The Short Shorts Initiative

Confessions of a fat girl: I don’t wear shorts.  Like ever.  I’m talking 95 degree heat, super high humidity, and this girl wears capris.  Or knee length skirts.  Or pants.  Because I hate my thighs that much.  They’ve always been the biggest part of me, the place that every bad thing I eat goes right to.  And have I mentioned the cellulite? Oh there’s lots of that.  Even when I’m losing, the brail just doesn’t seem to go away.  I have decided that my biggest goal for this summer is to rock the short shorts look.  To rock the short shorts and higher heels, legs for miles look.

Allie Larter has a SMOKIN bod!

 

 I’ve ALWAYS wanted to do this.  I’ve NEVER been confident enough in my body to even try.  This year will be different.  This year, I will make it my mission to lose enough weight and tone up my thighs so I can pull this look off in public.

I took some comparison pictures last night at Target, and it wasn’t pretty. 

Please excuse the bad dressing room lighting

 

These are juniors shorts, so they’re cut a bit differently than I’d like, but they had no women’s shorts out yet so it’s all I had to deal with.  Oh and I did purchase those nude heels…in anticipation of my coming out party J  I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m teaming up with my pal Brandi to make sure it happens.  We’ll be doing a Tone Em’ Up Tuesdays blog link up, starting next week, to talk about what we’re doing to glam up our gams.  I hope you’ll join us!  What have you done to slim your thighs? I’m always open to suggestions!

Dear Mr. A.....EFF YOU

Do you follow me on Instagram yet? Well head on over and follow me @babebeforebaby so you can keep up with the ridiculous drama I posted last night. 

Some cowardly mother effer decided to post a nasty comment about me being full of crap and that I'll be fat forever.  EFF YOU Mr. Anonymous.  You don't even have the courage to post under a real name? Your hatred just drives me more.  You might have pushed me down, but I'm going to get right back up.  And yes, I may be fat right now, but you know what? I can fix fat.  You can't fix ugly, and that's exactly what you are.  Your nasty, ugly comments lead me to believe that that's the kind of person you are, and I'm not going to waste a single second more talking about you.

Thank you to all my positive, inspiring readers that have given me lots of love over the past few days.  I decided to listen to my heart and change up my insanity schedule to incorporate running every other day. 

I know some of you disagreed, and while I appreciate your input, ultimately I have to do what I think is going to work best for me.  Thanks so much for all your advice, I appreciate you more than you'll know!

What would you do?

Busy weekend, lots to talk about….

Saturday I decided to skip Insanity for the day and go back to Bootcamp; the exercises we do at BC are pretty similar to the ones Shaun T does in Insanity, so I figured it was an equal trade.  While I was there, I saw that they were starting a new weight loss competition, called “Mission: SLIMpossible” (The BC studio is called Mission Fitness FYI).  I usually do good with competition involved, it drives me more than doing things on my own, so l paid my $20 and weighed in.  The competition goes for 8 weeks, and the top 3 highest percentage losers win 3 months of unlimited classes (that’s HUGE!) I have to focus now!

 
So this leads me to my next revelation this weekend.  Sunday morning I woke up SORE.  I’m talkin’ could barely squat to pee sore.  Hurts to walk up stairs sore.  Don’t want to shrug my shoulders sore.  GOOD Sore.  I worked out HARD sore.

And I did work out hard.  I wore my HR monitor and found I burned over 600 calories, almost 200 more than I usually do with Shaun T.

 

 And it got me thinking.  I love Bootcamp.  (Well, I love to hate Bootcamp anyways).  And, well… I hate Insanity.  There I said it.  I HATE INSANITY.  Not in the I love to hate it kind of way.  I just plain hate it.  I know it’s not supposed to be easy.  I get that.  But I need variety.  I need human interaction.  I need to know that even though I know the individual exercises, I don’t know what’s coming next.  I’ve been going to Bootcamp on and off for 3 years now, and I have yet to attend a class that was the same as any of the others.  And I love that about it; the variety keeps me coming back.  I know what to expect with Shaun T.  And I’m dreading getting up in the morning to see him.  I’m not looking forward to my workouts.  I’m not even feeling good about them when I’m done; I haven’t pushed myself to feel as sore as I am now, 2 days after Bootcamp, because I don’t like Insanity.  I’m doing the workout, I’m going through the motions, and my HR Monitor tells me I’m burning between 4 and 500 calories per workout.  But I don’t like it.  And I don’t see myself continuing this after the 63 days are over.

