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!