Skinny Jeans Dreams

Non-Food Rewards

2012-02-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

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!!

Off The Cuff

2012-02-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

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.

A little about Simply Filling and some other randomness

2012-02-24T09:27:00.000-08:00

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

In the mean time!

2012-02-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

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:

My Fitness Journey To Date.

2012-02-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

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!!

Quinoa Porridge Recipe

2012-02-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

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!!!

A little unexpected ice cream:: A life lesson.

2012-02-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

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.

A slew of things, a ton of awesomeness.

2012-02-10T18:24:00.000-08:00

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.

My New Tuesday Night Routiune!

2012-02-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

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

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

2012-02-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

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!

Plateau: BUSTED!

2012-02-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

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

Spontaneous decisions are the best decisions!

2012-02-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

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??!!

Am I The Only One??

2012-02-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

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"

Dance around the house for 20 minutes - try getting your kids involved! Lifting up the babies can burn a few more.
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!
Spend 30 minutes gardening - I so wish I had a yard with a garden!!
Wash your car for 30 minutes - don't say it doesn't need it. It always needs it.
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

Update.

2012-01-31T06:03:00.001-08:00

Hey guys. Quick update. Sorry it took me so long but we are home from the hospital. Thank you for all the love and prayers!! We got home Saturday afternoon and my girl is doing much better. And I am back on track and full speed ahead. I have a blog coming later. Just wanted to wish you an awesome Tuesday!

Remember: treat your body like you would treat your dream car. Keep it clean. Fill it with premium fuel. Keep it moving. And don't forget to show it off!!

Xoxo

Non weight loss blog: our hospital stay.

2012-01-26T05:18:00.001-08:00

Hey bloggers. I just wanted to update those of you who may not be on my Facebook.

We have been in the hospital with my baby girl now since Tuesday morning. We came to the emergency room because she had slept the entire day on Monday, hadn't drank anything or peed and she was breathing very rapidly.

After spending hours in the emergency room and being told she was negative for pneumonia according to her X-ray on Sunday (our first ER trip) we were almost sent home. Then the emergency room doctor said he wanted to see how she was when she was awake. When we woke her up he called her "punky" and said he wanted her to be observed for a while.

So we were admitted to the hospital Tuesday afternoon and we are still here with no sign of when we are going home.

She got a second chest X-ray and it turns out she does have a pneumonia. She also has RSV, which is a respiratory virus that to an adult is a cold but to a child under 3, it affects them like the flu. She also had an ear infection that somehow the ER doctor didn't diagnose.

She has been through blood work, she has had two IV's, she has been catheterized, has had two X-rays, poked, prodded, and pulled at in every which direction and I must say she is such a good girl!!!! She is my little champ.

Last night was the first time she was really up and walking around a bit. We put her on portable oxygen but she just wanted to GO! She pulled the oxygen tube right off the machine.

Today we are hoping to wean her from the oxygen but she has to be completely off of it for 12 hours before we go home so we are sitting tight.

By the way: making healthy choices and staying on plan when your baby is in the hospital and just wants YOU and only YOU is near impossible. I really don't know what to expect at weigh in if I do make it there on Saturday! Hopefully I don't gain and they fire me from WW already ha. Wouldn't that be something.

Here are a few pics of my girl.

A Slew Of Things!!

2012-01-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

Up 0.2lbs

Yup.

UP! 0.2lbs.

and again, I'm okay with it. I wasn't at first, I can't lie. I was pretty bent out of shape and not because I gained this particular week but because I have been stuck in these same 4lbs for 2 months now. Because since the beginning of November I haven't been able to lose even 5lbs. But you know what changed? My fitness level. My measurements. My perspective on things. Which is why, that dag on scale can SHOVE IT!

As you know, I don't know how I would have gotten this far without my WW leader, Stephanie. She broke it down for my after I stepped off the scale upset. She asked me "What have you done, RIGHT?" and she proceeded to list everything I said and categorized them as POSITIVES. Then she wrote down "0.2. Negative" ...... You see the big picture??? I know I do!!

So ....onward!!

On a MUCH brighter note.....I HAVE BEEN HIRED TO WORK FOR WEIGHT WATCHERS!!!!!!!!! I found out yesterday and I am so beyond excited. Training will begin as soon as I get my paperwork and send it back. So happy to be on board with the WW team! I will start as a receptionist and when I get to and maintain my goal for a while, I will become a leader - God willing, as with all things.

FOODIE ALERT:

I love food. I love it in a much different way than I loved it in the past though. Now I love to see how GOOD healthy food can taste and see how well I can cook, have it taste delicious, and have it all be premium fuel for this engine. Tonight I threw down.

Skinny taste chicken thighs with artichoke hearts and feta cheese. Find recipe HERE.
With a side salad: Arugula lettuce, crumbled goat cheese, red onion, alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomatoes, turkey bacon, 10 spritzes of olive oil, and a delicious balsamic vinegar with apple pulp that I found today.

It was unnecessarily delicious and 7PP's for the entire meal!

I also tried vegan pizza the other day with spelt crust and DAIYA cheese. It was also pretty freakin' YUMMY! I didn't make this one though, I ordered it from VeggieGrille

So after my meeting today, where I proudly announced that I can now do REAL pushups, I walked out and my friend in the meeting jokingly challenged me to a pushup contest so I non-jokingly said "right here, right now"


We both pushed out 20 REAL pushups on the wet ground outside of our meeting! :)

I posted this on my FB page earlier but I wanted to relay the message here. I love being healthy. I love being surrounded by health conscious people. But when I sit and think about it, there was a point in time that I believed I was a "healthy fat girl" because I didn't have diabetes or high blood pressure (Yet).
I believed that I must be okay because I had a boyfriend.
I believed that I was big boned and wasn't meant to be thin.
I believed that 200lbs was a "good weight for me".
I believed that Lane Bryant had cute clothes so there was no need to shop in other stores.
I believed that people who focused all their efforts on what they put in their mouth and how much they exercised were wasting their lives away and not enjoying life because "life was about food".
I believed so many things.
So many lies.
It's hard to fathom that this SAME BRAIN was capable of thinking those thoughts. They're the lies that I told myself so I didn't have to make a change. The lies that I told myself so I felt accepted.
They're just that - LIES.
and I am SOOOOO glad that I have seen the light and know the truth.


Until next time, Love and hugs.

KJB

HANDS IN!

2012-01-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hey my loves!!

Thanks for all the feedback on the poll :) It's a mixed verdict but all we know is that we don't like blogs with no pictures at least! lol Obviously, I wasn't going to do all of one thing but I was just curious to see which you liked best. The winner was the blogs with pics though, so I will definitely keep switching it up!

So, yesterday during my WeightWatchers interview (which there is no verdict to yet but I will keep you posted!), I was asked what my biggest struggle or hurdle has been on this journey.

My answer was this: Becoming my own best friend.

I believe I have talked about it before and I know Weight Watchers posted something on their status about it recently but this has been a huge challenge of mine that I am proud to see I have finally overcome. I've always been good at lifting the spirits of others and lifting people UP but I always would struggle by putting myself DOWN. I have learned that I need to talk to myself in the same positive light that I talk to others, especially on the times when I don't do so well with my tracking or exercising or whatever it may be.

Being asked this question left me curious about what others struggled with so I asked my friends on my Facebook page - Facebook.com/skinnyjeansdreams .

The majority of the people who answered my question, responded that emotional eating has been their biggest hurdle and I can SO relate!!

So the question is - WHAT IS THE SOLUTION??

If there is one thing I know for sure it is that this journey is a mind game and it's a game that takes practice!! For me, when I have the urge to emotional eat, I ask myself the following questions:

Is eating this going to make me feel better?
Will I feel worse?
Will eating this cause me to stress about something else other than the issue at hand?
Is it worth it?

Then I ask myself, "what are the alternatives?"

99% of the time, the alternative I come up with is exercise!! Take one example: The two year anniversary of my father's death. My boyfriend was out of town that weekend and I was home alone with the baby, thinking about my daddy and going through all kinds of emotions. I was very tempted to emo-eat but I knew that wouldn't solve the problem. So, I got out the jogging stroller and I went for the BEST jog of my life! I couldn't stop running. I cried and I ran and I ran and I cried and when I got home, I felt a million times better than I would have had I made that plate of nachos! I felt like I had made the best possible decision. Although I still felt sad, I was now high on life and knew that my daddy was looking down from Heaven proud of his girl.

I can't say I am always perfect with this, as I do have my emotional eating moments! So I looked up some tips to help tame emotional eating. You can find all the tips HERE on the MayoClinic website but I will share with you a few that stood out to me:

Get support: Lean on the ones who love you and if you can, lean on the ones who love you that are conscious of your weight loss efforts. They will most likely deter you from emotional eating and instead be there to lift you up!
Take away temptation: I don't keep much, if any, junk food in my house and it's for good reason. If it's there, it's for the taking. And if it's not, out of sight - out of mind. So when I am feeling the need to emotional eat, I may just overeat some grapes rather than eating a whole box of pop-tarts. It fulfills the need to munch while still keeping me on track.
Keep a diary: The website says to keep a food diary, which being a Weight Watcher, I obviously recommend but also keep a personal diary. I have kept a diary since I was a kid and it has helped me through every emotion and situation I have ever been through. Sometimes I just scribble. Another reference to my dad: I have pages on pages in my diary of angry scribbles. I was so ANGRY at everything when he passed (that's a whole different blog story. I am just using it as an example) and I just scribbled out all my emotions on paper. That goes for good emotions too. When I am overwhelmed with how much I love my daughter - I WRITE! Writing is good for the soul and it keeps your hands busy and out of the cabinets!

There are other useful tips on that website but I just wanted to share with you a few that have worked for me. Any other tips that you have, feel free to share them in the comments section or on my FB page! We are all here for each other on this journey.


HANDS IN!!

GOOOOO LOSERS!!!! :)

A few randoms:


Date night with my honey Saturday :)

Yes, I love me a little ME!

And don't forget to check out my little snippet on Ivillage! I'm mommy # 3 on this article. CLICK HERE!

Have an awesome night!!

xoxo

Take a car ride with me!

2012-01-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

CONFESSION: I am currently in love with video blogging.

I think it's a cool way to get a glimpse of someone's life and since I try to be as transparent as possible with my readers, I like to let you have a peek into my day to day. So here's another one for you :) Two, actually.

Since blog reading is a form of entertainment - us bloggers being the entertainers, of course I want to please my audience so be sure to take the poll at the end and let me know your opinion!!

Now, take a ride in the car with me...

And since we're here...I'll let you in on how my car rides really go. FYI - this is not just for camera. I always rock out this hard to JHUD!! haha P.s. I can't sing.

Have a very BLESSED day!! :)

Sometimes the scale just doesn't give a damn!

2012-01-14T12:45:00.000-08:00

Hey folks!

Weigh in today: Down 0.4lbs

If I would have posted this a few months ago it would have went something like, "Man I worked so hard and I did everything right and I ONLY lost 0.4lbs"

But that is why this is a JOURNEY and along a journey, you learn lessons. Along a journey, you change your opinions about certain situations. Along a journey you learn that things don't always go as expected. Sometimes you leave for your journey right on time and hit traffic, which makes you late anyway. Sometimes you're cruising along your journey and you get a flat tire, hit an unexpected red light, detour, or pot hole. BUT as with any journey, if you just keep on going, you get to your destination and when you get there it makes the entire trip worth it because sometimes if things aren't worked hard for, they aren't worth having.

That is how I look at my weight loss journey. I was hoping for a bigger loss this week. I did fantastic all week food wise, worked out like a madd woman with INSANITY, drank a ton of water, and got in all my good health guidelines but sometimes the scale doesn't give a damn about your efforts. It's as simple as that. The metal devil.

