Just in case you were wondering - if you eat super healthy for nearly 9 weeks then go on vacation and throw everything out the window for Thanksgiving, you WILL feel like death. Literally. I thought I was going to die, I felt so sick. Who knew!? Right now the very thought of anything besides rice cakes and oatmeal makes me want to hurl.
It's back to the healthy stuff for me.
I'm making ONE batch of cookies right now. I haven't had a single one. I hope everyone else enjoys them for me.
This Christmas is going to be weird.
Final issue comes out Wednesday! You Kansas Citians better grab a copy (it's free)! Everyone else can probably see it on www.inkkc.com under "this weeks issue". I'll probably post again when it comes out too.
Thanksgiving/Vegas Vacation recap coming later.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fitness Challenge - FINAL RESULTS!
The fitness challenge is over! I met my goals!! I've been meaning to write my recap for the blog, but this week has been pure insanity. The dogs are on a total rampage right now. Their mission: Destroy my house. It exhausts me just thinking about it, so I'll save those stories for now.
I had to provide a recap to the journalist for her final article (coming out December 2nd..watch for it!!!) so I thought I'd just re-post it because it really sums up what I have to say.
I think the challenge has been a really positive experience for me. It has taught me that if I really want to achieve something I can. I just have to put my mind to it and do the work.
Biggest surprise: How easy it was. Sure, the first week was pretty hard. I had to totally change the way I was eating. I suddenly had to start eating right and at first I missed all my favorite foods. It got to the point where I hated eating because what I had to eat didn't sound good. However, after that first week of shock (hell week as I call it), it got so much easier. I started getting creative with my meals by adding different spices or switching out one healthy option for another so I wasn't getting bored. Now, it's just become how I eat. The cravings for all the bad stuff went away for the most part and it started actually being less stressful planning my meals because I ate so similarly every day. Now I don't dread my meals, but look forward to them. Sure, I still get cravings here and there, but it's never anything I can't get past! Before I started the challenge I figured I'd be "starving" all the time, as is typical with most diets. However I was pleasantly surprised that my meal plan was balanced so that I am really never hungry! I feel like I have more energy as well.
Challenges: Making time was the first challenge. I'm constantly being rushed around and finding time to cook meals and fit in longer workouts took some planning. After a couple weeks I started getting the hang of it and settling into a routine. I frequently make meals ahead of time and always try to go to the gym at the same time each night, so it just feels like it's a part of my normal routine. It was also hard for me to openly talk to people about my challenges with weight. I'm a pretty reserved person so it took a lot to get used to people I hardly knew seeing my "fat picture" then coming up to me and asking "so, how much weight have you lost?" I was really put off at first, but realized that by being a part of the challenge has opened me up to these sorts of questions. Now after finishing the challenge I feel like I am more comfortable openly talking about what I'm doing to achieve my goals. People keep saying they are really impressed an that's a huge confidence booster.
Advice: My biggest piece of advice to anyone wanting to lose weight is to get in the right frame of mind. The only person responsible for your body is you. You have to make the decision to get up and go to the gym every day. You have to make the decision to eat chicken instead of pizza. I'm always thinking about my long term goals for my body and have gotten in the habit of weighing the pros and cons of each decision before I make it. Sure I can have that slice of cake if I really want it, but do I want to spend an extra 45 minutes at the gym burning it off? Probably not, but sometimes I do! Also, my schedule is really busy, but I've managed to find time each and every day to get in that gym. There's always time!! You just have to make it work for you!
I was in a huge rut before this challenge came along and didn't quiet know where to start. I've always been an active person, but my diet clearly needed to be changed. I feel comfortable now reading labels and knowing exactly what I need to eat to fuel my body and lose weight. I don't plan on "stopping" after the final weigh in either. I see this as a life changing experience and plan on living this new lifestyle from here on out. I'm so happy this happened right before the Holidays because now I feel like I am ready to face them head on and will continue to eat right because I love how I look right now, I still have a little bit left to lose and I don't want to stop this momentum! I love the new me :)
And now without further delay: The Pictures!
That's more like it.
I had to provide a recap to the journalist for her final article (coming out December 2nd..watch for it!!!) so I thought I'd just re-post it because it really sums up what I have to say.
I think the challenge has been a really positive experience for me. It has taught me that if I really want to achieve something I can. I just have to put my mind to it and do the work.
