The Tale of My Gluteus Maximus and A Little Doughnut History.

At Blair and Stefanie's recommendation I did TWO ab dvd workouts on Monday. Was it hard? Yes. Did it hurt the next day? A little. Was it anything compared to "Sexy Summer Beach Body" on Comcast OnDemand? No!!

I thought I did pretty well with the abs which must have led to my getting a little overzealous when I got ready to do yesterdays workout. She had me doing so much I don't even know where to begin, but I can tell you how it ended, with my butt muscles hurting so much I can barely sit without cringing. I honestly think these muscles did not exist until yesterday. Throw in my aching thighs and knees and you basically have my whole lower body in critical care. Ouch. I know this is a good thing because I am tapping into muscles that previously must have been the size of a grain of rice but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

Today's mission, focus on the top half and let my lower half rest.

Weak Moment of the Day?
This morning I went to Doughnut Country. I only got me one chocolate iced doughnut and then (thinking I would be oh so nice and get my roommate some too) I order a dozen doughnut holes for Kristen. How nice of me right?

Guess what?
Kristen doesn't like doughnuts.

I know, I know, I think she is a freak of nature as well, especially since she puts ketchup on mac and cheese (ew.), but the point is now I have doughnut holes sitting in my kitchen. Untouched. I won't tell you how many I ate but I will assure you it wasn't all 12. Still, when I did the calorie count is was somewhere in the upper 500's. Yeah. It is painful to type.

Who created doughnuts one might ask themselves?
Who created such a wonderful piece of puffed up dough that melts in your mouth and has a bazillion calories?

Supposively Hanson Greggory did in 1847. His mom baked little cakes and he didn't like the middle of them, so he cut them out thus creating the doughnut. There are other theories, but they all involve Hanson and his mother.

I would consider Hanson and his mother my biggest love/hate relationship in my life to date.



Come on Maria Menounos, we both know you are going to eat half that doughnut than run for your life to the closest gym. If I had any sense I would have too.

Current Stats and Denise Austin

My current weight as of this morning was 165 lbs. For those of you who have been reading from the start, you know this is a 12 pound loss. I am really proud of myself for getting those first few pounds out of the way...but here comes the tricky part. The last 15-20 pounds. Ug.

But to be thinnish is to work hard and that is what my plan is for the summer.

I am off to Stefanie's to do a Denise Austin abs dvd. Six Pack. Check it.

Lack There Of...

I have not written in about a month. The fact is I have had little to write about. I have kind of fallen off the bandwagon and hit rock bottom

 (What is rock bottom you might ask? Easter candy, graduation cake, milk duds, cake in general...

I could go on, but why bother...it is all pretty pathetic.)

But now summer is here and it is time to get serious. The wedding is fast approaching and I am slacking. No good. To make it worse, my ankle has begun to swell up after running due to a sledding injury (ahem, Brittany T. haha.) and now it is almost impossible to run. The pressure hurts too much. and aggravates the tendon. Awesome timing, I know.

Where does this leave me? Strength training. Woo hoo. I would rather run, but it is what it is and I have got to get down to it. Push ups, sit ups, yoga, etc. I will be spending my summer on ondemand exercise tv.

The last fifteen pounds must go!

Complaints.

I was informed that my previous post was not up to par (ahem, MEG)

 so I am writing another one to ease the readers (aka MEG) frustration.

My current weight as of this past 15 minutes was 168.5.

Obviously this is a 3 lb increase from earlier this week.

Bummer, I know.

The good news is it is 9:30 at night and I had a piece and a half of Jet's Pizza, which (as seen in my earlier post) is very very good. So I like to think I might weigh about 166 in the morning, which I believe is an acceptable weight at this time. I am going to go easy on myself for the night because tomorrow begins attempt #2 of the First Lady's diet.

Of course, I am doing my modified one because I am a big weenie who can't do the full blown program. Whatever.

I am okay with this halfway attempt.

Progress is progress no matter how small, right?

Greg has announced he wants to start running with me which is nice

 because having someone accountable is always a good thing....

but if he is slow, tough luck. This girl waits for no one when she is running.

And I would like to say I don't wait because I am so hardcore and blah, blah, blah, but the real reason is once I stop I have a hard time getting back into that rhythm again. haha, so Greg, I am here for you but you are on your own once we get started. I am rooting for you though!

Also, for all you folks who do not keep up with sports, Charles Schwartzel won the Masters today. So when someone mentions it tomorrow you won't have to make a face of confusion because you will already know he was the winner and he is from South Africa.

Isn't my blog so informative? 



Jet's Pizza

Is so so so good.

Here Is the Twist...

Hm, so a day and a half of eating fruits and veggies and I lost three pounds. Interesting.

