I won! I won! I won!

Taryn who writes Fat Girl in a Skinny World and who is totally awesome had passed this award my way!! She is always there to listen to me whine like a baby and freak out before weigh in day! I would give it back to her in a heartbeat because she is beloved to me! However... I think that's cheating. "Liebster" means "favorite" or "beloved" in German. The award is to do a shout out to us bloggers with under 200 followers.

I have 32 AWESOME followers, I <3 all of you!

So I am giving this award to 5 people...

DRUMROLL PLEASE

One of my Jenny Craig buddies and a HUGE support and success, No Thanks to Cake. This girl is kick ass. No lie!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fat in Suburbia is another one of my Jenny Craig buddies who is awesome. She has an awesome new blog design and is doing great! WOO!

Donna over at Random Rants & Rambles is great too. She posts funny pictures that cause me to nearly spray skim milk out of my nose!!

Skinny Wishing's Amber looks INCREDIBLE and she is such a success story!!! She motivates me to keep going!

And last BUT NOT LEAST Monique over at Scrubs and Squash who is a nursing student and an awesome blogger! I love reading her blog!

Go forth and pass the LOVE! I adore all of my readers, thank you for motivating me and sticking by me through thick and soon-to-be-thin!

XOXO
Katelyn

It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To!

Party: Not such a success. I invited a bunch of people over and many RSVP'd maybe or yes on Facebook but others texted me and said they could come. Well last minute I got a bunch of texts and messages saying that people weren't coming. Now, I won't say I slaved over this party...but I made a huge fresh fruit salad, I cut up veggies, I made onion dip with fat free sour cream instead of buying it prepackaged, bought fat free lays potato chips, had hummus and low calorie pretzels, and I made crystal light lemonade...I also did a big housewife workout getting the house in tip top shape. Only to find out that only one person was coming and another person "might" stop by after work.

So then I was all alone with all this food and I'll admit...I ate some. I was feeling a little upset and eating to comfort is one of my biggest downfalls. I managed to stop myself after stealing a few potato chips and munching on some cucumber with dip. I stopped myself and went to sit down with some lemonade and from there it was great. When my friend came I just had some fruit salad and a bit more veggies with dip. I know I went a little off plan but it really wasn't that bad. I also sent ALL of the leftovers home with my friend. She's thin as a rail...and she said she didn't even know that anything was low fat/low cal. She enjoyed everything! AND I got rid of the leftovers!

Tonight was a really good experience for me because I did catch myself stress/comfort eating. I had already eaten my JC dinner too (Sesame chicken!) and I wasn't even HUNGRY! I just...wanted to do SOMETHING and food was available. I won't make that mistake next time. I also won't have a whole bunch of snacks for people I think are coming! Yikes!

Tomorrow is another busy day...but my Friday looks amazing :D Very light day so, fingers crossed, it will stay that way! I am on the weekend but so far it looks pretty light. I could use the break! And my dad might come help me put up the rods and the curtains...maybe.

Goodnight to all my wonderful blog readers. Thank you so much for your support, it really means everything to me. I couldn't get through this without you!

Love,
Katelyn

30 Before 30

This was an idea I got from reading another GREAT blog Fat Girl in a Skinny World!! Hope you don't mind I'm borrowing the idea! I just love this concept...it's a bucket list...without actually having to kick the bucket! I've never met the lovely author of Fat Girl in a Skinny World but we have a LOT in common. We're similar in age and we're both nurses! We also have the same goal weight and basically the same starting weight!

Check out her blog! She's awesome :D And plagarism is the highest form of flattery? Right? Right!?

Here is a list of 30 things I want to accomplish before I turn 30! Approximately 7 years!

1)      Be able to go shopping and fit into “normal sized” clothes.

2)      Hike up Talcott Mountain in CT

3)      Get my APRN (nurse practitioner certification)

4)      Completely redo my 70s bathroom

5)      Get a tattoo

6)      Learn to Grill

7)      Visit Canada! Road trip anyone?

