Love/Hate

These last 2 weeks I have been in a rut. I've been doing my workouts really hard adding in running when I have the energy but when it comes to snacking and sweats my goodness I'm outta control! I realize it's "that time of the month" but I'm making a lot of excuses as to why one more mini milky way won't hurt...and while it doesn't hurt one bit it actually tastes quite delicious going down BUT it's not helping me in my journey to doing the best I can. A treat every now and again (I emphasize A meaning 1) is ok but I'm struggling on those sweat treats.

Being a teacher there are treats everywhere all the time! The first couple of weeks I was SOOO good and I resisted the temptations but now I see myself being a little too lax with the goodies. I gotta get back on track and really focus on my end goal... getting in better shape!

Ok...ok... enough of that. I am feeling stronger and toner which is my ultimate goal! I still want more though so it's time for me to get focused again and kick it in high gear! I'm feeling good and more confident but I still want more and as much as I wish it would happen over night I have to keep telling myself that this is a marathon not a sprint. I just wish that you could workout and see instant results that would be incredible; however, very unrealistic! :)

We're going to the boat this weekend (yes again... it's my "vacation home") and my goal is to really stay focused on my eating after the cocktails go down. This is my downfall recently... drinking and snacking. So I'm really going to try hard not to snack after dinner, which really is only a problem when I drink. I'm also going to try and limit my appetizers. I love Mike's mom to death but she's a cute little Italian that loves forcing food on people even when they say no! For most people this would be heaven (and it used to be for me) BUT since I'm trying to trim down it's not helping. So, my game plan is to sit farther away from the snacks:) AHAHAH! No but really I'm just going to stay focused and only have a little (I"m going to remember my potions for snacks... 3 oz. and them I'm going to move on.) I feel like I think I'll never see the snacks again. Like it's my only chance to have those snacks EVER. Ridiculous I know! Not to mention my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I always end up eating more than I want. I really got get myself in control. I have such a love /hate relationship with food. Arrgggg!

Since I'll be away this weekend I probably won't be posting again until Sunday unless I have an awesome day and I want to brag about it! :)

Have a great Friday and a fabulous sunny weekend!!

one more than you think you can...

Today brought me back to my childhood. Long story short (because I'm tired)... we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches today at school to introduce "How To" stories.

I completely forgot how DELICIOUS PBJ's were! I nibbled on a PBJ at snack time today and couldn't resist a whole one for dinner at 5:00pm (I couldn't wait!!) There's something about yummy peanut butter and sweet jelly that makes me giddy. I didn't really have them a ton when I was a kid (at least nothing out of the ordinary) but today for some reason I felt like a kid eating it! (It may be because I was eating them with 20 6 year olds:)

Anyways, after I indulged myself in the small delicious sandwich I popped Tony in and busted out a good sculpt 3-4 workout. The chair lifted push-ups were tough today but I stuck with it as long as I could and pushed out 8. Matt told me before I worked out that since he was feeling so determined and revved up from his workout that I should be too. So, his words of wisdom for the day were, "I'm feeling pumped up today, you should push it to the limit til it burns!! Until you can't go any harder... one more than you think you can do!" So I pushed hard through Tony and knew that I could push harder and add a run in today. After hangin with Tony I went and ran 3 miles. Normally 3 miles would be no big deal, a warm-up at best. But I'll tell ya what I am out of running shape! Shheeeesh! I've been so focused on Tony and not doing much of anything extra in this first month that throwing running back in the mix was tougher than I thought. I'm hoping by adding it in more to my workouts will help me get back up there with the best of them and back where I used to be... not so tired after 3 miles!!

After my run I walked to the grocery store (my favorite!) and proceeded to pick up things not on my grocery list. I'm really good at that! As I was tempted to get some more ice cream I quickly turned my cart around and avoided the temptation. Let's face it, I've had enough ice cream for a month. A quick walk home with my recyclable bags and I was home and making my lunch for tomorrow. It was a busy day and I'll be glad to lay my head down.:)

So before I call it quits for the night I wanted to talk about my GREAT NEWS! I have the hardest time finding cute bathing suits to fit my rather larger top. (it really is a problem) They are either ugly, ugly, or made for old women and ugly. So I've hunted and hunted and finally found a suit that I thought was cute and affordable. So I took the plunge and ordered online last week and it came today! I'll admit that I was slightly scared to open the box and try it on because I was expecting the worst: it not fitting or it being ugly in person. Much to my surprise it's really cute and it fits! IT FITS!!!:) The top fits perfect and the bottom does too and that NEVER happens! HiP hIp HoOrAy!! It's boating/sailing inspired which is funny since Mike just got a boat... I thought it was appropriate and more importantly in my size and cute! :)

What a day:) Off to bed... Goal for tomorrow is to actually wake up at 5:00AM and workout and not hit the snooze. I'm hoping if I can do a workout with Tony in the morning I can do my run after work and have more time to relax:) We'll see how it goes!

