Sarah - Week 30

Welp, I've been completely MIA lately. Partly because of how busy I have been (and will continue to be for at least one more week) and partly because I was ashamed at how horribly I've been doing in this diet. It's so frustrating to me that I'm so close to the end and I just can. not. make it. Two weeks ago, I gained 0.8 lbs and then last week, I only lost 0.4. Essentially, I've stayed at the same weight for the past month.

Part of me (the largest part) knows that I've been the craziest, busiest, most stressed person of all time in this past month. The other, smaller, part of me knows that this isn't an actual excuse. For one thing, I've been getting to the gym a lot more, and after next week, I'll be able to go back to my 5 day a week gym schedule. I really feel like as soon as I can get back to a normal gym schedule, these last few pounds will come off. However, I'm sad that I'm not in comfortable bikini shape by Beth's AC birthday next friday (though, I could definitely wear a bikini at this point). I just can't let this new relationship with a fellow foodie get in the way of taking and keeping off the weight.

So here we go...this week's loss was a cool two pounds, making my total loss since the last time I updated 1.6 pounds. Not what I'd like, but not as horrible as it could have been. My total loss is up to 63.8 pounds!! I'm eeeeking my way to my 70 pound goal, and at this point, I'm pretty sure I want to take it all the way to 80. 15 pounds to go! I CAN DO IT.

Sarah - Week 27

WOO!! Finally, I'm back on track. Who knows where I'm going to go from here - my life is so unbelievably ridiculously busy right now. I'm trying to balance teaching everyday, grad school three nights a week, TJs on Sundays, this diet, a new relationship and the rest of my life and it's HARD. Right now, I'm just trying to get through as much grading as I can and finish my 80 page reading assignment that's due tomorrow.

Enough of my complaining. Let's get to the numbers. I FINALLY, after weeks of bad weeks, had a normal weight loss!! I went down 2.6 pounds for a total loss of 62.2 pounds!!! I can't believe that I'm less than 10 pounds from my goal weight and only 17.8 pounds from my stopping point. However, I know that the harder struggle is in front of me - maintaining my weight. I NEVER want to be that person EVER AGAIN.

Hopefully I'm alive at this time next week...I'll probably be freaking out about my 1st ever grad level presentation. Thankfully, teaching is like doing a presentation every day.

Sarah - Week 26

I can not believe that it's been a full six months, a full half year since we started this diet. To think of how much this year has changed (and is still changing) since then! I got into grad school, I got a full time sub job, I lost almost 60 pounds...I feel so good about myself and where this is all going. I ALSO can finally start the countdown to Colleen's wedding - 12 weeks. I really hope to be to my goal weight by then. I really think that I can set my mind to it and do it!!

I'm starting classes next week, so I'm basically never going to be able to go to the gym...I'm definitely still going to go on Mondays and hopefully weekends. I'm going to try my HARDEST to go after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. I can do it, it just means going around 7:30 or 8 PM when the gym is packed. Oh well. My life is going to be a month of craziness and then hopefully I'll be able to get back to my old gym schedule after that. I set my TJs schedule so that I will have plenty of time to go to the gym between work and class every day so that's pretty exciting.

Back to this week's total. Unfortunately, I'm SO CLOSE to 60 that I can taste it, but I'm not quite there. I ended up losing 1.6 pounds, getting me to a total loss of 59.6 pounds!! Though it's not as big of a loss as I was seeing before, I definitely feel like I'm much more back on track and I'm excited to have a really good week so that I can hit 60 next week. I neeeeed to get past this plateau, but even if I just keep losing one pound each week until teaching is over, I'll feel pretty good about myself. Then once summer comes, I can kick it into gear and get down to -80.

Sarah - Week 25

Well, I thought I had a pretty good week, but the scale didn't really show it. Not to give all my readers (none of you?) TMI but I think a lot of it has to do with me getting my period today AND not having pooped in a while. Gross, I know, but those things really do affect how much you weigh!! I'm hoping to have a more balanced weigh in next week. I'm also thinking about eating some more fiber one/activia products to help mmyself "get going"...gross.

Okay, so for this week, I had another loss of one pound making my total loss 58 pounds. I'm still eeeeeking my way, but I know that next week is going to be even better.

Sorry for the short post, I'm busy as heck and I am about to go celebrate Cinco de Mayo!!

Sarah - Week 24

This weekend was amazing. Everyone was shocked. It felt soooo good, like everything that I've been doing is paying off. I have sooo much more to write about but I am up to my eyeballs in work and if I have to look at basically anything else all day, I may scream.

Loss for this week...another slow and steady. I had a great wed-thurs and a great mon-tues but the weekend is still KILLING me. I really need to work on my resolve when drinking. This weekend should be a little better, I'm only drinking on Friday and going out to dinner on Sat, but I'm trying to get to the gym beforehand. Oh, and a little eight mile walk on Sunday should help. I'm really optimistic about a great week because I also don't have TJs on Monday or Tuesday so I can finish out the week strong. Anyways, I lost .8 bringing me to a total loss of 57 pounds. Oh, to be at 60. SO CLOSE. Yet apparently so far away...

Sarah - Week 23

As much as I was upset with myself last week, I still had a good weightloss so I don't think I really understood what I needed to do to change. This week, not so much. I stayed the same (thank god) keeping me at a total loss of a still respectable 56.2 pounds. Is it a great accomplishment? Absolutely. Could I have been to my goal basically by now if I hadn't gotten off track? Absofreakinglutely. This weekend at Penn State is going to be rough, but I'm staying extremely on track today and tomorrow to try to make up for it. Hopefully it'll be my last super wild and crazy weekend for a while.

