Long Time....

......no see, blog! :o) Ok, so it's been approximately one month since the end of CATZ Fitness Challenge and I am proud to say that I lost 10 more pounds and have maintained that ever since. I would still like to lose a little more but with the holidays quickly approaching I think i'm just going to keep maintaining and try not to beat myself up too much. The plan was to lose 10 more by Christmas but.... well, I may try to do 5 more. We'll see... :o)

Alright, so I found this neat little website that has literally blown my socks off. It's myfitnesspal.com and it is AWESOME!!!! Well.. at least for me it is. This site is basically a food and exercise journal with helpful blogs and a pretty cool calorie counter. I downloaded the app to my phone and have been able to track all my food & exercise with no problem. I was a little afraid about becoming somewhat obsessive, as i'm known to be but it is what it is. :o) Anyway, it's pretty basic that the more you exercise the more you can eat. The whole time while doing CATZ I thought I could ONLY eat what was approved on their diet which was roughly 1200 calories per day. I wasn't taking into account that a CATZ workout, depending on how intensely you work out, can burn anywhere between 400-500 calories per one hour session. They don't encourage you deviate from their diet while on a challenge but once you're done and continue to exercise, they do recommend a splurge every now & then. I'm still not at the point, and may never be, where I can eat whatever I please and still work out but I think the whole moderation thing has REALLY clicked now. This website i'm in love with tracks how many calories you burn per work out! So.... today, for example, I ran 7.29 miles in 85 minutes and burned 791 calories at 5 mph. That means, if I feel like it I can eat 1991 calories today and not feel guilty while still managing to lose a pound a week! DON'T FREAK OUT!!!! I'm most certainly not going to eat all those calories, there's just no way.... No way on earth!

Yesterday I read the following "A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." -Paul Dudley White. I am walking proof that this quote rings true in soooo many ways. The last 2 weeks have been murder. Just over week ago my daughter did not make her 8th grade Jr. High soccer team and that was such a blow. For those of you who know Robyn, you're aware that soccer is her life. That girl cried all afternoon and into the night until she fell asleep and I cried all the next day while she was in school. As if that wasn't enough, the following Saturday she was kicked on her injured knee and it looks back like we're back to square one on that issue. That didn't help one bit and she hasn't been able to play now for just over a week. It took a couple of days for us all to get over it but in the mean time I ran and lifted and squatted and lunged and burpeed and so on and so on until I couldn't anymore. I honestly believe that keeping physically active and NOT eating an entire Costco sized bag of Doritos really helped. Robyn's doing great and has some amazing friends who have only supported and encouraged her thru this whole ordeal. "What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger" is also a quote that I love and in her case is ringing truer & truer every day. The topic of 8th grade soccer still smarts her a little but she has handled it like a champ, with all the grace and dignity she can muster up. Just so you know, she has way, way more of that then her mother does, for sure. We'll be starting up on some more physical therapy this week and praying. :o)

3 More weeks of....

..... i'd like to say nonsense but we all know it's so not. :o) Both these fitness challenges have changed my life and improved my motivation in so many ways. This past weigh in, which was yesterday, was pretty successful as I shaved 2 pounds over the last week and could not be happier. At first I started to over analyze it all by telling myself that i'd gained a pound the week prior so I actually only lost a pound this week. Then my mind set changed immediately to: "No, I lost two whole pounds and it's ALL good!!!" Its a fact that this fitness challenge has not been as successful as the first and I am definitely not going to make my goal. I mean come on, I would have to lose 10 pounds in the next 3 weeks and i'm sorry, but unless I drink nothing but protein shakes for the duration of this challenge, it's not gonna happen. Although, I had 9 pounds to lose over the last 3 weeks of the last challenge and I managed that one ok. Let's not forget though that I had alot more weight to lose and I paid blood, sweat and a whole lot of tears to achieve that goal. So worth it though. Whatever the outcome, I will have so much satisfaction in knowing that I was able to endure and stick to something for a whole 8 weeks. Not sure if i've mentioned this in earlier blogs but before starting my very first challenge, I went over the CATZ website with a fine toothed comb and scoured every single fitness challengers testimony. One just jumped at me and will stay with me for the rest of my life. Her words went something like this: 'If I can't stick to something for 8 weeks then i'm just really pathetic." Well, ladies and maybe gentlemen, I am NOT pathetic. I have stuck with a strict diet and fitness program for 8 whole weeks! SWEET!

