Temptation, Temptation on Vacation!

My last post was talking about my fears of going on vacation and eating bad.  Well, I’m back from vacation….and….this is going to be one of my hardest blogs to write.  I have to admit how well/bad I did on my trip with eating and exercising.  I always say I’m a “realist” (which isn’t always a good thing), so that’s what I’m going to be in this blog (well, I always am in all my blogs).

Did we have fun on our trip, HECK YES we did!  Nashville not only has music everywhere, they have good food everywhere too!  And bars…which means alcohol.  And enough to do from sun up until sun up again for 4 full days straight. 

Our first night there, we found a restaurant that we fell in love with a restaurant.  Hence my 1st photo below.  Then after we were done there, we went across the street to the bar (hence my 2nd photo).  We went to these places twice on our trip!  So, needless to say, we started the trip off the way it would go the rest of the time.  Everyday, I had intentions of waking up early and heading to the gym at the hotel.  Not once did I go!  But in my defense…we got up early everyday and went all day long with touring Nashville and Memphis.  We were exhausted everyday!  I should have made this blog post about a food and bar review since I could definitely tell you the good and not so good places we ate and drank. 

My reason for this post is to remind you that I’m not perfect and I didn’t do as well as I would have liked to on my trip, but I did enjoy life for those 4 days and didn’t sweat it while I was there.  Now…I will be sweating it this week though.  I’m so afraid of getting on the scale.  My husband did and he gained 2 lbs while on the trip.  Granted, he drank more than me 🙂 hehe  So hopefully I’ll be ok but in the meantime, I want to get some heavy workouts under my belt this week and then I’ll get on the scale. 

Am I disappointed in myself?  Yes!  I have worked very hard for 7 weeks to get to where I am, so I don’t want to go backwards, but these are lessons that I will take in and learn from because I’m not giving up!  Remember what I said in my first post…I’m done with giving up! I hope that this post reminds you or someone out there that it’s ok to fall, only if you get back up though!  And it’s ok to be imperfect.  My mom likes to emphasize on that word, I M Perfect. haha  But falling down is so normal…even for those who look and seem normal to us…they’re just good about hiding those imperfections 🙂  I’m not…I’m a realist!  As soon as we got back though, we took the dogs on a walk and then rode our bikes about 5 miles. That felt good!

Stay tuned for my next post to see if I gained lbs on my trip!

Biker Mama and NASHVEGAS BABY!

Normally I work out with Barb on Mondays, but we had to reschedule last night and I’m so glad we did.  It worked out perfect!  I got to spend the time with my husband, which seems rare during the week now that we’re working out every night, doing our own thing.  He plays tennis most of the time and I’m either with Barb or at the gym.  But last night we decided to ride our bikes together in our neighborhood.  We aren’t use to this!  In our last house, we lived on land, in an industrial area, so there were no safe roads to ride a bicycle on.  Now that we live in a beautiful neighborhood full of trees and scenery, we can take full advantage of the roads and sidewalks.  This was seriously the best thing we could have done together last night.  It felt like a date! haha  I told Nick that we need to do it more often, even if it’s just on a Sunday evening. 

I knew my legs were burning some during most of our bike ride, but I didn’t think I was going too crazy because my heart rate stayed inbetween 130-135.  At one point, it got up to 145, due to the wind being against me.  That felt tough! haha  But honestly, I didn’t find it as hard as I thought it would be.  Don’t get me wrong…my butt is soar today, but being on the bike was so much fun…something different.  And it allowed us to talk!  By the end of our bike ride, we had gone about 36 minutes and did a little over 6 or 9 miles (I forget…husband tracked the mileage haha).  I was so surprised to see by the end of it, that I had burned 389 calories!  I think I’ll be hopping on that bike more often with the hubby 🙂  Just overall, turned out to be a great evening.  Then I bargained with my husband that if he cooked dinner, I would do dishes.  That was an even better way to top off the evening 🙂  We had grilled chicken and veggies.  Nothing fancy but it was filling and I can EASILY eat those kind of things today, then 7 weeks ago.  No joke!  It’s like 2nd nature now.

