{6, 7, 8, 9 & 10}

So my first weekend on the challenge was rough

I stayed up late watching the Great Gatsby

Good movie...wouldn't say my favorite but, it was good.

And then the next day we watched Now You See Me

GREAT movie!

Seriously did not see the twist

but everyone says that.

I did fairly good with eating until my brother left

then I hopped on the computer

(He left at about noon)

Next thing I knew it was 6 o clock!

Oy...Technology is so addicting.

So basically I ate breakfast and dinner on Saturday.

Not good for my metabolism.

Then I spent the weekend trying to catch up...

I didn't work out on Saturday either.

I am a bad example:(

Then yesterday on my night alone

I indulged on some graham crackers and milk...

I broke my 2 week record so now I must start all over.

 

So basically I decided that I am not really going to tell you everything I ate

every

day..

its going to get so boring

FAST

so I'll just tell you that I

ate about 1400 calories today

I did Pure Cardio and then Core Attack from Combat!

I was dripping in sweat!!!

So over a 552 calories
(light housework included in there)
And I am feeling pretty proud of myself.
Tomorrow I am heading down to my parents ward
Relief Society
Ice cream and cake social.
Apparently daughters are invited and my Mom invited me:)
I'm not going to turn down spending time with my mom!
Although I am walking into a danger zone
I have come up with a game plan..
first I am calling a double dip Wednesday
I am doing insanity and pump in the morning
More calories burned=more calories to eat!
AND
instead of just going into it saying I'm not going to have anything
I am thinking about bringing either
a Shakeology
or
allowing myself a very small piece of cake and 1 scoop of ice cream.
I haven't fully decided...
I am excited to get out of the house though!
The hubby is babysitting
mwahaha
good luck hunny;)
jk I know he'll do a fabulous job.
Anyways I'll let you know how it goes!

Tonight for dinner we had Healthy Burritos
So easy
Black beans, cheddar cheese, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, tomatoes and a tortilla.
Pile on tortilla
(I'm too tired and lazy to actually write down how much you put on)
Microwave for a few seconds and Viola!
Burrito:)
It really does taste good trust me!
My carnivore hubby even said so:)

5 Things:
1. I love my facial animation
2. I love my small ears:)
3. I love my calloused feet ( they show my years of dance.
 I worked hard for them callouses so that I could turn barefoot!)
4. I love my smile
5. I love my tendency to worry. Even though it can get in the way of having fun sometimes...
I feel that its good to think things through most of the time before you jump in.



{5}

Holy cow this week is just flying by

I had a weak moment yesterday and I indulged on

a couple Austin Crackers with Peanut Butter:)

But I still stayed in the green with my calories so I feel like that

was an accomplishment.

So How are you all doing?

Is anyone challenging themselves to be healthier out there?

I am feeling pretty good although

I am pretty tired right now.

I did wake up at 6!!!

Score for me!

I never ever wake up right after the alarm goes off...

But today I did

Which is pretty surprising because me and the hubs

 stayed up late watching a move:)

Yoga kicked my booty

I felt strong last week doing it and this time I felt

like a sucker

Some of the positions just plain hurt!

Which is why I want to do it...

to increase my flexibility

So I will keep at it!

 

Today I am also feeling pretty hungry!

Must be doing something right...

I am hoping its a sign that my metabolism is speeding up

and not a sign of not eating enough!

I'll just drink some more water.

 

So here is what I ate today:

Bet you can already guess...

Breakfast: Whole wheat English muffin, two eggs hard boiled minus one yolk, and peanut butter.

(312 calories)

Morning Snack: Greek yogurt, 1 tsp honey, and flack seed.

(97 calories)

Lunch: Shakeology with a cup of milk, 1/2 banana and ice

(270 calories)

Afternoon snack: Ants on a log

(234 calories)

Dinner: Pump Spaghetti and Meatballs with a side of steamed broccoli

(406 calories)

The recipe for the meatballs goes as follows...

Per 3 oz of meat

Ground turkey 3 oz

1 egg white

2 Tbsp breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Combine ingredients in a bowl & form into 3 small meatballs.

Bake on cookie sheet for about 15 minutes.

So super easy and very delicious.

We make up to 1 pound of turkey and my husband eats a lot plus he has left overs:)

 

All of that adds up to 1375 calories today

+

353 extra calories earned from yoga and my walk this evening.

 

Okay so I am trying to watch how much sugar I eat.

The my fitness pal has me at a goal of

31 grams of sugar daily and

I'm always going over...

today I went 37 grams over and I am hardly eating any fruit...

Does anyone else find this ridiculous or know if that is accurate?

I mean the only thing that I am eating really that has added sugar in it would be my Shakeology

(because its chocolate and because its deliciously good)

but that only has 6 Grams of sugar in it...

The rest comes from other sources...

its just crazy

I think I'll do some Internet research and see what I can find out.

 

5 Things:

1. I love that I am emotional. I love that I can emphasize with others so well.

2. I love that I can dance around the house!

3. I love my shoulders.. They are a good shape.

4. I love that my hair is in fact getting longer...as my husband so lovingly pointed out...

"hair does grow Sarah" haha got to love him!

