When Your Fat Jeans Become Your Skinny Jeans

My poor kitty... She has diabetes. My boyfriend and I will be spending our seven year anniversary with his parents at the vet, learning how to give her insulin shots. She's not even at our house, she's staying with his parents because she has to go to the vet quite frequently until they get her levels all under control. Our schedules aren't as good for this as theirs are. Then when we do bring her home, we'll have to give her a shot every twelve hours for the rest of her life. Still tough with our schedules but she's more than worth it, we'll figure out how to make it work.
 
In the 90 minutes or so last night between finding out about kitty and going to sleep, I ate three light string cheeses, one skinny cow bar, and around one serving of pistachios. So I binged a little, in addition to treating myself to both that can of soda and some cookies at work. And yet still managed to keep my calories under 1,900. That was a pleasant surprise this morning when I added everything up. Ideally I'd keep myself lower than that, but if I can keep it under 2K without trying, I am happy. My dinner was tiny, I had some version of a quesadilla... refried beans, salsa, and cheese in a wheat wrap. I had the heat up too high though and burned it a little. Also used too much beans. Maybe next time it will be more successful.
 
Laura F said:
Well yesterday was a good eating day. It’s nice that I can have those when I am spending most of the day by myself… that’s a recent change!
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I know exactly what you mean!! Way to go!! You are doing great and reading your post about running on the treadmill for an hour totally motivated me today! I used to really enjoy running on the treadmill and just didn't keep it up so I am now ready to get back and can't wait to be able to enjoy that again!
Sorry to hear about your kitty. Keep your head up - you are doing great!!
 
Well. I generally give myself a cheat day for Saturdays with the whole calorie counting business, because that’s when I pretty much always eat dinner at a sit-down restaurant. And not always somewhere that has a nice website to tell you how much a meal is. Wednesday I ate out at a sit-down restaurant for dinner. Got a little snacky during the day. Counted everything up the next morning, and after I estimated the calories for dinner I reran the numbers about 6 times before realizing yes, Laura, that calculator DOES say 3,300! YIKES! I am going to be so happy when everyone puts away their little Halloween dishes full of candy. Not that I can blame the candy this time, it was the restaurant hamburger and French fries (I looked up the Applebee’s nutrition, and 1 hamburger + French fries is 1,250 calories). I didn’t eat all of my fries but I scarfed down pretty much 100% of the burger.

How did yesterday go? I ate a 690 calorie afternoon snack (coffee and pumpkin muffin.) STICK TO THE DONUTS, LAURA! You can eat one blueberry donut (which, by the way, would have made much less of a mess in your car) for 340 calories but you chose a muffin for 600? That’s worse than the bagel you’ve been criticizing! Combine that with the 373 calories worth of Halloween candy, the 520 calorie breakfast sandwich, and the 210 calories of gummy bears, and that’s a day’s worth of calories before even thinking about lunch or dinner.

I have got to step it up hardcore. I have been doing terribly with money lately, too, too many coffees (and muffins). I was doing very well at my goal to purchase coffee three times a week, twice on the weekends and only once during the week. That went out the window and now I’m having it twice a day sometimes. I need to get my act together ASAP. Starting with a run around the park today after work, and my long run of the week tomorrow (I may venture outside, which means that my one hour will NOT get me to the 5.7 or .8 miles it was last week... guess I'll need to decide whether to focus on time or distance, in that case).
 
I forgot to thank you ladies for your kind thoughts for my kitty. Here are a couple of pictures... I've got better ones but I only had a few on my computer. She LOVES butter, so anytime we come back to the apartment with coffee she thinks she will get some butter, whether or not we got bagels. The pic of her sitting on the computer is when the boyfriend (who I will call J from now on) was drinking coffee and she was waiting patiently hoping for a little treat. The cat hair cannot be good for the computer, but she just looked so cute. We went to the vet on Thursday and learned how to properly give her the shots. It doesn't hurt her one bit, but she still doesn't like to be held down, even for the short amount of times it takes. We (J and I) will be giving her the shot tonight, but so far it's just been J's mom. She said it's been a little bit of a struggle, but I think it's easier than we thought it would be. I think we can take her back home quicker than we expected, which is awesome. We've been missing her! This is the first weekend without her, and we just got back from Dunkin Donuts and got sad walking up the stairs knowing she wouldn't be there to get excited for butter time.
 