I'm frustrated with myself for the lack of effort I've been putting into this diet in the past month. Before, when I could go to the gym every day, I could eat a lot more of what I wanted and not totally care about it. Now, I can only go to the gym a few select days per week and I need to reformat my plan of action. I know that once I have another great week, it'll be the motivation that I need to get me past this self-inflicted plateau and I'll be back on track.

It's funny because a few weeks ago, it seemed like I was so close to my 70 pound goal that 80 felt like nothing and now, it seems like 80 is miles and miles away. I know that I have to stay super extra motivated in the next coming weeks. A lot of what is holding me back is not being able to go to the gym, and a lot of why I can't go to the gym is Trader Joes.

I'm feeling totally overwhelmed with work right now - this long term job is nothing like what I have had before. At Kennedy, I was out of school by 230 every day with barely any lesson planning and not even a ton of grading. This is a full day's worth of planning (only to get worse in the coming weeks because I'm out of curriculum) where I don't get out until 330 at the absolute earliest and my pile of grades is a mile high.

Adding TJs on top of that is basically killing my gym time and my motivation. If I'm at TJs, I can't go to the gym unless I was miraculously scheduled for a 6-11 shift. If I'm not at TJs, I'm so exhausted that after the gym all I want to do is nap and lay around for the rest of the night and go to bed early and not get any of my grading done. I know that I have to do something about it, but I may just keep trucking through until I move to just Sundays in three weeks.

All in all, I'm frustrated, tired and need to get back on track. I've upped what I'm doing at the gym, giving me 100 extra calories burnt every time I go, but I also need to be wayyy more careful during the non-monday and tuesday days of the week and ESPECIALLY during the weekend. That's it for now, though I have a ton more to write about...maybe I'll do another update tomorrow.

Sarah - Week 22

Well, after that ridiculous week of a million things to do and no time at the gym, I'm surprised that I lost anything. My goal this week is to definitely make it to the gym more - as I've said a million times these past 22 weeks, I really believe that the gym is the deciding factor as to how good of a week I have. Looking at things optimistically, I was able to buy a water bottle and I've been drinking at least 24 ounces of water a day, if not more.

It's 10 days until blue/white weekend. I can not believe how fast these past months have flown by and how the weight has melted off. I am so excited to see everyone (and their reactions) and I'm glad that I have one more week to do really well before I trek out to State College. I've written so much about how excited I am about blue/white, I don't know what I'm going to write about after it's over!!

On to this week's loss. I had a repeat, respectable loss of 1.8 pounds, bringing my total loss to 56.2 pounds! These past 5 or 6 weeks have definitely been slow and steady, but not bad for starting a full time job and going on vacation. Even if I can keep on going slow and steady for the next 10 weeks (until school is out and I'm not the busiest person of all time) and keep my losses between 1-2 pounds a week, I'll be in perfect shape for reaching my goal by the end of the summer. I only have 13.8 pounds left to my original goal and 23.8 pounds to my end weight. That's roughly (hopefully) 8-12 weeks left!! I can't believe I'm so close!!!

Hitting a Rough Patch

I'm having two issues with this diet. One is lack of motivation and will power - specifically when I'm out to eat. If I have a day where I don't go out to eat, I'm fine and it's usually a great day. I barely even look at the demo counter and samples at TJs anymore. But when I'm out at a restaurant (even when I'm making healthIER choices) I can't seem to use any restraint anymore! When it tastes good, I just can't stop eating it! Yesterday I had to pry myself away from the eggplant fries and Adega, even after I was stuffed. Same goes on Wednesday when we went out with Sigal. This wouldn't be the biggest deal in the world if it weren't for my second problem...

I'm too busy to ever get to the gym. Hopefully this week was an anomaly, but I haven't been to the gym since Tuesday. I can't go this week except for tomorrow and Tuesday again. That's ridiculous! The problem is that I have to stay at school until around 4 every day so if I have anything that starts before 6 I don't have time to go in between. I'm thinking about going in the morning, but that would entail waking up at like 5:30 and I don't really know if I can handle that and still be a functional human being for the rest of the day.

I've made it sooo close to my goal, I don't want to crap out or plateau now... especially not so close to blue/white weekend. I just don't know what to do! It's only going to get worse in a few weeks when I start grad school on top of everything else. Ugh. At least if I can make it slowly but steadily going down until the end of the year by the time school lets out, I can be back on my awesome gym regimen.

That's all for now, hopefully I can pull it together in this second half of the week.

Sarah - Week 21

Well, we're back from vacay! I can't really write much today - and I'm even writing this a day late because my life has been so ridiculously busy lately. Miami was awesome, my life is ridiculous, teaching is challenging but fun, etc, etc, etc. I'm just stopping in to document my results and then getting ready to teach. However, we had mexican food last night sorta latesh in the evening and I'm still not feeling very well/feeling super ridiculously full almost 12 hours later. Oh well, I have a ton of water to drink in my new water bottle and lunch isn't for three more hours so we'll see how I feel then.

