Happy Thanksgiving :D

And remember: Portion control
you can still eat everything you want that makes this holiday special, just make sure you measure it out first.


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The Fat Flush Diet Tested~

I have a Formal Ball coming up in 2 weeks now, so for the last week to look my trimmest, I've been trying a new approach.

I rented a book from the library a week ago called The Fat Flush Diet , modified it some to my liking, and have been on a modified version ever since.

The basic idea is portioned meals, eating 6 times a day, high protein foods, and cranberry water juice (100% NO SUGAR ADDED)

I didn't think the juice would be so good, but it really feels like a treat in itself to be able to drink it! you drink it to clean out your kidneys so they can work properly, boost your metabolism, and lose weight and/or inches.

In my case, I've lost about 1 pound maybe a little more in 1 1/2 weeks. For me, this is good since I don't have much to lose anyway (about 5 pounds) I have not only lost a pound in a week, I also am trimming inches around my waist which I couldn't be happier about.

For me, this will be more like a life change. I plan to stay on this regiment as long as I can. It's easy, I'm never hungry, and I feel better after I eat my healthier foods.

For instance, I have cut bread out completely. I make a turkey wrap for lunch with a low fat tortilla wrap, lettuce, and Smart Balance mayonaise. It leaves me feeling FULL believe it or not and I usually also eat watermelon along with it. DELICIOUS!

This diet keeps me so full, the last 2 days I actually forgot to eat lunch!!! (which is not good by the way, but is encouraging that I am staying that full for that long)

I also had a lovehandle that has disappeared just since I started this diet last week!

This diet is not really a diet to me, but a life change. And I'm happy to make it!

Princess for a Day

I am SOOO exited about the ball this year. After all, I'm over 20 pounds lighter! So I decided to go all out and look like a princess for the ball this year. I bought a beautiful pink cinderella style ballgown on amazon.com and tried it on as soon as I got it in the mail 4 days later! it fit perfectly and I feel like a completely different person when I'm wearing it. I just wish I could wear it all the time, lol! I was thinking of getting a tiara to finish my princess look, but I'm rethinking that. I was actually thinking about putting some small pink flowers in my hair instead (inspired by my favorite movie, Enchanted!). If I can find the right flowers, that's what I'll do.

see a picture of my princess ball gown here!

Mostly, I'm looking forward to the professional photo that will be taken at the ball in my dress, as the thinner me :) a picture that I'll be proud to hang on my wall.
I never hung the picture up of last year's ball because I thought I looked so chunky in the picture, I was too embarrased that I ever looked like that. Now I feel great about myself and my accomplishment and can't wait to go!!!

What I've been doing this week!

You may not know this, but I love to dance! I have been dancing since I was 4 years old. So, it's not an odd thing for me to try to encorporate it into my life, usually in some form of exercise.

So I've picked up something new I've been doing. I went on youtube monday and looked for some dances that I wanted to learn and found one that I like very much which I will share with you! I watched it over and over again, step by step the first day to learn it. I watched it for 2 hours going through every little motion and I still learned only half the dance, but by the next day and another 2 hour practice I had pretty much mastered the whole thing, not to mention that in all the fun, I lost another pound!

Dancing may not be for you, but I do suggest you find things that you enjoy doing to make exercise fun so you are more focused on having fun than the actual exercise.

This is the dance that I've learned and have actually been sweatin' to today :)

A Challenge

If you have read my other blogs, you would know that I was recently diagnosed with migraines. With that comes medication, which in turn means possible side effects. They prescribed Elavil for me and the main side effect I have noticed is a ravenous appetite. Have I gained weight because of this? The answer is no. But being aware of a medications side effects can be detrimental to your wellbeing. I had read up on Elavil as soon as it was prescribed and knew that it was a side effect, so I began to be proactive.

I have been substituting 1-2 meals a day for a Slim Fast Optima shake along with a measured portion for my 3rd meal, and healthy snacks (watermelon, etc)

I also make sure I walk at least 4-5 days a week to keep my metabolism going. I have been on Elavil now for about 3-4 months and this method has been easy to encorporate into my lifestyle since I was already exercising, eating right, etc.

And notice I said I WALK. Sometimes I do run, but I've found that walking is just as effective. I keep a fast pace and usually walk at least 30-40 minutes.

I weigh 121 pounds and walking at 2 miles per hour for about 30 minutes, I burn 69 calories.

To find out how many calories you burn walking, click here.

My Current Routine

I have been holding steady at 121, which is a loss of about 2 pounds since I started power walking 5 days a week, for at least 30 minutes per day.

Since it's finally watermelon season again, I have been eating them whenever I'm hungry, and watching my portions and calories at other times and have done quite well. I still do the 8 minute ab routine, which I like to do after my walks when I still have my heart working and my muscles warm.