So, as I still celebrate my scale victory, because every loss counts towards something, I am celebrating my NSV's of the week and I have a few:

I met my weight loss inspiration this week - something I thought I'd only dream of.
I finished an entire week of INSANITY - a workout I never thought I'd be physically capable of.
I can FINALLY do REAL pushups with no modifications!! And I just reached this goal this week!!
I am in the process of being hired as a receptionist for my beloved Weight Watchers!!!! (it's in the bag!)

So far, 2012 has been FANTASTIC for me and I just know good things will continue to come my way because that's what happens when you only allow yourself to be surrounded by positive energy!

One last celebration!! - MY MOMMY REACHED ONEDERLAND TODAY!!!! I am so happy for her!!!! So honored that I was able to inspire my family to jump on the healthy bandwagon and that they are doing so well!!

Celebrate your NSV's as well as your scale victories with me!! Leave a comment and let me know what you're celebrating today!

Video Blog - Response to WEEK 1 of INSANITY!

2012-01-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

I kinda like this video blogging thing....check it out...

Love & Hugs!

A trip to NYC that I will NEVER forget!!!!

2012-01-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

If I wait until I finish everything I need to do today to post this blog, I will never get it done so here it is!!

Yesterday was.....incredible. Absolutely, positively incredible. Just a recap: I found out last week that Jennifer Hudson was going to be in NYC for a book signing yesterday. I told my sister in law that I was thinking about going. She told me "If you don't go, I will drag you there myself. You have accomplished so much, she's your inspiration, and she needs to know it!" So in a matter of an hour we had decided we were going.

In case you need to refresh on how much I love Jennifer Hudson, you can check out posts here, here, here, and here.

Fast forward .....

2:30am yesterday we drug ourselves out of bed, into a cab, and onto the bus NYC bound!


Posing in the bathroom at 3am!


sitting at the bus station 4am...

We arrived in NYC at 7am and made our way into the big city. I haven't been there since I was young so I was in complete awe. I love that city!!

We stood outside of Good Morning America hoping to get on TV but we didn't want to waste any time getting in line for the book signing...

Of course along the way we had to stop and take our touristy pictures in Times Square !

We arrived at Barnes and Noble on 5th Ave. at 7:15...those 3 people in line were the only people ahead of us! I was so excited we were going to be one of the first people to meet her and seeing as how they were music fans, I figured I was going to be the first weight loss success story to meet her, which made me even more excited!

Yes, we waited for 5 hours out in the cold!! It was so worth it!!

Anxiously waiting!!

Video #1 : Waiting for JHUD

We met some awesome friends in line and I'm so upset that we forgot to get their contact information! If you guys are reading my blog, make sure you email me! This young guy Dan doesn't realize how much he could do with his interest and knowledge about celebrities. I told him he's the next Perez Hilton!

Waiting...waiting....loading up on caffeine.....looking like super stars....and waiting some more LOL

We went in to get our books....then waited some more!

Now would be a good time to explain something: Bridgit and Peter, the other two winners of the Story Of You contest have become good friends of mine! The only way I was able to afford this trip was because I won that contest and they deserved to be there as much as I did! I also purchased them books. I would have loved to purchase all my WW friends books but then I would be broke so please don't take it personal that I only did it for Bridgit and Peter!

So after all that waiting.....we made it inside the book store...and then waited some more. Here I am, dorky as ever, excited as ever!

Then the moment finally came....there she IS!!


Signing MY book!!

I told her that I was so excited to meet her, that she has been a huge inspiration to me with my weight loss journey, that I lost 94lbs, and that it was on my bucket list to meet her. The above picture is her reaction to me saying that meeting her was on my list of things to do before I die. Cannot believe she held my hand and everything!!

Her shocked face when I told her how much weight I lost :)

When I showed her my before picture, she asked me if she could keep it! I have no idea what she might do with it but I sure as heck told her yes! I was wishing I put my contact information on there! LOL!

Then, despite the fact that there was supposed to be no posing for photography, I asked her for a photo. The security guard started getting madd but JHUD didn't care, I sure as heck didn't care, and Tamara didn't care....

Add caption

She is everything I imagined her to be!! She is just as beautiful in real life as on camera and just as genuine! I was on cloud 9! ....I still am! It's incredible to experience something that you thought you may only dream of. Thank you Jennifer for being my first inspiration to take this journey of changing my life.

So after I hugged Tamara for the longest time ever and we cried together, went to the bathroom, and semi calmed down, I recorded a reaction:

Then we celebrated:

So after all that excitement....the day wasn't over....we still had all day in NYC! So we did what you do in NYC...we shopped, we drank more coffee, we hung out in Times Square, and we took pictures!

*Stay tuned after the pics...there is more awesomeness coming!*


I died......

and then went to Forever 21 Heaven!!! Four stories of non-stop F21 shopping!!!

Now I'll give you 3 guesses what we bought, first 2 don't count....

Yup....we both left with nothing but workout clothes! haha I want to go back when I am at my goal weight and buy some SUMMER clothes!!

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Hanging out (and charging my phone!) in F21


Only in NYC


Free hugs that cost $1 donation.... -_-


Yes, we split it!! It was to die for.

Sooo....after allllllll that there is still more awesomeness!! One of the very first blogs I started reading was the one and only Bitch Cakes aka Sheryl Yvette. If you don't already follow her blog, which you should, check her out at Www.sherylyvette.com . She is one of the coolest people ever! She is taking a bit of a break from blogging for personal reasons, but take the time to catch up on her because you will fall in love.

Anyway, being in NYC, I mentioned to her that I would love to meet her so she invited me to attend her Weight Watchers meeting!! How cool? Hanging out in NYC and attending a WW meeting with all new people!

Her meeting was super hidden in a basement and it actually turns out that it's the same meeting center that Jennifer Hudson attends! But she wasn't there last night lol.

I told you it was super hidden! lol

But we finally found it! And found Sheryl!


So excited to finally meet her!


and her adorable WW leader Melanie!

So after that we walked her to the subway she was catching and then we booked it back to Penn Station to catch the bus home!

On top of ALL of that.....I received an email from the territory manager for Weight Watchers telling me that she has already heard so much about me and asking me to fill out a questionnaire so that we can set up an interview to work for them!! So of course as soon as I got home I did that...just waiting to hear!!

Thank you all for all the love and support!! Yesterday is definitely a day I will NEVER forget!!!

HUGS!!!!

Stay Tuned....

2012-01-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!! I am just writing to let you know that a blog post about my trip to NYC to meet Jennifer Hudson is coming today!! I have SO much to tell you all about that I just don't have the time right now. I will work on it on my lunch break hopefully.

It was an AWESOME day to say the least!!

Talk to you soon!!

The Results Are In...

2012-01-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

And lots of them!

1st and foremost - I weighed in today at 159.2!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been in the 150's since I was probably about 10 years old. That alone was super exciting. Even better though is that I am now 9lbs away from the top of my healthy weight range according to Weight Watchers, which means when I got home today I applied to work for them!!! I applied as a receptionist and I do plan to work my way up. I have high goals for myself!!

I am changing my ultimate goal to 145 though because there's not a thing in this world I can't do and it's that simple.

More results....

I took the INSANITY fit test week 1 today. Here are the results:

SWITCH KICKS: 82
POWER JACKS: 44
POWER KNEES: 88
POWER JUMPS: 32
GLOBE JUMPS: 9.5
SUICIDE JUMPS: 12
PUSH UP JACKS: 20
LOW PLANK OBLIQUES: 52

Some moms lift more than just their kids...

Until next time!! Have an awesome Saturday!

"If your friends don't have the same goals as you......"

2012-01-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

GET NEW FRIENDS!!

To some, that may sound silly. I'm not saying go out and kick your best friend to the curb because he or she doesn't need to lose weight and you do. Oh first of all, that's a quote from my fave - Chalene Johnson. But what I am saying is this... if you have goals such as eating healthy, working out, giving up alcohol, quitting smoking, etc...then hanging out with people who don't care about their health and want to go to the next steak house, share a family sized plate of lasagna, and a bottle of wine every time you want to hang out, may not be the best idea.

The first time I heard that quote I thought "Well that's kind of mean...you can't just kick your friends to the curb".....then I realized something. As you change, so do the people around you. As you strive to be better, so do your friends. And the ones who don't find that same motivation, tend to drift off anyway. I can't count the number of friends that I have that have traded in their old habits for new and improved healthy habits because they were motivated by me to do so. There are people that I have been acquaintances with or friends at a distance that now, I can call close friends because we find ourselves with the same passions. As well as, every single new friend that I have made in the past year and a half has health related goals.

My boyfriend's sister for example. We have always been cool...you could have called us friends in the past. She actually introduced me to her brother, the love of my life. But even though we were "friends" we didn't have too much in common so it was kinda like because I was dating her brother we remained friends but at a distance. But NOW ....she is one of my best friends. We both found a love for health and fitness, we started working out together, we exchange recipes, and in 2012 we both have the same New Year's Resolution - aka having similar goals and we talk every single day. She is one of my biggest supporters, and I am hers. We push each other to another level and I am so thankful to have someone like her in my life.

we hang out...


We work out.

I was at the gym last night and ran into someone who used to be my best friend in school...I mean best best best, couldn't separate us for nothing, one year for Halloween we were even a Siamese cactus (don't judge us) but as we got older, we went our separate ways because our goals and hobbies changed. Now that we are older we still talk on occasion but running into her at the gym last night was a cool experience. We were back to having things in common and having things we wanted to do together. I spur of the moment took a class with her and now she's coming to a class with me (and Tamara!) on Saturday.

I could go on and on. My last example is my hunni. As we got in bed last night after we had spent time at the gym together, I said to him "I'm so happy that we have similar goals. I would think it would be pretty hard for me if I had to keep Doritos in the house for you or if one of us wanted to go to the gym and the other one didn't....we would never see each other. I'm glad that we can spend quality time working out together and have conversations about health and wellness. " I wish this for everyone. No matter what your goals are, I hope that your spouse is on the same level as you. It really makes accomplishing your goals that much easier!!

The bottom line is this: Don't be afraid to rekindle old friendships. Don't be afraid to say "no" to hanging out with someone who may hinder your weight loss journey. Don't be afraid to play people at a distance if they are not an asset to your life at this point. Sometimes just because you have been friends with someone all your life, doesn't mean you can't make new friends that will aid in your journey.

I am realizing that all of the people I talk to on a day to day basis are health nuts like myself and I wouldn't have it any other way!! Talking about health and fitness on a regular basis keeps my goals in the forefront of my mind at all times.

This is not a journey you can take alone! That's for darn sure.

*Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold* ......LOL shhh I was a Girl Scout.

Love and hugs.

KJB

What Does "Clean Eating" Mean to You??

2012-01-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

I've been getting this question or similar questions a lot lately since I have mentioned that my New Year's Resolution was to begin clean eating. So now that I have done a good amount of research and have been practicing this for a few days, here is a more clear answer as to what it means to me.

I scrub my food...then it's clean...then I eat it.

*womp womp* corny joke I saw on another blog hahahaha

Maybe it's better if I start by telling you what clean eating is NOT.

Clean eating is not eating processed foods.
Clean eating is not eating sugar. (at least very minimal amounts of sugar!)
Clean eating is not eating foods that have ingredients that I can't pronounce.
Clean eating is not eating foods with high fructose corn syrup....even though I can pronounce that.

So what cleaning IS, is this:

Clean eating is eating foods with fewer ingredients.
Clean eating is fueling my body with things that are FOOD and are meant to be put into my body.
Clean eating is trying new things. Things like tofu and polenta.
Clean eating is more plants, lean meats, and whole grains - less snack bars, cheese, and desserts.

Obviously, as you can see, this merges very well with the plan I am already on - Weight Watchers.

