Day 382

So we whooshed right by the year marker without so much as a peep! I swear my life has been going at lightning speed lately, and I haven't even been that busy. The good news is that I'm down another 2.something pounds since my last post, putting my at 182.4. The 170's are so close I can almost taste them! The bad news is that it took me more than a month to lose it. I mean, not that I'd ever complain about any amount of loss, especially seeing as how I've basically dropped all my good habits except the not-overeating ones. I've been great about portion sizes, which I think is what's saving me. But veggies - sigh. Counting calories - sigh. Limiting carbs - somewhat sigh. Exercise - SUPER sigh. I'm going to walk to work today, as I've been noticing lately how I haven't exercised AT ALL in at least a month. That's a super duper fail, Miss Campbell May. Super DUPER.

I think a lot of it is due to the emotional stress of the growing amount of days between today and the day I graduated, particularly in the lack of jobs (or even interviews) I've gotten in that time. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for my job at the daycare - income is income, right? But I'd kind of hoped that after $20,000+ in loans and all those years of college education I would have something to show for it besides the same job I had in high school. Alas. That and the fact that I'm ready to move out. Really ready. But rent is a lot harder to pay without aforesaid college loans. Right now I'd have to be making almost double my current salary to afford the cheapest studio I can find in the (very extended) Atlanta area. Ugh. Life as an adult (an adult whose parents still pay all but her Netflix bills) is a drag.

But I had similar concerns a year ago, except there was always this little nugget of comfort in the fact that I was reinventing myself, living healthier and losing weight. Now that that's tapered off, even though I'm still losing weight, I'm missing that nugget big time. I don't know what it is about living with the parents that throws me off...but I settle into this state of complacency that I really hate.

So I'm actively looking for jobs (and apartments) in the hopes that I can break out of the current state of things and start moving forward again. I've planned some meals and I'm going to hit the grocery story tonight after work. I'm going to start logging calories and start exercising again. I'm also going to try to submit two job applications per day, regardless of the likelihood of getting hired, and I'm going to think positive! The next thing will come along soon enough. But if I can cling to my healthy habits, I know I'll have something to look forward to.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my long silences! Once I get cooking again I'll definitely have some fun pictures to share!!

Day 345 - Pictures from England

I thought I'd post some of these, since I can no longer take progress pictures in my old apartment. I'm going to have to find a place to do it in the house so I can keep up with my weight loss. But it was so cool to look at the pictures from our trip and find so many of myself that I liked! There were always those few that I didn't, but it's so awesome to see the change in my body on camera.

Hooray for liking to look at pictures of myself for once!

Day 345

Holy weight loss, Batman, can it already be October? That doesn't seem possible! I was under this crazy impression that I had posted recently. Clearly that was inaccurate. Yeesh.

So I hope you guys haven't given up on me just yet. I know I've been making a habit of disappearing for long spans of time, and I definitely took a break over the summer, but I am back and ready to roll. We are less than two weeks away from the one year mark, and I'm committed to getting back into my good habits of blogging, cooking, and exercising. Regularly.

It's been difficult to be consistent with things since I've moved back home, which I expected, but I'm still not sure exactly why that happens to me! Good news is I'm down to 184.6, another 5 pounds from my last post in August. That's about 1 pound every 9 days, which is definitely slower than I'd like. I expected to drop a ton of weight after our trip to England (which was awesome, by the way!), but despite the excessive walking we did and the relatively good eating habits I maintained, I only dropped about a pound. I'm hoping this is due to muscle gain, because we seriously walked everywhere. To the point where we were hurting! So who knows what happened there. Muscles, I hope.

The goal is to get back to where I'm losing 1.5-2 pounds per week, and to accomplish that I've snapped back on Phase One this past Tuesday. I've also been getting in the kitchen more often, and I hope to have some recipes to share this coming week! We just got a new double convection oven, which I'm SO excited about, so I'm ready to get cooking!

As usual, the other difficult part is exercise. The weather has been beautiful lately, and if I can just get myself out of the house, I know I will really enjoy walking more! It's one of those things where if you habitually force yourself to do something, it gets easier with each time. So I just have to take that first step! The nice thing is that I've done it before, so I know I can do it again.

So here's to getting to that goal weight! There have been lots of ups and downs with my weight loss journey this year, but happily it's been mostly downs (at least as far as poundage goes!). So here's to that last 15 until 170!

Day 301...I'm BACK!

Wow, so did you guys think I fell off the face of the earth? Once I saw how long it had been since I'd posted, I was beginning to wonder the same thing! Let me start by reassuring everyone that my blog silence has not meant that I've fallen off the wagon in any way...I'm still losing weight and am committed to reaching my goals! I got a bit of summer fever and have been slacking off big time with maintaining those good habits of cooking meals and exercising regularly, but I am seriously ready to get reenergized.

As of yesterday I weighed in at 189.6, which is WAY exciting. It's definitely been a few years since I've been in the 180's! But it's not as much as I'd hoped I'd be down by now. I know why the weight has been coming off more slowly...I had a couple of not so great weekends, particularly the one of my birthday! I made my own cake, which was great fun, but I did way too much finger-licking. It reminded me of how easily bad habits can sneak back in. It also showed me, once again, how much sugar is my enemy. I wouldn't say that I overdid it with the cake...I ate way, way less of it than I would have in the past. But having that sugar in my system made me crave it for several days after having it. It interesting, because I noticed that before cake, when sugar wasn't in my system, it was way easier to resist...I rarely even thought about having it. But after the cake, it was a lot harder for me to pass up an opportunity to have sugar. I limited my portions when I did have some, but I wasn't able to easily walk by without a thought as I've been doing lately.

So objective #1 is to rule out sugar. I mean totally! I don't think it will be too hard, especially after I've seen the control it has over me...I'm ready to get out from under that for sure! It's especially hard at daycare, where people like to bring sweets around a lot, but I know if I can be strong and resist that stuff two or three times, it will start getting a lot easier, to where I'll be back to hardly noticing it.

Objective #2 is to be more faithful about blogging! I use the excuse that I'm not cooking, so I don't have pictures to show, but this blog isn't about pictures and cooking! It's about staying motivated and sharing my struggles with others. So I'm going to do that. Even if it's only two or three times a week, it needs to happen. Big time.

Objective #3 is to get back in the kitchen! I haven't been as good about it, just because I'm living at home and am not the only one that goes grocery shopping. And I've been lazy about planning recipes. So that's got to start again. I know mom is willing to help buy the things I need, especially if I do the actual shopping! So I'm going to get some menus going.

This is all starting now, even though there's only 11 more days till we're off for England where I will be out of my routines again. But I think it will be really good for me to be solid in my goals and objectives before I leave, so I don't lose track while I'm there. I'm sure I'll be getting more than the usual amount of exercise (another objective that needs to be revived), but I'll also be given more food temptations with all the eating out (and pubs!). I know my sister will support me (love you sissy!) and I'm sure I'll do fine. But I want to come back from England and jump on the scale to see the benefits of walking around so much, not the consequences of eating out and indulging myself too often.

So it's time to stop using summertime as an excuse (summer is basically over anyways, except for the weather) and buckle up for some serious business! I know I can do it! I'm going to keep chipping away, and I hope you'll all keep cheering me on! Love y'all!

Day 265

Here I am, finally, checking in for an update! I haven't been cooking a whole lot lately, which has made me lazier about blogging. But I have something to cook tonight, so I'll be posting that soon!

But I had to share some good news, as it looks like I hadn't updated my weight since May (shame!) and my measurements since April (double shame!). I'm down to 191.2 as of this morning, which made me do quite a bit of happy dancing...only 1.2 pounds away from the big FIVE-OH! I also lost another two inches off both my waist and hips, which is freaking awesome. Especially considering how irregular my exercise has been lately, that's great news!

