Day #90: March Goals- A Month in Review...

Hey ya'll!

Man, I seriously feel like March flew by faster than any other month has since I've been on this journey- it's ridiculous!

Lately I've been asking myself what some of the reasons are that have caused me to be successful at losing weight this time and I believe without a doubt that one of the keys to my success has been that I set monthly goals that keep me motivated. Sure, it's good to have an overall goal weight, but for me it will most likely take me longer than 1 year to reach that goal and that's a long time to go without feeling like I've achieved anything. Truthfully, setting short-term goals has been one of the biggest confidence boosters I've had since being on this journey. Needless to say, if you're not setting at least bi-monthly short term goals then I STRONGLY suggest it!

Now I'm gonna take a look at the goals that I set for myself for the month of March to see just how I did! Last month I came up with this little "rating system" to help me not be so "black and white" about everything- check it:
***= Goal Achieved! Gave my BEST!
**= Almost there! Could do better!
*= Um...WTF? Wake Up Call!

On with the show!
March Goals:

#1) Do the elliptical for 25 minutes!
Result: *** Goal Achieved! I have some pretty exciting news...today I actually did the elliptical for 30 minutes!! Seriously- this one thing has been the biggest piece of evidence that has proved to me that I've actually changed and become more fit. I am freaking ecstatic about this :)

#2) Win The Biggest Loser Challenge 2!
Result: ???? I actually won't find out about this until the end of the week but I'll be sure to share the news with ya'll when I find out the results! I am excited to announce though that I have lost 17lbs during this round of the challenge!

#3) Try 2 new veggies!
Result: * WOMP WOMP! Wow- I seriously stunk at eating the veggies this month! Crap. But on brighter note, I have incorporated a serving of fruit into my daily diet which is something that is definitely a huge improvement for me. And maybe I could get an honorable mention for the asparagus that I have frozen up in my freezer right now??? :) lol

#4) Run for 5 minutes straight!
Result: * WOMP WOMP! This actually has nothing to do with me being lazy or unmotivated- the truth is I'm just not at the fitness level yet where I can run for five minutes. In fact, I am almost only able to run for about 45 seconds right now. Running is something that I have a huge aspirations for but I'm trying to be realistic with my body and celebrate the new things that I'm able to do every day that I wasn't able to do before. You can bet your bottom dollar though that it will only be a matter of time before I can run 5 minutes with ease!

#5) Track food 5x's a week for 1 month!
Result: * WOMP WOMP! Alright so, I'm kind of at the place right now where I don't think tracking is a necessity for me. I pretty much eat the same things every day so it's just an added stress that I really don't need to continue to write down the same things over and over again. My plan is that when I come to a plateau, or if my eating starts to become an issue, then I'll start tracking again. It's not that tracking is hard, it's just that I don't feel it's necessary for me at this point in my journey. I'm willing to be wrong, but for now I'm going to stick with what is working!

#6) Weigh no more than 308 on March 31st!
Result: *** Almost There! I actually weighed in today at 309- but I'm not too upset- shoot, I'm only 9lbs away from being under 300! Woot woot!

So there ya have it folks, overall I feel like it was a good month for me fitness wise and a not so great month for me as far as my weekend snacking habits (maybe I'll just track on the weekends...?). Either way, I'm celebrating that I'm still here, still losing weight and going strong!

In the next few days I'll be sharing my goals for April as well as updating my montly measurements!

Hope everyone is having a great week! Thought I'd leave you all with a pic of me and some friends at a local park revitilization this past weekend- fyi: digging up invasive plants is a great workout! :)

Peace ya'll!

Going to the Chapel...

Back in September some of you may remember when I almost didn't attend the dress fitting for a wedding I had be invited to be a bridesmaid in because I was SO nervous & insecure about being seen with my arms & legs exposed (which I still never show) in the teeny-weeny little bridesmaid dress the bride had picked out for us. I came to you all on this blog asking for your advice about whether I should go or not, you kicked me in the bum and told me to get over myself and go, I went, and was glad I did.

Well, the wedding was this past weekend and since the time I tried on the dress at the bridal shop I've lost 25lbs which led to quite the crisis when I (stupidly!) waited to try on my dress until the night before the wedding and discovered that the even though I bought the dress SUPER tight because I was planning to lose weight before the wedding, it was still at least a full size too big! All I can say is, thank you safety pins! Wanna see some before and & after pics in the dress?

Before (September 2010)

After (March 2011)

I don't think I can even explain what this wedding did for me. It was probably one of the most impactful events in my journey of weight loss thus far.

This weekend I:

• FINALLY, finally, FINALLY began to see that my body really has changed in these last 85lbs. Because I've pretty much always been naive about what my body really looks like (even when I weighed 352lbs), I likewise don't always see the positive changes that are happening and still picture myself sometimes as though I haven't changed at all. Seeing pictures from this weekend has finally begun to change that & it is a very crazy amazing thing.
• Felt free enough to just be me in the body that I have right now. I was pushed wayyyy outside my comfort zone even now in showing my legs and upper arms but at some point I just decided to refuse to allow the specialness of the weekend to be overshadowed by insecurities caused by things that aren't going to change in a weekend (my arms/legs) and just enjoy the moment. I can't even express how liberating it was to forget that I weighed about 100lbs more than every other bridesmaid and just have fun.
• Have had at least 10 people send me messages on facebook saying how great I look or asking what I'm doing to lose weight since posting pics from the wedding. This truly has flabergasted me as it literally hasn't been until this wedding that A LOT of people have noticed the change, even though I've been on this journey for over a year- it was seriously as if they thought it happened overnight or something (I wish!! haha). This encouragement really couldn't come at a better time as I haven't been necessarily seeing the weight loss #'s that I would like.

