Day 60*; Did you miss me?!

WARNING: This might turn into a long post, I may try & wrap it up quickly, I really don't know.

Mini Update:
I haven't been tracking my food, I know SHOCKER! I don't know why I feel it's so difficult lately. I've had a lot going on with the kids, school, my ex, ME & I've just been so drained it seems like it takes so much to even track. I hate it, and hopefully can get back on track soon enough. Exercise has also not been a part of my daily routine. I still try to keep my body moving, even if I'm just sitting here I'll shake my leg or flex my feet.. something little but no big workouts or anything. I mentioned before about the Zumba class, it has started but we haven't gone. I have to figure something out with babysitting in order to make the classes. Hopefully I can convince my mom it's something important we should definitely get on. Even if she ends up not liking it, I can still go!

Weigh In:
I weighed in on Monday and lost 2.4 lbs, THAT MEANS I'M OUT OF THE 300'S woohoo!! I can't even describe the feeling I got when I stepped on the scale that morning! ( : a 2lb loss isn't all that much, but I can't expect much when I'm not tracking or working out. I'm surprised I'm even still losing but oh so thankful for it!! Only a few more lbs to go before I reach my first goal weight! It's exciting. It makes me want to make sure I put more effort into it to accomplish this first goal I have so I can get excited about setting a new one and working for that! I really am so glad that I started this journey. It is important to me even if I haven't been making it a priority lately. I hope I can begin to work harder and push more to reach these goals.

Random Thought:
I'm not sure if anyone else feels this way, but there were several times this week that the thought crossed my mind.
Scenario 1- I met a guy on facebook, who added me and we started talking. He lives in my town and had made the comment about taking me out to dinner sometime. Not that I would ever really consider this unless I talked to him for a long period of time.
Scenario 2- An old friend from high school contacted me on facebook and has been subtly trying to flirt. Telling me he liked me in high school and then asking me if we could meet up sometime for drinks or something.
In both of these cases, my first thought when meeting up was mentioned was "You think you wanna meet up until you actually see me & how fat I am" I feel like just because they see my pictures, and because I don't put up body pictures only facial pictures, they don't really know what I look like. So many people tell me they don't think I'm fat purely based on the pictures they see. My face may not show it, but listen here I'm fat. It makes me so uncomfortable because not that I wanted to really meet up with either of these guys, but if I did I would be entirely too uncomfortable showing up a place to meet someone knowing that they probably expect me to be much smaller than I am. I've had this happen before where I got back in contact with an ex via phone & talked for a few weeks before meeting up in person. When we finally did meet up I was second guessing my looks the whole time and not really surprisingly, wasn't called back after. Now, I know that if a guy is going to blow me off based on my weight, he's not worth my time in any way. I am a strong, smart, caring woman and I deserve to have someone love and want me who is going to stand beside me fat or thin. But it doesn't really take away the embarrassment factor of the situation.

Apologies:
I am so sorry that I haven't been blogging as much as I should or even want to. I feel like I'm letting readers down when I don't & I'm going to make an effort to try and blog as often as possible as well as NEVER let a week pass by before I post again. I appreciate every one of my readers & as I've said before I absolutely ADORE the comments. I also love emails so you can message me there anytime!

~erica♥

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1.03.01

Day 54*; Zumba, Goal Jeans & Thanks!

The thin within

It's actually starting to come out. Obviously, not fully because I'm still a big woman. But I actually felt thinner today! This could be completely mentally, but I like to think it's not. I feel thinner, I feel better, I feel prettier. Today I got dressed & I was like I can tell I've lost weight. I didn't know when the day would come! I honestly didn't expect it until I had lost 50+lbs and people were telling me all the time that I've lost weight, but it's an amazing surprise. It boosts my confidence in such a big way, it's hard to believe. I'm really proud of myself for starting this journey, and even though I've had many ups & downs already in such a short amount of time, I will keep pushing through & seeing progress and hopefully get better and better living a healthy lifestyle!!

Daily Meal Photos

Ok as far as daily meal photos, I've learned that when I take them, I track them & I post them. I do really good usually those days & I'm proud of myself for even being able to keep up with staying under caloric intake as well as accomplishing my goal to track & document. Days that I don't day pictures, I don't track & obviously don't post photos of my meals. UGH! It's such a damn cycle. I want to track, I think of tracking & documenting. But then I make something to eat & I completely forget the picture and from there I feel like what's the point. I try to track, but once I miss a meal, or two I'm like WHAT'S THE POINT?! When clearly, there could still be a point. I could still track, go back over what I ate. Write it down, track the calories. Even with photos I could go back and take a picture of the empty container it came in, or packages of what was used. There's really always some way. But I get lazy, and discouraged and that's it. I give up. I could really kick myself for that. I need to just, DO IT. That's it.

STOP BEING SUCH A FAT LAZY LADY AND TRACK YOUR FOOD, DOCUMENT IT, IT HELPS YOU KEEP YOUR CALORIES UNDER CONTROL, IT HELPS YOU MAKE SURE YOU'RE EATING ENOUGH. JUST DO IT DAMNIT.

Zumba!!

I just started my daughter in a new dance studio, she's been in dance the past two years but there were problems with finances this year so they couldn't open on time. I didn't want my daughter to miss out on anything, as well as the fact that there were many things I didn't agree with last year. Anyways, Tonight was her first night & guess what they have zumba!! 3 days a week! I'm so excited, I'm gonna be going! I love it. I've done it before but didn't stick it out, I wasn't on a weight loss journey so eating write wasn't what I did & I only had a class once a week and figured what the heck is that going to do for me? But at the dance studio, it's 3 times a week for an hour. I'm eating better now and know that exercising and eating right in combination can be an amazing thing to a lifestyle change!! I'm super excited. & I think, to treat myself for the 20lbs lost, I will buy some cute workout wear, to wear to the zumba classes! ( : They start next week I think, I have to look a bit more into it & my mom wants to do it with me! So, I also need to find a sitter. I will def. Keep you guys posted on that!!


Goal Jeans

I tried these bad boys on the other day, They are still tight & breathable but I didn't let it get me down. I just keep my head up, and eye on the prize. It will happen soon enough I'm sure. Then I'll be posting all about my wonderful goal jeans fitting comfortably! woo! I also found a second pair of goal jeans which I will blog about & add a picture of once I fit into the current ones!

COMMENTS!COMMENTS!COMMENTS!

I really can't express enough how much I love getting comments! I feel so giggly when I sign on & it tells me I have new ones to approve! How awesome are all of you?! I'm so proud to have readers like you guys, and to know that you guys read what I write is something that helps to keep me coming back here!



~erica♥

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1.03.01

So long 20lbs, hope I never see ya again!

