Beautiful Blogger Award!

So since I received the Lemonade Award from Good Girls Inc. I decided to start another award trend. This one is the certificate of being 100% beautiful.


It reads: You Are Truly Beautiful. Beautiful means so much more than just a pretty face! It also means that you are unique, and oh so full of grace! The things in you that go so much deeper than the softness of your skin. Are the things that make you beautiful, both outside and within!

Rules:
Find the beautiful ladies that you follow.
Give them this award.
Hopefully it'll truly mean something to each and everyone of you.
Don't be shy to give it to the same person!
Don't forget to tell them!

So I'm giving it to the following ladies:
Good Gal, Inc
Nancy
Heather Marie
Ashley
Amie
Loosing Waist
Kimberly
hisMrs
Linda
Rebecca
Could've Been Blonde
State of Change
So you guys are all my "Followers" and support group. So Thank You!!!!!!!!
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

10 Reasons To Loose 10+ Pounds..Tag!

Kimberly at Woman Inside Me has tagged me with this! Thank you so much Kimberly, this is fun!!!!

Rules:

List the 10 reasons why you are losing weight

Tag 5 other

Be sure to post these rules on your post

Be sure to link the blog that tagged you

See, simple, right?

My reasons for losing 10 pounds + a whole lot more are:

1. I want to live a long healthy life. I am a 20 year old trapped in a 50 year olds (no offense to you 50 y.o.!) body. There's no reason I should be this heavy.
   
2. . I want to have children.. someday! What if I experience infertility (it already runs in the family) because I'm obese. Or better yet, when I do have kids what kind of example would I be if I stayed the way I was?
   
3. I want to look and FEEL drop dead gorgeous on my wedding day. It is a day I will ultimately remember for the rest of my life.. but How will I remember it? Will I remember how much fun I had? Or how fat I felt?
   
4. Health Problems associated with obesity.. My family already has a buttload of health problems that will probably be genetically passed to me. But being overweight and having a whole new set of health problems sounds ridiculous!
   
5. I want to be able to walk into ANY store and shop. I don't want to have to go into a special department or special store to buy clothes. The only excuse for that is Maternity clothes.. and I better be pregnant to buy those! :)
6. I want to prove to myself that I can loose the weight. I can take my body back.. it's my body! So what's stopping me right?
7. I love sports. I want to join a team again! I want to go dancing and not feel like the club scene in Shallow Hal or round the bases in softball and not feel my belly boucing!
8. I want ALL of my confidence back. I am already a confident girl but somehow I lost that with some of this weight getting put back on. I want it all back.
9. I want to be a good role model and set a good example. I'm a youth group leader and I think I set a good example on my walk with God. But not in my lifestyle.
10. I don't want to be a fat nurse. I think fat doctors (no offense) or a fat nutritionist is silly. It's a practice what you preach kind of method. How in the world can I suggest to a patient a healthier lifestyle when I can't even do it?
11. (I know it only said 10.. but..) I WANT MY LIFE BACK. end of story.
    

My Tag Team...
Rebecca
hisMrs
Good Gals Inc.
Heather Marie
Nancy

Ashley
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

*Happy New Year!!*

I would like to wish all of you ladies a (early) HAPPY NEW YEAR! This year is going to bring about great change for all of us! I'm very excited to embark on this weightloss and getting healthy journey with all of you. I'm excited to get to know each and everyone of you. I'm also excited to add some members to the support train!!! I know we will continue to lift each other up and do a great job. We will be some hot ladies next year!!!

Tips for N.Y.E... try to limit the alcohol intake. Especially the mixed drinks. If your going to a party, eat a healthy meal before hand so you won't be as tempted to snack. Bring a healthy snack like a veggie tray or get creative!!

That is def for us!!


Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Day #2

I woke up sooo late today. I didn't roll out of bed until about 11:30 (I think?!)!! So tonight I want to be in bed before midnight! What a concept!!! lol Today was a great day thought, the only not so great thing I would say is that I didn't end up going to the gym or exercising like I had planned. But, I did go to Wal-Mart! For Christmas, I received a gift card for there and decided to buy some "Lifestyle Change" items. I got: 3 workout videos for $9/each (Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, Biggest Loser Cardio, and Dancing with the Stars), I got a 25 inch ball, a cute notebook for my food journal, small plates, a scarf/glove set, and a few misc items. I'm super excited to try the videos!! I'll let you know how they go. Has anyone tried any of those videos? I also got dumbells (1 lb., 2lb, & 5 lb) from Matt. I am going to use the scarf/ glove set as my first prize when I accomplish my first goal. What should my first goal be? :) To loose like 5 lbs? 10? I also set a Dietitian appointment for next Wednesday, which I'm excited about too!!

So I think I'm doing pretty good on the food thing so far. Do you guys think I'm lacking anything?

Log:
Breakfast: 1 whole grain toast *12:15*
1 tbsp. of creamy peanut butter
1 sliced banana (If you haven't had it.. try it. It's yummy!)
Lunch: I sort of didn't have a complete lunch since I woke up so late.. I had the snacks instead.
Dinner: Sweet tomato Restaurant*6* (SEE BELOW!)
Snacks: 1 strawberry light & fit yogurt
15 baby carrots
1 apple
Water: 4, 16.9 oz, water bottles
Steps: My pedometer was stupid again today.. SO I checked very often. I know I missed some and took it off after work, which is when I do my major walking. But I calculated 1275 steps.. but I know it was way more.
Exercise: None. Besides lugging the heavy groceries up and down the hill to my car for 20 minutes!

Sweet Tomato Restaurant!!!!
(Matt eating!)
This was my first time ever being there and I LOVED it! Have you ever tried it? It's one of those salad bar buffet places, but it's healthy! It's $10 a plate. I made a huge salad with spinach, beats, beans, egg, pinch of cheese, peas, corn, EVERYTHING! lol. I put the ranch dressing on the side, it was a little cup. Then you get to go through and there's pasta, bread, soup, even frozen yogurt (which I didn't eat). So Matt & I went and he even enjoyed it.. he's not that great of an eater.

I tried some of Jillian's tips on not to deprive myself. Like on the ranch for instance.. I love ranch. I eat it on pizza, fries, salad, anything! But that's also the fattiest dressing and defeats the purpose of a salad. So what I did was get one of the little white cups with fat free ranch and the other with regular ranch, both on the side. Then when I sat down to eat I dipped a piece of broccoli in each to see which I would want. I ended up pouring the fat free one on the salad and not the normal one! But I didn't automatically eat the fatty one and I didn't automatically say no I "can't" have it. But the fat free one was yummy and I knew it was a better choice. So that was accomplishment one!
This was the cup size!
Accomplishment two was this.. There is a soup, pasta, bread, etc section. And I am a totally carb girl. I love pasta (Hello, I'm Italian!), love soups, love breads. So I got a mini plate and put a small spoonful of the mac and cheese, rice pilaf, rigatoni on one plate. Then I got a small bowl of fat free chicken noodle and a small bowl of all the fat included Clam chowder. I brought this all to the table (and Matt was like what the heck? lol). I ate most of my salad first and then I wanted to try some of the mac and cheese. So literally what I did was take a bite of each of the "not so good" stuff and was done. Once again, I didn't deprive myself and say no I "can't" have it. I just took a bite and satisfied the craving.. then went back to finishing my salad.
Before:
After: (Told you I barely ate any of that!)

That is def. an accomplish meant for me because A) I love those foods so much, B) I'm learning not to be an all or nothing dieter, C) No deprivation here!, D) those foods are the foods I used to binge on. So I'm def excited! Do you ladies do this? I think it is a wonderful way to "have you cake, and eat it too".. no pun intended.

