Well, that was fun..

Okay, so I'm done with the first day of the 30 day Shred by Jillian Michaels.. and boy, do I wanna hit her.. lol.. but it wasn't THAT bad, and it went even faster because I was listening to my iPod while I was doing it.. I think it'll work pretty well to get me fitting into that dress.. 

Sabrina @ Sabrina is on the move! is eerily on the same brain wave I am.. and we've been that way for a while.. it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who feels the way I do.. sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy.. but I'm definitely decided that I am doing the Adkins diet again on January 1st.. I'd start Monday, but that's just setting me up for failure.. 

Until then, I'm going to try to scale back my eating habits.. because I have gotten WAY to lax on what I put in my mouth.. and that isn't good at all.. I don't know how some people can diet for all their worth, but I can't.. ugh!  

Now I go to finish some iPod playlists.. some for running, some for inspiration, and some just for plain ole fun dancing music!!  :)

What songs do you listen to during your runs?  

or just to dance around to??

OMG, it fits!! IT FITS!!

Okey dokey.. one of my presents for getting 20 lbs off was a new pair of jeans.. well, because I was in between a size 18 and 16, I decided to wait a bit until I could fit into a size 16.. Well, my wait is over!!  I went to Target (a store I used to hate, and most PS girls will understand this I'm sure), and bought a pair of their brand jeans in a size 16.. They are a little snug, but they button and I don't have a muffin top, so I'm good!  :)

I plan to post pics of me in my smaller jeans later (once they get out of the wash).. but my title is actually to do with this dress I got from a friend like a year ago.. If any of you have paid attention to my pics, you'll know I'm not exactly flat-chested (no offense intended to those who are).. This has been an issue with fitting into formal tops that are sized with #'s instead of letters.. lol.. I can deal with that, if it means that I'm still my boob-aliscious self.. ;)

So I tried this dress on, as I am keeping to my word and getting out more, for a formal sorority meeting I'm going to tonight.. and was AMAZED when it actually zipped up!!  HOLY COW!  This thing has never fit.. NEVER!!  So I took some pics.. they are on my Changing Thru Pictures page..  Hope you all had a great weekend.. I'm off to cheer on my Indianapolis Colts and eat something before getting my nails done and going to my meeting..

Oops and Thanks!

I'm not sure how I did this, but in my excitement for Monday, I TOTALLY forgot to weigh in this morning.. UGH!  I was so looking forward to seeing how many lbs I've lost since last Monday.. I've noticed things fitting looser, so I weighed myself when I got home from work tonight.. and I was ECSTATIC!!

Tonight I weighed in at 222.8 lbs!! 

That means I've passed the 25 lb mark 

and gotten to 27.5 lbs!! 

I can't wait to see what it is tomorrow morning.. maybe I'll somehow magically lose those 2.5 lbs that are keeping me from 30 lbs.. here's hoping.. lol.. so I didn't get to do my Shred tonight, but I did do 20 minutes of activity.. I hope to wake up early tomorrow and enjoy this wonderful weather for a nice walk/jog.. Gotta start with baby steps, I guess..

I can't wait to get under the 220 mark.. I don't know how long it's been since I've actually seen that number.. and that makes me sad.. because I haven't been happy with how I look for SO long, and I realize that whatever my motivation is (which I'm still not sure what it was in the beginning), I need to bottle it because it's keeping me from just giving up.. I think it's majorly because of you all.. so THANK YOU!  Thank you for keeping me accountable to someone other than myself.. Thank you for supporting me, no matter how.. Thank you for reading!

Dining Out..

Okay, so I know that as a society we LOVE to multi-task.. anything we can do at the same time as something else, I know I'm so going to do it.. lol.. and fast food is a big issue in society, and not just to our kids.. I LOVE me some McDonald's french fries and Arby's jamocha shakes.. and I for all those who are just tuning in, I've been on the Adkins Diet since July 23rd.. and it's been interesting to find foods on the run that I can eat on this diet.. 