Day 34

Today marks the 34th day of my journey and I'm feeling ehhh. I had a long but FUN weekendand getting back into the swing of things after 3 days of not working out is harder then I thought it would be. For over a month now I've been gone on the weekends. Not only is that draining (but FUN) but it throws my routine off (and leaves me pooped come Sunday). I've been good with getting runs in on the weekends but I struggle to refrain from all the weekend treats. GUILTY as charged! Summer is right around the corner which means a lot of barbeque's, parties, and trips which = many opportunities for me to derail.

I'm trying to keep positive and realistic. After this weekend I felt gross. However, waking up this morning to a fresh week helped quite a bit. I work really hard during the week to stay on track with my eating (which I'm getting really com

fortable with) and working out hard! It's still the weekends that I'd like to reign in a bit. :)

My workouts, while still exhausting, are becoming more tolerable for me. I'm holding strong to the weights and resistance bands on the sculpt video and I'm keeping up right along with Tony and his high speed cardio workouts. As for the Ab Ripper 200... it's a tough one but I'm able to make it the whole way without stopping (whereas when I started I had to pause a few times because it hurt so good) With that said, I'm hoping that by day 50 I'll be able to bump up to Level 5-6 and really get things going. I'll keep you posted.

Good news.... I got my photos back that I took in

March for my 25th birthday. They will NOT be posted on here for many reasons but I will tell you that I was very pleased! Of course I was knit picking some of the pictures and wishing I was toner or sucked in more but overall I was so happy and proud that I did them. I feel that from those pictures until now I definitely feel and see a difference. I feel like my stomach is tighter and my legs and bum are getting toner. I still have a ways to go and I'm sure I'll always feel like I need to do more but the point is that I'm progressing and seeing change. I've had friends give me compliments which have made my day! There are many days I work really hard and I feel like no one can notice. So when a compliment come

s my way (as much as they make me slightly uncomfortable) I'm starting to really appreciate them.

Ok... so here's the fun part. I've recently bought a bike (HOORRAAAY!) and I've recently gone on the shopping spree of a life time (thank you tax returns). I'm an Anntaylor LOFT aholic and just recently upgraded my LOFT card to a LOFT Master Card. (I get double the points, how could I turn that down?!) I've bought a lot of really cute things that I'm excited to wear once the weather decides to stay warm more then 2 days. I also just bought my first size 4 dress!!! Most of my dresses are 6's and I think I just got lucky with the fit of the dress but it didn't matter to me:) People keep commenting on my bust. Now if you know me, you know that I'm busty. Unfortunately my bust is not shrinking (I WISH!) so I don't know what they look smaller but I'll take it! :)

Back to my bike. It's YELLOW... yes YELLOW (w

ell more like a creamy yellow)! If you can't tell by my blog I love yellow. It's a Fuji Absolute 3.0 Flat bar Road Bike. It's not a hybrid but it's not a full road bike either... it's in between there somewhere. I'm excited to add some biking into my workouts along with running. Not only will it be so much fun but it will help me get ready for the 1/2 Tri I'll be doing in August. I haven't ridden a bike since last May (and that was disastrous). Mike and I did the Muddy Buddy together and let's just say I walked with the bike more then I rode the bike. So, I've enlisted Mike as my teacher on "How to ride a bike at the age of 25". Pictures and details to come... I've got 4 months to learn how to ride a bike, stay on, and go 11 miles... I can do it!!

I can't find a bigger picture of her but she's amazing!

If you fall of the horse, get back on...

This is going to be short and to the point.

I went to Foxfield this weekend and had a fabulous time! HOWEVER, I did fall of the horse in the sense of "good eating". What can ya do?

Jumping back on the horse tomorrow morning with a Tony workout! wahoo!

the end.

Day 30!!!

