Giving credit where credit is due

Throughout my struggles with weight there is one thing that has been consistent. No matter what I do, whether it's good or bad I fail to give my self credit or take responsibility. Example: The other night I was at youth group and somebody brought in a bunch of cupcakes. I had eaten relatively well throughout the day so I decided to treat myself. The first cupcake was SO good. It tasted exactly how I wanted it to and I was very satisfied with it. If I had stopped at one cupcake this post would be much shorter but... I had a second cupcake. The thing is, when I took the first bite it didn't taste half as good as the first cupcake and I knew that I wasn't really craving the cupcake and I should have put it down. When I finished the second one, I felt guilty AND I was too full. To say the least, I was disappointed in myself for eating the cupcake even though I knew all along that I shouldn't have. However, it could have been much worse. I could have completely fallen off the wagon and said, "screw it, I already messed up so there's no point in trying to fix it now."

Long story short, I am working on finding the positive and negative in all situations especially when it comes to food. Bad thing: I OVERindulged. Good thing: I didn't eat the whole box.

Anyway, I'm about 7 lbs away from hitting my first milestone, -50 lbs. Hopefully I'll be able to hit that mark and keep on working my way towards Onederland ;)

I've been stuck around 230 for months now, so I'm working hard to break through my plateau!

Vacation Mindset... Sort of

I had this week off from school so a few friends and I went to Monterey to hang out by the bay for a few days. We were staying at a Conference Center so all the meals were prepared in a dining hall which I wasn't a huge fan of. Most days we ate breakfast in the dining hall, made our own lunches, and went to dinner. This was nice because it was very laid back, but I was not doing a very good job of tracking AND I wasn't going to the gym. So in order to get in a good workout, we did a lot of walking everyday. I was expecting a large gain on the scale when I weighed in today, but I only gained 1.5 lbs! Though I usually wouldn't celebrate a gain, I was very pleased that it was such a small number. I think a large part of that was because most of the week, I stopped eating when I was full (even at restaurants!!). I felt a lot better because my stomach AND my head felt satisfied and I was really proud of myself for putting down my fork before I ate everything on the plate. I'm working on listening to my stomach, rather then my head.

I would say, it was a very successful vacation after all. Oh and today I went Prom dress shopping with a friend and I was surprised to find that every dress I tried on zipped up without a problem. I was elated!!

Broken Body Parts!

Sooo, what to do when you have an injury? I'm slightly nervous because I know that a lot of the weight I lose is from calories burned at the gym, not calories cut out of my diet. I definitely have scaled back on the food, but usually I know that if I mess up I can go to the gym and burn the extra calories. Now I have a badly broken toe and I won't be fully mobile again for 6 weeks. 6 WEEKS! I guess I'll be focusing on abs and upper body for awhile...

Another thing I've been thinking a lot of lately is how much I would love to be under 200 pounds by my 18th birthday at the end of April. I know I can do it, but it's going to be especially challenging with this newly acquired injury. Hoping and praying I can come up with a plan to tackle this problem so that I'll be able to continue on this journey at a nice pace!

Gracie

Persistence is Key!

I think I worked harder this week then I ever have before (health wise). I tracked everything that I ate and drank and I kicked my butt at the gym. I went Mon-Thurs for 2 hours each time and I felt PHENOMENAL! On Thursday night I was on the elliptical for so long because I really didn't want to get off. What a change! Anyway, I really tried hard this week to keep going. I've been on a plateau for so long (5 months!) and I was really getting frustrated with my body. However, instead of giving up and eating my way into a sluggish state, I went to the gym and really pushed myself. I even went out to dinner and had a frozen yogurt last night and still felt good afterwards (none of that eating until you burst kind of stuff.) When I got on the scale this morning at my Weight Watchers meeting, I felt confident. And guess what happened... I LOST 3 LBS!!! I lost more this week then I have in the past 6 months.

I think part of the weight loss this week happened because I got past the mental part of weight loss. I finally started celebrating that my clothes were too big and I could go on an uphill hike for two hours without stopping. I also pushed myself a lot further then I thought possible when I was at the gym. I stayed on all of the cardio machines longer then I thought I could and in general I just did a lot more. I also ate pretty reasonably this week (I even treated myself to 1 scoop of ice cream everyday this week and I STILL lost 3 pounds). Anyway, there's not really a better way to start off a weekend!!

Gracie

Changing Habits

Last night at the gym, I was expressing my frustration to my gym pals. I've been trying so hard to lose weight and get in shape, but my efforts don't really seem to be paying off. Then we pulled out or iPhones and looked at pictures of what I looked like 3 years ago compared to what I look like today... there's a big difference! Since May of 2010, I've only lost 7 lbs, but my body has changed A LOT. I feel a lot stronger and my whole mentality about being physically active is completely changed. Now, I look forward to going to the gym and going to my weight watchers meeting. Before I did it because I thought I had to, and I always came up with excuses not to go.

Here's to non- scale victories!

1) I've dropped 3 pants sizes

2) I get compliments almost daily about how much healthier I look

3) People are calling me a great inspiration!

4) I'm paying a lot more attention to how my stomach feels after I eat, rather then what my head feels :)

5) Today I went to the gym ALL ALONE and enjoyed my workout! Usually I go with 2-3 other people, and that really helps me with accountability. I'm so proud that I went on my own today, even though nobody else did. I never would have done that a year ago.

That's all for now :)

Gracie

Lazy day

Only went to the gym for an hour today to do some low key exercise. I've decided that Thursday's are kind of like a day off. I still track all of my food and try and squeeze in some exercise, but I think it's best to give yourself a bit of a break occasionally. Keeping up with food and exercise is quite a task, so giving yourself a mental break and a physical break helps to keep you motivated so that you don't get frustrated and give up. Treating myself every once and awhile is much better then not treating myself at all, and definitely better then treating myself all the time! Got to enjoy a nonfat ice mocha and some time with friends. Great day!

Gracie

Well I must say...!

After yesterday's post I went to the gym and had a fantastic workout! The best one in awhile. My good friend Leigh and I worked with a new trainer and accomplished quite a bit. I did 20 minutes on the spin bike, 30 minutes on the elliptical, 50 leg presses, 50 pretzel sit ups, 30 up down kicks (on a 3 1/2 foot bench!), 50 squats with a weight in each hand, 35 kettle bell chest lifts, a series of leg raises with back kicks, forward and backward lunges across the gym and cross kicks across the gym. Boy am I sore today!!!

Another super amazing thing about yesterday was that when I got home from watching BL at a friends house, I got my first college acceptance letter!!! And, to make it even better, I was excepted to my number 1 school!!!! Yesterday was so fantastic!

Today I didn't get to the gym because I wasn't feeling very well, but I did do some cooking to prepare me for the rest of the week. Now it's time to get back to that homework :)

Gracie