I'm still here......

Hey guys - 

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi.  So I'm still here. And by here, I mean way closer to one end of the scale than I'd like to be. :( 

Food, drinks, life...it's all gotten the best of me.  UGH.  But you know me....I don't give up.  I'm not feeling as awesome as I have in times before when I say that, but I'm still trying.  I've got the traditional excuse right now that we're coming up to the holidays.  And yes, it does make it harder.. I mean, I'm preparing to bake 8 dozen or so cookies --- and receiving that many as well at this cookie exchange I'm putting on.  lol  I was doing an Origami Owl party last year and the hostess was putting one on and it seemed like such a fun idea!! So I ran with it. 

I know I'm pushing my body way further than it wants to go. And I know it's struggling.  So I know I need to make some serious changes.  It's just hard - as anyone who's tried to lose weight knows.  But i'm determined to make 2015 my year.  No, I won't reach my ultimate goal - but I will lose weight in a healthy way.  I will consciously make good choices.  I will be able to walk up stairs with the laundry and not feel like I just ran from killer zombies for 2 miles.  I will make these changes for me and my family.  <3 

-- Katie

Day 3!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I'm still in this.  I don't know that any one is reading since I'm not posting on FB, but I'm still being accountable.  I wanted to weigh this morning, but I skipped it.  I kinda want to weigh just to submit a weight to try for prizes on my diet bet, so we'll see.  I should just wait til Saturday morning.  I think ketosis is kicking in today. I've got the headache and am feeling pretty good otherwise.  I had 4 pretzel squares this morning but that was it.  I logged it.  I'm sure I'm drinking to much diet pop/sugar free drinks, but it's getting me through right now.  I'll try to wean off those eventually too.  

Anyhow - that's all for now :)

Katie

Feeling pretty good!

Day one wasn't too bad.  I did really well up until around 6 p.m. and then I was starving.  Outside of my supplements I had some garlic stuffed olives - omgsooooogood

Today started off okay - I've had my strawberry cheesecake bar and water and tea.  Started the morning with a Diet Dr. Pepper which I think was a bad choice because I got super lightheaded and queasy - so I had 4 little pretzel squares.  I logged them - and I'm sure that in a couple days I'll be feeling much better. 

I had a pudding for a snack and will have another later and a shake for lunch.

I'll also have a shake for dinner. Maybe some veggies.  

I'm going to try not to weigh until Saturday morning.  Whenever I say that, I go and weigh tho, so we'll see. LOL Today I'm avoiding cupcakes at work -- I also avoided the amazingly deliciously smelling cookies that Steve made last night!  So all in all I'm doing well :) 

--Katie

Here we go again! VLCD part 2

So why'd I stop doing VLCD in the first place????

I was down 30 lbs in just over 2 months...  I was feeling good...  I got down to 240.2........ what tends to happen, is that I get close to something big -- in this case the 230s and I freak.  I can't explain why I freak, but I do. And I sabatoge myself.  I eat and give up. This makes no sense to me, but that's what happens.  

Soooo I gave up with the excuse that ketosis and the process of getting into it sucks...which, yes it does, but it also makes sense for burning fat.  I got frustrated that if I wanted to indulge at a party or something that it was going to take me 3 days or so to get back into ketosis.  Ummm...yeah Katie...that's a consequence.  Even this isn't a miracle -- you can't just eat whatever you want and then go back to dropping lbs the next day.  So here I am, commiting to at least 2 weeks on VLCD.  I had some supplements left and purchased some more.  

Yesterday I indulged with a steak (and roasted cauliflower! YUM!) and then a couple homemade cookies that Steve made and some ice cream for dessert.  I feel very focused this morning.  I've had tea, water and a BetterMd shake!

I've been having headaches a lot lately and I'm sure getting healthier will help.  Also - going to the Palace 2 weeks in a row and climbing all those stairs made me feel like I was dying.  I remember noticing the difference when I was 30 lbs lighter. I want that again.  

My restart scale number today was a whopping 279.4. I feel very gross about that.  But it will change. 

Back to Reality

Just got back from VEGAS and it was a lot of fun!  Had a great time with my mom but now it's back to the grind.  I know I probably should've waited til tomorrow to weigh, but I did it today.  Basically my all time high.  Higher than I started my diet bet.  I'm hopeful that with water today a lot will just fall off fast, but we'll see.  

