Shedding the PoundsThree friends on a path to lose weight!

We had the extreme weight loss challenge weigh in tonight.  I am at 293, which is down 17 pounds from the start of the challenge and 29 pounds total.  Almost 30 pounds, yay!!  It seems like it’s coming off really slowly though.  I kept a food journal for the past two weeks.  There were a couple of days when I didn’t even reach 900 calories, and I’m supposed to have 15oo to 1700 cals.  oops.  It’s harder than it sounds.  And yet there are days when I want to eat everything in sight.  Ugh.  Why wasn’t I blessed with a high metabolism?  Oh well, I’ll get there eventually, and then I can eat chocolate cake, right Amanda?  Lol!

On Sunday I really fell off the wagon and ate way too much. But I am back on track now and I’ve lost two more pounds! I just bought a new book called You On a Diet by Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz and I’m loving it so far! It explains so much about our bodies and nutrition that I didn’t know before! I love how it explains everything so it’s easy to understand and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Hopefully it will give me more motivation to cut out a lot of unhealthy foods that I’m still eating.

Our weigh-in for the EWLS is tomorrow and I know I haven’t lost a lot of pounds these past few weeks but I know I’ve lost a few and I think it’s better than gaining. So even though I initially might feel disappointed I have to just tell myself that at least I lost some and I didn’t gain all of this weight over night, so I can’t expect lose it that fast either.

Sorry I haven’t updated!!!  I had plateaued and was depressed about updating about gaining weight. So, the 2 days before weigh-in, I ate only chef salads for lunch and supper.  I was down 6 pounds for the 2 weeks!  So 14 pounds total.  Today when I weighed I had lost another pound, so I am at 295 now.  Yay!!  It’s been a struggle tho, especially when I am around my friends.  They are all eating normal, and I am eating low-fat, low-calorie.  Sometimes I cheat of course, then I feel guilty.  I have come to realize that in order to lose weight, you have to change your diet and exercise.  That was one of my biggest drawbacks when I’ve tried losing weight in the past.  I would try to diet, but not exercise.  Or I would exercise, but still eat unhealthy foods.  You have to do both.  People who notice my weight loss as me if I’m on a diet.  I respond that no, I’m on a lifestyle change.  And that’s what it has to be.  I can’t go back to eating all those refined carbs.  I was eating over 2,000 calories everyday and some days it would be over 3,000.  The average active female needs between 1500 and 1700 calories to be healthy.  Even after I reach my target weight of 160 (and I will get there!) I need to continue watching my calories and exercising.  I have been doing really well on not drinking pop.  Water all the way baby!  Although today I got green tea to change things up a bit.  It was okay, but I had to add Truvia to sweeten it up a bit.  Amanda mentioned humus, so this will be my new food of the day.  (Imagine announcer’s voice)  Truvia, all-natural sweetener made from the leaves of the stevia plant.  Calorie free.  And even safe for diabetics!  Yummy.  I actually like it better than sugar.  I think it’s sweeter too.

Current weight- 295 pounds

We had our weigh-in last night for the Extreme Weightloss Challenge and I went down 3.5lbs since the last weigh-in! It makes me feel motivated knowing I can do this and the pounds are coming off. Our trainer suggested we do some interval training to help our metabolism so our bodies don’t get used to the same old workout. So today Amber and I did the treadmill for 40 minutes and every 5 minutes we sped up and jogged for almost a minute. It felt great and made the time seem to go faster!

I’ve also discovered a new food that I absolutely love…Hummus! Oh my gosh it’s so yummy! I took some over to Amber’s last night and shared some and we were eating them with cherry tomatoes and it was so delicious! Today I made a chicken wrap using a garden spinach tortilla, strips of chicken breast, lettuce, cucumbers, red onions, 2 tbsp of hummus, and a few tomato slices and it was yummy!

I’ve gotten off track a bit lately but I’m determined to keep going. One of my biggest problems is eating fast food after school on my way home. Usually by the time I get out of school and get to my car it’s around 4pm and if I have to run errands before I head home I end up not leaving the city until almost five. By that time I’m very hungry and know that as soon as I get home I’m going to the gym so I grab some food from BK or McDonald’s for supper. But in the past week and a half I have kept myself from stopping and just having a quick granola bar or banana to tide me over until I have supper after my workout.

I’ve also been making a meal plan and the first week I did okay with it, but a few days didn’t eat what I had planned. I haven’t created the meal plan yet for this week, but I will be doing that today.

Today I had a bowl of cheerios w/milk before I left for school and mid-morning I ate a fiber one granola bar. At lunchtime I only had ten minutes until my next class, but I went to the cafeteria and had a salad with lettuce, spinach, black olives, and a little bit of ranch dressing. So far I feel great, but I did just eat a piece of beef jerky and I don’t plan on eating that anymore because it has too much salt. I’m planning on stopping at Walmart before I head home to pick up some almonds, fruits & veggies, and a few other things for this week’s meals.

The thing that I struggle with the most is coming up with things to make. I’m a very picky eater and don’t eat very much meat, so I’m limited in my choices. So far this week I’ve had a Tilapia filet w/green beans and tonight I’m making a chicken breast w/steamed broccoli. But I’m stumped as to what else to make this week. Usually I would eat a lot of tacos, enchiladas, and french dip. I need to find more things to eat so I don’t eat the same thing all the time and I need healthier meals.