Work Hard. Work Out Harder.

I've been hitting the gym like it's nobody's biznass, and I think it is finally paying off! I weighed myself tonight after a rigorous work out of 1 hour on the treadmill (burned 417 calories), 15 minutes on the elliptical (burned 125 calories), 20 minutes on the stationary bike (burned 125 calories) and 20 minutes of Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred (I'm going to assume at least 100, probably more calories). Total calories burned 800 (give or take a few).

I got on the scale, and I'm now 2 pounds away from losing 30 pounds! I know it's early in the week and things may fluctuate, but I'm so ecstatic. I think I'm finally over this plateau I've been on for weeks now. Over Christmas I kept it steady and didn't gain nor lose any, but just maintained, which is a miracle in itself if you ask me.

As I'm going through this healthy life style transformation, part of myself is pissed that this is the second time I'm losing all this weight ... the first time I lost a lot of weight (I lost 70 pounds) was when I was 14 years old going into the 9th grade. I dropped 70 pounds in 6 months. Yeah mind blowing isn't it. At 14, I was years beyond my age, and yet I digressed (and then some, which I'm not proud of believe me). I can put the blame on everything under the sun, but the only person I can blame is myself. What can I say ... life happened, and boy did it happen. When you're 14 the only things you should worry about is what you are wearing to the mall on Friday night, who may ask you to dance at the middle school dance and whether or not the Aqua Net is going to hold your mile high bangs. BUT I was worried about counting calories, dropping 5 pounds a week, running a steady mile and purchasing the new MTV Party-to-Go for getting down and dirty on my stepper. Seriously ... no joke.

I have learned valuable lessons from the first time to now the second round. Eat right, exercise, portion control and moderation. These friendly reminders often get tossed to the side when consumed by "the number." The number is what haunts every person losing weight, and as I know all too well, the number is the only thing to focus on, which I soon became obsessed with. I don't want to do that again. Obsessing over the number caused me to lose sight of what it's all about, and caused unhealthy habits of binging, binge exercising and not eating for weeks which in essence took a toll on me and my body. The thought of doing that makes me sick to my stomach, but it's the reality of what young girls do to get to "that number."

I've learned that you have to make the time. Time is a funny thing. It's always there but why does it feel like it's never on your side? Everything takes time ... damn that time! It gets you every time ... okay 'nuff with time, because now it's time to sign off. But not before a small recap of what was on the menu today...

Breakfast
Small banana (100 calories) and a Special K protein shake (190 calories)
A bottle of water

Lunch
Pita Nachos with chicken, tomato's, garlic spread and cheese (these were probably arty clogging and totally bad for me, but I couldn't resist. My cheat for the week)
Two glasses of tea with sweetener

Snack
60 calorie Jello Mousse
A bottle of water
Hot tea (with a splash of skim, sweetener and a dash of honey)

Dinner
Wasn't hungry for dinner so skipped it (bad I know, especially after the sermon I just gave)