Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Non-Food Rewards



Need I say more? Probably not but I will. Growing up we are taught that food = reward. Graduate high school: Go out to dinner. Win a baseball game: Go for pizza. Get an A in school: Get a candy bar. So when it comes to weight loss it's no wonder that for most of us in the beginning, we think "Lose 10lbs, eat a pepperoni pizza". Well I'm here to tell you, that's not how it goes with THESE accomplishments. How counterintutive is it to reward weight loss with food??

I am guilty of this exact thing in the beginning!! My boyfriend and I used to have a competition in the beginning who could lose more weight and whoever lost more had the option to get a massage or get taken out to breakfast. After a while, I started questioning what kind of sense that made! Put that to a halt.

We need to celebrate in other ways!

When I reached my 50lbs mark, I walked 7 miles to my in laws. When I lost 75lbs I bought myself flowers. When I lost 90lbs I went right to Turbo Kick and Body Pump at the gym and kicked some ass.  And several other celebrations in between. My friend Dani at Weight Off My Shoulders shares her non-food rewards here. I saw someone on Facebook the other day say that her husband bought her a ring to celebrate her weight loss that she wears on her "Fork hand" as a symbol of where she came from and where she is never going back. I love ideas like this! I have friends who celebrate by walking/running 5Ks, trying something new in the gym, buying new workout clothes (My personal favorite reward!), and so on.

So if food is your reward, I'm challenging you to stop thinking of food as a reward and celebrate with something that is going to help you to continue to reach your future goals!!

With that being said....my 100lbs lost mark is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER and I have to figure out how I am going to celebrate!!!! I know when I get to my goal of 105lbs lost, I am getting a new tattoo and having a little night out with my friends to celebrate but I still have to celebrate 100lbs gone! Hmmm.......

What kind of non-food celebrations do you reward yourself with for your accomplishments???  Share!!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Off The Cuff

I have no idea where this blog is heading...I'm just typing!!! I lost THREE....yes count them 1...2...3...pounds this week and I am ecstatic about it!!!! As most of you know, I have been verrryyyy slow and steady the past couple of months and can't remember the last time I saw a loss like that! SOOO this puts me at 99 pounds GONE FOREVER!!!! I can't even express how I feel about that. I can't wait to reach that 100lb mark (hopefully next week!) but at the same time, I am just soaking in these last few moments of wishing, waiting, working so hard for that 3 digit number! It has been a LONG TIME COMING!!!

I am still 6lbs away from goal however. But I will get there!!!

I remember clearly the day I decided to lose weight. I was in the car with my boyfriend and our 3 month old daughter on the way home from his parents' house and I said "Dang babe...I am fat...I need to do something about this. I'm not going to raise Elliana up with these habits of mine." and he said "There is nothing to it but to do it". On that very car ride home we decided that starting the next day we were going to start losing weight together and whoever lost the most each week would get a massage from the other person (That didn't last long once I started losing the most EVERY week! LOL!) I knew how to lose weight since I had lost a good amount in high school (That I had only gained back) so I started out by just cutting my portions and making healthier choices. After a week of doing it on my own, I knew what had to be done. I knew I needed Weight Watchers. I knew because I have seen it work.

My baby girl and I right before starting WW

 The very next week I joined Weight Watchers and I have never looked back.

Here we are about a month ago.
And to think that I set out to just be under 200lbs!! I found pictures of myself from high school when I had lost some weight and said "I just want to look like this again"......well I'm here to tell you that I have long surpassed that goal!

Here is one of the pics that I said I wanted to look like!!
I truly did not know the turns my life was about to take when I set out to lose weight! I just wanted to shed some pounds and move on with my life as a mommy and girlfriend and all the regular things in life. I never wanted to be an "inspiration" or "motivation" or even a fitness addict but yet, here I am. I am welcoming this life with open arms. The past year and a half have been nothing short of incredible in all aspects of my life.

What once seemed like such a far off goal, is now within my grasps. Goal is seriously SO CLOSE!!!!  could cry, I could scream, I could do some more happy dancing but none of that would even begin to express how I am feeling at this time. I can't imagine how I am going to feel on that glorious day when I see my GOAL WEIGHT on the scale.

I did a little poll on my FB page yesterday asking where everybody was from and I realized that I have followers from ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!!! Little ol' me from Egg Harbor Township, NJ is inspiring and connecting with people from Australia, Ireland, England, Canada, Scotland, and all across America from California to the New York Island. All I can say is WOW.

