wednesday weigh-in #2

What a week it has been! I can't believe it's already Wednesday again. It's time for another Wednesday weigh-in. I've been so excited this week to finally be able to post this because I have been working hard to reach my weekly goals. Last week's goals were to lay off the chocolate, walk more, and drink less soda.

The hardest goal to reach was the chocolate. At work, our trainer keeps a bowl of chocolate at the front of the room. It is so tempting. I feel like it's screaming "eat me"! So needless to say, I had a hard time resisting. I'm going to include that for this week's goals and work a little harder to keep away.  

I'm also still having trouble staying away from sodas. I tend to get very tired about 2 o'clock so it seems convenient to get some caffeine in me to make it through the rest of the work day. I've got to figure out other ways to get energy though. I drink a lot of water, but I'm still sneaking in those sodas. 

My 3rd goal of this week was being more active and committing to walking at least 3 times this week. I'm so happy to say I achieved this goal! I actually went over and beyond and have gotten up and walked almost every morning this week. I've been trying to alternating walking and running in order to build up my stamina and get more of a workout. I HATE running, but I would really like to become a better runner.

So for my overall goal, I hoped to lose 2 pounds this week and **drum roll please**, I DID IT!!! I was so happy today when I stepped on the scale and saw the numbers! It's an awesome feeling to reach any goal, no matter how small. 

So for this coming week, I am hoping to lose 4 pounds. To do this I'm going to have to be more focused on reaching that goal and making healthy decisions.

• Goal 1: NO chocolate, NO soda. This is obviously self explanatory, but the goal is to stay away from these 2 things as much as possible. I don't want to deprive myself forever from these things, but I want to focus on the discipline it will take to avoid chocolate and soda this week. I can do this!
• Goal 2: Have healthy meals for lunch and dinner. It's so easy to come home after work and throw something together to eat, but more times than not it is unhealthy. This week I want to focus on making meals with more vegetables, lean meats, and less starches. 
• Goal 3: Continue walking and running daily. DON'T GIVE UP! There are mornings when I want to just roll back over in bed and hit the snooze button, but I can't do that! I have to stay motivated and build up my stamina day by day. 

I CAN DO IT! I keep telling myself that every day, especially when I'm running. JUST KEEP GOING! It will totally be worth it!

Anyways, I will leave you with my favorite picture of the week: 

wednesday weigh-in #1

Today I'm starting a brand new weekly series documenting my weight loss and my weekly goals and accomplishments. I'm so incredibly excited to be on this journey, even though it's been so difficult to get started. I figured having written goals and being able to see these goals and my accomplishments weekly will help motivate to keep going.

For starters, this is how I feel when I step on the scale...

Seriously, weighing in is no fun when you don't like the number you see. I know that "numbers" aren't everything, but they are a big indicator of progress throughout any attempt to lose weight. My current "number" is 180. I want to potentially reach a goal weight of 130 within 1 year. According to many ideal weights for my age and height I should weigh between 100 and 120. I definitely do not want to be stick thin, so I'm reaching for a slightly higher goal weight. This is going to be my "starting" photo (excuse the bad quality of this picture) and hopefully my "goal" photo will show a completely revamped and confident body!

One of the biggest things that I've started this week to jump start my journey is drinking lots and lots of water. I've taken my camelbak to work everyday and filled it up a few times while at work. Needless to say, I've had to use the bathroom every 2.5 seconds, but I think it is definitely making a difference and helping me feel better and healthier.

Some improvements that I plan on making this week include:

• laying off the chocolate 
• taking a walk/run around our neighborhood at least 3 times this week
• and completely laying off the sodas (I've still been having at least 1 a day)

The plan is to focus on weekly goals which will make it easier to wrap my head around than huge numbers. So for this week, I'm hoping to lose 2 pounds. I know this is a small goal, but I know if I start small then I'll be more likely to reach those goals and stay motivated to do more!

Becoming Healthy

Well if you checked out my twitter yesterday you know that I started day 1 of working out and starting to eat healthier. With this new job sitting down the whole day, I know that being active and healthy is something I really need to start focusing on. It is so hard to make healthy decision when there are SO many unhealthy options out there. For instance at work there are vending machines at every corner, free popcorn, and free tea and coffee throughout the day. While all these things are amazing, they can be very unhealthy when consumed on a daily basis.

Anywho I spent tonight on Pinterest finding easy, healthy foods that we can start adding to our diet. This post on Six Sisters Stuff blog has 100 healthy food ideas.

There are so many great recipes in this list and there are quite a few that I want to try at home. I'm also working on finding snack foods that are healthy alternatives to vending machine snacks. I know if I take some things with me then I will be less tempted to head to the snack machine. Some snacks that I've decided to start with include:

• dark chocolate/berry trail mix
• greek yogurt 
• carrots and ranch 
• sweet potato chips

Hopefully these snack options will keep me away from the unhealthy snacks! 

The other eating choice I'm trying to change is drinking only WATER. Now to be honest, I love soda. Like more than anything else so this is going to take some time to completely transition, but I know if I put my mind to it I can do it. 

Along with being active in someway everyday, I'm hoping these changes can help me lead a more healthy lifestyle. I suck at committing to change something about myself, so this is definitely a challenge. I'm hoping to use Beth's tactic of making mini goals to reach a bigger goal and also using "non-scale" victories to motivate myself. 

I'm so excited to start this new journey and hopefully create a better lifestyle for Greg and I. I'm ready to feel and look better than I ever have before :)

Happy Blogging :)