STODD251's SparkPeople Blog

Day 1

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:25:16 EST

I am going to count today as day 1 of a streak of good eating and see how long I can make it last. I think I am going to start a calendar to keep track of the days where I stay within my calories and really just hyperfocus on the nutritional aspect of things. At the beginning of the month, I had decided to make it all about exercise, but that apparently is not working for me. I think the missing link is consistency with my eating habits. I am typically good for most of the day until I start l...

Checking in

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:13:15 EST

So, I am going to track again. If I stick to my plan, I'll be in good shape for today. It should be easy because I already have all the food ready to eat or heat, unless the boyfriend changes my plans for this evening.... I need to start being dedicated to this lifestyle and commit to daily workouts and tracking and actually eating what I put in my tracker. I have pushed back my goal, so that if I really buckled down and actually lost 1-2 pounds a week, I would be at my goal of 150 by my sist...

Little to no progress...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:28:32 EST

I'm getting frustrated. The good news/bad news is that this morning I weighed in at 169.8.... I'm still straddling that 170 line and I'm starting to think I will never see 150s ever again. I have been trying to be consistent with diet and exercise, but I've come to the conclusion that I really just need to crack down and be super strict and workout like a maniac in order to lose any weight. Any recommendations on intense, but manageable workout videos/programs that I can get today and start a...

Uh Oh!

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:27:11 EST

My sister came home for my graduation and brought her bridesmaid dresses which just came in and it doesn't fit all that great... I think I just need to lose like an inch off my waist and hips and it will look much better, but I'm not happy that it doesn't fit. It means that I've gotten a little out of control lately. Not good...

Good news, but tough weekend for nutrition and exercise

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:44:00 EST

good news...
- my fridge is fixed
-i'm graduating tomorrow
-it's friday
-i already got in 3 decent workouts this week

tough stuff...
-grandfather's birthday tonight=lots of delicious (high calorie) homemade food
-graduation dinner=going out to eat=more high calorie options
-graduation drinks=drinking calories, which I typically try to avoid
-being busy all weekend=no time to exercise
-my friend/workout buddy wants to give up=I need to tr...

Another Setback

Wed, 15 May 2013 08:01:39 EST

My fridge stopped working. That means all my healthy yogurt and eggs and all of the protein sources I normally rely on had to be thrown away and I am relegated to eating fruit and packaged stuff that does not require refrigeration. I am hoping this will be fixed soon, but until then I bought enough packaged stuff to get me through until the weekend. As long as I keep the portions under control, I think it will be all right and hopefully it won't even last that long.

In better news,...

Discouraged

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:12:27 EST

I'm having a hard time finding the motivation to get started again. I'm starting to get discouraged because I am unhappy with the way my stomach has been looking lately. I'm actually liking my arms, but my stomach needs some serious work. I think it's something that strength training alone is not going to fix. I need to buckle down and eat right again. I think it may be time for me to go to a totally fixed diet. Plan something simple, and easy, and nutritious that will just be what I eat ever...

stuck

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:16:28 EST

I am feeling stuck at my current weight. Every morning I have been weighing in between 170 and 171 pounds. I know that this is not where I want to be. Granted my nutrition was not perfect at the beginning of the week, but I've been doing better the last couple of days and I have been working out. It is hard for me to make time for working out as much as I would like and I feel like I am just making excuses, but it's hard. I have a great plan for today and I am bound and determined to stick to...

First Week of the Fitness Challenge

Mon, 6 May 2013 09:11:59 EST

I am now one week into the citywide fitness challenge and already I feel like I am not doing so well. I worked out 4/7 days this week. That's a little better than my usual 2-3, but not as good as I had hoped. Also I noticed that I have started giving myself too much leeway on the nutritional end of things. I definitely indulged more than I should have over the past week, which is why I have seen hardly any progress this week. This weekend was the worst because, although I did run on Saturday ...

Ready for a day of rest

Thu, 2 May 2013 10:15:05 EST

I've been going strong all week, but I am definitely ready for a rest. Just walking around at work today, I can feel every muscle in my legs (even a few I didn't totally realize were there) It probably doesn't help that I'm also a little achy (due to it being a certain time of the month), but that being said I am ready for a rest day. Tonight will be the first time since Sunday that I will be able to see my boyfriend, so I think the plan will be to just relax. I'm hoping to maybe go for a nic...

A Beautiful May Day

Wed, 1 May 2013 09:12:49 EST

Typically I am an evening exerciser, but as a part of the fitness challenge, there was a 6 am urban trail walk/run planned. I had promised myself that I would at least try all of the scheduled activities before making a schedule to stick to for the remainder of the challenge. Therefore this morning, I was up at 5:30 to throw on my workout clothes and be ready to head out as soon as my friend got to my house at 5:45. The trail runs very conveniently right around the block that I live on, so we...

