Day 18 - Early Mornings and Days Off

Diet tip of the day: Instead of putting your turkey sandwich in a giant roll, wrap it up in a spinach, herb, or sun-dried tomato/basil wrap. You'll cut down on the bulk and the calories.

This morning, I woke up and showered and decided to curl my hair. My hair is naturally wavy, but sometimes I really like to go all out. About half-way through, I realized how much time I was spending to get these lovely locks that I was just going to wash away in the shower tomorrow. Instead of spending an hour on looking good for a day, I should spend 20 minutes running to make myself look better every day. Think of the weight I could lose if I exercised half the time I spend on my hair and make-up and clothes...

I think I'm going to start getting up 10 minutes earlier, going for a short run, showering, and doing minimal make-up. It's not that I couldn't go without make-up, I just enjoy putting it on. So if I cut out any time I usually spend on my hair and half the time I spend on my make-up, I should start dropping the pounds really quickly.

Speaking of which, I figured out the scale situation, I think. I weighed myself this morning when I woke up, which is what I've been suggesting all along. It turns out I've lost more weight than I thought! I weighed myself throughout the rest of the morning, and it seemed pretty consistent. So I'm going to start using the new scale I bought for my official weekly weigh-in. And I'm changing my weight for this week to 267 lbs. Which means I've lost 15 pounds in two and a half weeks! This is a great start to me diet, and I'm really excited to keep this up.

Today, my boss called me and told me they were really slow. She asked if I'd like the day off, and I'm working Saturday and Sunday, so I gladly accepted the offer. I'm going to surprise my boyfriend, who gets off work at 3, and then hopefully we'll take a nice long walk around his neighborhood before dinner with his family.

For exercise, instead of waking up and spending an hour on your hair, go for a quick walk or do some stretches in your living room. Stretching in the morning will wake you up and get all the kinks out before you start your day. It will also relax your muscles and give you a pleasant morning.

Day 17 - Clearance Items and Poptarts

Diet tip of the day: Make sure you weigh yourself at the same time each time you do it. If you weigh in one week at 3pm and one day right after your lunch, it will really throw off your numbers. Also, don't step on the scale every day. Your weight can fluctuate a lot over the course of the week, so just pick 1 day for your official weigh in. If you want to check your progress, do it mid-week, not the day before. If you haven't lost weight for most of the week, you'll end up obsessing all day about it.

I bought a new scale yesterday. I've been using the one at work, and that complicates my weighing in times. I try to weigh myself right before my shift starts, but some days I eat lunch at work and sometimes I eat before work. So I decided to go buy a scale. Luckily, I work at a store that has such things, so I headed over to the fitness area and found the endcap with bathroom scales. I picked one out, turned around to leave, then noticed there was a clearance endcap with scales. I thought I'd lucked out and bought a really nice glass surface with lithium batteries and a blue and green design. When I weighed myself, it registered 276.4. I was upset to say the least. Have I really weighed more than I thought in the first place? But when I stepped off, it registered "4.8" on the screen. I thought it was funny, so I tried it again. Same result and same "4.8" when I stepped off. I subtracted 4.8 from 276.4 and wouldn't ya know it, it was 271.6... exactly what I weighed in as at work. I'm thinking it was on clearance because you can't zero out the weight of the 4.8 pound glass surface. So I guess I'll have to subtract 4.8 from each of my weigh-ins from now on. Oh well. I can handle a little mental math if it means more accurate results.

With the scale, I bought some Special K strawberry Fruit Crisps. They taste like a thinner, crispier version of a Poptart. I have to say, I am a big fan, and I'm really glad I'm finding more healthy options for my daytime snacking. I've also up'd my daily snacks from 1 snack bar and a protein water to 2 snack bars. The protein waters make me feel more full, but I don't know that they should be enjoyed as a snack.

I just want to thank everyone for responding to my posts. I really appreciate it a whole lot, and I love reading your comments. Please keep inviting people to check out my blog and keep commenting. Just a quick note, I know I've made a Facebook group for inviting people to my blog using my own personal profile, but I'm still trying to keep this anonymous. Even though my family and friends know this is me, there's a lot of weight discrimination out there, and I'm trying to be careful that this can't be traced back to me. Even though I'm not an advocate of being overweight, in fact, I'm trying to lose weight. However, it's really important to me right now to keep my anonymity so that I can be as candid as I am with you guys. I really appreciate it.

And for today's workout tip, if you're shopping, find a parking spot farther away from the door than you usually do. The few extra steps are good for you, and someone else might need the closer spot more than you do. You don't have to park at the back of the lot, just don't pick the first spot you see. Good luck! Remember to answer the question about ab work-outs from my last post. I'm still looking for tips from you all.