No more resolutions!

I've never been a big fan of making New Year's resolutions. It's like making a promise you never intend to keep. Each year I would tell myself, I'll lose 5 or 10 pounds or I'll pay off that credit card. Those were always my two resolutions: lose a little weight and pay off a little debt. This year is no different. I still want to lose another 15-20 lbs and it never hurts to pay off a little more debt, especially when you're staring down the barrel of a recently finished Master's degree. 

As of last week, I had lost a total of just over 20 lbs in 14 weeks. While the holiday season was very good to me, I knowingly made bad food and drink choices that pretty much negated my fantastic loss last week. Of the 3 lbs I lost last week, I gained back 2.8 lbs this week. I knew it was coming, so it was no shock. All I can do is recommit myself and buckle down to get to my goal weight by April. 

So no resolutions this year...... I don't want to make resolutions when I know that I should be striving for excellence in all areas of my life. As far as I'm concerned, I've made a lifestyle change, not a resolution. 

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and I wish you all a healthy, happy New Year!! 

How the hell did this happen??

The weigh in results are in: down a monumental 3.0 lbs this week!! Holy shit!! That means I've hit my 10% goal and my mini goal of losing 20 lbs by the New Year! Now that's the type of Christmas present I was hoping for! 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

A Grateful Girl On A Mission...

I just got off the phone with one of my best friends and I was thinking about our conversation... we discussed the usual things girlfriends chat about: family, work, men doing stupid things, and the rapidly approaching holidays. Sure, we use each other to vent, but one thing I love about this friend in particular is the fact that we discuss things that we're thankful for. So what I am thankful for, you may ask? Most of the usual stuff, but some really weird things as well. 

1) My family- we may not be the Cleavers, but there's a lot of love and support in my family, both immediate and extended. I know people who are not as fortunate as I am in the "family department", so I'm thankful for the family that I have. 

2) My friends- I've got a pretty incredible group of friends, even though they don't all know each other. I have childhood friends, work friends, and friends that I've met over the years through others or school. Each one of them is unique in their own way and has certain qualities or characteristics that I love about them. We may not always see eye to eye, but we're always there for each other. 

3) My health- I have been blessed genetically and physically to not have any major health issues. I am not physically or medically limited in any way, which is a gift when I see so many people (including those I love) struggling with illness and limitations. From to depression to cancer, there are so many things to be afflicted with, so I'm thankful that I'm healthy. 

4) My job- In today's economy, there are so many people struggling financially, or those who are out of work. I'm not wealthy by any means, but I can afford to support myself and I have a very stable job with benefits. I'm also fortunate because I love my work and get to support a cause I care about on a daily basis (our right to bear arms). 

5) My previous relationships- I'm not in a relationship right now, but I'm thankful that I'm okay with being single and also for what I've learned from my past relationships. I have had a few shitty boyfriends, but I've also had some really good ones that taught me about myself, and about love in general. My last boyfriend in particular helped me realize how loving yourself helps you love another person. He's still a very close friend of mine and I'm grateful for the lessons he taught me. 

My life is far from perfect. I've got debt, some weight to lose, a few character flaws, and a grandmother in a nursing home. But for the most part, I've been very fortunate. Call it luck, karma, fate, hard work, whatever you want to call it, I've got it pretty good. That's why this Christmas and New Year's will be all the more special, because I'm finally able to appreciate what I have and show my gratitude to those in my life who mean the most. To my fellow bloggers and those who just read, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! And to my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah, enjoy your festival of lights! 

The dumbest commercial ever!!

I know that this has nothing to do with me or my weight loss goals, but I think I have found the dumbest commercial in the entire world- for Sean John's "I Am King" cologne. 

For those of you who are blessed and haven't had to see it, picture P. Diddy (or Puffy, Sean Combs, whatever the hell he's calling himself these days) riding on a jet ski in a tuxedo. Apparently, when you have as much money as P. Diddy, you don't mind ruining a tuxedo by racing through the syringe infested, bacteria laden East River (I think he's actually in Miami, but I like the thought of it being the East River). To make matters worse, Diddy spews ridiculous phrases that he apparently deems to be motivational like "I think, therefore I  am." Not a bad phrase, but it seems a little silly coming from a man riding a jet ski with a tuxedo on. 

