Day 21 of Making the Cut

Tuesday Summary:
I'm still so sore. Yesterday we did the TV Jillian work out which was pretty rough. Lindsey and I both said we were feeling pretty sore. I think that because I went from hard core work outs almost everyday to pig-outs everyday my body go too used to the down time and now that I'm kicking things back up into high gear I'm feeling the burn more than I ever have. All of my muscles were felt all day while walking around campus. Every flight of stairs felt like a biggest loser challenge! Despite the horrible pain shooting from the top of my abs to the bottom of my calves the girls and I still go together for a late night Making the Cut work out. It was our first day back with the bible and I felt it for sure. She had us doing more repetitions of everything it seemed and I learned that my new least favorite move is the surrender. (This little kitten is my example of how I feel when I'm finished with my 40th surrender) Anyways despite whatever set backs we had this week/weekend we got right back into it tonight and are staying strong!
Whitney:
I'm glad that Brian has noted the difference he sees in you from all of your hard work, and I'm glad to hear that he wants to join you and better himself. Next time you go out to eat you can remind him that you're both in a new routine! As far as the 100 calorie packs go, I too have fallen victim to eating more than one of those things and consecutively. This will have to be all of our new hurdles to overcome. At least we've moved from cutting back on Mac and Cheese to cutting back on 100 calorie snack packs. As far as Marci being tiny and you feeling big next to her that's crazy! But I do understand the feeling of wanting to just look leaner and thinner because all of my friends are. So I'm going to try to pick up on the yoga moves because apparently that's how you get the leaner look. And like I already said it's all about the food. If you want to look leaner then cut back on the amount of carbs you eat and simply don't cheat! Next time we go downtown together we'll both be looking super sexy! I can't wait for our first sister appearance. (My birthday is a good goal)
Mom:
Tisk tisk to dad! I can't believe he was such a terrible influence on you when you've been doing so good, but considering how difficult it is to turn down the whole nutty butty ice cream bar I'd say you did well with that temptation! A bite of Rocky Road isn't that bad either. I'd say you get a high 5 for that. I told you that I was going to come in on Sunday to work out. I might actually be there all weekend because my lap top is broken and I need to have dad look at it. Plus Julie's birthday party is on Saturday so I'll be in Austin already for that. So you and I can be motivating each other all weekend! We'll make sure that we each reach our goals for this week.
It's been a while so here are all of Jillian's Tips of the Days:
When to Work Out
If after work you have every excuse not to work out, do your exercise routine in the morning. If you can barely stand in the morning, let alone lift a dumbbell, do your workout in the afternoon. There is no right time to get your workout done; it's just important that you do it! If you don't think you have time to work out, make time! There's nothing more important to your day than getting in a good sweat session. If you're short on time, just make it that more intense.
There's Always an Alternative
Okay, I understand, you really can't control yourself around a trigger food, like chocolate. One tiny bite is never enough. Before you blink, that entire jumbo-sized bar is gone. In that case, find an alternative that satisfies the craving for salt, sugar, or fat, but doesn't do as much damage as the real thing. For example, if your weakness is potato chips, try having some air-popped popcorn as a snack instead. Trust me — in time you'll adapt so that small amounts of bad foods will not set you off on an all-night binge.
Temptations All Around
The contestants did a great job at home, ignoring the temptations at their favorite restaurants and at the grocery store. Are you doing the same? When you're dining out, ask the waiter not to bring the chips, bread, or anything else that's going to entice you to continuously dig in. Also, scan the menu for the healthiest options available and stay focused on them. At the grocery store, ignore the center aisles (they're usually filled with the processed junk) and head to the outer aisles, which are filled with fruits and vegetables. Every little decision helps to get you to your ultimate weight-loss goal!
How to Do It
Like most changes, switching from a constant negative monologue to a positive one takes time. At first, it may be helpful to actually write down or say out loud a positive self-statement to overrule a negative one that popped in your head. For example, when you hear "I can't exercise because I'm fat and lazy" in your head, immediately say or write "I can lose weight and be healthy." Pretty soon you'll catch yourself mid–negative thought and be able to immediately rephrase it in a positive manner. Just like training a muscle, the mind gets stronger through positive and repetitive training too.
Find Your Fan
Do you have someone in your life who just wants to see you happy and successful? Or encourages you and cheers you on no matter what? This is the person who will support you without being asked and can be your rock to lean on when you need it most. Love and kindness from this person can bring you strength and courage so that you absolutely know that you're not doing this on your own.
Reflect On What Worked
Write down your journey! If you capture what works (and what doesn't!) in your online diary, you will have your own little survival guide to refer to what happened along the way and how far you've come. Then you can see it's not all about weight loss, but what you went through to get there.


GOODNIGHT
-LEAH

STAY MOTIVATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's so easy to fall back into bad habits; the bad eating habits that led to this never-ending obsession with weight. It would be so nice NOT to wake up every morning thinking about what I need to eat today and when will I exercise. But I'm not one of those blessed skinny people with high metabolisms and small body builds. So on and on it goes....

The key - Motivation! Self Motivation, sure, but also from your support group, inspirational shows (Biggest Loser), magazines (Shape), videos (Jillian) and just knowing that you've come too far to go back to the ole ways, ole waistline, ole feelings. So you had a couple of bad days... Turn it around. Way to get back with it Ladies, despite the minor set backs! Journaling is a terrific tool - thus our blog symbol, "the journal"...

I also read a study tonight that showed weight loss was more successful with groups that had some sort of regular support system like online chat rooms, meetings, counseling AND our blog! The groups with support lost 3 times more weight and kept it off longer than those on a diet alone. So confess your little heart out but then put it behind you and get back on the "new lifestyle" wagon. I need to read more success stories.

I agree about the snack packs being to easy to abuse. Make a Plan for the day - and only include one snack pack IF it fits in your calorie plan. I was going overboard with Cheez-its so I substituted them for yogurt cups; less calories, healthier and I don't have the desire to eat one after the other.


Now for my confession - Mr. Saboteur aka Your Dad had a strong driving, impelling, overwhelming craving for Rocky Road ice cream late last night. I made a weak attempt to talk him into Vanilla Yogurt. Next thing I knew, we were driving to the nearest store to calm his insatiable craving. He came out of the store and handed me a Nutty Buddy ice cream cone. UGH - he knows that's my favorite ice cream next to Hagendaus Coffee. I kept thinking about the REGRET tomorrow if I eat this tonight so I took two bites off the top and gave the rest to him. Phew! BUT then at home he waves a spoonful of Rocky Road ice cream in my face. Yes! I ate a bite of Rocky Road. The night could have ended in a disaster. The Nutty Buddy alone is 350 calories. How can we resist these temptations, these Saboteurs? It's just going to take incredible will power and motivation. They say after 3 months of eating healthy you can claim your new lifestyle. That will be April 11 for me... so if, I mean WHEN I reach 3 months - it's time for a mini celebration. NOT with food, but I'm thinking some new workout clothes.

After last night you can imagine how close I stuck to my plan today; eating and treadmilling. I'll weigh tomorrow just to know I'm still on track.

Weight loss is such a mental game and that's why so many people give up and 66% of American's are over-weight. Whitney and Leah - at least you guys are part of the 33% within your weight range. Your battle will be maintaining while you work on muscle definition and staying away from CL Mac & cheese, cheese bites etc. C'mon, you guys are strong!

