One Day at a Time: Going Strong

Hi Friends!

Day 6 of my lifestyle adjustment and going strong! I'm going to cheat a little bit with the blog today and post a story I found on people.com.

I'm not a huge fan of celebrity weight loss stories typically because, lets be honest, they have time and resources that a lot of us don't have so to compare ourselves isn't fair. However I DO like stories when the celebrity did it the old fashioned way so I wanted to share this.

Thank you all for listening and I hope you enjoy!

Emily

http://www.people.com/people/mobile/article/0,,20332412_20657750,00.html

One Day At A Time: Let's Try This Again

Hi Friends!

Well, that wagon I was on? Yep fell off, who would have thought! But it's a new year full of new opportunities and I intend to take full advantage of each one. This isn't a resolution because let's be honest, how many of us really ever keep those for more than two weeks? No it's an attitude adjustment, a lifestyle adjustment and a priority adjustment. For some reason I liked the word adjustment better than change. Change seemed so much more drastic and harsh. Maybe someday I'll be more comfortable with change but for now I'm sticking to adjustment.

I decided to stop weight watchers and go with a program on MyFitnessPal.com. So far I'm really liking it. It's not that I didn't like weight watchers, I did. It's worked for me in the past but wasn't working for me this time. I found it to be too much trying to figure out how many points something might be based on other foods that it recognized. With this new website there's so much already there! For instance I was sitting at that Macaroni Grill in the Chicago airport with my husband (I know not the best choice but we were limited) and I could look up their entire menu and determine what was best for me!

I also want to start attending these Barre Fusion classes taught by my sister in law Stacy. I went to one class and it kicked my butt but at the end there was this odd sense of accomplishment and addiction that happened and I want to go again! If you live in the Albuquerque area I HIGHLY recommend them. Just go to www.bodylanguageabq.com to learn more. About halfway through the class you'll be questioning your sanity for signing up but once it's done trust me you'll like it.

Does anyone else have fitness classes they've enjoyed that they would like to recommend?!

Emily

One Day at a Time: I'm Back!

Hi friends...

Yes I say that in a sheepish and slightly embarrassed tone. I hope everyone is doing well! I wish I could say that I haven't written in a long time because so much has changed, but it hasn't. :)

I've been following my weight watchers plan and staying within my points but not a lot has changed. In fact things (i.e. weight) has gone up! It threw me for a loop I must say because when I originally started weight watchers for my wedding the weight was just falling off! So I figured a lot of it must be the portion control. I decided to go back to what I did then and eat mostly Lean Cuisines or Smart Ones with salads, veggies, etc on the side. I am hoping this will shrink my stomach so that when we do go out to eat or to events I won't be able to eat as much. It made complete sense in my head, hopefully it makes sense in everyone else's too.

Today we went to the Doggie Dash and Dawdle in Albuquerque with our dog Molly. It was a lot of fun and we took part in the Dawdle which was a 2 mile walk. The whole event went to the Animal Humane Society and to get good homes for homeless pets. We adopted our dog Molly almost one year ago and it has been an adventure but a fun one.

The event was hysterical with all the costumes (human and canine) and all of the doggie events. There was bobbing for weenies, doggie finger paintings, an obstacle course and tons more! If you live in New Mexico I would highly recommend it in 2013! One definite bonus is that Molly was worn out the rest of the day! This dog, who normally can't sit still, wouldn't even jump from the car floor to the car seat when we were done because she was so tuckered.

The other bonus of the event is that there was physical activity involved. I'm thinking my goal for next year will be to run the 5K instead of walking the 2 mile course. Given that it is a year away I think it is a feasible goal! What do you think?

Thank you all for your patience with my unplanned hiatus! Tomorrow is a new day and a new plan with new results!

Have a great night!

Emily

One Day at a Time: Changes

Hi friends!

So quite a bit has happened since my last therapy session! We bought a new scale (funny story to come) and  our elliptical was delivered!

First with the funny story because we always all need to laugh. I have had this scale for 2+ years now and I love it. It's the Timex of scales (takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!) and trust me it has taken a few lickins over time. It has moved with me three times so you can image what that has done. Lately it has been acting oddly in terms of measurement. One day it will say a good weight, the next day something different. Usually its not completely out of the ballpark but it seems odd. Well the other day I stepped on the scale and it just didn't seem right. I went and asked my husband to try it out, making sure the batteries were good and it was on a hard surface first of course. He goes into the bathroom, weighs himself then comes back out telling me, "Yeah I think it's done." I ask what made him think that and he said, "Well, I did snack a lot yesterday but that scale just told me I snacked 10 pounds onto myself!" Needless to say I visited Target after work and got a Weight Watchers scale! There is a picture of it at the top of the blog. This thing is amazing! For $30 it will store up to four users data, tell you your weight, BMI, bone mass, body fat percentage, body fat in pounds and body water. Now, do I really need or WANT to know all those things? No not really but how cool is it that it does that! I typically see my weight and then run before the screen can change to all the other statistics.

