Just to clear things up...

Just to clear up some of the confusion i've been hearing about this blog...

As of right now there are two contributors to this blog. Myself (Christina aka Miss Procrastinate) and Muffin Top. You can see who wrote the blog entry by scrolling to the bottom of the entry. In about a day or so, another friend of mine will be joining in the madness and contributing as well.

What I want from you as readers is honest feed back. If you feel like there is a diet out there that worth a shot, or a great workout that you've heard of please let me know. When there are 5 writers on here I don't expect everyone to read every entry. My goal is to have a wide enough range of Why Weight Till Monday Bloggers that you can find at least one writer that you can really identify with.

I have about 2 more spots open for writers at this time so if it's something you are interested in please let me know asap. The type of people i'm looking for have to have these certain things going on for them:

1) Looking to get out of their normal weight loss box and try some new and crazy things.

2) I would really like at least 1 male blogger on here. (I know not all guys like to look at themselves naked in the mirror all of the time)

3) You have to post a new blog at least 2 times a week and be real, authentic, and funny!

4) I would like at least one female who doesn't really need to lose weight but needs to tone up.

5) Some writing experience would be nice but it's not required.

Contact me in a comment or email me at Whyweighttillmonday@gmail.com

Thanks!!!!

good lord

I feel like absolute crap. Lost all control today. Well, and last night. Was good for the most part. Went to Denny's (don't judge me... i needed unlimited coffee and space to work on a project where no one would bother me...) I got the pulled bbq chicken sandwich with the fiesta corn (corn w/ pico de gallo and green peppers) and "dippable veggies" which wasn't bad. But I finally gave into my cake temptation and got a slice to go. I ate it while watching Golden Girls and feeling guilty yet so wonderful during every bite.
Tonight wasn't a good night either. It was my friend's 40th birthday and she had a party at her house. I had some Jell-o shots, some wine, a couple tequila shots, pizza, chips and 7 layer dip, and some cheesy bread. Thus the reason I feel like crap. I'm not used to eating like that and it's just sitting there, like a bump on a pickle.
I neeeed to go back to the gym. I neeeeeed to remember this feeling and not do it again. I neeeeeeeeeeed to stick to my plan and keep on truckin. Otherwise this will kill me. Literally.

frustrated

I haven't been to the gym in over a week. I really have no excuse. I was sore for a couple days, but that's over now. I've been craving sugar worse than marilyn monroe craved attention. i haven't given in to EVERY temptation, but I've given in to a couple. I went to walmart today and seriously stared at one of their little cakes for like two minutes. Contemplating. I walked away and felt good as I did it.
Although I'd like to say that the reason I resisted was because I have conquered my addiction, it wasn't. It was because the mini cake was $6 and this summer, I don't have $6 to spend on a craving. It's been ridiculously slow at work. Everyone is hurting. No one goes out anymore because we can't afford it. I was only at walmart because it was SO hot in my house that I needed to get out. I also had a couple small things I needed that I couldn't find at the 99 cents only store (yes, I ACTUALLY lowered myself to go in there...) so I made the run.
Maybe the stress is part of the reason I want to cheat so badly. Food has ALWAYS been my go-to in times like this. When I'm really stressed, it throws off EVERYTHING and I get really depressed and the only time I feel good is when I'm doing something bad. Does that make sense? I'm still on my anti-depressants and I know in my mind that going to the gym will help work out some of that bad energy, but for whatever reason, I don't go. I sleep. I watch Golden Girls. I spend hours on Netflix. And before I would eat.
I don't really have anything bad in my house right now to binge on, thank Jesus. I thought about buying a box of donuts and gorging "just this once." I stared at the candy bars in the checkout line. When I stopped by the gas station to buy a bag of ice I gazed longingly at the M&M ice cream sandwich on the next shelf. As I passed McDonald's on the way home, I could TASTE a hot fudge sundae, extra hot fudge. As I write this, I would give my big toe for ANYTHING cake-like and chocolate-y with creamy chocolate frosting, like Linda's Fudge Cake from Cheesecake Factory. Or Ben and Jerry's Phish Food.
But, again, I refrain. I wonder if the temptations are EVER going to let up. I wonder how much longer I can resist.

