167 lbs.

down 30 lbs. from start  

27 lbs. to my goal 

 

I'm feeling confident that I can win the DietBet this month. I'm feeling good. It's shark week.. so I'm crossing my fingers that a pound is maybe just bloat. lol.

 

I'm also starting to wake up in the morning and feel happier about how I look. I actually feel skinny sometimes. Often in the morning I'll walk around in a bra or something and Phil will say "you look really skinny right now". :) But then dinner comes around and I'm not that small anymore. lol. But I'm just starting to feel better. I'm actually starting to feel like I am getting smaller. And that's a good thing. I'm also getting to a weight where I'm not ashamed to tell others how much the scale says. Before, I was so close to 200 lbs.. I t was embarrassing. Now, I'll tell you. I'm pretty average. I had to work hard to get here. I think I'm at a good place AND I'm not done.

 

I actually weigh less than one of my best friends now. That's not really the point though. This isn't a competition and I could care less how much she actually weighs. But that is a big accomplishment for me. She is actually very athletic and has a good body. Mine is not nearly as in shape as hers but I know that if I weigh less than her, I'm at least getting there. And I'm about 7 pounds away from weighing the same as another friend. Maybe it's silly that I'm thinking about my weight in this way. And I mean nothing mean or bad by it. To me, I was just always the "tall" friend. But really, I was the "bigger" friend in all aspects. I have had a lot of tiny friends(I'm talking 5'0, 92 lbs!) that made me feel ginormous. Half the time it made me insecure to be the big friend, but it also gave me an excuse to weigh more because I was "taller". No, I'm not letting myself think that way anymore. Especially because I finally have friends that are similar height. lol. 

 

I think I have rambled enough now. This is seriously turning into a diary. And the most boring diary at that. lol.

 

See ya!

Melissa

167 lbs.

down 30 lbs. from start  

27 lbs. to my goal 

Well, I screwed myself a little bit! I won $46.06 on my last DietBet. So came out about $21 ahead. :) I signed up for another one that begins on Tuesday. I was going to take a new picture and weigh in, because I was lucky I managed to make the 166 lbs for this one. And after this weekend, I definitely went back up a bit. Well, I took my new picture for the new one and when I was getting ready to submit it, the site asked "Would you like to use your weigh out photo from your last DietBet and I accidentally clicked "Yes"!! Therefore... I now must weigh 159.6 lbs by May 28th. Meaning... I have to lose closer to 8 or 9 lbs as opposed to the 6.6 lbs I was supposed to have to lose. It is going to be hard. But I am still determined to get it! That will put me so much closer to where I want to be in time for summer. I have been kicking up my workouts. I plan on trying to do a 2 hour-ish workout more than once a week.

 

Today -  2 hours of zumba.

Tuesday - 30ish minutes of weights and such, 1 hour of zumba

Wednesday - either 1 hour zumba/1 hour weights or 2 hours of zumba.

Thursday - 1 hour of zumba.

 

Something else we are doing differently this week is that we went grocery shopping on Sunday and planned our dinners for the rest of the week. If we aren't eating out, I automatically eat better. I also bought a kitchen scale on Amazon. It should get here tomorrow. I'm excited, because I really want to know how much meat I am really eating. I've been totally guessing before. OK, gotta get to work.

 

See ya!

Melissa

 

 

167 lbs.

down 30 lbs. from start  

27 lbs. to my goal 

I won the DietBet!!! I seriously didn't think it was possible. I successfully weighed in today at 166.2 lbs. I needed 166.8 to win. I am beyond excited. I pushed myself hard this week and it payed off! I worked out for 5 days in a row(2 of those days included 2 hours of working out and over 1,000 calories burned) and had one rest day yesterday and I still made it!

I'm thinking I will take a day or two off and then start another one. There's only about a month left till summer so this is really crunch time. I know it's not going to be easy. These DietBets back to back are quite hard! But I'll tell ya, it does give me some motivation! If I don't do a DietBet, I allow my brain to think... "Melissa, you can't possibly be 160 lbs by next month. It's going to take a lot longer than that." Which isn't a terrible thing. Losing weight slow can be a good thing. It gives your body time to adapt to the changes. But it also makes you think you can't do things that you CAN. I thought it was impossible for me to be 166 lbs by this month. But really, it wasn't! I actually freaking did it.