Weight on Tuesday NIGHT- 165.2

I don't know what to think because I really did eat plenty and I drank so much water I almost want to throw up thinking about it...so maybe it is worth trying again?

This time though, I will make my own modifications, that way I can do it for more than a day and half. Haha.

Modifications:

Only fruits, veggies, and one serving of bread for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Dinner can be any kind of meat and fruits and veggies and I am even going to say I can have one small sweet thing a day

 (A cupcake is not one small thing....I am going to have to remember that). 

I feel like this is a little easier to maintain...plus, a girl can only eat so many clementines before her fingernail beds begin turning orange. I hope someone else has had that problem or else it is going to seem kind of gross. Oh well. 

Point of the matter...I am down to 165!!!!!!

Weak Sauce

I have no self control. Caved after a day and half.
Here is my letter of regrets to First Lady Obama:

Dear First Lady,
Let me begin this letter with this statement, "You are a better woman than I."

I am forced to give you major props for not lashing out at the world
due to major hunger pains and cravings for bread
throughout your 3-day torture of only eating fruits and vegetables.
You are strong and I am not. I am embarrassed by my lack of discipline and hang my head with shame.
Maybe next time I won't be such a pansy?

Probably not.
Sincerely,
 Anna

Falling Off the Bandwagon

So, I have been slacking...bad. My weight hasn't changed but by no means has it improved. I have been getting discouraged because I haven't lost any weight since early March, despite the fact that I have been working out every single day. It just gets depressing after a while and I am kind of stuck on where to go from here.

I read online that First Lady Obama does a palate cleansing every now and then so I googled it to see what it was all about. Turns out our "cravings" are actually a trained behavior and you can get yourself out of this behavior by doing a cleanse. For three days you eat only fruits, vegetables, one serving of bread and water. This is suppose to get you out of the cravings for crap food. Then from there you introduce your proteins and all that jazz....So beginning tomorrow, fruits and veggies for this girl. Maybe it will jump kick my lagging healthy initiative.

But do me a favor, please don't ask me to go out to eat for the next three days. My self control is weak and I don't need to be tested. But feel free to come over with some orange slices!!

Some People Say My Body Fat is too High for My Body...

...and I say, "compared to what?"

Haha, that is a Marcel the Shell   joke. If you haven't seen it, Youtube it A.S.A.P.

But if you are here to read the skinny on my body fat percentage, I got news for you, it ain't so skinny.

Body Fat Percentage: 28.62%

Now, when he told me this, I kind of had a momentary freak out but then he informed me that women ages 18-30 needed to have at least 13-17% body fat in order for their bodies to function properly so I actually only need to lose about 12% of my body fat to be at my optimum.

This equals about a 20 lb loss. Now, with my current 9-10 lbs lost that will equal 30 lbs total; this is what I was aiming for anyways, so it really just confirmed that I was doing what I needed to do all along. Kind of nice I suppose.

So there it is. I am 28% body fat.
Depressing? Yes.
Motivating? Very much so.

No Loosey Goosey for You!

I got my very first massage today.

Ah, Heaven!

After experiencing the single most wonderful thing next to Cadbury eggs I promptly sent my 168 lb butt running because getting thinnish doesn't have time to feel all nice and loosey goosey. No sir, life is tough and if I hadn't eaten so much my sophomore year I might have been able to appreciate being all groggy and happy. Oh well, this is the life of a chunky girl.

In the midst of all this I forgot to weigh myself this morning, but I have eaten less than 1300 calories (1289, ha) today AND I went running this morning so I am in the clear for Tuesday! Woo hoo! This is the first day I actually stuck to my 1300 calories. I think it might be because of all the water I have been drinking...maybe that has been the trick all along. Either way, it has been a really incredible day.

However, I am beyond excited for Thursday so I can get my body fat calcuated. I am slightly scared it is going to be some massively high number and I will be in a state of depression for the rest of the semester, and maybe my life; but then I get to thinking it can't be too terribly high because I am freakishly healthy in the medical sense (despite my deviated septum). So that is my one sliver lining...I just hope I am not in the double digits. Yikes!

Well stay tuned and I will post it on here...barring it isn't 50% or something of that nature. I might just be too embarassed to put that on the internet.

RWD: Running While Deviated

Accomplishment of the Week:

A 2 consecutive mile run

I know, I know, you are probably thinking,

"Really? 2 miles is an accomplishment? Have you not been running all this time?"

Allow me to explain:

I have been running one mile everytime I have ran since January. I know, logically one would think I would have been up to at least 3 or 4 miles by the third month of running, but I feel I have a pretty good excuse for this act of apparent laziness.

Cue scary music and the "dun, dun, duuun..."

I have a deviated septum.

