1 Year

Our wonderful baker doesn't believe in freezing cakes, so she made us a deal... if we gave her professional photographs of our cake from the wedding, she would re-make the top layer of our cake for our anniversary.  It's just a delicious as the first (which we ate when we got back from our honeymoon... never frozen)!

I can't believe it's already been a year.  We're still loving married life and looking forward to many more years and all the adventures those years may bring.

My Goal

When I graduated from college, I was pretty close to my ideal weight and fitness.  Thanks to a fitness class I took in my last semester to get my last PE credit, I was exercising 2-3 times a week and I was only about 5 pounds from the ideal weight for my height and bone structure, well within the normal range for BMI.  I felt pretty good.  That was 4 years ago.

Since then, I've felt like there were more important things to do than exercise... I was dating this hot guy, ya' see... and then later, there was wedding planning (I know a lot of people get on a "must lose weight" kick before their wedding, but that wasn't a trigger for me at all).  In the first year after I graduated, I was concerned that my diet was unhealthy (see the post about my first salad at age 25), so I tracked my caloric and nutrient intake for about a month... it turns out that my diet was actually pretty healthy nutrient wise (as long as I take a multivitamin).  That was good news, but not much motivation to lose those last 5 pounds to my ideal weight or to really worry about my health at all.

I've gained 20 pounds and only exercised about 50 times since my college graduation.  The weight gain was a very slow progression, and I always told myself that I was still in pretty good shape compared to the obesity trend you hear about on the news.  For about 2 years, I've been telling myself that I need to get in shape before I have kids because if I can't get healthy now, having never been pregnant, no kids to take care of, and in the supposed "prime" of my life age wise, there's no hope for me after having kids.

This isn't a New Year's Resolution.  I made my last New Year's Resolution in my senior year of high school: Never let myself make a New Year's Resolution again... other than that last one, they never lasted past January 5th anyway.  It just so happens that after 2 years of giving lip service to getting healthier, I finally reached my tipping point over the holidays.

I think I just realized that the 20 pounds I've gained since college really is a lot (a friend of mine is 34 weeks pregnant and she's barely gained that much).  I look at some of my female family members... mom, grandmother, aunts, and cousins... they've all had children... and none of them are as overweight as me... I've got no excuse for my behavior, and I don't want to find myself unable to keep up with my kids in 5 years because I've neglected my body.

I don't mean to write this so that people will feel sorry for me, but if I put this out there, I'll at least think twice before I let myself slide.  When it boils down to it, I like the way I look (and I know John does too), and that's probably been my biggest hindrance to getting healthier.  But I can, and should be better about how I take care of my body.

This last week I started tracking what I'm eating again.  I don't intend to make major dietary changes... nutrient wise, I'm still doing a pretty decent job, but I've been using a calorie tracker that sets a target, and I have to exercise each day to get down to the target calorie level based on what I ate that day.  I'm finding that to be a neat motivation: You wanted to butter your roll at lunch, that's fine, just add a little time to that exercise. :)

I've set a 24 week plan to lose 24 pounds.  I put the weight on slowly, and I know if I'm going to make this a sustainable lifestyle, I'm going to have to take it off slowly too.  I one week in, and I'm proud to say that I'm on target for the week, and except for 1 day, I've exercised 30 minutes each day.  I know 1 week is hardly a habit, but after 4 years of nothing, it's a really good start.

1 week & 1 pound down - 23 to go!

One of the Perks of John's Job

Vendor Gifts!

In the spirit of holiday giving, several of the vendors that John works closely with have sent holiday gifts to his office... I particularly like John's vendor gifts because many come in the form of chocolate, and we all know who that's really for.  Though, John does get to eat some himself.

This Santa Stacker had goodies in each level - An assortment of mints, peppermint bark, white chocolate and peppermint covered pretzels, and peppermint - chocolate popcorn.

I particularly liked the Santa Stacker because it doubles as a new Christmas decoration that I can reuse in coming years... though I wish it could also magically refill itself with chocolate each year too. :)

At 25, It's Time to Eat Like a Big Girl

If you were following this blog for our honeymoon, you know that I ate my first half salad at a restaurant on the beach during the trip because we were the only ones at the restaurant and I didn't want to send the salad back.

It may sound crazy, but in watching me eat the salad on our honeymoon, my new husband realized that I was eating it wrong.  I've always had a severe texture aversion to eating leafy vegetables, but we discovered that's partly because I was chewing it with my front teeth.  (When I was a kid my back teeth didn't line up right until my second set of braces, so it's not as crazy as it sounds that I didn't chew with my back teeth correctly.)

Well, ever since my adventure on the beach, I've been wondering if I might actually enjoy a salad that's better than the pre-dinner beach restaurant side salad.  Today, I final got up the nerve to give it a try.  I ordered a salad at Cotton Patch that had lettuce, cucumber, tomato, cheese, bacon, and chicken with Ranch dressing.

My Dinner Tonight

I took the before picture because I wanted to show off that I ate the whole thing... but it was huge... and I got full.

I was too full to eat the whole thing, but there's just as much chicken as lettuce left... that proves that I was actually full and didn't give up.

I don't think it was my favorite dinner ever, but it was pretty decent... I'd do it again.

So, I'm official a big girl now.  I ate salad for dinner, of my own choosing, and I enjoyed it.  :)