I find my body and the way I perceive it very interesting. There are some days where I think I look great and I'm pretty content. And then other days, I don't feel like I look any different than when I started. And I look at my friend Jenny who has lost about 40 lbs(we started this weight loss journey around the same time) and you can tell her arms are skinny, her legs are tiny, and her waist is much smaller. I don't feel like anything on my body is much smaller than it used to be. Where are the lbs coming off? I don't even think my boobs have really shrunk. lol. I would love to fit in smaller jeans. My current jeans are a little too big but smaller size jeans don't fit either. Hmph!  But regardless, pounds are coming off somewhere. Perhaps they were hiding somewhere I couldn't even see which is a scary thing. lol.

Also, as of today, I'm over the hump! I have lost more weight than I still need to lose. 27 lbs to go! And the entire way will be a victory! The first 25 lbs or so wasn't quite as exciting because I had lost about that much last year and gained it all back. This year is totally different. I'm actually excercising. And I'm not quitting until I hit my goal. And even after I reach my goal, I can't quit or it'll all come back. Too bad this is a never ending battle. Can't you just be "done" once you reach your goal? :) OK, time to get to work!

My current NSG(Non Scale Goals) include...

-Fitting comfortably in Medium size T-shirts.

-Fitting in size 10 jeans.

See ya!

Melissa

169 lbs.

down 28 lbs. from start  

29 lbs. to my goal 

 

I'm getting there... slowly but surely! I am in the 160s! At the end of the day, I'm still 170 sometimes. But very shortly, I'll be in the 160s for good! That's a good feeling. And only about 9lbs away from a normal BMI. I'm also 1 lb away from being half way to my goal! I need to get over that hump. And I want to be able to say that I've lost 30 lbs.. not I've lost almost 30 lbs. I'll be really excited to say that I've lost 40 lbs.

 

I just found out an old friend has lost a total of 70 lbs. I didn't think she had 70 lbs to lose honestly! But it makes me realize that my goal is totally attainable if I don't give up. I'll get there eventually. There's no need to rush. I'm going to do it the right way. I'm going to try to go as fast as I can, but sometimes it's just not possible. Sometimes you hit those plateaus and you have to give your body a chance to balance itself out.

 

A couple months ago, I actually took a calender and wrote down how much I should weigh each week if I continue to lose weight on a weekly basis. I made the goal totally attainable(about 1.something lbs a week). Some weeks, I have surpassed my goal. Other times, I am behind. Right now.. I should be at about 167.1 lbs according to my calender so I'm a little behind. But you never know, some weeks you lose nothing and some you lose like 3 lbs. So I may catch up! I hope to be at 166.8 lbs by Saturday for my DietBet! lol.

 

I am working out with Ashley, Jenny and Chelsea this evening for 2 hours! Weights and whatnot and then zumba! I'm so glad that I have friends to workout with! It makes it so much more fun!

 

See ya!

Melissa

170 lbs.

down 27 lbs. from start  

30 lbs. to my goal 

 

So my weight has been flucuating from 169 to 171 lbs. for a while now and I'm ready to get 100% in the 160s! I need to kick it up a knotch this week. I need to go grocery shopping. I also need to work out harder! I did manage to get myself to zumba Saturday and Sunday this weekend so I was pretty proud of myself for that. But I didn't eat good. Lots of pizza.. So I need to try to do better during the week.

 

Isn't it funny how other people care so much about you losing weight? My family is constantly talking about it. I just think it's funny, because I really don't look that different, but because they know I've lost weight and work out, they always bring it up. My little sister Billee Jean(she's 14 by the way) was like "We'll be the same size pretty soon and can share clothes". Oh, I hope so! haha That'd be awesome considering she's a little fit toned teenager. lol. I just got my grandma into MyFitnessPal and she's obsessed. lol.

 

Jenny suggested going to the Lemay Club Fitness today to do zumba. There are no good classes at our normal location on Mondays(which usually means that I skip working out all together). So I think I'm going to try to get my butt over there at 7. There's a class at 7 and at 8 so we can stay for the 2nd class if we're really feeling like working out. I want to try to find some time to hang out with Phil this week too. He was turky hunting all weekend. So hopefully in between work and working out, we can find some time together too. Also, I have a gift card for the gym to do some personal training sessions. I never see the guy I did my original personal training sessions with so I think Phil and I may do some sessions together with his personal trainer. It'll be cheaper and good for both of us to work out together.

 

OK, I have to get some work done now.

 

See ya!