Seriously folks, when I run it is literally like breathing out of a coffee straw; oxygen just isn't making its way around my body like it should be. Ipso facto, it has taken a lot of time for me to build up the lung capacity to hoof it an extra mile. But, I did it yesterday and it wasn't bad at all! 

What an exciting moment in my path to thinnish. haha. 

My legs were aching this morning, but after todays run, which was just 1 mile (I didn't want to do the celebratory dance too soon and then get hurt or something), they are feeling a little bit better. 

All in all, I am feeling pretty awesome.

My weight has not changed this week, still at a pretty steady 168-170 throughout the day. But I am going to really try and lose that last 8 pounds before May. I want to be 160 when I walk across that platform to get my diploma which, when Megan and I calculated it earlier, will be in less than 5 1/2 weeks! Yay!

Hope everyone has had a great week and enjoys this pretty weather today!

Spring Breaking from Operation Wedding

Not only did I just enjoy a whole week off of school but also a week off of my healthy initiative! Probably a little counterproductive since I was making some real progress, whoops.

But the real question is, "Was it worth it?"
The answer to that is a resounding, "Yes!"
It was worth every single extra calorie I consumed...and that is a lot. ha.

We went skiing so I feel pretty confident that I burned more calories than the average spring breaker and therefore everything I ate may not have been as bad as I am thinking in my head, but even if they were, it wouldn't have really mattered.

Fun Fact: I ate my weight alone in sweet potato fries. Yum.

But the real lesson of this spring break? I love skiing! Other than it kicking my butt (which it did multiple times) and being deathly frightening at moments, it was really really fun. I advise everyone to give it a shot. If it isn't your cup of tea, hanging out at the base drinking isn't too terrible either!

However, the trip is over and I am back to "thin and fit" mode and will be getting serious again. Back to pouring over what I am eating and sweating my face off at a gym wishing I hadn't forgotten my water in the car (I hate when that happens and it happens ALL. THE. TIME.)

                                                       Oh Spring Break I miss you already....

Weight after Spring Break: 168.2 lbs.
Yeah, you read right, after all that I inhaled this past week I still managed to lose a pound!
                                                     

Creative Differences

The blog is currently in repair. Some creative changes were being made and then I got sleepy so I didn't finish them. Ignore the general mess and chaos that is the page today!

Epic Fall from Grace

I failed miserably today. Just an across the board failure. I not only ate 1600 calories without any inclination of working out, but 400 or so of the calories were from a Sonic M & M Blast.

The worst part? It wasn't even that good. Should have splurged on a Blizzard instead. gah.

But maybe tomorrow I can try and turn back time on my poor decision making of today. I will go running and do some weight-lifting tomorrow...that should help.

My current weight is TBA on account of I haven't been able to weigh myself in the morning for the past week. I hover anywhere from 172 to 175 at night though, so I am assuming I am still around 170.

Of course, after today I might be inching my way upwards.

On a brighter and happier note, the people I babysit for told me I looked thinner when I walked in today!! Hooray! Maybe people are noticing...or maybe they are really nice. Ha. Either way, I am taking it as a point in my corner.

Megan has lost like a billion pounds and I am jealous. I can't seem to get in the double digits. They elude me.
But kudos to Megan! If her sister doesn't kick her butt, she will most likely win her competition between her family. Awesome-ness.

I am getting my percentage of body fat calculated sometime in the next two weeks for extra credit in my tennis class. Turns out those exercise study majors need some test subjects and I am more than willing to volunteer. They make you get in this pool and they do pressure tests and such. It seemed really cool to me and I am hoping they tell me I have some ridiculously low percentage and the rest of me is just big-boned. I am crossing my fingers!!

Hope everyone had a great Thursday and enjoys their Spring Breaks!

7 Pound Stretch

Weighed myself this morning...Folks, we are looking at a 7 pound loss!

Big News, Big News! Especially since Monday and Tuesday were such lack luster workout days. And by lack luster I mean I literally did not move unless necessary for every day living.

But eating right really does pay off and I am learning that slowly. It is hard to avoid those Cadbury creme eggs though so I have created a reward system that enables me to still eat them because, let's face it, avoiding chocolate is not my strong point. Jeff even bought me one the other day just to be sweet. Isn't he just the greatest?:)

Shout out to Meg and Megan for dragging me to the gym. My ribs feel like they got repeatedly kicked with karate-like enthusiasm. I am told this is a good thing. Who knew?

Anyways, 7 POUNDS! So pumped. I needed a little boost this week too and that really helped. This puts me at 170 (or 168 depending on the validity of Megan's scale, ha) and I am feeling good about hitting the 160's in the next two weeks. Let's go 1-6-0! Woo Hoo!

Enjoy your weekend and go buy some Cadbury eggs. But just one. They have 150 calories per little devilish egg of goodness!