Tip: If you have a food weakness, let's say NUTS. Don't buy them! You will be more tempted to over-indulge if they are in the house. Trust me - I couldn't stop at 8 almonds; 8 became 16, became 24.... Substitute with something that's not so easy to overeat like carrots. By the way, I read that dipping carrots in peanut butter was a good snack so I measured out 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and dipped away. It was really good; either that, or I was really hungry.

Stay motivated! Keep blogging. keep jogging... (I love this cartoon)

Damn it

Okay so I could just take the day off from the blog and bask in self loathing. Instead I'm confessing AGAIN on this blog. As always I was doing great during the day- eating healthy, great workout. Then I went nuts. I had too many servings of mixed nuts and they are so high in calories and fat. Then I went to dinner with Brian and his grandpa and ate cheese dipped potatoes. What the F was I thinking? And then I came home after and ate two more cracker packets. B even said that all the 100 calorie packets add up.

I'm so mad at myself. I can't believe I would get so far and then crush my hard work in three days of eating CL and snack snack snack. I even said my new goals when starting from the top would be to cut back on my snacking and dig into my diet.

So here we go again. I weighed myself... thus this depressing blog. No I'm not back in the 140s yet but I'm so damn close I nearly cried. I want to get back to 135 by the end of this week and then nose dive for the 120s all over again. Leah, Linds and I are picking back up on our Jillian workouts tonight and I have eaten healthy so far today. For some reason it's so easy to avoid food during daylight. Why? I don't get it? I also wrote down my foods and weight for the day in my journal. I'm going to be religous about keeping track of not only what I eat, but the calories in each item. Today I'm at about 345 calories so far... Oh God I just realized it's only noon. I think tonight I'll cook the black bean and fat free cheese "nachos" for dinner for us. I hope they're good. Maybe I'll saute some peppers and onions and call them fajita nachos? Then I'll at least feel like I'm eating bad.

I think after working really hard on some actual PR and Web design today with no interruptions, I will do a crazy amount of cardio before our Jillian workout.

Goodluck on your Tuesday ladies. Please don't let the snacky monster get me again. He's evil.

The pain of self discipline

It is probably a little obvious but I did not blog for a few days because I was not proud of my diet behavior. No, I didn't totally kill everything I have been working on but I did fall into a hole on Saturday afternoon. I ate lunch at County Line. I had red meat with sauce on it, a few cheese bites, a bite of cobbler. Brian rolls his eyes when I say I feel guilty about Saturday's failures because I only had a bite of each item, but still! Before I would never have allowed myself those things.

I went grocery shopping Sunday and stocked back up on veggies, frozen dinners to bring to CL and gum to bring to CL so I wont eat there. If only I wasn't a waitress surrounded by delicious food all the time.

Today we had a good workout - Jillian video followed by about a 2 mile run in the neighborhood. I had bran with cinnamon and pecans for breakfast, some nuts for snack, a veggie and turkey wrap and 100 calorie pack of cookies for lunch with a glass of skim milk. I made the wraps with fat free cheese, fat free italian, yellow, green and red bellpepper, diced mushrooms and red onion. Leah and Brian loved them! So did I. I like to use the 100 calorie packs as side dishes with my yummy wraps.

Brian just finished complaining that he doesn't feel like working out today but he's been playing out our hypothetical break up in his head lately because I am a skinny girl now. haha. He thinks I'm going to get into such great shape and break up with him becuase I'd rather be with someone who cares and takes care of his body. Well to some extent it's true, I do want a man who cares about his body and who wants to be in shape and life a healhty lifestyle together, true. But I'm not so superficial it's worth breaking up over. Cute that he worries though. And good that he's serious about joining us in our healthy lifestyle. He told me when we went out Friday night that he doesn't even recognize me anymore because I've been replaced by a skinny girl. Good nick name. How is Dad doing? He told us he should get on the wagon but he's been sick lately. \

When we went out Friday night with miniature Marcie, I felt huge. She weighs about 15 lbs less than me and I'm at my lowest in almost a decade. So sad. I really really really want to be the one with the great body when I go out with people and I don't care who I'm out with. Unless it's Leah, then we can both be the ones with the great body. It sucks that I work work work and I stand next to Marcie in a skin tight leopard print dress for one night and I feel like I need to work all over again. Because I do. I need to pretend like I'm starting all over. Strict diet. No cheating. Tons of cardio. In the beginning of my weight loss I used to run for an hour on the treadmill, intervals and never stopping. So now I'm getting back into it. I'm keeping my journal religously and I'm going to be blogging a lot more. As if I'm back at 165 (only replace the 6 with a three haha) I'm starting from a new top.

Mom way to stick it out through your sickness. I'm so proud of your progress and you can bet I'll be there Sunday for a killer workout day at the track. Keep it up and I can't wait to see your dance moves.

Feeling the Burn

Weekend Summary:
This weekend Rachels brothers came to visit. I didn't drink any beer though despite the many attempts her brother made towards me playing beer pong. Instead I made a mix drink with Vodka and cranberry and sipped on it all night. I only took one shot and that was because the whole group got together and took a toast together. I was proud of myself. The part that was more difficult for me was the fact that Rachel made pizza and baked cookies AND had a bag of munchies (aka cheese its, pretzels, doritos, and rice square's) I did my best to resist temptation. I didn't eat any of the pizza and I had one cookie and I picked out like 4 cheese its. It wasn't the best but it could have been a whole lot worse. It was honestly just further evidence that this has become a lifestyle change...(still could use some work) but in the past I wouldn't have thought twice about having 2 slices of pizza, 3 or more of those cookies, and I would have periodically munched on those munchies the whole night through.
I worked Sunday night and I did NOT do well on eating. I munched on County Line food all night long. I very much regret it and have again decided to completly cut off county line food all together. Cold turkey. Lindz and Whit said that they'll still allow themselves a salad which is perfectly fine by me, but I think if I'm going to pull off the quit then I'm just going to have to make the rule that once I step in the building I'm not allowed to eat anything unless I brought it from home.
As far as working out goes I did alright. I jogged a mile and did strenght training with Whitney, Brian, and Boo and I'm still sore from that work out! I didn't work out on Saturday because I was still so sore (I did take charlie for like a 10 min. jog if that counts) but other than that I called it a day. Sunday I didn't really work out either because I slept in and then cleaned everyones messes from the night before and then went straight to work.
First Day of the Week:
Today Whitney, Lindsey, and I did a Jillian Michaels TV work out (hour long) and it was rough! I missed Jillian though and it felt good to get all hot and sweaty and thinking "shit, shit, shit" the whole way through. She knows exactly what I need. Then Whitney and I took the dogs out for a jog. It was the perfect start to my day and now I'm ready to take on the world. I bought the newest Instyle and Shape magazine and they gave me a couple of pointers and here is one I thought I'd share:
-Your skin is firmer when you avoid foods with high GI levels. (lower carbs=leaner face/firmer skin)
Well Whitney is waiting on me to go tan so I'd better be off.
Mom CONGRATS 33 lbs. is awesome! I'm really proud of you and I'll prolly be coming in on Sunday this week so we can hit up the track.
Until next time,
-Mopeah

Down But Not Out

I'm two more pounds down today; grand total 33.9 lbs down since Jan. 11. This is a success since I've been fighting a cold this week and haven't had the usual amount of energy to workout. Also, the hail storm put me off my workout plan. Instead of getting down about it, I turned it into an exercise activity and raked up 4 bags of leaves and debris from the deck and driveway.

