Katie’s Journey!

Hey everyone!  I woke up this morning feeling WONDERFUL.  Aren’t those just the best days?  Besides the fact that I got a little too much sun yesterday and got a little burned on the backs of my knees (weird I know) so that is slightly painful but will go away soon!  I am leaving for Las Vegas this afternoon so I am excited for that.  I am not worried about the food because although we do go to buffets while we are there the healthy options are so great (egg white omlettes, oatmeal, beautiful fruits, etc.)  I have no problem indulging on healthy foods and just focusing on keeping my portion size down.  The only thing that is hard for me is on the drive up we will probably stop for fast food so I am planning on either packing some dinner or stopping somewhere with a great salad. 

My question has to do with how closely you guys monitor where your calories are coming from.  I am eating pretty healthy foods (mostly fruit, oatmeal, fish, chicken, veggies, string cheese, whole grain bread, brown rice, etc.)  My concern is that the majority of my calories seem to be coming from carbs.  A lot of the carbs are coming from fruit so I was wondering if that could be having a negative effect on my weight loss or if it is okay since im staying around 1200 calories.  My mom is on a low carb diet so it always seems like I am eating WAY too many carbs.  Any thoughts?

 I hope everyone is doing well and having a great week!

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question last night, I appreciate the support, and you guys were right!  Not only did it not cause a gain but I was actually down a pound this morning!  Im not saying I’m going to make it a habit I’m just glad it didn’t turn into something even worse than it already was.  This week is a great week for me because both of my night classes were canceled so I am actually done with class for the week already!  I just have my internship today, work this afternoon, and work tomorrow and thennnn Im going to VEGAS!  My dad has a conference to go to and my mom wasn’t available to go so I get to go Wednesday through Sunday!  I am so excited :)  I am not even worried about all of the buffets because my dad is in a weight loss challange at his work and there was a $20 fee to enter and the prize if you win is $500!! We have done Vegas the healthy way a few times before, we do still go to the buffets sometimes when there is a deal but stick to the healthy food in small quantities with a small treat here and there!  I am mostly excited to go shopping for some summer clothes and clothes for my vacation this summer.  So far I have gone from a size XL to a L in shirts and a size 14 to a 12 or 10 in pants and dresses!  I’m still planning on wearing a tankini as opposed to a bikini unless a miracle happens before this summer haha.  Honestly I feel like the majority of people, even thin people, look much better in tankinis or one pieces because unless you are Heidi Klum, letting it all hang out is not the most flattering look!  I am having a hard time figuring out what I need though becuase my vacation this summer includes a week in New York (its going to be very hot but I will want fashionable clothes) a cruise to the bahamas (dressy clothes for night time, casual clothes for the ship, cool play clothes for the islands) and a wedding in Nebraska (????).  Sorry for all the rambling basically what I wanted to say is I feel wonderful and I am having a fantastic week and I hope the rest of you are doing well too!!

I have a question for someone who thinks they know the answer!  I apologize, usually I try to only blog when I have something positive to say but I would really like to hear from someone with experience.  Today I binged (I had three muffins) but my calorie count for the day is 1260.  Do you think the binge will cause weight gain or cause me not to lose?  Thanks for the input.

So I went almost a week without blogging and now I am blogging twice in one day!  I guess I will just keep blogging when things come to me that I want to share rather than on a schedule!  So we all know how hard it is to find time to eat right, exercise, and balance out the rest of our lives.  Well I am about to throw another thing into the mix.  I think that it is really important to have some personal time for yourself everyday.  I had a really great day food wise, I interned for 8 hours and worked for four hours and still made time to get to the gym for a full 2 hours of cardio and did 8 minute abs, legs, and arms at home!  After I got home from the gym I decided I need to make a list of things I am going to do for myself to boost my mood and self confidence.  I made the list and then did everything on it and hope to do it every night after my workout!  I took a shower (a longish one where I used body wash and shaved my legs which happens less and less often haha), whitened my teeth, used my home pedicure tools on to freshen up my feet, used every delicious smelling product I own including lotion on every square inch of my body and a yummy organic coconut leave in conditioner on my hair.  I exfoliated my face, put all of my facial lotions and potions on!  Then I got into my PJs and I am making my goal to be in bed no later than 11:30 every night and then I can read if I feel like it until midnight which will be my goal bedtime. 

 I feel wonderful after all of that!  Now there are definitely no gaurentees that I will be able to do all or any of that after my workouts each night as I am in the last three weeks of the semester an it is crunch time but it is my goal to spend a little time each day rewarding myself for all the hard work and I think you all should too!  Keep up the good work

Hello everyone!  I hope you are all doing well :)  It has been about a week since I last blogged which is not good because I set a goal for myself to blog more often but lately I have been so busy and had so much on my mind I have a hard time thinking of what to blog about let alone finding time to actually do it!

 The question I have is how many calories does everyone eat?  I would really like to get an idea of what people are finding works in terms of calories.  I know it is different for everyone and I know what the recomended amount of calories is for me but I just really want to hear from people who are losing weight about how many calories they eat each day!  I feel like usually I go too low and then end up eating but when I try to up my calories I don’t lose!

 I am down 17 pounds but the scale didn’t budge this last week and I would really like that to change this week!  I am working out more this week but sometimes that stalls my weight loss which is frustrating.  The thing I am struggling with the most right now is afternoon snacking.  Around 3pm is the hardest time for me as it is because thats when afternoon cravings start but to make matters worse I have a break each day around that time for about an hour which is just enough time to ruin my diet for the day!

I don’t mean for this blog to be negative because I am very happy right now.  This is the most weight I have lost in quite some time and I am feeling good overall because of the healthy choices and exercise.  Also even when I go over my calories for the day or “fall off the diet” its still with pretty healthy food like pita chips, hummus, fruit, and sometimes granola bars.  Its not good but at least I’m not binging on cookies and fast food like the old days! 

