Continual Weight Loss...195lbs Down Baby!

Greetings!

Why not start with this week's weigh in- especially when it's a great number like this!

Last Week: 160lbs
This Week: 157lbs
Weekly Loss: -3lbs!!!
Grand Total Loss: 195lbs!!!
Total Pounds to Goal: 7!!!

I've lost 195lbs. That's kind of crazy, right? That means I've lost another overweight person.

Wowzer.

I have been dropping lbs consistantly over the last month (and this mornings sneak peek weigh in had me down even more) and for a few months before that I had kind of hit a wall where not much was really happening on the scale. I'm sure most people can imagine that getting your body to continually lose weight for 3+ years after already having dropped a significant amount can be tricky but honestly...it's not.

Losing weight is pretty simple actually. Notice- I said simple. NOT easy. A few months or so ago when I wasn't seeing the pounds fly off, I began to blame it on the fact that I had hit a plateau or that it was just so much harder to lose weight as you get smaller but I'm not sure I really believe that anymore.

So what have I been doing differently in the last month to get the weight loss train rolling again & have me only 7 stinking pounds away from my final goal???

Well...I've been doing the same stuff to lose weight at 157lbs that I did at 352lbs to lose weight; I've been:

1) Practicing self-control & making sacrifices:

When I first started this weight loss journey, nothing could break me. It didn't matter if my co-workers brought in cake and fried chicken for the office, I was unstoppable and I saw the rewards of that self-control on the scale. However, in the last few months, I decided I no longer wanted to sacrifice and began eating things that I really had no business eating simply because I wanted them.

And mind you, I'm not talking about having 2 donuts or 4 slice of pizza- I'm just talking about little snacks here or there but THEY ADD UP. I had to remember my old mantra that helped me say no to sweet "treats" in the past, which was, "No one is going to make the decision to put you first for you, you've got to make it for yourself."

Those gorgeous looking donuts were brought into work last week and from what I hear they are the best donuts in the 'Burgh- so did I have reason to have one? Sure. Did I? Nope.

Why? Because it's not a decision that would get me closer to where I want & deserve to be. Plain and simple- it takes sacrifice & self- discipline to lose weight for the long haul.

2) I've worked out consistently:

Losing weight is a multi-faceted effort & one of those facets is physical activity. A few months ago I had started making excuses as to why I was too busy to workout and I had stopped challenging myself physically.

I am convinced that part of the reason for my continued weight loss (especially in the last month) is that I've been giving my all and challenging myself in the gym. As many of you know I am currently training for a 5K & it hasn't been easy (I'm currently dealing with some strange abdominal pain that has put a bit of a kink in my training) but I'm fighting.

There are VERY few days that I feel like going to the gym. There are MANY other things I could be doing with that time. But you know what, I know what works physical activity is what keeps those pounds flying off of me.

Challenge yourself. Make yourself a priority. Prove yourself wrong by doing something you never thought you could do.

3) I've been planning & preparing my food:

(BBQ Chicken Quinoa) *recipe below

The popular saying is true- "When you fail to plan, you plan to fail." A few months back I fell off the wagon of planning and preparing my meals weekly and found myself multiple times a week in a Starbucks, Subway or Chipotle eating stuff that isn't necessarily bad for you but isn't really that great for you either.

Like many of you, I am VERY busy. Most weeks, I have something that I have to be at almost every night of the week and it's easy to use a busy schedule as an excuse for not planning and preparing healthy meals. And that's fine- that excuse would be legitimate. But it's not gonna get you far on the scale.

If you have followed this blog for any period of time you know that when I first started this journey I hadn't ever made a real meal in my life! I ate chips, dip & frozen pizza for dinner. Thankfully, I've come a ways in the last 3 years but I am still very much in the beginning cook phase but I still put myself out there every week and try something new.

I prepare all my food for the week on Sundays (or as much as can be prepared ahead of time) to have one hand during the week. I love to eat out and believe it can  be done in a way that is healthy but the truth is that the more I eat out, the less I see the pounds coming off.

It's easy to blame not losing weight on a plateau but I think when we stop losing we need to start by taking an honest look at if we've really been giving 100% or if we've been slacking in an area or two. I know I had started to and now that I'm back on track I'm not only happy to see the pounds coming off but I'm even more overjoyed to feel like I am truly in control & living free over food.

