megan

Hello everyone!  I have been away from a computer the last few days.  I went to Chicago and Iowa to visit my parents/brother and to my friend’s wedding.  It was a great time, but I DID definitely miss BuddySlim.  I’ve also been very bad about what I eat.  Tomorrow I will step on the scale and see what kind of damage I’ve done.  Good news it it’s only been a few days so the damage can only be so bad.  Anyway I am getting a picture CD tomorrow (I used a disposable camera at the wedding) and will post some pics from the wedding. 

 Now I must go check in to the Heartbreakers forum which I haven’t been on in a few days sadly.  I missed you all, it’s good to be back (and BACK ON TRACK!)

I took my big work test (refer to blog: I’m Scared) and guess what?  I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!   I AM management material!  It was me and three older guys taking the test.  One of them was really confident and cocky.  He’d come out of every section saying things like “That was easy.”  Meanwhile, I’m practically hypervintilating into a paper bag and questioning if I passed after each section.

 Well, after 6 hours of oral test taking, we all got sat in a room together and got our results.  And guess what?  Me and another guy (not the cocky one) tied for first place!!!!  Cocky dude came in third and another guy came in fourth!

I called my parents- they are so so proud of me.  My area manager called me and told me how proud of me she was.  I got about one million congratulations today.  And it doesn’t hurt that I also got a promotion and a raise.

 Today was a good day.   With that behind me, now I can really truly focus on my weight loss efforts.  Thanks for your encouragement when I was so scared to take this test, everyone.  You are great xoxo

I have one test and only one test for my career and it determines if I’m management material.  It’s on Thursday.  It’s a day long test.  The entire test is oral.  The big wigs of the company spend the day grilling me on the information I know.  Everyone knows I’m taking it.  If I fail it, I will be humiliated beyond belief.  I have been studying a lot but now that it’s getting down to the wire, I’m more scared than ever and really feel like there’s a lot of stuff I still don’t know.  I’m so scared.  I just want it to be Friday and for this to be over.

We all have this similar goal: get in shape and lose weight!  We all have different reasons why we chose to or why we chose now.  But what I think makes this website so cool is that we are all there for eachother to lend support and advice.  I want this post to be dedicated to your own secrets of success, motivation or any other advice/tips you’d like to share with your fellow Buddyslim friends.  Here are mine:

1)  I can eat anything I want.  Just in moderation.  This is important to me b/c if I feel deprived, I know I’ll go off the deep end and eventually binge.

2)  Exercise should be fun.  I used to go to the gym, and maybe I will again down the road, but in my experience, I have more fun exercising outdoors.  I walk and bicycle.  That’s what’s fun for me.  It makes it much less dreadful if you don’t hate it!

3)  I keep a food journal in my purse.  It’s a day planner dedicated just to food.  And I write down everything I eat/drink with calories.  I also write down my exercise for that day in it after I’ve accomplished it.

4)  Weigh in only in the morning, after going potty.  Naked!

Those are kind of the “staples” of my weight loss program.  Obvious I don’t have any amazing “magic bullets” or unheard of advice.  But it’s always nice to share what works for you.  I hope to learn some other great tips here.  What are YOUR secrets for weight loss??

Hello everyone!  It’s good to be back. I don’t think I’ve been on here for just maybe 2 days, but I am in BuddySlim withdrawal!  Well, yesterday was my birthday.  It was definitely not a healthy day!  I had Pizza Hut for lunch because my work gave a pizza party in honor of my birthday.  And for dinner…. ooooh for dinner….. it was AMAZING.  I went to the Melting Pot with my hunny.  Oh my goodness it was deliciously amazing and such a fun experience!  I’d recommend this restaurant to anyone out there who has a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary.  It’s expensive but so amazing!  We had cheese fondue, filet mignon, lobster tail, chocolate covered strawberries and more.  Obviously yesterday was not an excellent diet day.  But today I am back on track!  Lots of water and healthy meals.  I hope to lose a pound this week, but YIKES!  We’ll see.  My birthday was pretty naughty.