Didn't hear from my two Sunday workout partners, so I went to the track alone. Beautiful day!!!! I hope you guys are using this beautiful day too to burn some cals.

I tried some of the workouts on FIT TV. You should have seen me doing the hip hop work out with Ms. Olympia, Madonna Grimes- HA HA. I can now do the SNAKE & CHICKEN with the best of 'em. I'm thinking of upgrading my workout equipment by adding a stepmaster. Lot's of these shows use the Step for their routines.

I decided too, that the Trampoline is staying. It's become a part of my exercise routine on weekends. Besides the usual jumping jacks, I added some lunges and push ups. Then I did some pull ups on the tree. It's great for my joints - low impact! Thank you Leah.

Easter is right around the corner. Are we going to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner? NO CANDY this year but I'm thinking a hard boiled egg would be perfect.

No REGRET this week! Now for lucky week # 13.

First work out since Padre

Well I'll make this a short one too. Today Whitney and I went to the gym with Brian and his Boo. They worked out our arms until I literally could not lift anymore. We went tanning afterwards and it was even hard for me to lift the tanning bed cover. That's when you know you've worked out haha. As far as food goes I've been doing awesome. Staying within my calorie needs and all healthy food. It's been easy because I've been so stressed (2 tests this week) We also each ran about a mile before the work out too. I'm still craving a Jillian work out though so hopefully we'll be able to do that tomorrow. I then came back and unpacked all my stuff from the break and cleaned my room. I feel soooo much better now that I've gotten back into the swing of things. Anyways I'm off to take a shower now. :-)

-Mopeah

All Hail Broke Lose

I got home early last night to exercise before AI and all "Hail" broke lose. After watching my car and the skylight get pummeled by Hail and then assessing the damage, I was not very motivated to exercise other than sweeping up broken glass and mopping up water. Tonight I'm going to make up for yesterday and add an extra 15 minutes to my workout.

I'm also fighting a cold so this has not been the best week and I'm afraid it will show this Sunday when I weigh in - unless I go for it in the next few days. So without haste, I'm off to burn some cals. Sorry my blog is so short but I have no time to waste!

David Bowie

At least he's thin. And feminine. Hahahahaha.

Great quote box Mom! I love it (I think it was you who put it up.) That is our official mantra because we all love it so much.

My first day back to McJ today has been amazing! Two people said I looked thin and Eric asked, "How much weight have you lost?" He was shocked. I told him a little under 30 lbs. He said he was really impressed and kept staring while I told him about my workouts. That's right! People notice! Ha! He said, "Are you having to buy new clothes?" And the answer is YES! Dang it. None of my clothes fit. It's getting worse and worse. The shorts I have worn every summer for three years that I bought in every color from the GAP are huge on me. I mean really huge. I mean if I don't pull them up people will see my ... everything. I really need to make some good $ this weekend and buy more pants. And another kind of bad thing about my weight loss is that my boobs shrank. I have always been at least a full C. Now my bras are baggy and I bought a B cup bodice to go out the other night. It's kind of sad. But I have always said I wanted smaller boobs. I guess my prayers have been answered. It makes working out a little easier. AND I don't feel as slutty in my low cut shirts. Now they're just fashionable.

I'm adjusting to my new hair cut. Thank goodness I have lost weight or I would really look like a fat girl with bangs and layers.

I didn't work out one iota yesterday and I ate chinese food for dinner. However, I ate the brocoli, salad with italian dressing, green beans and brown rice (okay, okay and two pieces of General Tso's). Then for desert I had a piece of watermellon. It was nowhere near the usual chinese food experience but even the veggies were yummy. I did play softball last night, the whole game. I got on base twice, got an RBI and I scored! Yayyyy! I guess that counts as a workout, interval sprints around the bases? Sure, why not?

Today I'm going to the rec after CL. It will be a late night I'm sure. But I am craving the burn like never before. I had not taken a single day off in about two weeks so I feel like jello today. Can't wait to hit the treadmill/ weights. Leah, if you're up for joining me let me know and I'll call you when I get off work.

Happy Hump Day

PS: Skinny Girl Blog
http://skinnygirlblog.blogspot.com/
gmail address: skinnygirlsblog@gmail.com
password: makingthecut09

Tell them to get their butts postin' and I'll do the same. Starting today.


Here's a recent pic of me- pre David Bowie haircut. My new favorite part on my body is my stomach. I have a cut line around my hip bones that I have not seen since I was 16 years old. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Why would I ever quit this diet?

This same day Natasha said I looked great and that my arms are looking toned. Nobody has EVER said that to me!

Dizzy Workout!

(This is what I was seeing when Obama spoke tonight)





I learned something new tonight. After my new intensely intense treadmill workout, I stopped abruptly after 40 minutes due to exhaustion. I was feeling dizzy, lightheaded and thought I was going to faint. To avoid feeling this way again, I learned that I need to cool down gradually before coming to an abrupt stop. My arteries were still dilated but my heart rate and circulation slowed down abruptly causing low blood pressure. Tomorrow I'll do a gradual decrease in activity towards the end of the cardio workout. Hopefully that will help along with drinking more water, maybe eating an apple before workout. We'll see!

Did you know that one way to check if you are sufficiently hydrated is the color of your urine. Don't wait to feel thirsty before you drink because then you are close to dehydration. If your urine is white almost clear, you are drinking plenty of water. If it is dark yellow or orange color, you need to pump more water into your system. Drinking water has always been a challenge for me.

Whitney mentioned in her blog and Leah talked today about the fact that we recognize that our success is doing the things that we know work - Eat Healthy and Exercise. Simple right? But I think we've also increased our knowledge on WHAT to eat and HOW to exercise. It's not as simple as it seems. So in an effort to continue to increase knowledge, see some Belly Fat busting foods below:
1) Melon (50 calorie slice)
Cantaloupe is high in Potassium; this mineral keeps sodium levels in check and beats belly bloat
2) Whole-grain bread
Researches found that dieters who ate at least five servings of whole grains while following a low calorie diet shed 24% more abdominal fat than those who average the same number of calories but ate refined grains. Swap your cornflakes for oatmeal.
3) Grapefruit
Research found that people who consumed the least amount of grapefruit were 131% more likely to have larger waists than those who got the most. Grapefruit also curbs the insulin spikes that lead to fat storage. This one is easy for me - I love grapefruit.


Oh and Whitney, short hair styles are great for an active lifestyle - wash, blow, and style will take less time.



And Leah, you were looking pretty CUT in your nighttime beach jogging picture. Jillian would be proud.

Last, GO Jillian - once again ZERO of her trainees fell below the yellow line. I like Bob but tonight the BLs got to chose their own trainer. My favorites, Tara and Mike, chose Jillian. Aubrey and Filipe chose Bob - guess who fell below the yellow line... Aubrey and Filipe. They said that Jillian trains the winner every season and this season is Bob's turn. HA - didn't happen this week.

Everyone stay hydrated and have fun with your workouts.

