SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!

Well, after a long week of what actually didnt feel bad..... I LOST 2.4 lbs!!!! Last night I was starting to get really anxious and discouraged wondering if when I stepped on the scale today it was going to reflect all of my changes in the past week because I worked hard to keep up with this new plan and goals I made for myself, but it paid off and I am soo happy. I know I may not always have weeks like this but I feel great and by last night I actually felt like I had a routine going that I can stick with. I am going to keep at the same pace because if I push any harder right now I think it will burn me out. When I reach a plateau I will step it up some. 

I have been logging every single calorie that I eat, and I now find myself planning ahead of time compared to the other times when I would attempt to log calories. Now I find out how many calories a certain meal is going to be and I set a plan for the day. Before I would just count at the time of eating and I would be like "OOPs, guess I cant eat for the rest of the day, because this one meal took up all my calories".. But now I KNOW how much I will have after a certain meal, and lately I have had about 200-300 left each day, and not even feeling like it. I have cut my calorie intake down at least 1000 a day. I am at 1700 a day, that is what was reccommended and that feels right. The first few days I struggled, but now I am good. I cannot believe that last night I was only at like 1300 for the day. I know that alot of people will say that is too little, but if I feel okay and my body is not feeling like I am getting ill from it, then why not? I do not try to do that though. I try to eat 1700 but I have been eating snacks in between meals, and I just think I found alot of snacks that are filling but do not have many calories so that is why. And the snacks are good for me. Like a few crackers and a string cheese. 

Also, I have been boxing ever other day, for the whole week and I am going to keep that up. I am only at 15 mins right now, but I feel good with that. I have been doing any little thing to keep moving, David used to help me a ton with the household chores but now I have been taking those on before he even gets home in order to burn more calories, I have been doing all the laundry, dishes, cooking etc.. and it feels great. We still go for a few short walks a day, and I have been finding new activities just to keep me moving. Like taking Noah to storytime at the library or bookstore, or going shopping. This week I even tackled grocery shopping with just Noah, and without David. 

I feel great and I am excited to keep moving on this journey! I feel that my mind is changing, and I think that is a key factor as well! 

Thanks for listening! And if you are on a journey yourself, I encourage you to find what works for YOU and not what everyone else is telling you. Well bits and pieces, but take in what works for you and leave the rest.... Its all about how you feel, and if you feel crappy on a plan you are on, its not going to work.

Oh and get a great support system, cuz I know I have wonderful friends and family and a loving husband and son who inspire and encourage me daily!! 

Love 

AJ

Guilty....

So yesterday I tried to make a healthy choice for my lunch at Chik Fil A, but I did not do so when I walked in. I was all set with it up until that point, and I failed I had the usual with was well over 1200 calories. The good thing was that I had not eaten too many calories before hand and I was full for the rest of the day until I had a snack at night. So I did not go too much over my daily intake, but I did not eat great food either, and I felt weak that I could not make the best decision. I beat myself up yesterday and then I moved on. I feel better today, and I am off to another great start today. I am about to get some boxing in and a walk later before or after dinner. The weather is better today. It is up around 70. Yesterday it was 50 and gloomy out.. I am sure that had some to do with it, and the way I was woke up. I am looking forward to this weekend, we found a new park that we are going to go and take a long walk at, and we decided to take it easy and hang out by the pool. I am still in the mood to purge things out of my closet, which includes a huge bin of things I kept as memories... I will not get rid of all of them, but I really hope to get rid of some more. This helps with my stress. As I have gotten older, less has become more, and makes me happy. I HATE clutter and it brings me down.

By tracking my foods and calories, and using Calorie Counter website, I was also able to find out what I am getting too much of and not enough of. No surprise that I do not get enough Iron, I have struggled with that my whole life. Supposed to be taking iron pills. and also No surprise that I get too much sodium in a day... I really need to cut back on that. I love salty things.... and I eat alot of carbs..

Anyway, I will leave it at that today, before I start rambling on..

AJ

I did it!

So yesterday was a struggle because I woke up to loud lawn care and strong scents from the neighbors and the pollen was coming in the house all day long. It was hard to breathe and I had a constant sinus headache.. However, I still managed to go for a walk, do laundry, clean and box for 15 minutes. I did 1000 punches and it felt good. The other great thing is that I only went 67 calories over my suggested daily intake of 1700. The day before I consumed 2500 calories I am ashamed to say. I do not know how normal people that consume 2000-4000 cannot all be extremely over weight. It was only difficult at night, when of course biggest loser was on. But I did it. I had some steamed asparagus for a snack (I burned my hand though :(), and then later I had three triscuits and a string cheese. When I was going to bed I did feel a little dizzy, but I guess that would be expected when your calorie intake is 1000 less than what your body is used to. Surprisingly though, I did not feel that hungry throughout the day.