So here I am, after skipping a week because we were on vacation (not a total vacation from the diet, but definitely not being as dilegent as I could have been. The platanosssss!!!!! The margaritas!!!!!) I surpised myself with a net loss over the two weeks of 1.4 pounds bringing me down to a total loss of 54.4 pounds!! Crazy, right? I have two more weigh ins until blue white and I would LOVE to get to 60 pounds. SIXTY!! Can you believe it?? I'm only 15.5 pounds from my goal, however, the more I think about it, the more I may go 10 more so I can give myself some leeway to gain and lose and stay looking how I want.

I can not wait for Blue/White!! Not only do I get to go to my favorite place in the world and see some of my favorite people, I also get to see a ton of my NOT favorite people and be like "BAM! Minus 50 plus pounds, fools" I literally can't wait.

Okay, the kiddies are here! Back to a freaking long and crazy day.

Sarah - Week 19

So here I was, talking about how I was going to update more, blah blah blah, and then what do I do? Not update for a whole week. I've literally been the busiest person of all time this past week and it's going to keep going now that I've started to teach full time. I don't really even have the time to be writing this right now but I figured I better do it so that I don't lapse on the blogging and more than I already have.

Here it is, finally, the big week!! After last week of eeking my way to 50, I finally made it! However, I have no idea how I had such a big weight loss this week - I ate normally and didn't go to the gym saturday-monday. I even drank BOTH weekend nights!! I feel like Rocky running up the steps of the art museum. My loss for this week was an impressive 3.6 pounds making my offical total weight loss 53 pounds!!!

I can't believe I've passed the 50 mark! Only 17 pounds left to go - that's like nothing. It's the perfect thing to happen the weigh-in before Miami though I can't use it as an excuse to eat and drink everything I want while I'm away, especially because we're skipping next week's weigh in.

I'm feeling really good about teaching every day - it's definitely putting me back on a good eating schedule. I can plan out my day really well because I'm bringing exactly what i'm eating for breakfast and lunch. My biggest issue right now is that I think I'm still not eating enough veggies. Hopefully packing a lunch will help me change that as well.

That's all for now, time to eat my lunch!!

Sarah - Week 18

Well, I think I jinxed myself. I don't know if it was me getting cocky or lazy or what. But I had a not good Wednesday and Thursday and then a horrible Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So here I am eeking and inching my way towards fifty. At least I ended up not gaining, which is the most important part. I'm down 0.4 pounds for a grand total of 49.4 pounds. I am going to be really good this week/weekend (but not go overboard) so that hopefully I can hit the big 5-0 before Miami! Other than that, I'm going to keep on keepin on! Sorry about the short post, the nice weather is distracting me!!

One girl, one blog?

Well, I guess I can bite the bullet and admit it - this has turned in to my own personal blog...which is hilarious because it has the words "two girls" in the title. I don't know how I feel about having a blog again. When I looked back at my livejournal (before deleting it off of the internet forever) I basically wanted to die a slow and painful death by embarrasment. But when I start thinking about it, I guess I have some interesting views on life.

Who knows what I'll write about - definitely my continued weight loss and diet and excersize. As tough as getting the weight off has been, I think that keeping it off is going to be even harder. I read so freaking many blogs. Food blogs, book blogs, gossip blogs, blogs of people I know, blogs of people I don't know. I guess I'm hoping to just write about whatever and hopefully not sound annoying or idiotic. Oh, and definitely working on my snarkiness in print and my writing style in general. Oh, and definitely definitely on my post-titling ability.

So that's about that! Because who doesn't want to read about a dieting/newly skinny single and jdating inexperienced 4th grade teaching Trader Joes crew member who is also a grad student?

Sarah - Week 17

It's hard not to have mixed feelings about this week. I had a huge weight loss, thanks to a bout of food poisoning that left me unable to eat for all of Sunday and most of Monday. I'm feeling much better now and finally going to make it back to the gym today, tomorrow, and Friday to get back on track. It's just hard to be THIS CLOSE to 50 and not be there.

How close you ask? This week I lost 4.2 ridiculous pounds rounding out to a total of 49 pounds!! Next week is the week and I can't wait! Obviously I need to slow things down in the losing weight category, but I was on track for a normal week until getting sick. In other news, my BMI dropped over 8 points! I'm getting pretty close to being "normal weight" and only 21 pounds from my goal.

Two more weigh-ins until Miami and 6 more until Blue/White weekend! I'm just going to continue to have a really good week so that I don't have to worry too much on Saturday for the Erin Express in Philly. I'm making some preeeety sweet t-shirts for the occasion. Hopefully (and I KNOW this won't happen), I won't eat three dinners this year.

Top 5 Foods Getting Me Through This

Okay, so, in an effort to write more in the weeks leading up to being a student again, I'm going to try to bring you more, non weigh-in related posts*. (By you, I mean the 0 other people who read this blog) I'm starting out with a post I've been thinking about for a while - the Top 5 Foods I've encountered while on this diet that taste good, aren't horrible for you, and most of all, have constantly helped me get through these weeks of dieting.

Coming at you in no particular order:

SmartOnes Breakfast Sandwiches


OMG what can I even say about these breakfast sandwiches? They're 4 points, taste almost exactly like what you would get at Wawa and microwave up in 90 seconds. They're perfect for a day when I can have a bigger breakfast, or even for lunch with a yogurt and some carrots. I can't stress enough how much these taste like the real thing.

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches


So I've tried three of the bunch of flavors of these sandwiches and YUM. They're all really tasty, though I feel like the vanilla ice cream tastes the most "diety" and lacks flavor. The chocolate/chocolate is perfect for a 2-3 point chocolate fix and the strawberry shortcake flavor is the bomb. I really want to try the chocolate/chocolate peanut butter but I haven't made it there yet. I think my dream flavor would be chocolate cookie with strawberry ice cream, but alas, Skinny Cow hasn't made one yet.

