Weight Watchers - Week 12... And farewell to Jillian (for now).

My weight today is exactly the same as my weight last Wednesday. However, over the weekend I went up FOUR POUNDS for some reason. Not sure if it was the few drinks I had or the mexican food or what, but I was all "blowed up like a blowfish". With the calorie cutting and excercise I have been doing, I am back down to where I was. So we can either look at this week as no change or a four pound loss. I say, it's no change.

It has become apparent that my knee issues need to be addressed by a doctor. I am going on Friday and anxious to hear what we'll do for it this time around, since I am not too thrilled with how it was addressed last time. Until I get the go ahead to continue exercise, I am putting Jillian on hold. However, it feels really weird to not be active in some way, so I will continue to do ab and arm stuff, but that's about all I can do.

The whole thing is really a bummer... I miss Jillian. But I desire a healthy leg right now more than I desire being 'shredded'. And the lower-calorie stuff is going pretty well, too. I am taking vitamins and choosing my foods wisely - whole grains and protein w/ fruit in the mornings to stay full, veggies and a protein drink at lunch and veggies with fish or chicken for dinner. I'm not feeling hungry or snacky or anything, my food intake is super healthy and the calorie content is lower than what it has been. I am sure I will see a different number on my scale one of these days!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Thoughts on Jillian Michaels 30-day shred - Day 16, LEVEL 2.

I still don't look like this:

I missed one day of doing the shred last week... I forget what day it was, but my knee was just hurting too badly to be dealing with all the squatting and bending. However, I did do other things that weren't quite as aggravating to me. I started off with jumping jacks. I thought I'd do about 25, but I just kept going and next thing I knew I had done 70 of them. Then I did ab work... lots and lots of ab work. By the time I was totally done for the night, I am sure I had done well over 200 ab excercises. Bicycle crunches! Oh, how I used to hate them, but now I just love, love, love them!


Friday, I PLANNED to shred after getting home from my sister-in-laws bday dinner, but the white wine sangria and margarita I had consumed told me "NO". To make up for it, I decided to do back to back shredding on Saturday. I started with level one, and I didn't even break a sweat until the third circuit. I knew that it was time to move on to level two, so I did that next. It kicked my butt in a really good way. I swear I felt high from the endorphins... life had never been more glorious. I was all sweaty and stinky and disheveled and blathering on about it to Josh. Ab moves with weights! Plank stuff! Crawl-out pushups! Give it to me, Jillian!



And then there was yesterday.... I put on my gear, started level two and could not finish it. I felt like a deflated balloon... I just didn't have the energy to get through it. What happened to me? Where did endorphin girl go? However, today is another day and I am armed with:



I am also shaking up my diet this week. A little over a year ago, Josh and I attempted healthier eating for a while, and he just started dropping pounds like crazy. He actually got way too skinny. For dinner every night we had either fish or chicken and vegetables. Last night we recreated one of those meals and figured up the total calories - 115. That's it. No wonder he was wasting away! He's been working out like mad but still has some stuff going on in his love handle areas that he wants to be rid of, and I just want the scale to frigging MOVE. So we're doing a drastic calorie cut this week and seeing what happens... I'm taking vitamins and eating plenty of good food - just lower calories. We'll see what happens.

I am pretty sure my knee/leg issues are IT band related. I have been trying everything I can think of - ice, friction massage, ibuprofen, stretches... what am I missing? I can't deal with it anymore, it is seriously getting in the way of being active and it's driving me nuts. PT only aggravated it further, and steroid shots only helped for a little while. It went away on it's own for a bit, but now it's back with a vengeance. If anyone has been through this and has any advice, I'd love to hear it. I just started with the glucosamine and chondroitin, I know I won't see instant results but I am hoping it will do something.

Happy Monday!!!!

Weight Watchers - Week 11

No change. No gain, no loss.

If it wasn't for the fact that I am taking measurements that assure me my body is changing and shrinking, I'd probably feel discouraged. But I take comfort in the fact that some of the fat is burning off while my muscles are building. I'm seeing really incredible changes in my body. I mean my thighs and legs are truly becoming a sight to behold. And ab definition is starting. Can you believe it??

