Smoothies and scales

I haven't eaten badly this weekend but I haven't eaten as well as I would like since we have been celebrating Steve's birthday. I've been well within my calorie limits but I don't think that everything was AS nutritionally dense as it could have been. Soooo...tonight I made myself a super yummy smoothie. It has strawberries, blueberries, 1/2% milk (found this at Meijer and I love it), and ice. Super yummy and it's making me feel better already! I still haven't gotten a scale. I looked at CVS today and the only scale they had was $60!!! Yeah...no. I have no idea how i'm doing weight wise but I do genuinely feel good. I think that is reflecting on my number of posts and the content. I really feel good about what i'm doing and I don't feel too guilty (notice the too because i'm still battling my inner diet diva) about eating out because i'm making great choices. I know that this is the style of living that I want for the rest of my life. I don't want to have to think about weight too much. Maybe i'm subtly sabotaging the scale-finding process. I still have to exercise today but I am excited about it because Steve found me some more Zumba videos. Those things are a blast and I am seriously sweaty and winded after them and the only one I have done was 20 minutes long! Lol! They are usually 60 minutes. I will definitely post after I do the long one. Ok, time to get going and drink my delish smoothie!

Olive Garden

We went to Olive Garden for lunch for Steve's birthday. I knew in advance that we were going so I planned my meal ahead of time. I wanted to "celebrate" so I got a peach bellini which was 170 calories. I got soup and salad, pasta e fagioli if you care to know, which was 250 calories. All in all I had 420 calories while eating at Olive Garden. Before I was eating anywhere between 1290-1510!!!!!!!!!! That is insane to me. I didn't even realize it because I was eating salad, breadsticks with dipping sauce, and mushroom ravioli. I never thought in a million years that would add up to those insane numbers. It's not like I was gorging on alcoholic drinks, tons of food, and dessert. Sometimes finding out what you had been eating prior to "dieting" is just depressing. Especially when you thought you were making "better" choices than you could have been making. There are some dishes at Olive Garden that are over 1000 calories. That just blows my mind. I don't understand why they can't healthify some of these dishes. Insane. So I'm off to the gym and then I am making Steve's requested s'more cupcakes. I love celebrating birthdays!

PS Before Posting this I was totally feeling guilty for eating at Olive Garden. I wasn't until I realized just how well I did and how poorly I could have done that changed that attitude for me. The food was amazing so I guess I just assumed that I did bad even thought I did my homework before going out. Funny how our minds work.

Intervals

I did intervals on the treadmill tonight and I really liked it. I put it on a level three but it was too slow so I just kept upping the speed. I was really proud of jogging at a 4.5 during the speedy part of the interval. On the rather embarrassing side I definitely need some sports bras. Yikes! It said that I only burned a few hundred calories so that was disappointing because I did it for a half hour but hey, it's something. Another day of really good eating so i'm proud of myself. Dinner was fish, quinoa, and mixed vegetables. It was super yummy and wicked easy. I'll  be repeating that one again. Tomorrow is Steve's birthday. This is our last year of our 20s. I'm actually pretty happy about that. I want my 30's to be a fresh start for us and I'll be at my goal weight and living life how I want to by then. Oh! I weighed myself tonight because I was super curious and it said 195.8! Let's hope the scale continues to move in that direction.

Reasons

I was just reading a post on another person's weight loss blog and it really inspired me. What reasons do I have for losing the weight, getting healthy, getting strong? Well here they are:

1. I want to be a positive role-model for my daughter
2. I want to feel good instead of feeling tired and grumpy all the time
3. I want to be able to explore this wonderful world that God has given me
4. I want to feel and be beautiful for my husband and myself
5. I want to inspire others

I have watched The Biggest Loser since the day it aired and wished for the things that they have accomplished. They seem to have achieved all these reasons that I have set for myself. They may have had the ranch but they still had to do a lot of work to get there. That is what I need to remember. There is no magic cure, no "secret", no miracle that will get the results. Only I can do it and I will. I will be posting these reasons all over my house so as to not forget why I am on this journey. I may be doing a 24 day challenge but that is just a small trip in my great adventure that is my life.