Post Baby Weigh In Week 1: A Huge First Step!

I have AMAZING news! 

Tonight I stepped onto that scale at my weight loss competition and I lost SIX pounds. 

This was my exact reaction:

"Um. That has to be wrong. Yup, I'm sure that's wrong"

My Coach: "Nope, it's not wrong...you lost 6.2lbs!"

I am honestly in utter amazement. What a great feeling to start off my new journey!

Now, I know a lot of it may be "water weight" or whatever...but I am going to celebrate it like it's six pounds of pure fat! I'm so over the top excited!!

So that's it for my first weigh in on this journey. I am SO PUMPED!

Weigh in Week 26: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes (a six month anniversary celebration)

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend filled with lots of sunshine, fresh fruits and veggies, and lots of outdoor activities.

Mine? Well, there was sunshine....and that's about it! :) But honestly, I'm getting kind of tired of saying "I didn't do well this weekend" or "I struggled this week"- because the fact is- I just lived. I tried to make healthy decisions every chance I could, but I made some bad ones too. And for me, that's really ok, because I can honestly say that choosing healthy things has become part of my "lifestyle" instead of my strict regiment I must follow at all costs.

You may have noticed the lack of blogging in the healthy living department lately, and honestly, the above paragraph pretty much summarizes why. It just feels pointless to me to come on here, day after day, and say the same thing: Well yesterday I did good. Then today I ate a piece of pizza. I worked out for a half hour, but today I didn't.

It just doesn't feel like I'm at that "struggling" place anymore- the one that was fighting against me trying to stop me from doing any of this altogether and return me to my couch potato ways. I can honestly say I've conquered that mountain- there is just no way I will ever go back.

And so I'm pressing forward through the "hills" and to be honest well, those hills just wouldn't be very fun to talk about. Like I said, I have my good days, and I have my bad, but I am committed to moving forward like I never was before.

So where does that put us?

Well, it means I might blog less. You may have gathered that from the lack of posts recently. But really it just means this blog is changing directions altogether.

For one thing, I intend to still weigh in every Monday- this keeps me accountable and helps me to evaluate my entire week and what I accomplished or could improve upon.

I also want to focus on "healthiness" as a whole- not just on losing the weight. This may mean I would bring up topics that having absolutely nothing to do with diet and exercise (which has actually happened a couple of times in the past couple of weeks).

Better said, this blog is becoming more of a "Nicole's Life" blog instead of a "Nicole's Weight" blog.

Hope that's ok!

(but really, it's going to happen whether you like it or not, sorry!)

Weigh in.

This week I lost two pounds! YAY! Do you know what that means? I've lost 35.5lbs altogether and earned myself this pretty little number:

How exciting is that?!?

And guess what else that means?

On November 9, 2009- I set out to lose a total of 40lbs. I had no idea what I would look like at that weight- but I chose it because it was a nice even number and I couldn't ever remember weighing so little.

Exactly six months later (counted by weeks) I weigh 35.5lbs less than that day- I am 4.5lbs away from meeting that goal. I am pretty darn proud of myself.

:)

Happy Six Month Anniversary, Healthy Me!

Weigh in Week 25: Just Dreamin....for now

Oh goodness guys. So sorry to have been majorly MIA lately. I'm sure most of you can kind of understand if you read my last post. Life is really stressful right now.

I ended up going to Bastyr University on Friday for a campus tour and to talk with an advisor about the possibility of me enrolling in the fall. The verdict? Not a chance :( I have a couple of more classes I would need to get done as prereq's, and since Bastyr is a cohert program, I wouldn't be able to get them done in time to start in the fall 2010 cohert.

Oh and I won't even mention the cost of this university. It might make you grimace a little (ok, well I did). Anyway, apparently Kellen and I make too much money to get any kind of grant from the government. Apparently you have to be below the poverty line to get help with your education around here (sorry, I am quite a bit bitter at the moment). Either that, or we have to have kids. Yup- having kids will actually give me cheap school...apparently...