My little rant is over, I just want to know if anyone found this commercial as stupid as I did. 

Weigh In Results!

This morning's weigh in went much better than I was expecting it to..... I was down 1.6 lbs for a total of 17.4 lbs lost! That means not only did I hit my 10% goal, but I'm also only 2.6 lbs away from my mini goal of losing 20 lbs by the New Year! I'm hoping that I can lose that 2.6 lbs by my next weigh in, but I still have two weeks to lose it (or 1.3 lbs per week) which is much more realistic. Just wanted to check in and let everyone know how it went, and has anyone hear from Nathan? Check in with me Nathan, I want to know how you're doing!

Spice it up!

I have a new food obsession..... salsa! I've always loved spicy food, but lately I've been wanting spicy food all the time. Since Mexican food isn't very figure friendly, I bought a large container of salsa from my favorite Mexican restaurant. I've been putting it on everything.... scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, using it as salad dressing and eating it with high fiber tortilla chips. The best part is that it's 0 points, and it really hits the spot when I want to eat something full of flavor. To me, eating bland food is like eating nothing at all... you're still hungry after you eat because your food didn't satisfy you in terms of taste. For me, salsa is a great way to satisfy that need for flavorful food. Plus, I'm buying it fresh since my favorite Mexican place makes it daily. That means no added preservatives, sodium or other nasty stuff. 

I've got weigh in tomorrow, and quite frankly I'm not looking forward to it. Even though the scale was looking great a few days ago, I think that I took that as a sign to start eating. I went out to dinner Sunday night and Monday night and didn't make stellar food choices. I also had a work related Christmas luncheon at P.F. Chang's today..... it's like giving Superman some Kryptonite. My boss always orders appetizers for us, so I went with one lettuce wrap which is very low in points. But then the spring rolls were staring at me, so I had half of one. For my entree I had the lunch portion of the shrimp with lobster sauce and brown rice, accompanied by egg drop soup. All very "points friendly." So I'm not doing too bad, right? WRONG. My boss also makes us order dessert, so rather than getting a full sized piece of chocolate cake, I got the mini-shooter style chocolate cake dessert. More than I wanted to eat, but I committed the cardinal sin of not eating breakfast this morning and felt more hungry than usual. 

So dinner ended up being a baked potato with spray butter, light sour cream, reduced fat cheese and of course, salsa. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight, but between nerves about starting my new job tomorrow and drinking about 3 gallons of water today, who knows! 

A Love Rekindled

My Mom and I have a lot of things is common, but one of the things that we bond over the most is shopping. We've always had a great time trekking through the mall and browsing our favorite clothing stores. My Mom has always been my faithful shopping sidekick, grabbing things that might look good, picking coordinating pieces, running to get another size/color, and most importantly, telling me whether or not things looked good on me. When I was thin, there was rarely an issue when it came to trying on clothes. I knew which styles and sizes were best for me and Mom rarely had a critical remark. I loved shopping for clothes because I could always find something I liked. 

However, as slowly gained weight, I found myself liking clothes shopping less and less. I was hearing my mother say thing like "You're going to need the next size up" or "That's not very flattering" more and more frequently and I would be lying if I said that it didn't break my spirit. I wasn't upset that my Mom was criticizing me, she was just being honest. I was upset that the additional weight I had gained had begun to hinder me and took joy out of simple things that I loved to do. I would snap at my mother for her comments and leave stores angry because I had to buy yet another size larger. My usual size 6 had become a size 10, and then suddenly a 12. That was when I knew I needed to make a change. 

3 months and nearly 20 lbs later, I've got my love of shopping back. Today my Mom and I were able to spend the day together shopping, laughing and most importantly enjoying each others' company. She didn't have to make critical remarks, and I didn't have to snap at her because of my insecurity. I had been waiting until this point (my halfway point) to buy clothes because most of my old stuff is too big. I can't wait to reach goal so I can go shopping again and share that special moment with my Mom.