TGIF!

Stupid Blogger ate my post. It was good, too.

Anyway, checking in with the 4 Mile Super Challenge from Leslie Sansone. It's an older one, so she's not as silly, and the cueing is decent. James Brown is nowhere to be seen!

I'm going out of town this weekend, so I'll pop by when I can.

TGIF

Yeah, it's cliche, but totally fitting. I'm glad it's Friday, and I'm glad I don't have to go to work Monday or Tuesday. We're going to visit my folks this weekend, and one of my former best friends is getting married. We'll go to that.



I've been trying very hard to find a card for the happy couple. One that would say, "You picked the wrong guy, and you gave him the wrong finger." Surprisingly, cards like that don't exist. That may be a new business venture for me. I won't go into the reasons why I'm not over the moon estatic, but hey, I'll be there, so I'll shut my face up and plaster on a smile.



Checking in with Leslie Sansone's 4 Mile Super Challenge. I know that I've expressed annoyance with Miss Leslie in the past, but she's perfect for pregnancy. I don't like getting my heart rate too high, so I've stopped doing Firm Cardio. For a while, I was doing Firm sculpting, but I moved away from that, too. For no particular reason, really. I just didn't feel like doing weights, and lugging around the fanny lifter. I'm going back to it because I'll be lugging a baby around soon enough. I need to be strong!

It's Been A While

But I have a really good excuse - I'm knocked up!

I'm 21 weeks along now (5 months in regular people terms). I was so freaking shocked that I just stopped posting. Not that this isn't a good thing - it's awesome! We just weren't expecting it to happen so quickly.

Needless to say, my weight loss journey is on hold. I didn't exercise for the first 3 months, but I've been doing Walk Away the Pounds and light sculpting for the past 2 months. It's been really helpful. I feel so much better with this pregnancy than I did with my last. Even Leslie's incessant chatter doesn't bother me. Well, not as much. I'm only human.

I decided maybe I should start posting again. The world needs me. By world, I mean the people who read this blog, so essentially no one. I don't really care.

My posts may be a little more general and not quite as fitness related. Daily musings and what- not. I'm still undecided. I haven't found a blog to stalk that talks about prenatal fitness really, so I may just have to start one.

Wednesday Weight In

Bad blogger! Friends, it's been a hectic week - but I promise to do better! I'm checking in to report that I lost 1.6 pounds. A little shy of my 2 pound goal for the week - but who cares? Woo hoo! 4.6 pounds in 2 weeks - I'm working it out!

It's Friday - Yay!

I'm so glad it's Friday! This week has gone by quickly, but I'm really tired. I think I'm still tired from last Saturday. Hopefully I will just get a chance to chill tonight.

I did really well at the Japanese place last night. I ended up getting the shrimp hibachi with steamed rice and veggies, and a 1/2 c of miso soup. I used 12 of my Flexxies. Yay for me. I was going for just sushi, but I knew that if everyone else started getting rice and chicken, I would regret it. So I made my choice and was fine with it. I really would like to get to the point where I don't agonize about everything I put in my mouth. (That's what she said.)

Anyway, I'm on this healthy(ish) food kick and last night I mentioned that I hadn't been to McDonald's since seeing this Big Mac experiment. This one chick got all up in arms and wanted to know how I could believe the experiment since I didn't see the entire thing with my own eyes. She's a super picky eater and eats Mickey D's quite frequently. She really got pissed, which took me off guard. She wanted to know what food is supposed to do - I'm like, "Uh, decompose?"

I don't want to become this overbearing healthy food zealot, so I'll slow my roll when talking to other people. Obviously, they don't want to hear it. I can only do what's best for me and my fam, but it does dismay me that people are so obviously killing themselves. I was doing it right along with them, so maybe I'm too gung ho. You know, like the person who just got out of rehab and they're trying to tell everybody how to live their life? That's me!

Would You Spend $120,000 on Bottled Water?

You lucky, lucky readers:

You get to hear from me 4 times today! Yeah, I don't have much to do - what about it? There is an interesting post on Elastic Waist about how stingy you are when it comes to your health.

I get a lot of shit about spending more money on organic food, or buying workout clothes, or special workout shoes. I actually chalk this up to ignorance. I don't mean this in a derogatory way, I mean it in it's literal meaning. People don't think about what their bodies do for them everyday. Not to be all preachy, but we have been blessed with healthy bodies and sound minds, and I want to take care of mine. If that means that I spend $4.00 on organic pears, I'm OK with that.

I used to feel the same way. It's just food, right? WRONG. Now I have my moments of weakness (see previous post), but I wholeheartedly believe in putting whole foods in my body. Not Frankenfoods that I can't pronounce, or sound vaguely ominous. (Yellow lake#5? What the hell?)

