lauramala

Hello everyone!

 It’s been a long time since I’ve been on here…  With the whirlwind that sucked me up leading up to the wedding, I guess it makes sense.  The wedding was AMAZING, and our honeymoon was even better!  I posted some wedding pics for you all to view. 

 So, I didn’t reach my weight-loss goal before the wedding.  I was very conflicted about this, because I was getting pretty close, but I went in for a dress fitting, and it was too BIG!  This was exciting, but all of my bridesmaids and the alterations lady said that I needed to not lose anymore at all.  My dress had too much detail and couldn’t really be taken in at all.  I really wanted the dress to fit perfectly on the big day, so I opted to stop losing weight.  In the end, it fit absolutely PERFECTLY, but I had to gain a few pounds back in order to get there!

 While it was nice to not have to stress about getting in to my dress, it was disappointing that I couldn’t be the weight I wanted to be on my wedding day.  I think I looked just fine, but I really wanted to reach that goal.  Now, the wedding is long since over (it was on July 21st) and I need to finally achieve my goal, once and for all.  I promised myself that in 2007 I would reach my weight-loss goal, and I am going to try my hardest!  I’ve come so far already and it would be a shame to give up now, as I have always done in the past. 

I’m going to adjust my weight-loss ticker to reflect my 2007 goal weight and my current weight.  Maybe this will be my motivation to really get back on track and finally make this happen!

I hope everyone is doing well!

Laura

Please read on at your own risk.  Following are ramblings from my brain that I just need to let out and see where they take me.

rn

I don’t know if it is just me, but I seem to struggle with eating right on the weekends.  Yet again, this past weekend I ate too much on Friday night (date night) and then couldn’t pull myself together for the rest of the weekend!  I told myself I really needed to stick to it, but I just didn’t have the strength to make myself actually do it!  I could blame stress and I could blame boredom, but those are not my problem.  I can’t blame partying with friends, because I didn’t do that this weekend.  I have no excuses.  I think my problem is just sheer willpower. 

rn

During the week, when I have a routine, I can follow it pretty well.  I can turn down foods that I know won’t help me in the long run, and make good progress on my weight loss.  Then the weekend comes, and I relax TOO much.  I end up bloating up and gaining a few pounds of water back, and then spend the next 2-3 days during the week trying to lose it all over again.  (This may work as a great maintenance plan once I reach my goal, but it sure isn’t working for weight-loss!)  Instead of losing 1/2 - 1 lbs per week, I should be able to lose at least 2 lbs. per week, but these weekends are killin’ me! 

rn

To further complicate things, my wedding dress should be in soon, and I will need to get alterations scheduled starting at the beginning of June.  I do not have time to be re-losing weight.  I need to lose it for good!  The end of April is near, and I feel like I should have lost a lot more weight than I have this month. 

rn

In the long run, I have come a LONG way, and I have worked harder and longer on this diet than I have ever worked before.  I can’t believe that I have done as well as I have.  (I can’t believe I’ve lost 30lbs!)  And looking back on the last few months, it doesn’t seem like it was that difficult to do things right.  When it is all said and done, the minor daily struggles really end up being so minor.  It seems hard in the moment, but looking back, it didn’t feel like torture at all!  Then I lose my willpower and strength on the weekends, and it’s just silly!  I’m too lazy to make my own food like I do all week, and so I end up getting fast food, or going out to eat.  It really isn’t that hard to just cook once or twice on the weekend and avoid regaining weight every weekend. 

rn

Furthermore, if I could just work extra hard for the next 2 or 3 months, cooking on weekends, “cheating” as infrequently as possible, I could reach my goal weight and not have to worry about this anymore!  I think I have a pretty good idea on how to maintain my weight once I get there, but I just need to get there first!  And I won’t get there in time for my wedding if I keep being lazy on the weekends. 

rn

And so it comes down to this… I know that I really want to lose this weight.  I know that I really want to lose it for good.  I know that I really want to lose it in time for my wedding and honeymoon.  If I want it bad enough, which I do, then I know what I have to do!  I need to stay strong on the weekends.  I need to cook my own food as often as possible.  I need to not let one night out ruin my entire weekend of healthy eating.  I need to make better choices at home and when I’m out.  I need to take my exercise to the next level.  I need to constantly remember that it really isn’t that hard to make myself eat right, even though sometimes it feels like it is.  I can’t give in to temptation and cravings.  I can’t give in to my own laziness.  I need to prove to myself that I can do this, that I have the strength and the willpower.  I know I am stronger than I have been acting lately.  I know that I can do amazing things when I set my mind to it, and no one can stop me. 

rn

I am challenging myself to make it through this week and this next weekend with strength and determination.  I will prove to myself that I CAN do it!

rn

I’m sorry for all of the ramblings, but thanks for reading!  Have a great week, everyone! 