Today is day 30 which means I get to take photos! (wa waaa!) I left my camera at work because I took it on our field trip last week so I'm off the hook... well just until tomorrow:) I'll let you know how it goes (because I won't be posting those! :)

This week has been a sweet week and by sweet I mean I have been craving them! My sweet tooth has just recently come out in the last 2 years (I never ate them before!) and this past week I've been really craving them! I indulged here and there (maybe a little more than I should). But my meals have been spot on and I've been really pushing hard on my workouts. I checked my weight and that's still the same so I figure it's ok!:) (I also realized that it's the week before my lovely monthly visit from 'mother nature' so this is also another reason for this sudden sweet tooth!) My weakness has been my dessert choice of Low Fat 120 per serving (if I can stick to the serving... eeek!) Moose Tracks. It's vanilla ice cream with mini peanut butter cups and chocolate swirled into it... it's so good and soooo hard to put down. I won't be purchasing it for awhile. In fact, I might get the pre-portioned weight watchers ice cream so that I'm not tempted to "accidently let my spoon fall back in the carton". hehehe

I will say that I'm ready to add more running into my workouts. I know Tony suggests not adding anything else on the side but I miss running and it helps me unwind. So I'm planning on adding in 3-4 days of running a week at about 3-6 miles on those days (give or take a few depending on how I feel). It's weird not having any races to train for right now because I spent the last year running A LOT of races. I did them because I love the adrenaline I get from finishing but boy are they expensive. I would say I spent roughly $800+ in races (including travel/hotel expenses)... it adds up! So, I'm backing off of the race circuit for a bit and focusing on strength and toning with toning. However, I am doing a spring triathlon in August with my sister so I'll be training for that shortly:)

It wasn't a very eventful day so I'm done but I'll take my photos tomorrow and let you know how I think I've been doing/any changes I see and I'll also do my measurements and compare those as well.

Happy Hump day!!

Days 25-28

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the last few days! Friday I woke up early (5:00AM to be exact) and did the Sweat 3-4 because I was going out of town that night. Some friends came up to Mike's boat and we kicked off the Solomon's Island Tiki Party that night. We had a great time... I did partake in a few mixed drinks (most for gin and diet tonic so I saved calories and sugar there; however, I did have one Mi Tai (ewwww!) which was all sugar. I didn't have the greatest strength for dinner towards the end. I had steamed shrimp (not bad!) but did delve into Mike's french fries :) Oops! Of course being a little inebriated when we got home we brought out the OH so healthy snacks of hummus and veggies (I didn't have a normal portion ahah), chips and salsa, and the most delicious port cheese ball. Needless to say I know Tony was not thrilled BUT I did it and I moved on:)

Saturday I ate really well and we went out for my friend Laura's 25th birthday. We started at this new Wine and Coffee bar that's only a few blocks from my house. It's really cute! I think I had about 3 glasses of wine (oops!) Then we went to another bar and I stuck with my normal gin and tonic. Unfortunately they don't serve diet tonic so I was drinking additional calories. Oh well again! :) I definitely drank more this weekend than I have in a long time. But I had a great time:)

On Sunday, Mike and I went to Whitlow's for breakfast. They have a great buffet there! As much as I'd like to go back and forth and have endless amounts of home friends and waffles I ordered their egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach, and swiss. It came with a side of fruit and home fries. I had most of the omelet and the home fries (I couldn't resist). For drinking as much as I did the night before I was proud I did eat worse! That meal kept me full pretty much all day. I had some cottage cheese and fruit in the later afternoon and hummus and carrots for dinner (however, a bigger portion than normal) I decided that I would allow myself some dessert (not sure why I picked a day where I didn't eat the greatest but I did) so I gave myself 1/2 cup of moose tracks low fat ice cream. Ohhhh man was it good!!! About and hour after I had that 1/2 cup I wanted more so as I made my lunch for today I took a spoon full and another and well you get the point. I went over my allotted amount and whined about it after but by that time it was too late. I proceeded to try on a bathing suit (WHY?) and actually felt really good! So I decided I wasn't going to dwell over my binge eating of ice cream anymore. :)

I planned on waking up early this morning and working out and then working out again this afternoon. Well I found a good show on T.V. that kept me up late so that of course made me want to sleep in this morning... which I did. After I got home from work I popped in the Sweat 3-4 and really worked hard today! The abs are getting a little easier. I'm definitely making it longer without hurting and starting to be able to keep their exact pace! Hooray!

