Before...

Before...
Las Vegas May 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

No Pain, No Gain

Weigh In Wednesday: 0. Flat. I'm sick and only worked out once or twice this week...but it was a great workout. Went with the sister and leg pressed 180 with ease...could have gone higher but didn't want to test the waters too much. My arms are certainly feeling it today though (2 days later).

Two home football games left. This week is away at Northwestern.

Seeing people I haven't seen in a while makes you look upon the past and how I was treated by some. I used to be a quiet and shy girl and now I'm not either. I was told to stand up for myself and now I do. Ladies and gents -- don't let people walk over you and use you when you're weak. Always stand up and respect yourself.

Sorry this one is short and sweet...my brain is on vacation (although the cruise isn't for another 2 weeks lol)

"What are stumbling blocks and defeat you before, can be stepping stones to victory if you remain determined" -- Unknown

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

First Weight Gain...Gaaahhh

I knew this was going to happen this week. I dreaded this morning... +2. GGRRRRR. But with the way I ate and drank this weekend, it is of no surprise. Burgers and dogs and some Hawkeye fans brought over some delicious pork chop sammies...flip cup and beer pong (I was I think 7-0. Undefeated by myself...then I think I lost a round with a partner...can't remember...a lot of excitement and visitors and cooking of grilled pineapple -- DELICIOUS!)  Had visitors from Thursday - Monday. Ate out the entire time.  I never thought I'd say this but...I'm kinda looking forward to the end of football season. Yes, I'll be sad to not have games to go to but I just think of all the weekends I'll have free to do what I want again and eat home and have time to exercise. Though, we sure did walk and dance a lot...and gave piggy back rides...and act like linemen at the tailgate. I think I'll just share a few pictures. I can definitely see my face, legs and waist going down... so there's our positive news here for this blog.

One of my BFFs from high school came up for her first game!

My Iowa Hawkeye friends

Getting down and dirty with my lil sis. 

And the piggy back rides start...

Longest flip cup game ever...3 tailgates

Marissa and me

I'm the boss...lol

Walking across the lily pads

Having fun with art around campus...

Oh, hey, more piggy back rides...

5 or 6 people in the back of the taxi...

One last hoorah for Heather's car

We're a blast

and this is for Mom...THE FACE!

"The tragedy in life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal; the tragedy lies in having no goal to reach" - Benjamin Mays

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Hello again! It's weigh-in Wednesday! HOLDING AT 228! No gain! I was worried I might this week -- just didn't feel like I lost anything...and, well, I didn't. But "mother nature" can help with that feeling. Blah.

Let me start off by saying I went on my 2.2 mile walk last night and I wanted to kick it up a notch so I wogged (*For new readers, I said a wog is like a jog, but not so fast so it's like you're walking very fast but it's not a walk...it's not a job...it's a wog)...and I wogged...and I wogged. I remember wogging and thinking "Wow, is this more of a jog I'm doing? My breath is still normal...I would have stopped like 20 feet ago, but I'm still good!" and my jog slowed to a wog but DAMN! I went far without having to stop!!!!!!! I was so happy! IT FELT AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! Then, I came to the hill. As I was walking, (yes, I did have to eventually walk. I'm not superwoman...yet) I saw the hill coming up. I had a conversation in my head about whether I should attempt a wog up the hill. By time I finished arguing with myself... if I was ready or not, I was wogging. I looked at the top -- saw the top and aimed for it...my legs were BURNING....BUT I DID IT!!!!!!!!! I MADE IT TO THE TOP OF THE HILL!!!!!!!!!!! Just a few months ago, I was breathing heavy when I went on the walk with Shane...down the hill.....my lower back ached...and now I was running up the HILL! Can I get an AMMMMMMMMMMMEN? AMEN!