epiphany

I had an epiphany today. I went to lunch with my friend Liz. She wanted to go to Baja Fresh and I'm always down for some of that yum yum gimme some, so of COURSE I was happy to join her! I debated their various menu choices and decided that mahi tacos were just the thing! They come on soft corn tortillas with cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado and "a zesty avocado sauce." The guy asked me if I wanted the combo with rice and beans and I stopped. No. I didn't. Weird! I knew that the two tacos would be sufficient and would be just the right amount without going overboard. What the hell?! Who AM I!?
I came home and discovered that I made the right decision. By foregoing the rice and beans (of which I would have gotten black beans instead of pinto), I saved myself 460 calories, 77 carbs and 1600 MG's OF SODIUM. Who knew that such an innocent "accompaniment" could be so devastating? (and in case you're curious, the two tacos are 460 calories, 18 grams of fat, 52 carbs and 600 mg's of sodium if you make no modifications, which I didn't.)
I also made another discovery. I don't like soda anymore. It's so bubbly and chemical-y that it just tastes weird. Coke Zero used to be an addiction. Seriously. I LOVED it. If I could have gotten it naked and made love to it, I would have. So, I decided to treat myself and have one. It was kinda gross and after I was done, I could feel the bloat in my belly from the sodium. I still wanted a drink for the car (since it's 115 out today) so I got some unsweetened iced tea instead and added a couple of Equal to it (they don't have Splenda.) It came from one of those tea containers where you can choose what kind of tea you want (raspberry, sweetened black, non sweetened black or sweetened green) and since it wasn't regular brewed tea, it tasted weird. I guess I've gotten so used to water and brewed tea and brewed coffee that I just don't really like anything else.
All this info is a little crazy for me, but it gives me hope. It gives me hope that this time it'll stick, that this time it's really a lifestyle change and that by this time next year, I'll be a whole new me.


and p.s. If you get the Mango Chicken Chipotle Salad, get it without the shell. You'll save 540 calories and 45 grams of fat...)

Dressing Room Hell

Hi my name is Christina and i'm a freaking bad blogger. I get it...

Thank god Muffin Top texted me and told me to get my ass on the ball, so here I am.

Truth of the matter is i've been in some major avoidance. I didn't start my Isegenix Cleanse because I was missing some key parts of the diet (pills, waffer thingies, and was running low on powder for the shakes.) So my mom and I are going to start it next week I think?

On another note i've been stressing like crazy about all 4 interviews I had to do for the Melting Pot the last 2 weeks. (I got the job!) Did that equal healthy eating? No. It equaled not really eating at all. The last two days i've eaten a small bowl of cereal, a little bit of spaghetti and about 12 cups of coffee. Sooooooo not good. On the up side, I have been working out and running.... but today I got a reality check.

My family reunion is this weekend and I look forward to it every year. I have a great time hanging out with my cousins, making fun of some aunts and uncles, and terrorizing the little kids. There is just one thing that always seems to put a damper on the occasion... Pool Time. I absolutely loathe getting in a bathing suit in front of my genetically skinny family. That's just how the women on that side are built.... nothing against them, but memories of fat jokes when I was younger always play in the back of mind when i'm around all of them. I'm not saying i'm fat, but i'm also not a size 2-6 like the rest of them. Once in a while they may tease but I know its not to hurt my feelings. (They may have gotten the skinny gene but I got the tit-y gene.) muah ah ah ah!

So today I went shopping for a bathing suit that I would feel comfortable in and that would be just 'oh-so-flattering' that I could strut around that pool like I was some hot skinny thing too. Right? WROOOONG. This is when I got my wake up call.

I grabbed the suits I thought would best 'suit' me and headed for the dressing room. The thing about brand new Targets is that they have two mirrors in every dressing room, one on the door and one directly opposite on the wall. Putting on the first suit I laughed and tore it right off. The second one I actually liked from the front view.... then looking over my shoulder I caught sight of (god I can't believe i'm saying this) my ass and love handles. I almost thought the wall had fallen down between dressing rooms and I was staring at someone else's not-so-great-looking butt. Then I realized it was MY not-so-great-looking butt!!! (I remember when I worked at Medieval Times and the only thing I did 5-6 days a week was run up and down stairs carrying heavy trays of chicken for 2 hours straight. My favorite game back then was 'Punch My Butt' because when people did It wouldn't jiggle, shake, rattle, or roll. It was a butt formed out of granite and I was damn proud of it.) Now it looks like its fallen down about a foot and just kind of sits there on top of my legs doing absolutely nothing but looking like a literal translation of 'Lazy Ass.'

