4/30: Food and Workout Entry

I hope to update these on the actual day instead of past midnight... I suppose it has to do with being a college blogger! haha! Since the 30th was a school day, I never got around to photographing the foods I consumed. I think photographing my day will be easier on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

Breakfast:

• Chocolate Fiber One Cereal 3/4 cup (114 calories) 
• One medium red apple (80 calories) 
• Total: 194

Lunch:

• 1/4 lighting salted mixed nuts (170 calories) 
• Honey wheat sandwhich, one slice of American cheese, some turkey, and 2 tsp of chipotle mustard (260 calories) 
• Lettuce, tomatos, one hard-boiled egg, and 2 TSPB of balsamic vinaigrette dressing (156 calories) 
• 2 Weight Watcher mint patties (100 calories)
• Total: 686 

Dinner: 

• 1/9 Sun-dried tomato couscous (48 calories) 
• 1/8 green beans (5 calories) 
• Baked skinless chicken breast (175 calories) 
• Total: 228

Snacks: 

• Half of a mint mocha, skim milk, no whipped cream (110 calories) 

I'm still surprised that my lunch was higher in calories than what I normally make it. I thought it was going to be a nice, healthy mean to get me through the day. Oh, well. When you make mistakes you learn from them! I'm going to start planning my lunches for school more wisely. 

~ 

Today's workout was very short and I felt it.. 0.o I had a long day on campus this afternoon, but I wanted to get something in for the day. I ended up walking, jogging, and running a little over a mile around my neighborhood and burned 155 calories from that. On Wednesdays, I usually attend a Zumba class, but the room we meet in is closed for some event. The ladies planned a day to walk 4 miles around the area and I'd love to run/jog for most of it. I'm getting used to the feel of it after all; adding more strength should be fine for me... I think.... 0.o haha! 

-B 

4/29: Food Diary

I apologize that I'm posting this a few minutes after midnight, but I was stuck working on homework for finals and homework assignments. Writing this update is making me, well, hungry.... haha.

• Breakfast: Fiber One 3/4 of cereal (114 calories) 

• Lunch: Turkey and one slice of American cheese on honey wheat thins (260 calories); 1 cup of green beans (40 calories), and 1 cup of salad with cantaloupe (62 calories). Total: 362 calories. 

• Dinner: One apple (65 calories) and an omelet with half a slice of American cheese for protein (235 calories) Total: 300 calories 

• Snacks: Cheese after workout for protein (calories unknown)
• 2 Weight Watcher Mint Patties (100 calories).

• Total: 956 calories consumed

-B 

4/29: Weigh-In Day!

On Mondays, I wake up and weigh myself in to see how I did the past week.  I tried a new routine this week by going to the gym and jogging/running on different days. Confusing my body worked because I've lost 4 pounds! :D I haven't been out of the 190's in such a long time and I almost cried when I saw that number this morning. I didn't believe what the scale said at first, so I weighed myself again and it was right! haha! I started to get discouraged about 3 weeks ago because I was monitoring what I ate and worked out constantly. I was stuck at 193 and my body was unable lose anything. I remember thinking after weighing in last Monday the following: "What's the point of dieting and working out if it's not working?" I almost punched the wall in frustration and I was about to change to get in my car and drive to Coldstone, Caribou, and Chick-fil-a (It's the 3 C's! haha!). I realized once I got off the scale that going out to eat/drink unhealthy foods was not wise. You do not want to eat out of frustration when you haven't lost weight, folks. If you're struggling with that I know where you're coming from. I ate because I was frustrated on past diets because I didn't see any results. Your body takes time to adjust to it's new lifestyle: it's not used to eating the right foods and working out all the time. Once your body realizes that your new way of eating and working out is permanent it will show results. I think the reason why my body was not responding to weight loss for 3 weeks was because it got used to Zumba.

      Last Tuesday, I walked/jogged 2 miles with my Zumba instructor and did 30 minutes of circuit training at the gym. On Wednesday, I had my Zumba class from 7:30-8:30. On Thursday, I went to the gym again and did 30 minutes of circuit training. On Friday, I walked 4.5 miles with some Zumba friends. Lastly, I walked 2 miles with my mom on Saturday. My body saw the change and I saw a difference when I weighed myself early on Thursday by losing 2 pounds, and again when I lost 2 pounds this morning. 