5. I love that I have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom!

Shout out to my hubby who works so hard for us!!! 

 

One more day 'til STAT-URDAY

Hopefully there is some progress!

{4}

Today my body is super tired

I think we need a newer bigger bed:)

Me and my husband sleep on a full so there really isn't much room to move

TMI?

Oh well. At least we didn't have to pay for it:)

Any who...

So I am getting better at getting up

although I didn't arise at 6 like I need to

I woke up at about 6:45 ish

but, after watching Dr. Oz today I realize the importance of sleep

when it comes to health

Not only does under sleeping affect your health

Oversleeping does as well!!

I realized that I am an over sleeper right now

I could easily sleep for 9-10 hours a night!

This could lead to weight gain and other diseases

So I am going to make a point to not hit the snooze in the morning!

Plus I really cant because I'll be doing

YOGA X

which is an hour and a half long work out!

So we are putting an end to that bad habit now.

 

Anyways here is what I ate today...

Breakfast: The usual

Mrning snack: 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, Flack seeds and honey.

(100 calories)

Lunch: Shako with strawberries

Afternoon Snack: Ants on a log

Dinner: Dinner Omelet!! ( Yum)

Here is the recipe

(once again super easy and super delicious)

3 egg whites

1 egg

1 C. Baby Spinach

1/4 cup feta cheese

(mix together and fry)

Serve with English muffin or slice of whole wheat bread

with all fruit spread:)

(348 cals)

 

All together I ate 1385 calories today

I kept it on the low side because I did Pump and only burned around

156 calories

+

a short half hour walk

128 calories

 

Pump kicked my booty today

I felt like I might puke and I had sweat in my eyes!

I felt awesome!!!

So far I'm not doing so good on my water but, the day is still young!

2 more days 'til STAT-URDAY!

 

5 THINGS:

1. I love my small fingers

2. I love my hair ( I can't wait till its longer though)

3. I love my eyes

4. I love that I have the ability to work out. That my body is capable.

5. I love my smile!



{3}

Here we go with Day 3

Today was kinda rough on my self esteem

It was just one of those days where I just feel huge
even though I know I don't look any different than I did yesterday.

Which is kind of interesting because

I usually feel really thin after doing insanity

It must be because I nearly died...

I lost all of the endurance I had built

so now its time to get that back!

Hopefully I will feel better about myself tomorrow:)

 

Here is what I ate..

Breakfast: Same as yesterday:)

Morning snack: Same again:)

Lunch: Shakeology with just a banana today

Afternoon snack: "Ants on a log"

My husband swears that EVERYONE knows what that is

but, I hadn't heard of them until he told me about it.

So for those of you "sheltered" people like me

its celery with peanut butter and raisins!

 Its pretty darn good!

(334  cals)

 

Dinner: Insanity Turkey Burgers and green beans

(301 cals)

All together that's 1502 calories for the day

 

I have been doing really well at meeting all of my goals so far!

Of course that all could change because we're only 3 days in...

For exercise it was INSANITY Plyometric Cardio Circuit

I'm unsure of how many calories I burned the my fitness pal

doesn't have that type of exercise in its database.

The closest thing I could find is High Impact Aerobics

and going by that I only burned 315 cals

I'm 90% sure that I burned more than that...

but oh well...I'll take what I can track:) 

{2}

Okay guys I've almost made it through day two!

Wahoo!

So here's what I ate

 

Breakfast: English muffin, natural PB, a hard boiled egg and 1 egg white.

(312 Cals)

Mid-morning snack: 1 cup of Zoi Greek yogurt {Plain fat-free} with a tsp of honey

and 1/8 cup of almonds.

(250 cals)

Lunch: Turkey and cheese sandwhich

(327 cals)

Afternoon snack: Wheat thin crackers, turkey and cheese

(275 cals)

Dinner: Shakeology with milk and strawberries

(350 cals)

 

SIDE NOTE: I'm pretty sure you are going to have what I eat memorized...

I eat the same thing pretty much everyday...

Which could get boring for most but, I read somewhere that

when trying to loose weight its actually helpful because you

KNOW

how many calories you're eating for a fact.

So to save you the boredom however, I'll probably just start saying

something like I ate the usual:)

 

All together that's 1514 calories.

Yeah this is not a starve myself for 60 days type of thing:)

I have actually really been struggling with eating enough.

My inner anorexic is killing me...

I did a month of INSANITY before this and I was getting really frustrated

because I wasn't really loosing weight...

Then I looked at the nutrition guide and I found out that I was supposed to be eating

1700-1900 cals a day!!

I was only eating about 1200...

WAY under

Which by the way is just as bad as overeating.

The main program I am doing now recommends 1400 cals

I am going to meet somewhere in the middle.

Now I bet you all are wondering what I am doing for exercise?

I am doing a hybrid of sorts

LES MILLS PUMP AND INSANITY

with yoga once or twice a week:)

 

I am pretty sure everyone knows what INSANITY is so here is a video of PUMP

Since I am trying to focus more on how I look rather than weight

I felt it would be good to build and tone.

