Letter to myself

My 10 year reunion is quickly approaching so I decided to write a letter to my high school self. Remember I was the "fat cheerleader" (hell I wore a size 12 in high school, that really isn't fat but I guess to a size 0 it is). I struggled with my weight as far back as I could remember and I haven't always been positive about it...

Dear High School Jordan,

Great news… guess what! You are no longer called the fat girl!!! Go ahead and jump for joy, I know I did when I stepped on the scale and then was able to buy smaller jeans from the trendy stores. Bad news is, it will take you a LONG time to realize that you are capable of changing. Yep, you have to continue to struggle with being “fat” for the next couple years. I know it hurts when guys do not notice you, I know it sucks going home crying because all those little bitches were mean to you for being the “fat cheerleader”, and I know it is horrible not being able to buy cute low ride jeans because let’s face it, they don’t look good on you. Your day will come though, I promise!

I know you dream that in the next 10 years, you will have graduated college and be married with a family… well some of that didn’t come true. You will have to join the real world and go to work instead of school… don’t worry though you will take classes when you can afford them and have time, you will never fully give up on that dream (yet at least). Oh and guess what, you will not be married by your 10 year reunion either. It’s probably because you will have such low self-esteem and so you will date all the wrong guys. Don’t worry your pretty little face though, because once you decide to change your life and get healthy and lose the weight, you will meet Mr. Right! Yep, you might not be married by your 10 year reunion but you will be engaged to be married the following March the best guy in the world. He will love you more than you ever feel possible.

Now onto the family part of your dreams… Remember me mentioning you will date all the wrong guys. Well one of those guys will end up being the father to your child (yep a kid out of wed lock, you hooker you! Haha). You will gain weight, you will get HUGE actually. You will be so huge that people will stop and ask you when your twins are due… don’t worry you don’t punch anyone even though you probably will want to. Then, you will give birth to the most perfect little boy. That little boy will make you want to change your life for the better. You will get up and get active and set your mind to losing the weight.

You will end up losing 101 pounds and totally rock it! However, don’t think that life is perfect now… just because you lose the weight doesn’t mean you won’t struggle with weight anymore. Boy oh boy, you will still struggle! I don’t want you to give up though. I don’t want you to think that anything is too hard to do when you set your mind to it. I want you to live your life to the fullest because if you ask me, the next 10 years of your life will define you and set a foundation for your story that will help change so many people’s lives.

See ya in 10 years!

Love,

FitbyJordan

My answer to an email

One of my passions is to help people around me. I will give you the shirt off my back if you needed it. It is no different when it comes to my other passion, healthy living. I am always willing to stop and answer emails, text messages, phone calls, questions at the gym, etc. I feel like that is my calling and I want to use my story to help as many people as I can.

Recently, I was contacted by a girl I have been working with for advice on what to say when other people reach out to her for help. I am honored to not only help her but to teach her so that when this happens (and if she keeps up with her journey, it will keep happening) she is able to feel confident in helping those around her. Her email to me was basically someone who is struggling with more than just feeling fat, tired and unhealthy. This person is having dizziness, nausea feelings, anxiety, and extreme mood swings. They are thinking a change in their diet and life style all together will help out. The girl wants to make sure she steers her friend in the right direction and wants to know what to say or do.

My answer: 1st and foremost, you have to know that you can give all the information in the world to a person but you can NOT make that person change. If you are going to offer to help someone change their life you have to 1st accept that. The second thing I would say would be that, a change to your diet and life style is always the 1st place to start when you are feeling those kind of emotions run through you. Tell them your story, for example my story... I was depressed for a long time before I had my son. You probably would have never known it but I never really knew was it was like to love myself until I gave birth to that perfect little boy. That day I knew that I had to change, not only for myself but for him.

How to change: 1st start by eating the the right foods. Your body will start to change and the change will change your mood.... if that doesn't make sense to you, try it for a week then we will talk. When you start to incorporate working out, your body releases endorphins and your energy level will sky rocket. I sat here thinking for a few minutes if I have ever met anyone who workouts on a daily basis who is a depressed person... cant really think of anyone. Sure we have times we get down but for the big picture, people who workout are usually happier people. For the dizziness and nausea feelings, I say to drink more water... also eating cleaner foods will most likely help with these problems too.

