Day #59: WI and Black Bean Tostadas

Morning bliggity bloggers!

Well as you all know today is weigh in day. Due to the I AM WORTH MORE CHALLENGE, I skipped last week's weigh in but my weigh before the challenge began was 319- and as I wrote about yesterday my February goal was to hit 315 today. And today when I stepped on the scale .... it .... said.....

315!!!!! I absolutely could not freaking believe it! That is a 4lb loss (over 2 weeks) and brings me to a grand total of 37lbs lost!!!! This is the most weight I have ever lost and I'm still a bit mystified that it is actually happening. Yay!

Well, before I go I thought I'd share last night's dinner- Black Bean Tostadas! You all KNOW that this AZ girl loves her some Mexican food so I figure it was high time I try this new recipe!

Ingredients:
2 Trader Joes White Corn Tortillas (sprayed w/cooking spray and baked for 8 mins)
Black Beans
Lettuce (I used Romain)
Trader Joe's Salsa
Fat Free Sour Cream
and of course I had to have a few tortilla chips! I chose TJ's Organic White Corn Tortilla Chips.

Put it all together and viola! All for 455 calories! Oh and in case you weren't able to check out my February evaluation post from yesterday... doooo it! (please!) lol :)

*BIG HUGS*

Day #58: Takin' Care of Business!

Helllloooooo Bloggies!

Alright, I'm officially out of my funk! I was able to make it out of the house for about an hour today so I think all I needed was some fresh air! :)

LOTS of business to attend to today!

First up on the list....

1) Job Update:
Well... I got offered a job yesterday! Don't get too excited- I haven't officially accepted the offer yet, because I still have an interview on Monday for the job that I realllly want. The job that was offered to me is a decent job- I think I could be happy there, it's not too far away, and most importantly it fits w/ the schedule that I need it to. The downside? I'd be making a dollar less than I was before. I know in this economy I should take what I can get but still. Either way, whether it be the job I was offered or the one I'm interviewing on Monday for, I am no longer on the job hunt which just makes me want to get up a do the boogy- b/c I HATE looking for a job- wait... does anyone NOT hate looking for a job!? lol I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

2) Evaluating February (via my Feb goals):
It seems like this was a bit of a rough month for the blog world- we saw quite a few bite the dust and completely deactivate their blogs, even more still struggling with fighting cravings and the social temptation of food, and a few kick butt; either way- in my eyes if you are still chuggin along, you have NOT failed- I am most certainly in that boat.

I look back on February and it definitely brought some unique challenges in regards to this journey...
- Snowmaggedon occured here in Pgh and besides leaving the house only to go to work, my gym routine was threatened and cut short for a little over 2 weeks where I was only able to get there 2-3 times a week instead of the 5 that I'd been aiming for.
- I lost my job and dealt with some SERIOUS stress w/ my mom. These events EASILY would have thrown me off course before but it didn't even phase me one bit- I just kept chugging- and it was my ability to stay true that really showed me how far I've come.
- I identified my 4 Pitiful Pitfalls and also had an epiphany about what it will really take to lose 100lbs this year.

Overall it was a month that wasn't bad, wasn't great, but was most definitely NECESSARY. Alright, let's get to the goals!

I'm trying not to look at things so cut and dry so I've come up with this little system to evaluate how I've done: ***= Goal Achieved! **= Halfway there! *= Needs improvement!

Goal 1: Try 3 New Veggies
2/10/10: Spinach
2/20/10: Broccoli
2/21/10: Celery (by itself)
Result: ***Goal Achieved! As you all know, veggies are foreign objects to me, so even these tiny steps that I'm making are huge for me! I'm ready to step out of my comfort zone a little more and will be adding in some more veggies very soon!

Goal 2: Track Calories for 1 Full Month
Result: ** Halway There! I really must say that I'm proud of the effort that I did put into counting/tracking calories this month, I wasn't perfect but there were MANY days where I tracked even though I didn't want to. I have a new plan for this for March that you'll just have to wait to hear about until I share my March goals :)

Goal 3: Incorporate 1 serving of fruit in per day for 1 week
Result: * Needs Improvement! Yea- I'm not sure why this didn't happen- I feel like my grocery shopping was a bit out of wack this month due to the weather but um HELLO I did buy groceries this month and easily could have bought fruit! I guess eating fruit is just something I've never done a lot of so it's easy for me to just forget that it exists. I have been eating apples ever now and again but definitely nothing consistant. I know that this needs to change.

Goal 4: Work out at the gym 5x's a week for 1 month!
Result: ** Halfway There! I really wish that I could give myself three stars on this one b/c I gave a seriously valient effort but alas, not 5x's a week every week. But I must share this- in February, I went to the gym EVERY day that it was possible (aka no snow storm) except for 1 day. This usually worked out to going anywhere from 2-4 times a week. At least I can say that I know that it wasn't b/c of my laziness that I didn't go and I'm still suprising myself every time I'm at the gym of how much I enjoy being there and working out b/c those of you who have been following me for a while know that was NOT always the case! (Karen, I still remember your comment the day I got my membership :)

Goal 5: Try Every Machine at the gym!
Result: **Halfway There! You all probably remember me saying that there are some machines at my gym that I'm afraid to go on because I don't know how to work them or I think people will judge me for being on, so I made a goal to try every machine at the gym so I could conquer the apprehension that I have about it. I did pretty good- being that my gym time was limited this month I found myself really wanting to utilize the time I had there doing what I'm good at but I did step out and try a few new thinigs: the cycle plus (a recumbent that utilizes your arms at the same time), and all of the strength training circuit equipment. My gym isn't huge but there are still 2 machines that I've yet to try (I'll share about these little beasts another time)!

Goal 6: Walk 2 miles in 30 minutes.
Result:** Halfway There! Ok so here's how my Mr. T time usually goes- no matter how much I up the mph I finish my 30 minutes at 1.75 miles- I'm thinking that in order to do 2 miles in 30 minutes I'm gonna have to start jogging or something because I'm not sure that it's possible when I'm just walking- anyone have any advice for this? I will say that I have made progress with my speed- when I first started doing the treadmill (aka Mr. T) I was walking at 3.3/3.4mph and now I average 3.5/3.7 mph. A small improvement but one that puts a smile on my face :)

Goal 7: Do the elliptical for 15 minutes straight!
Result: *** Goal Achieved!!! Ok I am just SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO friggin excited about this!!! On January 23rd I was only able to do the elliptical for 5 minutes without feeling like my face was about to explode and I hadn't really stepped on the elliptical more than 2 times since then, so when I was looking over these goals a week or so ago I was thinking..."Hmm...maybe I need to adjust the goal to 10 minutes instead of 15 b/c this is just wayyy too hard," and then Wednesday I decided to hop on and did 15 freakin minutes!!!! I'm sure for some this probably doesn't sound impressive but this has been one of my proudest moments at the gym. And just to be sure it wasn't a fluke I did 15 minutes again today! This just proves to me that my endurance is improving and I am becoming more fit! :) : ) :) I do have a question though- does anyone know what the equivelant of being on the elliptical is to actual running? If you can do the elliptical for 30 minutes does that mean you can run for 30 minutes?

