Is it Monday already?  Oh boy oh boy.  I am not sure why Monday is pretty much a guarantee for a bad day, but I am feeling it already.  Guess I won’t be able to skip the gym today because I am going to need those endorphins flowing to cure this mood. (Not that I was going to skip anyway)

This weekend I moved my remaining things from a house I previously lived to the house I currently live.  It’s a long story but a bedroom set, dining set, and a ton of clothes later, its moved.  It looks like a tornado has come through my house.  I have so much stuff.  We got the bedrooms set up and the dining area.  The rest will take a while to unpack and sort through.  I imagine a lot of things being set out on the curb.  A lot was already set out and it was gone before I knew it.  Anyway, the point of all of this is, wow, that move has left my body all stiff.  I am not sore like after a workout.  Its just hard to move around.  I did a lot of lifting and walking.  Who knew a 33 year old body would protest like this?

Not sure what I will be doing at the gym today.  I will most definitely be there though.  I can be tired sitting at my desk or I can be tired at the gym. I choose the latter.  I hope you all have a kick ass Monday.

Its all in the brain

I can't believe its been 3 months since I have last posted.  Where does time go?  I really am a bad blogger.

Life hasn't changed much in the last few months.  My life consists of working, working out, and taking care of kids.  I went TDY to Seattle last week.  I enjoyed the weather and the green scenery.  Yep, that's about as exciting as I get...

I finally had time to explore pinterst and understand what the site was about.  I am addicted.  But this post isn't about pinterest.  I read some things on there that really hit home.  It's things I have been saying for years:  If you want to lose weight/get fit/get stronger, it all beings with your head.  If your head isn't in the game, your body wont be either.  YOUR BRAIN has to tell the body to get to the gym.  YOUR BRAIN has to tell your body to stay away from the bad food.  YOUR BRAIN makes the decision if you will fail or succeed.  Until your mind is 100% in the game, your results will be minimal. 

Think about that one for a while.  My brain is telling my body to get off the computer and do some laundry.  I REALLY don't want to, but I have to gather the will power to do it.  Have a great Thursday everyone.

Its that time again

Here we are again...another week has passes.  I have to tell you, I did NOT workout last week.  My workout partner went to Tennessee and I just sat on my arse.  Ok, I didn't just sit around, I utilized my time to do other things, but the bottom line is there wasn't any workouts completed.  Shame. On. Me.

Have no fear though, I had a great workout today.  And I will have a great workout this week.  Well, except for Friday.  I may be able to juggle my schedule to shift workouts to get one in.  I will be out of town at a doctor appointment that day. Oh fun.  Hopefully I will be able to report back that I got all 5 of the workouts in.

My weekend was lazy.  Ex husband was sick.   I felt so so.  I just laid around all weekend.  Sad, I know.

Today I talked to my BFF Kelly Olexa for a couple of hours.  It was a MUCH needed conversation.  On top of getting to talk to her, I got to talk to her on her Birthday!   Kelly is doing some exciting things with FitFluential.  Go check out both sites!  Show KO some love.

Lots of exciting things are going on here.  I am finally finishing up my personal training certification.  Its not happening today, but it will happen in the VERY near future.  I am SO excited.  This has been something I have been wanting to do for years now. Literally, years.  Finally going to happen!  This is really the big exciting thing for me. I know I said lots of things are happening, but it is a Monday and my brain isn't working properly.

That's all I have for now.  I hope you all have a splendid day:)

Monday Funday

Happy Monday everyone.  Is that an oxymoron?  I swear it is some days.  There have been times in the past where I dream about skipping work on Mondays, and then I realize that Tuesdays would just turn into Mondays.  Why prolong the inevitable?