I have, however, started dancing it out again, which is a great way to get moving indoors and also a lot of fun! I just crank up Pandora (yesterday I rocked out to the Michael Jackson channel) and start shakin' it like a fool, ever so grateful that there are no witnesses. :)

I have to say, though, I will be so happy when I have my own place again. Have I said that already on here? I mean, my parents are awesome and we get along great, but something about living on my own makes me much more responsible about eating and exercising. I think part of it is because I buy my own groceries and I'm the only one eating them, so it's easier for me stick with the program. Not that my eating has been bad lately, but it could be better (as usual)! So that's just extra motivation to get a good job and move into my own place!

So I'll try to be better about keeping everyone posted! I doubt many of you check the blog regularly anymore, as I've been so abysmally irregular about posting, but I'm going to try to get better! I think it will really help once I get a solid routine in place. Hopefully that will happen very soon!

Day 253

Hello all! I finally got some pleasant news on the scale this week! It's been sort of a difficult few weeks, what with taking a break from my pills and battling the munchie feeling all day everyday. But I hopped on the scale Tuesday, just to see what the damage was, and instead found that I'd lost 2 more pounds! That leaves 18 more to go before August 29, so I've got my work cut out for me.

I know I haven't been the best at keeping up with the blog, but I promise I haven't fallen off the wagon! I don't count calories every day, but most days I'm pretty good about it. I took GiGi for a walk last week first thing in the morning, which felt great, but I have to work up the willpower to drag myself out of bed on a daily basis. Some of the ladies at daycare are doing a zumba class once a week, so I might start doing that, which would help a lot! But as long as I can stay on top of my eating, things should keep going as planned.

Still, it's become clear to me these past few weeks sans medication that I still have some eating issues to deal with. Not that I expected my new habits to stick overnight, but I had hoped I would have a little more control over cravings and such than I used to. But old habits die hard, as they stay. Just gotta keep chipping away at 'em.

But finding myself two more pounds down really gave me a boost! It's funny how weight loss makes me want to put more effort into my appearance...now if only I had the cash money (and goal weight) for a shopping spree! Soon, though. It will be so awesome when I finally get there.

So that's that for now! Hopefully I'll have some yummy meals to post soon. Thanks guys! Y'all are awesome!

Day 242

So I'm finally hauling myself over here to catch up with everyone! My last post was more of a "I promise I'm still alive" than an actual post, so I'm here for a long overdue real post.

Things have been going pretty well, especially considering I've been taking a vacation from my pills and thus have had more appetite than usual. I had a few days where I definitely overate, and had to rein things back in big time. But I got back to counting calories towards the end of last week, so that's been helping a lot.

Alas, as a result of my slacking in the eating department, my weight has kind of plateaued at 196. But I'm determined to go down another 20lbs by the time Lindsey and I leave for London at the end of August, so I've got to get serious! I'm going to have the house to myself next week - Mom is in Arizona until the end of June and Dad is going to visit her for a week starting tomorrow, so I'm going to have to be extra on top of it with my eating.

Exercise has been pretty hard, too. Daycare wears me out, which is part of it, but the other problem is that because my hours are always different, it's very hard to get myself into a routine. Maybe I'll start taking walks in the evening, as the weather usually gets pretty bearable after the sun starts going down. The toe should be ready to go back into a shoe (again) very soon, so hopefully I can make that happen.

It's a little scary being off my pills, as those feelings of being out of control of my eating have been coming back with a vengeance. But counting calories has really helped my feel like I have power over it. It's definitely a whole different thing without chemical assistance, and something I need to get used to and overcome. So I think this is good for me.

And now for the food pictures! I had a preview in my last post, though it wasn't the best quality. These might be a little better, though they were all taken with my phone. We had the following one night last week...

Sauteed Asparagus with Gorgonzola (SOOO yummy!)

Creamy Cauliflower Purée (aka Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes...also so so yummy!)

Roasted Red Snapper Fillet (also incredibly yummy!)

Yep, that whole dinner was a total win! Everything in it was so good...I wish I could make it every night!

Another night last week we had something else pretty tasty...

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Vinaigrette

I love SkinnyTaste! This was also perfectly delicious. I LOVE coconut so this was perfect for me! Will definitely make it again.

So I'm on my own next week, but I plan to get busy and do some cooking. And exercise. Lord knows my room and bathroom could use a good scrub down! Luckily I'm working mostly afternoons this week at the daycare, which will give me some extra time to get things organized. Gotta keep on keepin' on! Wish me luck!

Day 237

I know. Trust me, I know. I've been slacking off. But I'm getting my act together today! I need to post so badly that I'm sitting here at daycare typing it out on my iPhone! So forgive the typos that are bound to appear. It's been a munchie sort of week so far, so I'm taking back control by getting serious about counting calories. Ive been taking a pill vacation, so I haven't had the benefit of the appetite suppressant, which hasn't helped things. And I reinjured my toe at work on Monday so exercise has been limited. So Im climbing back on the wagon starting today!

Despite my less than ideal eating habits, I've managed to cook some tasty meals for myself and my dad over the past couple of weeks! Last week we had red snapper (which I loved, surprisingly!) along with gorgonzola asparagus and cauliflower mashies. I'll come back and link up the recipes when I get to a computer! Here's a picture:

Day 229

For shame! I have been the absolute worst at blogging lately. As if you couldn't tell that already. Wow, I knew it was going to be hard to stay in a routine, but I hadn't thought it would be this hard! I think working at the daycare throws me off...my schedule is different everyday and it's hard to be consistent about things. But that's no excuse! I absolutely cannot let this blog fall by the wayside!

The trouble often is that when I work full days at the daycare, I come home totally obliterated...not sure if it's the heat, or the kids, or getting up early, but I come home and am ready to just chill. Got to get myself revved up! Especially to exercise. I've been doing some dancing to get moving, but haven't gotten organized to do any solid 30 minute workouts. This week has been a good one so far, though. I've only been working three hours in the afternoons, which has given me some time in the mornings to focus on other things.

For example, I've finally gotten some recipes organized for dinners, and actually cooked on Monday! I made Super Veggie Beef Burgers from Sarah's Cucina Bella and low-fat baked onion rings from Skinny Taste and both were delicious! I made them for my Dad and me (I actually got to cook for two for once!) and he approved heartily. Everything was so flipping good! It was a great summer meal. It could have used something green, of course, but it was a fun treat. Take a look:

I took the picture on my phone, so it's not the best quality, but I was too lazy to rummage through my messy room for my good camera. :) Doesn't that look tasty, though? The bean sprouts just made it. Love bean sprouts. And the sandwich thins were way better than big old buns. SO yummy. I never want a real hamburger again!

So tonight red snapper is on the menu. That's right, fish! Lindsey's coming over for dinner so I thought I'd whip up something special. I think we're going to have asparagus and cauliflower mashies with it. Sounds delish, don't it?

Love you all! Thanks Aunt Jane for getting me back over here for a post! You're so awesome! I promise to post about the fish tonight or first thing tomorrow!

Day 219

First thing I did this morning was sit down and start writing out a grocery list so I can make some tasty dinners next week. A) It's high time I posted some pictures and B) my Mom is about to be out of town for a month and I have to have a plan in place so that my Dad and I don't end up at Chick-fil-a every night. I'll tell you what, it sure is nice to have a place to stay while I get my future worked out, but it is a whole lot harder to be responsible and stick to a routine when I'm at the parent's house. Part of it, of course, is the fact that I'm essentially on vacation, at least from school. I've been doing well enough with eating, but exercise is a struggle. Not that that is anything new.

I weighed in yesterday and hadn't lost anything (though when I weighed in on Wednesday I was down a pound, so maybe the scale was fibbing yesterday, lol?), so I've jumped back onto counting calories. At least, until we ate out for dinner and I had a margarita, which I'm pretty sure put me over my count. Yikes! So I'm going to need to get that under control. I have an app on my phone now that I can track my calories on, which makes things much more convenient, so I have no excuse!