Goal 8: Weigh no more than 315 on February 28th
Result: ??? My weigh in is tomorrow and truthuflly, I'm not thinking I'll be seeing 315- maybe something more like 317- but you never know. Whatever the scale shows me I'm going to be FINE with because my body is changing, my endurance is growing, and I am doing all of the right things! Still- it would be nice to achive that goal tomorrow! We'll just have to wait and see :)

And one last order of business....

Shout Out Time!

Today I have 2 Shout Outs to give to 2 VERY inspirational ladies!

1- Nicole reached a MAJOR goal of hers the other day when she ran 3 miles non-stop!!! She has a race coming up in a few weeks and I know she is going to do AMAZINGLY. I'll be cheering you on all the way over here in the Burgh Nicole! :)

2- I also want to say CONGRATS to Sunshine Mama! If you haven't checked out her blog YOU NEED to! She is hard-core... no really- she has some serious guns! And she just announced the other day that she is expecting her 6th child!!!

Alright, that's enough for me for today (sorry for the lonnnng post!) but be sure to check back tomorrow for my weigh in!

Oh and of course I got to give ya'll some sweat proof! (Warning I'm lookin a bit funkified but whatev- it's all in the name of sweat!) Today's workout included: 30 minutes on the hybrid bike (8 miles), 15 minutes on the elliptical, and a strength training circuit. Love ya bloggies!

Day #57: A Week In Pics :)

Today, I'm in a bit of a funk.

I had an 2nd interview this morning @ 9:45 in downtown Pgh and I was super excited- but when I woke up I realized that the snow has yet again plagued my life and there was no way it would be safe to drive in (especially downtown) so I called to reschedule and the receptionist told me that they weren't going to do interviews past this morning so basically... it's a no go. I'm really not THAT upset because I have an interview for a job that I reallllllly want on Monday but I'm kind of just bummed that the snow is here again and that I'll be cooped up inside all day (meaning NO gym)...I think it may be time to get creative...hmmm....

Due to my little funk I thought I would just share some happenings from this week in pictures :) But fear not, the next few days are always my favorite (the end of the month) b/c it's when I evaluate my monthly goals, set new ones for the next month, and take measurements! All good stuff to look forward to- tomorrow I'll be evaluating my February goals!

And now, my week in pictures... While driving around for an interview I snapped this picture- safe eh? lol This is a pic of downtown Pgh and it is quite the site to see (the camera phone doesn't quite do it justice!). Pgh is unlike any other place I've ever lived and (despite the SNOW) I really love it!

This is my friend Elizabeth and I at one of our church events earlier this week- she's a lovely girl :)
Pizzaaaa! Jussst Kidding! This was my lunch from yesterday and fear not- it's NOT pizza but it was SOOOOOO delicious! The "crust" is actually naan bread- if you're new to naan it is basically an indian bread and you can buy it either frozen or fresh from Trader Joe's (if you don't have a trader joe's near you- that really sucks :) Anyways, this is the frozen garlic naan, topped with my yummy spinach dip, tomatoes, chicken, and light provolone. Super filling and all for 395 cals- I know that's a bit on the high end but for my caloric goals it's still decent and it's not something I would have EVERY day. Except...I'll probably be having it for lunch again today :)Ok so this picture just cracks me up- I had to share it! lol I posted a pic earlier this week from a game night we had on Sunday night and I couldn't resist sharing one more- I love everything about this picture :) Except that I look amazonishly tall- haha!
Finally, here is a pic of right outside my bedroom window (it goes out onto a deck)- check out thos friggin icecicles! Those could kill somebody! lol Ahhh...Spring, promise me you're right around the corner?

Ok- I'm peacin' for now- check back tomorrow as I go through my goals from February!

Peace and Love :)

Day #56: You're So Vain.

Hello loves-

As you all know- I frequent the upright and hybrid bike quite a bit in the gym and typically I'll bring a magazine along to read b/c it helps keep me preoccupied so I'm not looking at how much time I have left; for me- it works like a charm.

Well, the other day while I was flipping through the pages of SELF magazine, I started to realize just how much being obese has caused me to miss out on in life. As I began to really think about it, it seemed like page after page contained some example of something that I had pretty much given into the idea of just never being able to do.

I have already shared some of the major reasons as to why I want to lose weight (and there is more sharing to come), but to be honest NONE of them have really had to do with appearance. I've always been relatively happy with the way I look- my reasons have more to do with being able to do whatever I want in life and not having to miss out on any opportunity because of my weight, being able to be the best mom and wife I can one day, and just being the best version of myself that I can- I don't want to self myself short.

But as I flipped through those magazine pages it became more and more apparent how much I really had been missing out on the "vain" but simple things in life- and ... it made me angry.

What are these "vain" things I have been missing out on?

1- Sleeveless Tops: I don't think that I have EVER worn a sleeveless top (at least not since anywhere past age 12). I've always loved the flowy boho-ish type tops.
2- Shorts: As I've mentioned before, I haven't worn a pair of shorts since I was VERY young. I think these shorts are soooo cute.
3- Dresses: Now I have worn these a bit more frequently, but NEVER unless I was going to an occasion that required one: graduation, weddings, funerals, etc. I don't have a single "casual" dress. In fact, I don't even have a single dress in my closet right now. Same story w/ skirts. 4- Heels: I don't know about you- but being obese has caused me to pretty much have to wear flats at all times. I don't own any heels that are above 1/2 an inch.After all that you may be wondering what it is I DO wear! lol Well... pants, 3/4 sleeve tops, and flip flops in the summer, flats in the winter. I know that not being able to wear these things isn't life or death, but for pete's sake I'M 23 YEARS OLD!!! I should be able to wear *respectively* whatever the frick I want!

It just made me so sad as I flipped through those pages to realize all of the things that I have just reserved not to ever take part in. Seriously- when I go shopping it is like my eyes are trained to not even look at shorts, or sleeveless tops, dresses, or heels because they aren't even an option. Up until *this moment* I have just accepted the fact that these items would never be a part of my life- as if they were made for some people and not made for others. Truthfully, it's not even like I was that unhappy not being able to wear them- I adjusted and compensated well- but I shouldn't HAVE to do that- and I'm not going to anymore.

One day- hopefully one day this year- you will see me in some of these things. These things WERE made for ME too. This is all part of not missing out on things- I am certainly not kicking own butt in the gym every day so I can wear heels or a sleeveless shirt- puhleasse- it's really not that big of a deal- but if I'm going to be kicking my butt in the gym, it's nice to know that one day I'll be able to enjoy these little treats.