Bloggers Block

I am suffering from Bloggers Block. For those of you who don't know what this is, it is the inability to think of anything clever or remotely interesting to share with the blogging world. It's a tragedy really.

In an effort to get over this block I will share with you the only good news I have and that is the fact that I ran 3 miles at the Greenway on Sunday afternoon with some friends from work and it wasn't too terrible.

Other than that, I have still only lost my 5 pounds- which is still great, don't get me wrong- but I would have liked to have lost another pound this past week. But that is okay, sometimes you have slow weeks, right?

I hope everyone answered that question with a, "RIGHT!"
Yes?
Awesome.

In other news, I have yet to start my two-a-days. It seems my body might be a little worn out from my working all weekend. All I want to do is sleep, sleep, and oh yeah, sleep some more. But I took a power nap after Jeff and I played a quick set of tennis this afternoon and I am hoping that will carry me over until after Megan drags me to the rec center.

OH! We have discovered that Megan's scale might be 2 pounds off! By "off" I mean it might make you two pounds heavier than you really are. While this won't change how much weight I have actually lost (still my baby 5 pounds) it will change my starting weight to 175 which means I am actually at 170 right now! This has yet to be confirmed though, so I will keep you updated on these exciting events happening in our very own home. Ha.

 Hope everyone had a Happy Wednesday!

5 LBS!

Lost another pound this week. We are looking at 5 pounds per month, almost to the day. I started on January 17th, so it is kind of incredible what a lot of watching what you eat and working out can really do. Yay! Lucky for me, all this work at Olive Garden helps because I literally go hours without even thinking of food. You just get so busy...the breadsticks are hard to turn down though....

Ladies and Gentlemen, It is Wedding Season!

Well folks turns out I have double the motivation to get thinnish for some weddings this next year!
Nicole has asked me to be one of her bridesmaids and I am so so happy to do it!

But now I have to throw myself into high gear for wedding season. No half-ass attempts, I am going to have to get serious. And how might I do this? Read below...

I did something I have never done before. I woke up at 6:30am, dragged my drowsy butt out of bed, put on tennis shoes and went to the rec center. I don't even know who I am anymore! There is some stranger who is a work-out-aholic inhabiting my body. It felt good to get going and be done with it for the day though, so I might have to start doing that a few more times throughout the week. Good bye lazy mornings lounging in bed, which -after reading what I just typed- I realize I never have those kind of mornings so I might as well wake up thirty minutes earlier and go for a run or something. Such is the life of a chunky woman on a thinnish mission.

I will also be starting 2-a-days 3 days a week. I begin that next week. Woo hoo. I cannot wait! If anyone would like to join me on this little endeavor, feel free. I like company! You don't have to do the two-a-day with me, but if you want to jump in on workout #1 or #2, I wouldn't hate it:)

Still at a steady 173 today, so no improvement but no fall outs so I can't complain.

Kristen is sitting in the living room eating tacos. Lordy lordy, please grant me strength to at least go running before I stuff one in my face!

In honor of all these weddings (and thanks to Samantha for finding it!) I have posted a new movie that is coming out. Yay for bridesmaids!

News Flash

Breaking News!

I didn't gain any weight this weekend!

 Just weighed myself and I am

back to the good old 173.2 lbs.

WOO HOO!

2 Pounds of a Top Notch Weekend!

The Bad News: I gained 2 pounds from Thursday to Sunday.

The Good News: Nicole and Rob are engaged!

The Good news has nothing to do with my bad news, but I thought it would make me feel less terrible about gaining two pounds in 4 days. And I do believe it did the trick! ha.

This weekend I ate my weight at Maggiano's.

Some might read this and say, "Oh geez, she is such an exaggerator."

Let me tell you this and only let me tell you once, I seriously ate my weight at Maggiano's this weekend and not one part of me is apologizing for it. It was delicious and wonderful and everything I hoped it would be and I am glad I did it. So there. Sorry "healthy intiative" police, I am guilty.

Tack on the fact that I got to eat dinner with not only my most favorite and wonderful Jeff but also the newly engaged Nicole and Rob and you probably have one of my favorite evenings ever spent in college. How lovely!

What a wonderful way to spend a Birthday/Valentine's Day weekend!

On the health front, tomorrow begins again my routine work outs and eating habits. I am going to get serious and only eat 1300 a day, no matter what I burn. I need to hit the reset button from this weekend and getting strict is the only way I know how. After I have proved to myself I am serious, I will let up a little and get back to my old plan. Until then, please do not offer me Valentine's Day chocolates or cookies. I cannot have them and the pain of turning away any type of sweet food/object is just too much for my overloaded heart to bear. Thanks:)

Word to the wise:

Don't eat too manyboxes of Whitman's chocolates or those nasty chalky candy hearts tomorrow!