Leah Speaking

Phew...I just speed read all of yall's blogs from the break. Well let me just say you two are stronger than I am. I drank alot, I ate alot, and I didn't once think about the regret I'd be feeling. Now of course I feel extreme guilt hearing about all of your successes but I'm so proud of both of yall's achievments. The thing I miss the most though are the work outs. That's what really makes me begin to feel more flabby and without the work outs I don't worry about food as much. I gained 5 lbs...(6 on Megans scale) but I weighed this morning and I'm now at 124.5. (I see it in my face the most...yuck) I'm hoping to be back to 121-122 by this time next week. Which means Whitney I'll need to really kick it up with the work outs this weekend. Lets take the dogs for a run again and start back up where we left off with our Jillian work outs.
I have also recruited like 5 girls to the book. After I looked like this at the beach
All the girls kept saying that same like you said whit "what have you been doing?" So i filled them all in and now they are doing the book and want to blog on our skinny girl blog site. Which i still don't know the name or password for. It's no surprise that my friends saw a difference...just the beginning of this year I looked more like this
I love the change I see in myself and I feel like padre was REALLY my last time to ever eat so horribly. I wouldn't want to put my body through that again. Plus hopefully now with all the girls getting on board I'll have more help and motivation than temptation and sabotage.
Thanks to both of you for keeping me focussed! love ya both
-Mopeah

Rest in Peace

To a few things.

To my amazing great grandfather, so energetic, sweet, fun and loving. I will miss him. Now who will call me "Cheaky?" and kiss my ears?

To my old way of living, where eating macoroni and cheese three times per week and napping instead of running were normal. Where I didn't give a hoot about sodium. Where I craved fast food and anything with butter and fat. Those thoughts are foreign to me now.

From now on, I am a healthy, happy person. I want to keep influencing people. If I had gone to El Paso, I would probably have had some Jillian slips meaning: I would have maybe cracked on the girls who were eating so badly. How can you watch people torture their bodies? It is hard.

I lost Paisley this weekend and was so depressed. So Brian and I made Mac n' Cheese. I had 1/2 a spoonful. I needed to indulge. It didn't help like I thought. Partly because I'd been crying so hard the whole night that my sinuses stopped me from tasting the food, and partly because I hated myself for each bite. I couldn't finish. I let Cap have mine. You must realize how huge this is for me, not to pig out on Mac n' Cheese out of depression. But don't worry, I got her back and we're about to go for a bike ride.

I went out to eat three times this week and I didn't gain an ounce. I was a diligent worker outer. I got so tired of waiting for Leah to get back with the program, that I bought heavier weights, my own body ball and my own yoga mat. Last night I worked out in front of the TV for a while and my arms are killing me because I did some of the moves Bowie showed us that work your chest and tris. Yikes. Later today we're going to run to and from the gym and while there, I'm participating in another man workout. Tomorrow Bowie is training us on legs, yessss! I want sexy legs so bad.

I feel like I'm starting over from the top now, a new top. And this time it's harder. I never want to weigh over 140 again. NEVER. And I wont. Unless I get preggers or something. But still you should only gain about 20ish lbs when carrying a baby, so no excuse. No babies now so I have NO reason to get fat again! I want my new bottom to be 125 lbs. Today I was at 137 again. My plateaus last for a week or so now. So maybe next week I'll hit 135, hopefully.

I like getting called little, skinny, small, tiny. Saturday night at work I got called "tiny," by the girls. It felt great. Bonny hadn't seen me in a while and when she came in her face looked shocked, jaw dropped and she said "Oh my God! Whitney!" I was worried, and said, "What? What is it?" Then she said, "You look like you've lost like 30 lbs," to which I replied, "I almost have." I was beaming. And like everyone does, she asked "How have you done it?" And like I always respond, I just told her I dieted and exercised. Again- it's not a secret. Weight loss is not a mystery it's just hard work. That hard work more than peys off when people are shocked and even concerned at how thin you have become in only a few short months of working hard.

And it's not like in those months I starved myself, gagged myself or over exerted myself. I didn't! I ate and ate and ate. And I worked out for about an hour- hour 1/2 per day! I didn't do anything drastic and I still saw changes. On the Jillian workout videos she always reminds us, "If it doesn't hurt, you're not working hard enough. And if you want to change fast, you have to really feel it." "It" being that burn that we look forward to now, right mom?

I'm proud of your sticking with it. Leah... you know what I'm thinking. Join us for a manly workout today? You'll LOVE it! And I miss you.

Good afternoon ladies. Report back tomorrow PLEASE!

In Memory of....

In Memory of Grandpa Flake

I've been traveling since Thursday and have not had a chance to exercise. Wow do I miss it. Now here's the good news... I lost another 3 lbs this week for a new total (drum roll) 31.7 lbs. Believe me - that was an incredible accomplishment. Do you know how many Mexican Food Restaurants I was dragged to? What the heck can you eat that's healthy ala Mexican? Here are my strategy and tips just in case you find yourself in the same predicament:
1) Soft over Crunchy - I ordered corn tortillas (usually baked); avoided chips and crunchy tacos since these are fried. Saved about 200 + calories there.
2) NO Cheese dips - avoided queso saving another 200 + cals
3) Ordered "on the side" dishes - like One Tostado instead of a combo plate
4) Ordered Fajitas - because it's grilled meat and I could tell the portion was approx. 3 ounces (yes, they were beef and chicken would have been better)
5) NO Cerveza (I did have one glass of wine though)
6) Last, and all time favorite tip, I cut the meal in half either taking half home or sharing with your Dad

It was easier than I thought it would be to say "Oh, no thank you, I'm still full"...especially surrounded by so many in our family with weight problems. I didn't recognize half the family because they had grown more horizontally than vertically. It killed me to see the mass consumption of fatty food. I wanted to go Jillian on all of them - "Don't put another Quesadilla in your mouth - damn girl, do you know how many calories are in that thing?" By the way, a typical Quesadilla with Sour Cream and Guacamole has 900 calories, 59 grams of fat and 1,628 milligrams of sodium. That's just the Quesadilla, now add refried beans & rice and Sopapillas to that meal and you are looking at almost 2,000 calories in one meal. Some of these chicas were eating more than one sopapilla drowned in honey.

The biggest motivator of all was knowing that I would have to come home and do a "blog confession" that I failed my "lifetime change" goal upon first real challenge and then try to overcome the REGRET that follows. I kept thinking again of the Biggest Loser episode where the entire Black team pigged out at a restaurant and Jillian's reaction (or over reaction). I remember saying "how could they completely toss aside everything they've worked for in one indulgent night?" - I was NOT going to do the same!

Now I'm trying on some of my smaller sized clothes that I tucked in the top far corner of my closet. HA - I didn't think I would be pulling the top corner clothes out this soon. I just increased my wardrobe without having to spend a penny. This is fun. Speaking of fun...a study showed that if you approach exercise with a positive mood as if you are having fun rather than negative thinking "I hate exercising" - you burn more calories. Less stress with positive thinking; the mind knows. Less stress - more burn.

It's time to take a walk in my new shoes - finally, I bought a pair of good running shoes; super lightweight (8 oz.) - ASICS Gel 105.

Whitney - thanks for all the blogs; they keep me motivated. You can hang with the men - keep up your Manly workouts!

Leah? where are you - how are you doing with your Lifestyle Change?

Good Tips

From Calorie Counter newsletter:

1. Use smart fats. Not all fat is bad. Opt for unsaturated (e.g., olive oil) over saturated fats such as butter. But still use them in moderation because all fats are loaded with calories.

2. Go unrefined. Pick whole grains over refined grains. Whole grains like brown rice and bulgur have their bran intact and thus have more fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc and other nutrients.

3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Most people don’t get enough! Aim for 5 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Pick produce in a variety of colors to get a range of antioxidants and vitamins. A serving size is 1⁄2 to 1 cup depending on the fruit or vegetable.