Giant Light Rye Bread


Well, if you've gotten this far down the list, you've realized that I love sandwiches...and every NJG (nice jewish girl) knows that the only way to eat a sandwhich is on seeded rye bread. Thankfully, Cati and I discovered this gem at our local Giant, but I feel like it's a regional product because I can't for the life of me find any mention of it online. Anywhere. For 100 calories for two slices, it's one of the lowest calorie breads around. Here's the kicker - the slices are pretty much normal size of a regular slice (maybe a little thinner than normal) and taste almost exactly the same as a regular slice of rye.

Lesser Evil Kettle Corn


This yummy snack comes in two varieties - Kettle and Black and White (pictured - a mix of the Kettle flavor and Chocolate). As you can hopefully see from the picture, the popcorn is more like traditional carmel corn consistancy than traditional kettle. The corn has an almost candy-like coating that really makes this feel like a dessert. A full serving is 110 calories for a cup of popcorn, but I actually think that a half a cup is plenty to cure my craving for sweets. Lesser Evil has some other varieties that I haven't tried yet - I would buy tons more of their stuff if I didn't have to pay a million dollars for it at shudder Whole Foods.

Weight Watchers Chilled Ready Meals
3 Cheese Mac and Cheese


Sorry for the horrible picture quality...again, there isn't much mention of these on the internet, leading me to believe that these are also a regional-ish item. I think that they're mostly available at Giant and Stop and Shop, though in my searches I found tons of mentions of the UK version of this where there looks to be a million yummier options - WW, if you're out there listening, PLEASE BRING CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA TO THE US!!! Seriously, we Americans have expanded our palates and are ready for some better ethnic options. Anywho, back to the matter at hand - this mac and cheese is by far the best in terms of cheesiness and overall taste. Unfortunately, it comes at a price and unless you have a coupon, these babies are a little expensive. For a good mac and cheese craving, they're totally worth it. The ziti version of these meals is also good, but some of the offerings can run a little on the bland side so be prepared to spice things up.

As you can see, for me, the most important factor in "diet foods" is that they taste like the real thing. Hopefully, I'll have more posts like this in the next few weeks leading up to the busiest month of my life as of yet. Happy eating and see you tomorrow for my weekly weigh-in!


*Also, I'm attempting to scale down on my rampant use of commas

Sarah - Week 16

Phew, okay. After my weigh in, I was all ready to write my blog entry but I was so hungry, I had to eat breakfast first. Now I've eaten the most important meal of the day (plus coffee - MY most important part of the day) and am ready to update you loyal reader(s) on my life.

First thing is first. I've found that going to the gym is the key to weight loss. Hands down. I've had much more success if I've gone to the gym on "bad weekends" than if I haven't. This should be a no-brainer because going to the gym will immediately take 500 calories off of however badly you ate. So I combatted my "feast" and yummy lunch and ice cream with Devoti (hiii! I know you're reading this!!) by going to the gym both Friday and Saturday and I was still able to see a huge weight loss this week!

Drum roll, please...

This week, I lost an impressive 3.6 pounds, for a total for 44.8 pounds lost! I can't believe it!! I really did nothing differently this week other than going to the gym every day except Thursday and Sunday. I even went out to eat twice! I think that a lot of my great week had to do with how good it felt after I went to Old Navy and bought two pairs of SIZE 10 PANTS. I am literally on top of the world. To think that a few short months ago I was kidding myself pretending to be a 16 and squeezing into clothes that were too small for me. It feels great already to be a size 10 and not have to struggle to close the zipper and button and I have 25 pounds left to go. I can't even imagine where I'll end up size-wise, but anything less than a 10 is an amazing feat.

Other than that, I'm getting really annoyed with everything I wear (besides the 4 pairs of essential pants that I had to buy) being too big, but it's stupid for me to buy anything new. All I really want to do is go on a crazy shopping spree for Miami (3 weigh-ins away!!) but I'm going to make the adult decision and just get the basics I need and try to make some of what I bought last summer work. I have some going out shirts, skirts, and day dresses that fit, I'm hoping that all I have to buy is a bathing suit and one or two pairs of shorts.

I have more to write about, but this entry is getting long, so maybe I'll post another one tomorrow (crazy, no?) Sorry for the millions of run-on sentences, parenthesis, and commas in this entry...I guess I just have a lot on my mind. I can't wait for this yummy gourmet food filled weekend (when I'll definitely be going to the gym and NOT out to the bars), the Erin Express next weekend, and sunny gorgeous Miami in THREE WEEKS!!

Sarah - Week 15

Well, I'm not really sure how I did it after my spectacular eating performance on Sunday when I was dead tired and high as shit, but apparently the rest of the week and the non-stop dancing at THON made up for my one bad day/night. Without further adieu (is that even right?) let's get to this week's total. I lost a solid 2.8 pounds!! This brings my total loss to 41.2 pounds!!! I'm LESS THAN TEN POUNDS from 50!! I can't believe it. I'm also about 7 pounds from the lowest I ever was with WW, making me hopefully the skinniest I've ever been before spring break.