Bonus for lunch today…Nick then made baked salmon last night for our lunches and dinner today.  SCORE!  Can’t wait for lunch 🙂  And tonight I am going to Barb’s class (Killer Core tonight!) and then we are doing our 30 min personal time with a whole body workout since I missed last night…and will be gone the rest of the week.  NASHVEGAS BABY!

Nick and I are headed to Nashville this week.  Why?  For a vacation! haha  My ideal vacations are somewhere by the beach, on the water or somewhere I’ve never been but Nick got to pick this time.  He’s a musician so this is totally his scene.  We’ve been together before, but it was a group of people, with an agenda, so we didn’t get to tour it much.  I look forward to this trip with him, to fall in love even more with Nashville.  It’s beautiful…we would love to eventually live there.  One thing that is worrying me though, is what can we eat while out of town?  How well or how bad are we going to do?  Normally when we go out of town, we gain weight because we eat out alot and eat whatever we want.  This time we’ll be working out while we’re there and looking for better options.  I’ve heard of others packing healthy snacks for their trips.  Do you have any suggestions?  What healthy items would you take on a trip?  We are traveling by plane.

Barb’s Tuesday/Thursday Classes

So last night was my 1st night to try Barb’s new classes.  WOW (notice my picture…that was what I looked like afterwards).  In just 25 minutes, I had burned over 250 calories and I have to tell you…I didn’t look pretty doing it either. haha  First of all, I hate burpees now…new found revelation.  Picture all this jumping up and down and jumping into a plank and back at a frog style.  Seriously…with this body….it does NOT look pretty.  And it doesn’t feel pretty either.  We got to jump rope…haven’t done that in years.  I did learn one thing last night…with all of the jumping we were doing, I need to wear 2 sports bras next time. haha  But, no matter how hard it was, I was determined to hang on.  I had to take breaks more than the other lady who was participating, but hey…I’m only 6 1/2 weeks into this, she’s a couple of years ahead of me.  I’ll get there 🙂

I believe that every week, it’s going to be something different but this week was Cardio Blast.  Next week it’s Killer Core.  Some other classes she’s going to be doing is Buttz and Gutz and Tank Top Arms.  I NEED ALL OF THOSE! haha  Her and I already work on all of that on Mondays and Wednesdays but this will kick it up a notch on my journey to a healthier physique.  If anyone’s interested, contact Barb at Fitness 1 on1, to reserve your spot.  She’s only allowing a total of 6 people to take these classes.

Switch to another story…I’ve mentioned my husband is on board with me with eating healthy and getting exercise as well.  Well, I’ve been told that people will be negative with your lifestyle change and some will try to sabatoge you.  I really thought this was absurd and why would anyone want to do that to us.  I would think they would have something more important in life to do.  Last week, one of the ladys at my office saw me leaving with my work out clothes on and said “Oh you’re still working out”.  To me, it felt like she was being negative and is waiting for me to give up and quit this, like I have before!  And then an incident with my husband happened yesterday at his office!  Oh man, you are so lucky I didn’t write this yesterday because I would have probably said ugly things.  My blood was BOILING.  Probably helped me to lose a few calories, but not the way I want to lose them really. haha  Anyways, Nick was sitting at his desk yesterday morning, WORKING, MINDING HIS OWN BUSINESS and a guy offered him a kolache.  Nick, POLITELY and SIMPLY (can you tell with my capital letters that I’m still upset over this haha) said “no thanks”.  The guy then proceeds to ask, “why, are you on a diet?”.  Um…DUDE/PEOPLE…why don’t you mind your own business, FIRST OF ALL!!!  Again, Nick POLITELY and SIMPLY replied “No, just making better choices.” PERIOD.  The conversation shouldn’t have had to even go this far but the guy kept being nosey and prying.  So then the dude proceeds with “You should go see a nutritionist and then you would actually lose some weight, or you could try over-eaters anonymous!”.  Ok, NOW do you UNDERSTAND why my blood was boiling…and is now getting back to that point?  I got more upset about it then my husband did.  Don’t mess with my husband, he’s got a crazy wife who will kick your butt (sorry, can’t help it…it’s in my genes. My momma will kick anybody’s butt who messes with her family too)  Like I said, first off, he should have minded his own business.  And secondly, Nick shouldn’t have to explain anything to him.  That ignorant guy should KNOW FACTS before he starts shouting out stuff.  For those of you who don’t know my husband, he eats LESS than I do (and I wouldn’t say I over eat either).  He had the gastric bypass about 10 years ago, so no DUDE, Overeaters Anonymous WOULDN’T work for Nick.  And since when do you need a doctor’s note to chose a healthy lifestyle of eating healthy and clean and exercising?  But you don’t need a doctor’s note to go through the drive thru and eat fast food, greasy mexican food and creamy alfredo sauce with pasta, etc. and don’t have to work out?  Seriously, our society SERIOUSLY has this mixed up.  Even when I ate bad like this and didn’t work out, I NEVER was negative (at least I hope I wasn’t) toward someone who was trying to lose weight.  I wasn’t an idiot and thought you needed a physical to get healthy.  SERIOUSLY PEOPLE.  Ok, I’ll get off this soap box for now, but seriously…even to my loved ones…don’t ask me if I got a doctor’s note for this, I will seriously go off! haha  Love ya!