And exercise. I've been doing ab workouts, but I know that's going to get boring real fast. The toe is pretty much healed, so I have more options now. I might just have to strap a water bottle on my leg and brave the heat for walks, as walking is really my favorite way to exercise. On the days I work mornings I can probably walk to the daycare, provided the temperature is reasonable...last thing I want to do is show up sweaty for work. Ick. Whatever I do, I simply cannot sit on my tush all summer! Totally unacceptable, obviously. Must get some strategies in place.

But I have been following plenty of good habits, too...like completely avoiding the cookies, cupcakes, bagels, candy, you name it that have been in the kitchen at work over the last two weeks. Between birthdays, graduating preschoolers, and general showers of unhealthy food, there have been a lot of high-cal goodies under my nose at work lately, and I've passed them up with surprisingly little trouble. It's so great to feel like I have control over that! In the past, I not only would have gotten a cookie or cupcake, it would have been on my mind pretty much all day, and every time I went into the kitchen to do something, I would have swiped a little bite. Not anymore! Seriously, all that junk has had very little appeal to me lately. Why mess up a good thing, right?

So anyways. I've got recipes in line and I'm getting ready to head to the grocery! Need to print out coupons first, though. All that fresh stuff gets expensive!

You guys are awesome sauce! Thanks for rooting for me, and I'll be back with (hopefully good) news shortly!

Day 214

Jumped on the scale to some GREAT news today! I waited a couple of days past my usual Friday weigh-in as I wasn't sure how much my less than perfect eating last weekend would effect the numbers, but lo and behold, I hopped on today to see a friendly little 196.4 on the scale! That's another 1.8 pounds, folks!

I'm getting to a point where I'm ready to change my goal weight from 170 to 140. 140 was always the real goal, but I guess I went with the more achievable 170 in the beginning so I wouldn't freak myself out with the knowledge that I had 100 pounds to lose. Now that I'm almost halfway there, I know beyond a doubt that 140 is perfectly achievable for me! But still, I might leave it at 170 until I actually hit it, just to give myself another big milestone to achieve.

Really for the first time now, I'm beginning to notice how much better I feel, physically and emotionally, having lost so much poundage. I really began to notice over graduation weekend, when I not only allowed my picture to be taken, I asked for my picture to be taken, and once it was, I actually enjoyed looking at myself in them. I could picture how those days would have been had this weight loss journey never happened. I would have been uncomfortable in whatever dressy outfit I had found to wear. I would discourage picture taking. I would hate what I saw in the pictures I was obliged to pose for.

That in itself made the weekend so memorable and fun...I didn't feel like a tub of lard, and there was no trace of that hopeless feeling I used to get that I would never find a way out of my weight problems. Now, with so much weight gone, I not only have more energy and optimism, but my whole mindset has changed. And, obviously, for the better.

So the goal for this week is to get some recipes together, cook a few meals, and get some exercise in. I got two bouts of my ab workout in last week, so if I can double that this week that'll be the ticket! Love you awesome people, and I'll be back to check in soon!

Day 210

So after the craziness of finals, graduation, and the ensuing wedding/after party, I've finally arrived for a new post! I'm really having to crack down on myself and get into a rigorous routine, as I'm officially home for the summer and in danger of sliding into lazy habits if I'm not alert and organized about exercising and healthy eating.

Considering how much cake, candy, and other junk that has been put in front of me since last Friday, I've managed to make pretty good choices. I had a modest slice of cake both at the wedding and my graduation party, which I didn't beat myself up about...I mean, weddings and college graduation are pretty special occasions, right? But those were my only splurges...otherwise I stayed hooked on protein, fruits, and veggies. I got active on Monday to work it all off, spending six hours hauling boxes up from the garage and organizing all the stuff I moved out of the apartment. I still have a ways to go with all that, but at least my clothes are put away! So that burned off a good amount of calories right there. Then on Tuesday I did my ab workout for the first time since I broke my toe! It felt awesome, although I'm still super sore from it. Got to get back in shape! I think my toe is about ready to go back into a shoe, so hopefully I'll be able to change up my exercise and get some walking/treadmill in soon.

I know that after so many weeks of being unable to have any kind of exercise routine, it's going to be difficult to get back on track, but I'm determined to do it! It's another thing that's going to take organization, especially with the heat we're about to have (which means I'll actually have to hit the gym!) but I know I can do it. I just need to keep myself really busy, otherwise I'll get sucked into the laziness of summer and sit around reading and putzing around on the computer all day!

Luckily, I should be pretty booked with three jobs this summer - the daycare, website stuff for Aunt Ann, and an internship with Lil' Ol' Me that I'm super excited about! Let's just say I'll be blogging, tweeting, and web designing my little fingers off. In fact, my laptop will generally just be in my lap a whole lot, so all the more reason to get a schedule going for exercise!

Anyways, I hope all is well with you all, and I plan to have some food pictures to upload soon! Cooking dinner is another part of my organization plans...must have good healthy things to eat!

Day 201

Oh my gracious we've passed day 200 and I didn't even know it! Well isn't that just dandy, as I swooped right under 200lbs last Friday to a exciting 198.2!

So I just turned in the very last paper of my college career, and of course the first thing I had to do was scoot on over and give my poor neglected blog a little sugar! More Splenda, really. But you get my drift. I wish I could be more jumping for joy over the fact that I don't have to write another paper for a very, very long time (Fate, don't even think that's me tempting you to set me on a path to grad school!), but I had to get up at 5AM this morning (it was really more like 4:45...thanks Gigi) to make it back to Athens for an 8AM final.

You may ask: Did you do that on purpose?

No. No I did not.

I was just hanging out with mi madre last night around this time, uploading Lindsey's graduation pictures to Facebook and generally just hanging out. I just happened to check our class website somewhere in between all that, being all extra prepared and looking up what time my final was scheduled on Wednesday. I look at the date my professor posted, which clearly says "May 10." I think, hmmm, that's funny, today's the ninth, but tomorrow is Tuesday...

Yeah, it clicked into place pretty fast. I buried my face in my hands and groaned, "Mom, I have a final tomorrow at 8AM."

Hello, 5AM.

Happily, I made it back to Athens safely, despite my grogginess, and against all odds somehow plowed through that three hour final. Yes, it took me all three hours, which is great on an English exam as it means you have enough info in your head to keep your pencil scrawling away for three hours straight. Despite the fact that I hadn't reviewed half of the material, I think I scraped through pretty well. We'll see on Monday!

Oh, and I made the same mistake with the other final paper that I mentioned in my last post as being due Wednesday night, but somehow I figured that one out several days ago. I have no idea why I was unable to apply this knowledge to my exam. All's well that ends well, I guess! At least I got done with everything a day earlier than expected.

But yeah, I am wiped out. You may have already guessed, but I didn't cook anything tonight. Maybe tomorrow, when my vacation begins!!!

Love you all. Can't wait to venture into the one hundreds with you guys!

Day 195

So I literally had to drag myself over here to post. Not that I don't love y'all and this blog, but it's finals week and I'm pretty swamped. I'm mostly done with a final portfolio for one class due tomorrow at 3, at which point I have to crank out a final paper for Friday at noon. Then I have to read read read and write write write to get ready for my final next Wednesday and finish writing another final paper for Wednesday night. Whew. Then I'm DONE. Oh yeah, and a college graduate!!

Can you guys believe how close we're getting to Day 200? I know I say this every time I hit a big number milestone, but I never thought I'd make it this far. And going strong! I'm going to break that 200lb mark this Friday, I just know it. We'll go above 200 in days and below 200 in pounds!

Although this may be partially due to studying through meals and forgetting to eat. Like tonight...I pounded out 9 straight hours of portfolio work, then realized around 8 that I was practically faint with hunger...and I never get faint with hunger! Somehow, I summoned the energy to put together a nice spicy shrimp dinner, but not enough to track my camera down and take pictures. Ah well. So I need to make sure I have snacks handy. At least I haven't gone to the other extreme and stocked up on bags of candy in order to munch my way through finals! YIKES. That would be some serious bad news.