Its true that muscle weighs more than fat but its also a lot more lean.

 And lean is good!

Today I did Pump and Shred

45 minutes of lifting and squatting!

According to my fitness pal I burned

156 cals

But the good thing about weight training is you

 continue

 to burn throughout the day!

I also cleaned the house which I count as moderate exercise:)

2 hours of that gives me 337 calories burned

So far so good!

 

Tomorrow I get my dose of Shaun T!

I am hecka nervous because I might die!!!

 

Okay here is the scary part of this post...

Measurements:

Weight: 148.6

BF weight: 40.4

BF %: 27%

Chest: 36"

L Arm: 11 3/8"

R Arm: 11 3/8"

Waist: 32"

L Leg: 21 3/8"

R Leg: 21"

Hips: 41'

 

I would post pictures but, my camera broke...Go figure!

 5 THINGS:

1. I like my smile

2. I love my hair although its thin, I love that its straight!

3. I love that I love to have fun and dance around the house

4. I love my small forearms ( that's for my hubby)

5. I love my curvy figure

 

Final side note my heart truly goes out to the family of Sgt. Johnson!

I flat out bawled when I watched the news yesterday...

And I almost had a freak out because my hubby was 2 hours late from work! HA!

Here I am telling everyone knowing that he'll be safe and then one day it all goes away!

I really am a loony!

See ya'll tomorrow:)



Day Uno

So I started my Challenge a couple days late

I was having an emotional couple of days because of my last post.

So I allowed myself some time to recoup...

But good news is I should be ending my challenge on Halloween

The bad news I already have some big challenging days ahead of me :S

So I am already planning ahead for how I will handle them.

 

 

Here are my goals for the week:

1.No graham crackers and milk.

 (This is a big temptation of mine esp. on Mondays..

No husband. While the cats away the mice will play!

My dear husband is very good at his job of holding me accountable)

2. Drink 6 bottles of water a day. This will equal about 120 oz.

3. Only sleep 8 hours a night. Lately I've been sleeping so much at night.

Oversleeping is just as bad for you as not sleeping enough when it comes to loosing weight.

4. Exercise EVERYDAY. Something I already kind of do but, I have missed a couple days lately.

5.Track what I eat everyday.

 

Notice how none of my goals include loosing a certain amount of pounds?

I saw a video that really woke me up

 to the fact that measuring your success on the scale alone

just isn't the best.

So I've set some obtainable goals

If I loose weight..

AWESOME!

If not I will feel successful by meeting these goals daily.

 

Along with weekly goals I am setting some goals I want to obtain by the end of September.

They are so far...

1. 20 boy push ups

2. Hold the plank for 5 min.

 

I'm pretty sure I'll be adding to those.

So with this challenge every Saturday I'll be posting some stats...

aka STAT-URDAY

So I'll be able to keep myself motivated that I am making some changes.

 

Alright enough about goals!

Here is what I ate/will eat today.

 

First of all its fast Sunday so obviously I skipped breakfast and my mid morning snack

Lunch: Shakeology with frozen strawberries, half a banana and some milk

(385 calories)

English muffin with Jiff Natural peanut butter

(225 calories)

for a total of 610 calories all together:)

 

Afternoon snack: Wheat thins, Swiss cheese and a slice of turkey. My grown up lunchables:)

Plus a little bit of almonds

(377 calories)

 

Dinner: Insanity style Turkey burgers!!!

This is seriously the easiest recipe!

4 oz of ground turkey

2 Tbsp salsa

2 Tbsp red onion, chopped

(mix it all together and form into a patty. Grill or broil until cooked through.)

Served on an English muffin

with some green beans on the side.

(301 calories)

 

I'll follow dinner up with a walk with my favorite little boy and possibly my husband:)

So far I am only up to 2 bottles of H2O...better start drinking!

 Tomorrow I'll post some beginning stats...
I haven't stepped on the scale in weeks.
Time to face the music!
See Ya'll tomorrow!

Oh real quick my five things!!!
1. I love my eyes!
2. I love my straight teeth that my parents so lovingly paid for:)
3. I love my small nose
4. I love my laugh. Even though its really loud and embarrassing sometimes
5. I love my ghetto booty
...I think I could be a bit smaller but, at least I don't have a flat one like Miley!



Coming Clean

Its true what they say that everything in retrospect is 20/20

Looking back at these past few years I have realized some things about myself

I only hope that I can say the things I want to say publicly

in a way that is clear and to the point.

(Warning: This will be a really long post...I have a lot I need to get off my chest.)

 

 I have few regrets about my life but the biggest regret I have 

is wishing that I had taken my health more seriously in my youth.
I wasn't an overweight kid and as a child I was always active.
Once I became a teenager is when I started to struggle with my weight and self image. 

Besides dancing I never had any physical activity.

I ate like crap

All the time

Everyday

I had good examples around me...

all of the girls that I envied so much

They would exercise and eat right.

I remember one of my dance teachers telling me

exercising and eating right

were key steps to being a better dancer.
I remember thinking to myself that I needed to do that

I just didn't know where to start.

I was just oblivious to all the people around me that could have helped.