I truly believe that God has given me a gift that he wants me to share with the world and I'm not sure that it stops at just weight loss. I'm an onion, I have layers and this is just the beginning.

PRAISE GOD!!!! I would be nothing without His blessings.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for sharing this life changing journey with me.

Friday, February 24, 2012

A little about Simply Filling and some other randomness

Wow, I have been a horrible blogger!!! I have my FB page that I started a couple months ago (Facebook.com/skinnyjeansdreams) and since I can so easily speak my mind on there when I think it, it seems I have less to blog about! I have to start saving some goodies for my blog, after all this IS my baby!!!

Many people have been asking about Simply Filling technique with Weight Watchers. I have been following it now for two weeks, although last week I went pretty off plan with Valentines Day and ended up gaining a little weight. I did Simply Filling again this week and I love it. I will know if I really love it when I see what the scale says but here is the gist:
  • Eat strictly power foods - foods with the green triangle next to them. 
    • i.e. whole grains, fruits, vegetables, non fat dairy products, etc... 
  • If you eat something that isn't a power food, subtract it from your weekly points allowance of 49. 
  • Eat only when you're physically hungry and stop when you're satisfied. This is the most important part. 
  • They encourage you to track anyway and most days I have been but you don't HAVE to. 
Here is a link with some more details
Here is a list of power foods

With PointsPlus 2012, you now have the option to follow this plan one or two days out of the week if you want or whatever is convenient for you! I vowed to give it a month to see how it works in the long run for me because FOR ME, this seems like it would be easier for me for maintenance.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!! If you are not to the point in your journey that you are able to stop eating and acknowledge that you are satisfied before you're full then this plan is not for you. If you're not able to tell the difference between physical hunger and boredom/emotional/just because eating, then this plan is probably not for you. IN MY OPINION, this plan is for those who have been on Weight Watchers for a while and have actually learned and engrained the lessons that WW teaches you with portion control. For me, I feel like the light bulb just went off recently and everything I have been doing for the last year and a half just CLICKED. That's why I feel Simply Filling is for me. But I will find out in the long run if that is truly the case!! 

With that being said, we are going to the buffet tonight and I realized that I now have a different outlook on buffets. I used to be terrified of them just knowing that I would get off plan or end up having some fried foods and mac and cheese but when my boyfriend asked if I wanted to go tonight, my instant thought was "YES! All the veggies and fish and power foods I could ask for without having to lift a finger in the kitchen!"

Isn't that crazy??? It's crazy to me anyway. haha.

Random NSV: The other day my boyfriend was picking up our daughter and throwing her over his shoulder then he put her down and picked ME up and did the same thing LOL! I never thought I'd see the day where I got thrown over a shoulder. haha

I don't think I mentioned on here that I cut my hair!! Last Saturday I chopped it off. It was time for a change.


I am officially trained to work a non-center Weight Watchers meeting now! I have to finish some online testing but I have completed my 3 training sessions. I love working for them! Last night after the meeting, the leader gave me such an awesome compliment. I had put in my two cents during the meeting and to one of the new members after and the leader said "Wow Krystle, you really have some great things to say. You are going to be a great asset to this company" .....well if that didn't make me feel good, I don't know what will!! :)



This weekend I promise more in depth posts!!

Krystle

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

In the mean time!

I promise to blog soon!!! It's been a hectic week. Make sure you're following me on FB at Facebook.com/skinnyjeansdreams for daily goods. Just got home from training at Weight Watchers after working all day and I'm just BEAT!!

Blog to come soon, in the mean time:

Sunday, February 19, 2012

My Fitness Journey To Date.

Gooooood Sunday Morning!!! How are ya??!

Soo it's another week. Yesterday, I weighed in and gained 0.4lbs and I was more than okay with it! (See previous blog). I just have a new outlook on this journey. I read recently, "This race doesn't have a finish line, just laps on a different track. Stop running so fast. Slow down, and take in the lessons along the way" 

With that being said, I am full focused this week and in the weeks ahead. I picked out what will be my final weight loss reward to myself when I reach my goal. No, you can't know. Lol. You will see it when I get it!! But let's just say it's more motivation to PUSH!

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I was asked by a reader to blog about my journey with fitness so here it is. It has been a roller coaster journey. Many of you have been following me for some time and know that I always have a new fitness adventure. I get bored very easily, I get distracted very easily, and I am always trying something new - most of the time before I finish the last thing. This probably isn't my best quality BUT...the thing that is important is that I am always moving and I am always challenging myself.