Josh has encouraged me from the beginning to take 'before' pictures, and I've tried. But every time we have done that, I erase them. It's just not something I want to look at... believe me, clothes hide a multitude of sins. I don't look too bad in clothes. Without is another story. I'm still a long way from being able to rock a swimsuit or anything clingy. But I'm getting there.

I have done some sort of excercise every day since January 28th, with the exception of 3 or 4 days. That's a huge change from where I was in my life before. I have went entire months in the last year without doing anything at all. I can't imagine going back to that. It truly is a lifestyle change.

I'm still keeping up with Jillian every day even though my knee is really starting to bother me again. I think I am going to have to start icing it every night. Today is day 11... I am almost halfway there, and then I will be starting with a personal trainer. I am so ready to get the rest of this weight off and really feel good about the way I look again. We only get one life and one body... My life is great and I love it with all my heart. I want to feel the same way abut myself - inside and out! At least I am working on it, right? And I haven't given up yet. I think that's a very good sign that I am in this for the long haul. So many times I have started to diet or exercise, and then give up when things don't happen quickly enough. But I think this time it's sticking... I was finally at the point where I had enough of it. I don't ever want to go back to where I was.

The WEEKEND!

We had a beautiful start to spring here in Nashville. The weather was just perfect. I was going to attempt to do a photo-an-hour post chronicling our Saturday, but some of the pictures didn't save to my phone, so I'm just going to give you what I've got.

Saturday morning we hit the gym first thing...  For some reason I was just feeling very fatigued and out of breath... I couldn't do even half of what I normally do. While waiting for Josh to finish up, I took my blood pressure and it was 105/55. That's pretty low for me these days, but I think that explains why I was feeling so weak. I know low BP and low blood sugar are not the same thing, but we stopped at Chik-Fil-A after the gym (at my insistence... I only ate the chicken part of my chicken minis and had a yogurt) and a few swigs of orange juice made me feel almost normal again.

Went home, got cleaned up and then I stopped at Target to get some new all-purpose flats, and then went to Whole Foods to get food for our (wine, cheese and chocolate) picnic!


(my basket before checkout)

I mixed honey and red pepper flakes to put on some of the cheese... doesn't it look lovely? Tasted good, too!


We hopped in the car and headed to Arrington Vineyards, about 40 minutes or so away.


My hubbin is so handsome.


We found the perfect place to spread our quilt, and he went to get the wine while I got the food all sorted out.

(one of the jars is the honey, the other is homemade fig jam - also good on cheese!)


Mmmm, cheese!


Mmmm, dessert (the Creole bar was my favorite!)


Best combination ever.


A toast.














(Josh now has 4 pairs of TOMS shoes. He's an addict. These burlap ones are my fave, though)



Sunday was the usual.... Cleaned the house (and finally threw these shoes away. I think they've been through enough, don't you? Happily, I found another pair just like them on ebay, they should be arriving soon!)...



Also made our meal plan for the week and went grocery shopping. After that, I made a stop at Rita's because they were giving away free Italian ices for the first day of spring. I got the raspberry lemonade one, it's my favorite and they hardly ever have it!



I buy bananas every week. Lately, instead of throwing the leftover ones from the previous week away, I've started freezing them to make banana soft serve (just puree it in the blender). Here's what I had last night after my daily butt-kick from Jillian:



I pureed one banana, topped it with 1 Tbsp melted peanut butter and about 5-6 cocoa-roasted almonds. DELICIOUS!  I think protein and potassium are supposed to be good things to have after working out. It tastes just like ice cream (better than, actually) and it was so refreshing and good for me, too. I think I've found my go-to summer treat. Yum!

Here's the boys being weird when we put them to bed last night.


And a gratuitous picture of Jorge, just because:


Hope your weekend was just as fabulous. Happy Spring!

Shred results - 8 days in

So, as you know, I am doing the Jillian Michaels 30-day shred. Yesterday was day 8, and I decided to take some measurements and see if there were any changes. I wasn't expecting anything too drastic, since my weight has stayed exactly the same. Obviously, something is happening, though, because I lost 5.25" inches in 6 days (I first measured myself on day 2, before doing the workout, so I was only one workout in)!