My best friend 

JoNeal:)

Was a marvelous example to me when we met at Snow College.

She would exercise everyday 

EVERY

day.

I had opportunities to exercise with her but hardly took them..

She would however cook me the healthiest meals 

and it was her that taught me that 

having flat abs is more about what you eat than what you do to exercise.

Of course exercise is very important.

I am very grateful to her for many reasons but, for the kindness 

she showed me during those times really stand out.

 

I gained weight in college

everyone basically does...

some more than others

I will be the first to admit that I really enjoyed a bowl of ramen

basically

every day:)

But my weight didn't really skyrocket until after Snow...

When I stopped dancing

(No more activity)

During that time my self esteem really dropped.

I wasn't surrounding myself with the type of people that helped that

they actually kind of did the opposite.

They were fun to be around but, I was pretty much numb to how truly unhappy I was.

I was really overweight and I was trying to date

I joined LDS singles where my best friend at the time found the love of her life

and I mainly found guys that just wanted to make out with me or

 do other things that I wasn't willing to do.

I couldn't believe that was all I could find out there in the world.

(20/20 hindsight: I was only finding people that were like me with zero confidence in themselves.)

I firmly believe that you attract people that are just like you.

Finally a few years later I joined Weight Watchers with my mommy.

I started to learn how much eating healthy

and with that I lost 27 pounds!!!

I gained my confidence back and I started making really good friends

and I met the love of my life:)

 

Then something happened that would kill any self image I had of myself at that moment.

 

(Cue Moulin Rouge soundtrack: Jealousy, yes jealousy will drive you....MAD!)

That song is so true.

I remember everything about that fateful evening.

I was going to meet my wonderful boyfriend during his rehearsal of Footloose the Musical.

The cast was practicing in the basement of a local bank in Magna.

I was so nervous because I knew that his ex would be part of the cast

I was worried about her judging me...

My self esteem had been slightly regained but I wasn't exactly the most confident of people.

I was already shaking as I made my way downstairs.
There she was
this petite blond
and there I was...
not a petite
not a blond.
I started to cry
'How could anyone get over a girl like that?'
That's the thought that would haunt me for quite some time...
I didn't stop crying in the hall by myself even after the rehearsal got out.
She even walked past and gave me a very cool "Hey.."
I hated her...but I knew that if I were to keep my boyfriend I had to be more like her...
Because for some reason I had completely forgotten how amazing I am
within minutes.
My jealousy of her sparked many arguments with my boyfriend
(who thankfully stuck it out and married me)
and finding out more about her started to consume my life.
Two words
Facebook Stalk
Everyone pretty much does it and I shamefully admit that...
sigh....
I'll be completely honest I checked her Facebook wall daily
sometimes multiple times a day...
You know in Mean Girls when she talks about how she started talking about Regina all the time
and the other times she'd pray that someone would bring her up into conversations
so that she could talk about her some more...
Yep guilty of that as well.

 I just wanted to be exactly like her
So I began forgetting who I was and started trying to be who she was.
Even with all the reassuring from my husband that he was COMPLETELY over her
I just didn't see how he could ever love someone as ugly and as fat as me after dating her.
I would ask every one I knew would be completely honest with me even if it hurt my feelings
if she was prettier than me after showing them a picture of her.
They would always reply with a no but, I knew they were just lying.
I didn't believe anyone...
I basically ignored everything he told me he felt and kept feeling awful about  myself.

To make a long story short
and try to make it a little less complicated
(emotions are sometimes very hard to describe)
I have struggled with this feelings of hatred, jealousy, low self-worth and sadness
for years now.
These past few weeks I have realized that with my hindsight 20/20 I have completely forgotten who I am and who I was.
I need to find myself fully again.
I need to remember that I have a wonderful life right now.
I have an amazing husband who makes me laugh nearly everyday.
He knows all my faults and he still loves me unconditionally.
He would do anything for me and our son and he keeps me sane.
I also have an adorable son.
He makes me laugh and I know that when he looks at me I am the most amazing person he knows.
He's my best buddy and I love hearing his little laugh every day and I make a point to make him laugh every day just so I can hear it :)
Even though I am not super model thin
I am the smallest I have been since high school.
And as my good friend pointed out to me the other day by sending me this picture I have come a long way.

Starting today I am waging war against my bad self esteem.
Because the sexiest people are the people that are truly happy with themselves.
I am starting a 60 Day Challenge for myself that not only includes eating healthy and exercise
but, I am going to write down 5 things I like about myself everyday here on this blog.
I am going to end with my favorite song right now...because it explains perfectly how I feel.
Better posts are soon to follow:)



Day 1 of Running...

Was absolutely

HORRIBLE

My dislike of running has definitely come back.

I only ran 1.7 miles

(Goal was 2.5)

And I nearly died.

Oh well I am not gonna let it defeat me.

I am going to keep plugging

and I mean plugging

because that's how fast I run:)

Just keep plugging along!!!

Tomorrow will be day #2 I will run 2 miles even if it kills me!

Ha!

I did Les Mills Pump today

and because of the run up this big hill behind my house

All the squats and lunges

KILLED

Holy moley!!!!