And who know's- when I hit my goal weight I still may not LOVE my whatever (legs, arms, blah, blah, blah) and so I may not wear these things all of the time- but I want the option. I deserve the option.

Speaking of- here's some sweat proof-Is there any article of clothing that you always thought you would NEVER wear that you are vowing to bring back into your life?

Day #55: Spinach & Scrap!

Howdy-

A while back I shared my very first interaction with making anything w/ Spinach (a spinach dip), and if you remember it turned out awesome and I loved it! I had lots of questions asking for the recipe and for the nutritional info but I didn't keep track the first time so when I decided to make some more last night- I made sure to jot it all down. Again- the deliciousness...The "How to" for Tiffany's Spinach Dip (adapted from the HG version) : (pssst- this makes approximately 6-8 servings)

Mix all of the following ingredients together in this order in over low heat in a medium sauce pan:
- 4oz of fat free cream cheese
- 1 oz. fat free (or soy) milk
- 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons of fat free mayo
- 1/4 cup of fat free sour cream
- 1 can of water chestnuts
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons reduced fat parmesan cheese
- 10 oz. of spinach (frozen or fresh)
Then throw it in a microwave safe baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes at 325 and VIOLA! All for just around 110 cals per serving (3 tblspoons)!!!

I seriously use this spinach dip for everything- to eat w/ chips, on top of pita or naan bread, as a pizza topping, the possibilities are endless! :) It is seriously so good that I had to have it as my brunch snack today- I paired it w/ Trader Joe's organic white corn chips (120 cals for 14 chips); a delicous snack for 230 cals!
Alright, today I felt like keeping it light and wanted to acknowlege some of the cool awards that I received last week- and one of them was one I hadn't gotten before given to me by one of my fav bloggers, Foodie: The Honest Scrap Award!
As a part of this award I am supposed to share about the following 10 Best Things; here we go!

1) Best Meal Ever- Oh gosh- this is really hard. I would say that it would have to be my favorite meal growing up. One of my earliest childhood memories is how much I loved this meal- I would seriously LICK THE PLATE every time I ate it-hahah oh my. My nan always made "Chicken Cream of Celery Soup"- basically it was just chicken breasts cooked in cream of celery soup but for some reason I just loved it! Who knows how many times I requested that she make that for me- everyone else hated it but I just couldn't get enough!

2) Best Sleep Ever- I honestly don't know that I have an answer to this question! lol Nope- I don't. But I will say that I love the feeling you get when you get to wake up all on your own (aka- being able to sleep in and not being abruptly woken up by the alarm clock) and the sun is shining in the window- that is a great way to wake up :)

3) Best Cup of Coffee- Ahhhh now this I have an answer for! Prior to moving to PA, I had probably never gotten coffee at a gas station in my life- Starbucks kept me plenty happy. However, when I moved here all I kept hearing was about how people loved this gas station called Sheetz- of course I had to try it out and I had to admit their cafe was pretty impressive and cheap- but it is their coffee that is to die for! I have had a LOT of different coffees in my day but this is by far the best.

4) Best Romantic Moment- No comment :) Can I plead the fifth on this one? hee hee

5) Best Childhood Memory Moment- Every summer growing up my Nan would take me for a trip to Disneyland and we would just have a freaking blast together every time. My favorite ride has always been the Pirates of the Carribean and dragging her on the ride where she would inevitably get wet is one of the fondest memories I have.

6) Best Moment of Your Life: This would hands down the be when I asked Christ into my heart- everything changed that day and my life has never been the same. That was almost 9 years ago now and it was the best decision I ever made.

7) Best Moment of Revenge: Oh man... something you must know is that I am a MAJOR prankster. No- seriously- I'm a big deal. hahahaha jk- but my pranking skills definitely did bring me one sweet (and a bit shameful) moment of revenge my senior year of college... after a friend and I had both left our jobs serving at a restaurant b/c of some haneous treatment, we may or may not have ordered hundreds of dollars in take out and never picked it up. Oops.

8) Best Thing Someon Has Done for You: My grandma definitely wins for this one- it really has never been just one thing that she did that was amazing- it's hundreds of things. My parents have never really been on the straight and narrow so they weren't able to support me financially throughout my life. I can't even count how many times my grandma has been there for me both emotionally and financially- I know for a fact that I wouldn't be where I am today without her!

9) Best Thing You Have Ever Done for Someone Else: Well it kind of feels "weird" sharing this lol but for my part time job as an Outreach Director, we do a lot of things for the huge homeless population that is in our community and I have truly developed some genuine friendships with these homeless men. This past Thanksgiving my roomate and I decided to take out 2 of our homeless friends for Thanksgiving dinner and it was such a rewarding experience- I wasn't able to make it home for the holiday's this year and that was tough enough- I can't imagine not having any friends or family to be with on days like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

10) Best Life Changing Moment: So far I would say that was the day I knew I was supposed to move to Pittsburgh (from FL) and help plant a church here. I had really wanted to move to Pittsburgh and played with the idea for over a year but wasn't sure that it was what I was supposed to do; when I was finally able to say yes it was a great feeling and has definitely altered my life's path.

And now I'm supposed to nominate 5 others for the award- please don't feel like you have to do the questions or even mention the award- but I would love to give a shout out to some fantastic bloggers who def. keep it honest... and scrappy :)

Melissa @ Try Try Again: She is kicking some major butt and learning lots along the way- definitly a blogger I love!

Miss Sarahlou: A sweet girl who kicked butt in last weeks "I AM WORTH MORE" Challenge!

Kerri and Katie @ In college. In shape: These girls are full of energy and always have interesting blog topics!

Nicole @ Letthemeatlettuce: This girl is one to read- she is one of my best bloggy buddies!

Mary @Amerrylife: What a lovely and wise girl this one is- and adventurous too!

Alright, happy Wednesday everyone!

Peace and Love :)

Day #54: Tuesday Randomness

Morning muffins!

THX for all of the sweet and encouraging comments on yesterday's post- it really is unbelievably rewarding so that that the work and effort I'm putting in is actually making a difference.

NSV:

So being that I was skipping my weigh in day for the challenge, I figured that I needed to implement one of the many other ways to find out if any progress is being made- one that I hadn't done before. So I decided to head on over to LB, since that is one store that I've been pretty consistent w/ as far as buying jeans from, and see if my pant size has changed at all. I've probably been a size 28 for more than 2 years now and at the end of last year the 28's were gettin' snug- so being at the same size for that long it was a little hard for me to believe that I would actually be able to fit into anything smaller.

Well, I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Check it! 26's!!!!
Now I KNOW that being a size 26 is nothing to celebrate about for the normal person- in fact it would be more of a nightmare! haha- but for me I'm dancing in these 26's!! :) I knew that I was probably close to moving down a size because when I wear my current size 28 jeans I look like I crapped my pants and there's lost of room in the front...Sorry for the poor quality crazy shots- had to get em' w/ the celly.