I have to report that my weekend was a FAIL.  I started sneezing on Thursday and that turned into some sinus funk.  I felt bad Friday and even worse on Saturday.  I didn’t feel as bad on Sunday but I still didn’t feel right.  Even today I don’t feel 100%.  I worked out in spite of feeling bad on Thursday and Friday.  I didn’t work out this weekend because I wasn’t scheduled to workout.  I purchased all of the food I needed to cook on Friday but haven’t got around to cooking it.  I suck, I knowJ

I did have pics taken on Sunday so I can track my progress.   I asked my ex husband to do it.  It literally was going to take 30 secs.  He complained the entire time and informed me this was the stupidest thing he has ever done (throw in a couple of F bombs and you will have the full synopsis.)  Wow, not only was that uncalled for but it was very hurtful.  I do not understand how people can be so malicious.  I understand that working out and getting in shape isn’t his thing but does he really have to criticize me for doing it?  I don’t knock his hobbies and adventures even if I don’t agree with them.  I try to be supportive of whatever he’s doing even if it isn’t my thing.  Its one thing to NOT support someone, but it’s a whole new beast when you purposely put them down.  I will NEVER understand it.  I have to tell you though, it really takes a spring out of your step when you’re on fire, you’re doing your thing, and then someone puts you down.  I am not saying that I wanted to give up, but I surely didn’t have the motivation to do anything else.  My feelings were hurt to say the least.  He could’ve at least kept his nasty comments to himself. 

So what do you do if you don’t have the support you need?  Do you keep going? Does it get you down?  I would love to hear some inspiring stories about how you kept going even though those around you purposely tried to keep you down.

They see me rolling

Hello folks!  How are you?  Are you enjoying spring?  A cold snap came through so its not as warm as it has been, but I am glad the winter is over. 

I have been on a roll this past week.  Last week I got in 5 complete workouts.  I didn't follow my meal plan last week because I didn't have the food I needed however, that changed as of Sunday!  I spent the day buying and cooking my food for half the week and finished the other half last night.  My workouts have been going well this week.  Tuesdays workout wasn't 100% but I made an effort.  I would say it was 80% complete. 

I am at a phase where I am so frustrated.  I am in between weights and I hate it.  My gym doesn't have "in between" sizes like 2 lbs, 8 lbs, 12 lbs, 18 lbs.  They have weights in increments of 5.  So, a 5 lb weight is way too light, yet a 10 lbs weight is heave.  But its not just dumbbells.  Even on the machines I am frustrated.  I was doing pull downs and I wanted to scream because I couldn't use 40 lbs with the number of reps I was doing yet 25 lbs was cake.  There wasn't anything in between. Really???  I would do 25 lbs this set then swap to 40.  But there was no way I could've done 40 lbs back to back.  Yet it felt like I was wasting my time with 25 lbs.  What do you do?  Do you go with the higher weight although you cant finish the set or do you use the lower weight? Or do you use the higher weight then swap down to lower.  I usually start off with the higher weights until I cant use them anymore then I will drop to lower weights. But wow, there was such a drastic difference between the two.  I couldn't have completed 2 sets at 40 lbs. There was NO way.  35 lbs...sure...but nooooooooooooooooooo the machine didn't have it.  So.....there's my complaint for the day...I need different weights! 

I work on an Air Force base and we have 2 gyms.  I LOVED the fact that one gym actually had a better weight selection with those "in between" sizes.  Now I cant speak for the machines...I don't know if there was a 15 lb gap between weights.  But the dumbbells were great.  Then I went in one day and they were all replaced with the same weights that were used at the other gym.  Bummer.  Do they not think that people need in between sizes?  Maybe men don't??  Well, the gym is free, so I guess I just have to suck it up and hope that although I am using the lighter weight, my strength will grow so I can make it to the next size:)

That's all I have.  Sorry for the small rant!  I am just happy to be working out consistently.  I am happy to be getting in shape.  I am happy to be eating properly. 

