Sexy Nature

Just been enjoying nature as much as possible because sadly it will start getting cold soon, and this girl does not like nature in the cold!


So now I'm weighing in at 157.8. I was 162 on Wednesday so I think I'm shedding the water weight and toxins from last weekend but I'm still nowhere near my goals. I wanted to be 152.5 by 9/11! I guess anything is possible if that weight is still more water and toxins, but realistically I guess I just hope to hit 155 as my low by then. If not then oh well, at least I'm on the right track! I'm going to push past 155 by the end of this month if its the last thing I do! I wanted to clear out of 150, but that's not looking as realistic.


This week, at least the end of this week, I have just been trying to focus on the day and not get overwhelmed thinking about how far I still have to go. It's actually been a challenge for me lately to stay positive. The weight just hasn't been coming off even when I feel like I did good. But probably realistically I wasn't doing as good as I felt that I was.

By Halloween I want to be between 140-145. I really really want it so I can be confident in a Halloween costume for once! That gives me a solid 8 weeks to lose 12 lbs.... That should be totally doable. Just HAVE to make sure I lose 1.5 lbs for all 8 weeks. Again, this means that I have to be 155 by Wednesday FOR SURE. I have to burn 5,250 calories to achieve that.

Thinking I'll cut 500 calories each day, and try to burn 500+ each day to get as close as possible.

Sexy Saturday

COSTUME IDEAS FOR HALLOWEEN (already):

My goal body would be able to rock this costume! :)

I think this would be so cute!

Vegtember Planning II

I decided to start vegtember a bit early! I had a bit of money to grab ingredients: lentils, tempeh, tofu, quinoa, etc. Im starting Monday August 26th. I will try to go all the way to October 1st, but my initial goal was 30 days so maybe only till September 23rd. We'll see how it pans out.
Here are the groceries I bought for this first week. :)
It's also going to be really important for me to learn how to pair foods to get a complete protein. Quinoa is great because its already a complete protein but in most cases, I will have to practice food pairing to get all my essentials. 

Grains + Nuts

Legumes + Seeds

Legumes + Grains

Legumes + Nuts = Complete Proteins

Beans + Brown Rice

Almonds + Asparagus

Seattle Outfits

What I finally decided to take to Seattle. I'm iffy on the black pants - I still dont like ho
w I look in them but it could just be the pictures I'm taking and the angle it's at. I'm hoping that I look better than the pictures. Haha.

Seattle Shopping!

Today I'm going to the outlet mall with my mom to go shopping for my upcoming Seattle VayCay! Time off got approved at work and were working on finding the cheapest flight and hotels...AH! Cant wait! I wish my body was in better shape atm...but I'm getting back on track and hopefully will drop the pounds I now know I gained from cheating. I think officially I'm back at 161 or so.... Up from an official 158, and a low of 155. :/ It's okay, cant let it keep me down. I know I splurged like hell on drinking for the last 3-4 weeks, and now I know/am reminded of how quickly the weight comes back on.

I'll post pictures later of what I find. I'm thinking... new jeans, size 9...that I WILL fit into in 4 weeks time. Also a couple cute tops, maybe a sundress.... :) Sandals? SKIRTS? I want everything haha

I still need black leggings, scarf, gladiator sandals, and a leopard cardigan if I follow my packing plan. :)

Cheating

Sorry Saturday

I went out with one of my best friends last night and it was so fun. I haven't been out in SO long. We had fun and all but holy regret. I tried to order lighter drinks, but I ended up getting some of the worst possible choices. Ugh, I am terrified to see the scale.

I mean... I had to have gone hundreds if not even a couple thousand over my calorie budget last night. I guess it's okay because it was one night, but..... BLAH.

The good part was, since I don't go out anymore I don't get hit on anymore... and I got hit on a lot. I of course didn't reciprocate anything at all, (I don't even dance, lol) but it was nice to be told how great I look. The two girls I was with said if I dyed my hair blonde, put on red lipstick and thick eyeliner I'd look like Taylor Swift. I don't see it but I am flattered at the idea because Taylor is gorgeous!!

Simple Saturday

It was raining all morning and then this afternoon I drove my boyfriend to the train station so he could go see the Blackhawks game.

