3.0 Day 1

3.0 Starting Weight: 198.8

Today’s Weight: 198.8

Total 3.0 Loss: 0 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 244

Today’s Weight: 198.8

Total Loss: 45.2 Pounds

I'm back!!!!  I still haven't come up with a new name for the blog but I want to get back to it so I'm going with another 30 day blog and will hopefully come up with something creative by the end.  As you'll note from my starting weight I FINALLY hit my under 200 pound mark!!  Whoop Whoop!!  I've been under for about 2 weeks and haven't gained (or lost) so I'm ready to get going again.  I'm still working on the running but despite doing it 2-4 times a week my time hasn't improved much.  I'm doing a 5k in the sand with obstacles next Saturday so I'm really going to hit it hard this week.  I can't even estimate a time goal for this since I've never run in sand nor done any of these obstacles.  So my goal is to beat Brandi ;)  I probably shouldn't be writing this since she might read it and will probably train hard this week to kick my ass but maybe that will motivate me a little more to increase what I can this week.  Another change I made to the blog is I changed my starting weight to where I was when I first started trying to lose weight last July rather than the beginning of this blog series.  45.2 pounds in a year isn't too bad :)  I have 48.8 pounds to go til my goal so I'm half way there!!  No way this will take me another year to get there.  I'm hoping to be there by Halloween!! 

Here we go.......

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.30

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 203.2

Total 2.0 Loss: 10 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 203.2

Total Loss: 17.8 Pounds

 

Another 30 days bites the dust, along with another 10 pounds J  I never did get around to getting another measuring tape but I will for sure do that in the next blog.  I’m going to nix the whole 30 day set up that I’ve had going and start a new blog to take me through to goal.  I’m still going to post every day since I seem to not do well on the days that I think I don’t need to be accountable to others so please continue to harass me if you don’t see me post for a few days. 

Today was an ok day......no exercise since I had Logan and went to NKOTB concert (wooohooo!!).  I had oatmeal for breakfast (skipped the protein powder since I knew I wouldn’t be working out that day) and had some left over cheese curds for lunch (I estimate around 400 calories).  I dropped Logan off and went to dinner before the concert and had a burger and fries which I estimate at another 550 calories with the amount that I ate.  Then I started drinking…….I used diet coke as the mixer so zero calories there and I can’t imagine that the rum has more than 50 calories per shot and had 7 of those over the next 5 hours.  I probably would have had more had they not been $21 per drink at the concert (good thing I got the first 3 in at the restaurant).  Somehow after all that alcohol I remembered every dance step to every NKOTB song and so proceeded to dance them out on every song so I did get a pretty good workout at the concert, haha.  I  just found out that NKOTB are going to be at Tacoma Dome the day I fly in to Seattle in 3 weeks so I am super excited to see them again (I’m even giving up the only show Britney is doing in Chicago that same night!).  That choice was harder than eating only oatmeal and chicken for a week! 

So, on to another month and hopefully multiple inches/pounds gone by the next time I’m wrapping up a blog. 

Thanks for reading!!

Day 2.29

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 203.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 9.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 203.8

Total Loss: 17.2 Pounds

 

So I attempted to run today but failed pretty miserably.  First, I forgot my clothes and my shoes at home but borrowed some of grandma’s (that was a sight let me tell you), then took Logan, Hannah, and Hayden to the park with Grandma and attempted to walk the trail around the baseball fields but my phone wouldn’t get a satellite connection so not only could I not track my distance or time but also couldn’t get slacker radio so after a few times around the trail, which I estimate at about a half mile total, I gave in to the heat and humidity and went back to Grandma’s, got my clothes and went home. 

Had I stopped there it probably wouldn’t have been too bad since I did well for food up until that point but I stopped at Culver’s on my way home and nothing good can come from that drive thru!  In hindsight, I see that I should have at least done a pure barre workout because at least then I would have gotten some kind of exercise in but instead I fell asleep with Logan when I was trying to put him down at 830pm and didn’t wake up until Saturday morning.  I’m sure Brandi is going to say how that total lack of energy was from the food I just ate and that is probably true, considering I was still exhausted when I woke up on Saturday morning. 

*Note to self.  When eating greasy drive thru food drink 5 hour energy shot before putting toddler to bed ;)

Thanks for reading,

Day 2.28

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 202.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 10.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 202.8

Total Loss: 18.2 Pounds

 

No weight movement today.  Not only that but I realized that somehow I had 2 Day 24's so after that correction I only have 2 days left in this 30 day blog.  With 2.8 pounds to go for the big goal........Candice I feel the last few days of biggest loser craziness coming on!  Brandi would kill me if she knew what we did on those 2-3 days before the end of the challenge.  The best I can hope for is that I'm coming to the end of that time of the month so will hopefully release some of the water I've been holding and really hit it hard with the running tomorrow.  I have Logan tomorrow night so I'm going to have to figure something out near grandma's house. 

 

Today started as a not so good food day.  I was in such a rush to get out of the house that I left all my food for the day on the counter and had to figure it out with the vending machine.  After consulting with Brandi, haha, I went with half a bagel and some watermelon my grandma just happened to hand me when I dropped Logan off starting off with 400 calories of carbs and sugar, awesome!!  Cut to lunch and I had a piece of pizza from one of the girls in the office since I didn't have time to run to walmart and get healthy food for lunch and the afternoon snack.  There is another 425 calories, mostly carbs.  I cut the snacks because I just couldn't afford the calories and I honestly had no good options available.  I did drink a lot of water and did really well for dinner with just 5 slices of turkey with a wedge of laughing cow cheese for only 75 calories and no carbs!!  I was still feeling a little hungry and was starting to get a headache but once I started my pure barre workout and drank some more water I felt good.  Now my body feels sore but in a good way from that work out and my headache is gone.  I love how I can feel little muscles all over my body that I didn't even know I had before these last two weeks and especially after I finish the pure barre workouts!  Love them!! 

