25 pounds

I wish I had taken a 'before' photo, but at the same time I'm not done so there won't be an 'after' photo for quite some time. What you're looking at here is me with 25 less pounds on me. Still very curvy, definitely in the realm of fat still, but significantly hotter (except for the hair, ignore that).

My semester is done, so I won't have to improvise meals out for awhile. This summer is going to be fun- I'm going to be working a lot, plus a vacation to Chicago to visit an old friend. It'll be fun to go back to school in the fall and look so different, my classmates will be very surprised.

This is assuming my mom doesn't bake me any more chocolate chip banana bread. It's so delicious.

20 Pounds

I hit my first mini-goal this week, and it felt really good- I've lost 20 pounds! That puts me at 1/5 the way to my goal, and in six weeks at that. I've been slightly bad lately so it was even more surprising. I haven't walked for two weeks. I mentioned that I wanted to in my last post, but I guess I haven't wanted to badly enough.

Plus, finals. Urgh.

It is definitely showing at this point- I'm still a size 18- what I was before starting the diet- but I need a belt with most of my pants and can take them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. I just bought some dresses a month ago that have already loosened up significantly in the waist.

Starting to lose some thigh weight. My knees, never pretty, are at least less jiggly now. But most of those 20 pounds came off of my torso. TMI ZONE- Most of my weight loss has been in my ribcage area and back, and it makes my boobs look huge! END TMI ZONE

I wonder where the next 20 will come from?

Weight loss as of today: 21 lbs!

Weight: 233

Goal: 154

To go: 79 lbs

And now, in lieu of photos, a silly (but true) comic I found on the internet!

(May have to zoom)

Stardate: April 12

Captain's log:

The weather has been just as crazy as my school life lately, and I pretty much have not exercised at all other than walking the mile to my car instead of catching the bus.

My route is a lot less efficient than I thought it was, it turns out. This one is better.

I hit 15 lbs of weight loss last week. I've only lost two pounds in the last two weeks because despite the general success of my diet so far, I still hate salads. I rediscovered lean cuisines and Smart One frozen meals, and though they are not the same they fit the 1200 calorie diet pretty well. I've been eating out too much also.

One of my compromises with myself over the last six weeks or so is that if I'm craving something bad enough, I eat it. I have a stash of Mint M&Ms and Reeses Pieces in my room, and if I behave myself all day I can eat a few. It hurts a bit when what I'm super-craving is something like sweet potato fries though, since they're never satisfying in an actual portion size.

I will hopefully remember to update next Thursday, but I have around 50 pages of various papers to write in the next two weeks for grad school, so I may have to skip a week again. Hopefully in May I can start making some major progress on the 'eat right and exercise' thing. I'm moving this summer, so if nothing else there will be a lot of weight training!

1 Month In: Week 4

This has been one of my most frustrating weeks so far on several fronts. Since grad school operates on a slightly different calendar than other schools, my last week of classes is in 4 weeks (instead of the six weeks officially posted). I have six papers due by then! Yikes! So, chugging away on that.

The weight thing hasn't been going well either, but I still count it as a half-victory. I have somehow plateau'd in the 10-14 lbs lost range (I fluctuate like crazy) and haven't budged at all yet from that. The victory comes from not gaining anything on my diet-free vacation, but the 'half' comes from not losing anything either.

One of my rewards for losing each set of 20 lbs is a free hour-long massage. I want that massage!

I can't tell if I've caught a bug or my allergies are just really bad ('both' is also an option), but I haven't felt well much lately. My mom, who race walks for fun (her current record is completing a half-marathon in just under 3 hours- walking!) has been leaving me in the dust so much. It's been nice to have her along though, walking in loops is less tedious with company.

Everything is starting to turn really green here now that spring has decided to stick around. When I went to the lake to walk, every surface right above water level was covered in turtles! It was very adorable.

Turtles! Turtles everywhere!

(from Fort Worth Zoo pictures last week)

Final stats for the week:

Weight at start: 254 lbs

Current weight: 244 (*upper end of range) as of 3/29/12

Left to go: 94* lbs

A Weekend Off

It was my birthday weekend, and instead of presents I went on a small trip to Dallas. I had thought I'd have gained a lot more weight from not dieting while I was down there- all of my favorite restaurants are not diet-friendly- but somehow I still lost a few pounds. Perhaps it was all the malls-

-Or maybe the zoo-

But regardless, I had an excellent time! Happy 23rd birthday to me.

I'll be back with the weekly weigh-in on Thursday.

Week 2

This week wasn't nearly as fulfilling. I only weighed myself twice because I'm trying wean myself off that, and it's been discouraging. At today's weigh-in I had only dropped one pound for the whole week. After last week's seven-pound drop it seemed like I suddenly stopped doing anything.

I also keep freaking out over my calories. The diet I'm on is 1200/day. It doesn't matter what those 1200 calories are, but I only get 1200. So on Tuesday one of my snacks was M&Ms. One day I ate a boring salsa-salad so I could have a piece of cheesecake. I keep forgetting that if I go over, it's actually fine. I'm still well below the intake point where I wouldn't lose weight.

I love cheesecake.

Didn't walk as much either, partially because of school and work but mostly because I didn't want to. I find walking laps really boring, but this area is rural enough that walking to an actual destination is a long, long walk. On the few days I did walk, I've been trying to go faster- I'm up to 3-3.5 mph, which isn't fast enough for half-marathons but is still faster than I started.

Hopefully next week will go better. My best friend may be getting a dog, so I'd have somebody to walk with me if she does.

Weigh-in: 246

Total lbs lost: 8

Left to go: 96 lbs

One week in

Yesterday was the end of the first week of the diet/exercise plan, and it was a good one. I walked a lot, ate very little, and somehow lost my sweet tooth in the process. At my weigh-in I was down seven pounds!

Interesting things that have happened:

1. A goose almost attacked me.

Lake Springdale, where I walk about half the time because of how pretty it is, attracts geese and fisherman on the weekend mornings. On Saturday as I was lapping the lake I noticed a guy fishing with a male goose very nearby. I figured he was some kind of Goose Whisperer and didn't pay any mind to it. When I started getting closer the goose got up and started honking at me and fluffing itself up (defense mode), and wouldn't let me pass. I ended up sprinting past it real quick before it could attack me. The fisherman was laughing at me the whole time.

2. I saw a groundhog.

Thanks, Wikipedia.

It was at the same place as the geese. At first I thought it was some sort of weird beaver until I googled it. I didn't know we had any of those around here, and I'd never seen one in person before. So that was fun too.

3. Food tastes better.

A 1200 calorie diet means dropping pretty much all processed foods, including sugary food. Up until starting this diet I ate a lot of pasta, frappuccinos, and burritos (not at the same time usually). I haven't missed them at all, which I hadn't been expecting. I had figured it would be difficult to suddenly drop all these foods my body was used to, but it really wasn't. I guess my brain wasn't the only part of me ready to get healthy.

4. Buffalitos are under 700 calories.

Literally this exact one- Fayetteville, AR. (Thanks, Google!)

I love Buffalo Wild Wings. If I make sure to exercise, I can have some buffalitos and not have to change my calorie ration at all while still eating something normal and insanely delicious. My favorite sauces are the Spicy Garlic and Honey BBQ. Mom always gets Caribbean Jerk, Dad always gets Asian Zing. We're a spicy family. (My brother is a vegetarian; he gets chips and queso.)

So, final stats for the week:

Weight at start: 254 lbs

Current weight: 147 as of 3/8/12

Left to go: 97 lbs