Pretty disappointed in myself lately.  I get into those funks and just say screw it - I'm here - might as well not care.  Like when I had to buy a bigger size in the pants I bought from Target.  2 sizes bigger.  Sure, women's sizes suck and yes, you can wear a 10 in one style/brand/design and a 14 in another (shocker, those aren't MY sizes....I'd probably kill for those sizes....yep, I think I would....) but it still sucked majorly.  

Tomorrow I have to weigh in for my diet bet.  No way in hell will I make that (would need to lose 14 lbs overnight...) If I'm lucky I'll be down to at least what I started this round at.  As of today, for round 2 I need to lose 23 lbs. in a month.  Gonna be hard as hell, but I need to do it. I need to do it for me. I'm tired of feeling like this.  I want to see pics of myself and not be grossed out.  I want to be the girl my hubby married. :)  He deserves that and so do I!! 


Anywhooo - just a quick update for anyone reading...

--Katie

A little product review :)

So I haven't updated in a while, and I haven't been doing the best, but I see that changing in the near future.  Right now we've got a few things coming up and I'm not going to be crazy about trying to be 100% because it's just not going to happen.  We go to Buffalo this weekend and I'm super excited!  We'll be visiting the Texties and see the little bump of Mr. Man who will be here in a few months! I'm very excited for the girls to get to see eachother and play.  Last time we got together they were dancing to ghetto music in the streets of Chicago - they know how to have a good time!

The following week I leave for Las Vegas -- a girls trip for just me and my mom!! I'm so excited - it's gonna be great!  I'm sure we'll do our share of walking, and my trip probably won't be too over-indulgent, but I'm not holding my breath for my weigh in. I currently don't see myself making my first goal for the dietbetter competition.

Once I'm back from Vegas though - I want to really get things in gear. Even before I go, I want to start doing either 30 day shred or Bikini Body Mommy or something.  I canceled my gym membership so it's really all on me to do something.  I do have a bike now, so I gotta get on it and go!  I haven't rode a bike in forever. LOL

My cousin Jessica who sells itWorks! products sent me some samples of their Greens and I gave them a try today.

I tried the chews yesterday and even though I am not a blueberry fan, these were pretty good! I'd defintiely get them again.  They say each serving has the antioxidant strength of 20 cartons of blueberries (YUCK!) --- no way I could even eat one carton LOL 

As for the Greens on the Go ---  I first tried the berry just mixed with water.  It was definitely different --- but something that I can picture myself growing accustomed to.  The orange was harder for me to swallow...literally.. lol --- but I mixed some Mio with it and it was okay.  I placed an order today.  I'm starting off just with the Berry Greens.  I'll probably add the chews next month, but my wallet said keep it reasonable this time :D  

If you're interested in checking out what they have to offer, you can use the link I got when I placed my order and then I can earn some free wraps to try too!! Please and thank you haha http://KatherineWaetjen@sharewraps.com

I think I'll get my greens in about 1-2 weeks so it should be perfect for starting after Vegas! We'll see if I can meet my WL goal for this month still, but like I said, not holding my breath.  I should step on the scale and see where I am though. Using the last weight that I had in MFP from my auto-syncing scale (BLAH!) I'm down less than 2 lbs from the start of the competition. 15 days to lose approx 6.5 lbs. Doable yes.  Doable while going to Buffalo and Las Vegas?! Um I'll get back to you.  If I had a day or two after Vegas I'd feel more confident but I think I need to weigh in the day I get back. LOL  Yeah.... so it's okay though. I'll make my goal next month for sure. ;) And I'm not giving up just yet for this month.  I've got 9 days where I'll be in town and should be able to make picture perfect choices.  Yes, I know that requires me to actually make the good choices ;) But we'll see what we can do!!

--Katie

P.S. Jessica's direct site it www.jessicalansing.myitworks.com but use my link so I can get some free wraps if you're ordering soon :D Thanks!!

Day 2: Moving on down!!

Down 4.7 lbs.  Yes! I will take it!!

Yesterday struggles (yet, successes!) are brought to you by the letter T for tray of muffins brought in, C for the candy jar that was calling my name, and the A & I for the apple pie and ice cream at home.  But I had none.  Not even a bite of apple pie.

Steve - you're going down this month!!  I'm gonna beat you percentage-wise mwhaaahahhaha  

So I've got 28 days to lose 3.5 lbs (AND KEEP IT OFF) for round one for the competition!  