In the beginning, I would walk on the treadmill on occasion, then stop for a longer occasion....then start a little here, a little there, but never stayed consistent.


Then I bought Zumba for the Wii in about January 2011. I fell in love with working out. I woke up every morning to do it and when I started, I would say "Wow I never sweat like that in my life" (LOL makes me laugh now....little did I know......muuahahaha)


I then became a fan of a page on FB called Nicole's Weight Loss Challenges (Definitely check it out! New challenge starts tomorrow!!) When I started participating in those challenges I would see all kinds of workouts that people were doing and I was always so curious! I started buying workout DVD's like a madd woman! I bought Leslie Sansone Walk at Home DVD's and found myself impressed that I was walking 5 miles with Leslie! I bought kettlebell DVD's and really learned about some new muscles. I have Wii Active Personal Trainer that I used to make custom workouts for. I would go on Netflix and find any kind of dance workouts they had on there.



Last year, when they announced the Weight Watchers Walk-It Challenge 5K, I decided I was going to train to run it. I started out doing really well, got up to running 7 minutes at a time.........PAUSE

One day, I saw Nicole mention that she had just completed a Turbo Fire workout and I was completely intrigued. The NEXT DAY, I saw it on an infomercial and an hour later I was on the computer ordering it. Turbo Fire became my soul mate workout. I fell in love immediately. The first day I couldn't complete the first workout, Fire 30. I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. But it was so much fun, I kept pressing PLAY. After a few days of Turbo, I was in the middle of a workout and fell and twisted my ankle, or so I thought. It turned out to be a small fracture that to this day I have just lived with. Needless to say, that put a damper on my running.

But I did complete the Weight Watchers 5K with a power walk:


Eventually I got better enough to start walking again and I was back to doing Turbo Fire with low impact modifications. Once I got myself back to jogging a little bit, I went out for a jog with my family one day, just to be stopped in my tracks by back pain. This was in about September 2011. I was out again. 

I spent weeks going to the chiropractor and eventually he said I could get back on the elliptical.

Since then, I have had no more injuries, thank God, and continue to do whatever floats my boat for a given day! I started INSANITY in the beginning of the year and I loved it. Once my daughter ended up in the hospital for a week and my calendar got off track, I decided to put it on hold for a bit.

One day after Insanity!
 Recently I ordered Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, which is a great quick workout. But again, not something I am following a calendar for.  

I am back to running and finally have been able to complete a mile of straight running. I run, I do the elliptical, I lift weights, I do 30 day shred, I do Turbo Fire, Insanity, Leslie, Kettlebells, etc etc etc........


Can you see the pattern??? 

Life happens. I have a full time job, I am a full time mother, a part time student, I just picked up a part time job, as well as maintaining family life BUT I always make sure to make time for fitness. I always am willing to try something new and I am always challenging myself to reach new levels. I may not always stick to a certain schedule or a certain workout but I think that that is what has worked for me! If I feel obligated to do something, it makes me less likely to do it but I enjoy sweating, so if Monday I want to get on the elliptical, Tuesday I want some Insanity, and Wednesday I want to lift weights then so be it!!

That's what works for KJB. Find what works for YOU!! 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Quinoa Porridge Recipe

Hey guys! Just a really quick post I wanted to share with you. I found this recipe for quinoa porridge yesterday on a FB page called, The Nut.

I made it this morning and it came out SUPER yummy and SUPER filling!!! I'm not sure on the PP value because I am doing Simply Filling right now but it is all power foods.


2 servings

-1/2 cup quinoa
-1 1/4 cups milk
-1 cup water
-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Cook and stir quinoa on stovetop (no liquid in pan) for 3 min until toasted & fragrant.
2. Stir in milk, water, & cinnamon. Boil, reduce heat.
4. Cover and cook about 25 minutes, until quinoa is tender.
5. Drizzle with honey, milk, and fruit if desired, enjoy!


Enjoy!!!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A little unexpected ice cream:: A life lesson.

I seriously have so much to talk about all the time that by the time I get a chance to blog, I can't organize my thoughts and end up not blogging at all!! Sheesh!! I have a friend who jokes that if you were able to look inside his brain you would see a constant ticker, you know like the ones on Wall Street?, of information that he is constantly thinking about. That's how MY brain works too!! It is constantly on over drive. LOL!

My brain.....minus the stock information LOL! 