Three week personal challenge starts TOMORROW! Why three weeks? Because three weeks from tomorrow I will be on my way back to glorious Oklahoma (yes, Oklahoma is glorious, despite what anyone says) for Thanksgiving week with my family. Well, my father and my brother, and we'll see extended family on Thanksgiving Day. Mom and other brother are in other states.

Anyway.... I want to see just how much progress I can make between now and then. Going home is basically a week of eating terribly. Of course when you see old friends for the first time in a year the most logical thing to do is meet up for dinner. There are lots of restaurants there that we don't have in New England, like Arby's and Braum's (my ice cream place, yum!). You can get Dr. Pepper EVERYWHERE, and fried okra, and gooooood chicken fried steak.... Quite honestly, I am not going to deprive myself of things I can only get once a year. And then there's Thanksgiving! Also only once a year :)

So what will my three week challenge entail? Well let me fill you in.

1) Gym four times each week. That means one long run, one hill workout, one interval day, and either one 5K distance with my friend OR one day for speed.
2) An average of 1,800 calories per day, with NO CHEAT DAYS!
3) No sugar in my coffee! I've done this before and I will do it again.
4) Only one bagel per week.
4) No purchased coffees during the week unless it was someone else's idea. I am still getting to know people at work, so if someone asks if I want to go get coffee with them I do not want to decline.
5) Weigh myself only three times, on the day of my long runs (Sat or Sun).

I will update this list if I think of anything else, but J just came in the room and is now dusting all around me and it's distracting, haha.
 
Yesterday

I surprised myself yesterday by going for a 1 hour and 3 minute walk/run outside, and somehow managing to pull in 5.6 miles in total. I had expected to have a far shorter distance than last week's long run, but I am very happy with the overall total! I am NOT happy with the fact that I only managed to go 1.5 miles without stopping, however... I felt absolutely terrible from the get-go, I think partially because the wind surprised me and partially because my boyfriend oh-so-sweetly stood out on the balcony as I left the apartment complex to wave at me when I started running. Obviously I wanted to be impressive so I believe I may have sprinted in the beginning. My goal after about 30 seconds was just to make it over the hill so neither he nor the walker I had passed could see me stop. I lasted slightly longer than that, but still not as long as I should have. Oh, it was also the first time I had ran outdoors during the day. Generally I only run outside before work, therefore I am back in the apartment by 6:15 am. Then there was the time I somehow managed to get locked out of my gym and had to run outside after 8 pm, meaning it was pitch-black already. But I had my new long-sleeve running hoodie on, over my new running singlet, so I felt good!

I weighed in yesterday after my run at 147. I stepped on the scale about 7 times, and moved the scale to about three different places in the bathroom, and it said 147 every time. WHOA. Big deal! I could not believe it. I still don't believe it. But I saw it! It was there!
 
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Three Week Challenge: Day 1 of 21

Well here we go! Day 1. So far so good!

Breakfast - 2 clementines
Estimated calories: 47
Lunch - Went out to eat at Not Your Average Joe's.... they have delicious bread and dip, and J about halfway through his first piece exclaims "Oh boy, you won't be fighting me for bread anymore!!" I ended up having 1 and a half pieces (he gave me the half, usually it's me giving him half because the boy loves this bread). I had checked out the menu beforehand and decided on Mediterrean chicken which is served with pizza crisps and a salad, and Ziziki sauce for dipping. I took home half of the chicken and salad for dinner tonight, and thanks to a terribly slow (and annoying) waitress, I didn't have the patience to ask for cups for the dressing and sauce after she brought out the to-go box, therefore I will save myself a few calories tonight.
Estimated calories: 882
Snack - Med iced coffee, with NO sugar!
Estimated calories - 60
Dinner - Will be the leftover (dry) chicken and (dry) salad from lunch, and probably a Skinny Cow for dessert. EDIT: Found some light Italian dressing in the fridge that was NOT expired, which is a big deal in this apartment, and also had a carb craving.... Perhaps it was the lack of bagels this weekend? Added a cup of minute rice with a half tablespoon of soy sauce to take care of that craving. Total added calories is 238.
Estimated calories: Planned 473, actual 711
Total calories for the day: Planned = 1,462; Actual = 1700

No gym today, I ran Friday and Saturday and I want to give my little leggies a break. I don't have class tomorrow like I usually do, and J is away for the night, so plenty of time for gym tomorrow. No Monday class makes Sunday a much better day!

