How I'm Trying Not To Gain Weight on Vacation

{source} Chocolate Chip Cannoli
from Mike's Pastry in Boston - I am eating this!

Before heading out of town, I was hovering right at 10 pounds from my goal. I am so proud of my progress, but with our summer of travel, I'm nervous about keeping it off.

Since a large portion of our vacation revolves around food, I don't want to feel deprived by tracking everything I eat and then feel guilty if I eat something fattening. But I also don't want to undo any of the hard work I've done for the last year.

How do you view food?

Starting an Exercise Routine and Progress Update

Me at 11 - one of the last time
I wore shorts since I still had toned legs

I used to be a dancer. Have I ever mentioned that? I did it for 4 years and loved it but quit when I was 11 and realized I wasn't good enough or liked it enough to be a professional and didn't want to waste my parents' money anymore. But I can easily say that was the healthiest time of my life. I exercised regularly every week and actually enjoyed doing it. And then I stopped.

I never enjoyed exercising again after that. I enjoyed dancing but I felt like a fool doing it by myself at home.

How Do You Carry Your Weight?

In light of me losing another 3 lbs last week... whoop whoop!... I wanted to share this eye-opening photo.
All of those women weigh the exact same: 154 lbs. Granted some of the variation is due to height difference, but some of it isn't. 4 of those women look to be the same height but they carry their weight completely differently.
It's just a reminder that we can't compare that number on the scale to anyone else's because we each will look differently at a specific weight.

What Gaining One Pound a Month Looks Like

Have you ever stepped on the scale after several weeks and seen that you only gained one pound? Did you think to yourself "That's not bad"? I used to always be that way. But here's the thing, those pounds add up! In the 39 months from April 2009 to June 2012, I gained on average one pound a month to the tune of a total of 45 lbs O_O How insane is that!

January 2009 - June 2012
(I didn't buy that wedding dress because I thought it made me look fat *sob*)

The Smart Phone Diet: September Update

So if you have been keeping track in my weight tracker header, I have officially lost 12 lbs and am a 1/3 of the way to my goal :) I think that is pretty good, considering we have gotten pretty bad about keeping up with the accountability aspect of our diet. But I have not gained anything back so far, and it's a new week and a new opportunity to start photographing meals.
I wanted to check in today with a progress photo...

The Smart Phone Diet: Week 2 & 3

So it has been just under 3 weeks that I have been on my diet. And at my last weigh-in yesterday I had lost another 6 pounds O_O And that's despite a huge cheat day last weekend at Olive Garden.
I am super excited because am 20% of the way to my goal and I am no longer considered obese according to my BMI... Woohoo!

The Smart Phone Diet: Week 1 Meals

So I have been on my new diet for a little over a week now. I have only lost a pound but I am feeling a lot better about myself. It's amazing how portion control affects us. At first when I finish my plate I think, "That was it? I am still hungry!" I wait 30 minutes and then it's like "Wow, I'm full!" Totally crazy! But I have really been enjoying my meals :) Here's some of my favorite things I ate last week...

Sushi

No Butter Shrimp Linguini

Green Salad Sandwiches

Taco Salad

Frozen Yogurt (Yum!)

For Breakfast Everyday

Another new thing with the diet this week is that we have installed the Evernote Food app to keep track of our meals and send each other photos. Absolutely love it and I'll share screenshots in my next update ;)

The Smart Phone Diet

So I have been talking about dieting for as long as I have been married but instead each month I have steadily gained weight. Now I am at my breaking point. According to my BMI I am officially obese and that is just ridiculous for my small framed body.