Day 19: 10 freakin' inches!!!!

...okay, so I was having a good day until I got off the phone with my mother. Ugh.

I'm not sure if I've already mentioned it - I'm pretty sure that I have already - but I'm going to be a bridesmaid (or matron of honour) on June 20th for my best friend. To try to cut down on some costs, she decided that she'd ask my mom to sew the bridesmaids' dresses out of a dress pattern that she found. Now my mom is an awesome sewer..seamstress...or whatever you're supposed to call one that sews. But she can only sew from the pattern. No pattern means no sewing. But it was a-okay, Melissa's got the pattern for the dress and the material was bought blah blah blah.

She's just finishing up sewing the other girls' dresses and I told her to do mine last since I was still working on losing some weight. She calls me up yesterday and she is freaking out...well, as much as my mom can freak out...she's surprisingly calm through crisis situations...

Mom: Hey remember when we were talking last week...what did you say your waist measurement was?

Me: 44 down to 42, I think.

Mom: Okay, so the dress pattern that Melissa picked. Size 18 is the biggest and it's calling for a 32 waist.

Me: What?!?!

Mom: You can do it!

*LOL* So awesome that my mom believes in me...but 10 inches!?!?! OMG, there is no control underwear or Spanx that could POSSIBLY even help me get close to that...even if I wore, like...FOUR of them!

Luckily, my best friend is not your typical bridezilla waiting to happen. She's so relaxed and laid-back about everything. I messaged her soooo scared when I had to tell her what was going on and I TOLD her she could be mad at me and I would TOTALLY understand because brides with 24 days to their wedding do NOT need to be dealing with stuff like this! But I underestimated her - which I shouldn't have - and she just wondered what we could do to fix and and I said that there were two other dress patterns that I found that have bigger sizes to fit me and she had a look at the pictures and she was totally fine with them. She said she would never get mad at me for something like that and I was so relieved I almost started crying! *LOL*

Anywho, today was even easier than yesterday in terms of eating. For some reason, I'm REALLY under on my calorie budget! AWESOME! I think it's because today was Zumba day so I factored a 500 calorie burn from going to the one-hour class. I'm pretty sure the calories burned in that class is MORE than 500, but without an HRM (heart rate monitor) I can't be sure, so I'm underestimating, so I don't eat over my calorie budget. But my calorie counter shows a leftover amount of 911 calories that I could still eat and I'm not even hungry! I am *SO* pumped (even with that whole bridesmaid dress debacle, now that we've found a solution if I absolutely cannot fit into the original dress!) And I even ate something sort of baaad by eating that pizza at lunch! Ah well...

I finally got a chance to pick up the South Beach Diet book and I've just been reading and not necessarily going to follow the diet exactly. I'm just trying to get more ideas of meals and food and snack suggestions. The SBD is suggesting that for the first TWO weeks, you give up carbs (bread, some fruits, etc.) and it would target your mid-section. Once the first two weeks are done, you are free to re-introduce carbs back into your diet. I had heard that the SBD has been getting some bad publicity about it cutting out the carbs, but I think it kind of sounds like it makes sense. To give your body a jump start in losing weight and showing some progress...and then you build from there after the first two weeks. Meh...I think a lot of different plans could work for a lot of different people. Like I said, it's all in the magic of actually doing them.

I keep talking about my calorie counter, so I thought I'd show what it looks like:

You can click on the image to see the full view

So anywho...it's actually proven to be REALLY helpful. I know that the numbers may not be exact, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what range you should be staying in! I've definitely become more conscious of what I'm eating and reading food labels and ingredients and blah blah blah!

If you're interested in having a look at this and maybe even trying it out, check out: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Day 15: Wanting is needing...

...even though I got a Wii Fit the LAST time I went on a "I need to lose weight" splurge; even though I got a gym membership and promised my husband that this time around, I was going to go EVERY DAY I mean, how couldn't I when the gym was just right around the corner from our place (didn't even see the inside of that gym after I signed up for at least four months); and even though I just bought a trampoline and weights because I was totally convinced that this fun little jumpy thing would TOTALLY keep me coming back for more; and even though I JUST bought the new EA Active for the Wii which I still haven't even had a chance to try out (oh, more on THAT later!) I'm convinced that I need an iPod to be able to work out effectively.

I must have the most EXTREME-EST form of procrastination. Don't blame me, I think it's a disease. Instead of just GETTING DOWN to business already, I keep thinking I need all of these things BEFORE I can really start working out and losing weight. UGH! I was like that when I started my crafting addiction hobby. I would be crafting along just fine and then hear about another tool or embellishment or whatever must-have and all of a sudden become CONVINCED that I wouldn't be at the full height of my crafting potential without that certain object. It's a sickness, I'm telling you.

Honestly, I have three MP3 players, two of which are iPod knock-offs. I can easily just use any one of them. Load 'em with songs and go, right!? What's wrong with me then? Why do I think that an iPod is all of a sudden going to make me into the Lance freakin' Armstrong of the marathon world? Like I'll be able to go 5k without breaking a sweat, if and only if I have an iPod. Apple must have some crazy kind of subliminal message going in the background of their commercials. I'm also convinced I need an iPhone, although I can't really tell you why.

The thing with me is that once some idea is stuck in my head, it doesn't normally go away until I HAVE what I've been obsessing over. It's a very expensive sickness, I'm telling you.

Anywho, here's something that'll take my mind off of this iPod insanity (I'm typing this as a person walks by me playing with their hot pink iPod Nano *whimpers*) the EA Active for the Wii! I have no idea how it is because I couldn't play mine! I woke up extra early this morning (that is a miracle upong itself, I tell you!) and got all dressed up to get sweaty and slid the game into the Wii and...NOTHING. Stupid thing wouldn't even LOAD! I tried loading other games I had and they were working fine, but stick in the Active game and nada!

So after much troubles returning the thing for an exchange, I finally have a new copy and hopefully this one will work out much better.

I've finished logging my meals for today and according to my caloric consumption, I'm not eating enough calories. It's so weird, and I thought burning more calories than you eat was the way to lose weight! According to My Fitness Pal, it's a no, no, here's why:

Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum.

How awesome is that? Maybe going to the extreme the other way isn't good for the body either...it kind of makes sense, though, right? The whole starvation thing? Huh...who woulda thunk it.

The breakdown for today's meal goes like this:

Breakfast
5 pieces each of diced honeydew and canteloupe
Astro Zero Yogurt
1/4 cup of Post Honey Bunches of Oats cereal to mix with the yogurt

Snack
I forgot! Oops...

Lunch
6" ham sandwich on 9 grain honey oat bread from Subway (no cheese! couldn't even tell it wasn't there!)
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
2 tbsp sub sauce

Snack
1 cup of baby carrots
2 tbsp Bolthouse creamy yogurt ranch dressing for dip

Dinner
Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Steak & Mushroom Panini

Water
Boo, only 3 glasses as opposed to yesterday's 6. Just wasn't feeling it today with the water...*sighs* It didn't stop me from having to go every 15 minutes, it felt like. I thought my co-workers were going to just lock me in the bathroom after the last time I went!

With calories to spare, at least this way, if I get hungry later on, I won't feel too guilty grabbing a snack! Although I was hoping to not be eating or snacking after 8 pm, we'll wait and see how it goes! The bonus so far, no confessions to make!

WORKING OUT TO:

1, 2 Step (Feat. Missy Elliott) - Ciara