Hello. I know it has been awhile but I'm still slowly plugging away. I've certainly been skipping my workouts and eating much more than I should and I'm a true believer in planning to fail if you fail to plan. I need to map my diet out for the next week and follow it to a tee. I didn't do it this week since I haven't had time to cook after getting home late Sunday from my snowboarding trip. I've gained back 3 lbs this week and feeling pretty down about it. Just need to wipe the slate and get back on the plan.

Just wanted to give an update. I'm still hanging at 129.5 and have been for the last 2 weeks, but that's alright since I haven't been dieting or exercising so I'm just relieved not to have gained back. I'm getting my butt back on the wagon this week and starting the grapefruit portion of 'Conquer the Fat-Loss Code'. I'm off to go snowboarding in Steamboat Springs Thursday - Sunday so that should burn some calories (just need to be vigilant in my diet). Then the boyfriend is here until Christmas which always makes it harder for me to diet but I have to do it. Going to go read my goals again, and keep it in the forefront of my mind about how awesome I feel when I'm working out and eating well... that's how I want to feel all the time.

Giddy with self-esteem. I haven't been 129 pounds for over 2 years. If I can lose 6 more by Thanksgiving I'm going to fit in my size 5 jeans! My tummy & waist are starting to look trimmer & I can envision the sexy hour glass shape (like JNL) I'm going to be sporting in a bikini in no time quick. I need to get a hold of my photog and see if he can do some super sexy photos for my portfolio when I get where I want to be....
It really does take you wanting it SO bad in order to stick to your gunz & diet & workout everyday. So if you aren't quite there yet don't beat yourself up because you knew you weren't all in. Just be proud of yourself for doing as well as you are.

Today is Wednesday - 1 1/2 weeks into my 10 week plan. Doing great I think. I'm highly motivated and not dreading my workouts. It is nice keeping them under an hour everyday and getting the weight loss that I am. I fit in the size 5 jeans I have hanging by the fridge... well by fit I mean they fit over my ass and thighs but I still can't button them up. Maybe if I keep making the progress that I am I will snuggly fit in them by Thanksgiving (16 days away) instead of Christmas...
I recommend reading Wendy Chants nutritional books. Crack the Fat-Loss Code, and Conquer the Fat-Loss Code. The first book really breaks down how protein, fat, and carbs work in your body and it just makes it so easy to understand. The books are about cycling carbs into low, medium, and high days and nothing is off limits, you just have to eat it on the appropriate day. I can live with that!! It also gives 8 weeks of daily food plans. The second book adds in exercise and vitamins and gives another 8 weeks of daily food plans. It seemed a bit confusing at first because in order for me to make it affordable I have to eat the same things every week. The good thing is that you can customize everything to fit your needs. I get ideas for food and map out my whole week. It seems to be working great because I've dropped 7 pounds in 1 1/2 weeks. Worth a look at in my opinion.
Nothing worth getting comes easy. Weightloss is tough but the emotional and physical results are worth the hard work for sure! I'm feeling SOOO much better about myself and about life in general. Easily the best anti-depressant on the market. I'm in it to win it! Ciao...

P.S. I will try to post some new pics next week ;-)

One more workout under my belt & another 1/2 lb lost. Hopefully I'm on track to lose 6 lbs the next 3 weeks. I must remain strong & disciplined when my b/f gets here the 20th - zero excuses to eat poorly & drink alcohol (dumb life ruiner!). Oh yeah...and I'm addicted to stuffed green peppers. Its the only way I'm making it through dinners - I usually give up at dinner & eat crap. Give them a try they are so yummy!

Good Sunday morning! The start of a new week. Going to be as strong as I know how to be - of course I get to eat carbs again this week so hopefully my energy will increase. 6.5 pounds to go in 3 weeks to meet the Thanksgiving goal but the mini goals for this week are... : #1 goal this week is ZERO alcohol! I kept getting cravings & would have a few drinks but the hangover I get from 2 drinks isn't worth it - nor are the sad calories. So gonna do away with that this week. Goal #2: Do every workout! Goal 3: Eat every meal and no cheating. That wasn't worth it either (not that I made horrible choices). My challenge for you this week is for you to do your least favorite workout at least once.

I've been doing really well this week and doing all of my workouts, and my carb deplete cycle was going really well - that is until last night.... I jumped the cheat meal by about 3 days, but I was doing a little celebrating. That Arby's sandwich and curly fries were so yummy. I'm a bit mad at myself for giving in, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'm going to get right back on that carb deplete and finish out the rest of the week. I felt like I needed those carbs badly because I was so tired, and my muscles were screaming for them (I don't think I was supposed to be doing so much exercise while depleting).