Over the last couple of weeks i've been reading lots of health & fitness books as well as going thru the inter net for more info on healthy living. I've come to the conclusion that they ALL have one thing in common. What i've been doing for the past 9.5 months is a lifestyle. Eating clean and exercising is a LIFESTYLE. In order to maintain the shape i'm in I must continue to do this the rest of my life. I stopped and pondered if that would even be possible for me and the reality is that yes, I can. A week before I started this current challenge I went out and had one meal that consisted of alot of carbs, and not the good carbs. I ate bread, tortillas, candy.... You name it,I ate it. By the third day I was so sick and vowed never to do that again. An occasional burger or piece of cheese cake is fine but definitely NOT everyday. Funny thing is, I still buy bread, potatoes, etc., for my family but most times than not they opt for a no bad carb meal. Unless we're out then it's a whole different story. Most of you know my husband's story... He's not been in the best health for about 6 years. Two years ago physicians found a tunor on each side of his thyroid gland. They performed a biopsy and it came back inconclusive. Meaning it could be cancer or not.. Anyway, he has some pretty serious heart issues and his cardiologist decided it best to postpone the surgery to remove the tumors along with part of his thyroid. 2 weeks ago he was cleared for surgery and a week ago an ultrasound showed that one tumor had shrunk to almost in half and the other one, which was larger, had completely disappeared. Praise God! I am a huge believer in the power of prayer and that God works miracles even today but I also know that God also helps those who help themselves. I am willing to bet that the way i've been feeding my husband over the last 9.5 months really has a lot to do with this. After only being on this diet for 6 weeks my doctor was able to completely take me off of my thyroid medications and my levels have been text book since then. I used to think that this no carb diet fad was a little too "crunchy" for my family. Call me crazy, but I'm crunchy now! :o) Out of all the healthy living books and diets that i've read I think i'll be following The Zone method. Its alot like the CATZ diet but just not as restrictive. Really, all the low carb diets are the same with a few modifications. Some say no pineapples, others say no bananas. Some days i'll have a banana, other days i'll have a pineapple... No problem! :o)

On a funner note, I went shopping again in my closet this morning. What a morale booster that was! I may need some new jeans this winter! When I lost the first 25 I went out and bought a pair of Sevens Jeans and a pair of Lucky Jeans that were a bit too snug. I've always wanted a nice pair of really good jeans but refused to buy them until I got into a smaller size. They fit just right at this point but I already know that i'm going to try to lose another 15 pounds after this challenge and a couple new pairs of jeans will be in order. I'm thinking this time i'll be visiting American Eagle Outfitters. ;o)

Oh, For Crying Out Loud!!!!!

So..... i've reached week number four in my second CATZ Fitness Challenge and boy, oh boy, has frustration set in!!!! Apparently, after cutting all fruit and dairy from my diet, I've managed to gain a whole freakin' pound!!!! Why???? Seriously??? I exercise like mad... no really. I think that i'm in the small percentile of people who work out really hard. CATZ 3x a week and I run on the the treadmill for a full hour the rest of the week. I know for a fact that the treadmill thing is a huge deal because not alot of people like to exercise that way. Most runners prefer wide open spaces but I like to watch numbers move, so the treadmill is my buddy. I know that I shouldn't be fixated on the scale but really... you go do an 8 week challenge with a restrictive diet along with an insanely, intense exercise program and tell me how you feel when you gain even an ounce!!!!! Son of a nutcracker!!!! Not only is it physically taxing on your body but it messes with you emotionally as well. It was actually kinda funny when I did weigh in. I threw the biggest hissy fit and then started calming myself down. Now I can laugh about it. I don't think my performance coach knows how close he came to death this morning. I need to make sure he knows Jesus soon, in case I have another disastrous week. For real!!!! I was going to crown him with the scale. Good thing i'm CPR/First Aid certified because after pummeling my dear friend, I would have felt bad and patched him up or at least tried to. For some reason, at some point during the work out the subject of profanity came up. I thought that was ironic!!! I don't use bad language but if i did, things would have been bad and I definitely would have pummeled him with the scale.... in self defense!!!!!  Needless to say, i'm ok now. I'm not feeling great about this week's results, i'm just ok. I'll tell you though, had this happened during my first challenge, I would have quit for sure. Next week will be much better! Next week will be much better! Next week will be much better! Yay!?

