i've promised complete honesty ...

so here it is.

sticking to this overhaul has been one of the hardest things i've done, especially in the face of personal hardships.

as most of you know, we have a beautiful dog named riley.


we've gone through so much with her ... training, surgeries, emergency room visits, medicines, separation anxiety, chewing ... you name it, we've gone through it with her.

for the past week or two, it's really been too much for us to handle.

we've been discussing our options, including selling the dog.

let's face it, we live in an apartment, and she deserves a yard.

we work all day, and she deserves even more attention than what we can give.

what we DO give her, in abundance, is our love. that's what makes this hard.

last night, i broke down. we thought we had decided (thanks to our pros and cons list), to definitely sell her. then she came and snuggled up next to me, like she always does.

i cried. i shook. i wanted to have fistfuls of chocolate, and about a gallon of dr. pepper. i wanted to not only break my progress, but smash it to little pieces.

i was mad at myself for even considering the thought of selling her.

why couldn't i handle this?

thankfully, we called my mom, and she's going to take her for a few weeks, to allow us the chance to step back and really think about it. she's also going to try her hand at better training her (and giving her a place to run around).

i didn't break the overhaul—i think i would have really regretted it this morning—but settled for sitting by myself and allowing for some "calm down" time instead.

every day is a challenge, but it just goes to show you can make it through. tonight's challenge? driving the six hours to mom's house when alex gets off work (at 7 p.m.) and not having any caffeine.

keep us in your thoughts; more posts to come on monday.

good eats.

last night, i passed the ultimate test.

alex and i went to red lobster.

you know the place ... cheese biscuits, creamy pasta, and butter galore.

my mouth waters just thinking about it.

i wanted nothing more than to sit down with a plate of coconut shrimp, shrimp pasta, and a basket of cheesy, biscuit-y goodness, but i settled for steamed lobster, a few bites of the pasta, and half a biscuit.

top it off with yummy salad and a water, and i was set. i set boundaries for myself, and i surprisingly kept to them. yay me!

here's our lobster and crab mess:


yummy.

(best part? i didn't feel like i deprived myself!)

i wasn't surprised by the weigh-in, especially since i hadn't made it to the gym in a few days, but i'm still very pleased with my results. things are getting smaller. tighter. lovelier.

in the three weeks since starting this whole thing, i've lost six pounds. that equates to this:


wow. all in all, the burger weighs in around nine pounds, but the patty is six. that used to be in my thighs. eww.

btw, i've established a new goal for this week: actually make it to the gym three times this week (at least). oh, and remove the white pasta from my life.

here are a few goals i've already woven into my day-to-day ... try them! (but be prepared to lose, lose, lose!)

1. choose 1 cup skim milk (90 calories) instead of 1 cup whole milk (150 calories).
you save 60 calories a day. do this once a day and save 21,900 calories per year, which is equivalent to 6.25 pounds of weight.

2. choose 6-oz. light, fat-free yogurt (80 calories) instead of 6-oz. full-fat yogurt (double calories, at 190).
do this 4 times a week and save: 22,880 calories per year, or 6.5 pounds of weight.

3. eat three cups of air-popped popcorn (90 calories) instead of 3 cups microwaved caramel popcorn (a whopping 280 calories!)
you will save 190 calories per serving; do this 4 times a week and save 39,520 calories per year. this simple change is equal to losing 11.3 pounds of weight! (i don't really eat popcorn, but if i did, it'd totally be the air-popped kind)

4. take 1 teaspoon of Splenda® (< 5 calories) in your coffee/tea, instead of 1 teaspoon of sugar (16 calories).
you save 11 calories each time. do this 4 times a day and save 16,060 calories per year - the equivalent of 4.5 pounds of weight.

5. also, if you take a brisk 15-minute walk (equivalent to one mile) each day, you'll burn between 100-130 calories each time. over the course of a year, this burns a total of 36,500-47,450 calories, equal to 9.5-12 pounds of weight.

i'm on a mission, and i won't stop until i get there.