1,341 calories

A disclaimer before you see what I've eaten today.. Today is the second day I've been dragging out going grocery shopping. I usually eat more thoughout the day and more fruit and veggies. But have been out.. So by dinner time I was ready to eat! Made turkey tacos and had wine tonight. Mase and I don't get wine too often (when I at too often I mean once a week, haha). Now the grocery shopping is done, my eating will be different/better again tomorrow. 

RIP jeans!

I haven't posted in sometime now and it bums me out for you guys, but mostly myself. These last days have been tough for me.. I think because (Guys, cover your ears.. Frankly I just don't care..) but Aunt Flow is coming and I'm just craving all bad foods in the entire world. I didn't even count calories over the weekend which I'm upset about. So I'm getting back on board. Another thing I noticed, I usually allow myself to have a small/light sweet item after dinner.. If I allow myself to have it earlier in the day, I pretty much set myself up for failure.. Which I've been doing the past couple days. Another thing, I need to try and learn to like other veggies.. I'm already bored with what I'm eating for snacks but like I've said before I need to do some research for new ideas. I tend to eat the same things over and over because it's convenient.. I neeeed variety!! (Turkey burgers- you know what I'm talking about mom!) to anyone who reads this, feel free to share ideas!! 

As for not posting lately..

I was feeling stupid not knowing what share, but beginning tomorrow.. I will post a small workout routine (that I'm actually doing) and my day's food with calories that I'm eating. Depending how fancy I get for dinner, the recipe too. I want this... I really want this. Bad food is always around and the holidays are here, no one said it wouldn't be a struggle. So I'm ready for this bumpy ride. Mason and I are going to start P90x tomorrow. I have printed out our calendar countdown for it, along with rep/set trackers to see how we improve over time. 

By the way.. Just as I start losing weight, I rip my favorite/one of only two pairs of jeans that I can actually fit into right now. I'll never bend down to pick up clothes again unless I'm in sweats! :(

Grab for the carrots, not the chips.

I'm still here I promise, I guess I'm just not sure what to post for the most part. I've never blogged and I don't feel like I have so much to say... I don't want to bore you. I'll have to research other weightloss blogs and get ideas, see what others talk about.

A friend on facebook asked what I did to jump start my weightloss.. And to be honest, I don't feel that I pushed to lose this 6 pounds. I mean yea I tried.. Expecting to lose 2 or 3 pounds at most. I think with my height I just have a lot of fat to get rid of so the change in my diet really just did it for me. Like I've mentioned I have not been working out, which I intend to do (I can blog about that!) I have a Polar FT4 which monitors your heart rate and how many calories you burn, which I love!! 

When it comes to eating, I stay within my 1,200-1,300 calorie limit. I stop at the 1,200 but every few days I allow a little more. In the past when I deprive myself of all sweets and junk, when I finally ate something of that sort.. I basically had junk food overload. I don't want that to happen again, so once in a while I allow myself to have something bad or sweet.. Remember portion, portion, portion!! I feel that it's okay to eat something bad from time to time. But only give yourself a small serving. First I try to eat as many empty calories a day, empty calories meaning mostly veggies. I am not a veggies-kind-of-girl so incorporating it in to my diet is different for me but a positive change for my body.. I've been missing that in my diet for most of my life because I've chosen to grab for the chips and not the carrots. 

Week 1 Weigh-In

I couldn't wait this morning to get out of bed and weigh myself!!

Drum roll please!!!!! I've lost 6.1 pounds this week! Now don't get me wrong, I don't think I'll lose this much weight ever again in a week. It could be because I have the excess weight to get rid of at the start of this, or maybe because I've been under the weather. But I can assure that my 1,200 to 1,300 calories everyday have always included chocolate. Haha! I've been expecting to lose 2 pounds every week, so I can say I'm happy about this! As my mom would say, Weee poopoos (you probably won't understand that)!

I've lost a pound more than what is shown on the left!

Get outta my belly!!! I'm back in the 160's!!

A-choooo!!!

I've been in my pjs for the most of today. Although I've been eating well and tracking my calories, this past week I feel like my body is telling me otherwise. My immune system recently has been an up and down rollercoaster, which I feel for myself has been harder to keep up the motivation in my eating. I haven't began working out yet considering I want to wait until I'm feeling 100%, but once I am.. it's on! Mason has been sick with other symptoms too.. So It's been a party at our place!

I currently have another meal in the crockpot for tonight, which has been making things easier. Slow cooking bbq chicken which I'll shred and make sandwiches with.

