Day 116

I'm going to make this kind of brief, as I'm exhausted and the head hurts and I need my beauty sleep. BUT, some good news first - the scale finally went down!!

I jumped on it tonight before my shower, just for a looksy, and lo and behold, I was down to 213.6! And at night, too! I don't really know what to make of this...losing almost four pounds in three days. Only thing I can think is that I was retaining water for some strange, unknown reason. But I'm not complaining! I hope it's not just a fluke. I rechecked it three times to make sure it was accurate, but who knows? Anyways, it was really nice to see some friendly numbers on the scale after two weeks of not so friendly numbers. Hopefully this will continue!

One thing I've decided to try doing is giving up soda. I drink a LOT of it. I always get diet, so I tell myself it's okay, but I know it's bad for me. And I've heard that it can actually make it harder to lose weight. So I'm going to try and nix it. Water is always better, but if I have soda in the house, I will always grab that first. So I got some flavored sparkling water to wean myself off, and it hasn't been bad so far! Hopefully I won't miss it too much...I've been using it to satisfy my sweet tooth at times, so I'm going to have to think of new strategies.

Also, I went for my walk today! It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Here's what I had for dinner, Chicken Bacon Bites and Creamed Spinach. I switched with Tuesday because I don't trust the salmon at Wal-mart and didn't feel like dragging myself to Kroger just for salmon.

I know, I know. There I go again with the bacon. But between the two pieces of chicken up there, there was only one slice of bacon, so I don't feel too bad. Moderation! Sadly, the spinach didn't turn out quite how I intended. I'm not sure what I did to it, but it was a little too salty, and I'm really sensitive to salt. Sigh. I'll try to get it right next time! But the chicken bacon bites were pretty much amazing. The glaze you put on them is delicious...usually I have to put sauce on my chicken, but this didn't need it at all. SO good.

So I'm going to go crash now. Love you all! Thanks for all the sweet comments! You guys are so great at keeping my spirits up.

Day Fifty-Three

Hi guys! Sorry I disappeared! I got a little swallowed by finals week, and I totally missed the fifty-day mark! Things have been going well though...I lost another 3 pounds! I've been slacking off on exercise, though. I only walked twice last week - lazy lazy lazy! I did 30 minutes of DDR today so I can start the week off right. I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot of DDR this week if the weather continues to be as cold as it's been.

I've also been baking some yummy things while at home! The other night I made Kalyn's Baked Chicken Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Basil, and Goat Cheese which was delicious! Daddy's been scarfing up on it. Here's a picture:

We also made Grilled Spicy Tuna, though I can't take any credit, since Mom did the marinade and Dad grilled it up. It turned out really delicious...tuna is the one kind of fish I actually like. I guess it's the texture - less fishy and more steak-like. It was really good with some sauteed spinach!

I did okay with the cookies at the cookie bake...I had a few but didn't go overboard. I'm feeling pretty confident that I can make it through Christmas without totally going off track. In fact, the longer I keep at this, the more sure I am that I have the ability to stick with it for the long haul. Not every day is a good day, but as long as I get back on track the day after everything seems to work out fine. My goal over Christmas is to maintain, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep up the healthy eating for the most part.

I don't have my calorie count together today, but I'll start back with that tomorrow. Thanks everyone, I love you guys!

Day Eighteen

Ugh. The munchie feeling reared its ugly head today.

Not to disastrous results, thank goodness, but I wasn't as strict with portion control as I have been. It just scares me a little, because I've been doing so well, and I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've failed so many times at trying to lose weight, and I'm afraid that my old mindset is lurking behind the corner, waiting to jump on me any minute. I'm probably overanalyzing things...we all have good days and bad days. I think this blog is going to be what holds me together and keeps me on target. I just have to be extra careful about paying attention to what goes into my mouth.

Part of it was due to the fact that Karlee made a batch of chocolate chip cookies today...and temptation is never fun when you're trying to eat healthy. I've been doing really well with it, mostly because even if she has junk food in the house, I don't touch it because, obviously, it's not mine. But when she bakes it's usually to share, which makes it that much harder to resist! But I did. Once the warm cookie smell faded it was much easier! I bought some fat free whipped cream today and stuck it in the freezer, so a bite of that assuaged my sweet tooth somewhat.

