Hanging in there

So I haven't been sleeping very well. I think it is a combination of things mainly including the weather. I went from pretty warm weather in the Caribbean to teens this week. Which means the heat has been on a lot. I am starting to get sick. My mom reminded me today that now is the time of the year I usually get a sinus infection.

Dinner on Thursday went ok. My friend was 30 minutes late and while this seems like a lot I totally understand the situation my friend was in. So, that put my whole plan into a little bit of an upheaval. My original plan was no chips, guiltless chicken platter with no rice and double veggies. And a side salad with dressing on the side. However, I caved and ordered chips while I was waiting. I loaded the chips full of salsa and only had about 10 chips TOTAL! My friend had some chips as. We ended up leaving chips on the table and we only had one order. Usually I take full advantage of the "bottomless" chips. Since I had chips I made modifications to my plan and didn't get the side salad.

I didn't end up going to the gym since my friend and I chatted for almost 2 hours. I did stop at Target though. I picked up the things on my list as well as a few others. I found the 100 calories packs that are the oreo and chips ahoy candy bites. They are SO yummy!


Friday I had a 2 hour lunch at Bucca di Bepo with classmates from South Africa. I really wanted to get just a salad, but since there were so many of us we opted for family style. Ugh. I didn't overeat, but the options we ordered weren't exactly healthy and we had dessert. I think the chocolate cake and the cheesecake were my favorite part of the meal.

I ended up leaving work early and going to the gym. An hour on the arc trainer and an hour on the bike. I cam home showered and then my friend and I went to a take out/cater to get some take out. We ended up with black bean salsa, a yummy red pepper/blue cheese/cream cheese spread, broccoli salad, tortilla soup, salad, and wheat bread. I ate a few bites of everything, but I ate way too much of the cheese dip. We ended up watching The Heartbreak Kid which I wasn't too impressed with. There were some funny lines, but I thought it was a bit too long.

Today I got up around 7 and was at the gym by 7:45. 1 hour of weights, 45 minutes on the arc trainer, and 35 minutes on the bike. I cam back and had leftover salad. I have just sort of lounged around all day since I have been feeling well. I did go out to buy concert tickets for a show next Friday.

I am not sure if I will go to the gym tomorrow. If it is not too cold, I might go for a walk at the lake. I have dinner plans with a friend and I need to pick a new place to go. Hopefully I will be able to pick a healthy place.

So I have gone 6 days without weighing myself. Other then vacations, I haven't gone more then 2-3 days without weighing myself. I am so scared that the scale will show a gain on Monday because I haven't been watching it. But at the same time, I also remember how exciting it was to see my progress when I only weighed myself once a week. I am hoping for good things on Monday!

Danger Zone!

First off, it is freezing in Nashville My body is not happy. It is so dry :(

So I made it to the gym after work yesterday. It was SUPER crowded as expected, but at least there was some new eye candy there :)

I came home and had a bowl of the soup I made on Sunday night. Super good and super filling. Then I lounged around, cleaned up, and uploaded pictures! I was in bed by 10:30!

Today I walked on the treadmill during lunch and ate the lunch I brought. This is huge! It was the first day back for a lot of my co-workers and I new that they would want to go out to lunch so I journaled about it this monrning as an upcoming difficulty. I faltered for a minute and then realized the food I had brought, the dinner date with a friend I have, and the box of food I would be getting from my CSA this afternoon. There was no way I needed to or really could afford to eat lunch out. So I made it to the gym to walk on the treadmill for an hour. HUGE victory.

I am meeting one of my good friends and former roomies for dinner tonight. We will either be going to Pei Wei or Chilli's. I have plans for both places and will stick to them. I just wish it wasn't so cold out.

I have a class lunch tomorrow I had forgotten about at Bucca di Beppo. Boooooooo, I really don't want to eat there and I need to do a little research before tomorrow to find out what all is on the menu besides pasta. I have been there before but of course I just ordered pasta, bread, chicken parm, and caesar salad...

Then tomorrow night I am meeting up with my friend Julia just to hang out. I don't think we have decided if this will include dinner or not. I just got a huge box of greens and I might invite her over for a stir fry.

Saturday I have no plans other then to go to the gym.

Sunday I might be getting dinner with a friend.

Exciting I know!

Pictures from the cruise are here!

Pictures from NYE are here!

Enjoy! I am off to dinner, the gym, and maybe Target!

Welcome 2008!

I had a great New Years Eve and New Years Day. I worked a half day on Monday and then I hit the gym. I picked up a friend from school and then headed over to a friend's house for a little pre-game action and some snacky snacks. I had pretty much decided before I left my house that I would be ringing in the new year sober. Last year in Paris was ROUGH and I wanted to be able to function on New Years Day. The food spread included chips, salsa, and spinach dip, a homemade chilly, and a polish potato dumpling with sour cream and bacon to go on top. I had one bowl of chili, and one dumpling. I ate a few too many chips and dip though. I had 1.5 Jack and Diane's before we left to go see the 80's cover band.

At the bar I had 1 Jack and Diane and 1 bud light. I rang in the new year completely sober AND I had a great time. They were all drunk though, so maybe that's why I had a such a good time. The 80's music was awesome and it was just a great atmosphere. A cute boy pulled me away from my friends and danced with me. That was it though. That was fun! I was home and in my own bed by 3 AM.

