Back at it.

Well, I haven't been the greatest blogger just starting out! There has been a lot going on in my life right now.

 Dad just had back surgery. He was in the hospital four nights, and just got home today. I'm home with them for a few days helping him recover and get stronger. It was hard seeing him in so much pain. I hope the recovery goes well! I spend a lot of time at the hospital this last weekend. I actually work there, so being there as a patient's family is definitely different. It helps, though because I know the routine and how things should and shouldn't go. I tried to behave!

Weight wise I have not been doing that great. I know I am up a couple of pounds, but that should come off relatively easy if I just eat the way I'm supposed to. I haven't been tracking very well, so that's the first step. I just need to write down every single thing I eat. It is so hard at this point, with 10 pounds left to lose... If I screw up even just a little bit, it shows on the scale. Back when I weighed in the 200 pound range, it would not matter as much. I could have a bad week and still lose a little bit. I guess that's life when you're a skinny girl! It is sooo worth it, though.

Got back to some running today as well. Took my parents black lab, Molly for a 2.7 mile run through the park and golf course. It felt great. Molly's getting up there in age, so we had to walk a little bit (purely for her benefit ;)...) Otherwise I have been focusing more on weight training. I have been able to see my leg and arm muscles toning quite a bit thanks to my trainer!! One of the best decisions I ever made (second to joining weight watchers nearly 2 years ago).

Anyway, back to helping mom and dad out around the house. It sure feels nice to be needed :)

Lazy weekend...

And I'm feeling chubby. Uffda.

Tonight I made (am making) zucchini bread. I went to the farmer's market this weekend and bought a few things, including a zucchini. It seems like a shame to use a zucchini like that to make into bread, but it is delicious anyway.

I changed up the recipe... Most zucchini bread recipes call for 1 cup of oil. 1 cup of oil!?! YIKES!! A smart little trick I learned in weight watchers-substitute that for a cup of unsweetened applesauce. It actually worked! The bread stays very moist and cuts out a ton of fat and calories. Of course, there is still a bunch of flour and sugar but oh well. Gotta have your treats too :)

I went to YOGA for the first time tonight. It was... interesting. There was only 4 of us (plus instructor) in the class, so that was good. I found it to be very relaxing for the most part. I'm used to high intensity step/aerobics classes, so yoga was definitely a change... She had candles lit, and used some different scents.

What I really liked about it was the connectedness you feel towards yourself. Yoga is all about you, relaxing your body and really placing your energy inside. At the end, she says say a prayer for someone you love, say a prayer for someone you find difficult, and finally say a prayer for yourself.

I think that's a good thing to do every day. Now, just need to remember that. :)

Annoying...

Well, I did have  a pretty good post going, then I hit publish post and for some reason it deleted everything and didn't save (what's the point in the save now button if it doesn't work?)

I was reflecting on my personal training sessions... had session #2 yesterday, and it was great! I'm sore today, which I was pretty excited about. I can already see some muscle definition in my arms. WAHOO!! That's one of the main things I want to work on, is my arms... and my belly. I have a long ways to go with my belly but I hope to get there eventually... I am pretty sure I'll never be bikini ready but at least I will feel a little more confident. I can't imagine even wearing a bikini!! AHHHHH hahaha... only in the privacy of my backyard. And even that's a stretch (stretch mark... heheh).

I'm really liking the gym I just joined... It's really small and new, and it doesn't smell like sweaty old guys :)... I used to go to the Y, and didn't like it for a few reasons including the smell. Also the price was about to increase to $50/month when I turn 25 next month. I find that a little bit ridiculous. Nothing else is going to change about me except my age.

Anyway, I'm going to try and post this again. Hope anyone who is reading this enjoys it. I'm boring, but I'm trying to make it sound more exciting than it really is. Peace :)

Not sure about this idea...

In my post 12 hour night shift exhaustion, I'm watching TV this afternoon (morning?) and see a commercial for a new TV show called Big Sexy... I didn't really pay attention to the whole thing, but basically it's about big women loving who they are and being proud of their size...

Now, I've seen things like this before on TV... I'm all about body acceptance, but I don't think it is acceptable to promote being unhealthy. These women are beautiful, there's no doubt about it. But are they healthy? I saw on the Today Show last week, a woman who was all about size acceptance and being "big and beautiful" who decided to change her thought process once she found out she was pre-diabetic and had some other health issues... from being overweight.