No more Mz. Nice Tiff:
This morning I woke up and smelled the coffee- I need to put a little more into this. I basically haven't tracked my food all week (still been eating well), but the only reason I'm not tracking is because I'm being lazy and it isn't as convenient for me now that I don't have a job where I have nothing to do at other than right down what I'm eating- haha. This week I'm tightening up on myself in every way- I took an inventory of last week and these are some things that need to change for this week:
- Drink 64 oz water a day
- Eat my planned meals at the right times (I was skipping wayyyy too many meals)
- Track.every.morsel.

Well apparently it all had to do with food- I was getting lax- well NO MORE cuz I am desperate to reach my goal of 315 at this Sunday's weigh in (that means a 4lb drop from my last weigh in).

Has anyone else been feeling that need to slack like me? Well- let's let that feeling pass us right on by while we are running on the treadmill and achieving our goals! This won't come easy- we've got to (in the words of my dearest Andrea) fight like hell!

I'll be giving the scale some MAJOR hell this week- who's with me?!?

And finally....

The Job Hunt:
I have 4 job interviews this week! There's a few that are at the low end of the pay I'd like, a few above my range, one I don't see myself at, and one that I would LOVE! Pray that I would received guidance and that I would have the wisdom to know which to chose if I were offered more than one :) All I have to say is THANK GOD for tax refunds! hahaha


M'kay- you guys rock :)

Day #53 & 53: The I am Worth More Challenge & Making an Example!

Hey cupcakes! (you like that? :)

Well yesterday officially marked the end of the I AM WORTH MORE CHALLENGE!

I can't wait to hear how it went for the rest of you who participated but I really feel like I showed the scale who was boss this week- no joke- there were at least 3 times that I was *this* close to looking but I didn't because I realized that it would be defeating the entire purpose of the challenge- to not allow the scale to trump over our success and determination.

For the Project 365 newbies (*hello to all the new followers btw!*) everyone participating in the challenge was to write down the things that they did this week that were evidences of the positive changes they have made in their journey to get healthy and stick them on top of their scale so that at the end of the week they would recognize that it is the small choices we make (and not just a #) that determines whether we have succeeded or not!

Ready to see my post-it note covered scale??????? Well here ya go!!! and a close up....
For me this challenge really wasn't about learning anything specific per se, but more about not allowing the scale to have power over me (whether it be to weigh myself more than once a week or to ruin/make my day the the # it shows me) and I definitely think that was accomplished.

It is my hope that for everyone that participated in this challenge that at your next week's weigh in when you step on the scale, regardless of what # it shows you, that you will see the invisible post-its that you could have put on your scale of the good decisions you have made and not allow the # you are shown to make you overly anything. Celebrate the victories, deal with the disappointments, and no matter what- keep moving forward!

And now onto a not so happy subject- but most def NECESSARY... last Friday I wrote about Failing Forward and about how we need to view our failures as necessary hurdles we must overcome in order for the process of long-term weight loss to work- well last night I definitely made an example of myself!

My friend and I were co-throwing a game night and we made sure that there were lots of healthy snacks (carrots, celery, hummus, apples, salsa, flax seed tortilla chips, my yummy spinach dip, etc.) and because Sunday's are the days I don't track (I still eat exactly the same as the rest of the week, I just take a break from writing it all down and counting calories) and I had already decided to allow the snacks to be my dinner, I was doing really good! Then one of our friends came over who thought we would be serving an actual dinner and not just snacks, was very hungry, and begged us to order pizza. I think you know where this is going... lo and behold by the end of the night I had eaten 2 slices of bacon, chicken, ranch pizza. Errrgh.

On the drive home and when I woke up this morning eating those slices came back to haunt me (both via a grumpy tomach and guilt!); this was the first real time since like my 2nd post that I've done something like this. Let me clarify- I've eaten things that weren't healthy on this journey but never without really thinking about it first, weighing the costs, and making the decision to and adjusting how I'd eat the rest of the day. This was just a "I don't care, I'm not even hungry, but I'm gonna have a slice of pizza" decision. And as soon as the thought about the pizza this morning became a "see, this is just proof that sonner or later you won't be able to maintain this healthy lifestyle," I knew this was an opportunity to jump over a hurdle in my journey and fail forward.

Remember my little formula for jumping over hurdles? Accept, Understand, & Plan? Well, I guess I'll use last night as an example of how this works for me:
* Accept: I accept that last night was a DECISION that I (and only I) made. It doesn't matter that I didn't want to order pizza, I chose to eat it. This wasn't an accident or a slip up, it was a decision. And just like I chose to eat that pizza, I can chose to not do that in the future down this road to success.
* Understand: I know that I need to understand why I ate this pizzza... I think I ate it because... I could. Sometimes I allow the little progress I've made to make me think that I'm at the place where I can do these things- UM HELLO- I still weight over 300lbs! I wasn't thinking, I didn't allow myself to think about anything otherwise I wouldn't have done it. I ate mindlessly- that is the bottom line.
* Plan: In the future, I'm going to follow the rules I've been following- when I see a food that I would like to eat but don't think it's a wise decision I'll remove myself from the situation (go into the other room) and decide if this is a decision I really want to make- 9 times out of 10 I get a grip and move on. I also need to be mindful that just because I've figured out a lot of this journey doesn't mean I'm "home free;" there is no value in learning anything if it is not implemented.

In the end I'm choosing to be thankful that last night happened and I'm viewing it as a necessary lesson and hurdle that had to be jumped- not it is my choice to decide whether I will jump and move past this hurdle or allow it to keep knocking me back down- I'm guessing ya'll know which choice I'm making :)

So- that's one more lesson learned in this long journey- and as always, I'm moving forward, ready to tackle another week!

So how did the challenge go for everyone? I can't wait to see the scale pics on your blogs! If you didn't participate, thanks for reading about the challenge and for all of the encouragement!

I leave you all with a pic that was take at the party last night. The one below it was taken w/ basically some of the same people at another game night in november... see any change?
Last Night: (The sleeves are a bit misleading, they like...fan out!)
and in November... Peace Out Lovelies!

Day #51: Failing Forward

Today I had an epiphany and I am SO excited to share it with you all!!!

A healthy and fit lifestyle. This is what we are all really desiring here right? This is the overall goal. Sure weight-loss may seem like the goal but really, weight loss is just a part of being healthy and being fit; if we are ever going to maintain any substantial weight loss than it will be through staying fit and healthy- these 2 things are really what are goals are about right? Right.

For many of us when we set out on this journey or are in the beginning phases we learn what it means to be healthy and fit and what it will take to get us there. We learn what foods should be avoided and which ones are full of nutrients and should be added to our lives. We set goals, we understand that getting active is a necessary component to success on this journey, and we implement a whole list of new changes into our lives- all for the purpose of becoming more healthy, losing weight, and becoming fit.