Can anyone relate?

Also, here's a recipe for a dinner I whipped up last night- it was my first time cooking with Quinoa (yum!) and it turned out to be DELISH!!! Can't wait to have it again this evening!!!

BBQ Chicken Quinoa: 4 Servings, 1 1/2 Cup Serving Size

2 Cups Pulled Chicken Breast (I made mine in the crock pot the day before)

1 Cup Quinoa cooked in 2 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Stock

1/2 Cup Corn

1/2 Cup Black Beans (drained and rinsed)

1/4 Cup Diced Red Onion

Dash of sea salt

Garnish with green onion and cilantro

Top with 2 tbls. BBQ sauce (per serving)

Top with 1/2 avocado (per serving)

Total Calories: 429 per serving

This was YUMMY!

New Blog Series: Confessions!

I like to keep it real.

I think being honest about our questions, struggles, & dreams is PARAMOUNT in life in general but particularly when it comes to weight loss.

One of the things I don't like about going to the gym is I feel like in general it's not an atmosphere where people are encouraged to keep it real. Most people at the gym have no idea what they should be doing & are insecure about themselves, their level of physical fitness or their knowledge of the gym equipment & what they should be doing but they would dare not show it because it's all about appearing fierce, strong & confident at the gym. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Anyways, I know of some blogs that have that same atmosphere. They give you that "squeaky clean" feeling of never struggling, never making a dish that tasted like crap & never admitting that sometimes eating healthy & exercising isn't their most absolute favorite thing in the world.

Well, this isn't one of those blogs. At least I don't want it to be.

Which is why I'm instituting a series on the blog called:

CONFESSIONS

In case you are like me and didn't grow up Catholic, the pic above is from a confessional booth & while I don't believe in that practice or that we have to go through any one person on this Earth for God to hear our prayers (thanks to a man named Jesus Christ), I do believe that there is power in us being honest & authentic & sharing things that we may have typically found shame in.

WHY?

Because it's important for people to know that they aren't alone in their struggles & questions and it's important to remind ourselves that we aren't perfect & to squash that little demon called pride in us.

Hence, why I will periodically be sharing some of my CONFESSIONS in regards to weight loss; no one needs to feel alone on this journey because truthfully, not to break anyone's "I'm a uniquely special individual" spirit, but there's nothing new under the sun & if I've struggled with something, there's about a 100% chance that one of you have struggled with it as well.

SO- why not get this party started?

Today's Confession: I don't think Kale is the best thing since sliced bread.

In fact, I'd take a slice of bread over Kale any day. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past year, you probably have heard that Kale is all the rage among foodies... and although I really want to like Kale- I just don't. Now it's not the worst thing I've ever tasted in the world because that prize would belong to:

I'm getting chills down my spine just from thinking about canned green beans....bleck!

But I'm just gonna keep it real & confess that I don't think Kale is all that great. It's a pain in the bum to wash, it's kinda coarse, I don't like to chomp down on the thick stem & it has a much stronger taste than romaine.

Last night I whipped up my first homeade Kale salad & the hubby & I agreed that it just doesn't match up to it's hype. This salad was made w/ avocado, TJ's broccoli salad, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries & lemon along with a side of Tilapia (yum!):

So there you have it. You can still be a healthy gal & not like Kale. I promise. It'll be okay.

Speaking of being okay...

This mornings "sneak peek weigh in" had me at 159lbs! Whoo hoo! Now I won't officially "count" that until that number still shows up on Sunday (my official weigh in day) but I was pretty darned stoked about a 2lb loss, making me only 9lbs away from my goal!!!

SO, what about you all? Any confessions you've just gotta make? 



Gooberness & Breakfast Cookies

I'm serving up a bunch of randomness today because that's about all I got for "yinz" (that's Pittsburghese for "ya'll", which is hick for "you all" in case you were wondering!) 

Couch 2 5K Progress: 

After tomorrow's run I will officially be at the half-way point of my 5K training. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself but I think I may have gotten my first dose of "runners high" the other day...it was nice :) In case you weren't sure what the half way point might consist of, it means I'm running for 5 minutes consistently a couple of times throughout the training which is something I never thought I would be able to do. My goodness I love proving to myself (with God's strength) that nothing is impossible! 

