I did a little damage this weekend. Lots of party snacks on Saturday. And then lazy Sunday with pizza and cookies... But I'll make up for it this week! Just got home from zumba. And I'm not eating anything else this evening. I love how skinny I feel in the morning when I don't eat before bed. 

I did a few estimations today. And if I lose about 6 pounds a month, I will reach my goal by June! I just gotta keep my eye on the prize! 

This is what I like to see! I gotta keep myself in check this weekend! Halloween party tonight! I'm going to zumba this morning. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I quit drinking alcohol. I have not had a drink since July 20th. So I don't have to worry about consuming those empty calories! I just gotta try not to snack too much. 

Current Weight: 192 lbs 

7 lbs lost

42 lbs to my goal 

Alrighty! So I've been doing well so far! I have lost some weight in the last two weeks. I have joined a DietBet. I need to weigh in at 188.2 lbs by November 19th. I think this will be fairly easy as long as I stay on track.

So I went wedding dress shopping this past weekend!! It was definitely the most exciting thing I've done as far as wedding planning goes. It definitely made it more real! I wish my wedding was in only a month, not 11! But that will give me plenty of time to get into shape! So when I tried on dresses, it wasn't as depressing or upsetting as I thought it might be. Some dresses came in large sizes, some came in small sizes. So some fit, some didn't. However, when they ordered MY dress, they ordered a size 18! Ugh. But keep in mind that wedding dress sizes are different that regular dresses. I would typically be more of a size 14. They told me I can do all the size fluctuating that I want right now. They will have no problem taking the dress in if I lose weight. It will not be until 2 months before the wedding that they begin fittings. My dress isn't super fitted or anything so I would feel happy and comfortable in it right now. But I will feel a million times better if I am at my goal weight! So this is my big motivator right now!

I have been working out a lot this week. I went to Zumba and Cardio Dance on Monday and Tuesday. Today, I managed to squeeze in 30 minutes on the elliptical. And my legs and butt are sore! I do not usually get sore from zumba.

Well, I gotta go! I'll write soon! See ya!

Melissa

Oh hey!

So it's been forever since I've blogged. And I'd say that no news is bad news in this case. I had totally fallen off the bandwagon. Let's just say that I gained everything back... BUT now I know what I'm capable of and I'm going to lose it again! Since I have posted last, some exciting things have happened. I'm engaged! I am getting married October 10, 2015. So that's my biggest motivation to lose weight. No one wants to feel self conscious in their wedding pictures. I also would like to have a baby soon after getting married. And I want to be healthy for that too! So starting this lady Monday, I'm back on MyFitnessPal. I'm going to log everyday. And I'm going to try to workout when I have time. Sand volleyball will be over in a couple weeks and I'll have more free time to go to the gym. Well, that's all the time I have right now. Hopefully I will just continue to post good news and progress from now on! :) 

171.6 lbs 

4.3 lbs lost 

13.3 lbs to my DietBet goal 

So I have done a few things. I restarted my weight on MyFitnessPal. So 175.9 lbs is my new ground zero! That was my weight when I did my very first weigh on for The Transformer (6 month Diet Bet). My ultimate weight I need to reach for the Diet Bet is 158.3 lbs. I think restarting my weight is really going to help me see that I need to make new progress. That 20 something pound weight loss last year is old news. Now I need to make new changes! 

The last two weeks were rough. My best friend and boyfriend had birthdays which meant going out to bars, having too much to drink, scarfing down pizza when I got home, eating greasy food and sleeping all day the next day due to a hangover. It sucks. It just messes up all the hard work I put in. Then, we had to go out to dinner several nights with the rents to celebrate the boy's birthday. And on top of all that, Phil and I went to Branson for the weekend. That sounds lame. And it is. But it was still great. We did corny stuff and had a very romantic Valentines day! But I also practically binge ate all weekend. I came home Sunday, stepped on the scale, and weighed in at a whopping 177 lbs! I felt so defeated. Luckily, I managed to work it all off this week. I am back on track. Strength training and zumba on Monday. Strength training Wednesday. And zumba today. And I am strength training again tomorrow. I am following my 3 day program and adding zumba when I can. It's going really well. I am eating good. I have been eating Skinny Cow desserts for my sweet cravings and they work really well. 