Happy Halloween, everyone! :pumpkin:
 
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Three Week Challenge: Day 2 of 21

Breakfast - Oatmeal and coffee (no sugar!)
Estimated calories: 175
Lunch - Chicken sandwich with pretzel sticks, and a tapioca for dessert
Estimated calories: 445
Snack - 1 mint, and 1 ounce of honey roasted peanuts
Estimated calories: 173
Dinner - Grilled cheese sandwich, which I was craving, but sadly was not anything compared to the sandwich I would have gotten had I purchased one from somewhere. I will also be enjoying a chocolate milk (made with soy milk) later, after my workout. It's my favorite part of running! My little treat after. EDIT: Decided on an English muffin with 1 tbsp Smart balance to cure my lingering hunger, for 180 extra calories.
Estimated calories: 485 + 180 = 665
Total calories for the day: 1,278 + 180 = 1458

Exercise - 30 minutes at the gym tonight, think I will do intervals. With my last semester of grad school happening right now, my plan from now until Christmas is 3 half hour runs per week and then one long run on the weekends, increasing in distance and/or time each week. I don't want to be trying to do much longer runs during the week when I should be doing schoolwork!

I am still more than a little hungry, now I just need to find something healthy to add to my food for the day.

Maybe I should have made my three-week goal to have an average of 1,700 calories per day. Guess I will stick with 1,800 official and 1,700 unofficial. Although it's only Monday, so I can't be getting ahead of myself right now! I don't need to lose weight too quickly, just want to make sure I'm always headed in the right direction.
 
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Three Week Challenge: Day 3 of 21

Breakfast - Oatmeal and coffee (no sugar!)
Estimated calories: 140
Snack - 1ish ounces of honey roasted peanuts
Estimated calories: 158
Lunch - Chicken sandwich with pretzel sticks, fat free yogurt, plus some whoppers and a snack-size Hershey's bar
Estimated calories: 574
Snack - 1ish ounces of honey roasted peanuts
Estimated calories: 158
Dinner - An omelet with broccoli, bell pepper, onion, and cheese... delicious! And a Skinny Cow ice cream cone for dessert.
Estimated calories: 467
Total calories for the day: 1,497

Exercise - None tonight, going for a run in the park tomorrow. Unfortunately, my poor timing this week means I will have to run tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. I want to take Saturday off because I signed up a race on Sunday... 5 miles, eeek! I'm scared. I can do 5 miles slowly on the treadmill, and with lots of walk breaks outside. We'll see how I do when it's race time!

Now that I made myself a calorie goal, I am finding it hard to avoid snacking at night just to get closer to my goal. Definitely need to get out of THAT habit.

I am so stinking tired.... I slept plenty last night, too. J was away for the night, and I fell asleep early and woke up late. I always get up first, so when he's not around I find myself hitting snooze for an hour or more, just 'cuz I can. Didn't do ANY homework today, yuck. Need to do at least a little so I can go home and feel like I did something!
 
wow look at you go!!!! down 12!!! you are kkicking serious ass. your journal title should be my journal title!! Oh how I miss the 140's. I remember getting into the 130's for the first time and just the overwhelming feeling of joy and accomplishment I felt. I am sooo proud of you! If you can get back into it after eating the pumpkin muffins and you realize that you need to get your grip back and you do it? Then KOODOS to you!!! Keep it up hun
 