I'm finally beginning to appreciate the work that I've put in so far to my body and ready to see how much further I'll come when I'm in my best friends wedding this coming August; this wedding will undoubtedly be the most important wedding to me (other than my own obviously) and I really just want to be able to completely not focus at all on my body that day but on my bff. We have already picked the dress out and it's going to be the same story as the dress I just wore- short and sleeveless- and I plan to be more than ready. My goal is to be at least 40 pounds lighter than I am now (so in the 220's) at her wedding.

I would just like to thank those of you who encouraged me to go to the dress fitting- I don't think I would have gone without your encouragement.

**P.S- I haven't gotten a chance to visit the blogs of you amazing readers who introduced yourself a few posts ago but I am greatly looking forward to getting to know you better and checking out your journeys by the end of the week!**

Day #87, #88, #89: Weigh In & 1st Day!

Howdy kids!

Sorry I'm just now getting around to posting the weigh in results from this past weekend- needless to say the results are in and I'm down 2lbs! Meaning I am officially 2lbs away from hitting my end of March goal of 308 and only 10lbs away from being out of the 300's....now THAT is just craziness. I'm not sure that I will even believe that I'm experiencing reality when I look down on the scale and see the #2 at the beginning of my weight...oh gosh, I'm getting butterflies just thinking about it! lol

Well, today was my first official day at my new job! This has been the first position that I've ever taken that I haven't felt completely overqualified for which made me a bit nervous- but all went well! My co-workers are nice, the atmosphere is great, and I can't see me getting bored anytime soon! The clients are a bit rough and I know that I'll be stretched, but I think that is kind of what I was looking for- this girl is happy as a clam :)
Does anyone else feel like March FLEW by?!? Seriously. Well, in the next few days I'll be evaluating my progress this past month, setting new goals for April, and taking my monthly measurements- exciting stuff!


Finally, ya'll remember The Biggest Loser Challenge that I'm in? In case you forgot, I won round 1 last year and I was hoping to win again- wellllll round 2 ends on Wednesday and as of right now I am in tied with this other girl for 1st place (we've both lost 16lbs during this challenge) BUT I do believe she is a little lighter than me, which would put her weight loss percentage above mine...meaning I'm hoping that somehow I drop at least 2ish pounds by Wednesday. Not sure that's going to happen but my fingers are crossed! Will you cross yours too? :)


I leave you all w/ a pic I had to snag before I left for my 1st day of work this morning- I know, I know, I'm weird :)
Besos!

Day #86: New Eats :)

Howdy kids!

Thx so much for all the love on yesterday's post. I can't lie- it's pretty cool to finally be able to take a step back in this journey and realize that I'm actually doing it!

Ok so it's been a while since I've shared some of my eats so guess what? Today's the day! Now, I am the definition of a "creature of habit" so a lot of times I just eat the same things over and over again, which in a way is a good thing because I don't get bored of eating healthy stuff but one the other hand I'm somewhat reluctant to try new things *cough*veggies*cough*! :)

BUT I have been bustin' out of my groove a bit recently and have come up with 3 new favorite things!

1st new favorite: Chicken in a Can! BAHAHA doesn't that just sound appetizing? :) Well here's the thing- I'm a chicken fanatic- I eat it 2x's a day easily, but I really hate the time that it takes the grill my chicken- SOOOO the other day when I went to Sam's Club I decided that I would finally take the plunge and try chicken in a can and boy am I glad I did! Seriously- it's genious! My favorite way of using it? Meet my newest recipe- Buffalo Chicken Salad! I just threw 2 tablespoons of lite mayo and a bunch of Frank's Hot Sauce in with the chicken and it made for the ideal salad topper! This girl likes some kick! Anybody else thing that Frank's is the best!??

2nd new favorite: Cuties! You all know that I have a hard time getting in my fruits and veggies and as much as I like fruit- I usually don't find it super convenient to eat. It spoils easily and I usually end up making a mess when trying to eat it; especially oranges. Well not so with these pieces of deliciousness! Seriously these are SO sweet and so easy to peal and I don't have a problem swallowing them whole (the pulpy things included) as I do with oranges- no mess at all! Love em!
3rd new favorite: Thomas' Everything Bagel Thins! As soon as I heard about these on TJ's blog I knew that I had to try them but for the life of me, I couldn't find them anywhere! Needless to say when I was at Sam's club I spotted them and had to get em! They are only 100 cals each and you don't even miss the extra bread! I've been using them as a substitute for my eng muffins or as a snack with some lite cream cheese on em! Yummmy!


Anyone made any recent favorite new food discoveries that I should know about?

Alright ya'll- I hope everyone is having a great relaxing weekend and I've gotta say that I'm pretty excited about a product review that I'll be doing for CSN stores this upcoming week!

See ya'll tomorrow for my weigh in!

Day#84 & #85: A Reflective Pat on the Back :)

Good morning bloggies!

I still have wayyyy too much that I want to share with you that it's hard to pick which is more important... haha

So first off since I had a few days last week where I wasn't proud of the choices I made (see my last post) I've been making it a point this week to be sure to not only kick butt with my eating choices and time at the gym, but to also remind myself of how far I actually have come on this journey. I'm sure some of you can relate to this; when you've been making these healthy choices day in and day out it is easy to forget that you weren't always this way and that there is reason to be proud of those changes. So today, I just feel the need to recognize my progress and it just wouldn't feel right if I didn't share it with you all too- many of whom have been with me since day one of this journey!


