Magic 8

I did some shopping today; got a couple of sun dresses on sale and some winter boots and a hat.  Here’s one of the dresses worn one way: and here it is worn completely differently: I’m going to wear it to work tomorrow over some skinny jeans, with my new boots.  And here’s me just goofing around in the first outfit: Here’s another dress I bought today: I would usually never wear this clingy jersey material but now I don’t care if it hugs my curves :)  Here’s it showing my belly: I might need a better bra bc this is what it looks like from the back:

This is my weight graph.  It shows my ups and downs, my most recent of which broke the pattern of being more down than up.  It was scary, breaking from the pattern by having two blips up the scale instead of my usual one before heading back down, but hopefully now I have it under control.  As you can see, we are expecting the next graph point to be an increase again, hopefully no higher than 138 though.  If I go back up to 140, we’ll have to reevaluate the pattern.

Anyway, it shows a starting point of 160 at the beginning of June (let’s say 163 on June 1) and an end goal of 132 by November 26 (my birthday; also happens to be Thanksgiving).  That is really just an aspirational number to have something to strive toward, I am actually happy where I am now.

Don’t know if I’ll ever have the guts to wear this in public, but it was $15.  Looks good from the front…

…Not so much from the back.  Maybe it just needs some spanx?

image from Jezebel

I wanted to post pics of some outfits I got for grad school interviews:

I’m having a little bit of a freak out because I realized if I go by my weight this morning (which was before breakfast and working out but—TMI alert–more than 24hrs after last bowel movement), I’ve achieved the goal I set for myself by LABOR DAY.  It’s only Bastille Day!  That’s 7lbs in 2 weeks, which maybe doesn’t seem like a ton for someone who is heavier, but for me, that is approaching scary levels.  In a way it’s exhilirating.  Plus, I have been counting my calories and ALWAYS come in over 1,000 and probably average 1600 going by 2 months of fitday data (and that’s probably under counting).  That seems like a healthy amt of calories, but I feel like my rate of loss is UNHEALTHY and SETTING ME UP FOR FAILURE.  I have been working out a couple extra days a week, but the increased exercise doesn’t seem that significant when you think about how much you have to work out to burn enough calories to create the kind of deficit you need to see results.

I’ve started going to the gym before work, and am worried this is a habit I won’t be able to keep up for life, but I actually WANT to go, so should I not go just because it is something I might not want to do regularly in the future?

Should I force myself to eat that extra cup of noodles, even if I don’t really want it?

I don’t weigh myself till tomorrow, so I can’t really say how much I weigh in these pics, but I think it’s 150.

I got this ridiculous stewardess dress at TJ Maxx.  I couldn’t resist because it makes my waist look impossibly, marilyn monroe-style tiny.  I have no clue where I’ll wear it, tho!

The last one is actually a shirt my roommate bought…I just had to try it as a cover up, though.  I would never actually wear this out in public!  But it’s fun to dress up and sometimes send the pics to your bf

My name is Elise.  I workout almost every day.  I drink lots of water.  I love to hike and I love to have the fitness level to be able to do it.  I like to move around a lot.  I like to eat healthy foods.  I don’t like to splurge and spend money on high-calorie store bought foods like scones at the coffee shop and burgers at McDonalds, except for just every once in a while.  I enjoy eating out socially with friends and having a few drinks, but on the majority of days I like cooking for myself and making smart food choices.  I prefer being active to being inactive.  I do not shy away from activities that require me to move, like going downstairs to do laundry or making multiple trips to the car to carry in all my junk.

These are things about me that I am trying to work into my psyche.  They are true, most of the time, but I want to internalize them as things that are going to be with me for the rest of my life.