Sitting Pretty in the City

Well, halfway into my 31 days, I thought I should come here and post an update on what’s been going on!!  School has gotten crazy busy (thus the no posting), but mostly in a good way…just getting a lot of things done and participating in a lot of activities.  I weighed in this morning at 150.5..YAY.  Only 1 and a half pounds more and I’ll be at my first goal of 149! (Ten pounds lost since I moved.)  We have a dinner out tonight with my girlfriends, but I am busy all day, so I think I can do a good job of eating well all day and having enough calories to eat out tonight.

On a non-diet note, I’ve been having really bad foot problems, like this weird tingling in the bottom of my arch whenever I work out.  I am going to doctor in a week to see what’s going on, but it is sooo bothering me.  I hate not being able to work out, I get really depressed and antsy.  Thankfully I’m super busy until Sunday and wouldn’t have had time to workout anyway.  I’m just trying to keep a positive attitude about the whole thing and remember that MOST of weight loss is food, not exercise.  Still, I just LOVE working out, so it makes me sad =(

Oh, the boy situation didn’t work out…we are on the same team all year at school and decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to date…I can see that point and am not totally devastated by it. I still get to see him every day, and now I have more time to date other guys =)

xo

M

My last post was so many days ago!!  I think it was Wednesday..my official day one =)  So days two (Thurs) went well…Friday, not so much.  I had a really good day until dinner, when I totally ate too much dessert.  I am going to throw away the culprits, though (cupcakes from my friends birthday) today so there is no more temptation.  Yesterday was ok as well, and today I am up early to go to spin class and have a healthy day!

On a non-diet note, I have a new boy in my life…we’ll see how that goes =)  Maybe he was impressed with my new spirit lol.  It’s kind of funny how those things happen when you are happy with yourself (at least I feel like that happens a lot)

I’ll update more later!!  Going to be late for spin class =)

Yesterday was a great day 1 of the next 31 days of my life =)  I met up with my friends at dinner and ordered an appetizer (which I shared) and a salad for dinner - yum!  I also had some delicious grilled bread which I probably didn’t absolutely need, but it was delicious!  Then I had half of a cupcake for dessert and left feeling full but not stuffed.  My weigh in this morning was high, but I think that was just because of pigging out for two days and then eating out so late last night.  Today I am going to go workout and then go to two classes with a meeting in between…I love my first class, but the second one is really awful.  I am trying to be positive though - this is only Day 2 after all =)  After class I am going shopping with this new friend I just met - there is an 80s party tonight for my school, and we are going to try to find some vintage 80s dresses - fun!!  I’m hoping it will be a fun afternoon and evening, full of great things and no bad food!  After Bikram last night, I realized how much I really do love that class.  I am going to go tomorrow (Friday) at 5:30..not exactly happy hour, but I know I’ll feel great when I’m done =)

Today’s Weigh in: 155 (boo)

Goal weight: Still 139!!

I was reading a magazine the other day, and it had quotes from successful athletes.  One of the quotes (from the former Mrs. Armstrong) was regarding goals - she said that she set short terms goals, even daily goals, to reach her dreams.  I am going to spend the next 31 days doing just this - stop pretending to be this fit person who then binges on carbohydrates (pizza, chips, cookies, and cakes).  I want to push myself to do more things, enjoy life more, and stop being so hung up every time I make a bad decision (like pigging out like I did yesterday because I was stressed out about my midterm).  I didn’t get any enjoyment from what I ate yesterday, I just felt sick and gross when I got home (and couldn’t even do any more studying).  I’m making a goal for the next 31 days (until my favorite holiday - Halloween) to live every day to the fullest - eating only the best food, the snacks that I love and make me feel great, and participating in the activities that make me feel (and look) like the person I want to be.  I want it to be automatic, to walk right past the chocolate and not even want a piece.  I know that won’t happen at first, but I want to remember (at least for 31 days), that I can come back here and talk about what I accomplished today.  Today, I went to spin class at lunch even though I was SO TIRED, and then went to Bikram yoga even though I had never been to a studio in Philadelphia since I moved here.  It was fantastic, and I am so happy.  I got home and found out I got a hundred on my statistics quiz, and now I’m going to go meet some new friends for a birthday dinner.   All great things, and all because I got my booty up at 6 am this morning to study, and had a great day filled with productive happy things =)  I am so excited - what a great day one!

xo

So after a good weigh in on Monday morning (I lost a pound last week, yay!) I had to study late last night…I was actually ok most of the day, with the exception of a little bit of chocolate in the afternoon.  Then, around 10:30 when I started to get tired, I went on a total binge.  I had half a sandwich leftover from dinner and half a biscotti cookie, neither of which I needed.  Then when I got home, I had a bowl of cereal and half a cookie.  Why?  For no real reason.  Now I just feel bleh and have to go study more.  I don’t like acting like this, like I’m out of control of what I’m eating.  I feel like I’ve identified my weak points - in the afternoon and studying late after dinner.  Now that I’ve identified that those are my weaknesses, I need to work to fix them.  I have my midterm tonight at 6, so I know I can keep myself together until then (I’ll need the brain food!)  After my midterm, I have to work on a group project and study for another quiz tomorrow, which I know won’t be great but if I can be mentally strong, I can make it through without the carbohydrate binge  I am going to be strong today so I can lose weight this week - one day will not make or break my diet!

