The only thing that thrilled me this morning was my weigh-in: 211.8.

Can you believe it?? I didn’t think it was going to be good when I only got to the gym a few times last week and then was sick/in bed for the majority of the weekend. I didn’t feel like I had been eating healthy … but then again nothing really sounding appealing to me.

This morning I’m having some granola with a small handful of walnuts and about a 1/4 c. of blueberries with a cup of coffee. For lunch I’m planning on having half a calzone (leftovers from the weekend) and a diet coke. I don’t think I’m going to the gym today. I don’t want to wear myself down, but I’m planning on going tomorrow.

Seeing those numbers makes me motivated to continue working as hard as I have been. Hopefully I’ll have results like this next week monday when I step on the scale.

I’m hoping to do my weigh-in on Monday mornings when I first wake up and record the weight on here as I go. I’d aslo like to jot down the things I’ve eaten throughout the day along with any emotional jaunts that my day has taken me on in regards to this journey. Here were Monday and Tuesday.

Monday:
Weigh-in: 216.4 lb
Food: Breakfast was a cup of Orange Juice with some baked oatmeal (including blueberries … yum!). Because I wake up quite literally at the ass-crack of dawn I normally grab a cup of coffee before I get to the classroom. On Monday morning I had the special, Caffè breve in a 16 oz. (I know this probably wasn’t the best choice, but that was my treat for the day). I had water with my turkey sandwich and a few natural tortilla chips. (That crunch of chips is so tempting for me. It’s something I crave. If you have a good suggestion, besides carrots, that I could eat that would satisfy that salty, crunchy goodness please let me know). I had a clementine for my dessert with lunch. As an afternoon snack with more water I cut up an apple with about two tablespoons of peanut butter. That was so good! My roommate had brought cookies to the kitchen table. I ripped one in half, but after one bite ended up throwing the rest in the trash. It didn’t taste good after having just worked out. Our work celebrated this year’s holiday party at the Ugly Mug in downtown Minneapolis. When there, I ended up having a salad with Romaine lettuce, tomato, onions, carrots, and a bunch of other yummy veggies for dinner. On the side? I added a small slice of a baguette (unbuttered). To drink? I had a Captain and Diet and then made the switch to water.
Exercise: Besides taking the stairs at work and trying to be on my feet as much as possible, I headed to the gym after work. I spent about an hour on the elliptical and burned off more than 600 calories.

Tuesday:
Food: Breakfast was a cup of Water with some baked oatmeal with blueberries again. I love that stuff! This morning I was up early again and dashed out the door before even thinking about making my lunch! I grabbed a cup of coffee (light roast with a shot of cream) and at the same time I snagged a Diet Coke, a bag of baked potato chips, and a baby lunchables (can you blame me? It had about 5 dollar-coin slices of ham and swiss cheese on whole-grain crackers) I figured that had to be better at 340 calories than the tuna sandwich. This was the best I could come up with by way of quick thinking. Today’s afternoon snack was a cup of tea and about a 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries. For dinner I made a spinach salad with a little feta and parmasean cheese, walnuts, carrots, tomato, red pepper, and turkey. I used a homemade poppyseed vinegarette as a dressing. mmm.. it was so tasty! I also had another cup of tea (when I drink tea there’s no milk, honey, or sugar added) before going to bed.
Exercise: None today. Normally on Tuesday I go straight from work to my church’s small group. Sometimes I have enough time to run home, change, scarf something down, and run out the door. The only exercise I got was the sitting I did, both at my desk and behind the wheel of my car. Sad day.

Over Christmas I weighed myself and was astounded when the numbers finally stopped rolling at 225. “No way in hell,” I thought as I quickly stepped off the scale and turned to run away from the dreaded thing as quickly as I could. A few weeks of thought, probably combined with some emotional eating got me thinking. I wanted to lose weight once, and for all. A new year, a new me… ridiculous I know. Not another new year’s resolution.

But at the time it was all just talk until I found out that the guy I liked (and thought liked me too) for months on end actually had a crush on my roommate. He came into town one weekend, they went on three dates and the rest is history, I guess. Don’t worry, she’s a beautiful blonde who quite probably weighs in at 165 lb. Now, as they’re galavanting around Minneapolis and through each others dreams, I’m writing this blog and doing something about it.

I’m making a lifestyle change. I’m not doing any gimmicks or fad diets. I’m not losing 20 pounds in a week or only drinking grapefruit juice. My aim is to lose one, count it, one, pound a week. This is going to be strictly by eating healthy, exercising, and keeping this little blog in order to help keep me accountable. (Side note: I only thought of the blog when I was roaming on the internet one day and stumbled upon someone else’s blog. I had a blog once. I even made like 10 posts, so I came back to this unfamiliar website, but couldn’t remember my log-in or password.) So now, I have a use for my blog.

If you’re an average American, you’re probably overweight. Hopefully my story can help you someday reach your goal. Let’s do it together…or I’ll just do it by myself. Either way, I never want to see that number on a scale ever again. I won’t be hoping to lose half my weight, so I’m not quite half-assing it … but you get the general idea

We actually want you to be honest.

We pay attention to the small stuff.

We want you to ask questions.

We’d like a thank-you note right away.

We’re hoping for some enthusiasm.

We need to know your real weaknesses.

You should address being overqualified in your cover letter.

Your resume objective usually hurts you.

The phone interview is not a casual chat.

You shouldn’t count on our job offer.

We may check references beyond your list.

We don’t like being stalked.

Some of us actually care about candidates.

You can gain an edge with your cover letter.

You can be too early to the interview.

You can leave the subjective descriptions off the resume.

Your resume should answer one key question.

New grads need work experience.

We think a lot about your personality.

We want you to talk in interviews, but be concise.

Be honest in interviews, but don’t spill about a bad boss.

Copyrighted, U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved

Today, I created a Linkedin profile.  Connect with me.

It would be nice if an employer saw that I’m a motivated, performance driven communications professional experienced working in a fast-paced publication environment with strengths in interpersonal skills, written and verbal communications, multitasking, web design and development, and detail-oriented organization.

All of the above sentence is true, completely true. But it sounds just like any other money-depraved, recent graduate. I was told that it takes nine months to make a baby, and it should take a little less to find a job. It’s been six months and counting.

Pride is empty, painful, busy, and fragile. This “animal” festers inside of me. It’s the natural condition of my human ego. I want so badly to protect it, to guard it, just in case someone or something pops it. It is a daily battle for me to know that I don’t have to be essentially competitive in order to be more than the next person.

I want to badly to please people, to have them enjoy my company. I don’t take stock in the fact that I am a child of God, but instead I often find myself looking for identity in being the best at what I do. In the end I won’t be judged by these people I am pleasing or competing with, I won’t be judged by myself either, but only by God. Why don’t I care about what He thinks?

Madonna said, “My drive in life is the fear of being mediocre. My ego is insatiable, and cannot be satisfied.” Sometimes I think Madonna knows herself more than most of the world. Why can’t we all stop thinking of ourselves for second? Why can’t we serve others and not be so selfish. Why can’t we be humble?

Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. 

It’s been forever since my last post. I really wish I had more time in my day to write something thoughtful.

I found out on Friday afternoon that I will be the editor-in-chief of the Northwestern Column. I think the pieces are starting to fit together. I’m hoping this accomplishment will help with the internship at the Mpls St. Paul magazine 

here’s hoping