2 years and counting - Knee Surgery

2 years ago (on Saturday to be exact) I had reconstructive knee surgery that forever changed my life and put me on a new journey in my weight loss!

When I 1st started my weight loss journey in late 2009/early 2010 I fell in love with running. It started out as a chore and quickly became a way for me to release and escape from the world. Within a year, I ran about 30 something 5k's (I have the t-shirts to prove it) and I finished with my last race being a 10k... I ran the whole damn thing!!! Then, I injuired my knee AGAIN!!

Yes, I said again. You see, I injuired my knee in high school when I was a cheerleader and had to have surgery back then. Well, to piss my mom off I decided to skip out on rehab... haha joke was on me! Then I gained a bunch of weight, lost it by running and the surgery just didnt hold up.

My knee ended up giving out and the doctor said I had 2 options... I could either have a reconstructive surgery or I could have it replaced. I was 26 years old at the time and didnt want a knee replacement so reconstructive it was. I made the doctor promise me I would not have to give up running, but he wouldnt promise but said he would do the best he could.

Fast foward to after surgery and the 1st thing I remember hearing from the doctor was that I should never run again... everything else he said that day was a waste of his breath because I didnt hear a word. I couldnt run every again!!! I was going to get fat again and all my hard work would be for nothing! I was devestated!!!

Casey told me later that he said my knee problem was something I was born with. When I was born my cap was not in place and it would pop out. They had to take a hamstring and tie down the cap. They also had to shave off some arthritis (I have more than a 80 year old) and then chisel off my shin and scoot it over and bolt it back down... ouch!

This sent me into a dark depression that took months for me to pull myself out of. I had just started dating Casey and on top of my depression, we were going out to eat a lot. I had to learn how to walk again (this time I went to rehab) and it took a while... I felt like a failure. I was gaining weight quickly and I went from running a 10k to sitting on a spinning chair learning how to scoot down a hall way! Wow!

Heck I am tearing up just thinking about all those dark thoughts I had about myself. How I was a failure. How I went from being on top of my life to being at my lowest of lows. How I couldnt even hold my son because he was scared I was going to drop him, and I probably would have. Man it was a dark time in my life for sure.

Fast forward again to early 2013 when I found a recipe for some sweet potatoes using dry ranch seasoning from a girl named Brittany Eats Clean. I started following her and when I did, my entire life started changing. Brittany is not magic, she didnt come to my house to slap me and pull me out of my depression, she wasnt there to call me to make sure I was staying on track... no, she just was honest and posted about her struggles and achievements and helped me believe (through her post) that I was worth it again. She talked about lifting weights and how cardio is not the only way to lose weight (THANK GOD) and it helped changed my life!!!

During my depression I gained about 50 pounds back of what I had lost from running. Today I am back down to my before surgery weight (give or take a few pounds) and I feel healthier than I did because of lifting weights. No, I dont run anymore but I do eat clean (the majority of the time) and I do lift weights and I am no longer depressed!!!

Depression is a serious thing and should never be taken lightly. If you are depressed, please find someone to talk to... no one should EVER feel that way about themselves and I know that when you find that one person who shows you the light at the end of the tunnel, you will be happy again.

I am here to say that I over came my depression and while I hated going through it, I am happy I did because it has made me a stronger woman in the long run. Physically and emotionally!!!

Making a plan "Easter" weekend

Is Thursday to early to start dreaming of the weekend? Actually I have been dreaming of the weekend since Monday so... Since it is TBT and I am talking about Easter today, here are a few of my favorite photos from Caleb's 1st Easter!!!

This weekend we are celebreating Easter with our little man (he will be at his Dad's house Easter weekend) and so I have to plan ahead if I am going to stick to my LiveFit program.

The 1st week of LiveFit, there are 3 rest days. Well, I am not a newby to this program or to working out and I really dont need 3 rest days so I am going to just rest on Sunday and keep on trucking. Plus if I rest now, I am scared I will fall off the band wagon and "hate" myself later for it.

My Plan:
Today - LiveFit Phase 1 Day 3 (Legs & Calves)
Friday - AM boot camp has been cancelled, my trainer is sick (boo) so I am going to do LF P1D4 (Shoulders & Abs) in the morning before work
Saturday - Easter with Caleb & the family followed by LF P1D8 (Chest & Triceps) at the gym that afternoon.
Sunday - I will rest LF P1D5,6 & 7
Monday - AM Boot Camp & LF P1D9 (Back & Biceps) on lunch

So basically I am just not resting as many days as the program has listed out but I am still doing the workouts in the order they are listed.