All that being said, I'm bummed. As I took the tour I was actually "skipping" (according to Kellen). He described me as looking like I was skipping from excitement like I was on the movie The Wizard of Oz! Hahaha!

I WAS excited. This place is really stinkin cool. I will show you a few pics I

snapped:

This is the front entrance to the school...pretty cool huh?

The courtyard at the school. The school is actually SUPER small- like only 250 students! When I heard this I was AMAZED- there would only be 35 students in the program I would be enrolling in. Talk about getting close and personal?

The "herb" room. Ok- get this- for 2 bucks a month you can come in here and just take anything you want. Think of the possibilities! The girl that gave the tour said she

has had a blast making her own lotions and soaps and such from here. FUN!

This is the kitchen classroom. I guess I should mention that the major I am thinking of doing is Nutrition with an emphasis on Culinary Arts. They have classes like "cooking for wellness"! This was my favorite part of the tour by far!

Now....check out the schools all natural organic garden! SO cool. And another place that you can "help yourself" to what you need.

Some of the plants were even labeled by the part of the body they would help:

Another thing I didn't get a picture of is the vegetarian cafeteria. Over each food there is a label stating exactly what kind of ingredients are in each dish, including which produce is organic. I had a veggie burger and over cooked fries for lunch. Yum!

Needless to say....it has quickly become a dream that I have not given up. I intend to take this next year to catch up on my prereq's, get our finances in order, and hopefully enroll in the Fall of 2011. We will see!

Weigh in News: I gained .5 a lb. I have nothing else to say except that I just didn't have the time, emotional, and physical effort to focus on weight loss this week. That's ok. It's a new week!

Weigh In Week 24: Dancin' my Dinner Off

Well friends, not sure if you remember that my exact words last week were "Seriously, 2.5lbs- you are going DOWN!" Well guess what? I kicked those 2.5 to the curb- that's right. I am down

34lbs total! Wooohooo!

Unfortunately, I didn't join a new weight decade. I am right on the line! But you know what? That's ok. I know that this week I will enter into territory that I literally NEVER remember seeing. And I am SO excited to do so. I have 6lbs until my first goal- losing a total of 40lbs.

This week I really just re-focused. I tracked my food again and tried to work out as much as possible. Despite the weekend (which is always the hardest two days for me) I think I did pretty great.

Speaking of the weekend, on Saturday my lovely mom and grandma came to visit me! We had plans to have lunch at a teahouse nearby but switched last minute and ended up going to a paella bar that just opened up.

Paella is a Spanish food. At the Paella bar, you order lots of different "appetizer" size plates and split these between the table. It was so yummy! And event though there was a lot of food available, I didn't feel like I stuffed myself (even with dessert!). Here are some pics of the food we ordered:

We started out with drinks. This is the white sangria and on the side you can see the coca bread. The drink was so fruity and delicious, and the bread was super moist and served with oil and balsamic vinegar.

Next up was the goat cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and beef empanadas. Can you believe I've never had a date before this? This little bacon wrapped thing was heavenly!

We sorta dived into this next one before I got a chance to take a pic....this is the Potato Tortilla with Chorizo and Spinach. Very tasty!

And of course the main attraction: Chicken Paella! So moist and delicious, this dish was worth the wait!

So, after all of that....you'd think we wouldn't have room for dessert huh? Yeah, right!

Chocolate Torte with Gray Salt:

Tirimisu:

I think we had died and gone to food heaven:

Can you tell we liked it??!

So now you are wondering what in fact I may have done to burn off all those calories?!

Well....I danced!

That's right, Saturday night my friends and I got our boogy on at a nightclub in our area. I was sweatin' it up! Let me tell, that was a great aerobic workout! When I looked up how many calories I may have burned online, it says that for 30 minutes of dancing a person my size would burn about 200 calories. I am thinking I did a bit more than that.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. Great food and some fun exercise!

