[re]start

Well here goes nothing I am back on the bandwagon ready to start again. lets catch up shall we.
I changed jobs to work another area of the event field. Worked quite a bit and started missing more and more work outs. I stressed out and was eating meals at the French Cafe next to work. I was eating later. Not getting in my 100 ounces of water each day. AND THEN I QUIT. I quit my job, I quite caring, and quite being nice to my body.

I have recently moved home at the end of June. I was jobless for five weeks. Let me tell you that is rough not having any money, nothing to do, and the only people to hang out with is your fam. Don't get me wrong I love my family (mom and dad) but they aren't my Chi O sisters. However something amazing did happen the third week home. My cousin Jere gave birth to a beautiful little girl, Pandora. I witnessed the whole labor/birthing process. I held Jere's legs back as Pannie entered the world. I was completely shocked that I could watch. Usually I get a little queazy when it comes to watching Grey's Anatomy.

I recently took a position at EyeGlassWorld as an Optometric Tech. I really like it there are people my age that work there and I am around people again. I forgot to mention in my spare time of being jobless I volunteered at the food bank and a soup kitchen. If I can give any advice to someone who is with out a job keep applying and volunteer in your time off. You stay busy, you meet new people and you can network with people you may have never come across otherwise.

Any who. I will be starting Medi Weightloss again tomorrow. I am very excited about it because it really does work. I have done this program before but always seemed to run out of money before I got to the maintenance phase. I am determined this go round that I can do it. I will be sure to post my measurements if I get my appointment tomorrow and post my starting weight and measurements.

READY

SET 

GO

Princess weekend!

well I have had nearly three weeks off from blogging ... life has just been busy! But I will start back where I left off and fill in the skipped weeks hopefully by Thursday

Well I am just going to go ahead and post my favorite princess pics!

my fairy god mother age me pixie dust to run faster

fairy tale running

we had a great weekend in the Parks with my parents and Peter

can you spot the most excited runner in this picture ... oh wait its me!

my early morning chEAR squared

I love how proud my dad looks!

My A-Rae cheerleader!

me and juliana made it to the castle

WE FINISHED

Me and Coonsy

week 8 update

Made it to week EIGHT this week. It was a week of extra carbs to prepare for my half marathon. so I have eaten quite a few things not on the plan. rice pasta ... cinnamon roll :/ (yikes kind of regretted that) but also had yummy chicken spicy sausage and some baked tilapia.

I'll be weighing in on Thursday Morning for my one month update. I am getting back into my routine Monday morning my hopes is to move around as much as possible so I don't let the acid from my muscle settle in and get too comfortable. I am going to be putting together my half marathon post when I gather some more pictures!! but let me tell you I had sooo much FUN! OH and I wore my minnie mouse head band and shoes with red and white polka dots! 

Week leading up to princess 1/2 marathon!

Well I wanted to figure out which disney princess I am before the race and according to Disney's Princess quiz I am duhduhnahnah Belle!

http://disney.go.com/games/play3/?content=204062#/games/play3/&content=204062

How convenient .... about 17 years ago I was Belle.

No picture will be taken this week I am not feeling great and made a mistake of getting on the scale and feeling a little discouraged. "Womanly always discouraged never" is a work in progress. And of course I had a nightmare that I didn't make it to my race. But I am trying to stay positive. I know I will finish.  I know I will finish. 

Good news! I finally made it to a Saturday work out. I had Bootcamp at 8:30 where we did nine sprints down the track and we did lots of biceps/ triceps exercises, with some inchworms and the dreaded double unders (I swear I try really hard to get double unders but haven't mastered them yet.) Following my bootcamp I tried yoga for the first time!  I really liked it! I found it challenging... my body isn't all that flexible but more flexible than I thought it was. I understand how it can be a workout now. It was a very foggy day so were essentially working out in a cloud and we were all absolutely drenched in sweat. 

