School, Living in the House, and Recruitment.

Hello Everyone,

So I am sorry that I have not posted in a while...I have actually been busy and not on break anymore. Officially as of today though I have lost 6 and 1/2 pounds since I have started Weight Watchers. I don't know if I have said how much I really like Weight Watchers. I think that it is a good system everything is online or on my phone which has been really nice. There is a scanner so it is easy to go shopping and make good choices.

Also, I have been living in the sorority house for a week and I really love it. I always thought that my best decision in College would be joining a sorority but I feel like an idiot for not moving in sooner because it really has been great.

School is also going well but I have only had 2 days of classes because school started on Wednesday and I have been sick for now a week and a half. (Not so much fun) By next week I will know what my classes are like because I will have gone to all of them by then. Some classes I only have once a week which will be nice so I am very optimistic about this semester. Once I get all of my syllabi I will organize everything which will also be great!

I really cannot talk about recruitment but it is going really well. Everyone is in a really great mood which is great because it will make the rest of the weekend and next weekend go by smoothly.

Before I moved into the house and came back to school I was really nervous about how I was going to make the right choices and handle portion size. It has not been bad at all. One of the things that I like about Weight Watchers is that I really don't have to change what I eat. I just need to be conscious about what sauces I am eating or the ounces I am eating. I have been eating lots of vegetables and less carbohydrates or controlled carbohydrates.   

Okay so that is it for now.

Sincerely,
Julia

Exercising and Weight Watchers

So again it has been a long time since I have blogged...but that does not mean I have not been doing what I said I would be doing. I have been going to the gym almost every day. It has been great. Break has been so nice and relaxing. I have been doing the elliptical and it is getting easier and harder because I have been making it harder as it gets easier. This is my eighth day straight working out so I am pretty happy with myself and it is nice because if I don't work out  I feel weird. I know that I can keep up with this at school because it will be a stress reliever and it will be me time.

This past Saturday I went to a Weight Watchers meeting and it was really good. I really like the program so far. Also it is really convenient because everything is online or on an app so I can access it on my phone. There is also a scanner for bar-codes and I am able to scan different foods so it tells me how many points a serving size is. It is really cool because I can really eat anything I want but in moderation. I know that it is just the first week but I am going to stay with it. It will be hard once I am in living the sorority house but I will get through it.

Well I am not sure what else to say...I am feeling really great right now about everything. I know that losing weight isn't going to be easy and I am not always going to be this motivated but I will be able to read my posts in order to stay motivated.

That's it for now.

Sincerely,
Julia

Enjoying Break

Okay. So I'm sorry everyone I've been in Colorado. I got back New Year's Eve, then went out and on New Year's Day had a brunch to go to.

Yesterday I had lunch with an old friend (Allie), did some shopping, and then went to the gym. I went to Sweet Green for lunch and had a really good salad and soup. At the gym I did 10 minutes on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the bike, and 10 minutes on the elliptical. I wanted to do more on the elliptical but I was too tired from what I had done on the bike.

Yesterday I also weighed myself and I should probably lose about 100 pounds which is very daunting so after talking to different people I have decided to set small goals for myself and reward myself as well!! One of my sorority sisters has recommended that we do Weight Watchers together. I think this is a great idea and I talked to Nancy (a very close family friend) about it last night over dinner. I'm going to go to a meeting on Saturday and get started. I feel like I need some type of plan to go by or else I won't be successful  And this is the choice that I am making.

I also had a pretty healthy dinner last night except for eating way too much chicken that was really good. The chicken was Greek style because we went to The Parthenon, which is a favorite Greek restaurant of mine. The food there is very simple and there are lots of healthy choices. The only problem is the chicken is like half of a chicken, I didn't realize this when I ordered it.  So I will learn from the mistake and order the chicken kebab instead. I also had tomato soup with beans and a Greek salad.

Today I am going to go out to lunch with Bernie and Allison. We are going to go for a walk, just hangout and enjoy break.

That is it for now.

Sincerely,
Julia 

Still the begining..

So last night I went to an annual Christmas party. My family has been going to it since I was about 2 or 3. One thing that I was worried about was how I would eat there. However, since this is a change in lifestyle I was not going to sweat it.

I have been doing different kinds of weight loss programs so I am not exactly sure what I will ultimately do but it will probably be a mixture of different programs. I am also not afraid to let myself have some cheat days but I will be strict with myself as well.

For example last night I decided that I would eat what I wanted to in smaller portions. It is Christmas and the holidays so I was not going to try to avoid something that felt inevitable. I also ate dessert but did the same thing...small portions and did not eat everything in on my plate. The one thing that I regret eating when I got back home was this bread thing that we forgot to bring to the party. And then this morning at 5AM when I was coughing and could not sleep I made myself some tea and ate more of it....However, the difference was that I did not have bread with peanut butter for breakfast with my ricotta and berries. It is all about balance right?

