I'm still eating healthy... really healthy, actually. I think even a doctor or nutritionist would be proud, I'm damn near perfect on my intake of healthy and super foods. I've also been active, except for my stint dealing with finals. I've also been building my knee back up.

All in all, my view on weight loss is dramatically different from when I got here. I'm healthier, I look better, but I'm not dramatically smaller. Joe even mentioned that my butt looks completely different; better. I think I'm straying away from controlled, documented weight loss regimens and I'm starting to change my life naturally for the better. I'm findingn those things I enjoy, actually I would say I can't live without them, and I'm doing them as much as possible. I'm about to graduate from college, which will make me busy while giving me more time, strnagely enough. There will be hiking, swimming, running and much more in the near future.


To anyone who reads this, who's interested in weight loss. I would say weight loss is great, and striving for it is great, but being really honest with yourself and every decision you make regarding your food and actions is most important. For me, writing things down, keeping a close eye on every calorie that came in and out of my body just didn't work. It was a system for me to try to cheat at every chance I got. Letting myself just change naturally made me really change. In the past, I would grab chips and salsa because it was technically not too many calories to push me over. Now I grab an apple because I want an apple more. The change has been very nice. I would say do what you love, always. If you love greasy foods and you love being big, keep doing it, happiness is important. If you love how healthy food makes you feel, even if you don't love the food yet, then try to find healthy food that you like. If you love how exercising makes you feel even if you don't like exercising yet, find a way to move around and have fun. Find an activity that really makes you feel great while you do it. Happiness and day to day changes are far more important than an end goal number structure. I'm so happy I found what works for me. I know now that if I were with my family, and they were eating donuts and drinking coca-cola, I wouldn't look at the soda and carbs with longing while I ate something different, I would eat something diffrent because I honestly wanted to. Honest, REAL change is really great.

I currently weigh 144 pounds. That's eleven pounds lighter than when I was in pensacola. It's six pounds lighter than when I started this blog, and it's lower than my lowest point before. I accomlished this when I STOPPED keeping such close track.

Because my views have changed, my posts will be changing. I'll still post foods I like, recipes I've found and recipes I've discovered on my own. I'll still post pictures from hikes, swim times, etc, because it's fun. But the calorie counting and regimens are over. I'm happy now.

my knee again, and dieting focus

So after my last post I'm unhappy to report my knee has been really acting up again. It was really swollen and sore from the first workout on the insanity tapes. Otherwise I felt pretty good. Joe and I decided to stop so I could take care of my knee again. This time, more slowly. Tomorrow I'll be making an appointment with my rheumotologist, and I'll be making a trip to the gym to do some knee exercises and cardio. I stretched it and iced it this morning which helped a lot, and I've been taking ibuprofen to help with the swelling. It does seem slightly better than a couple days ago, so slowly I'll be trying to build it back up again. I do want to see the doctor again though, to see if we can get a diagnosis this time.

So with the puppy keeping me at home and my knee acting up, workout out has been somewhat non existant. I'm currently upping the crate training and I think I'll start walking him soon (the vet said I could but his assistant said she wouldn't risk it. At this point I'm thinking it'll be ok.) so I can get out of the house more. I can still workout when joe's home, but it kind of feels like we're tagging each other into a fight, we don't really go out together right now, and I'm gonna try to fix that.

So because of these restrictions I've been focusing more on my diet. I've decided to post a lot more pictures of what I eat and really talk about my diet, because I know how to diet right and diet healthy, I just choose to overeat and neglect what I know is good for me. I still have the knowledge, and sharing it while tracking my progress is an appealing idea. I'll keep up with it as much as I can, I know I haven't really kept to my word in the past, but hey, I have to keep trying before I succeed right? Anyway, I went to a farmers market this past saturday morning, and I'm very very happy I did. There was so much fresh local food there! It's the tastiest, healthiest reserve of food I've found on the island, and I was so happy. I've felt so much more energized and excited about eating more vegetables because they taste so good! Next time I go I'll have to take pictures.

So I'm still trying, but there's been some life walls that have come up my way, so I gotta figure out how to knock them down. I know I'll get there, one step at a time.