 

 

I stated before I listed my “goals” for 2013 that I wanted to make lifestyle changes, not resolutions that would be so hard that I would give up on them a few days or weeks into it.  I also stated that one of my goals was to finish a round of Insanity.  That leaves me torn.  I know I made a goal to finish a round of Insanity.  I also know this is a program that I will likely never do again, which completely goes against my lifestyle changes goal.  I thought about this a lot yesterday.  Why am I doing Insanity? Because I had hopes it would help me lose serious weight.  Because I wanted to get stronger, more toned muscles.  Because I made a commitment to do it.

Right now, the only reason I’m still doing it is that last one.  I’m pretty sure there’s not enough straight cardio to help me drop pounds the way running was.  And I’m getting toned muscles, but there’s a lot of fat still over those toned muscles, and I’m just not going to see the definition I want right now without more fat loss from straight cardio.  I think I’ve come to a good solution for this, but I’m curious what you think.  I’m half way through Insanity right now, on week 5 of 9.  I’m considering modifying the remainder of the program as follows:

Continue with Insanity for 3 days a week, instead of 6, so that I can add more variety and running back into my routine.

Monday: Insanity
Tuesday: Run
Wednesday: Insanity
Thursday: Run
Friday: Insanity
Saturday: Bootcamp and/or Run
Sunday: Rest

That’s still 6 days a week of exercise.  I reserve the right to take an additional rest day as needed, because sometimes 6 days a week is just too much, but I think it’s a good goal to aim for.  What do you think? Am I giving up to easily? What would you do?

Motivation Monday

I have a serious problem. I keep shoveling crap into my piehole.

I ate like 130923485 Girl Scout cookies this weekend, and even after I realized how many I had eaten, I ate some more (what’s wrong with me!?!)

I need to get my diet mojo back.  They say losing weight is 30% exercise, and the other 70% is diet. I’m totally eating my way out of any loss I might see from all my hard work I’ve been putting in with Insanity.

I think I need to change up my daytime menu a bit…I usually do great during the day/at work, but by the time I get home, I’m STARVING, don’twant to cook, and end up snacking on everything in sight and ordering takeout.

Maybe if I vary my daytime meals a bit it might help.  I’m realizing that as much as I like green monsters, when I start my day off with them, I’m not as satisfied and end up wanting lunch by like 11am, and I’m taking in more calories with a green monster than I would with a yogurt and some Kashi….so I’m heading to the grocery store tonight, hopefully a few changes will go a long way.  In the meantime, a I'll leave you with a little motivation to start your week of right (I know I could use some!)

 

Feelin Good

I woke up feeling pretty good today.  I made it through a tough Insanity work out without feeling like I spent more time lying on the ground than working out, and when I pulled out my clothes for work, my “staple” black pants that I’ve worn forever were super baggy around my thighs, something that I’ve never experienced before.  All of my weight goes right to my thighs, so buying pants is usually an impossible feat…if they fit my waist,they’re skin tight on my thighs, and if they fit my thighs, they gap at the waist.  Today, they were loose all around, and even though the waist part has been big for a while (they’re size14s), I really felt like my thighs were getting smaller when I put them on today!  I got to work with lots of energy(and thank god, it’s been a busy day!), but it got me thinking…what did I do different? And then it hit me.  Yesterday I made a real effort to focus on my eating. I logged all of my 1400 calories into MFP (I ate back 200 exercise calories), and ate almost 100% clean/unprocessed foods all day (with the exception of a bag of pop chips last night after dinner!).  I also decided to try and hit my 10k steps while watching TV instead of lounging on the couch….and I’m sure that helped too, but I really think that my diet had a ton to do with it.  Enough so that I want to do it again today…sowhen lunch rolled around and we had a rep bring in catered food with yummy artisan sandwiches, potato chips, and cookies, I didn’t think “I can’t havethat”…I thought…”I don’t want that!”  I’mgoing to try to keep my meals as clean as possible this week (within reason),  not because I’m on a diet but because I like the way I feel when I eat like this.  I feel healthy.  I feel fit. I feel energized.  And all of this is enough to convince me to keep going. 

 

 

PS. I finally caved and got an Instagram account….follow me! @babebeforebaby

Taylor the Bitch

I hate my scale.  There I said it.  She’s really mean to me, and she’s totally going in the wrong direction.  Pounds are not like money, Taylor, I don’t want more, I want LESS.  UGH. (Yes, I call my scale Taylor (that's the manufacturer name).  I bought her because the online reviews tell me she's the most accurate home scale on the market for the money (she's a cheap scale).  That bitch taunts me every morning when I weigh in, and I've tried like hell to find a way to trick her but she's too smart for that.  As my good friend Marcee (who owns the same scale) told me over the weekend, "Taylor should have an audio feature that gets triggered after the 3rd consecutive time you step on the scale that yells at you 'Bitch stop wasting my time'".  I digress.