8)      Participate in a triathalon

9)      Buy a car with 4WD – being a homecare nurse out in blizzards without 4wd stinks!

10)   Be able to do real pushups!

11)   Learn to dance –without causing major injuries to everyone in my general area

12)   Master the Spanish Language

13)   Go to Mexico and Spain!

14)   Go on a goodwill trip with Doctors without Borders or another similar agency!

15)   Be part of a live studio audience –at the Talk? The View? Jerry Springer? Looks fun!

16)   Get married and have kid(s)

17)   Start acting again! Audition for plays!

18)   Buy stock in Frank’s Hotsauce – I eat enough of it to drive shares up I’m sure.

19)   TMI  - get a bikini wax? I’m scared.

20)   Skydive!

21)   Visit Hawaii

22)   When I reach my goal weight, have a sexy photo shoot. Lingerie anyone?

23)   Go on a whale watch

24)   Run…not a 25k or a 5k…just be able to run. The rest will fall into place

25)   Pay off all my student loans

26)   Get myself something designer! Jeans, dress, something flashy when I reach goal

27)   See the Aurora Borealis

28)    Karaoke in public…never done it before. Hopefully I can muster my strength! Tequila anyone?

29)   Make a difference in one person’s life.

30)   Become a success story!

What are some things that you want to accomplish before 30 or 50 or 100!! I'd love to hear your goals and your dreams!!

Thanks again to Fat Girl in a Skinny World for this idea!

Eating Out Success

Tonight I had a wonderful evening planned with two good friends. We went to see Richard III in the outdoor theatre at our alma mater! It's something I do every year, it's 'Shakespeare in the park' amped up. And the performance did NOT dissapoint! I suggest anyone in the CT area to go see it, it will just blow your mind.

Half the fun of going is bringing a picnic and enjoying it outdoors. I debated back and forth about whether I wanted to bring a JC meal I already cooked and bring my snack...but I have not eaten out since starting my JC journey and after having purchased the new dining out guide, I wanted to test my mettle. I want to start with the disclaimer that I believe that I did a great job first of all resisting all the temptations and made a good choice based on my dining guide and my plan.

My JCC may have other ideas...during my session on Wednesday we talked about going out and I got a lot of mixed messages. Yes, I am on JC but I also have a life and I want to enjoy going out occasionally. SO using the guide I picked out that I was going to have a cup of chicken noodle soup and half of the mediterranean veggie sandwich and bring my salad from lunch with just a small amount of dressing...total calories, WELL WITHIN RANGE. Not to mention I was not eating my JC snack, I saved my fruit AND both my milks to have at this meal. The exchanges worked out and I may have splurged a little bit...but I didn't think it would break the bank.

And what I got in return was a kind of snotty 'well you can do what you want'. So...I did. I made great choices while I was out, I had my cup of chicken noodle soup and half a sandwich (as reccomended in my JC Dining Out Guide if I might point that out) and ate about 1/2 of my salad before I knew I was full. Good choices all around if you ask me! Not to mention I was very active today and I'm not going to let my perception of my JCC's attitude deter me from enjoying!

We will see what the almighty scale has to say about it next Wednesday!

Temptations...

I've been very very good on my plan. Getting my fruits and veggies and milk in! I've also been staying on track with my food. But this weekend a coworker of mine invited me to a big BBQ at her house. I told her that I'm doing Jenny Craig and that I'm keeping my eating healthy. I don't want to feel like I can't go to things because there will be food temptations, that's so stupid! But I know my habits and I also know that there's going to be BBQ food, and not many 'healthy' choices.

So I am debating. Either I should eat before I go and avoid munching...or I'll go and use it as a learning experience for the future. Making the best choices I can from what's there! I think I can be good...I need to believe in myself! I did great at my friend's grad party...I can do great again, right?

Anyone else struggling with events that crop up? How do you stay on plan and make good choices!