Cycle 1 Ended Early :(

Day 11 was supposed to end this past Monday, the 25th. However, I had to cut is short. On day 8 (vegetable and salad day), I had a very light breakfast of a few slices of cucumber and tomatoes, then proceeded to an intense workout session of Insanity. BIG MISTAKE. I guess I did not have enough caloric energy in me, therefore I got sick..it was pretty bad..I could barely left myself up due to how weak I was..Lesson here..its probably better to do very light exercise, if any, while on my diet. I ended up eating regular food night. Never has Panda Express tasted so amazingly good!
On the morning of what would have been day 9, I weighed myself. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was at 184! I had lost 10 lbs in 8 days! Boy, was I happy.  I lost half an inch off my arms, and an inch off of my thighs..That was great! Here are a couple of photos that were taken.

I am pretty glad that we stopped early for this first session! Easter Sunday would have been a very tough challenge! We ate merrily with friends from church. I enjoyed every bit if it. We did not start again this week because this coming weekend we were invited to lunch both Saturday and Sunday. So we will be starting on Monday May 2nd again..the day before my birthday! Mike was supposed to take me out to dinner on that night..but I'm thinking we will have to celebrate it Saturday night instead.. I want to jump back on this thing FIRST thing Monday, and I'm looking forward to dropping into the 170s! That'll put me at 30 lbs and 3 cycles away from my minimum acceptance weight of 145 (I say minimum because deep down inside I hope to get down to at least the 130s again!)

Day 6 (Tomorrow) Will Be INSANITY!

Originally, I had said that I would wait until my second cycle to start working out. However, since I've already started getting great results in terms of my weight-loss, I figured "why not maximize on what I am already doing?". So tomorrow morning, I will begin my Insanity workouts.

What is Insanity? It is an awesome 60 day fitness program that uses High Intensity Interval Training, Plyometrics, Cardio, and Resistance training to transform your physical form in ways that the treadmill and elliptical can't. Insanity was created by trainer/athlete Sean T., and sold under the Team Beachbody brand. I first heard about Insanity when I was researching P90X, another fitness program sold under Team Beachbody. Originally, I wanted to do P90X, which is set for 90 day period; but after watching an infomercial for Insanity, I was sold. So Mike got it for me for this past Christmas. I've done some of the workouts since I've had it, but was not motivated enough to be consistent. After these last 5 days of my diet, I've found a whole new motivation for getting on track with Insanity.

So tomorrow, day 6, I start day 1 of diet with Insanity! I'm thinking this will maximize my weight-loss, while building and strengthening my muscles. If it does work, as I think it will, my goal to get back in shape by the end of summer may be cut in half! Let's hope so. I'm really looking forward to the end of this first cycle! I've been weighing myself daily, but haven't been measuring..and quite frankly, I don't really see where the changes are occurring yet. Besides that, I get a few cheat days in between each cycle, and I have been craving sweets and bready carbs! More on that torture another day!

Good night!

Day 5 Has Started In A Happy Way!

Just had my day 5 breakfast and I happily ate my pan fried ham! First thing I did this morning was weigh myself and I was 186.5!!!! 7.5 lbs down in the first 5 days!! Amazing isn't it? And this isn't the kind of weight that will be right back on at the end of the day when you have a full stomach from everything eaten. So far, its been the kind of weight that, even after 4 meals, will still be the same at the end of the night!!!
On Sunday, I was told that you could already see a small difference, and that was after 4 lbs! Mike says he see's a difference in different areas already.

What I love about this diet is that there isn't too much thinking involved :) It's great to have my meals chosen for me, because I am not good at choosing meals for myself. I will admit, some of the combinations have been a little unorthodox, but it works, and that's all I care about.

I won't be taking photos just yet; I'll save that for the end of my first cycle when I update all my stats.

Operation Diet- Day 1 End

Today was my first day on diet with my hubby. I am doing a specific diet, but will not give the diet information until the end of my 2nd cycle, so stay tuned. I want to see results before I start endorsing something. I must say, it was a pretty easy start. I was nervous about the menu at first but I'm thinking this is going to be awesome! I did not exercise today...Half the day Andrew was taking up my time, and didn't really nap too long; the other half was spent on the road going to Lake Forest with hubby and father in law to pick up a car he bought.

Mike says he already sees a difference. I don't believe him, but he says that some bloating has gone down compared to yesterday. Although I won't give details to what diet I am doing, I will tell you that every review I've read basically says that it works like a charm. I originally heard about this from my father in law, who did it himself. Mike says that when Dave (my father in law) was on this diet, he was dropping weight easily week by week. If I can only get the exercise routine down, I should see greater results..but that's an accomplishment to tackle for another day. I'm thinking I will only be doing diet this week, just to see if the raving reviews are right. Then I'll start incorporating exercise next week. :) I'm looking forward to not being disappointed!


So, I will end this blog with my beginning stats. I will be updating this every week. I am still deciding if I want to take photos every week or every 2 weeks. I'm leaning towards every 2 weeks since that is the length of each cycle. But tonight's starting stats are:

Weight: 194

Measurements: 
Chest: 38
Waist: 42
Hips:  44
Arms: 12.5
Thighs: 25

Forgive the shabbiness, I was getting ready to go to sleep but wanted to get a couple of photos in before..I hope I didn't scare anyone reading this too much LOL.

So there you have it. Hopefully when this is done and over with, anyone looking at the "after" photos will see these and respond somewhere along the lines of "WOW, that doesn't even look like you! I do not believe you were ever THAT big!" ....Hehe.
Well, that's all for tonight folks!

