Avoiding the scale..

Avoidance is not even the word. I’ve basically skipped it for the last two weeks. I’ve also been going out more the last two weeks. More time at the bar and less time in the gym

I get home from the bar and I’m immediately paranoid about if I have gained weight. Its funny when you start counting calories and actually get a running tabulation in your head like a stream of consciousness .. I had a chobani pineapple, an apple, 4oz of chicken breast, a 200 cal salad and 3 vodka gimlets w/ fresh lime juice not rose’s..where does that put me hmmm I think I can have one of these chicken wings. Its a lot of effort but for me its well worth it.
I’ve had my fun with going out though I think my body has officially told me that I’ve had my fun but the time has come to go back to the gym and homebody lifestyle. I think I agree w/ my body as I sit here in the Urgent Care waiting for my strep throat culture to come back … Yup.. Partying is over .. Well after my birthday next week that is.. Jolie
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And I’m back. Lets catch up a little.. shall we.

I’m not sure why i disappeared. Honestly, when I started the blog anew an dedicated myself to “sweating my hair out” I had a lot going on. Not really  with me but with someone that I really cared about. They were going through trial and tribulations and somehow I ended up caring the weight and burden of their troubles.

I think a lot of times people who struggle with their weight or struggle with trying to gain control of a portion of their life go through this as well. Where they concentrate on someone else or something else to run away from whats really important. In my case the most important person should be MYSELF. I lost focus. I didn’t gain weight but I wasn’t losing weight either. I was eating above the calories I set for myself and I was not moving my body.

So one day I just snapped out of it. I would say it was around the beginning of October.  Since the beginning of October I have knocked off weight consistently every week. I’m officially down 50lbs for the year since I started this journey in January.

My journey has not been a diet. It has been a total lifestyle change. Instead of drinking juice all the time. I eat fruit and only drink water. Instead of saying I am going to totally cut out this and that and this I just decided that I was going to have 2 dairy products a day and at least 3-4 veggies/fruit. I still met up with friends and had the occasinoal drink or 4 but I just made sure to stay under my caloric intake.

Overall, I am happy with myself. I did not lose the big 70 lbs I predicted for this year. I still have a long way to go. I still do NOT like to exercise. BUT I am still trying. Thats more than I have done for myself in a long time.

It feels great to be noticed again. It feels great to fit old clothes again. It actually even feels great to blog again..

I am making a promise to myself to come back here more often. I’m making a promise to myself to move my body everyday. I am making a promise to be there for myself more than I am to others.. which is hard because I’m a giver.. but its necessary for ME.

Update pics below!:

September

October

october again..

november

november

I’ve been MIA

I swear as soon as I say I’m going to turn a page LIFE smacks me straight in the face. I’ve been sick. Now I’m better and back on track.

Actually I think exercise helped. The elliptical was actually put together and go figure I actually got on it and used it. I documented my after glow and all of my food for the day.

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Then I went on vacation to visit family and I thought I would fall off the wagon of food but it was actually to darn hot to even eat in San Antonio. I did however document my trip with my mom which was tons of fun.

I still havent started to LOVE exercise. Like CRAVE IT .. have to do it! I also havent been eating all the veggies I should.

I’m not sure how I lost my way but I need to get a hold of myself soon. I’m not gaining weight but I’m also not losing and maintaining is not the point right now.

My high school reunion is in October. I just want to go back looking good not looking like I let myself go .. My motivation is meh.. I cant even finish this post the way I want to ..

Bear with me folks..

I’ve been super sick and a NSV this week…

This past week has been awful. I’ve been in the worst pain of my life. BUT .. I’m  feeling better and I had a tiny NSV today. I needed this NSV because the scale moved up 2lbs and not down 2lbs during my weigh-in last Saturday.

An NSV for all of you non-fitbloggers is a non-scale victory.

I was feeling better and decided to put on a dress I hadn’t been able to fit in a while. While passing the restroom at work I decided to take a look for myself. This is what I saw…

I was pretty impressed with myself if I do say so myself. So although the scale is not moving.. well keeps doing a yoyo.. I feel a little victory in knowing that I looked good today! 🙂

its the little things..

Any of you have a NSV this week?

Accountability

Unaccountable people are quick to complain and slow to act. In life, lack of accountability is a highly contagious disease.

They say things like “I didn’t know, “I don’t have time,” ” That’s just the way I am,” “Nobody told me,” “It isn’t really hurting anyone.”

They pretend ignorance while hiding behind doors, computers, paperwork, jargon and other people.

Unaccountable people are into excuses, blaming others, putting things off, doing the minimum, acting confused and playing helpless. Unaccountable people are quick to complain and slow to act.

In life, lack of accountability is a highly contagious disease.

I dont want to be a contagious disease! The one thing that has helped up until now is me being accountable for myself, my actions and my weight. In doing so I’ve cut out the drinking and partying and taken in more  veggies and water.

One thing that I have not been accountable for lately which puzzles me is EXERCISE..

