The "weigh in"!

So remember how I said the first thing I was going to do when I got home was to step on the scale? I did...! I am now 123 lb. For some people that's still a lot, and trust me, my work is not complete, but it's huge progress from last year. When I got home in April, I was nearly 140, only a whisker away at about 138.5 lb. This means that in a bit less than 8 months, I've lost over 15 lb. For someone who was not overweight to begin with (although, obviously, unhealthy), I think it's a pretty good number to drop in that period of time. My goal is 118 lb. At the beginning of the summer that number seemed daunting but now I believe that by this April I can reach my goal. That'll be one year, 20 lb. dropped. Of course weight is merely a side issue, as my true goals lie in my overall health, happiness, well-being, mental-clarity, and fitness. And also measurements are more important to me than weight because that's what determines your visual size (aka I don't want to lose weight but still look big and puffy). Anyways, that's my holiday tidbit.

Hmmm...

So I do have exams right now that I should be studying for but I just got back from the gym and wanted to compare my body in a bikini in August to December... so 4 months of eating better and working out. The comparison is kind of sad because I feel like the only difference is that my boobs might have deflated a bit. But looking closer, I do feel like I look a bit more toned all over. It's also exam week (feel like I've gained a lb...) and I'm a bit bloated right now so I might have looked a bit better two weeks ago, but hey, at least I'm not getting fatter!

(August on the left, December on the right... obviously, I hope)

Exams are here, oh no!

Well that crept up on us rather fast, did it not?

Despite a cheesy naan pizza, a couple muffins, a sinful brownie, and some other unforgivable food acts,  I'm trying to maintain a somewhat healthy lifestyle during the stress-filled season that is university finals.

Today I made a deeeeelish smoothie. 3/4 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup spinach, 5 slices of frozen banana, and 3 ice cubes created this dark monster. It was really really good!

Then, for some reason I was absolutely craving whole grain pasta and broccoli. So I cooked up a 1/2 cup of pasta and threw it with broccoli, tomato, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes. Yum.

Back to studying...

Pictures Make Progress!

I'm seriously curious to weigh myself in a few weeks though, because I think I look smaller, I feel smaller, my measurements are smaller... but who knows if that gets transferred to the scale or not? As I said, I'm curious to find out!

Anyways, I wanted to show my progress visually...

I'm doing the best I can to stay fit, but unfortunately have had to take a gym hiatus for almost two weeks now due to school work. I'm planning on getting back on track tomorrow though! Need to keep my body strong for the stresses of exam-season! 

Messy room, still need to trim my legs and arms and love handles (EW), but I'm feeling more confident every day.

As you can see, my belly is pretty flat, but my hips/thigh area is still carrying too much blubber. 

Mid-November Check In

Hey! So it's mid-November. Wow. That happened fast...

I've been trying to eat much healthier and I've been going to the gym 5 or 6 times a week lately. I do not know my weight, but I will in a month. That's right. I'm going home in just a month, double-wow! However, I can update my measurements

33.5 for bust
24 for waist
37 for hips

Let's compare with when I started in mid-August:

36 for bust
25 for waist
37.5 for hips

That's a solid difference, I think!

The food I've been eating

So as promised, I'm checking in a few weeks after my last post. University is stressful, but I've been doing my best to remain healthy. Immediately before I left I was 128 lb. I have not had access to a scale since, but my waist measurement is 25 inches still, so I don't feel any bigger.

I've been to the gym 6 times in the past 3 weeks. Not ideal. I'm trying to go 4-5 days a week now.

Now for the good part...

I've been eating really well here, and none of it to me seems blatantly "unhealthy". I can count the times I've had something "unhealthy" in the past few weeks: ice cream three times, one package of instant noodles, two muffins, a KitKat bar, and two brownies. As you can tell, I'm by no means "perfect" in my eating habits. However, backtrack to freshman year... I'd sometimes have two or three desserts a day at the dining hall. Not to mention chips, crackers, etc. in my dorm.

Here are some meals/snacks I've been making in the past three weeks!

• Whole grain grilled cheese with mushrooms, tomatoes, and guacamole
• Whole grain quesadilla with tomatoes and guacamole
• Maple oatmeal with fresh blueberries and almonds
• Lentil mushroom korma curry on rice
• Quinoa pilaf with carrots, peas, green beans, mushrooms, and lima beans
• Mixed vegetable and mushroom teriyaki stir fry on rice or rice noodles
• Lentil, mushroom, cheddar, and red pepper whole grain wrap 
• Greek yogurt with granola and berries
• Gnocchi with low fat alfredo sauce or marinara and shredded mozzarella
• Fruit salad with bananas, apples, kiwi, berries, and oranges
• Apple with 100% natural peanut butter
• Veggie burger with cheese, mushrooms, tomato, and guacamole

...and more to come!

I'm aware these aren't all super low-calorie meals, however, they fill me up, are tasty, and I know what's in them because I make them myself. I don't buy anything with tons of preservatives or weird ingredients. I feel like these are all fairly healthy choices over all, so I'm not going to obsess over the exact number of calories in each. It's the general idea that matters to me in the end.

Back to studying.

Adios!

Before university...

So it's that time of the year again... I wanted to "weigh in" though before I go off to the world of school. I've been eating a lot of veggies and fruits this week (for example, in one day I'll consume: a banana, apple, clementine, kiwi, baby carrots, peas, salad... and then another apple and kiwi just for the hell of it) as well as getting a fair bit of walking and lifting done. Therefore, I had reason to believe that I was shrinking just a tad. So I grabbed the tape measure and hopped on the scale!

My measurements are still 36-25-37.5, but I'm 130 lb now! So the weight must be coming off somewhere...

My plan at school is to eat the healthiest that I can on my budget and time constraints. As well, I'm going to make an effort to get to the gym a couple times a week in addition to the fact that I'll be walking back and forth 10 mins to get to class/home/groceries.

I'll update my progress in a few weeks!

Ciao!

The starting point!

5'4 and 132 lb.

Waist: 25
Hips: 37.5
Bust: 36

Here are two recent pictures of my body. I realize I am not "fat", however I don't think anyone can disagree that I shouldn't try to lose 10 lbs, right? So let's freaking do this!

New blog!

Hey guys! This will be my new blog documenting my weight-loss/fitness journey! I plan to post about progress (quantitative, qualitative, and visual) as well as healthy meal ideas. Wish me luck!