Anyway, I have many blogs that I want to share with you and stuff coming up once I can diligently organize my thoughts into words but today I want to share with you a lesson that I learned this week.

1st let me say, I am a beautiful WORK IN PROGRESS and I am proud of it. I am constantly learning new things about weight loss, about life, and about myself. This week I learned a little something about the three combined and a little thing called BALANCE. 

On Saturday I came home from Weight Watchers and told my boyfriend about how I was changing to the Simply Filling technique (Another blog for another time!!) and that I think it will help me to reach my goal. I won't bore you with the details of the argument that followed but basically he expressed to me that I had been becoming obsessed with my weight loss, that's all I talk about, that's all I think about, and it's becoming an unhealthy obsession.

WHAT??!! I was so upset. I went in the other room and cried my eyes out. How could something HEALTHY become something UNHEALTHY??! An unhealthy OBSESSION, at that? I was so angry at him. I felt like I had lost my biggest supporter and my biggest fan. I blogged on Weight Watchers about it expressing how hurt I was and lost as to what to do or say and as usual, my Weight Watchers family showed up when I needed them most!!


It turns out that this is a very common problem among couples that one of them are on this journey, and the other is taking a different path. I got so many responses saying that they had been through the same with their significant other.


Here is some of the advice I received:
  • Shut up. LOL Not in so many words but maybe just give him a Weight Watchers BREAK! Use the WW community to talk about it because that's what they are thinking about too! 
  • Take a step back and look at it through his eyes. If he talked about stocks and natural gas all day every day, would you still care? Probably not.
  • Take one day a week that you don't talk about weight loss AT ALL. 
  • Take a deep breath.....okay.....now own up to the fact that you probably ARE a bit obsessed. We all are!! 
That last one made me open my eyes a bit. Maybe I was obsessed. Okay, I am obsessed. But is it unhealthy??? So my boyfriend and I had a long talk and expressed our feeling towards each other. In the days following, I worked on biting my tongue when it came to things such as Weight Watchers and weight loss unless he brought it up.

Last night was when the real lesson set in and the light bulb went off! 

We didn't have plans for Valentines Day and I wasn't expecting much. I was going to make dinner like I do most nights and watch Biggest Loser like any other Tuesday night. But my honey came home with roses in his hand, lobster tail, opened a bottle of red wine, and asked me if I wanted to go on a date tomorrow night as well.


The dinner I had prepared was all power foods and I stopped when I was satisfied so I was doing good. I decided to cancel my plans to workout during The Biggest Loser (since I already got in 2 workouts yesterday) and instead spend time with Nick. After the baby went to bed, he proceeded to open a second bottle of wine. By then, I had finished 2 glasses. What I also saw was this:





I started to think about how many Points I would be consuming between the ice cream and the wine and I had already been pushing my limit for the week with a date still planned for tomorrow but you know what??

I just said IT DOESN'T MATTER.

Maybe I AM a little obsessed and maybe I just need to chill out! Not saying get off track every day but not everything has to revolve around weight loss. Life still is waiting to be lived. So I enjoyed my 3rd glass of wine, a small scoop of ice cream, and I didn't beat myself over it not one bit. I actually celebrated the fact that I have gotten this far and lost almost 100lbs by having days like that, going out on dates, and having days where I fall off plan a little bit but getting back up every time I fall.

My honey never meant to hurt my feelings the other day but I'm kinda glad he did. He made me open my eyes and remember that life isn't ALL ABOUT WEIGHT WATCHERS or weight loss.

Now, of course I am right back on track today and will always continue to strive for my goals. I'm just glad he bursted my bubble a little bit and took me down a notch. :)

Just like life isn't ALL about FOOD, life isn't ALL about weight loss either.

Life is about enjoying the people around you and appreciating the time you have together, even if it includes some unexpected wine and ice cream.

Friday, February 10, 2012

A slew of things, a ton of awesomeness.

I get bored. And I get wrapped up in new things before I finish the last thing, which is why I am constantly changing my fitness regimen. First of all, let me say that I have not given up on Insanity. When I ended up in the hospital a couple weeks ago with my baby girl and wasn't able to complete the workouts, I decided to just press pause for a little bit with that. I plan to restart it after I reach my goal weight (which hopefully will be in the next several weeks!!) I believe it will work better for ME as a maintenance regimen.

The one constant about me is that I never STOP working out. Even though I change my regimen constantly, I am always doing SOMETHING and at the end of the day, I suppose that's the most important part!