This week I am hoping to lose another two, which would put me at only 4lbs away from goal. That honestly sounds unbelievable to me- 4lbs!!

I can do this!--And so can you! Have a great week guys!

Weigh in Week 23: Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Ello' Friends.

I'm going to get straight the point. This week's weigh in SUCKED. I gained .5lbs! I have actually never gained before during these last 5 months other than after Christmas. B

OO! Please don't tell me it's ok, it's fine, or any other excuse! The fact is: I blew it this week. I really took a lot of steps BACKWARD that just were not worth it!

You know what's frustrating? That even though I did take steps for

ward (exercising and such) I still would allow myself to throw that all out the window to overeat on unhealthy food-causing my steps forward to be ca

ncelled out (at least that's what it feels like!).

I don't know what's going on with me. I think that maybe because I weig

h less than I can ever even remember weighing right now, I have this new little demon in my head telling me I should just "maintain" here. The fact is- I'm not done. I have 8.5lbs left to

my first goal and 12.5lbs to a "healthy" bmi. Seriously, that seems like

nothing, but at this point it's getting harder and harder to kick these last couple of pounds.

This week I have one goal and vision: make it to my new wei

ght "decade." I am only 2.5lbs away from seeing a weight decade I can literally NEVER remember seeing! I want to attack those 2.5lbs with full force!

Seriously, 2.5lbs- you are going DOWN!

I will leave you with some pics of a "treat" that I have been consuming quite often:

The green nutella monster!!

-1 to 2 cups spinach

-1/2 banana

-1/2 Tbsp Nutella

-1/4 cup soy milk

-ice

Yum.

Weigh in Week 21: When Life Throws you Lemons

Today my FB status sums up what I am feeling:

How come when life throws you lemons, it's always a whole tree full? I guess you can't make lemonade from just one. That's my theory at least.

Better said, I'm frustrated. Our computer broke down on Thursday night. This was our second computer in 6 months to go on the fritz. And then I had someone in my family "offer" to help with a computer to let us have so Kellen can finish out the quarter. When we got the said computer, I was then asked for us to compensate them! GRR. I mean if you say you want to help us out, at least be up front about the fact that you are wanting money for your help! And the frustrating thing is, we are already saving to buy a new computer anyway. Honestly, I am SO done with computer problems. I kind of want to go all "office space" on any computer I see right now and beat them with a baseball bat.

All this to say...unfortunately, my blogging will be lacking for the next couple of weeks. Expect pretty few pictures and posts will be somewhat sparse. I hate this so much because honestly, blogging is one of my favorite things to do- not to mention the accountability it provides.

So where is my lemonade in all this mess?

I lost .5lbs this week.
I'd love to tell you that I am so very proud of myself, but I have to be honest- I didn't deserve this. I really pigged out this weekend. We went down to visit and stay with my family this weekend, and that entailed a steak dinner or Friday, Red Robin on Saturday, and a Easter buffet on Sunday morning. Yes, you heard me right...that wretched word: buffet. (que horror music now).

The one thing I can say is that I did make a couple of good, solid, forward moving choices. I went hiking on Thursday....2 miles and 2,000 miles in elevation=one SORE booty. On Saturday I ordered a side salad at RR instead of fries. On Sunday I ran with my cousin across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

I guess a lot of bad choices and a few good ones equals .5 of a pound for me. Who knows!

Wishing you all a great week. Know I am reading your blogs, even if my comments are few and far between!

Weigh in Week 20: New Kicks and You're In My Dreams!!

Hey guys. It's monday morning-(BLEH!) but you know what?! I'm feeling good! I will tell you why....

I LOST THREE POUNDS THIS WEEK!

WOooOOOhOOO!

That definitely makes up for the bitty birthday splurge week where I maintained. I am really excited because it is also my 5 month anniversary on this health journey. I have learned SO much and it's becoming more and more of a way of life. I love it.