 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.27

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 202.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 10.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 202.8

Total Loss: 18.2 Pounds

I had a really great run today, my best time ever!  11 minutes 39 seconds!!  That still isn't great but its 21 seconds off my last best time and the best part about it is that I wasn't dying when it was over!  I actually walked another 2.74 miles after walking 1 mile then running 1 mile and I didn't need ice for my shins or ankles when I got home :)  I also didn't collapse at the bottom of the stairs but jogged up them as well.  So maybe, maybe.....I have to give a little credit to Brandi for knowing what she is talking about.  First with the running because I really think the improvement today came from my breathing which she gave me advice about.  I counted 2 breathes in and 2 breathes out from my first step instead of waiting until i was out of breath and struggling to try to control my breathing.  Whenever I wasn't able to take 2 breaths I slowed to a fast walk until I got it back and started up again.  I definately did more running that walking in that mile this time than I have before.  It is possible that the tasteless food diet that I'm on had something to do with helping me out in todays run as well.  I'm actually excited for tomorrow to do another run.  I'm going to have to find a route to do it out by my grandma's house since I have logan this weekend so we'll see if that makes a difference.

I've got 4 more days left in the month and I'm down more than 10 pounds from this blog and close to 20 pounds with the 2 months combined.  I know I have struggled through some of both of those months but this  blog has really made a difference to me in my weight loss and I want to really thank all of you for reading and commenting (and harrassing me for not posting - a special shout out to Candice here ;) ) I'm going to finish the month strong and am definately going to continue the blog next month but am thinking about changing the name.......Any suggestions??

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Food Journal June 15, 2011

Breakfast - 250 calories

oatmeal w/strawberries

1/2 scoop protein powder

Lunch - 210 calories

grilled chicken

1/2 cup brocoli and zuchini

Snack - 50 calories

The calorie count here is a complete guess

green pepper pieces dipped in annie's balsamic dressing

Dinner - 270 calories

Turkey sandwich w/mustard

Snack - 100 calories

Banana

Total Calories - 880

Day 2.26

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 204.4

Total 2.0 Loss: 8.8 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 204.4

Total Loss: 16.6 Pounds

Day 2 of Brandi's way down.  No gain but no loss.  I still can't find my measuring tape to take measurements so will need to go buy another one sometime this week.  I did the pure barre workout today and my whole body hurts but it a good way!  The workout was supposed to be lower body only but a lot of it is holding yourself in uncomfortable positions while doing isometric movements so my arms hurt just as much as my legs from holding my big ass up to do the exercises.  I'm excited to continue with this workout.  Wait, did I just say excited for exercise?  WTF?!  I liked this wayyy better than the running because even though I was hurting when I was doing it and was shaking and sweating like a pig I wasn't ever out of breath :)  That is my kind of workout! 

I actually liked the oatmeal for breakfast today a lot more than I did yesterday and I do stay full all morning from it.  My stomach hurt a little after I ate it and I just felt like I had eaten too much pretty much all day.  I actually felt a little hungry around 2pm but had the yogurt ready for snack so was good until I got home.  Excited to see how today's food and exercise affect how I feel tomorrow.  And tomorrow is first run day since making these diet changes so I'm sure I can knock out that mile in like 7 or 8 minutes right?  Right!  Haha.

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Food Journal June 13, 2011

Breakfast - 250 calories

oatmeal w/strawberries

1/2 scoop protein powder

water

Lunch - 210 calories

1 grilled chicken breast

1/2 cup brocoli

1/2 luna bar (blueberry bliss mmmmm)

Snack - 250 calories

blueberry yogurt

1/4 cup crunchy things to go in it

Snack 2 - 90 calories

1/2 luna bar

Dinner - 400 calories??

This is an estimate not really sure about the salad calorie count but here are the ingredients

1 cup romaine lettuce

1 cup spinach

green peppers

zucchini

chicken

Annie's Natural balsamic vinigarette dressing

1 whole wheat dinner roll

1 cup of watermelon for dessert

Total Calories - 1200 calories

Day 2.25

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 204.4

Total 2.0 Loss: 8.8 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 204.4

Total Loss: 16.6 Pounds

So day one of being Brandified.  I have to admit that I did feel really full all day long and did not want to eat at most of the snack times.  A small part of that reason is because I take so damn long to eat that it will take me an hour to finish a snack and it seemed like I was constantly eating all day long.  But I have to admit that the oatmeal with fruit in the morning lasted sooo much longer than my usual 150 calorie yogurt that by increasing my calories for breakfast I did eat less calories over the course of the day (score one point for Brandi).  I meant to run today but had Logan tonight at the last minute so didn't get any exercise in.  I made a couple of small adjustments to the menu for today because I had a meeting that lasted almost 2 hours so missed my after noon snack so I added another fruit when I got home and added some calories to dinner to make up for it.  I still think I am really close to my normal calorie goal even though I am feeling pretty heavy like there is a ton of food in my stomach which is how I usually feel after eating out or on a not good day.  Excited (but won't get my hopes up!) about seeing the scale tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Food Journal June 13, 2011

Breakfast - 250 calories

plain oatmeal w/ 1/2 serving of protein powder

1/2 cup strawberries

water

Lunch - 370 calories

chicken breast

1/2 cup brocoli

1/2 luna smores bar

Water

Snack - 90 calories

other half of luna bar

1 cup of watermelon

Dinner - 574 calories

artichoke/tomato pannini

1/2 cup mashed potatoes

small glass of pink lemonade

Total calories - 1284

Day 2.24

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 206.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 6.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 206.8

Total Loss: 14.2 Pounds

Up another 3 pounds........And that is with running 1 mile and walking another 5 on top of that yesterday :(  At this point I'm willing to try anything.  Including taking some of Brandi's advice about what and how much I'm eating.  She of course went straight drill sergeant throwing books around my living room with crazy talk about eating only oatmeal and protein powder for 3 days, AS IF!  So we came up with a compromise and she slaved away in my kitchen all day and left all my food for the week in nice little containers in my fridge.  When she was following the extreme version of this lifestyle she went from a size 20 to a size 11 in just a few months so I have vowed to not just look at and judge my success by the number on the scale.  I am going to still track my weight daily as I have but I am also going to add my measurements weekly.  I am also going to add back in my food journal for the day so she can see that her hard work was not in vain and can maybe find ways to help me tweak to get the results I'm looking for.  So although I'm going to be eating more calories than I'd like every day because of the types of food I am going to be eating she has assured me that I will get where I want to be so I'm going with it for now..........

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.23

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 203.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 9.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 203.8

Total Loss: 17.2 Pounds

 

No gain or loss for today which is good because I did not make good food choices today.  I did really well up until dinner time.  I meant to run when I got home from work and layed down for a minute until the person I was going to run with came over but I fell asleep and she never showed so I didn't wake up until 11pm.  Not only does that suck because it was too dark out to run but I was starving and didn't have anything healthy in the house.  I tried eating one of logan's meals since they are smaller portions and thought it would be good to just stave off the hunger until morning but uh, yeah it didn't quite work that way.  Then I couldn't go back to sleep until 2am which really threw me off for the whole weekend. 

