Rollercoaster Ride

Hey guys,

So, to put it nicely, this week has been a bit difficult for me. You see, I thrive when I am busy. I like going from one activity to another, not thinking about what else is going on in my life, just concentrating on what I have to do next. And this week, because of my profession's national conference, we didn't have class. Which meant A LOT of down time. Which meant A LOT of thinking about back home. Which made me sad.

And then, amidst the sad times, I would find something to make me happy. Often, it was thoughts about how excited I am to move back home... So, I'd be really happy for a few hours, even a day, and then crash and have to pull myself out of the sadness again. Its not quite bipolar level, but it really was wreaking havoc on my emotions this week. Like a rollercoaster.

Today's sermon in church was about Job. God LET Satan tempt Job and take everything away from him, because God knew Job was strong enough to take it. And Job, being the awesome guy he was, continued to praise God through all the hard times. And that's what I kind of tried to work towards this week. Finding the positives and thanking God for them, rather than dwelling on the negatives and how much I hate being away from home.

So, these next few weeks will hopefully pull me out of this funk. My schedule really picks back up next week, and I have more classes, and more fun things to do (like my college roommate visiting me, going to a few ECHL hockey games, and eventually the boy visiting for Valentine's Day!). And the busier I am, the less I will think about what I'm missing at home.

One positive about this week was I had some time to cook a few things. One of them was homemade tzaziki sauce. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this awesomeness, its a yogurt/sour cream sauce that can go on meat, or with pita bread, or with carrots, etc. Its cucumbery, dilly, and garlicky... and delicious. I found a recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen Blog and will repost it how I made it here!

World's Best Tzaziki Sauce! From Kalyn's Kitchen Blog

Ingredients:
3 cups Greek Yogurt
juice of one lemon (about 3 T)
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 medium cucumbers, seeded and diced
about 1 T kosher salt for salting cucumbers
1 T finely chopped fresh dill
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle salt on them. Let them sit for at least 30 minutes (I let mine sit for 45) so the water can draw the salt out of the cucumbers (Wow, science!). Then, a step that I didn't do but was recommended to me, is to press the cucumbers between a few sheets of paper towels to draw even more water out of them. Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and combine.

It should last in the fridge for a few days! I ate it tonight on a chicken burger that I put in a pita with some lettuce, tomato, and feta, and it was AMAZING. Will definitely be making it again, and using ground chicken breast more often (super healthy!)

Here's to a better week... much happier, and continuing to be healthy :)

-Austin

Current weight: 167.2
Weight loss since January 14 (the start of this new effort): 6 lbs

New Name, New Theme, New Challenge!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated this in 34972034792 days (it feels like that!)... Here's where I am right now:

Starting weight: 202.2
Current weight: 158.2
Total weight loss: 44 lbs!

That's right! I've lost 44 pounds! My eventual goal is a total of 62 pounds... to be down to 140 pounds. So, I still have a ways to go! This is a long journey, but I'm doing this right. I'm going to stay this way for life, and not let myself get back to where I've been.

Currently, I'm back in Charleston, SC, which, next to Hilliard, feels like home. Its so awesome being here again and getting to see all of my friends. I'm not in love with the clinical I'm in right now, but I'm definitely learning a lot, and it has made me so much more sure of my desire to work with stroke patients/elderly people. Which, I guess, is good!

So, the blog name change... I've decided to, at least temporarily, go with the name "Healthy and Happy". When I first started to try to lose weight, I did it because I was starting to show what I thought were symptoms of type 2 diabetes. I had also told myself that, if I ever got over 200 lbs, that was when I was going to start losing. So, there I was... and here I am now!  I think I am in pretty good shape (although I need to be in even better shape), and I've got a direction in my life... I know what I want to do, the people I want to work with, and how I want to live my life.  If I can live it HAPPY and HEALTHY, there isn't much more I can ask for!

I saw this challenge on Pinterest (LOVE that website... so many good recipes, good motivation, good workouts) about posting a picture a day about being healthy. So, I decided I'll try it! My biggest problems are 1) I hopefully will have time for this! I may be doing several pictures in a day to catch up for days I miss during the week! and 2) I haven't figured out how to send pictures from my iPhone to my computer easily. So, these first few pictures will be taken from my computer and posted on here! I'll figure it out eventually! I've always wanted to do one of these photo challenges, and so here we go! And this will keep me honest with my quest!

Day 1: Before Picture... ok, so I didnt take this picture yesterday, but I'll take one today! Sorry it doesnt look so awesome, I already showered for the night :)

 Day 2: Breakfast. Today's breakfast was a cup of Fiber One Caramel Delight and 1.25 cups of coffee... I spilled my coffee partway through my second cup and that kind of ruined it for me :(

This is gonna be fun!!! Feel free to join in if you want!  And thanks in advance for your support!
-Austin

Introduction to the crazy idea...

I'll start off this blog with a little about myself.  I'm a 22 year old female, and I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, completed my undergraduate degree at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and am now earning my Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree at Emory University in Atlanta.  I have been overweight almost my whole life.  I swam competitively when I was younger, but I always told myself that it was okay to eat more because I was working out... now, years later, I have reached 200 pounds.  I've always told myself that when I hit 200 pounds, thats my breaking point, and I'm going to need to lose weight.  So, here I am, and here we begin!

So, I came up with this crazy idea today.  There are approximately 12 weeks of school left for me before Christmas break.  Therefore, to go along with the popular Christmas song, "The 12 Days of Christmas" or whatever its called (you know what I'm talking about!), I've decided that I'm going to aim to lose a pound a week, or 12 pounds before Christmas.  I'm going to weigh myself every night and post it on here as often as I can, so you guys can keep me accountable.  And, for every pound I lose and keep off for at least a week, I will post a healthy recipe or an exercise tip or something health-related (I got my undergraduate degree in Physical Education with a concentration in Exercise Science)... so, after the first pound, there will be one tip... then 2, then 3, etc. I saw a statistic today (and I can't verify it) that people gain on average 10 pounds between October 31 and January 1... thats not going to be me this year!

I'm going to lose this weight not only by eating healthier, but also in investing in some exercise videos.  I think I'm going to purchase TurboFire, thanks to @KickboxMommy (follow her on Twitter!) who has helped me immensly in choosing a product.  And, there is a very good possibility that I will lose more than 12 pounds before my deadline, but that won't keep me from posting more great tips and motivational things!

So, my beginning weight is 202.6... so my goal weight by December 25 is 190 pounds.  And if you want to join me in the "Lose 12 pounds by Christmas", I would love it!

Thanks for reading this, and hopefully for your continuing support in my endeavor!

-Austin