When Your Fat Jeans Become Your Skinny Jeans

[chubbygirl]

If you don't have time to exercise just concentrate on your diet and you will still lose. I'm sure you will manage - probably just need a little rest and relaxation to get some needed mojo! Have a good weekend!! Thanks for getting me back to running too - I'm back to enjoying it almost daily! I started slow at 5.5 and got up to 6.0 yesterday.

 

[Laura F]

Breakfast – Medium coffee with milk, and oatmeal… I broke my no-purchased-coffee-unless-it’s-socially-purchased-coffee rule. It was 6:55 am and I was at the office studying.
Estimated calories: 165
Lunch – Salad and a breadstick from Au Bon Pain, followed up with a cookie that was probably also from there (there was a dessert tray at a work event)… to be more specific, it was a “giant” cookie… white chocolate chunk macadamia nut.
Estimated calories: 940
Snacks – A coffee to get me through my mid-term, one tootsie pop, and a single serving of honey roasted peanuts (bought for fifty cents at CVS! I didn’t know you could buy ANYTHING for fifty cents anymore!)
Estimated calories: 300
Dinner – 5 piece chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. From bed. I was so tired last night!
Estimated calories: 230
Total calories for the day: 1,635

Exercise – None, again…

Mid-term number one is done! I think I did fairly well, I enjoy the class and the work, I just wish I had more time to devote to it. Mid-term number two is Monday. Sunday is going to be a terrible day full of studying! It’s Psychology of Financial Planning, meaning it’s all very touchy-feely and vague, which makes it hard to know what to study for. My other class is Investments & Capital Accumulation, and that’s all statistical analysis and projections. Studying means knowing how to set up problems in excel. Did someone say excel? I love excel! I could do that class’s work all day long. So yes, Sunday will be studying day, as there will most likely not be any studying done between now and then. I never do anything productive on Friday nights, tomorrow I have GOT to get out for a nice long run, then we have a wedding to attend in the evening. Which is why I’m a little upset at my newly updated numbers for Wednesday (the taco and pie day). I was hoping to save some calories for cake and wine, but it doesn’t look like I did a great job of that.

I have definitely been cheating a lot lately.. Week #2 of my three-week challenge is a bust. As a reminder, here are my rules:

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. Unless I go tonight, this rule = broken
2) An average of 1,800 calories per day, with NO CHEAT DAYS! Right now I’m averaging 1,771… but that wedding on Saturday….. argh….
3) No sugar in my coffee! I've done this before and I will do it again. Oooh, success! No sugar in the coffee is an easy rule.
4) Only one bagel per week. Broken (had one Sunday and one today).
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. Broken, with yesterday’s Dunkin Donuts.
5) Weigh myself only three times, on the day of my long runs (Sat or Sun). Broken, with two weigh-ins this week. Although to be fair, this is really a useless rule in the grand scheme of things. You aren’t going to catch me feeling too guilty about this one.

OK, enough negative talk! Happy talk! I am looking forward to the wedding this weekend (when you take out any thoughts of calories). I will be wearing a dress I wore to a wedding in August that was a bit too snug for my liking but they didn’t have the next size up. Now? A little bit too big, if you ask me! And next Saturday is Straight No Chaser concert. If you haven’t heard of them, LOOK THEM UP! This is the video that made them “famous” (they’re an a cappella group, as much as I love them they aren’t quite mainstream just yet): And this is them now:
They’re a ten-person group that has changed a few members over the past couple of years, but their common link is that they were all a part of the a cappella group by the same name at Indiana University at some point and time. I am slightly obsessed, and am looking forward to my first concert of theirs.

The day after Straight No Chaser I fly home to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. The day after coming back I am going to see Michael Buble in concert. The next Friday is our company Christmas party. And pretty soon after that it will be Christmas! We wanted to fit a day trip to New York City in there, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to find a good weekend for both of us.