Oh, and I forgot to post about last Friday's weigh-in! Sheesh I'm behind. Anyways, I was down another 1-point-something on Friday, putting me ONE puny little pound away from the big 40! (Or is 199 officially when I hit the big 40? Whichever.)

It's occurred to me just now how weird it will be after graduation, when I won't have to write constantly. Hopefully that will mean better and more frequent blogging! Gotta keep those writing skills sharp somehow, right? Although I can't say that I do my most inspired writing on here. It's much more of a stream of consciousness thing. :)

Actually, at this point I'm pretty surprised that words are coming out of me at all. Considering the amount of use my keyboard has seen today, I should be speaking in random dingbats and long strings of periods by now. Like @#(*(&$%! and ................

So comparatively, I'm doing awesome.

Wish me luck and strength to get through the next few days! Hopefully I'll be back here to post at least by Friday...gotta let you guys know if I broke 200, after all!

Can't even do calories right now. Suffice to say I did not exceed 1000. I didn't have anything green either. *shame and chastisement*

Day 189

Dead dead dead tired. I've been working like a dog on website projects, as it's probably one of the few times I'll have a chance until finals are over, and for some reason it's totally drained me...probably all the staring at the computer. Once I finish posting I'm closing this puppy up for the night!

But despite my lack of energy, I did make a delicious, scrumptious, crispy-cheesy-moist-flavorful-yet-healthy dinner! Tonight it was Chicken Rollatini, not too difficult to make and the results were awesome. Take a look...

I know it looks really breaded, but most of it is actually grated parmesan cheese. And you can't really see, but it's stuffed with spinach and ricotta. So good! It was a nice, filling pick me up after a long and trying day (week, really!) Plus it used up my leftover ingredients from the chicken nuggets, so it was all around perfect.

So tomorrow is my very last class as an undergraduate! Then the fun of finals can begin!

Anyways, catch you guys tomorrow for the weigh-in. I'm feeling pretty positive about it!

Day 187

Whew. So it’s been a trying past few days. Not in the being healthy department...that’s going great! I even made a tasty dinner tonight:

But more on that in a minute. First, last Sunday was Easter, and holidays tend to be times when I struggle more with eating well. But even though I splurged a little with a twice baked potato and a few jellybeans, I did something really big...

I left my chocolate bunny behind.

That’s right, folks. Mom and Dad gave me a chocolate bunny in my Easter basket (yes we still get an Easter basket...you are never too old for an Easter basket), along with a little bag of mini Reese’s cups, jellybeans, a stuffed possum toy (don’t ask), and a pretty mug. It was sweet of them to put candy in mine, as they didn’t want me to be left out of the festivities, and so the decision was left to me about what to do with it.

I noticed an interesting, though slightly disturbing, behavior upon receiving my basket. I was possessive of it. It’s a difficult emotion to explain...I guess I was excited about having some candy, and was afraid that someone would say, “Oh, you’re dieting Campbell, let me eat that for you.” Not that I don’t mind sharing, but for some crazy, irrational reason I was worried that it was all going to get taken away. Even though the candy had been freely given to me, I was scheming about how to get it up to my room without anyone noticing. Although that was more due to the fact that I didn’t want anyone to see me eat it than the possibility that someone might take it away.

Then I noticed the way my sister handled her candy, immediately opening her bag of Reese’s and passing it around the table. It was no big deal. It was just a bag of chocolate, freely available at any gas station, grocery store, drug store, movie theater, you name it. I’m so glad this caught my attention, because it clued me in to how wrong my own behavior was.

Frankly, it was a little frightening that even after six months of habits-changing, my brain could immediately revert back to the old food-hoarding behavior. But it was also encouraging, in that I noticed the behavior and put a stop to it. In the past, I would have done whatever I needed to smuggle that candy out of the house and back to Athens with me. Which is silly, as I have a car and money and am free to go to the store and get candy whenever I want...but like I said: irrational.

I'm so cute...don't eat me!

This time, however, as I was packing up my things and preparing to stow away the chocolate bunny (happily, Daddy had finished off my Reese's cups for me at that point), I thought, What if I left it behind? The answer to that was, It wouldn’t really be that big of a deal. After all, I know what chocolate tastes like. And because I was having somewhat troubling behaviors towards this particular chocolate, I felt that it was especially important that I just walk away.

So I did. And it was way easier than I thought it would be. I never even missed it! It was so much more rewarding to have control over that behavior and ignore the urge to sneak the bunny. So that was a huge win for this weekend! Headline: Campbell Triumphs Over Chocolate Rodent!

In other news, I made a SCRUMPTIOUS dinner tonight, and it was so super simple I couldn’t believe it. The recipe is Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets from Skinny Taste, one of the new blogs I've found. It was absolutely to die for. Crispy and moist with incredible flavor, thanks to the parmesan cheese and Italian style panko bread crumbs. Despite the fact that they are technically breaded, these nuggets are surprisingly low in carbs and fat, especially because there are no eggs involved in the breading process. That was seriously the best dinner I've had in a long time!

Beats Chick-fil-a hands down!

It made my night, as I've been pretty drained between end of the semester school stuff and lack of sleep (owing, I'm quite sure, to my lack of exercise. I've got to get back on track with that!). Hopefully I can get to bed early tonight and recharge. The nice thing is that I have all week next week to get all of my projects done, so I can take it somewhat slow. 17 more days and I'm a college graduate!

Almost forgot! Here's the calorie count:

Breakfast

Low-fat nutrigrain waffles — 140

1 tbsp honey — 64

¾ cup Puffins cereal — 101

Skim milk — 43

Coffee w/ cream — 60

Lunch

Apple slices w/ reduced fat peanut butter — 222

Dinner

Baked chicken nuggets — 230

1 tbsp blue cheese dressing — 65

Green beans  — 26

Snacks

Sugar-free Jell-o pudding — 60

Total: 1011

Day 183

We've hit our six month mark! Can you guys believe it? I've kept up with this thing for a whole six months. Wow. I have to say, I never thought it would happen.

But it has! And what's more, weigh-in today went great...another 2.8lbs off! That puts me a tiny 2.3 pounds away from the 100's! I seriously did a little dance this morning when I got off the scale. I really think it's been helping me to track my calories. I must have been going over more than I realized, because the weight has been coming off a lot more easily lately. Which is surprising, as I haven't been able to exercise as much as I like. Although I did get some dancing in today while I was cleaning up my room today. I hoping I can get this foot in a shoe very soon!

So I'm in the ATL for the weekend and Easter. No Peeps for me this year! Don't really like them anyway, lol. :) I might not check in again until Monday, so I hope everyone has a great weekend! Here's today's calorie count:

Breakfast
Egg McMuffin - 300

Lunch
Sigh...skipped again.

Dinner
Delicious quiche compliments of Mom - 400
Side salad w/ spring mix, goat cheese, tomatoes, avocados, craisins - 120

Snacks
12 chocolate chips - 45

Total: 820

Didn't do as well with eating my calories today...I jumped in the car to head home right around lunch, and then when I got here I shot off to the mall to meet Mom and Linz to do a little window shopping. As  I always say...got to get better about eating lunch!

Day 181

This post isn't going to be nearly as exciting as the last one, but I had to come check in! Things have gone well the past couple of days, although I somehow developed allergies (or something) last night and have been suffering from sore throat/post nasal drip which is no fun. But the toe is on the mend, which is good news! I can walk on it pretty well barefoot, though it's still not too happy about being put into a regular shoe. It's a bummer, because I'm pretty sick of the "ortho" shoe, which hurts other parts of my foot. And I'm ready to get out walking before it starts getting all yucky and hot!

I have no exciting food to share, as I haven't been grocery shopping and have been surviving off burger leftovers. Luckily I have fresh stuff like avocados and tomatos in the house, but that's about it. I figure since I'm going home this weekend, I'll just make what I have last until next week. I can tell you I will NOT be buying ground beef on the next grocery trip, that's for sure!