Phil is going backpacking with his guy friends this weekend. I love him to death, but I am excited because I will have a weekend to myself where I can continue focusing on my goals! The weekends are the hardest for me. But if Phil doesn't want to go out drinking, I am able to get up early and go to the gym and I can resist not eating out as much since I'm alone. Some of my close girl friends are coming over tomorrow evening and we're only having healthy snacks! I love when my friends do this stuff with me. It makes it so much easier. 

That's about all the new news I have. Hopefully I will have an even lower weight next time I post! :D 

See ya! 

Melissa 

171.7 lbs 

25.3 lbs lost from start 

So the last time I weighed in on the blog, it wasn't entirely accurate. The scale might have said 171.3 lbs for an hour or so but that's it. And I had a few cookie binges after that too. However, I DID win my DietBet! I came in at exactly 173.1 lbs which is what I had to be to win. Now, I just did something crazy. I signed up for a SIX MONTH LONG DietBet! It works a little differently. There is basically goals to meet each month that you can win and then a big pot at the very end. And then there's also some weekly weigh ins that you can do to win prizes. In six months, you are expected to lose 10% of your bodyweight. So for me, that's going to be about 17 lbs! That's a big goal. But if I was successful, I would be so much closer to where I want to be. I also decided that if I reach 150 lbs, I will get my next big tattoo! But anyway, this DietBet starts on the 11th so I haven't officially weighed in yet or anything. But I have to lose 3% in the first month. I'll keep you updated on how it goes! 

All that being said, I've been doing really well lately. I have worked out for 8 days in a row! It's crazy! And sometimes I worked out twice in one day. I did Zumba and the elliptical. But I also did three days of strength training. I have a program I have been wanting to follow. I worked out with my friend Chelsea Sunday, did it alone Tuesday and then with my friend Angelina on Friday. I'm sore and I love it! I am kind of addicted. When I don't go, I feel restless and depressed and lazy and I hate it. I also love that an hour at the gym means an hour that I don't have to worry about the temptation of eating bad food. Haha 

I have been making a lot of "skinny" recipes that I found on Pinterest lately. The first thing I made was Fettuccine Alfredo. It was so good!! I will definitely be making this a regular on our dinner menu. The second thing I made this week were Flour-less Dark Chocolate Cookies. They are also butterless. I don't know much about what is really healthy. I'm one of those people that mainly goes by calories. But I don't understand how these are healthier than regular cookies! They are delicious! They seriously taste like chocolate fudge. And since they are so chocolately, it's actually a little easier to beam with just eating one or two and not ten(that's what I usually do). I will post the links for both below. I highly recommend both! 

http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/24/skinny-fettuccine-alfredo/

http://www.picklee.com/2012/02/07/deep-dark-chocolate-cookies-butter-flourless/

Ok that's all I've got for now! See ya later! 

Melissa 

I need to get to the 160s. It will re-energize me and make me feel like I'm really accomplishing something and keep me going! 

One thing that has really helped me to stay on track is having a friend trying to do the same thing. The last time I lost all the weight, my good friend Jenny was on the journey with me and always like 10 lbs ahead so I had to bust my ass to try to catch up(which I never did but whatever). But now she's pregnant. So I need a new partner. Luckily, January gets a lot of people motivated to lose weight. My friend Angelina has been going to zumba with me often. And my friend Chelsea actually got on MyFitnessPal which she has said she'd never do. So it really helps me to see my friends working out. I don't want them to do better than me. It pushes me to eat better and get my butt to the gym even when I don't feel like it. 