Okay....so lots to talk about today!!! I will try to be brief, mainly because I have a short attention span and know that I can't sit and read really long blogs!



1st day working at WW: A lot of work!! I worked at a travel location so EVERYTHING was done by hand. No computers. I'm a child of this generation so thank God for calculators! ha! It was really cool being on the other side of the scale though and celebrating losses with members. Although, it is definitely hard to tell people they gained - that was my least favorite part. I don't know if it works the same in a meeting center location but we were there for a long time after the meeting! I got there at 4:15 and left at about 7:30. I was pooped!!

One thing that was REALLY cool is that there is a blind woman who attends the meetings at the location I worked at and the leader surprised her yesterday with a Pocket Guide all in Braille and audio recordings of all the handouts that we get for when you lose your 5%, 10%, setting goals, and so on. I was also impressed that this woman was so determined to workout, she asked us if we knew of any good audio CD's that would explain to her in detail the workouts she needs to be doing - DEDICATION!


The lovely, Miss Dacia! I absolutely love being able to meet other Weight Watchers who I have known through the cyber world for so long and give them a big ol' HUG!! I was able to do that a few weeks ago with Ms. Bitch Cakes and now I was able to do that with Dacia!! We have been friends for a while on twitter, through blogging, and the WW page and I adore her!! She was in town for a wedding so of course we had to get together! She is SUCH an inspiration, having lost over 100lbs!! Her and her hubby are just complete sweethearts. Sad I only had a short amount of time to hang out but we used our time to burn some calories by walking and chatting. Check out her blog. She used to be Thirty Three and Counting but NOW...she is Thirty Four and *OH SO* Fabulous!!


Fitness Assessment: My boyfriend's job offered him and his spouse....that would be me.....a membership at a local gym for 60 days for $60. The membership included two fitness assessments and two personal training sessions. I had the first assessment on December 15th, 2011 and the second assessment today - 2 months later. I was completely SHOCKED by the improvements!! At the first assessment, I was impressed with myself at how fit I was but today I expected to be about the same - I was wrong. Here are the results:

The rankings are based on other women my same age. 

Overall Fitness: 
December: Average 
February: Above average 

Weight (according to their scale):
December: 161.0
February: 157.0
Change:  -4lbs

Fat Weight: 
December: 47.7
February: 43.8
Change: -8% body fat (Can I get a whoop whoop!!!!)

Treadmill: 
December Rank: 70 (Above Average)
February Rank: 76 (Above Average)
Change: 9% improvement 

Curl-Ups: 
December: 36 reps (Above Average: Rank 68) 
February: 41 reps (Above Average: Rank 75) 
Change: 10% improvement 

Push-Ups (This is the EXCITING one for me!):
December: 25 reps (Above Average: Rank 78)
February: 33 reps (WELL Above average!!! Rank: 90) 
Change: 15% improvement!
One last thing - not that I have ever had high blood pressure, thank God, even my blood pressure IMPROVED since December!!!!

Overall fitness 

The dark bars are all the tests done today in comparison to December.

Finally, I ran into an old friend today at the gym. We were in a group in high school together and literally saw each other and spent time together several days a week for years. I haven't seen her in years and when I ran into her today she had NO IDEA who I was! I had to introduce myself by first and last name before she almost fell out on the ground astonished at how much weight I had lost! She told me I looked younger (not that I'm old...but that's still pretty cool) and that I even sound different LOL! It was so cool seeing her after so long and especially flattering at her reaction to seeing me. :) Makes me anxious for whenever I have a class reunion! haha 

Weigh in is tomorrow and I am hoping for the best but accepting whatever the scale has to say! I have had TONS of NSV's this week including the fact that I have now run a total of FOUR miles this week!! I look forward to seeing those numbers multiply in the weeks to come. 


Wednesday, February 8, 2012

My New Tuesday Night Routiune!

For the first time in all 13 seasons of The Biggest Loser, I have become an avid viewer. I somehow got completely sucked in!! My reason in the past for not watching it was because it seemed unrealistic to me and in many ways, I still feel that way. I get very frustrated during weigh in when they lose 6lbs and aren't HAPPY. I would be bouncing off the walls with excitement if I lost 6lbs in one week. I digress. 

This season, my boyfriend and I got hooked!! I'll give my opinions on the show at the end. First I want to tell you about my new Tuesday night routine (that just started last night....but it WILL be a weekly thing!) 