4. It’s not all about the meat. Meat is a great source of protein but it’s also a big source of saturated fat in many people’s diets. So eat small amounts of lean meat, fish and poultry. Fill up the rest of your plate with healthy vegetables and whole grains.

5. Choose low-fat dairy. Dairy products like milk, sour cream and yogurt are a good source of calcium. Replacing whole-milk dairy products with low-fat or nonfat is an easy way to cut saturated fat in your diet.

6. Keep portions reasonable. Even though we would all like a magic bullet for weight control, it really boils down to calories. One of the easiest ways to manage calorie intake is by eating healthy portions.

7. Use sweeteners judiciously. Sugars of any kind, whether corn syrup, white sugar, brown sugar, honey or maple syrup, add significant calories without any nutritive value.

8. Keep an eye on sodium. Whether you have high blood pressure or not, it’s wise to watch your sodium intake. The USDA’s dietary guidelines for Americans recommend consuming less than 2,300 mg (about 1 teaspoon salt) daily.

9. Go for the flavor. Enhance food with bold flavors from healthy ingredients like fresh herbs, spices and citrus. When your food has great flavor, there’s no reason to feel deprived.

10. Be mindful and enjoy. Make conscious food decisions rather than grabbing for what is most convenient. Make sure it is something delicious and savor it. When you enjoy what you eat, you feel satisfied.

On My Own

Mom went to El Paso. Leah is recovering from her vaca. I am working out and cooking healthy stuff on my own. Brian is helping me out a little. He likes my food. He was telling friends that he has no idea what to eat until I whip a bunch of ingredients together and plop it in front of him, haha. It's true. All I do is chop up veggies, saute them in either smart start or fat free Italian and throw them on a wheat wrap or some sugar-free wheat bread with fat free cheese. The only thing that changes is the type of veggie I use. And it always tastes lovely. I usually add a fat free pudding pack or 100 calorie snack pack on the side with a cup of skim milk. YUMMMM! Better than a cheese burger.

Today I did a Jillian cardio video, took my dogs for a bike ride, then jogged for 25 min (about 2 miles) in the neighborhood. I didn't get to do any strength training but I have the day off work tomorrow and so does Brian so I think we're gonna do the manly arm workout again. Yikes! I'm actually pretty excited.

I can't figure out what the hours for my tanning salon are for Spring Break but it's driving me nuts! I went to tan and they were randomly closed again today. So instead I stocked up on some things we were running low on in the fridge.

My landlord came by to check out our place today. I have been keeping everything dusted, swept and cloroxed for the last week in anticipation of her visit. She said it all looked great. It does. She also said I'm looking great and asked what I have been "doing." I love when people say I look nice and then ask "What's your secret?" Like theres a secret... theres NO secret. Just eat healthy, eat less, and work out every day even if for just 15 minutes. It's not like society has been keeping that from us... it's everywhere. And now a days people are making portion control easier and easier. I swear there is a 100 calorie pack of everything. I bought a 100 calorie pack of non salted almonds to use as an on the way home from work snack. Nice. I always eat too much nuts. I overestimate my servings. Thanks food packaging companies. Still, I'm trying to stick to fresh foods and I am NOT stopping including veggies every day in my meals.

Today: broccoli and red pepper wrap with turkey and fat free mozzarella cheese. DELISH.

Looking forward to tomorrows challenge. I hope I get through the night at CL and home alone without snacking. I'm my biggest temptation and should never be left alone with an entire of kitchen- healthy snacks or not. Yikes!

Good luck this weekend ladies. Mom- I still expect a weigh in :)

Manly Work out

With Leah gone and a new work schedule my diet has faced some challenges. Come to think of it, no matter what kind of a routine you think you're in, your diet is always challenged. Before it was fighting the temptation to eat out for lunch or stop and grab a snack, so I would have to pack snacks and things for work. Now I have my healthy kitchen on hand so I can only eat fat-free, lo cal stuff and the challenge is not to eat too much. And as always, there's the CL and eating out with friends challenges. Also, Leah will not be back on the workout track till later this week, I'm sure. I have been on my own on that front. I have stuck with it really well.

Saturday- Monday I did Jillian videos and went for long runs in the neighborhood. At Mom's house on Monday, I worked out in her (my) room on the treadmill and did as many of the aerobic movements as I could remember while I jammed out to Beyonce. Then yesterday I did Brian and Bowie's workout which was a bitch! They weight train hardcore and their "warm up" is like an intense workout for me. My arms are going to be ripped if I keep this up. I was bench pressing and doing kick backs, pull ups, push ups, abs, "30s," and other stuff. It was rough. On top of that, we ran 1.5 miles there and back for a total of over 3 miles up and down hills. Killer! Needless to say, my arms are KILLING me today. No, actually it's my pecs. Great! That means perky lady parts :). haha. I'm going to stick with their hardcore workouts whenever I can. Today Bowie is training us on legs. He's an ex Marine so he knows Jillian's workouts plus some- and harder stuff. He is a rough trainer too, doesn't take "I can't" for an answer. I liked working out with Brian. It's fun having something to do together. He's encouraging and spots me on my weights. However he did make me feel weak when it came to lifting. I kicked their asses on the floor workouts. Crunches, please. I can do those all day. But I'll get stronger and show them! Some girls are afraid to bulk up from manly workouts, but I read this article by SparkPeople this morning that makes me want to build even more-

http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=54

Last night we went to dinner at Pluckers and drank green drinks. I had two martinis to reward myself for a hard workout. At dinner all the girls, including tiny little Brandice (who has been wanting to get in shape) told me how thin I looked. Bowie's wife, Brooke, said she wants to know my secret and I look so great. So Lindsey and I gave her the Jillian speeches. Recruitment numer: 4! Haha. We're really selling Jillian's books. I think we need a cut of the profit. j/k But the main thing I stress to people who ask me how I do it is- LIFESTYLE CHANGE. Not just a diet- a real change. Throw away the bad food in the kitchen, replace it with whole-wheat, no sugar added, fat free everything! Throw away your salty seasonings and replace them with no-salt-added Mrs. Dash seasonings. There are so many things about my life that have changed drastically and I'm not even at my goal weight. So far, my food, clothes, relationships, time management and social life have changed. I like that I crave my workouts every day and that I crave healthy snacks, that I don't need extra salt on everything and that I can be creative with my foods and still enjoy them. I like that Brian is semi on the health train with me. He eats what we have in the house and works out more now. It feels great that I have inspired others.

Not done. Still must lose 12 lbs. I weighed in at 137 this morning- amazingly. I credit my crazy workout and stick-to-it attitude. And my lovely support group. 125 ... here I come! This is the longest I have stayed on track and I want to make it a permanent change- for all the reasons listed to the left :).

Keep up the good work Mom- I'm so proud! How did the Hayne's look? Are they on track, too? Did they pass the cheesey potatoes? We will drop jaws this Christmas, no doubt.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Biggest Loser Winner!!!

Congratulations! You ARE the Biggest Loser (Winner)!


Whitney, I'm so proud of you. The hardest part of a diet contest is Motivation; motivation to stick with workouts, eating healthy, fighting temptation - and you did it! I have to add that this was a team effort of course. Yes, Leah and I must take credit too. No we will not expect a cut of your winnings but we do get some bragging rights. Go Team Goss!

I have to brag about a success this week too. Sandy invited me as her guest to be treated by the Hampton Inn to dinner at Flemings Steakhouse and Spamalot at Bass Concert Hall.