As for my weight goal I'm not 100% I'm going to make it and this is why. I've been steady at my 5 lb. loss since I started and I feel great. I can tell I'm toning which is my #1 goal. I am comfortable with the weight I'm at (sure a few pounds less would be lovely) BUT I want to be able to maintain my weight. I have off days, which is reality, and I'm still able to maintain my weight as it is, so while I'm going to keep striving to hit a lower weight (if it so happens) I really am going to focus on the toning. Sure, if I stick to every meal as Tony says and never cheat I cant totally lose weight (for a period of time) but I'm trying to be realistic here and it's really hard/ impossible to stick to the diet perfectly. I am doing great at watching what I eat and portions but I admit I have those days where I want a little more. :) Weight is just a number and I've been obsessing over that number and not praising myself for the hard work I have been doing. Just because the numbers don't fall rapidly doesn't mean I'm not sculpting and working hard. I'm not over weight or obese (thank the lord) and I don't want this whole experience to be all about a number. I'm still going to reach for the stars but my ultimate goal is to see a toner and leaner me:) It's a slow process to get toned and it's hard for me to be patient but I feel good and I know that things are changing. I may not come out of this looking like a completely different me or even be one of those "perfect" success stories BUT I will come out knowing that I stuck with it and I got in shape!:)

*I have the weight and progress conversation with my friend Matt a lot but realized that all the times we talk about it only helps me to keep going and realize that I'm doing a great job! I'm working on not sweating the small things but to look at and focus on the bigger picture. Thanks Matt!*

I put the T in Trooper

Today was by far the longest, tiring, dirtiest day I've had in a really long time. I took my 20 first graders and 6 parents (along with 80 other 6 year olds and 15 other parents) to the Claude Moore Colonial Farm. It's such a great experience for the kids to get to see what "Long Ago" looked like on a farm and everything the men and women had to do. Needless to say they loved it! We had 70 degree weather, no one was left behind, and everyone remembered their lunch... truly an accomplishment! However, it was a LOoonnng day for all of us.

After school on Thursday I co-teach an after school enrichment class called "Chemistry Kitchen". We construct experiments such as making rock candy, dancing pepper, and the current debacle GOOBLEK! It's a really cool substance (technically a colloid, look up the definition) Part of the class is extending the learning and taking it further so we're in the process of running a business. Today was production day and we had to make 100 bags of Gooblek (which is cornstarch and water). It's fun once it's made but it's so messy! I was covered with white powder (cornstarch!) and food coloring. Note to self: Don't sell Gooblek next year!

After cleaning up the horrendous mess we created I headed home. The only thing I was thinking about was getting up and getting in bed. (And look at my cute new accessories I bought at Target last night:) So I did exactly that... I got home and laid in bed. I laid there, and laid there, and laid there. I talked to Mike on the phone to catch up from our busy days and the first thing he said was "wow you sound really tired" (he knows me too well:) I proceeded to complain about how tired I was and he proceeded to tell me "just go to bed, it's ok to skip Tony today". I'll admit hearing him say that made it seem ok and like a good idea. I got off the phone and was ready to just call it a night. (Que the Da da daaaaa) I saw Tony staring at me from my box and I couldn't just turn the other cheek. So, I popped in the Sculpt 3-4 video and kicked butt! The push-ups are getting better. Notice I didn't say easier, just better. As much as I didn't want to work out I knew I would beat myself up if I didn't (yes I know I shouldn't, but I'm 7 days away from my goal deadline!)

After I finished I made garlic and thyme baked cod with steamed broccoli and a small salad. I'm not sure what happened but my fish was awful (I still ate it. ahaha) it's usually really tasty I think I was too tired to hear the buzzer go off, so of course I over cooked it. Oh well! All in all, while it was an exhausting day I was a Trooper. In fact, I put the T in Trooper:) Normally I would probably reward myself with dessert but honestly I'm too tired to get it all out of the freezer..... pathetic.

Not that I need to say this but.... I'm really GLAD tomorrow is Friday.

The end.

Feel the burn...

I definitely think moving up to 3-4 this early was a smart move. I'm definitely getting a better, long, and more intense workout... how can I tell? Because I'm sore! :) What's that saying "No pain no gain". Every muscle in my body is being worked out and I can definitely feel the burn baby!! As much as it hurts it feel good (I never thought I'd ever say that) but I know the pain and soreness will equal a toner body:) I just hope the burning doesn't last all day everyday... that will make it tough:)

Today was a crazy and hectic day at work and to top it off we had a LONG staff meeting. By long I mean over an hour (normally they are 30 min.) and by that time the last thing I wanted to do was sit and listen to administration and our lead construction guy talk about how they are taking away our hallways and playground... ugh. that's a whole other story! Anyways, during the meeting they leave out candy. Now, while I wasn't craving it when I saw that there were Reese's cups inside I had to fight the urge. Did I resist? SURE DID!!! I was not about to waste my ONE dessert on a tiny little deliciously filled peanut butter cup. Yayy me:)

After work I did some errands (I picked up some cute fabric to cover some frames with to give my room a little more character and pizazz! So in the next few weeks I'll be getting crafty!) Finally I headed home....tired and worn out, not in the mood to hang with Tony. After I procrastinated for a bit I got up and got dressed and popped in Tony (Sweat 3-4) Today was harder than the first day (as expected). I gave it my all and pushed through to the end. A delicious veggie burger and baked red potato coins were awaiting me. :) This meal is really becoming a favorite of mine! (I get my veggie burger and fries! (bakes of course) yum-O! Is it sad that my favorite part of the day is dinner?