Breakfast was a planty shake (with no banana) and 1 cup of dry apple jacks cereal.  <-- yeah, i know that's not the best, but it's logged and I needed something haha  I've already drank a bunch of water and a cup of tea.  One thing that I didn't miss while I wasn't drinking all this water was the fact that I was up all night peeing!  That gets old fast!  Because I have all this left over pasta still, I'm doing it for lunch today.  It's really sad when you weigh stuff.  But enlightening to see how much you really overdo it when you're don't.  I'm having a good sized serving for lunch, but still not what I'd normally cram in my to-go container.  Makes you think twice when you put it on the food scale.  

I'm not totally sure on dinner, but it might just be a shake.  Maybe grill up some zuchinni.  I have to keep it low cal since my lunch is high. 

I'm feeling good --- pretty tired, but good.  I've got sinus/allergy issues happening right now so my throat is killing me.  Hopefully the tea will help soothe :)  

Welp, I hope everyone has a great day. Hopefully these storms won't be as bad as everyone is saying --- or at least I'll be home with my family when they hit. lol  

--Katie

Day 1

Feeling good!!  Yes, I know I always start out this way... haha

But I feel in control, which is what I need!  Started my day with my planty shake (check!) and am drinking lots of water and my tea right now.  I've gotten most of my day logged in MFP (check!) and will weigh my pasta tonight to make sure I know I'm eating the correct portion!  

So I did sign up for the 6 month (TRANSFORMER) DietBet and it starts today.  Yesterday I submitted my weights and pics.  As I expected, 273.2 --- I weigh in next right after Vegas (in a month) so that gives me more incentive to lose more before I go to give me a little buffer.  My goal for the Oct 8 weigh-in is 8.2 lbs.  I can do this!! That's a 3% loss.  By quitting the vending machines, pop, and increasing my water and tea again, it should be easy. I need a victory.  That's what I need right now.  

Alrighty - just a quick update today. Gotta get back to work!  It's gonna be crazy for the next while :( Hopefully I can stay focused and busy though and time will fly.  A girl can hope, right?! 

--Katie

Need to re-find my way

WOW - so it's been nearly a month since I've posted.  How crazy :( 

So to recap:
I did not make my DietBet goal
I have managed to regain pretty much everything that I had lost on VLCD
I am back up to my highest weight
I've gotten back into bad habits of junk food, pop, alcohol, etc.
I haven't logged anything

On August 31st I bit the bullet and stepped on the scale and it showed 270.  AGAIN. UGH.  

It sucks.  Unfortunately, I've just fallen into that pit where it's like I'm having such a hard time that it's hard to get out, get refocused, and not just continue that downward spiral.

I know I shouldn't say tomorrow, but tomorrow I will:
*Log in MFP --- Kelly...hold me accountable, please ;) 
*Start the day with a planty shake

I'm going to look through my cupboards tonight to see what supplements I still have left from HL and VLCD.  I need to use those up and hopefully use them as a springboard into weight loss again. I need to give myself a plan.

Because I'm a glutton for punishment - or just a dreamer at heart - I was looking at the diet better site today.  They have a 6 month program that starts tomorrow. It runs from Sept 9-March 8th.  It's broken up into rounds and is meant to keep you motivated the entire time.  Assuming that I'm 270 (prob more especially with clothes on) but assuming that's where I am, this would bring me down to 243 by March.  Now I know I can do that. I know I could be down to 243 before then.  But the challenge would be to get down there, and STAY DOWN THERE for the whole competition. That's obviously my issue.

Round 1 – 3%
Round 2 – 6% cumulative
Round 3 – 8% cumulative
Round 4 – 9% cumulative
Round 5 – 10% cumulative
Round 6– Maintain 10% cumulative

So I don't know.  I'm definitely tempted.  But I know I threw away the entry fee for the last competition.  

I will take it one day at a time and will achieve my 2 goals for tomorrow.  

Easy peasy.  

--Katie

Keeping it interesting.....

Or just being stupid....

LOL

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah...... so just to keep you guys guessing, I weighed this morning.  UGH - yeah...9 lbs to lose in a week... Hmmm... Will she do it?? I'm not holding my breath, but I'm not hopeless yet.  I feel like I can do it.  It will be hard.  It will be super challenging.. But it is doable....I think...  Hoping for the water weight to fall off.  

Jeebus.... so I think I can weigh in the 19th or 20th.  So hopefully one of those days will be good for me.  

