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. 

at home workout

Well I completed my first at-home workout. I became a little creative this morning since I woke up for a non existent 6am morning workout ... I even drove there! So I pulled up an at home work out my trainer emailed us. It 30 second reps of this 20 second reps of that. so since I am horrible at keeping time while trying to get a worth while work out I used my garage band skills and created a 12 minute workout mix that I repeated twice. I used songs like ...

1. Yellowman - zungguzungguguzungguzeng  

[if you are wondering where I found this one ... 

its the song that Nick from New Girl dances naked to in the mirror 

2. Pitbull - Give me Everything

3. J Cole - Work Out

4. LMFAO - Sexy and I know it

Cool down: G4L- Rihanna

5. Foster the People-Pumped up Kicks

6. Bass down Low

7. Gorillaz- Dare

8. Estelle- American Boy

Transformation week 2 pictures

this is where I notice I bigger difference I am not nearly as bloated

harder to tell from this angle because I still notice my love handles
 but I am its all a work in progress

Here we are again week 2 pictures I can only see a slight change in photos but I can truly feel and notice a big change in my body ... I am no where near as bloated as I was and I am starting to see more stretch marks on my chest boooo... it might actually be shrinking hooray!!! 

why not throw in an arm pic 

Love my Madden Girl Sparkle Shoes

As for some new feel good things this week I bought a cute new pair of shoes and I am lookin' good in those spark shoes ... scarf compliments of my mom's crocheting skills 

Just for fun... I inspired my mom's outfit this weekend with what I wore last weekend and she has been working out at the YMCA a few days a week now too even though I already think she looks great!

catching up

Well this weekend I wish I could report that I was super disciplined and didn't cheat at all ... but that would be lying. Peter (my boyfriend) came to visit me and not that he made it hard to stay healthy he just makes it easy to cheat with food. It was also a chilly Saturday and so therefore I slept in and didn't quite make it to boot camp or yoga which I heard they were quite cold for stretching. But I did go to a yummy breakfast on Park Ave and we walked around the shops. We also paid a visit to the farmers market where I purchased Winter Park honey which is my favorite and for those of you who didn't know they say that consuming honey from a local source is better for your immune system and allergies. Peter and I had a very lazy Saturday which I feel slightly guilty about because he had planned a date day for me ... Frisbee/disk golf and a picnic but I took a rain check for a date with warmer weather. We did however get to go out to Bahama Breeze and Howl at the Moon where we had a surprising performance by a patron who requested the LMFAO I'm sexy and I Know It and then proceeded to strip down to the tiniest man thong I had ever seen I was mortified as we were sitting in the front tables closest to the stage. There was entirely too much jumping and bouncing around for my liking. None the less had a great time. Back to meal planning. I found a groupon for this great website called www.e-mealz.com

I wanted to post this screen shot because it is a Dave Ramsey recommend program. So here's what it is they send you twelve months of meals planning I want to say each week and you can tailor your meal plan to on a diet shopping at walmart. Or table for 1 or 2 shopping at Publix. The great part about this program that I find most exciting is that they go off of that weeks advertised sales. So the BOGO sales that Publix has you get to take advantage of. They try to make your meal plan cost around $45 per week and that is 5 meals you cook your self and have left overs for your lunch or dinner the next night. So not only do they do the budgeting for you they select the meals for you give you a shopping list and give you the recipes. Erin and I are splitting the groupon for $29 so less than $15 a person and we can take turns cooking each night so we don't over crowd our refrigerator and save some money.

So now you might be asking well what about your old meal plan. I am still going to be incorporating in my green smoothies in the morning and the snacks they suggest. But I am going to allow my self to have a little bit more variety and have some a few more carbs. After all I am training for Princess. [ by the way I am getting really nervous about].

I am excited to be running a 5k with some friend this weekend. This will be my third time running in the Seasons 5.2k  so last year's time for the race was 35:42 minutes which is 11:02 pace. I would really really like to finish in under 33:00 minutes. I really think if I can get over the pains in my shin I can do it! Running with me I will have Peter, my best friend Annie, Ryan her fiance who has been training to run with the couch to 5k app and who has quit smoking this year [I am really proud of him], and our friend John. with out a doubt John will smoke us all with his natural athletic ability. I would like to have a Personal Best for this race but we will see how it goes. And for those of you who have never Ran of Walked the Season's 5.2k before you should totally register it is seriously one of the most beautiful courses in central Florida it takes you all around Park Ave and gorgeous Winter Park homes. 