I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry! The good thing here is that the front view wasn't so bad and I was actually happy that my stomach has flattened out since I started this whole thing. I just didn't realize that my butt was doing the same thing. So now i'm going to start some kind of major butt workout! I'm not sure what it is yet, so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

one day at a time

I'm taking this journey one day at a time and day by day, it gets a little bit easier. I crave water instead of soda. I still think about eating the bread at work, but it's easier to refrain. It's easier to take just ONE bite of the gigantic soft chocolate chip cookies we always have laying around work instead of eating half of one. It's easier to get to the gym... as long as I wake up on time.
Today I was supposed to go to yoga with my friend Anna and I didn't wake up until two in the afternoon. Of course it didn't help that my phone was on vibrate so I didn't hear her text OR my alarm and I didn't get to sleep until between 4 and 5...
I know I'm down about five pounds which to me is PATHETIC for all the hard work I've been doing, but I have to stay focused. Plus, when you start working out your body holds onto more water because it's not used to what you're doing so it goes into 'hold' mode (my trainer friend told me that.) I heard that you should weigh yourself two weeks after starting a new diet or exercise plan and then not weigh yourself again for two months after that. Mainly because if you become obsessed with the scale you'll get angry or disappointed if you gain a pound or two of water weight and are more likely to throw in the towel. Makes sense I guess.
I really, really need to do this this time. I feel like "Mouth" from Goonies: "Well this one, this one right here, this is MY dream, MY wish. And I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back." I don't want to look back a year from now and say, "Wow, if I had JUST kept on track, I'd be at my goal by now." I've done that too many times for too many years. 30 is my ME year, so it's time to get back to ME.

prepare, prepare, prepare!

Ok, so I think I'm going to have to get a little more anal retentive about planning my meals ahead of time. There's that old saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." So, I've gone through my cupboards and put together meals for the next few days. I'm hoping that it will keep me on track. I'm also hoping it will keep me from spending the money and calories on eating out. This last paycheck suuuuuucked, so I need to cut corners wherever I can and going through what I have in my cupboards should help. Fortunately, I don't have too much crap in there, so that's good.

Here's an example of what i've put together:
saturday:
breakfast: yogurt with berries and fat free muesli, hard boiled eggwhite
snack: pita puffs with hummus
lunch: turkey dog (no bun) , sauteed corn and a plum
snack: protein shake (EAS chocolate with vanilla soymilk)
dinner: blackened tilapia with sliced mango, sweet potato pancake and a salad
snack or "dessert": pluot

sunday:
breakfast: 3 eggwhites scrambled with taco seasoning, morningstar farms veggie sausage patty cut up and put in a low carb tortilla, banana
snack: bean and corn salad (black and kidney beans, corn, tomato and cucumber)
lunch: tomato, cucumber, avocado and vegan cream cheese sandwich on 100% whole wheat sandwich thins, sweet potato hash (sweet potatoes cubed and sauteed with red onion and course salt in a small bit of olive oil)
snack: protein shake
dinner: salad at work
snack or "dessert": honeydew melon

and so on, and so on. So, now you know what I'm eating this weekend and so do I! I already can't wait for it to be tomorrow so I can get it going!

Oh, and for the record, yesterday I fell off the wagon... again. I drank... a lot. And I ate fried stuff. and I drank some more. And I had some 5 layer dip. And a Reese's PB Cup. And... Taco Bell (GASP!) You know how it is at midnight when you've been drinking for 8 hours. You just don't care. So I got a nacho supreme with no ground beef. And a chicken gordita. AND a caramel apple empanada. I felt guilty the whole time, but that guilt was numbed by the "high" I was getting from all the fatty, sugary goodness.
Today I did really well and worked out really hard at the gym, hoping to counteract some of those calories.
It's weird. I'm thinking in terms of calories now. Inputting all that information into SparkPeople has really helped me realize how many calories some stuff has. According to their program, I should be eating between 1400-1700 calories a day. "Behaving myself," I usually hit right around 1525-1575 and I'm shocked at that! Today I was walking around Sprouts (the grocery store) and I looked at stuff and put lots of things back. I look a lot at carbs also because I consume more than I should. It's weird, but hey, to get something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done, right?

4 reasons diets fail

Thanks yahoo! nice little kick in the pants...
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/joybauernutrition/4-reasons-diets-fail

the gym/stress connection

Not going into a lot of detail about my day. I went straight from bed to shower to work. Was at work for what felt like forever. We were all bored, so the manager ordered us some snacks. Didn't go overboard, but didn't refrain either. From the snacks OR the cookie in the dessert area.
Long story short: I haven't worked out in two days and my anxiety level was THROUGH THE ROOF. I was SO angry and SO pent up it was unbelievable. And since I was so anxious and so angry, what did I do? Eat. Whatever I wanted. How did I feel? Like crap.
Hmmmm, wonder if there's a connection there....

not so happy 4th of july

Let's just say I'm hoping that I burned off more calories than I consumed today. I wouldn't be surprised if I did because work was INSANE and I ran and ran for hours. I had a good breakfast (lunch, really) of a cucumber tomato sandwich and at work I had some fruit and a chicken and vegetable dish that didn't have a lot of fat in it, so that's good. When they closed the buffet tonight, they let us go crazy because we got our ASSES KICKED. But the real knife in the heart of my day was the Sprinkles cupcake I had when I got home. One of the girls had some extras and she was walking around with the box. I should have said no. Buuut I didn't.
I have to remember this feeling when I do things like that. I have pain in my upper right quadrant, which is weird because I don't have a gallbladder anymore. It's not really pain, just a weird feeling, like my liver is like, "seriously? You want me to process WHAT?"
Water tomorrow. Lots and lots of water...

how is that even possible?