This is going to be a short post, I wanted to share some thoughts.. but I will post today's meals tomorrow morning when I update. I don't know why but lately writing in the morning seems to be the key to staying blogger friendly lmao. Anyways, As I stated this morning my weight is now 302lbs which of course, I've already begun doubting. "Oh it was just fluctuating that low this morning", or "The scale may be wrong" Anything to not let myself get too excited. I really need to understand why I do this to myself? Why can't I just enjoy the number I see and let it go? Ugh, anyways.. That means that I have officially lost 21.8 lbs so far in my journey!!! I started in the beginning of July at 324lbs & now I'm so close to being out of the 300's I can taste it!! 20lbs may not seem like a huge deal when i need to lose 4563546345 more, or to people who have lost 100+lbs already. But to me, it's epic & gives me some motivation to keep it up! I wanna giggle like a little girl knowing I can be out of the 300's within the next 2 weeks or so!!!! I also have been taking more body pictures of myself when I can, It seems to help me boost the way i view my self image. It's like telling myself yea, I'm big but SO WHAT?! I'm working on it, and I'm freaking beautiful! So I leave you with my latest body pic, from last week taken at my therapists. ( I know right? What a freak, taking pictures of myself at my therapists office! hahahaha I don't have a mirror that I can take body pictures from, so I gotta do it where I can!)

I definitely feel like this picture emphasizes my fat stomach haha.

~erica♥

Day 51*; Weigh day♥ :O & yesterdays food!

Bagel thin, tbsp peanut butter, 1 lg banana, activia strawrberry banana

Healthy choice microwave meal, SO DELISH!

100 cal pack!♥

All lettuce salad 2cups, half a piece of steak, spritzer ranch vinaigrette

100 cal, yoplait delights (I have to be honest, I thought this would taste better than it did)

I stayed under my caloric intake yesterday, but way under, about 500 calories. So today I'm aiming to get closer to my goal of around 2000 calories. That's what several websites told me I should be eating. I didn't feel starved though, and I had a handful of sunflower seeds before bed that probably added some on there. All in all a good day. Still didn't work out at all, other than cleaning my house and what not. I really need to get back into it. I miss that feeling so much of "Ahh I'm all sweaty and feel like I'm gonna dieeee, this is amazing!" hahaha

I'd say i had a good day yesterday (:

WEIGH DAY!!

Today is weigh day! & I weighed in at a beautiful 302.2lbs!!! I really have no idea how the hell I managed to lose FIVE POUNDS! But wow, 3 more lbs to go before I'm out of the wretched 300's & never looking back!! I'm so excited! ( : I'm really gonna work hard this week for this! I can freakin' taste this victory!

~erica♥

Passing out an award!

So I had two bloggers give me an award this week! MY FIRST EVER BLOG AWARD!! I am so thankful for this & appreciate it to the fullest!! Wow. I feel like I should have a speech prepared for winning an emmy! LOL ♥♥


The Rules for this Award:
1) Post who gave you this award
I have 2 lovely ladies to thank for this award. Lyndsay @ Thinspiration & Megan @ Status MIA - Thank you so much!! It means so much to me to know that people are reading! People are there, watching my journey. My good days and my bad and all the crazy ups and downs in between! Thank you again!!

2) State ten things you like

• Dallas Cowboys Are you ready for some football?! I sure am!! I have been freaking waiting for this football season so grace us with it's presence & I am a complete Dallas fan!
• Shopping, I am a firm believer in retail therapy. If I'm mad, sad, frustrated.. I can take my happy ass to the store & shop myself into a better mood!
• The Fall Season, OMG!? I went outside yesterday, and felt the wind whipping around my face, I got a slight chill and I about screamed with joy! Long sleeve T's & jeans weather is here! Long walks listening to the wind, sitting on the porch drinking my hot coffee & contemplating life in such a peaceful head space. Freakin' amazing!
  
• Lazy days, where I don't have to clean or run or stress about much of anything. I have very, very few days like this & when I do I feel amazing!
  
• Being Mommy. Actually I love this. My kids give me a thousand reasons to be a better version of myself everyday. They make me laugh and think of how much love I can hold for two tiny little people. Simply amazing.
  
• Laughing. It's the most amazing thing ever! It lights up the soul & disregards any realities that can burden a person. Laughing makes the heart smile. I love to laugh for long periods of time, when tears are coming out of my eyes and I can barely breathe!
• My shows, ALL OF THEM (Big Brother, Army Wives, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Life UnExpected, Drop Dead Diva, Huge) I don't always get to watch them when they air, but I eventually catch up on them online when I can. They let me slip away from reality into worlds not typical in average life.
  
• COFFEE!! Oh.my.lord. I am a huge coffee addict. Even with my lifestyle change, this is something that will not budge in the slightest bit. My day is thrown off when I don't have a cup of coffee at least once throughout the day. Mmmm!!
  
• Getting Mail. Not in the bills sense of mail, but cards, or letters. Even when I purchase something online I get so excited anticipating it's arrival. When friends surprise me with letters or cards especially when I'm not even expecting it, I get so happy! I know this may sound a bit odd but in a day where email has taken over and technology (cells, texts, emails, IM's) has taken over it's not very often I receive mail.
• Texting. duh! My cell phone is like my lover, I never go anywhere without it, I use it to talk to anyone & everyone. It keeps me connected lol

3) Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

1. Whitney @ Slimming Down for the Gown
2. Alexia @ My Wicked, Wicked Ways
3. Crys @ Bigger Than My Body
4. Kristen @ Kreating Kristen
5. Sabrina @ Life Is Not Always Black & White
6. Syl @ LIVE, SMILE, RUN
7. Pam @ Plump Nonfiction
8. Gilly @ something something something, Fat Chick
9. Jessica @ Rotund Revolution
10. Carolyn & Gina @ Two Fat Girls on a Mission
    

I adore you guys & your blogs! All of the blogs I read give me motivation♥
Keep up with the blogging!!

~erica♥

Day 50*; Homework & Working out

I woke up this morning & decided, logging & change is needed at least in the food tracking department. So this is my declaration to logging calories AND taking pictures of my food! I'll be posting pictures of my meals yet again, this time, I don't have a time frame, it will be until I feel like I am tracking down my calories with ease. So I will be posting almost everyday again to post my pictures & update all you lovely people! :D

I was doing my homework last night, when I realized I really dislike school sometimes. But I do my homework because it's the road the bigger picture. I hate doing it, but I like to learn and I really can't wait until someday when I'm finished I'll have my degree & look back at all the hard work I've done to reach that point. My weight loss journey is like that! It's hard, I have to work hard at it, keep pushing myself but in the end it will be worth it! So I'm going to start trying to think of my weight loss journey when I'm working on homework & realize that I need to do what I need to do to get the things I want in my life!!!

Be back to update ya'll on my meals later tonight (: Have a wonderful day!! Life is truly an amazing gift!

~erica♥

QUESTIONS GAME

Woohoo time for some fun on the blogger front!
This is the tag game! Katie @ Getting My Freaking Awesome Body tagged me♥
I'll answer my questions, & then tag some of you too do it too!!