Today is going to be another challenging day for me. I had so much energy for about a week and then the last few days I have been waking up feeling like I didnt even go to sleep. I blame it on the weather and my allergies. Its only 65 right now compared to that of 85 yesterday although it is going to warm up more. But my sinuses hurt really bad again. The news crew said the pollen is going to keep getting worse through the week. I thought when I heard about it in Michigan in was bad, but it is actually extremely visible here. I have to keep dusting yellow film off from my furniture all the way into the middle of my house even. :(

Anyways.. I am tired today, and when I am tired or not feeling well I tend to CRAVE junk food, or greasy food. We promised Noah the other day we would take him to Chick fil A, which is actually somewhat healthy and all fresh foods so I guess if I am going to have a challenging day, I might as well eat there today, but I will check the nutrition info on the menu before we go and select the best option. I will get through this day to the best of my ability....

Take care,

AJ

Tracking helps

So its evident that tracking does help point out to me where I am going wrong... I did not want to add last nights calories in. I did not eat anything unhealthy for dinner, but where I went wrong was that I had a second turkey sloppy joe... and of course that meant that my nightly snack would then set me over my daily calorie intake.. So I think that I am great up until dinner time and then I either eat too much at dinner, or I eat too much at night.

This is very disappointing as I went over my calorie intake by about 500 last night. It sucks because I had alot of activity yesterday. I took Noah to the park in the morning, did some light boxing, went through alot of things in the guest room, cleaned like crazy, and went for a nightly walk. 

As I have been on this journey, I have been making my own plans with a combination of different programs. Today I figured out about how many weight watcher points I get, and I am going to try to figure that in as well. Its just one more thing to hold me accountable. Soon I will figure out what works for me, and if not I am going to have some testing done, to figure out what is preventing me from succeeding.


The good thing is that I have no issues with junk foods like most people do, that is not my weakness. My weakness appears to just be eating too much at night. Even of the good stuff. I am going to work on finding things that fill me up more, and things to keep my mind busy at night, especially while I am watching tv, and especially tonight during Biggest Loser. Ironically, I eat more during this show than any other show. AND this is the show that is the most inspiring to me... I think it is because they bring up so many emotions during this show...

Anyway that is enough for today.. I am going to brush off yesterday and try to do better today.. I do not think I have as much energy as yesterday because I was woke up early to loud noises and strong scents coming in my windows... and my allergies are going crazy.. but I WILL try to do as much as I can!!


Thanks for listening,

Amanda

Im Back

Well I have not blogged in a while. Mostly because I was very discouraged. I was working so hard and eating right and over the past three months I have just been up and down with the same 3-5lbs. I have always had issues with metabolism. I do not eat like crazy. In fact I do not even like that many "junk food" items, I just cannot get my body to burn off what I am eating. If I had insurance I would go and try to evaluate what exactly is causing my metabolism to do this, and which foods I particularly need in order to get it moving. I own all of Jillian Michaels books and they describe this in them, but I do not know which ones to apply. Anyways, now that the weather has been gorgeous again down here. I wake up with so much energy. I managed to get the boys to keep the house clean all weekend even! It was so nice waking up today with no laundry or anything to hold me back. It also helps that my current class, a Sociology class is not stressing me out and holding me down. I cannot wait to finish school. I am officially burned out. 

I was looking back on the times when my weight was the smallest, and besides the time I was sick, it was when I was working my butt off. Either a million hours at work, or multiple jobs and activities. I knew that I would eat small amounts all day in between during these times too. So that tells me that my biggest issue right now is not moving around enough. Since I have been struggling with the weird effects of working out too much and not eating enough during those times, I decided that I am just going to put as much regular excercise and moving around in my days as I can. That means taking Noah to the park each day, walking to get the mail, cleaning and going through things in the house...etc.. and I will add long walks, my new boxing equip and the treadmill a few times a week. I have no problem having an extensive workout, or eating few calories, but I just cannot seem to mix those two, because then I have issues with low sugar, or low blood pressure. So for now I will lower the calories, monitor them and add more activity that is less intense and see how that works..

I want to thank all of my friends who have not only been my inspiration but have also been encouraging me as well. 

I love you all, and I am so proud of you! 

Aj