Skinny Jeans

These, ladies and gentlemen, are my skinny jeans. No, they are not a skinny cut, but they are my denim that I wear when I am my thinnest. They're an old pair of Sevens circa 2005. they have always been tight since the day I got them and I have gone periods through college where I couldn't fit into them. Practically my entire senior year of college, I couldn't squeeze into them.

I never weigh myself. In fact, I've never owned a scale and we don't have one in our house. I have never been concerned with my weight as a number but more about how I look and feel. Senior year I put in a ton of work with my classes while also doing an internship. And of course, my social schedule was more than packed. On top of my busy schedule, I had to cook for myself because it was my first year living off campus and not having a meal plan. I hate cooking. I hate hate hate it! I love eating and unfortunately, I love eating stuff that is too hard to cook (well for me at least). Plus, I would go to the grocery store to buy groceries and when I would go to the check out and spend $80, I would think of a lot better things I could do with that $80. The entire situation backfired on me and I definitely gained around 8ish pounds while in college. Whether I gained it all my senior year, I'm not sure.

When I came home from school, I made a change. I started running again and eating healthy (my mom's home cooked, healthy meals...not Taco Bell). I can easily slip into my "skinny jeans" now. I am so happy and relieved! I am no expert and am definitely not up on the latest diets and the healthiest, trendiest foods, but here are some tips that I followed...

• Soda intake is bad, bad, bad. At school I would drink Diet Coke but second semester I started to cut way back and now I rarely drink Diet Coke or any other soda drink. If I am craving something other than water, I turn to hot green or black tea with a little bit of Splenda. This is what I turn to when I want a late night snack as well. Instead of reaching for something with calories in it, I make a nice cup of tea.  
• I don't eat fast food. Ever. Literally, I would probably eat fast food at least once a week at school. To some, I am sure that sounds disgusting. But people, I love Taco Bell. Plus, since I didn't know how to cook and I had little time to eat, I often just "grabbed" Chipotle or Taco Bell (excuses, excuses). Now, I probably eat it once a month, sometimes not at all. 
• I eat a small lunch. Usually I make something light like soup or a salad or a sandwich. Except instead of bread, I've turned to lettuce as my "bread". I've even been doing this when ordering at restaurants and have never had any that were unable to accommodate the request. I've also been using lettuce to dip into hummus instead of pita which, in my opinion, is a perfectly good alternative.
• My snacks consist of hot tea/black coffee, fruit, hummus, pickles. Craving a salty snack? Grab a pickle. Craving a sweet snack, grad some watermelon or strawberries.
• After dinner, I used to eat a dessert item almost always. Now, I've learned to curb my sweet tooth and probably only eat dessert one night a week (sometimes not at all).
• I started using the My Fitness Pal app for iPhone during the first few weeks back from school. I recommend it for anyone, not necessarily to keep up with your food intake, but just to see where you could cut things out. I quit the app after about 2 weeks but it really helped me to see where I could edit my diet and exercise plan.

These are just things that I did that I think helped my to get back into shape. I am by no means a doctor or a health expert. What do you do to lose those few pesky pounds? Have a fabulous day!

Yours,
sCe

**P.S. Happy Birthday to the best Daddy in the entire world! I love you SO much!