This is It

I'm back!!!!

Good lord it's been a long time. I get so caught up reading other people's blogs that I have forgotten about my own! Oh and that darn wedding planning and house buying stuff. That takes a lot of a person's time, I tell ya.

But I have some fun news to share. I'm getting my ass back in gear with losing weight. I've been struggling lately because of the all the stress the home buying process has been causing me, and just life in general. I can't seem to kick my habits of junk food and sitting on the couch.

Luckily, my future SIL, Trista, was kind enough to invite me to join the Border Battle Challenge put on by Victory 4 You in Hudson, WI. It's a virtual challenge made possible by Facebook and TeamBeachBody.com. You essentially have to log all of your workouts on a calendar on the Team Beach Body website, 5 days of the week. Your calendar at the end of the month gets turned into your "coach" and then turns all of your workouts into points. There are 2 teams: The Vikings, and the Packers. Get the Border Battle title now? I have selected to be on the Vikings team, of course, and hopefully we'll do well! There are other sideline ways to earn points, such as posting a challenge picture on Facebook, achieving your goal, and many other ways that will be shared with me along the way. The challenge starts today, September 3rd and goes until November 24th (Vikings vs. Packers game).

I hope this challenge works for me to get going. It's going to keep me accountable because all of these people rely on each other's workouts to earn the points and win the challenge! I really REALLY need to lose this weight for the wedding. I told myself that I'm not trying on wedding dresses until I lose weight, hopefully around 20 pounds. And that's the fun part of the wedding planning! I can't wait to see myself in a beautiful gown.

I have my before pictures finally done. They're not pretty, let me tell you. Ready to rip your eyeballs out? Don't be too scared...here you go:

Before Measurements:

Weight: 244 ( A little heavier than normal; I think it's because of the huge NJ's breakfast and shrimp alfredo that night!)
Waist: 43
Hips: 45.5
Chest: 47.8
Right Arm: 15
Left Arm: 14.8
Right Thigh: 25.8
Left Thigh: 26

Ugh....seeing me like this makes me want to vomit. How I've let myself go the past 5 years. My biggest troubles, if you're too blind to see them, are definitely my inner tube tummy, my back boobs, and a little in my flappers. I've always had broader shoulders, even when I was thinner, so I'm not concerned with that.

Well here goes nothing! Now I have my future SIL and a coworker to keep my accountable and on schedule. I sure hope this helps! Wish me luck!

3 Odd Things

So last night at the gym, I noticed a few random things that normally don't happen. I just happen to find them strange.

1. I heard a pop can open. Low and behold, 5 treadmills away from me, a gal is running and opened up a Diet Mountain Dew. WTH? I've never associated runners with drinking pop, especially during a workout. Whatever.

2. When I was finished working out, I headed down to the locker room and in walks an older lady with her, assuming, grand daughter with beach towels wrapped around their bodies as if they just got out of the pool. No bigs, until the grandma went into the sauna really quick, walked right back out with 2 plates wrapped in Saran wrap with personal sized pizzas on them. She was using the sauna to keep the flippin' pizzas warm!! Whoa!

3. Then, the hard one. The third odd thing I found out last night at the gym. I gained .8 pounds.

REALLY???? I'VE BEEN TRACKING MY FOOD AND NOT EATING SHIT. I'VE BEEN EATING HEALTHY. I'VE BEEN WORKING OUT. MAYBE NOT AS HARD AS I COULD BE, BUT DAMN IT THE SCALE SHOULD HAVE MOVED WITH JUST THE DECREASE IN CALORIES I'M TAKING IN!!! I'M A FOOD ADDICT. I LOVE IT ALL, AND LOTS OF IT. SO THIS PAST WEEK HAS BEEN HARD TO NOT EAT THE SHIT AND CALL IT A DAY.

I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm sure hoping that I was retaining water or something because if there isn't movement in the right direction next week, I don't know what I'm going to do...

p.s. I did get my measurements finally last night because I was so upset. I didn't think I was going to track them, but maybe, JUST maybe, I'm gaining muscle instead. Or my weight is shifting. I wish I would have gotten measurements in the beginning so I knew for sure. I just need to figure this crap out.

Weight Loss Wednesday

I know I know. I'm a couple days late on this post. I just got so caught up in my crazy ass schedule, I didn't really get a chance to write about it!

Wednesday I actually wasn't able to make it to the gym because I had a band concert at Como Park Pavilion. Boy was it hot! Thank goodness it was in the shade. Playing the saxophone in nearly 100 degree heat is not my idea of fun.

So I actually weighed myself at the gym yesterday to find that I'm down 2 LBS! Yes, it's not a lot, but I did have a lot of slacking due to weddings, hang out days with my sister, and booze. Ugh. Liquid calories are such a bitch... So I call that a victory.

If you're following me, I'm keeping track of my weight loss on a separate page called Weight Loss Wednesday. I'll be updating, hopefully, every week. My goal is to lose 50 pounds before January 1st! Kind of a lot, but I think I can do it. I have a lot of support with me now that I'm blogging!

I also had an NSV yesterday too! I was able to run my FIRST EVER mile with barely any walking. This might sound absurd to a lot of you, but I've never been able to run a full mile without stopping to either walk, take a break, or what have you. Never been good at running. Well, I pushed myself yesterday on the dreadmill and got this:

I was so happy! Knowing that probably the next time I run I should be able to do it makes me even more motivated to keep running. Hopefully a 5k will be in the nearer future than I thought!

WLW #1: Let's Get this Thing Started!

So I made it to the gym last night after work. That was tough. The weather here has been so gloomy, wet, and rainy, that I had no motivation to get going and exercise. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and watch TV all night. Not so for me!

I ran on the elliptical for 45 minutes, which seemed forever the last 20 minutes or so. I wanted to do some strength conditioning, but I was exhausted. Hopefully tonight I can squeeze that in before yoga and STRETCH. I saw a woman running on the elliptical last night who had her feet hanging over the edge of the front of the pedal. Is there a benefit to that? Or is she just being her special own self?

I've noticed I'm very inflexible lately. Not sure if it's because I'm often dehydrated, just not stretching enough, or what. I'm hoping that I can get as nimble as I used to be and be able to do the splits again!

Now for Weight Loss Wednesday, I'm officially just starting...AGAIN. Hopefully I can stick with it again. My starting weight for this adventure is going to be (according to the gym's scale last night):

237

I've been fluctuating between 233 and 237 for quite some time now because I've been doing everything half assed. Eat really good all day, then wolf down a ton of sweets when I get home. Not workout for a week at a time. It just screws up all the hard work you had already put in. Why do I do it? I have no idea. Fear of commitment? Fear of never being able to eat those nummy treats again? Who the hell knows. I think once I actually hit a 10lb milestone, things should click. SHOULD.

B has been getting tiny. He just mentioned that he can now fit into a few of his large tshirts, which I figured was coming because his XL are getting big and frumpy. His pants are just terrible. He has no ass! So come fall, I'll have to buy him some cute ones to flatter his tiny butt :)

Feeling hungry today...ugh that makes a day tough to stay motivated to eat healthy. But I do have a yummy lunch today which I'll post here:

Easy Asian Salad

2 C. Romaine lettuce with carrots and red cabbage

1/8 C. mandarin oranges

1/2 Tbsp. sliced natural almonds

2 Tbsp. Marzetti poppy seed dressing

This salad is SOOOOOO good. Sweet and tangy and only 290 calories for all of it! Of course, there is no meat, but if you choose you could add chicken breast for some protein and make it even tastier! I can't take credit for it, but I'll give credit to my boss' wife :) Thanks!