Today I was happy because I stayed mostly on track and went on the elliptical machine for an hour. The air conditioning got fixed mid workout so that was sorta good. I like going early in the day when no one is there. Then I can change the TV to whatever I want. Sometimes when I’m working out and super bored I try to make a music video of whatever I’m watching and listening to. Sometimes it works and sometimes its off. Sometimes its actually funny when the music matches up.

I still need to work on cutting down the carbs and raising the veggie level. I have most things under control. I feel like I need to go to the bathroom every second so that means I’m drinking enough water. I’m not going to skip any gym days until I go to New Jersey for the weekend on Saturday. But I will do a lot of walking over the weekend.

I’ve been going to my weight training class every Tuesdays and Thursdays at my school. I am really liking it. I work out a little over 30 minutes every time and it’s quite a challenge. I always avoid doing the weights when I’m at the gym so I thought this would help. So far so good. I’m looking forward to getting more toned and stronger!

I just got back to the gym. I really didn’t have a fantastic day at all even though I found this new whole foods like market that was fantastic. The gym actually had NO AIR CONDITIONING! And the water where I fill up my water bottle was hot. I thought I was going to faint. I actually had to stop after only 30 minutes because I really couldn’t handle it. I’m sweating buckets. And there were SO many people there not even minding the heat. Well at least I did 500 calories on the elliptical. That’s something right. Tomorrow I will go for a super long time.

So I mentioned in a previous post that I am involved in a $250 bet with 5 of my relatives. We started at the end of August and it ends on October 21st. I’ve lost 20 pounds since starting the bet and I realize to win I will probably have to lose another 10 pounds before it’s over. And I’m a very competitive person. My cousin has lost a lot of weight and she has less to lose than me because we are doing it by percentage.

Hopefully I can make it that far by the 21st. I have a little over a month left.

In response to a couple comments - I have a hard time with the scale because I’m so obsessive. I shouldn’t weigh myself everyday because my weight fluctuates as much as 3 pounds a day. I kinda focus on all the little gains instead of the losses. So weighing myself everyday isn’t good.

To put pictures in your blog click on the little picture with the tree and insert the url of the picture. This is when you are writing a post ofcourse. You can find the url picture by right clicking on a picture usually and it will say “address”.

Have a good night everyone! I am going to eat some of the sweetest tastiest honeydew ever. It is my favorite melon definitely.

So today I am going to make some goals for myself because even though I’ve still been doing pretty good I notice some not so good things. Here are my goals for today and every other day because I really don’t want to fall off and I want to keep on seeing those numbers on the scal go down.

1. Eat less carbs. I’ve been going crazy with carbs. Yeah they aren’t terrible carbs but I need to eat less!
2. Eat less chocolate. For some reason since I’m allowed to have chocolate I eat WAY TOO MUCH!
3. No Alcohol. I need to just drink none whatsoever because it is just pointless empty calories. There will be times in my life when I can have it again and I need to remember that.
4. Get more sleep. When I get home from school today instead of going straight to them gym I am going to take a nap. Then I will go to the gym later.
5. Drink more water. That can’t hurt right?
6. STOP WEIGHING MYSELF EVERYDAY! I need to get on that…
7. Eat MORE FRUITS AND VEGGIES. I’m really not eating enough.

Well thats everything I can think of this early in the morning. Time to go hopefully pass a psych test!

I’m not doing that great eating wise today. I have a big exam in psychology tomorrow and it is really difficult to not turn to eating to deal with the stress which is what I used to do. I already see little hints of that because I’m eating too much chocolate, carbs, and then not enough veggies and fruits. I also just got back from work all day and the gym is closed because it’s Sunday. I feel like sleeping the rest of the day away but the only reason I can’t do that is because I have to study! Ah! I hate studying!

I made the oatmeal cookie recipe and it was pretty good. It was very filling but it really didn’t taste that sweet or like a cookie. I think next time I will add more splenda. I need to get sugar free syrup to try the other recipe.

Okay I need to find a way to turn this day around and not resort to stress eating. I can do that..

Yay! I am 1.5 lbs down! That makes me really happy because I’ve been stupidly obsessing for the past few nights. I NEED TO STOP OBSESSING! I can do that! Today I went to the gym for an hour. I’ve decided that I won’t be too hard on myself about the gym. I’ve been reading other people’s blogs and people get mad at their selves when they only go to the gym for an hour or two a day and I only go an hour a day about 6 times a week. But I always do at least 800 calories of cardio so I should be proud of myself. An hour a day is fine for me right now I think.

I went to the grocery store AGAIN. I have been going everyday. I really should save money because I’m out of minutes on my phone, out of gas in my car, and need to get a birthday present for someone. I guess this is better than going out to eat all the time! I made some more pizza with the trader joe’s whole wheat dough. It was so good. And I had 3 other people to share it with so it worked out great! I also had some snow peas dipped in hummus which was delicious. I bought some ingredients for two recipes. I got them on the SB diet message boards. I’m excited to try them!

Warm “Brownie”
makes 1 serving

In a small custard dish add:

1 Tbs nut butter (almond is the best and I use 2 tsp to 1T, not more)
1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
3 Tbs NF dry milk
1 pkt splenda

Mix till very crumbly, put in microwave for 20 seconds (15 if you have a very strong microwave). Add:

2 tsps splenda sweetened pancake syrup

Mix really, really well. Mooshing and stirring till it’s very dark and creamy. You want all the milk powder dissolved and mixed in. Nuke 20 (15) seconds more. Stir again. If it is still dry add 1 tsp more syrup (depends on the amount of nut butter you use, you want it a little stiff, just not dry). Mix well if you added more syrup, then flatten in the dish. Serve with a tiny spoon.