Biggest surprise: How easy it was. Sure, the first week was pretty hard. I had to totally change the way I was eating. I suddenly had to start eating right and at first I missed all my favorite foods. It got to the point where I hated eating because what I had to eat didn't sound good. However, after that first week of shock (hell week as I call it), it got so much easier. I started getting creative with my meals by adding different spices or switching out one healthy option for another so I wasn't getting bored. Now, it's just become how I eat. The cravings for all the bad stuff went away for the most part and it started actually being less stressful planning my meals because I ate so similarly every day. Now I don't dread my meals, but look forward to them. Sure, I still get cravings here and there, but it's never anything I can't get past! Before I started the challenge I figured I'd be "starving" all the time, as is typical with most diets. However I was pleasantly surprised that my meal plan was balanced so that I am really never hungry! I feel like I have more energy as well.
Challenges: Making time was the first challenge. I'm constantly being rushed around and finding time to cook meals and fit in longer workouts took some planning. After a couple weeks I started getting the hang of it and settling into a routine. I frequently make meals ahead of time and always try to go to the gym at the same time each night, so it just feels like it's a part of my normal routine. It was also hard for me to openly talk to people about my challenges with weight. I'm a pretty reserved person so it took a lot to get used to people I hardly knew seeing my "fat picture" then coming up to me and asking "so, how much weight have you lost?" I was really put off at first, but realized that by being a part of the challenge has opened me up to these sorts of questions. Now after finishing the challenge I feel like I am more comfortable openly talking about what I'm doing to achieve my goals. People keep saying they are really impressed an that's a huge confidence booster.
Advice: My biggest piece of advice to anyone wanting to lose weight is to get in the right frame of mind. The only person responsible for your body is you. You have to make the decision to get up and go to the gym every day. You have to make the decision to eat chicken instead of pizza. I'm always thinking about my long term goals for my body and have gotten in the habit of weighing the pros and cons of each decision before I make it. Sure I can have that slice of cake if I really want it, but do I want to spend an extra 45 minutes at the gym burning it off? Probably not, but sometimes I do! Also, my schedule is really busy, but I've managed to find time each and every day to get in that gym. There's always time!! You just have to make it work for you!
I was in a huge rut before this challenge came along and didn't quiet know where to start. I've always been an active person, but my diet clearly needed to be changed. I feel comfortable now reading labels and knowing exactly what I need to eat to fuel my body and lose weight. I don't plan on "stopping" after the final weigh in either. I see this as a life changing experience and plan on living this new lifestyle from here on out. I'm so happy this happened right before the Holidays because now I feel like I am ready to face them head on and will continue to eat right because I love how I look right now, I still have a little bit left to lose and I don't want to stop this momentum! I love the new me :)
And now without further delay: The Pictures!
Before
Seriously, I looked like this? Really? Disgusting.
~~~~
After
Seriously, I looked like this? Really? Disgusting.~~~~
After
That's more like it.The Stats:
Weight Lost: 15 pounds!
Body Fat Lost: 9%!
Inches Whittled Away: I can't remember!!!! Ah! I'll have to ask the trainer! It's enough so that nearly every pair of pants I own is too big. My work pants are hanging on me. So I went from looking pudgy to looking frumpy. Awesome. Haha! I'll take it though! I want to say I lost 5 inches around my waist though! Holy hell!
The Wedding Dress: FITS! Almost too big!
And I'm not done yet! The holidays might just be a "lets maintain this" period, but I'm not stopping, no way.
Weight Lost: 15 pounds!
Body Fat Lost: 9%!
Inches Whittled Away: I can't remember!!!! Ah! I'll have to ask the trainer! It's enough so that nearly every pair of pants I own is too big. My work pants are hanging on me. So I went from looking pudgy to looking frumpy. Awesome. Haha! I'll take it though! I want to say I lost 5 inches around my waist though! Holy hell!
The Wedding Dress: FITS! Almost too big!
And I'm not done yet! The holidays might just be a "lets maintain this" period, but I'm not stopping, no way.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Fitness Challenge - The Home Stretch
I go in for my final weigh in and photo shoot on Sunday!! I can't believe it's almost over. I feel like I just started!
I gotta say, these last two weeks have been rough for me. I'm still not feeling totally better. I know for a fact that I didn't rest nearly enough as I should have, but the thought of not losing any weight the last two weeks was too much for me to handle, so I pusehd through some pretty tough workouts anyway. My lungs are angry at me, but I'll be sure to give them a rest on Monday and Tuesday. As for now, it's go time!
My scale says I've lost a significant chunk of weight. I haven't seen that number on the scale in a couple years and it feels really good to have it back. I have definitely decided I don't want to see that number go up again either. I don't mind this new way of eating and working out like a crazy lady as much as I thought I would. Sure, I miss being able to "just eat whatever" but most of the time I realize it's simply not worth it. I'm totally committed to keeping things up, even after Sunday. Now don't get me wrong, Sunday night I'm totally chowing down. I'm thinking pizza. And breadsticks. And dessert! But then Monday it's back to the ol' standard!
