Day 8 – Weigh-in #1 and the Start of Week #2

Yesterday was the end of the first week on my lifestyle transformation, folks! I weighed myself this morning and I weigh (drum roll pleaseeeeee)…….

155.6
Total lost in 1 week = 2.4 pounds

I am very happy with this number, as I am aiming for 1-2 pounds per week. There is some bloating going on as well so I may have lost more, but I’m sticking to what the scale said this morning! I must say, in addition to my dedication, I attribute my success to my friends that have supported me for the past week. You may be thinking, “Uh support? You’re only on Week 1. How much support can a friend offer in 7 days?” Well, when it comes to my friends, A LOT! Let me give you a little background here…

I have the best friends a girl could ever ask for. We go out, have fun, do dinners, drinks, travel, events, etc. And there are A LOT of us! So you can bet that on any given weekend, a few of us (if not all of us) are out together, painting the city red. With that said, it’s very easy to be influenced and persuaded to go grab a beer and burger after work on Friday because I love my friends and want to see them!

As I said the other day, this is where I ALWAYS get derailed on my fitness goals. I have no self control when it comes to the things I love (food, socializing, etc.) so when we go out, I mindlessly eat and drink. I am one of “those people” that hates ordering a salad with no dressing at a restaurant to be healthy. I don’t want to spend my hard earned money on a salad – I want to spend it on something that I enjoy. If they have a Reuben sandwich and Weissbier on their menu, all bets are off and you best believe I am getting that Reuben with a side of fries and that big, cold German beer. This is a prime example of how I look at food. With this mindset and these habits that I have, this is HANDS DOWN what has prevented my weight loss for so long.

Food is also a major comfort to me. If I’m feeling stressed or anxious, I turn to food. Between this and my thoughts of food, it’s truly almost like a sickness – an excitement and joy that I get which is really embarrassing but true! I do great during the week, but on the weekends, I end up consuming everything back that I omitted and burned off during the week.

One thing that I have found to be ASTOUNDING when looking back at this past week is that I didn’t really “cheat”! Before, I would have these horrible cravings because I kept telling myself “YOU CAN’T HAVE THIS” or “YOU CAN’T HAVE THAT”. I’d look forward to my cheat day SO MUCH and think “Mmm I’m going to have McDonalds for breakfast, Culvers for lunch and Thai food for dinner” because I’ve been doing REALLY good and it is my cheat day! (Ok not that bad, but I would think like that!) With this new lifestyle change, I told myself when starting this journey – no cheat days, only cheat meals. But, think before you indulge and realize that you’re not going to feel good after eating it. And guess what? I did not have one cheat meal this week. Sure, I had the salty, sweet, salty, sweet kick, but I satisfied that in moderation. I had some popcorn on Saturday, tostito chips, dark chocolate acai berries, etc. These foods were all strictly prohibited in my former “diets”. However, this time I portioned them out, incorporated them into my calorie count, and enjoyed them in moderation. And look, I still lost weight! I simply made sure I was exactly aware of how much and what I was eating. And I’ll be honest – when you portion out 11 Tostito scoops and see that they are 140 calories, you definitely think twice. You can eat 2 filets of Tilapia for those 11 chips!

As I eluded to earlier, I could not have done any of this without support (and these are in no particular order). This past weekend I stayed in on Friday and went out with my friend Cellie on Saturday. Cellie and I both did not drink on Saturday which really helped me! If she would have had a drink, I probably would have caved and had one too. The fact that she didn’t really helped me stick to my goals! So thank you for your support this week Cellie!

My friends Annie and Vanessa were also huge supporters via gchat. We discussed obstacles, ways to overcome them, etc. which has helped me immensely. To see them so passionate about their health goals has helped me find a new passion inside of myself. So thank you both for your support this week!

My Biggest Loser Team at work, especially Sarah! We have been keeping strict tabs on each other and she has even been showing me pictures of her dinners that she makes at night. I LOVE this because not only does it help her stay on task and show her dedication to losing weight, but it helps keep me in check as well! Being pals on MyFitnessPal has been a Godsend too. 🙂 Thank you for your support during our first week of the Biggest Loser!

My ASA sister Ashley who reads my blog every day, comments and lets me know how much it helps her to stay on track and stick to her goals…you are amazing! It makes me keep writing knowing that I helping you – and you are helping me a TON with your encouragement and comments. 🙂 So thank you for your support this week!

Thank you to Francois in London who has been nothing but amazing this past week! Not only did I get a great pep talk and encouraging compliments, but he has started working towards his fitness goals too which is awesome! He sends me this silly “fat” cartoons on WhatsApp and comments on MyFitnessPal with “Slow Down Roadrunner” when I log my activity for the day. Always a smile from FP! 🙂

And of course Hessam. Hessam has really been “training me” and staying on top of me to make sure I’m getting my workouts in every day, eating right, etc. So thank you for your support to help me get up and going and get serious about taking my health seriously!

All of that support in just one week? I can’t wait to see how the next 25 weeks go! 🙂 I’ve written a novel by this point so I’m going to wrap things up here, but today was a great day. Burned 530 calories running 4.2 miles for 50 minutes outside and ate the following:

185 calories – Egg white, mushroom, broccoli frittata
55 calories – 1 slice whole grain toast
100 calories – 1 TBSP peanut butter
53 calories – 1 small fuji apple
120 calories – 1/2 oatmeal raisin CLIF bar
10 calories – Amino Acid Energy Supplement
120 calories – 1/2 cup tuna
55 calories – 1 slice of bread
5 calories – Pickles and mustard for tuna sandwhich
41 calories – 1/2 grapefruit
31 calories – 1/2 cup blackberries
20 calories – 2 stalks of celery
35 calories – 3 oz carrots
60 calories – 4 TBSP Trader Joes Spinach and Kale Yogurt Dip
120 calories – 1/2 oatmeal raisin CLIF bar
200 calories – 3 TBSP dried fruit and nut trail mix (didn’t have the calorie count on bag so I’m over guessing here)
90 calories – Broiled tilapia with 1/2 tsp olive oil salt pepper
55 calories – Sauted snow peas in 1/2 tsp olive oil with salt pepper
100 calories – 1/2 cup brown rice
90 calories – 10 dark chocolate covered acai berries

TOTAL CALORIC INTAKE = 1,545 calories
(1,730 allowed – 1,200 + 530 burned working out)

171 days to reach my goal…