I say to give it a month of change, 1 month... it isn't that long. If after a month of eating clean and working out doesn't change your life then go to the doctors.

Be the change you want to see!

Testing your dedication

When you 1st start something, you are dedicated and motivated 110%. It isn't until about 2-3 weeks in when things start getting tough that your dedication and motivation are really tested. This is why after about February, all of the New Year resolutions die out and the gyms are less crowded. You have to dig down deep and push through the tough times and it will start getting easier again.

I have been back with Lo for almost 2 months now and I have been 110% dedicated to clean eating with no cheating for 3 weeks now. 3 weeks... my  magic number! Saturday I was perfect, fit in a full body workout and stay on track with my eating (didn't even have a piece of baby shower cake)! Sunday I woke bloated, miserable, in a bad mood, tired and everything else. Hello mother nature! I was craving everything I could think of (mostly pizza because that is my go to food for some reason). I wanted to sit on the couch and eat! I pushed through the cravings and headed to church, went grocery shopping, took a nap with Caleb and then went to the splash pad.

I had my 1st volleyball game yesterday (which we lost all 3 games) so I counted that as my workout. Up to this point I was doing so good... was being the key word! I watched my nieces last night after the game and lets just say my sisters house is not a good place for me to be when I am in one of these moods. I wanted to eat everything and well my sister has everything... It wasn't pretty. I had a bite here and a nibble there. I wanted to taste everything. I ended up just having a couple tablespoons of nutella for dinner... washed down with a diet coke from Sonic of course.

This morning I felt gross. I was ashamed of my choices and beat myself up for it... then I stopped. I realized I had a decision to make. I could give up on everything the past couple weeks and go back to my old ways (it was "easier") or I could push through this tough time in my journey and press forward. I chose the 2nd choice. I sat down and prayed for God to take control of the my mind and of all my cravings. I packed my gym bag, grabbed my lunch and headed out the door.

This morning when I got to work, I sat down and wrote out my plan to attend the gym this week. I made a log of all the water I need to drink today. I text my accountability partner and told her my plans. I am not going to let one bad night throw me off track. I have goals and I want to reach them. I will reach them!

June 22nd - The cake

On June 1st, I sat on the couch and told Casey to help hold me accountable this month. I told him that I planned on not cheating on my meal plans at all until June 22nd. Tomorrow we are hosting a co-ed baby shower BBQ at our house which means we will have burgers, chips, salsa, snacks, jalapeno poppers, and CAKE! My plan this month was that on the 22nd, I would have a shakeology drink and then have a small slice of cake and then get back on track.

I have not cheated for almost 3 weeks and I guess what they say is true, the longer you go without cheating, the less you want to cheat. This morning, I won mine and Mandy's weekday winner contest. I fit into a pair of jeans I haven't worn in a long time. I am 11 pounds from hitting my second of three goals I have set for myself. All that stuff makes me re-think cheating and eating that piece of cake tomorrow. Is it really worth it?  To me, I am thinking no... no its not worth it at all.

I know that one piece of cake wont make me fat or gain all my weight back... however, I am the type of person that once I start I can't stop. I know that if I eat that sugar, I will just want more and more and more. I have decided to just keep myself busy tomorrow by hosting, cleaning up, and taking care of everything going on and try not to think of the cake at all. The advantage is that I ordered a small cake so I can just make sure to cut the pieces big and there wont be any left to tempt me... and if there is, I will just send it home with the parents to be.

What are you giving up to get to where you want to be? What is more important to you, feeling good in your own body or having that drink or piece of food?

You can still enjoy yourself and have fun without having to stuff your face every weekend and erasing all your hard work from the week.

You just have to dig down deep and believe in yourself! I believe in you!

P.S. If you do need a cake, contact The Rolling Pin! Megan and Blake Springer are very talented and their cakes taste amazing.