Every morning when I'm struggling in my closet, to find something that fits me.. and I haven't worn it already in the past week.. I remind myself that it's only going to get better. I have a full collection of clothes that I'm not able to fit into and yet I've still kept. I'm glad I have, because I WILL fit in them again. I also have two boxes of clothes in storage, which are packed away according to size. When I hit certain goal weights, I'll go through those boxes and when I'm able to fit into them again, I'll hang them up in their new home (my closet)! Yee! Just the thought of it is exciting! I'm just sick of wearing the same things all the time, refusing to spend money on clothes at the size I'm at now.

Well, tomorrow is my weigh-in day and I can't "weight" to know and announce my week's progress.

What's in the fridge?

I used to be the person who would shop for fruit and veggies and once home.. place them in the bottom drawer to never be touched again for two weeks. At that point, they weren't fresh any longer and I had wasted money. So to stop my habit, I changed the placement of items in my fridge. The foods that we have that aren't on the healthier side, now sit in that often-forgotten drawer. The fruit and veggies sit in plain sight, this way it will be the first thing I see. I washed, cut and bagged/contained, making everything easier to grab and go.. You can even see four prepared lunches in the middle, chicken and brown rice.

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Don't get me wrong, I also have some "sweet" items too! Weight watcher ice cream bars and Fiber One chocolate chip cookies, for when I'm craving chocolate.


With the snuggle weather upon us here in Northern Nevada, I decided a crockpot meal was a must today. I made Zesty Garden Zuppa using the book mentioned below, Hungry Girl- To The Max, which I got for Christmas one year (Thanks mom!). Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana is a-ma-zzzzzing, yet this is a healthier version in my opinion. I just need to remember to double the batch next time, because I can eat it for days!



RECIPE FOR ZESTY GARDEN ZUPPA

Ingredients:
12 ounces red potatoes, halved and sliced
4 cups (32 ounces) fat-free chicken broth
3 cups chopped kale leaves
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 links uncooked sweet Italian turkey-sausage
   with 10g fat or less each
1/2 cup fat-free half & half (Walmart was out at the time, so I got regular- boo!)

Directions:
Place all ingredients except sausage and half & half in a crock pot and stir well.
Remove and discard sausage casings, and cut sausage into bite-size pieces.
Evenly top contents of the crock pot with sausage pieces.
Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours, until veggies are soft and sausage is fully cooked.
Stir in half & half. Enjoy!

Makes 8 cups
per 1 cup:
135 calories, 3.5g fat, 645mg sodium, 16.5g carbs, 2g fiber, 4g sugars, 9g protein

Does Walmart deliver?

Today has been going good! I haven't grocery shopped recently, so once that is done.. I won't feel as frantic as I was this morning thinking about my meals for the day. I've been eating balanced meals with healthy snacks in between. I know my body, when I don't eat after awhile I go crazy when I finally do.. I don't want my body to feel hungry. I want to feel satisfied throughout the day. 

Where are my Fitness Pal friends? I began again using the Fitness Pal app to track my calories. Add me if on there Jmic90 if you use it too! 

After posting my blog invitation on Facebook yesterday and seeing all the "likes" and comments.. It was uplifting! It's encouraging seeing that you guys are rooting for me! Thank you! 

Just made whole wheat spaghetti, upset because I didn't think to make squash spaghetti instead hah, next time. (Which by the way it's just as good! Saves a lot of calories too!) Now.. I will plan out my meals.. 

Join me on my journey

Multiple times I've found myself looking down at the scale and seeing that I've reached my heaviest.. continuing to assume that I'll lose weight at some point. It was coming home from a trip to Arizona for Thanksgiving that I decided if I want to live a long and happy life, I need to shed 50 pounds and escape this heavy body that I drag around everyday.  I'm unhappy with how I look and feel.. constantly putting myself down. I look at pictures of myself and I don't know who that girl is, I don't want to be that girl. I don't want to have multiple medical issues, not living to see my (someday) grandchildren grow up.

My name is Justine and I weigh 173.8 pounds, at only 5'1''. According to WebMD's BMI Calculator I'm labeled as Obese, but I could've told you that. If you have found this blog, most likely you are a friend or family member (or maybe down the road, a stranger). Talking about my weight/body is really hard for me- at a constant battle of losing ten pounds then gaining it back (over and over), I share this with you because not only will this be a motivator but, I invite you to share the ride with me and the way I see it.. I could use the support. 

Mason, my boyfriend is a great supporter and together we have chose to change our lifestyles. I will blog my journey of healthy eating and active living, thank you for the support! 

I am done with the chub!