I randomly pulled out a pair of jeans I haven't worn in well over a year (had them almost 3 years now) and put them on this morning. MUCH to my surprise and delight they fit better than they did the day I bought them. I snuck a peek at the size and they are a size SIX!!! I couldn't believe it. I did a happy dance right there in my closet! I've still put off trying on my Most Favorite Pair of Jeans Ever. I want to lose a couple more pounds first. I look forward to rocking them very soon!
Full recap of the final weigh in will be coming next week! Fingers crossed for me!
I gotta say, these last two weeks have been rough for me. I'm still not feeling totally better. I know for a fact that I didn't rest nearly enough as I should have, but the thought of not losing any weight the last two weeks was too much for me to handle, so I pusehd through some pretty tough workouts anyway. My lungs are angry at me, but I'll be sure to give them a rest on Monday and Tuesday. As for now, it's go time!
My scale says I've lost a significant chunk of weight. I haven't seen that number on the scale in a couple years and it feels really good to have it back. I have definitely decided I don't want to see that number go up again either. I don't mind this new way of eating and working out like a crazy lady as much as I thought I would. Sure, I miss being able to "just eat whatever" but most of the time I realize it's simply not worth it. I'm totally committed to keeping things up, even after Sunday. Now don't get me wrong, Sunday night I'm totally chowing down. I'm thinking pizza. And breadsticks. And dessert! But then Monday it's back to the ol' standard!
I randomly pulled out a pair of jeans I haven't worn in well over a year (had them almost 3 years now) and put them on this morning. MUCH to my surprise and delight they fit better than they did the day I bought them. I snuck a peek at the size and they are a size SIX!!! I couldn't believe it. I did a happy dance right there in my closet! I've still put off trying on my Most Favorite Pair of Jeans Ever. I want to lose a couple more pounds first. I look forward to rocking them very soon!
Full recap of the final weigh in will be coming next week! Fingers crossed for me!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Fitness Challenge Week 5 - I'm sick
The cold did not get better. It got worse.
I still tried to go to the gym though, stupid mistake. I went 4 times and even though I did much lighter than usual workouts, I still managed to overdo it and now I am even sicker (that's not a word is it?).
I broke down and went to emergent care today. I had to wait over an hour, but at least I didn't have to hassle with trying to get an appointment with my regular doctor and drive all the way out to Kansas. Turns out I have bronchitis. I think it's a fairly mild case, but still, not good.
I'm officially benched and can't workout until I feel much better. It. Is. So. Hard. I'm not good at "resting" to begin with. I literally can't sit still, I'm always doing stuff. So being forced to rest is even harder. Especially now that I'm just one week away from my final weigh in for the fitness challenge! I want nothing more than to be running like a crazy woman at the gym right now. Or lifting weights, or doing crunches. ANYTHING but sitting on my rear wasting time on Facebook.
I'm on a cocktail of drugs too. Some cough pill laced with Codeine, prescription strength Motrin and Claritin-D. I took the codeine about 5 hours ago and I'm just now starting to feel the side effects. I'm so dizzy, I feel like I could fall out of this chair at any second. My thoughts are a bit jumbled too, but my mind is racing! And the dry mouth, holy lord this is torture! But at least this way I'll drink more water. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to get through an entire work day. Luckily I take the bus, so I'll just wait to take the pill until I get to work and hopefully it's wore off enough after work to drive home from the bus stop (about a 7 minute drive). I'm so stupid. I should totally take time off, but we are in the middle of planning Christmas 2010 (yes, 2010) and it all has to be done for our buyer presentation right after Thanksgiving and OF COURSE I'm taking a whole week off to go see family in Vegas the week of Thanksgiving. So I'm effed. I have to go.
This might get intersting.
I still tried to go to the gym though, stupid mistake. I went 4 times and even though I did much lighter than usual workouts, I still managed to overdo it and now I am even sicker (that's not a word is it?).
I broke down and went to emergent care today. I had to wait over an hour, but at least I didn't have to hassle with trying to get an appointment with my regular doctor and drive all the way out to Kansas. Turns out I have bronchitis. I think it's a fairly mild case, but still, not good.
I'm officially benched and can't workout until I feel much better. It. Is. So. Hard. I'm not good at "resting" to begin with. I literally can't sit still, I'm always doing stuff. So being forced to rest is even harder. Especially now that I'm just one week away from my final weigh in for the fitness challenge! I want nothing more than to be running like a crazy woman at the gym right now. Or lifting weights, or doing crunches. ANYTHING but sitting on my rear wasting time on Facebook.
