Day 151 -- Spoke too soon...

Whoo, finally getting around to updating this again! Finals are finally OVER and I am on Winter Break for the next few weeks. The lack of stress feels amazing and I'm just happy to have survived the term.

I have a confession to make though. As the title of this post suggests, I definitely spoke too soon in saying that I'd never fallen off the wagon with this plan. I'm not sure if it was the exaltation of being done with school, leftover sadness from my breakup/reaction to how stressful this term was, but suddenly now that I have free time food has become an issue again! On three separate occasions within the last week I have totally gone off the rails and deliberately bought something from the bakery section in a store and eaten ALL of it...as if not having leftovers to look at will make me feel less guilty.

The sad thing? Most of the time the foods didn't taste as amazing as I expected them to and yet I kept eating it because it was satisfying my desire to eat something. This is definitely a sign to me how much of a mental thing eating can be for me. The taste itself became second to the fact that I knew I was eating something that should comfort me.

I'm completely terrified to weigh and so have been trying to get back to normal and wait awhile to weigh in hopes the number will be a little kinder, but I really need a kick in the pants to quit this cycle of bad eating because it is exactly this kind of behavior that made me so overweight in the first place which is somewhere I never want to go again!

I seem to be an all or nothing girl and moderation is not my strong suit...What are some things all of you have done to get back on track and prepare yourself for the next time temptation strikes?

Hope you all are doing amazingly!

<3

Day 130--THANKSGIVING!

Today's Weight: 122.8lbs, new low!
Total Loss: 35.8lbs

Hello, hello! As promised, I'm trying to pop into here and update more frequently since I've realized how much I've missed that accountability and self-evaluation that this encourages me to do. It actually really helps to write about how I feel about food during the day because it makes me learn what things are triggers for me and how to better cope with them. Although who am I kidding, if I have an emotion I want to eat: happy, sad, lonely, depressed, nervous, you name it. I want to eat it. Haha.

I had a surprising drop this morning for a new low of 122.8! I'm now about 12-13lbs away from my goal weight and I'm seriously so excited. I never really thought I'd make it here. I mean I'd hoped, but I had always resigned myself to being the bigger, awkward, uncomfortable-with-myself girl. Not anymore! I'm still not where I want to be yet, but the results have been so dramatic and I'm thrilled with how I look and feel even now. It has definitely given me a whole new confidence in myself. What's even cooler is when other people notice this new confidence as well. Even cooler still? My thighs don't touch anymore when I walk... amazing!

Today was particularly challenging because it was Thanksgiving... oh my gosh, all of the family favorite treats were all over the place and it was about all I could do to stay out of the amazing food. Particular favorites of mine are stuffing and the table full of desserts...but I survived! I had tons of turkey, salad, and brussels sprouts to  curb my hunger. Overall I have to say it wasn't toooo bad though, since I'm used to my college friends eating all sorts of junk around me and resisting.

I have to say, I'm kind of shocked that I haven't strayed once from this way of eating. It feels great, I'm just concerned about how successful I will be at keeping off the weight and moderating myself when I actually do start adding foods back in... Hm. Something to worry about later down the road though, I have a feeling that I've got at least a few more months on this to lose the last few. My loss has been exceptionally slow over the last month, though that may have something to do with being very sick for the last couple of weeks and all of the medication I've been on for that.

Another plus: after the first of the year, one of my best friends at college wants to try this plan with me! She's watched me shrink over the last few months and admitted to being "totally jealous" of my results and wants to see how it will work for her! I'm so excited for her to get started. I'm supposed to go grocery shopping with her and show her how to shop for the right foods... I'm kinda not looking forward to the first couple of weeks when she's having a difficult time sticking to it. She's gonna kill me! haha.

Hope you all had lovely Thanksgiving's and managed to enjoy your food while staying as on track as you were planning to!

<3

Day 125 (PV)-- Long-awaited update! 4 months on this plan!

Most recently low: 123.8lbs!
Total Loss: 34.8lbs
Current Weight: 125.2lbs

Hey guys, so sorry for the huge gap between updates!! I've had my head buried in school work, trying to balance a social life, as well as stay on plan that I've totally neglected this blog to keep me accountable. I hope all of you are still out there being successful!

In short, I have had a hellish past couple of months with my class load. On top of that, the guy I was dating decided that he didn't want the commitment of a girlfriend after all, so it has also been a struggle of how to deal with that and still seeing him all of the time in my classes and studying together... it has been an awkward dance of seeing who can act the least awkward about it. I also just got through a hellish midterm week where I also contracted Strep Throat!

