The No-Money Diet

I wonder if I can get paid for this. I'm SURE I could write a book on it!!! When I have NO money, I eat the best. Not necessarily the least, but there is NO junk. I can only eat what I already have at home. And as usual, the worst thing I have is cereal. I haven't even been drinking coffee. AND I gave away my espresso machine. Today's weight? This morning it was 182 and when I got home from work it was 181. I'm almost positive it'll be at 182.5 tomorrow. I have been clockin' madd steps on my pedometer. And haven't even exercised. But starting tomorrow, it's ON. I WILL be walking to work from now on. Why, because gas is $2.99/gal and Monique doesn't pay that much for gas. She'd MUCH rather walk. COOL on that. I mean, seriously, it was $2.70 this morning and I thought THAT was expensive. I was coming to accept $2.59, but $2.70 was pushin' it and $2.99 is out of the question. My tank is on E and that's how it will stay. So I'll be walking to work and back every day; that's 3.8 miles. That's not including what I have to do to train for the marathon. The weight should start to melt off.

Here's the thing. Can we discuss something? Ok. Look at this picture:

I stopped exercising in around November. I started going to Pilates when? In January, I think. I went to Pilates just a few times, though. The point is, I have no idea how from 8/7/06 to 3/12/07 my face thinned out like that. WAIT! I was consistent about writing down what I ate until February, around the same time I stopped going to Pilates class. And I think for the most part, I stayed around 1500 calories. There were, of course, off days. And I always parked really far at work. I guess I did do some stuff to stay on track. I'm always so hard on myself. It's not until I come to this blog that I realize I'm not all bad. Why are we so unforgiving of ourselves? Why do we beat ourselves up over little mistakes? When you think about it, it's just silly.

So what was I saying? Oh, the weight should melt off. And it should. I mean, if I was half-assin' it for three months solid, and now I'm picking back up for real? Meaning, nutrition AND exercise, not just one or the other? Yeah, the weight should melt off. I have more motivation besides the Marathon. I'm kinda-sorta in a wedding in July. I'm even planning on buying a dress in the wedding colors. And the reason is two-fold. One, people really are noticing the difference. And I know I should, too, but I really haven't. Not until that picture up there. And so if people are noticing, I want to look nice. This is the first time vanity has played a part in my journey. I mean, it's first and foremost right now. I know the weight will come off, so my focus needs to be tone and look good. And come July, I should be able to see a difference. There will be people at this wedding who haven't seen me since 247lbs. And it makes me feel good when people compliment me on the weight-loss. I feel like I've accomplished something I should be proud of. Most people know how hard it is to lose weight, and having others acknowledge that accomplishment fills me with such a good feeling. . . a job well done. My friend came to visit last weekend and I hadn't seen him in a year. The first thing he said to me was, "Damn, you're skinny as hell!" (this is not true; I'm a size 12. I'm hardly skinny; let's be clear.) The last thing he said before he left was, "You look good; what an inspiration." I had to break out in a big smile both times. And I had on too-big clothing, too. But I guess compared to what I was, I do look skinny now. I showed my students pictures from my study abroad (10 years and almost 70lbs ago) and they said I used to be huge. So now I'm starting to expect the reactions from people when I haven't seen them in a while. Otherwise, it will make me feel self-conscious. So since I know people are going to notice, I want to look cute. The second reason is I STILL haven't had the opportunity to shop for something really nice in this new, non-plus size. I'm kinda excited to even go looking. I'm wondering if I should buy two different dresses, one size 10 and one 12? Because what if I thin down more than I expect and a 12 is too big? I don't think that'll happen. I think if a 12 is too big, it won't be sloppy too big. We'll see. And by then I will be able to tell my friends I ran a 5K and that I'm training for a marathon (and in this precise moment, I use the word "training" very loosely). How wild is that? The last time they saw me, I was over 200lbs and for some, I was close to 250lbs, and by then I'll be around 171 (hopefully) and a runner?! It trips me out! LOL!

So back to the No Money Diet. Tonight's dinner was rice and beans. I added some diced tomatoes and chili seasoning to the kidney beans. It was delicious; the leftovers will be lunch tomorrow. I'm happy with the scale again. I know that I'm not going to buy any foolishness when I get paid. I want to continue to see results. I'm back on plan, baby! And it's going to be so easy to phase into FS because of how I've been eating on the No Money Diet. I just have to buy plenty of produce because I'ma be all fruited out, lol. I need it to cleanse my system. And I'm not dreading FS, either. I kinda welcome the challenge, because, really, that's all it is.

Seriously looking forward to leaving the 180's, and for good this time. I'm seriously NOT trying to climb back above 182.5. I'm not. I remember this feeling. This is how I felt when I started WW last year. Positive. Strong. Sure. Ready.