Anyways, here's today's calorie count. I did much better at eating enough calories today!


Breakfast
Nutrigrain Low-fat Waffles — 140
Veggie sausage links — 120
1 tbsp honey — 96
Smart balance — 31
Coffee w/ fat free cream — 50

Lunch
Banana — 80
Chobani Nonfat Yogurt (Strawberry) — 120

Dinner
Burger w/ tomatoes, pepper jack, ½ avocado, mayo — 460
(can you tell all I have in the house is ground beef?)

Snacks
1 tbsp peanut butter — 100
Skim milk — 86

Total: 1283

Day 179

Oops, I just realized I never posted on Thursday! I even had pictures! Oh well, guess I'll just include it today. I improvised a very delicious burger "salad" Thursday night (the leftovers from which I had tonight!) with lean ground beef, spring mix, tomatoes, avocado, pan-fried shallots, and goat cheese. Yum!!

Isn't it loverly? So nice I had it twice! I'm telling you, I do NOT miss buns when I can eat burgers like this. So very, very tasty!

Also, I weighed in on Friday, and Wednesday's weight turned out not to be a fluke...I'm at 205!! That puts me 35 lbs down, half way to my first goal!! An exciting landmark, so I had to take pictures to document my progress. Here are the results: 

click for larger

Crazy how there's not much difference between 240 and 220, but 15 pounds more and you can really tell a difference! So exciting to see that! When I first looked at these, my initial thought was, "Oh my gosh, I look like a person again!" I know, I know...I've been a person the whole time, lol. But for once I don't hate the way I look. Of course, it always helps to stand next to a couple of chubbier gals. :) 

My most wonderful and awesome Mom took me shopping this weekend, and I'm officially down a pant and shirt size as well...the pants in the above picture are size 16 (down from 18! yay!) and the shirt is a large. SO nice not to see an X on the tag!!

This Friday will mark my six month point. I can't believe I've been at this for a full six months. Amazing! You guys have helped me so much...don't know what I'd do without y'all!

Here's the calorie count for the day: 

Breakfast

Puffins w/ skim milk — 228

Coffee w/ fat-free creamer — 60

Lunch

Gala apple w/ peanut butter — 275

Dinner

Burger salad again! — 387

Snacks

Sugar-free pudding — 60

Total: 1,010

I'm getting better about eating enough calories. Still need to eat better lunches though! And more green things. Always more green things.

Day 174

So I got some crazy news on the scale this evening...of course, it's not my usual weigh-in, so I can't really trust the numbers, but I jumped on just for the heck of it and was down to 205.6! This came as a shock, because I weighed on Monday to find myself at an abysmal 210, which I blamed on a week that started with chocolate and ended with cupcakes (though none of that bad stuff in between, thank goodness!). But somehow, between Monday and today, I dropped 5lbs. Water weight, I'm hoping? Maybe I didn't do as much damage as I thought!

Part of it might be due to the fact that my appetite sort of fled today, so I weighed on a mostly empty stomach. Don't know what happened...I had a pretty hearty omelet for breakfast, but after that I got wrapped up in finishing projects and didn't get hungry until tonight at 8, at which point I had a Slim Jim and a grapefruit. Seriously, I had no intention of eating so little today, but I got in the zone and kind of forgot to eat. Trust me, that doesn't happen to me very often! But I'm due for a trip to the grocery, so we'll get back on food planning tomorrow.

Here's the meager calorie count:

Breakfast
Omelet w/ pepper jack, goat cheese, calabrese salame, and avocado - 365

Lunch
Eek! Nada.

Dinner
Grapefruit w/ Splenda - 76
Slim Jim - 40

Total: 481

Yikes!! I'm going to go have something light before bed or I'm going to wake up starving!

Day 173

So I'm exhausted and don't have much to report, but I had to check in before I went to bed to post calories and such! The day went well, though my walk to class confirmed to me that I won't be walking for fitness anytime soon. It's crazy how one little pinky toe can mess up the way the whole body moves. Didn't get around to any real exercise today, alas. So that's way up on the to do list for tomorrow! Food wasn't very creative today either...I just couldn't face putting my gimp boot back on to hobble around the grocery store. :) I'm gathering recipes, though, so I should have some good stuff to post later this week!

Here's the calorie count:

Breakfast
Low-fat Nutrigrain Waffles - 140
Veggie sausage links - 120
Agave nectar - 90
Coffee w/ cream - 70

Lunch (it was a weird one!)
2 Slim Jims - 80
Pineapple Greek Yogurt - 160
Veggie stir-fry (cooked in olive oil) - 100

Dinner
Avocado and goat cheese omelet - 230
Veggie sausage links - 120

Snacks
Skinny cow bar - 110

Total: 1240

Did much better with eating the calories today! This is really making me see how beneficial it is to keep track of what I'm eating. I have a feeling that the reason my weight loss slowed down over the past month or so was because I was eating more than I realized. Keeping track really helps!

Day 172 Calorie Count

Here I am, staying on track!

Breakfast
Egg McMuffin - 300
Coffee w/ cream - 70

Lunch
Slim Jim - 40
1 tbsp Peanut Butter - 120

Dinner
Salad w/ avocado, tomatoes, spinach, low-fat bacon, and blue cheese dressing - 270

Snacks
Skinny Cow Bar - 110

Total: 916

Would have been more, as I had planned to have a lean burger for dinner, but the meat smelled funny so I passed. :) Had a yummy salad instead! Puts me a little low on calories, but I'll plan better tomorrow.

Day 172

All right everyone. It's time to get SERIOUS.

Just as last weekend was a bit of a fail, this past week wasn't the greatest either. I did okay with food, but there was some drama with refilling my ADD pills (thankfully, I have them in hand now) so I ended up spending most of the week combatting extreme munchie feeling. On top of that, I only exercised twice, and just had a rough go of it in general.

So we're getting down to business. Especially because I had a spaz moment yesterday and ran into the door, breaking my baby toe and effectively removing my ability to take walks for at least three or four weeks. That means I have to be really, really careful about eating. I'm going back to tracking calories...my current intake goal is 1350/day...and I'm going to rein in the eating big time. I should be able to do some floor exercises, but cardio is going to be difficult for a little while. But I'll find a way!

I'm getting closer and closer to the 6 month mark, and I want to be going strong when I hit it! I'm also getting so close to the 100's, and I just can't blow it now. So we're reorganizing a bit.

I'm getting back up on that horse and I'm riding, baby!

Made some tasty, tasty shrimp last Thursday, as you can see here:

Here's the link to the recipe: Sesame Shrimp with Honey Mustard Sauce. It's from Steamy Kitchen, one of the new blogs I've found recently. It turned out great! It's pan-fried, so it's not exactly the healthiest thing...one of those recipes I'm going to have to avoid in the coming weeks. But it was a nice treat. Very crunchy and flavorful!

Oh, and we're also nixing this once-a-week blogging habit I've gotten into. I'm going to aim for at least 4 a week, if not more. Everyday would be ideal, but it's the end of the semester and I know better. I'm hoping my new Twitter option will help me stay in touch on the days I don't blog.

Thanks to everyone for all your great support. Keep on keeping on! Love you, awesome people!

Day 166

So I finally dragged my lazy butt over here to post! I don't know what's been up with me the last couple of days...I haven't been as motivated for some reason. I fell of the wagon a little this weekend and made a dessert. I don't know why I did it. Part of it was because I was home alone (Karlee went home for the weekend) and bored, I guess, and I hadn't had my pills so I was especially powerless against the munchies. But I wasn't sad or otherwise emotionally compromised...my dad was in Athens and we had just had a nice visit.

Going back and analyzing everything, I think a lot of why I caved to the need for chocolate was because I just got wrapped up in the "It's the weekend, I've got the place to myself, I don't have homework, so I'm just going to hang out in my PJs and play computer games and enjoy our weekend sample of Starz" thing. I also think that maybe I was a little lonely, having spent the past few weekends with friends and the fam...so maybe it was a little shock to my system to be left on my lonesome with Gus.