So. I'm trying to figure out how it's even possible that I hit the proper numbers the last couple of days. I entered my information into my SparkPeople nutritional tracker and even with the glass of shiraz and 4 oz of sweet tea vodka I had tonight at my friend's birthday, I didn't go over any of my limits. Oh wait, as I sit here I realize that I forgot to enter that couple of bites of blueberry pie I had... but even then, I still would have only gone over by maybe 100 calories. This ish is bananas! It's amazing what happens when you eat healthy most of the time!
On a side note, I was p.i.s.s.e.d. at work today because I got moved to the patio where I made exactly ZERO dollars. I spent my entire 4 1/2 shift helping the dishwasher, bussing tables, running food, checking for linen, getting ice, rolling silverware, etc. SO DUMB. And I was soooooo frustrated and so bored that I wanted to eat everything in sight. But I didn't. I only had a few bites of blueberry pie. GO ME! *pats self on back*

i need a spanking

I was bad today. Well, not "ziggy piggy" bad, but I definitely overstepped the boundaries a little bit. Breakfast and lunch went OK. I'm starting every day with some lowfat strawberry yogurt with raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and some nonfat blueberry muesli and water. Then I went to the gym and met my friend Elsie at Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
No, CCF is not where the food adultery occurred. I had 6 oz of chicken and a tossed green salad with no croutons with the low calorie mustard vin on the side and green tea. I went to work feeling great and satisfied. We were pretty busy which kept my mind off pulling something from the bread cart, but the Scarlet Letter began to form on my uniform when we closed the buffet.
We don't normally do a buffet, but since it's a busy weekend, they opened the room to take some of the pressure off of the kitchen. It closed at 9:30 and I really wanted some corn with cotija cheese. So, I go into the room to get a scoop of corn and a 3 oz piece of prickly pear BBQ salmon. I could feel the eyes of the desserts on me as I walked across the room. I swear one even whistled. In an attempt to stave off their advances, I tried to make them jealous by making more than just eye contact with a few pieces of fruit. Mmmm, natural sugars.
The banquet chefs were cleaning up, so I was hoping that they would remove these foul temptresses so I couldn't hear their siren's song, but yet they remained. Granted, they are mini versions. I gave myself the "lifestyle" line again and ate a bite of chocolate cheesecake. Ok, two bites. Then I ate the meringue off three lemon meringue "shooters." AAAAAND I got a chocolate mudslide "shooter" as well. AAAAAAND there was a cookie in the room while I was doing my rollups and I had a bite of that (just one, I swear.)
As I was walking to my car, I realized something. I didn't feel good. All that sugar sitting there. Blech. And it wasn't NEARLY as much as I WOULD have consumed before, so I guess that's a win... Until I got home. I began to feel the sugar crash and... well... remember that ice cream I was talking about a couple nights ago? Yeah. Let's just say it's not in my freezer anymore. And I feel like crap. My belly hurts and I'm wondering how freaking late I'm going to be up.
I'm not going to blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-al-co-hol. But I will blame it on my friend "Ginger." Or my Aunt Flo. Or my ride on the crimson wave. You choose. But the reality is I can really only blame my lack of willpower or my sugar addiction or whatever.
This is where I come to the crossroads. Normally, I'd throw in the towel and beat myself up that I failed again and head to Jack in the Box. But this time is different. I'm going to celebrate the fact that I had several "wins" today. 1.) I had a healthy, delicious breakfast. 2.) I went to the gym. 3.) I had a healthy, delicious lunch. 4.) I stopped myself when I could have kept going and going and going with all the sweets leftover from the buffet.
Tomorrow is a new day. A fresh start. And it'll start with a healthy delicious breakfast and hopefully end with the feeling of pride that I was able to turn a blind eye to the mermaids luring me in from the dessert corner of the buffet (which we're having for the next two days... oy.)

What's Will Power? Some dude I've never met.

Hey Christina here!

