Happy Sunday to all my friends and family. I was in the city for a good portion of this past week staying in a hotel and more importantly eating hotel food. I did get my five workouts in and more and managed to stick to my food plan all week. This week was particularly hard not only because of my lack of sleep, being on my feet all day but when I am at work events there is food every where and all day long. I am not speaking of healthy food either. There is always a large spread of cake, cookies and brownies. Mayonaise filled salads and sandwiches are also always abundant at these events. I brought my protein bars and bananas with me and planned out all my meals accordingly so I wouldn't be hungry and wouldn't eat non-healthy food.

For anyone who knows me well over the years I've never been able to successfully eat healthy during one of these conferences or being away from home. I always make excuses or let my hunger and exhaustion rule what gets put in my mouth. The fact that I was able to eat healthy all week was amazing. It also taught me that if I could do it once I can always do it. When you are exhausted eating crap doesn't give you more energy. In fact, it makes you feel worse in many ways.

To reward myself I went to the mall today and got myself a brand new pair of sneakers with new technology. They are so much lighter as well. I feel like walking/running will be that much easier. Now when I am at the gym wearing my new sneakers they will also remind me what I've accomplished and how I met my goal. Those feelings will only motivate me to workout more this week. I will report in later this week and let everyone know how it goes.

So far so good this week. Two of my five workouts completed. Spin Monday night and then an hour with the trainer tonight. Tomorrow I am going to a 7am spin class before work, then into the city for an event. Back with the trainer on Friday and then hopefully swimming laps and a run/walk on Saturday. My eating has been spot on as well this week, journaling and keeping track of my weight watcher's points online.

Over the weekend I was in Westport to do some errands and noticed some nice sales at the Gap and Ann Taylor Loft. Two brands that I frequently wear because the lines of the brand flatter my fuller sized figure. One of my biggest challenges being overweight is finding clothes that are fashionable but also look cute on me. There were so many sexy dresses at Loft that I would have loved to buy but between the current state of my arms and core I can't yet. However, I am working very hard to rectify the situation. I am very much looking forward to the day when I can wear whatever style I want and not being able to won't be an option any longer. It will be so wonderful when I can get up in the morning and throw on a pair of designer jeans in a size 6 and tuck my shirt in to them like it is no big deal :)

I also love to wear heels and have a huge shoe collection of all the best designers. I rarely wear my beautiful shoes because with all the extra weight my feet hurt after a few hours in heels. So the other big fashion item I am looking forward to is wearing all my gorgeous sexy shoes minus the pain. Once I get to my goal weight I might even treat myself to a pair of Louboutins. I've been told they are actually comfortable. I feel many wonderful things are in store for my future and they aren't just shoes and clothes.

zoftigprincess

For so long now I feel like I've talked the talk but haven't walked the walk with my weight loss. It is so important to me for my family, friends and boyfriend to finally be proud of me and not just think, here she goes again with no results to portray. That is why I am now trying so hard to do this once and for all.

It is going to take me months of hard work and commitment to lose all the weight I want to lose. So what will keep me motivated? For starters, I have some pictures of how I used to look and of some of my fashion icons like Megan Fox on my bedroom mirror. I have numerous free apps on my iPhone and computers like weight watchers and other diary type apps where I can not only log my food and exercise but more importantly log my feelings and behaviors. I think that behavior modification is a large part of weight loss and it takes 30 days to form a new habit researchers say so writing will be key so I can look back and read what I wrote on good and bad days.

So far so good. I have enjoyed all the healthy food I am eating and feel satisfied. I don't feel as though I am missing anything. I eat slowly and enjoy what I am having. When you eat fresh organic vegetable and fruit you don't even need salad dressing. The items themselves are so flavorful without anything added. Sometimes I will have some fresh squeezed lemon juice over greens if I get bored but that is it.

Until next time...
zoftig princess

My last blog referenced a major success in my journey. I am pleased to report I had three more this week as follows. I ran outside this morning for the first time since playing tennis and soccer in high school and I ran on the treadmill this past week with my trainer doing interval training. For my time on the treadmill it was only in one minute intervals opposite walking in one minute intervals on an incline of 9.0. I don't know which is harder the running or the hills :). I normally do spin class which is non-impact so any impact exercise is very hard as I'm not used to it all so I am proud of myself.

I also made it through the week being sick and having the usual female issues staying on my food plan. I've never been able to do this before. As soon as I don't feel well I usually reach for some type of carb to satiate me. Sometimes when I don't feel well I am just plain lazy and that doesn't work either. When you have healthy snacks always available this pre-empts that behavior I find and that is exactly what I did. I now always have bananas, healthy protein bars, berries, carrot sticks and almonds at work, at home and sometimes in my purse.

I had another meal out recently also where I had a good but on plan meal with plain fruit at the end and enjoyed the company instead of focusing on the food.  So the week has ended and I am down 6.3 pounds, not too shabby. More importantly I am proud of myself and feel confident that I will be successful in terminating the bad habits once and for all.  It won't be easy but I am starting to build my toolbox for the future.

-Zoftig Princess

I still have issues each and every single day with my weight.  I start a plan only to fail every time. I lose a few pounds and then I cheat. What about my new plan will be different? What will be the catalyst to my finally being motivated to drop the pounds once and for all? What will be the game changer? How unhappy do I have to become to instill change in myself? These are questions I've been asking myself the last few days. However, I did have a very big success this weekend that I should share.  I was able to go out to eat and eat on plan despite what my company ate in front of me. I've had tremendous difficulty with this in the past.  I ate a salad with grilled salmon, dressing on the side and ended my meal with fresh berries. I was finally successful. Could this time be actually different? Stay tuned...

Dieting is hard. It is like you have to forget what you are doing and bypass your time with distractions. The distractions that I personally enjoy are reading fashion magazines, playing games on the computer and watching chick flicks on TV. Also, having a very stressful job like I do is a huge distraction but it can often back fire when you forget to eat and then are completely starving. Managing your hunger is a big thing. Today I got so busy that I forgot to eat my snack so on the ride home I was absolutely starving. I needed to stop at the bank to make a deposit but the bank is right next to an awesome pizza place. I almost didn't trust myself to do my banking business and not partake in a slice. Fortunately, tonight I was successful and did not get pizza and when I got home had a healthy snack of three reduced fat Triscuits. It wasn't a huge snack but it was enough not to ruin my dinner but also keep me satisfied until dinner.

Januay 18, 2010

I have lost five pounds so far. I feel like it should have been more but real weight loss seems to be slow going as opposed to water loss. I've been relying a lot on lean cuisines when I am too tired to cook which seems like quite a few days with my gym schedule. Yesterday for lunch I had a Lean Cuisine pizza and then some veggies and chicken as a supplement. The pizza, for being a diet pizza was around 350 calories, pretty small and definitely not filling. My little container of chicken and veggies was more satisfying. Additionally, the Lean Cuisine pizza was filled with tons of sodium which I don't need to make my PMS any worse guys :). I could have had a real piece of pizza and it would have been healthier. If you are like me, I workout after work so by the time I get home I don't feel like preparing a whole dinner. That is my time to relax and catch up with my family and friends. The moral here is I'll have to take the time one day a week to cook and freeze some portions ahead of time. You have to try things for yourself and see how they go and learn from your mistakes.