The Tiffany of today is different than the Tiffany on November 7th (I began this journey on November 8th) because:

* I have proven to myself that I can lose weight and I am; I now know that I am not just destined to always be overweight or obese. I am 41lbs lighter today and at the lowest weight that I can remember in the last 3-4 years!!!
* I have more energy today and don't experience the discomfort of doing daily tasks nearly as much!
* I have not only joined a gym but I go 5 times a week and do nearly an hour each time. I did not allow the fear and intimidation I once felt to overcome me- I learned that I have a place at the gym just as much as anyone else and I have been going continually since mid January! In fact, here was me before my first day at the gym (looking nervous!)And here was me yesterday right before heading to the gym (in case you can't tell- the look is excited, proud, and accomplished-and rockin a new haircut! :) lol)* I have learned how to eat healthily and do almost all of the time. Today, I truly no longer eat to live- my compulsatory relationship with food is no longer an issue. Because I'm making this a life long journey I have found ways to allow myself to enjoy some of my favorite foods without going overboard (most of the time!).
* I have proven to myself that my body can and is becoming more physically fit. I have increased my endurance on the elliptical from being able to do 5 minutes to now being able to do 25 mins! I never thought that I would actually be able to become more fit- but I am!
* I have continued to blog now for more than 4 months and have made some world class buddies on here who have been such a source of support, wisdom, and encouragment. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have made it past my first month of this lifestyle change if not for this blog. So today, I am much more disciplined than I was before.

In short- the Tiffany today isn't afraid to attempt things that seem impossible. I still have A LOT of weight to lose and I am BY NO MEANS an expert on this journey- huh- by no means. But I am changing, learning, growing ( and shrinking) lol, and truthfully I'm saving my life.

I hope that you all will take some time today to give yourself a pat on the back/hug and feel proud of the changes that you've made. You may not (and actually def are not) perfect- and you (nor I) never will be- but many of us have made drastic life changes here and it is a GOOD thing to recognize those.

Keep it up kids- you're doing great!

Day #83: Accept, Understand, Plan.

I really didn't want to write this post but I'm committed to honesty on here and if someone else can learn from my experience then...great.

Eating out has been a bit of a struggle for me in the past 2 weeks. I literally have NO problem eating healthily and in proportion when I am at home, at work, or even just on the go; but for some reason when I am eating out with friends I just don't feel the need to make healthy choices. It's not like I go COMPLETELY crazy either- sure I'm eating a lot less than I ever would have before, but still I know that there is NO intentionality going on behind what I'm eating. In the past 2 weeks I feel like I've been eating out at least every other day, sometimes every day- not really because I am choosing to but because I do a lot of group activities where food is involved. Let me give you a prime example (and probably the one I was the most disappointed with!):

Monday night I headed straight from work to Trader Joe's to pick up some healthy grub and then over to an event we were having in downtown; on the way a friend called me who was also going and asked if I wanted to grab dinner before, and because there wouldn't really be any food at this event and I was already hungry I figured-why not? So we ended up at this Lebanese place and because the menu pretty much freaked me out, I just ended up ordering whatever was seemingly recognizeable to me and got a chicken gyro (not a horrible choice, but not my best either). Oh and my friend ordered some of these babies- GRAPE LEAVES...which I found to be a little bit less than appetizing :)
So at this point, I'm still in the okay zone- I had eaten really well all day and knew that a chicken gyro wouldn't be the death of me. So the event goes well, yada yada and then this same friend says, "Hey, the Cheesecake Factory is just around the corner, let's all do dessert!" I'm guessing you know where this is going... I have absolutely no problem in that I went- I'm not going to turn down hanging out with friends because I'm afraid I might eat something I shouldn't- that is not living and I refuse to do that but I also refuse to make some of the choices that ensued that night...

When all was said and done I probably had 1/3 of my friends Carrot Cake Cheesecake (which I cannot lie- was heavenly), a virgin Strawberry dauqueri, and half an order of fried cheese (wow- doesn't that sound healthy?).

I'm sure it all added up to over 1,000 calories and I was just absolutely infuriated with myself for those choices. It's weird- I have no problem exercising great self control in ANY other situation, but for some reason when I'm eating out, I begin to... not care. It's not like I'm ravenous and can't tell myself no, I simply don't want to tell myself no when I'm eating out...it's like I magically transform into a person that isn't over 300lbs when I'm eating out and that I don't have to worry about what I'm eating, when CLEARLy that's not the case.

I've got to be honest and say that when this situation occured fear hit me like a ton of bricks. Not the fear of gaining weight or even having to share it with you all, but the fear that this could be evidence that I can't do this. And then I remembered this. I really would encourage everyone to read this post- it was an epiphany I had about a month back and I can't tell you how much it helped me to remember that me experiencing this lack of control when eating out is a gift. I now recognize that this is something that I've got to face head on and learn to overcome so that my weight loss CAN be a long term thing. Failing in eating out these past few weeks doesn't have to be proof that I can't do it- I can choose to make it a stepping stone in the process to a long life of health because sooner or later I'm sure this problem would arise- whether it's when I am 40lbs down or 140lbs down and it's a lesson that I'm welcoming and will use to make me that much stronger.

I'm going to follow the 3 little steps that I came up with when I make a decision I'm not happy with:

1- Accept that it was a decision I made, not the result of circumstances, fate, or an accident.
2- Understand why I made the decision.
3- Plan for the future; how can I overcome this obstacle next time?