   I am so happy that I've lost 4 pounds this week. God has been gracious and has helped me stay on track. This journey would not be possible without Him. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." Lastly, I want to thank all of you for keeping me accountable since I began my journey on February 17th. I am so thankful that God gave me friends to encourage me to keep going! 

New short-term goal: be at 179 before May 23rd. 

-B 

I had an off day today...

It has been months since my last migraine and I got one early this morning. On Saturday, I fell asleep thirty minutes or so before midnight and woke up at 5 am on the dot. I was having a major allergy attack and getting my sneezing under control was nearly impossible. I had to get up and walk around for a bit before falling asleep again. I knew being awake for more than five minutes was unwise because of church. On Sundays, I usually wake up around 7:30 or 8:00 so I can have plenty of time to get ready for church and to have breakfast. I set my alarm five different times and I kept hitting snooze on all of them. Why? Why couldn't I find the energy to get of bed? I woke up to use the restroom and to inform my grandmother of my health because I heard her getting ready. I had exactly 30 minutes to get ready and I had no energy to do so. The pain moved from the middle of the head to my temples; which can be very excruciating for when it comes migraines. I took three Advil to dull the pain and went back to bed in hopes the pain would go away for me to go to church with my parents. -sigh- The pain never went away and I slept until noon; I think that threw me off a little for the day.

I always wake up around 8:00 so I can eat breakfast and have enough hours in between to be ready for a smaller lunch. I like eating a lot of protein in the morning because I know I will work out later in the day. I felt absolutely terrible and woke up starving. I knew I had to make something with protein, but I knew what I wanted to make would take time. "Breakfast" consisted of 2 Weight Watcher Thin Mints (100 calories).  I didn't realize it then because I was so hungry, but there were apples and pears on the counter. I could have an apple as a snack while my omelet was cooking. Secondly,  I had my regular two egg omelet with half a slice of American cheese and 1 tbsp of ketchup (15 calories) for a total of 250 calories. Lastly, I made sure to have a big dinner since my calorie intake was so minuscule compared to last week. Dinner consisted of the following: 1 sweet potato (180 calories), 1 pork chop (276 calories), 8 roasted asparagus with spices and a little bit of olive oil (264 calories), and 1/4 of applesauce (45 calories). My dinner was much higher than I usually like, but I figured it was better to eat and not starve. The total of tonight's dinner came to 765 calories.

I knew that I had to eat more vegetables before tomorrow's weigh in, so cooked 1 cup of green beans to snack on during Once Upon a Time. The one cup of green beans came to 44 calories; with 150 calorie Skinny Cow ice cream.

Today was not the best day, but tomorrow is a brand new day.

Schedule for tomorrow morning is below:

• Wake up
• Weigh in
• Have breakfast
• Run 2 miles 

-B 

Food Diary Entry

I'd like to take this moment and thank all of you for your kind support. I hope that my blog will please you as I continue on this journey of a healthier lifestyle.

I can't believe how fast the weeks go by now. I can't believe how fast this year flew by either. May is a few days away and my trip to Orlando will be here before I know it. While living in Florida for a few months, I'm already in the planning stages of what my grocery runs will entail. I will be tempted to buy cheap, easy to prepare meals that are loaded with calories and sodium and I will NOT buy them. haha.  Speaking of food...

Below are photographs of the food I ate today:

•  Breakfast: Two egg cheese omelet with one apple (330 calories). 

• Lunch: Romaine lettuce with strawberries, one hard boiled egg, turkey, and two TBSP of Low Fat Raspberry Walnut dressing.  Not pictured: One Weight Watchers mint patty (354 calories).

• Dinner: Whole grain pasta and Kielbasa (1 SMALL serving from this plate). Not pictured: Vanilla yogurt, and one Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich (550 calories). 

• Not pictured: Another WW candy (50)

I track my calorie intake by using an application called MyFitnessPal. It allows me to eat 1700 calories a day with 466 calories left for April 27th. I think about the consequences of eating certain foods now: "Do I eat just to eat so I can finish my calorie intake?" What is the answer? No! :) In the past I would eat anything that would total my calorie intake. I don't think it's healthy to eat a bag of fries as a snack just to reach your calorie intake. I love MyFitnessPal because it shows me that certain foods I used to eat are not worth the calories anymore. 

Thank you all for following this blog! 