The other night I made tofu, quinoa lettuce wraps. This was the first time I tried quinoa and it was pretty yummy mixed with some veggies.

I got this recipe from my friend Claire. You dry fry the tofu and cook the quinoa according to the package and mix in veggies such as onions, edamame, and water chestnuts. I just used an Asian blend veggie bag. I marinated my tofu in soy sauce and sesame oil after I dry fried it. Claire recommended putting Thai Peanut sauce on the lettuce but since I couldn't find that in the store I used Teryaki sauce instead. Followed by the quinoa mixture and the tofu - wrap and eat. It seriously was like 3 PointsPlus and was so GOOD and so filling!! KJB APPROVED!

I also tried this:

and it was NOT my cup of tea! I wanted to venture out and try something new so I did...and I didn't like it.


KJB - NOT APPROVED. But by all means, if that sounds like your taste then see recipe above!

I am trying all kinds of new things and look forward to more new things to come! I feel great already after just 3 days of fueling my body properly without all the saturated fat and sugars. Not that I ate THAT much of it before, but I didn't give it much thought. I feel empowered by this and change is invigorating!

For more information on clean eating, what it is, how you can do it too, and recipes, check out The Gracious Pantry. I found that blog and it has taught me so much in just a few days!!

Next on the agenda:


I'm ready to get INSANE!!!

I start Monday. I will be video documenting and photo documenting my journey. Stay tuned!

Lastly, thank you to all the new followers and blog readers! Thank you to all my new fans on Facebook . Check out my page Skinny Jeans Dreams! And as always, thank you for all the love and support day in and day out. This is not a journey you can take alone!!

HERE IT IS!!!!

2012-01-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

HERE IT IS!!!!!

Click above to see the link to my article in the Press of Atlantic City!

I have to say that it's pretty awesome seeing yourself in the newspaper for such an awesome accomplishment! One thing that I did mention that didn't make the cut but was important to me is the following:

On the first day that I said "I need to lose some weight", my boyfriend said to me "There's nothing to it but to do it" ....so I did it! And that saying has stuck with me throughout this whole process. Every time I don't feel like doing something whether it be measuring my food or working out, I say "There's nothing to it but to do it!" and it gets the job done. I mention this because when I have friends ask me where I find the motivation I repeat the same phrase to them and now I am repeating it to you. You can make excuses all day long but at the end of the day THERE IS NOTHING TO IT BUT TO DO IT!

Needless to say, it was an incredible experience and opportunity!! So thank you to the Press of Atlantic City and thank you to anyone who came to my blog after reading the article!

Check out the incredible Suzi Storm in the new Weight Watchers commercial that aired last night!!

Happy New Year Folks!!! If you're reading, please show the love by following on the left hand side! I appreciate it!! :)

What A Year, What A Year, What A Mighty FINE Year!!!

2011-12-31T14:29:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a year!

1/1/11 my New Year's resolution was to continue to lose some weight....never in my wildest dreams did I know where that one little goal would take me!!

this is me Jan 16th 2011

Not only did I reach my original goal of losing 50lbs, I made and reached new goals along the way! This year I experienced what it was like to cross my legs like a lady for the first time. Simple but when you were forced to always sit with your legs spread open, it means a lot. I also also experienced what it felt like to fall in love with fitness! I wrapped a regular bath towel around me for the first time in years. I shopped in regular, non-plus size, stores. I bought SINGLE digit jeans AND a single digit dress. I walked 5Ks with ease and even walked a 10K. I learned how to RUN..yea, I'm still working on it but I run a hell of a lot more than I ever did! I started a blog...this blog...about weight loss of all things! I made an incredible amount of new friends that are with me on this journey. I persevered.

Working it out at Turbo Kick!

Most importantly, I learned that I am capable of WAY more than I ever gave myself credit for. I learned that when I dig deep, there is a whole different person waiting to explode out and shout to the world how awesome she is! I learned that if you want to change the things and the people around you, you must start with yourself. I learned that I have what it takes to INSPIRE others. I learned that I may have more purpose in this life than I thought I did.

I learned that I love to sweat!! Something I could have sworn I hated.

and I decided that I am LOSING FOR GOOD!

Man oh man, did I learn a lot this year about myself, about people, about life, and a little something about weight loss.

On top of all that stated above, I also entered and WON the Story of You contest on the Weight Watchers Facebook page, winning myself a $5,000 check!

And to end the year with a bang, I have NEWS!

Yesterday I received a phone call from the local newspaper (The Press of Atlantic City) asking to interview me for a column that will be printed tomorrow!!! My mom emailed them about my success a while back and they called me saying that they wanted to post a success story to help motivate all those making the New Year's Resolution to lose weight. I was so blown away and honored at the experience! SO, hopefully they will post it on their website too so I can share it with you all.

this is the picture that I sent to them for the paper

Lastly, I wanted to share with you my totals for the year!

Since the beginning of January 2011 I have lost a total of 70.6lbs (My total to date is 92.8lbs!)
Since March (which is when I started taking my measurements), I lost the following:

9.25" off my waist.
8.5" off my hips.
8" off my bust.
2.5" off my arms.
6" off my thighs.
and dropped 4 dress sizes!
Total: 34 inches all around since 3/5/11.

I am so stoked to see what 2012 has in store for me!!! I know I am starting it off right. Today, I got ready to ring in the new year with an incredible workout! I went to a Bling themed Turbo Kick with my sister in law and friend Kim followed by BodyPump class then came home and went for an 8....yes and EIGHT mile walk with my family.

My turbo ladies!!!


My sister in law and fitness partner in crime saying CHEERS to a healthy 2012!


a picture I took along our walk today


it was incredibly beautiful today!!

My NaNa girl at the park :)

Last but not least I want to thank each and every one of you for your constant ENCOURAGEMENT and SUPPORT throughout this year!! I would not be where I am without you all!! From the deep down depths of my heart, I thank YOU!! xoxoox

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy new year!!!!!!!

In 2012 let's not CHANGE, but IMPROVE!

2011-12-30T08:02:00.000-08:00

*shaking my booty* it's FRIDAY, it's FRIDAY! and it's the last Friday of 2011!! Who is ready to bring in a new year???!

A new year is always so exciting. It bring such a sense of rejuvenation and motivation. Forces us to recommit to our goals because everybody needs a New Year's Resolution!

So tell me, what is/are your New Year's Resolution(s)?

Mine is to get FIT. I mean FIT FIT. Not keep losing weight...but take fitness to a new level. To do that I have several other resolutions that will help me to reach that goal.

PUSH GOAL (My main focus goal): Get ripped.
Goals that will help me to reach my PUSH goal:

Add a clean eating regimen in addition to my Weight Watchers. *I'll explain in a bit.*
Workout 5-6 days per week - no excuses!
Complete INSANITY - the entire 60 day schedule......then do it again!
Maintain my mental and spiritual health daily by dedicating at least 20 minutes to meditation daily. (Hey, I have an 18 month old...20 minutes to myself is a long time!)

Other goals for 2012:

Complete Warrior Dash in June!
Reach my goal weight.
Reach LIFETIME status with Weight Watchers!
Become a Weight Watchers leader.
Expand my blog.
Make money in one way or another related to health and fitness.

I am looking forward to all that 2012 will bring! I know it will be even more awesome than 2011 has been.

So about clean eating, I have been doing a lot of research on what it means to clean eat. I am still working on it but I think it will be a great addition to my Weight Watchers plan and I KNOW it will help me with my fitness adventures. Even though processed foods and foods high in sugar can be tracked on WW, that doesn't mean they are good for your body. So the commitment is to cut out processed foods as much as possible, cut WAY WAY back on sweets and things packed with sugar, try NEW foods, focus on lean proteins and veggies, and cut out the extra fat. I have 47lbs of body fat and that is just not cool.


I picked up a Clean Eating magazine at the store to help me get started. They have a two week program to help you learn what it means to eat clean. I'm going to follow it! It even gives you a shopping list.

This morning I made my own oatmeal for the first time in my new rice cooker that my mom and step dad gave me for Christmas. It was so yummy and so filling!!!

This recipe serves about 4 and I assume you could make it in the crock pot just as easily:

1 cup rolled oats
1.5 cups apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup raisins
Dash of salt

When it was finished (it literally took like 5 minutes with the oats I had) I threw in some blueberries and a dash of Truvia. I was so full and it seriously was like 3 PP's!

What goals do YOU have for the new year?? Do share, you might inspire someone else to add it to THEIR goal list!

* I never weighed in last week due to being sick so I will post tomorrow what my weight loss status is after i weigh in!*

Let's IMPROVE how awesome we already ARE!

Let's Be Fit - a childrens book!

2011-12-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

HI!!! A much happier blog today. We ended up sick in the house all day Saturday and Sunday and missed out on all Christmas festivities but my family definitely made it up to us yesterday. My mom and step dad and sister, brother in law, and nephew came over and they surprised me by bringing my grandparents. Then we went over my boyfriend's family's house and had our Christmas over there. Overall, it turned out to be an awesome Christmas even if it was a day late! Honestly, it turned out that it was much less stressful that way!

I wanted to share with you a book that my mom and step dad got for my daughter...it's so cute and i thought you guys would enjoy!!

Let's Be Fit By. P.K. Hallinan:

I like to be fit, and I hope you agree. That being in shape is a great way to be!

It helps me with tasks - I feel so much stronger.

It helps me in games - I'm strong so much longer.

There's really no doubt that I think better too,

For fitness assists me in all that I do.

I watch what I eat - that's the place to begin.

I need to take heed of the food I take in.

So I sit down to eat a good balanced meal -

Lots of fresh greens and fruits are ideal.

I try to cut back on sugary sweets,

for it's true what they say: "You are what you eat!"

Yes, getting in shape is a great thing to do.

And I have to stay active and exercise too!

I try to do push ups and sit ups each day.

I bend and I stretch in a leisurely way.

I run just for fun on the track at our school.

And I swim like a minnow at our neighborhood pool.

But there's nothing quite like a hill-and-dale hike!

Yes, fitness requires a change in a way.

I look at the choices I make every day.

So, I'll scramble for chances to play out of doors.

I'll pour into chores like never before.

I'll drink lots of water and get plenty of rest.

I'll tone up my body 'till I'm feeling my best!

And I'll strengthen my spirit by keeping in mind,

I'm wonderfully made

and I'm one of a kind!!

Yes, I'll run a good race - I won't falter or quit.

I'll just do what it takes

to be physically FIT!!

*pics from Christmas to come!*

A not so Merry Christmas.......but it could always be worse.

2011-12-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ours is.....not so merry.....but it could always be worse. We had all kinds of plans for this weekend with the whole family but our bodies had other plans. All 3 of us came down with some sort of stomach bug/flu yesterday. My honey and I slept most of the day yesterday and we missed our annual Christmas Eve get together. Today, we woke up feeling completely refreshed and healthy and planned to make up for it with the family today.......that was until our daughter decided to be sick and miserable and sleep all day. So, the only two people I will see this holiday are my sick babies.....which leads me to the "it could always be worse" part.

Get ready...we're gonna count my blessings......

I am blessed that I have a man and a daughter to love and who need me and blessed to even be called "mommy". I am blessed enough to not be in the hospital tending to a chronically ill child. I had a friend lose her grandfather AND her dog last night - my heart goes out to her. I am blessed enough to not be feeling that pain today. I am blessed enough to have my man home with me and not in Afghanistan or Iraq or God forbid - Heaven. I am blessed enough to have family who love and miss me. I am blessed enough to have so much love in my heart that it hurts to not be able to see them today. I am blessed enough to know the meaning of the point of today's celebrations anyway. I am blessed enough that God sent his only son to die on the cross for ME. I am blessed. Period.