As for Easter candy that Caleb gets on Saturday... Y'all remember the Switch Witch that paid him a visit for Halloween (http://www.fitbyjordan.blogspot.com/2013/10/switch-witch.html)? Well, we are going to have the Funny Bunny pay him a visit on Saturday night. The concept is that he can save 5-10 pieces of candy to eat and the rest will need to be left out over night for the Funny Bunny to pick up while he sleeps. When he wakes up, the candy is gone and the Funny Bunny leaves him a toy in place of the candy.

I am doing this for him and for me... he doesnt need all that sugar and I dont either. We will send all the Funny Bunny candy to the security guards at mine and Casey's work (they love it). Why torture myself with having all that candy in the house? Just doesnt make sense to me... and before you ask why I buy it in the 1st place, I dont!!! His Easter Basket is filled with everything except candy. He will get candy when we go to the Easter egg hunt this weekend and that is the candy the Funny Bunny will pick up. Plus my kid is use to not having sweets in the house so its really not a huge deal for him.

Funny story, for Halloween he picked 5 pieces of candy and one of those were a sucker. Well, he kept that sucker for about 4 months before he ended up just throwing it away. He just doesnt care about candy, which is a GREAT thing for this momma!!!

Well I hope you all have a happy & healthy Thursday!!!

Dang Kid!

So if you follow me on Facebook, you know that yesterday I didnt wanna go to the gym... BUT... my 4 year old called me out and I ended up going!!!

My son is going to his Dad's the weekend of Easter so we are celebrating Easter this weekend. That means, the Easter Bunny has to prepare and lunch time is the only time to prepare without little eyes watching. Lunch time on Tuesdays and Thursdays is usually the time I go to the gym, well yesterday (Tuesday) I went to Hobby Lobby instead. Hobby Lobby on lunch = no gym on lunch. Oops!!!

Funny thing about the gym, it is attached to my son's school. As I walk by the gym, I walk by his classroom window and he sees me and waves... it is something we both enjoy! It is GREAT accountability. Well, yesterday he didnt see me.  When I walked in the doors to pick him up, his class was headed to the playground and he yelled "Mom why didnt you workout today, do you not care if you get fat?"

Fast forward 3 minutes, I am walking back in the door with my gym back (while he is playing on the playground with his class) to go workout. Way to go Caleb for calling me out!!!!

Well, this morning was boot camp (shoulders and cardio) and then I had some personal things to do over lunch and I still need to go back to the gym for LiveFit Phase 1 Day 2 (back and biceps). I talked to Caleb this morning and told him I wouldnt be by at lunch time but for him to remind me this afternoon that I need to go to the gym. He is pretty good at not forgetting so hopefully having a 4 year old remind me, will help make me go!

It is such a struggle to go workout after working all day. I love my morning and lunch time workouts... they are my fave!

Make sure you have an accountability partner... even if they are 4 years old!!!

Screw Monday

I have decided to say screw Monday! Why, because it is the day everyone says "Well my diet will start Monday..."  or "Oh that sounds like a great idea, I am going to wait until next Monday to start that."

No more people, you are not promised another Monday! Get up and do it today!!!

With that being said, I have decided to start another 12 weeks of LiveFit... next Monday. Haha just kidding... I am starting tomorrow!!!

The reason I am not starting today is because I have already had my gym seesh and I didnt follow what Jamie has on the plan. So, tomorrow is the golden day!!!

Food wise, I am already eating clean based off the LiveFit menu so I am good to go in that area. I can clean it up a bit more and be a little bit more hardcore next week when I go grocery shopping, but for now I am going to finish out what with the groceries we just bought. Menu below.

I will blog updates with the 12 weeks and hope that some of you will also join along with me (if you do, I would love to hear updates from you also).

Some might wonder, how does LiveFit and my morning boot camps fit together... well to be honest, they kinda don't. When I am with my trainer, I do more all over body training and I am going to do everything she says to do (because, well I am paying her and I am scared to death of her... hahaha just kidding, unless this is Lo reading this then yes I am so scared, shaking in my boots scared of you). When I am working out over lunch and on the weekends, I will focus on LiveFit and what Jamie has written out for me.

Menu for this week:
Breakfast - 3 eggs with bell peppers
Snack - Banana & Peanut Butter
Lunch - Turkey Burger (no bun) and Sweet Potato Fries
Snack - Protein Shake
Dinner - Turkey Chili
Snack - Protein Shake

Alright, there you go... now say it with me, SCREW MONDAY!!! Haha!!!

I hope you are all having a happy & healthy day!

We all do it, so why not blog about it...

