Its here...the dreaded plateau

Can I break through?? I'm not sure. The week I started to work out was when this all began. It is about to be three weeks that I stay the exact same weight even though I started working out and stayed within my calories. When I say the same weight, I mean the same weight. There is no difference in my weight that is shown on the scale. It may be that I might be building muscle, or maybe I’m doing something wrong. I don’t really know, but what I do know is that I see and feel a difference. I won’t let this plateau make me give up. Hopefully it is only temporary. I have been reading online that when you come to this point you should lower your calorie intake by 200. I honestly cannot do that because that would put me under 1200 calories and I know that is not healthy. Another suggestion that I read was to increase the amount of time I work out. I will start doing that this week and add in an extra 15 to 30 minutes. Hopefully in about two weeks I see a little more change. I’m not going to lie and say that this plateau isn’t affecting me negatively, because it is. I have had those moments where I want to give up, but then I think all my hard work will be for nothing so I don’t quit. 22 pounds in two months is a great achievement and it’s something I should be proud of, which I am. Hopefully the little changes I make to my daily routine will help. Mostly what helps me keep going are the not scale victories that I encounter. This can be when I pick a fruit instead of a cookie or drink water instead of juice. Knowing that whose little changes will be something that help me with this lifestyle change is what keeps me going. After all it’s not a short term diet it’s a lifestyle change. Hopefully I will soon break through.

Everything in moderation

Everything in moderation is what I have learned on my journey. I thought that because I wanted to lose weight all I would have to eat were salads and that all I could drink was water. This is one of the reasons that I always thought I could never try to lose weight because I love food. It isn't until now that I have realized that I can have all the foods I like, just not a ton of it like I was doing. Let’s take chips for example, I love Hot Cheetos, like I absolutely love them. But let’s be real here they are not the healthiest snack ever, actually pretty far from it, but I love them. I know it would be best to leave them but what I am doing is going to change my life forever (if all goes well) and before I decide to leave something I think ”Is this a change I am willing to live with for the rest of my life?” because having a healthier lifestyle is just that, a lifestyle. It’s something that you are going to keep for a long time. After much thought I realized that no I can’t imagine never eating Hot Cheetos again. At least not at the point I am in my life right now. Maybe somewhere along the line I will change my mind, but for now that’s how I feel about this. So my solution was to buy the little 160 calorie bags of Cheetos this way I can have them and satisfy my craving without eating the whole 510 calorie bag (that’s almost half of the calories I am currently eating a day now!). So yeah that’s basically what I am doing with most of the foods I eat. I don’t let myself not have something because I know that I will be thinking about it and that will most likely lead to a binge. Which I try to avoid at all costs. If I want pizza I’ll have some, if I want a burger I’ll have one, obviously it is not an everyday thing, like I said everything in moderation. On those days I know that there is a consequence since I am counting calories having those things does give me less to work with on some days, but it is not an everyday thing so that’s what’s good. I have also come to realize that I do like salads, today I found myself craving one (extremely weird!) but I bought one and it was good. During these two months and losing 22 pounds so far I feel like I have come a long way. I mean I know that I have a loooooooong ways to go but I have more faith in myself that I can do it. Everything in moderation and take every day one step at a time.

You can do it!

Great start to the day

I had bought some jeans a while ago that were a size smaller than what I had been wearing, but I had completely forgot about them. I found the pants with the tags still on them. This morning when I woke up I realized that I was officially 20 pounds lighter and decided to try on the pants I had found. I was scared to try them on as there was a reason that they had been hidden for so long, but I can say that the fit now. They fit me really good, and I am so excited because I am one pants size down which means I am getting closer to my goal.  I am just really content right now because I can now wear these jeans! I got really excited and made a cute outfit for school which is weird for me since I just throw on some sweats and go on my way, but I thought "new jeans deserve a cute top" so yeah I even put make up on! What is this sorcery? I never do this. Knowing I am 20 pounds down and a size smaller in the pants department gave me a great boost of confidence.

Check in

Well I have honestly been slacking in the work out department. Let's just admit that now. It's  more or less my fear of going to the gym because I feel like everyone will be staring. I did work out a bit at home a little while ago but I have lost motivation for that completely.  Just the thought makes me cringe...

I know I am going to have to start though, I am beginning this week and going only twice a week to start. I will see how that goes. As for actual weight progress, the good thing is that the numbers keep going down so now I am 2 pounds away from losing 20 pounds total. This is actually not too bad considering my lack of  physical activity. So I am pretty happy with my progress so far. I just have to keep going at it. I am sure that once I began with a actual workout routine I will see more change quicker. I am really happy that I have kept this going for two months now. I didn't think I would make it this long, so now I know that I can keep it going for sure.

Stressed...

Well today, no wait scratch that, this whole week has been one of those weeks where you are worried about everything. I'm worried about all the work I have to do in school, like applying for scholarships, all my assignments. I also need to study for a test that will determine if I get my license to become a teacher ( ...No Pressure). Plus add on to that the fact that I'm trying to find a job because those pills sure as heck don't pay themselves, and doing my taxes (I have to be honest and say I have no idea how the heck to do that) and also getting health insurance. Which let me tell you it is not cheap. I don'd even know where to start! All I know is that I need to get it ASAP. It  is just stressful that's all I can say. I'm losing my mind here. You know when you have those days where you have so much to do but there is just so much that you decide not to do anything? Well that is how I see things right now. As I am currently writing this I am avoiding the 40 pages I need to read. I honestly have no motivation to get any of this done, like at all. I know I have to though, why is being a grown up so hard! Okay, I'll stop complaining now I'm sure everyone has a lot on their plate. I just needed to vent and that is what a blog is for right?

Well hello there jeans...

The other day I was looking for something to wear. I noticed that I had not done laundry sooooo the jeans I normally wear were not an option. I looked to see if I had more that could have been clean. None were. I kind of freaked out a bit because I knew that I would not have time to wash them since I was going somewhere. I found some jeans I had bought a while ago that I had abandoned because I hadn't been able to wear them for some time. At first I was scared to try them on because I was terrified that they were not going to fit. I kind of had no choice so I prepared my self for disappointment. I know I have lost some weight but even though I see progress one cannot help but feel like there is no change at all. I can't describe what this feeling is like though I just know that I felt it. So I grabbed the pants and made myself try them... lo and behold THEY FIT! THEY FIT! They actually fit. And not the fit where you feel like everything is hanging out and you can't breathe. I mean the fit where you think "Wow my butt looks really good in these" I was amazed. I really could not believe it. I actually still can't believe it. I guess I'm just proud of myself for not giving  up on this. The fact that those jeans fit just gave me the confidence to keep going because I know that what I am doing is helping me achieve a better lifestyle. It is a small victory but it is one that I am very proud of. So I am glad to say that I can now add that to my collection of clothes I can now wear again. YAY!