This morning I weighed in at 152.5, finally!!  I have weighed in at 154 the past three weeks (my official weigh in is Monday) and I am going to be soo excited if i actually lose weight this week.  I have been eating a lot of sweets this week, but have been mostly staying within my calories.  I’m off for an hour and a half of spinning (yay!!) and then a day of working on class projects (boo), but I know I can eat well today tooooo.  Yay!

Weigh in yesterday: 153 (by some miracle)

Goal: Still 139!

Yesterday and the day before I really did a poor job of sticking to my diet.  I think I’ve identified the bad time though and am going to figure out what to do about it.  Both yesterday and the day before I got really cranky/tired around 4:30 and decided to best way to get in a better mood was through sugar and caffeine.  On Tuesday I had a chocolate chip muffin for dinner (not healthy and too many calories), and yesterday I had a frappucino from Starbucks and then two cookies at this lecture I went to…then proceeded to come home and have a few saltines with peanut butter, a half cup of ice cream and a diet soda.  None of that was necessary, and I ended up just going to bed and not having enough energy to work late last night. (Probably because of all the sugar and my body crashing!)

I’m reading this book “You on a Diet” which talks alot about the science of eating and how our body reacts to certain food.  It’s really interesting and I’m liking it a lot so far.  I know what sugar and caffeine do to my body - I need to remember that when 4:00 rolls around and be smarter than my tiredness.  I know I can do it!

Today, we have a happy hour for my class and then I’m going to go to dinner with a few of my friends…I’m not going to drink at happy hour (I can use my antibiotics as an excuse) and that way I’ll make good dinner decisions.  I’m going to push for a sushi restaurant where I know I can get a good healthy meal =)

Hahaha - that is a big deal for me!  I don’t really cook that much, but I am trying to eat a more normal schedule with more healthy foods and less coffee and baked goods (which I was letting become like a third of my diet).  So tonight I took some chicken and noodles from leftover chicken soup and mixed it with steamed veggies - yum!

I’m sure everyone’s noticed this - but some days it is so much easier to stay on plan than others.  Today I got a REALLY bad headache around lunch time…I really wanted to just down chocolate, caffeine, something.  I settled for half a bad of M&Ms figuring that couldn’t do TOO much damage.  I just cleaned my dishes, packed up the kitchen, and finished the day at 1400 calories - pretty good considering the chocolate incident =)  I haven’t been able to workout because I hurt my foot and I’ve had this horrible illness, so I’m trying to just not think about how many more calories I could be burning, and just stick to eating right!

I am trying to use my success at eating to make me more “successful” at school - I have a long long list of things to do tonight, so I’m hoping the energy from eating right and avoiding too much caffein will help me though.  Good luck to everyone!!

Weigh in this morning: 154

Halloween Goal: 145 (one pound less than my Halloween goal last year!)

Goal: 139

I used to love my old blog (I’ll include the link at some point), but I thought I’d try out the new 3FC blog and see if I could make some new blog friends =)

A little bit about myself…I am 26 years old (yikes!) and just started grad school on the east coast.  When I was in undergrad, I lost 50 pounds by eating right and exercising.  I was super strict with my diet and exercise routine until I started traveling for work a few years ago…since then I have totally let myself go diet-wise, and have put back on 15 of the pounds I lost.  I know it could be worse, but I HATE not fitting into my clothes and feeling fat.  A lot of the weight I’ve put on this year, and since winter is around the corner, I’m feeling desperate to lose the weight just so I can fit into my clothes!

I feel like a real turning point for me has happened in the past week…I have been treating my body not well the past few months - not eating a lot, but not eating good foods when I do, drinking A LOT (like socially, I don’t think I have an addiction problem!), and not working out as much as I used to.  Moving to a new city that is less exercise-focused has been hard (I used to live in San Francisco where there are soo many opportunities for great activity), and I know my appearance and my well-being has suffered because of it.  I got reaallyyy sick last week and have basically been in bed for three days straight - I think my body just couldn’t take the abuse anymore.  I am ready to lose the weight the right way, stop drinking so much, and restart my previously awesome workout regime.  I would love to be buddies to anyone that needs one - I know we all need support!

Best of luck to everyone - hugs to all!

xo

Michelle

Weight today: Didn’t weigh in bc still feeling so sick..maybe 155?

Goal weight: 139 =)