I'm leaving on a jet plane...

So I am going to Belize City!!!!!!! I am doing a missionary trip with two of my girl friends from college. We leave tomorrow morning for Kentucky and then leave from there to go to Belize. I'll be back home Feb 1st and I'm sure I will be exhausted.

While in Belize we are going to be building a home for a needy family, helping out at a children's AIDS hospital and doing other community service project in the city. We are of course going to get to see all the tourist attractions in Belize. There is a Mayan Ruin, beaches, and shopping.

I have already checked into a Gold's Gym location in Belize City and there are none :( I am bringing my tennis shoes and workout clothes and hope to go for a few jogs while I'm there. I will miss working out!!!

Have a good two weeks and I hope to catch up on everyone's blogs when I get back.

See ya in February :)

Weigh-in

So to my surprise guess what the scale showed me this morning:

217.8

Yea, I have no clue how that happened!!!!!

Tired

I am so out of it today.

I went to see my boyfriend, who is incredibly awesome, this weekend. I dont talk about him much on here but I wanted to give him a shout out! I didnt get home last night till almost 3am and I had to get up at 6:30am to go to work. Needless to say I am dragging my butt around all day.

I ate well all weekend and today but I havent been to the gym since Saturday afternoon. I was going to bring my workout clothes with me to work to go straight to the gym after I get off of work but I didnt. I may way till like 9pm to go to the gym but I seriously doubt that will happen. If not I am back to my regular schedule tomorrow morning.

TGIF!

Happy Friday everyone.

It is almost time for me to start my weekend (15mins and counting).

Yesterday morning I got my butt out of bed to go to BodyPump at the gym. The class was cancelled and so I decided to go to spin class instead. For some reason spin class was not a rewarding as I hoped and I decided to go to BodyPump after work. Let me just tell you I feel like my thighs are on fire. For those of you who aren't members of Gold's Gym, BodyPump is a whole body workout with weights.

This morning I passed on my workout and I am trying to find some motivation to go tonight. I know it's a Friday and I should attempt to have a social life but I feel like I haven't been home in weeks. Since I didnt go to the gym I dont have anything to report as my official weigh-in for the week. Which brings me to the point that even though I am not a part of the Pool this time around I am still gonna try to post my weigh-ins each Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Buyer beware!

So my roommate went to the store yesterday and picked up some Campbell's soup. Since it was buy one get one free she got a can of the regular Campbell's Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla soup and she got me the Campbell's Healthy Request Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla soup. The Healthy Request (HR) soup had the pretty green letters on it promising 98% fat free which of course catches all of our eyes.

While eating the soup for lunch today I decided to look online to compare the nutritional facts between both soups and I was surprised by what I saw!

The regular (normally cheaper) Campbell's Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla soup:

Calories 130

Total Fat 2g
Sat. Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 10mg
Sodium 800mg
Total Carbs 20g
Fiber 3g
Sugars 1g
Protein 8g


The "healthier" (normally more expensive) Campbell's Healthy Request Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla soup:
Calories 130
Total Fat 2.5g
Sat. Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 10mg
Sodium 480mg
Total Carbs 20g
Fiber 3g
Sugars 2g
Protein 8g

Bottom line is buyer beware! This product has MORE fat and sugar and only 40% less sodium. Make sure you really pay attention to the nutrition labels even if it says 'LOW FAT' or '98% FAT FREE'!!! No offense to Campbell's soup!!! The soup is very tasty and I would definitely stock up on it more often if on the buy one get one free sale.

Advice

So I got the following email today:

have a good day my friend. I miss youllllllll!
Love you...keep up the good work and please let me know what your doing. I did dinner with anna last night and she says she look great and youve taken off more weight. I'm trying the no carb thing-high protein. Please give me some tips cuz i wanna start feeling better about myself. I should prolly utilize the gym a bit more huh. ok well take care love youuu...so proud of you babycakes! Hard work and determination...

-dev

I was so shocked when I read the email. My friend is a beautiful girl, both inside and out. She like me was carrying around probably 70-80lbs of extra weight. For her to come to ME for help made me feel very accomplished.

Here is what I told her:

We will def. get together when I get back from vacation.