(Hint Hint to Jeff: Just an apple slice in the shape of a heart will do for this girl. Love you!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Birthday Love

(I know I won't have time to post tomorrow so I am doubling up today!)

So everyone I am here to announce it is my BIRTHDAY WEEK and the week before Valentines Day! Unfortunately "healthy initiatives" are the last thing anyone wants to be thinking of on their birthday, but such is the life of a girl on a weight loss mission. I actually made my friend Gretchin a birthday cake tonight and managed to only eat a smidgen of icing and one spoonful of batter. Baby steps my friends, baby steps.

But since it is my birthday week and the week coming up to Valentines Day I have decided to change the music on the blog to all my favorites so I can click on here and just listen to everything I love. Here is the play list and the rundown on why they were chosen.

• Someone Like You by Van Morrison: This is Jeff and I's song. Makes me happy in a way no other song can.
• Waterloo by ABBA: Makes me think of my mom and I can't help but laugh. We do love Mamma Mia and everything ABBA!
• Sunday Morning by Maroon 5: Is a part of the soundtrack for one of my favorite movies Love Actually. I listened to that cd on repeat for about 2 years.
• Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson: Who doesn't love sleeping in and eating banana pancakes like it's the weekend?
• Crocodile Rock by Elton John: Had this on a the Four Weddings and a Funeral soundtrack back when we still had the Venture minivan! Had the kids I babysit listen to it a couple weeks ago and they loved it. Something about it is just classic.
• Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys: Such a happy song.
• Marry You by GLEE: I like the Bruno Mars version too, but either way, Kristen and I listened to this song for about a week straight and all the way to Kentucky and back.
• Almost Like Being in Love by Frank Sinatra: This one I just heard the other day when I was watching Groundhog Day, you know, the one with Bill Murray and he relives the same day over and over? It plays at the very end and I thought it was perfect for Valentine's Day!

Have a great week and stay away from cookie brownies, they are the devil in wonderful chocolate gooey disguise.

If You are What You Eat, I Would Be a Cookie Brownie.

Ate my weight in cookie brownies today. I did a kick-A work out though so it kind of evened it out, but still, no good cookie brownies, no good.

Math-ercise

Let's do a math problem

 (I know, I am shocked too, who ever thought I would do math just for the heck of it?)

If there are 16 ounces in 1 pound and I have lost 4 pounds, how many ounces have I lost?

If you came up with the answer 64 ounces, Congratulations!

 You are either really good with numbers or you quickly clicked on calculator in your start menu and did some swift typing. Either way is fine, I am not one to judge. 

Let's do another math problem

If there are 67.62 ounces in a 2-liter of Coke and I have lost 64 ounces, how many ounces do I have left to lose before I have lost an entire 2 liter's worth of icky fat?

3.62?

CORRECT!

But yes, it is true. I weighed myself this afternoon and I registered at a pretty sweet 173!

 Such good news!

Especially after my exhausting weekend and my depressing post, it makes me happy to see that my eating is really making a difference.

With all this great news it might lead you to ask, "Anna, how did you award youself today?"

My response?

"By eating a cadbury creme egg, a serving (or two) of the cadbury candy eggs, and rotel!"

Luckily I dragged my butt out of the house and ran two miles before I dug into everything I have been pining for these past 3 weeks, thus making feel much less guilty for my slight relapse of overindulgence.

Oh well, what is done is done. I will just have to clean it up this next week. 

So here is to another week of losing weight!

Tonight I leave you with a little food for thought:
This is what I a few ounces short of losing.
(The biggest bottle, obviously.)

But I am "Le Tired"

There is a video called The End of the World and it is a cartoon and it's funny, but anyways, in the video they go to the France and he says, "Fire Ze Missiles!" and this French woman says, "But I am le tired..." in which the French man says, "Well take a nap, THEN FIRE ZE MISSILES!"

It is funny. You should watch it. But only if you are okay with cuss words because if memory serves me correct, it has a few in there.

But the point of this rattling about a cartoon video is the fact that I am le tired. And it's awful. I have barely had a chance to lay my head down this entire week and it is affecting my workout schedule. While I have worked out every day this week (except for today, but there just wasn't enough time or energy to do it), I feel like I am slipping--which is no good. I am keeping my calories down, which is good news, but I don't have that awesome feeling I have had the past two weeks. My body is tired, my eyes are tired, my head is just pooped and my brain is just trying to make sure that I remember to put on a bra and brush my teeth before I walk out the door. (No worries though, my breath is always clean. Kristen will agree with me when I say I brush my teeth all. the. time. The bra thing is possibly going to become an issue.)

Tack on my new job and I am just stretched to the max. I didn't drink any coffee today which is why I think I feel so blah. I think my body is going to start needing me to feed it coffee intravenously because these 12-13 hour work/school/clinic days are just too much.