So I decided to help out other people who are interested in what foods are worth going through the drive thru for..  Every week, on Sunday, I will be posting a new "fast food" item that SHOULD be carb-friendly.. I'm gonna call it "Out of the House Sundays" I will tell you all I wish I'd known before I bought it (if it was worth the money, waste of carbs/worth the carbs, etc).. I hope this helps at least ONE person.. :)  I'm going to do one for last Sunday, because I just ate a bite of the WORST thing ever.. lol

KFC'S DOUBLE DOWN SANDWICH

This is KFC's newest edition to their menu.. It basically is a chicken sandwich (classic or grilled style), but instead of a bun, it's got the chicken breasts on either side of the bacon, swiss cheese and, depending on the kind of chicken you get, a sauce.. 

Calories (for the grilled one I got): 460

Fat: 23 grams

Price: $4.99

I got the grilled chicken one, and didn't get the honey mustard sauce on it.. I was planning to use ranch dressing or mayo and dip it, but I forgot.. So I tried it as it came (minus the sauce, of course) and it was SO GROSS!!!  It is so not worth the $5.. you're better off getting a 2 pc meal from KFC instead..  It's good for carb-watchers because it only has 4 carbs, but doing this diet shouldn't mean I can't have good tasting food..

New Look.. In So Many Ways

So I hope you like the new look of my blog as much as I do.. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but better late than never, right?!  lol.. Thanks go out to Katie who pointed me to Erika's blog about how to add pages to my blog.. But like my title says, I've got a new look in so many ways.. and I'd love to show you! 

When I weighed in this morning, I was at:

228.0 lbs

Today is the first day of my "Restart".. my ticker at the top of my page will still show my total lost though because I worked hard to get that weight off.. and I'm proud of it.. :)   I'm thinking I'm going to start planning my meals out (as much as I can while eating with my parents some days) on Sundays and make sure to cook it as ahead of time as possible, because I have lazy days where cooking just makes me wanna vomit.. sorry, but it's true..

My big problem I'm running into is breakfast.. I don't like to eat at 6am, and my meds make me not hungry for a while into the day.. so I'm going to have to make myself eat SOMETHING.. This part of the Adkins diet is always tricky because I have to pay attention to how much of things I eat.. which is good calorie-wise, but it sucks carb-wise.. You know how many foods have 2 grams of carbs per TABLESPOON?!  like ketchup?!  I love ketchup!!  and I'll have to watch how much I use of it.. lol

I was planning to do the "Induction" part of the Adkins again anyways, but it was gonna be the last two weeks of October (so I could be that much skinnier before my 27th birthday.. hehe).. so it's a little bit sooner than I planned, but it's still happening.. :)  I'm excited to get back into this, and am gonna get ready to go to the gym as soon as I'm done writing this.. can't wait to go to zumba again!  I've missed it so much.. 

Playin the Avoidance Game..

Alrighty, fellow bloggers!  Time to fess up.. I have been avoiding doing this since I got home Sunday afternoon.. Just a quick recap of my weekend, so I can keep it to a 10 minute read (hopefully less.. lol).. Okay, so I hope everyone had a happy and SAFE Labor Day.. I had a safe Labor Day, but it wasn't too fun because I had to work.. :(

My job is fun, somewhat easy (at most times), and is so worth it.. But staying with a person that I don't normally hang around with for 48 hours is somewhat stressful.. It's kinda like playing house.. except with someone elses house.. lol.. Okay, basically, I did NOT get to work out (beyond the stuff I could do while standing there folding laundry or doing dishes).. did NOT eat right.. and left there feeling totally crappy because I knew I had to tell you all how badly I had fallen off the wagon.. and OH BOY DID I!

So I started my diet on Monday with a "clean slate" so to speak.. If I gain, it's my own fault.. However, it is my goal this week to maintain, if not do my darndest to lose those last 1.9 lbs to get to my 25 lb goal.. I need a new dress shirt!!  :)   Today, Tuesday, is my re-start day for the Shred Challenge and exercise in general.. I feel horrible about the fact that the first trial I had in this diet (the first serious one), I just gave up.. :(

My goal this week is to figure out a way to not go crazy when stress comes into my life and overwhelms me..  Any suggestions?  What do you all do to keep yourself "on track" when stress is around?

This is it for today.. I promise.. haha

Okay, so I had to blog a little about the day as a whole.. I actually got myself out of my house and to the gym to do the 50 minute Zumba class.. and was surprised that I wasn't hurting too bad at the end.. and of course, when I got home my mom (who has had a new gastric bypass done a few months ago) wanted me to go walking with her.. 