For a long time, I tried so hard just to love who I was being overweight... Didn't work. I think loving who you are has many components... Taking care of yourself, accepting your limitations, and knowing you're doing the best you can. I pray that these women see the harmful effects that being overweight can have on your body. I once read that being obese is likely to overtake cigarette smoking in the number of morbidities in this country. People KNOW that smoking is unhealthy for you, and things are changing because of that. I think we need to do more to crush the obesity rates in this country. It is out of control (well, that's a whole other blog for another day when I'm feeling a little more...awake).

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this show unfolds. I probably won't watch it, just too many other fun things to do with my life, like blog. Peace. :)

Night shift...Woof.

Well, I'm working night 12-hour shifts this weekend, 7 p.m.-7 a.m... completed night one with out incident... I was too busy to think about how tired I really was. Get home at 0730 and I'm up before noon. Yep, I'll be napping today for sure! Too bad I had to waste this weekend, the weather is beautiful out... I know we won't have too many more of these nice days until we fall into the winter slump.

Oh, I am so not looking forward to winter. There are, maybe, one or two things I like about winter: Christmas, and the very first snowfall. But after that, the cold get malicious. Bitter, bitter cold. Yuck. I sometimes wonder why we still live here, and someone once told me it's because the cold has destroyed our brain cells and we're all too stupid to leave! HA!

Either way, life goes on. Enjoy this beautiful day while it lasts :)

What do you do when...

So many people ask me, "Katie, what do you do when you want to eat junk food?" My answer is pretty simple...

I eat it.

Then, I run far, far away from it. Moderation is the key, people. I have learned this is true with a lot of things. You can enjoy anybody's company in moderation, but once you are with them too much or for too long (no matter how much you love them) you will eventually have a negative consequence. Example: Doritos. Good for a few chips, then you eat the whole bag and you're left with orange fingers and a guilty conscience. I used to eat Doritos by the bag. I probably could still if I let them sit in front of me, but this is something I don't buy anymore. I'll have a few here and there at parties/gatherings, but I will not bring them into my home unless absolutely necessary.

Nobody can be good 100% of the time, if we were, nobody would have drinking problems, weight problems, or personality problems. We'd all be perfect. But then, life would be boring and what would we ever learn from that?

There are times, of course when I fail miserably. An example of this was last week at work... A bunch of junk food sitting out all day, definitely can't resist. Then I go to the candy jar and have 3 or 4 dove chocolates. Why can't I have one? Not really sure. But, I have a bad day and move on with it. End of story. New day starts fresh. Every single day.

An old Facebook note

I was cleaning out my Facebook profile yesterday (there's no reason why people need to have access to "notes" I wrote 3 years ago) and came across one of those 25 Interesting Things about Me posts... #18 read:
"I am always concerned about my weight. I feel like people judge me because of it, and I'm constantly worrying whether or not people are talking about me/my weight. I just wish people would see what's on the inside rather than the outside."

Soooo true, fat self.

While I still occasionally feel like everyone's staring at my muffin top (which is significantly smaller than it used to be) I can't believe I let this rule my life for so long. Truth is, people probably DID judge me for being fat. Now on the other side of things, this is something that I can't lean on any longer. Before, if someone didn't like me or I wasn't chosen for a job or something like that, it was because I was fat. Nobody wants the fat girl. Now if I am not chosen or if someone doesn't like me for some reason- I really have to look at the issue. I think we all have things we lean on as crutches.

Losing weight is hard, but I think the hardest work begins now, for the rest of my life. Love it or hate it, here I am... But definitely loving it more than hating it! :) Peace.

First post!

Well I guess there's no time like the present for your first blog post. I have attempted to keep blogs in the past but never really have done anything cool or interesting to blog about. What should your first blog post include? I suppose a little bit of background about me and why I'm writing this in the first place.

So, I'm 24 years old and in the best shape of my life. Now, I realize most people are in the best shape of their lives at age 24, but if you would have asked me this 2 years ago it was a drastically different story. 2 years ago I had just gotten married, and was at about the heaviest point in my entire life. Bummer, I know, to have to take your wedding pictures when you feel like a fat cow. Life went on for a few more months that way until....

I decided to do something.

I joined Weight Watchers at the end of December 2009. WW is nothing new to me. I had done this several times in my life, each time losing 20-30 pounds and then gaining it back, faster than I could buy new pants. So, I joined with very little gusto thinking, "here I go again..."

The pounds literally fell off. It was fun, and I was noticing changes in myself. So I kept going. And going... And here I am, today 91.8 pounds lighter and just under 11 pounds away from my goal weight. 150. A weight I have never known before (except maybe in middle school or elementary school!!)

Through this blog, I hope to share with you my strong days and weak days. I hope to inspire at least one person to make that change in his or her life and to keep it going that way. If I can do it, you can do it. Enjoy.