       

But to end this blog on a postitive note…I have officially lost 12 lbs and instead of buying XL shirts at the store yesterday…I have been downgraded to just a plain ol “L” (large).  Whoop Whoop.  #TEAMBARB

Coming off the High

I am finally coming down off the high of posting my 1st blog. Haha I shared the blog with my family and friends and got support all day long, so yesterday was a good day. 

 

My husband plays tennis to get most of his exercise and last night, I finally decided to join him for drills. It was 1 1/2 hours long and I actually had a good time. I know I got a decent workout because I was sweating and had to run and jump some. I did however forget my heart monitor so I’m not sure exactly how well I did. I didn’t know much about the heart monitor until Barb, my trainer, suggested it. I’m still learning it but I do realize when I miss it during my workouts. I love the fact it tells me how many calories I’m losing as well. If you’re looking for a heart monitor, I have the Polar FT4. I, of course, got the pink one, but if you’re a guy and don’t want pink, all colors work the same 🙂

 

http://www.polar.com/us-en/products/get_active/fitness_crosstraining/FT4

I didn’t get into what I’m really doing in my workouts in my first blog, so if you’re wondering, here’s my routine:

Mondays – Chest, Back and Arms with Barb

Tuesdays – Cardio on my own. Most of the time, I take a Zumba class because its someone instructing me what to do for an hour. Great exercise for me! I just have to get over my awful white girl moves or lack thereof.

Wednesdays – Lower body (Legs) with Barb; Is that politically correct to say for working out legs, calves, quads, etc.?

Thursdays – Again, cardio on my own and most of the time I’ll take another Zumba class.  Sometimes I just do the treadmill and eliptical though.

Fridays – Most Fridays I take the day/night off.

Saturdays – I enjoy waking up at a decent hour (by 7 am) and getting a work out in so that I have the rest of the day to do whatever I want.  I made a Cardio Kickboxing class a few weeks ago and LOVED it.  This past Saturday I went to Zumba because I couldn’t make the kickboxing class on time (was trying to cook breakfast)

Sundays – Most Sundays, I take this day off as well.

I’m not very good at making habits for myself.  I just don’t have an addictive personality, which can be good and bad for me.  But with this, I am always doing something different (except Mondays and Wednesdays, I work out with Barb and even with her, she changes up things every week on me).  I don’t attend the same gym location (I make which ever one I can at the time I’m available that day) and I don’t always do Zumba.  I have been doing it more often because I do like it.  But I have to switch things up for me, or else….I’ll fall back down.

What’s your favorite “work-out”?  Any suggestions for me?  I do have a mountain bike I should ride.  I do love swimming and with my triathlon experience, I can swim freestyle 🙂  I am a little proud of myself on that.