I'm very proud of myself. It's only day 2 and these are some great changes. I owe most of it to you ladies! You guys are great support!! Keep it up!

**PS.. Matt is my fiance, in case I didn't mention that before! Sorry.**
Him and I @ the Emerald Bowl:

Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Day #1

I think it's appropriate to start out day #1 blog with a blast from the past photo of me. This was a few years ago when I went to Hawaii with my brother's baseball team. Boy, I cannot wait to look like that again! :)

So today was sort of a crazy day! Maybe it was returning back to work after the Holiday? Or maybe it was the fact I stayed up waay too late last night (and again tonight) trying to fix this blog thing. It also didn't help that the day went by crazy fast! I did manage to get some things done and stay semi on track. I watched Princess Diaries with my nieces (I love spending time with family! Plus we had a sleepover last night!) I went grocery shopping and got a bunch of food for $100 bucks! which hopefully I can make food for my parents off of :). I got a bunch of fresh produce and things that I can create new dishes with. I don't want to get burned out on the normal stuff.. (so send me some yummy, low-cal recipes if you want!samiam4eva06@gmail.com)

But, I kinda had a day filled with blonde moments. Like I made a fresh fruit smoothie to drink on the way to work, packed my gym bag, grabbed my giftcard, and placed them all next to the front door.. but forgot them on my way out to work! Dah Sam! I also forgot a few little things throughout the day at work!

Inspiration for the day: Michelle Aguilar was on NBC's Biggest Loser and won. She is currently on the cover of US Weekly. I think she was absolutely gorgeous before the show and is so after! She is my inspiration of the day because she is what I am now (at her beginning weight) and weight skinnier than I would hope to be after! We can do this ladies! Even if we don't have Jillian Michael's yelling in our face :)

Log:
Breakfast: 2 eggs ( 1 normal, 1 egg white) *10am*
Lunch: 1/2 a turkey wrap (wheat tortilla, turkey, tomatoe, lettuce, and dry pesto sauce) and a sliced tomato *2 pm*
Dinner: 1 cup of steamed rice, miso soup, salad (with creamy dressing that came with it, but I only used a little), CA hand roll *about 630 pm*
Snacks: 1 apple (1 slice with peanut butter, Yum!) 1 banana
Water: 4-16.9 fl. oz. bottles. (67.6 oz= a little over 2 liters)
Exercise: stretched for 15 minutes
Steps: I bought a pedometer over the weekend. I checked it in the afternoon and it was almost 1,000 steps. When I check it after work, it had 0 steps! Somehow it had deleted! So I will include this as part of my log to remember.. I need to fix it tomorrow! Dang it!

*I still need to include my measurements, and figure out how to do the inspiration board thingy of pics of myself. I did a bunch of research last night.. just reading different posts and articles about weight loss. Hopefully I can post my findings soon. I will also take a most recent (starting point) picture to begin this journey!*

**Don't forget ladies, You are beautiful! Big, skinny, short, fat, blonde, brown, purple, etc. You were individually made, individually perfect for His beautiful eyes. Don't doubt that just because you have some extra meat on them bones, that you are any less pretty than the girl who should put some meat on her bones! Plus, I watched a top ten list for 2009.. and we're in luck cause "a woman's curves" were on there! (I'm pretty sure they didn't say the whole bakery like I have.. but close enough ;)**

Isaiah 40:31: "Those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary."
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Oh.. and

So this maybe a favor from me to you.. but if it's possible (whoever reads this), to just send me (email: samiam4eva06@gmail.com or comment here) a short list. What is your daily routine kind of like? What snacks are most filling? What are your work lunches like? What exercises do you love and use? What workout videos do you like? Any books I should read? etc..

I'm just trying to: A) educate myself on what works on real women like us, not the supermodels. B) I'll be honest.. I'm pretty broke to add a personal trainer to my budget. I do go to Bally Gym though.. thanks to the fiance! C) I have a really weak ankle, so I'm looking for different exercises to do besides running.. because I can't run for too long. D) I'm in this for the long haul.. so the eating ideas are for me to spruce up the meals :)

THANK YOU GUYS!
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

I'm Back!!