So we did two laps around the lake down the street from our house.. and when we got home, I wanted to just plop on the floor and lay there.. lol.. my deal was if I went with her walking, she'd step on my back to pop it.. and I got my back popped.. THANK GOODNESS!! The Zumba workout and the walk were both done on an empty stomach, which is something I'm definitely working on.. with my current medications, my appetite is somewhat suppressed.. and I have to remember to eat every 4 hours or so.. a few days last week I noticed it was 10pm and realized I hadn't eaten since noon.. :(

But I ate these cute little chicken chunks that are NOT BREADED!!!  Even have a cute little name.. Skinny Chix.. lol.. I had like 6 pcs of that and was pleasantly surprised by their good flavor.. Found them at Wal-Mart, for anyone who is interested.. now I'm gonna go shower and crash into my bed.. to wake up and do it all again tomorrow.. well, maybe not ALL of that.. 

1st of September...

So it's the beginning of a new month.. Where did August go?  I can't believe in a little over 2 months I'll be 27.. So scary.. and so exciting to see what my FAB body will look like by then.. I was looking around my house and saw a picture from 2 Christmas' ago..  I was HUGE!!  And this past Christmas was not too much better.. I want to be slimmer by Christmas, if not be totally done "dieting"..  So crazy to even be thinking about Christmas but it's getting closer and closer.. holy cow!

So today is the "1st day of the rest of my life".. lol.. that might not be quite true, but it feels a little like it.. today actually is the 1st day of the 30 Day Shred.. and I got done with my first workout about 30 minutes ago.. and while I wanted to die right afterwards, and started sweating about 5 minutes into it, I feel really good about it.. and any anger I have towards Jillian Michaels I get to take out on her with boxing moves.. I punch her in the face.. lmao

Can't wait to read other people's blogs to see how well everyone is doing on their journey with this program.. :)   Thinking I may take a short nap, and I also plan to do Zumba tonight too, so I'm hoping my legs won't feel like rubber by then.. ;)

It's the 1st of September!!

and for any of you who have been reading this, you know that today is the day that the 30 Day Shred starts.. yikes!  Well, my plan was to wake up at 4:30 am and work out, shower and go to work.. And I prolly could have done that but I had the worst night sleep last night (prolly in anticipation for this to start).. So I figured I'd post my measurements and pics this morning and just make sure to do the first workout when I get home from work.. Oh boy..

My beginning measurements are as follows:

Arms: 14"

Chest: 40"

Waist: 39"

Hips: 49"

Thighs: 28"

Okay, I was shocked when I saw that my waist and my chest are basically the same amount.. not cool.. I thought I had a defined waist, and I actually do, but my waist isn't ANYWHERE near my belly button.. lol.. which is where I did the measurement so I'd be able to do it accurately in the future..  And for the gross pics..

Yeah, I'm kinda disgusted with how chunky I got... which is prolly why there are no pics of me from my chest down in the past few years.. gotta love denial, right?!  Well, it's off to work for me!  Have a good Wednesday, everyone!

OH MY GOSH!!!!

Can ya tell I had a good day?!  lol.. I honestly, really truly, had an AWESOME day, actually!  I don't even know where to start, but I figure the beginning of the day is prolly the best.. ;)

So I woke up today thinking that tomorrow started the 30 Day Shred on Syl's blog.. and I honestly am still kinda scared out of my mind about it.. but I made my mind up that I was gonna do it, and I'm sticking to it, dag nab it!!  So I went to work, all normal and stuff, and eventually went home (after some detours to the craft store and Petsmart to see the kitties I can't take home with me).. And found myself TRYING to talk myself into ditching my workout.. the key word there is trying.. I wasn't successful!  YAY!!

Was feeling quite tired (woke up really early, after going to bed late), so I let myself take an hour nap.. and couldn't sleep.. so I just lay there for a while, and then got dressed for the gym and left before I could say something to stay at home.. lol.. I belong to my local YMCA, and for those who have NO IDEA where my town is, or what it's called for that matter, the fact that we even HAVE a YMCA is a miracle..  We have that and a Wal-Mart (which we say that's why we are considered a city instead of a town.. hehe)..

