New year, new me.

Welcome to 2013! So far this year has been pretty productive. I got a little off track during the holidays with my calories but I have still managed to lose 2 pounds putting me at 175. I was recently asked to me a bridesmaid in my friends wedding which is November 2nd so we have been working out like crazy! There is a place in town called the Greenway and it is two different nature trails. So far in the past week we have walked/jogged around 11 miles. Not bad! I have been feeling absolutely amazing since we started doing this last week. I am in love with the way I feel after a workout and I am so excited to keep this up in my daily routine. Not much more to add at the moment so until later!!



Shelby

Update :)

Howdy y'all! So I don't remember when the last time I updated this thing was...(before Thanksgiving?) but anyway...I've officially lost between 27 and 28 pounds which is AWESOME seeing as I've been getting off track because of all of the holidays and what not. :) I have a lot of new challenges coming up though! Ha...here's the list!

1. Cookie Exchange - Saturday December 15th
2. O'Charley's & dessert afterwards (Secret Santa!) - Monday December 17th
3. Christmas with mom's side of the family - Saturday December 22nd
4. Christmas Party at the gym (aka work) - Saturday December 22nd
5. Christmas with dad's side of the family - Monday December 24th
6. Christmas Dinner - Tuesday December 25th
7. New Years Eve party - Sunday December 30th
8. Aaron's birthday party - Thursday December 3rd

The end! Whew...that's all going to happen within the next month?!

Until later guys. :)


****UPDATE****

December 13, 2012

I went to my moms office today to weigh myself (she works for a doctor who preforms the lapband and gastric bypass procedures) and I am down to 177! Which means I have lost 15.3% of my original body weight. I started out in August at 209 and in December I am 32 pounds lighter! 18 pounds to go until I hit 50!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

So, I've been thinking. During the holidays I always pig out on a TON of yummy food. Seriously, rolls, mashed potatoes, dressing, cookies, cakes, pies, and fudge! I love it all and I normally don't get to eat it throughout the year. However, I have lost more weight in the past 4 or so months than I ever have in my life. I don't want to ruin all of my hard work. SO. I've been looking into ways to watch my calories while also enjoying the holiday season. :) I have a found a few helpful links that I thought I might share to other food-lovin souls. :)
Counting calories throughout the holiday seasons
I LOVED THIS ONE. I've been so worried about adding on extra weight more easily since I won't be getting to walk across campus everyday for an entire month. However, none of the alcohol stuff in this link applies to me since I don't drink. But very helpful tip...EAT LIGHTLY since you will be pigging out (at least a little) at dinner.

Good recipe tips
I bake. A lot. Although this website is dedicated to Thanksgiving, it can easily work for Christmas as well. I love the different baking ideas. Who knew that by replacing 1 cup of sugar with splenda will save 750 calories? WOW. When I speak of food, I speak in calories. When someone asks me where I like to get dinner if I have to eat fast food this is what I will reply with: "Well, if you go to Wendy's and get a spicy chicken sandwich (plain) and apples, you're looking at around 510 calories. However, if you grab a McDouble at McDonalds with apples, you only spend $2.20 and eat about 405 calories. You can find fast food items that will not totally kill your calorie count for the day. :)

I hope these sites help someone else out as much as they have helped me! Have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!!

Turkey day!

Happy Thanksgiving! (A very amazing holiday for those of us watching our weight and counting calories...it's a free-for-all!) I made sure to weigh myself before turkey day so yesterday, Wednesday November 21, 2012, roughly 4 months after beginning my weight loss journey, I am down 25 pounds. I am halfway to my goal of 50 pounds! I began counting calories in August and started at 209. Yesterday morning I was at 184 which is great news for me. :) I've been getting a little off track with my calorie counting since it's been the holiday season (which, for me, starts November 4th because of my birthday). But I've still lost 4 pounds in 2 1/2-3 weeks or so. Not horrible. :)

I also finally have a picture!

 

This is me after losing 25 pounds. I wish I could post a before picture but I was so embarrassed about how I looked that I never took many pictures from my neck down. :/ Hindsight and what not.

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know that I personally have so much to be thankful for!

Just popping in

Haven't updated in a while so thought I'd just pop over and say that things have been going decently okay. Still slip up every now and then but I'm trying to get back on track. It's hard when the household grocery purchaser is encoraging at first and then slowly stops caring. Oh well...I'm working with what I've got at hand. Still counting calories, just wishing more of the calories were fruit/vegetables instead of junk. :( Oh well...at least I'm eating less of the junk I used to eat anyway.

 

That's all for now.

Oops.

Been kinda absent lately...I have good reason though! I've been super busy with school this semester. I thought it would be one of the easier semesters I've had but...no. Anyway...that has definitely kept me busy.

 

I believe I began watching my calories around the 2nd or 3rd week of August when I weighed in at 209 and almost had a heartattack. Well, I had a doctors appointment Friday, October 5th, and I am happy to report that I weighed in at 195! I lost 14 pounds in less than 2 months! I'm very excited that my hard work has paid off. Now I just need to get back on track (I've been slacking a little since my appointment) because I've still got 35 pounds to go to get to my goal weight of 160. I have faith that I will get there eventually though!

 

On a not so happy note...my cat that we got when I was 6 had to be put down today. :( Sad sad day. I love him and will definitely miss him greatly. R.I.P. Tiger.

Some good news and some bad news.

Hello again. :)

I have good news and bad news. The good news is I am finally moving onto stage 2 of a healthier lifestyle. Instead of just cutting calories, I'm now trying to focus more on cutting calories and watching what is in the food I eat instead of just focusing on the calories it contains. So far I've switched from potato chips to Sunchips, regular hotdogs to turkey hotdogs, from Jif peanut butter to Jif natural peanut butter, Bunny white bread to Bunny whole grain white bread, and from regular Goldfish crackers to whole grain Goldfish crackers. These are just some small changes but I know they are very hepful changes.

 

The bad news. I made about 2 million different mistakes foodwise today. Good gracious I don't even know if I can put it into words. It just really makes me feel bad. At least I do feel bad which means that I will be more careful about food choices after today. I know a treat every now and then is okay, but today just got completely out of hand.

 

That's all for now. Bye!