Stressssssssssssssss

I have a line on my forehead next to my left eye.  I guess it’s usually called 11’s, but I only have 1, so I am going to call it 1.  I spend a lot of time trying to minimize this.  I have even considered botox because I HATE it.  Well, yesterday I looked in the mirror and noticed all sorts of lines on my forehead that weren’t there before.  Where did they come from?  Were they always there but I didn’t notice because I was busy staring at one line?  Did I make them happen as I squished up my face trying to make the one disappear?  Maybe stress suddenly brought it on?  I have NO idea but I swear they weren’t there last week.

So this got me thinking about stress in my life.  I don’t have any more stress than the normal person—at least I don’t think I do.  But I think my body is affected by stress.  For a while there I was breaking out in hives for no reason.  I am always tired.  I don’t feel like working out because my mood is so horrible I don’t want to move.   It seems like every Tuesday night I crash at like 8pm instead of my usual 10-11.  I think my body is just dealing with so much emotional stuff even though I don’t necessarily realize I am stressed out.  There have been times when I have gone days without eating hardly anything because I was too blah to eat, then I spend the next week eating like a horse---as if my body was trying compensate for missing the food.   Its amazing how we have a mind/body connection and how our mind can affect the body.

This leads me to yoga.  I wrote the other day about wanting to be flexible so I wanted to incorporate some stretch/yoga/pilates into my life.  Well I think I need it to mentally unwind too.  I only have one body.  I am not opposed to plastic surgery but A—I cant afford it and B—I am only 33.  Gosh if I started now I would have to do it forever to keep up my appearance.  Anyway,  I need to do what I can now to combat the signs of stress/aging.   Whether its doing cardio, or lifting weights, or doing something more relaxing like yoga, I need to do something before I find more wrinkles/lines on my faceJ

I am travelling to DC in mid-April.  I think our hotel will be in Arlington where we stayed last time.  We really liked the hotel, the metro was a few blocks away, as was a HUGE mall.  We were straight across from the Pentagon.  The Airport is a like 2 metro stops away and our class right outside the L’Efant Metro Station, which is only a few stops away.  I think we were at a Marriott Residence Inn so we had a kitchen!  There was a fab grocery store a couple of blocks away.  There was free breakfast and dinner at the hotel.   We were originally going on this trip March 18^th but we decided to wait until April.  The hotel was booked in March so we were going to stay in a very similar hotel up in Rosselyn but I think we will stick with the one we are familiar with.  Okay, with that being said, I was hoping to do some hot yoga while in DC.  I live in Podunk Texas and there is NO hot yoga here.  So why not take advantage of it while I am in a city that DOES have it?  I didn’t do a ton of research but I found a studio that was on Capitol Hill.  Actually, there’s another on Dupont Circle.  Hey, I know how to get to both of those places.  Either would work just fine.  So I checked the pricing--$30 for 10 days. That’s so awesome. Oh wait, you must be a DC resident.  BUMMER.  Looks like I am paying $19 a session if I want to try this.  Hold that thought...I found ANOTHER one in the Dupont area that has a $50 traveller week.  Hmmmm…..I would be there Sunday night, so I could get in 6 sessions.  Is it worth it?  Have you tried it?  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know how this worked out for you? 

Stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Happy Monday everyone.  How was your weekend? 

Today I want to discuss stretching.  I was shaving my legs yesterday and noticed how tight my hams were.  They’re always tight, I am well aware of this, but for some reason it really stood out to me yesterday.   So I dog out my P90X Stretch X DVD and got to it.   The first part was kind of boring as I didn’t feel the need to stretch my neck and wrists, but hey, I did it.   I really enjoyed the last half that pertained to the lower body.  I cant believe I am so inflexible. Ahhhh.  I guess you should be able to bend over and touch your toes?  Yeah, I am a few inches away from that.  I guess I need to add a few yoga or pilates or stretch sessions to my workouts.  Not only do I want to be fit and slim, I would love to be more flexible.

How flexible are you?  Do you do anything specifically to increase your flexibility?