As of this morning, I hit 148.0 on the scale.  I’m extremely excited because my max weight was actually 178 (not the 172 that my weight ticker says… I was 172 when I started here on BuddySlim) and this means I have now lost 30 lbs!  In all my years of yo-yo dieting, I don’t think I ever lost this much weight! 

As I’ve probably said before, I was in the 140’s while I was in high school, so I am now back to that weight range, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!  However, I will not stop here!  I want to lose another 15-20 lbs. so that I am at the weight where I always wanted to be while I was in high school.  People have never seen me weigh 130-something.  Never.  (I skipped the 130’s and 120’s… I went straight from 110 to 140 many years ago…)  I can’t wait to get to the 130’s!!!

Have a great, OP day, everyone! 

This has to be one of my happiest days in a long time!  This morning when I weighed myself, I was at 149.6!  And I even weighed twice to make sure the scale wasn’t playing tricks on me.  Sometimes it will give me a low number and then if I do it again, it goes up to a different number and repeats that one every time after.  But it stayed at 149.6 today!

According to my rewards schedule, I am now allowed to purchase my Garmin Forerunner, which is a fun thing you strap on your wrist that has GPS in it, and it tells you how fast you are going, how far you’ve gone, and much more!  I’ve been waiting SO long to get one, but I couldn’t until I hit 149.9 or less.  Which now I have done!

I wish everyone the happiest and most successful of days today!  Have a great one!

Laura

So, after 2 days back on track, I not only lost the water weight I had gained, but I hit a new low!  It’s hard to tell when you are retaining water if you are losing weight sometimes.  I suppose I actually lost more weight than I thought earlier, but I was retaining water, so I couldn’t tell. 

rn

I am 0.2 lbs. away from being able to move my weight ticker again, for the first time in 3.5 weeks!  Needless to say, I am excited about that! 

rn

Have a great, successful day, everyone!

rn

Laura

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  I guess it is only fitting that after Easter, I am “reborn” again myself and ready to hit the ground running on my diet!

rn

As I said in my last blog, March was rough and now that Easter has passed, I can really focus on dieting again!  And it’s a good thing I didn’t stress about food last week… cause my grandmother makes the BEST food, delicious pies, and showers us with candy!  I ate so much candy yesterday that I can go without for at least a month!  (And what is crazy is that it wasn’t even that much candy… a few pieces in a row and I’m all sugared out!) 

rn

So, last week was pretty tough.  I worked over 70 hours.  The next 3 1/2 weeks are going to be SO busy at work (because of a huge contract we just signed) that I’m going to be very tired and insanely busy.  I’m not excited about that, but at least I will have a nice distraction from food!  The only thing I’m really going to have to work hard at is getting my workouts in.  When I’m really busy, sleep is the only thing on my mind!

rn

I didn’t get my long run in yesterday, but even after all that I ate, I am still only 3.2 lbs. up from my low weight (that I hit several weeks ago) and that is awesome!  Most of it is actually water weight, if not all of it, so I’m very excited about that!  I’ve been eating not great for several weeks, and I guess I worked out enough and ate regularly enough to keep my metabolism revved up.  I think that gives me great hope for when I finally reach my goal weight!  I KNOW I will be able to keep it off!

rn

Have a great week everyone!

rn

Laura

March was a crazy month.  Dieting was next to impossible.  Stressed was the mood of the month.  After parties, outings, gatherings, and much more every weekend, I thought I was gonna go crazy!  And work was no picnic either. But now it is over… and I couldn’t be more relieved!

rn

I haven’t stayed on track very well, but I haven’t fallen off the wagon completely… I’ve just made substitutions that don’t help me lose weight but don’t cause me to gain either.  And I have kept up my exercise, so that is always good.  I’m SO ready to get back on track, but I know with a holiday weekend coming up, it will be pretty much useless this week…

rn

However, after Easter has passed, I am free as a bird!  I will have 3 or 4 weeks of almost NOTHING to do, and I am so excited about it!  I am going to hit my diet so hard, my body is not going to know what to do with itself.  I’m going to get all of my workouts in every day, and I am going to drop this weight like a bad habit.  April is going to be THE month… it has success written all over it, and I can not wait to see the results!  I am so close to getting back down to my high school weight, and once I get past that, I will be SO excited!