So with the Holidays and me being sick, I really do apologize for not blogging. BUT I was VERY excited to see people actually comment on the two posts that I did have.. it's very encouraging already! I can't believe people actually read this.. hopefully you'll all still stay tuned!

Also, as you can tell, I'm doing a little update on the design and layout of the blog. Tomorrow I will post some more (probably A LOT) and will include my stats, quiz thing, etc that I prepared while I was sick. I also wanted to do like a "inspiration" album. In it, I wanted to include pictures of me at my thinnest weight.. and pictures of me now. Does anyone know of like a photo upload place (free of course!) that will let me upload a bunch of pics on there... then put them in an album.. and put a link to only that album on my blog. Does that make sense? I was trying to find one and how to do it.. so I don't have a bunch of pics of me on the page!

Since I was sick.. I didn't really start on my lifestyle change. I was too busy being sick and even when I wasn't, I ate and exercised like normal. (Today was above normal.. because like I said before, I'm an emotional eater. Today was the 6 month anniversary of one of my best friend's and her husband's fatal plane crash.. so I was a little off today) *Note: I need to find new vices when I get emotional. Any ideas?* So I am trying this all over tomorrow. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life!!! :) I even set up a dr. appointment with a nutritionist for next Monday!!

Tomorrow I will post more.. because it's already past midnight and I have to work tomorrow :)
Thank you all for tuning in!

Oh, and if you do read this.. is it possible to put me on your follow list? So I can comment you all back :) thanks.
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Ugh..

So last night, I was all excited about starting this blog and journey with all of you ladies!!! But unfortunately that will not be happening like planned! I'm sick!! I have some sort of flu virus.. I can't keep anything down! Even Chicken Noodle Soup!! So I am reallly really bummed! But as soon as I feel better... (hopefully tomorrow).. I will jump on the band wagon!!

:)
If you get bored.. check out my other blog: www.samiam4eva06.blogspot.com
Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

First Post!

Hello there! My name is Samantha and this will be my blog about my fitness, eating, nutrition, etc. I am engaged as of 12.6.08 and have about 6 months until my big day. This blog is going to be like the little notebook I carry around with my food, exercise, etc data.

Background about me: When I was younger, I was a great size but just a little taller than all the boys. Then once the boys caught up to me in middle school, I was a good height/weight. But of course, back then, I didn't think I was. My best friends were all size twos and under. So from as far back as I can remember I've been on and off diets, yo-yo dieting, and trying to get skinny. Well after I had my gallbladder removed (age 12) and grandpa dying (age 18) I had packed on the pounds. I also, no longer had cheerleading and softball to keep me active. At that point I was the heaviest I'd been... and now recently I've topped that! After one of my close friends and her husband died in a plane crash.. I didn't know what to do with myself. It was no excuse, but needless to say, I'm an emotional eater. I eat when I'm happy, sad, angry, etc. This cannot be the case any longer! My mood has changed, my activity level has changed, self confidence, and even the way I move sometimes...
THIS ALL STOPS TODAY!

I have six months to get back to a reasonable and HEALTHY size before my big day. I will be darned if I look like a marshmallow in my dress.. not to mention feel like one! It's not all about size or looks either. I want to feel healthy again. I want to be healthy again. I mean I wouldn't mind going to a "normal" store and buying a size large shirt and just knowing it was going to fit.. that would be a bonus. But I want the health benefits of being physically active.
.. Basically, I want MY life back... and this is how I will start!!

So (if anyones reading this..) welcome to this fun (haha) journey with me. I hope you and I can team up and start this journey together.. We need support! Feel free to "follow me" and post recipes, exercises, or anything on here. I love reading it!

Will post more tomorrow!