Payday

I absolutely love paydays.  I love checking my bank account first thing in the morning to see a nice big figure.  Of course it doesn't last long as bills have to be paid. Its kind of sad watching my bank account shrink to nothing!  This take me to our good friend: the scale.  Isn't it funny how its opposite of a bank account.  When the numbers go up we feel bummed. As the numbers go down we are jubilant. Well I will be the first to tell you that my scale has gone up a hair and I am not liking it. Not. At. All.  I know the scale will be down in a couple of days but wow, I hate the way it makes me feel.  Its the reverse bank account!

Do you rely on the scale?  How do you measure your success?

I better get to work.  I have been listening to Black Eye Peas Radio on Pandora.  Its pretty motivating and keeps me in a good mood.  The funny thing is I don't work out to this stuff.  Odd huh?

Vitamins!

Have you taken your vitamins today?

Do you take vitamins?  Other supplements?

I take about 20 pills a day! I hate swallowing pills, especially huge ones.  But I do what I have to do in order to keep my body functioning properly.  Is it doing any good?  I don't know.  In 2010 right after I had my last child, I went to the doctor because I felt like garbage.  I wasn't producing testosterone or progesterone, my thyroid was low, and tada--my body wasn't storing any vitamins.  My doctor told me it was pointless to breastfeed because I wasn't storing anything and therefore wasn't passing anything along to my child.  Its not like she was stealing it from me, I just had nothing to give her.  My doctor suggested I take liquid vitamins because "they" don't know where the pills break down in your body, so maybe if the vitamins hit my system sooner I would benefit from it. I guess this would occur with liquid vitamins. I tried that for a while but with all the different vitamins I am currently taking, I cant find all of them in liquid form.  So I am back to swallowing 20 pills a day!

What supplements do you take?  Do you notice a difference from when you were and weren't taking them?

Recap from last week:  I only worked out twice.  I am aiming for 5 days next week!  I have been out of the gym for so long, I feel like an old lady after a workout.  Once you get out of the routine its so hard to get back in it.  I got in a great arm and even better leg workout.  That's 2 days closer to my goal than if I had skipped the gym.  My legs are still a little sore from earlier this week. My arms aren't nearly as sore as I anticipated. 

What did YOU do this week? Did you rock it?

Have a great weekend everyone.  Its cold here in Texas so I plan on staying in all weekend.  I rented 7 movies and I am on #3. Yep, its a lazy weekend. Hope yours is fantastic too!

Thoughts for Thursday

I feel like an old lady. Wow it is hard to walk. My boss watches me get out of a chair in his office and asks whats wrong with me. Clearly theres a look of horror on my face or something because he can’t help but to notice that something is a little off with me. Yeah Bob, something IS wrong, my legs feel like the muscle is ripping of the bone, thanks for checking on meJ  But did I mention I love the feeling?

I am still feeling really blah today, but I am thankful I have a workout partner.  If you don’t have one, you must get one.  This person will help keep you motivated and accountable.  W texted me asking if we were working out and I replied with yes.   I immediately sent a second text stating “You’re going to have to make me go.”  W said “Ok, I will pick you up.”  Its kind of hard to blow someone off when they’re outside waiting on you.  Once at the gym, I had a great time.  I had a great workout, I even died laughing while working out. You know its good when your side starts to hurt.  (W was taking a drink of water and I moved my hand like I was going to slap his/her tummy, W flinched and ended up jerking the water bottle out of his/her mouth and got water everywhere. It was funny, you had to be there).  I am thankful I have someone there to push me to my limits.

