It's official:

I am HORRIBLE at maintaining a blog.

But here goes try #221853 (slight exaggeration):

WOW. It's been a while.
Let's see... what's new with this girl?

For starters, I graduated college!
Finally. After 5 years. But, hey, I finished!
B.S. in Family & Child Development with minors in Psychology and Sociology.




I just got back from visiting my family in Maine.
They're precious!
Love, love, love them.
Oh, and my whole family is trying to eat vegan now.
Especially my sister who is rockin' the vegan lifestyle.
You can check out her blog here ---> Vegan Problems

And last but not least, I started dating someone!
Amazing, right? Considering I was approaching border-line-nun status...
But anywho...
He's great, funny, and a sweetie.
Oh, and he's joining the Marines...
Extra motivation to look good? Yeah, I would say so.
(Maybe if you're lucky, I'll post a pic one day) :)

That's about all that's new in the life of this girl.
So... back to the weightloss efforts.
I started using My Fitness Pal again.
It's basically a cheaper version of a wanna-be Weight Watchers...
You keep track of what you eat, and stop when you hit your calories for the day.
Knowing that the Boo is heading off to boot camp soon, makes me want to look extra hott for when he comes home.
So it's time to get to work!

MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

How has your progress been?
Let me know!

XOXO,
Victoria

Weigh in...

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed or not, but I haven't done a weigh-in in a loooong time.
The last time was exactly a month ago - February 1.
At that point, I had lost 6 pounds. YAY!

But during the month of February, I really did not feel like I had been doing as well.
Not exercising much.
Not eating super healthy (not eating terrible, but just not as careful as I had been).

So I just put off stepping on that horrible invention called a scale.
But really... who invented that? 

This morning, I was putting on a pair of dress pants and noticed that they seemed a little lose.
At first, I was super happy but then told myself they were probably just stretched out.
I debated a few minutes, then finally grabbed the scale.
And.... And... And...

MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

ANOTHER 6 POUNDS GONE!!!

Overjoyed. Elated. Shocked.

Those describe me now.

Even though I haven't been making huge changes like I did in January, this just goes to show that little changes can make a big difference.

So today, use the stairs instead of the elevator.

Drink water instead of coffee. (Hard, I know.)

Be good to yourself.

XOXO,
Victoria

Time to be honest...

I'm slipping, guys.
I've only been to the gym 2 times (maybeeeee 3 times, but I think that's wishful thinking) in the last week and a half.
I can not fall back into being unhealthy.
I won't do it.

Trips up to visit by sister in PA and Valentine's Day candy (darn you, chocolate) have been two of the main causes I think.
But, now that the holidays are over and I have no more money for gas, I am stuck here in VA for a while.
Which means, I am less than 5 minutes from the gym again!

No excuses.

Goals for this week:
1) Drink only water.
2) Work out at least 4 times this week.
3) Not eat anything chocolate related.

Here's a little motivation for you lovely people today... let me know what your workout consists of today!

[ found at http://pinterest.com/pin/113153009358245605/ ]

XOXO,
Victoria

  

a little motivation

I don't know about you all... but I need some motivation.

And I need it BAD. 

So where do I turn for some? Pinterest, of course!

[ from http://pinterest.com/pin/113153009357386105/ ]

[ from http://pinterest.com/pin/113153009357318629/ ]

[ from http://pinterest.com/pin/113153009357315536/ ]

 My goal for today:

Work out HARD.

What is your goal??

Confession time...

This weekend = bad.

Well, actually it was great.

Girls night, date with the housemates, Super bowl goodies...

But oh-so-bad for my "get healthy 2013" lifestyle that I have been working on.

Do you know how many calories were included in those three events alone???

Neither do I...but I do know that it was probably atleast double what I have been eating.

Not. even. exaggerating.

I'm trying really hard not to beat myself up over it.

(Oh, and did I mention that I went to the gym a grand total of 0 times this weekend?)

Everyone has slip-ups and eats that one extra piece of pizza right?

It's all about holding fast to the goal.

And the goal for this girl can only be acheived by...

visits to the gym...

healthy eating...

and lots and lots of water.

So here we go!

Who else has to hit it hard after this weekend?! What are your plans to get back on track?

XOXO,
Victoria

high five for friday!

TGIF!!
(But really...)

This means it is time forrrr......

 

1) Last Friday, I went to the Sears in town because they are closing and having huge sales - my favorite. :) And I picked up this cute bedding for only $24!

2) Smoothie King is my new favorite quick meal. I've had it twice this week and it is so yummy! The first time I got Pineapple Pleasure (I think that is what it's called?) and today I got a Chocolate Lean 1.

3) And the countdown has finally begun until I get to visit with my sister!!! I'm going to pick her up this coming Thursday. Anyone out there who thinks you have the best sister - you don't. (Sorry, not sorry.)

4) Okay, I don't really know if this counts as a h54f or not since I haven't done it yet, but have all you bloggers seen this??? Hair removal with a sugar mix! I found it on Pinterest (the place where all good crafts come from) and I am really wanting to try it. 