 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.22

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 203.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 9.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 203.8

Total Loss: 17.2 Pounds

 

So after eating pretty much whatever the hell I wanted I am slowly climbing my way back up.  I am really feeling discouraged right now and know I need to grab this and stop it now and instead of feeling sorry for myself I need to jump back in and not let me defeat myself after missing the goal.  There are 8 days left in 2.0 and I can still get there if I work it hard enough.  That is what I'm really trying to drill into my head for the rest of the month.  I will not start 3.0 back at where I was when I started 2.0.

 

Thanks for reading

Mellissa

Day 2.21

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 203

Total 2.0 Loss: 10.2 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 203

Total Loss: 18 Pounds

WTF?!  Seriously??  I counted every calorie I ate and was well under 1300 and I did 3 miles in 96 degree heat and I gained 2.4 pounds?!  How is that possible???  I’d love to hear comments about this.  Anyone?? Jillian? Dr Oz? Bueller?  Seriously, I was so upset when I stood on the scale this morning that I laughed because I just knew that my scale had lost its mind sometime while sitting in the closet from yesterday morning until this morning……..So today I ate whatever the hell I wanted.  I know I need to get a grip, I can see that logically.  But I couldn’t quite put that into practice today so I’m sure that is going to make tomorrow’s weigh in even worse and will start my spiral down to 3.0 starting weight……..Today I had McDonald’s for breakfast and I ate the hashbrown, HA!  I had subway for lunch because I bought a foot long yesterday so my lunch calories were good.  Then I had half a burger from Culvers with French fries and cheese curds w/ranch dressing for dinner with a pepsi!!  I would have eaten that entire burger if I didn’t feel like I was going to hurl from just the half of it.  I went to bed feeling awesome with NO guilt and no exercise.  My clothes feel really loose so I was planning to go buy some new ones this weekend but maybe I’ll just eat more this weekend and keep my old clothes…..that is still up for debate.  FML!

Day 2.20

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today’s Weight: 200.6

Total 2.0 Loss: 12.6 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today’s Weight: 200.6

Total Loss: 20.4 Pounds

Wow, yesterday’s really shitty day did have a great affect on my loss for today J  Super excited to see tomorrow’s weight especially because today was a run day so I’m sure  I should have no problem dropping .7 of a pound.  I’m not getting my hopes up though because I rarely have two good loss days in a row so I was extra diligent in tracking my calories today to give me the best chance at getting there.  I did 3 miles today and actually ran a little more than a half mile without stopping!!  My phone messed up the time tracking so I don’t have a time for it but it did record the distance so when I checked in when I just couldn’t possibly run anymore and saw that I only had .44 of a mile to go I was extremely happy with me! Thanks for reading!

Mellissa

Day 2.19

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today's Weight: 203.2

Total 2.0 Loss: 10 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today's Weight: 203.2

Total Loss: 17.8 Pounds

 

Life sucks today but I lost 1.2 pounds......I don't want to do anything but watch Twilight and eat garlic naan with chutney but I did extremely well today with food.  I even was able to distract myself with my shitty day so much that I didn't care at all that I had mostly brocoli for dinner with a little chicken because I just don't care enough to walk to the kitchen right now to get anything else.  That is huge progress for me!!  Usually when I feel this sad or depressed I don't give a shit about dieting or what I'm supposed to be doing but do what the hell I want to do!  I think that is a good thing and I'm holding onto that with both hands today :(

 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.18

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today's Weight: 204.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 8.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today's Weight: 204.8

Total Loss: 16.2 Pounds

 

I wasn't as happy with today's loss as I thought I would be.  I was really strict with calories yesterday, I think I ended up at around 800-900 for the day and with the 1 mile run and 2 mile walk I was really hoping for another 2+ pound day.  But with my weight this morning I have officially lost 40 pounds since wayyyyy back to last summer when Brandi and I started our bop it challenge.  I can't quite remeber where I was at my lowest in the biggest loser challenges (candice do you remember?) but I think I was right around this weight then and really excited about the looming goal.  Of course that was 8 months ago so you can imagine how happy thinking about that makes me.  So I'm just not going to think about it :)  I got my blu ray player hooked up today finally so will start with pure barre tomorrow.  I walked 6 miles today (no running) so feel good about exercise and did really well with my calories.  I have even kind of noticed my body is a little harder than it was just a week ago so that is definately motivation.

 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.17

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today's Weight: 205.6

Total 2.0 Loss: 7.6 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today's Weight: 205.6

Total Loss: 15.4 Pounds

 

Down another pound today :)  I'm happy that my no exercise day didn't stop my loss for today.  I did 3 miles today (2 walking, 1 running) but my time went up by 17 seconds :(  My right leg was a little sore afterwards but didn't cramp up while I was running nor did it give me the problems it did last time with the numbness afterwards.  I ran first thing in the morning to see if that made a difference in my time so I'm hoping the slowness was just because I hadn't eaten anything yet.  We'll see in two days when I run again how it goes.  I'm finally back down to the weight I started last weekend at which kind frustrates me since it only took 3 days to gain the weight but 6 to loose it again.  That really just doesn't seem fair does it?  I'm feeling really good that I have the calories and the exercise under control for now so let's just see if I can hold on to it.  "The goal that shall not be named" is coming up in just a few pounds and I'm not even going to mention it in case I sabotage myself again.

 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.16

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today's Weight: 206.6

Total 2.0 Loss: 6.6 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today's Weight: 206.6

Total Loss: 14.4 Pounds

 

Yayyy!!!  2.2 pounds in one day is awesome!  I'm seriously trying to figure out how much a lung weighs though because that is probably where it came from.  However its gone, its gone and never coming back.  I did ok with food today and even had 2 pieces of pizza for dinner but wrapped the rest up and gave it away so I wouldn't be tempted to have it again any other day this week.  I felt satisfied with the little splurge but not like I was missing anything to have it gone after the tin foil walked out of the house.  I didn't get any exercise in today because I can't figure out how to hook up my blu ray player to do the pure barre dvds.  But feel good about the calories so I think tomorrow's weigh in will be good.