Here are the stats:

 Day 2                                Day 8

Bust 34.5"                          34"
Hips 34.5"                           34.25"
Waist 28.75"                       26.75"
Belly 34"                             32.5"
Thighs 20"                           19"
Calf 11.75"                        12.5"
Arms (normal) 10"               9.5"
Arms (flexed) 10"                9.75"

Total inches lost so far: 5.25"... 3.5" of those were in my waist and belly! Um, and let's just say I hope my calves stop their monster growth.

I don't look like this yet...

But I will someday, right? Ok probably not, but I know I will look like the best version of myself that I can be if I just keep at it.

April 11 is my last day of the shred. I think I'll be starting with the personal trainer at our gym on Wednesday, April 13. Wish me luck, I am going to need it!

Side by side comparison...

As a continuation of my last post, here are some side by side comparisons of the "before" pictures and what I look like now.






My mind = blown.

See for yourself what a difference 10 pounds makes. Plus, thoughts on Day 5 of 30 day shred.

I was looking through some pictures last night, and WOW. I can definitely see the change in myself now. Can you?

This was me in October or November of 2010.

In this first picture I am even wearing spanx... I had to wear them every day just to be able to get my pants on. It still wasn't doing me a whole lot of favors:

I remember how I felt that day, how uncomfortable I was in my own skin ALL THE TIME then. This is not the body I wanted to live in.

These were taken around the same time. I thought the slightly flowy top was masking my problem - I was wrong:

I had no waist whatsoever. And be sure to note how round my face was, too. Do you see a difference from those pictures to these?

And Glory Hallelujah my face is slimming down, too. This picture was taken just last night.

I am so proud of myself. I still have some work to do, but being able to look at these pictures all together and SEEING the changes is motivating me even more. Hopefully you can see them, too, and I'm not just being delusional.

In other news, yesterday was day 5 for me of the 30 day shred. There are some parts that still put a hurtin' on me, but overall I can feel myself getting stronger and having more endurance. At some points I yell at Jillian to stop talking so we can just get on to the next move. I'm not doing this just to hear you talk at me, Jillian, I want to move! At other points, like when I have to do these side lunge barbell raises and I'm on the 25th one or so, I have to tell her through gasping breaths that she is an evil, evil scorpion woman. But overall, I am loving it so far... in 5 days my waist has went from 28.75" to 27.5". That's no one time measuring fluke either. I measured it on Day 4 and also again this morning (which will be day six) and both times it showed me an inch and a quarter lost!

Double workouts this weekend - hitting the gym and also doing the shred at home.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday, my sweet Julio Kilroy!

He is 4 years old today. We got him for $50 at a flea market in Alabama, where he was covered with fleas, emaciated, and lived in a cage 24/7 with a woman who had around 50 dogs, if I recall correctly. I hate to think what his life would be like now if he hadn't looked into my eyes and stole my heart. He has so much love to give, and he is one happy & healthy little fella - I am so glad he is mine.

Photos 3.12.11 - 3.15.11

Just some random photos I wanted to share.


Study Buddies.





My eldest.


First trip to Rita's of the year. Mmmm, mango ice!


Handsome devils.


2 of my 3 crazy boys.


Sweet message from the Bip via the Cartolina app.

Life is good.

Weight Watchers - Week 10 weigh-in

Down a pound! No small feat, since it's that time of the month... very happy with the loss! I keep knocking on 119's door, but it just won't let me in (although I weighed 119.4 last Saturday... I always weigh less on weekends for some reason). Next week's weigh in will be the true test, I will have been doing the 30 Day Shred for over a week by that point. We'll see if it makes any difference.

Speaking of the Shred, last night was day 3 of it, and I am already finding some of the parts getting easy. Don't get me wrong, I still break a good sweat and I am about dead by the last set of abs, but it's amazing how much my endurance has increased in just 3 sessions! Pushups are still a struggle, but last night I did better than ever on them. Josh was watching (grrrr) and he said "Look at my girl go!" I think maybe I impressed him and myself with those last night. I think this weekend I will be moving up to level 2.