Let’s talk about poop baby, let’s talk about you and me, let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that could be… let’s talk about poop!!!

And for those of you who just sang that, you get 1000 dollhairs!

Alright, seriously let’s talk about something that makes all the girls cringe and all the boys laugh… let’s talk about poop!

It is something we all do so just chill out… heck you might be pooping right now while reading this!!!

This is an area of my life that I have always struggled with. I have never had normal bowel movements… ever! They have been so bad that I remember being admitted to the hospital for stomach pains only to have the doctor tell my parents that I am “full of sh*t… literally”. Go ahead and laugh, I will wait.

Now as a grown up, I can go 3-5 days without going to the bathroom and it sucks!!! They said when I switched to a healthy life style things would get better… they lied! My husband, will eat a meal and then within the hour he is MIA (usually found in the bathroom). He sucks and I am so jealous of his mad skills.

And when I do go #2 (saying that made me feel like I was in elementrary school again) it comes like you just opened the damn at the river and doesn’t stop for about a day. I hate living like this. I have been to the doctor and I have had medicine to help me. I eat a clean diet. I workout. I drink my water. I get enough sleep. I just don’t poop (that much).

I got to thinking… does anyone else (besides my mom, hi mom) have this problem?

Do you know if your poop is healthy? Here is a good chart to help you determine just that and it might make you chuckle too…

Back to Boot Camp

My 1^st workout back at 5:30 am boot camp was a GREAT one!!! Here is what we did…

Ran/Jogged up and down a hill (about 1/8^th of a mile)

25 Hammer Curls with 8 pound weights

10 Leg Lifts with a ball between our feet

10 Leg Lifts passing the ball back and forth between your legs and arms

10 Reverse Crunches with ball between knees

24 Walking Lunges while doing Bicep Curls (I did Walking Squats instead)

REPEAT 4 times through!!!

Afterwards, we finished up with this:

25 One Legged Hops (25 on each leg)

25 Roll Outs (Lay on your back, put  your heels on a ball, lift your hips up and roll the ball back and forth)

25 Booty Lifts (feet staying on the ball)

25 Jumping Plank Jacks (on elbows)

25 Mountain Climbers

Stretched

The only part I really didnt like of being back at boot camp was having to see my trainers disappointing face when I weighed and measured... It wasnt pretty (compared to where I was the start of Feb) but it is what it is and I am back now. I can promise you this, come the start of May I will be back to where I was if not even better... March was a hard month and very hectic but it is over now and I am back to my routine!!

It was a great workout for sure!!! And now I am headed back to the gym on my lunch break to burn a few more calories with a couple booty and belly exercises.

I hope you are all having a happy & healthy Tuesday!!!!

No Cheats April

The fire is FINALLY back and I feel better than ever… and that is NO April fools joke!!!

Saturday night I had a mental breakdown in my closet and it looked like hulk went crazy with my clothes. I couldn’t find anything to wear because everything was tight. I will admit it, I have gained some weight since my wedding because I have been so relaxed with eating and working out… heck I could count my workouts on one hand for the month of March.

The breakdown could have either depressed me or re-light my fire… glad it was the latter one! I am not about to go back to my old way of living! Then Sunday my photographer brought over 500 photos from the wedding and I was in awe of how I looked. Not because I am vain but because I couldn’t believe that was really me. All my life I dreamed of looking that good on my wedding day and it happened, I made it happen. Seeing those photos was just the push I needed (along with Saturdays episode) to push me back on track.  

Yesterday I made good choices all day, even turning down Hobby Lobby for the gym and turning down a Nutter Butter that Caleb offered me. I went to the grocery store, stocked up on food and spent the evening cooking all mine and Casey’s meals!

Also, I made a pact with 2 of my best friends that April will be a NO CHEATS month. Yep, you read that right… the month of April, I have decided to not have any cheat meals or any sugary treats. I will still have my diet cokes but only after I finish my water intake each day. I also will not cheat myself out of my workouts. I will work out Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays with my trainer at 5:30 am… Tuesdays and Thursdays I will go on my lunch break and hit the weight room… Saturdays I will team up with Casey and make sure we get some kind of workout in, whether it is at the gym or walking the trails by the lake.

Oh and to keep me motivated, I have set an appointment with my photographer to trash my wedding dress!!! Yep, exactly 5 weeks from tomorrow, I will have to slip back into my gown so I can trash it. It is time to get serious again and to not lose that motivation after the photo shoot. I am a goal driven person so I will continue to make small goals every couple months so I can always be striving towards something. I will not go back, I won’t, I refuse to!!!

I hope you all have a happy and healthy Tuesday!!!