Wow...I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted.

I had kind of a slow weekend. I think I ran out of steam. I didn't exercise Friday - Monday. However, I have picked it back up this week, working out Tues & Wed. I'll be back on the treadmill tonight. I don't know what it is though. I'm having a tough time with motivation. On the one hand, I've gotten several compliments about my weight loss, and in some ways I can even see it. This does excite me, to be sure. However...I don't know. I just don't like exercising, which makes it though for me. I haven't found a routine that is fun. I like dancing, but I can't really take dance classes at home b/c my schedule is all over the place. I wonder if I can find one to take during the last 3 months that I'm traveling. Also, maybe I'll check out the video store and see if there are some exercise tapes that interest me. I do like aerobics.

Anyway, I've maintained my eating and lost 2 lbs. I'm at 190lbs now. I'm not sure if I'll make 8lbs in 3 weeks, given how I'm struggling now. However, I'll keep trying. Something will be better than nothing. I'll let you know what happens.

Wow...I didn't realize how long it had been since I had posted.

I had kind of a slow weekend. I think I ran out of steam. I didn't exercise Friday - Monday. However, I have picked it back up this week, working out Tues & Wed. I'll be back on the treadmill tonight. I don't know what it is though. I'm having a tough time with motivation. On the one hand, I've gotten several compliments about my weight loss, and in some ways I can even see it. This does excite me, to be sure. However...I don't know. I just don't like exercising, which makes it though for me. I haven't found a routine that is fun. I like dancing, but I can't really take dance classes at home b/c my schedule is all over the place. I wonder if I can find one to take during the last 3 months that I'm traveling. Also, maybe I'll check out the video store and see if there are some exercise tapes that interest me. I do like aerobics.

Anyway, I've maintained my eating and lost 2 lbs. I'm at 190lbs now. I'm not sure if I'll make 8lbs in 3 weeks, given how I'm struggling now. However, I'll keep trying. Something will be better than nothing. I'll let you know what happens.

I cooked again!!!!! Ok, this time I went back to the shrimp. That worked out well for me in the past, and generally shrimp is one of my favorite foods. This time I used a little salt, pepper, and tereyaki sauce. I just quickly cooked it up on the stove with more forzen brocolli. I chopped up a small red potato and steamed it in the microwave. Overall, I was very happy with my meal. Now the potato was a little chewy, which I like, but someone else might not have cared for. Overall it was more than decent.

Also, I get a day off of exercising today. Since I'm flying home, then I won't have the time, so today is my break. I'll exercise on Sunday instead. I am so glad for the break, honestly. Last night I really didn't want to work out. I wanted to sleep and watch tv. I forced myself to go through with my strength training exercises, but it was pretty brutal. Tomorrow morning I'll run again, and Sunday I'll be back to strength training. Monday, will be my bext weigh in. I will be nearly half way through my one month count down. Technically its about 5 weeks, but 2 weeks in is a good time for a status report. Hopefully we'll be some where in the 180s. I don't like to be optomistic, but I'd hope that I've lost at least 3 lbs. We'll see!

So last night I attempted to cook a beautifual piece of red snapper...and I absolutely RUINED it! Folks, it was truly tragic. I marinaded it in this lemon pepper seafood marinade, as planned. Then I realized that I didn't have any aluminum foil to cover it with in the oven, although I suppose that I could have broiled it uncovered. Anyway, I tried to sautee it on the stove. Bad idea. My burner was waaaay to hot. It overcooked on the outside while still remaining raw on the inside. I reduced the heat to allow it time to cook within, but I fear that it was already to late. By the time that I pulled it off, it was very tough and generally tasted bad. I ended up trashing it. At the end, I just ate a combination of the steamed corn that I was going to pair with the fish and the rainbow sherbert that I wanted for dessert. Yum Yum!