But, despite all of these obstacles, I have managed to stay completely on plan (somehow) and have been loving the results. And no, I didn't give into the pint of ice cream/batch of brownies that were calling my name post-breakup either! I was quite proud of myself for that. I haven't really been dropping as many pounds as I would like, being sick the last week has definitely put that to a halt with all of the cold medicine/sugar-free cough drops/antibiotics that I've been having to take, but I had to buy new jeans a couple weeks ago because all of my old "skinny" jeans were now falling off of me!

I haven't had a ton of progress in the last month I suppose, maybe only about three pounds, but I'm trying to convince myself that I will have a big drop soon and that it's just my body freaking out from all of the stress and being sick...

Hope to check in more often! ( I know, I know, I said that last time...)

<3

Day 91 (PV) --Finally an update!

Today's Weight: 128.6lbs, loss of 6.8lbs in the last about eleven days!!!
Total Loss: Officially hit the 30lbs loss milestone!

Wow, it has been way too long since I have posted on here! I haven't fallen off the wagon or anything like that, (obviously, since my body has been SHOCKING me with it's dramatic drops over the last week or so), but I'm buried in schoolwork already! I had my first midterm last week that I was completely stressed out over.

I mentioned before about how I was struggling to find alternatives to snacking as a stress-reliever, but over the last week or two my body has just shut off its hungry switch for the most part which is really helping with any cravings. I'm not sure if it's as a direct result of stress or not, or if it's because I've been so busy lately that eating has been a second or third thought on my mind rather than what I think about all the time, but I'll take it!

I'm so excited that after my frustrating September when the scales didn't seem to budge at all that I'm finally having these dramatic results. It feels great! I'm looking and feeling so much better and all of my friends here can notice it as well. Also as a bonus, I've begun dating a really nice guy from some of my classes so that is fun to look forward to! Thankfully he's really understanding about me having to eat quite a bit differently than he does, as his diet consists of primarily rice and pasta... guys and their ridiculous metabolisms.

So that's my quick and dirty update! I hope everyone who reads this is doing well and staying on track! Hopefully I'll be able to check in more often than every couple of weeks.

<3

Day 80 (PP) Into Week 12!

Monday's Weight: 136.0 lbs, 1.0lb gain from previous day
Tuesday's Weight: 135.8lbs, 0.2lb loss from previous day
Today's Weight: 135.4lbs, 0.4lb loss from yesterday
Total Loss: 23.2lbs

Yaay! I'm not too upset with the pound gain on Monday since I'd had such a dramatic loss the day before, and the last few days have just been working themselves down to that new low once again. I've almost hit it again!

This week has been difficult to stay on plan, especially because of the people who eat around me. It's really hard to be in a study group, stressed out, and not be able to eat all of the snacks that are around because they aren't on plan... but they look sooooo good! What got me into this mess in the first place, at least partially, was indulging in food last year during the terms when I would get super stressed as a sort of release and calming method. I can't do that this year, so I'm having difficulty finding other things to help myself unwind and relax instead of my usual chocolate anything and potato chips... Terrible to watch people eat what you're craving!

Other than that, my eating has been pretty spot on. I've been having a little bit of fun with cooking recently, so I've been experimenting with stir fry's, omelets, lettuce-as-bun sandwiches, etc. Of course being careful to stick to the 1:1 ratio of veggies days to protein days...

I ate a pretty big lunch and dinner tonight, for some reason I've had a really big appetite recently! I wonder if it's because I'm a lot more active now that I have to bike at least two miles a day to get to and from campus than I was during the summer... Oh well! As long as I keep seeing losses, I suppose it doesn't really matter! :)

Hope you all are doing fantastically and your scales are behaving nicely for you!

<3

Day 77 (PV)

Friday's Weight: 139.6lbs, 2.4 gain from Thursday
Saturday's Weight: 137.2lbs, back to previous low and loss of 2.4lbs again
Today's Weight: 135.0lbs!! Loss of 2.2lbs for a new low!
Total Loss: 23.6lbs!

I seriously have not been able to believe my eyes with the numbers my scale has been throwing at me. First there was that HUGE gain a couple days ago, and now that huge loss to hit a fantastic new low!! I was wanting to hit 135lbs before last week when classes started up again so that I'd be officially lower than when I came to school yesterday, but I'll take it a week late! Also, I have now reached one of my mini-goals of finally being under 136lbs, so I am no longer considered overweight for my height! Yaaay!

I was so relieved to finally see a big drop. September was such a frustrating month loss-wise and I probably only really lost about 4 or 5lbs after it was all said and done. This month is definitely off with a great start!

Gotta go get cracking on some work for classes, but just had to share my exciting news. Since today was a veggie day, I made myself a pretty big omelet with sauteed veggies and chicken sausage! Yumm... Whenever I experiment with food I have interesting weigh-in days the next day, though... Hopefully that doesn't happen tomorrow!