So my workout for yesterday which was the second workout of the week was going for a walk outside. I live right by Rock Creek Park and there is a really good path that goes all the way to the DC line and back. Its about a mile all together I would guess. I am not sure but it is something that I know it a good enough. So I made Alex come with me and walk it even though we were both planning stuff...he was doing something for our trip to Colorado to visit my grandmother tomorrow and I was talking to Lianna (my best friend from Page School) about her coming to DC and then buying to tickets to go to Connecticut to visit my really cute cousins there before I go back to school.

I have been doing the Jillian Michaels work outs which are really good. But I felt that I needed to do something different (Sorry Melissa-(a sorority sister) especially because I will be in Colorado I want to use Jillian as my back up because I can do it on my iPhone or iPad. The walk was good because I was able to get my heart rate up and break a sweat but I am going to go the gym with my dad today. It is snowing here and I would rather not get sick from being outside before I go away.

I also want to hear everyone's thoughts on something. I was sent a link to the Dr. Oz show about a green coffee bean supplement. I am not sure if I should use it so I am interested to hear was everyone else thinks? If I use this I would still be doing everything I planned on before.

Here is the link: http://greenbeediet.com/diet/garcinia/index.html
 
I also need to start drinking more water...so this is another goal to try and focus on as well.

That is it for now.

Sincerely,
Julia 

The Adventure Begins

Okay today is Christmas. Yesterday, Alex (my brother) and I went to the mall. We had to get gifts for the Angus's. We got Crate and Barrel gift cards for the Kim and Kristin as wedding presents. We will be giving Kim, Kristen, and Kat $$ as well because I failed to get them a real thing this year. I cannot always be perfect I guess, right? This is fine with me though. My dad got John and Debbie some type of ornament and we got them also a blow-fish from Fire and Ice. 

Before we went to the mall we went to the gym and I had a really good workout. I did 10 minutes on the treadmill for a warm up then 15 minutes on the bike, and then 25 minutes on the cross ramp. It is like the elliptical but better. I think at least.   

At the mall I walked into this skincare store which was a big mistake. Alex ended up spending a lot of money and I feel guilty about it. It is  an early birthday gift but I feel bad that I did not just say no to the salesman because the whole time I wanted too. But what is done is done and I will have great skin. Right?

From spending too much money we then had a good conversation about everything. Where Alex and I were able to talk freely and tell each other how we were feeling without fighting. Like most of our conversations it led to talking about my weight and how I need to exercise more. I have been exercising at least one a week which for me is good because compared to that I had been doing nothing. I am not coordinated and am not athletic at all. Some of this probably stems from me being overweight though as well. Alex set a challenge for me though because he bought the skin care stuff. Alex wants me to work out at least 5 days a week and eat better to really lose weight. It is not going to be easy but it is possible. I have said and thought this many times before but this time will be different. It will be an ongoing process but that is okay because it will be a change in lifestyle that will include exercising, portion control, and as much as I hate it writing down what I eat. So this is why I am writing this. I want to lose weight, I think that writing about it will help me succeed, and as my sorority always says it is a way to keep myself accountable.

I have been working out more to help relieve stress and feel better. It has been working even though I am sore it is a good feeling because I know what the end goal is. I want to have a healthier life. Everyone I know wants this for me and I want it too. It is really hard though because in losing weight I will finally look how I feel which I guess is a good thing but I don't have anything to hide behind anymore. However, I want a better life for myself. My mom died for Leukemia and even though it was an extremely rare blood disease a risk factor was that she was overweight and I think in some unspoken way she felt that she deserved what happened to her because she was overweight. This is totally untrue but seeing what my mom went through my whole life it has obviously affected me in many different ways.

It has been a really tough two years. My mom becoming sick with a rare cancer that came out of no where, her being sick, going through a bone marrow transplant, getting sick again, dying, and then dealing with the grief. In this time my whole life as changed. I got into the University of Maryland, lost the one person in my life that truly understood everything about me, joined a sorority which has been a life changing experience, and just trying to live my life. Trying to live has been really hard because there is an immense part of my life that is missing and it will never be replaced because my mother cannot be replaced. I wouldn't want her to be because she was the best and I would not change any part of my childhood because it all happened because of her.

So this might sound a bit extreme but I want to lose my weight so I can live a long life. Like I said before I want to look the way I feel. I am a confident person. I am also shy because the way I look effects how others perceive me. And even though loosing weight will change everything it will be a good change. 

So, so far today I have eaten:

Breakfast: 

• About 4oz of ricotta cheese with blueberries and raspberries. 
• A slice of bread of whole wheat bread from Spring Mill Bakery with about a tablespoon of peanut butter. 

I am hungry now so I will eat something...not sure what yet. I will and go for a walk with Alex.

That's it for now.

Sincerely, 

Julia

Update on the day: 
Lunch:

• A slice of whole wheat bread from Spring Mill Bakery with mustard, 3 slices of cold cut turkey, and 2 thin slices of Swiss cheese. 

• One orange