Yeah - I don't really have much else to say right now.  Just updating you all that I'm not as close as I was.  :( Bummer!  Hoping I can get this off quickly though.  I'm drinking lots of water and tea today, had a planty shake for bfast, doing an HL shake for lunch and grilled chicken on top of a salad for dinner.  

--Katie

Tired...Headache...but it's Wednesday!

Well, I decided last night that I wasn't going to do the gym this morning.  I'll go tonight.  We had Member's Night at the Zoo last night and didnt' get home until late, so no way was 4:30 gonna feel good.  

Check out my stats though from my fit bit! I know they're not 100% accurate, but it's neat to look at --- and I did well surpass my 10K step goal for the day :)  

With the weather, we thought we were going to skip the zoo but last minute ended up going...so I didn't plan well and was just wearing flip flops --- my feet are sore today. haha  Oooh, and we ate at the zoo.  BUT I passed on the amazingly delicious sounding/looking/smelling pizza, chicken tenders, pasta etc and got a side salad with chicken and basalmic vinegarette and some fruit!!  SCORE!  I even skipped on the french fries C kept trying to share with me :) 

I was down another 3 lbs today ---- so that puts me back where I was, I believe --- I need to lose 4 more lbs to make my 4%!!! I've got a little less than 2 weeks to do it -- plenty of time!! My FitBit wasn't charging so I'm not wearing it today -- hopefully when I get home it has a charge -- or else I think it's broken :(  But we shall see!  

So send me some of your favorite motivational quotes, pics, etc.  I want to keep being encouraged and motivated and I want others to feel the same.  

What keeps you going??

--Katie

2 days in a ROW?! Sweet!

Yes!!! I'm on track!!  

2 for 2.  I've gotten up early and went to the gym 2 days in a row.  4:30 a.m. early!  I am proud of myself.  Today I wanted to quit a number of times.  I went through it in my head --- "well, I can just stop after 30 mins and then do some weights"....."ehh, I'll just stop after 45 minutes...." but I kept going.  I did my full hour.  Tomorrow I'm planning on just doing a half hour.  I am going to do the 30 minute circuit to get some weights in too.  Kelly said I deserved a Monster (sugar free of course) so I treated myself this morning.  The caffiene is much appreciated.

It's such a rainy dreary day today!!  Yuck.  If it clears up, we'll be going to the zoo tonight but I'm not holding my breath.  

Oh - I was down 3 lbs this morning.  So I'm back to 30% towards my weight loss goal for this competition.  Thank goodness!! I'm back to making progress.  I really, really want to meet this goal and then join the longer competition!  So I'll just keep on doing well and sticking to my promises to myself.  If we don't go to the zoo tonight, Steve and I will be sharing this amazing steak we picked up from Holiday Market last night.  But my side dish planned is spaghetti squash! Nice and healthy!!  And then we were able to pick up some fruits and veggies and deliciousness.  I picked up this veggie 'cheese' that I had gotten free from BzzAgent and have yet to try it.  But they say it melts, and that's a big selling point to me.  Has anyone tried using FF shredded cheese in a casserole?! Umm can we say nasty? FF cheese doesn't melt - it basically turns to plastic.  

Well I hope everyone has a fantastic day!! 

--Katie

One for one!!!

Yes, let's start this week with a positive.  I woke up early and was at the gym by 4:30 -- did the elliptical for an hour and burned 673 calories.  I have already logged my food for the day and planned my calories wisely. 

Now for the bad news.  Bad eating, drinking and poor choices had gotten me back to my starting weight for the 4 week challenge.  Now I'm down to 2 weeks to go and I still need to lose 4% of my starting weight.  Self-sabatoge. I'm notorious for that.  I don't know why, but I am.  Sometimes I think it's just that I'm afraid of failing that I just do it (I know that doesn't really make sense....but I don't know how to explain it) -- other times, I think it's just an addiction to food.  Why does saying that sound so much more embarrassing than saying you're addicted to drinking or smoking?!  It seems like something you should easily be able to control....but then again, to a non-smoker, choosing to not smoke sounds easy too.  Why would you want to do something you know is bad - that will shorten your life - that can cause your family pain and grief.  You don't WANT to -- it's an addiction.  But it needs to stop.  It really does.  Listening/watching Extreme Weight Loss makes me really feel that I do have this addiction.  Sure I'm not 500 lbs, but even at my 263 --- I know that i have these tendancies.  And it needs to change.  And it's changing today.  <---- Yes, I know you've heard that before....