At this point of course I am thin and not losing much weight, but maintaining what I have lost and toning up a lot. Everyone has been able to tell a difference which of course makes me very happy :)

More Results

It seems I've been getting quicker results by power walking, basically walking as fast as you can, swinging my arms, and sometimes I even hold bottles of water for weights, but I have actually started to lose weight again as a result.

We go on about a 40 minute brisk walk, stretch out afterwards, and then I go home and will do my 8 minute abs.

Before we were doing the 8 minute abs and 8 minute buns for about 30 minutes, 5 times a week which was making me feel good and feel toned, but no weight loss. I just held my weight steady. But combining that with walking, cutting calories, and doing the 8 minute abs has helped me to start shedding pounds again.

I highly recommend finding someone where you can schedule times to do this. It just makes it so much easier when you have someone to talk to during your workout and ends up not feeling like a workout. It becomes fun. And that's what we want!

%Feel Good Party%

Hey ya'll!
I've been so happy that I've stuck with the exercises for the last about 2 weeks that I'm throwing myself a blog party!

Great News!

After being stuck at 123 (which of course I won't ever complain about)
after exercising for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week with my neighbor and drinking slim fast shakes to substitute 1 meal a day, I have lost 1 more pound, taking me to 122!

yippee!!

Now I am again measuring my portions to make sure it stays that way!

I gained all my weight back....

hehe
just kidding folks!
I am still 123 and anticipate to lose more, now that I have been exercising every day with my neighbor.

just had to APRIL FOOLS YA!

Down to the Grind!

I finally found someone to hold me accountable for the exercise portion for my quest to get back to my pre baby body! And if you can find someone that is willing to exercise with you, this is by far the best way to do it because then you can hold each other accountable.

We have a set time every day that we will exercise together and we are doing the 8 minute absroutine. (which also includes 8 minute thighs, buns, etc) And don't think that it's a walk in the park! I am sore as we speak from it! but see usually when I'm sore, that means I don't feel like exercising for several days, which ends up becoming... NEVER! but now that I have someone to exercise with, there's not getting out of it. And that's a good thing. 5 days a week we meet up for 30 minutes and do two 8 minute routines. We have been doing 8 minute abs and 8 minute thighs this week, and we get Saturday's and Sunday's off to recover until the next week.



Can't wait to see what we will look like! I already feel firmer and it's only been a week since we begun. If you want to try it too, you can get a good price on the exercise tape here.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

Hope ya'll have a fun one :)

I am holding steady still at 123. Recently had to buy a new scale.
If I had to do a review on digital scales, I would give them a big fat "F"
I ended up taking my digital one back to the store cuz it wasn't working and opted for the good old fashioned dial scale.
:) And so far so good! The digital scale goes through a lot of batteries, though I hardly used it at all and it had a feature where it shut off when you were through weighing yourself. When I took it back to the store, I was told that my digital scale was discontinued. Gee, I wonder why!

Watermelon season again!

Well I hope you can find this important diet fruit at your local grocer, or wal-mart for that matter.



Last time I went shopping, much to my surprise I saw 2 huge bins of miniature seedless watermelons! I was soo happy! I owe a lot of my diet success after all from the watermelon (mostly consisting of water) making me feel full so I wouldn't indulge on something fattening.

I bought 2. They are $4.00 each here, but a small price to pay for a smaller waist :)
They have both been eaten at this point and I have to go shopping again today. Yes, I will be buying more. I will buy them everytime I go shopping until they don't sell watermelons anymore. That's how important they are to my diet.

Watermelon is uber filling, and is a great thing to have anytime you are craving sweets. It's delicious and it satisfies. Canteloupe is another good one if you like them, but my favorite is watermelon. And by the way, if you think they must not be good since it's so early, think again. I ate 2 of them and they were both delicious. Just be careful to pick out the good ones. No bruises n' such.

Low calorie fruits are your friend. Eat as much as you want, you will burn more calories digesting the fruit than the fruit has, thus burning fat.

Back from vacation! A story from beyond :)

Heys folks! We are officially back from our trip. We had a great time... LOTS of exercise! One day, we walked all around Washington D.C. I don't know how many miles, but believe me, it was a lot!!! We saw the spy museum, the Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial and reflection pool, the Art museums, and even went to Mcdonalds in China town (which I don't recommend)

In case you have never been there, the Mcdonalds in chinatown is kinda unique. there are no chairs to sit in while you eat!!! they make you stand up I guess to discourage hanger arounds, as there are signs all over the establishment that say "No staying any longer than 30 minutes" Sheese! I better hurry and eat then! I just have never seen this type of thing before. I wanted to take a picture cuz it was just so strange, but I wouldn't dare because of the people that may hurt me if I did :)

Yea, I know! I ate at Mcdonalds, but like I said, we walked a lot that day and I guarantee I burned it all off.