 I got two amazing gifts for my birthday, both of which will help me in my weight loss.  I got an IPod Nano!  Yippeee!  I am going to download tons of upbeat exercise music on it.  And I also got…. (drumroll please)…… a bicycle!!!  It will be my new form of exercise…. and boy am I bad at it!  I was only that thing for a bit when I first got it and holy crap I’m out of shape!  If I didn’t already know that the bike ride certainly reminded me. 

Well, I am going to go browse through the Heartbreakers forums (Goooo Heartbreakers!) and then I am off to bed here since I have to run the store tomorrow (lots of responsibility.)  I missed you all! xoxo

Well, I was very excited to make a delicious, healthy smoothie treat for my boyfriend and I this evening.  I had just gone grocery shopping, so I threw some ice, vanilla low-fat yogurt, strawberries and a banana into the blender.  I blended it all together and a delicious concoction it was indeed! 

I proudly handed my boyfriend a glass, and told him I made him a delicious treat.  I told him what was in it.  He sipped on it, always weary of anything that isn’t processed or full of fat.  He drank about half of it, the other half our lucky dog Sage got to sip off a paper plate. 

About an hour later, my boyfriend started coughing severely.  He came to me and said he was worried that he wasn’t feeling well.  I told “I’m sure you just have a frog in your throat, don’t worry too much.”  He went a laid down in bed.  I went to check on him a couple minutes later, and I noticed his eyes were very puffy, especially the right one.  It was puffy to the point that it was almost completely closed. 

The unfortunate part of this ordeal is my boyfriend doesn’t currently have medical coverage.  To be on the safe side, I call a nurse and speak to her about his condition.  She asks to speak to him.  During their conversation, I am not listening in, I am in a different room.  Afterwards, my boyfriend comes out and says he needs to go to the hospital immediately.  The nurse said his throat could potentially close up.

I drive him to the ER.  At this point, my boyfriend is suspecting he has a banana allergy.  This is a pretty good suspicion.  About two years ago we had to go the ER for an allergic reaction and that morning the only things he did differently were take Ibuprofen and eat a banana.  He hasn’t eaten a banana since, but strangely, he has eat banana nut muffins.   

At the ER, they give him a few IVs to keep his throat from potentially closing up.  He got epinephrine, benadryl and a prescription for streroids and an Epi-Pen.  Fortunately, we are back home now, and although he is very sleepy, he is much better and his swelling has gone down. 

We will have to go see an allergist to confirm what exactly he is allergic to, but we are both guessing it’s bananas.  My boyfriends words as we were sitting in his patient room, waiting for the doctor, were “That was one expensive smoothie!”  Live and learn I suppose!

Question: How many of you are focused on losing weight as quickly as possible, no matter what it takes?  And how many are focused on slow, steady weight loss that may take a bit longer in the end?

I’ve been down the fast loss weight road before.  It doesn’t work for me!  Sure, I can stick to eating nothing but lettuce and water for a while and exercising like a maniac, but that didn’t teach me how to maintain.  And it wasn’t a lifestyle I could keep up with for forever.

My new goal is trying to find that healthy balance.  Lose weight, eventually maintain my goal weight…. but at the same time, change my lifestyle and my habits.  I don’t want to feel deprived all the time.  I don’t want to be afraid to go out to dinner with friends.  I don’t want to be a slave to exercise like I was before.  I want it to be a natural lifestyle change based on moderation, motivation and self-control.  I guess this is the goal that I want to accomplish.   I don’t want to be skinny overnight… ok, that was a lie.  I would take being skinny over night, hehe, but only if I knew how to maintain it.  I don’t want to get skinny and blow up again.  Good luck to all of us on this journey… and advice would be appreciated!