I've lost about 4 pounds (water weight) this week but it is motivation enough to get me towards my goal of losing 18 pounds by Christmas and 10 by Thanksgiving. I only have 6 more to go in 3 weeks right? I got this, as long as I look at my goals everyday and do what I'm supposed to be doing. Well I'm off to go do a little punishing for my splurge last night, and do like an extra hour of cardio to burn some of those calories.

Okay Carrie Ann - we can do this. Only focus on today, not tomorrow or next week. One workout and one meal at a time.

Whew.... 30 minutes of HITT cardio to kick this pig! Feel great!!!

This is freakin it!!!

Yeah I know... spank me - I'm not keeping up with my workouts and nutrition makeover.
I promise I'm getting my butt to the gym today and every 6 days a week thereafter. There are 8 weeks left between now and Christmas and I honestly believe I can lose 18 pounds by then - hopefully 10 of that before Thanksgiving so I can at least wear a decent size jean to the post-turkey, pre-santa party!!
So water, water, and more water (don't want my body storing carbs for hydration), going to carb deplete my system the next 10 days, and then start my carb cycling. So goodbye and TOUGH nuggies to all of you - cookies, chocolate, pasta, bread, beer :-( ( it will be good for me, my kids, and bf), candy, and all the other horrible junk I've been shoving in my body causing it to, store fat and slow my metabolism to a sluggish halt, lack energy, crave poison, and prevent me from being a trophy wife!!!!

Bad news.... it feels like I'm getting the flu so I'm off to pop a million vitamins in an attempt to make it go away.

Birthday's coming up Mizz Carrie so we got to be smokin' hot by then! Party it up in Vegas - hooker style (referring to skimpy clothes :-) )

Mmm... Just tried a quick & easy meal I saw Jessie make on Diettribe. Light yogurt, w/ a handful of berries and Kashi cereal.

So I'm thinking back to 8 years ago (pre-kids) when I was 104 lbs and how I was going about my workouts & diet. At the time I wasn't eating very many starchy carbs but each meal was a portion of protein & carbs of food I liked (Body for Life). I wasn't spending hours on cardio - I was doing it 6 days per week but only 20 minutes HITT on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday & Friday with 30 minutes weight training (except Sunday) and on Tuesday & Thursday I was doing 40 minutes uphill treadmill walking. I never felt like I was living my life in the gym... I wasn't ripped but I was thin with just enough feminine muscle and I was really eating every thing I could on Saturday (my cheat day). Maybe I should return to what used to work...

Still plugging away.

Don't fret because although I haven't been getting on here as much, I'm still plugging away at weight loss. I may only be down 5 pounds in 4.5 weeks but its still a loss. I'm a bit under the weather this week and haven't been doing heavy workouts, just walks around the block to relieve stress and what not (I recommend it).
Hope to be well and motivated to get back in the game next week. Hoping to make big gains and post some awesome pics on 10/11 at 6 weeks.
Ciao for now.

New pics - new start 8/31/09

Starting measurements: EEK!

27% bodyfat

139.5 lbs

34" waist

42" hips

38 1/2" bust (please don't go away)

22 1/4" right thigh (pfft...!! You need to be more like your sister)

22" left thigh

So far I'm not too happy with the amount of weightloss, but it didn't help I got on the scale after a night of binge eating pasta. I will weigh in and measure again on Saturday. New pictures after week 4.

Week 2

Well here I am starting week 2 just in case you were wondering what happened to me. I think I did okay with my calories considering it was a holiday weekend and my boyfriend was here cooking for me. I do have 'new' starting pictures and measurements but I've been too lazy to download them for you yet. I will try to do that tomorrow or Wednesday.
I've been watching videos of Jennifer Nicole Lee all day and she always motivates me when I'm down about life and just need inspiration. I'm currently working on tackling mini goals and my first goal is to lose 10 pounds (it doesn't seem so far away if I break it down like that). I'm looking forward to getting my diet 100% on tomorrow and my lunch bag is packed and ready to go. Up at 4:00 a.m. for leg workout...

Here we go!

So I'm ready to start this journey tomorrow. I've cooked all of my food for the week including chicken, beef, sweet potatoes, and eggs. I have my gym bag, shower bag, and makeup packed to hit the gym first thing before work tomorrow. I have my workouts planned, and I'm excited about trying out my new back routine tomorrow, which is amazing for me considering it is the bodypart I HATE training most. I'm even looking forward to zoning out on the treadmill for 40 minutes in just a fat burning zone - I need to go to the library tomorrow to get another book to read for the treadmill on Tuesday, but one day at a time. I'm even going to take new measurements, pictures, and weight tonight so I have my starting point documented.
So I think I've got all of my "t's" crossed and "i's" dotted.

Who says I can't share?!