Finishing the Month Strong

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:47:59 EST

I must say that I really regret letting myself slack off over the past month, but I'm getting back on track and trying to finish the month off strong. There is no way that I will reach the 1,000 fitness minutes goal that I would ideally have liked to meet, but I guess 765 will be as close as I get this month. Next month will be a different story. I am really hopping to get on track and for once, I'm not planning a weight loss goal. I aam going to try taking the next month and focusing only on...

Fitness Challenge Stats Day 1

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:05:02 EST

So, yesterday I quickly posted that I had joined a fitness challenge. When I signed up, they took our measurements, so for all the world to see: Here are my stats:

Weight 175 lbs
Waist 30 in
Body Fat 27%

I just wanted to record it, so that I'll be able to have something to compare after the challenge is over. It's basically a month and a half long, culminating in a 5K on June 8th.... I think I am going to sign up... Time to look up Sparkpeople's couch to 5K pla...

Fitness Challenge

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:15:21 EST

So a coworker sent out an email about a citywide fitness challenge and apparently our school is going to have a team, so my coworker and I just drove over and signed up for the challenge. Basically they took all our measurements and we'll have a bunch of activities that we can sign up for over the next month and a half. They also are encouraging us to sign up for a 5K June 8th, and I am strongly considering doing it. At the very least, I'm going to try to update my fitness level and try out s...

It feels good to eat healthy

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:18:34 EST

I had kind of forgotten how it felt to eat healthily. I had a delicious and healthy vegetarian taco salad for dinner, so low calorie that I could afford to spring for a beer as well (It was a stressful day, but I stopped at one beer) This morning, after a delicious breakfast of oatmeal with blueberries and granola thrown in for a touch of sweetness, I was feeling pretty good. I started noticing that I didn't feel bloated and gross, simply eating better made me feel better about myself. I hav...

Yesterday

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:10:48 EST

Well, I did okay yesterday.... I could have been better, but I was pretty good. It was a long day at work, and when I got home I sort of just wanted to crash, but I knew I had things to do. I had to go buy groceries and go for a walk like I said that I would. When I first got home, I tried to sit down, but the dog wasn't having it. She wanted to go out and play. I went to the grocery store, bought the food I needed for the week, with a couple substitutions for things on sale. At that point, I...

Back to the real world

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:55:16 EST

For the past week, I've been living in a delusional world where I can eat and drink whatever I want to because it's "vacation", not that I went away or anything unless you count going to my parents and helping my sister with wedding plans. Because of my poor choices this past week, my weight has crept back up over 170, but I'm going to start changing things today. I think what I need to do is come up with some meal plans and manageable goals and start really tracking again. I will go shopping...

The things you learn from photographs

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:49:07 EST

This picture of me from yesterday's event was posted online today... Looking at this picture, two things seem obvious to me. One: I clearly love reenacting. I had no idea this photo was being taken, so that's just apparently how I look at reenactments. It's like playing dress up and getting to teach people about history all day. The other thing I noticed was that I still have some work to do. My constant refrain o...

Birthdays should not be an excuse to eat badly

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:27:25 EST

Since my birthday on Tuesday, I have been noticing that a lot of people are saying to me, "It's okay to eat/drink/indulge/not work out" I want to know why a birthday should be an excuse to eat poorly... It doesn't make much sense and doesn't seem like a wise way to start the next year of my life. Granted, I have given in a little bit, but I am also trying to listen to my body and not eat unless I am actually hungry. There always seems to be an excuse to put off making the right choices. While...

A year in my life (with pictures)

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:50:08 EST

A year ago, this was me on my 25th birthday

Yesterday, I donned the same dress to make a little comparison...
My initial thought was, "Wow, my hair has grown!" But I think maybe I have made progress in other ways as well. For example, my arms are more toned now.

Over the last year, I have made a lot of life changes. I started...

Weekend

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 07:52:05 EST

The weekend wasn't altogether bad, but I noticed something. Saturday, when I sat around doing nothing but watching tv was not a great day... Sunday, on the other hand, was a lot of fun. I went for a hike with the boyfriend and the dog. After that we went for a stroll around Gloucester before having dinner at a place with a jazz band. It was a way better day. All of us really appreciated getting some fresh air. Now with the days getting warmer, I think it's time to start having more days like ...

Trainer Troubles...

Thu, 4 Apr 2013 21:01:24 EST

So I don't know why this keeps happening to my friend and I... we start getting in a groove with a personal trainer and then something happens to throw everything off... Now our personal trainer has decided that he only wants to work 6:30 am to 2 pm. My friend and I are both teachers. We can't workout at that time. He's trying to work with us because he doesn't want to just dump us, but we both have very busy schedules... I think we might cut down the personal training and take some classes a...

Good day so far...