I don’t know if I ever shared the story of how I ended up with Tem Bombshell.  I had used another trainer before because I saw what great results a few bloggers had with him.  Well one person I followed was part of Team Bombshell and WOW, she had great results.  She always inspired me so I wanted to do what she did.  But there’s more to it than just following someone.  I was going through a lot in my life and I needed something to focus on to get me through it.  I figured if I poured myself into working out/prepping meals, I would forget everything else around me (and I would have a nice body).  Well that was a nice thought but life got in the way—I was sick for like 2 months, then I injured my hand.  I am going through a lot again and I should probably remember why I started on this journey:  something to focus on while improving myself. I spent so much time sitting here neglecting myself, neglecting my workouts because I was in a funky mental state.  I need to dig down deep inside and focus again so I am not focusing on the negative around me.  If I put as much effort into working out as I did with moping around, wow I would have a smoking hot body!

Anyway, many many thanks to my friend W. I appreciate you making me work out more than you will ever know.   And I appreciate you spitting water all over yourself just as muchJ

Is it Wednesday already?

I had a post yesterday that I typed on a word document and failed to paste it here. Today, as I was getting ready to paste, I got a call that my daughter was sick and needed to be picked up from daycare.  So much for that.  I guess I will start from scratch.

I worked legs yesterday.  Wow, that was rough.  Previously I hated working legs because it hurt so much.  Once I figured out how much I could lift, I loved it.  Then I got out of working out (think I had a baby).  Now, I have to admit, I hate it again.  I was using the leg extension machine and only had 10 lbs on it and wanted to cry.  My quads were burning.  It wasn't pain, just an uncomfortable feeling.  I hate it!  Stay tuned and in a few months I will love legs again.  I have nice legs anyway, so I should enjoy improving them.  My hamstrings are tight. Always have been. I am not sure why it kills me to work the quads. Of course they're sore today, as are the hams.  I LOVE DOMS. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  The second day is always the best! 

I didn't workout today.  I walked to my car, was headed to the gym, then life happened.  I wont go into the details here, but I had a melt down and I couldn't go into the gym like that.  I needed to get it out of my system. I needed to just sit there, paralyzed, as life happened.  The thing is, this has been my case far too often for the past few months.  I get ready to go to the gym, then I fall apart--I am just too upset to move.  Today I had a nice little cry session whereas the other days my mood is just so terrible that I can't function.  I know I need to push myself, make myself get out of my office chair, and go to the gym.  Today I needed to just put my car in reverse and drive to the gym.  Surely I would've felt better right?  Are you able to workout if you're mad/sad/etc?  If so, does it make you feel better?  I know the whole working out releases endorphins. I get that.  But I want to hear from you--are you able to do it?

Here's to hoping I make it to the gym tomorrow.  I have every intention of going.  Wish me luck:) 

Sing for your supper!

Okay, I promise you there will be no singing. If I did that, all of you would run in a heart beat.

Today is my day where I do my housework and cook my meals for the week.  This month's plan has me eating seven, count them, SEVEN meals a day. Uggg...I have such a hard time eating four in the beginning. However, once I am on the plan, I end up starving, waiting for my next meal.  Shannon said something on facebook about this. She said if you were about to eat your stomach from the inside out, hardly able to wait until your next meal, this was GOOD, it meant your metabolism was on fire!  So in a week or so I should be complaining about dying of starvation.  I'm not giving away my meal plan but there is LOTS of fish on it this time. Three meals to be exact. I guess I better learn to love it!

I am off to cook.  In addition to my meals, I am making meals for my family.  Ratatouille is in progress, followed by some chili.  Its hard for me to NOT taste things as I am cooking.  I dont eat it because I want some, I eat it to see how seasoned it is.  I guess I can put it in my mouth then spit it out???

Have a great day everyone!

The question is: What?

What motivates you? What gets you up in the morning? What gets you to the gym? Do you look at your former self and long for those days? Do you stare at your coworkers in envy? Do you hit the gym so you will live a long healthy life? Do you hit the gym because its just your way of life?

I was having a conversation with my hair stylist regarding waiting to diet until Monday or starting today. She couldn’t even answer the question because eating healthy is her normal way of life. She couldn’t imagine herself in a situation where she needed to diet, because she’s always on a diet. Now I don’t mean diet like “oh, I’m counting calories again” but diet as in, what she eats. She said if anything, she would work out harder at the gym, but wouldn’t change the way she eats.

