1 year since... plus before and after pictures!

That's right! It has been a little bit over 1 year since I decided to start losing weight and start this blog!

I'm proud to say that, one year later, I have lost (and kept off) nearly 20 POUNDS! It has been hard work with many ups and downs (I got down to 177 at one point, but am unfortunately up (pound wise) in the past few weeks), but I never get tired of hearing "You look skinny!".  I've gone down 2 jeans sizes and am now wearing a size 8 in American Eagle.  I haven't bought a new dress since then, but I can imagine I have probably gone down a dress size as well.

The hardest part for me has been not eating the foods I love on such a regular basis.  If you know me, you know that I could eat Chipotle at least once a week, and could go to Starbucks or Caribou every other day.  I've had to cut back a bunch on both of those, and even went a good part of the summer without going to Chipotle, just so I could ensure that I would fit into my bridesmaid's dress for my cousin's wedding. I've found it easy to exercise regularly, and it will only get easier now that Fall is coming, and I will be able to walk outside.

BUT, I'm only halfway-ish to my goal! I set a new goal for myself to lose 50 pounds in 2 years.  This would put me right around 150, which still isn't my "healthy weight", but is a heckuva lot closer.  SO, I started Weight Watchers this past Sunday (when I started writing this blog... it has taken me a few days to put it together).  I have had success with WW in the past, and this time paid for 4 months, so hopefully I will see some results! I'm also starting P90X this week.  I may not follow it as religiously as I should due to a lack of time, but it will be a nice change from my usual elliptical/treadmill routine.

Life is getting crazy too.  I'm in my final semester of true academic work, and my courses this semester are difficult and not the most interesting, although I'm really liking the brain injury stuff we are currently learning.  Tomorrow (Friday), we pick our clinical sites, where we will be for 8ish months starting in January.  I already know that I will be in Rock Hill, SC for my first one, working at HealthSouth Rock Hill, and staying with a campus ministry at Winthrop University.  I am so excited to live in an amazing Christian community for 10 weeks, and be reunited with some amazing friends that I met in college and didn't get to spend an extended amount of time with.  I'm hoping the following clinic will be in Charleston, SC, and then my third one either in Atlanta or Washington DC.  We'll see how it plays out, and I'll keep you guys updated!

Last, here's some before and after pictures... me last year at my White Coat ceremony, and me earlier this week.  What a change!

Original weight: 202.2 lbs.
Sunday's weight: 182.8 lbs.
Today's weight (5 days into Weight Watchers): 180.2 lbs.

-Austin

PS. Since I'm not exactly trying to lose the "12 Pounds of Christmas" anymore, I need a new name for my blog! I'm definitely open to suggestions!

New Recipe!

One of my favorite restaurants in Columbus is Figlio. It specializes in pizza and pasta, and happens to be owned by the parents of one of my friends from College of Charleston.  Their pastas are all really yummy, and I decided to make a pasta based on some of their pastas for my dinner tonight. It ended up being SUPER easy, and SUPER yummy. The magic ingredient is the feta-do not leave it out!

Penne with Tomato Alfredo Sauce with Chicken and Feta

Serves 2 (with smaller servings)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups penne (I use the small cook-in-3-minutes kind)
1/4 cup light alfredo sauce
1/4 cup tomato sauce (I use Bertoli olive oil and garlic)
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1/8 cup crumbled feta cheese (although you can add more if you want... like I said, it is the magic ingredient!)

Directions:
Bring water to boil to cook pasta, adding a bit of salt.  Cook pasta according to directions. Before draining, add in spinach, and let wilt in hot pasta water for 2 minutes. Drain and return to pot. Stir in alfredo sauce, tomato sauce, and feta cheese.

SO easy, right?? And it was delicious! Bon Appetit!
-Austin

Big Update!!

Hey everyone!! Sorry I haven't written in this in sooooooooo long. I've been hearing about my lack of writing from some of my readers, but really, I haven't had much to write about. Until now...

I'VE LOST 20 POUNDS!!!!!!!

That's right! 20 pounds since last September! I can't believe it either!  I had plateaued at 188 as of last week... then started this new healthy eating study that Emory is doing, where I record everything I eat.  I've been better about measuring out serving sizes, and been really good about keeping my intake to 1500 calories a day. And voila, I dropped 6 pounds in a week!  And haven't gained any of it back!

The other cool thing about this study is I'm getting paid to do it... $70 total.  And I've decided that I'm going to take the money that I am making and put it towards getting back on Weight Watchers.  I did WW back in high school and in college, and had a lot of success with it. I just really like how everything is worth points... food, exercise, etc. So, hopefully that will work! I'm really proud of myself for coming up with the idea, and I'm really excited about starting it once this study is done.

So, instead of a recipe (because the only recipes I've really been making lately are banana chocolate chip muffins, which aren't healthy, and fish tacos, which are pretty straightforward), I've decided to list some of my current healthy food obsessions:

Lean Cuisine Spinach, Artichoke, and Chicken Paninis
Lean Cuisine Baja Quesadillas
Fiber One Caramel Delight
Archer Farms Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti Granola (not super healthy, but its got a lot of whole grains!)
Snackwell's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Bites (taste just like fudge rounds)
Jello Sugar-Free Chocolate Mousse Indulgence

I highly suggest you check all those out! They are all super good!

