luxe skinny

I’m not proud of myself for falling off the wagon. I’m glad I didn’t gain weight though! I kind of had a wake up call this weekend when Tyler and I had a long talk about everything about our life.

I seriously forgot if I was 24 or 25 years old and when Tyler reminded me I was 25. It really hit me that I’m only 5 years away from being 30. I still feel like I have a lot that I want to accomplish in life and I feel like my weight is in the way. The year is going fast so far, it’s March already! Time is flying by and my weight isn’t melting off so it’s time to not look back and go forward.

I just happened to read the perfect post that I needed for the extra boost and motivation on Tricia’s blog. I’m going to try that this week with the mindset of “I can quit but do it tomorrow” and just take a day at a time. I do this similar thing with working out. When I’m on the treadmill I’ll tell myself to run for 1 minute without stopping then when the 1 minute mark comes up I tell myself to keep going until the 2 minute mark. It sure works for me!

I recently bought some Slim Fast shakes for the week & some bars to try. It’s been a while since I had Slim Fast shakes! I finally found some in stock with the new sticker since the recall they had a few months ago. If I don’t have time in the mornings to quickly eat something, I can now easily grab a Slim Fast and drink it on my way to work.

Have a great healthy week!!

I was sick last week then had guests in town visiting from California. You can guess what happened…. I DIDN’T GO TO THE GYM!

This ends now. I’m getting back into the gym tonight. Remember when I mentioned about checking out a boxing club on my other blog? Well, that did not go well at all. My dad and I went to check it out and it was a really small studio. The boxing ring was taking up almost the entire place then there were only 3 punching bags in the back corner. We met with the owner and it seems like he is the only instructor there. There were 2 young girls there using the punching bags.

It was insane and not worth my money at all! I found another boxing club further away that has more instructors and classes offered. Since I’m still interested, I might check it out after Pat’s Run in April.

I talked briefly with a friend who is a personal trainer. She mentioned how important it is to do weights and not just focus on cardio. This is my biggest problem since I have been only doing cardio. Now I’m going to do weights 2-3 times a week.

Fit Bit, hury up my love and come to my door so I can use you so you can control my life!

I am so in love with the Yoplait frozen smoothies! I saw the contestants trying it on last week’s episode of The Biggest Loser. It is a bit expensive though (around $2.50 for 2 servings). I might just finish what I have now and go shopping at Costco and stock up on frozen fruits and make them myself. Good thing we have 2 magic bullets & a blender so I can take one with me to work.

I have decided I’m going to do Pat Tillman’s Run in April and it’s 4.2 miles. I asked my Dad to train me starting now for the run. I realized I’m trying to find something else to keep busy with (fitness related) so I don’t lose interest in going to the gym. Not that going to the gym is boring now but I’m afraid I’ll get to that point and feel like I’m not going anywhere or succeeding. I want to do things I’ve never done before but taking it one step at a time starting with training for the run. After that I’ll figure out what I want to do next. After reading some fitness blogs, I really want to become a runner. I have no doubt that my dad will do his best to train me. He’s the kind of man who spends so much time in creating colorful schedules or floor plans and putting 110% effort into everything he puts his heart into.

Now I have 67 days left to train and get ready to accomplish the run!

“I always loved running…it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs.” – Jesse Owens

A good family friend of ours is letting us temporarily borrow her treadmill (Sandy, thank you!). I tested it out this morning and it was really nice to just run while watching TV. I’m excited to think that this spot in the house will be where the pounds are going to burn off! This way I can work out more if I wanted to in the evenings after working out at the gym with my Dad. He refuses to leave me alone at the gym after he’s done with his work out. He will even stand next to the treadmill and cheer me on for an extra 20-30 minutes!

This week I didn’t even go to the gym at all. Horrible, I know! I’d like to blame it on Super Mario Bros! I also was sick on Wednesday night and all day Thursday. I still managed to lose 1.5 pounds this week which brings me to a total of 8.2 pounds that I’ve lost so far. Slow but steady!

I’m tempted to buy Just Dance for Wii. I suck at dancing and this looks like a lot of fun to dance along to with friends and get Tyler bustin’ new moves! Maybe we need to cut back on video games and go hiking instead.

Here’s to another successful month!

Normally I’d give up by now if I wasn’t seeing the pounds coming off. I’m glad I haven’t gained weight though.

This week I’m going to count calories! I know it will be frustrating and painful to count calories but I’m hoping I’ll get used to it. I’m bound to do this sooner or later so I just might as well as start now. For breakfast I have been eating Special K cereal and I admit there has been some days where I skipped breakfast because I was running late (no excuse I know). I have been trying different lean cuisine meals for lunch at work – I have figured out which ones I like and don’t like. I’m looking into alternatives for lunch since I don’t want to be living off lean cuisine meals.

I have not been snacking in between meals. When I do crave for something in between meals I chew on sugarless gum. My favorite is Berry Pearadise by Extra, but I haven’t been able to find them anymore so I get Sweet Watermelon. It really helps curb my cravings.

I just ordered a FitBit. Thanks, Rachel, for mentioning this to me the other day! Can you believe this thing tracks the calories you burn, how many steps you take, and how well you slept? I can’t wait to receive mine and see how it works. This would be a great way to really see how many calories I am burning and eating. I was thinking about getting a Bodybugg before but it’s more expensive on top of having to pay monthly to use the online management system to track calories. FitBit is only $99 one-time fee including access to the online management system.