And at the same time that we are learning all of these new things and changing we begin to come up against our old habits; we realize that the old cravings don't just go away because we have bought healthy food, we don't suddenly have an extra hour in the day to exercise just because we intend to, and all of the situations, events, and circumstances in our lives don't bow down in submission to the new healthy way of life that we seek. Simply put- it's hard.

Inevitably at the beginning stages of our journey's we run into situation after situation where we "screw up"- we eat wayyy too much food at a party that we hadn't planned on, life get's crazy and we find ourselves not going to the gym for a week, or we find it too hard to silence the voice of our favorite food calling to us from the fridge and we give in- and then we feel like failures. And doesn't it seem that every time one of these circumstances occur and we have totally screwed up that it is just further proof that we will never be able to change- that no matter how many goals we set or how badly we want it- it's not going to happen. Yes, it's easy to feel like that when we've been living below our potential.

But you know what I figured out this morning (aka- the ephiphany)? Every one of those screw ups are ABSOLUTELY 100% NECESSARY to our long-term success. No joke. It's absolutely crazy to think that someone can live 20 or 30 years of their life one way and then all of a sudden completely switch everything about their lives because they made 1 decision.

Like I said, life doesn't just bow down and submit to our goals- we have to navigate through life with our goals being our guide; and if we want our healthy and fit lifestyles to be something that is forever, we've got to learn to overcome those things that will FOREVER be there to try and trip us up. And how on earth can you learn to navigate these things if you never experience them? I am absolutely convinced that the pitfalls that happen to us in these beginning phases (and sometimes middle) are just a part of the process.

I don't know who ever told me that only those who are perfect can succeed at losing weight- but that is surely what I believed and what I'm sure many of you still (even subconsciously) believe. Well I am hear to tell you today that is a BIG FAT LIE. Life comes packed full of social peer pressure eating situations, disappointing scale results, injuries, family craziness, and disappointment and those things should be viewed as GIFTS when encountered on this journey because they are necessary hurdles that have got to be jumped in order to cross the finish line and stay there- and it doesn't matter how many times you have to try to jump over a specific hurdle- as long as you eventually jump it!

I think everyone has a different set of necessary lessons that they've got to learn (and fail from) in order to be successful, but there are lots that are common to us all; some that I've failed in, learned from, and jumped over in this journey so far have been:
- Wanting to eat because I am emotional and stressed.
- Fearing what others may think of me at the gym.
- Social peer pressure eating.
- Learning that a craving is a just a suggestion, not a command.
- Realizing that "cheating" in my food choices is really only cheating myself.
- Not allowing the # on the scale to determine how I feel about myself and how I'm doing.
- Not allowing the craziness of my schedule or circumstances to dictate my health.
- Move past motivation to dedication. I don't wait for goosebumps or surges of motivation to do something anymore.
- Fearing change.

I challenge you to look back at your journey thus far (and even where you are at now) and consider some of the challenges you've faced and the things that you've viewed as moments of failure; now redefine those things in your mind not as weakenesses that are going to come back to knock you on your butt at any moment, but as NECESSARY hurdles that you HAD to encounter in order to move forward. If you haven't been able to jump that hurdle yet, well figure it out! But don't get down on yourself just because you HAVE hurdles- they are NECESSARY!

When I do something that I'm not proud of or that I knew wasn't a step forward- I will do these 3 little steps so that I can jump over the hurdle in the future and not be knocked down by it again:
1) Accept that it was a DECISION I made and not the result of my circumstances, fate, or an accident.
2) Understand why I did it; was I feeling tired, was I just not thinking, did I just not care?
3) Plan for the future. If you continually are getting punched in the face by the same hurdle and you don't put a plan in place in order to jump it successfully in the future, why should you be suprised when the same thing keeps happening over and over again?

Accept- Understand- Plan.

Alright, hopefully I didn't bore you all too much but this was seriously something that I needed to figure out and write down. For those of you who have lost a significant amount of weight (Diane, Cammy, Dawne, etc.) maybe you can share your thoughts on this too! I am just so excited to view these things as I've formerly looked at as failures as necessary hurdles that I've jumped (or am going to jump) over on this road to success.

I leave you with some pics from this weekend:

This was my lunch today. Do you see the BROCCOLI!!?! HAHA- even though this portion is quite laughable, some of you know that this is a major accomplishment for me! No joke- this is the first time in the 4 months I've been on this journey that I have prepared a vegetable with a meal! Snaps to me! The verdict? I put some lemon juice and parmesan on top of them and ... it wasn't too bad. And you must know, me saying that probably means they taste wonderful- I just haven't developed a pallet for veggies just yet, but I'm not giving up! :)

And finally, here is a pic of my sweaty mug after my workout! I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, 15 on the cycle plus, 15 on the hybrid bike, and about 15 minutes of strength training- it was a bum kicker of a workout fo sho!

Alright ya'll make this one great weekend! :)

p.s. I most likely won't be posting tomorrow, it's going to be a very full day but I'll see you all on Monday with a pic of my post-it note covered scale! Can't wait to see your scales as well!!!! :)

Day #50: I'm a little tea bag...

Hi loves!

I'm glad that so many of you are enjoying the challenge! I've gotta say that today I was tempted to weigh myself, but I resisted- I want to be able to finish this challenge and say that I really gave it all I had, which includes not looking. One thing that is hard to remember is that the # on the scale is still going to be that # whether we look or not.

And now some bad news- I got laid off from work yesterday. It was a definite surprise but honestly they couldn't have done me a bigger favor; I really just wasn't happy working there and I was already looking for another position. So although this came a bit sooner than I had expected, I am looking forward to what's next.

I can't help but find it a bit ironic though that this was a classic example of the "4th Pitiful Pitfall" that I wrote about last week which cause people to give up on their weight loss goals, which was: when life throws a curve ball.

A few hours after I had been let go I was meeting a friend at Olive Garden for dinner and all I wanted to do was get the cheesiest most carby plate of pasta that I could- I figured that I deserved it b/c of the traumatic and stressful situation I had just encoutered and that somehow I would be getting some sort of revenge. Don't ask me on who- but that's definitely what I felt like doing- that is; however, not what I did. Instead, I ate a healthy meal and the only "splurge" I made was eating 2 breadsticks and 2 of the mini chocolates the waiter brings with your bill.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't put a substantial amount of my self-worth on feeling needed and that the things I do matter- so waking up this morning unemployed definitely wasn't the greatest feeling in the world. Furthermore, thoughts like this were continutally flowing through my mind: "How are you going to be able to afford healthy food? You need to watch your budget now!" and "Things are just too crazy right now, you need to make finding a job your #1 priority and worry about all of this "healthiness" stuff when you've got everything sorted out."

I've always liked this saying: "People are like tea bags, you never know what is inside of them until they are put in hot water."

These last 2 days have proven to me that the changes that I've been noticing in myself aren't just an illusion; they are real and they are forever.