ALSO I’m going to have this for breakfast tomorrow. I hear it is great!

BIG Breakfast Cookie
Ingredients for 1 BIG Cookie:

1/3 cup cups oatmeal
1 Tb raisins (I omitted and added 1 Tbls coconut for 1 point. Would be good without too.)
1 Tb flour (equivalent to 0 points)
1/3 cups fat-free dry milk
1/4 cup applesauce (no-sugar added)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 Tb Splenda or other no-calorie sweetener

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Mix all ingredients together and spoon a large mound on cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 min, until golden brown on edges.

Sounds good to me! I love trying easy recipes out!!

Michelle - I’m glad you decided to try out the SBD! If you need any support or have any questions about it feel free to ask! Let me know how you like it!

I was pretty annoyed with myself for a few reasons. I weighed myself at the gym and it said I am 221. Which means I gained a pound. And then I dug my scale out from hiding and weighed myself again. Why did I do that? I really just couldn’t go a week without weighing myself.

And then I went to Costco and had a few little samples here and there. A french fry here, a little piece of chicken there. And a chocolate bar. I’m allowed to have chocolate but not everyday. And I went to the gym but only ended staying for an hour even though I had A LOT of time I could kill. I know its probably ridiculous but I just don’t feel good because I don’t think I’m losing weight. Plateau this soon? AH! I know I am probably overreacting and obsessing. I just want to keep on losing!

I so need to stop being so hard on myself. Ya think?

Last night I ate some tasty food and I don’t feel bad. Before going on the South Beach Diet I would always order pizza with my friends or go to the 24 hour grocery store and get chips and donuts and buffalo chicken tenders! Last night I ended up eating raspberries, laughing cow cheese, whole grain crackers, and a couple glasses of wine and it was all on the SBD! I felt like I wasn’t eating well but I actually did! And it was all tasty. I’ve discovered the Riesling is my favorite wine.

I think not weighing myself every single day is going to be a good thing. I’m not feeling guilty about every little thing today and I feel like I know I will succeed this week. I don’t think I will overdo it but I also won’t go off my diet. I think its going to work out overall. I got someone to hide the scale from me. Hopefully that will keep me from obsessing. So far so good!

I really shouldn’t be this frustrated but I am! I also shouldn’t weigh myself everyday. I stepped on the scale this morning after a 1500 calorie workout yesterday and I actually gained two pounds. I know I had a little bit more dark chocolate than I should have but really? 2 lbs? I know I am probably overreacting. I think I’m becoming a bit obsessed. I’m doing well. I’m eating healthy and I’m exercising. I’m really not doing anything wrong. So why am I not happy with the results? I’ve lost 25 pounds in a month. I just need to be proud of myself.

Does anyone else feel like no matter what it won’t be good enough? No matter how much I exercise, no matter how healthy I eat, how much sleep I get, and how much water I drink, sometimes I just feel like I will never reach my goal. I’ve been dieting too long to sometimes see the end results. I need to stop thinking like this.

For this week my goal is to put the scale away and weigh myself a week from today. Then I won’t be so obsessed and I will hopefully get a happy number next Wednesday. I can do this. I need to keep telling myself that. And even when I feel like giving up and eating a chickfila sandwich or a burger from five guys I have already come this far. I can’t give up. I need to just keep watching the Biggest Loser. Those people work their asses off.

So I just needed to rant about my frustration even if I do seem absolutely ridiculous.

Well, last night I went to cheesecake factory. I watched as everyone stuffed themselves with delicious pasta dishes and huge pieces of cheesecakes. Here are the results. I had:

• Half an egg roll
• Two cups of no sugar green tea
• goblet of fresh strawberries (for 6.50 i might add. I can go to the supermarket and get a pound for that much)
• three chips with spinach dip
• two bites of chicken

SO I DID IT!!! I didn’t have any cheesecake and eating before I left helped a lot. I really wasn’t that hungry. I did want the cheesecake but it ended up being fine! AND IT PAID OFF!!

I lost 2 more pounds so now I have lost a total of 25 pounds!! In celebration of that I actually went to the gym and worked off 1500 calories! I can’t believe all the progress I have made in such a short time. And this blog is actually helping. It motivates me even more when people comment. Haha. I’m happy:)

So tonight, in just 30 minutes, I will be going to The Cheesecake Factory. Let me just say I LOVE CHEESECAKE! They used to have a low carb cheesecake with half the calories but I just called and they said they were revising the menu and they took that item off the list. Why would they do that? That is absolutely ridiculous. Those slices range from 700 - 1300 calories. That means I can’t get anything.

I thought heavily about perhaps going off my diet for just a day. I went back and forth for the longest time. If I just eat half a piece it will be fine…If I just skip dinner it will be fine…If I work out a lot tomorrow it will all be fine. Realistically I could eat a piece of cheesecake if I wanted to. Whats the big deal right? Everyone else will be stuffing their faces. Lately I feel left out because of the healthy eating lifestyle I’ve chosen. Does it ever just feel like its moving too slow? I have almost 75 more pounds to lose until I get to my goal weight. That seems unfathomable. Restaurants

BUT this is how I started thinking LAST TIME I went off my diet and ending up gaining 50 pounds in a year. SO I will NOT go off my diet. I will eat a “goblet of fresh strawberries” and I won’t even have a bite. It will help me to know I’m ALLOWED to have a bite and it isn’t my only chance for cheesecake.

My goal is ultimately worth it. These kinds of things are SO hard along the way but this time I am GOING to do this. I will fight my cravings and stick to South Beach and be healthy. I do not NEED cheesecake.