If any of you already have FitBit, please let me know how you like it so far. I’m hoping it won’t take months to receive mine (expected shipping date is February 19th) like I’ve heard it took other people 3-4 months to receive theirs.

Here’s to another great week of exercising & eating healthy!

The beautiful view from the gym

Today marks my 21st day of my challenge of working out for 21 days. I feel absolutely AMAZING! In 21 days I’ve gained the desire to want to go to the gym, enjoy working out to the Biggest Loser game on Wii, drink water daily, less cravings for junk food, and getting a lot of rest.

I have to admit I’ve never really run on the treadmill before until recently. One of my goals is to learn to love running and I’m excited because I actually enjoy it now. Yesterday I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and another 30 minutes on the treadmill.

Even a woman told my Dad at the gym, “I remember seeing her yesterday and her face was all red!!” when she saw me again. All that sweating and my face turning like a tomato is an awesome feeling and definitely worth it! Although tonight I was literally soaked like I had just gotten out of the pool. I have been feeling the results from the treadmill more than the elliptical bike.

However, my weight has stayed the same this week. This frustrates me but I keep telling myself not to worry about it… as long as I’m doing the work it will eventually come off. I know I have been making better decisions about eating. Tyler and I went to Red Robin on Friday night and I ended up getting salad. Believe me it was so hard watching Tyler eat his delicious burger but heck, my salad was delicious too anyways. I knew my readers & fans would be proud of me for choosing salad over a burger!

Now that the challenge is over – I’m still going to work out everyday and if not then at least 6 days a week.

This took me a lot of guts to post this picture on here. I hate full body pictures of myself. You can also see that I love wearing black and am secretly on my own black team for The Biggest Loser.

Last week I noticed my weight scale wasn’t really working since I weighed myself with Wii Fit and it said I weighed less. I didn’t know shopping for a new weight scale could be so exciting! We now have a new fancy weight scale that shows you your body fat percentage and tells you how much you have to lose based on the information we entered at the beginning with our weight goal. So I lost 4.2 pounds and I am hoping I can still pull some pounds off this week. I am obsessed with weighing myself everyday and I need to stop doing that! However I like knowing if that day was bad for me so I can acknowledge what it was and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Tonight I felt amazing when I went to the gym with my Dad. We were working out on the elliptical bike only when a few minutes later, a young gal, got on to the bike next to me and was going at a crazy speed! I wanted to thank her at the end because she seriously brought some game in me. I was bobbing up and down and I’d like to think that helps with my weight loss… perhaps maybe make my boobs smaller!

My new goal is to stay longer at the gym and do more work outs since I need to spice it up before I get bored.

My new favorite dessert is fat-free sherbet!

I did Weight Watchers a few years ago and I love how it works with being able to eat just about anything you want but with moderation of course and stay within daily points you are given based on how much you weigh.

Yesterday I found a fabulous recipe on Weight Watchers – Easy Fried Rice and it’s only 3 points! Tyler added some chicken and it was delicious! Tyler was raving on and on how delicious it tasted and that it didn’t take us long to make dinner. We definitely have enough leftovers for the next few days.

I’ve been thinking about signing up for Weight Watchers online again but I haven’t decided yet if I want to really spend money on that especially when I know how it works.

There are so many different diets out there. It can be overwhelming at how many options there are and not knowing which one is best for me and my body. A guy was featured on CNN for losing weight and he has a blog over at 344 pounds. He lost 120 pounds in 10 months. That’s amazing, right? Get this… he still ate everything he loved but just stayed within calories. I’d love to still eat the food I love but I know I need to learn to love some other foods I haven’t tried or currently don’t like.

One mistake I learned from this week is that I didn’t get enough fiber in and you can guess the result of that – constipation. As of today, I can say I’m no longer constipated! Does this call for a celebration!?

I accomplished drinking 1 gallon of water yesterday!! Gosh, I don’t think I have ever had to go to the bathroom that many times in one day. I’m just glad that my desk isn’t that far from the bathroom at work.

The pounds I will be melting off deserves its own blog. That’s right… I’ll be posting here about my journey as I know it will not be easy. As many of you know, you can also find me on my other blog – luxe chandelier.

I took a “before” picture of myself last week and will post it up later. You can all probably see by now that I haven’t mentioned my weight. I know it’s just a number but still I don’t feel ready to share the number on here yet. That is my next goal though is to overcome that fear and post it for the world to see.

I have been on the 21 day challenge where I promised to work out for 21 days to make a new habit. I have 11 more days to go! A few days ago I started feeling the changes in my mood and energy. I also have been sleeping so much better now. It’s amazing how great I feel and it actually motivates me to keep going because I love how I’m feeling.

My dad is my “personal trainer” and has been going to the gym with me. He’s always waiting for me when I pull up into the parking lot. It has become a routine where I throw my wallet & keys in his gym bag after giving him a hug. We then hop onto the elliptical bike and start exercising! His excitement and amazing comments really does help me feel good about myself.

Here’s to the beginning of this blog… and a long successful journey!