I no longer go to italian restaurants and pig out; not because I "shouldn't," but because that's just not me anymore. I not only want to lose this weight but I need to and I've truly truly truly changed. Circumstances like these would have knocked the old Tiffany right on her butt and back into the McDonald's drive thru- BUT NOT ANYMORE. Today I hit the gym for over an hour of cardio and it felt truly wonderful; excercise has become my stress reliever and a new source of accomplishment.

In the last few days I have leanred what I know is such an important lesson: When circumstances occur that could potentially ruin you, simply view them as an opportunity to demonstrate to yourself your determination to a new way of life.

Now that I have done this very thing I am more assured than ever that I will succeed on this journey. I know I will. Not to say that it doesn't scare the heck out of me- but for the first time I am actually beginning to believe it.

When you're put in the hot water of life, what will the result be?

Day #49: Challenge Progress, Taco Bell Victory, and a Product Review :)

Ch-ch-ch-Change.

What a crazy, scarey, but great word. As I've been doing the I AM WORTH MORE CHALLENGE this week, "change" is a word that is continually running through my mind. As you all know, myself along with some of my best bloggy friends, have been writing down all of our good choices and steps that we take forward on post it notes and will put them on our scale at the end of the week so that we can adjust our thinking from believing that a number alone tells us how much progress we are making instead of the small decisions we make every day.

Isn't it our obsession with the little 3 digit # on the scale funny? Well- I'm over it and that's part of the reason I chose to start this challenge. I remember a few weeks back I had really made some huge strides during the week- I worked out (something that is still fairly new to me), ate so well, and just overall saw some really great changes in my body; however, when I stood on the scale that Sunday morning the scale showed that I had gained 4lbs- immediately all of the confidence and empowerment I had felt was flushed down the toilet because of a dang # (that fluctuates like the dickens).

This week as I've been writing the small yet good things that I've done on those post it notes I just keep thinking- "Wow, this is definitely a small thing in retrospect but it is such a BIG change from what I used to do!" For example, today a co-worker wanted to go get lunch and he drove right up to a Taco Bell- at first I was nervous but I just decided to order 2 chicken soft tacos from the fresco menu and a diet pepsi (330 calories). Now on one hand I could get on myself for even eating fast food, but no- I wrote that decision down on a post it because you know what? 4 months ago I would have went to Taco Bell and ordered my old favorite: 2 Chalupa Supremes, a hard taco and a large Pepsi (1,130 calories). That's an 800 calorie difference and definitely post it note worthy!

For those of you participating in the challenge- don't just write down the things that you find amazing (like kicking butt on the elliptical), write down the small- but great- decisions that you make NOW that you would have NEVER made before you changed, and BE PROUD!

Alright, and now a product review! I'm sure many of you have tried the original Fiber One Oat's n' Chocolate bars- welllll Fiber One recently came out with a different bar for only 90 calories! And you know that when I saw these in the store (and had a coupon!) and saw that they had a peanut butter chocolate flavor I just had to give em' a shot!

The verdict: Eh...well they don't taste ANYTHING like the other Fiber One bars; on one hand that is good because they don't taste quite so...fibery- but they really just taste like... rice puffs- there's just not a lot of substance to them. They make be something good to satisfy a sweet tooth or snack attack but overall nothing amazing. I would give it a 3 out of 5- not good, not bad, but not great. Anyone else tried these yet?

Alright, that's about it for me for today! If you're apart of the I AM WORTH MORE CHALLENGE, this inquiring mind wants to know- how's it goin? Have you been tempted to sneak a peek at the scale? Learning anything yet?

Day #48: Silencing the Voices

For the last week, I've been hearing voices- well...just one voice really.

Wanna know what it says? "You can't do this- not for the long haul at least."

Ok well I'm not really hearing voices but I might as well be; multiple times throughout the last week I keep feeling afraid that the success that I've had so far won't last and that I will give up sooner or later. What is up with that?

I've given it a lot of thought and I think this is why I've been hearing that voice:

- I'm in the "middle phase" of this journey. At the beginning there is a lot of excitement and lots of new things to learn about but then you move past the motivation and begin to get into the "just do it" mode. I'm guessing that I need to be more excited that this is becoming second nature to me and not feeling like such drastic changes.

- I have gotten thrown out of my workout routine. Working out makes me feel accomplished and strong; it gives me goals and allows me to visibly see progress that I'm making. I know that I could be working out at home but being that I live with 3 roomates I am usually not too keen on shaking my booty to a work out DVD in front of them (especially my guy roomie!) It looks like the snow will be subsiding a bit this weekend so I will be happy to make it 2 or 3 times this weekend.

- I'm afraid. To be honest, when I began this journey, even though I had the best of intentions and wanted to do well, I really wasn't sure how it would go. The most weight I had ever lost before was like 12lbs or something- and I've lost 33lbs so far. It's a bit scarey to succeed because I think in the back of my mind I wonder if this is going to stop, if one day I will just give up, even though there is NOTHING inside of me that wants to.

You know what I have found to be one of the most ironic parts of weight loss? Is that people (including myself) dont' realize that the power of whether we succeed or fail is in the hands of one person- ourselves. So often, even though it is most likely subconsciously, we subscribe to the belief that things like our circumstances or fate is the thing that really determines whether we are successful or not. I've thought about it and I can come up with no other explanation for this other than that people are afraid to truly take FULL control over their temptations, cravings, and decisions because that will also mean they have to take FULL RESPONSIBILITY when they simply chose to ignore the good voice in their head that says to respect themselves and do what is right.

I hope I'm not sounding to harsh and I hope that I don't hurt anyone's feelings when I say this but I can't tell you how many blogs I read a day (and I'm sure you do to) where bloggers are writing about how they just went on a weekend long eating binge (for the 2nd time that month) and they see yet another gain and they feel horrible and will try better next time. And whether I get slack for this or not I've just gotta say that the only person that is causing that to become a pattern is that person! Believe me, I weighed 352lbs a few months ago and still weigh over 300 and I deal with the SAME temptations as anyone else does, but the time has to come where you tell yourself NO to food so that you can tell yourself YES to living a healthy life that you deserve.

I am NOT trying to be condescending but I truly care about this blogging community and I want to see everyone succeed! I understand how hard it is to say no to temptation or to get up off the couch and excercise, but I also know how much it SUCKS to be overweight.

Silence that voice in your mind after you've come off a weekend long binge that says you'll never be able to stop binging or that you'll never be successful- silence it with action! I refuse to listen to that same voice that's been telling me that sooner or later I'll give up because in reality, MY VOICE is the only one that matters for me in this journey.

A little tip that I could share for helping to say no to temptation or yes to working out is this 2 word phrase that I am CONSTANTLY telling myself when I'm playing with the idea of eating something I shouldn't or watching tv instead of going to the gym- the phrase is: NO CHOICE.