The Rolling Pin
817.907.1345
RPbakery@hotmail.com
www.rpbakery.com

BIG EXCITING NEWS

Back in April, my Mom, my future Mother-in-law, my Aunt Dee and myself went dress shopping for my wedding dress. Before I went, a friend told me that wedding dresses run a size small. For example if the dress says its a size 12, it really is a size 10. I am glad I knew that going into the 1st appointment because I didn't feel to bad pulling a size bigger than I was. The 1st dress I tried on was a size 16, so a size 14 in real dress sizes... and it fit like a glove. Well, I didn't buy that one. The dress I ended up buying is a size 12, so really a size 10. You probably think I am crazy for buying a dress that wouldn't even zip up, right? Well, I knew I had time to lose the weight and I am a very motivated and determined person when I set my mind to do something, I do it.

Casey and I are getting married March 1, 2014, so in reality I have a little over 6-7 months to get the dress to fit to take my bridals and then have it perfect for the wedding. The lady at the store said that she could put a lace up back in place of the zipper if it doesn't fit by December... I do NOT want that!

So you know how I said I have 6-7 months... Well, that would be for a regular bride. I am no regular bride! Ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed of taking my bridal photos in a field of sunflowers (they remind me of my Gaga who passed when I was 11). Sunflowers in Texas bloom in the summer, therefore I have to get this dress to zip ASAP or my dream will not come true. Time to get to work.

I started training with Lo about a month ago and since being back with her, a fire has been lite under my a$$ to get this extra weight off and to get that damn dress to zip. I have been trying it on every Wednesday because once it zips and looks perfect, I am going to take my photos... the sooner the better.

HERE IS THE BIG EXCITING NEWS

Well, last night I tried on my dress... I was thinking it would zip a bit more than it had the week before but not much more. I slipped that sucker on and BAM... zipped it up!!!!! MY DRESS ZIPPED!!!! My size 12 (size 10 in real life) dress zipped up!!! All my hard work and clean eating the past month has finally started to pay off. IT ZIPPED!!!

I am going to give it another couple weeks to a month before taking my photos because it is still a little tight and it causes me to have butt crack back... worst thing ever! If you thought I was motivated before, you just wait and see what is in store. The dress zipping just kicked my butt up another notch and is making me wanna fight for it that much more.

OH MY GOSH MY DRESS ZIPPED!!!!!

What I have given up

I am asked a lot about what kinds of foods (and drinks) I have given up in my weight loss journey, well today is your lucky day... Below is a list of everything I have given up!

But 1st, a little story...

Once upon a time, many many years ago, lived a single struggling mom (not me) who was a proud mother of 4 kids (see told you it wasn't me, I only have 1). This mom was on a very tight budget and had to watch every penny spent at the grocery store. She stuck to her grocery list and brought store brand items. Sometimes she did not even have enough money to buy all her items on the list. Well this one particular day she decided to take her 2nd daughter the grocery store (hint, I am a second child). As the mother shopped and put items in the basket, she failed to pay attention to what her daughter was doing in the back of the basket. The sweet, innocent, pretty, amazing, beautiful, funny, witty (what a coincidence, I am all those things too) child had picked up the block of cheese her mother put in the basket, opened the block of cheese and proceeded to eat the entire block of cheese without getting caught red handed. That is until the mother started unloading the items for the cashier... in order to buy another block of cheese for her family, the mother had to put another item she had up.

Now onto the things I have given up!

1. Cheese! This is a hard one for my family to believe since I am known as the rat. But, it is true. I have given up cheese about 90% of the time. I do not buy cheese for my house, not even for the boys. When I go out, I usually ask for no cheese. Its not that cheese is super bad for you, if you pick the right kinds it is okay. The sodium is high in most cheese, so watch for that. The reason I have given it up is because it is a food that when I start, I can't stop. I literally can eat a whole block of cheese without anyone knowing. Ask my mom!

2. Any foods that are processed. I have given up on buying anything that lives in my freezer or my pantry. This makes our pantry look like we are poor, but honestly I don't care. I know that I have healthy foods stocked in my fridge and I know I have all my meals planned out to last through the week. My motto is, if it last longer than 7 days, we don't eat it.

3. 90% of all carbs. If I do eat carbs, they are good carbs... example: whole wheat bread, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. Once you start living your life without carbs and then you eat some, you feel so stuffed and bloated that it makes you not want to eat them again.