Well if you follow me on Facebook you know that I tried out the Dr. Oz 3 day detox diet…and failed miserably.   I had only intended on doing it one day (Saturday), but the morning drink was god-awful, the lunch drink was downright nauseating, and when I got to "afternoon snack" and it said "repeat your favorite drink" I threw in the towel.  The thought of drinking either one of those 2 glasses of awfulness made me want to vomit right there.  So what did I get for a half day detox? A few more pounds. (WHAT!?!!)  I think a lot of it has to do with water weight, as I really suck at drinking enough water on the weekends, so I'm going to chug water like a mo-fo today to see if it helps.  But in all honesty, I'm feeling pretty despondent about the scale recently...it feels like whenever I make progress, I erase it the next week.  I've got the exercise thing down with Insanity, so now I really, really need to focus on my eating and logging my calories.  I start every day off with great intentions in MFP and get lazy about tracking by the end of it.  Today I'm vowing to log every single thing I eat and to stay within my calories.  I have to get my eating in check or I'll never see those 180s, and Brandi just announced that Flipbelt is offering a 20% discount code for her followers that didn't win the giveaway she hosted (this goes very well with my saving money goal!!) That coupon code is only good until Feb 10th, so I need to get my ass in gear if I'm gonna be in the 180s by then!

 

How'd your weekend go? (Hopefully better than mine!)

Insanity Woes

I’m getting back to my old routine, so I got up early to get my Insanity for the day in before work. I’m 3 days behind “schedule” right now, so I’m hoping to get 2 workouts in on Saturday and one in on Sunday (which is a planned rest day) to get myself closer to where I’m supposed to be. Hopefully I’ll make up that remaining workout sometime next week, but ultimately 1 workout won’t make or break me and my progress.

So, I bet you’re wondering how it’s going.  Honestly? It sucks.  I’m sure if you follow any program for 60 days straight you’ll see serious results, but this is where I have failed in the past.  I like variety.  I want to run.  I want to go to bootcamp.  I want to do a turbo jam or turbo fire workout.  I want to go for a walk with my husband.  I like getting in different forms of exercise, and with Insanity, there’s a strict program you’re supposed to follow for 63 days, with 6 days of Insanity and 1 day of rest every week for 9 weeks straight.  I know I could do 2 workouts a day to get some of this other stuff in, but I don’t want to work out twice a day, and Insanity is so intense that sometimes I physically can’t imagine doing a second workout.  I’m going to finish this round (because I told y’all I would!) but I honestly don’t see myself committing to something like this ever again.  I may use a workout or two here and there to shake things up, but I’m getting tired of hearing Shawn T’s voice and I’m only a week in!  Have you ever done a program like this before? Did you attempt to pull in different workouts or vary from the schedule at all?

Now what?

I’m back at work today, and feeling much better might I add, though I’m still feeling like I have zero energy and that I could sleep for the next 5 days straight….but my stomach isn’t an issue anymore so I’ll take it!

I ended up skipping Insanity yesterday and Sunday, so I’m technically 2 days behind schedule right now.  After much debate, I’ve decided to pick up with today’s workout, and if I’m feeling more energetic this weekend I may try to get in 2 workouts on one of those days to make up for it (but in the end, 2 days isn’t going to change my outcome that drastically so I’ve come to peace with that).  I am going to try to get a workout in tonight, and I might have to take more breaks than normal but at least I’m doing it!

Nothing like a good stomach flu to snap you out of bad eating habits, right? But now what? I didn’t eat much over the last 48 hours, but being on the road for work all day today has meant I’ve had fast food for breakfast and lunch.  My minor victory is that I didn’t get diet coke with lunch, just water, and calorie-wise a veggie egg white flatbread from DD and a 6” turkey on wheat from Subway aren’t sinking my ship, so hopefully a sensible dinner will keep my weight down for my weigh-in tomorrow. 

And one last thing before I leave you for the day….remember my Rewards list from the other day? And that awesome flipbelt that I really want? Well Brandi is hosting a giveaway for one this week, so get your butt over there and enter, then when you win send it to me because you love me so much and think I'm that awesome (just kidding obviously! J) Seriously though, go enter and tell Brandi I sent you!!  Oh and if you wouldn't mind, please vote for my blog for Best Health Blog 2012 by clicking on the link on the top of my right sidebar over there! Thanks friends!!

Stomach flu

Yep.  Stomach flu.  I've got it.  I'm home sick today recovering, although I do feel significantly better today than yesterday, I just have no energy whatsoever.  I was doing great with my steps challenge, but I don't think there's any way 10k is happening today.  And Insanity? Well I skipped my workout yesterday for obvious reasons.  I was feeling like maybe I could get a workout in later tonight, but right now I'm not so sure about that...it doesn't help that the only thing I've had to eat since I lost my lunch yesterday is a few saltines and a green monster smoothie.  One day won't kill me I guess, but for now, I'm headed back to bed to sleep this thing off!