Whatever the reason, I decided I wanted chocolate, and I had a deadly combination of ingredients in my pantry: flour, eggs, sugar, butter, and cocoa. All you need for a wickedly delicious fudge-y pie/cake.

The good news is that I halved the recipe. Then, upon regaining my senses a little bit, I served myself a sensibly sized slice and dumped the rest in the trash before I had the chance to eat it. So that, at least, was a triumph.

I guess it just goes to show that one is never cured of food addiction. Luckily, I didn't "get drunk"or go on a binge. I think I've definitely learned how to have more control over my eating. But it still felt pretty bad, after I had done it, like I had committed a major diet crime.

So I had to talk myself through it and reassure myself that I had merely stumbled, not fallen. One slice of chocolate pie/cake was not going to ruin me! The important thing was that I threw it away and snapped back to good habits the next day.

I didn't want to talk about it on the blog, though. But I knew from the get-go that it was important that I share my boo-boo with everyone rather than pretend it didn't happen. Posting about it has made me realize that, in the grand scheme of things, one bad weekend will not ruin me. Bad days will come. As long as I can let those bad days go and move on with getting healthy, we're good! But I'm glad I'm putting it out there, instead of letting it simmer on my conscience for the next two weeks. The shame and the sneaky mindset I often have towards eating is what fuels a lot of my problems, so I'm determined to nix it!

So I got back on track today by getting out for my walk. It was a beautiful, if a little chilly, day, and I savored it, knowing that it will probably be the last day below 80 until October. I also cooked yesterday and today, and made some super yummy meals! I've enjoyed recipes from Steamy Kitchen for the past couple of days. Monday I made Chicken Sausage with Apple Slaw, which was great! I bought Trader Joe's Andouille chicken sausage, which was spicy and delicious. Here's a picture:

Then tonight I made Chicken Caprese, with a simple greens and avocado salad on the side. Yum!

We're getting back on track. One step at a time. I weighed in last Friday and was only down .2 pounds, and I'm not hopeful for this Friday, considering that this week will mainly be damage control. But I'll get it together! Forward ho!

BTW, does anyone on here use Twitter? It's something I've been meaning to figure out for a long time, and I thought it might be a useful supplement to the blog. Thoughts?

Day 161

Found something cool today...for a bunch of new, neato ways to view the blog, go to: http://downsizingcampbell.blogspot.com/view/

Anyways, the day went pretty well today. For some reason I've really had to struggle to get myself to exercise this week...my energy levels seem to have taken a downturn. I really didn't want to today, but I made myself, and I was glad that I did! I ended up doing my ab workout, since the weather wasn't so great, and it felt good in the end. But I reeeeaaaallly didn't want to. I think I must still be suffering from spring break recovery, and it didn't exactly help that I extended the vacation by going to Asheville last weekend! But I'll get it together. Don't got no other choice!

I had a super delicious salad for dinner today with avocado, tomato, edamame, bacon bits, olives and spring mix greens. It was SO good! But I've got to get back to my recipes. I feel like the hours, days, and weeks have just been flying by lately...by the time I get done with homework and other stuff, it's 5 or 6 and I just don't have the energy to cook. I think I just need to get myself organized and go back to planning my meals at the beginning of the week. Of course, I don't expect myself to cook an all-out meal everyday, but having a plan always helps.

So I'm not sure how weigh-in is going to go tomorrow...eating was fine, but I've only exercised twice so far this week. I still have time to get my four in before Sunday, but I'm not sure what the scale is going to say tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be bad news!

I'm sure that next week will be a better week. I have all weekend to get my act together, so it better be!

Thanks, as always, to everyone! Y'all are great!

Day 159

So wow, total blogging FAIL this past week. I feel like a lot of my entries have been prefaced in a similar fashion lately. Ah well, what can you do? School gets in the way. Last week I had this massive video project to do for my Writing for the Web class. Of course, I didn't get nearly as much done over Spring Break as I could have, so I was stuck staying up every night last week until 12:30 or 1 to get it done. I guess I should be grateful I didn't have to pull any all-nighters! But I finished it in the end. Sadly, I did so at the expense of keeping up with the blog. But we're going to try and make up for lost time this week!

Anyways, things have been going very well since I last posted. I spent the weekend in Asheville with Ginny and we were uncharacteristically healthy the whole time. No candy or junk food in sight. It's really great that we can encourage and support each other in our getting-healthy endeavors, rather than sabotage each other by going straight for the junk as soon as we get together. We did, however, discover a wild turkey in Ginny's backyard, which was a surprisingly good flyer despite its gigantic size.

Despite my crazy busy week, I did make the time to do a little cooking. I made two really delicious things, the first being Susie Bee's Alternative to Plain Burgers, which turned out incredible. I found this amazing Masala Tandoori naan at Trader Joe's which was my carbohydrate splurge for the week, and used it in place of a bun. With that juicy burger and the simple yet delicious sauce, this burger was full of WIN. See for yourself:

I mean, yum, right?

I also made a Chevre Souffle from French Kitchen in America, which I ate for breakfast one morning. More amazing deliciousness! It was nice to have something besides cereal, and the creamy goat cheese and spices made this such a tasty meal. I definitely recommend it.

I also made Kalyn's Greek Meatballs, but accidentally overcooked them so they weren't pretty enough for a picture. I'm definitely going to have to try them again sometime, because they were full of promise! All the spices were great...I just got all wrapped up in my project and didn't keep a proper eye on them. Oh well.

I almost forgot! Weigh-in on Friday went great...down another 1.2 pounds! I took my walk today, which felt great. I'm probably going to be stuck with indoor exercise the rest of the week, since it's supposed to rain pretty much straight through until Friday, so I'm glad I was able to get out today!

Things at school should be relatively calm this week, so hopefully I'll be able to do more cooking. I haven't been to the grocery yet, and I'm trying to be pretty conservative with my money for the rest of the month, but hopefully I can come up with some interesting and tasty recipes to try!

Love you SO much, all of my wonderful cheerleaders! Y'all is da bomb!

Day 152

So despite my good intentions, I went off the blogging radar over spring break. I did cook a couple of nights, but I totally forgot to take pictures, and otherwise just got out of my routine. I did stick with good eating and exercising though! Which is probably why I surpassed the 30lb mark (I weighed in this morning and was 207.6!) and am now well on my way to the 100s!

I really can't wait until I turn that first number on the scale from a 2 to a 1. I'm finally starting to feel the weight loss in my body...for example, I looked at my thighs at one point over spring break and was surprised at how much smaller they looked. My clothes still seem to fit about the same, though I have gone down a bra cup size, which is not exactly appreciated. I would much rather lose from the stomach or booty! Oh well...a smaller size is always welcome, no matter what the clothing item is.

I just got back from the grocery, but for some reason when I was looking for recipes before going I really hit the doldrums...I just couldn't get excited about most of the things I came across. I think this was mostly because I was hot (it's currently 80 in Athens and I had only just turned the AC on) and the prospect of eating a hot meal was not very appealing. All I could think about was cold salads! So I got plenty of salad stuff. I also got a pound of ground beef, which I haven't had in a while, in order to make Susie Bee's Burgers and Kalyn's Greek Meatballs. I got some chicken too, in case I decide I want some later in the week.

I also discovered some yummy chipotle hummus at Trader Joe's! Very very tasty. Sadly, although they usually have the biggest, most delicious avocados of all the grocery stores I frequent, they were puny and expensive today. So I only got one, planning to go back to Walmart or Kroger later in the week if I need to. However, Trader Joe's did not disappoint with their Gala apples! I had one a minute ago and it was kind of amazing. Although this may be partially due to the fact that I was starving!

Oh, and a quick question...why in Sam Hill are sunflower seeds so fattening? I mean, they're tiny! And yet, 18g of fat for a 1/4 cup. Seriously, sunflower seeds? Seriously? They're practically pure fat.