4. Fast foods - I can't tell you the last time I went to a fast food place and ordered me something to eat. I will take Caleb and let him order something if we are in a hurry, but it is very rare. He either eats what we are eating or he doesn't eat at all.

5. Drinking (beer, liquor, wine, etc.). I hardly ever drink and one of the reasons is because I rather eat my calories then drink them. I am a sweet eater so if I am going to blow it, I wanna get chocolate wasted!!

6. Sweets! Another thing that is shocking for people to hear. I have given up sweets about 85% of the time. I do love my occasional sweet treat but I know I cant eat it all the time.

Something to remember - 1 bad meal wont make you fat, just like 1 good meal wont make you skinny! The same thing goes for working out.... 1 skipped gym session wont make you fat, just like 1 freaking awesome gym session wont make you skinny!

I hope you all have a healthy happy day!

Having a goal

I am the type of person that has to have a goal, if I don't have a goal then I do not push myself hard enough. The goal has to be something that is do-able but also very tough because I love a challenge. I weigh in with my trainer every 2 weeks and today was weigh day. Last time I weighed I told her I was going to make my goal to lose 10 pounds by today's weigh in. Setting my goal high like I did, caused me to not cheat for 2 weekends, do 2 a days at the gym when I could, meet with another trainer at my gym to help with accountability and really take a stricter look at my eating.

Today was weigh in... I was ready and eager to hit 10 pounds. Unfortunately, I did not hit my 10 pound goal. However, I lost 8.3 pounds and a total of 4.5 inches. I have to say, for 2 weeks that is pretty darn good right there!!!

My next goal for my next weigh in on 7/1 will be 6 pounds.

Here is how I am going to reach my next goal:
*Cardio every day
*Lift heavier weights
*Drink my water
*Get all my protein in
*I am not going to cheat at all - its not worth it
*Stay connected to my accountability partners
*And... I MIGHT log my food. I hate logging so that is why this is a MIGHT.

What are your goals? What are you going to do to reach them?

Great weekend = AWESOME Monday

This weekend was one of the best weekends (eating wise) I have had in a LONG time. I was surrounded by food (free food) and beer almost all weekend long. I could have pigged out and stuffed myself, but instead I stuck to the promise I made myself on Friday morning. I promised myself that I would not cheat, not one single time. That I would eat clean, prepare my meals and take them with me whenever I left the house JUST in case I was out and tempted. Here is how my weekend went...

Friday - My love and I went to a minor league baseball game (Go Fort Worth Cats) and we tailgated before the game started. They had a truck bed full of beer (including my fave, Shiner bock)... I had water. They also had all you can eat chili dogs, chips and some assortment of candy... I brought a shakeology and drank that while Casey ate 2 chili dogs in front of me. You know what, it didn't really bother me all that much. Then when we went to our seats and the vendor walked passed with cotton candy (my weakness)... I still didn't cave. Casey supported me by bringing me extra water to drink so I could focus on that instead of everything else. We left there and I was over come with joy! I wasn't really tempted, I didn't feel left out for not eating what everyone else was eating and I ate clean and stayed on track.

Saturday - I hung out with a girlfriend and instead of stopping at a fast food place, I had brought my shake and drank it instead. We actually did stop at Sonic and she bought a corn dog and tater tots... I had a large water. Then later that day I went to the grocery store and stocked up on our clean eating meals for the week AND stocked up on the food for the baby shower BBQ we are throwing the 22nd. When I got home and unloaded everything, it dawned on me... we haven't had that much food in our pantry and freezer in a long time. What we eat stays in the fridge and it doesn't last longer than a week. However, my pantry had tons of food that was at my access whenever I wanted it and I wasn't tempted not once.

Sunday - For Father's Day, Casey and I attended church with his Mom and Step Dad (and his Mom too) and then joined them for lunch. We went to Coopers BBQ and the moment I walked in, the wonderful smell filled my nose. It smelt so good. Instead of just blowing it, I texted a good friend a picture of the menu and asked for her help. I ended up getting a side salad with no dressing, 1/2  chicken with the skin pulled off and beans. I only ate 1/2 of the chicken and packed up the rest for lunch today. It was very tasty and I felt great with the decision I made.