[ photo from Pinterest ]

5) Lastly, I gave in to temptation and weighed myself on Thursday instead of waiting until Sunday and guess what?! Down two more pounds! 

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

XOXO,
Victoria

Weigh in #2

I weighed in for the second time today... but only after going to the bathroom twice and stripping off every piece of clothing. (every ounce counts, people.)

Anddddd..... 2 more pounds lost!!!

Not as much as I would like, but hey! That's a total for 4 pounds less than I started with. And to be honest, I am actually really proud. :)

How are you doing??

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

XOXO,
Victoria

Back to the gym!

The last couple of days I've found myself starting to slack off. The excuses keep trying to come back.

"But you've worked all day! Just rest."
"Skipping one day won't matter."
"There probably isn't even a good parking place at the gym right now."
"It's probably over crowded."

No. More. Excuses.

So here I am. Changed into my workout clothes, about to hop in the car and drive to the gym.


Need some motivation? Here you go! (You can thank me later.) ;)

[found at http://pinterest.com/pin/17803360997090156/ ]

Baby Steps!

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Weighed in and took measurements today... talk about depressing! Here we go...

Weight: 216 (2 pounds lost)
Chest: 45 inches
Waist: 41.5 inches
Hips 49.5 inches
Single thigh: 28 inches
Arm: 12.5 inches

Airports & Free WiFi

Can I just say what a blessing straight from Jesus it is to have free wifi during layovers?! Sorry about my disappearance from the blog world! The last few days, I have been packing, spending time with family and traveling. I am currently at the Charlotte airport waiting for my final connecting flight back to school.

The past few days of craziness have reminded me how easy it is to become distracted from what is important. I haven't been having quiet times, haven't been exercising, haven't been eating healthy... Gosh. But that IS going to change. And I am honestly so excited about it!

I land back in my college town around 2pm today and I'm actually thinking of hitting the gym later tonight! If I can do it after waking up at 3am and riding on three airplanes, then you definitely can. Now get out there! Here's a little inspiration for you...

[ from http://pinterest.com/pin/230246599671095099/ ]

XOXO,
Victoria

2013 Resolutions.

I've never been a big one for New Year Resolutions. Why? Because no one ever holds to them. I've tried before and I do great for the first week. Then I slowly forget about them or just don't care.

But for 2013, I want to make resolutions that I will actually stick too. Nothing crazy. Doable things. So here they are. I'm putting them on my blog so that Sarah and the rest of you awesome bloggers out there can hold me accountable!

1. Get stronger in my Spiritual life. This includes going to church every Sunday morning and spending time daily doing devotions.
2. Work out at least 5 times a week for a minimum of 45 minutes. At least 30 minutes of that time needs to be cardio.
3. Drink water! Drink 10 glasses of water daily and limit soda/sweet tea to one day a week.
4. Be able to fit comfortably in a size 12. This may sound silly but I would be out of my mind with happiness! 
5. Complete the C25K running plan. I did a 10k back in 2009 after I lost a lot of weight the first time. It was haaard, but I finished!!
6. Run in a race! Once I finish the 5k running plan, I want to actually do a 5k. The first and only time I did a race, I switched between walking and running. This time I want to run and not stop even if I have to go slow!

XOXO,
Victoria

Motivation.

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

Inspiration for Today

[ found on http://weheartit.com/entry/37415198 ]

And so it begins...

Hi everyone - My name is Victoria!
I was raised the majority of my life in New England (yep, prepare for some Northern sass, people!).
I'm a college senior at Liberty University... GO Flames!
Now that you know a little bit about me, here is my story....

I know, I know... totes adorbs :)

I always thought I was crazy heavy growing up.
I can't remember wearing any size smaller than a 10 in pants or a medium in shirts.
Even though I was a little chunky, I definitely wasn't as big as I thought.
I've battled my weight all my life and the scale only seems to climb higher.
I made a lot of changes about four years ago and actually dropped about 40 pounds.

Look at me go!

 
Sadly, I gained it all back and then some.
Have you ever hit rock bottom? All you fatties know what I mean.
That moment when you look at yourself in the mirror or see your fat butt in a picture?
Or there is always that moment when you see that ugly number pop up on a scale?
Well for me, that moment came about a month ago.
I went to a doctor's appointment and of course they made me get on the hideous scale.
When my numbers popped up, I literally could have thrown up.
218.
Never in my life has my weight been that high.

This picture also helped in giving me that "moment". Gag.

I made a promise to myself to work out like a crazy person...
as soon as I got back to school.
I obviously couldn't work out since I was sick. (Excuse #1)

After a couple days, I got back to Liberty and that promise lasted about two days.
Finals came. My house had to be packed and cleaned for break.
Life got in the way. (Excuse #2)

I'm now home for Christmas break.
I head back to Liberty in exactly one week.
So far this break, I have avoided the scale at all costs and tried not to eat too many sweets.
I haven't worked out because of the cold weather (Excuse #3) and the absurd price of a gym membership (Excuse #4).


But honestly, I'm sick and tired.
I hate how I look in the mirror and in pictures.
I don't even want to think of what I look like to other people.
Things need to change.
No more excuses.
So prepare yourselves, folks.
This girl is about to get intense..