Hopefully my legs will start looking good soon!

I also found out yesterday my husband has the goal to run

The Ogden Marathon next year.

Oy!

Do you think I can do it?

I really cannot even fathom running 26.2 miles...

I might go for the half...

I dunno

My Husband agreed that might be the best because I

"wont slow him down that way"

Haha sounds typical of my husband..

I guess we'll just see how this 10K goes.

I am so happy to be back being active again!

It makes me so much happier and loving life more!

What did you do today?

REBOOT

I am back!!

Sorry I have been MIA for the past few weeks.

We bought a home in Ogden and have moved!

I can't believe it actually happened.

So with all the stress and craziness of moving I had to kinda put some things aside...such as blogging.

I did pretty well however on keeping up with my exercising...

until

the week of moving!

I was so busy packing that I put exercising aside

I didn't eat too terribly well either!

(Side note: Did you know that with moving; packing boxes and lifting them everywhere you burn THOUSANDS of calories?!? No wonder you are always starving when that stuff is happening)

With that being said no wonder I didn't gain too much!

I kinda balanced myself out...

Problem was after we were in and settled I had THE hardest time finding

MOTIVATION

to workout.

I found myself falling into old habits of munching until I felt sick.

Good thing we don't have any ice cream in the house.

All I had to munch on were my son's treats: Crackers, fruit snacks etc.

Not the worst type of treats but definitely not helping towards my weight loss.

During last week I felt so lethargic and chunky!!

I knew I had to get back into the groove of things but I didn't feel like I had the energy to do that.

Because of the lack of energy I found myself thinking that I'll never reach my goals.

These 10 lbs are going to be soooo hard to lose.

because I just keep hovering around 143-146...

I am on what we call a plateau.

So whats my plan of attack?

I'll tell you
Last year I ran my first ever 5K

It was amazing to know that I could run that far

 seeing as how I used to hate running so bad!

For real

It was the worst.

After I ran it though I found myself craving to run more.

I set a goal to run a 10K this 4th of July.

So with all this non exercising I failed to realize that

the 4th of July is only in 6.5 short weeks!

HOLY!!!

I am no where near ready!

So I made myself a little training planner..

( I would show a pic but I am currently without Internet)

and today I started!

I will be running 8 miles this week and work my way up to 12 miles/week.

My new game plan comes with my new training regimen:

I am going to start focusing more on performance goals instead of weight.

I am so stuck on loosing weight that I have completely forgotten

to have fun!

Life is more than a number on a scale!

I am sad that I let myself get so obsessed with weight

but

NO MORE!

Someone very smart

(My amazing Husband)

Once told me that if I focus on performance goals the rest will fall into place!

I will start loving the way I look along the way

For now, however, I am focusing on the finish line!

Rants about the world today and eating.

 First off sorry I have been MIA for the past month.

Its been crazy busy with my husband receiving a job

and looking for houses.

With all the hustle and bustle its been really hard to maintain my goals

for the most part I do okay

but there have been days I find myself falling back into my old habits.

But NO MORE

I can't let this excuse of being so stressed ruin my goals.

So the other day while trolling facebook I saw this picture. 

 This is the Famous Marilyn Monroe.

 One of the worlds most sexy women.

Now someone in the comments said that this was photo shopped to prove a point

that she really was a small person...

Okay small or not

she still doesn't look like the models we see today.

She was 5'5" and she was beautiful.

What made her so beautiful was her confidence.

I think that lesson is something that every girl should take to heart.

Its not about what dress size you are

or

what you look like naked.

Its about learning to love yourself.

I thing that is the best part about a weight loss journey.

It takes so long because you have to learn to love who you are

not just the way you look but, who you are as a person.

The first time I saw this picture and read the cation.

I thought to myself

"WHATS HAPPENED TO THE WORLD!"

Why are we so obsessed with appearance that its all we think about?

Yes, we have a HUGE obesity problem that is going global

but, obsessing over the way you look isn't going to bring you happiness.

If we stopped worrying about what others thought of us

or stopped trying to be someone we are not then

we will never be happy with ourselves.

Change of subject..

I have noticed that when I screw up in my eating

I tend to think that I should eat less of the healthier stuff to make up for the calories.

That is so bad for you.

Your body needs the nutrients.

and starving yourself isn't going to help.

I know a lot of people (girls)

that think that starving yourself of nutrients is the only way to lose the weight.

Girls, girls, girls...

This is the worst way to shed those pounds.

You will lose the weight but, as soon as you stop your

"diet"

you will gain the weight back and more.

The only way to loose the weight and keep it off is to

CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE!

I have gone from eating 3 meals a day to eating 5

and let me tell you something.

Eating 5 small meals a day

WORKS

Period.

Not only does it help your metabolism but, I literally am never

STARVING.

If you don't believe me her is some more info

from an adorable lady that I follow.

Fit Friday: 5 meals per day

She is everything that I aspire to be.

Healthy and happy.

And guess what ladies...

she doesn't starve herself to look that way.