 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

 

Day 2.15

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today's Weight: 208.8

Total 2.0 Loss: 4.4 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today's Weight: 208.8

Total Loss: 12.2 Pounds

I ran a mile in 12 minutes today!!  Oh my god I thought I was going to die (it was 96 degrees when I went out at 715pm)!!  I literally sat at the bottom of my stairs for about 15 minutes afterwards because I didn't think I'd make it up the stairs into the living room.  I really think I left one of my lungs out there on the trail somewhere.  I also got my pure barre dvd's today so I'm excited to try that out tomorrow.  Down .2 of a pound today which I'm happy with considering I had McDonalds and alcohol last night.  Really excited to see what tomorrow brings considering I almost died to finish that 3 miles today.......

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.14

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2

Today's Weight: 209

Total 2.0 Loss: 4.2 Pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221

Today's Weight: 209

Total Loss: 12 Pounds

Ugh, this slow moving loss is really starting to annoy me!!  Down .8 of a pound today so I’m trying to look at it as almost a pound even though I don’t really see it that way until the numbers on the other side of the decimal are affected.  I did really well today all the way until dinner time when I was running really late from work and had a friend coming over in an hour and still needed to clean up the house before she got there.  I stopped at McDonald’s on the way home and pretty much ruined my calorie count for the day L  I also had some alcohol at about 9pm so I’m interested to see how that affects my loss for tomorrow.  I only had probably a quarter of a shot mixed with some coke zero so calorie wise it shouldn’t really have an effect, definitely not as much as the McDonald’s will……No fast food tomorrow or at all this weekend and I’m hoping to walk/run a total of 10 miles between Friday and Sunday so will work off those calories and hopefully have a pretty good loss to start next week with. 

Thanks for reading,

Mellissa

Day 2.13

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 209.8
2.0 Total Loss: 3.4 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 209.8
Total Loss: 11.2 pounds

Not happy at all with today’s weigh in!!  This is why I bitch to all of you that insist I must do some kind of exercise when trying to lose weight.  I can restrict my calories and lose 3 pounds in one day but if I exercise and stick to my calories I don’t lose anything (like today) or will have so small of a loss that it hardly registers.  It is so frustrating to know that if I didn’t do the run I could have just eaten less and had a much bigger loss today…..Today I did my second run and added a warm up and cool down.  I walked 1 mile for warm up, ran 1 mile in 13:06 (a 31 second increase from day one), and walked another mile for cool down.  In 81 degrees I was pretty sweaty when I got home but didn’t feel terrible.  I did some good stretching since my calves and ankles were hurting a bit.  Brandi registered for the race today so I guess there is no turning back now!  So much for seeing how that 3 weeks of training goes!!  I guess this is good though because she knows I will not leave her to do it by herself and I probably would have found a way to talk myself out of it had I not had this push so its definitely happening now.  September 11 is the date of the run so I have about 15 weeks to get my ass in shape.  If I don’t die first!!  One thing I am a little excited about is the cross-training days.  I bought the pure barre workout dvd’s which is the ballet workout I have wanted to try for awhile so I am actually looking forward to that.  It should be here in a few days so I’m going to try to do some yoga ondemand workouts for cross training until it gets here.

Day 2.12

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 209.8
2.0 Total Loss: 3.4 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 209.8
Total Loss: 11.2 pounds

Ok, not completely surprised by the gain today because of the pizza but a little disappointed that the run didn’t offset a little more of it.  Back to work today so back to a routine thank goodness.  I didn’t make it to the grocery store at all this weekend so had no good choices for breakfast.  Was able to hold it off by drinking a ton of water when I got to work.  I know, I know that isn’t healthy.  I am really going to try to make more of an effort to plan ahead so I don’t keep being forced to choose between starving and McDonalds.  I know those of you that have read consistently know which one will win!  I had subway for lunch which is great at only 330 calories and ensures a good choice for lunch tomorrow since I buy the foot long and use it for 2 lunches.  I made tacos for dinner which I think might have been a little high in calories with the hamburger meat but didn’t eat a shell since I’m trying to cut carbs on non-run days.  I’m not going to do what I usually do and go to the extreme with the change and attempt zero carbs and then binge the next day with 4000 carbs.  I’m going to try something different and at least try to cut carbs out of one meal on non-run days and try to move up from there when I get a handle on it.  Today was supposed to be a cross-training day but I was so tired when I got home I did absolutely no exercise other than walk to the park with logan which is probably a half mile there and back so not a good start to that marathon training schedule.

Day 2.11

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 208.6
2.0 Total Loss: 4.6 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 208.6
Total Loss: 12.4 pounds

Ok, so the b&g must have been crazy calories because I had a 1.4 pound gain today with only eating 2 meals yesterday L  Hoping that the alcohol has something to do with it and the fact that I didn’t drink much water yesterday.  Hopefully it will all balance out tomorrow.  I went to the city today to show Yvonne around before she left to fly back to Seattle so we stopped at Navy Pier for brunch which had absolutely no good choices available.  I had a cheeseburger (no different from a cheeseburger other than the pronunciation).  The heavens were shining on me this morning with the fact that they didn’t sell French fries because I was so tired and discouraged from 2 straight days of weight gains that I would have eaten every one of them.  They had chips instead and I ate maybe 3 or 4 of them and was done.  For dinner I planned to eat the other half of my red robin salad so I could get back on track but instead had 3 pieces of left over pizza!!  I felt so damn guilty after that I threw the rest of the pizza away and went for a walk.  Brandi and I have been talking about possibly doing a half marathon in September which requires you to keep pace at a 13 minute mile.  I thought I would attempt to run a mile today to see where I was to see if it was even realistic for me to run a 13 minute mile 3 months from now.  I found a trail behind my house which I didn’t know was there and it is pretty nice so I went for it and ran a mile in 13:37 L  Not a good starting point but not completely unrealistic.  We’ll see how the next three weeks go of training to see if I can do this. 

Day 2.10

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 207.2

2.0 Total Loss: 6 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 207.2
Total Loss: 13.8 pounds

I  had grandma’s biscuits and gravy today so not a good start to the calorie count.  For the first time in my life she actually had fruit on the table so I tried to eat more of that and less of the b&g but since that is the reason for us going over there today I couldn’t completely avoid it.  We did eat it at more of a brunch time so I was able to cut one meal out of the day to offset the calories.  I did well for dinner (actually insisting on red robin for dinner since I knew I could get the salad), I only ate half of the salad and had iced tea so my calorie count for dinner should have been around 400 calories.  I did have one drink later that night but used coke zero as the mixer so should have been less than 100 calories for the drink.