Ok, so... since January i've had lots of fun fitting into smaller clothes. High school small?? Yeah.... no. If that were the case you all would be bad friends for not staging an intervention to tell me I have an eating disorder... which I don't. Anyway, i've gone down 4 sizes. That's amazing because I told myself i'd be happy if I got back into a size 10, which by the way is starting to fit too big. My two favorite new stores are The Buckle and American Eagle Outfitters. Totally polar opposite styles huh? It just depends on the day, I guess. Well, the other day Robyn sat me down and told me she's totally excited that I've lost so much weight and that I look: in her words: "totally cute." But that i'm starting to dress like some of her friends. Huh???? So, I have a little job for you.... tell me if what i'm wearing is not age appropriate, ok? I had to remind my husband to do the same. I don't want to be "that" mom. Steve did say that he could pretend he left me and got himself a trophy wife! Cute but not funny!!!

I'm posting some before & after pics... mainly for my won sanity.... today! :o)

Week 2.....

...... was not nearly as successful as week one. In fact, I gained 3 ounces! I will confess that upon stepping off the scale after Friday's weigh in, I was very upset but only for a very short time. 3 ounces is a mere sip of water and probably the result of only having slept 4 hours the night before. I've had friends who have told me that i'm making way too much out of 3 ounces and I know they're right, but for those who know me well... I can be obsessive. My performance coach asked to see my food log and came to the conclusion that i'm eating too much fruit and not enough veggies, my meals aren't really meals either. So, bottom line... I am not eating enough food to continue to fuel my body for the intense workouts I put it thru therefore it's hanging on to what I do eat. Back in the day that would have made no sense but I totally get it now. The question is.... how am I going to de-program myself from the actual CATZ diet which in my opinion, does not really consist of real meals? I mean it's a fair amount of food and it does fill me up, but I think I need to mix it up a little. Yesterday, after talking to an amazing friend who has lost alot of weight and lives a very healthy lifestyle, I went out and bought Jillian Michael's "Making the Cut" book. This book is really for those who have less than 20 pounds to lose. For those who are trying to rid themselves of those pesky last few pounds, gearing up for an event or just trying to get ripped. Anyway, I love her food plans but she has bread, rice and potatoes included!!!! I am soooo brainwashed into thinking that those 3 are the devil!!!! I thought that maybe I should just go ahead with this plan for the next the 30 days sans the carbs, but then I might as well continue with the CATZ diet. See what I mean???? OBSESSIVE, huh? This week will be better. :o) One thing that has me floating on air is that I took her fitness test and found out that I could do 10 military push ups!!!! That's huge... The average amount for a female my age is between 8-17. So, gone are the girly push ups!!! Yay!?

Born to Run? Mmmmmm..... not so much.

If you're a friend of mine on Facebook you probably already know that i've incorporated running into my work-out schedule. I actually started running sometime back in January because I found that I was losing even more weight that way. I still look back to last year right around this time when my wonderful neighbor and I decided that we were going to start running. HA! That was funny! I couldn't even go a yard so I quit because it was just too hard. As of this morning I am currently at 6.37 miles.! Whew! Now, let me make something clear.... I don't like to run, in fact, I think I kinda hate it. In the beginning I used to try and talk myself out of it but opted to go because I knew that i'd berate myself for the rest of the day if I didn't . I still semi-try to talk myself out of it but quickly remind my brain of how I feel AFTER the run. The sense of accomplishment, the hard earned sweat and how much closer I am to my goal. I've commited to running a half marathon in January so I'm half-way there! Yay! :o) I was having trouble understanding why I hate to run, it's way, way easier than CATZ and i'm the boss on the treadmill. Well, today it came to me.... it's the first mile and a half!!!! That first stretch of every run i've done since day 1 has tried to be the death of me!!! I don't know what it is but I HATE it! I also hate the warm-up at CATZ but I do it because I have a performance coach giving me the stink-eye if I slack even a little bit. I guess I have to come up with something to get me thru that first 20 minutes of running. I have a great play-list and the rec center where I run is absolutley beautiful, but I do need ideas on how to get past the first part of my run without wanting to stab myself in the throat. Funny though, that I ran the distance I did today.... On Saturday I eeked out 3.50 miles and told myself today that I wasn't going to push myself and just do what I could in one hour. It always amazes me to see what I can tell my body to do and it actually listens! :o)

A STRONG Start..... maybe?