So what motivates me? My former self does. I had kids, gained weight. End of story. I am about 10 pounds heavier than where I want to be, where I know I can be. One day, about 4 years ago, I was eating a Lean Cuisine. Someone asked my whey I was eating that. I told her it was because I was trying to lose a few pounds.  She told me I needed to get over that, my high school days were over, I was a mom now. WOW. So we should all let ourselves go because SHE did? Um, I don't think so.

Alright, I must go. I would love to hear YOUR thoughts on the matter.  What makes you do what you do?

Food for Thought

What a day! What a day! 

I have been super busy but wanted to take a minute to ask a question that has been plaguing me all weekend:  Is it better to start a diet immediately, or wait until the beginning of the week?

I know there are so many schools of thought on this. Some “studies” say that you have greater success if you wait until Monday. Some say you will have greater success if you start immediately, because if you fall off the wagon one day, you will get right back on, instead of waiting for that next Monday.  Some people think you should start at the beginning of the week for a fresh start. Some think you should start immediately so you don’t spend the days between now and Monday pigging out, putting you further from your goal.

What is your personal opinion?

My thoughts are start as soon as you can.  I have watched people just gorge themselves on their “last meal” “last day” before dieting.  I have watched people eat badly mid-week, then just go ahead and eat badly the rest of the week waiting for Monday to roll around.  My personal opinion is that if you give yourself. I personally, do not see the point in waiting.  Okay, there may be reasons to wait, like you don’t have any proper food and for some reason you cant get to the grocery store until the weekend. That’s okay. But giving yourself time so you can eat badly for a few more days isn’t the right way to go. You don’t have to be putting it off specifically so you can eat poorly for a few days, but we have all been there and done that “Well I am going to diet tomorrow so I will eat this cheeseburger today” “I was so bad at lunch, I guess I will eat bad for the rest of the day.” 

That’s all I have. I would love to hear what you think!

Yum Yum Yum

Lets talk about food today.  As mentioned in my last post, I said it was hard to get some of my meals down.  At least I think I said it. Well yes friends, sometimes I skip meals.  I just don’t have an appetite. Like right now, my throat is a little sore, and I don’t want to swallow anything.  I know that choking down dry chicken will make things worse. But I also know that I have to eat. This post is dedicated to eating the foods we don’t always want to eat.

Is there a certain food you absolutely REFUSE to eat?  I know I mentioned before that some people are such picky eaters and claim they won’t eat this or that. I am NOT a picky eater; I eat almost out there.  One food I prefer not to eat is shrimp.  Ok, I will be honest.  When it’s on my meal plan, I WILL NOT eat it.  But let me tell you why.  I grew up in Louisiana with plenty of fresh seafood. At 18, I joined the Air Force and moved to West Texas.  Yeah, the seafood SUCKS.  We aren’t close enough to the gulf to get fresh seafood. I would only eat seafood when I returned home, which wasn’t very often.  In 2009, I was home visiting my family. I was also pregnant. I took a bite of shrimp and proclaimed “I don’t like shrimp.”  This was fresh shrimp but I couldn’t stomach it.  To this day, I don’t like shrimp.  I will order a shrimp dish at a restaurant every now and again. Nine times out of ten, I cant eat it.  I think I have ordered shrimp three times in the last 2 years and have enjoyed it.  Actually, that’s an inaccurate statement.  I tolerated it because it didn’t have a seafood taste.  The sauce on it masked the seafood flavor.  Of course, the shrimp weren’t very strong to begin with.  For some reason, shrimp has a chlorine taste to it. That’s the only thing I can describe.  I was buying shrimp around Christmas to put in gumbo and the salesman told me that the brown gulf shrimp were “stronger” than the white.  Stronger=chlorineJ  Getting back to my original point:  I don’t care for shrimp.