She goes to Red Mango just about every week too:)
I thought that what she said there was really insightful.
Give it a shot I promise you won't regret it!

Okay on a lighter note...

THE RESULTS ARE IN!!
Here are my before and after photos for
Les Mills Combat!

Over all I lost 8 inches off my body

2 inches off my waist

(that's the measurement everyone cares about right?)

and a total of 10 lbs lost!

My results would have been better if I had followed the nutrition guide better.

But I will be doing that with my next program

Which I have already started and I am so sore!

Keep it up guys and you too will see results!

It doesn't happen overnight!

I have been working hard for

3 YEARS

to get to this point.

I fit into a size 6 pants...

guys...

I don't even know when I was last a size 6...

when I first started my journey my goal was to fit into a size 8

which was my size as a junior.

But I have surpassed that!

My point is...

keep going and you never know what you'll achieve.

The bigger picture.

 

So I have really been struggling to avoid sweets

and I realized while looking through some of my old posts

that I say that a lot

a lot

a lot

a lot.

I've been thinking..

 what is holding me back from not fully committing?

I believe its because I can't fully visualize myself achieving my goals.

So last night while I was wallowing in self pity

This thought occurred to me.

I imagined what I would do when I stepped on the scale

and saw

135 lbs!

I would probably cry

I cry a lot

but these tears would be the good kind.

I would be crying because I finally achieved it!

Because I knew how hard I had worked for it.

It was a great feeling and I kept thinking about that feeling

until I fell asleep.

I think that this is something that I am going to remember when I am wanting something that isn't going to help me achieve my goals.

However, you cannot just give up everything.

Its okay to have a sweet every now and again.

If you completely deprive yourself that's when

the big CRAVINGS happen.

So I am setting a small goal for myself.

I have a friends wedding coming up in a few weeks.

If I can make it just 3 weeks I can have

a small treat

at their wedding.

I believe that I can do it!

I just have to remember how good it'll feel to achieve my goals!

 

Now on top of that I have to share that I lost 2.6 lbs!!!

I now weigh 147.8 lbs!!!

I am getting there slowly

but, very surely!

I haven't had this weight since high school!

Its been 9 years.

That's a long time.

Isn't it crazy how its so easy to gain weight but so hard to take it off?

I guess that saying "Fat lasts longer than taste"

is definitely so true.

I am so proud of myself.

I know that if I can do it..

you can too!

Its not easy for me at all.

And it shouldn't be.

It would be easy to save up money and get lipo

but I wouldn't be satisfied because I wouldn't have

REALLY

earned it.

Guys, working for it is SO worth it!

You can do it keep it up!

Just keep thinking of the bigger picture

How good you'll feel when you acomplish what you've been working for

It takes some of us years...

But a few years compared to a longer, fuller life

is nothing!



Dreams and Shakeology

Lately I have been having lots of dreams

about eating...

no not just eating

but BINGING

on sweets!!

Somehow a snickers bar is always a part of it...

And when I wake up I'm not necessarily craving sweets

I almost feel satisfied

like I've already had some???

Its weird.

Hopefully I am not sleep eating! ;)

Its been very interesting.

These last few days have been hard on me though.

I have given in to my hedonistic hunger

(the hunger that tells you that you should eat it even though your not necessarily hungry)

I have had a lot more junk than I am used to..

Hey, everyone is human.

But I haven't been feeling so down on myself..

Do you know why?

Its because I know that if I slip up

I can get back on the wagon IMMEDIATELY!

I also have been feelin fantastic lately

and I'll tell you why...

(stepping up on my soapbox now)

SHAKEOLOGY!!!

Seriously people

This stuff is legit!

I have felt so so so so good

ever since I started drinking it.

I have lots of energy

I feel it mostly durning my workouts

I am able to push myself a lot harder and longer.

And I've lost weight...

Like maybe 3-4 pounds.

Nothing official

I missed WW weigh ins last week cause I had to work.

I don't trust my scale at home completely.

BUT according to that scale I am in the 140s!!!

This stuff is so healthy for you

and it keeps me full for hours. 

If you don't believe me listen to these doctors

There are 100 of them

all advocates of shakeology!

 

Now when you go to look for how much it is...

it seems really expensive.

But think about how much you would spend on a meal at McDonalds or Wendy's

$5-$8? Right?

Well when you break down the price of Shakeology per day it comes to just

wait for it

$4 per meal!!!

Thats killer!

Plus if it helps you feel, look and be healthier

then isn't worth it?

I honestly think all of you should be considering it

especially if your trying to lose weight.

Let me know and I will help you get some.

Well as my friends from Combat say

Keep it real and Stay with the Fight!!

 

 

 



Whirlwind

That is how this past week has felt.

It seriously flew by

probably because it was so crazy full of stuff!

I have been successful at working out every single day this week

not so successful at drinking the amount of water I want

nor have I been successful at tracking.

I was also successful at not eating anything

sweet or fattening

at the Super Bowl party I went to!

Wowsa!

How did you do?

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

I was thinking..."I could have a piece of pizza

if I wanted

but, how will that make me feel after I eat it?"

Plus, I feel that a big part of my success is that

I made the decision to stay to healthy snacks.