My friend Amanda and I were texting each other last night during The Biggest Loser saying how we still had to workout today but we had to wait for our kids to go to bed and, of course, wait until The Biggest Loser was over but geez, two hours long?? We will be so tired by the time it's over. So I suggested that we challenge each other to workout during the commercials and it turned into a hell of a workout!!! I'm actually really sore today!!!

Every commercial break we came up with a workout that we would do until the show came back on and we would push ourselves as hard as we could during those 4-5 minutes. (Side note: we didn't come up with the idea until we were an hour into the show so next week will be even better!) My boyfriend and his brother, who were watching the show with me, jumped in on the action too!

1st commercial set: as many crunches as you can do (I did 100 crunches and 10 full situps)
2nd commercial set: as many side crunches as you can do or ab variations. (I did 115 different variations)
3rd commercial set: Pushups and planks (I did 10 regular pushups, 15 modified, and I regular planked through 2 whole commercials and side planked one on each side through 2 commercials)
4th commercial set: Squats!! (I did 90 squats with my kettle bell with a lateral raise and then a holding squat at the end. )
5th commercial set: More crunches!! (I did 115 on my stability ball) 
6th commercial set: Cardio!! We did one workout for each commercial and when the commercial switched, we switched workouts. So it went run in place, high knees, butt kicks, mountain climbers, start over! That was a good sweat!!!


That added up to be a pretty good workout and that was only an hour of the show! Next week we will be starting at the beginning. The bottom line here is NO EXCUSES!! You can still do what you enjoy while reaching for your goals. We could have easily said "Biggest Loser is on...let's wait until tomorrow to workout" but we didn't. We pushed and we got the job done!


Now.......the show. 

To sum it up:
Dolvett is one fine brotha!
Adrian talks way too much. I'm glad he went home. But I do agree that they didn't give him a chance.
Conda needs her butt kicked. She needs to shut her mouth and stop worrying about what everybody else is doing.
The red team, in general, annoys me - aside from Santa - he's a cool guy.
I like Kim and I agree she should get some of Dolvett's check after how she held her team together last night.
Losing 13lbs in one week is NUTS!!
Losing 6lbs in one week is still so incredible, I wish they would stop boo-hooing over losses like that. It makes me sick.
I'm addicted.
Next week is going to be full of drama with Conda and Daphne and I can't wait.


Check out my size SMALL jacket I bought yesterday!!!



BLOGS TO COME:
  • A special request from a blog reader about my journey with fitness. 
  • My review on an article in the New York Times about Weight Watchers. 
  • A change in my fitness plans (Insanity, running, 30 day shred) 
  • An interview with a dear friend of mine, and incredible weight loss success story!
Stay tuned!!

xoxo
Krystle

Monday, February 6, 2012

GO GO GO GO GO GO GO !!!!!!!!!!!!

Positive self talk. I've talked about it before and I'm about to talk about it again! I had a HUGE NSV yesterday. Many of you read about it on my Facebook but here, I am going to break down how it all went down!!

So...I may do a lot of high intensity workouts. (SIDE NOTE: Insanity is being placed on hold. More about that later) . I do Turbo Fire and have done Insanity workouts and I workout for extended periods of time BUT one thing that has always been a HUGE challenge for me is running. A while back, I started training to run the Weight Watchers 5K and I ended up hurting my foot early on in the training.......then my back........but that's another story. So, I put the training on hold. After I got better (for the most part), I just never went back to it. I jogged on occasion but it wasn't much.

The longest I have been able to run without having to stop was 1/4 mile and at the VERY VERY MOST 5 minutes at a slow rate of speed. That was until yesterday afternoon.

I got on the treadmill yesterday with no clear expectations. I just knew I was going to workout for a half hour and do whatever needed to be done to break a sweat.

Here is how the conversation with myself went down: 


"Okay...let's warm up and see how we feel - 5 minutes"

"Feeling good...jog for a bit...see if you can go 5 minutes of jogging...you can do that"

"You know what? Let's worry about distance instead of time"

"Run for 1/4 mile, Krystle. You can do that"

"Okay....coming up on 1/4 mile....let's try to do a half. I know it's a stretch but you can do it! Just focus!"

"Oh wow....almost at 1/2 mile and you're not completely winded??? Might as well keep going!!"

"1/2 mile....shoot....you've never run a mile in your life....but you're half way there now - KEEP GOING!"

"5 minutes has passed...but we're not worried about time...just keep pushing"

"SWEAT IS JUST FAT CELLS CRYING - KEEP GOING!"