Friends, don't allow the mistakes your making to stack up against you as evidence that you cannot do this- YOU CAN. Allow them to simply be a part of the process; something you've got to learn in order to make this a life long thing.

You (and I) are much stronger than we think, let's prove it!

To the Disappointed, Tempted, & facing Resistance:

To my friends who have been scorned by the scale after a week of honest "trying":

(Preface: This isn't for those who have been binging on pizza all week long & haven't spent more than an hour working out all week. This is for those who have put in the work & the scale is honestly not reflecting the work you've put in).

If you find yourself this week in the same position I found myself in this morning, stepping on the scale and seeing a +1 when you were hoping for -2 and you just want to run into your room, slam yourself into your bed, pull up the covers & cry for about 30 minutes, then you need to have the same epiphany I had just an hour or so ago...

Anytime we run into 3 things on this journey we have the opportunity to either use it as an excuse to fall back into the destructive habits that are making us unhappy & unhealthy OR to use it as needed motivation for doing even better & committing more to ourselves & this process- these 3 things are: disappointment, temptation, and resistance. And the question is not IF we will encounter these things as we change our lives, because we WILL- & if we haven't decided ahead of time how we will handle them, then the emotions that they cause will almost always lead us into choosing the first option (read: ordering a #1 from Burger King).

• Disappointment WILL come when: we don't see what we think we should on the scale (which realistically happens), & when it is taking WAY longer to make it to our goal weight than we had originally planned.
• Temptation DOES come when: Well shoot...when does it not!? haha No, but for real- when our co-worker brings in a pound cake for everyone or buys the whole office pizza and the salad you brought suddenly looks like rabbit food, when you go out for dinner for your friends birthday and the complimentary chocolate cake comes to the table & you just want to indulge since it's a "special occasion," and temptation will most definitely rear its ugly head after you've had a sucky weigh in that morning & lunch comes around and you just want to throw it all out the window since it seems like your not progressing anyways. Yes- temptation comes every. single. day.
• Resistance WILL come when: Your schedule somehow has completely filled up with activities & events that leave you with no time to work out, you (or a family member) gets sick and you aren't able to make it to the gym, you suffer an injury that means you have to modify your work outs, or perhaps you even have a friend/family member in your life that is seeminly trying to sabotage your new way of life.

THESE THINGS HAPPEN (sometimes daily) and we cannot ALLOW them to rule our lives. Key word: ALLOW. Surely, we do not have a choice whether temptation, disappointment, or resistance will come b/c that is out of our control; however, we do have a choice how we will ALLOW them to effect the rest of our day/week moving forward.

I already told you how I felt this morning (and the feeling still lingers a bit) when I gained a pound: like I suck, that I'll never be able to weigh less than this, and that all of the great decisions I made this past week were not worth it and didn't mean anything. Um. LIES!

I had to recognize this situation as another golden opportunity to commit even more to myself & this process as well as use this frusteration as motivation to do even better in this upcoming week.

We have to accept that the disappointments, temptations, & resistance we face on this journey are NOT indicators that we aren't doing well or that something is wrong with us but just an indicator that we are making a life change & that will never come easily regardless of what you're trying to do (quit smoking, raise children, etc.)

Friends, no matter which of the 3 you have been facing this week- know that it isn't a sign of your impending doom. Accept that you can be and are just as strong as you want to be and use it as an opportunity to become that much stronger- not ALLOWING ANYTHING to hold you back or stand in your way!

Let's. Do. This.

Day #81 & #82: Progress Pics!

I just want to start off by saying that I've been a bit of a crappy blogger friend lately and that I'm changing that pronto. As you all know my life has been a bunch of craziness lately with job stuff and now that things have settled down a little more, I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. There are so many of you who are new to my blog that I'm looking forward to getting to know through following your journeys as well so be patient because I will be having a bit more time to spend in blogland very soon!

Alright, well I've officially lost another 20lbs which means it's time for the second installment of progress pics! (Sorry that the formatting/editing isn't perfect but my computer goes a bit crazy when I try and edit photos so I didn't even want to mess with it). So without further adieu... Front View
Side View Back View Ahhh so there you have it. Honestly, I don't really see too much of a difference in the pics but I have been dropping pant sizes like crazy so I know there must be a change.

One thing that has me pretty excited is that a few years ago when I made my only other attempt at losing weight I started out weighting 329lbs and got down to 312lbs (17lbs) and since this weekend I weighed in at 312lbs that means any weight that I lose from here on out is "new weight" that I don't ever remember being smaller than! Cool huh? I'm only 4lbs away from meeting my March end goal weight of 308lbs so I'm hitting the gym like a madwoman this week!

Now I'm off to read all of your blogs- hope everyone's week is off to a great start!

Day #79 & #80: Week Recap & Weigh In

This week has undoubtedly been one of the busiest weeks of my life- and my life seems to always be busy, so that's saying something.

For the most part the cause of the busyness is because the church that I am on staff at and helping to plant will be launching very soon and we are busy getting everything ready for our building, services, and advertising- and being that I am the Outreach Director I am in charge of putting on a massive Easter Egg hunt that we will be premiering to the community in two weeks...needless to say, lots going on!

And due to all of this craziness I will have only made it to the gym 2x's this week instead of the 5x's that I aim for and because I was on the go so much I ended up eating out A LOT more than I have been in the past few months which lead to some less than ideal options.

Here's me after my workout yesterday, which included: 30 min's on Mr. T (3.6/3.7), and 25 minutes on Ellie :)

I look back on this week with some mixed feelings about if I really gave it my best (which is ALL that I require of myself)...