The most fattening stuff I ate was trail mix

minus the M&Ms

I gladly gave them away:)

I also knew that I had had a really good workout the day before.

Snowboarding!

I wouldn't want to let all my hard work go to waste.

 

 

I also had the opportunity to try out some Cross Fit
with my dear friend Whitney Teuscher:)

I was humbled.

It was leg day(LASS short for legs and ass)

 and all things considering I think I did fairly well!

The coach Orlando told me after the class that

I would want to take an ice bath when I got home

I thought really?

I mean come on I wont be that sore.

The next morning I was like

Pfft who needs a ice bath?

Because I really wasn't that sore.

As the day went on though...

HOLY CRAP!!!

I could hardly walk by the time I went to bed.

That's what I get for getting cocky!

 

Any who amidst all of this I signed up to be a

Beachbody Coach!

I am so excited.

As you all know I am very passionate about fitness

It is a new found love of mine

but its roots go a lot deeper than one would think.

You see my beautiful mother is obese.

(Sorry mom there just isn't another way to put it)

I love her so dearly.

She has struggled for most of her life to find happiness with herself.

When she was younger she pretty much tried every fad diet out there.

From starvation to Jenny Craig.

Killing her metabolism.

Growing up I became very afraid that I was going to

end up like her.

and until recently I was very much on that same trail.

One of the biggest motivations for me

is to be a good example to her.

I feel that if she sees how successful I have become

that maybe one day she will be brave enough to start

down her road to health.

She is a very busy woman so she struggles with

taking time for herself.

I know there are many women out there that have the same struggles that she has.

I hope that as I am trying to help her

I can help others as well.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to take care of yourself.

It is the reason I am able to do everything I want to.

If you wanna start living a healthy and more fulfilling life

write me on facebook or visit my site

HERE 

The challenge packs are definitely the best deal they have

Although it seems expensive just think about the fact that in the long run it really

isn't so much.

Because you get to keep the workouts you love forever.

Also, I know most of you think that home workouts are for the 80s

NOT SO!

These workouts are stuff they teach in gyms all over

so why not take them from the comfort of your own home?

You also wont have to worry so much about "looking good" if you care for any of that.

I will be starting a 10 day fitness challenge at the beginning of March also

so if you wanna take a step towards being healthy

but are unsure of how or when you should start...

just let me know and we can get you started!

 



Snowboarding

Today is my weigh in day

But, I am skipping it because

I'm

Going

SNOWBOARDING!

SO EXCITED!!

This will be the first time in

3 years! Holy moly!

So since I would have posted

 about my weigh in

And

All the fun things I learned at Weight Watchers

I thought I would instead leave you with something I learned from a

YouTube video

I watched yesterday...

It was about cross fit

Which by the way I wanna do so bad!

It has replaced my desire to try pole dancing.

Them girls are fo reals!

Anyways one of the girls on the video said

That she used to work out to be

Skinny

But, she was never happy with how she looked.

So she came up to the conclusion that

If she set performance goals

Such as I wanna bench press 120

Or in my case

20 pull-ups

Haha I can't do one at the moment!

Anyways she said she was able to reach those goals easier and felt more satisfied with her progress.

Now I didn't hear this at first

Luckily my sweet husband heard it

And pointed it out to me

I feel like that is great advice for anyone

Smaller goals are easier to reach to get you to

Your ultimate goal.

Even if is something as small as drinking more water

And less soda!

Its by the small things that great things are accomplished!

Another thing to remember

It won't happen overnight

So we all have to keep working

One small step at a time!

 

 



Mid-week Checkup

So today was extra rough on me

It was super stressful...

I don't do well with eating when I am stressed.

Yes, I have realized that I shouldn't eat my feelings.

I am working on that.

So the day started out so good..

I had a great workout!

I really pushed myself so hard my arms felt like rubber 

because I was punching so hard.

But the stresses of the day really got to me

crying baby 

new brakes 

registering my car

helping my husband apply for jobs

I cracked..

had a peice or two of candy...

It happens to all of us!

Even the strongest of us sometimes fall

When I give into my cravings I typically tend to shut down 

and feel really bad about myself.

I will tend to look at myself in the mirror that night and tell myself I am so fat

and that I will never get to where I want to be.

The same thing I have done for years

Being a dancer I would always feel bigger 

than all the other girls I was constantly around. 

It really did a number on my self esteem.

I would always dream that I looked like them and it only got worse

I started gaining weight the summer between my junior and senior year.

I wanted the nice body but I wasn't willing to work for it..

I  have come to realize that I wasn't fat

I had CURVES!

Something thousands of women dream of having.

I have also realized that like Dan says in Combat

"People aren't born with fantastic bodies

Fantastic bodies are made!"

I would hear the girls that I envied talk about working out

It just never sunk in..

until now.

I started working towards a great body 3 years ago 

and I am going to continue to work for that goal.

Even after I reach my goals I will continue to work to maintain it.

Its a lifestyle change not just for the here and now but for the rest of my life.