Running is getting easier! I went home last night and forced myself to work out. I didn't get in until well after nine, so I definitely would have liked to lie down. However I am so pleased about some of the positive changes that I've seen in myself that I don't want to lose any ground now. So I went down to the gym for my 2 mile run/walk. I am so happy that the running segments are getting easier. I was able to push myself through me 4 - 3 min intervals (just over a mile total), and I was able to breathe better. I had much more even breaths, and I was breathing in and out through my nose, rather than gasping through my mouth. YAY ME! Now I think that I want to hold it here for a while. I know that the goal is to keep pushing yourself, but I want to just enjoy this for a little while. Eventually I will step it up b/c I'd like to be able to just run for an extended period of time, and I don't want to hit a plateau. However this is really good for now.

As for cooking, I was way to tired to cook last night, but tonight I will prepare my salmon. I have a marinade that I'm going to use, so hopefully it'll come out great!

Ok, so I made my first meal, and I think that it came out quite well. I did a stir-fry shrimp of sorts. I combined sliced red and yellow bell peppers, and frozen brocolli in a skillet with my shrimp. I added in a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and sauteed the mix for about 15 minutes. Then I mixed in about three tablespoons of the stir-fry sauce that I picked up for the last five minutes. I cooked it until the shrimp were finished and the veggies were tender. Finally I just poured the mixture over steamed white rice. It was pretty decent. I really liked how it turned out. I think that I can improve it by choosing a different combination of frozen veggies. By selecting one with carrots, snow peas, pea pods, etc. it might be a more authentic stir fry mix. However, I had to start somewhere, so cheers for me.

I've also done a good job by sticking to my workouts. I have strength training left to do tomorrow, and Sunday should be my day off. However, if possible, then I'm going to try and go hiking rather than taking Sunday off. I rode the exercise bike today for 30 mins, but I hardly broke a sweat. I don't really feel like I got a very good work out at all. If I can exercise on Sunday, then I'll go for it and just take off a different day later in the week. If not, it's all good anyway.

P.S. I found out that my home scale is the accurate weight. When I went to my parent's home this weekend, I bit the bullet and hopped on their scale. It doesn't require any manual efforts. You just look down and check out the reading. Low and behold it was at 191 or 192 (the display was tiny). Either way it was clearly well below 195, so hooray...the doctor's scale was wrong!

Aaaaand They're Off!

So I weighed myself at the home gym on Monday, and I was still at 192 lbs. This is where I'm setting my benchmark, and I'll aim to be 182 lbs, by this time next month. I think that I'm off to a good start. I successfully worked out the last two evenings, and I'm planning on hitting the treadmill again this evening. I pushed my running up to 3 min/quarter mile segments. I have to admit that it was really tough on Monday. I had such a hard time breathing evenly. Hopefully this evening will be easier. I am also mixing up my strength training work out. Yesterday I added in some new moves, but I think that I need to do a better job of stretching before hand. The work out is pretty leg intensive, and I started to cramp up about 3/4 of the way through. My biggest challenge was finding weights to use during the workout. I really like that I can do the strength exercises right in my living room. For some reason it seems a lot more convenient and the time passes quicker. However, the gym has weights, which are necessary for some of the exercises that I want to do. Last night I used canned foods, but it the future I may just have to bite the bullet and head to the gym.

As for food, I am also off to a great start. I picked up lots of healthy options at the grocery store. I got fresh chicken, catfish, orange roughy, snapper, and shrimp. I also got a variety of marinades and seasonings to use. Additionally, I picked up cereal, turkey, and tuna so that I can make quick meals on the days that I don't feel like cooking. Where I really seem to struggle is with snacking, though. This week I got lots of low calorie/low fat snacks for home and work. 100 Calorie pack, Fat Free/Calorie Free Instant Pudding/Rainbow Sherbert/Rice cakes. I think that I should be able to enjoy after lunch and after dinner snacks w/o having to feel too guilty. Yay for me! I'll let you know when I create my 1st tasty meal.

10lb count down.

Ok, today I'm beginning my 10lb count down. That is, I'm aiming to lose 10lbs by the time that my conscience returns from London - 4 or 5 weeks from now. I'll do a weigh in after my work out this evening. Note, it'll be on my home-gym scale, so who knows if it's right. However, it'll give us a bench mark, so that's what's important. I'm going to re-focus myself on completeing 6 workouts/week alternating between cardio and strength training. Right now, I can comfortably run 5 two-minute intervals on the treadmill. This is just under a mile of running. When I add in the 5 two-minute intervals of speed walking as well as the 2 five minute warm ups/cool downs then I'm at just under 2 miles. I am planning on taking it up to 4 three-minute intervals this evening. I've found that it takes me just about 3 minutes to run a quarter mile, so this should put me at a solid mile of running. Also, I am looking to step up my strength training. I have got some new moves, that I'm planning to incorporate. I think that this will help me to get more out of those sessions. Gotta get that metabolism up!