If I don't see some good improvements at the end of my 30 days with Jillian, a personal trainer may be next for me. It's not something I would have ever considered, but when Josh was at the gym yesterday he talked to one of the trainers about me. She asked my weight/height and then she was like "Oh, I can have her down to 103 or 104 in a month." Yikes. I don't know if that's just big trainer talk or what, but my BMI would be around 17 at that weight, which is underweight, not to mention I'd be losing 17 lbs in one month. I think that's just a tad unhealthy and unrealistic, don't you? Or am I crazy? Wait, don't answer that. I know I'm crazy, but I think I am also right in this instance. I weighed about that amount for most of my adult life (without really having to try), but I really do think I was too skinny. Josh was quick to tell her that my goal weight is not nearly that low, but he told me he thinks it's worth the investment to do it for a month just to learn more and get more results. We'll see. I'd rather Jillian whip me into shape at home and use that personal trainer money for a new wardrobe! ;)

Oh, there's a new (FREE!) app I love that I'd like to share with you. It's called "Fooducate." You scan the barcode of any food and it gives you a grade from A-F (or maybe D-?) based on how good it is for you, and also includes loads of other info. I have had a blast scanning just about everything I can, and luckily, most everything I eat falls into the A or B category. However, I've recently fallen in love with a C- item.



Fooducate was kind enough to proivde me with a list of alternatives.


I'm sorry, Special K... I just can't quit you yet, even though your artificial sweeteners scare me to death.

If I don't post tomorrow, have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(Hat and shirt sent to us by Josh's mom. How fun to get in the mail! For Valentine's day she sent us wine and chocolate... What a fun package to receive, let me tell ya.)

Body By Jillian AKA The Perfect Storm for a PMS Meltdown

I bought this video months ago, but didn't get around to trying it until Friday. Why did it take me so long? Well, you need a yoga mat (unless you have carpeted floors) and hand weights. I have some 3 lb hand weights "somewhere" in the garage, but I'm not about to dig for them (they were in storage for 5 years, so I have no idea what box they'd be in). Friday, I went to Target and bought some 5 lb weights. MISTAKE #1!

My reasoning at the time was that I didn't want to buy another set of 3 pounders. Besides, I'm pretty fit now, right? I can do a 20 minute video with 5 lb weights, right?

HAHAHAHA.

So I got home from work on Friday and I was all excited to DO THIS. I put on my workout gear, even had Josh take a picture of me getting ready to kick some Jillian tail.



Yeah, that's my tough girl face. That's me thinking I am going to breeze through this without breaking a sweat. That was MISTAKE #2.

Not many people know this, but Jillian is all-seeing and all-knowing. When you mock, even in a joking manner, a karmic smackdown will ensue. Trust me on this. Never mock Jillian or think for one minute you can beat her at her own game. You will lose.

I asked Josh repeatedly to let me do this in private.You see, my ex-husband once told me I look funny when I run. That has stuck with me and I don't like to be looked at when I do any type of exercise now. Unless I'm on the gazelle, because face it, everyone looks stupid on that thing. Josh insisted on watching. That was MISTAKE #3. Because, you see, my husband is incapable of watching idly. No, he decided to play devil's advocate, which is to say he's Team Jillian. My own husband. Traitor.  So while I'm struggling to keep up, and realizing that those 5 pound weights were my WORST PURCHASE OF ALL TIME, I've got my beloved behind me telling me to keep up, go faster, stick my chest out, keep my back straight, etc.

I dropped those five pound weights (I was only halfway through the video), took off my shoes, glared at him and said "YOU do it."

Never one to back down from a challenge, he tried. God bless him, he tried, but Jillian defeated him as well. Now, Josh is in really good shape. He's no stranger to weights or working out in any form, but even he said the 5 lb handwieghts were a bit much for this.

I crumpled on the couch and cried (remember, PMS). DEFEAT.

But yesterday I decided to try again. I purchased some lighter weights, and yesterday afternoon I took on Jillian in private (Josh was in the office and obeyed my orders to not watch this time). And you know what? I made it all the way through! It felt great, and I absolutely loved it and enjoyed it. I am going to actually take the 30 day thing to heart and do it every day and see how my body changes. April 11th will mark the 30th day! I'm really looking forward to sticking to this... It takes me the same amount of time (or less) than I devote to working out on the gazelle, but it does so much more for my body. I already can't wait to go home tonight and do it again!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this workout if you've done it.

Daily Photo 3.11.10

Great advice.

Daily Photo 3.10.11