 

[Laura F]

Friday:

Breakfast – Tea (not green tea, sorry Lisa!) + everything bagel with butter + fruit. Pineapple makes my mouth burn. But it is oh-so-delicious!
Estimated calories: 500
Lunch – 6” Turkey on wheat from Subway. With light mayo, since I had time to actually look at the options before ordering. That Subway is just about the most awkward place on earth… when you are at what would normally be an appropriate place to give them your order, you are literally in an incredibly tight triangular corner. Normal corner is 90 degrees, this has gotta be like a thirty degree angle. In order to get to this lovely spot, you have to basically suck in your belly and try to squeeze past those people who have already placed their order, and try to avoid touching them in inappropriate ways. Topped it off with a fat free tapioca.
Estimated calories: 430
Snacks – No sugar added hot chocolate
Estimated calories: 60
Dinner – Roast beef sandwich, with pretzel rods and honey mustard sauce. Dessert was a low fat fudgsicle.
Estimated calories: 512
Snack – Dark chocolate instant oatmeal, from bed. I thought about an English muffin with jam... should have gone with that. The oatmeal was INCREDIBLY disappointing!
Estimated calories: 160
Total calories for the day: 1,662


Exercise – Bahh.... None.

 

[xorie]

Hey, I just wanted to pop in and say you're still amazing and an inspiration! I don't have a lot of time, so just remember, YOU ROCK! I'll check back later.

 

[Laura F]

You will not see a proper post for yesterday’s calories. I said no cheat day before Oklahoma but yesterday was a total cheat day. We went to a wedding. In alcohol alone I had to have had more than a thousand calories. 5 glasses of wine, 2 glasses of champagne, and 2 beers. Dinner was prime rib, potatoes, and veggies, plus soup and salad (no bread, because they forgot to bring our table’s out). Appetizers included a few crackers with cheese, a few veggies with dip, a chicken tender, a meatball, a couple of pieces of Italian sausage…. They had GOOD appetizers, nice, simple homestyle cooking, which is perfect for my picky-eater of a boyfriend. He loved those meatballs!

We had SUCH a good time at the wedding! It was one of J’s co-workers, that I’d met a couple of times. Never met the bride before. Sometimes I get uncomfortable in those types of settings, where I don’t know too many people (one of my biggest anxiety problems is social anxiety) but last night was great. We danced the night away, headed back to the hotel to continue spending time with the bride and groom, and ended up crashing in a friend’s hotel room. He had a pull-out couch, which was convenient. I had to sleep in my dress, but at 4:30 in the morning that wasn’t a big concern of mine, haha. Needless to say, today hasn’t been very productive so far. I am about five minutes away from finishing the latest episode of The Biggest Loser, and then I have to get my lazy bum in gear and start studying (mid-term tomorrow!)

I went to the gym yesterday, finally… The last time before that was Wednesday. Did some intervals, topped out at 7.5. Had to cut myself off at 25 minutes, even though I never do less than thirty. I had to get ready for the wedding, and I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to make sure we could leave on time. Thankfully it was a long drive so I had time for my hair to dry!

 

[Laura F]

Ummm, did I legit just weigh myself at 145.6? I believe I did! Even after last night's binge? How is that possible? I am not sure, but I am happy! Sure, it's only a pound lost in like three weeks, but this week has not been the best food-wise or exercise-wise, and my last few weigh-ins were at 148, so I wasn't expecting a loss at all. Exciting!

What is NOT exciting is that I feel very not good right now... I am trying to chug water and get a little more food in my tummy, hoping that will solve the problem quick. The hot shower did NOT help. I had expected to come out fully recharged and instead I laid in bed for what seemed like forever, playing on my phone.

 

[healthyjess]

That's awesome Laura! And well done on getting back to the gym
Hope you feel better soon, there's nothing harder than trying to exercise when you feel lousy...

