Big things are happening!

It's finally summer vacation for me. Actually, it has been since May 3rd, but my grandpa passed away before I even made it back from school and then I was job interviewing and starting summer classes, and still not really eating right, so I was too ashamed to blog. That's not good.

But I'm back, baby...and I'm here to stay! My WW membership expires in a few days, but because I'm not able to weigh in at the center near campus, I have to just let it expire and start using only etools and get a reliable home scale. This scares me a little, but I'm pretty confident that I can do it!

I've got to get a shower and get ready for work, but here are a few VERY good things that have happened recently:

1. I got a job. A LOFT opened up in our mall, and I applied just for giggles. Turns out, it was the best decision ever! Grand opening was yesterday, and I worked the busiest shift of the day. So many people came in that were excited that we finally have a LOFT, and even more that had never heard of the place, but ended up buying a significant amount of stuff.

2. I'm down another clothing size! After work yesterday, I went back to LOFT with a friend to buy some work clothes. I get a 50% discount, so I planned on spending quite a bit to get me through the summer. I ended up with a yellow ruffle top with white and beige polka dots, a white linen wrap sweater, and a pair of dark wash knee-length crops and a bright pink and orange striped t-shirt, and then a lime green linen skirt and plain white tee, all for only $116.60! Best of all, the shirts are all size Large (and even a bit loose like that), and the shorts/skirt are (you're not going to believe this) a size 14. FOURTEEN. I almost fainted when they actually fit. I'd set my mind to the fact that they weren't going to, and I was okay with it, knowing I'd just have to work harder to be able to wear them. But I decided to try them on to see how much more I'd need to lose to wear them, and they were perfect! A bit more snug than I usually wear, but that gives me room to shrink into them all summer!!!

3. I've started doing Zumba. I bought the Zumba fitness game for the Kinect on Wednesday, and I'm currently blogging with sweat dripping down my forehead. Zumba is HARD WORK! Let me tell you though, it's fantastic! I had an absolute blast, and I can't wait for tomorrow afternoon for my next workout! Wooo!

4. I lost weight (first time in a month!) I went to WW today expecting to have lost maybe a pound or two. I had my wisdom teeth removed last Friday, and only started eating solid foods again this past Wednesday. I figured that there'd be some change, but that it would probably just be the 3ish pounds that I'd put on over the last month. Boy, was I wrong. When I stepped on the scale, even the woman behind the counter gasped. In the last two weeks (I didn't go last week because I couldn't drive/was looped out on pain pills for my teeth), I've lost a total of 6.2 pounds!!! Right now, I'm only 0.6 away from losing 10%, and I'm pretty sure I can do that this week.

My goal is to have lost 10% by Friday so that I can get my medal and set an UGW at the next meeting....Fingers crossed!!

If I make the goal, then expect progress pictures coming at the end of the week as well! I'm due for some 20lb ones anyways, so hopefully I don't forget!!!

-Britt

Ranting.

I don’t usually get mad about a lot of things, but right now there is something that’s really just working my nerves. I don’t understand society’s double standard when it comes to food/body size.

It’s always “blahblahblah, don’t eat this don’t eat that.” and “blahblahblah you need to lose weight…this girl’s fat…that guy’s going to have heart disease.” And people are constantly degrading other people because of their size/shape/weight, which may not even be something that they can help, and it makes them feel absolutely terrible.

But then when someone tries to watch what they eat or attempt a diet, it has to be some huge secret because the same people that were just judging them for eating too much are now judging them for being a “priss about calorie intake.”

I’m sorry, but how is this okay? Coming from someone that has struggled with my weight for years, I can absolutely say that it’s not. If someone is counting calories/watching what they eat/dieting, then who are you to cut them down? Maybe they’re doing it for a legitimate health reason and not just because of what they see/hear people talking about. Even so, it’s constantly being thrust in our faces that we should look a certain way, but yet when we try to, we get chastised for it.

It just makes me sick.

Procrastination Blog 2011

I really need to get back on track.

A lot of things have happened in the last few weeks, and they're honestly not even worth blogging about at this point. My weight loss has taken the biggest hit from it, as I've been stuck between 18-20 pounds since the beginning of the month. I know that I need to get back on track, and as much as I try to convince myself that it'll happen this week and that I'll hit the 10% mark on Saturday, I just highly doubt that I will.

My last regular day of classes is tomorrow, and then I have four finals next week (2 Monday and 2 Tuesday), and then I get to head home.

As soon as I get home, I know that things will get better, because I'll be able to seriously consider every morsel that goes into my mouth without having a ton of papers and homework and exams and general pressures that come along with being a full-time university student. Plus, I'm going to buy the Zumba Kinect game ASAP when I return, which I know will help kick-start my exercise.