From past posts, you know that I LOVE Zumba classes.. and while I don't go as often as I'd like to, I go as much as I can but they only have classes at night on Mondays and Wednesdays.. :(     So today, Tuesday, they had a class called TurboKick.. and that last part is right, as in it KICKS YOUR BOOTY!!  I had to use my inhaler towards the end, which is saying a lot.. I'm feelin kinda wore out, but I know I'll keep doing it.. :)

Oh, and I found an iPod Podcast for a Couch to 5k program called 5k 101.. I have to use podcasts because I have an iPod Classic.. which is NOT an iPod that has App capabilities.. :(   So I did that after sweating my butt off during TurboKick.. I had to use my inhaler again, but I made it through.. and then high tailed my butt out before I passed out.. that's another blog all together.. lol

My OMG moment happened when I got home.. I've gotten kinda compulsive about weighing myself, which I've got to stop, and weighed myself after I got home.. I'VE REACHED THE 20 LB MARK!!  One day after my girl Katie got to her 20 lb mark, I reached mine!!  I'm exstatic.. nothing can burst this bubble.. or so I thought.. My sorority sisters father just passed away from cancer.. so I am sad for her.. but there's still that lingering happiness in the back of my mind that is making me wanna do a little dance..

So I'm gonna dance a little and try not to cry for my sorority sister.. 

Bright Idea..

I realized today that I wasn't taking this impending mini-marathon thing seriously.. I was not thinking of it as "It's coming up sooner than you think", I was thinking "It's in April.. That's a long time from now".. This is NOT a healthy way of thinking about something that I could seriously hurt myself at..

So I decided to blog my question to my wonderful (if few in numbers) followers, and after looking at a website suggested by Blubeari, I found that there are lots of smaller run/walks that I can do in preparation to the April mini-marathon.. and because I am an out-of-sight, out-of-mind kind of person, I decided to make something to put this in my face EVERYDAY!

Little background: I recently re-did my bedroom.. it had this gross wallpaper on it that had been on the walls for at least a decade.. lol.. so blah, blah, blah, and my walls are now a cute pink, and I have a good room to relax in.. and a big hole on my wall where there is NOTHING, and it looks weird.. So I decided to make something for the "hole" in regards to my future acheivements..

I had this purple piece of cardstock in my craft room.. decided to make it into something worthwhile.. something that will help me NOW, instead of in the future..

Welcome to my racing platform!!  Here is where I will post my mileage/time ran.. what races I will be participating in.. and the registration forms at the bottom that I still need to fill out..

I also plan to put up my pic that I take for each week of the Drop Dead Gorgeous by December Challenge..

I am making sure that I take this stuff seriously from now on.. because I don't want to be at the start line in April wondering "Why didn't I try harder to train for this?"

Cake is the devil..

Alrighty, so I had a good day at work.. it's my long day (long being 7 hours) and I LOVE this client and her family (I also love my other client and his family too, don't get me wrong).. My client's daughter, who is REALLY cool for being almost 50 years old, makes eggs and bacon on Saturdays.. and I love this!  And they usually have the carb-friendly Healthy Life bread, so I can eat that too.. but not today.. today they have this 45 calorie crap and it has 14 CARBS for 2 pcs.. I want my 5 carb bread back!!!  And of course, I don't look at the package until AFTER I ate the bread.. ugh!

Today was a busy day, as I took my client to the Art in Speed Park thing today.. got some walking in before I started to feel bad for pushing her on uneven ground in her wheelchair.. the weather wasn't too bad when we went.. I wasn't dripping with sweat from the heat, which I was ECSTATIC about.. long story, but the short-one-word explanation is Paxil..

Work day ended just as great as it began.. and I headed to the baby shower being held for my "little sister" from my sorority.. I'm so happy for her and her hubby.. can't wait to see the cutie.. but I walked in 30ish minutes late and am shocked that everyone is still just milling around.. I figured I'd have missed SOMETHING by then.. but as I walked into the party, I noticed the food and drink tables.. There was absolutely nothing on them that I could have.. not cool..

What happened to having meat trays and fruit trays?  Most baby showers I've been to have these, at LEAST!  But I didn't say anything, of course (I'm not a monster, even if it sounds like I have one in my stomach).. Point of the story is coming up, I promise..