As for the cooking, I'm probably going to start on my 3 dishes later this week or early next week. I'll still be eating healthy, but I haven't decided what I'm going to try yet. For this week, it'll probably just be salads and whole-grain cereal for dinner. Ahhh, the life of a bachelorette ;-)

Next Steps

Ok, I kinda fell off the wagon this weekend. We had a 4 day weekend at work, and while I continued to watch my eating, I really only exercised once. Bad Lesley! This week I need to re-focus myself and get it together.

Also, I found out that my conscience is probably going to be leaving next week to go to Europe for a month. At first I felt discouraged. I mean, I think I have will power, but having someone there to eat healthy and excercise with you makes a whole world of difference. Even when I really really really want to go off my diet (like having popcorn or candy at the movies) I stick to it b/c he encourages me to do so. I felt like I'd never be able to stay on track with him gone. At the very least, I'd want to eat as comfort food to make up for his absence. However, I decided to re-focus myself and take a different approach to the situation. I haven't really been able to tell if I look very different since I began losing weight b/c I see myself everyday. This is a perfect opportunity to get some real feedback on if my appearance is actually changing. I am challenging myself to loose 10lbs from the time that he leaves until the time that he returns. This will keep me on track and motivated during his abscence as well as allow me to get an honest opinion regarding my appearance. Additionally, I am aiming to master three home cooked meals. As many of you know, I am nooo chef. Anything out of the box or w/directions is my friend. However, I'm going to try personalize three healthy meals to show off when he returns. I know three isn't alot, but I most likely won't cook EVERY day. Plus I'll need to do the recepies a couple of times to get them right. I'll let you know what I come up with.

The Results...

So I went to the doctor's office as planned and hopped on the scale to be weighed. I watched the nurse move the weights back and forth until the scale finally balanced out around 197 lbs. WHAT!!!! I was shocked and horrified. After she left, I hopped back on the scale to re-weigh myself b/c I was sooooo sure that she had done it wrong. I made sure that the scale balanced 1st and then took painstaking measures to be sure that I got the exact weight...196lbs. I was so hurt :-(. I acknowledged that I might not have been perfect in calculating my original weight, but secretly I believed that I had been. As I sat in the exam room awaiting the arrival of the doctor (weighting is always fun!), I sent my conscience a sulky text message with the results. Ever the thinker he suggested that I go back to my original scale and re-weigh myself there. So, I rushed home and hopped back on the scale at my gym. I took my time to get the correct reading...192lbs. Down 1 pound from the last reading! The question still remains, 'Which scale is correct?' However, either way...I lost one more pound from before, so YAY ME!

Eeek! I have to get weighed today.

I was all set to eat right and exercise for the next two weeks. After that, I was going to bite the bullet and hop on the scale. I was feeling very comfortable with that game plan. Then I realized that when I go to the doctor today, they are going to ask to weigh me. Oh my! What if the number is greater?!?!? I'm incredibly paranoid that I didn't do it correctly in the 1st place, so I am dreading getting a 're-test'. Ugh! Ok, I've got to calm myself. There isn't anything that I can do about it. I've been eating well and exercising regularly. Just yesterday I wowed myself by running a mile and walking 2 more miles. I'm sure that it will be fine, and if the number isn't one that I like then I'll just have to re-evaluate my work outs and meals and try harder. Whew!