Speaking of SB, we have 4 weigh-ins left until then and I'm preeeetty much on track to get to the 50 pounds right before then. And then I will need to get a new bathing suit...and at least a little bit of new warm weather clothing. However, I'm only going to get a few things in hopes that when June rolls around and it's actually summer, I'll have gotten down to my goal weight and the stuff that I buy in 4 weeks won't fit anymore.

In other news, THON was this weekend. And besides raising over 7.8 million dollars for Four Diamonds, I was able to see a ton of penn staters that I hadn't seen in ages. Think mostly the people that I don't really go out of my way to see when I go up to state for football. Every single person I saw was like "OMG! You look great!!!" and it FELT great! If anything, it's just motivating me more to look even more amazing in 8 weigh ins for blue/white weekend.

Sarah - Week 14

Weeeeee're Baaaaaaaack (on track)!

Welp, we survived the Blizzard(s) of 2010 and we definitely did a million times better during the second one than the first. My loss this week was a solid -3.4, bringing me back to a total loss of 38.4 pounds!! I can NOT believe that I'm only 11.6 pounds away from the big 5-0 and the technical goal of this blog!! Having that horrible week definitely was what I needed to get me back into the swing of things, diet and gym-wise, however, this larger weight loss after a mediumly bad weekend really solidifies to me the amount that being on the first day or so of your period affects your weigh in.

I'm so excited for THON this weekend, even if no one notices my ridiculous weight loss. It's been ages since I've been to State College and, as of now, they're not predicting any snow for the weekend. I can't wait to spend a lot of time with the people that I usually don't when I'm going up to school for games, etc.

In other news, Cati and I are officially GOING TO MIAMI for spring break to visit Erika. Our trip is in five weigh-ins so I'm hoping to be riiiight around that 50 pound goal when we're going. It's going to be awesome to feel so great about ourselves while we're tanning on the beach for five days! In LESS* than 10 pounds, I'm going to be officially "healthy weight" in BMI standards which is RIDICULOUS. I can't imagine the last time (11th grade) that I was at a healthy weight, and even then, I got just below that mark and then stopped losing.

Basically, I'm so happy to be back on track and motivated!

*Actually, I think I did the math wrong, or was consulting the wrong people because apparently my "healthy weight" and 50 pound goal and one and the same!! I would have to lose freaking NINTEY pounds to get into the "underweight" category, which I have NO intention of doing, so my 70 pound goal still sounds perfect!!

Sarah - Week 13

Well, I knew that at one point this would happen. Am I surprised that this happened this week? Abso-freaking-lutely not. We're in the middle of the freaking snowpocalypse and have been since last friday. I spent the entire weekend eating my feelings about not going to new york, not exercising, and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. It's also the first day of my period. Needless to say I gained 1.6 lbs, making my total weight loss and even 35 lbs. I was just so frustrated about so much so I just ate. And even though I didn't eat what I usually would have, I still made up for it when I was out for the super bowl and when I made brownies...and junk food. However, I do think that some of this does have to do with my period...so we'll just have to see.

Unfortunately, we're right back in the middle of this stupid blizzard, part two. The worst thing that I can do is eat and drink everything in sight. I'm just going to have a really good week and as good of a weekend as I can have when it's Jess's bday and (crossing my fingers) Amanda, Kyle, and Alex are coming down. I need to just get back on track, and have a great week so that I don't get discouraged. We have gotten SO FAR. I can't let this blizzard fuck up everything that I've worked so hard for. I just have to do my best and cross my fingers that next week will be better.

Fuck. This. Snow.

Sarah - Week 12

Woahhhh we're halfway there, woahhhhh livin on a prayer

This week was definitely a rough one, in life and in diet. Mostly, we've been doing this so long that I'm starting to get less motivated to go to the gym, etc, though we're still doing a great job eating right. We had a yummy dinner on monday night (that I made) of island soyaki marinated fish and garlicky backed brussel sprouts. Today, I'm feeling especially unmotivated due to the snow and obsessively waiting to hear back from grad school. Thankfully, I can dig out my car and go to work around 3 and attempt to not look at my phone for the entire 6 hours that I'm going to be there.

Enough about me, Let's get to the good stuff. Though I wasn't sure about this week, I ended up losing a solid 2.2 pounds, bringing me to a total of -36.6 pounds! I'm officially over halfway to my goal! Do I think that I'll be there in three months? No, because I know that it'll be tougher to lose weight as I get down and I know that I was losing it faster than I wanted for a while. Do I think I can be there in between 4 and 5? Absolutely. People are starting to count down to Blue/White weekend which is getting really exciting! It's a little over 11 weekends away and 11 weigh ins. Pretty exciting!

Cati and I are also going to Miami for spring break on March 29th. I'm excited for my new beach bod, even though it's not ready for a bikini just yet. Our trip is just over 7 weeks away, hopefully around 15 pounds away, and will be our celebration for reaching 50 pounds each!! Keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll keep you updated.

It's c-c-c-c-cold outside

So, first thing's first. Chipotle = success! So yummy!! We decided that we're going to go every 30 pounds so that we don't feel like that was the last time we'll ever be allowed to eat there. I was shocked at how my burrito literally filled me up for the entire day, well into the night. However, yesterday, when I had a regular - if maybe a little on the heavier side but in no means overeating - day, I had a stomach ache and felt ridiculously full after eating my Lean Cuisine for dinner at 7 all the way until a few minutes ago, 12 hours later. (That was a run on sentance if I ever wrote one)

I'm trying not to eat or drink too much today because I don't want this to be my first "bad" week. I need to go into next weekend feeling great about myself and I can't do that if I gained or even stayed the same. I'd love to at the very least lose the .6 pounds that I need to get to halfway to my goal. I'm going to resist the temptation of Cava Java and eat something before I go out so that I don't dreat too badly. I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out!