*Click to enlarge*

Alrighty... So many moons ago I paid $500 for Mandy Blank to design an e-training plan for me. (I am able to do an e-training plan because I'm no stranger to the gym or lifting weights) I lost 20 pounds and leaned out considerably - I just didn't do a very awesome job of maintaining it now did I?

This is only weeks 1 & 2 of the plan because we can't get ahead of ourselves now can we?! I've made a few alterations to the diet and you will see that any changes I made aren't in CAPS (I still don't know why she writes that way but whatever), the exercise plan is 100% hers even though most of it isn't in CAPS because I had to correct spelling and punctuation and so on...

The idea behind sharing this with you today is because I know how confusing it is if you are just starting out. Remember that this is just a guide as this plan was designed for me and I am 5'2" and 137 pounds and my goal is to lose 20 to 25 pounds yet again :-( . You may require more calories if you are taller and more active.

I know I've been dinking around the last 2 months and whining about all of these "setbacks" I'm having, but I promise NO MORE excuses. I'm not going to post starting pictures and measurements again because if you've been reading you know that my body composition hasn't changed one iota. If you are desperate to find my starting pictures they are contained in my very first blog.

So here we go 8/31/2009 - 11/8/2009, I'm transforming this tub of flub into a lean mean sexy machine!! Look for week 2 pics on 9/19 as well as new measurements.

Email me if you have any questions.

Desire, determination, discipline!!!

DESIRE - DETERMINATION - DISCIPLINE

So the last 2 months have been really enlightening and I feel that there is a higher power pushing me in a new direction in life. Maybe 10 years ago just wasn't the right time, but now there seems to be an aura I'm exuding that is drawing people to me, and they are looking for fitness advice from me?!?

I have near strangers randomly asking me for fitness advice! Now I know I'm not in the "shape" that I should be, but apparently I'm camouflaging that well because I had a random co-worker email me yesterday - here are her exact words... "you need to give me some workout tips! You are in FABULOUS shape, and I’ve lost about 34lbs but now I’m all saggy :-( so I need all the help that I can get! LOL!"
Strangely most women don't realize how important weight training and lean muscle mass are to overall health. I love being strong and shapely, and being able to show off my beautiful triceps is always pleasing. I'm just genetically gifted with great legs and a butt (didn't get the natural breasts, but those are easy enough to buy) so at least I have that going for me since I have a love/hate relationship with leg training.

So as I thought about my grandmother's life and passing this morning, it made me think about how I only get to live this day ONE time and there are no do-overs! I need, wait... HAVE to be living my dream every day! Is living my dream working for someone else? Is it hand-holding a bunch of employees who have this unbelievable sense of self-entitlement with horrible work ethic that continually think that the government owes them? Now don't get me wrong because I do have wonderful friendships with the very best the government employs (Carrie, Jolanta, Mike, Janis, Addam, Nina, Stephanie - you guys keep me sane everyday and offer many laughs)! I want to do good things in life, positive things, and what I'm doing now just isn't it, BUT I'll keep it for now because I am lucky to have my job and I do love working for TSA.

I'm spending the rest of the day contemplating just what it is I want to be doing in a year. I have a basic concept but I'll share that another day. So planning, writing goals and timelines are now in motion, and I'm living only for today and only for this moment! As I write to you I sip my green tea and chew on my oatmeal... if only I were watching the sunrise in the window... Alright, anyway. I'M GONNA DO THIS!

Motto - Discipline - Determination - Desire

Is this how I want to live my life??

I've decided that this just isn't fair, nor is it really the way I want to live my life. It seems so unfair that I'm a slave to my diet... and I ask myself is this really something that I can sustain long term even if I do manage to lose the 20 pounds I want to? I've done this so many times and I know that I'll will just return to my old ways unless I find a way to make this manageable and enjoyable, such as.... why do I have to be such a slave to the perfect eating regimen, and does it really even exist? Why do I have to be deathly afraid of eating carbohydrates, and I mean whole wheat tortillas or pasta? It just seems ridiculous and I honestly can't live without ever eating a piece of bread or tortilla again. Is there a way to just focus on a healthy way of life, paying absolute attention to portion control, basing every meal around a portion of healthy protein, and carbohydrate, and healthy fat? Why not pay more attention to filling up on fruits and veggies and not on how much protein I need to consume to build muscle. So I am challenging myself to achieve a healthy balance the next two weeks and to see what happens - do I feel more energized? Can I sustain this? If I'm hungry and it is outside my next meal I'm going to eat something healthy like beef jerky or fruit, plus it is ridiculous to be told I can't eat a frickin banana because of the glycemic index... that's absurd if you ask me!

