Calorie Challenge

Before I get into the topic of this post, I must share some rather good news. I decided that just for kicks, I would hop on the scale Tuesday to see what my weight was. Normally I would not do that because I weigh in on Saturdays but after seeing another support friend had lost some weight I thought I would try it. Good news? I lost .8 pounds and that was midweek! I am beyond thrilled and even though I know I will have my bad days, I will take whatever I can take.

I enjoy going out to eat for lunch or dinner, just like the next person. The Diner right in town is awesome, the food is wonderful and I can never get enough. But it always makes me wonder how exactly do they make the food? Do I really want to know how much butter they used? Or the ingredients, are they actually edible? The simple fact is even though I do not want to know what it is made of, I need to know. In order for me to lose weight and continue on this healthy lifestyle, I need to maintain control of what I put in my mouth. That does not mean I want to stay caged in my house forever eating only food prepared there. I want to be able to go out and enjoy the simple pleasures in life of going out once in a blue moon to a restaurant that I enjoy. 

Today I took my cooperating teacher down to our Alma Mater for a luncheon where she received an award for her leadership as a cooperating teacher. The school provided lunch for us and it was nice, chicken with gravy, ziti, bread, salad and cookies. As I looked down at the food, I wondered how many calories I was about to eat and how exactly do I track it? I could only estimate how many calories because I knew there was no real figure for me to follow. I thought of about 600 calories for the 1/2 cup of pasta, roll and piece of chicken I ate.

This is one of the challenges I face as I change my eating habits. How do you account for those calories you do not know about? How do you judge how much is too much food? So, this is what I am thinking, if there are days I know I am going out for lunch or dinner, try to save extra calories during the week, drink plenty of water during that day, exercise a little longer and if possible take smaller portions. After all, the person who is serving you the food or making the food, is not going to eat it or wear the food on their hips (That is where my food ends up).

It will take some time but there are only good things to come because I am a survivor and this is my fight alone. I change the direction of my life and will fight this calorie challenge and I will win.

Ashley <3

Week 1/Week 12

I have tried to keep blogs before but never stayed true to them and ended up forgetting about them. So, I decided with the chance of a new me comes a new blog that I will stick to in sickness and in health. I will not give away my weight because it is embarrassing but after I have gotten down to a decent size I will share the number. I am certainly owning that number no doubt and I am certainly not proud of it. It is only 10 pounds down from my biggest weight which is not good. Some stats for today: 

BMI: 41.4

Exercise: 5 days a week/2 miles a day

Start date: Saturday March 31, 2012

LoseIt! Start Date: Tuesday June, 19, 2012

You may be wondering just what the title means, it looks confusing to the unsuspecting reader. Well, here it is... The first part of Week 1 stands for how long I have been on my new health plan. The term diet seems too harsh for me so I am going to refuse to use it anywhere in my blog. This is a turn in the right direction for my eating habits and I am beyond thrilled to be using the LoseIt! program. For me, it is ten times easier than Weight Watchers or any other type of program out there to date. All I have to do is count the calories and monitor what I eat on a daily basis. It is the accountability factor that I have been lacking for such a long period of time. I can add in my exercise on the program which makes it so easy!

Now for the second part of my title.. I am on week 12 of exercising five days a week. Never in a million years would I have thought that I could get this far and continue on knowing that there is still light at the end of this long dark tunnel. I am beyond thrilled of myself for keeping the routine up and not letting myself down. I realized by the 6 week mark that if I decided to skip a day, the next day I was so upset because I skipped. There is a sense of happiness and I feel so much healthier walking and knowing that I am working towards a goal. For this I am tracking it using both the LoseIt! program and Active.com. The latter program keeps track of how much I exercise and keeps it in a calendar that is within reach for me and also has the latest events around the United States. So, if I wanted to look up a race, I can go right there and register. Easy, right?     

         

This summer, I have begun my search for jobs as I just graduated college. It is often stressful and has me guessing at times if I will be able to obtain a teaching position. In the meantime, I am making my health my focus. No longer do I want to be the fat girl or the one teased, or laughed at when I am on the beach. Plus, on the inside I feel skinny and beautiful, and it is time for me to show it on the outside.

So, thus begins my journey into the unknown. It may sound scary at first but it is like going on a roller coaster blindfolded, it will be scary at times but exhilarating other times, just have to keep on going until the end!

For now...

 Ashley <3