No means No!

This is something that Kristi always says and it rubbed off on me, so I know No means No. I think I want to be successful this challenge so much that I am afraid to cheat. I don't want to not cheat then go crazy in a few weeks and eat a whole cake. Who knows what I would do? But I also don't want to cheat because I don't want to realize what I'm missing. I am currently not having big cravings for sweets, but the idea of something sweet sounds good. I'm going to hold out a little longer because everytime I plan a cheat something usually comes up, so we shall see.

Also, with weekly weigh ins it is hard to cheat. Last challenge, I did the whole eat whatever I want for a week then work out like crazy for weigh in week and would loose what all I gained the week before. So, I am glad we have weekly weigh ins so I can't mess around and I have to be more accountable.

8 days down
0 cheats
10+ temptations
6 workouts
576+ oz of water

School starts tommorow...Anxiety started today

I think I have chronic anxiety when it relates to school. I put so much pressure on myself to make A's and I have always done this to myself for some reason, so I get super stressed when it comes to school. We even have a joke "What do you call a nurse that makes all C's...a nurse" (I know that's really bad, but we sure say it) I was looking at the syllabus for some of my classes and writing it in my planner, and I'm already stressed just looking at it. I keep telling myself I've survived 3 years of college and 1 of those was nursing school, so I can do this. But I'm still freaking. I have about 9 months till graduation. (Someone said 264 days) The countdown begins.

Oh, the Temptation!

Today was my first big challenge and struggle with sweets. You can take away fried foods and it doesn't bother me. But take away my sweets, and I don't know what to do, which is why I struggle so much with the challenge. I go into work today, and apparently the floor I work on is having a bake sale (must have missed that memo...seem to miss most of them) So, I am staring at brownies with icing, cookies of all kinds, and rice krispy treats, and all day long I am walking by them. I even eat lunch with a brownie right in front of me. I resisted! I drank my water, and resisted.

Little tidbit of water and nursing. Today, I really wanted to start an i.v. on myself and hook up a bag of normal saline so that I wouldn't have to drink water. Pretty sad, i know, but I did think it, how much easier that would be. I would never do that, FYI.

Tonight, I went to this BBQ/Campfire/hang out. It was kinda a back to school party. I ate a cheese burger with mustard only. Yes, I have changed from mayonaise to mustard. There were way too many sweets there. Cupcakes, brownies, cookies, cake, etc. I resisted. Then, we were sitting around the campfire and people started making smores. Challenge #1 I lost control with smores and ate like 10 smores in one week or something crazy like that. So, I was thinking can I eat two and call it one cheat, etc. All the rationalizing I do. I finally decided a smore was not worth a cheat to me. I resisted. I sat and held the chocolate for people (I love chocolate!) and didn't eat any.

I survived another day!

Strength

I found this Bible verse, and I thought it was really good for the challenge. Tanna has said that you can not do this alone, you need God's help. I definitely need God's help for this.

Last night I went to Paradigm, this is a worship service for college students every Thursday night. It was absolutely amazing. It is usually at FBC, but it was at the Allen Theater on campus last night to get new students to come. The theater was completely packed. It was nice to go and worship and pray about the challenge, upcoming school year, and life. I've been doing a lot of praying about what I should do with my life once I graduate. Where to go and what to do?? It is all in God's hands at this point.

What Would the Beast do???

The rest of my cheats were not placed in any order. I simply picked up all my cards and threw them together. This one happened to be #2, and it fits quite well. The beast, aka Tanna, started the challenge and she keeps us going strong. I don't think a day has gone by when I put some food in my mouth or say NO that I don't think of Tanna. It may be feeling guilty for using a cheat or overeating, or it may be Tanna would be so proud, I ate a salad or said no to that ice cream. So, I made this cheat to remind me to think about the beast and make the right choice.

Tanna, I am so thankful to have come across the challenge. I'm sure I'm one of your frustrating beauties because I don't always follow the rules, but I'm TRYING!! I really appreciate you sticking with us and constantly motivating us through emails. Not sure what I would do without you!

Cheats

This is my cheat booklet. It is on a key chain and ready to go! I plan on making a post for all 25 cheats I made and why I made them. I put this on top to remind me of the goal I set for myself this challenge. I have yet to meet my goal, so I really want to this time around. I also hate failing at things. So I want to give it my all!

It is day 2 and so far the challenge has been going great. I haven't had any cravings, but I realized I have to watch myself. I went into work last night, and I love the people I work with, but I feel like all they do is eat!! Every day there is a party for something! Which is great, unless you are trying to lose weight. So, I walk into the lounge and there is a big bowl of candy, bag of chips, cookies, etc. I instantly walked up to get a piece of candy, and then suddenly remembered NO, the challenge! I ate some strawberries and was just content. Watching nurses eat really makes me sick. If you asked me in high school the #1 reason I didn't want to be a nurse, I would have answered "They are all fat". Well, they aren't all overweight, but a good majority are. I worked the night shift and these nurses drank coke after coke and energy drinks and candy and they eat a full meal around midnight. I don't work many nights so I try to keep my schedule as much as possible. I ate dinner before I went to work, drank water all night, and had a granola bar around midnight, and I was just fine. I don't want to fall into these bad eating habits I see at work!! How am I supposed to educate a patient and tell them what to eat if I'm obese? I want to be an example for others...which will come later on another card.

Challenge #3

Challenge #3 begins today! I am ready this time. I have learned what works and what doesn't and basically I know just listen to the Beast and it'll be ok. I get pretty stubborn and like to do things my own way, but obviously my way of living and eating is not productive for weight loss. Challenge #1 was 6 weeks and I stuck with it and saw results. Challenge #2 was 12 weeks and I did what I wanted and didn't have much results. I lost less than during challenge 1 and had double the time! So, I am getting back on track. This time, I made cheat cards. Last challenge I couldn't keep up with them and ate way too many. So now I have cards to keep count and maybe even help me say no. They are filled with goals and reasons why I'm doing the challenge.

This is Kristi, a fellow beauty, and GREAT friend! These are our cheat cards!


This is our before picture with our challenge shirts, which I love!


I will try to stay updated more often and let you know how the challenge is going!