Three Week Challenge: Day 4 of 21

Breakfast - Oatmeal and coffee, and also maybe a little Hershey’s bar snuck in there somehow. :doh:
Estimated calories: 207
Lunch – 1 cups of soup, healthy request chicken and sausage gumbo.
Estimated calories: 280
Snacks - 1ish ounces of honey roasted peanuts and one serving of pretzel sticks. This is when I want a food scale at work, because I don’t like to be the weirdo who gets caught counting out 39 pretzel sticks! I continued snacking throughout the afternoon with 5 Whoppers, a skinny cow ice cream cup, and one jolly rancher. You can tell how busy (or not) I am at work by how much I snack
Estimated calories: 494
Dinner – We actually cooked some pasta, with steak, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. I ate more than one serving, but that’s ok, we were proud (we rarely cook). J suggested a nice glass of wine, so I had some merlot. Dessert was a Skinny Cow ice cream cone (heaven on earth, in my opinion) and 4 starbursts right before bed.
Estimated calories: 870
Total calories for the day: 1,851

Exercise – 5K jog around the park. For some reason I was much more aware of my calves last night. They don’t hurt today (I have not been sore one single day since I started jogging in June, I am excited by that) but they were sore as we were finishing up. I’ve stopped timing my social runs, but we can tell how good it was by how much we talk. We go three laps around the park, and there were a couple of times in the beginning that we didn’t even speak the last two laps. Yesterday we chatted it up until we hit the very last half mile or so.
adeon said:
wow look at you go!!!! down 12!!! you are kkicking serious ass. your journal title should be my journal title!! Oh how I miss the 140's. I remember getting into the 130's for the first time and just the overwhelming feeling of joy and accomplishment I felt. I am sooo proud of you! If you can get back into it after eating the pumpkin muffins and you realize that you need to get your grip back and you do it? Then KOODOS to you!!! Keep it up hun
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You are awesome and always make me feel so good about myself! I’m keeping the e-mail I got with your comment in my inbox so I can go find it quickly whenever I need a little motivation. I got as low as 140 for a brief time in 2005, when I was working four days a week on campus during a summer, taking no classes, only knew a couple of people, was not going to the grocery store and therefore not cooking OR snacking, and had little else to do but run around the track. Then fall semester hit and I never did see 139. THIS TIME I WILL! And I imagine it will be incredible. My boyfriend is super skinny, and my ultimate goal is to weigh less than him for the first time in our seven year relationship. I’m thinking by Christmas I’ll be golden :)

And it was definitely that pumpkin muffin that really sealed the deal for me. It was just too much. I haven’t looked at a muffin the same way since.

Thursday has been dubbed “Breakfast Sandwich Thursday” by my co-worker and I. It’s only the second one, but we are planning on making it a regular occurrence. And for this occasion, I did a calorie comparison of three different breakfast sandwiches, based on information from Dunkin’ Donuts.

1) Sausage, Egg, and Cheese on a bagel (my old food of choice): 680
2) Sausage, Egg and Cheese on an English muffin (my middle ground): 520
3) Ham, Egg and Cheese on an English muffin (what I got today): 360

It’s just a matter of making smart choices! I can eat ice cream and breakfast sandwiches every day and not have to feel guilty about it.
 
Note to self - I do NOT like soy milk in my coffee. I'm not sure why I keep forgetting this. I like soy milk by itself. I REALLY like soy milk with chocolate syrup (light choc. syrup, of course!). But in my coffee? Ew.
 
Hey laura,
Read some of your posts. You are doing a great job!!! I love the challenge you have given yourself. I normally just join the club challenges but i think i will have to set some personal goals. Kudos on the weight loss so far. I haven't seen the 140's since.......(i'm still thinking....)...probably puberty. Can't wait to join you there (though by the time I am there and the rate you are proceeding, you will be in another weight bracket). Keep it up. love reading your posts :D
:seeya:
 
Hi Laura!
Man, Running 5k's is so great, I'm still feeling to jiggly to run in public - I look so retarded when I run :(
Your diary makes me want to launch off the couch and get moving, so thanks :)


Jess
 
Hey Laura, way to go,

I fell off the wagon for about a month because of my birthday, cheesecake, whipping cream then my dads birthday then Canadian thanksgiving then, then ,then....

