Me 2, Temptation 0

Okay, so I know all none of you want to know how my battle with Alcohol went last night. Well, I forfeited the event before it even took place.

Working the weekends (13 hour days w/hour break) I don't go out... AT ALL. But it was my friend Candi's birthday celebration, so around 9pm, I went over to her new house & socialized for two hours, then everyone headed to the bar for more partying.

At her house, everyone was drinking (yes, alcohol) and eating chips & dip, but I did neither. I ate a brown rice, turkey, vegetable meal beforehand. So I was full. And being I had to work the next day I didn't partake in any drinking. Of course my trying to lose weight was another reason not to jump on the drinking bandwagon.

I thought for sure I'd grab a drink at the bar, but upon arrival, I froze up, went into an awkward state. Everyone went up to the bar to grab their drink & it was so crowded up there, I stayed back in a less claustraphobic area.

And then I was that girl, standing around alone, with no one to talk to, because they were all up at the bar. I felt uncomfortable, like everyone was looking at me, wondering what the fat girl is doing here.

So I left.

Went home, went to bed.

I believe my lack of going out on the weekends has turned me into a socially awkward person. But that is just one more item on my list of self recreation that I'll need to work on.

Here's a good read: 10 Ways to Lose 10 Pounds

Oh the HUMANITY!

Seriously.



The torture I went through today.



Good Morning Memphis had Community Coffee on the show this morning. They brought all kinds of crazy good, but bad for you desserts.



See:



But I was a good girl. I did NOT eat any of the cheesecake, pie or other amazingly delicious looking desserts they brought in.

So you can either call me strong-willed or just plain DUMB.

Either way:
Me 1, Temptation 0

Next battle is tonight, when I go out to the bars. It'll be Me vs Alcohol.

The results revealed tomorrow (Saturday, February 27th, 2010)

A week and 2 pounds later

So when I started this blog last week I weighed:

This morning I weighed:
Losing two pounds a week is healthy. I'm not starving myself, I'm not over working myself. I'm going at a nice and steady pace so that way I keep on track.

I went to the gym today.. burned 335 calories on the elliptical. So far that's 4 out 6 days going to the gym since signing up (saturday & sundays are hard because I'm at work for 12 hours each day, well 13 hours but I get an hour break)

My life right now is about changes. My roommate/best friend moves to LA, the other roommate and I are in search of a new roommate, I'm promoted to producer of the 5am newscast for Good Morning Memphis.

With these changes, comes adjustments. Especially adjusting to my new schedule at work. I'll be working Monday-Friday 10pm-6am (Technically starting Sunday night at 10pm).

So I have to decide if I want to work out before I go in to work or after I'm done at 6 in the morning. Ideally I'd want to go beforehand so I can be energetic and awake throughout my work. Whereas going to the gym at 6 in the morning after my shift, I'll be ready to go to bed.

But it doesn't matter what I decide, as long as I'm keeping myself motivated and keeping temptations at bay.

Buffets are the devil and I am merely a sinner.

Confession.

I ate buffet at the Gold Strike Casino.

I know what you're thinking. Well really I don't, but if I were you, I'd be like "Girl, I thought you trying to lose weight?"

What had happened was.. I went to the casino with a friend, gambled, won some money, got 2 free buffets and ate.

The good news.. It could have been a lot worse. I'm actually rather proud of myself. On my plate was an egg roll, a spoonful of mac & cheese, 2 spoonfuls of some pasta dish, a spoonful of some pasta salad, three slices of turkey, and a roll. I ate everything except 1 1/2 pieces of turkey and the pasta salad.

Wait.. not quite done.. For dessert I ate 2 spoonfuls of banana budding & 2 1-inch sized custard filled eclairs.

SERIOUSLY I COULD HAVE DONE WORSE.

More good news: The same day as the casino.. I worked out at the gym & burned 342 calories on the elliptical.. & the only other thing I ate that day was a turkey sandwich and some popcorn.

To make up for my bad day yesterday.. I worked out today on the elliptical, burning 250 some calories and on top of that I painted 2 1/2 walls of a bedroom & helped carry a massive futon down some stairs.

