up and down and up and (hopefully) more down

I got distracted by the busy day to day and haven't blogged like I told myself I would. I also haven't lost a good amount of weight like I told myself I would. I'm really good at cheating. And I like chocolate.

An out of town wedding, fun weekends, Halloween and Halloween candy lead to bad decision making on my part. My weight has inched down and occasionally back up a bit, but then back down. I am sitting at a 4.62% loss at this point (about a month and a half left of the challenge). Granted, that was my Friday morning weigh-in. It is now Wednesday evening. A weekend with a few glasses of wine and a fun size candy bar or two...or three... a night... has passed. So Friday morning weight of late is still registered and I hope I am back to that as of this Friday morning. On the positive side I have been more regular in working out. A few ladies at school have formed a work out group where we do some High Intensity Interval Training (cardio and non weight stuff) after school. It is always nice to have a group to join as it is much more fun and motivating to grunt and huff and puff and complain about the burpees with others.

What is your best motivator for making better eating choices? I know what I need to do but I just do not have good willpower. And I still love chocolate.

Week 1 Down

Week 1 (and then some) is complete and I survived. In fact, down 3.24%. Granted, the "verified" weight I took was late in the evening and after one last delicious meal from Mazatlans with a margarita or two. But I will still call it a success or the start at least.

Got back to the gym and did some turbokick tonight which is a kickboxing/ dance cardio mix. I used to do a class similar to this at the Rec center at UNL when I was in grad school and it helped slim me down quite nicely. I was also watching my funds very closely and limiting extra food and drinks which I am sure helped. I was also a lot younger, things just don't work the same.

One big reason diets alsways seem to fail for me is that I am not good at eliminating foods. I want to enjoy life and enjoy my food and beverages along with it. So not allowing any fast food or sweets or carbs (enter choice of food you should not eat here) just doesn't work. I realize it is all about choices. Do I need the swish mushroom Runza with frings and an onion dip? Probably not. Can I have a swiss musroom Runza a healthier side and go for a walk later, yes that is feasible. Can I do this multiple times a week- not likely if I want to hit my goals. Maybe this is cheating but it makes it easier and I am not as cranky. Life is too short. This phrase works both ways. Life is too short to not enjoy my food. Life is too short to not make healthier decisions as this is the only life we got.

Enter obligatory "before" photos. Notice the sad face, arms at sides, shoulders slumped. Posed adequately to make the coming transformation look even better.

A New Me ?

Once upon a time I fancied myself an amateur blogger. I thought I had some stories to tell and a little bit of humor to share. That went away pretty quickly...

Now I find myself slowly sliding back into it. Wanting to get back at it as this endeavor gives me a space for accountability and it also gives my mind a bit of relief when I am able to put my thoughts out there.

The accountability? I joined a weight-loss challenge with 4 other staff members (on my team) at my school. We are the Titan Toners! In this challenge, we basically bet on ourselves to lose a certain percentage of weight during the allotted time (3 months ish). The team with the highest percentage of weight loss gets $10,000 and if you lose at least 10% you get your money back. I would really like to get my money back. This is where you, the reader, comes in. Life gets in the way. I always have grand plans of weight loss as I've always been a little overweight. Add in a toddler, losing both parents in a short amount of time, moving, and every day stressors and this plan goes by the wayside. I weighed in on Friday and my weight was north of 165. I haven't seen that amount on the scale since I was pregnant with Scout! I know I have made some unhealthful eating choices and haven't seen the gym in a while. I need the motivation! I need you to know what is going on so I have nowhere to hide. Hence the accountability.

Middle of week 1: I find myself easily partaking in my new eating plans. I have even measured the amounts of food I put in my lunches to make it easier to log on myfitnesspal (where I can count calories or rather see how much I eat and guilt myself into not snacking on that one little thing I want to snack on).
Pictured is this weeks lunch, Craisin Chicken Salad. I even made myself some peanut butter protein balls, and cinnamon banana pancakes for breakfast.  That is commitment, I just hope I can make it last.

In theory they sound great, tastes...okay...

Delicious but plenty of calories per ball. Limiting to 1 is hard!