When we arrived at Flemings we were quickly escorted to the open bar. I had a glass of Beringer that I was planning on sipping on all night. Everytime I took a sip or two, the waiter ran over and filled my glass. I didn't have time to put my hand over the top to stop the pour. I stopped drinking wine so as not to kill my calorie plan. Then I had a salad with vinaigrette dressing (120), 1/2 filet migon (175) and 1/2 chicken breast (150), asparagus (60) and creme brulet (pudding only 210)... With my banana for breakfast and grapefruit for lunch, I stayed under my daily caloric intake of 1,300 calories. Everyone at the table kept handing me homemade bread and cheesey scalloped potatoes and I passed them on around without a second look. Phew! Success. (Rambling thoughts: Theresa and Kelly Hays were there too - I didn't even recognize Theresa, it was embarassing - we did catch up though - I don't know why we stopped talking - weird)

This feels like a good weight loss week - unlike last week - I'm anxious to weigh on Sunday.

Ladies - remember this is a NEW LIFESTYLE - don't go back to the old ways and temptations.

GOAL: We are all going to drop jaws at Christmas this year!

VICTORY

It's not over but I must report my biggest milestone yet.

I WON THE WEIGHT LOSS CONTEST AT WORK!

That's right. I lost over 20lbs. And I weighed in with pants, socks, shoes, a belt, and accessories (minus earrings) on- and STILL I had lost 21 lbs. The scale read 144. I'll buy that because Donny said the scale weighs a little on the heavy side and because I usually don't weigh fully clothed. My theory is the smaller number - the better. So if a heavy-leaning weigh in with all my clothes on said 144, I'm gonna safely say I weigh more like 140. I started at 165 on my own scale and now it says 138-141 depending on the day. I hate math, lol. I earned $120.00 for my hard work and I'm using it to buy some clothes that fit! None of my jeans stay up anymore, so getting ready in the mornings has been so hard but for all new reasons that I LOVE.

Leah has been pushing me (as always) to work out. We are on Day 20 now, I believe. She's about to leave for the beach, which means we will have to work out separately. That will be a real challenge: staying motivated and trained consistently while my motivator/trainer is shaking her tiny butt in a bikini somewhere far away. Help! I feel alone! Lindsey to the rescue, I hope.

Today we have the day off and I think I'm gonna go to the rec because I have not been in so long. I'm going to try to run 5 miles and do some abs (my old routine).

Another success to report. My love life has been so great lately. I am (always have been) crazy about my bf these days. We have been going out on dates on the nights we both have off. Last night I was supposed to go to a party downtown and wear my cute new dress Leah helped me pick out, but the weather was terrible and my friend didn't even want to go that bad. Instead, I stayed home and visited with Allie for a couple of hours before she headed back to SA. Then Brian got home and once again, we went to Pluckers. I wore my smallest jeans and a low cut purple top that really showed of my tan. I felt so great, pretty. It has been nice lately because I have actually had the confidence to want to go out and meet people. I feel good about how I look and I think it rubs of on Brian. We sat at the bar. He stared at me and joked with me like we just met. It's was great! And we are both more comfortable with our bodies lately, so we touch more and kiss more in general. It's so nice. I never thought that would be one of my favorite changes through this process. I admit I had a drink at Pluckers- a Mexican Martini. And I know we're not supposed to reward ourselves with food, but I did anyway. I drank the whole stinkin' thing and loved it. And because I have not been drinking, my buzz chimed in quickly. Nice. More bang for the buck.

Where is everyone?! I feel alone on the blog and this is def. a time of weakness for me. I'm feeling like a winner, like the contest is over, Leah's leaving, I'm going to start working from home (right near the kitchen all day), the blog is slacking... I need some serious support at this point. Come BACK!

New goals: To fit into even smaller jeans, to lose 15 more lbs (or at least 10), to feel great in my bathing suit for summer, to approve of my body when getting into the tanning bed (a time when I judge all my flaws-haha), to go out more and take more pix that I want to post online and to see arm muscles especially on my triceps. It's not gonna be easy. But that's why I have you guys.

Long Day Ahead

It's Wednesday which means- breakfast, tanning, internship, mentor, internship more, waitress, workout all in one day. I'm at step number five and kind of dreading a night of tray lifting and sucking up to customers.

I had a piece of no sugar added wheat toast with a small amount of peanut butter on top (cut off the crust) with a no-sugar-added in water peach cup for breakfast. Then, I packed a turkey sandwich with fat free cheese, fat free ranch, mustard, lettuce and onion and a 100 calorie pack for lunch with my kid. For dinner, I'm worried because I don't have a plan and I'll be surrounded by CL food all night. Ahhh. Luckily I'm stocked up on gum and that distracts me from CL food (enough). I'm going to try and hold strong till I get home, then have some lo-sodium soup and a fruit popsickle. I love those.

Looking forward to Day 18s workout. Yesterday was great! I ate so healthy and worked out with some crazy cardio lead by Jillian and a run in the neighborhood with Leah and the dogs. The weather was perfect for running outside becuase it wasn't sunny yet it was warm and there was a small breeze. The dogs appreciated the romp as well. Leah liked the Jillian video. I knew she would. We were going to do the Bob video but didn't have any weights and had probably already burned tons of calories. So we went to tan as a reward. Then we played softball later that night. Not an aerobic workout but at least we weren't sitting on the couch like bums. Before the softball game MY scale said 137.8. OMG! I was so excited I told Leah as soon as I saw her. I'm sure it's gone back up since dinner but it just shows that the number is possible. And I have not seen that number since high school.

Thursday night, my skinny friends and I are going out. I know I can't have more than 2 drinks so I'll def. be DD. And I'll have to concentrate, sober, on sucking in my belly all night and balancing on high heals. No idea what to wear yet. But I do have a camera so I'll post some pix.

It was disappointing to hear about Jillian's team. They were idiots for sabatoging themselves and on national TV in front of the millions they're supposed to be inspiring no less. Losers (and no the good kind, haha). That news made me even more aware of how careful I must be when we go out tomorrow night.

Mom I think we should all do a Jillian workout together soon. Maybe Leah and I can train you on one like she said this Sunday? The weather is pretty icky right now but Jillian always says working out inside is better anyway. Let's discuss.

It will be nice next week when I can work from home and not worry about spending hours changing clothes, puttign on makeup, commuting and I can focus on being healthy and productive. I bet my weight loss will go even better starting Monday. Although I've been pretty solid lately. B is losing weight, too. He had turkey hot dogs for dinner last night on whole wheat buns with mustard. I giggled to myself when he told me he thought they were really good- just like a real hot dog. It's funny to me that he has to eat healthy stuff because I do all the shopping. It's paying off for both of us and we're both becoming more creative with our cooking. Fun!