 

I was looking for a picture of tennis to include on this post, since I didn’t get one of me playing tennis last night (next time I will) and came across the dog.  I just HAD to post this because this fits me more.  My personality!  And I LOVE dogs and all animals (except reptiles, yuck).  I have 3 dogs of my own.  So this is in honor of them.  My Lola and Astro LOVE chasing a tennis ball.

Brit vs. Brit

So this is my first blog…well, a blog about good health and fitness, and you know that saying “Writer’s Block”? I have it so bad right now.  I just want my first blog regarding my new left in life to be amazing, perfect and to catch everyone’s eyes so they keep coming back.  But in all reality, I’m not perfect, and neither is anyone else, so why don’t I just be me…and give you the real me!  That’s what I hope this blog will be for everyone…realistic.  I hope that it reminds those of us who have low self-esteem, body imperfections and daily struggles, that you aren’t alone.  So welcome to my new blog!    I hope that it makes you inspired, laugh, think and maybe even cry (happy or revelation tears).  I must warn you…I can tend to say a little too much some times or just be plain weird, but maybe that’ll be what keeps your attention 🙂  I’m just being me, so you are getting the real me!  Enjoy!

I use to tell everyone that before I met my husband, I was skinny.  But now that I look back at pictures before I was married, I realize that I wasn’t skinny, just smaller than I am now, yet still very unhealthy.  I never had health issues, thank God, but I ate so bad…pretty much all of my life.  I have always had friends who ate better than me and had regular exercise routines.  And this whole time I envied them, wishing I could have their willpower and bodies.  Then I met my sweet husband who took me out to eat ALOT while we were dating.  I wasn’t use to that and I was learning to cook, so it wasn’t that great.  He likes to tell everyone about my crunchy rice and chicken I tried to make him one time. haha  Well, we both fell in love and got extremely comfortable.  Neither of us liked working out and we loved going out to eat.  We were both always on the go, life kind of out of order (still can be), so eating out was our “go-to”.  Well, fast forward to about a year into marriage (2 years of being together total), I went from a size 10 to an 18.  I HATED getting on the scale so the most I ever saw on the scale was 199.  Seeing 1 pound from 200 really hit me in the gut, gave me a sick feeling.  I couldn’t believe I got to that point.  One thing I have learned through out the last 5 years….I eat with my emotions.  Change that…I ATE with my emotions!  To be realistic, the first few years of marriage are ROUGH, to say the least.  They were for my husband and I.  Plus, I had other family struggles that kept “weighing” me down.  So, instead of getting healthy “help”, I ate whatever the heck I wanted to.  When I saw 199 on the scale and wearing a size 18, so uncomfortable with myself, I decided to start a program, AdvoCare.  Lots of people got on it at church and reeled us in with them.  I will tell you right now, we weren’t ready, so we set ourselves up for failure right away.  We thought AdvoCare would be our End-All, Be-All.  Don’t get me wrong…we are still advocates for the program because we do think it’s a great nutritional company, but there’s so much more to our struggle than supplements and energy drinks.  So we started the 24 day challenge they offer and, like I said….failed.  It was way out of our comfort zone!  Sadly, we had gotten to the point where eating “tasty” food was our comfort zone.  Fast forward to about another year and we decided again, to try the 24 Day Challenge.  This time, we felt so good and we actually finished it.  At the same time, my best friend talked me into training for a half marathon.  The ONLY reason I agreed was because it was training with a team, called Team and Training, who were raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I thought that if I had a reason, other than myself, to push myself, I could do it.  And guess what…I DID.  I never did get to where I could run but I walked the whole thing and have the medal (now 2 medals) to prove it.  Since then, I have trained for a triathlon and completed a Sprint and Olympic race.  Pretty amazing accomplishments for me, especially since I HATE to exercise.  Well, that was over 2 years ago that I finished my last triathlon and got to the point of being comfortable again.  Do you see a pattern here?  I always give up!  I never complete something!  Last year’s resolution for myself was to fulfill my obligations, plans and goals.  I about killed myself last year saying “YES” to EVERYTHING that everyone invited me to and I was determined to make it to everything.  Which left me no time to take care of myself!  That’s another pattern to realize…I put everyone else first!