Last, I'll leave you with some current inspiration for my weight loss... I was really into this season's Biggest Loser. One of my friends, during the finale, said to me "Austin, we are going to be Olivia and Hannah" (two sisters who were finalists)... and that is what is keeping me focused right now.  The fact that someone else is in this with me, and that it IS possible to lose weight!!

Love always,
Austin

3 weeks until Spring Break!!! Time to get moving (literally!)!

This update isn't so much about me losing weight (well, because I haven't), but more about my updated plan on how I'm gonna do it, as well as a yummy recipe that I made tonight!

To be honest, I haven't lost any weight because I spent the past 4 days in New Orleans eating fried shrimp po' boys and not exercising! I was at the American Physical Therapy Association's Combined Sections Meeting, and I had an amazing time!  I learned so much from some of the biggest names in the field... for example, Sue Falsone, who is the PT for the LA Dodgers, and Allen Hardin, who is the Co-Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Texas-Austin.  These people have my dream jobs, and it was a great experience to learn from them!

So, like the title says, 3 weeks from today I will be laying on the beach in Florida for Spring Break!  I cannot believe it is already coming up! My goal is to be down to 185 by Spring Break... so thats 7 pounds in 3 weeks.  Not a super healthy goal to achieve, but I think I can do it!  I'm aiming to workout 18 of the 21 days that are between today and that Sunday... and I'm gonna have to workout for longer in order to burn off the yummy Cheryl's Cookies my mom sent me for Valentine's Day!!

I also am going to eat healthier!  I started by making this meatloaf recipe tonight!  I'm linking it to here so I don't have to repost it... but it was super yummy! I definitely ate more than I should have haha! Here's the link! Thanks Cooking Light!
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=50400000109591

Thanks everyone for reading! You all rock!!
Austin

The first week is always the best...

Seriously, why can't week 7 be the big weight drop week?  With every diet attempt I've ever had, I've always lost a pretty significant chunk of my weight goal during the first week, and then plateau or even gain further down the road.  Its most likely because I am the most motivated and focused on losing during the first week, and then as time goes on, I let myself slip up, and that is when I plateau.  My goal for this attempt is to not let myself get complacent, and challenge myself, so during week 7, I can lose as much as I have lost during week 1.

While I was lifting weights today, I picked up 2 20 pound dumbells to do my calf raises with.  And I realized that that is the stress I would feel if I was 40 pounds heavier than I am now.  My joints hurt; it was hard to get up onto my toes.  And it made me wonder how great my joints and muscles will feel when I do lose all the weight!  It is amazing how just adding a little bit of weight can put so much stress on your body.

AND I have a recipe for you all! I can't take credit for this one, because I found it in a Cooking Light magazine, so I'm posting the link to their website.  My mom gave me a subscription to Cooking Light for Christmas, and I have been trying to make a dish each week.  Last week it was sauteed chicken with a tomato sauce; tonight's incredible dish was 5 ingredient tex-mex pork.  It was easy and SO yummy! Here's the link, and I hope you will all try it!
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=50400000108389

Current weight: 192.0 lbs
Weight loss to date for this attempt: 3.0 lbs
Total weight loss from beginning of blog: 10 lbs!

-Austin

A New Year, A New Goal

So, I know you all have been waiting on the edge of your seat to find out whether I met my 12 Pounds of Christmas goal... well, I have bad news for you: I didn't.  In fact, I don't actually know what my weight was, because my scale at home was pretty messed up (like 10 pounds higher than what it should have been). I think at the end I was probably around 194.  And I worked out almost every day (I probably missed maybe 8 days out of 30). I think I just ate too much, and I wasn't as conscious about what I was eating, because I wasn't the one cooking it.

HOWEVER, its a New Year, right?? And that means I am going to set a new goal! I'm aiming for 15 by summer... I started yesterday at 195, so my goal is to be down to 180 by the time June 1st hits.  I don't have a clever name for this or anything (I'm open to suggestions, though!), but I do better when I have a goal and I can work towards it! SO, 180 by June 1st it is!

I also have a recipe to share with you guys! This one is pretty simple, and although its not super lo-cal, I discovered it yesterday and have eaten it for the past 2 days for lunch! I have to give partial credit to my cousin, Kate, for turning me onto onion and chive cream cheese... its delicious!

So, the recipe is for a simple turkey sandwich! I take 2 pieces of bread (I use whole grain white), spread a tablespoon of the onion and chive cream cheese on the bread, put a serving of deli turkey split between the two pieces, and a slice of 2% provolone cheese! It ends up being about 300 calories, but the cream cheese has so much flavor that it is totally worth it and super filling!

Hopefully, I'll be able to update this more often than I did last semester... Sorry!

Current weight: 194.0
Weight loss to date: 1.0 lbs.

Have a good Wednesday! I'll be enjoying (well not really, I'm SUPER bored) my 3rd snow/ice day in a row!
-Austin

A semi-non-weight loss-related post

So, I've been battling some self-esteem issues the past day or so... and there's a song I've been listening to on repeat that I'm trying to use to motivate me. I'm posting the lyrics here, hoping it can inspire anyone else who struggles with their self-esteem too:


Katy Perry-Firework

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
But no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you can open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gunna leave 'em goin "Oh, oh, oh!"

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

-Austin