This Thing Called Life

     The other day I watched a Youtube video about a young woman who lost 90 pounds. It took her a year to get where she was and that gave me a realistic time frame of when to expect to be at or near my goal weight again. Losing weight is not easy. I have been overwhelming myself trying to eat right and work out so for now I am focusing on my food choices then I will incorporate exercise. I started the 21 Day Fix program, got to day 10, and realized I was doing too much at once. Realizing that it may take a year (give or take) to reach my goals seems like a long time but I didn't gain this weight over night. I have neglected my health since my father passed which has been a year and some change. I'm taking my weight loss journey one day at a time and I am trying not to think too far ahead. This time next year I want to be wearing cute summer dresses and swimsuits. Not jeans and big t-shirts.

      I have changed a lot of things in my life and the biggest change has been my exercise routine and my diet. Before my boyfriend left for deployment I would limit myself to certain foods and really watch how much of something I ate. He loves Chili's, Chic Fil a, and Chinese food so we ate out to those places a lot. It was good I'm not going to lie about that. It is our thing. We eat fried food, watch Netflix, and snuggle in bed. So when he left, I knew that would be my opportunity to focus on my weight loss and diet plan again. This is my standard diet and things I eat and do even when he is here, and my gym routine. I've never been a breakfast fan early in the morning so I usually brew my own coffee and take it to school with me along with a granola bar, yogurt, or banana. For lunch, I usually eat a salad with lite dressing loaded with cucumber, tomatoes, and green peppers. I will also pack a fruit cup with some rice cakes or some kind of chips like jalapeno or re...

     Since this is my third time trying to lose weight, I want to be successful and not give up like the last two times. My boyfriend and I have went hiking for 5 Saturdays in a row and I think that is what is motivating me to continue workouts throughout the week. I just purchased a yearly parking pass for the park we hike at so maybe we can also start hiking more than just one day a week. I think I'm off to a good start. Last night my mom and I went for a speed walk around the neighborhood for about 15 minutes. I was also dancing and jogging and then continued to dance one we got home. I haven't had any soda in about week, not even a sip. And I'm trying to choose water as much as possible as my drink of choice. Junk food hasn't really been present, all though it is that time of the month so I'm eating bits of chocolate here and there.      YouTube and Tumblr have been my main motivation sources. I like seeing the progress people make just by ma...

I know one of my goals this month wasn't to weigh in until the last week or day, but I really wanted to know if I had made any progress at all. I haven't. It is because I binge. The other day my boyfriend and I went to red lobster...that was dumb. But I didn't even really eat that much. I got the popcorn shrimp with broccoli and side salad. I ate all the salad, almost all of the broccoli, and there were tons of shrimps left over. There have been other days too. I don't know why I think it's okay to eat this crap when I'm trying to LOSE weight. I'm so excited about nursing school, maybe that is why I'm eating all of these no-no foods. It may also be because I have stopped exercising as much as I want to. I wanted to start jogging or going to the gym, but I would have to go by myself and I don't want to look weird or anything jogging all alone. Plus I don't want to get snatched up by some creep. I was so determined to have some one go ...

Last night my brother offered to take me to Planet Fitness for the first time ever. I was like sure okay. So we got ready and when we pulled into the parking lot we drove by to see how crowded it was inside. As usual my self esteem issues got the best of me. I chickened myself out of going and I think my brother was angry, which is understandable. But he is built. He isn't bigger like me. We went home and I rode my elliptical for 30 minutes. After, I cried. I don't know if I cried because I was angry for not going in there or if I cried because I felt like giving up, or both. I put up this front to everyone around me like I don't care what people think of me, but obviously deep down I do. I guess I was scared that those thin, fit girls running on the treadmills would have looked at me like I was a cow or like I wasn't going to do good. I don't know. What I do know, is that I need to get over my fear of people judging me and go in there and exercise like a...

I ordered my work out shoes that I wanted oh so badly from Kohls. I hope they fit nicely. Since the Tumblr community I follow for weight loss has decided that there will be NO weighing in this month, I have had to keep myself occupied since I'm used to weighing myself at least twice a week. I hope that by not weighing in on a daily basis that my results will be better. This weekend I plan on chilling on the beach and maybe getting some exercise by riding my bike around for a while. I had about half of a Taco Bell Veggie Cantina Bowl yesterday and to my surprise I just didn't want to continue eating it. It was good, I just felt like crap eating it. I do not miss fast food at all. I am perfectly fine without it and I hope to continue not eating it in the ways that I used too.

The first thing I've noticed since I've changed my eating habits is that I actually care about what is in the foods my peers and I eat. If I'm with someone and they pick up a food item that I know has tons of empty calories or a lot of sugars etc, I say something. I don't hesitate to call someone out on their poor food choices. I do not do this to be mean, I just say it because I think it is important for them to know what they are actually eating. I've said this before, but I feel so much better not eating any crap food (fast food). I feel like my body on the inside thanks me for not eating that garbage and not harming my organs and gaining more body fat. Water has been more proficient in my life as well.  The most important thing that I have noticed is that I try to educate and inspire others who are overweight or obese to get fit/healthy too! I try to encourage them to make small changes to their diets and take baby steps. If they eat fast food 5 days a week, I t...

Since I work all day at a desk, sitting gets boring VERY quickly. Since I am on a eat healthy/lose some weight kick, I thought I would share with you some workouts/stretches that I do when the office is dead. First thing is wall sits. I try to hold it for at least a minute, take a quick break and do it again. After that, I do lunges. 15 reps on each leg.Squats will work too. If I get super bored I will pace around the office or clean.As far as stretches go, I will do things like reach for the floor or ceiling, pull my foot behind my back, and do side stretches reaching for the wall.  Burning some calories is better than burning none. I feel a lot better after doing this too. I only recommend you do things like this if you don't have a lot of people around or if you don't care who sees that is cool too. As for me, boaters might think I'm weird if they walk in to check in and I'm doing squats or wall sits.

Last night my brother joined me in some jump roping. My legs are kind of sore today from it, so something must have worked. The handles are weighted (1 pound) so maybe I will lose my arm flubber too. I keep little baggies of nuts and Special K bars hidden in my purse in case of a snack attack. I would much rather eat one of those instead of potatoe chips or french fries. I'm not dieting and eating healthier to be skinny, I'm doing it to be healthy and fit. I think it's gross when you can count someone's ribs. I want to keep my curves, but lose my fat.