Gym Bathroom Goober Pics: 

After a good workout I can't help but sometimes want to snag a quick pic of my beastliness in the gym bathroom but I can't help feeling like a goober for doing so. But heck, I've been doing it for quite some time now and I've kinda stopped giving a flip: 

Me sneaking a goober pic after yesterday's workout: 

Me still goobering it up a couple years & pounds back. 

Baked Breakfast Cookies: FAIL! 

I eat oatmeal pretty much every morning for breakfast for a couple reasons: 

1) It's YUMMY. My typical combo is: Trader Joe's maple brown sugar quick oats, 1 tbls. of peanut butter & a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond breeze for a total of 295 calories. 
2) It fills me up- especially with the added protein from the peanut butter. I'm usually pretty hungry in the mornings and this does the trick. 

So anyways, I came across this recipe for Baked Breakfast Cookies the other day while browsing the blogosphere & decided to give it a try. And here's what came of it: 

They were simple enough to make and contained ingredients I generally like but unfortunately when it comes to taste, they left quite a bit to be desired. I followed the recipe exactly and while they weren't inedible, they just didn't really taste like much more than blahness. You like that word? 

In the end, I'm going to fall back onto the trusted old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"- I've been enjoying my oatmeal just as I've been making it up to this point and until I stop liking it, I'm gonna stick with what I know. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's "sneak peak weigh in" as I'm hoping to hit 160lbs for this week's official weigh in on Sunday...we shall see! 

Peace out girl scouts! 

I ALMOST Quit.

Last week I almost gave up running, which would mean my goal/dream of running a 5k would be over.

Why did I almost give up? Because I got scared.

In the moment I would have told you it was because my ankle was hurting or because my body just doesn't like running or because I can't seem to breathe as well as I'd like to (more on that below) but the truth is that it was because I was afraid of failing.

See I'm at the point in my C25K training now where it's not taking uping the running intervals quite as slow, almost every day they are adding a minute onto the time & it's asking me to run for periods of time that I NEVER have and never thought I could.

Yep, I was going to give up. But then, I was reminded of a scripture that I hung onto wayyyyy early in when I still weighed 300+lbs and it turned things around for me:

"ALL things are possible through Christ who strengthens me." - Phillipians 4:13

Remembering that I'm not operating out of Tiffany's strength but a strength that is much greater than I'll ever have gave me enough courage to punch my fears in the face & get back on that treadmill again yesterday where I accomplished Week 4 Day 1's run which called for me to run for 4 minutes intervals.

Now I know to most people 4 minutes is nothing but to me, it almost scared me into giving up. But guess what?

It was the best run I've ever had. I don't know what happened/clicked but yesterday I felt like a different runner- shoot, for the first time I actually felt like a runner! I had amazing energy and actually know I could have kept going.

Needless to say, I am so glad that I don't have to fear failure in this journey because my definition of success isn't to be the best at anything other than being the best me I can be & if I do that & am true to the potential that God has placed in me, I can't fail.

I hope that one of you is encouraged by that today.

I mentioned above that I've been having some breathing problems. Long story short I've always felt like my breathing passages just weren't big enough but never thought anything could actually be done about it (short of having a nose job which is definitely not an option I would ever consider) but the problem seemed to be becoming really problematic while running, so I decided to try out the BreatheRight Nasal Strips:

Aren't my bff & I cute with our nasal strips on? haha gotta love her!

Let me tell you, I wear these suckers to bed everynight & while running (until the sweat eventually makes them pop off) & they really have made a world of a difference. I actually went to an ENT doctor this week to see if there was anything going on that was hindering my breathing & he said no but to be completely honest, with my history with doctors, I don't really put a lot of stock in their diagnoses'.

Has anyone else every used these babies while working out? I hear pro football players wear them all the time!

Finally, some STATS:
Previous Weight: 164lbs
Current Weight: 161lbs
Result: -3lbs

My goal for this week's weigh in (which takes place on Sundays), is to lose 1lb, bringing me to 160lbs.

And tomorrow, I plan to demolish Week 4, Day 2's request for me to run 5 miles. Have I ever done that before? No. What do I have to say about that?

BRING. IT.