My goal for the summer is to lose another 30 lbs (going off of the assumption that I've lost 20 lbs, since that was the highest loss that I've seen recorded at weigh-ins.) for a total of 50 by the time I return to school, which is on August 10th this year.

I promise that I'll get better with updates and (for my own sake) eating once I'm done with school...I really need to, on both counts.

The List

It seems to me that the times during which I am the busiest are the times that I explore and dream more about my weight loss. However, I don't actively take the steps because I know in my mind that I'm paying more per credit hour than I am to weigh in every week and that I can pick up the pace and work extra hard this summer. Ultimately, I know that's not the ideal situation, but my education is far more important and expensive, so it comes first.

This week, I've stumbled across a lot more quality weight loss blogs, including Jack Sh*t, who I find to be quite unconventional, but absolutely effective. One of the things about Jack's blog that I thoroughly enjoyed was W.I.D.T.H. It really is a great concept, and I immediately started thinking. Of all the reasons that I have given myself about why I'm willingly embarking on this journey, what is the one that reigns supreme over all the others? I honestly don't know, but I managed to come up with ten that stuck out to me. I decided to make a list and think about the reasons over the next ten days, hopefully coming out with one (maybe two) that are the ultimate reasons Why I Do This Here. When I figure it out, I'm going to submit it to Jack Sh*t, and also post it here. In the meantime, here are my top ten W.I.D.T.H's, in no particular order:

1. Because I want to look good during halftime!

2. Because I want to be confident when I meet my future husband.

3. Because I don't want Diabetes, Cancer, or Heart Disease.

4. Because if I don't, PCOS will ruin me & I may never have children.

5. Because one day, I want to live near a beach.

6. To prove to myself that I CAN!

7. To prove everyone else wrong.

8. Because I want every guy that's ever rejected me based on my weight to regret it.

9. Because college only happens once, and it's a time for pictures.

10. Because sometimes, I wonder if I actually have two thighs.

Obviously not all of those reasons are major driving forces behind why I'm doing what I'm doing, but they are important. My goal over the next ten days is to figure out the most important. Expect blogs.

-Brit

Uh Oh

I am not hungry right now, and it's lunch time.

I'm thinking it's because I didn't eat breakfast until later than normal, and that I had more to eat than I usually do...still, if I don't eat lunch now, then my next opportunity is at 3:30...and that's if I don't get to go home.

I'm hoping that I do get to go, because I want to see my grandpa, who is not doing too well, along with go to my high school's musical and the funeral of a close family friend. Plus, my cousins are up from North Carolina, and one of them is like my big brother, and I haven't seen him in two years. Thus, I need to get home.

But back to what I was saying: not hungry, no food in the room for a snack, dliema.

Back on Track

I'm so utterly disgusted with the fact that I haven't updated since March 1st. School has been a never-ending dumping of work, and during Spring Break, I was doing more homework and looking for summer jobs, so I didn't manage to find time even then.

Even in my absence, I've managed to keep my weight tracker updated, so that's one positive thing.

Other (non-weight loss related) news is that I have a job interview for a desk receptionist position for next year in the residence hall that I'm living in. It pays minimum wage and only averages about 15 hours a week, but I'm completely content with that because it's basically the easiest on-campus job that I could find.

Now, as far as my weight loss goes: I haven't necessarily been as strict as I know that I should be. I like to chock it up to school and being overly busy, but I know that I could make the time for it if I really tried. I did pretty well at the start of Spring Break, but by the end of it I'd gained 3.2 pounds and was feeling miserable. A good portion of that gain was due to TOM, and 2.6 of it came off last week, but I know that I could also combat the rest of it if I just got back down to business.

I've done better this week, eating salad for the first time in months and trying to keep myself from getting a stomach ache from it (for whatever reason, salad and mass amounts of bread do not agree with my medication...I still have yet to figure out why this happens.) In addition to the salad, I've had better breakfasts and I worked out yesterday (I would have today as well, but it started to blizzard and I was on my bike, so I needed to get back to my dorm before it got too bad.) Still, I ride my bike almost everywhere now, so it's not like I'm just not getting any physical activity at all.

I'm really kind of nervous about this week's weigh-in, but in a good way. I really just want to get back to the mindset that I was in a few weeks ago, when I was working out and the weight was coming off somewhat easily. I know that with the semester coming to an end, things are going to get pretty hectic, but my goal is to keep up with my tracking/exercise/eating and also with my blog updates. Just six more weeks and it's summer for me!

-B

Video Update

I didn't have time to sit down and type up an update, so I made a (kind of) quick video that hashes out the events of the last few weeks. Plus, pictures!

Here are the pictures of my face weight loss, as promised:

^^This was on October 8th, twenty days before I started WW.

^^This one was taken on Friday night. It amazes me how much my face has slimmed down in just five months.