Anywho, I'm off to Target to find some curtains and nic nacs for my room:) Have a great day!

Holy push-ups

I'm tired so I'm going to keep this short.... Today I stayed right on track with all my meals and when I got home I popped in the Sculpt 3-4 with Tony. Can you say holy push-ups! I get that push ups really work your arms, back, shoulder, abs, etc. but oh my goodness! The workout immediately started off with chair push-ups (so I'm pointing down toward the floor with my feet on a chair. Let me just say they were VERY HARD. I couldn't do all 20 but I did some... we'll leave it at that. We proceeded into our normal sculpt workout just doing 5-10 more reps and adding in another set of arms and squats. I used to hate squats but they feel good in a weird way and my legs and butt are a big focus for me so I'm getting used to them. It was a tough workout but it felt great! (I wish I could say that me up there doing those push-ups... maybe after these 90 days I'll look like that! ahaha)

After working out Mike came over and we went on the hunt for my new bike! That's right, I'm getting a bike! I really want to ride around where I live and I need one for the sprint triathlon (1/2 of a full tri.) that I'm doing with my sister in August. I'm really excited about it because it's a new adventure that I've never taken part in. We tried a few bikes (one which was yellow, but not in my size... BOO!) and found 2 that I really like. We're going to go test them out in a few days and narrow it down to THE bike very soon! Because bike shopping took so long we didn't get to eat dinner until about 8:15 ish (which is way late for us) but oh well. I had jerk chicken grilled sweet potato coins and some left over brussel sprouts from last night since I didn't have the chopped salad with it. It was delicious!!

That's all the energy I have so it's time to relax now.... Tomorrow = round 2 of sweat 3-4... eeek!!

8 days to go before my next picture taking and weigh in!

Brussel Sprouts??

Boy OH Boy... Mondays are always crazy aren't they? Despite the craziness of the day, it was a great day! I stayed on track and was eager to get home and hang with Tony on levels 3/4 sweat. OH.DEAR. he really made level 3-4 a jump from 1-2. Not only do you do an additional set of everything (instead of 2 sets we now do 3) Tony must have taken speed before this video. He was going so FAST! As tired and sweaty as I was during and after the workout I really liked it! It was the kick in the butt that I needed and was looking for. In addition to the speedy workout came Ab Ripper. Instead of 100 back-to-back we are now doing 200 back-to-back. Needless to say I got a GREAT workout in! I will say that I'm nervous for the sculpt 3-4 tomorrow because I increased my resistance on 1-2 and really felt it so I might have to bump the resistance back down a little until I get used to it.

As for dinner... Because I felt so yucky after this weekend I had a salad with turkey and for dinner I'm going back to a carb free choice (lord knows I ate plenty this weekend) So I baked chicken with garlic and rosemary with a side of brussels sprouts. Yes, you heard (or read) me correctly. I was so nervous to try

brussels sprouts for many reasons. 1. It's a weird name. 2. Every since you're a kid you learn to say "brussels sprouts are gross" even if you've never had them. 3. Now that I'm 25 I'm still saying "brussels sprouts are gross" so I know it's time to grow up and at least try them. My sister said she was surprised how good they were when she ate them the first time. So, I was brave and made them.... 2 cups to be exact and the verdict is....

THEY ARE REALLY GOOD! They are like tiny cabbages, which doesn't sound appetizing, but they are really good. I sprinkled some Mrs. Dash garlic and herbs on them and slowly ate the first one. Before I knew it I was down to the last one! (they look scarier than they really are) Yum-O! The chicken was delicious too! You should definitely give them a try :) As much as I'd love a little dessert I'm not craving it so I'm going to wait a week or so until I really crave it and use my "one dessert a week" card. (I'm waiting a week or so because I went slightly over board this weekend so I'm trying to "be good")