Weight Watchers posted a status as I was typing this blog that said:

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude." -Denis Waitley

Here are a few Christmas pics....I hope that I will be able to put up more later but I don't know how the day will go:


Woke up and could care less about the presents behind her lol


until she saw her new kitchen...that can get some play


okay I'm done mom...

sick baby wanted her daddy. :(

It's heart breaking to have a sick kid!!

Now about my weight loss, since that IS what this blog is about, afterall:

Last week, as I said, I did terrible. I was thinking about skipping out on my weigh in Saturday morning but decided on Friday night that I would hold myself accountable and own my actions. Then I ended up sick and unable to get out of bed anyway so I have no idea what it looks like! Yesterday I could barely eat. Today, I haven't been able to put my daughter down long enough to eat anything. Tomorrow I have another personal training session but I may have to reschedule since I'll probably be making up Christmas with whoever comes over tomorrow. Curious to see what the scale will say come next Saturday!!

Quickie from my iPhone

2011-12-22T10:50:00.001-08:00

Heyyyy from my iPhone!! Merry Christmas to me - I bought myself the iPhone 4s. 😄 but I'm still getting used to the keyboard so this will be a short post.

We are on a semi-staycation ( stay meaning we didnt leave the city we live in. Cation meaning we are not at home. ) this week. As we speak I am laying by the pool at the borgata casino. I assume this pics will post but I'm not sure of I doing this right haha

Anyway in an effort to hold myself accountable I will tell you that I have not been very well behaved food wise this week. I have been working out a lot but also eating a lot!! My biggest problem has been not stopping when I'm satisfied and eating until I'm stuffed. Ugh why??? This is why I am not a person that can simply "watch what I eat". I must have a set plan that I stick to. Some people say it is paying $40/month for points. I say it's keeping myself in check!

On that note, in the new year I am adding clean eating to my regimen. More to come on that

Will blog more when I get to a computer because I suck at this touch screen keyboard lol

Have an awesome day!!

Making new gym friends...

2011-12-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday after my workout at the gym, I got in the jacuzzi in the locker room (my gym really is an amazing facility!). I was hanging out by myself until a young lady got in the jacuzzi with me and said hello. She asked me how long I had been coming to that gym and told me she had been coming since Thanksgiving.

Then the conversation proceeded as follows:

Her: I lost a lot of weight, I need to do some toning.
Me: Me too! That's what I'm here for.
Her: I lost about 90lbs...
Me: I lost 92lbs!! HIGH FIVE!! How did you do it?
Her: Gastric bypass...
Me: Oh I did it on Weight Watchers.
Her: Get out of here!!!! Really??! I started to gain some of my weight back and tried to join Weight Watchers but got discouraged at the slower rate of weight loss but I am thinking about trying it again and to have somebody to do it with and to KNOW that it is possible by seeing that YOU did it, would be incredible! Maybe I'll rejoin with you!

I feel like I am a disciple of Weight Watchers, spreading the good word lol So in a matter of 10 minutes we made friends, made plans to workout together, and I may have recruited a new Weight Watchers member :)

*** Not to down weight loss surgery if that's what worked for you, but I do have my opinions on it. (for the life of me, I can't find an older blog that I wrote about it) but the point I am trying to make is that I know several people who have had weight loss surgery, could not deal with 1) the limitations of the food they could eat or 2) the amount of skin that they had left over after such a rapid speed of weight loss and ended up gaining weight back and NOW are on Weight Watchers - doing it the slow and steady, no quick fix way.

There is no quick fix. Long term results come from long term changes.

Anyway, looking forward to making a new gym friend! It's amazing how life is set up just right so that everybody comes into your life at the right time, right place. She said that she saw me in the gym and was immediately drawn to me. :)


Giving Santa (aka my grandfather) my wish list ...

and baby girl just wishing to get off of his lap! LOL!!

Have an awesome Monday!

Chill...Girl, you got this!

2011-12-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

Yes, once again it has been an entire week since my last post. I'm terrible!!!

Some updates:

I'm finished my 2nd to last semester at school!! One more semester until I graduate FINALLY after 6 years, 2 schools, and 3 majors lol
I joined a gym for the first time on this journey. I do most of my exercise in my living room or outside but we had a deal for 60 days for $60 at a really nice gym and I LOVE IT!

I had my first fitness assessment and even though I am well below average for the amount of body fat that I have (47lbs of fat), I am above average in my age group for my fitness tests (pushups, situps, treadmill). Taking those tests brought me back to high school days when I always had the lowest number out of the class - LOOK AT ME NOW! lol

I did not expect a loss this week at all but I lost 2.8lbs!!! I am down 92.4 with only a little over 10lbs until GOAL!!!!

I find it a little bit strange how last week I worked really hard and gained weight and this week I didn't work half as hard and lost so much. I guess my body just had to do some catching up. Whatever the reason, I will gladly accept the loss!

Why Meetings Are So Important:

I see commercials for weight loss programs that say things like "No counting points, no meetings to attend" ...and I always think "Attending meetings is a BAD thing??! Says who??" There have been times in the past when I was on Weight Watchers when I would stop attending the meetings and I would just go weigh in and leave - probably why all my attempts in the past have failed.

I've always known the importance of meetings but this morning it really solidified in my mind the true significance of them. I almost didn't go this morning (which would have been my first time skipping a meeting since I started going back) but I forced myself out of bed and went anyway and I am so glad that I did. Not only did I have a surprise loss on the scale but I found a new sense of motivation that I had been missing this past week.

Before the meeting started I said to my friend "This week has so many events and get togethers, I already know I'm not going to be tracking. I'm just going to make better choices and workout a lot and hope for the best". Turns out the meeting was about just that! The Simply Filling Plan. I've never paid much mind to the Simply Filling Plan even back when it was Core. I have always been a Points counter. Well, it's a new day! After the meeting this morning I am completely intrigued by the Simply Filling Plan and plan to use it to my advantage to get through this week.

In case you are unfamiliar with what the plan is, basically there is a list of foods that are Power Foods and you eat only those foods and you eat them until you are SATISFIED....not STUFFED. But of course, with Weight Watchers, you are never limited so if you eat anything that is not a Power Food, you just deduct it from your Weekly Points Allowance.

After hearing what people had to say in the meeting and looking at the simply filling foods, I learned that you can have filet mignon, potatoes, and vegetables for dinner and ALL of it is a Power Food! Imagine that! I came home and ate breakfast - 2 eggs, WW cheese, and a small potato - ALL POWER FOODS and I stopped when I was full...I didn't finish my potato. I definitely plan to use this plan to my advantage, especially this week. I'm excited to see the results!

Check out the HUGE list of Power Foods here!

Attending my meeting this morning gave me the motivation that I was lacking to continue to stay on plan throughout the rest of the holiday season and made me realize once again why this program is the ONE for me! I GOT THIS!! :)

Myth Busters!

2011-12-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

Myth: Muscle weighs more than fat.
Truth: 5lbs of fat and 5lbs of muscle still each weigh 5lbs.
The difference: Muscle is more dense than fat. If you have a ton of feathers and a ton of bricks, how big does the bag containing the feathers have to be in comparison to the bag that holds the bricks?? The bag holding the feathers is going to be much larger than the bag holding the bricks. On the same token, a body weighing 150lbs made up of muscle is going to LOOK much smaller than a body weighing 150 that is made up of fat.

With that being said, I had a really on plan week. I tracked everything, I limited by my sweets, and I worked out like a madd woman.....a madd woman, I tell ya! and I gained 0.8 this week. Although, I was hoping for a good loss to put me in the home stretch towards goal, I am okay with the gain for one reason - that reason is perspective.

Seeing as how I could not think of one aspect of this week that I did not give my 100% effort, and seeing as how this is my 2nd gain in 3 weeks, I was able to put things in perspective and realize that it truly isn't all about the number on the scale. I feel fantastically fit! I love how healthy I feel and how good I feel when I wake up and when I go to bed. I love the muscles I can feel in my thighs and my stomach when I make small movements. And I know that I am on the right path to overall health and fitness. The scale is not the most important aspect of this journey....actually it may be the LEAST important aspect of this journey.

Even though I have always preached the idea of the scale not being the most important part, I have still been a slave to the scale and what it has to say. However, since I do know very well that all things happen for a reason, I believe that these minor gains are going to be experience tools for me in my future. They will be the references that I will use when I am a Weight Watchers leader and I have a member come to me for advice. They will be the tools that I will use 20 years from now when I am 44 and maybe fluctuating in weight a bit. They will be my resources when a friend comes to me upset about a gain, asking me if I have ever been through it. I will have these experiences to refer back to. So with that being said, I am thankful for my minor gains. They have shined some light on another aspect of this journey that I have very infrequently experienced thus far.

My plan:

Use some of my Activity Points that I earn for food in order to make sure that my body is getting all the required nutrients that I am burning.
Increase my vegetables and other foods that burn fat - yogurt, nuts, whole grains, etc...
Continue to focus on how I feel, my measurements, how my clothes fit, and how much endurance I have and remember that this is not a race.
Put my goal of being a Weight Watchers employee on the back burner so that I can refocus on the main goal at hand - bettering myself and my health.
Remember where I came from:

I finally made a "like" page on Facebook! Check me out here! Or just search "Skinny Jeans Dreams". Make sure to share it with your friends too! :)

I did promise a blog about the fear of what to do after goal and I do have that for you but with my experience today, it took the back burner for a little while. I will get that too you soon!

*RULE YOUR MIND, OR IT WILL RULE YOU!* - it's all about the decisions you make upstairs! Decide to succeed. Decide to win. Decide to be the best you that you can be. - and you WILL!

With love,
Krystle

"If what I am is what's in me then I'll stay strong, that's who I'll be."

2011-12-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday! Hope everybody had an awesome week! Tomorrow is WI and I am pretty sure I did pretty awesome! I'm going to wait until after my weigh in tomorrow to share with you a blog concept that I read today about the fear of gaining weight back after goal. So stay tuned, that's coming tomorrow.

The reason for today's post is to share a little more about myself and challenge myself to think about what means the most to me. My good friend Dacia, over at Thirty Three and Counting posted a blog yesterday that I really enjoyed. Please check her out, she is an incredible inspiration! Her blog is based off another blog about 95 Questions To Help You Find Meaning and Happiness. Okay, so this isn't completely weight loss related but it's ME related and since it's MY blog, I make the rules. LOL

Anyway, I'm not going to answer all 95 questions today, I'm going to break it up into a few different blogs. I encourage you to answer these questions on a piece of paper or on your blog and do some self reflecting of your own! If you do, please do link my blog as well as let me know that you posted it so that I can read your answers :) All love in the blogosphere!

1. In one sentence, who are you? I am a one of a kind individual made up of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.
2. Why do you matter? Because God made me in His image to play a critical piece in His plan.
3. What is your life motto? Forgive quickly, kiss slowly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile.
4. What’s something you have that everyone wants? True love
5. What is missing in your life? The physical presence of my father who is in Heaven.
6. What’s been on your mind most lately? Bettering myself.
7. Happiness is a ________? hug from my daughter.
8. What stands between you and happiness? Not a thing.
9. What do you need most right now? I can honestly say that I have everything that I need in life. Anything else would be something that I want.
10. What does the child inside you long for? The innocence of not knowing there is cruelty that exists in the world.
11. What is one thing right now that you are totally sure of? Myself.
12. What’s been bothering you lately? The realization that people are not instinctively kind hearted.
13. What are you scared of? My baby girl ever getting hurt in any way.
14. What has fear of failure stopped you from doing? In the past it has stopped me from making the changes in myself that I am currently undergoing.
15. What will you never give up on? My family.
16. What do you want to remember forever? The day I reach my goal weight.
17. What makes you feel secure? My faith in God. And my man's arms around me.
18. Which activities make you lose track of time? *sigh*......Facebook......
19. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made? Things that have seemed like the hardest decision at the present time, looking back now, had pretty clear "right answers".
20. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made? To take the first step towards my transformation.
21. What are you most grateful for? My baby girl.
22. What is worth the pain? Hard work.
23. In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money,
love, health, fame? Love, happiness, health, money, fame.
24. What is something you’ve always wanted, but don’t yet have? A house! (I love my apartment but I'd love a house with a yard and a doggy)

*I just wanted to share this video with you. I absolutely love when it comes on PBS while my daughter is watching cartoons. Not only does it make ME feel good but I know that it is sending her a positive message, whether or not she can understand it yet!*

"If what I am is what's in me then I'll stay strong, that's who I'll be."