Monday - This morning was awesome, after a weekend of clean eating (instead of blowing it like most weekends), I was actually down 1.6 pounds on the scale (instead of up the 4-6 pounds I usually am)!!! 

Clean eating is the way to go people!! Oh and I also worked out (despite my calves being S-O-R-E) every single day this weekend.

The mental side of it all

The mental side of losing weight is where I struggle the most. The 1st time around, when I lost 101 pounds, I never actually dealt with the mental... I focused all on the physical side. It worked for a little bit. After I hit my goal of losing 100 pounds, I just fell off the deep end because I had never worked on the mental side of it all. After my knee surgery, I slipped into a state of depression. I had to fight a lot of demons and it wasn't until very late last year that I finally pulled myself out of that horrible place. I decided that 2013 would be the year I would fix the mental side of it. It has been a very slow and very frustrating process, but at least I have the wheels spinning. Over the last 6 months, I have dealt with a lot and I have managed to lose 20 of the 40 pounds I gained after my knee surgery. I am now ready to tackle the last 20 pounds and then never have to lose that weight again...

Here are a few things I have learned, had to deal with, demons I fought and much more...

1. Food is not a comfort - it will not make you happy, actually it just made me slip into depression even more. You need to learn how to make yourself happy and turn to God instead of turning to food. After all he is our creator and he knows what we need.

2. Stress sucks - Stressing about a problem or situation you can not change, just adds even more stress to your life. When you stress you (or at least I do) tend to eat more. Stress is not your friend.

3. Be the best you, you cant be someone else - God made you who you are and you are perfect in every way. Stop trying to be like everyone else. Stop trying to have a body like a celebrity because every ones body types are different. Love yourself for who you are today.

4. Realize that your love for food is actually an addiction - Porn, lust, alcohol, drugs, gaming, etc... they are all addictions and guess what, some peoples love for food is their addiction. You have to face it as you have a problem and take the steps to fix that problem. If it is staying away from what you "love" for awhile to become a stronger you... quitting cold turkey. Or if it is seeking help, so be it a bible study (that's what I did), a friend, a counselor, a weight loss service (weight watchers, jenny craig, slim for life).

5. You have the power to overcome anything you set your mind to - plain and simple, you can do it. You do not need magic pills, you do not need surgeries, you do not need a partner in crime... at the end of the day, it is you and you alone. You got this!

6. Sometimes you have to do whats best for you and your life, not whats best for everybody else!

7. Wake up every morning and ask God for help - give all your problems to God and have him carry them. Ask God to help you not think about food, ask him to help you not weigh in every 5 minutes, ask him to stir you away from situations where you will be weak. He is our Lord and Savior and wants to help us!

8. Remind yourself every single day, weight loss is more then going to the gym... you have to eat clean and stay on top of your meals. You can never out run a bad diet.

9. You are beautiful no matter if you weigh 300 pounds or 120 pounds!

10. You are worthy of love no matter if you wear a size 26 jeans or a size 2!

These are just a few of my intimate thoughts, they may not obtain to you... but I wanted to share anyways. You never know who is watching (or reading) and you might not only be changing your life but you might be helping change someone else life!!

I hope you all have a healthy happy Friday!

Lets talk H20

If you are on your weight loss journey right now, I hope and pray you are drinking water! Water is a GREAT way to help with your weight loss... who would have ever guessed that! Do you know how much water you need to be drinking? (See formula below with example).

Now that summer is here, I want to really talk about H2O! Yes it is important to lose weight but it is also important to stay hydrated. If you are working out, running outside, walking outside, heck doing anything outside, please make sure you are drinking more water then you should on a daily basis. I have found myself drinking more and more water over the past week and it is due to me upping my workouts and due to the heat.

Talking about water sounds so silly to me because its something every adult should know to do... but I feel like its also one of the areas of weight loss that isn't talked about that much.

So... WATER WATER WATER!!!!

If you need to, carry around a gallon of water with you. Buy a cute sports bottle to use. Re-use water bottles. Ask for water when  you go out to eat. If you want a soda with dinner, that is okay but also ask for a thing of water so after you drink your soda you can easily switch to water before the waiter brings you a refill. Something I do is, down a 16 ounce glass of water before every meal and then I refill that 16 ounce glass with ice water and drink it throughout my meal. Drinking the water before my meal helps me get fuller faster and it also helps me reach my water intake a lot quicker.

