Doing A 180

When you finally reach a goal, it makes all the hard work finally worth it.

The past week and a half, I have been on a more strict diet than usual. I’ve been trying to lose the last couple of pounds to my first goal weight before leaving for vacation tomorrow. These pounds were being awfully stubborn and not coming off easily. The diet was making hangry. I was getting tired of lettuce and spinach and boring foods. I always had a craving for something, not necessarily hungry, just craving. Basically, I was a being a bitch and unfortunately taking it out on my boyfriend.

But good thing he’s the best that’s ever happened to me and just let it slide!  He’s been on this diet too and while he is a silent complainer, I made it very known what I was craving and what I wanted. But he was firm with me and kept reminding me of the goal. The goal that I at one point said I didn’t want anymore, which wasn’t true.

Well, after the struggle that I don’t want to go through again, I reached my goal! Actually, I’m relatively well under my goal. Wednesday morning I had a pound until I reached 180lbs and this morning I was a 178.6lbs. Goodbye water weight!

Reaching my goal isn’t only exciting because I reached a goal by deadline I had set for myself, but it’s also a motivator. I was getting discouraged and just wanted to eat what I felt like. I was tired (mentally) of eating less and working out more. This was not a good mindset to walk into vacation with, where food will already be a little more unhealthy and working out a little hard.

But now I’m motivated to keep going and to be good the whole! My mood is completely different from earlier this week and it’s a good mindset to walk in to vacation with.

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Workout: 2.4 miles at 10.25/mi pace; 18 minutes on an elliptical; ab exercises

Something Good: I went above and beyond (under and below?) my goal weight!

Something Bad: There’s still one more day of work after this before vacation

What I’m Reading: Lord Foulgrin’s Letters by Randy Alcorn ( written as an updated version of The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis)

Skeletons In My Closet (Literally)

The thing about losing weight is that you also lose a lot of clothes. Clothes you like, clothes that look good on you, clothes that you have memories in. Some pieces of my clothing I have a true sentimental value for. I wore this on my first date with Anthony. I wore this when we got back together. I wore this for Christmas Eve and rocked it. I wore this one for New Year’s Eve and looked like a disco ball.

Every morning I look at myself, sans clothes, and am proud of the progress I have made but as soon as I put on clothes that are two sizes too big I’m almost dejected because I don’t look good as I could in them. People won’t notice all my weight loss dammit! Lol.

But clothes are expensive and summer is almost over so it doesn’t make sense to buy new clothes for the summer when I’ll only wear them for another month or so. Especially since my weight loss journey isn’t over yet. Instead, I’m holding out till fall where I’ll buy all new fall and winter clothes and then summer clothes next year.

This in-between period is hard though. Things I bought I only a month ago are already too big. And they were a size smaller than I used to wear! Oh well, such is the life of someone losing weight. I’m ok with shelling out a little more money right now clothes if that means I’m ultimately losing more weight.

It is pretty therapeutic to clean out your closet though. It’s something I’ve always meant to do. There are clothes in there I haven’t worn in ages. There are shirts that haven’t looked good on me no matter what my size but I held on to for sentimental reasons. There are clothes I wore in college and no longer appropriate in a professional setting. Losing weight has given me a very good reason to overhaul my closet and fill it with classic pieces. I will be able to cultivate that I truly appreciate and create new memories.

So now I’m going to shamelessly plug a couple of dresses that I’m selling because like I said, clothes are expensive. Only $10 a piece! Most of them I’ve only worn a handful of times.

• Nine & CO yellow size 16 dress
• Lauren Conrad Size XL sequin dress (silver)
• Charlotte Russe Size XL dress
• Nicole Miler aqua dress Size 16
• Michelle Bohbot Bisou Bisou size 16 pattern dress

So when you hit your goal weight, did you buy yourself any special clothing or shoes or accessories? Or are you going to treat yourself when you hit it?

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Workout: 25 minutes on ellipitcal, 25 minutes weight lifting (legs, abs), 10 minutes walking up-hill

Something Good: Watching The Sound of Music outside on a big hill and eating delicious food truck food

Something Bad: Summer Fridays when I’m not the one getting off early

What I’m Reading: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

Cravings on Cravings on Cravings

My weight was down again, which I’m extremely happy about but makes no sense since I ate so much yesterday 😳. I’m just going to take it and eat good the rest of the week! BTW, I added updated photos to The Changes page. You guys should see how far I’ve come since I was last here.

That whole eating good the rest of the week though feels like a struggle. In between meals I am constantly craving food. I’m not hungry at all, I just want to eat. Losing weight is as much a mind game as it is a physical game.

I am curious though, am I hungry because it’s a habit to eat all the time or is it because I’m missing something healthy from my diet? If you’ve been on Pinterest and in the Health and Fitness section, I’m sure you’ve seen this chart before or something similar. 

Essentially it’s telling you what your body actually needs if you’re cravings sweets, sugar, salty snacks, etc. I personally have never tested the theory, to see if those unhealthy craving go away once you eat the healthy food. Has anyone else tried it? Any thoughts?

I wish I was one of those people who could get rid of my cravings by drinking a lot of water but I already drink about 144oz a day. Cravings are just something my mind will have to get over. What do I want more, the body or the cookie? I wish I could say I always picked the body 😬. 

What kind of cravings do you guys have that you can’t resist?

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Workout: 3 mile run (9:50/mile pace on treadmill), 15 minutes of weight lifting (arms, back)

Something Good: My spinach salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette sounded better than Anthony’s enchilada. 

Something Bad: M&Ms. All the M&Ms. 

What I’m Listening To: Hotline Bling – Drake