One on hand when I ate out I made some really stupid and careless decisions; this told me that I need to be a little more aggressive with using some tactics for healthy eating when eating out.

On the other hand I know that I made it to the gym every possible day that I could and that I didn't just throw everything else out the window because I couldn't work out.

Although my goal is to get to the gym 5x's a week, I realize that I live in the real world where what I plan doesn't always work out and that's why I think it's important to: 1) Have a backup plan in place for when stuff gets crazy, 2) Ditch the "all or nothing" attitude and realize that just because everything isn't ideal in one area doesn't mean that everything is ruined.

Now let's get to business, as you all know it's weigh in day- here's the stats:

End of March Goal Weight: 308
Last Week's Weight: 314
This Week's Weight: 312 (-2lbs)

Guess what that means..... I've officially lost 40 lbs!!

I seriously cannot believe that I've lost that much weight- it truly amazes me; not because I'm so amazing but because I guess I never really thought I would ever actually lose weight- and I'm proving myself wrong. Dead wrong.

I'll be posting my next set of progress pics tomorrow- which is exciting and a little intimidating but in the end, who cares if I don't look as great as I'd like to- it's only a matter of time :)

Thanks for being the best group of bloggy friends a girl could ever ask for!

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!

Day #78: Finally!

You all will never even believe what happened yesterday.

So I know I've filled you all in on the job situation a bit but just to clarify, as of yesterday morning this is where I was:

- Do I stay at the job I've had for 2 weeks that is comfortable, easy, and close but with no promise of advancement, poor pay, and doing something I'm not even the least bit interested in?

Or

- Do I take the job that was being offered to me that is doing something I'm passionate about, that is in an inconvenient location, and was a clerical (lower paying) position than the one that I originally applied for with that company?

To say the least- I had absolutely no idea what to do and I had to make a decision by today. Well, yesterday morning before I headed out the door in the morning I prayed this simple prayer: "God, you know not only what I want in life but what I need. Please make whatever decision I should make blaringly obvious to me so that I can have confidence knowing that I'm doing the right thing."

Well guess the frick what... yesterday a few hours later I received an email from the HR manager of the company that had just offered me the clerical position saying that they had a person resign the day before and wanted to know if I would still be interested in taking the original position that I applied for (and so desperately wanted) and with the salary increase as well!!!!!!!!! Now if that ain't a blaringly obvious sign I don't know what is!?!? It would have been a priceless picture to see my face as I read that email because I wouldn't have guessed in a thousand years that would have happened- so needless to say, I'm thrilled to be stepping into a professional job for the first time in my life that I know that will be both challenging and rewarding.

Thanks for all of your prayers, pieces of advice, and words of encouragement concerning this- it helped! Now I just have to face my last day at my old job today (which will most likely be difficult and awkward) but I have the confidence knowing that I'm heading in the right direction and that is all that matters.

Ok, ok I know this is a weight loss blog and I haven't mentioned a single thing about health or fitness today but I feel like you all have become a part of my life over these last 4 months and I couldn't wait to share this news with you all! But I promise, more weight loss blogging to come- believe me- there's lots to share!

This weekend's weigh in has the potential to be pretty monumental for me- as you know, last week I weighed in at 314 and...

Losing 1lb will mean a a new progress pic!

Losing 2lbs would mean I hit the 40lb mark!

Losing 3+lbs would mean I would be in uncharted territory (aka- in the last 6 years I don't remember weighing any less than 312).

We shall see.... : )

Day #77: You talkin' to ME!?!

Hey ya'll!

So I went through a few weeks a while back where I felt like I had absolutely nothing to say on here but lately I have had SO much that I've wanted to share with you all that I don't even know where to start! Geez, not a bad problem to have I guess!

Thank you all for the words of advice and encouragement about my job situation- I think I've come to a decision but I am going to take one more day to pray about it and let just be still and quiet- no worrying, just...peace. I'll be sure to let you know what happens though.

As you all know, I set goals every month that I strive to meet- they keep me focused and motivated and are a huge asset. Well one of my goals for the month of March was to do the elliptical for 25 minutes...an amount of time that seemed daunting to me even when I set it. Well...guess what I did on Monday??? I did 25 freaking minutes on the elliptical! Goal met! Whoo hooo! To think that only 2 short months ago I could barely do 5 minutes is pretty crazy and it is proving to me that I am becoming more fit which is just fan-freaking-tastic!

But here's where stuff really gets crazy...

So after I did the elliptical and did the jig on the inside I headed over to the bathroom where I had planned on taking a nice sweaty pic to share with you all as I customarily do- well my plan was foiled when someone walked into the bathroom right after me- a lady, probably in her late thirties, in decent shape- and after washing her hands for a few seconds, turned to me and asked: "Does the elliptical get any easier?" At first I looked at her in disbelief; surely she couldn't be asking ME for advice on working out- HA- laughable!

But sure enough, she was! She went on to share how she can't do more than a few minutes without feeling like her lungs were going to explode which gave me the opportunity to share about my progression on the elliptical- it was a short and sweet conversation and it ended by me telling her "It definitely gets easier, you've just got to stick with it."

As I walked out of the bathroom I could almost feel the lump in my throat growing by the second and my eyes swelling up with tears- I still cannot believe that someone at the gym (who is not also morbidly obese) was asking ME for workout advice and was looking up to me!!? Wow- it was a moment I won't soon forget. And the funny thing is, it's true- this does all get easier, we've just got to stick with it.