Day 2.9

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 206.2
2.0 Total Loss: 7 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 206.2
Total Loss: 14.8 pounds

Today was NOT a good day :(  McDonald's for breakfast, a hot dog for lunch, and pizza for dinner makes me want to cry right now as I type this.  Maybe I'll get lucky for tomorrow's weigh in and just maintain rather than have a gain but I really don't deserve that.  I'm glad I'm writing this right now so I'm aware of the bad choices before its a week from now and I've gained all 7 pounds back.  I'm going to remember this feeling tomorrow and make better choices.  Already trying to figure out what I'm going to do about grandma's bisquits and gravy in the morning considering 2 of them are 900 calories!!! 

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal May 28, 2011
Breakfast - 550 calories
McDonalds Egg McMuffin meal w/coke
Lunch - 300 calories
Hot Dog on bun
Dinner - 900 calories
2 pieces of sausage pizza
cherry coke
Total Calories - 1750 calories

Day 2.8

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 206.8
2.0 Total Loss: 6.4 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 206.8
Total Loss: 14.2 pounds

Today was a good day.  I knew I'd probably be eating out for dinner since my friend was flying in this afternoon so I cut the yogurt for breakfast and had half an apple and skipped the department lunch for my left over brocoli and grilled chicken.  Sure enough as soon as I picked Yvonne up from the airport we stopped at cracker barrel to eat.  I ordered off the children's menu thinking that if I just cut my portion sizes it might be easier this weekend to not have to avoid the restaurants or food all together just not eat as much of it.  That seemed to work for me but by the end of the night I was sluggish and tired.  The food was definately not worth it (I'm writing this 2 days later so this trend and message will continue tomorrow).

Still hoping to be under 205 at the end of this weekend.  Light a candle please!!

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal May 27, 2011
Breakfast - 50 calories
1/2 apple
Lunch - 250 calories
steamed brocoli
grilled chicken
water
Dinner - 500 calories
2 child size blueberry pancakes w/syrup
1 piece of sausage
Snack - 500 calories
Cherry Coke
1/3 of a movie theater nachos
Total Calories - 1300

Day 2.7

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 207.2
2.0 Total Loss: 6 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 207.2
Total Loss: 13.8 pounds

Woohoo!!  Back to being below where I ended last month!!  Not sure if I'll get to 205 by tomorrow like I hoped but hopefully Saturday for sure and will be under 200 by the end of the long weekend!!  I had a good day food wise.  Got my bite ramps off today at the orthodontist so it is a lot easier to eat and talk but my appointment took a good chunk out of my work day so luckily I had left overs in the fridge at work from the day before so I didn't have to stop and eat out.  I had left overs for dinner too so am hoping for a good loss tomorrow.  I'm starting to get hungry now so that is my cue to go to bed, haha. 

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal May 26, 2011
Breakfast - 120 calories
Greek yogurt w/blueberries
Lunch - 350 calories
1 piece of cheese bread
1 cup of spaghetti
water
Dinner - 250 calories
steamed brocoli
small chicken breast
water
Total Calories - 720 calories  ?!  Damn it!  I could have had the chai!!!

Day 2.6

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 208.4
2.0 Total Loss: 4.8 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 208.4
Total Loss: 12.6 pounds

Had a really good day today!!  Used left overs from last night for lunch today and finally shed the water I was holding on to hence the 2 pound loss in one day!!!  Whoop Whoop!  I actually had something to do at work today and got some exciting new responsibilities so I didn't even really think about food all day.  I was starving when I got home so used some of the chai mix I had in the fridge as a snack while I was making dinner (that drink went way to fast!!).  Even with Chai and ice cream which I never do I'm still close to my calorie goal for the day.  I'm hoping to get down to at least 205 by the weekend so I'll be so close to my 199 goal that nothing will be tempting enough to stop me from getting there.  Just typing a 1 in front of the other numbers right now gets me excited. 

I have an ortho appointment tomorrow to get my bite ramps taken off and to get an adjustment so I'm sure my teeth will be hurting this weekend anyway limiting what I can eat which will help me to stay on track as well. 

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa


Food Journal May 25, 2011
Breakfast - 120 calories
Greek Yogurt w/ blueberries
Lunch - 350 calories
1 cup spaghetti
1 cheese bread
water
Snack - 350 calories
Chai!!
Dinner - 200 calories
1 small piece of grilled chicken
steamed brocoli
water
Dessert - 230 calories
chocolate ice cream
Total calories - 1230 calories

Day 2.5

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 210.4
2.0 Total Loss: 2.8 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 210.4
Total Loss: 10.6 pounds

Three good days in a row!!  I'm on a roll.  And a good thing too since I'm rolling toward a long weekend that will have a ton of food temptations.  Not quite down to my 209 like I thought I would be today but at least I had a loss.  Looking forward to weighing in tomorrow and hopefully hitting the 209 or better.  I think getting back there will be the motivation I need to stick it out over the weekend so that I'm not back to where I started this month on Tuesday.  No real struggles or breakthroughs to write about in the last few days so I think that is a good thing.  I'm making progress in this becoming a lifestyle but it does make for a boring read :(

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal May 24, 2011
Breakfast - 0 calories
Didn't realize I hadn't eaten the yogurt til it was lunch time
Lunch - 590 calories
Subway Turkey
Cherry Coke
Snack - 90 calories
Apple slices
Dinner - 760 calories
Whole wheat spaghetti w/ garlic sauce
2 pieces of cheese bread w/o crust
water
Total Calories - 1440 calories   Really?!  Damn!  I felt like I did really well today.  I may be over estimating the spaghetti noodles.  I have no idea how many noodles equals 2 ounces.

Day 2.4

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 210.8
2.0 Total Loss: 2.4 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 210.8
Total Loss: 10.2 pounds

One pound to go until I'm back at my ending weight for the last blog.  I had a great day today in large part because I am only 1 pound away from my first goal for the blog.  I was able to keep that in mind whenever I felt the urge to eat.  I had dinner with a friend and even had a drink and am still looking really good on calories for the day so I'm quite confident I will get back to the 209 tomorrow.  I have a friend from Seattle coming in for memorial day and that will be my first night without a kid since April 29th!  Soo excited to do something adult.  Don't care what it is as long as it doesn't invlove dinosaurs or thomas the train.

