Sunday, April 18, 2010

Weekend Weigh-In : Ups and Downs

My fitness guru friend will be so happy to hear that I did in fact work-out at the gym 4 times this week! I worked out on the precor and weights on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I couldn't make it happen on Tuesday and Thursday because I work 12 hour shifts those days but at least I made it happen! I haven't gone to the gym today because I woke up with an acidic stomach..not fun, not fun but I will have to make time for it at least 4 times this next week.
On the other hand, my calorie intake hasn't been perfect. On 3 days this week I ate 100-300 calories over my limit. On 3 days this week I ate under my calorie limit. Thus the scale has been a little funky. It appears that I've lost about 2.2 pounds this week. This is a lot less than the first week but this is what I'm actually supposed to be losing to lose weight healthily.
I'm going to try and be more consistent this week. I'm also trying to be realistic and not get down on myself for every little thing. It's a slow process but very rewarding. I fit into this one pair of jeans that I couldn't pull up over my bootie 2 weeks ago. Just have to keep on steadily with school, work, and my goals.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Weekend Weigh-In

Last weekend, I started trying to lose weight again (and for the last time!). I've been on and off battling with my weight for some time now and I finally reached a point where I am tired of being overweight. It's been about 3 years since I've felt comfortable with the size of my body. I'm ready to make changes and take care of myself. In the end, I'd like to lose about 35 pounds and reach the weight that I was my senior year of high school.

I started tracking what I ate on livestrong.com last Saturday and have done it everyday since then. I love livestrong because it's free and there are many different foods with calories already input on the website. You can also enter in your weight and calorie goals. It really helps me to realize how many calories I'm eating and make me conscientious of that. However, I've found that when a food from a particular restaurant isn't listed on the website and the menu doesn't list the number of calories in the item, I get extremely freaked out and nervous. For instance, this weekend I went to the Orange and Blue game in Gainesville and we stopped for lunch at Burrito Brothers. I ate guacomole, black bean dip, chips, and 1 chicken taco. Since there is only one Burrito Brothers of course I could not find out the calorie information anywhere. Eating out really makes me nervous since I'm serious about losing weight. I hate guesstimating.

Also, I got a gym membership at a place called 24 hour fitness. This is perfect for me because I have such a crazy schedule. I ended up going on Sunday and Monday and then again today (Sunday). I'd like to go 3 times this next week, but it's really hard to work into my schedule. It should be easier after my schedule changes.

The one thing that really drives me insane is that I realized scales are totally not consistent. For example, sometimes if I weigh myself after a meal I will literally have gained 5 pounds. However, a couple of hours after I eat that weight will slowly go away. What the hay is that? I don't get it. How discouraging and depressing. After talking to a friend I realized that I have to weigh myself at the same time everyday to get an actual stable, non-arbitrary weight. I find that the easiest (and most gratifying) time for me to do this is first thing in the morning. That is when my weight is at it's lowest. So basically, when it comes to weight and calories, I hate ambiguity. I want to have a sense of control of what calories I'm putting in my body and the results I'm getting. If I go by the morning weight, this first week I've actually done really, really awesome. Even with eating anywhere from 1600 calories (if I work out that day) to 1300 calories per day I've lost 5.4 pounds just this week!

I expect the weight loss will slow down and get a little harder as time goes on, but I was never hungry and very happy with my results. My clothes are just a little tiny bit looser but I expect it will be another 5-10 pounds before I can actually go down a clothing size.  However, I have been drinking way too many caffeinated drinks. My favorite is diet Dr. Pepper and I usually have 1 cup of coffee a day, but as long as I drink plenty of water I'm fine with that for now.

My goals for next week are to work out at least 3 times and to continue to track my calories. Most importantly, I will only weight myself first thing in the morning and record that weight on livestrong. I will not emotionally drive myself crazy by weighing myself 50 times a day. That is a psychological recipe for disaster.

I want to have my fitness guru friend look at this entry and give me some feedback. If anyone else has feedback, I'd love to hear it! Thanks for joining me on Weekend Weigh-In.

Friday, April 9, 2010

I finally got our DIY pictures together.

Here is the old (shudders):


When we first moved in, we primed the bathroom and put down painters tape.