Some of you may think that

watching what I eat for the rest of my life seems like I won't be living

but, if eating healthy means that I'll live a longer and fuller life

I'll for sure be eating celery instead of cake!

Now that I have had a rough day I need to stop telling myself 

that I could never have the body I want.

Positive thinking is a big part of weight loss.

I have come a long way and I really don't have that far to go

I have committed to a lifestyle that will help me acheive my goals.

I will keep working towards them.

To start my positve thinking and to increase my self esteem

I am going to start telling myself 3 things

being either changes or parts that I like about my body

each day.

Here are my 3 things for the day:

1. I love my eyes!

 They are a great shape and size and I love making them look extra big for pictures:)

Makes me feel like I look prettier...?

2. I love my small wrists and ankles.

It reminds me that I can be a small person.

3. I love my cuves!

I love feeling like a woman!

What are your 3 things?

Mondays

Mondays are always rough

Mainly because Sundays are my rest days

And me and my husband always have the best intentions of getting up at

4:30 am...

But, it never happens.
Probably because we stay up so late on Friday and Saturday
that even though we go to bed super early on Sunday night
we need makeup sleep...

Why so early you ask?

Well we are doing sort of a double workout

Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
And in order to get our 2 hour workout in
before my hubby goes to work we need to get up that early!

Here are the work outs we are doing.

Les Mills COMBAT

 

And....

P90X



 

I am a huge fan of the beachbody workouts.

I did INSANITY earlier this year

and LOVED it!!!

But it was super killer on my knees

which were already bad because of my years of dance...

I mean I couldn't sit down without wincing

it was that bad.

 

I loved Insanity a lot but, I love Les Mills COMBAT

Even more!!!

Its so much fun I don't even feel like I am working out!

Let me tell you more about it...

Les Mills is a program that comes from

New Zealand.

They were famous runners...

Olympic atheletes and when they

"retired" they decided to open up a gym

They created the Les Mils Pump program which has spread everywhere!

They teach it in gyms all over the world!

And now they've created this body combat program

its basically a MMA style workout..

so you're punching and kicking

and its just so much fun!

I am usually dripping in sweat after!

 

We decided to add on P90X

for the weight training aspect.

Cardio is really good but the only way to

change the shape of your body you need to lift some weights.

Tony Horton bugs the crap out of me though.

So I usually silence him and pump up some music!

I know some of you may find him inspirational..

but he just doesn't do it for me...

Its probrably because he tells us its okay to hit pause.

No Tony I want you to tell me to keep pushing through!

 

Anyway the thing I love most about doing the beachbody workouts is...

That I get to stay home!

I highly recommend it for all Mommies out there.

I try to wake up before my baby does because working out with him 

crawling around only makes things harder.

but I love that I don't have to find a sitter or leave the house to workout.

I can do it while he is sleeping and then when he wakes up

I get to spend all the time I want with him!

I am actually going to become a beachbody coach within the next few weeks..

so hit me up if you want/need anything!

I leave you with a commercial for COMBAT!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 



New beginings

This is it.

I have had this idea to start a blog for over a month now

and I am now finally getting to it.

Let me start at the beginning of my story.

I was 22 years old

AND I tipped the scale at 191 lbs.

 

October 2008 (I look freakin' pregnant!)

I know how I got here...
It was a lot of eating, eating, not exercising and eating.
It began when my mom got a new job while I was still in high school.
We went from having a good amount of homemade dinners
to eating out every single night.
Then I went to college where I would eat a lot of McDonald's
and ramen noodles.
While in college I was on the drill team and dance company
so I did have some exercise to keep off some of the weight.
From there I was employed at the zoo
where I ate a Granny B's sugar cookies
(4 servings with 210 cal/serving)
and a 20 oz Dr. Pepper
every morning.
That's if I had enough money to pay for it.
I also skipped a lot of breakfasts.
During those 2 years I also found a new love of energy drinks.
Then I was hired at the surgical center with IHC.
I started eating about 5 packages of Oreos
(2 per packet)
a day.
That's 10 Oreos a day!!!
On top of all of this I had moved in and out of my parents home
but had finally ended up back home and eating out every night again.
By spring 2009 I knew something had to change if I was EVER gonna be happy with myself.
My mom and I joined Weight Watchers.
Best decision I could have ever made for myself.
I lost 27 lbs by the time I met my husband.


Fast forward 1 1/2 year. My husband and I decided to have a baby.
Fast forward again 9 months...
I had a goal to only gain the minimum 25 lbs
but, unfortunatly gained nearly 40.
I wasn't so disappointed in myself
because I knew I had a whole lot of ice cream during my pregnancy.
The best was losing 20 of it the first week after having my baby!
Since then I have been fighting to lose the weight
I am happy to say that I have surpassed my prepregnancy weight!!!


Here I am now at 151 lbs.

I am not completely happy with the way I look
I know that I have come a long, long way
but I still have a long way to go.
This is why I am starting this blog.
I hope to be inspiring to other people out there struggling to lose weight
and be healthy.
I still have about 16 more pounds to lose before I hit my goal weight.
Its probably going to be THE hardest 16 lbs
to lose.
But I am committed.
Are YOU?
Lets do it together!