I need to be in control of my life.  I need to take that back.  One of these times, you're going to read my blog from day to day and be like "Whoa! She finally did it!!  :) After all these proclamations that she was going to be healthy, she really did it!!"  And I will feel damn good about myself on that day. 

This is going to be a great week.  I've got 3 more days this week that I'm going to be gymming in the AM.  This will be fantastic.

Picture theme for the day are inspiration pics.... I want to go further than all these pics, but this is a start :)

--Katie

Danger Danger!!!

Avoid these at all costs.......unless you want some absolutely amazingly fabulous chips.  

Holy crap these are amazing.  I made the mistake of seeing that the Lays flavor contest bags were at the grocery store.  4 flavors!  I bought three ::hides in shame::  But these are the only ones that I feel the need to eat.  Wasabi Ginger....seriously....if you like the taste of wasabi and ginger -- buy these!  The other two I picked up were Mango Salsa --- very mango-y and after one chip I closed the bag and will probably bring them to work for the people here --- and bacon mac & cheese (I think it was called) --- those were okay...nothing amazing (IMO).  The other one they had at the store was Cappuccino -- I told myself I was showing self control by only buying 3 bags... ha! I'll learn.

So last night was a slip.  Along with eating chips from the bag -- not measuring -- I had redeemed the free gelato coupon I had gotten.  Honestly, I don't think I'd buy that again.  It was way too caramely and just 'eh' tasting to me.  So I don't think I'll be tempted by what's left in the freezer.  

With my bad night, I decided to weigh this morning.  I needed to.  Needed to be honest with myself.  So after my bad weekend and bad night last night, I was up a lb from last week.  

Today Miss Harley goes in for surgery to remove a couple cyst like bumps.  I'll pick her up after work tonight, but as long as all is good I'll still be hitting the gym tonight.

My food is logged and I still have some room if need be for another pudding/shake or something.  I already ate my ounce of portioned out wasabi chips. lol  Ughhh.  Breakfast of champions huh?  Just means I miss out later on them.  

::fills up my water::

Cheers to a better day!

--Katie

Yesterday was GREAT!

What a freakin on par eating day -- I wound up at 1303 cals for the day.  And I made it to the gym!!!  

And this happened!

Yep -- 675 cals burned on the elliptical and then I did about 15 minutes of weights.  The sweat was pouring off me and it felt great.  I'm hoping to get back to the gym tonight too!  So yesterday between the elliptical and what my fit bit synced otherwise, it put me at over 1100 calories burned. Nice!!

It's amazing how different you feel when you're eating good foods compared to bad foods.  Bad foods just seem like poison.  Poison hidden in amazing tasting goodness.  But you get down, sad, tired, lazy and just wind up eating more poison because - well, why not, right?  I don't think I could ever totally cut out the "bad stuff" but at least if I'm consciously making better choices and striving to do my best it won't hurt me so bad.  :)  So my food is logged for today and things look good except my sodium.  That's kinda off the charts.  That's because I'm having soup for lunch.  But I'll keep up on my water and hopefully just flush it all out.  Progresso's French Onion soup is only 100 cals for the whole can.  I'm going to melt a 60 cal cheese stick on it too so it'll be semi like the real deal. 

Dinner will be steamed broccoli and leftover turkey breast tenderloin.  Yum!!  I wanted to weigh so bad this morning...well, kinda...but I didn't.  I need to wait at least another day.  I need to remember I did eat/drink SUPER poorly over the weekend. Give it a few days of awesome to get the good numbers back!!  After yesterday though, I feel like I can totally get my 4% this week!!  I'll see what reality says next time I get on the scale, but I'm feeling good!!  

Hope everyone has a great day.  I really appreciate you guys taking time to read about my struggles and successes and always being there for me :) 

--Katie

Weekend was good, but crazy bad

unfortunately, crazy bad = my eating/drinking for the weekend!

Today is a new day though and I've got everything logged and accounted for.  I went through and recounted what I could from my weekend and logged into MFP too.  It's seriously bad.  Like holy shit bad.  But I'm sipping my tea - had my planty shake and a hard boiled egg - and I'm just gonna water it up!!

Oh - and check out what I won at the bowling fundraiser.  LOL I'll have to share - a lot! 

Bowling was a ton of fun though. I bowled horribly, but had a couple drinks and a lot of laughs.  We also saw the Planes movie and the Purge 2.  One with Claire, and one without.  You can figure out which. haha  

Gym tonight. Gym tonight. Gym tonight.