Speaking of re-evaluating my work outs, I think its time to step my game up on my strength training exercises. They say that if you are lifting weights you should be using the # of pounds that make you feel like you couldn't possibly do one more at the end of your set. I don't really feel like that right now. Of course, I want to stop. However, I feel like I could do another squat or lunge if I had to. Today I'm going to revisit some of my workouts from the Essence magazines and try to incorporate some more challenging moves. I don't want to exhaust myself with every single work out, but I do want to feel like I pushed my body and accomplished something. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Ok, its been nearly a week and not much excitement has taken place. I've been doing a good job of sticking to my diet, but I only worked out 4 times last week. While I am proud of that small number, I don't want to get complacent. I need to keep pushing myself to get up to the 6 times per week that I am aiming for. I guess the most difficult part about exercise is that I never have days that I am not scheduled to work out. Typically, if I don't work out it is because I don't have the time, energy, or motivation to do so. When I miss a scheduled work out b/c of this, then I typically aim to excercise on my 'off' day as a make up. This repeats week after week, so while there are days that I don't work out, it is usually just b/c I couldn't push myself to do so. The real negative about this is that every day that I don't work out feels like a day that I've failed, rather than a well deserved rest. I don't really know what the solution to this is. I'm not willing to sacrafice my goal of 6 days per week yet. That is the easy route, and I don't want to start making these sorts of allowances so early in the game. If I don't push myself now, then I'll quickly fall back into my old habits and end up right back where I started. I guess I'll just have to work harder to stick to my schedule, so I can feel good about my days w/o a workout. Also, I might want to look for some excercises that are more fun and desirable to do. I might not have to worry about the motivation part if I'm preparing to do an activity that I enjoy. Maybe I'll look into checking out some fitness videos from the library.

Other than that, all is well. I think that I can see a difference in how my clothes fit. I'm going to work on myself for about 2 more weeks b4 I head for the next weigh in. Hopefully, I'll be progressing along nicely!

Don't deny yourself...these are the words that virtually every dieting expert utters, but what the hell do they truly mean? Either something is good for you, and you should have it, or it's bad for you, and you should avoid it.

Today my job had an ice cream social. I went and stayed as far away from the ice cream is possible; just like I avoid the brownies at our afternoon team meetings and the kolaches (butter rolls filled w/bacon, egg, and cheese or some other combination) at our morning team meetings. I socialized and interacted with co-workers, but I was dying to have some ice cream. I kept thinking of that phrase, which I've read in nearly every health & fitness mag. Don't deny yourself. I understand the theory. If you really want something then go ahead and have just a little. Don't binge, but also don't make yourself miserable trying to cut out all of your favorites forever. However, how much is really enough versus too much? I mean, whether you want/love something or not, you're still consuming the calories and grams of fat that you're supposed to be trying to avoid. You need to get enough to feel satisfied that you did in fact have the treat that you desired. Yet that much may still be a poor dieting decision. Where do the boundaries lie?

In the end, I asked the vendor to give me a smidgent of Banana Pudding flavor. Trust me, it was indeed a smidgent. We're talking 2 tablespoons max. I guess that was ok. I mean, I got to taste it, which is what I really wanted. Yet, I didn't really get to enjoy it, and what's the point of extra calories if you can't even enjoy it?

The rules need to be more defined. At what point in your weightloss process are you allowed to 'stop denying yourself'? Is it when you've reached your goal weight? Is it when you've grown truly accustomed to making good food choices and exercising? 6 months? And then once you are allowed to re-integrate these things, to what extend should you do this? One splurge a every 2 weeks? Every month? What?

I honestly don't know. I guess I'll go home content with what I did have today. I'm proud that I didn't break down and get the 2 scoops (1 Banana Pudding, 1 Strawberry) that I wanted. Yet, I'm glad that I didn't completely avoid it, like a weirdo (again, I'm trying not to be obsessed). Tonight, I'm cooking chicken and brocolli w/black beans and rice (if I don't get too lazy or run out of pots). I think its best to just banish the ice cream to back of my mind.

Dieting makes you paranoid.

Its true. When you're not watching what you eat, then you don't even think twice about what you select off the menu. You select what you want, and if it happens to be healthy, then HEY pat yourself on the back. You lucked up. However, when you are watching what you eat, then you try your best to select the healthiest option and then obsess over whether or not your choice was healthy enough. It turns you into a crazy person, even when you don't want to be one.