More questions to come soon!

Until next time,
Krystle

If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution!

2011-12-08T06:02:00.000-08:00

This week I have been busting booty!! I have been so on plan! I'm getting used to using my 27 DP's and I realized that when the other points aren't there, they aren't even really missed! But if they are there, we eat them. Having a few less points per day has forced me to make better decisions for snacks and treats. Last night I used all my daily points and was debating if I wanted to use some WP's or AP's for dessert but decided:
1) I'm not hungry.
2) Even if I was hungry, ice cream wouldn't be satisfying the hunger and
3) Why mess around with a perfectly OP day??

My boyfriend and I signed up for a local gym last night and all I can say is OMG this gym is beautiful!!! His job gave us 60 days for $60 and paid for his part of it so last night was the first time we got to go together. The equipment is so nice. The facility is so nice. The people are so nice. It was a really awesome experience. I can't wait to go back on Saturday with him. Thankfully, I have options. Since I don't have time to always drive to the gym, I have a gym in my apartment building as well as the option to workout in my living room. No excuses!!

I'm famous!! Again! A girl that I didn't know before the other day saw my comment on my friend's Facebook page and informed me that I am famous lol. She said that one two separate occasions she has heard different people talking about me and my weight loss. A woman at her fiance's job showed her my before and after picture and her fiance came home raving about how "this girl" lost so much weight and doesn't even look like the same person. Then she happened to see me on our mutual friend's page and said "Is this her?" and her fiance said YES That's the same girl!!

Then she was at work and talking about joining Weight Watchers and her coworker said "You have to see this girl who lives around here... she lost so much weight..some lady in church told me about her and showed me her picture" .....turns out she was talking about ME!

A couple weeks ago my friend Paige who lives in California (I'm in NJ) was in the gym and overheard two women talking about Krystle, the one who won the Story Of You Contest....IN CALIFORNIA!

Word travels fast!

*I'm 2lbs away from being able to apply to work for Weight Watchers!!!!!*

Have an awesome almost Friday!

New Gym Equipment!

2011-12-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

The gym in my building got new equipment last week and I finally got around to using it today. I absolutely love it! My workout today had a couple components of awesomeness:

While doing my cardio, a woman came in and got on the treadmill next to me and we got to talking. It turns out that she just retired last year from being a Weight Watchers leader. We were talking about health and fitness and I told her I lost 90lbs and I loved the look on her face when I told her that I did via Weight Watchers. She looked so proud. Right before I left she asked if I had a before and after picture and when I showed her, she got teary eyed! Of course it made me teary eyed lol I told her not to worry...I'm the most emotional person in the world haha
I don't think I need a personal trainer. I was going to spend some of my Story Of You winnings on getting one but as I was working out today on the new equipment, I realized that I know what the heck I'm doing. I did all upper body and some abs today but in between sets I did sets of 10 Burpee Squats to keep my heart rate up. Some lady even told me that I looked like I knew what I was doing haha Soo I think I'm going to spend some money on a BodyBugg .


I've been wanting one forever!!

3. I took the stairs back up to my apartment instead of the elevator. As I was waiting for the elevator it made no sense why I would just bust my butt in the gym and then take the elevator LOL

That's all I have for you today! Heading to take family Christmas pics! Can't wait to see the comparison in how big my baby girl got and how small I got and how our #1 man loves us just the same.


Here is our Christmas 2010 family picture.

Have an awesome one folks!

No Love Like Self Love.

2011-12-03T11:40:00.000-08:00

Good Saturday Afternoon!

Weigh In Check In: I lost what I gained last week and then some. Last week I gained 2.8 and this week I lost 3. I'm happy with it!!

I met a girl after my meeting today who confronted me because she has a goal of losing 90lbs and she was so inspired by my weight loss celebration. She was pretty cool and turns out we actually go to the same school! Lol who knew? I am looking forward to building friendships. I love new friends...especially new health conscious friends!!

I remember a couple years ago saying "I have all the friends I need...I have a select few and I don't need any more friends" ....I'm glad I shook that state of mind because I love the new people in my life!! Don't get me wrong, there are a few friends from childhood....okay....maybe 1....2? friends from elementary school that I still consider to be one of my best friends but the people I like hanging out with the most are my new adult friends! So shout out to all my new lovely ladies in my life!

I'm sure if you are a Weight Watchers member you have heard about the changes coming to the program! I am excited about them. My daily points plus target changes from 29 to 27. We learned a little about it today in our meeting but more information will come next week. From what I saw online, it looks like we will be able to have a day during the week where we don't track but eat Simply Filling foods. I am definitely looking forward to giving that a try. I enjoy change!! Change is good.


Not to mention I love the new layout of the website!

Speaking of change...I busted out the Wii Fit for the first time in a long time yesterday! And all I can say is WEEEEE I'M FIT............. Okay, that was corny as hell...lol but I had a workout on Wii Active Personal Trainer that I had set to medium intensity that when I did it back in March(ish) was super hard for me! I remember not being able to finish some of the workouts and just moving the sensors so the Wii would think I finished. Well, I started that workout yesterday and quit in the middle because it was too easy, switched to a "hard" full body workout and even that was too easy! I mean I broke a sweat but it was nothing like I'm used to. I actually had to wait for the Wii to catch up with ME!

But the sensors that you wear when you play Wii Active make me feel like an athlete for some reason...LMBO! It probably makes no sense but I feel like I'm about to get in a mean workout when I put them on haha. Even the leg strap fits me way better than it did!


Me and my sensors after my workout lol


You know baby girl had to get her "workout" on..she was doing squats with me LOL

So I am honored to announce that in the very near future I will be posting a guest blog for two blogs that you must follow! Two lovely ladies have asked me to guest blog on their site and I am honored.

Check them out:

The fabulous Sarah at She's Coming Undone
And Ms. Bailey....but that's her first name...we just happen to share the awesomeness of both having the name Bailey lol Check her out at The Middle.

*Ladies - I promise to work on my blogs for your pages this weekend!!

One last thing - I need to start carrying around a notebook everywhere I go because there are so many times when I think of things to blog about, things that I see and want to mention, and by the time I get to sit down and write a blog, I totally forget LOL!

uhnhnnjm my njmsamnio io kjkj33388d48 tx 344443333333333fdfd b5vvvvvbbbbbbbbb<----A message from my daughter reminding you that there is no love like self love! Take it from her... the girl gives herself daily kisses in the mirror!! :)

xoxo
Krystle

Cyber HIGH FIVE!

2011-11-30T06:30:00.000-08:00

High five to YOU! You are doing it! Whether you're here on this weight loss journey, you're a fitness junky, a cigarette quitter, working on your spirit and your mind, or all of the above, or some other life changing thing that I am leaving out....I am giving you a cyber HIGH FIVE! Kudos to you for recognizing your worth. Recognizing the importance of your health. And not just recognizing it but DOING something about it! It's easy for someone to say "Yea, I need to get healthy" and it's a whole new story when someone actually gets up, puts on their running shoes, throws out the junk food, throws out their cigarettes, puts down the bottle, and makes - a- change. I congratulate you. :)

A couple things:

If you missed my conference call with Healthy Women On The Move on Sunday, I was the guest speaker! It was such an awesome, awesome experience! But if you weren't able to make it on the call and would like to hear the recorded version of it, please dial 424-203-8099 and use the pin code 301815. As awesome as it is to be blogging and Facebooking and on the Weight Watchers page with all these women, it was so incredibly AWESOME to hear their voices!! Shout out to all my friends and family who were on the call supporting me and shout out to my honey for being the supportive man that he always is. He sat next to me the entire time wanting to hear every word and telling me I was doing great. They have calls every Sunday evening at 8PM Eastern Time. It is a really fun, educational, inspiring experience. I encourage you all to join the Healthy Women On The Move Facebook page by clicking here. And join us on the weekly calls!

ALSO! Please tune in on January 7th, 2012 to hear the story of one incredible woman who I am honored to call my friend!! Ms. Daphne Mills.


Here is Daphne the day she started Weight Watchers in a size 20 weighing 257lbs


and here she is after losing 107.6lbs!! Wearing a SMALL dress!

Women like Daphne (and Michelle, LaWanda, Vonda, Nicole, Najah, Laurene, Bridgit, and so many more of my weight loss sisters) have made this journey worth taking. I know that when I am down and out I can turn to these ladies and they are either going through it too or have been through it and always lift me right back up. I also know that when I have something to celebrate, they are right there in Connecticut, in Chicago, Kentucky, North Carolina, New York, all around the country and the WORLD doing the HAPPY DANCE with me!! If you don't have a support team like this, get on a social network, reach out, and get one! It makes all the difference in the world.

Speaking about support....my cousin....sheesh. He made me cry! He sends me a text the other day that said "I just sent a really nice email to Weight Watchers about you..I'd send it to you but I know you will cry" ....Well Duh. But I made him send it to me anyway so I wanted to share it with you. Even if nobody at Weight Watchers ever reads it, it means SO MUCH to me that he chose to send this. Mind you, him and I are close but we don't talk every single day or anything...he reads my posts and he keeps it moving but to know he is watching and know how inspired he is, means the world to me.

Here is the email:

To whom it may concern:

My name is Ray Straccione and I am from Philadelphia, Pa. My cousin Krystle Bailey recently won the "Story of You" contest. I am writing this message because I want to express to you how much of an inspiration she is to not only our family but to so many other people facing the same problems with their weight and failed diets. She has an amazing blog (http://skinny-jeans-dreams.blogspot.com/) where she shares her everyday successes, bumps in the road, and everything in between. Every day I read her posts on Facebook about how her life has changed so much and how she cannot believe how far she has came. She always ends her posts with, Weight Watchers- Because it works! She is literally a living and breathing advertisement for Weight Watchers. Her goal is to help people see that they can achieve greatness as long as they put their mind to it.

The purpose of my email is that Krystle would be such an amazing leader and motivator. She has the charisma to draw people in and has a heart the size of this world. Krystle also has to drive to do whatever she puts her mind to. She really is one of a kind and I think she would be a great addition to the Weight Watchers family and staff. She dreams about being in commercials and telling her story one day. I ask you to please take a look at her. Follow her blog and see how she inspires so many people. As of today she is down 92 pounds (70 since last Thanksgiving). She is so close to her goal of 100lbs and it would be such a great present to get her some recognition and help her achieve her goal of becoming a Weight Watchers spokesperson. I thank you for reading my email and hope you will be inspired by her just like so many of us are. Thank you and have a wonderful holiday season.

Krystle.

Thanksgiving Wrap Up / Inspirational Moments / Healthy Women On The Move!

2011-11-27T09:52:00.000-08:00

I've been a horrible blogger!!! Haven't blogged since last Sunday?? I do apologize! It's been a hectic week.

First and foremost: To answer the question, "Do you ever have weeks when you gain?"....YES. YES, I do. This week, even though I felt as though I did pretty well (despite my lil slip up on Friday), I managed to gain 2.8lbs! Almost 3lbs! I was pretty bent out of shape yesterday about it but with the help of friends and family who know exactly what I would say to them if the tables were turned, I was able to shake it. Onward and downward!!