Then I went out shopping with my mom and picked up a couple healthy grocery items along with a new book to read/study. I asked her if she would buy me a pair of jeans size 10, but she said no. lol. It's okay, I'll stick to my 11's until I can get into a 9.

This morning I added a long scene to chapter 7 of Displaced. 
I'm so excited about the progress! I can't wait to finish this round o

f edits, have a final copy printed for the last round of editing (hopefully) and then the dreaded part of sending it out as queries. :) It's exciting though!

I ate a big carb M5 today so I should be good to go for sunday runday.

Sexy Saturday

Date night at Macaroni Grill:

Yesterday we went to Six Flags. That was fun except a few rides got to me. I hadn't been on a roller coaster since I was like 10, and even then I only went on the not-too-scary ones. We started out on The Viper and The Demon, then checked out The Dark Knight. After that, having NO IDEA what I was getting into, I went on The Superman... that one got to me. Not a fan. Just saying. After that we went on The Batman, which apparently was running backwards. For the start it sounded like a bad idea on paper to me, but my bf was totally stoked for it. I noticed nobody was smiling at the end of it, but didn't want to chicken out so we went. Halfway through the ride I was just trying to hold down my nausea. When we got off, my boyfriend could barely stand, his face was totally flushed of color and he was sweating really bad. He had to grab me for support. He held it together for one round on The Eagle, but we were spent. It took a LONG nights sleep to shake off that nausea.

This morning I ran 4 miles (45 minutes), 425 calories. 

This afternoon I'm going to my cousins daughters 1st bday party with my mom and my sister and tonight is planning to be a low-key night of just book editing, coffee, and a 3rd protein drink today. For M2 I had a coffee-banana-choc-pumpkin pie spice-PFP shake and for M3 I had a mango-banana-ginger pfp smoothie. 

Ended at 114 g protein.  

27 miles/100

CarbSaturday

Carb M3 before Sunday Runday!

It's kinda great that I planned my carbs saturday for today because my boyfriend got 2 $25 gift cards to Macaroni Grill and we decided to use them today.  :) It's kind of a cheat day, but I feel good about it because I planned it and aside from having a few drinks, the food is still in my diet. Just going to ask for whole wheat noodles instead. And maybe oil/vinegar on the salad instead of dressing, if possible, or no dressing at all. :)

Yesterday was so much fun! It didn't rain at all and the cubs won! It was a great game! Me and my boyfriend had a great time together. Funny story, on the red line, there was this man who was playing a game and taking bets. He swished bottle caps around on a velvet sheet and we had to guess which cap had a tiny ball underneath it. If we showed him we had $20, $50, or $100 (his call how much) and we guessed the right cap, then he'd give us that amount but if we guessed the wrong cap, he got that amount from us. So a couple people were playing and he was seated right in front of where me and my boyfriend were standing.  He tried to get us to play but we said we gots no money and he yelled "Aint no joke when you're broke!" Ha. So yeah this one kid behind me held out $100 and guessed wrong and the guy took his money. The kid kept insisting the guy switched it when he wasn't looking. Felt bad for the kid. What I did not notice is the two other guys who played were probably actually in on it. This other guy, tall, dark hair, same features as my boyfriend (they looked a lot alike, it was hot... lol!) was talking to us after the guy got off the train and him and my boyfriend noticed that the guys playing (and winning) looked a hell of a lot like the guy dealing. And oddly enough they got off the train together. I felt so good to be with a man who doesn't fall victim to that shit because I totally didn't pick up on the fact that the other guys who played were part of the scheme. Shit!

Another funny, NOT SO FUNNY, story is.... we had seats Row 417 Seat 3 and 4. We sat in 103, and 104 by mistake. Halfway through the game these two people came and told us we were in their seats. No biggie, we just had to move a few seats over. But the worst part is 2 foul balls had been hit RIGHT EXACTLY where are correct seats were like 10 minutes before we got booted to our correct seats. So if we had sat in the right seats to begin with, my boyfriend almost for sure would have caught a foul ball. UGH! Why are we so dumb! haha.

HAPPY JUNE!