My Answers:
#1. What is your favorite color?
Purple! I adore this color, I feel like it’s the color of my soul

#2. What is your favorite thing about bloggin?
Being able to open up to myself & reach out to others at the same time. It’s like having a life audience!

#3. What is the single best moment of your life thus far?
Every single second of being a mother, is the single best moment of my life, each milestone and day I get to spend with my kids is the best.

#4. What would you buy first if you won a million dollars?
A CAR! Omg I need one badly lmao & then of course a house for me & my kids

#5. Where would you live if you could live anywhere?
Hmm, I would want to live in Puerto Rico, It’s part of my heritage as well as a beautiful place to be.

#6. What is your dream job?
Currently, My dream job is to become a General Manager of a hotel & someday run my own Inn

#7. Dogs or Cats?
Both! I love them both in different ways haha

#8. Do you like cheese? (just to be silly)
Loveeeeeeeeee cheese! Yum!

These are the people I choose♥
Meg @ Status MIA
Monica @ Confessions of A + Sized Girl
Crys @ Bigger Than My Body
Screaming Fat Girl
Weightless
Lyndsay @ Thinspiration

Their Questions♥

1. What song would be the theme song, to the soundtrack of your life?
2. What is something you do, that most people would find odd?
3. What's your favorite genre of movies?
4. If you had to move to another country, which country would you move to?
5. Favorite food for breakfast?
6. Favorite season & why?
7. One thing you got for Christmas as a kid that was important to you?
8. What would your dream vacation consist of?

GO, GO, GO!! :P Have fun ladies

~erica♥

Day 46*; cake cake cake..

I just ate, a huge piece of cake & before that? An ice cream sandwich. Now.. I'm sitting here feeling defeated. I want this so bad! This lifestyle change, this new healthier me. I want to enjoy working out & be able to get up and do it like it's second nature. I read some blogs of people who are working out everyday and loving it! When will that be me? I want to not fiend for the junk, the chocolate, the chips, the sugary, goey, calorie infested yumminess. I'm not doing ANY better on tracking my calories. I really think a large part of this is because we haven't been grocery shopping & wont until next week, so I pretty much eat whatever I can damn the calories involved. I know that saying "I'll start tomorrow" Is a horrible rut to get into, But I need to reevaluate my head. I need to refocus and realize my goals. When I go grocery shopping I'm getting tons of healthy things, I will be sure when I pick an item up & check and see if there is a healthier option, for instance did you know that eggo waffles are now made in whole grain?!!? SAY WHAT? Lol yea me either till this week.

I want so bad to be able to blog all good all the time, and for a while there I did. I seemed to be on top of everything! I was doing so well, so positive, enjoyed working out staying under calories. What.the.hell.happened? I can't even TELL you. I was doing so great and then the next day & for 2 weeks.. I wasn't. It pisses me off.

I did workout yesterday, for like 10 minutes.. I have this desire to sweat my ass off (literally if possible PLEASE) and get that sore ache in my muscles but i don't have the actual ambition to get it. I really wish I knew what was wrong with me lately.

I feel like I'm just whining and complaining, and not doing shit about.. well lets be honest. I am. But i WANT to do things about it, I just DONT. I make no effing sense. I am going to start blogging daily again, I seem to fall more & more off track when I'm not holding myself accountable for the day I've had. I am trying to keep my head up and weather the storm. This will pass, I will get past this & be back on my way to losing the weight soon enough. I can do this.

~erica♥

Day 43*; An early morning post!

I know that weigh day isn't until Monday, but I've started weighing myself almost every morning just to figure out where I stand on the scale. Now, I know that the number on the scale isn't the only thing that matters but I've been feeling like shit to boot. So it's not just the number. Last Monday I was at 307lbs, during the week at one point I had been down to 305lbs I figured I wouldn't lost anymore than that cuz to be honest I haven't been working for it, but today I weighed in and I'm back to 307lbs. Let me tell you what a disappointment I'm feeling. I know that I am the only one to blame and there is sincerely no excuse for not working out or tracking my calories other than I've used every excuse I thought would justify it. It's still early in the day, I'm going to break out my food journal and track my calories today. I have a busy day ahead of a me and I'm not sure I'll be able to fit in a workout but I think I'm determined for it. I miss the pumped up feeling of working out & the overall self satisfaction when I know I'm working on things. I have about 8lbs to go before I'm out of the 300's and I'm not giving up now, 13lbs to go to goal and I've already lost more than that amount since I've started so I know I can do it!!

I'm going grocery shopping sometime this week, I like to get the 100 calories packs, the Healthy Choice fresh mixers, Kelloggs cereal and special K bars, as well as egg whites & fruits and such. What I want from you guys is things you like to get at the grocery store that are healthy for you, low in calories and help you stay on track, so if you can, comment or email me some foods I can try out or even recipes for dinner that are yummy & good for me?!

On a better note, I put on a pair of jean capri's yesterday that I haven't worn... well, ever! They aren't my goal jeans, those are still not working with me lol, and I don't remember how tight these capri's used to be but putting them on yesterday & wearing them all day I know I haven't worn them before I felt amazing in them! Off track or not, the work I've done thus far is already showing in my eyes. It just gets me more motivated to get out of this funk I've been in!

~erica♥

Day 40*; My lovlies!!!

How I missed you so!♥♥♥ Omg, this week has been insane! Besides being busy busy busy, I broke my laptop charger & was without a computer for 2 days! I thought i was gonna lose my damn mind lmao. Anyways, I have been horrible. I think it's been a week or more since I've worked out, when my charger cord broke I stopped tracking calories, I stopped being accountable. I actually could have written a blog entry last night, but I was too busy wallowing in self pity over how bad I've been doing. Pathetic? I think so. I almost skipped blogging again tonight for the same reason, but then I realized how much I miss it, how good it is for me & how the people who read my blog might be disappointed. This blog was created to keep me accountable with myself, so not wanting to blog because of messing up? That's a sure fire way to get myself back up in weight and off the journey, which is the farthest thing from what I want. So here I am again, saying tomorrow will be better and making myself accountable again. (side note, I just realized it's only been 3 days since I blogged, & i felt like it's been weeks haha, see how much blogging has come into my daily routine?!)

I feel like I'm saying that shit every other week. "been off track, getting back on" It makes me feel like a failure until I realize that, even though it annoys me to get off track so often, I'm still doing enough getting back ON track to lose the weight. And maybe overtime it wont be so ridiculous that every other week I'm falling off. I have the weekend yet before weigh day, my goal is going to be to try & workout everyday until weigh day! plus stay on caloric track ( :

~erica♥

Day 37*; Weigh Day!

I really don't know why, but I feel so chipper right now! haha. I feel like my soul is smiling. It's amazing what one day can do! I got my food journal & started using it today! I wanted to wait until weigh day to use it, I went wayyyyyyy to under my caloric intake today & i sighed about it for a second & then said "damnit. I will do better tomorrow♥" I also didn't get to work out, but again tomorrow is a new day!!