Even though I fell victim to the evil buffet.. I'm back on track today. Back to my 1500 calorie diet.

It's Like a Vampire Yearning for Blood

The one thing about dieting fatties.. when other people eat good smelling bad food around them.. it's the same as waving around a bloody steak in front of a starving lion.

Okay, maybe that's a bit exaggerated, but seriously.. I've been at work so many times while trying to diet & someone walks in with McDonald's or Backyard Burger. That fast food smell of greased french fries and burger goodness lingers throughout the entire room, your stomach growling in response.

It's hard to resist.

And for some morbidly obese people, food is like a drug. You're constantly thinking about your next fix and how that fix will satisfy you, even if it's only for the moment. Same goes for fatties who go out to eat with their friends. It's the same as an alcoholic going into a bar. All the food choices, the temptations.

I don't have the answers. All I know.. if you're not motivated.. if you're not ready to lose weight.. then it's not going to happen.

You've got to be ready for a life change because let's face it, dieting & trying to lose weight is exactly that. You can't keep eating crappy food, living a sedentary life and expect a single pound to fall off.

And if you're depressed about how much you weigh, have a low self esteem, etc etc.. don't expect yourself to get better if you give up and don't do anything.

This is all my own opinion.. not professional of course.

Be prepared

If you're dieting.. it's good to be prepared.

Me, for example, I work 12 hour shifts on the weekend. So in the morning before work, I make sure to prepare my meals for the day. Otherwise, I'd be leaving work to go get fast food, hanging out at the vending machine or chomping on snacks people bring in. (Remember how I said in the news industry.. there's ALWAYS food?)

And really, the best way to stay full throughout the day is eat 5 meals. Don't *they* always say that? Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & 2 snacks?

So this is what I do on my weekends:
On my way to work (9am), I drink my slimrite drink-190 calories , around 11am, eat a 100-calorie slimfast snack bar, around 1pm eat a sandwich with apples & peanut butter (2 tablespoons max), around 4pm/5pm drink the float-like, ensure/diet soda concoction-250 calories & loaded with vitamins. Around 6pm/7pm eat a lean cuisine meal (they are usually around 300-400 calories).

And I keep a bottle of water on hand, which I refill throughout the day. Of course, you can never get enough water.

It works for me but I'm not saying it'd work for you.

I've come to realize that if you're doing a diet you hate or you're tempted to cheat all the time, then it's not the right diet for you. If you have trouble, try taking it slow at first.. cutting out fast food meals, sodas, sweets. Can't cut them out completely? Try cutting back. Diets should be a lifestyle change. Not a tourcherous way of living.

Remember, I'm not expert. Just letting you know what I've experienced in my struggles with weight-loss.

BTW, I had planned to wake up and go to the gym before work this morning, but after my alarm went off at 6:30am and my throat was on fire, I decided it best not to.

Doing it to it

If I said I was going to do something, I'm going to do it. However 25% of the time I'll say I'll do it, then procrastinate for as long as possible before doing it.

I JOINED THE GYM. Calm down now.

*pauses for cheering to diminish*

Ok, so it's not like I've never been to a gym before. I had a 3 year membership to the French Riviera, which recently ended in September. Or not so recent.

ANYWAYS.. This morning I joined Fitness Premiere in Bartlett for $19.95 a month. No Contract.

I even worked out after signing up.

Yep. 2 miles in 40 minutes and 40 seconds. Is that good? Who cares, at least I'm doing it to it.
Time for sleep!

No gym? No problem.

If you can't sign up for a gym, (really there should be no reason not to, most gyms are cheap, like the one I'm singing up for is only $20 a month) then try doing things around the house/apartment to burn those calories.

Okay, I've got a confession..

I did not sign up for my gym today, again I have no reason, but don't worry I WILL do it!

So what did I do today? Well after sleeping until 2pm, (hey when you work a 10am-6am shift, it's excused) I made myself a turkey sandwich and kettle popcorn (I know, I know, the popcorn.. not so healthy) watched some TV, got on the internet, did some laundry, wrote some more pages in the fictional book I'm writing.

