A Real Eye-Opener

Have you ever watched those weight loss reality shows where they take overweight contestants to the supermarket and tell them to run through a "normal" grocery-buying session? They're pulling donuts and candy and chips and soda off the shelves left and right - and smiling obliviously the entire time. The host then turns around and calculates all the calories of the items or shows them how unhealthy the items are.

Well today I visited TacoBell.com to take a peek at what my usual, drive-thru order from my favorite fast food joint would cost me health-wise. Take a look at these numbers! And this isn't eve including the 42-oz. Mountain Dew (with no ice) I would have along with it!

If the picture is too small to read, that graphic reads that my meal of one crunchy taco, one chili cheese burrito and two chalupas would supply me with 1,280 calories! (And like I mentioned, the Mountain Dew - at least another 500!) That kind of knocked me back in my seat when I read that today.

And that's only one meal! Now of course, I'd feel gross and lethargic after that, but sometimes it wouldn't stop me from hitting up ANOTHER fast food place for dinner! (Usually McDonald's or Panda Express) I can't believe the number of calories I'm capable of consuming! It's frightening, to be honest.

It's also healthy to see these numbers and realize the negative impact they had on my body, but it's MORE important to learn from this and make much healthier choices. Now I can't say that I won't ever eat at Taco Bell ever again, but I can tell you that I won't be consuming 1,280 calories if I do! Mostly because I wouldn't want to run the two hours it would take to burn that all off!

What are some of the unhealthy things you've eaten that helped you gain weight? I encourage you to check the calories and see how much damage it costs you

I'm Baack!

As you can see in the posts below, I'm one to make guarantees and then not follow through on them - classy, I know. I didn't read the books I wanted to, I didn't finish my summer home video project, I didn't watch all the movies I wanted to, and I haven't been on point in my weight loss efforts.

But the beauty of life is that every day is a new day. Every morning is a new opportunity to redeem yourself, make the right choices and see the changes. And that has to be your mentality when tackling weight loss. Because you're not going to eat perfectly everyday, you're not going to get to the gym everyday. But if you learn from your mistakes and pick yourself back up, you'll get to where you want to be eventually.

And sure, it's easy to type this in a blog - but it's more difficult to actually believe and live out daily. I've gone through some rough stretches in the recent past due to my failed attempts at weight loss. Entire days would be lost emotionally, and those bad emotions would drive me to make poor eating choices and I wouldn't go anywhere but backwards.

But recently I've felt a renewed strength in this department. The motivation is really strong, my support system is growing and my desire to make this change is finally clicking. But I still want to prove to myself that I can stay on task for longer than two weeks. And prove to all my cheerleaders who are still waiting for me to break out of my shell.

So here's to an amazing week to get this ball rolling a bit faster! Best of luck to all of you this week who are in the same situation!