My husband has known that for years, I’ve wanted a personal trainer, but let’s face it…it wasn’t in the budget to get one.  Eating out sure was though!  But this year, out of the blue, my husband calls me and says, I think I found a trainer for you.  We had just moved to Cypress and I was still trying to get settled into the house, so I wasn’t ready to get back into finding another program (ha) to lose weight yet.  However, we had just talked about future babies and how I’d love to get healthy before I get pregnant.  I know that there are plenty of women who successfully carry and deliver healthy babies, at obese sizes, but FOR ME and FOR MY BABY (future) I want to be healthy for the baby as well.  I don’t want to give my child any health issues because of my laziness.  So, to my surprise, my husband did this for ME.  Really sweet, huh?!  I thought so!  Especially because…this wasn’t in the budget.  But guess what…we made room!  And we even cut something else out along the way…that eating out budget 🙂  And honestly, it’s become easier than we thought.  Well, I’m not going to say 100% easy, because, like I said…I’m imperfect, we still have those temptations.  But we’re learning to deal with them better now.

So fast forward to meeting my new trainer, Barb.  She’s a tough little cookie and has kept me on track.  Having her there to report to, is really good for me.  If I didn’t have her to hold me accountable, I wouldn’t do this.  I wouldn’t have lost 10 lbs and 17 inches total in 4 weeks.  Haha, This just made me think of something…doing those fad diets, they are all about getting you to lose as much weight as possible, as quick as possible, but then once you’re done and fail like most of us do, you gain that weight back and if you’re not careful, you can gain more than your weight back.  But with the program I’m on with Barb, it’s all about KEEPING the results we want, so yes, it may take longer, but it’ll be MUCH more worth it.  She tells me that it takes about 8 weeks for you to notice your loss and about 12 weeks for others to notice.  I’m 6 1/2 weeks into this, so I can’t weight to see how much different I look in 5 1/2 more.  Many of my best friends are my cheerleaders, as well as my husband and family but one of my best friends sent me an article last week and I took it in as it was talking to me about my weight loss journey  http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/23/success-laziness-accountability/?iid=obnetwork  Having someone like Barb to keep me accountable helps because I am way too embarrassed for her to see my lazy side.  But honestly, since working out with her, my husband and I both have changed our eating habits drastically and we both eat much cleaner.  No more fast food.  We occasionally go out to eat, mostly when it’s a group setting we were invited to, or if we do go out to eat, we still make wise choices.  We are also working out at least 5 days a week now and honestly, loving it.  It’s like we are finally gaining a sense of what living life really is about.  It’s about keeping our bodies healthy so we can live longer and stronger.  For us, we want to travel the world and have children and grandchildren and who knows…great grandchildren.  We want a long life here on Earth, so this is what we have to do to get there.

I kind of hate to admit this, but I was watching What Would Ryan Lochte Do (secretly, I liked it), and someone asked him if he ever wakes up and doesn’t want to go swim.  He said, yes, almost every day, but I know that I have to do this in order to reach my goals.  Wow!  That was much better than his famous “Jeah” quote. haha  It’s so true though….we have to keep doing this, whether we want to or not, to reach our goals!  And right now, our goals are to get healthy.  People ask me how much weight I want to lose or what size I want to get to and honestly, I don’t feel like I can answer that until I get there.  I do know I want to be healthy and look healthy.  That might be a size 6 on me, who knows.  A size 2 may or may not look good on me.  So I won’t know until I get there, but guess what….I’m not stopping when I do get there!  I’m done with quitting, giving up, losing willpower.  I can’t stop!  Or all of those who think I’m going to quit again, like I always have in the past, will be right!  I have to prove them wrong!  I have to prove my own self wrong!

Stay tuned for my daily struggles, my ups and downs, my eye opening experiences and my love/hate relationship I have with exercising and food.