Day 10.5

I say 10.5 because the date is technically the 30th, but I'm posting for the 29th.

Last night I had a pretty emotional night. I spoke with a friend about my self esteem and body issues. We talked about why we wanted to lose weight. Some of the acknowledgements I had to make were tough. I wanted to lose weight for the wrong reasons, but I think very few people want to lose weight for the right reasons. A lot of women will say that they just want to be healthy again, but most of them are harboring a desire to be more attractive. Well ladies, me too. My twenties are supposed to be the peak of my health and physical attractiveness, and so far my peak was in 5th grade. The hard part about me motivating myself to do this is to make sure my goals are about me. Even if I fully admit that I want to be hotter, I have to not think of specific people. I have to tell myself not to even think about men in general. It has to be about me walking out my front door with a swing in MY step, a smile on MY face. We'll see how it goes, eh?

Second Topic. Yoga.

I'ma have to get me into a class. So far, I've done a beginner workout from a youtube video. While it somehow gets me relaxed and sweaty all at the same time, I could probably benefit from a class. In a class, a teacher can make sure I'm doing all the bending and contorting without hurting myself. I like the benefits of a relaxing workout. Improving strength and flexibility in a way that also gets rid of world stresses sounds like a GREAT plan to me. Maybe I'll see if there's an open slot fall semester, or if there's an affordable class in Tacoma.

Oh yeah. My pants fit better already. That's success...

Samantha

Day 9

This entry is going to be more of a request for suggestions than a record of what happened over the last few days.

The basic rundown is that I went out of town to visit family and friends for about four or five days. The hard part was finding time to exercise. I couldn't go for walks in the mornings while my friends were sleeping, because I didn't have keys to their houses. I didn't want to leave activities to get exercise. The only real physical activity I participated in was walking back and forth between my friend's houses, but they were almost next door neighbors.

What kinds of activities do you all suggest for at least getting my heart rate up, or working my muscles a little without sneaking out of my friends' houses to go run/walk/exercise?

Day 4

I didn't update on day 3. I didn't really do anything on day 3. I walked to a coffee shop, but it was only about half a mile, so walking there and back didn't take up my whole half hour of walking. I also only drank about half a bottle of water.

Curse the three day hump.

Falling off the horse on day 3 makes day 4 feel like day 1. Got that? Great. The three day hump is a huge factor is making or breaking lots of habits, like drinking water, smoking, thumbsucking, or coffee drinking. That third day gets people. They decide "one day/smoke/cup won't hurt. I'll just keep going," and turn into that third day junkie. Day 3 is a killer of dreams. Now it's day 4, and I have to haul my happy ass out to the park, and I don't even want to get up. "What's the point?" I ask, "I'll just quit again by Saturday anyway."

Now to the positive, which is ultimately my motivation.

My roommate Tealah gave me a fantastic idea a while back, to use a ribbon to measure my waist instead of a tape measure or a scale. The theory is that I wouldn't have any focus on numbers, and I would just focus on my progress. I did my first measurement on June 25th. Since then, I checked once and found that my waist had grown just a smidge. Yesterday, I happened to find my ribbon and I checked again. I've now lost half an inch since the 25th. Hooray me! It's nice to see progress, no matter how small. Knowing that what I'm doing is, in fact, making a difference makes it a lot easier to convince myself to get off the couch, stop watching SG-1, and GO do something.

So, on with day 4.

Samantha

Day 2

Day 1 is always easier. There's the excitement of new ideas, the not being sore from what you did yesterday. Day 1 is great. I not only did my half hour walk, but I cleaned the house, mowed the lawn (burned 650 calories doing it too!), drank double the water, and played on the beach. Day 1 was an active day.

Day 2 was lay... zeee.....

Motivation was way harder to come by today. I didn't leave the house to go walk until almost 7:30 pm, and I haven't gotten even close to finishing my water. Luckily, I had a puppy to walk. I took Koda over to the park, and got not only a work out for my legs, but a work out for my arms holding back the leash, and a workout for my patience, trying to leash train the dog.

It takes a while to break or form a habit, especially one that cuts into half an hour of the time one could be watching bad sci-fi TV on Hulu. Here's hoping for a slightly easier tomorrow.

Samantha

Day 1

Last night, I got off the couch and said, "uhhhhh." I am 21 years old. I should be climbing mountains, running around Portland, and going on adventures with my friends, waking up the next morning, and doing it again. I should not be groaning as I claw my way off of the couch.

So, day 1 has begun. I moaned and croaked my way out of my living room, put on tennis shoes, sweats, and threw my hair in a ponytail, and I've now completed my inaugural walk around some paths of Rood Bridge Park. I walked for half an hour and didn't see the same path twice. It's actually pretty lucky I managed to find my way home afterward. I enjoyed some paved paths, some barks dust trails, some flora, and a lake. The fresh air felt great, and according to the calculator I just used, I burned about 250 calories. Hurrah!

So, here's to no more groaning. Here's to having my giant jar of water in hand. Here's to the mountain climbing, the train jumping, and the adventuring of my future. Here's to day 1!

Samantha

The Night Before the Adventure Begins

Everyone says to themselves, "starting tomorrow I'll...." Well, this time, it really is starting tomorrow. As of 6 minutes from now, I'll officially be on day 1. I don't know how long this adventure is going to last. My goal (made about 4 months ago) was to be the weight it says on my license by March 1st. That's about 65 lbs in about 32 weeks from now. That's 2 lbs a week from now until March. That's a lot! But, with the right attitude, work, support, and plan, I can make it happen. I'm mostly making this blog so that my family and friends can support me on this trek to a skinnier me. I know a lot of my family members are making positive changes in their lives, and I was inspired to make a positive change in mine. I'm also writing this blog in the hopes that letting my friends and family see it will motivate me to keep updating, and hold myself accountable for my mistakes and successes. I'll update with pictures, helpful tips I've found, recipes for tasty healthy foods, and news of my successes and troubles.

For my first update, I'll give you some pictures. This is what my body looks like now. I'm not quite ballsy enough to post pics of myself in sports bras and bike shorts, so I'm going the Jenny Craig route. Ya'll can see what I look like fully clothed. Plus, hey, that makes this blog safe for
work.

(Sorry about the toilets... these pictures were taken after everyone else went to bed. I had to do it myself.)

I know that change cannot happen as an overhaul of one's life, or else it won't stick. Living a healthy lifestyle is about making smart choices. I want to start making my smart choices slowly. So, I'm going to establish some goals every week (other than my 2 lbs loss). This week my goals are to go for a half an hour walk, and drink 64 oz of water every day.

I also know that since these choices can be hard to make, I should reward myself whenever I achieve a goal. If I make me weekly goals, I need to give myself a small treat at the end of each week, like an extra long shower, or a fun activity. I also have to give myself rewards for achieving my bigger goals, like pounds or inches lost, or 3 weeks straight without cheating. This is often the hardest part for me, coming up with good ideas for rewards. This is where you, readers, come in. Not only do I need ideas for healthy goals, but I also need ideas for good rewards for my weekly and larger goals. Comment! Help me out here!

So, my plan starts tomorrow. See you on the other side.

Samantha