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal for May 23, 2011
Breakfast - 120 calories
Greek Yogurt w/blueberries
Lunch - 470 calories
Subway Turkey
Baked BBQ Lays
Iced Tea
Dinner - 630 calories
2 small soft shell tacos
1/2 cup of rice
1 glass coke zero with a shot of captain morgan
Total Calories - 1220 calories

Day 2.3

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 211.8
2.0 Total Loss: 1.4 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 211.8
Total Loss: 9.2 pounds

Whoop Whoop!!  I'm on my way back down.  2 pounds to go and I'll be back on track :)  Feeling really good about this since its that time of month and I'm sure I'm holding every drop of water that I drink so I'm thinking in a couple days I'll really be seeing some results.  Today was a good day.  It was sunny and 82 degrees outside but breezy so the heat wasn't suffocating.  Logan was up at 630am which is a little early for my liking but I went with it and decided to be productive.  I unpacked half my closet and all the boxes left in the dining room.  Brought a few more up from the looming closet downstairs and did 2 loads of laundry.  Feeling like it must be dinner time by now I looked at the clock and it was 10am :| Damn it, those distractions from food are getting weaker and weaker.  I ate 2 pieces of toast and some fruit and enough water to make it feel like I had an ocean in my stomach then went back to boxes. 

I took Logan to a civil war reinactment where we walked around in the 82 degree heat with me carrying him most of the time because he was afraid of the big crowds.  I was able to avoid all the food there but broke down and bought Logan some carmel corn.  I only had one piece though so feel really good about that.  I had 2 grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner which I feel I could have done better with.  Had I eaten a little slower and drank some more water between them I probably wouldn't have eaten both of them.  But I should still be good on the calories for today so am looking forward to weighing in tomorrow.

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal May 22, 2011
Breakfast - 350 calories
2 pieces of whole grain toast w/butter
1 cup of mixed fruit
Lunch - 170 calories
Tall Iced Chai from Starbucks (only 1 point to go to get my gold card!!!)
Dinner - 850 calories
2 grilled cheese sandwiches

Day 2.2

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 213.2
2.0 Total Loss: 0 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 213.2
Total Loss: 7.8 pounds

So not a great start but I didn't figure I'd have much of a loss with the Dominos.  Not feeling too guilty about it though just let it pass and moving on to the next day.  Today was a good day even though I had half a pizza left over from last night and I really didn't want it to go to waste so I skipped breakfast and had 2 pieces for lunch.  With the pizza calories and the rootbeer that has to come with it I figured I'd just have a light dinner and still be able to have a pretty good loss tomorrow.  But then I remembered about the birthday cake that I bought for Logan last weekend which probably wasn't going to last much longer so I ended up having one piece of that with some ice cream.   With my estimate I was still under my calorie goal for the day but still felt like I didn't do well today because of the foods that I ate.  I did end up throwing away the rest of the pizza so that is out of the house and even though there is some cake left in the fridge that will be tossed tomorrow. 

I got quite a bit of unpacking done today but still seem to keep coming across boxes....where the hell did all this stuff come from?  Other than carrying heavy ass boxes up and down the stairs I didn't get any exercise it today.  I'll deal with the exercise next week when I unearth my blu ray player and dvd's and find the arms to my treadmill.

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Day 2.1

2.0 Starting Weight: 213.2
Today's Weight: 213.2
2.0 Total Loss: 0 pounds

Original Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 213.2
Total Loss: 7.8 pounds

So 3.6 pounds up since the end of the last blog isn't too tragic.  Of course I'd love to have been able to keep it going and be down another 10-15 pounds by now especially since that would put me under 200 pounds which is a milestone I have been wanting for a really long time (way too long, honestly).  I'm not even going to say that is my goal for this month's blog because maybe I'm psyching myself out with that number.  I just need to keep doing what I know works and concentrate on my actions and not on the numbers.  Right.  Easier said than done. 

I started today motivated by really wanting to lose that 3.6 pounds the first day and being back to where I ended to get going on this month (hey, I lost 3.4 pounds the first day last time).  I'm going to end the suspense right now and tell you that didn't happen.  I had yogurt for breakfast which is a good habit I picked up last month that worked for me, tried to refill my water whenever I noticed it was out which also kept me from being too hungry at my desk.  It was friday so the department goes to lunch together and this time they picked taco bell (of course, taco bell on my first day).  They did have a diet menu which didn't make me feel too much better since diet at taco bell probably just means under 1000 calories.  But I made the best choice I could and it actually turned out pretty good when I got back to my desk and looked up the calories.  The fresco chicken burrito is only 350 calories and the small strawberry fruitista is another 250 calories.  With only 120 calories for breakfast 600 for lunch is still pretty good. 

After work I had to drive to t-mobile to put my foot in someone's ass about my phone not doing half of what I'm paying for.  And after the 30 minute drive to pick Logan up I had to drive another hour before getting to t-mobile which then turned out to be Radio Shack with a T-mobile authorized dealer and the authorized person was not working yesterday.  The poor clerk at Radio Shack probably didn't deserve all the things I said to him but needless to say after I was done he attempted and failed to fix my phone.  He told me that I needed to go to a real T-mobile store to get a new sim card.  Right!!  When I switched from my blackberry to my current phone and they assured me they were copying everything over from my old sim card to my new sim card and handed me a phone with no contacts or pics or videos or texts I think I may have had a small heart attack.  But now I'm 45 pounds lighter so I'm not so concerned about the heart attack :) but more concerned about me breaking out some ninja type moves on the workers and innocent bystanders so I just went home instead.  I dug out my usb cord (way more complicated than it sounds since like I said yesterday I am not unpacked yet), moved all my pics/videos/contacts on to my computer, then went to T-mobile first thing this morning (apparantly there is one right across the street from my house....awesome that I wasted half a tank of gas yesterday!!).

What was I talking about?  Oh yeah, weight loss.  So after driving around all of Illinois and digging through boxes and figuring out how to move my info on to my computer it was 7:45pm and I did not feel like cooking.  So I ordered Dominos (having deja vu here too about not being prepared for these situations and calling Dominos).  I ate 3 pieces of pizza and 3 hotwings!!  And 2 glasses of rootbeer.  Then I fell asleep around 915pm.  Not a good start.  Not a good start at all.......

Food Journal May 20, 2011
Breakfast - 120 calories
Greek Yogurt w/blueberries
Lunch - 600 calories
Fresco Chicken burrito
Small Strawberry Fruitista
Dinner - 1200 (estimate)
3 pieces of sausage pizza
3 hot wings
2 glasses rootbeer

Starting Weight: 221
Day 30 Weight: 209.6
Total Loss: 11.4 pounds

So I'm a little late but here is my final weigh in for the 30 pounds in 30 days......  Happy with 11.4 pounds even though its only a third of what I was hoping for. 