Wed, 3 Apr 2013 13:26:15 EST

Started off the morning with corn muffins... I am running low on groceries right about now so I resorted to the Jiffy mix. I suppose it's better than nothing. After that, a couple of almonds were sufficient to keep me going all morning. For lunch, it was leftover pasta with ground turkey, spinach, and tomato sauce. I finished it up with Greek yogurt, with blueberries and granola for a little bit of sweetness...

It looks nice out today, but I'm afraid it's probably cold. Regardles...

One day down

Tue, 2 Apr 2013 11:48:06 EST

It's now the second day of April and my motivation is already waning...
It wasn't a bad day yesterday (not really). I ate mostly healthy meals, but may have indulged in a couple of cookies yesterday. The plan was to just eat one... but that didn't happen. The good news is now there are no more cookies, just a little bit of chocolate (not even good chocolate). But the big change today is I realized that I NEED to start tracking again. I have been letting it go by the wayside. That's fin...

Finally starting to feel better

Mon, 1 Apr 2013 12:52:06 EST

This cold has totally kicked my butt. The good news is that I didn't let it stop me from getting in two, good, hour-long workouts at the gym and a couple of shorter walks with the dog. The other good news is that it's finally going away. Just a little sniffling, coughing, irritated eyes, tiredness, and headache left. I'll take it...

I figure that being April 1st, it would be good to reflect on the last month and plan for the upcoming month. In March, I did far from my ideal amount...

yucky

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:18:20 EST

It started this weekend. A sore throat, then a stuffy nose. This morning I am a little feverish, my heady is all congested and I don't want to keep my eyes open, but I'm at work because it's MCAS week and we need all hands on deck. My basic plan is to just get through the work day, go home, take a little nap, and then hit the gym. If I hadn't already scheduled this time at the gym, it would be so easy to tell myself I didn't have to go. I won't push myself too hard, but maybe the workout will...

Crazy morning so far

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:16:31 EST

I've been running around like crazy this morning, trying to get everything done that needs to be done. I am only now sitting down to eat my very cold toast. I also brought fruit to eat, but that will have to wait for my next spare second.

Just a quick blurb today, but I'm still pretty much on track. Last night's cheeseburger club probably wasn't the best choice, but after an hour at the gym and the fact it was almost 9 before I got to eat; quick and easy take-out seemed like a good...

So far, so good

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:26:23 EST

It's only been 3 days since I recommitted to eating healthy, but so far, I've done all right. As of this morning, I weighed in at 166 lbs, not bad... that's only 7 pounds from being into the healthy range for my height. I did have a friend tell me I looked good and didn't need to lose any more weight, but I explained to her that I just want to be healthy and part of that will mean losing a little bit more weight. I know I look pretty good, but I can do better for myself so why quit?

New Commitments... Again

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:54:49 EST

It seems to be a pattern. I know the right choices to make, I do it for a while, I get lazy and start allowing for indulgences, then it's time to recommit. After a somewhat successful month of avoiding alcohol, now is the time to really commit to healthy eating. If I can do as well as I did with the alcohol that would be great. In my month of avoiding alcohol, I only cheated twice. That's not too bad... or maybe it is. Regardless, now I am going to commit to healthy eating. Starting today.

I stepped on the scale last night

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:32:13 EST

Maybe I just wanted to torture myself. I was already feeling miserable. It's that time of the month and I had a horrible headache, I was feeling nauseous, I was exhausted from a full day of work, tutoring, and the gym, I hadn't been home for over 12 hours and I guess I either wasn't thinking or felt like torturing myself some more. But for whatever reason, I stepped on the scale and it actually wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Even though I was weighing at night (usually I weigh first thing ...

Afraid to step on the scale

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:00:43 EST

I used to weigh pretty regularly. I have not been eating really well and so I have been avoiding the scale. I don't really want to know what it has to say because I can see the little spots on my body where weight is coming back... not much but enough that I know the scale will not make me happy. I guess that's a sign that I need to recommit and not have crazy splurge-filled weekends like this past weekend. Bad idea to splurge too much. I was so full yesterday that I had trouble getting to sl...

Need more sleep

Thu, 7 Mar 2013 08:24:53 EST

I feel like I have been going non-stop. I did actually get to bed early last night, but I still feel like I need more sleep. I would love to think that I could catch up on some sleep this weekend, but it's going to be another busy weekend. Fortunately my sisters' bridal shower is this weekend, so after that I'll have less running around to do. My lack of blogging in recent days is definitely in part because I have still been running around like crazy even though the moving is over. One of the...

All moved in!

Fri, 1 Mar 2013 11:00:47 EST

This is good news for many reasons.
1: It takes a lot of stress off of me.
2: I get to live in a pretty, new apartment.
3: I can devote more time to my healthy lifestyle.