It is really crunch time now for both dieting and just life.  I have three weeks of school left and six weeks until I leave for vacation to Nebraska for a wedding, New York City, and a week long cruise in the Bahamas/Carribbean!

I have 53 days until I leave on vacation and I wish it would come sooner!  Well just because I want to be done with school, but really I am going to need every single one of those days to get into swimsuit shape!  I have been working out again and feel great.  I have pretty much just been doing cardio (I do 2 hours 6 days a week) but I know that I need to add some light weight lifting or toning exercises in there too because I need some work in the abs and arms.  As far as my diet it has been going wonderfully.  I finally passed that time where I don’t miss the junk food and I actually crave healthy foods like fruit, veggies, and oatmeal.  I decided today that one of my biggest problems is that I set unrealistic goals for myself and even if I set realistic ones on here in my head I always expect myself to do more.  For example I think I was still thinking I might actually get to my goal weight by this summer and the reality is that would be too fast.  I want to be within my healthy weight range by this summer (so lose about 20 lbs which is about 2.5 a week)  and I think that is pretty reasonable. 

School is really stressing me out right now but the good news is I only have about three more weeks.  One thing that was pretty devastating to me is that in one of my classes if you miss class 2 times you automatically get dropped a letter grade.  I have had strep throat twice this semester so I missed that class a second time and got an email from my teacher saying whatever my final grade was it would then be dropped a letter grade even though I had doctors notes both times.  I have been a straight A student throughout college with only one or two B’s my entire time here (in really hard math courses) and now to get a B when I don’t even deserve it is really upsetting.  But I am trying not to let it get me down.

 On the bright side (literally!) it is warming up quickly here in AZ.  It has been sunny and in the 80’s every day and I love it!  The nice weather puts me in such a good mood and makes me crave refreshing healthy foods and I want to go hiking all the time!  Sorry this blog was so long I am stuck at work and it is BORING!  Lucky for me I packed healthy snacks so I don’t hit up that vending machine! 

 I hope everyone else is doing well!  I need more friends on here also… I have been adding some people but add me if you are looking for friends!  I could use the support and I miss supporting others like I used to on this site.  I am more interested in conversations and motivational tidbits than the pictures people post on eachothers walls but really I just am looking to meet more people.  Keep up the good work!!

In the past I have frequently titled my blogs by the number of days I have been on a “diet”.  This time I want to do something a little different for two reasons.  I am going to title my blogs with the number of days left until I leave on my summer vacation.  One reason is because I am not on a diet this time I have just changed my lifestyle and I plan to continue that forever and at some point I will get tired of counting days.  The second reason is because counting down to vacation is motivating for me and helps me stay on track.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw 54 days!  Less than two months!  I am off to my long day with class, interning, and work but then Biggest Loser is on tonight!  I hope everyone is doing well

This is going to be unbelievable but I have been on BuddySlim for over a year and just passed my mini-goal for the first time EVER. In the past I always get close and then gain some back and yo-yo up and down just above my mini-goal.  Well I said this time would be different and I guess I finally meant it because my mini goal was 185 and I weighed in this morning at 183!!  I am so happy :)  Especially considering I spent the weekend in California at my Grandma’s house who has a life goal of feeding everyone she comes in contact with haha.  I am down a total of 17 pounds and feel wonderful.  I am 20 pounds away from being in the healthy BMI for my height.  I like to set small mini-goals so I made my new one 170, but I would like to lose those 20 pounds and be in my healthy weight range by the time I leave for my cruise in the begining of June! 

 On the downside, I had strep throat about a month ago and went on antibiotics and have been sick since then with multiple things from a sinus infection to a cold to the flu to uvulitis and unfortunatly I am back with strep throat.  It is frustrating because I am eating so healthy you would think I wouldn’t be sick especially because in the past when I ate pretty unhealthy I NEVER got sick.  Oh well hopefully I get better soon so I can get into the gym

 I hope everyone doing well and having a wonderful Monday!

I wasn’t going to blog today as I just did last night and I am leaving for the airport in a few minutes BUT I just had a revolution and need to share!  I like oatmeal but its not my favorite food in the world….until now.  So for anyone who doesn’t like oatmeal give this a try!  I had a package of quaker instant oatmeal unflavored and instead of preparing it the way I usually do (adding water THEN microwaving) I tried the other method of preparation which is heat 1/2 cup water and add it to the oatmeal.  This way made it WAY less mushy and SO delicious! I also add a little honey or sugar free maple syrup.  For all the oatmeal haters out there give this a shot!

Sometimes I wonder why everything needs to be so complicated.  I don’t need to get into everything that is complicated about dieting, weight loss, working out, etc.  One thing that I have been having trouble with is my total calories for the day.  I am aiming for around 1200 calories per day.  I plan out what I will eat for the day so I know I will be at around 1200 by the end of the day.  Sometimes at the end of the day I am so hungry I can’t fall asleep and other days I struggle to finnish my dinner because I am so full.  If I go over my 1200 I usually don’t lose weight, but also if I go under that 1200 a lot of times I don’t lose either.  It is hard for me to force myself to finish my dinner when I am so full even when I know I need to hit my calorie target.  A lot of times people say you should start living your life healthy the way you will when you lose the weight or “eat thin” and I know a lot of thin people who stop eating when they are full.  Its so hard to know what to do! 

 I am leaving for California in the morning so its hard to be out of my usual routine but I usually have a pretty easy time in California because I stay with family and they eat pretty clean.  We usually hit up the farmers market and for a treat have some fresh fish. 

 Also I am weighing in on Sunday mornings from now on so I will post my weight then.  Keep up the good work!