So time came for the cake.. and I kept telling myself, "It's not worth it" over and over again.. Because it's not.. Cake and me, we don't have a love/hate relationship.. we have a plain ole HATE/HATE relationship.. my body doesn't react well to it (you can imagine what I mean, I ain't gonna spell it out), and my teeth hurt too.. So I made it through a whole baby shower without going sugar crazy and binging on crap that would only hurt my goals in the end..

I love you, my little sista!  And I had fun, no matter how hungry I might have been.. ;)

Happy Saturday..

So I had a few minutes before I have to leave for work, so I figured I'd come on here while I ate my breakfast.. well, my partial breakfast... I never eat breakfast at my house on Saturdays, and that's why I love working on Saturdays.. because my client's daughter always makes eggs and bacon for breakfast on Saturdays!!  I love it!  I don't have to lift a finger (unless my client needs something, of course) and I get to enjoy sticking to my diet.. :)

So last night was interesting.. I love when I have dreams about going totally bonkers with unhealthy food .. It makes me wake up hungry.. lol.. so today I get to sleep a little longer than normal, and what happens?!  I wake up at 5:15 am!!  WTF?!  No alarm and I woke up anyways.. not cool on Saturdays.. So I took a shower, and went back to bed.. So fresh and so clean, clean!  

Happy Saturday to you all!  :)

It's That Time...

It's that time again.. another weigh-in has come and gone (aka it happened this morning.. lol).. and I'm also at the tail end of my "monthly visit".. which is what I'm blaming on the fact that I GAINED 2.2 lbs.. grr!

** UPDATE: So it looks like I can't count... because I actually LOST .8 lbs.. I didn't gain at all.. which makes me that much happier!!  **

Why is it that it makes me retain water like noone's business?!  But then again, I guess it'll give me better numbers next week.. lol.. hopefully!  I turned in my info for the Drop Dead Gorgeous by December challenge, and took my pic today.. and while I think I look like crap, that's not the point.. it's that I have something to gauge what I look like at the "beginning" of this challenge.. But I found a pic of me taken a few weeks before I started my personal challenge and wanted to post it up here.. 

Here I am.. the night of my sorority's formal.. The dress I am wearing hadn't fit in over a year (it's my bridesmaid's dress from my brother's wedding).. and I was super excited it did fit.. lol

And here is my pic for the Drop Dead Gorgeous by December pic.. Yep, I know.. I'm hot stuff.. lol.. but I can definitely tell I've lost weight in my face, and my waist has gotten smaller.. so I'm excited to see where this challenge and the other one I'm involved in, 30 Day Shred, will take me..

So I didn't get to go to the gym yesterday.. I'm disappointed because my body hurt so bad.. And I am not going to be able to go today either, due to time issues.. my goal is to go tomorrow and Sunday, especially Sunday, as I don't have to work.. :)

Oops!

Okay, so I forgot to blog my weight loss on Friday.. and then proceeded to have the worst weekend EVER!!  But I weighed in on Friday morning, and while it was a loss, I was kind of disappointed.. :( 

I'm now at 233.0 lbs!!

So I've lost a total of 17.7 lbs since I started.. and for not working out until yesterday, that's not bad.. yesterday was my first day back to the gym for good.. I am not going two months away from the gym again.. It can't happen.. So yesterday I went to the gym and walk/ran for 30 minutes.. 12.5 running, 17.5 walking.. and my body hurts in so many different places.. lol

But it was so worth it.. and today I'm going to the zumba class in a few minutes..  I've got to post pics of my before sometime soon, even if I don't want to.. lol.. what's the point of blogging if I don't want to see what I used to be, right?!  So I'm going to find one somewhere.. I'm sure I've got them all hidden somewhere.. 

Off I go to Zumba.. dance your ass off, indeed!  ;)

Jumping For Joy

Okay, so I woke up this morning (after a HORRIBLE night sleep) and almost ran down my stairs to go weigh myself.. and brush my teeth too of course.. lol.. and boy was I excited to see that I'd lost so much in a week (especially a week where I did such bad things on my diet).. 

I'm up to 15.9 lbs lost!!