Today I went to Schlotzshy's Deli. I figured that a nice Turkey Sandwich would be good. It came with Pastrami on it, but I asked them to hold that as well as the onions and tomatoes. This left me with sliced turkey breast w/mayo, cheese, lettuce and olives. I selected the Baked Lays as my chips (only 1.5 grams of fat and under 150 calories/bag) and water as my beverage. I thought I was doing pretty good. However, as I began to eat it, I started wondering why I hadn't asked them to hold the cheese and substitute Fat Free Ranch for the mayo. On top of the the bread seemed a little buttery to me. Suddenly my reasonable lunch felt laden with fat. I'm opting to skip my afternoon snack feeling that I've already had quite enough until dinner.

This can not be normal folks. It works the same way with exercising. If you aren't in the habit of working out, and you make it to the gym 2 days out of the week, then you celebrate your efforts. However, if you work out 5 days out of the week, then you kick yourself for missing the 6th day. I see how young girls fall into eating disorders so easily. Its like, the harder that you work at this, the more you doubt yourself or question the effectiveness of your efforts. For instance, one of my skinny co-workers (the one who feels guilty about eating large salads) has been on a liquid diet for the last 2 weeks, drinking only slim fast for lunch. FOR WHAT!?!?! The girl is beautiful, maybe as size 2 or 4 at the most. I can understand eating well and exercising regularly for health reasons, which is what she was doing when we 1st started working together, but dieting to the point that you are basically starving yourself is maddness. Absolute maddness!

I'm trying hard to fight it and just celebrate how well I have done so far. However, it truly is difficult. Now that I've lost weight, I feel the need to try even harder b/c I'm afraid of either gaining it back or be less successful with losing this coming weigh in. Its like, I'm afraid I'll let my game slip, so I constantly feel the need to try harder and harder. Ugh!

Anywho, now that I've finished my little rant. I ran on the lake front on Saturday (moderate walk for 5 mins, speed walk for 1 min, run for 1 min. Alternating speed walking and running for 15 mins, moderate walk for 5 mins - really 10-15 mins b/c I had to make it back to the car) and did strength training exercises on Sunday. Today I'm planning to hit the eliptical machine for 30 mins and go grocery shopping for healthy dinners for the week. I'm looking forward to it, and I'll let you know what fun foods I make.

Finally did the weigh in:

Last night I went down to my apartment complex's gym for my standard 30 mins on the eliptical machine. While I was there I noticed that we had an old fashioned scale. You know, like the ones at the doctor's office where you have to slide the weights down until it balances. Yeah, that one. I was kind disappointed b/c I wanted to use a digital scale, so that I could be 100% sure of the reading. However, as luck would have it, this was all there was. So I completed my workout and went over to face my destiny. I climbed on (barefoot of course), and began to move the 50lb bar. 1st I moved it to 200lbs, and guess what? The bar dropped like a rock. YAY!! I wasn't 200lbs any more. Next I moved it to 150lbs, and I moved to 1lb bar to 50. Still too heavy!. I slowly began to inch back the 1lb bar, and it finally balanced at 43lbs. You do the math folks, 150lbs plus 43lbs is 193lbs. Yay, that's about a 7 lb loss. Now to be fair, I had been making little changes in my eating habits before I committed to doing better 3 weeks ago, so I could have loss a pound or two before I really began my lifestyle change. Either way, I'm estatic!

This was just the motivation that I needed to keep going. Tomorrow I'm going to go running by the lake, and Sunday I'll do my strength training. Next week I should have plenty of free time to exercise everyday, and I'm even going to start trying to cook a few healthy meals (I usually just eat out when I'm traveling). I'm so glad.

Now the question is...do I feel thinner? I don't know. I look at myself everyday, so I can't so much see a change. Some of my clothes (the 2 pairs of pants that had pushed me into size 16) are hanging loose, but then again clothes always loosen up over time. I'll have to keep monitoring it and see what people who haven't seen me for awhile say. Regardless, the scale doesn't lie, so I'm just going to keep pushing on and looking forward to even better things in the future!

Well folks, not much to report today.