I'm on a cocktail of drugs too. Some cough pill laced with Codeine, prescription strength Motrin and Claritin-D. I took the codeine about 5 hours ago and I'm just now starting to feel the side effects. I'm so dizzy, I feel like I could fall out of this chair at any second. My thoughts are a bit jumbled too, but my mind is racing! And the dry mouth, holy lord this is torture! But at least this way I'll drink more water. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to get through an entire work day. Luckily I take the bus, so I'll just wait to take the pill until I get to work and hopefully it's wore off enough after work to drive home from the bus stop (about a 7 minute drive). I'm so stupid. I should totally take time off, but we are in the middle of planning Christmas 2010 (yes, 2010) and it all has to be done for our buyer presentation right after Thanksgiving and OF COURSE I'm taking a whole week off to go see family in Vegas the week of Thanksgiving. So I'm effed. I have to go.
This might get intersting.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Howl-o-ween 2009
I didn't want to go out and buy all new costumes for the animals, so I used what I had then improvised. How funny are they?! Ha! No way did I even think Ted would leave those ears on his head, but I just plopped them on him and he went about his business like nothing was up. I will definitely be having fun with this in the future! Missy took a lot of extra coaxing. I cornered her right as she was about to fall asleep. Mean mommy!!! George has just gotten used to me torturing him every year. Doesn't he just look so happy?!
Zach and I went to Atchison, Kansas for a "Haunted Tour". Supposedly Atchison is "the most haunted town in Kansas". I was pretty excited and even made a fantastic Halloween-esque playlist for the drive up. It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself... The town was pretty creepy looking on it's own. Old, old, old and some pretty awesome creepy looking (and some that were quite lovely) houses. Unfortunately the tour wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Hard to see, rude lady on the bus, cheezy story telling. We'd like to go back next fall for the walking tour and go in a few houses. That would be fun! We still had a great time though! I love Halloween, it's my favorite holiday!
Hope you all had a great Halloween too!
Hope you all had a great Halloween!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Fitness Challenge - 4 Week Check-In
Well, things with the fitness challenge are still going well. I was really nervous all week because my scale wasn't moving, like at all. So I emailed my trainer, we tweaked a couple things and I totally started watching my salt intake. I also killed it at the gym 8 days in a row (oof!)
So, I'm very happy to say that I'm now down 10 pounds and 6 percent body fat! WooooHooo!
I'm about 5 pounds away from my "goal" but I'm really happy with where I am at now. I think 5 pounds in the next 2 weeks is a pretty lofty goal, but I'm going to give it my best.
Unfortunately I started getting sick last night. It all started with this uncomfortable feeling in my throat and gradually worked up to where I could barely swallow or talk by the time I went to bed, totally exhausted, at 9pm. I woke up this morning even worse off. I called in sick (for the first time in 4 years) and went to the CVS Minute Clinic and to get checked for strep. Thank goodness it was negative! I just have a killer cold. It's now moved out of my throat and into my head. I'm stuffy, got that gross post nasal drip and now I'm starting to cough. So, I'm kind of freaking out. Ted The Great Dane got neutered yesterday, so he's not feeling the best either, so we just snoozed the day away together. I'm feeling a *tiny* bit better now, but I know I'm not out of the woods yet.
I'm going to do my best to get to the gym tomorrow and the rest of the week. I gotta finish strong! Even though it's not really "finishing", I have a feeling this whole eating right, working out all the time has become part of my lifestyle. I'm really enjoying all my clothes being a bit looser, or just plain too big. It's a nice feeling. I want to keep it.
So, I'm very happy to say that I'm now down 10 pounds and 6 percent body fat! WooooHooo!
I'm about 5 pounds away from my "goal" but I'm really happy with where I am at now. I think 5 pounds in the next 2 weeks is a pretty lofty goal, but I'm going to give it my best.
Unfortunately I started getting sick last night. It all started with this uncomfortable feeling in my throat and gradually worked up to where I could barely swallow or talk by the time I went to bed, totally exhausted, at 9pm. I woke up this morning even worse off. I called in sick (for the first time in 4 years) and went to the CVS Minute Clinic and to get checked for strep. Thank goodness it was negative! I just have a killer cold. It's now moved out of my throat and into my head. I'm stuffy, got that gross post nasal drip and now I'm starting to cough. So, I'm kind of freaking out. Ted The Great Dane got neutered yesterday, so he's not feeling the best either, so we just snoozed the day away together. I'm feeling a *tiny* bit better now, but I know I'm not out of the woods yet.
I'm going to do my best to get to the gym tomorrow and the rest of the week. I gotta finish strong! Even though it's not really "finishing", I have a feeling this whole eating right, working out all the time has become part of my lifestyle. I'm really enjoying all my clothes being a bit looser, or just plain too big. It's a nice feeling. I want to keep it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