Valentines Day Recap

Recap of my weekend so far. I had the pleasure of a short road trip up to Inverness to see a friends band perform. Taking Anderson Live. They were great!

Organic strawberry Beer from the pub

On Monday I was surprised to have a bouquet of flowers delivered to work.

My mom and dad sent me a card with my favorite Winnie the Pooh quote. 

This cake is most certainly NOT on the meal plan and I am sure Alicia is going to have to kick my butt at bootcamp for making it. But Peter really liked it he said I needed to give his mom the recipe and I told him no I can be the only one to make it but no more than three times a year.

Peter Surprised me with another bouquet with my favorite flower in it. Hydrangeas I think are just gorgeous. 

I had a valentine project I sent to a few of my friends and family this year!

I hot glued a flower on to a clothes pin then added a magnet strip to the back. 

Hope everyone enjoyed their Valentine's Day. Now getting back on track. Workout double here I come. I have got to get some good runs in this week and next. I eleven days away from the big day. (Peter's card had Minnie and Mickey on it.)

Weekly Update

 

 Well another week down. Still seeing some changes... Jeans are fitting looser, went down to a medium sports bra. Boot Camp has been going great. I had a personal best of 22 floppy burpees in 1 minute. I literally just told myself don't stop and I didn't ... I really don't know if I could have gone any faster. There was one camper in the earlier class that got 27 in one minute. [Impressed]

This weekend I am going to do some budgeting and see if I can budget in starting Weight Watchers. I think I need a little more accountability on my eating regimen. Because Lord knows I got the working out part down. I have truly managed to work out five days a week. I am watching biggest loser NO excuses, and I am sure they will have an episode on I don't have time to work out. I would like to beg to differ. I work four jobs and I manage to find time to work out even if it is a 6am or 7pm. I find that I can sleep a lot better on days that I work out than on days that I do not. Sundays and Tuesdays are my recovery day and Saturday are my at home or alternative work out days.

I think I am starting to rant. So I will sign off and get to work on that christmas tree that is still hanging out in my dinning room.

PS tomorrow I will be running in a 5k benefitting Make A Wish Foundation ... I was on the committee that started the race four years ago so here is my shout out to Race.Love.Wish

Fitness Test Monday

Well today at Forte Fitness we have our first monday of the month fitness test. consists of a half mile run followed by 2 minutes worth of squats, 2 minutes worth of push ups and 2 minutes worth of sit ups... I feel like I was doing my presidential physical fitness test in 1997. I will have you know in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, I was the fastest girl earning the blue patch. SO how did I measure up today ...

I managed a 4.24 half mile run.

71 squats 

20 push ups (wahhhwahh)

57 sit-ups

Wish I would have recorded what I did my first day but since I was detoxing I only did a 1/4 mile run and I think I was in pain because I don't recall doing my squats of push ups and I'm pretty sure I did crunches.

Excited to see what next months improvements will bring!

My favorite Super Bowl Commerical

This Dog Strike back commercial was my favorite commercial ... just the dog part not so much the Star Wars. I won't lie it was slightly inspiring to see this pooch work out so he can fit through the door... kind of like me trying to fit in my size ten jeans!

A funny email I got hope you laugh too!

My Cousin sent this to me and I got a kick out of it!


I don't know why I didn't figure this out sooner.  I use shampoo in the shower and when I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body.  Well, printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning, “For Extra Volume and Body.”  No wonder I have been gaining weight! 
I have gotten rid of that shampoo and I am going to start showering with Dawn dish soap instead. That label reads, “Dissolves fat that is otherwise difficult to remove.”

ONE MONTH REVIEW

Well I have reached the end of the first month of giving back those "COLLEGE LBs".

   

Feelings about Life: I am still on a high from putting myself out there and feeling motivated and encouraged. I love that I have been hearing from more friends since I have started this blog and journey. I have friends participating in different activities with me. I get check in text/FB messages from friends from out of state. (Shout out LS  and JP) It makes me feel good that I have inspired people to get up and do something.