I will admit, I suck at drinking my water on the weekends... At work I am on a schedule so its easier. I have started buying cute sport bottles and have them around every corner. We do not buy any other kind of liquid to drink besides skim milk, which helps me drink my water. And most recently, I have been going to Sonic and when I get my daily diet coke I have been ordering a medium diet coke and a route 44 water.

How much water should I drink?:

Your weight / 2 = ounces of water to intake on a daily basis

If I weighed 100 pounds, divide that by 2 and I should be drinking 50 ounces of water a day.

Remember to up your ounces now that it is summer and HOT outside!!!

Y'all have a healthy happy day!

A killer workout

Have you been looking for a killer workout you can do at home? Well today is your LUCKY day!!! I was finishing up at Lo's today and then she said... "Oh wait, one more thing"... I hate when she says that. Ha!

I call this workout, swimming on dry land! Here is what you do...

1. Lay down on the floor on your stomach (don't you wish it stopped right there? You will wish that in a minute).

2. Start with your upper body 1st. You will move your arms like you are doing a breast stroke in the pool. When your arms start to go out, make sure you pop up your chest... like you would if you were actually swimming. Do this for 30 seconds.

3. Now kick your feet in a flutter movement (without the arms thank God) for 30 seconds.

4. Here is the worst part of it all... Combine both moves and do this for 30 seconds.

5. Wait, I lied... this is the worst part of it all... REPEAT!!!

I was a hot sweaty mess after this. It could have been the tears I was crying begging Lo to stop but I am going to stick with saying it was sweat. My arms and back are sore and it hasn't even been 5 hours.

OUCH!!!

Now... get off your butt and try it!!!

Plans for this week

Last week was my 1st full week back training with Lo and it motivated me to set a really BIG goal for myself. I have decided that by my next weigh in with her (Tuesday June 18th) that I would lose 10 pounds! It is do able but I have to stay very focused and really keep my eye on the prize... I can do this!

This past weekend I really buckled down and stayed focused on my eating and on my working out and it really paid off. This morning I weighed in and I was the exact same as I was on Friday... yes, I would have liked a loss BUT staying the same is way better than the usual 5 pound gain I have every Monday morning. As of today, day 6 of 14 days of wanting to lose 10 pounds, I am down 3 pounds from what I last weighed with Lo. This week I have planned out all of my meals (like usual) and have my workouts scheduled. I may not hit 10 pounds lost but I am going to do everything in my power to get as close to that as I can!

Here is my plan for this week...

Food:

Breakfast - 1/2 cup of egg white beaters and 4 ounces of meat

Snack - 2 servings of fruit with a serving of nuts

Lunch - Wrap with turkey deli meat and veggies

Snack - Protein shake

Dinner - 4 ounces of meat with 2 servings of veggies

Workouts:

Monday -  AM - Elliptical for 30 minutes / PM - Walk for 30

Tuesday - AM - Train with Lo - weights / PM - Caleb's game

Wednesday - AM - Walk for 30 minutes / PM - Spin Class

Thursday - Train with Lo - weights / PM - Walk with my boys

Friday - AM - Row for 30 minutes / PM - Cats baseball game

Saturday - AM - Walk for 1 hour / PM - Hike with Casey and nieces

Sunday - REST

Make a plan for this week and stick to it, I promise you when you do... you will see results!

Weekend Winner

The weekends are the HARDEST part of losing weight for me. I am thrown off my daily schedule, I tend to eat to much and I slack at the gym. Well, come to find out I am not the only one who has this problem! I have teamed up with my gorgeous friend Mandy and we have decided to finally kick the weekends a$$ instead of letting it always kick ours!

We started a fun little competition between the 2 of us called Weekday Winner and decided that we needed to do a Weekend Winner too! Here are the rules...

Weekday Winner:
1. Send the other person a picture of you on the scale each morning - hold you accountable
2. Throughout the day send text or pictures of what you are doing for workouts and what you are eating
3. Keep it uplifting... with some trash talking
4. On Monday set a goal of where you want to be on Friday. The 1st person to reach their goal wins as long as they do not have a gain the rest of the week.