Here is a picture of my nice new kitchen:

My living room:

My bedroom which seems enormous:

New Sparkfriends

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 08:18:58 EST

So I've been having a great week off from school... not diet-wise, but that's another story. I've been home and had the opportunity to hang out with my sisters a little bit, even if most of the time has been spent doing wedding planning stuff... But, one of my sisters now has a sparkpage. Her name on here is KRISTENLYNNE143 and you should all friend her and help me support her as she works on losing a few pounds before her wedding.

Here's some fun pictures of me and Kristen:
...

A New Pledge

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 23:11:19 EST

So after a weekend of much eating and drinking and being very merry, my boyfriend and I have decided that we're going to eat healthy and not drink until St. Patrick's Day. Hopefully I can manage to stick to that... it's only about a month. Small goals will get me one step closer to where I want to be...

A much belated post...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:27:37 EST

So I had done the January Jumpstart Fitness Challenge last month, but I don't think I saw a lot of results... I did take some pictures to show everyone but I haven't bothered posting them. Now that I am sort of lacking in motivation and have totally slacked off, I figured maybe I would post the photos and see what you all think...

Here are the Before Pictures:

2. Do daily devotionals- I have been very faithful with this goal. I did a devotional every day either in the morning or before I went to bed.

3. Attend one mee...

Making the last day of January great!

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:09:08 EST

So far...
a good night's sleep
healthy breakfast
lots of water

Still to come...
not too bad for me lunch (although it includes a slice of homemade pizza)
lots more water
trip to the gym after work and tutoring to workout with a new personal trainer
healthy dinner
go to bed early

Should make for a great day... I'll be taking photos tomorrow of myself and my motivational calendar. Don't know that I've made a lot of progress this mont...

No Gym Today :(

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:52:50 EST

My original plan included the gym for today, but alas my friend doesn't want to go, so we're not going... I'm actually feeling a little bit sad, but I think it could be a good thing. My arm has been bothering me a little, so I don't know if I did something to it. I'll have to try to take it easy on my arms on Thursday when I get back to the gym.

Now the real challenge will be keeping my nutrition in check tonight. My friend and I are going out after class tonight. Between snacks i...

Getting there

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:29:23 EST

Workout on Monday, Check! Eat healthy on Monday, Check!

Pack clothes for the gym today, Check! Pack healthy foods, Check!

So far the week is off to a good start. I got in a good workout last night, nothing major but enough to satisfy me and leave me feeling pretty good. Following that I had dinner with my workout buddy. We did Subway so we could be reasonably healthy. It was also a great opportunity for us to catch up with each other. It has been a crazy time for both of...

The plan for this week

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:55:59 EST

All right.. so I had decided to finish off the week strong. As of last night I was thinking I was going to need to move back home this Thursday. Fortunately I have bought myself a little more time in my current place, but with the lack of decent places out there , the stresses in my life are not going anywhere, but I am going to push past it and exercise like crazy this week. With any luck, it will be a good stress reliever.

Monday- After working all day and eating as well as I can...

I worked out today

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 17:10:20 EST

I'm supposed to be doing the January Jumpstart Challenge, but I think I got lazy after working out every day for the first two weeks. My time at the gym has definitely tapered off. I am trying to stay active, but sometimes that just hasn't happened. But today, I worked out. My friend and I actually got a pretty good workout in and we found out who our new trainer is going to be. My friend is super excited because it's the guy she has sort of had a crush on for a while now. We're having our fi...

Random thoughts

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:54:15 EST

I was thinking this morning about a comment my father had made. He is always calling me and telling me what he eats. Ever since he lost a whole bunch of weight a couple years ago, he goes through phases of eating right and then totally giving up and eating whatever he wants. He says moderation doesn't work for him. In his mind, he either has to be completely perfectly healthy or go totally overboard. There is no middle ground. I could talk about my frustration with this viewpoint of his for a...

Time for me to stop complaining

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:24:19 EST

I've been sitting here and am realizing how negative my blogs have been lately. I feel like crap, my life is too busy, blah blah blah. Noone cares. It doesn't really help me or anyone else for me to complain about my life. It just makes me sound whiny and negative, and that is not who I want to be. I read Frenchifal's blog today entitled "I quit" as well as Sadwhitewolf's blog about how we're all broken. It helped me to realize I've been wallowing in the crap in my life, when I really should ...

Sick and tired and frustrated

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:05:07 EST

I had a long weekend, but I feel more exhausted after the long weekend than I was before. I don't want to be so negative, but I feel sick. I still haven't found a place to live, but I want to move out this weekend. I tracked my weekend to the best of my ability and I didn't do a horrible job about eating because I mostly stayed in the right calorie range, but I didn't make the best food choices.

The one highlight of my weekend was the party I went to with my reenacting regiment. ...