I know I'm not going to want to, but I have to.  If I can get out of the house early enough, I'd like to get in 2 hrs.  I need it.  After all the bad choices and WAY too many excess cals, I have to.  No excuses.  Talking to Kelly- she asked if I weighed this morning.  You know I'm a compulsive weigher, but um hell no did I weigh this morning.  I'll weigh sometime this week.  Ideally Saturday.  But you know me and there is very little chance that I'll be able to wait that long.  

So my last weigh in on the Diet Better Competition - I was only 4.1 lbs away from reaching my 4% goal.  I'm still striving to reach that this week.  I know it'll be tough with the crazy calorie counts but I'm still reaching for it.  Worse comes to worse, I come close :)  I've got 22 days!  

Well, time to get some work done before this super long, super boring meeting we have this morning.  Ugh.  Doesn't make a Monday any better.  Oh well.  

--Katie 

5 days logged and tracked!

And going strong!

My scale pic from Sunday showed 263.9 and today I saw 257.4!  I am moving in the right direction and very happy about that.  Yesterday was a struggle.  No lie.  I was hungry!  By midday, I was starving - I couldn't wait for dinner to come.  I met Erin for dinner and scarfed down all my food lol  Luckily I had already recorded what I was having, and it was DELICIOUS!!!  Grilled shrimp, spaghetti squash and freakin amazing mashed potatoes!  Oh and they didn't even bring us any of their amazingly.good.but.oh.so.bad.for.you garlic cheese rolls so that was a plus because I would've been so tempted! Unfortunately, I was hungry again later on as Steve and I played Walking Dead.  But he was strong and wouldn't give in to my (not in the very least) subtle hints that I wanted ice cream.  I sucked it up, pouted a little, and had a string cheese.  :) 

Tonight I'll go to the gym and get a workout in. That's good because my calories I've logged for the day are kinda high and I haven't figured out dinner yet.  Worse comes to worse, I can do a shake.  But I'd rather eat food :) Tomorrow I'm going to try to keep my cals low during the day since we're going out bowling.  They're supposed to have pizza for us.  I'll stick to water or diet pop though.  No regular pop or drinky drinks for me.  It'll be great getting together with awesome friends and supporting the Homeward Bound Rescue League!!  And of course, I'll be trying to win all sorts of awesome prizes because that's what I  do.  It's for charity, right?!!! 

Must remember to log.  Whether I go over my cals or not, I just need to be accountable!  

I'm so glad that Friday is here.  I'd so rather be at home doing laundry and cleaning my house though.  Oh well.  I'll do some of that tonight and more tomorrow!  Running up and down the stairs will do me some good!! I'm hoping my FitBit works properly today and doesn't reset for no good reason.  It did that to me the other day and really bummed me out. Not that I was going to be close to 10K steps at all, but still!  Just annoying that it did that.  

So I've had my ups and downs and am heading in the right direction.  

One day at a time, right?? 

--Katie

One day closer!

One day closer to Friday!  YES!!!!!!  

Tonight I'm going to dinner with a friend and already looked up calories and logged everything.  I'm still within my cals!!  Yesterday I did choose to have one of those abolutely amazingly delicious coconut fruit bars by Edy's ....totally worth it.  So I exceeded my calories yesterday by 24.  Not bad.  BUT I can't make that a habit.  I'm not sure I'll get to the gym tonight, just because I want to spend time with my hubby and little girl -- but if I don't go today, I'll for sure go tomorrow.  Gonna make sure I get in my two days (at least!!) this week!  

Yesterday really was a good day. For dinner, I grilled and it all turned out really well. I normally don't handle the grilling, so I was pretty proud.  I ended up boiling sweet potatoes whole for about 5 minutes and then sliced them in half and brushed this mixture of spices and some evoo on them and then grilled them for about 15 minutes.  They were tasty!!  And then we had these marinated turkey breasts which threw on the grill -- and asparagus!  Yum!!

Here is my progress so far with the WL competition.  I've got 26 days to lose 5.7 lbs.  I've so got this!!  Almost half way to my 4% goal :) How exciting!  

I really like this diet bet thingy -- if I'm successful, which I WILL be - I might look at reinvesting and doing the longer, 6 month competition where you are challenged to lose 10% of your body weight. I think they break it up into smaller challenges tho so that's pretty neat.  My friend Sandy is doing that right now, so I'll check to see how she likes it :) 

Welp, I hope everyone has a fantastic day!!  