Sarah - Week 11

Okay so since I did a long ass post yesterday, I'm going to just update you with my loss for the week today. First of all, CHIPOTLEEEE!!!! I can't wait for ittt!! Secondly, I need to be less worried because finally, I lost a regular amount. I don't even know if what I'm writing makes sense right now, haha. This is too close to when I just woke up.

Anywho, let's get to the important stuff! This week, I lost 2.8 pounds!! This brings my total to -34.4, only .6 pounds from HALFWAY TO MY FINAL GOAL!!

Celebrating -31 with some Chipotle? Yessss.

YAY! Sorry I haven't been here in a million years, but I gotta bang this out so Sarah and I can celebrate. I lost -2.6 and reached -31.0 today! It's sort of bittersweet... 50 is the first "real" goal, but I know I have more to go after that, so it's farther away. Does that make sense? This is only like, a quarter of the way. But I'm still SO excited about it.

And last Wednesday, I finally got what I wanted: Fabi told me I was "looking small." It was so good. I feel like I'm really starting to notice, which is just giving me more inspiration to keeeeep goinggggg. Also, Sarah is looking real good, and knowing that I'm headed in that direction is also really helping me want to keep going. I was sort of nervous that I was getting bored with all this, and not as committed as I was, but reaching this totally turned it around.

Yesterday, I was sort of forced into having a warm up on a treadmill because there were no ellipticals. But I'm SO glad I did that. It changed my whole workout, and I was totally ready to go the whole time. I had my best showing yet on the elliptical, plus the extra 10 minutes on the treadmill, and I had a GREAT workout. I'm definitely going to keep doing that -- it was so nice to have a fantastic workout, and I didn't really even feel like I had put in too much extra effort.

I'm so glad this all just happened. I was dragging in the worst way, but now I'm feeling fabulous. yaaaaaaaay!

Because I felt like cobwebs were growing on this blog.

Well, this has been an interesting week. The weather went back to being shitty, which sucked because I loved going on those long walks with Cati. We need to start back up as soon as it gets nice out again. I'm hoping that that's going to happen ASAP.

Why was it so interesting, you ask? I felt like the past two weeks I'd been losing weight too fast. This week, I decided to try eating more and not being a ridiculous crazy about excersize so I'm really nervous for tomorrow's weigh in. My goal, in case you've forgotten, is 2-3 pounds a week, so I'd love to fall in that category. However, I'll be happy with losing anything this week because I'm so nervous. I also went back on birth control, but it's really low dose so I don't think it's going to affect my weight that much.

I'm hoping that next week (just in time to go to NYC) I'll have reached my halfway mark!! I'm also hoping that Cati loses the last pound or so that she needs to get to 30 and our 30 pound treat: CHIPOTLE!!! I just ate lunch and am full (a yummy but not amazing healthy choice: chicken, bacon, cheesy rice or something like that) so I can't fully describe to you how much I am DYING for a freaking less-rice, less-beans, medium and corn salsa, sour cream and guac chicken burrito. DYING. We'll definitely make it either this week or next, so I'm getting pretty excited.

The next big milestone/goal we have is 50 pounds. At -50 pounds, I'll officially be the thinnest that I've ever been in my life, even skinnier than I was after WW in high school. And I looked GOOD then. I can't believe that we're doing so well and that we've lost so much. I am so freaking proud of us! I feel great about myself and super confident and can't wait to get to the next two goals. Six months ago, I couldn't have dreamed about weighing this much. Six months from now, I hope to be in the best shape of my life feeling and looking great!

See you tomorrow!

Sarah - Week 10

Jeez. Well, sorry to go so soft on you last week and use this as my personal blog (or livejournal...god, that was a whiny post). Won't happen again. Promise.

Now the real reason I'm here! It was a great week, food wise. I ate this AMAZING lunch at Grapeseed Bistro in Bethesda on wednesday. And as much as I wanted the mac and cheese with pork belly, I was strong and had a bangin greek-esque salad and fish tacos. YUM. Beth came to visit this weekend as well and Monday was Lisa's birthday so we went and had sushi at Sticky Rice. Over all, there was a little more drinking than I'm used to (you can say that again) and regular amount of eating so when I stepped on the scale I was SHOCKED to have lost 4.7 lbs. So shocked that I got on 3 more times and ended up figuring that I lost about 3.7 lbs for a total of 31.6 lbs!!!

This week's weight loss means that I REACHED MY FIRST GOAL!!! I am officially "just overweight." So long, America's obese population. I'm also a mere 2.4 lbs to half way to my final goal! With all that said, I'm nervous that I'm losing too much too fast and am going to either A) have really baggy skin when I get to my goal or B) not be able to keep it off. Though I think that this loss has a lot to do with the HUGE amount of exercise that I got this week via a million long walks in our neighborhood in the amazing weather, I'm going to be really good about not eating too little this week so I can go back to my goal of 2-3 lbs per week. That's it for now! I'm really excited for the next few weekends coming up, I'm sure I'll update you more about them soon.

Frustrated with myself.