KEEP IT UP! I love you guys! (Now only 12 lbs away from my goal weight)

Day 18

Summary of Yesterday:
It was a "day off" to remember. I wish we could do that every day. We took the dogs for (roughly) a 3 mile jog with the hills that you find so often in san marcos. It felt really good and we came running back in on the last stretch. We should do it more often because I got to run ahead with Paisly cause she liked being in the front and I told Whitney I feel pretty when I run with Paisly because she is the best arm candy haha. (Charlie and Captain are beautiful too though) After the jog we did a 45 min. Jillian cardio video. It is really nice to see Jillian do the moves (we've been doing burpies wrong haha) but since we're starting over back at Day 1 when we finish then we'll know what we're doing a little bit better. I was sweating so much during that work out that my shirt was soaking wet with sweat so I had to take it off. That was motivational because Jillian and the two girls in her video have RIPPED abs and i still have my little layer of girl fat still on top of mine. It's like I can see them under there but I just need to keep pushing myself harder and harder. That spark people quote is so true with fitness you can always strive for more and it never ends cause you can always be stronger. I love this new lifestyle and it's gotten to be that working out really does make me feel beautiful. After the work out we went and showered up and then got Lindsey pretty far through her Day 12 of Jillian's work out, but had to leave early to go play softball. (I'll give details on what I thought of the Plucker's softball team later) Whitney and I have our legit Day 18 work out. It'll be a late night because Whitney's working till late and I'll be studying till late. I would do my usual work out summary but since we left early I let Lindsey keep my book to finish up on her own. It'll be a surprise for both of us today.
Mom: I didn't get to watch the show but Jillian emails me a summary so I was shocked to hear about the tequila shots and fried food all the contestants had. You'd think that being on national TV, on a show about losing weight, with a personal trainer, and the goal of winning 100,000 dollars you would take your luxery prize and enjoy relaxing while being healthy NOT binging out on fattening food and alocohol. I understand the pressure of temptation but damn that's pretty bad! I know it's really hard to keep up with this without a support system so thats why I love the blog! Even if I don't get to work out with Whitney for a while (spring break for four days!) i'll be okay because I've decided that I'm going to wake up before all the other girls do and go jogging every morning (hopefully) At least two mornings haha. Whitney is just going to do the TV Jillian work outs until I get back and we're going to pick up where we left off. I really think that you could handle a Jillian work out too mom because it's not a lot of work on your joints and you're just using your body and nothing else to work out. I see much heavier people on the biggest loser doing some tough stuff and I saw you do those bench dips on the body ball so I'm gunna go ahead and say with confidence that you could (and should sometime) do one of her TV work outs with us. We can just remember the moves and come to Austin and do a 45 min. work out together just the girls. It'll be great!
Whitney:
Ready for Day 18? I leave for Padre in 3 days so I'm feeling the pressure to be extra good. Especially cause Jenna looks like a short swim suit model and Megan just informed me that shes going to starve herself for the next 3 days! I swear my friends are always keeping me on my toes. Constant competition who can look better in a swim suit? I know that'll be kept up this summer too so lets really stick with this okay? I can't wait to use the camera to take tons of awesome cute sister pictures together!
Today:
It's early still but so far so good. I woke up at 9:00a.m. and had an awesome low-cal egg whites, butter spray (0 sodium, 0 calories, 0 carbs), reg and green bell pepper, low-fat cheese, and 2 tbl of salsa (10 calories) It was awesome! I'm going to have lunch at about 1:00pm and to save time I'm just going to have a 1 cup of Special K strawberry cereal and some yogurt (making lunch about 300 calories) and for dinner I'm going to have the rest of my celery and the last of my low-fat cottage cheese (about 100 calories)
Here is Jillians Tip of the day:
Stay on the Wagon When it comes to losing weight, there's almost nothing that will set you back further and faster than the old bender. My Black Team learned that the hard way this week, when their 24 hours of luxury ended with tequila shots and a huge binge…and needless to say resulted in some disappointment at the weigh-in. Alcohol not only clouds your judgment (Exhibit A: Filipe and his chicken fingers and fries), but it also dramatically slows down the rate at which your body burns fat. If you're serious about losing weight, lay off the alcohol! If you must partake, limit yourself to one glass of wine (preferably organic!) a day, and work it into your daily calorie total.

-Mopeah!

Roller Coaster of Emotions

Biggest Loser had me mad, sad, motivated, discouraged and elated all in one night. The two whiners, Filipe and Sione, left Jillian to work out with Bob after Simone cried about Jillian not working more with him one on one. AND what nerve, he yelled at her after a night of overindulging like I've never seen before on this show. The black team racked up 15,563 calories in one dinner. They binged so bad that Tara lost ZERO pounds and Laura gained 1 lb. That just goes to show that it really is more about what you eat than how much you work out. I've never seen Jillian so mad at her team before. They had to bleep every other word out of her mouth. They sent Mandi home, one of the sisters. The other sister broke down crying and said that she can't do it without her sister. It was easy to relate to Aubrey's break down. I thought of another sister team that has really motivated one another. (Hint: W & L)

Another Treadmill Superstar day but less energy for some reason. Think I'll walk at the park tomorrow for a change of scenery if I don't get rained on.

Whitney, I tried to send your pictures but the email server kicked it back. I guess I'll have to save them to a CD and your dad can take it to the restaurant.

How was the softball game tonight? Burn some calories? Get on base?

I'll end with a quote that the Black Team lived with this week:

“The pain of self-discipline is always less than the pain of regret.” – John Maxwell

And this is good quote before you start your work out:

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can't belive it

Can't believe how far we've come on Jillian's workouts. I was determined to go through all 30 and diet at the same time, but I'm honestly impressed at how well we've all done considering our yo yo history. Again, I attribute it to the blog and the daily support.

I also CRAVE my workouts now. I want to feel a burn every day. I want to sweat every day. I can not sleep if I have not exercised. And not just any exercise cuts it anymore (no pun intended). I think about stressing my lower muscles while moving my upper muscles because Bob and Jillian make it very clear that to burn fat you should start by working out the largest muscles in your body- your legs. So any time I am doing a cardio video or my Jillian workouts, I think about squatting extra low, pushing extra hard with my legs and try to do the biggest movements I can. I also think about "control," as much as I can. I used to try to just get through the workouts but now I want to breath right and concentrate on the areas I'm working because it just feels better. Even through tonight is our night off, we're gonna work Lindsey out and then do some Jillian videos. I think I may go for a run with the dogs when I get home too while B is at his internship.

Food wise- loving the fun recipes. You would not recognize my kitchen. Instead of boxed dinners, beef, real butter, syrup, ketchup, mayonnaise, white bread, noodles galore, cheese cheese cheese I now have whole wheat everything, fat free anything I can get my hands on, no-salt added seasonings and veggies lining the shelves of my fridge. And I want to eat these things. The worst thing about my diet lately is packaged lo-cal, lo-sodium snacks. I actually feel guilty when i eat pre-packaged food instead of fresh food these days. Crazy, I never thought I would feel like that. I used to be so proud of myself for just eating a little less of my fast food meal or for eating one less slice of cheese, one less shake of salt. Now I don't even think about those things. They're out of the question.

My date was beautiful. Brian took me to Pluckers ( I think to show me off). I had just worked out and tanned and was feeling good. I wore white shorts that now hang off of me and used to not be able to button. I mean really, I can slip them off without even unbuttoning and they look so much cuter on me. And I wore a peach sleeveless frilly top. Then I wore turquoise jewelry and shoes. I felt so cute. B was staring at me and walking me in front of him, introducing me to people all night. It felt great. Some of the guys from the softball team encoraged me to come out and play tonight- again. I'm thinking about it. One of them said he knows Leah and it would be awesome if she came too... hint hint. Softball with sister and old high school buddies Mop????
Then we saw slum dog millionaire and all I am gonna say is it was worthy of all the amazing awards it won- and more! At dinner I ate a salad with red pepper vinaigrette on the side. It was delish. And I confess, I had a bit of a buffalo wing. I didn't feel bad about it though because I had veggies in front of me. Sorry. As much as I like healthy eating now, I still can't get excited about salad. Other than that everything at Pluckers is fried though. And you'd be proud of Brian. I thought about indulging in a chip or two and started to order an appetizer but he stopped me. I smiled and thanked him. We're so much stronger than we used to be.