Its been about a month since day 30 and I have moved to Chicago (the far suburbs anyway) and started a new job.  I still have a lot of unpacking to do and have been feeling really not good about my food choices over the past few weeks.  Driving from Seattle to Chicago really didn't provide much of an opportunity to eat healthy and then staying at grandma's house for a week with her cooking was even worse.  I have been in my own place for almost a week and have finally gotten my kitchen unpacked and went grocery shopping so am looking forward to getting back to what I know I should be doing. 

I unpacked my scale tonight and have to admit that I am pretty fucking terrified to get on it tomorrow.  I know it will not be pretty!  I'm hoping that I haven't given up my entire 11 pounds that I lost in April.  I'm starting another 30 day blog starting tomorrow.  I hope you will stick with me through this next one and for what my promises are worth at this point I will promise to post every day for the full 30 days.  I don't forsee anything very exciting happening in the next month so shouldn't have any distractions to take me away from it.  I'm keeping the 30 pounds in 30 days title and that is what I will shoot for but will be happy with 15 pounds.  I did have a couple slip ups in April (which you all saw) so I know I can beat the 11 pound success I had then.  With the weather being nice and a 500 pound treadmill in my dining room (THANKS SO MUCH TO BRANDI!!) I have absolutely no excuses!!

Thanks for reading!!  Tune in tomorrow for my starting weight.
Mellissa

Days 18- 29

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 210.6
Total Loss: 10.4 pounds

So I am a terrible terrible blogger!  I have been really busy with traveling and getting ready for the move that I haven't updated this blog in 12 days..........But! I have still been loosing weight.  Tomorrow is my 30 day mark so we'll see how close I got to the 30 pounds although I don't think it will be quite half way I'm down more than 10 pounds from where I started and I can't hate on that kind of loss in a month.

Check in tomorrow for my final weigh in............I promise I'll post it :)

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Day 17

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 214.2
Total Loss: 6.8 pounds

Today was a challenging day.  I had a busy start at work so I didn't eat anything for breakfast.  Then had lunch with a co-worker and since we went to a place that she had a giftcard for there were not really many healthy options.  I did ask for the nutritional value and picked the lowest calorie dish and only ate half.  I stuck with water so that made my lunch calories 500 but since I didn't have anything for breakfast I thought it would be ok.  Then I remembered I had dinner plans with a friend and we always go to Cedars which I haven't quite figured out how to do and still stick to a calorie count.  I was conscious the whole time I was there about how I was feeling since I usually leave there so stuffed that I can feel the weight gain before I even get to the car.  I ate a lot less than I usually do and only had water to drink there too.  I'm still feeling that I might not have a loss today even though I'm trying to mentally add up the calories and can't believe that I'm too far off from 1300-1500 but still feel like I ate more than that.  I guess my weigh in tomorrow will tell.

I was really proud of myself for skipping the after dinner coffee and dessert too.  I'm definately in the zone and feel in control of my eating right now.  Writing this blog has definately helped me to stay focused.  Now that I feel that I'm back on track I'm going to start working on my carbs starting tomorrow.  So I will add a new line item to my count for the day.  I don't really have a goal in mind for the carb count but know that I need to significantly cut my intake of them.  Guess I will see where I am tomorrow and set my goal from there.

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal for April 13, 2011

Breakfast - 0 calories
Lunch - 700 calories
1/2 angelhair pasta with sausage
2 pieces of bread with oil/vinegar
water
Dinner - 800 calories
1 cup rice
1/2 cup chicken curry
1/2 garlic naan w/chutney
water
Total calories - 1500 calories

Day 16

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 215.0
Total Loss: 6 pounds

Whoop Whoop I finally got past the 215.2 hurdle.  It's only down scale from here!  Also?  I got a job!!!  That deserves another whoop whoop!!  I am so excited for this job and the opportunities that will be opened because of it but really really dreading the sucky commute (could be up to 2 hours each way).  I was traveling today back home from Chicago so was much more consious of my choices this time around.  My flight left Chicago at 8am so I grabbed a fruit cup and starbucks in the airport and passed on everything on the plane.  I had a Lean Cuisine hot pocket for lunch and a Lean Cuisine frozen meal for dinner.  I did eat a handful of candy before dinner but quickly put it away so I wouldn't run into another 600 calorie mess like I did last week.  If I gain anything from this blog being able to adapt my past mistakes into future successes is what I want it to be. 

Today's weigh in marks the half way point of this blog.  I've lost 6 of the 15 pounds I'd need to hit 30 pounds in 30 days.  1.6 pounds a day will still get me to my goal on time but even if I stick with my original 1 pound a day goal I'll still have lost 21 pounds in 30 days which ain't to shabby.  I'm not giving up though!!  30 pounds in 30 days!!  Let's go!!

Food Journal April 12, 2011

Breakfast - 270 calories
Fruit Cup
Tall Iced Chai w/ soy
Lunch - 280 calories
LC chicken/cheese/jalapeno hot pocket
Water
Dinner - 330 calories
LC frozen dinner
Water
Snack - 100 calories
handful of junior mints
Total calories - 980 calories

Day 15

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 216.2
Total Loss: 4.8 pounds

Down a little bit today but not enough to get me back to where I was when I left for the extended weekend.  I did really well today with food.  I had two really imporant interviews so was really only thinking about that.  I grabbed a fruit cup to take with me but my first interview was downtown at 10am and with rush hour and lack of parking (which cost me $21 for an hour!) I left at 830 to make sure I got there on time.  My second interview was in Oakbrook at 2pm so I ate the fruit cup once I got out to Oakbrook and was waiting for my interview time.  I did have a tall coffee from Starbucks as well while I was waiting but figured having the fruit cup instead of McDonald's for breakfast really made up for that.  I went out to dinner to Applebees and was pretty proud of myself for picking off the under 500 calorie menu and still probably only ate half of the entree so dinner was really successful. 

Food Journal - April 12, 2011

Breakfast - 100 calories
Fruit Cup
Snack - 170 calories
Starbucks iced chai with soy
Lunch - 810 calories
2 McDonald's cheeseburgers
1 small strawberry lemonade
Dinner - 200 calories
Less than half of the steak/grilled shrimp entree
Iced Tea
Total calories - 1280 calories

Day 14

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 216.4
Total Loss: 4.6 pounds

Really?!  With all that exercise I have a gain?!? I throw a big middle finger up to that bs.....