"Can you make it to 3/4 mile??? YES, YES you can! You made it this far!! CHECK YOU OUT!"

"We're cruising! 6.0mph ??! Get em girl!"

"How would it feel to announce to your blog readers that you ran a mile today for the first time ever?"

"I know...it would feel freakin' GREAT"

"100lbs.....100lbs....you're in a tunnel....the 100lbs light is in view....run for it, Krystle! Go GET IT!"

"PAIN IS TEMPORARY, PRIDE IS FOREVER" 

"100lbs! 100 freaking pounds.....make those fat cells CRY!! CRY BABY CRY!!"

"Holy sh*t! You're almost there!!!"

"GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!"

"YOU'RE NOT TIRED!!!!!!!"

"I SAID......YOU'RE NOT TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO!!!!!!!"

"Krystle Bailey - YOU have just completed your first ONE MILE RUN for the first time in YOUR LIFE!!!"

and then I let out a big WHOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! (Except that part wasn't in my head...that was out loud!" and a few tears and a BIG smile!!!!

This is what I'm talking about. I AM my own coach. There was nobody in that gym with me pushing me. There was nobody reminding me of what I'm working for. There was nobody yelling in my face to keep going. Nobody except MYSELF! I pushed through the pain. I pushed through the doubt. I pushed and I pushed and I overcame and for the first time in my life, I ran a mile - and it didn't take me 45 minutes like it did in high school!! It actually took me 10 minutes!!

then I went and took this picture of my proud face!

*I can't wait to do it again tonight!*

Be your own coach. Nobody can do this for YOU except YOU!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Plateau: BUSTED!

I did it. I did it. I did it. I broke my plateau! BAM! I had been on a 3 month plateau with my weight loss. I reached my -90lbs mark in the beginning of November and up until yesterday had only been to -94. Now, I don't like the word "only" but that was weeks of up and down, up and down, up and down. I was stuck!!

But it's a new day! I weighed in yesterday at 157.2, a loss of 1.8lbs for the week, and a total of 95.8lbs GONE!


 It felt so good to finally break through and gave me the renewed sense of motivation that I had been waiting for. Now I am 4.2lbs away from -100 and 9.2lbs away from GOAL! So exciting!!! After giving birth to my daughter I was upwards of 270+ lbs. When I started WW, I was 253lbs. I can not believe that I currently weigh 157lbs. It's so surreal!!

I came across this photo of me at my sister's baby shower in Summer 2009. Gross. 




Mark my words: You will NEVER see me look like that again.
No siree bob! 
This is the real me and I am a work in progress: 

Yesterday there was more exciting news for my dear friend, Daphne. I have spoken about her before, as she has been a huge inspiration to me and a huge part of my journey. I met Daphne through the Weight Watchers community and have become great friends with her. Well, yesterday, after 3 YEARS of perseverance, my girl Daphne reached her ULTIMATE GOAL WEIGHT!!!! She lost an incredible 111.4lbs!!!!! Check out her before and after shots:

Congratulations to my friend!!! You continue to inspire us all!! 

I was talking to a friend yesterday and she said "The thing I love about you, Krystle, is that you NEVER give up. You never even talk or think about giving up. You just keep pushing" ...She's right! I noticed that even through my 3 month plateau (which is the longest plateau I have been through yet!), giving up or changing my goal weight to something higher never even crossed my mind! I just kept going and I can say this for my friend Daphne, as well as many of my other weight loss friends! WE JUST KEEP PUSHING!!!

I often get asked, "how do you stay motivated to keep going when things get tough?" or "How did you find motivation to workout all the time?" along with other similar questions.

KJB TIPS: 
  • Don't focus too much on the long-term goal. Set several short term goals that add up to the long-term goal. This week I was able to cut a new notch in my belt that I just bought not too long ago!
  • Focus on non scale victories - most of the time they are more exciting than the scale victories. SHOUT OUT to my friend Amanda who today is celebrating wearing size 10 jeans!! Go girl! 
  • Create a vision board: I posted previously about that. See my vision board here.
  • Keep track of your results, both on the scale and off. Keep your measurements and look back to see how far you have come. Document in pictures also, take a look back at old pics before you started your journey. You may be surprised to see the difference! I never realized how BIG I actually was until I looked back later. 
  • Surround yourself with like minded people and people after the same goal! 
  • Don't set the bar too low. Saying "I'll do my best" is not enough. Set a specific goal and then do your best to reach that specific goal.
  • Just do it. Don't think about it. Just get up and go. 
  • When the going gets tough, KEEP GOING!!! Nobody is going to do this for you except YOU! 
  • REMEMBER: You are WORTH it!! Wake up with determination if you want to go to bed with satisfaction.
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, 'press on' has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race."
Calvin Coolidge 


xoxo 
Krystle

Friday, February 3, 2012

Spontaneous decisions are the best decisions!