7DSD Day 3 | Body Applicator!

Still struggling with workouts this week, but the eating is on track and I think I might be down some weight now that I upped my calories? Hah I swear if this works... I'll be thrilled..but REALLY?! oye.

I tried on all my dresses this week just to gage where I'm at. The black dress in the middle is the one I wore to my cousins wedding when I was losing weight the unhealthy way. I'm glad to see they all fit again.. And the black and white one.. I bought last May for a wedding and it was really tight then, now it zipped right up! So that in itself is an awesome feeling. Cant wait to shrink out of these dresses and buy a whole new batch of cuteness! :) This summer is going to be awesome!



And now for the surprise! The body applicator came in yesterday so I hurried and put it on, squeaked around in my ceran wrap packaging, and slept in it.  Check out my results the first time I did it, here. This time, the sender gave me a ton more information than the last person I bought it from on amazon did. She gave me an ingredient list, explaining what each ingredient is as well. The ingredients are: Horse Chestnut, Green Tea Extract, Eucalyptus extract, Ivy extract, Menthol, Rosemary extract, Guarana Seed Extract, Hydrocotyl, Panthenol (vitamin B%), and Methylsilanol Mannuronate (which "binds moisture in the epidermis, thus firming and strengthening skin. It is also known to act as an anti-oxidant to actively precent the acceleration of premature aging.") So overall I feel that the ingredients are all natural..... Just seems like they combined them into the greatest lotion/bandage! I love it. Hahah I'm so excited for the results. She also gave me information on hosting a body wrap party!! So, that's something I might be interested in.. Although, I can only think of maybe 3 people to invite, unless some of my girlfriends had a friend or two to invite as well. Something to think about!

My before stats were: Abs: 39" and Waist: 33.5" and my weight was 158.8 lbs. (Fri, 3pm)
My 12 hour after stats are: Abs:  38" and Waist:   33" and my weight is 158.0 lbs (Sat, 3am)
My 38 hour after stats are: Abs 38" and Waist 33" and my weight is  158 lbs (Sun, 5 am)
My 50 hour after stats are: Abs __" and Waist __" and my weight is  _____ lbs (Sun, 5pm)
My 70 hour after stats are:  Abs __" and Waist __" and my weight is  _____ lbs (Mon, 3am)

Here is my first set of pictures after sleeping in the wrap. The biggest results are supposed to happen in the hours after removing it :). So I'll check the results again tonight, and again tomorrow for my Sunday check in. After

Six mile Saturday! :)

I woke up at 630, made some coffee, and headed to the forest preserve. I added a 5lb weight to each arm because I want to blast that fat away and I figured it cant hurt, though I've never heard anywhere that adding weights will help burn more fat.. but it sounds like it should, right? Ha. I HOPE SO cause that was exhausting! I managed to jog the majority of the entire first 4 miles, with the exception of a quarter mile walking break between miles 3 and 4. Then for miles 4 I probably jogged half and walked half and I ended up walking most of the 5th mile because I had a leg cramp. :) First time that's ever happened! My glutes were freaking burning at mile 4! When I got home I wanted to snap before/after pictures for tomorrow but my gut was HUGE. I don't know what's going on but its beyond pissing me off at this point. I work hard and eat right, yet my stomach cant keep up? Maybe it's in a sort of shock mode..like adjusting to the extreme cardio? God I hope it catches up soon.

So today me and my boyfriend are headed to a local brewery to watch the Blackhawks and then we are going to see The Great Gatsby :) I burned 891 calories, and I'm sure I'll drink all of that away... I suck. Haha. A friend of mine, fellow blogger, suggested I do another round of the Ultimate Body applicator since my results last time were so impressive and I concurred! I ordered another one today so look forward to that post probably in two weeks!

Have a great weekend everyone! Challenge yourself to feeling sore on Monday! :)

100th post. Birthday Recap. Sexy Saturday :)

Cinco de Sexy!