The only problem that I have currently run into is shin splints. They suck! And they hurt really bad if I try to do more than 2 zumba classes in a row. On the 3rd night, I was in a lot of pain, couldn't jump and would have left the class early but didn't want to leave my friend that I had convinced to come. I've talked to my doctor and read up on it. I've been icing them and stretching them. But really, I'm just going to have to do other types of exercise sometimes. So I went to zumba Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I skipped yesterday. Today, I plan to go to the gym and do some elliptical and maybe strength training. But I hate strength training alone. So we'll see! There is a zumba class tomorrow morning that I'd like to go to but I'm scared I'm going to end up with a stress fracture so I'm going to wait and see how they feel tomorrow. 

That's all for today folks! :) 

Melissa 

171.3 lbs 

25.7 lbs lost from start 

So today I woke up feeling pretty good. If I can stay this weight or lose some more, I will have definitely won my DietBet! And I 171 is SO close to getting back in the 160s which makes me really happy! 

A lot of stores are starting to put out swim suits. Even though it's quite a few months away, finding a swim suit that I feel good in is great motivation for me! But it's also not an easy task as you would know from my posts from last year. So I really wish that I could get a top made in the same bra size in the right brand. Like, my Maidenform bra fits me really well. It would be amazing if I could find a swim suit top that fit me in the exact same way.. But no such luck so far.  But I'm on a mission! I usually eat really bad on the weekends, but I'm going to go clothes shopping to keep me from eating everything in sight and in effort to keep my eye on the prize! 

Another thing.. I drank last night. And I feel like poop. I need to stick with that New Years resolution and stop that for a while. I don't like how i act drunk. I don't like wasting my next day. It's stupid. Alrighty, well I'm gonna head to the mall. I hate the mall... But I need to go occasionally! I haven't been finding any good clothes at Target lately! 

See ya! 

Lis 

176 lbs 

21 lbs from start

I have been doing good since I last checked in. I've been eating right. Going to zumba often. I will tell you something.. I love frozen yogurt! It's kind of my new guilty pleasure. I'm sure it's not good for you but it's a heck of a lot better than ice cream and it tastes just as good! I didn't try it forever because I didn't think I'd like it. I don't like yogurt. Or any fruity stuff. But this stuff tastes like delicious chocolate ice cream. But I don't have much else to report. Hopefully I stay on this path! I could get back to the 160s in no time if I keep it up! I'm going to look amazing by summer! (That's the plan anyway) :D 

See ya!

Melissa 

180.3 lbs. 

down 16.7 lbs. from start 

Now it looks like I've really fallen off the band wagon, I know. And you're right. I have. Despite all my recent posts and promises to myself that I'm going to get serious. I have been a sucker for sweets lately. Baking lots and lots or brownies. Well, I'm done with that. I know exactly why I've gained weight back. And I'm actually thankful that I didn't gain it back even faster. I'm thankful to still at least be about 5 or so pounds ahead of myself from last year. Which means, if I get my butt back to the gym and eating right, I can look even better this summer than last summer! So for now, my short term goal is to do exactly what I did last year and hey back to the 160s as quickly as possible! 

I joined another DietBet. I've lost the last two so hopefully I can turn things around this time. I went to zumba yesterday and I plan on going again tonight. 

I'm definitely jealous of people that enjoy healthy foods and working out. I don't. I enjoy zumba.. But that hardly counts as a workout. And I'm too darn picky to enjoy eating healthy. But I'm trying. 

My new motivation for getting back to where I was last year.. And perhaps doing even better... Is that I want to get married! No, I'm not engaged yet. But Phil and I have been together for over 4 1/2 years now. So it's getting closer and closer to that time. I'm hoping for 2015! My wedding is one of those times that I'd like to not dred taking pictures and something I want to look back on and be so happy and proud and not ashamed of anything. I want to simply be comfortable with how I look. And I was feeling pretty comfortable last year around June. So I've got about 6 months to get back to my happy place! I did it before, I can do it again! I gotta head off to work now though. 

See ya! 

Melissa