Hello!!

I guess it's time for me to start one of these. I am currently trying to loose ~35lbs. I have been heavier in my life, but I am ready to be rid of all of the weight that I have gained during my college career (which is almost over!!).

For a about 3.5 yrs I have been struggling with my weight. When I first attempted to loose weight I joined weight watchers. I lost ~20lbs and then decided to continue on my own (it gets expensive!). I lost another 5lbs and then it started comming back on. I have been able to semi-maintain around 180lbs (up and down a little) since then.

Well, I am now entering my final year of school (grad school) and I want to be down in the 140 range by graduation in May. So, I have a long time to loose and keep it off!

I started eating smaller portions, drinking my water and eating healthier about 3 weeks ago. I have been eating 4-5 meals a day. These meals include a bowl of fruit in the morning, a protein shake in the mid morning, salad for lunch, and a lean meat with brown rice for dinner. I haven't been calorie counting, but I think I am eating a good amount. I have also been walking 2-3 miles around the track in the evenings.

Hopefully this is a start to the new me!!

My short term goal is 175... hopefully I will reach that within the next 3 weeks. When I reach that goal I am going to buy myself new *smaller* jeans as I am shrinking out of the size I have.

I just found my WW weight recorder from 06 (I was actually in WW twice). I was 168.4 in May of 06... dang! I didn't remember I was that small not so long ago. Hopefully in a couple months I will be there... and lower!! I almost cried when I read the sheet... dang I hate being fat.

Well, the day has come. Today is my first day of my last year in college. So, there is a happiness and sadness all in one day. I am not ready to go back by any means. I used to love going back to school, but somewhere between year 1 and year 6 I lost that. I am ready to be done and live a normal life making good money and not having homework/stress to deal with constantly.

Last night I walk/ran 10 laps around the track (I live across from a middle school). It felt pretty good. I have been trying to do 30 min/night. Last night was ~ 35 which is fine. I was debating on going to the gym this morning (I don't have class until 1pm), but I think I am going to have to get up at 9:30 to do that. Maybe on Thursday. I will walk around the track again tonight. I am going to need to walk after sitting in class for 4 hours straight.

I had my typical bowl of fruit for breakfast this morning. That included a banana, 1/2 nectarine, 4 strawberries and blueberries. In about an hour I will have my protein shake and bring a lunch like snack with me to class. I was thinking veggies, but I don't know if we are going to have a break long enough to eat them. Maybe a yogert and a V8 will do. We will see how hungry I am when I have to head out.

I have decided to weigh in Friday mornings. That is the day that I bought my scale (last week) and sometimes weekends can be rough. So, I will have all week to make-up for a bad weekend (if I have one) and hopefully still have success.

Ugh! I didn't get to walk tonight and many other things today didn't go the way I wanted them to. On the up side, the food situation was good today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better when it comes to other things. Apparently I get to go jean shopping tomorrow because the jeans I was wearing were defective. I have to have a new pair by Friday, so hopefully it won't be too depressing.

Any one have a good jean brand suggestion?? I have been wearing the Gap, but I have had to bring back 2 pairs in less than a month.

Anyways, I will write more tomorrow (hopefully)... I have to go read (already).

Well, I had another good food day... but I didn't get to walk again. I did have to go buy new jeans (a month before I wanted to due to the Gap sucking). I walked around a lot there and tried on God only knows how many pairs. I got the same size that I have had, but they fit me really well (not too tight). I did fit into the smaller size, but there was definatly some major muffin top going on there!

I am thinking that I might make it to the gym in the morning. I have to go to school and watch some video's before class, but if I get up early I can get a quick workout in.

I am afraid for this weekend!! My mother-in-law is comming into town and we have a bunch of things planned. On Friday we are going to a couple of wineries for a tasting/tour. So the tour we will get to walk a little, but I don't think it will make up for the wine :S. We also have a family wedding to attend on Sunday. Hopefully there will be healthy food choices. I am not going to have cake!! Is that rude?? I don't know, if it is your own you should have it... but if it is someone else... what are the rules on that??? Hopefully it won't be too horrible of a weekend.