I slept in yesterday until about 10 AM and then I headed to the gym. I have been working out about 2 hours a day. Yes, this might seem a little intense, but I have done it before and it is what I did when I first started losing weight almost 4 years ago. I usually do my weight routine and stretch for about 30-40 minutes, the arc trainer for 45, and cool down with the treadmill for 50 minutes. I know I won't be able to keep up this intensity once school starts back up, but it will be a good little boost to my weight loss this week.

As far as my weight loss efforts go I have started to count points again and really journal. Also, I joined an Easter Challenge! I think this will be a great and supportive tool for the next 11 weeks. Also, the end of 11 weeks will mean I have about 2 weeks with grad school classes ever! Hopefully I won't let stress get to me. I have already found some great new blogs and I really need to revamp this site. It was on my to do list for yesterday, but I was invited to dinner at a friends.

So yesterday I went to the gym, cleaned my bathroom and kitchen, made soup for lunches and dinners, and then went to a friends for dinner. (The same friends I hung out with on NYE). We watched Amazing Grace which I wanted to see when I saw the previews in the theater. I think the song hooked me. But I am glad I didn't pay to see it in the theaters though. It was just OK. We ate a little dinner and I was starving by the time we ate. I had some chips and salsa while waiting. For dinner I had black eyed peas, 1 piece of pork tenderloin, 1 braut, collared greens (my first time ever!). I didn't go back for seconds when I easily could have. So yeah! The food was yummy and the company was great. We shared a lot of laughs about the previous night's escapades. I am really lucky and thankful to have this group of friends. I looked through my friend's digital pictures from NYE and I hardly recognized myself. There were some pictures of my backside and I had to do a double take. I felt like I looked normal. It was a really weird feeling.

Watch for NYE pictures and cruise pictures.

Happy Almost New Year!

****PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE send me an e-mail to sarahbeara (at) gmail dot com if you want your weight loss blog to be linked on my side bar. I am going to attempt a revamp of my site (I don't want to forget anyone and I would love to find some new blogs for all you lurkers out there!). I also need to organize my blog links so it is easier for me to read everyone's updates.****

Christmas 2007
I spent the holiday with my family on a cruise ship in the Bahamas. We left on 12/22 and got back on 12/29. It was fun, but it did not feel like Christmas at all. I think I was in St. Marten on Christmas. My mom bought me a cute little pair of sapphire earrings there. Other then that we didn't really exchange gifts. I got my mom a few things, but that was it. They paid for my cruise and everything else that week which was SUPER nice. I played a lot of bingo. I didn't win, but it was still a nice way to spend time with my family. I did exercise everyday on the cruise though. They had a track that I would walk around for at least an hour 1-2 times a day. Plus all the walking in the ports. I did make it to the gym once. It was lame, so I had no desire to rush back. Eating was great the first 2 days and after that it was all down hill. The scale showed a 5 lb increase today since I left for the cruise. I am not sure how much of that is due to going out last night... All in all it was a great trip and I am really glad I was able to go. I will post pictures soon. I wanted to post them today, but somehow when I transfered them from my camera to my computer I lost a few and I am not really sure what happened :(

Resolutions
We all make them. I am not really going to make any one resolution, but I just want to be healthier. I want to get to the gym everyday. I want to eat good meals. My CSA has been amazingly helpful with this. I have made some great squash soups, eaten amazing salads, and really just forced myself to get creative (Thanks Sally for sharing your soup recipe! I am going to make it this week!)

I am going to start journaling and keeping points again. I won't really be doing so much on here, but I will keep a record for myself.

Another thing I need to work on is balancing a social life with eating healthy. Take last night for example. I did wonderfully well all day and worked out for over 2 hours. Then I met up with my friends at the bar where Zach and I would go a lot. I didn't suggest it though. I love the place. The bartenders know me, I have a stupid VIP card that gets me discounts and its comfortable. Plus on Sundays and Mondays it is 2 for one pizza and draft beer. So I had 3 Jack and Diane's (only paid for 2) and way too many pieces of pizza and house made potato chips with Gorgonzola cheese and a cheddar horseradish dipping sauce. GAH!

When I started the whole weight loss thing 4 years ago, I was social, but no where near as social as I am now. This is going to be a tough one.

Speaking of social, yesterday was pretty much my perfect day. I woke up early and went to the gym. I came back to my place and made 2 small Yukon Gold potatoes with a can of rotel on top and had a 100 cal pack of crackers while it cooked. I took my time getting ready. I went to the mall and bought some great clothes at the Gap and 2 new bras. I also go a manicure. (black nails! I love them!) I miss the $6 manicure I got in NYC :( I am really going to try to get one ever 1-2 weeks. It just makes me feel good. And black is my new signature color after this second manicure with black polish. After the mall I went grocery shopping to get soup fixings. When I got home I made a black eyed pea and barley soup. Throughout the day my phone would ring with friends and my mom calling me to see what my plans were for the day and for today. It was nice. I also called a few friends as well. It just made me feel loved. I topped the day off with dinner out with my friends.

I wish you all the best of luck in your ventures for 2008 and they you will be happy and healthy!

Thank you for reading and for the support. I love you all!