I weighed in this morning and it’s only day three.  According to my scale I lost 4 lbs!  I’m a realist, so I’m HIGHLY doubting I lost 4 lbs of fat.  More likely, I think I may have been eating healthier and lost some water weight from dropping all the salty unhealthy foods I would eat before.  And I know it’s possible it may even go up a couple of pounds by tomorrow or the next day, but that’s OK!  The point is, my body is already responding to my new healthier diet and exercise!  This was a great way to start the morning.

So I’m only on day 2 of my journey, but I’ve already discovered some reasons why I may have kept myself fat for all these years.  Last night, at dinner, I told my boyfriend I got him some of his favorite foods to eat for dinner this week because I would be gone quite a bit.  He became instantly worried and said “Where are you going?”  Well, of course I’m not doing anything naughty, I’m studying for an upcoming work test I have, but his reaction told me something was up.   There was a sense of insecurity in his voice.  (As a bit of background, my boyfriend and I have never had any sort of trust issues in the past.)

Then later on that night, I went and took our dog for a walk.  He said “So, you’re going to be exercising a lot now?”  Yes, I responded.  He was worried.  He said something along the lines of he wasn’t going to be good enough for me once I lost weight and that I’d end up leaving him.  I looked at him and told him I’m NOT going to leave him.  He said he told his brother I was trying to lose weight and his brother said the same thing.

Well, I haven’t even lost a pound yet and my boyfriend is already becoming concerned that my skinny new self will find a “better” man.  Next time this comes up, I thought of something that will put his mind at ease.  He has stuck by my side, and loved me as a fat girl.  Sure, it’s possible I may get some extra attention from different guys once I’ve lost some weight, but those guys didn’t give a crap about me when I was fat.  Only he did.  I know our love is genuine and he loves me for me, and that’s something that is more important to me than any guy who may be richer or better looking .

I’ve also thought about “How do I handle it if guys start hitting on me?”  In the past, this hasn’t been a problem, but now, only 2 days into this journey, I’m worried about how to handle this situation if it were to even arise once I lose weight.  I don’t want to be rude, but I have a tendency to be friendly and polite, and that can give the wrong impression as well.  I know it probably seems silly to worry about this right now, but I think this helps me realize my underlying issue of why I’ve kept myself fat.  It’s a security blanket.

I have the morning off from work, YAY!  I have quite a few things to take care of: pay rent, study, dry cleaners, wash some socks/underwear, and perhaps squeeze in some exercise this morning, but that more likely will happen tonight.  I’m excited for day 2.  It should be a great one.  xoxo Megan

Today was day #1.  It’s been great so far!  I bought a food journal and I am recording everything I eat that has any calories.  It keeps me more accountable.  So far on the list: a glass of 1% milk w/ carnation instant breakfast in it, a banana, a lean cuisine and pineapple.  I am about to make dinner, which will be healthy and lean as well!  I drank a LOT of water today, and of course, as a result spent quite a bit of my work day in the bathroom!

I did my official first weigh in last night.  As expected, I was at 233.6.  I have almost 100 lbs exactly to lose (just a bit over.)

It freaks me out that my boyfriend could get on the computer and read that weight!  Not that it’s that big of deal, I mean he KNOWS I’m fat, but I’d still he rather not know the exact number.  I must say, my boyfriend has been an amazing guy.  He has never downed me about my weight or said a bad comment.  He is very attracted to me, even at my heaviest weight that I’m at right now.

I have decided not to tell anyone at work or my friends about my weight loss journey.  I’d rather just wait until they start seeing the results!  Also I joined Heartbreakers and am excited to weigh in on Saturday as part of the team!

Tonight after dinner I am going for a power walk with my dog.  I am going to be doing a lot of walking to start with, and eventually move up to jogging.  Thank you all for adding me as a friend, asking to be my friend, and sending words of encouragement.  I am so excited that we can all be on this journey together.  It makes the experience 100% better, not to mention easier!!  xoxo Megan