But I bought some anyway. After much hemming and hawing. I mean, they're good on salad. Just have to make sure I moderate!

Love you all. Thanks for keeping up with me. You guys are the best!

Day 144

So even though it's spring break, I'm determined to keep up with blogging (and eating and exercising) this week! I've done pretty well with the exercising over the weekend...mom and I took a long walk on Friday, and we all played tennis together yesterday! So that's all been really good.

I've also planned out a few meals for this week. Just got back from the grocery store, actually! So I'm well equipped both for dinner and for snacks. I think that will definitely help me stay on track. I've been craving sweets lately, so it always helps to have plenty of healthy alternatives around.

In other good news, I was down another pound on Friday! That puts me less than a pound away from the 30 lb mark! Hooray! Sometimes it feels like it's going so slowly, but I'm willing to be patient. Just gotta keep chipping away at it!

I brought my camera home, so hopefully I'll have plenty of fun pictures to share this week. Hopefully I'll be back later tonight to post pictures of dinner!

Onwards and upwards! (Or downwards, if we're talking about pounds!)

Day 140

Sheesh, I've been such a slacker about blogging this week! It's just been a crazy week at school with all the  midterm exams/papers my professors crammed in before spring break. But now I'm only one paper away from freedom, so hooray for that!

I ended up not doing a lot of fun cooking this week, as I figured it wasn't wise to buy a lot of food since I'll be gone all week next week. So I've basically been surviving off salads and omelettes for dinner. I'm going to make sure and get recipes together for when I go home though, to make sure I don't fall into bad habits over vacation!

But otherwise it's been a great week. I've done my ab video twice as well as my walks, and my abs are definitely feeling it! For the first time I've actually been feeling a little bit skinnier. Not a whole lot, but there are little things I'll pick up on, like when I put a hand on my hip, that I suddenly notice feel smaller. Yay! I have a feeling the next ten pounds are going to make a big difference in the way I feel. I might have to throw a party when I get under 200!!

So that's the sum up for this week. Hopefully I'll do some cooking next week so that I'll be sure to keep up with the blog. I love you all so much, and thanks for being such awesome cheerleaders! What would I do without you?

Day 137

Hi all! Sorry for the long silence. I took a breather over the weekend and recharged my South Beach batteries. I'm going to go back to Phase One rules this week and steer clear of carbs, in hopes of burning those pounds off a little quicker! I haven't really been eating that many carbs, but I figure it can't hurt to cut back. Especially because next week is spring break and it might be a little harder to stay on track while I'm on vacation.

I did 30 minutes of my ab workout today! It's great, I've gotten to where I can do everything they do in the video, even though I have to work a little harder. I hope my abs are grateful. But the repetition feels really good...that belly better start shrinking!

I made a delicious salad for dinner tonight, but it didn't look like much, so I didn't take pictures. I discovered beef bacon at Trader Joe's today, which is half the fat of pork bacon. So I thought I'd give it a try and see if it was better than turkey bacon. Well, it definitely is! There's not as much crunch or crisp as in pork bacon, but the flavor and texture is so much better than turkey! It was great on my salad, and since I only eat bacon on salad anyway, I think it's safe to say I'm a beef bacon convert! Plus it doesn't have any nitrites, which are what really make bacon bad for you.

Otherwise, I've been working like a dog on various school things...my professors decided to make everything due the week before spring break, of course. So I've got 2 papers, a video project, and a midterm to complete before Friday. Pray for me, and don't be shocked if I go missing for a day. I planned meals for this week though, so hopefully I'll have some fun pictures to share!

Oh! By the way! Weigh-in on Friday was finally good news! I'm down 1.2 pounds to 211.8! Woohoo!!

Day 133

So unlike Tuesday, I had a big burst of energy today! I got out for my walk and really pushed myself, walking a lot faster than I have been...I got back and kind of collapsed for a few minutes. Then I jumped back up, turned up the jams, and started dance-cleaning! My room looks so nice and clean right now...I really had let it go. I even whipped out my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and got all the shaving cream can rust and other gunk off the tub. And I dusted. And I did four loads of laundry. And I changed the sheets.

Go figure.

Unfortunately, doing all that cleaning kept me from going to the grocery store and getting the rest of the stuff for the shrimp I was supposed to make tonight. So instead I made a really great Greek salad! Banana peppers, olives, artichoke, a slice each of genoa salami, pepperoni, and capocollo, and spring mix with a olive oil/lemon juice/mediterranean herbs/salt n pepper dressing. No pictures, since it was essentially the salad I made a couple of weeks ago, so you'll just have to use your imaginations. It was mmm mmm good, just like me!

So tomorrow is another Friday! Hopefully weigh-in will be good, although considering the slow start to the week, I'm not getting my hopes up for a lot of loss, but just losing anything will make me happy! If I can keep walking like I walked today, I will definitely start seeing those pounds come off!

Day 131

Whew. Don't know what happened to me today, but I really hit a wall with my energy levels. I got home from class and just didn't want to do anything, didn't want to exercise, do homework, read, watch TV, go to the grocery store...I was just wiped out. Not sure why. I'm hoping I can scramble everything together tomorrow...maybe I just need a good night's sleep. But it was a pretty lethargic day because of that.

I did scrape together enough energy to make dinner tonight: Salmon Cakes!

I over-salted them, so they weren't as good as they could have been. But I made a really tasty improv sauce w/ greek yogurt, light sour cream, Spike seasoning, horseradish, salt, pepper, and a touch of olive oil. It turned out great!

I also just wanted to comment about how wonderful sugar-free gum is for sugar cravings. I was all in the mood for sugar, but as soon as I popped some gum I was good to go!

So here's hoping I get a boost of energy tomorrow! Thanks to everyone for keeping me going!

Day 130

Hi all! I'm back after my disappearance...I went home this weekend so of course my routine got thrown out of wack. Plus the school work has been piling up so I've had a little less free time.

Sadly, my weigh-in was not as exciting as expected. Although I was down to 211 earlier in the week last week, by Friday I was back up to 213! Not sure what happened, especially because I exercised so much, but hopefully it will go down this week. I actually got two more walks in over the weekend with the parents (although the walk we did on Sunday wasn't exactly aerobic...dad and I stopped to fish a few times), so that was great. Hopefully I can keep overdoing my exercise!

I don't have an exciting meal to show today...I didn't get back up to Athens until this morning, so I haven't planned meals or gone to the grocery. That's on the to-do list for tomorrow. I have some leftovers to eat up to, but hopefully I can get some tasty dinners together.

The good news is I found out what was wrong with my camera connector! The memory card was cracked, so the connector was having trouble reading it. But now I have a new memory card and all should be well!

So that's about all I have to say for myself! Back with more tomorrow!

Day 126

Hey all! Sorry I missed you guys yesterday. I was preparing for an in-class essay today, so blogging ended up falling by the wayside. But things are going well! I completed my fourth day of exercise today, and I've pretty much decided that exercising only four times a week isn't enough. So we're going to try and up it to five for next week! I'm also going to stick with the ab exercises, if not every day, then at least five times a week. If I can get four hours of exercise in a week, instead of the two that I've been doing, I think it will help me a lot.

Today for lunch I made a tasty smoothie:

Once again, Gus was very interested. Don't worry, I didn't let him lick it! I followed Susie Bee's Blueberry Banana Smoothie again, but this time added frozen organic strawberries and a splash of orange juice with the banana instead of blueberries. I actually got the flax seeds this time too(actually, they were milled flax seeds, so it was already all ground up for me!).

I also made an AMAZING avocado sauce to go with my leftover steak from this recipe. It was so freaking good! I've pretty much decided that avocados are my new favorite food. I'll just sit there and eat them out of the skin if you let me! Unfortunately, they're pretty high in fat, so I have to limit myself. 

I have pictures of dinner but once again my camera connector is acting up. I'm going home this weekend, so I'll be able to pick up my other connector and hopefully we won't have this problem anymore! At least I got the smoothie pictures to load. 