Feelings about self image: I think that we all have struggled with our self image at one point of another. I think that some times numbers aren't going to show how good you feel about your performance. So to those of you who are like me who maybe from week to week aren't seeing a "number" change, don't let it define you and PUT THE SCALE AWAY... Having those jeans fit a little looser than usual feels better to me than any number on the scale and I found this picture on pinterest. It hit home with me. -->

Peak of the month: my initiative to start has certainly been my peak of the month. I think that starting this blog has held me more accountable than I ever could have thought. and I haven't had a soda since December 31st,  2011
Pit of the month: not giving 100% the entire month... I pray for more self control in the upcoming month to not give in to temptation and cravings.

Favorite foods: GREEN Smoothie is a new love of mine.

Unhealthy Cravings: dairy... ice cream, frozen yogurt, cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and publix chocolate chip cookies, and I have had an unhealthy craving for Party Flavors Cake (They are the most fabulous cake company that we use for about 80% of our weddings. Highly recommend them)

Favorite Exercise: I love a but exercise we do in boot camp where we lay on our side and lift one leg up and down while turning our foot toward the ground and then repeating the same motion but only going half way down. Its AMAZING. I try to do them every night (I will not be posting a butt shot but you can take my word that my butt is getting firmer.)
Least Favorite Exercise: The infamous Burpee I can't stand them. anyone who has done them knows why. and Pistol squats to me are pure torture

Previous Weight 201 lbs

New Weight: 195.0

Total Lbs given back : -6 lbs

Total Lbs to go: 40 lbs

Percentage complete: 13%

Next Month's Goal: to give back 8 pounds and be at 187 lbs

I'm back

Well it has been a week since my last blog post. I haven't been home since Thursday and haven't trained with boot camp since the Friday before that. I did however get in a few good runs in on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday and then I did a few at home work outs provided by my trainer. While I was back home in Fort Myers for the weekend visiting with my family and new baby cousin Andrew I got one good work out in. I had my mom do one of the work outs with me and she was certainly sore the next day. Which reminds me of how I will be feeling tomorrow after my work out tonight with Boot camp. My dad got me an early Valentines Day gift a beautiful PINK 10lb kettle bell weight!!!

I am pretty excited to be able to work with the kettle bell more when I can't make it to my fitness classes. If you are thinking about starting kettle bells you should make sure you get proper training or instruction so you don't hurt your self. (I felt the need for a caution do not try this at home even though that is precisely where I will be using them lol)

I will weigh in tomorrow and post my measurements from last Monday I got back from Alicia :) and take my picture sorry I forgot to take a picture last Friday but this will be a good mile marker pic hopefully ONE whole month complete of my journey to healthier eating and exercise.



Chicken Marbella

I wanted to share a delicious recipe that my mom cooks up ...Chicken Marbella. It is portioned for four but it makes yummy left overs to put over a salad. Here is the recipe we use from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup pitted prunes, halved
• 8 small green olives
• 2 tablespoons capers, with liquid
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium bowl combine the garlic, prunes, olives, capers, olive oil, vinegar, bay leaves, oregano, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread mixture in the bottom of a 10x15 inch baking dish. Add the chicken pieces, stir and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Remove dish from refrigerator. Sprinkle brown sugar on top and pour white wine all around chicken.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, spooning juices over chicken several times as it is baking. Serve on a platter, pouring juices over the top, and garnish with fresh parsley.      

         

Bon Apetite

Lunar New year

I am a day late for the lunar new year but I still wanted to post some Fun Stuff I want to do this year!