Melissa

170 lbs.

down 27 lbs. from start  

30 lbs. to my goal 

 

So I was not super successful swim suit top shopping.. but somehow still managed to come home with two more tops. haha They are both bandeau style.

 

The fringe bikini is orange from AE.

This one was from VS's Pink collection.

So I'm pretty happy with them I suppose. The fringe one covers any cleavage I could possible have. And I just need to stop worrying about my boobs sagging I guess.

So I went to Cardio Dance last night with Jenny, Angelina, and Chelsea. Oh Em Gee.. There was a guy there... I can't even explain him. He couldn't dance at all EXCEPT he would do this weird belly roll thing that he did continuously for the entire hour while looking at himself in the mirror seductively. We were all dying laughing the entire time. He definitely made the class interesting!

Tonight, I'm going to try to talk myself into doing 2 hours of zumba OR doing weights/running for 1 hour and then zumba for 1 hour. We'll see!

I think I've hit somewhat of a plateau. I gotta kick my workouts up a knotch or something. I'm hoping that since Phil is going turkey hunting this weekend, I'll workout every day.

See ya!

Melissa

 

170 lbs.

down 27 lbs. from start  

30 lbs. to my goal 

 

So I have concluded that I hate swim suit tops. At least every single one I own and every one that I have tried on at stores... haha I don't feel like any of the styles look good on me. I'm around a 36D. And I feel like my boobs are getting saggy. I don't feel like the little triangle tops have enough support and the little strings don't look good yet. I really like the bandeau tops. When I first put them on, I like them. But then I start feeling like my boobs look saggy in them in the cleavage area, even when I wear the strap part. And then I go to VS and get some push up ones to hopefully give me some support and they just look ridiculous. They make your boobs look abnormally large. I own one in what is supposed to be my bra size and the cup is the size of my head. And then I tried getting a halter top one at VS and in a large(they don't even sell XL in those types of tops) and it seems a little too small. Or I supposed the push up part just squeezes my boobs so much that I think it looks ridiculous. I can't find that medium! I don't want my boobs to sag, be so squished they are popping out, or look like they are the size of cantelopes! Is that too much to ask? I think I'm crabby. haha Maybe I'll go to VS after work today and try some on again and give it another shot. I'll try one of every style on.

 

Phil told me he'd work out with me today. Shocking! We'll see.. I think he loves me today, because I told him that I was going to start giving him more money every month to put towards bills. lol. He easily makes enough to be able to cover the bills and save with what I've been giving him, but I'm hoping that this little extra money will help him save a little more and ya know.. maybe once he feels like he has a lot of money saved.. he'll buy a ring? hahah Seriously though. I think this could help. But shh.. don't tell him my plan! :D

 

I plan on working out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week! AND Saturday and Sunday. So I'm not going to be upset if I don't make it tonight. Swim suits tops are just as important! lol. 

 

Also, I got a little sun over the weekend while camping! Fat always looks better tan! haha

 

See ya! 

Melissa  

171 lbs.

down 26 lbs. from start  

31 lbs. to my goal 

 

I am not officially recording it yet... but the scale told me I weighed 169.5 lbs this morning! I haven't seen that number since before college I think!! Also, if I am truly 169, that means I only have like 3 lbs to lose for DietBet(15 days left) which is totally doable. I did Zumba Tuesday and Wednesday this week and they were pretty good classes. Tuesday was the best class I've done yet! It is technically a Cardio Dance class which to me means Zumba with all fast songs. I burned 819 calories in one hour! I typically only burn between 500-600 calories in a Zumba class.

 

We are going camping this weekend! We're going down to our friends Jenny and Josh's family's property in Potosi, MO. I'm excited and ready to go since it has been months! And Phil and I got a new tent and air mattress at the very end of fall last year so I'm excited to use those too!

172 lbs.

down 25 lbs. from start  

32 lbs. to my goal 

 

I can't wait until I'm at least half way to my goal. Just a couple more pounds and I'll at least be over the hump. So it appears I have 5.2 lbs to lose in 19 days in order to win the DietBet. It is NOT going to be easy. But it is possible. I really need to push myself. My body hasn't seen the 160s in years so it's really having a hard time getting past the 170s. It'll get there. Our 1st float trip is in a little over a month. I need to work extra hard until then to be as ready for summer as I possibly could be! 