"All it takes is faith, trust, and little bit of pixie dust." - Peter Pan

Pretty catchy title for my first blog post, right? As you can tell from by biography, I am a Walt Disney World PhotoPass cast member in Disney's Magic Kingdom. The title of my first post seemed fitting with my life don't you think? :) I started my career with Disney by participating on two college internships in 2010 and 2012. When I was a very young girl, I remember telling my mom that I wanted to work for Mickey one day. I can proudly say that God paved the way for that dream to happen eighteen years later. My parents took me to Disney World for the first time in 1994 and I was one ecstatic 3 year old. I remember that trip as if it happened yesterday: we were on our way to the airport to drop off my nana and boarded the plane with her to say goodbye. I didn't think anything of it because my mind was focused on her and what she was saying. Shortly after I sat down I began to panic; I thought we were stuck on the plane and that was not appealing to me. I remember my parents surprising me with a folder that had Disney World pictures inside. When they told me we were all going to Disney World I was overjoyed (knowing me... I probably cried tears of joy, but then again... I'm not so sure). Meeting Mickey Mouse, my current boss, was one memory I will never forget either. I think Mickey Mouse was our first stop in the park that day, but I could be mistaken since it's been awhile. In 1994, the meet and greet for Mickey was in his house back when it was called Toontown. I remember running up to Mickey before my parents could even stop me and he gave me the biggest hug. I don't remember our conversation in its entirety, but I believe it had to do with working for him. "I want to work for you one day, Mickey!" That special moment was one I will never forget. I am so happy to have a picture from that special day to put in my scrapbook.

What do I do when I'm not working in the park? In 2009, I graduated from high school and have been a college student ever since. I knew I wanted to major in film and photography long before graduation. I've always had a passion for capturing things and to tell a story with them -- that is one of the reasons why I started my business. My business is named after my experiences with Disney. Any thoughts about the name??? 

.............

Magical Moment Photography! :) As the owner of MMP, I photograph, process orders, edit, answer emails, and more. Photography is one of my favorite hobbies and I am thrilled that I can do it for a living. 

Why did I make this blog? I always spent my childhood in a ballet studio with numerous children, teenagers, and adults. I was a healthy weight for my age and developed more muscle as the years went on. In 2005, I had to leave the company to focus on my education and everything started to turn into fat.  I remember gaining a lot of weight at one point in my life and it still scares me when I see that photograph every day on my refrigerator. I've lost a ton of weight since that picture was taken, but I still want to aim for a healthy weight.  I've tried numerous diets in the past and always found it impossible to continue. I didn't have the accountability I wanted and I didn't see the results, so my mentality was to quit almost as soon as I began. 

                 Clothes I wanted to wear have never been able to fit me and I couldn't do a lot of things my friends could do. I never wanted to go into department stores because I knew I'd have to try on clothes before bringing anything home. I remember wanting to punch the mirror in the dressing room because I was disgusted at what I saw in the mirror looking back at me. 

                 In 2012, I got a phone call from one of my best friends with news of her engagement and the invitation to be her bridesmaid this October. I couldn't believe it at first because it still hadn't crossed my mind that I'm an adult whose friends are getting engaged and/or married. I was beyond thrilled for her and I was very honored that she asked me to be a bridesmaid. In January, my program ended and I came home just in time for the 2013 semester to begin. It wasn't until the middle of February that my health hit me in the face. "I'm going to be a bridesmaid in October, and our Disney Cruise is two weeks after." I said, "I have to do something." I think the reason why my past diets failed was because of a lack of motivation. I never really had anything to work towards, so I can see why I never stuck with anything. My bridesmaids dress is hanging in my closet as I type this and the special day for her debut is October 12th. I've lost 9 pounds since my journey began and my goal is to lose 35 altogether by October 12. 

Here it is in a nutshell: the purpose of this blog is to document my journey. I don't know if people are going to join my journey by following this, but I know this is a record for me to read through a year from now.  A year to look back at my highest of highs and lowest of lows. A year to look back at my first shopping spree five dress sizes smaller. A year to look back at spending my first cruise looking healthy. A year to look back and thank my family, friends, followers, and God for encouraging me to keep going. 

(Collage made on February 17, 2013)

I want to encourage those of who are struggling to not give up. You're beautiful no matter what this world has to say. Remember: beauty is not about the outside, beauty is about what's in your heart.