All that took about 4 hours.

Now (6:30/7pm) I just finished preparing a Campbells soup chicken meal (chicken breast, brown rice, cream of chicken soup, vegetable mix, spices of your choice) and while I was preparing it.. I blasted Pandora.com and danced my big 'ole but off. Dance hardcore and you're burning those calories!

Like yesterday, when I cleaned house.. another calorie burner.

It's the little things that add up. Now I'm not saying fore go the gym.. by all means GO! Really I should be giving myself this advice. But what I AM saying is until you get there.. find other activities to help you work up a sweat.

BTW, I'm no expert.. just a girl trying to lose weight.

The Temptations of Fatties

So day one of my new approach to life was like a day in my old approach to life.

After starting said blog, I hit the bed to nap for three hours. After waking, I proceeded to clean out the departing roommate's room. Which took at least four hours.

Whoa boy did that give me a workout. I moved two heavy futon mattresses from upstairs to downstairs, vacuumed, then took two carloads full of trash to the dumpsters. I'm sure I went up and down the stairs (2 flights) 20 times.

What did I eat for the day? Well thank you for not asking.

I drank a slim rite, ate a slim fast snack bar (100 calories), drank a float flavored concoction of soda (diet, caffeine free Mountain Dew) & Ensure (Something Fox 13 Anchor Mearl Purvis showed me) and ate a leftover chicken BBQ meal (chicken, BBQ sauce, 3-pepper mixture, pineapple), the departing roommate made.

I also met with a potential roommate to takeover departing roommate's room and after that I watched some TV then took another nap.

All to wake up and go to work at 10pm to produce the 5am newscast on Good Morning Memphis.

This schedule change is bound to change up my eating, so for overnight snacking I brought apples & peanut butter, a handful of mixed nuts, a can of diet, caffeine free Mountain Dew & on my way home at 6:30am, I drank another one of these.

Now, one thing about the news industry.. there's always food. SOMEBODY ALWAYS BRINGS FOOD. This is a test. A show of willpower for the morbidly obese.

I'm glad to say them donuts right there.. did NOT succeed in luring me to their chocolaty goodness.

Now that's cleared up.. I have some more sleeping to do.

Hey, today, I'm most definitely joining the gym. I'M GOING TO DO IT!

It's a new day!

Five o'clock in the morning. I awake to take my best friend and roommate to the airport. He's moving on. To Los Angeles, California. To bigger and better things.

The days preceding his departure were rough. I managed to torture myself by listening to sad songs like "I'm Moving On" & "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts. Normally I do not partake in country music, but Rascal Flatts is one of his favorites. So I shed my sad tears, I said my goodbyes and off to LA he goes.

And stuck in Memphis I am.

I thought I would be more distraught than what I was. He'd been my roommate for almost four years. And yes I will miss him dearly, but I've decided to use his departure as a way to restart my life.

Obviously this blog is a new beginning. I'm going to use it as a way to track my new life. I hope, anyways. Sometimes I say I'm going to do something and I do begin it, but the majority of the time I don't stick it through.

So here's the deal.

This blog will be used as my thought process, progress and anything else that goes with the struggle of losing weight. I will *try* to post daily accounts of my failures, success, frustrations, etc., you know, the horrors of diet and exercise.

Pictures?

Sure, why not.

So where to begin... Well, when I got back from the airport around 6:45am, I made some cinnamon-sugar toast (2 pieces). I was starving. Then I went to bed for about 3 hours.

When I awoke, I drank a Slim Rite. Yes, that'd be a SLIM RITE. The Kroger version of Slim Fast.

What are my plans today? I'm going to clean up my roommate's room a bit more (calorie burner hello!) and then what I really SHOULD do, is go sign up for that gym I've been procrastinating over.

What I REALLY want to do is use part of my tax money and head down to Tunica. But I may save that for another day. It's midday, so I'll do a follow up post on how my day went and if i followed through with my so-called plans.