On the brighter side of things, I had some delicious food today! For breakfast was a spinach and artichoke frittata, found at Cara's Cravings. It was absolutely AMAZING. I'm serious, everyone needs to go make this right now. I can't even explain how good it is! I didn't have as much spinach as the recipe called for, but it turned out great anyway. Plus I love artichokes, so that was a huge plus! You add greek yogurt to the egg which gives it this wonderful creamy texture. So so good!

Dinner came from Kalyn's Kitchen, (Turkey) Italian Sausage with Tomato Sauce. This was so easy, and so tasty too! On the side I had Sweet Potato Frips from Eat Little, Eat Big. An odd combination, perhaps, but delicious all the same! I didn't get anything green in (for shame!) but I just didn't have it in me to make a third thing. Must have a salad tomorrow! Here's dinner:

Gosh I love sweet potatoes! 

I also need to work on a snack to bring to school with me on Tuesday/Thursday, when I don't get home until around 2:30. I looked at the energy/diet bars at Wal-mart today, but most were either high in sugar, fat, or calories. I need something that can't get smushed and doesn't need refrigeration. I suppose nuts are a good idea. Anybody have any others?

Here's today's food:

Breakfast

Slice of spinach & artichoke frittata (1/8) - approx. 135

Morning Star Veggie Sausage - 160

Lunch

Chicken and provolone roll-ups - 350

1/2 cup spinach souffle - 150

Dinner

Turkey Italian sausage w/ fire-roasted tomato & garlic sauce - 305

Sweet potato frips - 100

Snacks

Strawberries w/ fat free whipped cream - 80

Greek Yogurt w/ peaches - 140

Turkey snack bites - 100

6 almonds - 38

Total: 1458

See, I didn't do as badly as I thought I did. But I guess I just felt old habits creeping around. Constant vigilance!

Day Four

Better day today! Don't know what made the difference, but the energy came back. I didn't have my pills today either, and I was a little worried about being overwhelmed by cravings, but I ended up doing fine. I didn't get any dedicated exercise again, but I walked around campus, then spent an hour and half trolling Wal-Mart with Karlee. I won't say it was aerobic in any way, but at least I was moving around! We're going to try and do some serious walking tomorrow, so that will be good.

I got a few low carb snack ideas, like turkey pepperoni and deviled eggs. Will probably make the deviled eggs tomorrow. I also had a really delicious salad for lunch today, as pictured below...

Alas, the chicken and eggplant casserole was thwarted again tonight. Karlee and I ran around town doing errands and didn't get back until 8, and I had totally forgotten to defrost the chicken. I'm determined to make it for tomorrow though!

What else to report? Walking past the table of cupcakes and halloween treats at Wal-Mart was surprisingly easy. I mean, they looked good, but something about committing to this diet thing has me in a mindset were I know I can't have it, so I don't really miss it much. Yet. :) I considered buying some sugar-free candy, but then realized I was probably better off doing without. Eating a bunch of sugar-free candy isn't changing my habits, it's just business as usual with slightly healthier food. So we're avoiding that. I do have the sugar-free brown cow jr. pops that I'm kind of addicted to, but I can't really binge on those and it's a nice treat to keep me sane. :)

Another good thing this is helping me do is eat a real meal for lunch rather than just munching around and not paying attention to what I'm eating. I often skip lunch or just snack until dinner. This way it's a much more conscious thing, and I'm not ravenous by the time dinner comes around.

Anyways, today's food was:

Breakfast
1 cup Whole Grain Cheerios (I know, not phase one, but they're only 110 calories per serving and I have a bunch of it in the pantry that I'd rather not waste. Plus I don't really have time to make eggs during the week)
Non-fat Strawberry Greek Yogurt - 140

Lunch
Balsamic Tomato and Mozzerella Salad (South Beach recipe...YUM YUM YUM) - 250

Dinner
Meat and cheese plate w/ turkey slices, turkey pepperoni, and fresh mozzerella cheese - 304
Spinach souffle - 200

Snacks
Brown cow jr. (2) - 160
Almonds w/ sea salt & olive oil - 85
Slim jim (2) - 80

Total: 1329!

Can that total be right? It feels like it should be more...for the first time today, I didn't feel that hungry, or like I hadn't had enough to eat. I'm definitely going to have to make that salad again, it was really good.

Thanks to everyone for you continuing encouragement! It's really been keeping me going. I love you all!