 

[Laura F]

Sunday:

Breakfast – Medium coffee with milk, and a light multi-grain English muffin with ½ packet of cream cheese
Estimated calories: 235
Lunch – Lean Cuisine, Lemon Chicken
Estimated calories: 260
Snacks – 3 pretzels rods with honey mustard dipping sauce
Estimated calories: 150
Dinner – 2 cups of Healthy Request sirloin burger soup, and a low fat fudgsicle for dessert
Estimated calories: 320
After Dinner Snacks – 5 crackers with 1 slice of American cheese, plus one tortilla chip that boyfriend gave me while he was chomping away. Discovered the two sugar cookies I stole from the wedding, and had a chocolate mint mousse from bed (WHY AM I ALWAYS EATING FROM BED THESE DAYS?!?!)
Estimated calories: 402
Total calories for the day: 1,367

Exercise – None today… didn’t want to push myself at all after having a few too many glasses of wine last night and only sleeping five hours. Mid-term tomorrow night and then I don’t think I will be going to any classes again until the 29th, so I should be able to get a good schedule going VERY soon!

Hey, I just wanted to pop in and say you're still amazing and an inspiration! I don't have a lot of time, so just remember, YOU ROCK! I'll check back later.

Thanks, Xorie! You are always way too nice to me! Thanks for popping in even with the lack of time, I feel special!

That's awesome Laura! And well done on getting back to the gym
Hope you feel better soon, there's nothing harder than trying to exercise when you feel lousy...

Thanks for the sympathy, even though it’s my own darn fault I feel bad today! I don’t go out drinking very often, so when I do I tend to go a little overboard. I’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep tonight! I’m looking forward to getting on a better workout schedule ASAP, I got a little jolt of extra inspiration after the scale today but unfortunately wasn’t feeling up to actually capitalizing on that. But tomorrow is a new day!

 

[Laura F]

Monday:

Breakfast – Grande pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, plus oatmeal
Estimated calories: 440
Lunch – Peanut butter and jam sandwich, 2 pretzel rods, and a mousse for dessert
Estimated calories: 405
Snacks – 2 pretzel rods and lemon herbal tea
Estimated calories: 80
Dinner – Buffalo chicken wrap, with broccolini and a pickle, plus some french fries
Estimated calories: NO CLUE! We'll call it 1,000
Total calories for the day: 1,925

Exercise – A disastrous 25 minutes at the gym... my tummy was a hurtin'

I don't remember which one of you eats the Jell-O 60 calorie mousse, but whoever it was, THANK YOU! I tried the chocolate mint one last night and it was amazing!!

6:30 PM update - Boyfriend just asked me to go with him to my favorite barbecue place for dinner!! They have no nutrition information online and when my first choice is beef brisket and every meal comes with cornbread, you know it's not going to be a good, low calorie dinner. I think I am going to get what I want but make sure to immediately put aside half for my lunch tomorrow. And I will avoid the french fries!

Tuesday update - We didn't eat barbecue, because the place is apparently closed on Mondays. We went somewhere with amazing seasoned french fries and amazing mac and cheese... I opted for the buffalo chicken wrap and mostly just picked out the chicken because it was hard to eat. And I paid $2 to switch the french fries that came with my meal (we got ours as an appetizer) to broccolini instead! So it wasn't all terrible..

 

[chubbygirl]

I don't remember which one of you eats the Jell-O 60 calorie mousse, but whoever it was, THANK YOU! I tried the chocolate mint one last night and it was amazing!!

I always buy the sugar free chocolate jello pudding cups but that chocolate mint mousse one sounds delicious!! I wouldn't be able to stop though and would probably eat all six in one sitting. I have a hard time stopping after one.
The wedding sounded like fun! The scale looks great too!! I hate to be a Debbie Downer but usually my weigh-ins after a night of drinking are good too because I'm so dehydrated - hopefully that wasn't the case and the scale continues to show 145!! Keep it up!!

 

[SoCoSideshow]

There's a sugar-free 10-calorie Jello out there, as well...
I forgot how much I missed Jello until I tried it again!
Sometimes, that's all you need to settle that itch for something sweet.