As for weigh day.. I am proud to announce that I LOST 4LBS!!! How insane right? I barely worked out this week & complained just about everyday that I wasn't tracking my calories & wasn't too sure how I was eating either. But I did it! 4lbs down, now at 307 lbs. ONLY 7 MORE LBS TO GO BEFORE I'M OUT OF THE 300's omg! How freakin' exciting! ( :

My mini goal this week is to get myself up to 8 cups of water a day, I tried today & didn't succeed yet, I got to 7 but I might just be able to achieve that goal ;) The food journal I got has an area to mark how many cups of water you drink per day! I thought that was amazing. I wanna get my water intake back up & stick to it. Whenever I'm getting the recommended amount of water I have more energy & feel 100x better! I think I'm gonna go a week without logging it & just use my food journal & see what happens. If that doesn't help me achieve it then I will make it a bloggers goal, & add a side box about it.

~erica♥

Day 36*; Gonna make your head spin..

WARNING!:

This is going to be a long one, I have a few days to catch up on. You might wanna read a little of this & come back for the rest later. I know sometimes I can't focus on the really long posts so i bypass them, depending on the writing style of the blogger lmao. So if you don't read it all it's ok :P

FAT STEREOTYPING

So I was searching the net the other day, I really don't even remember what for, but I came across some posts on some site (damn my memory) talking about fat people. Someone on the forum had said something along the lines of fat people are fat, because they're slamming down 3 cheeseburgers at once & still not full. At first when I read it, I laughed & thought, what a moron, seriously. Then I thought about it and realized he's probably not the only person who feels that way. Then my mind started working even more. I'm big because I've let myself be unhealthy, I've binged on things, I've been in love with chocolate & junk food. Soda was my best friend at one point or another. But never, have I ever eaten 3 cheese burgers at once, let alone on a regular basis. Not to say some haven't, or to offend anyone. I know there are some bigger people who have eaten like that. My issue with the post was that, there are thin people who do that too? There are thin people who are slamming down food all day long, sodas, junk, alcohol.. Being thin doesn't make you healthy. And being fat doesn't make you a binge eater. Some people are big simply because they were eating the wrong things, not having binges? Ugh, I don't know why it had my mind working so hard, I was frustrated. I didn't know the guy & obviously it wasn't really even important enough to remember the site but the truth of the matter is, some people are so stereotypical that when they look at me, being a larger girl. They probably do think that I've just eaten a whole box of tastycakes, and am heading to the local mom&pop shop for a whole pizza to eat all to myself. I just wish people as a whole were more understanding, caring & kind Instead of stereotypical, rude & offensive. The sad truth is also that, even while being on this journey.. obviously I'm not going to lose the weight all at once. So I'm still big, & will be for months to come until I've dropped excessive lbs. People like that are still going to look at me & feel as though I binge regularly on unhealthy foods and basically am a fat slob. When in actuality, I'm working hard(most days..) to get healthier and look healthier. I know their opinions don't matter, I'm just stating the facts to myself so I don't continue to dwell on them.

FOOD JOURNAL

It came today!! Yay! I wasn't home all day, so when I got back tonight, I checked the mail hoping for something for me. For 1, I knew I had an order coming & For 2, I'm huge on getting MAIL mail, I love letters, cards, anything! Which I rarely get, but i still check the mailbox religiously in hopes that there's a surprise for me! lol Anyways, we got home & there was a box in there! I started jumping around and smiling. I expected it to be one of the other books I ordered along with my food journal cuz for some reason they all shipped separately. But it was it!! It honestly came at the perfect time. I had another crap eating day, which I'll explain more about later. Lol So tomorrow I'm planning on starting back up with my calories! I feel like it's Christmas? I already wrote my name in it all pretty like, and I plan on reading through the front excerpts just to do it. Hopefully this can get me motivated again. I hate the word ''again" in this case.

EXERCISE

If you keep up with me, you probably know that I mentioned last week that I was thinking video workouts were probably going to be my thing. Then, the other day I started feeling like I don't know if that's enough? Should I still be going to a gym? Or join classes for something? I guess as long as I'm still losing it's not a problem, and until I notice that I'm not losing anymore then I can just keep going with it, but I'd really like advice or thoughts on this. I don't want to just do video workouts if they aren't giving me some vital part of the exercise experience I should be getting. My problem is, I don't have the money for a fancy gym, & I have 2 kids whom, without child care I always have. I'm surely not going to pay someone to babysit while I workout which is why home videos are pretty bad ass for me. Either way they're fun and work for now.

TODAY

Today, I spent the day at an amusement park with my mom, sister, my kids, my nieces & nephews & my cousin. Let's just say I had McDonald's for breakfast, a few bites of pizza & chicken tenders for dinner, soda, ice cream, & probably other bad shit that I shouldn't have. Just today alone. & the last few days have been pretty off in the eating department.. ugh i make myself sick just thinking about how thrown off I've been. I hope I still show some kind of loss on Monday, but I wouldn't bet on it. I did get the walking in since we were walking around all day, but I'm pretty sure the ice cream sundae I had before we left, filled up the calories I might have worked off by walking.

Yes. I said an amusement park. Within 5 minutes of walking into the place, I started to get anxious. Here I was in a place that I myself, personally could not physically enjoy. I'm fat. Fear hit me first, because I hate having to state the obvious to my mom when she asks why I'm not riding anything " Hello mother, This is your daughter. I'm a fat ass. Thanks for listening" Not quite like that lmao, but ugh, I wish she would understand my anxiety. On top of the fear, of having to respond to the inevitable ignorance of my large size, I felt sad. I was in a place that my kids could have a wonderful time, but would still feel as though something was off because I wasn't riding anything with them. Every time they needed an adult to go on with them, I would look to my mother or my sister with a look of "Please, just offer to take them so I don't have to ask.." Eventually, my mom forced me to go on a ride. It was the Flume ride. Basically, we sit on/in a log type thing an go over water. I wanted to be like no no no, not happening. But I figured it was worth a try. I have never had a "you are too fat to ride this ride" experience & for some reason, I felt like fuck it, if I have one, I can feel sorry for myself for about a day & then kick my ass into gear. So we're waiting in line & I'm standing there STARING at all these people, searching for the big ones & comparing my size to theirs. "Oh, that guy looks pretty big, I think he might even be bigger than me. If he's gonna ride this ride, then i can too." "That woman is definitely bigger than i am.. she's riding, I'm safe!" I feel so disgusting even talking about it, but it's not like I'm judging other people on their size (I would never!) I'm just comparing and contrasting. So then it's our turn to get on the loggy thing, It's me, my mom, my 2 kids & my little cousin all on one (they seat 5) I get in the very back and as soon as I sit down, I feel the whole ass end of this ride (which is sitting in water on a belt of some kind under the water) sink down & start creaking. I'm feeling embarrassed & looking around expecting someone to ask me to get out because It can't go with me in it. I'm already verging tears before anythings even happened....