The other new news is our elliptical arrived! I was super excited and already had a chance to use it this evening! It is great because my iPad fits perfectly on the console and I can watch my favorite shows on Hulu! We went to the Fitness Superstore here in Albuquerque and the staff was amazing! Mike Antos helped us and was very helpful, and patient while I figured out if I wanted to stick to my budget or get the more flashy machine. I'm really excited about the opportunity to work out at home when I want and all the great things it can bring! Does anyone know any great elliptical workouts besides the pre-programmed ones?

Thanks for listening! Live long and diet on!

Emily

One Day at a Time: Easy Peasy...right?

Hi friends!

Well day one is done and (almost) gone! Yay! Like any diet the first few days are easy. Talk to me on day ten when my arm starts to look more tasty than the healthy food I'm preparing for myself! I did find a book, at the recommendation of my boss Andrea, that I'm hoping will help! It's called Fix it and Forget it Lightly. It's a fantastic book with healthy recipes and they are all crock pot recipes!!! What's better than coming home to a great smell in the house after not having to do a thing to prepare it?! Oh wait, I had that until I decided to move out of my parent's house. Doesn't being an adult stink sometimes?! Oh well my guess is it's the closest I'm ever going to get to having a private chef.

The recipe we made for dinner tonight was the ground turkey potato dinner (page 45). Honestly it wasn't bad at all. Next time I will probably add a few more spices but it's still a keeper! Tomorrow night we are making a chicken and mushroom stew (on page 26) which I'm very excited about since the weather is getting colder. Now I just need a fireplace and a big chunky sweater and it'll really feel like fall!

The greatest thing about this book are the nutritional values under each recipe so no matter if you are following weight watchers, counting calories or watching your carbs you can compare each recipe.

Does anyone else have suggestion for recipe books with light recipes?

Thanks for listening! Live strong and diet on!

Emily

Taking It Back: Day One: Introduction

Hi friends!

My name is Emily. I'm starting a blog to document my journey to taking my life back. Now don't get me wrong, I've got an amazing life. I have a husband who is one of the most incredible people I've ever met (we celebrate our one year wedding anniversary on the 22nd!), a family (back in Indiana and here in Albuquerque) who is not only loving and supportive but entertaining too, a great job with people I love and more than I thought I could ever have at 27 (just celebrated my birthday but I'll still accept cards :)).

So you may ask, Emily what are you taking back?! I'm taking back control. Control of the one aspects I've never had control over that affects every other part of my life: my body. I'm 5'4" (5'5" when I'm having a good hair day) and 236.4 pounds. At my height I shouldn't be anywhere near that, and I know it. I've always known it. But I've convinced myself that it doesn't matter, I still have everything I want, but I don't. I don't have the peace of mind that I will be around for a long time, or that its not affecting people's opinion of me.

I will admit I'm a control freak, it runs in our family. So it astounds me every time I think about it that I do not have control over the one thing that is easiest to control! Think about it: no one is telling me what to eat, I decide. No one is telling me to sit on the couch and watch Golden Girls (i LOVE that show), I decide. I DECIDE. I control. And I've controlled myself into not being happy with myself. But that stops now!

So who am I. I'm Emily (I know we established that already but it felt right to write it). I'm a 27 year old OCD control freak who works hard for what she has but has also been blessed with people to help her. I love a lot, and by that I mean a lot of people, things and I give a lot of love.

I'm obsessed with make-up and skincare. If I could quit my job and become a makeup artist and still make the same amount of money I totally would (I think my parent's would shoot me though after putting me through 4 years of college, GO PURDUE!). I show myself as confident but I'm constantly questioning everything. I tell people I don't care what others think but I really do.

I can't stand bad grammar i.e. "I ain't got none"...really? Really? And trust me I will correct you on it if I hear it. I'm a hobby crafter but I have a lot more ideas than time to do them. I'm a smart ass and sarcastic but I'll never use those things in a malicious way (intentionally). There's a lot more but I didn't sign up to write a book, just a blog.

So where does the journey begin? With simple steps. I started Weight Watchers (ecrabel if you want to friend me!) and I bought an elliptical machine which gets delivered on Wednesday. Whats my goal? It's simple, silly probably but it's a goal. I want to be able to walk into any store and buy an outfit. ANY store, not Lane Bryant or Avenue, a normal every other person store. Does that sound vain? Probably a little but oh well. It's all about feeling good!

So what is the blog all about, whats it's purpose? To help me get it all out. This will be my journal of sorts. My outlet to say how I'm feeling, what I've done, what I'm excited about and what I'm sad about.

What's the blog NOT about? It's not a political platform or a place to criticize. It's a helpful place. Helpful to me because I get to release and hopefully someday helpful to someone else who is starting the same journey. Some day's will be about my day-to-day journey and others could be about a new Pinterest idea or something new I've found.

That's where I'll end today. It was very nice to meet you via blogger and I hope we'll get to know each other and share stories/words of advice.

Thanks for listening on my first day of something new!

Emily