On another note my working out schedule is going to be a bit stiffled this week due to the fact that every day after work I have some sort of obligation- at first the thought of not making it to the gym 5 times this week was pretty upsetting but you know what? I've got to be realistic and do what I can and as long as I'm doing that I'm doing my best. Life gets crazy and I'm going to have to adjust- this week it is my goal to make it to the gym at least 2 more times (I've already gone once), which means that next week I will hit it 5x's with everything I've got.

Hope you all are having a sweeeet day!

P.S. tomorrow's Friday! :)

Introduce YO-SELF!

Hi friends!

This is going to be a quick one today. A realllll quick one. First off- today was weigh in day!

Previous Weeks Weight: 270lbs

This Weeks Weight: 267lbs

Result: -3lbs!!!

Total Loss: 85lbs!!!

Meaning:

* Only 5 more pounds until a new progress pic!

* Only 15 more pounds until I hit my first major milestone of losing 100lbs!!!!!!!! 

Sweetness.

Anyways, my REAL reason for this quick post is because I have a REQUEST: If you are someone who follows my blog (regardless of how long it's been), please leave a comment on this post introducing yourself to me so that I can begin to follow your journey as well!

There came a point a few months back that the pressure to read and comment on everyone's blogs became too much so I pretty much just stopped following anyone "new" and only continued following those I had been since the very beginning of my journey. Sadly, many of those bloggers have either now fallen off the face of the Earth, made a decision to stop blogging, or for reasons that I'm sure will sound harsh & offend some- I just can't take the whining anymore. Anyways, I would really like to offer mutual support & encouragement to those who have stumbled upon my blog so even just a quick "Hi!" comment will do!

Hope everyone has had a kick bum week and is ready to take on the weekend with fists up ready to fight anything that will try and stand in your way of becoming exactly the person you want to be!

Peace out girl scouts!

I leave ya'll w/ a pic of me and one of my besties from this past weekend- as a staff we went to a bed & breakfast in Ohio for the weekend and we couldn't resist snapping a quick pic in the hot tub as soon as we got to our room!

Day #76: Decisions and Depp!

Hey-Hey-Hey!

Today I have so much that I would like to share that I feel like I'm going to burst at the seams!

For starters, I know if I don't just go ahead and get this out of the way then I won't be able to concentrate on what I'd really like to say so here goes- most of you will remember when I lost my job exactly 1 month ago and how things have been pretty stressful with being in limbo between the job I was offered and the job I really want. Well basically what has happened is that I decided to take the job I was offered and have been working there for the past 2 weeks; I didn't know what else to do because the other job really wasn't a sure thing. Well today I finally got the call I was waiting for and found out that I have been offered the other job! However, there are a few catches- it is for a lower position than I was expecting (with room for growth) and is a little lower in price than I thought- but still about $3,000 more a year than I am making now. So now I am stuck with an even more difficult decision: Do I leave the job I have now that is very easy, has extremely nice people, I've already grown accustomed to it, and is closer to my house but hardly uses any of my skills, has literally no room for moving up in the company, and has me at the absolutely minimal amount that I can survive on- or- do I take the job that I can see myself being able to grow into for the next 5 years, makes a bit more money, and is better suited to using my skills but will require me to completely dump the company I've been with for the last 2 weeks (which is actually hard), and to work downtown (which I am NOT looking forward to!) Nothing but QUESTIONS?????? Grrr... do you see my dilemma? Either way, I've got to make a decision by Friday so please pray for me- all I really want is what God wants for me anyways so I'm just going to try and quiet all of these questions and hear from Him.

Whew! Now that that is kind of out of the way I wanted to share something reallllly cool that happened this past weekend that is one of the first great NSV (non-scale-victories) that I've had thus far!

As I've read in many of your blogs, it seems I'm not the only one who has ever found themselves SQUISHED when they go to the movie theatre. My past experiences at the movies have been something like this: When I go to sit down I will either experience the sides of the chairs digging into my hips (if the arm rests don't go up) or I'll have to put both of the armrests up so that I can fit, which is a bit awkward/obvious when your friends need somewhere to put their drink! This has pretty much been my experience for the last 3ish years.

Welllllll this weekend I took one of the girls from our youth group (Mel!) out to see Alice in Wonderland! *Psst- I love me some Johnny Depp!*So I'm guessing you know where this is going...when she and I went to sit down I thought- uh oh, here we go I'm going to be feeling the pressure of the armrests as soon as I plop myself down here- BUT to my suprise, I felt NOTHING pushing into my hips! Now I'm not saying there was TONS of room, but definitely a noticeable difference!

It's funny, the scale can tell us we are losing weight but it's sometimes hard to believe until it translates into our real life- like going down a pant size or being able to do something in comfort that we couldn't do before!

See, don't I look happy??? :)
It's because I WAS! And because the movie was in 3D you know we had to get a pic with our cool glasses on!
I'm so excited that not only does this journey bring weight loss, but all of the little gifts like this that come along with it! Can't wait to figure out what else in my life is going to be so much more enjoyable as I become healthier and healthier.

Alright it's time for me to peace out but I did want to mention that I have a rather *special* post that will be coming soon and I seriously cannot wait to share it with you all!!!

Love yinz (that's pittsburghese for ya!)

The Recipe for Success Never Changes.

This has been one of those weeks where I am forced to remember that what got me to the place I'm at now (losing 153lbs) hasn't been luck; it has been sheer determination, hardwork & perserverance and I would be a fool to think that it will take anything less to finish out this journey.

For the past 2 weeks I've been really trying to kick it into high gear both nutritionally & in my fitness- so much so that I've been drinking one of these babies for breakfast & dinner every day:

Looks appetizing, eh? This yummy concauction was made with: Vanilla Bean Lean Shake Powder (GNC), strawberries, spinach (hence the green color), water & ice. Luckily it wasn't until the last couple days that I realized adding a tablespoon of peanut butter makes these smoothies about 500x's more delicious (but also adds calories & fat).