<3

Day 74 (PP)

Yesterday's Weight: 137.4lbs, loss of 0.2lbs from previous day and back down to previous low
Today's Weight: 137.4lbs, loss of 0.2lbs again from yesterday.
Total Loss: 21.2lbs

Woo-hoo! The last few days have had very marginal weight loss, but it's still loss all the same and I'll take it. I've been eating quite a lot yesterday and today, mainly because I haven't been able to fit in breakfast before I rush out the door to go to classes... I know that's terrible, but sleep has become a rare commodity again and my body is already punishing me for it. So with my crazy class schedule, it's generally around 4pm-5pm when I finally get home and could pretty much eat whatever is in the fridge... case in point: tonight.

I got home from classes this afternoon and had some steak strips with Walden Farms BBQ sauce (AMAZING, by the way), which was fine but I wasn't completely satisfied... about three hours later I made myself breakfast for dinner with chicken sausage and scrambled eggs! Granted it was three sausages and four eggs all mixed together.... Hmm. But supposedly, the more you eat, the more you lose! So I'm hoping my rather flagrant pig-outs, especially since they were all completely on-plan, won't affect my loss badly in the morning.

I suppose I go through phases: sometimes I eat quite a lot, other times I eat very little... I wonder if that's common.

Fingers crossed for a big drop soon! I'd love to get my rate of loss back up again.

<3

Day 72 (PP) --Into Week 11!

 Sunday's Weight: 138.6, loss of 0.6lbs
Yesterday's Weight: 137.4lbs, loss of 1.2lbs!!
Today's Weight: 137.6lbs, gain of 0.2lbs
Total Loss: 21 lbs!

 Hey guys, I haven't disappeared, given up, or stopped blogging! I've been crazy busy with trying to get all of my classes figured out and trying to get a handle on my homework load. I'm not entirely convinced that I have it all figured out yet, but a post was long-overdue!

I was SO encouraged by my weight yesterday! I finally had that major drop of a little over a pound that I had been waiting forever for, so that was super nice. I had a little gain today, but I kinda expected that since I'd had a veggie day yesterday.My eating has been completely on-plan so far and I've been getting a ton of exercise biking all over the place and hauling my heavy backpack along with me. Stress is definitely getting to me already, but at least I'm being active!

Short post tonight, but I've got an 8am class in the morning that I really need some sleep to be mentally awake for, so I'm off to bed! But I just want to thank all of you who read this and are rooting for me! Let me know how you guys are doing too! I'd love to hear stories of what everyone deals with :)


<3

Day 69 (PV)

Today's Weight: 139.4lbs, 1lb gain from yesterday (but does this count as it was with a different scale than I typically use?)

Total Loss: Back to 19.2lbs

I'm seriously getting discouraged with this. This entire month I've really been playing with the same range of weight with no "real" progress made. I've even tried some Attack days but my scale hasn't budged even the tiniest bit within the last few! In fact, I've been steadily gaining for the last few. 

This is so frustrating because it kills my motivation and makes it that much more difficult for me to stay on plan when people around me are eating different things. I'm living with one girl who is also on Dukan now, and one who is not, so it makes for an interesting variety of foods that are around the house. I'm really just missing the elation at getting some losses and watching the trend go steadily downward.

My typical daily meals consist of low-sodium turkey, chicken/turkey/salmon burgers from Costco, chicken meatballs, steak, salmon, and mainly bell peppers as a vegetable. I try to keep my sodium to a minimum, but I probably haven't been as stellar about my water intake (still!) as I should be. I've also recently begun taking fiber in the mornings in pill-form to help out with my constipation issues, but I'm still kinda waiting for that to work =/.

Today I finally just decided to have a veggie day as a bunch of my friends and I were going out to eat after the football game and I wanted a little more variety. I had grilled zucchini, steamed broccoli, and a steak without the sauce, so I feel pretty good about my choices. There's just no way for me to know the sodium content or anything like that, so I'm half scared that the scale will be cruel once again in the morning...

Help! Have any of you had incredibly long plateau's? And what have you guys done that has been successful for breaking out of them?

<3

Day 68 (PP)

Today's Weight: 138.4lbs, no change
Total Loss: 20.2lbs

Well that was kind of disappointing that my weight didn't change at all from the day before, but I'm trying not to over think it too much. It's especially disappointing since I've been mainly doing only protein days since Monday, with the exception of Wednesday, and I really haven't seen any dramatic loss. Ugh.

Today was my official move-in day at my University and I have to say that I think it went pretty well. I still have a bit of unpacking to do, but overall most of the stuff that I need is here. Minus a few odds and ends that I've forgotten, luckily nothing that I can't live without for the time being.

Short post tonight because it's been an incredibly long day and tomorrow will be crazy because I'm going to the football game! Hopefully I actually see a loss in the morning, it's a bit iffy since this scale isn't the typical one I've been using... fingers crossed!

<3