 

[Laura F]

I always buy the sugar free chocolate jello pudding cups but that chocolate mint mousse one sounds delicious!! I wouldn't be able to stop though and would probably eat all six in one sitting. I have a hard time stopping after one.
The wedding sounded like fun! The scale looks great too!! I hate to be a Debbie Downer but usually my weigh-ins after a night of drinking are good too because I'm so dehydrated - hopefully that wasn't the case and the scale continues to show 145!! Keep it up!!

The choc mint mousse is SOOO good! I usually buy the fat free chocolate pudding to eat at work. I never have more than a couple on hand at the office, and for some reason I don’t ever eat any of that kind of stuff at home. Even those days when I’m scouring the entire kitchen for something good, I never want tapioca or pudding or jello. I just want ice cream or chips! (Nowadays I am settling on low fat fudgsicles and pretzels.) The wedding was so much fun, definitely the most fun one I’ve been to, which is amusing because it’s the first one that wasn’t one of MY friends! Go figure. J’s co-workers are all so great, and the groomsmen were all super friendly and hilarious. And thank you for being the voice of reason on my weigh-in results! (I was back up to 146 point something or another this morning.) I won’t call you a Debbie Downer, that’s what we’re all here for, to learn from others! If I had known that beforehand I wouldn’t have even weighed myself. Even with all the things I liked about the wedding, I did have one big complaint - they did not refill our water ONCE the entire night! I think we were sitting at the reject table, because I saw them refilling others. Sure, I could have gone up to the bar and asked for a water, but I can’t say that thought even crossed my mind once.

There's a sugar-free 10-calorie Jello out there, as well...
I forgot how much I missed Jello until I tried it again!
Sometimes, that's all you need to settle that itch for something sweet.

Yeah, that’s definitely one of those things I never think about buying, but I enjoy it when I do! Thanks for the reminder! I actually have a couple of boxes of sugar free Jello hiding in my pantry that I keep forgetting about. I’m usually all about convenience (ie buying the cups) but I wanted to be able to have a better variety of flavors. Maybe I will make some soon!

 

[thecabbie]

Hi Laura! I saw you in Jess' diary and had to say hi on accounta it says Massachusetts in your header. I live in central mass up near the NH border. Nice to see another bay stater.

 

[Laura F]

Hi Laura! I saw you in Jess' diary and had to say hi on accounta it says Massachusetts in your header. I live in central mass up near the NH border. Nice to see another bay stater.

Well hello there, Cabbie! Thanks for saying hi! I live on the South Shore, just outside of Boston. I'm a transplant, moved out here from the Midwest for college and never looked back. Nice to hear from someone close by, I feel fairly unexciting at times talking to all these people from exciting places overseas, haha.

 

[skinnyhealthy]

Welcome to the forum! I wish you best of luck with your efforts! You can do this if you really put your mind to it...try to truly enjoy running. It will make it a lot easier to do and you will lose weight. Also, try to enjoy eating healthy...I know it is difficult..trust me! I just tend to allow myself small amounts of things like chocolate because otherwise I would go crazy and eat way more if I completely deprived myself. For example, I buy the Special K bars that have chocolate on them. They are only 80 calories and are really good! Or I buy a chocolate bar and eat only a small piece of it once I figure out how many calories it is...this will last me the entire week! Best of luck and I look forward to hearing your success stories!

 

[Laura F]

I just updated my ticker to my actual weight.. after hearing that my "loss" wasn't in SPITE of my binge the night before but actually BECAUSE of it, and also after being honest with myself on what the scale has more frequently read lately, I am back between 147 and 148. But I will NOT let this bring my motivation down, I will NOT see 150 again! No siree!!