So on Wednesday, I was feeling on top of the world. HUGE weight loss, big praxis pass, and a the prospect of a new man on the horizon. Then, BANG. BOOM. I let this whole stupid guy situation bring me down and make me feel like complete shit. After losing 28 pounds, and a six month hiatus from being the pimpette that I was (you can thank Beth for that discription...I'm no Snookie), I was just ridiculously stupid and excited for the first "real" prospect that came my way.

I'm not going into the gory details, but I spent half of Wednesday and all of yesterday and part of today feeling bad about myself. But you know what? I don't have a damn thinig to feel bad about. I feel great, look great, and am on the path to feel and look even better. Usually, the first thing I'd do when I felt like this would be eat. And eat. And throw away everything that I've been working so hard on. But that is NOT what I'm going to do. I'm going to keep on keepin on and dip my hand back into the sea of J-Date...maybe. Definitely when it starts getting warmer. I don't know if I can handle waiting outside for a date in the freezing* cold. So nstead, I deleted his number so that I wouldn't make even more of a fool of my self whilest drunk texing and am moving on with my life.

I just can't believe I got so worked up about someone who wasn't Jewish!!

In other news, soooo many people are coming up to me and commenting on how good I look. And though I've definitely noticed it in my face, boobs, and clothes, I'm still waiting for the big OMG moment. But I know it's coming soon, hopefully within the next ten pounds. Have a great weekend everyone!

*as freezing as you can get in the south.

this morning, I ate my words

Minimal sarcasm today and no movie reviews. I have just learned a valuable lesson about the mental games of dieting. After my good, though treacherous, start on this diet and on this blog, I had a highly problematic week. I was traveling, eating out a ton, didn't make it to the gym once and came home to a sparsely stocked kitchen with few fulfilling healthy options. After losing so much the first week, and in a not so sustainable way, I was certain that I had gained back some or all of the initial weight I lost. Afraid of how a setback so early in game would affect my progress, I can't say I was upset when I realized my old analog scale at school was completely inaccurate. I postponed my weigh-in doomsday back until I could pick myself up a new, digital read-out scale. This morning, I couldn't put it off any longer, but I discovered I still managed to lose an additional 0.4 pounds! It made me realize how unaware I must have been of my eating habits before starting this plan. I also now know how important it is to just hop on that scale when wednesday rolls around, because putting it off just makes me worry about hypotheticals. Now, my kitchen is fully stocked with a zillion low-fat, high-fiber options, I've got a more precise and accurate scale, and I'm set in one place with a gym to go to. Next week's challenge: fitting in the gym and healthy eating with a full class schedule and a three-day/week commute into the working world.

Sarah - Week 9

Omg. So I meant to write a big post about some amazing food that I found that is really yummy and low on points. However, I got distracted at school. It's been a crazy two weeks - last week I worked every day and managed to get myself an awesome long term job from the end of March until the end of the year. It definitely makes me feel a little less crazy about money right now because I know I'll have great paychecks taking me almost a month into the summer. I sent my application in to grad school (though it was basically a shot in the dark, and I'm not really expecting to get in. I'm going to look into all of my options for next year and send out a slew of them) and so I had to take the PRAXIS yesterday (passed!) and the MAT next thursday (I'm scared!)

So basically, my life is ridiculous. I had a pretty good week this week...it was the first in a long time where I wasn't at all nervous for today's weigh in. However, I think I went a little overboard on being careful yesterday and monday because I was so stressed about the test. So here are my results. -4.6 for a total of 28 lbs lost!! I know that that's waaay more than I want to healthily lose per week, so I'm going to take pains to not be as ridiculous this coming week starting with a yummy wine pairing lunch with Michelle later today and cleaning my room before that instead of going to the gym. It's still exercise, right?

at least I said no to the popcorn...

If you’ve been living in America this holiday season, you’ve no doubt been told the following, “Yah, man, Avatar was great. I liked it better than I expected. But you GOTTA see it in 3D.” Ok, perhaps this person didn’t call you “man” if you’re a female or don’t live in California, but regardless, someone has told you to see Avatar in theaters and in 3D. Last night I took that someone’s orders, and it literally made me sick to my stomach.

After an excellent weigh-in eve spent eating cereal for breakfast and some grilled vegetable/spaghetti squash situation from the gym café(yes, I even worked out first), I met up with a friend from camp for dinner, where I enjoyed some salmon skewers (hello lean protein). Then, at 8:30, when she asked what else we should do, I suggested a movie. Then, at 8:30:20, when she asked what movies were out, I suggested Avatar. Then, at 8:35 when Fandango on her iPhone provided local listings for Avatar showtimes, I suggested we go for the big kaboom and see it not only in 3D, but in IMAX 3D. Showtime: 10:00 pm. From 8:40-9:47 we went on some San Francisco adventures, driving down the ever crooked Lombard Street and back and forth across the Golden Gate Bridge (she’s from out of town, I don’t just do touristy things in my own city whenever I have time to kill). At 9:48 we walked into the Leow’s Metreon Theater lobby, only to find that the 10:00 Avatar in IMAX 3D was sold out. Take a sign? Nope.

