Week #1

Good morning and Happy Halloween!!!  I had a good week!  Here are my stats as of today:

Weight: 136.8 pounds-a 1.3% loss
Waist: 33.5 inches-1/2 inch loss
Neck: 11.5 inches-1/2 inch loss
Hips:  37.5 inches-1/2 inch loss

I'm pretty proud of myself right now.  I've been working out diligently, however I did take yesterday off, but the girls and I went on a walk for about 30 minutes, so I was still moving.  I know I've been working hard, but I do want to give credit where credit is due.  I was doing some research on natural appetite suppressants (because overeating was my main problem).  I found that a lot of people had success with Raspberry Ketones, a product Dr. Oz approves of.  I'm not a Dr. Oz fan, so I had no idea about this until last week.  The reviews were hit and miss. You could tell some were fake reviews, but others you knew they were people who actually bought and used the product.  I like that it's a natural ingredient and not a bunch of chemicals mixed together, so I figured I would give them a shot.  The bottle says to take one capsule daily, which is equivalent to 4 pounds of raspberries...there's no way I'll eat 4 pounds of raspberries every day, let alone have the budget for that, so popping a pill a day seemed reasonable to me.  I however, I take 2 pills a day.  I take them in the morning when I first wake up and I cannot believe how much I DON'T eat now.  Ask Tony...he thinks I'm starving myself and I joke with him that I am, but it's really these pills that are doing it, and I'm okay with that.   

I've also cut out a TON of the crap food I used to eat.  I'm not buying the sugary cereals anymore (Captain Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, etc), eating Little Debbie snack cakes (man I love those swiss cake rolls), eating an entire bag of Doritos in one night (please don't judge me), I switched to skim milk from 2%, AND I think my biggest achievement of all is my Chick-fil-a addiction has been conquered.  I used to eat there probably 3-4 times a week, but I haven't in at least 2, maybe even 3.  I haven't completely cut out soda, but I am working on it.  I don't buy it to keep at the house, so if I have one, it's when we go out to eat.  I had one at dinner on Friday night, but I haven't craved a Dr. Pepper, so I think I'm doing pretty good.  OH! And at our church trunk or treat on Saturday, I only ate 2 pieces of Gabby's candy and that's all I've had!  The "old Lauren" probably would have eaten her entire bucket by now. 

I think I've made some really good progress this week and I'm excited to keep seeing the numbers drop.  See ya next week!

I'm back!!!!

I know I've been MIA for a while now.  A couple people have asked me what happened and the honest truth is I just got lazy.  My weight loss is 100% nonexistent.  In fact, I've GAINED weight.  And a lot of it!  As of this morning I am 138.6 pounds.  BUT!  I've made a new resolution to lose the weight, slowly but surely. My new goal weight is to get down to 100 pounds (the weight I was when Tony and I got married) by 2014. That may sound like a really long time, but I know myself and I can't try to do it quickly or I will indulge in too many sweets and chips and then end up gaining 3 pounds in 1 day.  I'm also taking measurements now.  My waist is 34 inches, neck is 12 inches and hips are 38 inches.  These are the measurements My Fitness Pal asks for.  I love using this app to log my food and exercise. 

My food intake goal is 1,400 calories a day.  I will also be exercising at least 3 times a week, but I am not going to count the calories I burn as more calories I can eat. So more than likely I will intake a net of about 1,000-1,200 calories a day.  Now, if I keep up this calorie intake, I'll reach 100 pounds next summer, but I know myself, and I will have cheat days and bad days, so I doubt I'll reach it by then, which is why I'm giving myself until 2014. 

I am doing my friend's weight loss competition again (this is my 4th round).  It is 6 weeks long and the person with the most percentage of weight lost gets the pool of money we all pitched in.  Weigh in is every Wednesday, so I will be updating the blog by Thursday.  I'm planning on doing a before and after picture with each 6 weeks to track my progress.  Here are my before pictures for this 6 weeks:

In addition, I'm giving myself rewards when I hit a certain weight.  Here's what I've come up with: 

135-new earrings
130-new shirt
125-a health/fitness magazine subscription...any suggestions?
120-new jeans
115-massage
110-pedicure
105-2 new sets of workout clothes
100-NEW WARDROBE!!!



The more weight I lose, the more expensive the reward is.  I shop at Ross a lot, so clothes won't be too expensive, but I'm really excited! I will have to buy some clothes here and there as I lose more weight, but I won't go overboard.  I'm okay with wearing baggy clothes for a few months to save my money for the grand finale.  So that's my plan.  Happy weight losing!