I can't believe I lost another 3.7 lbs!!  And my scrub pants are hardly fitting anymore.. uh oh!  Time to go to the tailor (aka my Grandma) I'm getting there though.. but still, I'm going to have to step it up on the workout part.. I miss working out, and I've got to figure out a way to go in and have a job too.. which, I am running late for now.. lol

Have a good Friday!

Another One (Hopefully) Bites The Dust.. or Two or Three..

Tomorrow is my weigh-in day.. and I really want to weigh myself right now, just to get it over with.. and see if I've lost any more weight.. which I sure hope I have.. just a little over 7 lbs and I can get myself a new pair of jeans.. Tried on a pair of capris that I haven't been able to fit my butt (and thighs) into since 2 summers ago.. when I bought them!!  I'm totally psyched!!  It's so nice to see the results this way.. I can't wait to fit into my size 12 Tommy jeans again.. those haven't seen the light of day since 2004.. and I miss them so.. :)

Presents!!

Who doesn't like presents?!  I surely LOVE presents.. and have decided to give myself presents for reaching certain weight loss goals.. like this week, because I lost over 10 lbs. (and have stuck to this damn diet past the 2 week induction), I got myself a new workout outfit.. lol, just a tshirt and shorts, but I really like them.. and I wore them yesterday to Zumba.. So I thought that I should reward myself at certain goal markers..

20 lbs.~ new pair of jeans

25 lbs.~ new shirt

40 lbs.~ new VS bra

And that's as far as I've really thought about it.. lol.. I'm thinkin at 25 lbs (which is also 10% of my starting weight) I'm gonna buy me a bicycle.. It seems like a good idea, and I've been wanting one for a while but it's so hard to think about spending 100's of $ on a good one.. but since the 20 and 25 lb goal are so close to eachother, I figured I'd split em up, and still get a new outfit..  

Cheater cheater, Pumpkin eater..

So today was my "nephew" Rylan's 4th birthday.. and I originally wasn't supposed to be going (was going out of town) but my trip got cancelled so I was excited to go.. I missed last years and didn't want to miss another one.. He's so cute and smart!  But I decided to use today as my "cheat day".. which is a 1 hour period where I can eat whatever I want, no counting carbs.. and what did I decide to "cheat" with?

10 Pc Chicken Nugget 

Medium Fry

small piece of birthday cake with whipped frosting

homemade dip with cheese, veggies and beef

Not too bad, but I didn't gorge myself like I had thought I would.. I finished that with 35ish minutes left and didn't even go for seconds, so I didn't do too bad, I think.. This "cheat day" is what I use to not go out of my mind with wanting to visit with my fave guys Ben and Jerry, or want Chicken Nuggets, or just to not have to scour a menu for a steak on a date.. lol

So I won't get one until after this coming Friday.. I get one 1 hour cheat a week.. and I try to use it when I go out, not when I am at home.. it's no fun to eat bad without anyone else doing it too..

better late than never, right?

okey doke.. so I totally missed blogging on here Friday, but I did remember to weigh myself that morning.. and I was pleasantly ECSTATIC! lol

i lost

12.3 LBS

in the past 2 weeks!!

WOOHOO!!  So on that note, I made my slimmer butt go to Zumba class Saturday morning.. and boy did I wonder how I could have not done this class for the past 2 months.. I missed it, and my body noticed that I hadn't done this in a while.. I was huffing and puffing before we'd been at it for 20 minutes.. and it's an hour long class.. plus, i absolutely LOVE the teacher for Saturday's class.. she kicks our butt!  

But I have found this awesome juice that tastes better than the regular stuff, and again, I was pleasantly surprised it tasted so good, because it's labelled as diet.. has only 2 carbs in it for an 8 oz glass!  Love it!  I drank half the bottle yesterday.. lol

So I had a dream last night about the mini marathon that I told Katie that I was gonna do with her.. and in my dream, it was March and I hadn't touched a treadmill yet.. lmao.. so I'm definitely gonna start going to the gym as much as possible now and make sure that I can run at least half of the mini.. if not the whole thing.. 

Hope y'all had a good weekend, and enjoy the rest of Sunday.. I'm gonna go eat my yummy breakfast now.. eggs and bacon!  Yum!