But the top part of this post is depressing, in better and happier news,

TODAY IS BRITTANY BECKMAN'S BIRTHDAY!

HOORAY! She is the big 22. And I am proud to announce that she has been kicking boo-tay at some P90x up at Knoxville. What a trooper! P90x is some serious stuff and she has been sticking to it. So proud of her:)  But anyways, if you know her/see her/or happen to facebook her let her know you wish her a happy birthday.

Hopefully a more interesting and happier post can be delivered to you soon. Until then, feel free to drop off any type of coffee on my front door step. I am not opposed to heating it up in the microwave. Which is kind of icky when I think about it...but I don't care. Happy Weekend to you all and eat plenty of your fruits and veggies, the flu is running amuck!

907.18474 Grams = 2 Pounds

IT HAPPENED!

I lost the first two pounds! Or, as I prefer to look at it, 907.18474 grams; Got to love a much more impressive number like 907. Ha! If I keep at my current routine I should lose one pound per week which should be around 35-38 pounds by October! Everything might have an exclamation mark at the end of this post because I am just so EXCITED!

Hooray and Happy Sunday!

Inspiration for the week? This little number.
I want to wear it this summer.

 

The One Where Anna Died of Exhaustion

If you ever watched Friends then you know all the names of the episodes started with, "The One..." Thought I would throw some irrelevant cultural references into today's post. Enjoy.

Okay, so today I have pushed myself to every boundary I have and I am paying dearly for it. Samantha is in town, and yes, that would be the bride for which the reason this blog and hard work are being done, and we went and worked out at the rec center today like tomorrow would never come...and I mean it.

After thirty minutes on the elliptical at high resistance (which by the way said I burned upwards of 500 calories, but I never believe those, I just do my own calculations on MyDailyPlate) we went downstairs to lift weights but, little did I know, Samantha had her own personal kick-A trainer on her Ipod Touch.
She downloaded this app from Shape magazine which is made for brides to get fit before their weddings. Shape magazine is cruel to their brides, let me tell you what. Whew. Between the crunches, weight lifting, and leg shapers I will be surprised if I can pick up my car keys tomorrow much less a hairbrush or gallon of milk. (Dear AOII's who read this, do not judge me tomorrow if my hair is in a tangled hot mess, just know it is all in the name of being thinnish.)

Despite all that activity, I was feeling pretty good when I got back to the house and played outside with Chester (Megan's dog); by outside I mean I was sitting in our kitchen chairs with the back door open and throwing a squeaky dog toy out in the yard in which Chester would bring back to me at my chair. Ha. But still, I felt okay until I left to go babysit...

Child A and Child B, who will not be named because I think that would be innappropriate to put them on the internet, wanted to go for a "wagon ride" around the neighborhood. Okay folks, a "wagon ride" is where the kids get into the wagon and then I pull and push them all around the neighborhood. Basically I am like a viking slave rowing them across the ocean, if you needed the visual. It. is. torture, BUT highly effective as a workout so I attempted to look at it from my new healthy perspective.

Didn't work.

Combined, Child A and B weigh around 100 pounds if not more, their neighborhood consists of multiple hills and we went around the ENTIRE neighborhood. My hands are aching and feeling blistered, my legs and back hurt from the straining of muscles to make it up all the hills, and I think I am sunburned from the glorious sunshine we were so nicely given today. Exausted is an understatement. Then, on top of all this, Child B requires lifting very often and my arms are just pooped from all this motion! Throw a huge staircase into the equation and you have got one wiped out babysitter. fo' sho'.  Now I totally understand why mom's can be so skinny, if I did this daily I would be a world champion weight lifter...you know the ones who can lift and pull cars on ESPN? Yeah, that kind.

In food news, I have kept my calorie intake under 1300 today and that is without including the calories I have burned from working out and tramping through the nieghborhood. Pretty incredible when I think about all that I use to eat in the course of a day. It really puts things into a new light for me.

Also, went to my school placement for the first time on Friday and guess what? My mentor is on Weight Watchers! We pulled out our lunches and we both had identical baggies of raw carrots, turkey sandwiches with mustard and a little something sweet on the side. How great is it that I will also have support in my classroom placement? Awwesome! Loving life right now but don't ask me tomorrow, I might be whistling a different tune...or crying. Ha! Have a happy weekend!

Ramen-Dorito-Taco Salad

Just did a quick burst work out in our living room listening to Comcast's '90's selections/watching Jerseylicious while Kristen sat on the couch eating some ramen noodle/Doritos/taco salad concoction that smelled like heaven and tasted pretty delicious too (I only had one bite, seriously, Kristen can attest).