And you know what? They didn't. I rode on the ride, had a blast, felt amazing & realized ALL of that stress for what? In my head, I had made such a scenario out of riding a ride, and it turned out to be no big deal. Well, a big deal to me hell yea, in the good sense It's been so long since I've ridden on anything, carnivals, amusement parks. I always "just say no" to the rides. I rode on one other one after that, and had the same entire scenario play out just to result in the same conclusion, but I didn't want to push my luck.

I haven't lost THAT much weight, but I've already accomplished something I was hoping to do when I did lose & that's to ride on rides. I think that my confidence has already boosted a tremendous amount simply by KNOWING that I'm working on it. I'm working on my weight, and my health. Other people may not be able to see it, or recognize it, but i know it. And that alone simply makes me feel better about myself. I'm doing something about it! I've made the realization that I need change in my life & my health, I know I'm fat it's no secret or something I knowingly hide from. I confront it everyday & battle it down. I am a warrior! It's a totally amazing feeling.

RANDOM BITS

I mentioned fat stereotyping earlier and I guess I do it too. But I think I do it more so just because of what society tells me. Anyways. While at the amusement park today I got on this train ride thing, like a trolly on tracks. Right behind me in line was this bigger girl, probably about my size.. and a guy, thin, good looking, and completely outgoing. When we got on the train they sat in front of us & he talked to me & was yelling hi at people in the park as the train passed. Made me smile a lot, I love outgoing people when they aren't being rude. When they are simply just outgoing! Anyways, I don't know why (yes i do) but I assumed they were just friends. We got on the train & he started calling her babe a lot & put his arm around her, I realized then that they were a couple! I feel shitty admitting it, but I have this ginormous fear and feeling that I could never get a guy that is up to my standards as far as good looking (to me, we all have our own tastes ;) ) outgoing, funny, smart, amazing, and thin (not so much thin, cuz I actually LIKE my men to be a bit on the bigger side but you get what I'm saying?) I guess I just assumed that guys like that don't dig girls like ME and when i say girls like ME I'm purely talking about size here. As if there aren't a million things about me besides my weight. I make myself sick, but this is how I think sometimes. It was like having an epiphany when i realized that, good men.. like the ones who are even WORTH my time, don't judge a girl on her pants size, they judge a girl by her heart, by who she IS. They don't care if their friends or family will say shitty things about her size, and if they do he would put his foot down TO THEM. I guess that's another concern of mine, even if a guy likes me for me and not my size, he would still run the other way because his friends and family would laugh at him for dating a big girl. I swear to you, My mind is a big jacked up mess sometimes. I literally wanted to ask them both for phone numbers to keep in touch because they really impacted my life in a way they can't understand. But i figured that might be a bit weird lmao.

Side Note: I really hope I didn't offend anyone in talking about the way my mind works, but It's my blog & I need to be honest with myself in order to heal my emotional wounds.

So basically, These last few days have been shit with eating & working out, but amazing in new realizations and healthy thoughts about my journey. So I wont dwell on the bad, but rejoice in the good! & If you read this far WOW, you're a freakin' trooper! Lmao but thank you so much♥

~erica♥

Day 35*; Just a quick drive by...

I've been feeling really down the last two days, I'm really not sure why. But tomorrow I will update. There are a few things I'd like to mention & chat about (isn't there always? lol) I haven't been working out nor counting calories the last few days. I'm still making healthy choices for the most part, drinking water, but i just feel eh. I'm going to start setting up weekly small goals, drink at least such amount of water, or eat such amount of fruits and veggies, workout at least this much per week, something, I'll make little sidebar areas for each one as I do them. I always seem to be so focused on this journey then it fizzes out until i get a new mini goal, or something else lights a fire under my ass. It's only been a few days, but I really don't want it to turn into 2 weeks like it did the last time. I ordered my calorie journal so I'm excitedly waiting for that to arrive (:

~erica♥

Day 33*; Measurements & Music

I hate to say it, but today was a horrible day with eating. Not in the sense that i binged or ate horribly everything in sight, but in the sense that I had a cup of coffee & a yogurt for breakfast and then ate nothing till dinner. I felt very thrown off for not eating a bigger breakfast, not eating lunch and not having any snacks throughout the day. I'm afraid that tomorrow I'll be tempted to just eat, eat & eat all day long to make up for today. I will go into tomorrow aware of the bad day I had today, but knowing that it doesn't excuse unhealthy eating for tomorrow as a counterpart. Hopefully that will work for me. I really can't wait to get my DietMinder Personal food and fitness journal as soon as i have the money. I really think having a journal that I can carry around with me all the time & fill out and look through will help me stay focused more on eating. I tried sites to track my calories, but I'm just not online enough & when I do get on I tend to forget to track them.

On a better note, i forgot to mention that i got my "one bite at a time, one decision at a time" bracelet the other day! I haven't taken it off since! I ordered it from Jen, apriorfatgirl's site! I absolutely love it, and it is an amazing reminder when contemplating making negative choices in eating.. what I'm working towards. I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out right, if you'd like to see what it looks like click this link --} ONE BITE, ONE DECISION {-- You can also use that link if you would like to purchase one for yourself! $4.50 each♥

MEASUREMENTS

Today was monthly measurements! I was so excited about this that I almost did it last night instead. I was actually almost positive that i hadn't lost much. I feel better, I have more energy, but I can't say that I've noticed my clothes fitting looser. I see the number on the scale dropping slowly, but I know that, that doesn't always mean a loss of inches. Well here is the results!

Last Month:
Bust: 49.5"
Chest: 44.25"
Waist: 46.5"
Hips: 56.75"
Thighs: L-33.25" R-33.25"
Calves: L-19" R-19.5"
Upper Arm: L-18.5" R-19.25"
Lower Arm: L-13.25" R-13"

This Month:
Bust: 49.5"
Chest: 44"
Waist: 46"
Hips: 56.25"
Thighs: L- 27.75" R- 27.75"
Calves: L- 19.5" R- 19.25"
Upper Arm: L- 18.5" R- 18.25"
Lower Arm: L- 12" R- 11.5"
Booty: 53.75"

Bust: no inches lost
Chest: .25" lost
Wasit: .5" lost
Hips: .5" lost
Thighs: 5.5" lost on each thigh!!
Calves: I either measured wrong, or grew .5" on my left calf.. But .25" lost on my right calf
Upper Arm: 1" lost on my right arm
Lower Arm: 1.25" lost on my left, 1.5" lost on my right

FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF 16.25" LOST TOTAL IN A MONTH!!!!

WOW! How freakin' awesome is that?!?!?!?! When I compared the numbers, I was blown away! I kept thinking to myself " no way, I had to have done it wrong last month, maybe the numbers were off?" Why is it so easy to doubt myself when something is going good for me? Finally, i figured the hell if they were off or not. These are my measurements & I'm going to celebrate this victory! Just, wow.

INTERESTING FIND..