My little fashionista sister helped me with my outfit for this weekend. Taught me how to "hide the fat." Now I think some of those "spring time clothes" I bought the other day can be used on the cruise I'm going on in a few weeks..I'm super excited and nervous (for food and drink, of course.) I plan on bringing my workout  clothes and hope to get some exercising in. I don't think it'll be that hard since the bride-to-be's sister and maid of honor is a hard core trainer. Could be fun! Get ready, girls ;)

And just want to add in here that I've been trying some "home remedies" I've seen on TV shows like Dr. Oz and The Doctors. First, I tried the neti pot. My sneezing went from ten times an hour to ten times a day. Insane how that worked!  Next, I "deep conditioned" my hair with mayo. Yes, MAYO -- the stuff you put on your sammie. Not sure how that worked as I haven't had to "do my hair" in a while since I work from home. But that was interesting. The last thing I tried was putting toothpaste on a zit...holy crap that actually worked, too! Dried that sucker right up better than Clearasil!!! Gotta love these home remedies.

Finally, I must share a picture of my new boots.


I wore them around the house last night to break them in for this weekend. I'm not much of a heel girl...so this is another change for me haha. PS: I swear I DO have knees. Glad to see my legs are starting to take shape, too! Holler!

Today's quote comes from a close family friend, Denise. She had this on her Facebook and I told her I was stealing it for my blog :)  This is dedicated to all those that have told me I'm inspiring you, but you just haven't started yet. C'mon now -- read this and go for a walk. That's how I started.

"Don't wait until you're ready. Start now. The circumstances will not be perfect and you won't get it perfect. Start now, however, and you will get it done. You're not going to have everyone's assistance of approval. You can, however, get the jump on your success and get started right now. Do you want to waste your time and energy on elaborate excuses or would you rather invest yourself in achievement? Get started now and get the achievement well underway. You've already delayed long enough and there's no good reason to wait one moment more. The time for action is the time at hand. You're standing squarely in the middle of your life's great and valuable opportunity. Start right now and make all that value yours." -- Ralph Marston

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Foul Mood

I warned you in the title.  So I've been very happy about the 12 pound loss so far...until last night.  Went shopping for some cute clothes for this upcoming weekend since I wanted to kind of "treat" myself..and a guy I dated in college will be here so yeah, duh, what girl doesn't wanna buy a new outfit for that occasion? ...and none of the cute ones fit.  But, I'm not letting this get to me at all.  I was with my friend Molly, and I bought some of them and called them my "spring time outfits." Now I have something to look forward to there. When we left the one store she told me to just walk faster -- HAHA. We did. Gotta keep that heart 'a pumpin'.

Today was a miserable day, too. October 2, and apparently it was snowing this morning at 7am. I was sleeping through that...but my friend Marc helped his brother move up from Florida and they were getting into town at that time and witnessed the horrific event.  I'm so not ready for winter...put on the heat last night.

Went out to buy my local paper today...and even though it was a misty rain, I got my paper and walked my 2.2 miles anyway.  I'm proud of that.  Otherwise I'd be sitting right here like I am right now....clipping coupons. Love saving me some moula!

Stopped by the farmer's market yesterday and bought some zucchini (going to make zucchini bread again for this week's tailgate) and I also bought kale. Now, I've never made kale; only ate it in the soup at Olive Garden but I hear great things about it. God bless Google for recipes!  I was talking to some ladies at the Sustainable Kitchen and one mentioned kale chips. I've heard of them and I figured I'd give them a whirl. To my surprise, they were pretty damn tasty!


Now, I know what you're thinking..."Jen, that looks like a pile of leaves you just picked up off the ground." I swear, it's kale. What you do is wash it and dry it. I used my lovely salad spinner thing. Then, I sprayed my pan with cooking spray...threw the leaves...I mean kale on the pan...sprayed the kale with cooking sprayed, sprinkled some garlic salt and red peppers flakes on them. Preheated the oven to about 330 and cooked them 8-10 minutes. If you love potato chips this is a great alternative. Talk about health benefits -- this is loaded with vitamins. Give it a try and let me know what you think. I ate that whole damn thing there during the PSU football game (which we won't talk about here...)

To end on a positive note, I "finished" my Step it Up with Steph program. I say "finish" in "" because you're never finished. The mind is the most important thing when it comes to weight loss. If you're not in the right frame of mind then forget it.  Her program helps you one day at a time to keep your mind where it needs to be and sets it where it needs to go.  I learned a lot..and have my "cheerleader" -- actually, I have a lot of those now that I look at it.  Thanks again to all of you keeping on my booty... to make it a slimmer one ;)

"The rest of the world lives to eat. while I eat to live" - Socrates