For me, NO CHOICE means that I'm not even going to toy with the idea of doing that unhealthy thing- the "maybe" factor has been removed for me and I not even allowing myself the ability to chose that unhealthy option. Just the other day I was walking by the cabinet that my office keeps snacks in and I saw a Reese's Peanut Butter cup that I really really realllyyyyy wanted; I even picked it up and unwrapped it and just before I was about to take a bite and remembered...NO CHOICE and I crumpled it up in my hand (yuck!) and threw it away. Now obviously that 90 cal treat wouldn't have ruined my weight but it was a matter of principle- that I didn't need it and I was really just eating it becasue it was there. It definitely wouldn't have constituted a step forward and since that is the direction I'm wanting to go- I just said no.

I realize that this is difficult and let me just set the record straight by saying: I AM BY NO MEANS PERFECT or have even fully grasped this concept- I just want to share some things I'm learning along the way and hopefully share some of the tools that I've picked so far to help me resist tempation so that we can all succeed in this together!

Still love me? :)

I did want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for all of your vegetable suggestions on yesterday's post! Wow- what a wealth of knowledge you all are! Now, I know that it is a baby step and by no means the "best" way to go but look what I picked up at the grocery store yesterday!

I'm excited to get cookin- I'll be sure to show you guys the results!

MAKE today one that you are proud of!

Day #47: Tuesday Ramblings...

Heeyyyyyy-

Today I've just got a bunch of random thoughts/updates/ and questions for ya- once again the snow has turned my mind to mush so trying to actually formulate a good post was just out of the question this morning :)

The Challenge:

Well so far I've got quite the collection of sticky notes that I'm keeping in my planner: How is your collection coming along?

Excercise:

That 4th Pitiful Pitfall is definitely trying to bite me in the butt- there is NO way that I can make it to the gym when the weather is like it is here in Pitt and it sucks. Oh well, you've just gotta work with what ya got and I'm just making sure my eating is on point.

Smut:

So this is the 1st season that I've ever actually watched The Bachelor- mainly because the idea of any woman being okay w/ the guy she "wants to spend the rest of his life with" dating (and making out with) 20 other girls just makes me want to punch them all in the face.

But somewhow I got sucked into this season and it's definitely interesting to say the least. Here's where I stand: Jake is cute and well meaning but kind of stupid- granted he is more emotionally aware then 90% of men in the world, but still he's a bit jaded. Between Tenley and Vienna...I've gotta go with Tenley even though I don't think he is quite as interested in her. Oh the important things in life :)

Veggie Amateur:

Ok so I'm about to sound realllllyyyyy naive but I need some advice on how to cook veggies and even more how to make them taste good. So you can steer me in the right direction let me give you some Tiffany-veggie history: I've literally only tried a few veggies in my life and I absolutely no idea how to cook them. I am guessing that I would like them more cooked than hard and crunchy and I would be very suprised if I could just eat any vegetable without putting something else on it to make it taste better. Don't judge- my taste buds just aren't accostumed to them yet :) Here are some of the veggies I've been wanting to try: Asparagus, broccoli, edamame, squash, and that's about all I can think of! lol So- anyone have any sure fire picky eater ways to make veggies taste delish? Teach me your ways! lol

Jazzercise:

I know some of you have asked about whether I ever made it to that jazzercise class- and in case you are a newer follower, a while back I wrote about the opportunity that I had to take a jazzercise class- needless to day, it just never worked out. My evening schedule + the class schedule= impossible. Not that I was too broken hearted- I feel like my time (and money) is better spent at the gym for now anyways.

Alright folks, that's all I've got for you today- move forward today and celebrate the accomplishments (however "insignificant" they may seem) because enough of those and you WILL meet your goals!

Progress:

I'm only 2lbs away from losing 10% of myself- holy crap.

I'm only 4lbs away from my next progress pic and from my February goal!

I'm 19lbs away from being out of the 300's- just so you know, I will be FREAKING out when I see a 2 at the beginning of my weight. I honestly DO NOT REMEMBER the last time I weighed 200 something. Ahhhhh we shall see :)

Peace and Love :)

Day #46: Looking Forward to the Day...

Howdy Kiddos!

Today is my first official day for the I AM WORTH MORE challenge and I am more than ready for a week where I celebrate the changes that I've made and not just the # on my scale. I've got post-its in hand...

and a scale ready to be covered up with post it notes that will reveal my true success' at the end of the week!

If you just became a follower you can learn more about the challenge and chose to join in here; and for those who have already joined, remember- we will be posting our scale pics next Monday :)

Today I could use a bit more focus/motivation so I thought I would share a few things from a little list that I created the day that I began this journey (November 8th). It is basically a list of what we in the blogging community have deemed "non-scale victories" that I would like to achieve at some point in this journey- or at least when I reach my goal weight.

Some of these are not fun to share but they have all come out of a real life experience that I've had that when compiled continue to push me every day. These aren't really REASONS that I am losing weight, they are more PERKS that I am looking forward to enjoying as I become a healthier and smaller person. Like I said, these are all negative and in some cases embaressing situations that I've encountered as an obese person and I simply cannot wait until I'm able to do each of these things:

- Sit in a Starbucks patio chair comfortably. If you have been following me for any amount of time you know that I've been having quite an affair with starbucks for a loonnng time and to put it frankly- it hurts when I sit in their patio chairs. It sucks that I've had to lie many times and tell my friends that "I just don't like sitting outside" when I meet them for coffee and they want to sit outside because I don't feel like leaving with bruises on my thighs. Egh.

- Same song second verse with Olive Garden.

- Wear Shorts. Truthfully, this is probably the thing that bothers me the most. I couldn't even tell you the last time that I've worn a pair of shorts. Really. If I had to guess I would say that I was probably in...6th or 7th grade? That was almost 10 years ago. I think my legs were the first thing that I noticed growing up that looked unattractive because of my weight. I still remember a horrible little boy in 5th grade saying I had tree trunk legs. ha- wow. I'm 23 freaking years old and I should be able to feel comfortable wearing a pair of shorts but up until now I had pretty much just decided to act as if my legs didn't exist- that's easy when you've worn pants every day for the last 10 years. No- I WILL wear shorts one day. I can't even say that I believe that will ever happen but I am SURE gonna find out.

- Ride any roller coaster at an amusement park. The last 4-5 times that I've been to an amusement park were pretty much hell. Being that I lived in Florida (near Orlando) for the past 4 years of my life and Disney World was just a jump, skip, and a hop away my friends and I frequented these parks often. I can't really think of many other instances in which I've been more embarassed then when I would go to sit down on a coaster ride and have to get up in front of everyone because I wouldn't fit. The last few times I've gone with friends I just had to start pretending like I was afraid of the roller coasters so that I wouldn't have to embaress myself again. I will probably bawl my eyes out the first time that I am able to fit with ease into one of those seats that I could have only dreamed about fitting into before.