I talked with a coworker tonight who has also been working out and losing weight and we are both going to be keeping each other accountable for the next 9 days (and beyond I'm sure) Both of our goals are to lose 1-2 lbs. below our lowest thus far. Mine went up a tiny after this weekend but lucky for me (knock on wood) I can lose it in a day or so and be right back on track. However, while it's easy to go back to my lowest number (I use easy very very loosely) so far I'm nervous I won't be able to go below it. So I'm hoping that giving myself a realistic goal of 1-2 lbs in 9 days will help me strive for something. Not to mention my coworker (not sure why I say coworker, she's a great friend!) will be on me to make sure I stay on track. She better watch out though because I'm going to be on her too! :) But together I know we can do it:)

Now, back to finish report cards.... :)

weekend struggles

I'll tell ya what... the weekends are definitely the hardest 2 days for me! All week I do great and then the weekend hits. I went to Mike's families boat house and we had an awesome time! I woke up Saturday and Sunday and ran (3 miles on Saturday and 5 miles on Sunday)... again I felt great. But let me tell you something when I don't have structure it's really hard for me. I bring my own food to 1. help myself and 2. because I don't want it to go bad especially when it's not cheap! BUT there are always temptations...EVERYWHERE! I could rant and rave about this weekend and how "it got the best of me" but I'm sick of doing that so I'm making this statement now (and again) my goal is to resist the "treats" and limit myself to ONE treat a week (that means 1 M&M or 1 cookie, or one treat from my menu) But if I don't put a limit on it I'll keep having these treats and saying it's ok but right now it's not ok because when I have just a little I want even more and I give in and now I'm feeling fat and I don't like how I feel right now. I feel like in the last 36 hours have set me back and that really annoys me! Is there a secret/advice of how to say no and actually mean it? I say no and then people say, it's just a little bit.... well a lot of little bits become BIG BITS! :(

So another goal of mine is to really be more aware during the weekends and to stay out of the kitchen! I'm definitely an emotional eater, so if I'm bored, lonely, happy, sad, tired, whatever adjective you want to put there I'll eat! If I don't crack down now I'll never learn how to "manage" good eating. No more cheating everyday.... Once a week and that's it! (I say once a week because a dessert counts as one of my two snacks so I'm allowed to eat them!)

I have a lot of weekend events coming up so it will truly be a test to my dedication and will power! Tomorrow I start Sweat and Sculpt levels 3-4 so I'm hoping after sulking all tonight tomorrow's regular eating routine and new workout will put the kick back in my step.

Until tomorrow,

the irritated, frustrated, pouting, feeling fat and discouraged

Kendayl

Thank you Matt...

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, the encountering may be the very experience which creates the vitality and the power to endure."Maya Angelou

Day 17

Today is day 17 and I had a GREAT DAY! I woke up and had my usual egg whites with mushrooms, Swiss, and spinach. My AM snack was a yogurt, lunch was a salad with turkey, and my PM snack was cottage cheese with blueberries and strawberries. I really have started to love cottage cheese; however, I went for the cheaper brand and I can definitely tell the difference... not a good difference either. I'll definitely be going back to "high quality" name brand next week.

My friend Sarah came over and met me at my house after work and I talked up my Tony workouts:) She tried the Sculpt 1-2 with me and liked it... she felt it which is a great sign! I made us veggie burgers with a medium potato cut up into fries and then baked them. SOO DELICIOUS! For "dessert" we had some frozen fruit. She doesn't fully understand my love for frozen fruit but I'm going to get her hooked on it for sure! (I really like it because it lasts longer and it's just so yummy!)

I'm really starting to feel more comfortable with my daily routine and portion sizes. The only things I really measure is my turkey (because I get exactly enough for the week so it doesn't go bad) and my cheeses (because I'm a cheese lover!). Other then that I really am starting to get a grasp on what a "normal" portion size is. Although I'm being very good with all my meals I will say that I am being realistic and I am indulging in the little joys of life, just very moderately. :)

As for my weight loss and toning goals I am definitely feeling and seeing (I hope it's true) some good toning! My stomach feels tighter and flatter and my legs and arms seem to be working their way to a nice shape (slowly of course:) My weight loss isn't as a big priority for me as compared to toning but I do enjoy watching the numbers fall. To date I've lost 5 lbs! I don't know if you can tell but I can feel it and that feels awesome! I can tell that my body is ready for a push and the videos are getting a little "easy" (I can do them fairly easy now) so starting Monday I'm going to bump up to levels 3-4 and get things moving. My sister did each level a month at a time but I think I'm ready to move up and push myself so I'm going to try! As Tony always says, if it doesn't feel right do what you can... so I figure I'll start Monday with levels 3-4 and if it's too hard I'll drop some weight or go back to 1-2 for another week.