I read that Americans take a lot longer to decompose when we die because embalm ourselves from all the preservatives in our food. Freaky, right?

I Don't Wanna Work, I Wanna Play All Day!

So, I have a ton of things to do and no motivation to do them. It's monsooning outside, and I just want to go to sleep. Since I'm doing away with mindless eating, I'm blogging instead.

I am going to meet friends for dinner tonight, and I'm a little nervous. Japanese food by nature is fiarly healthy, but we're going to a Japanese steakhouse, which can be tricky. Lots of oil and margarine. I want hibachi, but honestly, I don't feel like trying to determine how many points is in it. Lazy, I am.

WW lists 1 cup of hibachi shrimp as 5 points, and a cup of veggies as 4 points. (Allotting for the oil and margarine, I assume. ) But I bet they aren't counting that awesome orange ginger sauce that they cover the shrimp. Did I mention it's awesome?

I just started over with Flexxies, and I have 33.5 left. I'm not really digging using all of my flexxies up on one meal, so I may just get sushi and miso soup. I'm really going for the company anyway.

My problem is that I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. I'm really trying to change that. If I screw up tonight, I'm afraid that I will toss the whole healthy eating thing out of the window. Intellectually, I know that if I ate what I really want tonight (filet) I could just hop back on the wagon and do well tomorrow. But then I will have screwed up my points, and it just wouldn't be the same.

Why am I so hard on myself? I'm a reformed perfectionist. If I can't do it right, then I don't want to do it at all, which is really a silly way to handle food. If this is a lifestyle change for me, then why shouldn't I eat the things that I want in moderation? Why do I have such little faith in myself?

I'm so afraid that I will fall off and then I will be the same size a year from now. I'm so serious about trying to make change, but it's scary. I've failed at this before, and I don't like that feeling.

I will succeed!

Ugh, sorry about the angst ridden post. I should put on my flannel shirt and party like it's 1994. Notice my uplifting proclamation at the end. Imagine me pumping me fist in a very uplifting manner while I shout, " I will succeed!" No? OK then.

Free Shipping at Fit Couture

I haven't bought anything from them, but the Firm girls wear their stuff in the new videos, and it's super cute. They usually have better coupons than this, but you can get free shipping by using the promotion code FREESHIP08.

I'm el cheapo when it comes to workout clothes, and I mourn the discontinuation of the Pro Spirit line at Target daily. That's why I like TJ Maxx. Maybe Fit Couture will be a reward for one of my goals.

How Is Your Diet?

I took a quiz...here are the results.

You Are 64% Healthy

Your diet is quite healthy, but you don't too crazy with what you eat. You know how to eat what's good for you, but you're also careful not to deprive yourself.

How Healthy Is Your Diet?

I would agree with that. I'm going to lose 2 more pounds next week! (I'm trying this positive thinking thing out. Trying to get the universe to agree with me. )

Weigh In Wednesday

Very brief last post - it's been a busy day. I lost 3 lbs at my Weigh In. Yay! 15.4 more pounds until I reach my first goal!

I Love American Gladiators!

Dear (non existent) readers,

I love American Gladiators. I'm so glad it's back on my teevee. I especially love Crush, and I really enjoyed seeing Militia's hiney. Even though I don't think he wants to see mine - maybe DH's. When I was a young lass, I watched American Gladiators every week, and I had the hugest crush on Sabre. Ha!

Anyway, I won't bore you with a full recap, but there are two more chicks I need to add to my inspiration list - Siene Silva and Shanay Norvell. Just for their strength alone. Siene has the strength of a pack mule, and I want to be as strong as her. Shanay is ridiculously fast.

My body inspiration list is odd. I'm totally feeling Kim Kardashian. We have similar shapes, but she has bigger hips. I think she's totally hot. Methinks I have a girl crush.

Is Weight Watchers a Diet?

There has been a lot of conversation about Weight Watcher's new ads. You know, the ones where they say that there are NOT a diet. Some people are saying that it's totally not true, and Weight Watchers is lying. I say that Weight Watchers is most certainly a diet, but I'm not burning them at the stake about it. They are a corporation, and they want to make money. People are tired of hearing about diets, so now they are using "lifestyle change" in place of diet.

Of course, some people make it to Lifetime on WW and they eat that way for the rest of their lives. That is actually my plan. I plan to eat real whole foods, and I'm not excluding anything. Well, I probably won't eat Twinkies again, but I'm damn sure eating cake with real eggs and butter. Life is not worth living without birthday cake. My goal is not to eat the whole damn thing.