Whew. Alright that's enough pain for now- lol. It's okay though, remembering these painful things fuels my fire and gives me things to look forward to NEVER having to happen again. I think when I get below the 300 mark (which is only 19lbs away!) I'll try some of these things out (prob not the shorts- I'll save that for the 100lbs gone mark! lol)

Hope you all have a great day and think of me as I miserably trudge through yet another snow storm that is coming our way- I'm hoping to at least get to the gym 3 times this week- fingers crossed :)

Day #45: Cheese-Bally"ness" & a Weigh In :)

Hey there kiddos!

Well if you'll remember last week when I weighed in I saw a no loss/no gain which I was pretty stoked about being that my monthly visitor was in town, so this morning I was a bit anxious to see what good ol' Mr. Scale would have to say...

He said Happy Valentines Day- 319!!! That's a 6lb loss!!! I'm kind of counting it as a 3lb loss for last week and 3lbs from this week since I worked out like crazy last week and only once this week (eh-snow) but whatev- I'll take it! That means that so far I have lost 33lbs :) What a great Valentines Day Present!

I think this is rock solid proof that you just can't trust the scale ALL of the time. I mean last week I worked out 5x's and ate well and saw no loss, this week I only worked out once but still ate well and saw a 6lbs loss. Crazy crazy crazy scale.

Well I'm keepin' it short and sweet b/c Sunday's are my busiest days of the week, but before I go I just wanted to share a dorky/cheese-ball moment that happened the other day that I hope despite it's cheesiness you might find somewhat inspirational! Unless you've been hiding under a rock (or perhaps haven't turned on a radio in the last 2 years) then you've probably heard Miley Cyrus' song "The Climb;" well I had heard and sang a long with this song many times but when I heard it come on the radio the other day it was the first time I had heard it since embarking on my weight loss journey and the song just took on a whole new meaning- and I think it actually think the lyrics work pretty well with this past weeks topics of the things that knock us down on our journey to health- haha alright I'm cheezin' myself out now! If you could use a little extra inspiration today, take a listen :)

Day #44: 4 Pitiful Pitfalls: When Life Throws a Curve Ball

Hey loves!

I just wanted to quickly mention something about the I AM WORTH MORE CHALLENGE- while it's totally cool to just skip your own weigh in day (meaning we don't have to all skip the same day) I did think it would be cool if we all posted our post it note covered scales on the same day! Soooo the official day to post the pic of your scale will be MONDAY, FEB 22ND! I can't wait- it will be an empowering moment fo sho.

Alright, on to the 4th installment of what I have deemed the 4 Pitiful Pitfalls: the hurdles that everyone encounters and must overcome in the quest to lose weight for the long term. The 4th Pitiful Pitfall that causes many to give up on their goals is: When Life Throws you a Curve Ball and things get Shaken Up.

If you've been on your journey for at least a month you can't deny that there is definitely a schedule and regiment that plays a part in making you successful. We've all heard the phrase and experienced it's truth: "If fail to plan you're planning to fail." Changing your life takes hard-work and determination and when we finally experience that day when it feels like it isn't becoming AS hard and you may just be getting into a groove with healthy eating and excercise it really is a great feeling; I mean obviously we want to break old habits and make new ones- which requires some sort of consistency.

BUT... then life happens. It would be great if once we found our "groove" if life would just let us do our thing but we all know that isn't realistic. On my 2 previous attempts at losing weight life threw me some curve balls and interrupted the flow that I had gotten myself in and I just gave up because I felt like ... the stars were aligned against me or something! Doesn't this happen to all of us? You've been loving the gym and working out like a beast and then money gets tight and you have to cancel the membership and workout at home and you just feel like giving up. You and your friend have been working out together and holding each other accountable to make it to the gym every morning and then she decides she can't make it anymore and you find yourself slowly slipping away from the gym to. You and your family are selling your home and it just feels like your life is in dissaray with boxes everywhere and you wonder if maybe you should just wait until things "settle down" a bit more until you can give this your full attention. Um... WAKE UP CALL: Things will never settle down and they will always be changing. You can't hang your healthiness hat on some fixed situation because then as soon as that situation gets shifted everything will fall apart.

We have got to learn to adjust our healthy lifestyles within the ever changing context of life. Again, when you've decided that failure is not an option you have no other choice then to react to life's curve balls with a re-evaluation of where you are what you CAN do and then DO IT.

Think about Tricia over at Endurance Isn't Only Physical; this girl has lost over 100lbs and has become this running fanatic training for some pretty amazing races when all of a sudden- boom- she gets a fracture and is can't run for 6 weeks. Now some of us would become SO upset after all of the hardwork we had put in and just give up and eat out of revenge or dissapointment. NOT TRICIA- she took the hand that was given to her and looked at the positivel- while she may not be able to run she found out she could work on weight training something that she had been neglecting. She had a choice whether to just throw in the towl or re-evaluate where she was, looked at what she COULD do, and is doing it.

This week I was completely snowed in and hadn't made it to the gym even once. I was so mad about this and there was a voice in my head saying..." look at you, this is just a start to a downward spiral, blah blah blah". My situation changed, I went from being able to work out 5x's a week to being house bound- but I took it as an opportunity to rest and as soon as I was able to hit the gym for the whole week (last night) my butt was there!

Don't allow this Pitiful Pitfall of life changing to cause you to throw in the towl! When life throws you a curve ball catch it and throw it right back. Failure CANNOT be an option.

Peace and Love!

Day #43: Are YOU up for a Challenge?

Morning lovelies!



This is going to be a quick post b/c I would rather have those of you who haven't gotten a chance to read yesterday's post which talks about the I AM WORTH MORE Challenge that starts next week! Again, if you're up for the challenge then comment on that post and feel free to use the I AM WORTH MORE scale pic as well!



Tomorrow I will be finishing up the 4 Pitiful Pitalls that cause people to give up on their journey and that we all must learn to overcome in order to be successful, which is: When the unexpected happens and life throws you a curve ball.



I now leave you with this: I have had a bag of spinach in my freezer for a while and I figured that since it has been a bit since I've made anything new and yummy that I might as well put the spinach to use! Introducing my version of the Hungry Girl Spinach Dip!

Since I've never actually made spinach anything and I knew that this would be a lite version of this yummy favorite, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out- well... AMAZING is a pretty fair description as to how it turned out!



Here's the "how to":

- 10oz Spinach

- 1/2 cup of light mayo

- 4oz light cream cheese

- 4 tbls of reduced fat parmesan cheese

- 1oz skim or soy milk

- 1tbls minced garlic

- 1/4 cup of non fat sour cream

- 4oz chopped water chestnuts

and viola!



It was just so dang good that I knew I wanted it for dinner but would have felt way too guilty just shoving it into my mouth so... I made a spinach and tomato flat bread pizza!

Peace out lovelies!