I did have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! Food came out fabulous. Spending time with the family is always awesome. I am very blessed to have future in laws who I love dearly and who treat me like their own. Here are a few pics from our Thanksgiving:

The proud chef!

Everybody getting down!


Hanging out with my family :)

After dinner my sister in law and I walked to Starbucks for coffee and along the way we wanted to take a picture by the Christmas tree in the casino. So we were looking for somebody to take our picture and noticed a family looking for the same thing. I am so glad that I offered to take their picture because what an inspiring moment that followed!!! The ladies started asking us where we were from and what we do and the one lady said "I'm from California! I can't wait to run on the boardwalk in the morning. I run 10 miles!" and simultaneously my sister in law and I said "10 MILES??!" .......turns out she is an 80 YEAR OLD MARATHON RUNNER!!!!! She is running the Disney Marathon in January. She has been running all her life and she was just so proud of herself. She was so precious. She said "Last year I wore a jacket and on the back it said 'You just got passed by a 79 year old!' but this year I need a new one because now I'm 80!" LOL! They ended up jumping in on a picture with us and I am so glad they did! If that doesn't inspire you to get up and DO SOMETHING, I don't know what will!!


She is in the yellow jacket to my right.

That was quite a coffee run!!

Last night I took my honey out for his birthday a couple days early (His bday is tomorrow) and after I got dressed I said:

1) Babe...you got a HOTT girlfriend. and

2) Gain? What gain?

I felt so dag on good about myself...check me out!


The love of my life.

We had a really good time. I've said it 100x before and I'll say it again. This man is my world. He has loved every inch of me from the very beginning and is definitely double loving every inch that's left!! He is simply the best.

LAST but definitely NOT least!

TONIGHT!

Check me out on the conference call with the lovely ladies of Healthy Women On The Move. You can LIKE them on Facebook by clicking that link. Even though many of you know my journey from reading my blog, I found last week that it is a whole new world actually listening to a woman tell her story rather than type it. So please join us at 8PM Eastern time. You can tune in by dialing 424-203-8000 and use the pin code 301815. Hope to hear you on the call!

Count your blessings!

Krystle

Thanksgiving day/week survival plan

2011-11-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

Gooood Sunday Morning!!!

Yesterday I reached the 90lbs milestone!!!! 90.2 actually! It was pretty freakin' exciting but it didn't really hit me until I got home and sat right here in my computer chair and said HOLY SMOKES...90lbs.......

.....9 0 p o u n d s!......

I celebrated with a kick ass 2 hour workout with some of my favorite fitness folks! My sister in law, my friend Amanda, and Turbo Kick & BodyPump instructors Kim and Katie. We had so much fun. I love keeping up with my sister in law. She is so fit and so much fun to workout with. We really hype each other up. Kim is so funny...in the middle of Turbo Kick she said "Hey Krystle I'm gonna take a picture of you for your blog" (see below)

and she posted this picture to the Tilton Gym facebook:

Bodypump is no JOKE!! I am sore in every possible area today and I can't wait to do it again next week!! I loved it so much. Thanking God that my back was capable of such an awesome workout. I really think that my computer chair is causing my back to hurt more than it should. It hurts worse when I sit here all day. I'm gonna get a back support from my chiropractor tomorrow!

Anyway, I am PREPARED for Thanksgiving!! In the weekly at the meeting yesterday it said "It's Thanksgiving Day ...not Thanksgiving week!" ....even though that is very, very true. You still have to plan for the entire week. We are celebrating two Thanksgivings. A family friend of ours works on Thanksgiving so is throwing a big get together today for her friends and family with a Thanksgiving feast but she is so sweet. She called me yesterday and she said "I bought fruit and low calorie crackers and X, Y, and Z so you and your mom and everybody can stay on plan!" I made a strawberry no bake cheesecake from Skinny Taste and it looks pretty yummy!


Hers!


Mine!

It's a little hefty on the PointsPlus - 6 PP's for 1/8th but there is nothing wrong with having a sliver of it! A "serving size" doesn't mean you have to eat THAT serving size.

The Thanksgiving Week Survival Plan:

- Earn as many Activity Points as possible

-On the days I go over (like yesterday), use the activity points that I earned that day

-Save all 49 weekly points for Thanksgiving day.

-Track everything.

How, you ask?

The Weight Watchers Thanksgiving cheat sheet

(^Drag and drop food on to your cyber plate and plan ahead^)

The weekly this week also has Thanksgiving PointsPlus values.

For Thanksgiving day, as I mentioned before, I am hosting! So I have typed out all the PointsPlus values and serving sizes of my menu on a little cheat sheet for myself. The only thing I am not making is the Macaroni and Cheese, which I will count 10 PP's per cup and I won't be eating a whole cup of M&C along with everything else and the salad that I'm making my mother in law to make. Everything else, I will know exactly what's in it and how many points it is!

Here's my menu:

Appetizers:


Skinny Taste Bruschetta


Pesto Cheese Blossom from Paula Deen

Main Dish:


Stuffed Turkey


Skinny Taste Spinach Gratin


Skinny Taste Buttermilk Mashed with Chives


Skinny Taste Sweet Potato Casserole


Rosemary Garlic Parmesan Biscuits


Corn Salsa


Stuffing

Plus my SIL's mac and cheese, a salad, the strawberry cheesecake, pumpkin pie dip, and whatever else they bring.

The wonderful thing about SkinnyTase.com is that you can guarantee that taste will never be compromised for less points. She will make sure it's a delicious recipe even if it's a couple more points and that's what I love about that website!!

My measuring cups will be on the table right next to my fork and knife. I am doing this! I am not going to weigh in on Saturday and regret my decisions.

My expectation: Weight Loss this week!

Live the life you love, Love the life you live.

2011-11-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

I love being KJB. Like I really, really, really enjoy this life I am living to the absolute fullest. When I tell you I cherish everything about my life, I do mean everything. I love the feeling of being alive! I really don't know how else to explain it. I sit and I focus on what it FEELS like to be alive and breathing. I focus on the fact that I can breathe in and out without complications. I touch my skin and am amazed at how I can feel the touch both with my hand and with the area of skin that I am touching. I can literally feel my inner beauty. When I make a face or I move in a certain way, I feel beautiful and I didn't look in the mirror or have someone tell me I'm beautiful to feel that way, it's my inner beauty that I feel. I really love the woman I have become.

I didn't always feel this way. There was a very long period in my life when even if I seemed fully happy on the outside and laughed with my friends and family, there was always a piece of me that was unhappy. No particular piece. I just wasn't FULLY happy. My soul wasn't happy like it is now.

I sit and I break down every aspect of my life and even if things aren't perfect, they are perfect for me and could always be much worse::

I look at my relationships that I have with people. My boyfriend, my family, my friends, people I meet at school or on social networks and the relationships I have with people are GENUINE. At this point in my life I feel as though I have rid my life of toxic relationships and the relationships I hold now are with people of character and respect. Yea, there are people IN my life that don't live up to that but they are simply background characters, far from main characters in my movie. I have made so many new friends as an adult and reevaluated long time friendships that I have had since I was a child and made appropriate changes.

I look at my self image. I used to stand in the mirror in disgust before or after a shower. These days when I stand naked in the mirror I see stretch marks, a baby pouch (That I had long before I had my baby), a see a huge, uneven c-section scar, not so perky breasts, arms, or thighs, but what I see is a beautiful work in progress and it makes me smile! I see someone who is determined and who is reaching her goals. I see someone who has lost almost 90lbs. I see someone who birthed a child - a task made only for the strength of a woman. I see someone who loves herself inside and out and that in and of itself is a huge milestone for me.

I look at my relationship with God. No, I don't go to church every Sunday but I feel as though my relationship with Him is stronger than ever. We talk all day long. Sometimes he answers prayers in the way I think they should be answered and sometimes He answers them the way He thinks they should be answered but they are ALWAYS answered and I put my full trust in Him to see me through 110% of the time. I didn't get this far without Him!

I look at the way people view me. An inspiration. And I can't believe that this is really the life I am living...a life of someone who inspires and motivates and enjoys seeing others succeed. A life free from jealousy and "wishing I could do what they are doing". A life of doing. I'm sure there are a few people who don't see me in the same light but I know that there are more that admire and respect my journey and I think it will be a long time before I can fully wrap my head around that.

The way I love my daughter. I have more love in this heart for her than I ever knew I could hold. She is my everything and more. I am proud of the mother that I am and I owe it to my amazing mother for showing me the way. (By the way today is my mommy's birthday!!)

I could go on forever. The only thing missing from my physical life is my father. I would give anything to feel his big bear hug again but one thing I know for sure is that he is one heck of a guardian angel! When I miss him, I simply think really hard about him and then I can feel his presence surround me. He is definitely watching over and pulling strings in my favor up in Heaven!! I know one thing for certain - he is

"one proud papa"

Thank you all for being part of my awesome life. I wish you all the same happiness that I feel every day. You don't have to DO anything out of the ordinary to feel as though you have an extraordinary life. Just break it down, cherish it, and remember - somebody always has it worse than you. Be thankful! You only get one life to live, make it the best life possible!

My Moment Of Fame!

2011-11-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

Did you see it??? Did you see my moment of Facebook fame???? If not, go check out the Weight Watchers Facebook page! They posted the winners of the Story Of You Contest and posted MY video! It was so cool, so unreal, to be talked about on a page with almost 900,000 fans! When I saw it I seriously didn't stop crying for about 20 minutes. I just can't believe that ME...little old Krystle Bailey from South Jersey is doing something significant in life! If you asked me prior to 2010 if I would be recognized for anything that had to do with healthy, fitness, losing weight, and so on...I would have looked at you like you had 20 heads and told you something to the effect of "Pssh I don't wanna be skinny. I love who I am and I'm not meant to be skinny. I'm big boned" ........... o_O

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be living this life right here, right now...losing weight, getting fit, inspiring others, and being recognized for it! It is such a surreal feeling. Where I came from...where I'm at...where I'm headed.....just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. But trust me, there is much more to come where I'm headed!! I have big plans and they don't just revolve around changing MY life.

Oh and for the record,....I'm not "big boned"...I actually have a rather small frame!

I really am at a loss for words other than that. I am still soaking it all in! I'll bring more goodies soon!

Krystle

Failure is NOT an option!

2011-11-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

................I eat too many sweets...............

The truth has been revealed. I have known it all along, yet haven't made a change. Even though we are supposed to treat ourselves on Weight Watchers and even though eating the sweets and counting them technically means that I am on plan....I still eat too many. I know from reading all kinds of fitness thingies that sweets are no good for toning up the belly and like my woman, Chalene Johnson (we'll talk about her again soon) says, "Fitness starts in the kitchen." If I am ever going to tone this stomach up, I need to focus and I need to cut back on the sweets.

If there is one thing I have learned it's that the best two ways to accomplish your goals are 1) Put them in writing. 2) Tell somebody! SO here I am, telling you that I, Krystle KJB Bailey, am vowing to consume 1-2 sweet treats per week. This is a change for me. I currently tend to consume at least one sweet treat per day! (if not more...) So far this week I have had ..1...2....4...........too many. lol So I am going to avoid sweets for the rest of the week and beginning next week will keep my promise to TREAT myself occasionally to a sweet treat.

KEY WORD: OCCASIONALLY!

So, back to Chalene Johnson. I started another challenge of hers. I spoke a while back about doing Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Challenge. Another confession: I didn't finish it. :-/. But that didn't stop me from signing up for a new challenge! She has a book coming out called, PUSH - 30 Days to Turbo Charged Habits, A Bangin' Body, and The Life You Deserve. The book isn't released yet but I signed up for a jump start 30 day session where I watch videos and complete assignments. Assignments which give me the foundation to changing my life for the better. (Yea, you can say I already changed my life but if you're not striving to be better than you already are, you're not living!) Then she is sending the book to you at the end of the challenge. Anyway, you can read/listen more about it at the link I posted above.