Just so you know though, I did weigh myself when vacation was through and I haven't gained any weight. Yippee!!!

And here is a picture from my vacation:



a view of the monuments from the Metro Train

To My Readers:

We are officially on vacation. No, that does not mean I'm gonna be a pig! :)
we have plans to do lots of walking site seeing, and making smart choices when we do go out to eat. Most of the time we will still be eating at home.

take care and we will return soon!


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Dr. appointment

Well, I had my dr.'s apointment and guess what?
I weighed in at 123 pounds on the doctor's scale (yippee!)
Only problem was, I was so nervous about weighing in the first place, the nurse was wondering why my blood pressure was high.

I told her I was really fine, that I was just nervous about the scale. The scale can be a scary experience. I think now though, we have become really great friends :)


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Tip of the day:

Don't eat too much candy today, yall, but if it so happens you do, just make sure it's in the morning. That way you have all day to burn it off.

Exercising like crazy!!!

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow, and right now have been exercising this past week just every second that I get!

I've been working hard to try to even out my love handles, so have been doing a ton of cardio (mostly jumping jacks) and as many sit ups as I can, and push ups.

I feel stronger and have had more energy than usual. To aid me in my quest, I have also started drinking Slim fast optima shakes.

I have not dropped any pounds (still at 122) but 122 is a good weight and right now I am just focusing on toning.

I have also noticed from all the exercising that I have been doing, my skin looks more glowing, alive. Who would have though?

Motivation

I haven't been to the doctor in a while. Frankly, I hate going and don't like taking pills every day, so I try to avoid it at all costs. (Also, last time I was at the doctor I weighed in at an embarassing 141 pounds)

I have been exercising regularly with my husband. Finally he has gotten in on it and it helps me so much to have someone to push me. So I do whatever he tells me to, which he has me do what they do in the military so it's great (and tiring!) Sometimes I wonder if I can get out of bed the next day he works me so hard!!! Obviously, I think everyone realizes that when you are on your own it presents extra work on your part, and when you have someone that can hold you accountable it just makes it a whole lot easier.

So now I have a doctor's appointment coming up and want to be in tip top shape so they will brag on me :) so I am trying to step up my regiment even more so they will be ever so impressed.

Right now, I am weighing in at 122 pounds, I know that doesn't sound like a lot probably to most but since having kids I hold the weight differently and believe it or not, still have work to do.

In high school, I weighed 125 pounds size 5- all muscle. After my first child I lost weight to 119 and looked too thin and wore a size 3. Things change and after child #2 I am 122 pounds, with most all my weight settled in my hips, so I may weigh less technically than I did in high school, but I am a size 7. Weird huh?

And that is why I have switched gears from just focusing mainly on dieting, to focusing mostly on activity level, and making sure I do lots of cardio (jumping jacks, etc) and lots of military sit ups.

Since my core is where I need to lose my excess weight, this is what I am focusing on in my exercise routine. I will keep you posted as to if I succeed or not. Wish me luck!

My Exercise Routine

I must admit, it has been a while since I have exercised regularly. I spend a lot of time on the internet and realize that it would benefit me to make a schedule for myself.

So I have planned before starting my days, to exercise first.

For me, exercise has to be fun, so these are a few things that I like to exercise to:

Darrins dance grooves



Carmon Electra's Fit to Strip



Today, I did 30 minutes with darrin henson perfecting my dance routines done by britney spears and n'sync, then I did 30 minutes working my core with Carmon Electra.

Neither of these workouts is a joke!!! They are fun, but they do work you!
Now, If I can do a little of this every day, I should be looking good in no time!

After Holidays regroup!

Allright! So I didn't gain any weight, but you just feel fatter after the holidays, don't you? Well, I do! so I will go through with you step by step my plan to look and feel thinner for 2008.

I started TODAY, and this is what I did.

First off, I tell myself over and over again... "If I can get past the first 3 days, I can do this!"

Then, I got back into the habit of measuring my portions.
For breakfast: Raisin Bran.
I measure out 1 cup of 2% milk and 1 cup of raisin bran.
Doesn't sound like a lot but fills you up!!!
See, I think a lot of us grew up on the "finish your plate" kind of mantality, and it sets us up to over eat when we get older because I for one always feel like I have to finish my plate as not to waste food.

And so when I measure my portions out, it's like my mind triggers my "full" feeling, even if I didn't eat as much as I usually do. I think a lot of it is in our minds.

So I did that, and since I feel like I need a little extra help, I started back on my once a day Nanoslim (diet pill). I took it after I ate my raisin bran this morning.

For lunch will be my traditional grilled chicken, and dinner will be a grilled chicken salad.

And for drinks, well over the holidays I got to drinking soda again, so out goes the soda!!! in with more water!

Watch for updates! and if you have any other good ideas for dieting, please leave your comments! Thanks!