I'm Back....

Ok... SO FRUSTRATED with myself...  Not only did i not post my pictures Friday, I "over-served" myself at a birthday party Friday night.  I ate fast food for lunch and dinner (I KNOW!!!) on Sunday. I totally gained back the 4 pounds I lost last week.  GOD!!!  So now it's time to get back on track.  I knew this wasn't going to be easy and so I need to just take a breath and get back on track....this time I won't fall off the wagon for 3 days!!!

And now......the "before" pictures.......

182 pounds :(

The First Step

Now let's be serious here....I wouldn't really consider myself a runner, more of a jogger really, but I thought this quote was fitting of the day.  I did set MY alarm last night, so I wouldn't have any excuse not to get up this morning...and I did in fact get up (@ 5:30) to do my 3 miles. I got up, got dressed, walked out the door and the wind was blowing like 30 mph.  I walked to the end of the driveway and thought "no way" and I have to admit I walked back up the driveway (my bed was so warm and my daughter was sleeping there and we could have cuddled for another hour...SO tempting). But I am proud to say I turned back around and did the workout. I mean I WAS already out the door....and guess what?  It wasn't that bad (other than I was a sweaty, out of breath, red faced mess when I finished:)). I guess my point is that there really is something to the whole first step is the hardest thing and when I was finished I was happy I had done it. 

I'm freaking out already a little bit about tomorrow.  I've decided Fridays are going to be weigh in days. That in its self isn't freaking me out, but I think I'm going to post the dreaded before picture (super scary thought to know that those horrible pictures will be out there for everyone see!). I've decided that it's going to be motivating (that's what I'm telling myself at least!). 

Breakfast:  PB and banana sandwich. 165 cal

Lunch:  Subway turkey on wheat (no cheese, but mustard and a little light mayo) 275 cal

Snack:  crackers 150

Dinner:  leftover taco casserole 300

Dessert:  celery with Better n Butter 50 cal

Total:  940 cal

Exercise: 3 mile jog

No excuses

It's Wednesday and I'm half way through my first week back at school. I'm really kind of glad to back and lucky to actually like my job. So many of my friends spend a lot of their energy complaining about their jobs, I'm lucky I don't have to.  But I digress.....

Speaking of jobs though, I think I've made a 2nd career of making excuses. I mean I'm pretty sure I've made at least 'a million and four'.  Excuses are really what has gotten me to where I am today (which i should note is what im trying to change).

So, 'no excuses' seemed to be my motto of today.  I didn't get up to run before school. I tried to blame Mark for not setting his alarm, but he tells me I slept through it.  So I had to tell myself "No excuses!" and I would have to run over lunch (luckily it's the one week a year that we actually have a 'lunch hour' not 23 minutes).  And you know what? I did!!  Pretty proud of myself for that one. I thought briefly about going to Taco Bell and pigging out instead, but once again I  reminded myself "no excuses". There were donuts at our meeting this morning calling my name.  No excuses.  I'm wondering if this whole food thing is ever going to get easier. I just really love food and most of what I love is not the heathy kind. So I say today was a success. Goal for tomorrow, get my butt out of bed!

Breakfast:  Oat Fit with blueberries  120 cal
Lunch: PB sandwich 164 cal
Snack: Cheese-It crackers 125
Dinner:  Skinny Taco casserole 350 cal
Total: 759 cal (better:))
Exercise: jogging 3 miles

Day 1

So this is the quote of the day. I found myself thinking of this while I was jogging this morning (@ 5:45, which I'm pretty proud I actually pulled my lazy rear out of bed at that hour) and getting passed for the 3rd time :). In spite of my slow pace, I was super excited that I was actually able to run a full 3 miles!!  The first time all summer!  I followed that up with an EXTREMELY boring day of inservice meetings.  Here is what I ate today....

Breakfast: Oat Fit oatmeal 

Lunch: 1/2 a chicken pita from the Pita Pit with Chipotle sauce, bag of Baked Lays, and a cookie (I know I should have skipped the cookie, but my willpower failed me)

Snack:  handful of peanuts

Dinner:  plate of broccoli with a little parmesan cheese and balsamic glaze

Dessert:  3 marshmallows

By my calculations, I'm just under 1000 calories which is my goal. Hopefully some days I'll be more under than today, but all in all not a bad start :)

Till tomorrow...

The beginning.....

So this is my first blog. A little background about me....  I'm 32 years old. I've been married to my wonderful (most of the time) husband for 7 years. We have 2 beautiful daughters ages (almost) 5 and 2.5. Together we live in Iowa and actually live in the house I grew up in. I'm very blessed to have such awesome family. When I'm not with them, I am a special education teacher at our local elementary school.  I love my job (although today was our first day back from summer vacay and I may have whined a little)!

Ok. So to the point. I'm calling this blog a million and four because that's how many excuses I've had in my life for being overweight and not doing anything about it. Now is the time to stop making excuses and do something about it and I need something to be accountable to. So I'm going to blog about my journey. I'm not going to pretend that everyday will be perfect, but I'm going to do my best. My goal is to lose 40 pounds. There. Now I said it and it's out there in writing. No turning back now!