So combining eating about 1200-1300 calories a day with exercising 5x's per week at a relatively high intenstity, you would think would equal a loss. Well, it didn't. In fact, yesterday morning the scale read 200. A number I would have been fine to never see again. I know I will continue to lose and that 200lbs will be a distant dream soon enough but I just didn't feel like the effort I was putting in showed up with the results I saw.

So what to do? What to do when you're eating crap you really don't even like, saying no to chocolate and late night snacks, and you feel like your hardwork isn't being rewarded? You just. keep. pushing. Here's a picture of me doing just that:

As I've mentioned before, I'm training for a 5K using the C25K program and for whatever reason there are days that I feel like a gazelle and that I could have gone farther, longer & then there are days when I feel like I want to just lay down on the treadmill & cry. Yesterday was one of those days; in fact, before I even got to the gym it was one of those days! I was TIRED, not feeling so great but I did what I knew I should and know has brought me the success I've seen thus far, I drug my butt to the gym and completed Week 2, Day 2 (for about the 3rd time now haha) and tomorrow morning I'll do the same thing (after a spin class this evening).

I'm choosing to operate from this principle: I know that anything that is truly worth having, is worth working your butt off for and I will push, push, push until I get where I want to be. Yes, the future isn't as clear as I'd like it to be and I don't know what next week's weigh in will be or the week after that, but I do know what I have control over and that's ME.

Sidenote: I'm excited that I've finally got back to what seems to be a regular blogging schedule; once a week on Fridays. I really do love blogging and think it has value to me, my journey, and hopefully to you all as well. Just a random thought!

Also, I also feel like I have about 10 million topics that I'm dying to write/share about with you all and I hope that you'll find them helpful/interesting as well as I'll be tackling them here in the upcoming weeks- just to give you an idea and tickle your bloggy tastebuds, some of these topics include:

• The negative side effects of weight loss (yep, they exist).
• My new relationship & how that ties in with weight loss.
• Skin Removal Surgery
• And more!

I leave with you this little piece of inspiration I saw yesterday on Pinterest...

Day #75: Not sure if you've noticed but...you're fat.

Howdy!

So yesterday I had a rather... interesting experience that brought back a few memories that I would have rather left buried wayyyy back in the parts of my brain that include all the useless info that my prof's swore was practical and I haven't used in the past few years, old N'Sync songs, and the picture of the way I wore my bangs swooped over to the side like a wave all through elementary school- you know- that place where you keep the things you would rather just completely forget!

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who has ever had an awkward experience when someone makes an attempt at "reaching out to you" to help you lose weight?! I've shared before that even though I've been overweight my entire life- VERY few people have ever said anything to me about it. No, I mean VERY few. I think maybe 2 members of my family have said something about it in my entire life- and obviously friends aren't going to bring it up so me being obese was pretty easy to ignore...except for those random occurences when some random person would say something or offer some piece of advice because they can clearly see you need it. I know they mean well, but it's like..."HELLO- do you think I had no clue that I am overweight? Thank you SO much for letting me know that!" lol

One of these such memories is quite comical. You see all through high school I went to church at least 3 times a week and would pretty much sit in the same spot every time- and although I went to a very large church, it seemed that the same people would sit in the same section every week so you got to at least recognize some faces. One of the people who always sat either in my row or in a row around me was this little old lady who had to have been no younger than 80 (I think she told me once that she was 87- but I don't remember)- she was short, hunched over, had red hair, fake eyelashes, and always wore bright red lipstick. Most of the time if we talked it would just be to say hello or a quick "how are you?"- this probably went on for about 2 years until one day she came up to me before the service and said something similar to this: "You know, you have a very pretty face, and if you could just get some of this weight off of you, you would feel so much better and be so beautiful. You know- I am a dietician and I could bring you some information on how to get this weight off if you want it...." And of course I couldn't be rude to her so I just said, "Oh thank you, sure I would love some information!" And wouldn't you know the next week she brought me this packet on "The Grapefruit Diet"which she swore would melt the pounds away! Clearly, that didn't happen and I think she finally gave up on me but I always felt a little bad about how much she must have pitied me.

Situations like that made me laugh more than they do anything else- people aren't trying to be hurtful (and for me they usually weren't) but it's always, always, always awkward!

Well, wouldn't you know it I got the pleasure of enjoying another one of those awkward moments just yesterday! When I logged onto facebook, I saw that I had an event invitation from an lady that helped me put on an event awhile back- when I clicked on it to see what it was I discovered that it was a page about how if you know anyone that needs to lose weight you need to tell them about this amazing acai diet pill blah blah blah. Is it just me or would you not be embaressed to send someone something like that!? haha She was basically saying- Tiffany, you're overweight, I know you, so you should probably check this site out but I don't want to talk to you about it in person! I hope this isn't reading like I'm mad- because I'm not AT ALL- I really just think it's funny!

I guess I've got to commend these brave souls for stepping out and saying something that is not easy to say, b/c I know it comes from a place of concern- but I can't lie- I really wanted to send her a message back and say... thanks for the even invitation but I think the almost 40lbs I've lossed is proof that I'm doing okay without acai! Buuuuut I didn't :) However, the thing that jump started me on this journey was a friend asking if I would like to do The Biggest Loser Challenge with them...and the rest is history in the making!