This week I tried a new cardio activity...running. Now most who know me are aware that I'm not a runner. In fact I really have no desire to be a runner. However, it does burn calories, and it doesn't require me to get my hair wet (swimming), have a partner (tennis), or a facility/equipment (raquetball). Plus, since I find it torturous, then I'm oddly proud of myself for having endured it afterwards. My conscience (read: boyfriend) and I get out on the track to complete a 3 mile loop. I start out warning him that this is gonna be tough for me (I haven't run for exercise since early in my college career), and I'll probably need to stop about half way through. We start out by walking for a full mile. Then he points down to a mile marker on the ground and informs me that we're gonna run to the next one, a quarter of a mile down. We take off, and I am genuinely surprised at how difficult I am finding this. I can't get my breathing right. I instantly feel exhausted, and I am about as slow as a turtle. My conscience, the picture of perfect health - probably less that 5% body fat, is cruising along and getting increasingly farther ahead of me. So feeling like crap about myself I decide to stop about half way there and walk. Of course this only makes me feel even more crappy for giving up, which is then multiplied when my conscience looks back and gives me a look of mega yet genuine disappointment. So I catch up to him and explain my breathing trouble. He gives me some breathing techniques, but I'm pissed and he's pissed, and now we're just walking in silence. About another 1/2 miles down the road we decide to try it again...well really he give me a look that says "If you really want to prove yourself wrong and show that you can do this, then here's your chance. What are you gonna do?" I take off again, this time w/him running/walking behind me, and I find that I've got a better grasp on my breathing. I keep pushing myself, desparately searching for the next 1/4 mile marker until finally I reach it. YAY!!! We walk another quarter mile and he decides to run ahead to the car and back (about 3/4 mile). I successfully run the next quarter of a mile and walk the last 1/2 mile back to the car. Overall I have a loooooooooong way to go physically. I definitely have to get in better shape so that I'm faster and have more endurance. However, I still felt good about what I'd done, and I was pleased with completing the 3 miles no matter how I got there. I think I'll try it again this weekend.

As for weighing in, I did attempt to take my weight after my run. To my dismay, or maybe relief, there was no scale in the gym that I use. However, today I am going to a different gym where I believe that there are two scales. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have something to report.

Ok, ok, ok...I know that I said that I was gonna weigh in, and I fully intended to when I went to work out this weekend. The problem is that I didn't work out this weekend. I used sickness as an excuse, but that was only part of the problem. The other part, is just that I simply didn't plan my exercise time. I assumed that I'd have downtime in my weekend, and then I'd just use that time to work out. However, if you make a habit of scheduling your workout after everything else in your day, then it will quickly get overlooked. Your schedule gets booked, and pretty soon you're just aiming to double up the next day. So no work out Fri - Sun. I did work out yesterday, but I didn't use the gym b/c all the machines were taken. Instead I did my strength training exercises upstairs. Today, available machines or not, I will get on the scale.

The good news is that I did continue my healthy eating. I stuck with the wise options and I avoided the snacks, which was particularly hard when a co-worker brought brownie's and blondie's to our team meeting. My conscience says that things will get easier as I become more and more adjusted to my new menu. I certainly hope so b/c right now I am definitely struggling. We'll see.

Week 2 update.

So here I am about half way through week two (its really over on Sunday), and I think that I've done a pretty good job. I've definitely been eating differently and exercising nearly everyday. For the days that I haven't exercised, I've doubled up the work out the following day to equal to six workouts (six days) per week. I still feel like a recovering drug addict. Two weeks is hardly out of the woods, and everyday I have the desire to get a McDonald's breakfast or fried shrimp for lunch. Yet, I have to celebrate a little for sticking with it thus far. I also have my conscience (read: boyfriend) raising an eyebrow at me if I reach for the slightest indulgence (like an extra packet of cream for my coffee, 2g of fat & 40 calories each, or a cherry flavored ricola).

The biggest question is...what is my current weight? Honestly, I'm a little scared to hop on the scale. I mean what if it doesn't show any decrease? Two weeks really isn't much time. What if I underestimated my original weight so that while I may have lost weight I'm only down to the 200lbs that I thought I was starting at, or worse 200lbs +? I guess, I'll have to do it at some point, but I'm definitely dreading it. I kinda wanna just go on feeling good about myself and wait for my clothes to get thinner. I guess if I don't weigh in, though, I'll never know if my program is working or not, and I'll never get to celebrate. Le sigh. Ok, this Sunday, at the end of my 2 weeks, I will hop on the scale and come back with a number to report. Wish me luck.