And it sat.

Then we tried different color samples.

I strongly disliked the lighting....

Here I am about to redo...finally....6 months later!

Bye!

Buh-Bye!

Ew.

So long.

Working hard. Cleaning baseboards.




New Bathroom!

Aaaaaahhhhhhh......



My shells...here is a close up. I got them at World Market. Vanilla candle...because I love the smell.


These are picture from the "in-laws" trip to Sanibel. Sorry about the glare. That first pic is the ocean and seagulls because I thought it was interesting to look at while chillin on the toilet...it has a lot of detail.
New towel rack from target. I thank B for putting this up and doing a beautiful job. As well as fixing the toilet and helping me with the painting.

This towel fit the bill but it's falling apart already! Don't buy this towel from Target. This gives me an excuse to buy the monogrammed towels I want instead. Ha.


B helped me with this too. Much more elegant than our old one. This was another World Market purchase.

New lighting. Oh yeah B did this...I don't know how to do electrical but he knows some basic stuff. I wish he would teach me how to do it. Anyway this looks MUCH better and it was from home depot for only $20-30.
New fabric shower curtain from Home Goods. Not too busy but the beach theme works..just how I like it.



If our landlord would work on our tub it would be perfect! I still love it though! MUCH BETTER.


Now time to go get ready in my awesome bathroom. It probably cost approximately $200 with the new paint, lighting, and accessories. It was completely worth it. I think my next project will be the bedroom.In other news I got all my lab work done before the weekend. This is definitely a major accomplishment for me. I'm can be a huge procrastinator. What are ya'll up to this weekend?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Nothing like a fresh, new blog in the morning!

I'm starting this blog for two reasons. The first is that I follow a lot of other blogs and it brightens my day to hear about the lives of other young women in their twenties throughout the world. I can relate to so many of their feelings, thoughts, and hobbies (aka being a foodie, decorating, careers, working out, family, traveling, relationships etc). Also, it's easy for me to forget about the happy things in my life when I'm so busy coping with the not-so-happy things. I'm using this blog as an outlet to help myself realize how blessed I really am and to be thankful for everything that I have. I'm going to go ahead and the divulge that I got this idea from a blog I read called La La Lovely. This blog focuses on, "all the loveliest things in sight". It's instantaneous happiness and visual candy. Yum.

I hope that all my readers are aware that unfortunately, there are many not-so-happy going-ons in my life as well as happy. No matter who you are you've been through at least a few of these occasions. My focus is on getting through/improving upon these things while maintaining a positive enough attitude to appreciate the little things along the way.

For instance, this weekend I finally used the spa gift certificate that my boyfriend gave me for Christmas. It was a facial, manicure, and a pedicure. I love being pampered. Who doesn't?

This color is called, "Little Red Wagon" by OPI. I love it because it looks like it should be worn by a 50's pin up girl.

Also, I went to Target and got some gym clothes as well as this springy purse. I was getting tired of fishing through my old, oversized bag.


In other happy news, B and I are adding the final touches to our bathroom DIY redecorate. Here are some photos of bathrooms I found on the internet that inspired me. A lot of my motivation also comes from the blog, Starter Home to Dream Home. Her bathroom redecorate for her kids' bathroom really helped me to accessorize my bathroom. Now for some bathroom bliss:




I love beadboard! When I purchase a house one day there will be beadboard!


I absolutely love the lighting and tiling in this bathroom. It reminds me of a spa.


This bathroom is very homey and adorable. I decided that I wanted our bath to have a relaxing, beachy feel to it so I decided that my colors were going to be creamy yellow, blue, and green. Just like the sand, ocean, and some foliage. Here are some images I found with those general colors together:







Next post you'll get to see the before (ew...) and after pictures. B and I moved into a rental home this summer and we primed and taped the bathroom. Six months later it remained that way, because my boyfriend's dad was very sick with brain cancer. He peacefully passed away on February 26, 2010 surrounded by his family. We're still grieving but little things like a fresh, new bathroom distract us momentarily. I can't wait for you to see it! I feel like I should end this blog on a happier note. Happy Easter. I haven't had any chocolate yet today but I'm thinking about a cadbury creme egg...oh my.