So this week I kicked butt with workouts and eating right. I peeked at the scale Friday morning and it said 157.4. I think that was a fluke, a glitch..but I'm excited for my official weigh in on wednesday! Also on Friday, I couldn't find my usual pair of jeans so I pulled out my size 11's that I been saving for when I get there. They were TOO BIG! Can you believe that? I couldn't! So I pulled out my $72 pair of jeans that I got from Buckle(size 10) in November 2009 while I was visiting Mall of America. They were always tight and I could only button them underneath my gut. The good news is they fit, the bad news is they're loose! So right now is the only time I'll ever get to enjoy these jeans because soon they'll be too big on me! WOW!

Last night I had 2 glasses of wine. I stuck to 2! I probably would have had more though except, as goes every Friday, me and my boyfriend started fighting. It's getting really old and my birthday is next Friday so I'm losing most of my excitement for that. We planned on making skinny margaritas today with guacamole and maybe tacos but now I don't even know if we will. I'd love to go to my friend Kathy's Cinco de Mayo party but my boyfriend, (as always) doesn't want to drive and I was thinking of going solo but I have to ask him for gas money. Lol.

I'm just trying to stay happy and positive with my body transformation. This is a big change for me and I'd really love to enjoy the journey. I want to enjoy getting to my goal weight. I think I'll stick to my new lifestyle better once I reach my goals if I enjoy the lifestyle changes I take to get to my goal. :)

May Goals

So it's almost May! Wow, April went pretty fast! I think time goes faster when you have daily goals to achieve. Looking back at April, I think I've come a long way - especially compared to March! To Recap:

Final look at April Goals:

• I hardly achieved my bootycalls. 
• I completely stopped eating 2 hours before bed!
• I stuck very close to the TIU nutrition plan w/ the exception of pizza once and a few beers a couple times. Although, all except one time I stayed at a 2 drink maximum. :) But I slipped up on the once a week part, more-so recently.
• I didn't quite complete a 7DSD yet, but I do mostly eat the meals suggested on it.
• I have consistently burned enough to lose a pound a week this month, bringing me down from 168 lbs to 161 lbs!
• I have continued to take a half hour each week to reflect. I did so, here and here and here
• I am very close to being out of the 160's! Possibly by my weigh in on Wednesday I will be and then I will be able to say that yes, I achieved that goal. :)

 I think for May I will carry over some of the goals that I didn't complete or the ones I really enjoyed.

May Goals:

• Drink a maximum of 2 drinks, preferably wine or vodka, once a week at most.
• Reach 153 lbs
• Take a half hour each week for reflection
• Miss no more than 3 Bikini Series workouts that don't get made up
• Practice Yoga every Sunday ---
• post about yoga workouts on Friday and TIU Workouts on Tuesday
• Be able to hold plank position for 2 full minutes by the end of the month
• Take in about 100-111g of protein per day _ 700-750g a week. Less later in the month when I weigh less.
• Complete a 7DSD

Enjoying the Journey

This morning I woke up and decided to just enjoy the morning with the fresh air flow in the apartment. Last night was rough. Me and my boyfriend had a date night that ended in tears and yelling. We're struggling financially and it's put a lot of pressure on both of us. I try to remind him that financial struggle isn't worth stressing over.. It's not worth what it does to your health to stress about it. We made up, thankfully, and this morning I just want to sit back and relax. Too much stress and emotions happening last week. Inspired by K&K's bikini series grand prize announcement I am just going to be thankful today for how far I've come. My goal is to lose 60 lbs total, and I'm already almost 1/3 there. How amazing is that?! :) 

This pink shirt.... when I bought it it didn't fit. It was busting at the seams and I have never been able to wear it. This morning I pulled it out and WHAM! It fits.

I'm editing a book right now, trying to get it ready to start looking for a publisher. It was a project started with a friend, but due to motherly obligations she can no longer work on it. I think it's a great story and I have faith that others would enjoy reading it but there is a lot still to be edited. It's called Displaced. 
It's about two girls in college who decide to rush for a sorority to be closer to one of the girls boyfriends. The events that occur following their decision to rush lead to a much bigger, epic
discovery about who they are and what role they play in a very different tale.

Anyways, I'm off to continue editing. Later today we are going to possibly purchase tickets to see Big Fish on Broadway for my birthday. Then we might take a walk and enjoy this beautiful weather before it drops back into the 40's later in the week.