I didn't workout today, ugh. I wish I would have but, I decided to go through the exercise shows that are on demand & see if I liked any. I came across this one called, cardioke. It's done by Billy Blanks Jr. (remember tae bo? that was Billy Blanks Sr.) He does this show. It looked interesting so i played it, the entire thing & DIDN'T WORK OUT TO IT ONCE. I hate to say that, I played an entire 25 minute workout video, whilst laying on my couch.. -sigh-
Anyways.. It was really interesting, the dancing looked really fun. Stuff I could definitely get into and at the end of the show, during the cool down, he talked about a song his wife had written & someone performed on the show while they cooled down. I was so sentimental, tears in my eyes listening to it, so of course I had to search for it. Here are the lyrics...

Start from where you are
Take a deep breath in
Take a brave look in the mirror
At the soul inside your skin
So hard on yourself
Perfections overrated
Life's so complicated
Simply stated

It's gonna be alright (repeated 8X)

Every flaw is magnified
Underneath your hardened eyes
You pick yourself apart
And cut you down to size
It's just standard operation
For your self-humiliation
It's become so much your normal
That you don't realize

(chorus)
You are enough
You are enough
You are exactly where you need to be
Right now it's tough
But all that you need to get through
Is already in you
You are enough

-music break-

There's so much pain
All around you
From the nerdy plain Jane
To the pretty girl, too
You just never know
So you think that you're alone
That no one can relate to you
And you're the only one

It's gonna be alright (8X)

Don't like your job
Don't like your life
You're fighting with your husband
You're fighting with your wife
No one understands you
They've never been your age
It's funny each new generation
Has had the same old rage

(Chorus)

There's never been a you before
So how can someone
Tell you how to be?
I wish that I could
Take away your doubt
And set you free
Start from where you are
Take it in stride
Call it all good
Call it a win
Reach from inside . . .

(Chorus x2)

This ain't no self-help book
No quick fix for your broken heart
No life coach preachin' to ya
Saying "I'm OK, you're OK"
I'm just a mess of imperfection
Turning love to your direction
When I'm reminding you
I remind myself, too

I AM ENOUGH

♥
& you can listen to it here if you don't mind the "cooling down" going on aside from that..

I tried on my goal pants yesterday, They still don't fit & I didn't even try to button them, because as I explained I can't BREATHE if i do.. can't wait till I can button them without dying, I really love those jeans! Tomorrow is therapy, not sure if I'm excited or nervous, maybe slightly both.

~erica♥

Day 32*; The titleless day.

Today I met my kids teachers. Kindergarten & 1st grade. I tried to dress really nice, I wanted to feel nice. But of course, no matter how dolled up I get. I still feel like all anyone sees is the fat. It wouldn't matter if i walked in there hair nice, make up, dressed to impress, or if i had a nappy pony tail and sweats on.. all they are going to notice about me is my fat. I know that this is probably all in my head. I know that this is my outlook on it. Do i do this? No, I look at bigger girls and compare myself to them. Am i as big as they are? bigger? Do they carry themselves well? I feel like no matter how nice i look, I'm still looking sloppy because I'm fat. Some bigger girls know how to wear the right clothes, have the right attitude & yea they're big but they still look amazing!! I could never be like that, I've tried, I've failed. I put such a big emphasis on my fat. When i get ready to go anywhere and i actually wanna look nice?, I'll ask my mom if what I'm wearing makes me look huge. I already know I'm big, but does it make me look bigger? Does it exaggerate my fat?.If I'm anywhere in public, I'm uncomfortable. If I'm not kickin it in my house in my big baggy sweats and a t-shirt. I'm uncomfortable. ugh, anyways I met the teachers who are of course both very thin ladies. Damn weight. Damn all 160lbs over it that i am.

Anywho..
I made my smoothie this morning (: I didn't count calories today, but it was delish. So happy we have a blender now! LOL the kids each had some and so did my mom. They all loved them.

I worked out today, for 45 minutes with some show on FitTV, my new favorite channel. My daughter loves to do the aerobics workouts with me, it's fun and cute for us. Anyways 45 minutes! Score. We also started doing a show that was belly dancing. Wow. That shit is tougher than it looks. All the separate body movements, squeezing in your ab muscles on top then on bottom. I'm thinking to myself.. I can't even SEE any ab muscles, I don't even know if i have any.. let alone enough to have top ones and bottom ones & you want me to do WHAT?! needless to say, I will keep working on it. I like the style and would love to be able to move my body like that :D

I feel like it's a slow and steady process, but I'm already feeling more active. I actually have the WANT to workout. As where a few weeks ago, I just couldn't get motivated enough. Now I sit and think, when can i fit a workout in. Maybe i can workout now. If a day goes by and I don't have any workout time, I think of how i can definitely get it in the next day. I don't know when or how that happened, but I'm so freakin' happy that it has! I love feeling the burn in my body, I love the feeling after i workout, I love sweating! WHO KNEW?! This journey is bringing so many things into my life. I'm so glad that I made this choice.

UPDATE EDIT♥;;
I just received the most amazing email, I just had to tell you guys about right away. I know this journey is mine, and it is about doing what's best for me and reaching my goals. But this email just gave me all the more reason to keep pushing on. An amazing woman, took the time out of her day to message me and tell me how much she appreciates my blog and how helpful my blog is for her!!!! It brought tears to my eyes. Knowing that my struggles, my writing, my feelings can help other people too?? WOW. I can't even describe the feeling I got while reading her touching message. When I have a rough day, when I feel like this is just too hard, I'll surely go back and read that message. THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME MORE MOTIVATION! I really appreciate it. :D

~erica♥

Day 31*; So much to talk about!

Yesterday

Lately I have been running around so much, and trying to accomplish so much I feel rundown. The kids are starting school in a little over a week, which means going to the school to meet the teachers, going for orientations and open houses', getting school stuff ready.. I had finals this week for my classes & start my next classes next week as well. The kids are now in soccer so we have practices throughout the week. And when I'm not running around I'm trying to get my house in order & wrangle my little devils. Not sure if I've shared before, but i have a 5 year old and a 6 year old and let me say.. they keep me on my toes, IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT! Lol. They also have a sperm donor for a father who hasn't contacted them in 2 1/2 months. Anyways. Yesterday we did a lot of running around. We ended up going to friendly's for dinner. So of course I had to have some icre cream! Well, I learned my lesson. I enjoyed what i could of the brownie/ice cream desert and savored every bite as i knew it wasn't something that should even be in my diet. Then, I came home & felt like SHIT! My stomach hurt so much... I used to be able to down something like that completely by myself, finish it off & be carefree but since I have cut out so much junk & limit myself to 100 calorie packs of sweets I really wasn't prepared for a desert like that. As much as I do miss being able to indulge in things, I know it's for the best that my body doesn't agree with them. It actually made me feel good? Getting sick like that, because i realized how well i have been doing. I slip up from time to time with a fast food burger, but other than that I have been staying off the junk foods. I think I will start keeping a bag or two of the 100 calorie snacks in my purse (which happens to be almost the size of Texas lol) that way, if i find myself in a situation like that again I can just remind myself that I have a snack to munch on after we leave the restaurant and no desert is necessary. Although, I did order a tall glass of water as oposed to soda and drank that all throughout the meal. Small victories are definitely my thing!