Im not really good at tips but this is what I can tell you. I try to go to the gym for at least an hour every day. There was a period of time where I would go 30mins in the am and then 30mins after work. Working out in the morning is REALLY hard at first but you have to start slow. Make yourself work out 3 days a week for two weeks, then go 4 times a week for two weeks and you'll see that after a month going to the gym 4 or 5 times a week is routine.

As far as a diet I've never done the no-carb thing. I watch what I eat: whole wheat breads, always eat breakfast (cereal or oatmeal), i eat fruit for snacks throughout the day, salads or fish for dinner.

I think working out tends to motivate my eating habits. I dont want to get up at 5am for no reason, ya know! If it's something I can do it's something you can do too!!!!!! Let me know if you need any support cause I am here for you :)

love,

lana

That email has made my day!!! I am so motivated to eat right and exercise it's not even funny. I'm so glad that I can help and inspire my friends.

ZZZZZ.....

It has taken everything inside of my soul to not fall asleep at my desk. I know there were several moments this morning where I nodded off while looking at my computer. I am back to my normal workout routine. Which means, 5am spin class on Tuesdays (hence being sleepy).

I really hope I see a loss this week. I've been up and down the past two weeks and I just want to be under 227lbs. I really would like to be at 220lbs by the end of the month but I don’t know if that will happen or not.

What else besides caffeine and eating would you suggest to help me through the next couple hours of work?

30 unknown facts/secrets about yourself

I saw this on Anne's page and thought I would give it a try.

1. When was the last time you shaved your legs? Friday
2. What were you doing this morning at 8am? Driving to work
3. What were you doing 15 minutes ago? Doing work/wanting Monday to end
4. Are you any good at math? I like to think so
6. Do you have any famous ancestors? As a kid my mom convinced me I was related to Johnny Appleseed.
7. Are you mad at anyone right now? Not at all
8. Do you know the words to the song on your MySpace profile? I honestly cannot remember what song is on my myspace page
9. Last thing received in mail? Car insurance bill
10. How many different drinks have you had today? Water
12. Do you ever leave messages on people's answering machine? It depends
13. Any plans for tonight? Dinner and laundry
14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? Not really
15. What's the most painful dental procedure you've had? I've had a root canal
16. What's outside your back door? Grill and a table
17. Do you have plans on Friday night? Nothing yet but I want to lay low.
18. Do you like the ocean? I was there this weekend and it was wonderful
19. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different kinds of popcorn for Christmas? Yes but a long time ago
20. Have you ever been to a planetarium? No
22. Something you are excited about? Im excited about my up-n-coming Belize trip
23. Who around you has the most problems? It's not my job to judge
24. Are any of your great-grandparents still alive? No
25. Describe your love life? I've found my best friend
26. Where do you keep your change? In my new Coach wallet :)
27. When was the last time you spoke in front of a large group of people? A few weeks ago at a client meeting
28. Do you like anyone right now? I do!
29. What was the weather like on your birthday? It was a sunny September day
30. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed? I always sleep with it closed

Be proud

So this weekend I spent with a group of my girlfriends down at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The weather was gorgeous and we had such a great time. It's hard after graduating from college because most of my friends were scattered all around the state of Virginia. We have always been good at making time for road trips and a weekend get together but they aren't always as frequent as I would like.

Since loosing weight everyone comments on it first when they see me. I'm not saying I don't like the attention but it's always humbling to have a good friend gush over you. What really got to me was my friend Ashley asked me if I was proud of myself for losing weight. It took me a little off guard but I immediately said "Yes" and I truly meant it.

I've always been the fat girl and I still am the fat girl in my group. But this weekend was the first time that I didn't feel like I was always going to be that fat girl. I really REALLY want to hit my goal weight this year and I know it's not impossible.

So my question is to all of you: Are you truly proud of yourself for losing weight? If not, you sure better start being proud of yourself!!!!!!!!

Marathon weekend!

I can really get used to this work three days a week and have a four day weekend! I hope everyone had a happy New Year celebration. I was with some friends and managed to drink myself silly. By silly I mean I made out with some random boy at the bar!

In other news my weight has not budged in the past few weeks. That is good for one reason...my weight hasnt gone up! But I'm working hard this week to make it go down.

I stayed up on Monday night and watched the Biggest Loser Marathon on Bravo. I cannot tell you how many times I teared up. I was motivated and amazed watching these people change there lives!