I'm wondering- what do you all think... Is it okay to say something about a person's weight to them? Or should you just assume they know and let them figure it out for themselves?

Day #73 & #74: Holy Shmokes

Hey ya'll! So this is my current fb profile pic- it is my declaration that even though it is only about 45 degrees outside- I'm livin' the dream and ready for Spring! I can't lie- I lurve me some aviators :)

So yesterday was weigh in day and the results are in...

Previous Week: 317
This Week: 314
Loss of: -3lbs

In all reality this is more of a 1lb loss since I gained 2lbs last week but I've gotta say I'm pretty happy with this weigh in. Why?

#1- I seriously gave it ALL that I had this week. Remember how last week I shared that while I wasn't doing horribly, I knew how great my best was and I knew I wasn't giving my BEST- well I made sure to change that this week. I didn't make one food choice that I would change and I finally made it to the gym 5x's last week. It wasn't easy- there were some days that I had to rearrange my schedule just to be sure that I made it to the gym but I'm learning that if I don't put my health first, no one else will. And because I gave it my all I don't look at this week as a failure since I didn't hit the # I wanted to (which happened to be 312), because I know that I couldn't have done ANYTHING differently, I fought like hell, and the scale with show the results of my efforts sooner or later.

#2- I'm on my period- so I'm guessing the fact that I was able to lose 3lbs during a week like this means that I will hopefully get at least to my milestone next week of having lost 40 lbs....holy guacamole.

#3- I can literally feel my body changing more this week than possibly any other. I don't know if I look any different but my body sure does feel different; my hips feel smaller, my jeans are even loser, and I got to experience one fabulous freakin' NSV that I'll be sharing later this week. Life is good.

And I can't lie about the fact that I'm pretty stoked that in 1 more pound I'll be able to post a new progress pic! Whoo hoo!

Lots of excitement going on around here!

Have a fabulous day friends and let this be a week that you can look back on and say that you gave it your all- I promise that it will make what the scale says matter very little :)

March Weeks 1 & 2 Recap: Chili, Old Clothes & a Bravo!

HOWDY Friends!!!

As usual, lots has been going on- lots of healthy new eats, new thought patterns, new goals, new accomplishments, & the new me is slowly emerging!

I seem to think more clearly in organized bullet points (go figure!) so here's what's new:

Yumminess:

As I've shared before, I always spend my Sunday afternoons doing my prep cooking for the week (read: I would be doing fast food runs every night if I didn't) and last week I enjoyed my most delicious pot of chili yet! What's in it? Well: lean ground turkey, black beans, light red kidney beans, garlic, 2 cans crushed tomatoes, some chili seasoning, topped off with some sharp cheddar cheese and BAM deliciousness for 450 calories a bowl (if you take the cheese out you'll save yourself approx 90 calories but since lunch is my biggest meal of the day I went for it!). I just put all the ingredients in my crock pot, forget about it for 5 hours, and viola all my lunches for the week are made!

Happy Trails, My Friend, Because NOW we say GOODBYE!

Saturday I found myself in a cleaning/organizing frenzy and decided to go through my dresser drawers and pitch anything that I don't/can't wear anymore- the result is the picture you see above (MINUS the few biggest pair of pants I kept as a memory- something I'll be able to take pics w/ after I hit my goal weight!). Yes, I've seen the #'s on the scale go down and have felt my pants get baggier but it was truly SO crazy to put on my biggest pair of pants (size 28's) that I used to wear ALL the time and now look just absolutely ridiculous on me. Wanna see?

Although this may not be the most flattering picture, the saggy bum, extra tummy room, and the fact that my pants are now dragging on the floor show some sign of progress right?? In fact, I am now comfortably in a size 22- this is seriously a size I haven't been in since I was like 16 years old- truthfully, I don't even know if I believe I can really be a size 20 it's that far removed from how I've been the last 8 years. I know it will happen, but I'll be standing there with my jaw on the floor when it does :)

Speaking of, check out my size LARGE cardigan that I got from Old Navy a few weeks ago! I kind of feel bad for being so excited about such vain things but while these may not seem like a big deal or accomplishment to many people- it is HUGE to me because it is thing I never thought would happen. Yay!

BRAVO Panera!!!

I have been hearing some rave reviews about Panera's new Thai Chopped Chicken Salad that clocks in at only 390 calories for a whole serving so I decided to check it out for myself- my review- pretty darn decent. It is definitely filling, flavorful, and tasty! I would like to put a warning out there though- it is pretty spicy- not unbearrable, but it definitely has a kick.

I would like to hand out my first official BRAVO to Panera Bread for their new addition of calorie amounts to their in-store menu! Panera has always been good about providing the nutritional information of their food online, but when I stopped in to get my yummy salad and saw that they are now posting the calorie info for each item right on the menu I WAS ECSTATIC! Call me crazy but I firmly believe that all restaurants should be required to post at least the calorie amounts to all their foods on their menus. Sure, people are still going to make unhealthy choices but I would feel better knowing that people CHOSE to make the decision to eat a 1200 calorie meal b/c they knew and understood how bad it was & just didn't care and not because they truly didn't know & don't understand nutrition. Yes, I know people can go online and look up all the nutritional info but we all know that that isn't always a realistic option.

For example, just from looking on the wall menu at Panera I was able to compare my old favorite meal (You pick 2 potato soup & caesar salad) vs. the new meal I had (Thai Chopped Chicken Salad) and just with some quick math make a decision that saved me 250 calories!

There's plenty more I have to share but I'm running low on time SO I'll leave you with a quick picture clue as to what's been going on and what the topic of my next post will be... BYE YA'LL!