Valentines day

I hope you don't mind me sharing my craftiness on here as well. I must say I am pretty proud of this one because I literally put the idea together while browsing in Hobby Lobby. I have been pretty into having a wreath since I moved in with Erin. I made a Halloween wreath that was inspired by pinterest and then I found a flamingo Christmas wreath in JoAnn's and I just couldn't pass it up. Now I finished this wreath in seriously ten minutes. It took longer for me to send the pictures to my computer from my phone...[until writing this I forgot i could have used my charger cord and saved a load of time. Oh well I do things my way I guess]

What you'll need:

a glue gun 

multiple glue sticks [if you have a mini like me] I probably used five

ONE bag of moss  [I only used half of mine] on sale at HL for $2.50

a heart center HL $9.99 [I am sure they will go on sale in a week or two]

natural floral wreath HL 3.99

Totaling $16.48 pre tax

1. Heat up glue gun.

2. Attach the heart by it's string I glued the knot I made on the back side to secure it.

3. gun out a decent amount of hot glue on about 3in space at a time I just made zig zag patterns in the areas I was working with and I tucked my moss under some of the big vines. The moss is natural so it doesn't have a uniform shape so you made have to glue fluffy moss over top of some of the bare spots.

4. Hang and ENJOY ... Side not if you are married you could use sticks in the center of the heart and form the first letter of your last name or do the first letters of your name like this J+P

stupid alarm

Well today is my second treat day. I was supposed to wake up for a 6:00am workout but my alarm didn't go off and when I realized it, it was already 6:25. :( boo I hate when I miss a group work out. But on the upside I am going to workout at 8:30 tomorrow with 9:30 yoga to follow. I just have to share a picture of the area of the park we work out in. It is absolutely gorgeous.

This fountain is where we do box jumps and dips, and step up exercises. our mats actually are setup down the steps just below the fountain. 

SO anyway it looks like I will be doing an at home work out. That way I can enjoy a night with my girlfriends with out feeling horribly guilty. We will be sharing desserts and wine tonight pretty excited!

WEEK 2

Well I survived week 1 with very few "cheats" but I need to step up my vegetable portions if I really want to lose anything. I have been pretty good with my green smoothies. I surprisingly have seen a few articles on celebrities drinking green smoothies. Kind of reassuring that its going to work.

Some friends have asked me what I have been putting in my smoothies ...

8oz cold water

1 whole banana (my blender is fantastic)

6 strawberries OR half a mango with a few chunks of pineapple

and 1 cup of raw spinach

I prefer strawberries the most because their seeds kind of disguise the taste of spinach if i didn't get it blended enough. The blender/ food processor I purchased is a NINJA blender ...and it is amazing I bought the cheaper version of it that does have its own stand it has a blender attached to the top instead of the bottom purchased for $37 at Walmart. Totally worth the investment to have good equipment especially in the kitchen. Now onto what am I doing for exercise? Well EVERYTHING go on to my trainer's website and she has videos of some of the activities that we do! http://www.fortefitness.com/  Alicia is fabulous and I had to steal this picture from her Facebook of her Christmas workout which I wasn't a part of sadly but we complete workouts like these each week.

Last night we did the best work out I have ever had through my back and biceps... We used the strechy ropes with handles and they were absolutely killer. I have a LOVE/HATE relationship to waking up sore the next morning. and to be honest the only way I can get rid of being sore is to go to another class!!

So in my before picture post I didn't include anythign about my ideal/Goal weight ... I have posted this above my light switch next to my door ... I have the pleasure of reading it first thing in the morning and when I go to bed ... and truthfully I say it OUT LOUD to myself everytime. My goal my be a little abitious but its something to aim for.  Another goal/ challenge that I am doign this year is completing my first half marathon 13.1 miles ... I want to join the car sticker club of 13.1 on my car. lol so I am only 40ish days away from my Disney Princess HALF Marathon. I have my friend Juliana to thank for gettign me to sign up for this adventure. I don't really have a specific time in mind just to finish with out gettign picked up by teh loser bus. To date I have only done 6 miles which is just under half of what I will be doing next month so I probably should pick it up and get a 9 mile run in the next two weeks and a 12 mile in two weeks prior.

My TREAT day.

On my meal plan we incorporate a treat day and some treat meals to keep with calorie confusion just like muscle confusion. I don't want to get too crazy with my treat days so instead of having everything I was only kinda craving, I opted to treat myself to a Starbucks Iced Coffee grande sweetened and with Half and Half a whopping 120 calories. I am not a Starbucks freak ... even though I work there one day a week. I have never been addicted to caffeine thankfully.

This does mean that I had skipped my breakfast toady which I know wasn't the best choice but I did I woke up a bit later than I had planned on. But while I was out on my shopping trip I picked up a new scale. I bought the Weight Watcher Scale at Bed Bath and Beyond since I can use my 20% off coupon there.

Weight Watchers® Body Analysis Scale by Conair®

This 140.0 sticker comes on the scale I almost considered leaving it on for my self to wish! LOL

For lunch on my cheat day I decided I was going to try a recipe I had seen on Pinterest. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/12/skinny-coconut-shrimp.html

Skinny coconut shrimp with apricot sauce 4 shrimp 161 calories. I didn't use as much sauce as I thought I would ... It tasted great but I guess I just wasn't into a sweet glaze that night so I allowed my self to have 8 shrimp since I was having a late lunch before I went out for dinner and drinks.

I felt CUTE for the first time in a while.