Can't wait for the workout tonight. I like days off because I can be creative with my workouts. Mom. I did laugh at your fart workout thing. And I'm glad to hear you're incorporating some different moves into your regimen. Remember, squat when working out arms and toss cardio in between when you're doing strength training to keep your blood flowing. It's gives the best results. Trust me, I am on my way to a super-flat tummy and I can kind of see some oblique muscles. It's so exciting!

Next goal- to make a little $ this weekend and buy some jeans that FIT. This is great because I'm no longer a size 8. AHHHHHHHH! I have been wearing dresses and skirts but they STILL fall off. And my work clothes fall off, too. Shopping will be amazing. Mop let's go together and get some swim suits too. Brian's Dad wants to take us to Port A for his graduation and I'm gonna need to look great and have a super cute bikini. I'm thinking hot green or purple. I think those both look good with a tan.

Remember Day 30 and we start all over because we now live different lifestyles.

Day 17

Work Out Update:

Yesterday felt great! I was in a good mood all day after our work out. I got my essay topics all finished before hand too! We all finished pretty quickly and Lindsey even commented on how she doesn't feel like she's working as hard. She didn't seem excited about that but, I felt that it was a good sign because it's not like she really isn't working harder...I see how hard we're all working so I know it must just be that our bodies aren't hurting as badly. I will say that the cross over lunges really hurt my butt! Hanging abs with a twist are horrible too.

We have today off (which is awesome because it's the day where I'm at school pretty much from 7:00am-7:00pm. Tonight I'll be even later because I'm going to an extra credit show here on campus after I get out of Slacs. We're still going tothe gym to work Lindsey out though and Whitney and I talked about doing an on demand Jillian work out which I'm excited to do.

The Mac and Cheese Report:

I made some for Rachel and I. It was pretty tasty but I'll have to be honest and admit that it wasn't anything compared to county line mac and cheese and that Whitney wouldn't be fully satisfied. It was good enough that I finished my serving (310 calories...maybe a bit more cuz I added some cheese on top of my serving) I would give it scale of 1-10 maybe a 6.9. Rachel really like it and she hasn't even been eating healthy (but she's always really positive so I doubt she'd say anything bad if she didn't like it) I do really enjoy making and trying those recipes though. I found a cheese cake recipe that I want to try. If its good I'll share it on here.

Spark People:

I used to log into spark people daily but then with the blog and with Jillians work outs I sort of quit that. I've gotten back into it now because I've realized it's just another helpful reminder to stay aware. I'm sorta kinda tracking my food on there again (the ones they have) and the ones they don't I just type the name and around how many calories it was. I'm working on my spark points and trying to get my next trophy so i'm always reading new articles. It is helpful.

Jillian's Tip of the Day:

-If commercials are a temptation for you and cause you to want to munch grab a fitness magazine, cosmo w/e

Make A Meal of It

When you eat, make a meal of it. No, I don't mean have several dishes when you're not that hungry. I mean take the time to enjoy your food. Turn off distracting noises, shut doors if possible to create a calm atmosphere. Play soothing music, set a nice table using your best dishes and silverware. And, no multi-tasking! That means no phone conversations, reading, or working while you eat. Just focus on your food. Not only will you savor your food more this way, you'll be more aware when you are full and less likely to eat beyond hunger.

-Mopeah!

Superstars!

That's what we are, Superstars! I came home psyched and ready to be a treadmill superstar. I mixed it up a little though, besides the usual routine to music, I threw in more interval moves; changing the speed every 4 to 5 minutes. This is referred to as the "Fartlek" - don't laugh. Then I added the "Retro" a.k.a. walking backwards. Then (and you girls will like this) after 10 minutes of Fartlek and a little Retro, I jumped off and did some of Jillian's circuit training - mostly arms and a little plank and very little boat pose - ugh! Tomorrow, I'm thinking of ending the workout with the "Meditation" - lighted candles, low lights and soft music.

Short post tonight. Whitney how was your date night? and Leah, how was your Low fat Mac & cheese?

Day 16

Weekend Update:

waaa waaa waaaaaaaauuum! I did HORRIBLE. The food beat the shizza outta me. It's like snacky took over my body and will power went out the window for all of Saturday and the end of friday. I guess after I ate the first no-no food I decided to follow the motto "go big or go home," but now i'm remebering that quote mom posted about regret hurting worse than the pain of the work out. I did gain two lbs. but I already lost 1 of them because of our work out yesterday and the additional guilt cardio (3 miles in 30 min.) at my fitness room. I'm eating flawlessly this week because we leave for Padre Saturday morning. I woke up today and had a bowl of cereal. It'll be a sanwich for lunch and I haven't figured out dinner, but I'll have an apple for a snack.

Work Out Summary:

It's day 16 and Jillian is slowly but surely pushing us to our limits. So Whit you'll be smiling and looking at your muscles even more in the mirrors because here is what we are doing today:

-Wide grip lateral pull downs

-Medium-Underhand-Grip Pull-downs

-Dead lifts

-Hamstring Curls

-Seated Cable Rows

-Lateral Shoulder raises

-Lunges

-One-leg Pelvic Thrusts

-Rock star jumps (basically a double butt kick at the same time)

-Military shoulder Press Prone on Body Ball

(arms go up instead of back)

-Frog Kicks

-Butt Kicks

-Cross over lunges with Hammer Curls

-Bicep Curls

-Bicycle Crunches

-One minute hill run at incline of 15 speed 5mph (WOW!)

-Ball Crunches

-Hanging abs with a twist

I haven't done it yet but I can go ahead and predict that this is going to be a rough work out. It'll feel great though. We have to make sure that Lindsey does her day 11 today.

Here are Jillian's email Tips:

FRIDAY: IT'S YOUR BODY, BABY

Tune in to Your Body Your body is trying to tell you something, but you're just not listening! To win at the weight-loss game, you've got to make some changes. One of the most important ones is to stop listening to anything but your body to establish a realistic weight for your specific build. Forget about what you see and hear from pop-culture sources.
Another thing not to rely on is the body mass index (BMI), which determines the amount of fat you have on your body according to your weight and height. Here's why you're not going to use it: It fails to distinguish between fat and muscle, so the BMI will ultimately give you an incomplete sense of the shape you're in.
Today, the medical industry has set its weight guidelines according to the waist-to-hip-ratio method, which is a much more accurate way of arriving at an ideal goal weight. Follow these steps to find yours:
Get a tape measure and measure your waist right at the belly-button line.
Standing with feet hip-width apart, measure your hips at their widest point.
Now simply divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. This is your waist-to-hip ratio.

The ideal waist-to-hip ratios are 0.80 for women and 0.95 for men.

Yes, Healthy Meals Can Taste Good! What did your meals consist of before you started your healthy eating regimen? 1,000+ calorie pasta dishes? Bacon cheeseburgers? Bags of chocolate chip cookies? Well, you obviously know by now those are the types of meals and snacks that sabotage your weight-loss efforts. But you can do as your fellow teammates do and create your old favorites with a twist. Do a recipe search on my site, and you'll find options such as a low-calorie risotto, a "Lean Mean Cheeseburger," and yes, even healthier versions of cookies. Check it out and let those excuses that you wouldn't enjoy healthy food become a thing of the past!

-Mopeah