Skinny chicks really are evil.

So today, I'm heading back from picking up my usually breakfast yougurt parfait, and I see a co-worker come in to the shop to order the same thing. I decide to stop and wait for her, and I see that she orders plain yougurt w/honey and just a little bit of granola. This of course makes me think twice about my peach yougurt, also w/honey, but then filled to the brim w/strawberries, pinapples, granola, and bananas. I mean there is a special kind of disdain for someone who can make you feel guilty about your 'healthy' eating choice. Another one of my co-workers, skinny chick, is also trying to lose weight. She can't possibly be more tha 110lbs dripping wet, but she isn't very curvy (read: no booty). I'm thinking that she wants to lose inches in her waist in order to have more of an hour glass figure. Either way, she orders a grilled salmon salad for lunch and complains that it was too big. Now she's going to have to cut back on dinner and put in a few extra minutes on the treadmill. WHAT!?!?! I'm looking at my salad thinking "I really should get a fruit cup or something with this b/c I'ma be starving by dinner." I just keep hearing Monique screaming "Skinny b!t@hes are evil!!!". You just can't keep up with them. Anyway, I'm not going to worry myself over it. Starving myself has never been the goal, and I'd rather be fat than on the East African diet plan. I'ma just keeping doing what I'm doing, which is a huge improvement from what I was doing. However, the next time that you see a skinny chick order a half a chicken wing...just knock her on the head for me ;-)

1st Things 1st: The Goals and The Plan

So I bet that most of you are wondering what my specific intentions are and exactly how I plan to accomplish them. So am I. No, no no, I'm just kidding. Of course I have goals and a plan in mind.

To begin with I am looking to lose 25lbs. According to what doctors say is a healthy weight for my age and height, 175lbs is the max that I should weigh. So to begin with, I'm setting this as my current target weight. Now what does 25lbs really coorespond to? This I do not know. They say that 10lbs is a dress size, which would put me into a size 9/10. I'm not so sure that this is right, but since 175 this is a healthy weight, then this is what I'm going to aim for. From there, I'll take a look at the physical appearance and decide if a new weight loss goal needs to be set, or if I just want to work to maintain the current weight.

I think that the 1st step to good health is a regular exercise program. Currently (for the past week - its still early folks) I've been working out 6 days a week for about 30 mins. This is what I am hoping to maintain until I can tell if any adjustments need to be made. I alternate cardio and strength training each day using a set of 10 strength exercises that I found in Fitness Magazine and an eliptical machine or treadmill. After a month I plan to re-assess and decide if I need to switch strength exercises, increase the amount of cardio, or maintain the same program. While I am out of town, I have ample access to a cardio studio. However, when I return home, then I will need to join a gym inorder to maintain this phase of my workout. I am excited about this, though, because it will open up a whole new set of cardio options like aerobics, pilates, dance, raquetball, and water aerobics.

Now for the dietary changes, the part we love to hate. Essentially I am setting aside the following: fried foods, red meat, sweets, foods w/heavy sauces & grease, refined flour (mostly, non-whole wheat breads and pasta), pop, and most alcohol (I think everyone deserves 1 drink/week). It sounds restrictive, but its not. It sounds permanent, but its not. I've found that there are quite a few food choices outside of this list, and once I have reached my weightloss goals and truly gotten in the habit of making healthy food choices, then I allow myself to indulge in small amounts (1/month for example). For right now, a typical day's meals would be the following: Breakfast - fruit and yougurt parfait w/glass of Cranberry juice (100% juice if possible); Lunch - grilled chicken sandwich w/veggies; Afternoon Snack - 100 calorie pack; Dinner - grilled salmon salad. Plus lots and lots of water. Of course it's not the same combo everyday, but you get the picture.

So there you have it folks. There's the plan. I'm going to push forward this week, and hopefully I'll be a pound or two lighter or an inch or to smaller next week.