I did do the fit day calorie counter yesterday. I didn't get everything entered, but I figure I am at ~ 1500 calories a day. Maybe a little more, but I tend to eat the same things.

Thats all for now... lots of reading to do!

hey tiffany,
how tall are you? (if you dont mind my asking). I wish you lived near me- cause im so looking for a walking buddy! i like to walk every night too but its so much better when you have someone to do it with.
Thats awesome tht youre married. Im so ready to be married but i just started ghrad school and my boyfriend just started LAW school (UGH!) so itll probably be a few years anand a little less debt before we can afford to get engaged and married. but oh- how i am awaiting that day! haha. All i want to do is be done with school, get marrie dnad have babies!! (oh.. and lose weight too haha)
what are you going to school for? grad school SUCKS doesnt it? is your husband still in school or is he working? our relationship was rocky for a little with us being a different schools for the first time since we started dating. thankfully things are awesome now. it was just an adjustment period. anyways- class now, yuck... but i look forward to hearing from you!!

Well... I am only 5'5". So my weight is a little more compact than yours. I think my ultimate goal is 140, that was the weight that I was when I was at my fitest and it looked good on me. Maybe when I hit that weight I will think that I a little lighter might be better. But, I will wait and make that decision then.

Wow! Grad school and law school... that is a lot!! My hubby is a workin man. He is an electrician. He wants to go back to school sometime after I finish and pay off some student loans (ugh!). He moved here to Washington (from Alaska) with me so I could go to grad school. I am at the University of Puget Sound for occupational therapy. I did my undergrad at the University of Alaska Anchorage majoring in Social Work. Weddings are hard to do during school. My hubby and I got married 3 years ago (between my sophmore and jr years of undergrad). Grad school does suck!! Im pretty sure I bairly lived through last year (especially spring semester).

Anyways, as for a a diary... I had another good food day today. But, once again I didn't get to walk!! I do have to clean my house tonight (my mother-in-law is comming to town), so that counts as exercise... right?? Next week I will get back on track with walking. Things should calm down after all the family leaves and I get into a routine with school. I think thats all for now... lots to do!! Cleaning, reading... blah! I am weighing in tomorrow... so I will update in the morning.

I just weighed in this morning and I lost exactly 2lbs this week!! I am happy about that. I thought it was only going to be one due to my mid week obsessive weighing... so two was great to see!!

Goal for next week: At least 1.2lbs... come on 170's!!!

I will update my ticker later... now I have to get ready for class (blah).

congrats on losing 2 more lbs! like i said, it stinks that you live in washington cause if you lived closer we vould be walking buddies!!

yea it is hard for mike and i with him being in law school and me being in grad school but you do what you gotta do (although hes gonna have us drowing in student loans when hes done- thank God my tution is paid through my job) luckily i can see him tonight so theres always that to look forward to.

good luck with breaking into the 170s- im actually ony .5 away as of this morning so were right on the same page!!

WooHoo Tiffany on he 2lb lost! That's awesome and honestly really hard to do. I too am a slave to the scale. I practically live on the scale. LMAO 10 laps that's awesome! Keep up the great work!



KattWoman*

Well, I made it through Friday with my mother-in-law. We went to a couple wine tastings/tours. I did ok food wise, but I did have more alcohol than would have fit for a low calorie day. We tasted a bunch of different wines and during that there were foods to have with them. So the cheese, crackers, biscotti, and fruit. So other than thoes foods with the wine I did pretty good. I had salad's and we walked around quit a bit in Seattle (ugh).

But, I do still feel bad today for indulging. I am trying to figure out how much time I have to myself today before my mother-in-law heads over again. She is fighting a cold, so I think today is going to be a shorter day for her. Yesterday was a little much. *Hopefully* I will be able to walk and get some studying done. It is looking like I will be able to hit the gym tomorrow... so that will make up of the night of wine. I did get 3 bottles at the winery for home, but I don't know when I will drink them.