So..... like I mentioned yesterday, today was my weigh in for Week 1 of the CATZ Fitness Challenge and it proved to be a successful one! :o) I managed to drop a whopping 5 pounds... YESSSS!!! I do have to confess that I was not really all that surprised at the significant drop. It's very common for an individual to lose anywhere between 5-8 pounds at the beginning of a weight loss program. However, in my case, I never really stopped eating clean and exercising BUT.... when I did my initial weigh in last week I was 2 days from starting my cycle which as women, we all know that can cause a 3-5 pound weight gain/water retention. So... technically I only really lost 1 pound.....right? Ok, so maybe I cheated but to be honest, a huge drop at the beginning was a huge motivator at the beginning of the last challenge I did and I was in the same position THEN. Lets not forget that my last challenge was a huge success, baby!!!! The games we play with a stupid, dumb scale are sooooo funny! Every man i've talked to about weight loss and fitness has told me how perplexed they are by us women, and that's MOST of us, and how fixated we are by the scale and a number. So we can comfortably get into a size 8, BUT the scale is not reflecting the weight we feel we should be at, therefore we beat ourselves up. WHY IS THAT???? Do you talk to yourself? I do, and every morning when I get on that scale and it's not where it should be, I yucky-talk myself. I tell my daughter she's beautiful in every way, but I can't seem to manage to even think those words about myself after I get off a scale. ESPECIALLY when it's not at the digits I feel it should be. I could be a pound off and I will negative talk myself at least until noon. The good thing is that now when that happens I don't head straight for the refrigerator! :o) I know that I shouldn't base my self image and worth on a number but unfortunately for some reason it's what most of us do. Why do we do that????

Anyway, those were my results for this week and I couldn't be happier!

Here We Go......

Blogging is something i've seriously contemplated on doing for a very long time but neglected to do so because, well..... because I was intimidated. Would I be eloquent enough? Would I misuse punctuation and apply terrible grammar? Or even worse, would I ramble on & on to where a reader or two would sigh and say: "Oh lady, who cares!!!!!"  You see, I read a lot of blogs penned by amazing orators and writers, stay-at -home-moms with funny stories and individuals going thru tough times who bravely tell their stories on the web. What makes me so special?  So, I figure I'd just jump in and see where it goes.... I mean, if it gets to be too much, I could always just stop, right? Anyway, welcome to my blog and I hope you kinda like it. :o)

At the beginning of this year I embarked on an amazing journey. One that I never thought I'd even consider traveling! I made the decision to exercise and live a clean healthy life-style. Yep, you read right.... E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E. For those who are close to me know that a year ago, I would not even have considered such a feat. It all started 3 years ago, when my daughter's soccer team started working out at CATZ (Competetive Athletes Training Zone). It's basically sports conditioning but on steroids. Shortly after that a few adults on the team thought they'd start working there as well and would NOT stop talking about it. I was excited for them but not completely sold. Unsurprisingly, in a matter of months they all began to shed major pounds and that's when I decided that something needed to change but it took me almost a 2 years to snap into action. I signed up for one of their 8 week challenges and was able to lose 20 pounds! It was seriously one of the hardest things i've ever done. I, like the parents before me, could not stop talking about it! I thought everyone should go and experience what I was experiencing. One of the moms suggested I start a blog back in January and here I am. Preparing To Be Great.....

At the beginning of every challenge one is handed a paper with some set goals and a brief synopsis of what to expect during a challenge. There were only 4 words that jumped out at me on January 4th, 2010... PREPARE TO BE GREAT! That was it..... I was sold because I knew that they knew I would succeed and I did. Now, 40 pounds lighter and feeling better than I have in a long time I sit here ready to share my successes, failures and everything in between. I've started another challenge at CATZ which started last Friday and I could not be more excited! My first weigh in is tomorrow... wish me luck!!!!!!