But a friend challenged me to do something for a month: No sugar! and no white bread!
He said I'd loose 10 lbs. So way to go on your short term goal, its a good way to get back on track and get things kick started again.


Yeah, the 140's are a dreaaam for me. lol.

Ooh and I was going to say, its awesome you're counting calories, because then at least you know exactly what the trouble is, for me before I'd count I'd know there was a trouble but I had no idea the magnitude I was actually eating every day... now its so obvious and shocking some days!

Keep it up!
 
Three Week Challenge: Day 5 of 21

Well, I am sitting here enjoying my soy milk and light chocolate syrup. Constant Readers, you know what that means! Just got back from the gym, and unfortunately it is 10:40 pm….. which means by the time I shower and wind down for the night, 6am is gonna come early!

[“Constant Readers” is a Stephen King reference, by the way.]

Here’s the rundown for today:
Breakfast – Coffee and a ham, egg and cheese English muffin
Estimated calories: 370
Lunch – PBJ on light multi-grain bread, with baked Lay’s potato chips
Estimated calories: 425
Snacks – 1 decent sized piece of incredibly rich chocolate cake. Tax group birthday cake…. Some groups have cake every week it seems, but we apparently have cake once a year. It said “Happy birthday everyone!” and it was pretty amusing when other people walked into the kitchen, saw the 6 or 7 of us sitting there, asked whose birthday it was, and we responded excitedly with “everyone’s!” I also had a cup a coffee shortly before that.
Estimated calories: 360? Super rough estimate.
Dinner + – OK, so I sort of get on egg kicks every now and again… had one egg with 1 slice reduced fat cheddar cheese and salsa, on two white corn tortillas. Skinny Cow for dessert, plus ANOTHER cup of coffee to get me through class (can’t wait for the weekend). Finished off the night with choc milk.
Estimated calories: 553
Total calories for the day: 1,708

Exercise – Just banged out 40 minutes at the gym. Hills, woooo. Pushed myself just the right amount this week, so I was able to run the whole thing at 5.6. Last week I tried to do too much and had to walk some.

Island Girl said:
Hey laura,
Read some of your posts. You are doing a great job!!! I love the challenge you have given yourself. I normally just join the club challenges but i think i will have to set some personal goals. Kudos on the weight loss so far. I haven't seen the 140's since.......(i'm still thinking....)...probably puberty. Can't wait to join you there (though by the time I am there and the rate you are proceeding, you will be in another weight bracket). Keep it up. love reading your posts :D
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Thanks for dropping by and leaving a sweet note! It took a while for me to really sit down and figure out some goals…. I spent a few months just realizing what I was doing and seeing what was working or not before I finally got my rear in gear. Hopefully I can keep up the same challenges (or new ones!) once I come back from Thanksgiving, but I will worry about that when the time comes. Good luck with YOUR journey, I’ll be sure to keep up with how you’re doing!!!

healthyjess said:
Hi Laura!
Man, Running 5k's is so great, I'm still feeling to jiggly to run in public - I look so retarded when I run :(
Your diary makes me want to launch off the couch and get moving, so thanks :)
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Thank YOU for stopping by, too, Jess!! I wouldn’t worry about how you look when you run! No matter what you look like, you’re an inspiration to those who aren’t out there running. And personally, I think the people whose opinions matter would all be so proud of you for running (loved ones and strangers alike!) Glad I could be a bit of inspiration for you - start out slow, gradually build up time and before you know it, you’ll be addicted, and amazed at how far you’ve come! I think I’ve taken a peak at your diary before, I’ll make sure to leave a comment next time instead of just lurking :)