Protein shake or egg whites, and oatmeal w/ flaxseed and cranberries.
Yogurt and fruit.
Chicken and bean tortilla.
Can of tuna with balsamic vinegar, handful of blueberries.
Salad with tons of veggies, fruit, seeds or nuts and cup of green veggies.
Protein shake.

And if I don't want to eat it I'm NOT going to! I'll find some other healthy alternative.

Green tea for weight loss - can it be true?

Just read an article that white tea or green tea "inhibit the production of new fat cells and stimulates fat burn in existing fat cells" ok well I already knew that green tea has thermogenic properties...
Now apparently white tea is more potent than green tea only harder to find on supermarket shelves (Celestial Seasonings offers five varieties). According to this article drinking 3 cups daily (none bottled) is proven to help women shed up to five pounds a week! I have been going without caffeine but needed to get away from the artificial sweeteners and I'm hating life!
So my challenge for the next two weeks (starting Saturday) is to drink that daily quota of green or white tea and see what happens... I'll let you know if I think it is helping with weight loss.

Progressing 8/3

I was disappointed my alarm didn't go off yesterday so I could hit an early morning session of cardio and I didn't get any exercise in at all :-(... but its ok, I will have to make it up on Saturday.
Good news is, I got on the scale yesterday and shockingly I am down to 134.5 (water weight I'm sure) cause I don't feel any thinner, but when I looked in the mirror this morning my fat pooch did seem a little less bloated. It has motivated me to eat better, and considering I traveled back to Denver yesterday I did excellent. My boyfriend did feed me white pasta but I was really good about setting aside a tennis ball sized portion and the rest went down the drain. I did have 4 Jelly Belly's as well but counted them as like 50 calories - but I only had 1200 to 1300 calories yesterday.
I'm LOVING my new - watch/calorie counter/calorie burner/heart rate monitor/exercise timer!! When I get done eating a meal I just program how many calories I ate into it and its always on me so no digging for my journal to try to figure out what I've eaten and how many calories I have left to go. It tells me how many calories I've burnt during exercise, and cumulative calories burnt throughout the day - plus it helps me stay in my fat burning heart rate zone during cardio so I can make sure I'm burning off the metabolically inept fat instead of my lean mean calorie burning muscle! It will also be a good companion to do interval training, I just plug in my high and low timer and follow it for an awesome workout. www.miowatch.com -check it out.

Weigh in 7/27/09

I weighed in this morning and well, gasp... I GAINED a pound! So here it is... I've had a setback, but by golly I'm going to learn from this setback! My biggest set back these last two weeks has been a combination of traveling (like I will be again next week) and not paying attention to what I've been eating. So to overcome this setback I need to take 100% control when traveling or just hanging out with my boyfriend (its a long distance thing - so I get a little leeway right?) BUT... it is still not an excuse to eat out at every meal or to make bad choices. So I'll be packing my little cooler when I go to Denver next week and I'm putting my 4 meals in it... gonna have to swap his usual massive portion of pasta or rice for some quinoa and veggies for my 5th meal but I'm taking control!
Sure I can still go to lunch with him, but he's going to have to swallow that ooey, gooey hamburger and bun while I stare daggers at him for eating disgusting, but gusting food in front of me right? So off I cry into the night about my setback, but I look forward to stepping on that scale next week and weighing in for you. I can do this!

Here it is... here are my stats...
137 pounds - (OMG, and I'm not even pregnant, and haven't been in 4 years!)
33 inches - waist
41 1/2 inches - hips
Thigh (right) - 20 3/4 inches
Thigh (left) - 21 inches
I'd measure my chest but why be reminded of all that I've lost at the end of this... plus there's always going to be 300 cc's there...

Another tip for burning that fat is steady state cardio in your fatburning zone in the morning before breakfast. Take 220 and minus your age and multiply by .65 to .70 (220-33 = 187 x .65 = 122 bpm). Aim for 45 minutes daily!

Setbacks are evidence that we're doing something. The more mistakes we make, the greater chance of success.

Thinking maybe this is what I will be eating this week when I return from DEN: 1. Egg whites, or shake
2. fruit, cheese or PB & rice cakes
3. egg whites and oatmeal, or 3 bean salad
4. fruit or shake (shake if 3 bean salad)
5. shrimp or crab, asparagus, cucmbers, tomatoes
Snack - protein brownie or fudgesicle (no eating after 7:30)!
1300 to 1400 cal

7/14/09 - Start of transformation

Just started this blog on 7/18/09 but on my 33rd birthday I am starting a new transformation. I hope you'll follow me on my journey and offer words of encouragement.

Thank you all for visiting me :-)

Here are my beginning pictures...

I want to lose 20 pounds and reduce my bodyfat to at least 18% and do a bikini, or figure competition early next year with my great friend Carrie who is transforming herself as we speak.