I have to admit, and Kristen insisted, that I tell you that I was the one who found the devil Ramen-Dorito-Taco Salad recipe online. But the only reason I looked up such a high calorie meal was because of Kristen's massive amount of ramen noodles she purchased on a binge when she was borderline broke. Seriously, she looks like she is stock piling for some major catastrophe. She will be out of luck though should she be unable to boil water, but let's hope we never have to test it. Anyways, the reason I looked it up for her was because she had eaten Ramen for at least one meal per day for about a week. It was wretched to watch and to smell, ha. So I did some googling (one of my most favorite past times next to reading and watching Colin Firth) and found all these recipes that you can add ramen in with so that you are not constantly eating, well, ramen. I am a glutton for punishment because that stuff smelled sooo g-double o-d...good. But back to the point...

That point being I think Kristen might be my greatest challenge yet. If I can turn down all her yummy meals, then maybe I have more will power than I thought. Plus, she eats at the craziest times because she is always so busy so I always end up sitting on the couch eating something weird at midnight because that's when she eats dinner and who wants to eat alone? No one, that's who. But no worries, I will stick to my goal! Love you still Kristen:)

My workout was slacking today so tomorrow I will have to amp it up and work out for a full hour. I did 50 push ups tonight though so I am a little concerned that I will not be able to raise my arms above my head by the morning...I am stretching them out as I type in an effort to keep from having T'Rex arms tomorrow. Ouch. Maybe my muscles won't rebel like I think they will. Wishful thinking on my part, I'm sure.

Special thanks to Jodie for encouraging my two-a-day workout yesterday. I burned a thousand calories! Turns out I can do a lot in 2 1/2 hours of working out. However, my body was not appreciative of this and I laid around like the biggest laziest bum today. No repeats of this, it does me no good. I will need to remember this...so long for today!

The Shins.

Hey Al Gore, here is a real inconvenient truth, I have shin splits.

What a bummer. It makes running hurt and not in a "good kind of hurt" way. I have had to resort to the elliptical and the stationary bike because they are easier on the legs, which is fine, but I just really love to run. I like that for thirty minutes I can check out for a little while and just go. But, for the next few weeks I will have to be kind to the old shins and let them rest. Your welcome shins, I hope you appreciate the fact that I hate the elliptical and am doing it anyways.

Other than that, the eating under 1300 calories part is going really well. Making smart decisions and paying attention to serving size helps a lot too. Found  a recipe for a chocolate pie that has 171 calories per slice, so that has helped me with my chocolate fixes. If you know me, than you know I can't go without chocolate at least once a day. I am like Chelsea Handler and her Bellevedere (sp?) vodka...but instead my weakness is anything covered with chocolate! If Chelsea Handler can be fit and still drink all the time, than I am bound and determined to be thinnish and still eat my chocolate.

Thank goodness for sugar free chocolate pudding!

Weekend Challenge

Lesson learned, weekends are the hardest part of healthy living. With nothing to really occupy my time, it is really easy to fall off the wagon and eat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and milk in front of the tv while watching Penelope (Which is an incredible movie, if you have not seen it).

But, now I know and next weekend I will be prepared. Kristen and I went to the grocery store yesterday and I bought healthy snack foods (edamame, bananas, carrots, low-fat vanilla yogurt, etc.) so when it comes down to sitting in front of the tv, at least some low calorie foods are being eaten instead of massive amounts of gooey oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They were delicious though...

I think the bulk of the problem is the fact that I don't have anything to do on the weekends, but that will be fixed, hopefully, when I get hired at Olive Garden. Being busy keeps me from snacking. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

High Times-Workout Edition

I get why people love to work out now, it makes so much sense! I have burned the same amount of calories that I have eaten today. Incredible? Yes! I am so pumped about it I just want to keep moving to keep the momentum. Obviously I can't do that though because I am pretty sure my legs may fall off any second. I will keep you posted should that occur.

I am sure someone might read this and think, "She has stopped eating! OH NO!" If you are thinking this, don't. I can barely go 3 hours without eating, much less a whole morning of working out. So do not worry Friends! I promise I am eating plenty and to prove this, I will tell you what I ate.

Breakfast
A boiled egg with salt and pepper (75 calories)

Lunch
Mahi Mahi fillet on brown rice with cold green beans (274 calories)
1/4 cup mac and cheese (94 calories)
2 Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I splurged, but they were so stinking good. (200 calories)

Pretty crazy, right? And I'm not hungry, just full and super worn out. I just did the elliptical, walked on the treadmill, ran on the treadmill, and thanks to my friend Jodie, I did thirty minutes on a stationary bike at the recreation center which helped me burn those last 220 calories. It hurt though and I am pretty sure I will not be able to move tomorrow, but it is worth it to feel this good.