In case you are wondering, that is a total of 31.5lbs lost in 5 months. :0)

I also got my new running shoes in the mail on Friday:
So far they feel wonderful! I wore them on my hike on Saturday but have not gone running in them yet. It will probably be a little later this week when I finally get out and test them along with my Nike+.

So happy! It just goes to show you what real focus and buckling down can do. I really tried hard this week and was hoping for a great number on the scale.

Good luck to you all this week. You can do this!

random: I had a dream last night that I was a manager for plus sized models. In one of them there were a few bloggers I know that were doing a photoshoot! HA!

It's My Party...and I can cry if I want too?!?

Hey everyone! Happy Birthday to me (hehe).

Well today was going to be my "special" birthday weigh in day because I had hoped to have my goal of 30 pounds reached by today!

Did I do it?

NOPE!

Am I crying? (I can, it is my party!)

Nope!
Ok, in all seriousness, I am actually up .5 of a pound since Monday. I have lost a total of 28 pounds, not 30.

Before I opened this page up to write this post I was kind of embarrassed. I really didn't want to have to log on here and tell you all I didn't accomplish my goal. But guess what?

I'm over it.

First of all, I'm happy to show you all that I am a REAL person that has REAL downfalls. The last week is one of them. Sure, it's ok to splurge once or twice "in honor of your birthday." But let's just say having your birthday does not constitute an entire week of eating with reckless abandonment!

I fell off the wagon. I did. That is the only reason for a gain. Could I have made it to 30 pounds loss by today? Maybe...maybe not. But you know what? WHO CARES!

I have learned through this little experiment that I am no longer putting a "goal" date to lose by. Why? Because for me, a goal date does not make me "more motivated." It just makes me feel pressured. When I know that no dates come into the equation, I can accept that everything I put into my mouth is a choice for the rest of my life...not for the next couple of weeks/months until I reach some specific number on the scale.

SO! That's why I'm happy right now, despite what the scale told me this morning. I WILL splurge and I WILL fall of the wagon, but, DARN IT, I WILL get back up!

I like to think of myself as a positive person. So let's focus on something that makes a smile cross my face:

One year ago today, I turned 21 years old.

I weighed more than I ever had before. Probably at least 25 pounds more than today. The most exercise I did was walk 10 minutes with a friend on a lunch break.
I was out of breath going up the stairs at my own apartment!
I dreamed of being in shape but thought it could never happen.
Me in May 2009 (on left)

Today.

I weigh very similar to what I did when I was 18.
I can run farther than EVER in my life.
I am the best shape I've ever been.
I've changed the way I live my life.
Me in February 2010

So here's to the rest of my life- it's going to be a healthy one!
ps- better comparison pics coming when I can get to my own computer...

Weigh In Week 18: My struggle with oatmeal and new running goals!

Thank you Thank you Thank you to all who left me supporting comments on my post yesterday about the St. Patty's Day Dash- my first 5k. Check it out here if you didn't get a chance to see it!

I think I may have confused everyone with the title of my post yesterday. Although running the race was my b-day present to myself, my birthday is not actually until Wednesday, which happens to be the "official" St. Patrick's Day.

My goal was to have lost 30 pounds by my birthday. So I will be having a "special" weigh in on Wednesday as well. But for now....

I lost 1 pound this week. That means I have lost a total of 28.5 pounds- which also means I would need to lose 1.5lbs in two days to achieve my goals. Um...hehe....well....we will see!

As far as RUNNING goes...I have set another goal! There is a parade in our hometown in May called VikingFest (oddly enough my town is themed Scandinavian.) The parade kicks off with a 5 mile run that I will be doing. I've set up a brand new training schedule (located on my sidebar) and will be keeping track through my blog.

In other news, I ventured into the world of oatmeal this week.

I have NEVER liked oatmeal. And well. I still don't like it.