I'm using WW primarily for portion control. I like butter, and I don't want to stop eating it. When there is a point value attached, I'm more likely to use a teaspoon vs. a tablespoon. And it's still damn good. Same for my sugar in my coffee. I'm not using Splenda, and I'm not using I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, so I just allot my points and go on about my business. This is helping me tremendously. I don't think I'll see huge losses posted on the scale on a weekly basis, but I know that I'm doing something that will be sustainable (for me) in the long term.

In the past, I was trying to recreate brownies for 1 point with various faux foods. The end result was never good, and I was ingesting all kinds of things that couldn't be good for my body. If you surf the WW message boards, people are always interested in trying to find lower point variations of traditional foods. I'm OK with that, but making a peach cobbler with cake mix and diet soda is not my idea of "good eatin." I'll just eat a peach or eat a smaller portion of the real thing.

This is something I'm still trying to work through, so it may be jumbled and a little incoherent.

:-)

Zero Point Soups

Being on WW requires you to be creative. Of course, choosing fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins are key as they are typically low in points. But sometimes you get to the end of the day and you don't have any points left. Enter 0 point soups. They just seem more filling than eating raw celery. There are many variations, so just do what you feel. Frozen veggies will work just as well. I usually add more salt and pepper.

Zero Point Soup
12 Servings
Serving Size: 1 Cup

Ingredients:

2 medium garlic clove(s), minced
1 medium onion(s), diced
2 medium carrot(s), diced
1 medium sweet red pepper(s), diced
1 medium stalk celery, diced
2 small zucchini, diced
2 cup green cabbage, shredded
2 cup Swiss chard, chopped
2 cup cauliflower, small florets
2 cup broccoli, small florets
2 tsp thyme, fresh, chopped
6 cup vegetable broth
2 Tbsp parsley, or chives, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, or to taste
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, optional

Directions:

Put garlic, vegetables, thyme and broth into a large soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered, about 10 minutes.
Stir in parsley or chives; season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.


Be on the lookout for other variations in a later post.

The Firm, Con't

I'm a vidiot. A total at home exercise video junkie. I have at least 40 videos. I haven't counted in a while, so I'm not sure. I have the Firm BSS 1-4, plus the add ons. BSS stands for Body Sculpting Systems.

I received BSS 1 as a birthday present from my mom. ( I asked for it, don't worry.) I had been doing Walk Away the Pounds for a while, and I wanted a different challenge. During a midnight feeding, I saw the informercial for the Firm, and I wanted it immediately.



I did Cardio Sculpt, and I remember it kicking my ass. It was so funny, because I'm panting and sweating, and then she says, "Fabulous warmup!" I'm like "Warmup?!?"

Anyway, I did it for a while, and got good results, but I ended up having ventral hernia surgery, and I had to stop for a while. OK, fine, I stopped for 2 years. That damn Cardio Sculpt scared me!

I pulled it back out because I was sick of Leslie Sansone. Don't get me wrong, her workouts are good and low impact, but she has gone from bad to worse with the chatter and the awful cueing. I got her last Walk Slim Series, and it's a great workout, especially for someone getting back to exercise or just starting out. But when she breaks out the James Brown doll, I'm done for.

Anyway BSS1 is probably my favorite series, just because it was my first one. Check it out.

The Firm

The Firm is an awesome at home exercise program that focuses on Aerobics with Weight Training. I know a lot of people feel like they don't get a workout if they don't go to the gym. I can tell you that you can totally bust your ass on the Firm, and get terrific results. The key, as with anything, is to be consistent.

They have over 60 videos (and that's a conservative estimate). It started back in 1986 with one tape. I remember seeing the commercial when I was a kid. That's when VHS were expensive - it was like $60. Anyway, I've never done it personally, but everyone says that it's killer. Personally, Miss Susan sounds like she's in a different movie to me. She's working on her fitness in a different way. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

I couldn't find a youtube link to her video, but I found a link to the Time Crunch workout, which is famous for it's "dork dance" at the end. I haven't seen this either, so if anyone can share it, I would be eternally grateful!

Transfirmation System

I bought the new Transfirmation system from The Firm about 2 months ago. I'm loving these videos. They have a huge fun factor, and I actually look forward to doing them. I also bought some cute workout clothes at TJ Maxx, and that is a big help. You should totally check them out for great deals.

Anyway, I just received the add ons to the Tranfirmation system, and I may love them more than the original system. I will say that I'm not seeing results as quickly as I have with previous systems. Since I am resigned to taking this "slow and steady", I'm not too torn up about it. I'm just glad that these videos make me want to do them, and I don't have to climb my ass up the Fanny Lifter at 5:00 in the morning.