The reason I'm bringing this up is because I seriously want to be just like Chalene when I grow up. She is an incredibly motivating, positive, inspiring person. I read things that she wrote and I WISH that I wrote them myself. I could share with you all day long things that I love about her but for the sake of a uber long blog I will focus on one thing that I read yesterday.

She talks about deciding to succeed. Not making failure even an option. There is no "If I succeed at this weight loss thing ____________"....it needs to be "When I succeed and reach my goal, I will _______" One thing that got me really thinking was when she mentions why people start a diet and save their fat clothes, "just in case." .....JUST IN CASE WHAT???? In case you fail??? The point she makes, and that I am making to you, is DO NOT....I repeat, DO NOT allow failure to be an option. When you decide to succeed, whether it is in your personal life, for your health, your business, family, or whatever it may be, that's it, that's all there is to it. You just DO IT.

I could go on and on about the awesomeness that IS Chalene Johnson but I will leave you with that for today. I will share more with you along my journey with this book. I encourage you to sign up for the challenge (I believe you still can) and if not, buy her book. She is an incredible woman and can definitely change your life for the better if you let her!

So what is your decision???? Will you succeed??? GOOD! I'll see you at the finish line :)

Have a great night!

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!

2011-11-10T17:02:00.000-08:00

I'M LATE, I'M LATE! I haven't told you guys yet!!!! Well, if you're friends with me on Facebook or the Weight Watchers page then you already know the fantastic news!!!

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remember a while back I told you that I entered the Lose For Good Story Of You Contest?? And I asked you all to vote??? Wellll I WON!!!! I was one of the three grand prize winners of $5,000! Can you believe it??! I still can't! I can't tell you how many times yesterday the phrases "I can't believe it.", "Yo, that's so crazy", and "Wow, you/I really won!" were spoken in my house yesterday haha

Words can't express how grateful I am to each and every one of you who voted for my video and the day in and day out support!! I sent the affidavit today and once they receive that and confirm that I'm 18, a U.S. resident, etc... then they will post the three winners on the Weight Watchers Facebook page so stay tuned!

READY FOR SOME MORE CRAZINESS??

When the contest first started, they were having problems with the voting and I commented on their status along with one other woman. We ended up friending each other, wishing each other luck on the contest, and becoming friends along the way. TURNS OUT...she was one of the three winners too!!!! How crazy is that??! Check her out! She just started blogging about her weight loss journey also. You can find her blog here. So follow her and show her some love!!

So it's been an exciting two days to say the least.

In other news, I decided to host my very first Thanksgiving!! This is my 2nd year in my apartment and I have been wanting to host a get together of some sort but my apartment is so small. Since this is our year to spend Thanksgiving with my boyfriend's family and he has a close knit family with only his parents, brother, sister, and nephew, I decided it would be a perfect time to host my first holiday!

I want to make things a little on the healthier side but not take away from the fact that it is Thanksgiving. I have been looking up recipes on the only recipe site I turn to when in need, Skinny Taste. So, it should be interesting! I'm excited about it!!

Gotta go! X-Factor is coming on!! :) Love that show!

Now, you've seen it all!

2011-11-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hey. Hey. Hey!

Happy Tuesday........geez...it's only Tuesday???? lol So, I had a little bit of a hard time getting back on track after my bday weekend. Yesterday I started out good but then I lost all desire to track anything. At first it seemed okay. I said "I'm not in the mood to binge eat...just not in the mood to track"..........bad move. My girl Daphne told me it would lead to bad decisions and to get my mind right and she was right!! I ended up way over eating!

When I told my mom that I was having a hard time she was pleased to learn that even the most dedicated people have rough days when they don't feel like being on plan. If you didn't have a day when you just didn't feel like it, you might be superhuman. We all have those days! The key is jumping right back on the wagon and today, I did just that. Back on the OP train!

I woke up this morning and got in a Turbo Fire workout. Man I love that program!! I always have so many people ask me about it and why I love it so much so I decided to take a couple videos for you. hehe. I'm nervous about posting them here but you guys are family so here they are.....

But first a couple disclaimers:

I jiggle. lol
I missed a move at the end of the fire drill one...you'll see the confusion on my face
Excuse the mess behind me lol

These are both from Fire 45, which is my favorite routine out of them all! The first one is my favorite Fire Drill (which in case you don't know, is a super high intensity section of each workout that you go balls to the wall for 45 seconds or a minute depending on the workout and then rest for a minute). The second video is one of my favorite parts of the routine but my camera cut off at the end. Anyway, ENJOY! Don't judge me! hahaha

So, now my friends... you have seen it all! I have welcomed you into just about every aspect of my life including my jiggly workouts. :)

Have a blessed night!
Krystle

The bday pics you've been waiting for! :) 24 years young and 88lbs lighter.

2011-11-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

I had THE best time last night!! Thank you all for all the wonderful bday wishes! Even though I said it a bazillion times already, thank you to all my friends who came out last night to make my night truly special! It was so much fun. Here are some pics!!


My sissy and step mommy before dinner


Birthday girl at The Melting Pot


my best friend in the world, my sister


my not so tini, martini


posing in the bathroom!


My right hand Whoa-man.


The dinner crew :)


Birthday girl in the house!


Champagne sippin'


My brother in law, my sis in law, and my man - Fam[ILY]


Call me the love maker. I introduced these two a couple years back and now they are engaged :) Claire and Julian


Friends since the 4th grade!


gettin' down on the town!!


LOL goofball singing something to me!


Heyyyyy yaaaaa


Love this chic!!


My friend, my sis in law, my fitness partner in crime


love of my life.


My girl Taryn traveled four hours to be with me on my bday!

CHEERS TO FRIENDS, HEALTH, HAPPINESS, AND ANOTHER WONDERFUL YEAR AHEAD!!!

Go girl it's ya birthday!

2011-11-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Hey ladies and gents! THE DAY IS HERE!!!! My 24th Birthday!!!! I barely slept last night. I tried to take nap, slept for 20 minutes, got up made a pb&j, and here I am typing a blog. All while my little one is sleeping and I could be sound asleep but nope - too anxious! I am soo gonna crash when I do hit the sheets! LOL!

So, I didn't reach my goal of losing 2.8 this week or anything close to it. Instead I lost 0.8 but I am OKAY with that!! I decided to take time frames off of my goals. Weight loss is not a race, I firmly believe that, and I'm sticking by it! I lose it when I lose it. I had a really OP week, conquered Halloween with a bang, worked out 4 days, and guzzled water like there was no tomorrow so I am not measuring my success based on what that scale has to say about it!!

This is me on my birthday last year! I'm half of that now!

That's exactly what the meeting was about today, actually. Seeing the bigger picture. It was so awesome to hear how everyone else measured their success based on their bigger picture.

One lady is diabetic and dropped 10 points on her blood sugar levels!
Another lady said she has been a Weight Watcher for two years and she measures her success based on the fact that she is wearing the same clothes this year that she bought after she lost her weight last year.
One woman said she measures her success based on the fact that she's just DOING IT! She said aside from her marriage, she has never been as committed to something for so long.
One man, he is the sweetest man! He's 61 and he has been a Weight Watcher for 9 years! When I said I wasn't in a race to lose the weight, he told me that he has been doing this for 9 years slow and steady, focusing on building muscle as well as losing weight and that's just how he likes it.

I absolutely love my Saturday morning Weight Watchers family. I have made some true friends in there both young and old, at their goal weight, and far from it, we all have something in common and that's that WE ARE DOING IT!!! I wouldn't wake up at 5:45 on a Saturday morning (ON MY BDAY) if I didn't love each and every one of those people including my leader Stephanie and the ladies working at the front. They are part of who I am and I am so glad to have them all in my life!

So, I now I have TWO bday outfits! My friend gave me a dress that is so fly and looks so good on me, I can't even explain it lol. I was dancing around the house this morning in it. I'm so anxious to see everyone tonight! So many awesome people are coming out it's going to be a ridiculous amount of fun. Just praying that my back allows me to have the fun that I want to have.

My chiropractor joked about wanting to come out and party with me and I wish he was serious that way if I did hurt myself, he could give me a quick fix!! haha He told me to go have fun, anything I mess up he will fix on Tuesday lol

So tomorrow....or maybe Monday....(lol) I will have tons of pics for you guys!!

Krystle

My Love Affair With Weight Watchers - My 1st Video Blog

2011-11-04T04:36:00.000-07:00

Love,
Krystle

Halloween Pics & A few Things...

2011-11-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks!! Happy Hump Day :)

Halloween was awesome! Baby girl had so much fun playing with the other kids at our little party and every house just ate her up. She is one cute kid if I do say so myself...so I know you're probably wondering how the costumes came out well here we are:


The Cat In The Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 (She's Thing 2 on the back)


Can't forget FISH!


and of course, Nick! (That's really his name but it's also the boy's name in Cat In the Hat..he participated without knowing! LOL)

*The down side is: I am having somewhat of an allergic reaction to the makeup. My eyes and cheeks are swollen but they are slowly going down, thank God!*

I was FOCUSED. We had tons of food including chili, potato salad, taco dip thingy, meatballs, desserts etc... I didn't track everything I ate but I split a meatball with my daughter and ate literally a half of ladle of chili then just tasted a few other things. I really feel as though I conquered the first day of "eating season" with a bang! I treated myself to 3 pieces of candy, gave her one lollipop, and I am donating the rest to the Salvation Army.

I'm ready to conquer Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years too!!

Bday is in 3 days!!! I finally got an official outfit and when I tried it on at home with my boots I almost died. I could not believe I was wearing a dress that short and feeling OH SO SEXY in it!! Can't wait to show you guys pics! Lol But until then, you can see my boots!

They were an impulse buy that ended up turning into my bday present from my honey :) I just LOVE them!!

I found this today and thought it was a cute reminder:

Don't Quit When you've eaten too much and you can't write it down,
And you feel like the biggest failure in town.
When you want to give up just because you gave in,
and forget all about being healthy and thin.
So What! You went over your points a bit,
It's your next move that counts...So don't you quit!
It's a moment of truth, it's an attitude change.
It's learning the skills to get back in your range.
It's telling yourself, "You've done great up till now.
You can take on this challenge and beat it somehow."
It's part of your journey toward reaching your goal.
You're still gonna make it, just stay in control.
To stumble and fall is not a disgrace,
If you summon the will to get back in the race.
But, often the struggler's, when loosing their grip,
Just throw in the towel and continue to slip.
And learn too late when the damage is done,
that the race wasn't over...they still could have won.
Lifestyle change can be awkward and slow,
but facing each challenge will help you grow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
the silver tint in a cloud of doubt.
When you're pushing to the brink, just refuse to submit,
If you bite it, you write it....But don't you quit!

Remember: You get whatever you settle for! Strive to achieve MORE whether it be with weight loss, fitness, work, love, whatever it is in your life - don't settle. If you believe it, you can achieve it!

Happy Day Ladies and Gents! :)
Krystle

Did you ever wonder where the weight goes??? ;; Happy Healthy Halloween wishes.

2011-10-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

1st and foremost: NATALIE!! If you're reading, please email me!! You have won the giveaway and I have no way to contact you! Email me at skinnyjeansdreams@gmail.com

I hoped to have some recipes to share with you today but I don't. They came out yucky. Bummer. I usually have great success in the kitchen but I tried to make two recipes for our Halloween get together that we have every year and neither one came out good. They were from my WW cookbook too, which normally doesn't fail me. I TRIED making cheese straws and roasted red pepper dip. The straws were just plain gross and the dip came out as more of a soup than a dip.

Anyway, I'm bringing Apple Cinnamon wine that you serve warm.....so good!!!! I am totally focused and staying on track tonight!! I will post pics of our costumes tomorrow!