I tried making it on the stove according to the package directions. I doctored it up with some delicious goodness:
walnuts.coconut.chocolate PB

Sounds good right?

Ehhhhh....

and then I tried:
Maple syrup. Regular PB

Better.

But still....

Ehhhh.....

It's just so mushy and gushy and...not good....

SO! All you Oatmeal LOVERS- I need ideas! I will try to try all of your ideas in the next couple of weeks (depending on if they fit my "palette" of liking) and will post a pic of the one I decide is my favorite in a couple of weeks.

Well I am now off to start my first day of the "Blogger-Made Home Workout Challenge" started my Seth at 1010in2010. Check it out if you'd like to join in!

Weigh in Week 17: Fondue For You.

Wow! What a week! I gotta say, it pretty much fell into a similar pattern to the others....strong starting Monday with self control ending around Friday around 5pm. LOL! You really just don't realize how much social events revolve around food until you make healthy eating a main focus in your life.

I've been thinking for a while now about where I am going in this health journey and it is very possible that when I get to my goal weight I will stop calorie counting. Sound scary? Yeah, it is. The point of this would be to focus on eating WHOLE foods and what I believe God created us to eat.
I'm struggling with a balance of enjoying myself, not worrying too much about calories, and trying new, delicious, and sometimes not so healthy foods, with how to not to revert back to binging and overeating. It's really a tough balance...

Well, I'm not quite there yet. I've got 12. 5lbs to goal! I lost 1.5lbs this week for a new total of 27.5lbs lost.

Sunday was pretty magnificent.

First of all, the hubby and I woke up and cuddled on the couch. He agreed to watch Food Inc. with me which was pretty amazing in itself!My Opinion: Wow. You just have to watch it. Although I was actually expecting something a little different (I was almost hoping it would be more about why to go vegetarian, I'm interested in this subject--post about this later this week to follow). But it is definitely worth the watch if you are interested in where and how our food is made (which you should be, you're eating it!).

We discussed what we would do for the day next. Kellen has been begging me for several months now to make fondue with him and because of the MASS AMOUNT of calories from this dish- I've respectively declined several times. So yesterday I finally gave in....

It was....to die for!

We will start with the first bottle of wine I had ever successfully opened myself! TAADAA!

Then Kellen grated the cheese while I sliced the veggies:
And of course we needed to enjoy some wine while cooking:
The finished product:
Yes, that is a huge plate of broccoli and asparagus (to equal out the organic sourdough bread, wine, and fondue calories...lol)

He was like a little kid at a candy shop ready to dive in:SO GOOD.

And for dessert (as if we needed the extra calories..) we spread some of the leftover bread with my AMAZING find yesterday:

We had a wonderful day :)

*As I am sitting here writing this it occurs to me: Am I the poster child of "You can eat ANYTHING and lose weight!!" or what?!?!!? LOL!

Weigh In Week 16: Four Months and Goals

Hello Friends!

Today marks my four month anniversary on my living healthy journey! As of today, I have lost a total of 26 pounds, which earned me my new healthy you challenge badge:



I lost 1.5 pounds this last week, bringing my total for February to a loss of 4 pounds exactly. That is not a CRAZY amount, but you know what? I'm happy. My goal this whole time has always been to lose nice and slow and steadily- 1 pound a week or more- and for the most part, I have achieved that. I also recognize that as I get closer to my goal weight (only 14 pounds away right now!) I will start to lose at a slower rate.

Now March. This is going to be one exciting month. To start with, I have my first race coming up on March 14th- the St. Patty's Day Dash. So I know I've been telling you all that this is a "5k" -3.1 miles right? Well guess what I recently found out?!? It's actually 3.75 miles! That's .75 miles more than I've ever run before. I am really hoping the adrenaline from the race will push me through that last bit of running.