Weigh Day!!!

Today was weigh day! Considering the last two weeks I was off with my eating and barely working out at all, I have only lost 3lbs, but I'm still proud of that since i do know what i've done lol. I am at 311lbs now! When i bought the scale the other day, I was 311.8 So even in a matter of a few days I lost .8lbs which is awesome. This week I'm hoping for more of a loss I want to work out as often as possible and be sure to eat under my calories. I'm actually really proud of myself though, for not getting too hard on myself when i screw up. Normally I'm a perfectionalist and screwing up is not an option. In the past with weight loss as soon as i would mess up, I was done. I gave up. It seemed better to me, to quit then to keep failing. But now, I don't look at it as failure, I look at it as a lesson learned and keep pushing forward. In only a month since my journey began I have learned so much about myself and started to heal so many emotional wounds that I've held onto for a long time!

Lying to be perfect

I absolutely love women empowerment type of movies! If you haven't seen Lifetimes movie Lying to be perfect, you should. The movie is basically about a group of friends who decide on a "Cinderella pact" which is what they call their weight loss pact. They decide they are going to help each other out, to lose the weight they each have their own goals and they work together to achieve them. It centers around the main character who as an alter ego column writer who responds to women who are having weight and self issues. The only things I didn't like about this movie were that they didn't focus AS MUCH as i would have liked on the actual working out & eating right aspect of losing weight, is was more like they just did it, but we didn't see it. And I also didn't like that they made it seem as though you can lose that much weight in a matter of 4 months with no problems. Other than that, I adored it. I might even watch it again soon. Do you guys have any movies about weight loss or self inspiration at all that you like? I would love to find more to watch!

Odds & Ends

Tonight, for dinner we went to Wendy's. I KNOW! ugh. But, I made good choices! Which means I deserve an "awesome" sticker for myself. We pulled up, normally i get a big greasy burger, fries & a milkshake. (If you haven't noticed, I love burgers to an extreme!) Instead I got a blt cobb salad, it had grilled chicken and bacon on it, but I'm sure still better than a burger(I haven't looked up the calories of it yet) and then my mom asked me what I wanted to drink. This was hard, I wanted so badly to say A CHOCOLATE SHAKE, DUH?! But I had a large bottle of water already with me and i knew that would be my best option. So i told my mom that i didn't need a drink & would just finish off my water with diner. & that's exactly what i did! SCORE! Again for the small victories!

As we all know, I got a pedometer the other day. Yesterday I wanted so badly to track my steps but apparently it FELL OFF before i left the house & didn't have it all day. So today, I started off wearing it & the day went pretty well. By about 5pm or so I had taken 1,300 steps.. AND THEY WANT ME TO TAKE 10,000 A DAY?! nuts. Anyways.. I ended up losing it :| I'm not sure if it's lost in the car, the house or somewhere in public, but it is definitely m.i.a. Which sucks all on it's own because i was so excited about finally having one. But what sucks more? Is that it made me feel fat as hell. I'm SO fat in fact that I couldn't even keep a pedometer clipped to my jeans. Blah. I had a moment of doubt and tears welled up when i realized it was no longer attached. I felt disgusted with myself & thought about how if I were thinner, more athletic or healthier at all it wouldn't have gone missing. This may be a hugely far fetched thought, but it's all i could come up with. I really hope i find it.

The other day, we got a blender! I haven't mentioned before, my strong need to make strawberry/banana smoothies! I just filled 4 ice trays and put them in the freezer tonight, tomorrow I intend on looking for some recipes for them. I've never made a smoothie but am so looking forward to being able to now. I'm not sure if they're really the healthiest, but I can probably find healthier ways to make them, since I'm the chef of this operation! lol

I didn't workout the last two days. I've been so busy running around and stressing about everything. But i did realize, that we have a channel called FitTv..I watched it for a little bit today and realized how badly I want to be able to work out first thing in the morning. I'm starting to think of a way to get up a little earlier than my kids do and head out on the treadmill or go for a walk before they wake up. I think it would be a perfect way to start my days especially since I love the feeling i get after working out.

To any of my readers who have gotten this far, You are truly amazing! I did not intend on having such a long blog, but sometimes it just happens that way! & On a side note, I still get flutterbyes whenever I get comments! :D so keep leaving them, I really am thankful! ♥


~erica♥

Day 29* A short update of my day

Honestly, I probably didn't eat over my calorie intake. & I did take pictures of everything i ate.. But A) I'm just too tired atm to upload them and B) i ate another burger today. It wasn't from mcdonalds but it was something i ordered from our local mom&pop shop. But i didn't beat myself up about it, I enjoyed it lmao! I also did another 10 mins. on the Jillian Miachaels 30 day shred. This time it seemed a little bit easier than the time before but i still burnt out at around the same place. Either way tho I'm proud of myself. Tomorrow will be a kind of busy day for me, but i have my pedometer now! So I'll be wearing that all day. I'm kind of excited about it. I'm also going to try and get in a walk tomorrow night after i get my kids to sleep. The packaging for my pedometer says i should be taking about 10,000 steps a day, that sounds like an awful lot haha.

~erica♥

Day 28*; Rawr! ♥

Remember yesterday, when I said how I had therapy today? And I also said how, I didn't think we would talk much about my weight loss journey because I didn't feel the need to? Yea.... well apparently SHE did. About half way through my session, she brings up this "lifestyle change" (yea she calls it that too, since that's how i told her about it!) that I'm doing and how it's part of an all new me and how i view things. Then she asks me how I feel about my weight now, as far as being out in society and as I'm sitting there trying so hard to not get emotional about it I kind of laugh under my breath as I try to get out the words "I hate it. I hate being out anywhere -this is where the tears start helplessly falling & my words start to get distorted- I feel like everyone is always looking at me disgusted" That's it. I'm a blubbering mess and as she sits there, feeling sorry for me it only makes me feel worse. I have never, NEVER had to sit face to face with someone and talk to them about how I feel about my weight. Even when I told her about my lifestyle change, I was so nervous and scared and that even went better than this one moment, with this one question did. She starts to ask me if i feel like i can lose the weight and in that moment, I realize that, I REALLY, really do feel like I can. So at the end of that session with her we decided that my lifestyle change will now be something i inform her of on a weekly basis. She wants me to start writing journal entry's for her just about my personal stuff because she feels as though i don't open up enough, she also wants me to write at the bottom of that another entry based around my lifestyle change, what I'm eating, how much I'm exercising. She thinks my weight is also a direct result of the other emotional and mental issues I have going on. I'm actually pretty stoked that she got herself as interested as she did, when I obviously wasn't the one who was going to bring it up with her often.