We bought tickets for the 10:30 layman (by which I mean LAMEman) 3D Avatar and snuck right on in to the last two seats in the IMAX theater, grabbing a pair of the special IMAX glasses on the way. The IMAX 3D glasses are the old school, theme park attraction shades, not those stylish shrink wrapped RealD goggles they handed us when we bought our tickets. The fact that the eyewear is different should have been my first sign of disaster. The fact that our seats were two rows back from the screen should have been my second sign. To be fair, I also said that the movie being sold out was a sign, so technically those were signs two and three, not one and two. However you number them, I ignored them all. For a few brief minutes, the film was the dazzling spectacle all had promised. You know, James Cameron really creates a world. Then the nausea and headaches set in. I spent most of the film with the futuristic glasses perched on my head and my eyes closed. Not that it mattered, Avatar’s not much of a visual film. Then, roughly between the ultimate and penultimate human vs. navi battles, I went to the bathroom and vommed up everything I just ate. I felt awful, disgusting, but I couldn’t but think of the time my good friend Sarah once informed me and an entire group of 14 year-olds with borderline eating disorders that it’s never a bad idea to throw-up because it undoes all the calories. Thanks to Ms. Friedman’s sagely advice, I am proudly reporting a 3.8 lb loss for my first weigh-in.

Guest Blogger!!!

Nope. Just Cati.

Sorry, blogosphere. I'm really not good at this.

Ooooookay. So the last time I updated the blog, I was only at -12.0. That's crazy!!! Here's how the weeks have gone:

Week 5 -4.8
Week 6 -3.4
Week 7 +0.4
Week 8 -3.8

Bringing me to a grand total of (drumroll pleaaaaaase) -23.6! I'm really excited about that. Next week I'll be below -25, and into a new tens column (decade? haha) which I'm really really pumped about!

I fell off the wagon a little over Christmas and literally just ate everything I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. I've learned from all of this that the best way for me to control the situation is to not have it in the house. I was at home and just doing whatever I wanted and not going to the gym, hence the +0.4. But I got right back on track this week, which is awesome!

Sarah wanted me to post the recipe for the ice cream sandwiches I made for our Holiday Potluck. Big thanks to sparkpeople.com for supplying it... and for lots of other ideas and tips!

1 box angel food cake mix, prepared according to directions
1 1/2 c peppermint ice cream
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wipe a 17 1/2" X 11 1/2" baking pan clean with a teaspoon of white vinegar. The vinegar will ensure there is no greasy film on the baking pan. (If possible use a non-stick baking pan.)

Mix angel food cake mix according to package directions. Spread onto the sheet pan; bake for 20 minutes. While the cake is baking, spread the ice cream between two sheets of waxed paper to one inch thickness. Warm the chocolate until melted, either using a double boiler or the microwave (keep a close eye on it, and stir every few seconds). Once cake has baked and cooled; cut it into 24 rounds using a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter. With the same cutter, cut the ice cream into rounds. Dip 12 rounds of the cake into the chocolate. Stack the ice cream between two layers of the cake (the top layer will be the chocolate-dipped cake). If not serving immediately, refreeze.

I made it with mint chocolate chip ice cream instead, but it was still fantastic! I'll definitely be keeping this one to bring to other potluck-y things.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but maybe mine should be to update the blog more??

Sarah - Week 8

Well, my friends, we officially have made it through the holidays! I can't believe we did it so successfully!! As my last post said, I definitely had a difficult week (aren't we all allowed one during the holidays??) but somehow I was able to get my act together once the weekend (aka wednesday-saturday) was over and come out ahead! My weight loss for this week was an even 2 lbs, rounding out my total to -23.4 lbs!!

Unfortunately, we're back to the regular grind but haven't been able to make it to the grocery store so I feel like I have no food left at all. I'm lucky there's a microwave here so that I could take some mushroom pasta from TJs for lunch, but I'm really hankering for some lunchmeat and a 100 calorie pack of pringles (They're even better than regular pringles, I swear!!) I also need some more breakfast options and a ton more microwave meals. And some coffee mate. I'll keep you updated if I find anything new that's worth a try!

Lastly, I'm excited to say that we have a new blogger coming to join us! Hopefully we'll get her up and running today for all of you (none of you?) who were tired of hearing me post the same thing every week. In other news, I'm texting Cati every hour on the hour until she also posts in the blog. I know she'll have some insight on the holidays and some new perspectives and ideas. I also want her to share her recipe for these amaaaazing ice cream sandwiches that she made for our potluck.

Happy back to regular work week!

Happy 2010!!

Well, this has pretty much been the worst week of my diet so far, starting on monday, before the weigh in, and ending yesterday. I pretty much ate whatever I wanted because a MILLION separate groups of my friends wanted to go out to eat/celebrate something/get drunk. However, I think that I stayed conscious enough of myself and what I was doing to not go overboard and to pretty much stay the same. If I can have a successful next few days, I think I can come out on top again and one week closer to being "just overweight" (woo, what a goal!) I'm going to go to the gym monday and tuesday, we already went today, and just try to eat super healthy but super filling things to get me through. I just bought a TJs stir fry that's only 135 calories for the entire humongous bag. In reality, any stir fry is pretty good for you as long as you don't go overboard on the rice/noodles. I'll let you know how it is next time I post!

All in all, I'm hoping to have an amazing 2010. My resolutions are, obviously, to keep going on my diet and to reach my goal weight of -70 lbs. I need to keep said weight off for six months so that I can get my reward from my aunt and go on a ridiculous Urban Outfitters hipster shopping spree. And then obviously keep it off for longer than that so I can wear said clothes for as long as it takes to justify how expensive they were. I'd also love to fall in love (wouldn't everybody?) and keep traveling. We're already talking about Chicago and NYC when it gets nicer out. And I want to get into grad school. God, I'm so needy.

That's all for now. I have to keep updating the blog bc Cati seems to have forgotten about it, haha.