So last year, soon after starting my blog I read about something called Fit Bloggin', a conference where all health and fitness bloggers got together for an awesome networking experience, some awesome workouts, making memories and learning about the world of blogging. I thought:  "HOW COOL IS THAT???! I wonder if I will ever attend something like that....I dont even know if I will be blogging that long...I dont know if people will like my blog...."

Well guess what???! Turns out I'm still blogging. Turns out people like my blog!! and it turns OUT that I am going to FIT BLOGGIN' 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Check out the link here!)


I just decided on it today actually. I hadn't been thinking about it much but I am a fan of them on Facebook and I saw one of their updates, started looking around, looked at who was going, thought and thought and decided that's enough thinking! You live ONCE. This is an awesome opportunity!!!!

So I registered. I'LL BE THERE!!! Will you??!!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Am I The Only One??

Am I the only one that thinks about how many calories I'm burning with EVERYTHING I DO??! 

I park in the furthest parking spot - 30? 50 calories? maybe.
I take a lunch time walk - 100 calories?
Clean the kitchen - 90? 100?
Chop veggies and cook dinner - who knows but it's something!! 
Can I go there?............bedroom activities.................lol.............I can't help it! Burning calories is ALWAYS on my mind. hahahaha

Here are a few ways to burn 100 calories from the article, "20 Ways To Burn 100 Calories" 
  1. Dance around the house for 20 minutes - try getting your kids involved! Lifting up the babies can burn a few more. 
  2. Vacuum for 25 minutes - that's a long time to vacuum if you have a small house but hey, your carpets will be spotless and you will have burned some calories doing it! 
  3. Spend 30 minutes gardening - I so wish I had a yard with a garden!! 
  4. Wash your car for 30 minutes - don't say it doesn't need it. It always needs it. 
  5. Spend 30 minutes window shopping - Now that's something we can ALL do! Add a few bags to your arms and now you're strength training. ha! 
Stay moving!! 

I am constantly looking for ways to burn a few extra. All it takes is a bunch of small actions to make up one big change. Everything counts towards the bigger picture!!


So, anyway, I'm BACK! We are home and my angel is doing SO Much better. Once again, thank you for the love and prayers regarding her health!!
Showing mommy love!! 
While we were in the hospital I ate like a madd woman. I can't even lie. I emotionally ate. I boredom ate. I convenience ate. I ate ate. I just ate. and I felt like CRAP.

The day before we left the hospital I walked by the mirror and I literally looked 4 months pregnant and I could have cried. Thankfully, I have an incredible Weight Watchers leader who cares enough about me to call me and talk me through it!! She is simply the best.

I have been back on track though since we got home and I'm feeling good!! I was recovering from the germs that I had caught in the hospital so I hadn't worked out until yesterday but I have been making all the right food choices! I made a slammin' linguini with spinach and sun dried tomatoes dish the other night. Here's the link for the recipe. I figured it to be 7 PP's .

here is my version :) 

I have been on a spaghetti squash kick! I just bought another one. I made it for dinner the other night with lots of veggies and some parmesan cheese. Yum. So low in PP's and/or calories too!

It's so easy to cook, just not easy to cut: 
Cut it length wise
Spray with olive oil
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Bake on 400 for 45 minutes.
Bing, bang, boom - you got yourself a healthy and delicious side dish or meal!

Yesterday  I got back on track with my working out. Since my Insanity calendar got completely messed up with being in the hospital, I decided to hang tight on it for just a little bit and enjoy some Turbo Fire instead. I missed my soul mate workout!! So I got it in with my fav, Fire 45 in the morning. In the afternoon I went for a 2 mile walk. Last night I had planned a 3rd workout but ended up with a terrible earache!!!

Is it me or is greasy, fried, sugary, fattening food just not appealing anymore?
this does NOT look appetizing to me.....it looks like I would feel like a blimp after I ate it

heart attack waiting to happen 

THIS on the other hand, looks like Heaven!! 

....Changes ....

I'm off to school for the day...

STAY FOCUSED!!!!

xoxo
Krystle
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...