Next comes my 22nd birthday- March 17th. I've decided that this race is my birthday present to myself. But I also would like to set a weight goal- I would like to see 30 pounds down by my birthday. That gives me 17 days to lose 4 pounds. I think I can do it!!

One other thing I'd like to mention is that I was able to try on my motivation jeans when I got to 25 pounds lost! And guess what? I scored three more pants from the pile! I will try the rest on again when I get to 30 pounds lost.

Lastly, I've been keeping track of my workouts/miles in my sidebar. It was such a great feeling to know that I beat my January miles by almost 10 when I added them up last night. This month my goal is to add 5 more miles onto that number (starting with today!).

Goals are SO important and I hope that you will set yourself some for this month, this week, or even just today!

Weigh In Week 15: Valentine's- One FUN Blunder

Valentine's day. When Kellen and I woke up yesterday we had vowed to swear off valentine's day this year. Why? Because we figured: why do we need a day to show each other we love each other? Why not do that every day?

Now, of course in my deepest darkest secrets I was so hoping he would reveal a dozen roses and a box of chocolate he had hidden under the bed. No such luck. Apparently he took our "let's not make valentine's day a big day" seriously. OH MAN....he has some years to learn I guess :)

However, that didn't mean we weren't going to spend some quality time together! We ended up heading out mid morning and going for a short hike in a nearby town. Have I mentioned to you all that I have made a pact with myself to explore as much as I can of the nearby towns I live close to this year?

The hike was ok, but mostly it was just good to spend time with him. For lunch we headed to the grocery store and picked up some ingredients to make his favorite: paninis. Here is where the diet demise of the day began.

Check out this sandwich:Turkey.Brie.Tomato.Spinach

So Good. Could I have chosen to eat only half? Yes. Did I? No. :) But it was definitely one of those choices that I didn't feel like I had wasted my calories. This thing was perfect!

After lunch we set out to get our bike tires filled and went on a short ride, until it started pouring down rain!! It was actually kind of fun riding in the rain and when we got back I was soaked.

That night we went over to our friends Jared and Olivia's house. The men made a GOURMET dinner while Olivia and I did "girl stuff" including playing for quite a while with her MAC photobooth:
Then dinner was served. OK guys, this is where the amazingness comes out:Chicken with blackberry butter sauce, risotto cakes and broccolini (must say with Italian accent)! Heaven on a plate!

To top that off, the guys even made us homemade eclairs!! What studs!!
After dinner Kellen and I got a chance to snap some pics of us two:Say Cheese! Ah. What a fun day :)

Oh.....now you are wondering about the weigh in huh?!?

Well first of all I just have to say that whoever invented superbowl sunday and valentines day to be within one week of each other this year....I CURSE YOU!

Also, his name is probably TOM, because that's a factor in this game too.

But I can't be toooooo angry because....I lost a pound this week. That's a total of 23.5 pounds! I am so close to seeing a brand new weight decade! Next week will be the week.

I want to HOLLER OUT to my girl Tiff @ Project 365--last week she left me a comment on my weigh in day that said "Make that scale show you what you want." WOW. So simple. So true. This saying has been echoooooing in my head all week, Tiff, and you were like my little weight loss angel sitting on my shoulder!! hehe. She is such an inspiration and if you haven't checked out her blog yet you are missing out!

Hope you all had a wonderful valentine's day, no matter if you protested against it (like us!) or accepted chocolate and flowers with open arms.... ;)

Weigh In Week 14: Superbowl Munchies Got the Best of Me

Guten Morgen everyone! (Had to throw some German out to ya!)

This morning my weigh in was as follows:
-.5

That is basically the littlest amount I've lost thus far (other than gaining after Christmas). But, I'm not really surprised. For one, I've been doing this long enough now to notice that the weigh loss right before I start my period is always pretty small. Also, I kind of cheated this week...A LOT. including superbowl....it was sort of my demise.

I started the day off good with my favorite breakfast of lowfat waffles, banana, and PB. YUM.