rn

And to all of my buddies out there, I am sorry for not being around very often this past month.  When I am not dieting really seriously, I just don’t check in to BuddySlim as much.  And with all of the craziness, I just disappeared for a while.  I tried to read as many blogs as I could, so I’m pretty much caught up, I just haven’t responded as much as usual.  I haven’t forgotten any of you though! You are all doing SO well, and I am so proud of each of you! 

rn

Keep up the great work everyone, and hopefully I will get back on plan and get back involved really soon. 

rn

Have a wonderful Monday!

rn

Laura

Hello everyone!

Like my title says, I have finally busted my plateau!  I was getting really sick of it too, let me tell ya…  I’ve been virtually plateauing for 3 weeks, and it has been rough!  I finally started feeling last week like I was making a difference, but in the end, I only lost about 0.4 lbs. so I don’t consider that really breaking through for me. 

But this week, I’ve eaten as right as possible, changed up my workout schedule, and tried desperately to get enough sleep, and it is finally working!  I’m down 2 lbs from my plateau point now, so hopefully it is over. 

Now the weekend is coming. Yikes!  March is my crazy month this year, with tons of parties and gatherings, and this weekend is no different.  Tonight, my fiance and I will be having a much-needed date night.  Tomorrow will be a night with the girls, and Sunday, I just have no idea.  I’ve got to keep it together as much as possible because I don’t want to end the downward trend I am on.  It feels great to finally be losing again!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a fabulous weekend!

Laura

So, last week was rather rough you could say…. I was sick of dieting, but forced myself to eat the right foods.  What’s worse is that I actually gained half a pound by the end of the week!  Talk about a plateau!  By the end of the week, stress from work and life became overwhelming.  I talked to my mom for advice, and she suggested I take the weekend off of my diet, have fun at the parties I had planned for the weekend, and just not stress about food for a couple of days.  And I did!

I ate so much this weekend.  It was nice to eat whatever I wanted, but I puffed up and retained almost 5 pounds of water after 3.5 days of eating poorly.  And Sunday I ate so much at lunch that I was FULL for the next 7 hours and felt absolutely sick.  Not fun.  And I didn’t even get a good long workout in this weekend.  I did one short run with some drills and that was it!

Monday I was in a funk and couldn’t get out of it.  I was tired, sluggish, and unhappy.  Food didn’t solve my problems.  Tuesday started the same way, but I made a decision to turn it around.  I ate perfectly for my diet plan, went for a tough run, and by the end of the day I was feeling great! 

It is amazing how awesome you can feel when you eat foods your body can really use as fuel.  And exercise releases endorphins (the happy hormone) into your system, which actually makes you happy!  By giving up both good food and exercise this weekend, I really set myself up for disaster! It took about half of the day yesterday  to really convince myself to get back on track, but it was worth it!  I lost 2.8 of my 4.8 water retention pounds after one perfect day!  There is hope!

This coming weekend  I have tons of plans again, but I am going to dig deep and power through!  I can’t afford another weekend like last weekend for sure! My new diet mantra:

Now is the time!!!

Have a great week everyone!

Laura

Sometimes I am just amazed at how eating the right foods for your body can make such a HUGE difference in your weight-loss.  I know exactly what types of foods work for me and which ones don’t.  When I eat the wrong foods, I am more hungry all the time, retain more water, and fail to lose weight, but when I eat the right foods, the weight just melts away!  It’s just amazing!

Another pound has disappeared, and I am excited!  I just need to continue this success through the weekend for a change!

This weekend, some friends and I are going to a sauna, and one is getting a body wrap.  I am SO excited!  The sauna should be fun, and you burn 600 calories in 40 minutes!  It also detoxifies you because you sweat so profusely and the infrared rays penetrate your skin and into your organs, helping you to eliminate free radicals there.  So cool!  (Infrared rays are the rays that are good for you.  They can come from the sun, but the sun also has the bad UV rays with it.  This sauna has only infrared!)  Anyways, I can’t wait!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Laura