 

[Laura F]

Tuesday:

Breakfast – Coffee with skim, and oatmeal
Estimated calories: 140
Lunch – Peanut butter and reduced sugar strawberry jam (my new favorite lunch), with pretzel sticks. Sugar free jell-o for dessert (thanks, SoCo!)
Estimated calories: 385
Snacks – 2 Kudos bars
Estimated calories: 200
Dinner – Ham sandwich, with way too much cheese (I was using up the old stuff) PLUS the guy at the deli gave me a piece of both the ham and the cheese he was slicing for me (not that I was complaining). Added two pretzel rods (also a new favorite) and honey mustard, with a pickle on the side
Estimated calories: 607
Snacks – Coffee with milk (at 9pm, why, Laura, why??? Last time you had late-night coffee all you did was watch the CMAs!)
Estimated calories: 60
Total calories for the day: 1,392

Exercise – None, but planning on an AM trip tomorrow, for the first time in a long time. I need that feeling you get when you’ve done something good with yourself before most people have gotten up.

My new favorites, as mentioned above, are sandwiches made with reduced sugar strawberry “spread” and pretzel rods (basically giant pretzel sticks, 3 is a serving). Also tea, I’m not sure why I never thought to drink tea before, but I am in love with it. Keeps me warm, keeps my tummy feeling full, and work stocks a lot of different kinds so I’m trying them all. I’ve tried cinnamon, mint medley, Darjeeling, green, lemon herbal…..The mint was funny going down but the aftertaste was delightful. Cinnamon was my favorite, no surprise there (I love chai tea!). The others were all good, too.

I felt like I ate plenty today, and under 1,400 calories! I need to eat like this more often. I was feeling guilty about those two Kudos bars, but I’m not planning on eating a dessert tonight, so we’re all good. If we could just keep deli meat around the apartment, that would be key. Something easy for us to eat when neither of us wants to even turn on the oven. Which, to be often, is most nights.

I was definitely feeling down on myself last night… Food-wise and exercise-wise and school-wise…. Probably due to the mid-term I had last night. Didn’t go so well. The class in general isn’t awesome, it’s very interesting but requires so much class participation (it’s 25% of our grade!) Remember my anxiety issues? Specifically social anxiety? Well, that doesn’t help promote good class participation skills. Monday nights for me means 2.5 hours of worrying about being called on, trying to think of something to say, and then not saying the things I think of. Awesome. Anyway, I think that everything just fell apart briefly last night, with the mid-term, plus an hour of stressful class, plus eating out and choosing something smothered in blue cheese dressing, and finally an absolutely terrible trip to the gym. But I gotta just dust myself off, and like I always say (at least to myself)…. “I promise myself to forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.”

 

[Island Girl]

Hey Laura,

Tuesday:

Also tea, I’m not sure why I never thought to drink tea before, but I am in love with it. Keeps me warm, keeps my tummy feeling full, and work stocks a lot of different kinds so I’m trying them all. I’ve tried cinnamon, mint medley, Darjeeling, green, lemon herbal…..The mint was funny going down but the aftertaste was delightful. Cinnamon was my favorite, no surprise there (I love chai tea!). The others were all good, too.

I am also a huge tea fan. If you ever get the chance, you should visit teavana and try some of their teas. They are to die for!!! (don't know if they are located in Mass...i've only been to boston twice :/). But if you like tea, u will love them. Chai is my favourite too but almost all teavana teas are so good you will love them all. Oh glad to see you are enjoying the Jell-o mousse, I usually eat the caramel flavour. Little cups of heaven

anyways i feel you pain about the mid-terms. Right now I am drowning in work for my dissertation, due in a week and I still have so much to do. But keep at it, i love your positive attitude..it's really encouraging .

Btw, both you and lisa have encouraged me to give running a try. I have never run more that 30secs in my life so this is totally new experience for me. I tried it yesterday (running 30sec intervals every so often that is since i can't do anymore ). Since I am now starting out, any tips?

 

[Sunflower2]

You haven't had tea til you've had English tea Mmmmmmm, tea. Love all kinds like you!

 

[Tigpuppy]

I just read thru your diary because I've seen you post on a few other folks' threads and wanted to pop in and say HI! You're so positive about everything and it's very inspiring! I'll definately be stopping in again!

Great job on the weight loss so far!