to someone else? We don't know what the actual size would be because it's another positive word. Honestly, how amazing would that be?

Amanda and I - Summer 2012

Last night I was texting my best friend about how far ahead on my homework I am this week and she began joking around that I should come and visit her (she lives 3.5 hours south of me). At first I took it as a joke but then I began thinking, I am really far ahead and I have enough cash to spare right now. So on Friday morning, I am heading down to see my best friend for the weekend! I am so dang excited for my weekend away with my best friend, I miss her so much. We've been through everything together, since I was 8 years old (I'm 24 now), so for 3/4's of my life this girl has been by my side. When she moved away in 2012 it was really tough for me, needless to say, but our friendship is even stronger now as it was when we lived in the same town and saw each other at least once a week. Now we only see each other in person maybe once every 3 or 6 months, so any time that I'm able to spend with her is amazing.

I was checking my Facebook feed this morning and my college's page posted this picture and it is definitely something that I needed to see today and many other times. I want to share this with all of you and I hope it brings some encouragement to at least one person.
There are certain times when I get discouraged about one thing or another and I always seem to forget to look at how far I've come. Instead I focus on how far I still have to go, whether it be for weight loss or school or whatever else.
Today I wasn't really discouraged but this photo just encouraged a great deal and served as a wonderful reminder of how far I've come. Weight loss wise, I've lost 27 pounds and yeah, I still want to lose 128 more pounds but I'm so much farther than I was when I first began. And for school, I have an Associates degree and I only have 10 months left until I have my Bachelor's degree as well. Then only 3 years until I have my Master's degree. I could be able to begin my career in 5 years or less and have 3 degrees under my belt. Look how far I've come since I graduated high school 6 years ago, I'm in a much better mind set emotionally, spiritually and physically. I've experienced good and bad things but the most important thing is that I've grown exponentially.

One final thought before going to work on my final some more: no matter what you're experiencing now, always remember to stay positive and look towards the future. You can't change the past, so remember how far you've come but keep your focus ahead. I hope that someone finds encouragement in this. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weigh-In and Weekly Goals

Hi all!

Happy Sunday! How are you all on this bright, sunny and warm fall day? I can't really complain, I'm a bit tired but other than that, I'm wonderful! 

Today was my official weigh-in day and although I technically gained since my last official weigh-in, I still lost weight since my challenge weigh-in on Friday. So, I'm still happy with how I did this past week, especially since there was one day that I went over on my calorie goal. I logged 357/150 official fitness minutes and about 2350/1500 calories burned, which is over my of my goals! :) This just goes to show you that nutrition is so incredibly important when it comes to weight loss, if I wouldn't have gone over my calorie goal that one day, I would have lost some weight. 

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 287.6 lbs

Current Weight: 287.8 lbs (+.2) 

Weight Lost: 27.2 lbs

Okay, now for some weekly goals - there's a lot for this week

1) Eat around 2200 calories (my goal) daily

2) No binge days

3) Work out for 30 minutes/5 days a week - at least 300 calories burned/workout 

4) Blog 5 days/week

5) Add some low impact lower body strength training (I think bridges will be added this week)

6) Stick to my pre-approved snacks

7) Complete my schoolwork by Saturday - at the latest

8) Drink at least 64 oz of water/day 

9) Eat slower (take at least 30 minutes to eat meals) 

10) Take at least 1 hour/day to relax 

11) Do at least 1 hour of pleasure reading/day

12) Burn between 1500 and 2000 calories this week

13) Track everything that I eat

14) Eat a bigger breakfast/ daily (at least 300 calories)

15) Don't worry so much

16) Do at least 20 tasks/week

I'm sure there are other things I want to accomplish this week as well but this is what's on my mind at the moment. Plus, I think 16 goals for the week is plenty. 

Well, I'm off to watch the football and baseball game and get a head start on my homework. I hope that you all have a wonderful afternoon. Until next time!

~Sara~

Weigh-In and Goals

Hi all!

Happy Monday and happy new week! How are you all doing today? I'm awesome today, tired but really good. I only slept 3 hours last night but I am not letting that get me down, not to mention that my coffee has kicked in nicely. :)

Yesterday I weighed-in and it did not go as well as I had hoped but that's because I had a ridiculous binge on Friday night. I'm not talking about a crazy meal, I am talking over 2500 calories, along with my 1700 calories from earlier in the day. Amazingly enough, I only gained .4 pounds, it shows how well I would have done if I hadn't have binged. After that binge, I was hurting though, I felt gross and extremely disappointed in myself. I'm moving forward though and I am determined to not binge this week.

Starting Weight: 315 lbs

Last Weight: 291.2 lbs

Current Weight: 291.6 lbs (+.4)

Weight Lost: 23.4 lbs

I have been thinking a lot today and there are so many things that I want to accomplish in regards to weight loss and fitness. These are things that I have desired but not necessarily voiced, so I am going to do that now.

1. No more stomach rolls

2. No more back fat

3. Not needing to wearing a shaper to have smooth lines

4. Not being out of breath from watching up/down the stairs

5. Being able to go into any store and be able to try on clothing

6. Feel confident in whatever I'm wearing

7. Be a good example to my friends and family

8. Be able to help people who are in my current situation

9. Just be comfortable in my skin

Well I suppose, I need to get some homework done. I hope you all have a wonderful evening. So until next time!

~Sara~

Update, Weigh-in, and Goals

Hey all!

How are you all doing today? It's a cold but beautiful day here. Sorry for not blogging much lately, but it got crazy again. I'm back though and hopefully I'll be able to blog more. I do know that thing will still be busy but blogging is very therapeutic for me, so I want to fit it into my schedule. 

Did I tell you all that I was going to have my wisdom teeth surgically removed? Well either way, I had them removed and I'm on day 5 after now. It hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be, I honestly haven't been in much pain, besides throughout the night. The worst part about it is the swelling I've had, it was bad! My mom was 'making fun' of me because my face was pretty square from it. But the swelling has also made it pretty difficult to eat, so my weigh-in yesterday was a very good one. I lost 5.6 pounds last week and although I enjoyed seeing the big loss, it happened in an unhealthy manner. I'm getting my stitches out tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully I'll be able to incorporate more soft foods into my diet and I'll be able to eat a few more calories. 

I got a new job, did I tell you all that too? Tomorrow morning I go in for my orientation and to sign all the paperwork for it. It's only a part time job at a fast food restaurant but it'll be more money coming in to pay off bills and save up for my wedding. I'm hoping and praying that it will go well because it'll be a good longer term job to put onto my résumé. 

It's also March now, so I've come up with some goals for this month. 

1. Lose 5 to 7.5 pounds (I upped my goal to 1.5 pounds/week)

2. Eat within my calorie goal 6 days/week

3. Exercise 4 days/week for at least 20 minutes per session

4. Incorporate upper body strength training slowly (as I'm still recovering from my pulled shoulder muscle) 

5. Keep a positive attitude

6. Find a good balance between work, school, and personal life 

7. Begin wedding dress shopping

8. Decide on a more specific look for the wedding

9. Stay honest with myself

10. Continue to be more open

I could go on and on, but these 10 goals are a good start. But it's time to get back to babysitting (the girls were napping with I'm writing this) and then get a head start on my homework for this week. I hope you all have a wonderful week. So until next time! 

~Sara~