I went shopping today! I got a new scale and YES of course I weighed myself RIGHT AWAY, but I'm going to wait until Monday, Official Weigh day to post it & change my stats. Although I'm not really sure if I like the scale much.. It seems kinda small which makes me feel even fatter than I am :/ But we will see how it works lol. I also got the body measuring tape! So on the 18th I can be all ready to take new measurements and see if any have changed. I'm not really too sure that they will change but I don't think I'm really worried about it. I also think that I will be joining M @ TheSkinnyOnCarbs with her clothing challenge, since I have already picked out my jeans to challenge myself into. I'm going to go with her date as the date to work to fit into them comfortably!!! The date is SEPTEMBER 10th! That is exactly 4 weeks from today! I can so do this as long as i stick to my plans & working out! :D I'm starting to think that setting small goals & challenges may just be the best way for me to lose weight without rushing it TOO much. Small victories excite me just as much as any large one would. So in order to keep progressing I want to make sure I always have several small goals in order.

Today's Meals!

Breakfast: A half cup of egg whites, activia strawberry banana, Kellogg's special k bar strawberry and 8 oz of orange juice w/ mango
Lunch: I really wasn't hungry, so i had 2 caramel corn rice cakes, cup of grapes and a Breyers yogurt!
Dinner: Ugh! Mcdonalds sandwich & it was absolutely thee worst 770 calories. It was a muchroom and swiss burger ACK! Idk what compelled me to get it. i scraped the mushrooms off & just ate the cheese meat and bun w/ a vitamin water.
Snack: 2 more rice cakes. I'm so in love with these things! lol & they're only 50 calories! wow♥

So today wasn't the healthiest but before I ended up with only using 1,520 calories today. My diet should be a 2000 calorie diet. But I guess some days it happens like this. I didn't workout today. Mainly because I'm still terribly sore from last nights shred! OMG! I did stretch out a lot today & it felt so good. Like, my muscles hurt from working out but it was definitely a really good hurt if that makes any sense lmao I'm really hoping I'm not as sore tomorrow so i can try the shred again ;) RAWR!

~erica♥

Day 27*; Missing my scale..

Today's meals :)
.....

Breakfast: Egg whites, 1 large egg, on whole grain white sandwich thins 1/ 1tbsp mayo & a slice of cheese. Activia & a coke (Idk why, but i was craving this soda in the am.. I figured since it was early in the day to indulge with it)
Lunch: Kellogg's Almond Vanilla cereal, 3/4 cup of 2% milk, Breyers yocrunch yogurt.
Snack: My lays chips from yesterday
Dinner: 2 morning star grillers, 2 slices of cheese, 1tbsp mayo on whole grain sandwich thins and a half cup of cucumbers.
Snack: 100 cal milk chocolate pretzels.

Total 1,881 calories for the day :)

I'm actually very surprised, I thought once I gave into temptation for the soda this morning that my day was gonna go downhill, but i salvaged the rest of the day even with a few snacks in the mix! Yum!

I am also very happy to say that I, in fact, DID workout today!! Although, I wish i would have done way better, i still tried & that's good enough for me! I attempted the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. The one on demand is supposed to be a 20min workout or so... I lasted 10 & even though i feel pathetic even admitting that, it's true. I am proud that i even attempted it, and the reason i stopped halfway through was because my chest felt on FIRE like i could barely breathe! I know that's because I'm out of shape. But if i keep doing it and trying and push myself harder each time, maybe I'll eventually be able to finish the whole thing! I always go into a workout with bigger expectations in my head than I'm actually capable of. I tried to push myself as hard as i could while doing the video but I got to a point where i felt too weak. After i stopped my legs were literally shaking! I went out to get the mail and then came upstairs and the whole time I was like "OMG! am i gonna make it?!" LOL but I do admit, the feeling i get after i workout is such an amazing one.. that alone should get me more motivated to do this shit. I can have a blah day all day long, feeling low and kind of sad but as soon as i workout (even for 10 min.) I'm like woooo! YEA! :D haha. I wish I was able to get myself motivated enough to workout in the morning sometime so that i might be able to maintain that feeling for most of the day. Tomorrow I have therapy. I don't think we'll talk much about my weight loss journey because even though it is VERY important to me, there isn't really anything I feel i need from her that i don't already get from the many people on here & the forums I use.

Btw;; I really can't wait to get my scale.. I know not having one isn't a HUGE deal and some people don't even weigh themselves but once a month or so, but i really just wanna know if i gained since my last weigh in since I got crazy or if I'm losing now or what ugh!

~erica♥

Day 26*; Meals & Money!

Today's meals..

Breakfast: 8oz Simply Orange, with mango.
Activia light (strawberry banana yum!)
Special K bar, vanilla crisp
The apple i actually couldn't eat. I'm not a huge breakfast eater anyways so the OJ, special k bar & yogurt filled me up. I'm trying to teach myself that I don't have to force myself to eat EVERYTHING just because it's there. So i had the apple as a mid morning snack! It was delish! Except it ended up making me feel sick for some reason :/ I also had a cup of coffee i didn't take a picture of this morning! :)

Lunch: Special K protien shake which smells funny but they really are good!
& my absolute FAV! Breyers 100 cal yogurt with cookie pieces ♥



Dinner: Subway!!! 12 in turkey sub on wheat, little mayo, turkey, cheese, pickles, lettuce, onions! mmm I ended up not eating the chips.. I just wasn't feeling them. Instead I had a cappuccino from a gas station after dinner. I ate this at my kids soccer practice because i had made something else for them for dinner at home before practice!

Before i had my snacking cup of cuppuccino from the gas station, i was at 1,600 calories. My daily intake is around 2,000 or so. I feel confident that i met that today. Woo! I still feel full from dinner and I'm drinking water to keep that feeling till bedtime. I'm really proud of myself.

There are a few purchases I'm thinking of making.. I figured I'd share them with ya'll. Opinions are always welcomed!


Since my scale broke, I looked on Amazon for a new one. I don't have much money so I wanted to find a good one that wouldn't break the bank. Since all i want one for is to weigh myself i looked at the basic ones. I found this one. It is KINTREX Precision bath scale. It's $25.00 which is a great price & It would get the job done as far as weekly weigh ins!





I've been looking for a pedometer for a little while now. I feel that having this tool would be highly beneficial to me because I will always want to do better. If i walk x amount of steps one day, I'll set a small goal the next day to make it so many more than the day before. Then come the end of the night if i check it and I'm so many steps off I will force myself to even if it's just walked around the house to reach those amount of steps. PLUS! This one counts calories burned as well! Which i thought was awesome. It's called the Omron Healthcare HJ-105 Digital Pedometer It's also a pretty color♥ & only about $13. I love shopping, especially if it's not too costly & will help me out in life or on my journey! I'm starting to feel a little more motivated again. I'm not really sure if it's because I made my new short term goal or if I'm looking into some special purchases but either way it's a good thing! I didn't work out at all today, which sucks & I probably wont tomorrow but we will see.

~erica♥