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 

171 lbs. 

down 26 lbs. from start 

31 lbs. to my goal 

Ok... So it may seem like nothing has changed since I wrote last. But I actually fell off the wagon again. I went up to 177lbs... But don't worry guys! I'm back again! I've been working pretty hard the last two weeks. I've lost about 6 pounds. I'm trying to find a pretty consistent workout routine. I'd like to do strength training 3 times a week and some zumba for cardio once or twice a week. I'm back to logging consistently. I need a MFP buddy to help keep motivated. I love seeing other people logging, working out and losing. Encouraging each other and doing it together keeps me excited. But I've learned not to rely on someone else for motivation. Other people are humans, just like me. They fall off. They get lazy. Tired. Sick. Busy. But just because they do should not give me am excuse to do bad too. I'm doing this for me and only me so only I can make this happen. I gotta keep my head in the game. I started this journey about a year ago exactly. And I just think... If I get serious now... I have time to accomplish a lot by spring/summer! I can look even better than I did last year. I suppose this is all I have to say for today. Hopefully I can write in a few weeks and there will be a steady decline like before! 

Oh, on a slightly different note. I have decided to stop drinking alcohol. I don't know for how long. Maybe a few weeks, months, years, forever? Who knows. Some days I think it's going to be so easy to just never drink again. And then other days, I remember certain holidays, events or even great memories that involve(d) alcohol and I worry that I'll miss out on some fun times if I choose to never drink. Like New Years? The idea of being sober on New Year's Eve just seems weird. Or Mardi Gras? What about vacation? Would you go to Vegas and not drink? Or an all inclusive resort? Or even certain social situations. Holidays with Phil's family and girls nights. I'm going to feel weird declining a drink. These are the things that leave me unsure of my relationship with alcohol. Should I just learn to have only one or two drinks and stop? Just learn to not drink excessively? But sadly, then I say "then what's the point? Why drink at all?" When I drank, I drank to get intoxicated. Sooooo I'll just stop there. But I'm still puzzled with it all. We'll see how that works out. At the very least, it will make eating better and exercising a little easier by never being hungover! :) 

See ya! 

Melissa