There sure things I don’t care to eat, but will eat.  Mussels are a great example.  I don’t really like them, but I will eat them.  I don’t care for peanut butter, but I can eat it if needed.  Last night I had my 2 year old eating sauerkraut.  I told you, we aren’t picky eaters!!!  I am not knocking picky eaters, so don’t think that.  I cannot grasp how some people are so picky.  Is it the texture they hate?  The taste? Is it because they didn’t grow up eating it so its foreign to them?  One of my daughters is somewhat picky.  I guess I will never understand!

Okay everyone, you have a fantastic weekend.  Hopefully I will give yall something good to read this weekend!  I don’t have any plans yet.  Who knows what I will get into!

What have YOU been up to?

I haven’t blogged since June of last year. Wow, time flies.  I started off my first post of the year with some thoughts that run through my head when people want to lose weight but do nothing.  I suppose I should’ve started off with telling you all what I have been up to lately.

Lets see, I had my youngest daughter in November of 2009.  I think I started this blog to track the weight loss from my daughter born in 2006.  Anyway, I have spent 2 years trying to get the last 20-30 lbs off.  The weight stuck to me for many reasons:  A—I had NO progesterone and NO testosterone. Apparantly those things help with weight loss. I also had thyroid issues. Well the thyroid cleared up but the hormones didn’t.  I have finally begun to lose weight so I am assuimg my hormones are okay for now.  I should have it retested but I hate my doctor and don’t want to go see her.  I should get a new one but that takes an act of God here. I am in San Angelo, Texas, not a third world country. Doctors have to approve you in order to take you on as a patient and it takes weeks to get in. Where do the really sick patients go?? I digress. B--I didn’t work out and eat like I should. Duh, if I am doing nothing, I am going to gain weight or maintain weight. C—I have been sick. I think I was sick for a good two months in October/November with a crazy upper respiratory infection. My lungs were congested but nothing would come up.  2 doctor visits, 2 steroid shots and antibiotics and $320 later, it cleared up.  But I am feeling sick again and my kids are coughing. Great.  A few weeks ago I heated coffee in the microwave for 30 seconds and it boiled onto my hand resulting in 2nd degree burns. Its almost healed now. Its kind of hard to life a weigh when the skin is coming off of your hand.  D—I have been MEGA stressed. I got a divorce in September.  I didn’t necessarily want it at the time. I don’t necessarily want it now. I am still stressed from it.

So, when you couple all of those things together, its no wonder I didn’t lose weight. In October I signed on with Team Bombshell. I am happy to say I have shed some pounds. Honestly, I haven’t been following the plan. Not making excuses but I was REALLY sick, I couldn’t breath, its tough trying to work out when you cant breathe.  I am still using an inhaler multiple times a day, whereas pre-illness, I rarely used one. Then just as I got back to the gym, I injured my hand. I didn’t completely give up, I tried to use some cardio equipment or work out muscle groups that didn’t require the use of my hand but I found myself hitting the hand on things.  The skin finally came off and I have new growth but it is still tender to touch because the skin is so thin there.  I was still following my meal plans, on days I am not too bummed to eat.  I am not an emotional eater…I am an emotional non-eater.   That’s really no excuse either, I can force myself to eat. And I should. Skipping meals is unhealthy.  My confession here kind of counters my last post when I was complaining about people that cry about losing weight but do nothing.  In my defense, I physically couldn’t workout.  I guess I could’ve taken those 30 min walks…while puffing on an inhaler every 5 steps and praying I didn’t brush my hand against my leg as I walkedJ 

I see some changes in my body.  I am only 10 lbs away from my goal weight. If I would’ve followed the plan, where would I be today?  Wow, to imagine where I COULD be is breathtaking.  I love fitness. I have the muscle structure to look how I want.  I have the time to do it. I AM going to get there. No excuses!  I will be blogging more updating you with my progress.  If I am not accountable to someone, then I can do whatever I want right? WRONG.  We all need to be accountable!