I'm really excited for the next step because I think it will really help me see more results. The videos get longer, more intense, and the weights get heavier (if you choose). I don't plan on using heavy weights because I've switched to resistance bands but I do have the option to add more resistance; which I'll change as I go along. If I can drop just 5 more pounds I think I'll really feel that I'm working as hard as I can. BUT if I don't I'm ok with that, as long as I'm toning and can still see and most importantly feel healthier/stronger. My ultimate weight goal is to not gain more then what I weighed before minus 2 lbs. (Does that make sense?) So my starting weight - 2 lbs. That sounds weird... anyways after the Hooters, cake, and candy the other night I was EXTREMELY aware that I couldn't eat like that again for quite some time. I'm really feeling and understanding that if you have a bad day, it's ok... just remember that and be "good" for the next week or two. We all have "bad" eating days that we wished we didn't indulge in but the truth of the matter is that IT HAPPENS! I can stress all day long about how bad I ate but if I pretend I won't do it again I'm just setting myself up for disappointment and failure. Now, I'm just realizing that I need to be more reasonable about those bad days. If one comes along (and I'm sure it will) I'll know that I need to be more mindful for the next week or so. "If you fall of the horse, you back on and try again". Great motto if I do say so myself!!

Life is all about learning right? :) I'm committed to seeing this 90 day program to the end... and BEYOND no matter how hard it gets and no matter how many times I have a bad day. For 17 days (it feels so much longer!) I have worked out 6 days a week, sometimes 7 and added in running. While I've had a few "cheat" days with eating I'm proud that I've stayed committed to keeping the workouts going even though I've been too tired or can't find the time. I've stayed up late working out, woken up at 5:00AM to work out, and even taken my videos and resistance bands to Mike's parents boat house to stay on track. If that's not dedication I don't know what is! :)

Until tomorrow....

"Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism."
~ Abraham Lincoln

uuhhh ohhh....

Welp.... I wish I could say that Hooters didn't get the best of me but it did :( I had some wings and then proceeded to have ice cream cake (I also had some jelly beans and M&M's when I babysat). On a positive note I DID wake up at 5:45 andworkout. However, after the horrific foods I ate once I left work, working out doesn't even matter. (I'm pouting) I really out did myself yesterday... in a terrible way! (Surprisingly, I did have a friend tell me that they could tell I had lost weight! ) Anways, I paid the price for eating like crap and had a horrible stomach ache all night and morning, so there was a consequence for my poor choices. LESSON LEARNED!

So, I woke up this morning and have been on a great track... oatmeal for breakfast, almonds for morning snack, turkey wrap for lunch, peanut butter with celery for PM snack and then a salad with turkey for dinner (lighter dinner to make up from last night). I also ran and had a good cardio sweat session with Tony. For dinner I had a salad with brocoli, red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and baked chicken... SOOO good! :) (see below picture)

Matt finally started back with my motivational quotes and he came back strong! Here are my latest quotes which I love...

"Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism." ~ Abraham Lincoln

"Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can." Unknown Author

Day 13 feels like a fresh start!

Welp, today is day 13, spring break is over, and it's the beginning of a new week! As I said yesterday the Easter jelly beans and goodies got me good yesterday:) But I'm moving on and looking ahead!

Today was a great day! I came home from work and ran 3.5-4 miles because it was GORGEOUS outside (slightly hot when I started running but none-the-less beautiful) and then I came back and did the Sweat 1-2 video and the Ab Ripper... It was a great workout! After working out I walked to the grocery store and picked up a few things for the week (I'm obsessed with the grocery store so any chance to go I get really excited!) Not to mention I was excited about dinner because I had a veggie burger and fries! YES, FRIES!!! Now, they weren't your fried and drenched in salt but they were baked and still delicious. I was going to post a picture of my dinner but I forgot to take it before I ate it all up:) Next time!

Tomorrow night I'm picking up E and R from school and then I'm going to meet up with friends for our other friends birthday... at Hooters! (it's ok last time I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich and I was ok with that... even though I LOVE wings!) so I won't have time to workout after work so my goal is to wake up early before work (5:00ish...) and do the Sculpt video before my day gets going, that way I get my Tony time in! (So pray that I can wake up in time!)

So... I have to mention my best buddy Matt, because if I left him out I'd be omitting what most of my dad consisted of... talking to Matt. He reminded me last night that we've been friends for almost 10 years..... 10 YEARS! In those 10 years we've become the greatest of friends through good and bad and distance. We can count on each other for anything no matter how long it's been since we last talked. We truly have a friendship/relationship that I cherrish. Anyways, he has really helped keep me motivated and dedicated on my journey. He (used) to write me emails that had motivational workout quotes they were awesome! I looked forward to them daily because he helped remind me of my goal and made me realize the support I had from him. He's currently out of commission for a bit because he just had surgery on his knee so while he's bored out of his mind I've been trying to keep him occupied with my daily antics of my kids at school and my workouts. We talk all the time and I really appreciate his support and motivation. He's a great friend!

