Walk this way October 31, 2007

Ryan and I went on a walk around 11pm tonight. Why so late? We both calculated our BMI info and discovered that we’re both obese. The fact that we’re not morbidly obese isn’t much comfort, either.

So, we went on a walk/jog. It was really minimal jogging for me because I just can’t breathe when I run. I tried, though, with short bursts of energy. It was a really good trip and I feel better for having gone.

When I got home, I discovered that our route was nearly two miles (1.9 to be exact)! Now we only need to walk another 6.8 miles out of our 11 miles this week!

In case your interested in checking, I find a website where you can plot out your exercise route and find the distance. Go to this site to check it out for yourself!

For the calorie counter in you October 31, 2007

Just found a great site with a lot of good calculators for weight loss, BMI, calories and all kinds of other stuff. The site, called Calories per Hour, seems like a great resource! They even have food and nutrition information for about every fast food restaurant under the sun. Not that going to fast food restaurants is the best place to find healthy food.

Anyway, check out the website at www.caloriesperhour.com. Enjoy!

Success! October 31, 2007

I did it! I made it through Halloween without eating a single piece of candy. Some people might think that’s a silly thing to be excited about, either because it “shouldn’t be that hard” or because Halloween is a day for celebrating. However, I have a serious sweet tooth and it was definitely an obstacle to overcome.

And while I did eat a cookie and some ice cream, I monitored how much I ate and kept track of it. I feel a bit better already!

Day 2: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 October 31, 2007

Breakfast

• Oatmeal = 160 cal.
• coffee = 0
• milk = 50 cal.

Lunch

• chicken flatbread sandwich = 310 cal.
• salad w/light balsamic vinaigrette = 130 cal.
• cookie = 100 cal.

Dinner

• corn (1 cup) = 132 cal.
• 3 pieces wheat toast = 240
• apple butter = 20
• ice cream = 125 cal.

Grand total = 1267 cal.

Correction! October 31, 2007

Awesome news! I just walked next door to Quizno’s for lunch and planned on getting a salad. I’m really hungry though and was craving a sandwich. I discovered that I must have misread something because their new “Flatbread Sammies” are all under 350 calories! The sandwich that I quoted at 800 calories yesterday was only 310! That means I ate 920 calories, which is awesome!

 I wound up getting the Alpine Chicken sandwich (with cheddar instead of swiss) and a side salad with light Balsamic vinaigrette. The whole thing was under 500 calories and cost me $4.30!!

Body image blues October 30, 2007

Isn’t it funny how gaining or losing weight can make a huge impact on so many different areas on your body? You’d think that they’d all react the same way (gaining makes them look worse or losing makes them look better, for example) but that’s not necessarily the case.

I’ve been overweight most of my life – wide hips, solid thighs, and overall, a body that isn’t go to blow away in a faint breeze. So gaining weight has made things such as my thighs, hips, stomach and arms look even worse, which is to be expected. The odd thing is that I gained some cleavage. And I know that, once I start losing weight, it will disappear again. The whole thing just makes me ask, yet again, what is the amazing power that boobs hold over men? They’re just fat -  I don’t get it.

No trick or treat for this good witch October 30, 2007

Who starts a diet/lifestyle change the day before Halloween?! We all know that the end of the year is horrible for trying to lose weight. Guess that’s why I gave myself so much time.

I plan to arm myself with lots of fruits and veggies tomorrow. When I was on Weight Watchers in college I got to the point where I craved carrots, silly as that may sound. And if I crave carrots, apples or any other healthy snack more than I crave chocolate, I’ll have won a major battle.

Day 1: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 October 30, 2007

Who starts a new diet/fitness regime/whatever on a Tuesday? Genius! (ha)

Well, today was my first full day of my “lifestyle change”. I really want to be successful in the long-term, so I’m trying to be more conscientious of what I’m eating and how much I’m exercising.

Breakfast:

• small bowl of oatmeal = 160 cal.
• coffee = 0 cal.
• 1% milk = 50 cal.

Lunch:

• small flatbread chicken sandwich (w/ranch and cheddar) = 800 cal.
• small salad with light ranch = 100 cal.

Dinner:

• tortilla chips = 180 cal.
• cheese = 110 cal.
• salsa = 10 cal.

Grand total: 1410 cal.

Not great but it could definitely be worse! And for my first day of actually paying attention, it’s not too bad at all.

Ryan and I thought about going on a walk tonight but it was right after we’d eaten dinner. It’s hard for me to be too thrilled about exercising at that point because I’ll just get a cramp in my side or something. It’s happened many times. We did go on a 2.3 mile walk last night, though. My goal is to walk 11 miles per week to keep off the excess weight. Only 8.7 more miles to go!

Introduction October 29, 2007

I am a 28.5-year-old woman. I have been overweight for as long as I can remember. That may mean nothing to some of you but to me it means that I have 1.5 years to slim down before my skin really starts to lose elasticity. Can I lose weight at 32? I surely hope so, but I need to get this ball rolling sooner rather than later.

The purpose of this blog is to help motivate me. If I am challenged to write what I’ve done on a particular day I think it will only add to my motivation. And it may help me to stay away from those “three glasses of wine” evenings altogether.

Currently, my weight is about 220 lbs. and I am 5′11″. I write “about 220 lbs.” because I don’t own a scale. Well, one that still works, anyway. It was around 220 at the doctor’s office last week so we’ll just go with that for now. I have a very high amount of body fat to boot! I was in band growing up and marching band was my only “sport”. Not that marching band isn’t tough – I thought some of those parades would never end! – but it’s no soccer.

My goal weight is 160. That will get me back to the size where I felt the most confident of my life. But in addition to merely losing weight, I’m hoping to eat smaller portions of food in more meals throughout the day, exercise more, and become healthier overall. I plan to lose one to two pounds per week (man, I need that scale!) so the whole ordeal should take about a year. I’m giving myself until the end of December 2008, four months before my 30th birthday, to attain my goal weight. And then on my birthday I have permission to blow it all! (Kidding, kidding.)

So, if you’re interested in reading about my progress, stop back nightly.