• 1/2 marathon
• para sailing
• cruise
• hit target weight (155lbs)
• budget in new makeup (foundation, mascara, concealer, new eye shadow palette etc.) and throw away all the crap make up I have been carrying along)
• SEND more mail ... I really want to try and send more cards to friends and family I think I will start with some valentines day cards
•  Go home (to Fort Myers) more often... I am so happy to announce that my Cousin's Wife Bethany has given birth her first, a beautiful baby boy which means he is Andrew Augustus Whitbred the FIFTH! and my Cousin Jere is Pregnant with her first baby and her due date is so close to my birthday!!! I am so thrilled that I will be planning her Baby Shower we just need to learn what she will be having! :)
• Volunteer ... Its sad to think that I can hardly remember the last time that I volunteered.
• start my Roth IRA account!
• Go to church and/or reading devotionals
• Continue to meet up with my Orlando sisters for wine or dinner etc. (we are so cute)
• Go to a Magic Game
• Go to a concert
• do something "cultural" with Annie
• Expedition Everest Challenge with Erin http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/expedition-everest-challenge check it out if you haven't heard of it
• organize important files that I should have as a "grown up"
• take better care of my car and keep her up to date with her oil changes etc.
• take more pictures!

Well I look forward to crossing things off the list and seeing if I can keep up with some of the others!

Start to my week...

view from the lake that I run around

Well last night was pleasant surprise that I didn't have to go into work. so I took a nap (I think I slept my life away) and then woke up extremely bored and I knew if I stayed in the house I would eat and if I went window shopping it would turn into window buying.  So I went for an evening run. of 5.5 MILES!!! It is 9:30 now and I am thinking that I need to go run again while the air is still cool. I am really getting my self all psyched out for my 1/2 marathon. I have have come to terms that it will be highly unlikely for me to not finish. I have to keep a 16 minute mile pace to not be picked up by the "Loser bus" But I also want to get it over with as quickly as possible and maybe stop for a picture or two at the castle!! :) I am still trying to figure out what I will be wearing. Being a sorority girl my natural instinct is to dress in theme. But I have to be comfortable running. Who knows... Tonight I will be researching what to be eating the days leading up to the race and such. I'll share what I find in my next post.

here is a map of how big this trail really is

Seasons 5.2k

My third Seasons 5.2k

Well today was a great success! We all finished with great times for what we were expecting. I didn't break any personal records BUT I did jog the ENTIRE 5.2k so that was an accomplishment to be proud of. Some how my jogging is slower than if I ran and walked like I used to do. But it felt good and I truly can say that I probably could have been a bad ass and jogged the course backwards like those really cool fast runners that jog toward all us 10+ minute mile people and offer words of encouragement. We followed our race up by having a yummy breakfast at KeKe's cafe. We finally beat the rush. 

The second time I got to run it with my best friend 

Annie 5k spilt: 33:15

Peter 5k split: 36:36

My 5k split: 37:07

Ryan 5k split: 39:49 

(this was ryan's first 5k and he is excited to complete more races!)

week 3

Well Week three has come and gone. I wish I wouldn't have been so loose with my diet this week. I think I had bread three times this week. which in weight loss is a NO NO. I need to get a little more self control. But I feel like for any starter routine the third week is always the hardest. I usually find the first week the easiest. But week three is usually my lull. I am pushing through and staying motivated. Peter has started to work out this week going for quick jogs and planks and push ups. I don't want him to work out too much because he will outshine me. lol only kidding. I got four great workouts in this week and ending it tomorrow morning with my 5k. I am going to try and eating green for breakfast and lunch and then have a pepper steak with rice and broccoli tonight for dinner.

oh yeah my arms are looking tone looks like all those
push ups and kettle bell over heads are working for me

can't wait to not see love handle ripples on my side!

Ropes

Completed another solid workout at bootcamp involving lunges and planks and super mans and squats and ROPES!!! Yes the ropes that you see on Biggest Loser are real. They looked kind of easy I just thought they would be hard for only obscenely obese people. Well I was WRONG!!! 

ropes are bad ass 1-18-12

Tomorrow I am going to try making "mock" mashed potatoes... using Cauliflower.