So something funny happened to me today.... I ate like C.R.A.P. This isn't the funny part though. The funny thing is that 3 people told me that I look good and have lost weight. WTF??One person even said it as I was loading up my heavy duty paper plate with Papa John's pizza and a side of ranch dressing. (Okay that one person was my mom, and she bought the pizza so I had to eat it.)

But what's more important about all of this is the reason why I decided to clear my schedule of health and fitness and filled it in with time slots of carbs instead. I'll tell you why! Its because I know i'm going to start that damn healthy Isagenix Cleanse next Monday taking away everything I enjoy to eating. So, in the meantime, I'm going to eat as much crappy food as I can up until Sunday at 11:59pm, effectively making it harder for my body to detox. Stupid? Absolutely. Does this sort of behavior help? NOOOOOOO

So to make up for the stupid decisions of today I am going to eat like a health nut tomorrow. Also, to kick off the day i'm going running with some of the girls who joined my Facebook women's fitness group. My good friends (this is were I insert fake names to protect their identities) Feather, her husband Tustin, Bennifer, and my Nother are all joining me for a brisk run, walk, and jog around the Fullerton Loop at 8am. I haven't heard from my usual loop partner Jamie (sorry.... I couldn't think of anything that rhymed), but who knows... its still early in the night.

While i'm here, I would like to commend my friend 'Muffin Top' for jumping head first into this challenge with me and to all of you who have made the choice to follow these crazy escapades. I truly appreciate it more than you know! If anybody wants to get involved and get in shape please let me know in a comment below and i'll get you 'into the loop!'

ah, the restaurant industry

Today was the first day at work since I began this journey. It is a hot zone of temptation. There is soda and bread in unlimited supply and a dessert cook, Jose, who I swear is one of Satan's secretaries because he is always offering chocolate. Or cookies. Or whipped cream. Or marshmallows. Or mini M&M's. He's one that likes "meat on the bones" and today you would have thought that I told him his puppy died when I turned down his offer for a piece of broken Hershey's milk chocolate (we have s'mores on our menu, but they require the chocolate bar to be unbroken and the receiving department apparently hasn't gotten the memo, so the broken pieces end up in a dish in the bread station for anyone who cares to indulge.)
We also have a bread cart that, for a carb FIEND, is a one way ticket to Heaven. It has corn bread and epi french rolls and asiago peppercorn breadsticks and breadbowls and slider buns and everything else that somehow manages to stick to my thighs when I just walk past it. The management doesn't mind if we grab a piece of bread real quick to snack on if we're hungry. And who likes just plain bread? We have dips! Katamala olive aioli (mayonnaise based) and poblano pesto (oil based) and ranch and peanut butter and jelly and regular butter and BBQ sauce and marmalade. OH GOD! SOMEBODY STOP ME!!
Despite all this temptation, I learned something about myself today. I had to consciously stop myself. We have a special "feature" menu every month and since today started a new month, we had to taste it. What was the first thing brought into the room? Blueberry pie with vanilla bean ice cream and raw sugar on top. Are you kidding me? I debated because I'm trying to cut out sugar, but then I realized that there is going to be a lifetime of desserts and I need to learn portion control, so I had two bites. And stopped. Whereas normally I'd be the one polishing it off. I had two bites of the corn puree and two bites of the red tomato gazpacho. A MIRACLE in my world.
Throughout the night, I had to stop myself for reaching for a piece of bread, or a piece of chocolate, or a swig of soda. All these things I literally went for subconsciously. Got ready to pick it up and pop it in my mouth. I stopped and debated and had an "a ha!" moment where I realized just HOW much snacking I do!
I went out after work with one of the girls. It was her 6 year anniversary and her boyfriend was at home asleep because he has to be awake early. We went to Zen32, which is a local sushi place with reverse happy hour. DILEMMA! Cocktail or no cocktail? Sushi or no sushi? So, once again choosing lifestyle change, I had ONE drink (well rum and diet) and a hand roll (that i ate around the rice) and a few more pieces of crab and shrimp and what not. I DID give in and have two spicy crab wontons, but I just ate the middle and left the crispy triangled ends.
Overall, it was a good day and I feel pretty good about the choices I made. Granted, according to my SparkPeople daily nutrition breakdown I had too many carbs, but I'll stay away from them tomorrow.
Honestly, I highly recommend using one of those sites to track your caloric intake. You'll be shocked. SHOCKED.

Welcome Kit

I think gyms should offer a Welcome Kit. It would be available to new members or those who haven't been there in six months or more. It would include: a hand towel (to wipe off equipment), a water bottle, a mini stick of deodorant, a magazine, a bottle of advil, and a bullet to bite on for when you get out of bed the next morning. H.o.l.y. c.r.a.p.