 

I really want to work out hard today, but I'm not sure what I want to do. There aren't any classes that I like going to. I can always run, but I can only run for like 10 minutes and then I want to do something else. Hopefully Jenny or Phil will workout with me today. Phil talked me out of working out last week. Then, the next day he had a session with his personal trainer who made him feel bad for talking me out of coming. lol. Phil is great at making excuses for not getting to the gym. But I can see after he works out how much happier he is. Hopefully he learns to remember that and gets the motivation to go and make me go too.

 

Does anyone else sit around the house in their swimming suit as inspiration. I put on that swim suit that I want to look good in and wear it around all day just so I'm mindful of what I'm eating. lol. I don't think that's normal.

 

I'm working from home today. Woohoo! So back to listening to calls!

 

See ya,

Melissa

173 lbs.

down 24 lbs. from start  

33 lbs. to my goal 

 

So the scale hasn't been moving much.. I know these things happen. But I can't really afford for this to happen this month! (Get it? Afford? Because I'm betting $25.. lol) I'm hoping I can eat within moderation this weekend. We are going to Phil's cousin's wedding on Saturday. The whole family has booked hotel rooms next to the reception and everything so it may get a little crazy. I'm hoping that I have time for zumba on Saturday morning, but I'm not sure what time the actual wedding is. We'll see!

 

I finally convinced Angelina to come to the gym with me! She went to Dez's zumba class. Maybe that wasn't the best one to introduce her to zumba. I think she thought he was just stupid. haha And he kinda is. But I usually get a pretty descent workout so I don't mind. If it's too dancey, I'm worrying too much about the steps and my heart rate doesn't get very high. I also stayed for half of Alicia's zumba class afterwards. As soon as my HRM said I'd burned 1,000 calories I left. I wanted to get to bed at a decent time.

 

I worked from home for the first time yesterday! It was awesome!

Best things about it...

1. No commute (That saves me 40 minutes out of the day)

2. No dress code (I was in my PJs most of the day)

3. I showered on my lunch break (Can you do that at your work?)

4. Buzz (I got to snuggle with my pup on the couch all day while I worked)

5. Speakers (I was listening to calls all day but I got to listen to them over loud speakers instead of headphones, so much nicer)

6. Being secluded (It's so hard to listen to calls when people are around. You always have to pause the call to answer questions and it takes forever!)

 

Those are the main reasons why I loved it. I'm sure it would get old to do it all the time. But I would love if I could do it like once a week. Anyway, yesterday was a good day. Hopefully today will be too. I'm super sleepy for some reason. Hopefully I can convince Phil to cook dinner with me and then I'll go to Zumba w/ Nancy at 7pm.

 

174 lbs.

down 23 lbs. from start  

34 lbs. to my goal 

 

So I woke up this morning determined to work out. However, I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do to work out. I could have gone to the gym and ran a mile. But then what? I still don't like going to the weight section on my own. Particularly because I feel like I need a spotter. I guess I technically don't, because anytime I have one, I don't need their help. So I supposed my logic makes no sense. Anyway, I talked myself out of the gym. But I found an app that I think is pretty cool!

It's called Nike Training Club.

First, you select your goal.

Get Lean

Get Toned

Get Strong

Get Focused

 

Then, you choose your level.

Beginner - Average 4-5 workouts a month

Intermediate - Average 2-3 workouts a week

Advanced - Average 3-5+ workouts a week

 

Last, you choose your workout.

Such as...

Wipeout

The Shedder

Mean Machine

Etc.

 

When you select your workout, it tells you the length of time it takes to complete the workout and what you need(dumbbells, medicine ball, jump rope, etc.).

When you begin your workout, it'll tell you a specific move to do. If you are unfamiliar with what they move is, you can click the little video clip that shows you exactly what it is in only a few seconds.

 

I did a 30 minute workout using it today. It was actually pretty good. I don't have a medicine ball or the right weight dumbbells but I still got a good workout in. I think this will be my Go To when I can't get my butt to the gym. I suggest giving it a try!

 

Then I went shopping. I'm mainly fitting in all Large clothing now and don't need Extra Large. That's a good thing! I bought one sweat shirt in a medium. It's still quite small on me. But I'm going to keep it for motivation. lol

 

I also went for a run with Buzz before work today. We ran .75 miles in about 8 minutes(Well, I ran. He walked. lol). Not bad considering I'm outdoors I think. I need to push myself to run that full mile outdoors sometime. Well, it's time for me to get some work done.

 

See ya!

Melissa