Sunday brought along with it grandma's biscuits and gravy which also almost gave me a heart attack when I added up the calories (after I ate it of course, in true Mellissa style).  It honestly was worth every bite though.  I tried to skip dinner to make up for it but ended up having more of the dreaded pizza from Saturday at about 10pm because I was so hungry.  Traveling sucks for eating healthy!! 

Food Journal April 10, 2011

Breakfast - 900 calories
2 grandma's biscuits and gravy
Late lunch - 400 calories
1 very small (and then shared with my niece on top of that) pork chop with bbq sauce
1 small baked potato
sliver of butter
1 tablespoon of sour cream
Dinner - 500 calories
1.5 pieces of pizza
1 can of Coke
Total calories - 1800 calories

Day 13

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 215.2
Total Loss: 5.8 pounds

I'm back home so I'm going to catch up on the last three days now that I have my computer back.  Saturday was day 13.  I did the gorilla challenge (well attempted a few clues anyway) so I thought today would have been a really good day since I probably walked at least 10 miles throughout the day.  I did have McDonald's for breakfast though and did stop mid race at McDonald's for lunch too but ate while we were waiting for the El so I didn't have fries (too hard to carry) or pop.  I had 1 cheeseburger and a strawberry/banana smoothie (maybe more calories than the pop would have been).  But then we did eat pizza (pretty much a must if you are in Chicago) for dinner.  The slices were small squares so I didn't think I did too bad for the day (around 1300 calories) but as you'll see tomorrow I had a gain so I must have underestimated something.  Perhaps it was all the culture I gained by riding all forms of Chicago public transportation for the first time in one day.  Haha.

It was a great day and I realize in hindsight that I could have planned better for the food.  I should have taken a snack with me on the race and planned breakfast beforehand then the pizza wouldn't have made too much a difference.  One splurge in a day with 10 miles of exercise is ok, but not eating out on all 3 meals. 

Food Journal - April 9, 2011

Breakfast - 510 calories
Egg McMuffin
Hashbrown
Coke
Lunch - 510 calories
Cheeseburger
Small strawberry banana smoothie
Dinner - 700?
3 pieces of pizza
Iced Tea
House salad w/ranch
Total calories - 1720 calories Guess my guessing was a little skewed with the 1300 calories!

Day 12

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 215.2
Total Loss: 5.8 pounds

I'm in Chicago!!  I got a late start this morning since I didn't get to bed after flying in until 2:30am and chose sleep over food this morning.  Then I went straight into interview mode so didn't even really think about the fact I hadn't eaten anything until I was well on my way to my interview at 1:30pm.  Luckily I still had a cup of fruit that I grabbed in the airport so that was enough to hold me over through the interview.  I hung out at the mall across the street after the interview while the recruiter was trying to get my 2nd round interview scheduled.  She was taking her sweet time getting back to me and I was trying to hold off on the food until I could get somewhere with better options.  But I caved (after I got my Clinque bonus gift - thanks Candice!) and got preztel sticks from Auntie Annies (having a flash back here to a few days ago when we had this conversation before).  Logically I reasoned myself through it by saying I've had less than 100 calories for the whole day since I'd only had the fruit but if I'm being completely honest there is more there.  Just not quite sure what it is yet.  Luckily, the recruiter called and put me out of my downward spiral (2nd round interview on Monday afternoon!! Woohoo!!). 

Then I had to drive back to the airport and switch out my rental car (long story) and then drive back to where I'm staying in rush hour traffic which took me more than 2 hours.  Needless to say I was pretty hungry when I got there.  We went out to dinner and I did make the best choices I could at the restaurant we were at.  I got unsweetened iced tea and ate half of a side salad (with a little bit of ranch dressing) before starting on the entree assuming I'd eat less.  Mmhmm, well how that worked out is I ate every french fry on my plate (except for the gross ketchup logged ones) and about 2/3 of the burger.  I estimate the whole meal at around 800 calories which might be a little bit of a high estimate but still not great in the end.  I did give away the pie that came with the meal though so am trying to look at the positives here.  I haven't done a calorie search for the pretzel sticks yet so I'm concerned about them being extremely high and completely throwing me off for a loss today.  Guess I'll find out in a couple minutes.  Very excited about the gorilla challenge tomorrow which will give me a ton of exercise I'm sure.  Go Team Oh My Goodness!!!

Thanks for reading,
Mellissa

Food Journal April 8, 2011

Breakfast - 112 calories
1.5 cup of mixed fruit
Lunch - 680 calories
Pretzel sticks
hot salsa cheese dip
frozen strawberry lemonade
Dinner - 800 calories
side salad w/ranch
2/3 of average size cheeseburger
french fries
iced tea
Total calories - 1592 calories

Day 11

Starting Weight: 221
Today's Weight: 216.2
Total Loss: 4.8 pounds

Had a pretty good day today with food.  Really busy at work and then packing and to the airport so I had quite a few distractions to keep my mind off of eating.  I was very proud of myself that a good habit came out today without me even thinking about it.  I was in the airport and getting on the plane and fully intended on getting a venti size chai at starbucks to take with me but when I got to the counter I instead said tall since I have been getting that size for the last 11 days that I've been journaling my food and blogging my progress.  That habit saved me 170 calories today!!  Though it doesn't seem like much that one small change has saved me 1870 calories over the last 11 days.  That is more than 1/2 a pound!  In the minute that I realized I ordered a tall (not until she put the cup on the counter) it really clicked in my head that every decision we make food wise really does matter. 

On my way to the airport I had a "oh my god" moment when I was on the shuttle and glimpsed myself in the rear veiw mirror.  Its still shocking for me to see myself so damn fat because I really still feel like the 130 pound girl that I used to be.  When I was trying to recover so the driver and the other passenger wouldn't think I was a nut job something that I read a couple years ago popped into my head.  It was an article about things that are guaranteed to help you cut calories and one of them was to put a mirror in front of your table so you could see yourself eating.  That sounds like some serious pshycological torture to me but I bet it would work.  Is anyone brave enough to try it with me for the next week and see if it has any affect on your calorie intake?  Even if it is just for one meal a day??

Thanks for reading.
Mellisa

Food Journal April 7, 2011

Breakfast - 510 calories
McDonald's Egg mcmuffin meal
Lunch - 260
about 1/3rd of a 6 inch subway sandwich
rootbeer
Dinner - 530
1/2 of a wolfgang puck pizza
tall chai tea
Total calories - 1300