It is such a good feeling to be in control. This is just a sappy/excited post, not clever or even interesting probably, so I apologize for it, but this is the reason for the blog! I know there will be a time down the road when I need encouragement and I will just hop on back to January 20th and look at how great I was doing. Solid plan. At least I like to think so.

On Demand Lady

For the record, the Pilates lady on Comcast Fitness TV On Demand will kick your butt. Well, actually she will kick your abs. Swiftly. And it will hurt really really bad. You have been warned.

Alice Eve

I just created a profile picture! And, for those of you who know me, I am obviously not blonde and smoking hot like my profile picture seems to be.
Note: For those of you who don't know me, I AM blonde and smoking hot. haha. I kid, I kid.

But I digress, ahem, the women in the picture is Alice Eve. She is seriously gorgeous, as most movie stars are, but I like her for the following reasons:
1. She is pretty in a kind of normal way.
2. She is thin without being skinny.
3. She still has curves, which is good for me because I will be curvy no matter how much weight I lose. (You don't pick your genes.)

Taking this all into consideration, I have deemed her my inspiration piece for this weight loss. Much like interior designers go out and find an inspiration piece to design a room (You know, it's always a lamp, or rug, or sometimes a place mat), Alice Eve will be my inspiration to become thinner! Maybe I will post pictures of her occassionally to remind myself.

My third day of lower calories has gone pretty well, I am amazed at the fact that I am not near as hungry as I thought I would be. I am realizing the trick of "filling foods with fewer calories" and it has been a God-send. Another helpful trick? Eating full meals. Instead of munching on some chips at lunch then being hungry 5 minutes later, I am eating meals with a vegetable, fruit, bread, and some sort of protein and voila! I don't get hungry until 4 or 5 hours later. Miracle worker!

Anywho, bottom line is, I am feeling positive and motivated and that is a good thing.
I will leave you with this....

Maybe I can be some version of this in 39 weeks!

Giving It A Shot.

Hello Blog-o-sphere!
So this post marks the first day of my blogging my (hopefully) successful journey to lose some weight. The reasoning behind is not just because I want to be healthy, thin, and blah blah blah, but actually because I want to look stinking awesome in my dearest friend and future cousin-in-law's wedding in October. Shout out to Samantha for giving me some type of timeline to base my goal on. Thanks!

The current objective is to lose 30 pounds by October 14th.
Is this do-able? Totally.
Will I struggle the whole time? Totally.
But that is just the way it goes with these types of things, isn't it?

I officially started my "healthy intiative" (my clever way of avoiding the word "diet," which have never been of any help in the past) yesterday and I am feeling pretty good about it. Granted it has only been two days, but let me bask in the small victories. Here are the stats as they stand today:

Current Weight: 177 pounds
Goal Weight: 147 pounds
Calorie Intake Daily: 1,300

My exercise varies from running 3 times a week, abs for fifteen minutes once a week, and arms fifteen minutes once a week. I plan on upping the times for abs and arms once I have a better grip on them, for now though, fifteen minutes is about all I got before my abs feel like they are on fire and my arms feel like they might fall off. I am a weak woman, but I am working on it.

The point of this blog is to find some sort of focus throughout the ordeal. My schedule hardly has any routine to it, sometimes it just seems to be weeks of chaos, but that is something I am dealing with day by day. Between sorority, school, work, sleep, and a personal life, time is limited for things like working out and cooking, but I am hoping this will help me stay on track.

Finally, I want to thank some people:
Megan Massey for eating healthy with me. It's nice having someone keeping an eye on what they eat around the house, it makes me think twice before I eat that spoonful of cream cheese frosting. (Note: it also helps that her cabinet is filled with little baggie's of cheerio's that she made herself for portion control...it always makes me laugh but helps keep healthy eating on my mind.)

Jeff Gabriel: This boy is a work out machine and I am so proud of him! He is part of my reason to lose weight as well. He has gotten so fit and I can't stand the thought of having a super fit boyfriend and then lumpy old me sitting beside him. ew. Ha. So thanks sweetie:)

Kristen McCue: Thank you for your gentle teasing of my trying to lose weight. It gives me a determination to keep doing it. I just love to prove people wrong. Haha. Secretly, I think you want me to lose weight solely for the purpose of getting all my clothes in my closet. I promise to give them to you too. Just don't eat chocolate cake in front me, you know I have very little will power.

Last but not least, I want to thank my Mom who has ridden on me to watch my weight since I hit 9th grade. I am glad you have done it too or else I might be even bigger than I am today. You are always supportive of me and I appreciate it. However, if you see me eating a pop-tart, save me the speech about eating plain oatmeal, sometimes a girl just needs a pop-tart to get her day started. Love you!

So this is it, hopefully the next 39 weeks will see a skinnier me! WOO HOO!