In addition to Matt, my sister has been AWESOME. I've been stressing a lot about exact portions especially on the things that aren't on the planned out menu. They give you alternatives and I've been trying to make sure I don't give myself too big of a portion. However, my sister helped me out last night and once again made sure to remind me not to stress so much about the exact portions but to make sure I have a balanced meal... I'm getting better:)

**(The picture at the top is my sister and I after the Richmond Monument 10k race 2 weeks ago... she BUSTED through her goal! So proud of her!)**

That's about it for now.... since I double dipped on my workout today and had to go to the store I ate dinner late so now I have to stay up later so that my "eating 3 hours before bed" rule kicks in... this should make getting up early to workout interesting.... I'll let ya know how it goes tomorrow! :)

Ready for my RR

Easter got a better half of me... not the best part of me but a good portion... (enough said)

My RR (Regular Routine) returns tomorrow! Hallelujah! :)

gettin' in the swing of things

So, I'm on day 12 out of 90 and I feel great. This past week was my spring break and I was so excited because I got to spend the whole week with my mom and part of the week with my sister and dad. My mom and I went grocery shopping at the beginning of the week and I planned out all of my meals... I was ready! However, life happened and the week became busier by the minute. All my breakfasts were normal and on my menu but lunches and dinners were on the fly. Saying, I've done VERY WELL! I had salads with protein for my lunches and fish for dinner. I tasted the appetizers that my family got but never got my own! After a lovely week and delicious meals I didn't gain any weight back and I worked out everyday and added in a few runs as well. This past week, at first, got me very discouraged. I was getting upset with myself that I wasn't eating exactly what was on the menu. But again, my sister kept reminding me that this is reality and I won't always be somewhere where I'm making my own meals. It's about smart choices and portions (as I've blogged about before).

This weekend will be spent with Mike's family. This is the first Easter ever that I haven't spent it with my family so it's a big deal, especially since my family and I are so close. But, I was just in Richmond last weekend and haven't had a weekend up at my place in over a month. That is another reason my family came and saw me this week; we got our fix in:) (We went and saw the Cherry Blossoms in D.C... it was BEAUTIFUL!) So although I'm breaking tradition and not thrilled with that, I'm spending it with Mike and his family which is the next best choice:)

Friday we drove up to his parents bay house in MD and had a great time! Mike and his brother bought a boat in November and finally got to put it in the water yesterday... needless to say they were thrilled! We sat out on their deck with the beautiful sunshine and a tasty gin and tonic:) Life is good! This morning we woke up early and the boys worked on the boat while I went for a nice run. I came back and they were still working on the boat so I lesson planned for the week. When I was done with that, they were still working on the boat... Do you see the pattern? They are as happy as can be!!:) Meanwhile I'm about to go have my Tony workout (Sculpt 1-2) which is tough! I've been using 8lb. weights which at the beginning is fine but towards the end my muscles are screaming at me! So I went and got some workout bands that I can use. The cool thing about the bands is that it comes with three bands so I can add and take away resistance as needed. I'm excited to try them out!

After we leave here this afternoon we're going to Mike's parents house for an early Easter gathering with his family. This = yummy food! But I know if I've stayed firm with the temptations that eating out brings I know I'll be ok today and for the rest of the Easter weekend:) (I shared my jelly beans and gummy worms that my mom put in my Easter basket so that when the bags were gone (and they are gone) I can say I didn't eat the whole bags by myself. Which I didn't! (Mike and Jeff ate most of my gummy worms!)

This week has really shown me how to have a life and not have it be all about structured and planned out meals because that's completely unrealistic. It's all about making sure I make good choices and don't go overboard. I had some appetizers but only tasted a little bit and when I had dessert I either shared it or if I ate all of the orange sherbert with marshmallow cream and gummy bears (it's my ultimate favorite!) I knew that was it for the week(s) and I threw in a couple runs in addition to my Tony time. I'm more conscience about what I eat and how much and I'm working on not stressing out so much if it's not a "perfect Tony meal". Overall I'm very proud of myself AND I didn't gain any weight back over my spring break! Yayy!! It's been a fun break but I will admit I'm ready to get back on a normal schedule starting Monday.

Until next time, which will probably be Sunday night or Monday and then I'll be back on my regular daily blogging, have a HAPPY EASTER!