I am finally letting myself believe that I am getting healthy

For dinner I went to a new place in Pointe-Orlando called Funky Monkey Wine Company. I had a delicious crab cake.But I was disappointed to find out that my $15 crab cake turned into a $83.00 dollar crab cake when she charged my credit card for an additional $68. slightly disappointing but I moved on and headed out for a girls night with two of my sorority sisters. 

This is where I misbehaved on my diet we went to the bar that had 3-4-1's and each had 6 liquor drinks. Next time I will certainly stick with a mic ultra. and not follow it up by a Jimmy John's roast beef sandwich. Jimmy John is not on the Meal Plan but I will certainly miss him.

So all in all treat days should be spent at home and not in downtown orlando.

The REAL number

I really want to be cautious not to use the word "diet". Its not a diet because in my mind diets are temporary. So we will just be calling it my meal plan from here on out when talking about my food I am eating. Well I am drinking green smoothies. Some of you may be familiar with green smoothies... I was unaware of these actually delicious drinks. I will be the first to admit that I have a hard time getting in all my vegetables so when I am able to smoothie down two cups of fresh spinach and disguise it with fresh strawberry banana taste, it makes my life a lot easier. I will say that I have for the most part have also had a very regular track system, but for those of you who don't I am thinking this could possibly help. In listening to a few different pod casts I have come to realize that I am a compulsive eater. I will seriously get a food that I am craving in my head and don't feel satisfied until I have fulfilled that craving. I was also a compulsive over cooker/baker.. in the sense that I would make too big of portions for a sitting or even for a single meal left overs. I would make like three and a half size meal and split it in to two servings. So what is my solution going to be? ... I am going to be more compulsive about losing weight. I really think that putting out my weight on here for the public to read is seriously going to help me stay accountable. I don't think I have actually given an honest answer to my weight to any one other than a doctor or professional who has just taken my weight and seen the REAL number. THAT REAL NUMBER IS AND HAS BEEN FOR A MONTH 201 LBS. TWO HUNDRED AND ONE. I never in a million years would have thought that my number would be in the two hundreds. Because when I used a number to describe a big person I say "they were like over 200lbs" and now where am I? I am over two hundred pounds. My friends would tell me oh well you don't look like you weigh that you are just tall (I'm 5'10")... Well my friends just because you're tall doesn't give you the excuse to just keep eating. here is what my BMI has to say about my weight according to http://www.bmi-calculator.net/. "People falling in this BMI range are considered overweight and would benefit from finding healthy ways to lower their weight, such as diet  meal plan and exercise. Individuals who fall in this range are at increased risk for a variety of illnesses. If your BMI is 27-29.99 your risk of health problems becomes higher. In a recent study an increased rate of blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease was recorded at 27.3 for women and 27.8 for men." my BMI is 28.84.

Well  here goes nothing ... these are my before pictures. I will be trying to take a picture every Friday in the same neon yellow sports bra and yoga pants. Since I don't have a camera you will have to deal with a tacky iphone mirror pictures.

 START DATE!

These two pictures are from 1/2/12

Day 1

These next pictures are from the end of  

WEEK 1

Lets get a foundation of where my roller coaster has started part 2

JUNIOR YEAR!

This is right before the school year started at my cousin's engagement party! (mom and I)

my newest little Jessie who now is in chicago becoming a start doing improv comedy at second city!

on a social with my branch ... I had just gone through my first major break up to date and my weight fluctuated quite a bit this year.

I had gone on a few date this year. Lauren and I here in probably February which is my last picture I have until May.

This is in May ... We are at Disney for my dad's HALF IRON MAN!!! It was a pretty cool experience to watch my dad take on this challenge. My Freshmen year he took up cycling with a neighbor. Probably the best thing he ever did. He now has a hobby that he LOVES and he is very dedicated to every weekend he rides close to 100 miles.

In November of this year I was selected to me on the executive board of my sorority at the Recruitment Chair I worked pretty hard to lose weight for this. I think I was also super stressed out and lost a bit of weight. so here I am at my 21st birthday
SENIOR YEAR!

This is the night that Peter and I reconnected and have been dating ever since. September 5, 2010

went to a Rays game I was still keeping weight off ... legs looked toned and arms too

My cousin's Bridal Shower here with my Nanny I'd like to look as good as she does at 70!

Bethany and Andy's wedding with my brother Louis (family wedding 1)

Amanda and Josh's wedding November (family wedding 2)

Jere's Bridal Shower

Jere and Eric's Wedding May (family wedding 3) believe it or not I lost 11lbs before this wedding but gained it all back with all the eating i did while at home Jere's mom barb is an amazing cook and since I don't go home that often I will always indulge in her cooking.

Graduation Party!!

here she is herself... this is my Barb and she is one of my favorite "relatives"

these are my granddad's friends and my uncle mark in the blue

here is amanda she was 6 months pregnant then

this is one of my two birthday cakes!!

so here is my graduation picture and my cap!

here is the close up of my cap I really loved it!