Do you want it?

I hear people say they need to lose weight, they want to look like they did ten years ago, they want to look like so and so, etc. However, when I further engage in the conversation I am met with “I don’t eat fish” “I don’t like vegetables” “I am a picky eater” “I don’t have time to workout.” Seriously? Is losing weight THAT hard? I am not referring to people with some medical condition that prevents them from losing weight. I am talking about normal, average, everyday people that cant lose weight because they don’t try!!!!

By no means am I a fitness expert. I am part of Team Bombshell. I pay someone to tell me what to do. Its a lot easier to hire a professional than to figure out what to eat on my own and what workouts I need to do. But guess what? I haven’t always hired someone. The internet has a wealth of knowledge, as does your local library or book store. Granted it can be confusing determining which diet to follow as some swear by Body for Life, others swear by Atkins, etc. It can be mind boggling figuring out if you need to lift weights or do cardio. But the basic weight loss principle is the same: Calories in versus calories out. You can find enough tools to determine how many calories you need to lose weight. You can find tools that tell you how many calories are in an item (assuming it doesn’t have a label.) Its is so simple to only eat XXXX calories a day. If you can read, you can count calories. Its also not rocket science to figure out that eating one cheeseburger and drinking a coke, reaching XXXX calories IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU. Diet isn’t the only component of losing weight. You need to work out too. Sure, you can lose some weight with diet or exercise alone, but combining the two will increase your results. You don’t have to do some crazy 3 hour workout either. Go for a walk each day. You don’t have to run a marathon to see results. Ok, ok, if you want to look like a figure competitor, then YES, you have to workout and eat like one. You wont look like one with a 30 minute walk 5 times a week while eating 1200 calories of lean cuisines each day. This post is really geared towards “normal” people that just want to lose some weight.

So where am I going with this? I have heard many people complain about needing to lose weight. Hey, I need to drop some weight too. Been there, done that. But all I hear from people are excuse after excuse after excuse. One person said she was a meat and potatoes kind of girl and didn’t like any other foods. (Ok…then just consume XXXX calories of meat and potatoes???) Another person has gym equipment and DVDs at home but insisted she needed a gym membership and personal trainer to tell her what to do. (Because you might have the wrong form on the elliptical or you might be doing something wrong while Walking Away the Pounds???) The story gets better as she visited the gym and it was too confusing for her. (Its too confusing to walk on the treadmill like the guy showed you???) Ive heard people say its too expensive to lose weight. (I assure you a walk around the neighborhood is free and I can cook for your family 3 times for the amount you just paid for one meal at that restaurant) Another chick said she couldn’t lose weight because her office always had some sort of bad food laying around. (Are they holding you down forcing you to eat the food???) Someone else said she has family meals XX times per month and she feels bad eating something different. (Is your family going to disown you if you eat your own food???)

I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt: there are some foods I don’t like to eat. It is easier if you have someone telling you what to do. Yes, working out and eating right can be a bit more costly than doing nothing and eating poorly. Having will power is a hard thing. I get that, I truly do. I guess the difference between myself and those people is that I really want this. I will eat fish 9 times a day if that means I will look better. I will find time to workout. I will say no to the birthday cakes that are in my office on a weekly basis. I will turn down lunch with a friend if it interferes with my progress. If you want something bad enough, nothing will get in your way. Want to look like Cindy Crawford but don’t have the money? Sitting around doing nothing wont help you get there. But eating better and working out, even if it is a daily walk, will get you closer to your goal than doing nothing. Don’t think you can afford to eat healthy? How about actually pricing it to see if you can afford it. I promise you can eat healthy food just as you ate non-healthy stuff. Even if you can only replace one meal a day, youre one meal closer to seeing progress. The only conclusion I can come up with is that these people don’t REALLY want to lose the weight. That makes me sad.

What excuses have you heard from people about weight loss?