AngelWings said:
Hey Laura, way to go,
I fell off the wagon for about a month because of my birthday, cheesecake, whipping cream then my dads birthday then Canadian thanksgiving then, then ,then....
But a friend challenged me to do something for a month: No sugar! and no white bread!
He said I'd loose 10 lbs. So way to go on your short term goal, its a good way to get back on track and get things kick started again.
Yeah, the 140's are a dreaaam for me. lol.
Ooh and I was going to say, its awesome you're counting calories, because then at least you know exactly what the trouble is, for me before I'd count I'd know there was a trouble but I had no idea the magnitude I was actually eating every day... now its so obvious and shocking some days!
Keep it up!
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Well hello there, AngelWings! Thanks for the kind words! I think hearing about everyone’s Thanksgivings in Canada has made me feel better about dealing with my own soon… we’ve all got to splurge now and then, but as long as we get back at it we’re A-ok! How is the no sugar thing going? That sounds TOUGH! White bread, too, but sugar, gosh…. Good luck! I agree calorie counting is absolutely necessary, at least for some decent time period so you can learn to estimate appropriately. There’s really just no way to know how much you’re actually consuming until you see how quickly it adds up! It is definitely a chore sometimes, but it’s always so rewarding when I realize I’ve done well, especially when I didn’t think I had.

Whew. That was a lot of writing! At least when you consider all the work I had to put in with spacing and coloring and all, haha. It’s now past 11, and I must try to make this quick. As a matter of fact, as I was typing that last sentence, my boyfriend said “You need to get in the shower, sweetie.” So with that, I will instead end it here and write more this weekend. Goodnight, all!!
 
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Three Week Challenge: Day 6 of 21

Breakfast – Coffee, a bagel with butter, and lots of fruit. I felt a little like I was cheating with the bagel, because I know I will have a bagel on Sunday. And my rule is only one bagel per week. But my weeks go from Sunday to Saturday, so technically Friday and Sunday are two different weeks. And that is not against the rules!
Estimated calories: 533
Lunch – Turkey Cobb salad from Au Bon Pain, and replaced the blue cheese dressing with lite olive oil vinaigrette. It came with a free breadstick, so free breadstick I ate.
Estimated calories: 640
Snacks – NONE! I knew it was going to be a big meal day for me, so I did not eat one single snack. Had a cup of green tea around noon, and that was it.
Estimated calories: ZERO!
Dinner + – Splurge night ; had three pieces of a small pizza from Papa John’s, plus two cheese breadsticks. I avoided the sausage and pepperoni that I usually have, and instead got capicola and green peppers, and light cheese! I would never even think about that option, but we ordered online and there it was, beckoning for me to check its box. Enjoyed this dinner with one cup of soy milk, and followed it up with a Skinny Cow for dessert.
Estimated calories: 1,035
Total calories for the day: 2,208

Exercise – Amazing speed workout at the gym. My three week challenge goal was to do one long run per week, and due to my weeks going from Sunday to Saturday, this will have to be subjective…. I am running a 5 mile race on Sunday, and although this is not as long as my usual weekend runs, I will hopefully be moving faster than normal, and therefore I am using this as a replacement for my long run. That meant yesterday was my speed day. Did 30 minutes, minimum speed was 6.1, did my last minute at 7.3. I am happy no one was there during the last five minutes (that’s when I always crank up my speed). I may or may not have looked like a disaster, that last minute was TOUGH.

Some people may see that 2,208 and say “ack, that’s awful!” but I am fine with it. My goal was to have an average of 1,800 calories per day. And as long as I keep my calories today at 2,100 or below I will achieve this. [For the record, I plan on eating much less than 2,100 today!] “Lifestyle change” to me means I can still enjoy some bad days knowing that my good days make up for it. And darn it, that pizza was good!

Oh, one of the things I was going to write about in my last post was about how I dug up some old pictures I had taken of myself to use as “before” shots. Took me quite some time to find them… and when I did, they were in a folder entitled “To look at ONLY when I get skinny!” I took them in the fall of 2008, and decided the other night to take some new ones to do a little comparison. I didn’t notice much of a difference in the front shots, probably because my arms were too close to my sides in the old pics, but man oh man could I notice a difference in the side shots! My tummy and booty are looking WAY better than before! And those pictures were probably not even at my heaviest. I’m way too modest of a person to post them (especially because I’m not in a bathing suit, I’m in my undies), but they were so motivating. I showed them to J and he was so proud of me. Can’t wait to take some more when I get to goal weight!
 
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