--Katie

You know I weighed LOL

Yeah - any time I say I'm going to wait until X to weigh....I weigh the next day. It really does help me stay focused, so whatevs -- I'm good with it. :)

I'm already down over 4 lbs.  Yay!!  I did make it to the gym last night and multi-tasked.  It felt good to be there actually.  I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy and burned 500 calories while on the elliptical.  I think that watching that will accompany my elliptical workouts from now on. haha  That's all I did last night - so about 45 min on it.  But that was a good start.  If I can do 45 on the elliptical and then do another half hour with weights or something, I think that'll be good! :)  I don't think I'll wind up going tonight because we'll have company, but I'll try to go tomorrow night after I go out to dinner with a friend I haven't seen in forever.  I did pick a restaurant that had lots of veggie options, so I'll stay on track!!  

Dinner tonight will be turkey breast tenderloin, sweet potato and asparagus. I'm excited! <--- yeah, it's the little things. :) I've got everything logged for my day and am under my calories. So that is fantastic!  I've been keeping up with my vitamins too, so I'm happy with that!  It's funny because as I'm logging my food and it's all healthy stuff, it seems like I have to add so much to reach my 1200-1300 calories.  I still have 127 cals left from what I logged, so if I don't add anything else to my day I might have a coconut fruit bar that I picked up.  They're soooo good and a much better splurge than ice cream or something like that.  

Glad that it's Wednesday.  Going to have another strong day!!  

--Katie

Game Day!

Here we are - day 1 of another challenge in my life.

4% in 28 days.  So if I see 253.3 on August 19th, I did it!! 

I've gone ahead and logged my day in MFP and I'm just over 1200 calories. And then add a workout to that tonight, since I AM going to the gym, and it's gonna be ah-mazing!!! I went to charge my fitbit for a few before work this morning, hoping that it'd give me enough charge for day --- but no such luck. It still had no charge before I was leaving for work.  So I'll plan on starting to wear that tomorrow.  Guess that is what happens when it sits in a drawer for months :( 

Well, I'm not the best meal planner --- I was hoping to have a weeks worth of meals laid out, but I just have some ideas. Guess I'll take it day by day.  Plan the night before. LOL  That'll work.  I've already got dinner figured out for tomorrow and I think I'll stick to my planty shakes for breakfast for a while. Kelly introduced me to them.  They are for sure different -- but not bad. I added a banana and a teeny bit of PB to mine this morning.  A little over 250 cals for my breakfast.  Not bad to get my day going!  So my food diary/log is open to all my friends on MFP so be sure to stalk me.  If you see that I am not logging, call me out.  I need to log for all of these 28 days.  Weekends will be my struggle. I know this. I know me.  Make sure I get to the gym tonight.  And that I keep going.  I can't work out 4 hours a day like Extreme Weight Loss, but I can work out at least a couple hours a week!!  That along with staying within my calorie goals will only bring me good things.

Since I weighed in on Sunday and didn't eat the best that day or yesterday, I'm going to probably try to wait a few days to weigh again.  If I can hold out, Saturday morning sounds like a plan.  We have plans Saturday night which will not be the healthiest, so I'd rather just *try* to do a weekly weigh in.  One of my friends in the challenge is already 38% to her four percent goal! That is awesome!!! Keep up the great work Ms. LashesAndLockets!!!!  I like that you can add your weight as you go. It's of course unofficial until the end, but still nice that you can see your progress, and progress of your friends, to keep everyone motivated!!!  

I've had my tea and am watering it up today.  I'm going to do this.  I like that this is a small goal.  Get us into the game of health!  I love that I have my best friend on board with me.  I know I make life difficult for him sometimes, and that I drive him crazy because I'm a girl who is emotional and loves food and the comfort it tends to give sometimes, but I'm glad he's always by my side. Cheering me along. Pushing me. Supporting me. And just being amazing. I'd be lost without him.  

So here we go!!  4% here I come. :) 

<3 Katie

Mosquitos are the devil

I never used to be affected by mosquito bites, but in the past few years, it's been bad!  Of course, I'm being a baby about it and complaining --- lol It's not THAT bad, but just so annoying.  I remember my cousin used to welt up like crazy, so I can't really complain with my little (tiny in comparison) bites, but still....I don't think anyone would miss them if they all just disappeared!!  