I cant seem to get motivated to move.  I have a gym membership.. I even have a brand new elliptical in the box. I recently purchased the ProForm Total Trainer Elliptical with iFit® Technology its the one with Jillian’s voice that has 10 workouts designed by her. (I really should be ashamed that its still in the box it was delivered July 28th!)

web pic since mine is still in the box

I come up with a million reasons why I cant exercise on a daily basis. Most of them are based on being too tired after work or just wanting to veg out. How do people get to the place where they LOVE to run or exercise?

I did exercise once this week. I did a Jillian video. I even took a picture before I started to prove it.

I have gym clothes. I have gym shoes. I’m not sure what stops me from doing the one thing that I know will eliminate these lbs to get me to my next mini-goal of 10lbs lost this month.

So although I just flat-ironed my hair and although I could just lay around this weekend. I’m dedicating myself back to movement. The elliptical will come out of the box and I will be moving at least 10,000 steps (approx 5 miles) a day everyday …starting TOMORROW! You didn’t think I’d change that fast ..did you?

I will come back here everyday to chronicle this movement as my own journal to myself and hopefully help encourage someone out there the way the fitbloggers I follow have inspired me!

So I’m counting on YOU  to be my long distance accountability by being here everyday to read my victories!

What I’ll be eating for lunch this week..

When all else fails and I cant figure out what I want to take to lunch to maintain my calorie intake. I usually make this my go-to dish. I’ve actually served it for my friends and shared the recipe with them and they’ve enjoyed it also.

pot for the week

my portion

Farfalle with Sausage, Cannellini Beans, and Kale

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 3/4 cups pasta mixture and 2 teaspoons cheese)

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 8  ounces  uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
• 1/4  cup  oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped onion
• 8  ounces  hot turkey Italian sausage
• 6  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  teaspoon  dried Italian seasoning
• 1/4  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
• 1  (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  (16-ounce) package fresh kale
• 1  (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1  ounce  shaved fresh Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Preparation

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid; keep warm.

Drain tomatoes in a small sieve over a bowl, reserving 2 teaspoons oil; slice tomatoes. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add sliced tomatoes, reserved 2 teaspoons tomato oil, onion, and sausage to pan; cook 10 minutes or until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute. Add seasoning, pepper, and broth to pan. Stir in kale; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until kale is tender. Stir in pasta, reserved 1 cup cooking liquid, and beans.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 329

Fat 9g

Protein 18.7 g

Carbs: 45.7

Fiber: 5g

Cholesterol: 26mg

Iron: 4mg

Sodium: 669 mg

Calcium: 205 mg

Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine

Photos by ME

The Weigh-In

I weigh in usually on Fridays or Saturdays. I weighed in this week on Saturday and lost  -2lbs. I really wish the scale had read -5lbs but a loss is a loss.

This week wasn’t that great for working out. I let my personal life get in the way of my gym plans and let that pull me away from my mission. I did great with my water intake ensuring that I drank at least 3 liters a day.

I do have a tiny addiction in the form of Starbucks. At least once a week I start my morning off with an Iced Venti Soy Caramel Macchiatto. Its heaven in a cup. Since I drink soy it does save on calories and makes my breakfast treat under 300 cals but I am sure its not the best way to start your day with a sugar spike.

yummo morning goodness

Tomorrow starts a new day. I’m excited to challenge myself to get back in the gym consistently.

I’ve been trying to determine what my goals and rewards should be but so far I’m drawing a blank. Any suggestions?

PS: Stay tuned as I continue to revamp the site and make it a pretty place to visit. I hope to include some recipes along the way.

Jolie

Reality

Yah its sunk in. I actually had some before well kind of after well new beginning pics taken today. Pics of my body coming back 40lbs lighter than were I started in January. What I found when viewing the pictures were I dawned my sports bra and  boy shorts was that YUP… I’m still fat.

I have no clue how I let it get this far how I thought that I looked ok..well reality has set in and I let myself go. Go so far that even with a 40lb weight-loss I’m still fat.

This journey is far from over..its just beginning.

I’m putting together my newly purchased elliptical tomorrow and I’ll document that process here. I’d love to burn 1,000 calories a day on this new elliptical. That will be my August goal!

See you tomorrow. I may post these before pics one day but I’m currently too ashamed to let them leave my memory card.

Jolie

SWEATING MY HAIR OUT

I’m updating my blog to totally focus on my weight-loss. I’ve hit what they call a plateau and I’m not happy about it especially since I am so far away from my goal. I’ve been stuck going back and forth around the same 5 lbs for that last three months and I know it has more to do with me than the scale. So I’ve deleted all my past posts, thrown out all my excuses and decided to rededicate myself to myself and to my blog.

Too often you hear as a woman of color women say and especially myself ” I can’t go to the gym. I just did my hair! I’ll sweat it out!” Especially being that I am a natural gal. Well this natural gal is no longer afraid to sweat out her hair. I rather have my hair looking a little rough than my body being a little lumpy and unhealthy.

Sooo here’s to SWEATING OUT MY HAIR!

Jolie

Bare with me as I get back in the groove and spruce this blog back up!

Here is my before:

dec 09/Jan 09

35 lbs and counting

37lbs down and counting