Weekend Winner:
1. Repeat 1, 2 and 3 from Weekday Winner.
2. Use Friday's weight and on Monday, whoever loses the most body % fat wins the weekend!

Prizes:
Bragging rights
$1 prize for each Weekday Winner and Weekend Winner!!!

We started this past Monday and had our 1st Weekday Winner this morning... it was Mandy! She hit her goal yesterday and then lost another 0.2 today. I hit my goal this morning and lost an extra 0.8! She finished out the week with a whopping 8 pound loss and I ended it with a 6.6 pound loss... now to keep it off through the weekend!!!

Mandy, you ready to be beaten by me in the Weekend Winner?!

Sometimes losing weight is hard and it sucks, try and make it fun and have a friend join you!!! Remember, its just life so stop taking everything so seriously.... no one makes it out alive! Lol!!

Have a happy Friday and a healthy weekend!!

Just a few tips

Over the last month or so I have had a lot of people ask me for help with their weight loss and I am more than happy to help out! While on the treadmill today I decided that I would list out a few tips that you could use on your journey. Some may work wonders for you... some may not! All I know is that they work for me and well, this is my blog so...

1. Drink a protein shake 30 minutes before bed every night - This has helped me sleep a lot better then I have before. I think it has to do with being full and my muscles are feeding off the protein and "absorbing" the fat.

2. Workout at least 30 minutes a day. This makes me in a MUCH better mood almost 95% of the time. The other 5% is when I end up hurting myself and then I just get pissy! HA!

3. Watch your sodium intake... sodium is what makes you bloated! I try and stay under 1200mg a day!

4. Water is your friend. Take your weight divide it by 2 and then drink that many ounces of water a day!

5. Do not deprive yourself. If you are hungry eat, try and eat something healthy but eat. Also do not deprive yourself of sweets or treats. Do not eat them all the time but if you are able to have self control and stop after a serving, then go for it.

6. That brings me to this tip... you aren't going to get FAT by eating 1 bad meal and you aren't going to get SKINNY by eating 1 good meal. It takes hard work and time people.

7. Give yourself 4 weeks for yourself to see a change, 8 weeks for your friends and family and 12 weeks for random people you see every so often.

8. Eat your sugars and carbs early on in the day to give your body time to break them down before you go to sleep.

9. Protein is your friend!

10. Have an accountability friend/group of friends. For me I have about 10 people who will randomly text me and turn on my motivation/determination switch.

11. Do not get caught up on being thin, get caught up on being healthy!

12. The scale sucks... I love to weigh however, I know that inches are what matters more than that number on the scale.

13. If you are a girl, just forget about how quickly guys lose weight. Do not let it piss you off. They suck!

14. Eat every couple hours

15. I love diet coke and will never give it up...

Hope this helps you some! Remember EVERYONE is different and what works for me may not work for you. If you ever need help or someone to help hold you accountable, just let me know! This is my passion in life and I am here to help!

Happy June!

Happy Happy June! Can you believe it, June is already here... feels like just yesterday it was Christmas!

I wanted to share a fun website with my followers that I think you will really love, I know I do! http://www.mamalaughlin.com/ Just a warning, this lady is funny as hell and down to earth. Her blog (and instagram) is addicting. With everything she writes and post, she gives me that much more motivation to achieve the goals I have set for myself. Really, go check her out!

This week started my 2 days a week with Lo and my body already hates her (my heart loves her though). I am ready to see a change (again) in my body and I know Lo is the lady to help make that happen. Did you know that when you lift, you gain muscle which helps break down the fat you have in your body? Lifting is a GREAT thing and I encourage you do start lifting sooner than later. Yes skinny is good and all but being strong is so much better... at least in my opinion!

Casey update - Casey has not been working out but he has been eating my cooking (clean eating all the way baby) and he has dropped yet another size in his pants! This just goes to show that losing weight is 80% what you eat. He hasn't lost that much more on the scale but he has lost inches... this goes to show that the number on the scale does NOT mean anything! (I think I need to repeat that to myself daily)

I hope my lovely followers are doing great! Have a happy healthy day y'all...