I'm Bringing Sexy Back

I’m getting back on the wagon today. January started off OK, then I was frustrated with how little the scale moved, then I stopped. Story of my weight loss journey (or lack thereof). But I still really want to make my weight loss goal before I head to the beach this summer, so I’m starting again.

This time I have a little help. My roommate and I started Weight Watchers today. It’s really great to be doing it with someone, and having a resource like Weight Watchers is really eye opening. I had what I would consider a really good diet day and I made exactly my daily points (29). So that means - no cheating almost ever. They have extra weekly points you can use, but I’m going to try to use as little of those as possible. Another plus is that my boss/friend is moving into a new apartment building that has a gym in it. We work for a start-up and mostly work out of her apartment, so I’ll be there several times a week. I was going to join Planet Fitness, but now I don’t have to! It’ll be good to have another option other than Insanity. AND my other roommate is studying to be a yoga instructor, so she is going to practice on us.

Honestly, I’m a little apprehensive about starting again. I’m not sure why. Probably because I was so gung-ho before and still stopped, yet again. But maybe it’s a good thing. Each time I start a weight loss plan, I get so excited about it. I’m so sure that this time, it will work. This time, I’ll get back down to the size I want. And then I don’t and I get so down on myself. Maybe if I go into it with a more realistic mindset, I’ll actually stick with it. Maybe actually making sure to count calories/points will really make a difference. 

So here are some new short term goals:

• Lose 5 pounds by the Key West wedding - April 2nd
• Lose 5 more pounds by my birthday - May 4th
• Lose 5 more pounds by my boyfriend’s birthday - June 6th
• Lose the last 5 pounds by July 4th.

That comes out to a little less than a pound a week, which I think is very realistic. Off to do the Insanity ab workout with my roomie!

My boyfriend and I have this agreement: if he cooks, I’ll clean. He’s an amazing chef and I rely on him a lot for dinners. He also knows some really good tricks for making healthy food actually taste good. But I feel bad when he works a whole day, then has to drive 45 minutes to an hour to my apartment and then cook for an hour. It also means I usually eat later than I should. Wouldn’t it be nice if I could have dinner waiting for him when he comes over once and a while? But right now I HATE cooking and I’m definitely not very good at it. It just feels like WORK. Maybe I should get on that …

Weight: 125 lbs (-0.8)

I’m just gonna come out and say it, I’m pretty pissed. I knew I wouldn’t have a big number when I weighed in today, but I thought I would’ve lost at least a damn POUND in the last two weeks. I need to lose at least 5 pounds a month to reach my goal by April 2, and at this rate I’ll be happy to even lose two or three. I know why I didn’t, but I’m an impatient person and I was hoping for at least a couple pounds today. So, here’s what happened:

The first week, I wasn’t prepared with enough of the right food because I thought I would be cleansing all week. I didn’t eat or work out enough, and I treated it as more of a warm up week. Then, I got sick and couldn’t work out for four straight days. This week, I worked out a lot harder, but only worked out three times. I also wasn’t as strict with my diet.

This weekend was full of temptation, and I gave in a lot more than I thought I would and it kind of freaks me out. Friday I had a date night with my boyfriend, Saturday was my friend’s birthday and Sunday was a huge playoff football game (p.s. Go Jets!). I definitely wasn’t perfect with my diet, but I wasn’t awful. Where I really screwed up was in my drinking. I’ve been pretty good so far about only drinking one or two nights a week, and only having one or two drinks at a time, but this weekend I drank A LOT. Wine is usually my drink of choice, but this weekend I also drank vodka sprites, beer, a margarita and a glass of sangria (read: sugar and calories). 

Remember those 5 weddings I told you about? Well, those also include bridal showers and bachelorette parties, and those start as early as two weeks from now. This weekend was a test run for how I’d act during special occasions, and I realized it’s going to be harder than I realized. 

This week, I have no excuses. I’m not sick, I can get through a full Insanity workout and I have the right food. I’m going to reel it in and really go for it, and hopefully the scale will reward me in two weeks. I’m also going to measure myself again at that time, so I’m hoping for a couple inches as well. 

Happy Monday!

But I did anyway. And I finally got through a full Insanity DVD. And I feel great. :)

Ever since I started this journey, I’ve had this crazy irrational fear that even if I get to my goal weight, I’ll still look the same. I’m worried I won’t lose weight in my face (my least favorite area), that I still won’t look good in pictures or worse - that I will change sizes but still not like how I look. I’ve watched lots of weight loss shows and bought magazines showing people who’ve lost a lot of weight and see how different they look, and it’s helped but the fear still remains. I hope once I start seeing results it will go away. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I finally figured out how to get the “Ask me Anything” page on my blog, so ask away! I’d love to answer any questions about my weight loss, goals or (pretty much) anything else: http://bringingsexyback2011.tumblr.com/ask

So I keep hearing about Extra Dessert Delights gum to help people with a sweet tooth overcome their cravings - but what about us savory cravers? I’ve always been the kind of person to crave spicy and salty things over sweet ones. Where’s my buffalo wing-flavored gum? 

This week has definitely been interesting, and there have been some highs and lows and lots of room for improvement. Overall, I’m happy with this week. I worked out four out of five days and ate pretty healthy. I would’ve worked out six out of seven days, but I’ve been hit with a flu-like sickness that has been going around. Hopefully it’ll be out of my system by Monday. The worst thing I ate this week was an order of garlic knots and the worst thing I drank was three glasses of wine and half of a beer. I probably had a total of about a can of diet soda, but I’m proud of myself for not giving into the real thing. I could easily drink 3-5 cans of Coke a day, so that’s kind of a big deal. I’m also proud of myself for not giving into my cravings for a bagel with cream cheese, which I had several times this week.

I definitely need to improve on how many calories I’m taking in. I didn’t eat nearly enough this week. This was mostly due to the fact that I thought I was going to be cleansing, so I purposely didn’t have any food at my apartment. However, this should be fixed next week because I bought lots of good stuff today - fruit, veggies, protein bars and shakes, etc. I also need to improve on the quality of my workouts. I’m glad I did at least a little something almost every day, was always sweaty after the work out and was sore almost every day, but I need to push myself further next week. No one gets toned after only 20 minutes. I really hoped to finish a full Insanity DVD by this weekend, but this damn cold/flu thing is getting in the way. 

I’m excited about doing better next week, but also nervous that I’m going to let myself down. Hopefully with your encouragement I’ll stick to the plan! Hope everyone is having a good, cold-free weekend!

I haven’t been sleeping well lately, so I’ve been more tired than usual. Also, my company is going to be featured on Good Morning America on Friday (tomorrow) so work has been a little crazy. I’ve decided I’m going to work out for two days, then take a day off, so I didn’t work out yesterday. I wanted to work out this morning, but couldn’t keep my eyes open. But I’m working from home today so I WILL work out later. Ugh, and the struggle begins. 

I’m a little sore, and I like it. :)