So we're revving up for weigh-in tomorrow! I'm feeling pretty hopeful about it. My abs definitely got more work this week than ever before!

Day 124

Pretty decent day today! I think that, even though I haven't felt the hugest difference in my clothes, I'm really starting to feel the effects of weighing less in other ways. I don't know how to describe it, but I just have more oomph. I feel strong and determined and ready to persevere! As I creep closer to turning that first digit on the scale from a 2 to a 1, I find myself feeling healthier, happier, and more optimistic with every day that passes.

For example, I did 30 minutes of ab workout today, and instead of skipping the parts that were hard, I actually pushed myself and tried to keep up with everything they did in the video. From that, I discovered that I'm actually a lot stronger than I think I am. I can do planks, though when I saw them for the first time I figured I wouldn't be able to do them. I can also do most of the lying-down ab exercises they do in the video...there's just one or two that I can't keep up with. So that was fun to discover! I'm sure I'll be sore all over in the morning, but it will be totally worth it.

For dinner tonight I kept with my international theme and made some tasty yet healthy Sweet and Sour Chicken:

The sauce wasn't as gummy and syrupy as the stuff you get in the restaurant, and of course, the chicken wasn't breaded and fried. It was really very good, and filling too! I think next time I might add some more vegetables, maybe edamame or something. The snow peas were good, but I'm not the biggeset fan of sweet peppers. Note: don't panic...that's not a tiny octopus in there - it's the bottom of a scallion! 

So I made it through another day! Still feeling good. You guys are awesome! Thanks for sticking with me!

Day 123

So we're back to Monday! It was a very good day today. I had my 30 minute walk out in this beautiful, prematurely warm weather and actually felt pretty energetic the whole way through. Usually, by my last lap, I'm starting to flag a little, but today I was all charged up for some reason! I wasn't as as winded as usual, which was nice. Hooray for getting into shape!

I meant to do my ab workout too, but as is bound to happen when you put something off long enough, it ended up falling by the wayside. I'm determined to do it tomorrow, though! It's so easy to do, just turn it on and get moving, but I do have to actually make myself do it, or it won't happen.

Also, I made it through my first week with no soda! It actually wasn't that bad at all. It's been warm, which is usually when I get in the mood to drink water anyway, so that helped. I satisfied the need for fizz with the sparkling water and made it through no problem. This week I got some Propel Zero to get me through, so we'll see how I like that.

I actually had pictures of the delicious steak salad I made tonight, inspired by this recipe, yet pretty extensively modified. But my dumb camera connector is giving me fits and I can't get my memory card to load up. Ugh. I think something is up with the USB ports on my laptop. Not cool, Apple. Not cool. I'll try to get a picture up later if I can get it to load. Let me just say that the salad was awesome! It was just spring mix, diced tomatoes, sliced flat iron steak, and some crunchy shallot rings. The dressing was great too: just olive oil, coarse mustard, and red wine vinegar. Yum!

Okay, the connector decided to work! Here's the picture...

Not the most beautiful salad ever, but it sure was tasty! Most of my greens were 'bout ta turn, so I had to pick the good leaves out one by one, which is why it looks a little lacking in the green department. Still good though!

By the way, does anyone know where I might be able to find rutabagas? It was a no-go at Trader Joe's and Wal-mart.

Day 120

So wow, folks. It's been about four months since I started this. Four months. One third of a whole year! Frankly, it's still a little unbelievable to me that I've kept this going for this long. Sure, I've had my ups and downs. Over Christmas, I just about put things on hold. But the fact that I came back full force after Christmas is a sign that something about me has changed. Usually once I let things go, it's hard for me to pick them back up again. Not so in this case. It's like something in my brain just clicked into place!

I've been consistently exercising four times a week since I got back to school (and before I left, too). It might not seem like much to most people, but for me, who led an almost completely sedentary lifestyle prior to October 22, 2010, it is a HUGE accomplishment. I have never been an exerciser. Let alone a regular exerciser.

Now, I feel confident enough to say that I am. Whoa.

I've also gone four months without french fries, cheeseburgers, or candy. Four months. And while I've had my moments of cravings, I haven't given in to them. And honestly, I really don't miss it. Because I feel so much better without it.

I've also gone four months without binging or sneaking food. Four months. I don't know exactly what has adjusted emotionally to stop me from binging, because I haven't even felt tempted to. Not even when I'm stressed or feeling down. Crazy stuff, guys. Crazy.

Now that I've italicized about half of all that, we can move on. I just had to step back and revel in it for a minute.

In other news, I weighed in this morning, and lost another .6 pounds! That officially puts me down 27 pounds total. I've noticed that my weight loss seems to have slowed down lately, but I've been keeping under my calorie goals and have been exercising, so I'm not sure what's causing it. I think maybe I'm actually digging into the tough poundage now. But I feel great, and that's what matters!

As I mentioned in my last post, not only did I walk today but did 15 minutes of my ab workout video! I'm going to try to start doing 15-20 minutes of the ab stuff every day, on top of 30 minute walks four times a week (I'd like up it to five, so we'll see how that goes). That way, I'll be getting cardio and some tummy work done, and I'll be able to double my weekly exercise time. I don't know if I'll manage abs tomorrow though, as I'm really hurting after doing it two days in a row. I might just try decreasing the time. But the video really gets those abs working! Ouch!

Man, I sure seem to have a lot to say today. But let me get to the most important part: dinner! Dinner tonight was a total win!!

I actually used a recipe I saw on Food Network from Aarti Sequeira, Pea-lafels. They're basically falafels, but with peas and edamame instead of chickpeas. I know, I'm going all international this week, aren't I?

Doesn't that look delicious? After a week of pretty ho-hum meals (with the exception of that Roti Chicken, of course), this was a great way to end up. It was like a cheeseburger for a girl who's trying to be healthy. The bread is whole wheat pita, the sauce is nonfat Greek yogurt with fresh mint (which I ended up adding dill and lemon to, to make it a little more like tzatziki sauce), and the pea-lafels, while pan-fried, are full of really good (and by good, I mean healthy) stuff. So tasty, and I truly got the same satisfaction out of it as I would have with a big ol' burger! Seriously, y'all have got to try this. It's relatively easy to do, and so good. I think next time I'll add some greens and tomatoes in there...the recipe didn't call for it, but I think it would be pretty good.

I think for next week, I'm going to have to limit myself to making only 3 or 4 meals instead of 5 or 6, because right now, the fridge is jam-packed with leftovers. I have got to remember to half my recipes! So I should be very well fed this weekend.

Okay, I'll shut up now. Happy weekend everyone! Love all y'all!

What's Wrong with Average?

So I did the Crunch Fitness Abs workout video again today after my walk, and it really got me to thinking.

It’s so funny to watch the people in these workout videos. The girls are usually stick-thin and a little too muscley, then sometimes there’s your token gay guy thrown in there somewhere. In this particular video, however, they have one girl with a perfectly average body type, though she looks a little chubby next to all the other women.

This average girl is placed in the very back, and the camera never focuses on her. However, whenever they start doing something challenging in the video, the girl leading the workout will call out something like, “Ashley’s keeping the tap in, so if you need to do that, it’s cool.” We are never introduced to Ashley...we are merely meant to assume, I think, that the regular looking chick in the back of the room is the one that can’t do standing oblique crunches without touching her toe to the ground.

Sigh.

In addition, while all the other women in the video are wearing sports bras and tight-fitting shorts or pants, Ashley gets to wear baggy, unflattering capris and a high-necked, short-waisted sleevless shirt. Here's a screenshot of her:

and here's a shot of the whole group:

Thing is, most of the women watching the workout video probably look more like Ashley than the other ladies in it. And as far as I'm concerned, six packs are just not attractive on women. I don’t know. To me, Ashley has the best body of the bunch. I think the video could do with two or three more Ashleys, and closer to the front, please. Oh, and why can't she wear a cute matching outfit like everyone else? (click below to keep reading)