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

So yesterday I weighed in for the DietBet.  My weight and photos were submitted and approved so I am good to go.  I'm not happy with the results.  Of course, it's higher than I normally see partially due to having to wear clothes to submit the photos, but unfortunately I don't think I have 20 lbs of clothes on.  SIGH!  Since I am clothed and submitted these photos, I'll share them here too.  This way, hopefully at the end of this, there will be some noticeable difference.  I know it's only a 4 week challenge, but still. A lot CAN (and hopefully WILL) happen!!

Yep, not a number I'm proud of...nor one I want to see again!!  Granted, I wasn't on my game totally leading up to this, just because I knew I had the challenge coming.  Now I know that's not the right way to think, but that is where my head was.  I'm working on some meal planning today --- at least laying out options and calories to make it easy to eat healthy and stay within my calories. Steve is on board too, so we're gonna do this.  4% in 4 weeks is totally doable.  Can I just say that not having a planned meal in place totally sucked this morning. After a long day at the beach yesterday, Monday morning came way too quickly and is no fun.  Trying to decide on lunches was not fun, hence meal planning :)

So here is my goal.  Doable, right?  RIGHT!  

253.3 or less on Aug 19th!!  I'm gonna not only meet that goal, but BEAT it.  I've got Steve and Erin added as friends on the diet bet app -- if you decide to sign up, let me know so that we can root each other on!!  Other than lbs and inches, I don't have anything to lose.  You all already know how much I weigh, so I might as well try to make myself, and everyone else proud by reaching this goal :-D  I'm going to try to start out the mornings with some tea too -- and continue meeting my water goals.  Starting tomorrow, please make sure I'm logging in MFP --- Please keep me accountable :) I need it.  No matter what I say.  This is a month.  I can be diligent about logging every day for a month!  No excuses.  Gym tomorrow!! <--- yeah, hold me accountable for that too. LOL

--Katie

Chug chug chug

All aboard the water train!

I did NOT weigh this morning -- and not because I had a bad day, but because I chose to wait to see a bigger number.  Although I slightly went over my calories yesterday, it was still a really good day.  I hit all my promises: I did not have any regular pop (or any pop in fact), I drank over 120 oz of water, and I did my hair and makeup in the morning :) I am logging my food/drinks in MFP.  I'm trying to stick to my calorie goals but I'll really make sure I'm on track next week.  I think I can weigh in for the challenge on Sunday and it officially starts on Tuesday.  I'm excited!

Still addicted to watching/listening to Extreme Weight Loss. If I surround myself with all this inspiration, I'll surely acheive my goals too, right??  That's what I'm shooting for.  :-D 

Just a short post today -- not really much to report.  

Have a great day!!

<3 Katie <3 

Well, dang!

I did it...I bit the bullet and stepped on the scale. UGH. Way to get the day off to a crappy start. LOL

  (but still!!)

But again, it is what it is, and I can either choose to be down on myself...say screw it, and eat whatever I want (and don't want) just because, OR I can choose to make good choices, pick myself up, and do whatever it takes to never see that number again.  I choose #2

I am going to try to not weigh every day (I know, I ALWAYS say that) but I'd like to see a decent number on the scale --- seeing "5 lbs lost" would make much more impact than 1 lb here, .5 here, 1.5 etc  So I will try. I make no promises with that though. :)  Speaking of promises -- yesterday I didn't get my water in.  Bummer!! But I did do my hair/makeup and didn't have any regular pop.  So 2 out of 3.  Today I'll work harder at getting all my water in!!

Sooooo you know I'm always changing things up.  I came to the realization yesterday that if I set myself up to carb cycle - I'm kinda giving myself more chance at slipping and falling right back to where I am.  I get the science behind it, but it's still kinda gimicky -- just in the fact that "Am I really going to be able to keep up with this (and do I want to)??" It's going to take a lot more thought process than just eating healthy. So I'm going back to logging in MFP, sticking to calorie goals, still working on finding time to get back to the gym, and just being honest with myself AND others.  So stalk my diary on MFP (kdw6383), message me, bug me, ask me flat out if I need to confess anything.  I need the accountability and support. 

I don't want to see the girl I saw in the bazillion mirrors at Mackinac Island ever again.  
I want to learn to believe in myself.  
I want to not be afraid of disappointing and letting other people down.  
I want to do this for me.  
I want to feel pretty and shop for cute clothes at any store I'd like.  
I won't give up!

--Katie