They have some new moves that I love. My favorite is probably the Butt and Back Burner. I didn't think deadlifts would make a difference, but my ass would beg to differ.

Back when I was doing really well in the Firm, I wanted to submit myself for the infomercial. They are taping a new one in March (I think) and I am nowhere close to my goal, so that will have to wait. But I'm sure they will come out with something else, considering they've churned out at least 25 videos since 2002.

Don't buy them from Firm Direct though. The customer service is not that great, and it takes FOREVER to get your videos. I like Amazon.

Weight Watchers

Oh, Weight Watchers. Our love/hate relationship goes back many years. I started WW back in 2000, when I gained weight from working at that desk job. I lasted exactly one week. I didn't like going to the meetings, and I hated paying $11 just to stand on the scale.

I discovered WW Online back in 2005. I live on the computer so this was much easier for me. It never occurred to me to lie at my weigh in, so I kept myself honest. AND, I could hop on the scale butt booty naked (after peeing, of course).

I love the fact that you can eat whatever you want on WW as long as you stay within your point range. I hate the fact that you could eat 3 Snickers bars and stay within your point range. In their defense, WW has 8 healthy guidelines prominently posted on their site. It didn't used to be - I'm glad they changed that.

I love that I know every day how many points I can eat. I hate stressing myself out everyday about how many points I eat. Why is the scale becoming the enemy?

I could go on all day. What I have discovered is that WW is not the issue. How I view food is the issue.

I love food. Most of it, anyway. Peanut butter and cloves are gross. Beets and goat cheese are sublime. I've ALWAYS loved food. Food is love. It's a universal language. It's a science experiment. It's medicine. I've always lived to eat. I scoff at those "eat to live" people. (Like DH)

Anyway, me and food go way back. Our relationship hasn't always been the healthiest. When people who know me well describe me, it's always, "She loves to eat!" When I was skinny, it was cool. Now? Not so much.

I still love to eat, but I have to be mindful about what I eat. I started eating locally and organically a while ago. The new twist on my WW plan is to do it in a healthy and sustainable manner. No Splenda, no faux foods, no HCFS.

Last time I did WW, it was sugar free this, fat free that. This time I'm doing it while nurturing my body with healthy whole foods.

Stats

OK, if I'm going to blog, I guess I'll be honest. You people don't know me from Adam. I already told you how much I weigh, and believe me, that's something most people don't know.

At least I'm symmetrical! Thank God for the little things, you know? :-)

Right Arm
13.5"
Left Arm
13.5"
Bust
41"
Ribcage
34"
Waist
35"
Hips
44.5"
Right Thigh
26"
Left Thigh
26"
Right Calf
16.5"
Left Calf
16.5"

Where to Start?

OK, so I feel like I'm already a brick house. Just more than I would like. I'm not 36-24-36. More like 42 - 35- 44. So, maybe a brick McMansion.

Anyway, I used to be uber skinny once upon a time...I was 119 pounds when I started college. I wanted to gain weight - I wanted to be "thick." Fast forward to senior year. I'd discovered weight training and I was a size 4- 6, and I was super sexy. Perfect size.

After college, I had a sit down desk job with lots of potlucks. I quickly moved up to 150 pounds. Then I broke up with my fiancee. Down to 135 pounds. Then I discovered love again. 150 pounds. I was a steady size 10 - not fat by any means, but I wanted to lose some of my weight. So I started a little weight loss/exercise program. The pounds just weren't coming off!

Well duh-I was pregnant.

So I ballooned up to 192 pounds. Three weeks after I had my son, I was down to 157 pounds. I eventually dropped back to 150, and I started to think that that might just be my weight from now on. I did some light exercising (mainly Leslie Sansone), but I rarely fluctuated.

Then the pounds started to creep on. Before I knew it, I was 163 pounds, and trying to figure out when did 10s get too small? I had to do something, so I started Weight Watchers Online and started working out to The FIRM. It was an instant success. The pounds weren't flying off, but my body started to change shape. I was FINE. I got down to 148 pounds, and I was a size 6.

I now weigh 184 lbs.

How did it happen? Life got in the way. Deaths, miscarriages, travel, stress. I didn't handle them well, and I used food as a way to cushion the blows. I stopped exercising. My migraines came back, and I started getting random aches and pains.

I've been exercising regularly with The Firm for the past month. My energy is higher, and I feel a lot better. The scale isn't moving so much. I've now reincorporated Weight Watchers back into my life. This is my third day into it, and it hasn't been so bad.

I suck at blogging, but I'm going to try it to see if this keeps me motivated. Pull up a chair, sit down, chillax. Glad you're here.