First Goal Within Reach!!

Hi all!

I was able to go to my TOPS meeting this week!! I had to skip last week because I was blessed with a week-long migraine.  Yikes.  It knocked me on my bum.  I couldn't even exercise this week, which stinks, I like exercising and, even though its tough to get down there sometimes, I always feel more confident after.  Last Tuesday, I jogged home from class.  It is about 2 miles, and I wasn't very fast, but I jogged almost the entire way.  That afternoon the migraine hit, and stayed until last night.  I tried to run earlier in the week, but I only made it for six minutes before I had to stop.  Migraines do not like exercise.  But I am feeling better, it's down to just a normal headache now, and seems to be on the way out (which is great, because the conference I'm going to is tomorrow through Saturday).

So, last meeting, I was up- 1.4 pounds to be exact.  I missed last weigh-in, and today I'm down 4.4 pounds.  That's down to 204 for a total loss of 21 pounds so far!! I have six weeks until our lease is up, which is my goal date to be under 200.  Four pounds in six weeks is totally do-able!  I just have to keep behaving!

You all know I go to TOPS meetings, and I love them.  They are awesome.  The support, friendship, and fellowship really helps with weight loss.  I can't believe how much I like going to meetings.  Those of you who know me, know I am usually uncomfortable with that kind of thing, but it's one of the best decisions I've ever made (also one that took me the longest time to make).  Anyway, TOPS has little prizes for motivation, and they really do help.  I've won three months of dues paid, three certificates, and today I won my bracelet!  You get one after you've lost 10 pounds with TOPS.  I've lost 15 with TOPS to date.  Here's my bracelet:

Its plain, and will get filled up with charms as I win them, but I love it!  It is a small, simple reminder of how far I've come and how much farther I have to go.  I'm hoping it will keep me from overeating, or from getting lazy when I don't want to get my run on.

This past week, Tim and I have been grilling a lot.  We love cooking on the grill, and have made brats a few nights, some steak, and chicken.  We also tried a new version of spaghetti last night, and it turned out good!  We took a page from our work, and sautéed some veggies to go along with the sauce.  We have also tried ground turkey in the spaghetti sauce in the past, but it wasn't quite right.  This time, we blended plain ground turkey and some spicy Italian turkey sausage for our meat sauce, and it was perfect!  It doesn't come out as greasy as ground beef and it has a better flavor, so now we have a go-to spaghetti sauce (its also what Tim used for lasagna last week).  I also came up with an idea for dinner earlier in the week, that turned out pretty well.  We buy our meat in bulk from Costco, so we have a ton of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer.  We had an extra packet of Shake 'n' Bake in the pantry, so I cut up the thighs and tossed them in the mix.  They turned out like chicken nuggets, but way better for you.  (I know Shake 'n' Bake probably isn't the best thing for you, but hey, baby steps!)  We had some extra calories for dinner, so we also made french fries in the oven, and had some broccoli as well:

The picture isn't great, but the nuggets were tasty!  That dinner was about 650 calories.  We didn't use any oil or anything with the fries or nuggets, and we only used about 1/2 tbsp of butter to sautee the broccoli.

I'm getting really excited with my progress, and I feel like my motivation is coming back.  As long as my headaches stay under control, I can keep up with the exercising.  

I really like how much we've changed since we started eating healthier.  I've been able to cut back on logging my food everyday, because our eating habits are changed.  We don't mindlessly eat like we used to.  I have also learned a lot about calories, serving sizes, and nutrition, so I know before logging if we've gone over or under for the day.  We've been drinking much more water than before, and are buying a lot less pop, and almost no junk food.  Our biggest weaknesses are still pizza, chipotle, and tortilla chips with guacamole.  But, I'm not ready to give those up yet.  

We-- well I-- have made us get healthier in other parts of our lives as well.  I forced both of us to go to the Dentist this week, and we are heading to the Eye Doctor this afternoon.  I'm getting us both healthy and feeling better.  We hadn't been in so long because of not having insurance.  Now, we both have it, and I made appointments (and forced Tim to go).  He wasn't too happy about it.  But our teeth look awesome, and we are going to be able to see so many things after the Eye Doctor!! We do have to get our wisdom teeth out next month, so if anyone has any tips about that surgery, please email me!! eringesine@gmail.com.  The commenting won't work if you're looking at the mobile version of the site- you can comment by clicking on "view full site" and it should work from there.  

I'm really happy with the progress I'm making, and the overlap into other parts of my life!  I hope everyone else is having a good week!! 

Remember motivation??

Hey everyone!

Sorry I missed last week, but as some of you know, I picked up a second job.  Last week was the first week of getting fully scheduled at both the retail store and the restaurant.  It was a little hectic, but I'll get it figured out when I can regularly get these up.

Bad news, I was up last week a pound, and I'm pretty sure I gained a little this week, or at least stayed the same.  I have had a migraine for the past three days, so I missed my TOPS meeting yesterday.  I was down (won biggest loser) the week that I was sure I'd gain (last post).  I'm working on getting back down for next week.  It's my last meeting before the TOPS conference I'm going to next weekend.  I'm really excited about it, and it couldn't come at a better time- I need some inspiration!  I'm really struggling with getting down to the gym, and sticking to my calorie limit everyday.  We grabbed dinner with a new coworker Sunday at our Mexican restaurant, and that wasn't even the worst calorie day of the week!

Here's the problem:  everyone has been telling me how great I look.  It feels awesome, but then I get a little complacent.  I feel good, I look good, why do I need to keep losing?  I forget that my end goal is a lot bigger than what I've lost so far, and I need to keep losing.  I'm just a few pounds away from my goal of being under 200 by the time we move, but it seems like a huge challenge that I can't get past.

Here's what I'm doing to fix it:  I am starting a challenge for myself.  I'm printing off a calendar, where I will write both work schedules and school schedule.  I'm going to write in the days I will workout, and follow them like they are meetings.  I will keep track of how many glasses of water I drink everyday.  I will try harder to stay under (or very close to) my calorie limits for each day.  I want to feel good about myself each week after weigh-in, and keep up with the progress.

We've been cooking at home again this week.  We are trying to not pick up food anywhere but the grocery store.  I even tried Shake and Bake for the first time Monday.  Not bad!  And, it only adds about 40 calories!  We made fajitas twice this week, and I made mine into a bowl to avoid the tortillas.  Tim also made me lasagna when I was working late, with ground turkey and spicy turkey sausage.  It saved a ton of calories and was better than standard lasagna.  Sorry mom, but it was the best lasagna I've ever had.  These are a couple of the new recipes we tried since I last posted:

Left is Pork Chops roasted with Thyme, Garlic, Sliced Potatoes, and Onions.

Right are Muffin cups with spinach, cheese, green peppers, and onions with Turkey sausage breakfast links.

I'm not sure what new recipe we will try this week, but I'll keep pictures up!  Also, here is a bad picture of me that I took at work to send my sister.  It's not a great shot, but I think it shows some progress.  I also feel sneaky, 'cause I wore it to work, where its all about fashion-ey things, and I got these pants at a thrift store, which earned me lots of compliments!  Thanks, $2 pants!  Great work!

Well, I'm setting myself up to do better this week, and hopefully will have good news after next weigh-in!  I'm sure I'm not the only one who's hit a road block when losing, it's part of the process, and I'm dealing with it pretty well (I think).  Here's to doing better!