Then for lunch I made mini pizzas:I sort of left these bad boys under the broiler a little to long...they were a little crispy...and just ok. (Made on an arnold's sandwhich thin)

The rest of the...yes, well, we will not speak of it. Let's just say there were chocolate chip cookies, tortilla chips, and hot wings involved. YIKES!

HOWEVER, good news is that I got my hair cut this weekend, FOR FREE! My friend Olivia did it! And she even dyed it (brown) and gave me bangs. I look smokin'! (humble, aye?)
Next week I'm looking for a better loss- at least one pound will make me happy. I am starting off the morning with c25K 9.1. We will see how 30 straight minutes running goes....

Weigh In Week 13: Oh Monday's, How I Have Come to Love Thee!

February 1st. Today is my third month anniversary on this health journey and I am SO excited. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I lost another 2 pounds this week....bringing my grand total to 22 pounds lost.

January 2010 is behind us. I learned a lot this month and experienced new and exciting moments on this journey.
-I started to FEEL like my body was different
-People began noticing and commenting on my weight loss
-I ran a total of 28 minutes- the longest amount I've ever run consecutively before
-I started my food journal
-I weighed in LESS than my husband AND I finally admitted my weight to him (I was nervous to do this previously)

In February my goals will be:
- Make it back to my high school weight by Feb. 28th
-Finish my c25k program
-Run 3.1 miles 5 times
-Journal ALL month

Before I go let me share with you all the DELICOUS dinner we had last night. My goal lately has been to find dinners that are few ingredients, cheap, healthy and delicious. This one definitely fits in that category:

Thin Tuna Casserole:

This pretty little dish has the following:
-1 can of tuna (packed in water, drained)
-1 can "fat free" cream of chicken soup
-1/2 cup frozen peas
-1/2 cup frozen broccoli
-3 cups cooked whole wheat pasta
-1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese (shredded)

Mix all ingredients except cheese, place in baking dish. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top, bake for 5 more minutes.
350 Calories per serving (give or take a few calories)
Makes four servings...but be prepared! Hubby just may eat TWO!
(Caught red handed eating his second serving)

Let's rock this month bloggers!

Weigh in Week 12: HALFWAY THERE!!

OMG OMG OMG! Today I weighed in at 20 pounds down! HALFWAY, BABY!

What else does this mean?

*I have lost 10% of my initial body weight
*I weigh LESS than my skinny-bean husband (he laughed yesterday when I finally admitted this has been one of my goals)
*I got to try on my MOTIVATION JEANS this morning! WAhoo!

I was ECSTATIC to try on my pile of jeans this morning, can't you tell?!Some of them would zip...and others wouldn't. But THAT"S OK!

I scored TWO pair of jeans this morning. I am happy with that. The rest of my ginormous pile will be put away to try on in another 5 pounds at 179.

BTW, here's my booty in one of my new pairs:I am super excited and pretty dang proud of myself. I by no means consider myself an inspiration (yet!) but I thought I would share with you guys some of my most favorite weight loss tips that I've discovered so far that work for me!

- Eat often. I eat 5-6 small meals (100-300 calorie) meals a day. I have very rarely been hungry in the last 3 months.
- Don't deny your cravings. I haven't denied myself anything on this journey so far, I've just done either one of the following:
-find a lower calorie replacement
-eat a smaller portion really slowly, then fill up on
something else healthy!
- Exercise: start slow! I still don't even excercise a crazy amount. In fact, I do the opposite of what most people say....I DON'T set a rigid schedule! I really just try to do it every day, and if it doesn't happen, OH WELL. I don't feel so pressured that I just want to give up!
- Stay focused- read blogs, read books, magazines, talk about it often. I would say this is a healthy obsession. You need to start teaching your mind and body that this a life time change, not just a quick fix.

I can't wait to get to leave this weight decade. I'm pushing forward and am so excited to share this journey with you all. We can do this!!