Newlywed Game, Steps, and Rewards

First, if you are awesome enough to like me on Facebook,then you saw last night that my husband and I were on the Newlywed Game Show! We taped the show in August (when I was 20 pounds heavier), so of course all I see when I watch myself on TV is “FAT!!” but we did have a good time, and we ended up winning a trip to the Bahamas! I’m so excited now that I can tell everyone (I was sworn to secrecy until the show aired under penalty of law and being sued!), so now I have another motivational reason to look good in a bikini!!



Us right after we taped with Sherri Shepard (host of the Newlywed Game)

Yup my Aunt took a picture of her TV to post on Facebook :)

 

Second…I did manage to get in my 10k yesterday, how about you!?

 

And third…there’s a few items that I had on my Christmas list that I didn’t get, but one of my non-fitness related goals in 2013 is to spend less and pay down my (scary high) credit card debt.  That being said, I still think it’s good to reward yourself with a little something now and then, so I’ve decided to tie the items that I really want to weight loss goals, so that I’ll have something to work towards, and feel better about my spending.  Here’s my goal/rewards list:

 

·        192 (40 pounds lost…because I’ve been soo closeand yet I haven’t been able to get here!): new straw cups for my green smoothies and water (they make me happy J) oh and a cleaner for my straws because green monsters leave some funky stuff behind…like this http://www.strawcleaner.com/

·        Get into the 180s (even 189.8 counts in my book!): A new Flip Belt to replace my armband for running http://www.flipbelt.com/the-flipbelt/
       (side note: this item wasn’t on my original list but my pal Iris posted it on one of the groups I’m in and I fell in love! Oh and Brandi over at Thin After Twins got one too and made me super jealous! J)

·        182 (this is a big deal people…this will mark 50 pounds lost from my start at 232): new running sneakers like these: http://www.zappos.com/saucony-progrid-stabil-cs-2-white-silver-pink?ef_id=UOXYugAACPjzHivy:20130103191506:s

·        Get into the 170s (yes I know I just gave myself a reward for 2 pounds ago, but my lowest adult weight was 189, so being in the170s almost seems unattainable!): new Compression socks for running, like these: http://www.amazon.com/CEP-Womans-Running-Compression-Socks/dp/B003EIKBZY

·        172 (60 pounds lost and…wait for it….HEALTHY BMI!!!): I’m treating myself to a massage for this one!

·        162 (70 pounds lost!): I’m thinking this calls for a new bathing suit (and maybe a few other clothing items!)

·        Get into the 150s (this is my ultimate goal…though I’m not sure it’s attainable!): This needs to be big…and I’m not sure what it will be yet, I have to think on this for a while, so if you have any suggestions I’m all ears!

 What about you, do you have rewards set up for yourself? Let me know what they are, I’d love some ideas!

Exciting news!

Make sure you like me on Facebook, I just shared some exciting news a few minutes ago...you won't want to miss that!!

Getting back up

Falling down is easy.  It's the getting up...the getting back to your routine, back to healthy, that's so hard.  I guess if it were easy than everyone would be doing it, but I'd be lying if I said that yesterday wasn't a struggle. 

It was my first day back to work after the holiday madness, my first day back to my old "routine" of healthy eating and getting in a workout before going into work for the day.  And it sucked.  I felt like I was starving all day.  I drank 100+ ounces of water.  I had a green monster for breakfast.  I tracked all my calories through MFP.  I restarted C25K yesterday morning (to help improve my speed and build up my endurance on the treadmill).  And when I came home from work, I did day 3 of Insanity like I promised you all I would.  Then I ate.  And ate.  And then I ate some more.  By the time I was done with Insanity (my second workout of the day), I was famished, and my husband was working late so I still had a few hours before dinner.  So I had a string cheese.  Then I had some pop chips.  Then I had some tostitos (and then some more).  I definetly let my hunger get out of control yesterday to the point where I just wanted to eat everything in sight.  I had a yummy dinner after all of that, a homemade taco/rice bowl, but at 445 calories, it put me right at my max calories for the day because of all my snacking. 

I maintained my weight this morning from yesterday, so while I didn't do any damage, I'm not making and progress either.  The end of the day has always been my downfall, so I'll have to work harder at that today.  I got up and did Insanity before work today but my step count is pretty low, so I may have to go for a long walk on the treadmill after dinner tonight.  I posted on Facebook yesterday that I'm challenging myself to reach 10k steps a day for the next week; want to join me? 

I know I'm not perfect yet but I'm making little changes, and those changes will add up eventually!  Don't forget to like me on FB and to vote for your favorite blog today :) (Buttons on the sidebar on the right!).

Have a great day!