Have a good night, and God bless!

My Weight Loss Journey

Today is April 15th, 2011. It is also the first day of my diet, in which I hope to lose about 50 lbs. I'm not sure how long it will take me to get to that point, but its worth tracking to see any progress made. I have plenty of weight to shed from pregnancy.

Before I got pregnant, I was a skinny little thing! At my height of 5'7", I weighed 135 lbs. The funny thing is that back then, I thought I could lose a couple pounds (but that was also because I was modeling, and in that industry, skinnier is always better). I recall getting so depressed the first time I ever hit 150! But now, 45 lbs bigger and with a beautiful baby boy to show for it, I'm ready to get back down in weight; and now, I'd be thrilled to get down to 150 (although my ultimate goal is 140).

Sixty pounds has been added to this, once, skinny little thing. My little munchkin is just over 6 months old now, and I am not seeing any difference. I had started gaining some weight before I got pregnant, and on the day I went to deliver, I weighed 206. WOW, right?! Yeah, you are telling me. So although I've shed 12 lbs on D-day, I still have a whole lot more to go.  Now although I know I will probably never again look like this

or this 

 I would like to at least feel comfortable in my own skin again. I've accepted that motherhood permanently changes things, and I welcome the change with open arms. My son is definitely worth it. However, there is a limit, and I am well past the limit. 

So I'm starting a diet today, with some exercise involved. I am hoping I will see the results I am looking for, and I am thankful that Mike (the hubby) wants to get on this diet with me. Although he is looking for a fraction of what I am looking for in weight loss, that starting boost of encouragement will help me get in the routine of things once he jumps off of it and I am still going. 

So, its time to get the ball rolling! Later today I will post the "before" pictures I took last night, along with my current stats and goals. This is a pretty humbling thing for me, because I've never been used to being overweight, and there was a time that I was very proud of my appearance. To pretty much expose what I am now for anyone to see, actually shows me that I'm losing that ego I once had (and that is a good thing!).  However, I know others who are also having issues losing it, and I'd love to be of some encouragement if it works for me!

God Really DOES Answer Prayers!

Sometimes we think that God doesn't hear us when we pray, or that He is just simply ignoring our prayers. Many will pray and pray and pray for something, but when they don't get it, they get discouraged-even to the point of no longer going to God for anything. Sometimes what we don't realize is that He IS listening, and that HE is in control. God is an all-knowing God, and He knows what you need..and what you don't need.

We currently only have one car, and it is difficult. I've always been used to having my own car, and doing whatever I want or need to do, when I wanted or needed to do it. That hasn't been so for a while. This past summer I had to get rid of my car..my precious new Altima, because we could not afford it if we were going to get ourselves out of the financial hole we put ourselves in to in a year with only one income. About a month before I had to give up my car, my husband Mike was practically given a car for free. Now this wasn't the newest or coolest car. It was a 1988 Dodge Lancer (yes, you read correctly..DODGE Lancer..not Mitsubishi..never heard of it? Neither had I until we got it)...and it was manual transmission. Did I mention I have never driven stick in my life? Well, I had never driven stick in my life. You could imagine my "joy" at having to give up my "precious" car, only to get an old one that I couldn't even drive. My mindset has changed now,  but at the time it seemed like I was the unhappiest person you could imagine.

A couple of months ago, we set a new goal; to get a mini-van. I always said I would NEVER be a mini van..it was SUV only for me. However, being as economically minded as I now am, I'd rather get all the space for less (price and gas-wise). Now the goal is to get a minivan. We would get our finances straight, then buy a new(er) van. Sounded great, but I'm a somewhat impatient person (one thing I am really working on). I'm literally counting down till we can get one. Recently an unexpected opportunity came up. An acquaintance of Mike's had a minivan he could no longer afford. He still owed a couple thousand, and asked Mike if he'd like to take over the payments, and then  have the title once paid. You could imagine my excitement at the opportunity. I think I said yes before Mike finished telling me what I thought about the situation. Mike, being the calm and rational one that he is, told me not to get too excited. He reminded me that we need to pray about it to see if it is God's will (I am very thankful that the Lord has given me the man that I have..he truly is my better half..my less impulsive better half..unless it has to do with food LOL). So we began to pray. Meanwhile, the acquaintance..we'll call him M, was going to be gone for a few days. One thing he mentioned to Mike was that he was behind on payments, but would pay the past due if we decided to take it. In my head, this seemed like a no-brainer, but I just prayed about it. Mike would continually pray that if this is God's will for us, that it will be smoothly. He also prayed that if it isn't, for God to make it an obvious impossibility. So far everything seemed like it would go smoothly. They talked everything out, and M told Mike he'd bring the van midweek so that I could test drive it and see if I liked it. If I did, we'd probably have it by the end of the week. The day I would see our future van came, and I wanted to go first thing in the morning. However, my little munchkin was sleeping, and I do not like disrupting his naps. So, I told Mike I'd go with him after lunch to look at it.

A couple of hours later, Mike calls me to let me know that M did not go to work. Turns out, the van was repossessed the night before. You would think I'd be disappointed, but my response was laughter. We were praying for an obvious answer from God about whether the van would be right for us or not. I could not have imagined any answer more clearer than the van not being available anymore!

I'm thankful that things turned out the way they did. Although we did not get the answer we may have hoped for, we know that God probably has a better idea for us, so we will trust in him! We decided we would just stay focused on the first goal at hand, which was to get debt free. THEN, we'll get a van. Hopefully, this fall we will have our van, unless of course, God has other plans! :)