Anyways, I am off. I need to find some breakfast, shower and get some reading done.

congrats on trying to stay strong.. and yay for having a picture its nice to know what you look like! haha! yea i actually saved up calories so i could have alcochol when i go to the bar with my friend tonight- just to feel a little bit normal. haha. one drink (vodka and diet) and then water. ill take what i can get.

youre def right though that some salds have a ridiculous number of cals in them. i was doing someone online research last night and i found one that has 1100 in it! thats like my whole daily intake!! haha!!!

in any case, good luck with the rest of your weekend!

Don't get down on yourself about indulging. That's all apart of the weightloss journey! Now is when we learn how to react when life sends an event or occassion our way. From what you said though I don't think you did bad at all.

I hope you were able to study & workout!

Kattwoman**

Good morning! Well, I have to say that yesterday I learned a couple of valuble lessons on how many calories some items are worth. I did good for breakfast yesterday and lunch (the food) was ok I think. We went out... again. I had 2 coconut shrimp, a side salad and a chicken sandwich (which had bacon on it... but I only ate half of the bacon). But, I did have a long island... the place we went makes the best long islands I have ever had. I only had one. I did check the calories on them late last night and wholy cow! I think the one I had was ~450 calories. Lets just say I will never have one of thoes again! I am going to stick with my vodka cranberry if I do drink... I may even request diet cranberry.

Well, my second lesson learned came late last night. We ate lunch/dinner at 4:30. So, when we were comming home last night around 1am from watching the UFC fights I was a little hungry. Not a lot, I just needed something to take the hunger bug away. Neless to say I thought I had extra calories since I didn't eat very much all day (didn't yet know about the long island cal count). Anyways, my hubby loves taco bell late at night. So I had a crunch wrap supreme (with beans, no meat). When I got home and started searching calories... I learned that they are 480. Which would have been fine had I not had the long island. Anyways, now I know.

I think overall I probally came close to or was a little under my mantence calories yesterday. So, things could have been a lot worse. I think we are eating out again today... ugh. I don't like playing this guessing game. Thank God my mother-in-law leaves on Monday. I need to get back to my food schedule!

I did get to walk/run last night. I did 11 laps. Through in an extra one for good measure after all the drinking this weekend. I am headed to the gym today for sure. I told the hubby I wanted to go and we are going when he wakes up.

Off topic I got a pedicure and manicure with my mother-in-law yesterday. It has been way too long since I have done that. This little nail place down the road is cheep too!! I think I might start going there on a regular basis for manicures. I don't show off my toes too much... so manicures are better for me. I am ready to wear the cute cocktail dress I bought to this wedding tonight! Really, the only reason I want to go is to wear the dress! Is that bad?

Anyways, I have to go. I need to get two chapters read before he wakes up. More to come later I am sure .

I just got home from the gym . It always feels great when I go. I don't know why I always get away from going. According to the cardio machine I was on I burned 485 calories. I did 3.30 miles in 36min. I also did some upper body lifting and then stretched. I figure I made up for that crunch wrap supreme last night. The gym made me feel better about all of my blunders this weekend.

While I was doing my cardio I came up with a exercise plan that will work for my schedule and *should* be pretty easy to do.
Monday: Walk/run track for 30-40 min. BEFORE dinner (don't get home until 6:40)
Tuesday: Gym in AM (around 8-8:30 is the goal) do cardio and upper body lifting.
Wednesday: Walk/run track 30-40 min (again don't get home until 6:40)
Thursday: Gym in AM- cardio and lifting (I am going to try to keep these visits to an hour... that way I don't feel so guilty for not doing home work)
Friday: I could do either... but I think I will try to do the gym
Saturday: Day off?? or if I took a day off during the week I will go to the gym.
Sunday: Gym AM

What do you all think?