My Weigh In this weekend:: I lost 1.6 again this week!! Just dwindling away :) This puts me at 87.2lbs GONE. I almost gave up on my mission to lose 90 by my birthday since I stayed the same one week but now I only have 2.8 to lose! Can I do it???? I have been tracking EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth. I mean everything. I think if I continue to stay focused I can come pretty darn close!

So, my mom asked me a while ago "When you lose weight, where does the fat go??" ...I am positive that she is not the only one to wonder that. I did some research and I could put it all into scientific terms but who wants to read that?? So here is a short video that I found explaining where the weight goes:

Interesting!! Considering I am constantly in the bathroom, it doesn't surprise me that I have been successful in losing weight almost every week. Again, that's why I strive on H2O - constantly!!

One more goody to share with you. In case you haven't already seen this from Hungry Girl, here it is again. This is her Massive Halloween Candy Guide! It has all the nutritional facts as well as the PointsPlus values for any Halloween candy you can think of!

STAY FOCUSED TONIGHT LOSERS!!!! YOU ARE IN CONTROL!!!! This is the start of the "eating season"....are you going to come out on top???? I know I am! Food doesn't control me. I control me.

On that note, have a very Happy and SAFE Halloween!! *And if you don't want the candy in your house - check out your local dentist - many of them are offering money to trade in your Halloween candy and sending the candy to the US Troops. If the dentist doesn't want it, the individuals who eat at soup kitchens and depend on the Salvation Army for their nourishment, don't get many treats - share the love with them.

Love,
Krystle

and the WINNER is.....

2011-10-28T14:27:00.000-07:00

Thank you for everyone who entered to win my first giveaway! And thank you to all the new followers that came along with it.

So, like I said in my original post, we picked the winner old school style.


16 entries = 16 even sheets of paper


I wrote down everyone's name on one sheet...


Folded and scrambled...

Congratulations to Natalie. You are the new owner of an awesome S2H Step! I looked to see if I could find an email for you and couldn't so when you see this, send me an email to skinnyjeansdreams@gmail.com !

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend. I have more bloggy goodness for you tomorrow :)

Krystle

Giveaway Reminder / Some Other Things!

2011-10-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

Gooood Friday Morning!!

Today is the last day to enter my first ever Giveaway!. Thank you for all who have entered and the new followers that have come along with it! I loved reading all your inspirations. This evening I will post another blog with the process of choosing the winner and of course, the big winner!!!


S2H Step

Hope everyone had an awesome week. I have obviously been slacking on blogging but I just wanted the giveaway to be the focus of the blog this week. Anyway, I'm not so sure how my weigh in will go tomorrow. I know I say that often then end up losing anyway but this week has been a rough one! I had to really check myself after last weekend. I was just reading David Kirchnoff's blog (The CEO of Weight Watchers). He had a little segment that I can relate to 1,000% ! Reading this post came just at the right time for me. He said:

One of the aspects of maintenance that I struggle the most with is the following thought in the recesses of my mind: that any day I will receive the following notice:

Dear Mr. Kirchhoff,

We have reviewed our records, and it has come to our attention that your visa in our beautiful country has expired. You are now in violation of our laws, and we are beginning steps to have you immediately deported.

Thanks for visiting us.

The citizens of Thin-landia

Not that I am in maintenance YET but I do have that recurring thought that this could be just a phase and at any moment I could go back to being the same old Fat Krystle that I have always been. It could happen. It won't. But it could. Read the rest of that blog here. He goes on to talk about some very interesting topics about self image.

*Keeping myself in CHECK...not going back to the land of "Heavyopolis" as Mr. Kirchnoff calls it*

Birthday is next Saturday!!! I ended up not buying a dress since my friend Courtney let me borrow a couple dresses to choose from. I'm not going to post pics until after my bday but I'm wearing a cute little purple thang with some lacey tights and I have to find some awesome shoes. :) I'm excited! The birthday was NOT supposed to revolve around food and I will make sure that it doesn't but we decided to have dinner at The Melting Pot - a fondue restaurant that only serves a FOUR course meal on Saturday nights. lol But afterwards I plan to dance it off. I'm thinking KARAOKE!


LOL this is the last time I went for some Karaoke with the girls! (No I hadn't been drinking hahaha)

I'm just excited to have some fun with my friends and celebrate what has been an INCREDIBLE year!!

More later!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway! I'll extend the entry period until tonight because I probably won't get to it until after I get back from food shopping after work tonight. Good luck to everyone who entered! \

Krystle

GIVEAWAY!!!! Enter for your chance to win a S2H Step!

2011-10-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to do this for a while now and I was waiting until I reached 100 followers as a little celebration and thanks for following my blog. I am currently at 99 followers but that's close enough! LOL It's the weekend and I'm feeling generous. SO...here's the deal...

I'm giving away a Switch To Health Step (pedometer):

I know some of you are saying "Well, I already have a pedometer" ...but this little guy is different. This little guy REWARDS YOU....yes gives you something other than better health for just walking! You can check out the detailed at S2H.COM. But here is how it works:

It's that simple. You get a code after every 10,000 steps that you just go onto S2H.COM and enter. By entering this code, you get 60 points towards a reward. When you let your points add up, you can cash them in for prizes such as gift cards for Dick's, Sports Authority, Sears, itunes, Heartland Spa, and more. All YOU have to do is do what you're already doing!

THE DETAILS:

I was going to go the same route as every other giveaway I have seen and do what we do in 2011 - use technology, but I decided we're going old school. Put your name in the hat!

To enter: Comment on this blog post stating in 2-3 sentences what inspires you keep pushing towards your healthy goals. (FYI: This is not an opinion based contest. Whatever you say, will not determine the winner. It's just the entry requirements.)

Winner Selection: Yes. I am putting your name in a hat. I will document this whole process in photos, of course. Once all the names are in the hat, I will have my 16 month old genius of a daughter choose the winner!!

Deadline: Have all entries in by Friday, October 28th by noon. That is the day I will choose the winner!

Good luck! I'm excited to hear what inspires YOU. My contest judge, Elliana, continues to inspire me every day!

Have a blessed Sunday!
Krystle

*Disclaimer S2H is not in any way affiliated with this giveaway or my blog.*

Because She's Krystle...

2011-10-22T06:32:00.000-07:00

ahh why do I cry so much??! Lol it's like embarrassing after a while! Every week at Weight Watchers, it never fails - whenever I say something - I get watery eyed. I'm so freakin' emotional about this whole thing! Well, I'm emotional about everything but especially about this journey. Today in my meeting my Bo-Pop (my grandfather) summed it up in 3 words..I told the story about the woman I mentioned in my last blog. The lady who stopped coming to Weight Watchers meetings because she didn't think NSV's were worth celebrating. Mind you, I don't even know this woman!! But when I told the story, I ended it with "And I just feel so bad! *with tears in my eyes*" and Stephanie said "Well, why do you feel bad?" .....and that's when Bo-Pop chimed in: "Because she's Krystle"

I just have such a big heart. Like there are people who are genuine and there are people who love their families and their friends and people who feel sorry for others and then there's ME. I seriously am convinced that when God made me he looked through all the hearts he had in storage and picked out the largest one he could find for me then searched around for the biggest tear ducts and the biggest set of emotions and combined them to produce Krystle Bailey and said "Here you go, world...enjoy...but beware: If you tell her anything inspiring, sad, happy, or just hug her too tight she might start leaking"

but 99.99% of the time they are happy tears!!

*sigh* ...I love who I am though. God made me who I am for a reason and even though it's sometimes embarrassing to cry the way I do, I am perfectly made in His image and I'm okay with that.

My friend once told me, "I've never met anyone quite like you. If you had a jar full of love and what you had to give and you had *this much*, you would give THIS MUCH!"

Soo anyway, I lost 1.6 this week for a total of 85.6! Whoop Whoop! Today I am spending the day with my honey. We are going to hang out at the pool for a bit and then going to the Food and Wine festival. Tonight is a family birthday party for my nephew. SO all of that combined, I have to strive to focus on tracking. We just talked about this in our meeting about how the weekends are so challenging!!! I am terribly guilty of getting too lax on my tracking during the weekend. I bite here, a nibble there, it's terrible!

Have a wonderful, healthy, happy Saturday folks!!
Krystle... *tear* lol j/k

Be a better you today than you were yesterday.

2011-10-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Something in me won't let me stop until I reach the top...I keep going, I keep showing, the whole world every day I'm growing. Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything in me says I GOT THIS!!!" (J.Hud)

Love that song. :)

How is everyone doing today?? I am wonderful, as usual. I rarely am un-wonderful LOL yes, I just made up a word. Don't get me wrong, I have things that make me upset in my life and things I don't always agree with but I just try to make the best of life 100% of the time. If my lunch sucked, I thank God for having food. If I don't want to wake up early, I thank God for waking up at all. If my boyfriend makes me upset, I thank God for having a man who loves me unconditionally. If my back hurts, I thank God for having access to medical care. You get the point? So, for those of you who may think "This girl is so giddy all the time, her life must be perfect" - IT'S NOT. I just make the best of it. You should too.

Check out this little girl telling herself how awesome her and her life are, we should all strive to be more like her!

In other news...

The Story Of You video is here!! So please, I'm asking you to take two minutes out of your day and go to Facebook and vote for it! You can do that here. I tried to post the actual video here but it took up the entire screen and I am not tech savvy enough to know how to fix it so just click the link! lol

I was in the elevator last night in my Weight Watchers Lose For Good sweat shirt and an elderly lady said to me "You're not on Weight Watchers, are you? You're so thin!!" ...I was completely caught off guard by that but I responded, "Yes, thanks to Weight Watchers. I have lost 84lbs." The lady Sally that was also in the elevator who knows me said "Oh that's because you had a baby right, that you gained the weight?" ...No, Sally. Far from the reason!! lol She was pretty impressed also because she had thought I was just losing baby weight all this time but always points out that I am getting "quite a figure".

Some more weirdness that I am trying to figure out how to process in this brain of mine that is just so overwhelmed with things these days:

Around my family the other night and my aunt says to my cousin, "It's so weird seeing Krystle so thin!"
Around my new friends that I met this semester today and got in the convo about WW and they say "I can't even picture you fat!"

Weird. lol

I think I will have to spend a lot of time consciously soaking this all in once I reach my goal weight. It's a lot to process for an over active brain such as my own!

KJB FACT: I cry about everything. lol

I read a blog today on the WW page about a woman in a WW meeting who was unhappy with the results on the scale and when another member mentioned acknowledging her NSV's, she said "What's the point of NSV'? It only matters what shows up on the scale." .....sadly, that woman stopped coming to the meetings. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I thrive on NSV's - Acknowledge them, relish in them, let them motivate you to work harder!

A few random thoughts:

The chiro upped my elliptical workout today!! Excited for the morning. :)
If you're reading and not following, please do. When I reach 100 followers I am doing a giveaway!!
Stay tuned for a new poem coming soon about my love affair with Weight Watchers. It's kind of silly!

Love and hugs,Krystle

P.s. Don't forget to vote for the video!!!!!

My Morning Routine.

2011-10-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hey lovelies.

I just wanted to talk really quick about morning workouts. I love morning workouts. It's done, it's out of the way, and it's a great way to start your day but like everyone else, I love my bed. It's not easy getting out of bed in the morning, especially since I started this 5:30am gym trip (I used to workout around 7 or 8 in my living room whenever my daughter woke up but I have been wanting to use the elliptical in the gym so I have to get up early before my BF leaves for work.)

So I know some of you are like 5:30 though???!! How the hell does she do that???

I'll tell you how.

1st of all, before I go to bed at night I prepare myself to not make excuses in the morning:

Sneaks, sports bra, socks, and shirt. I go to sleep in my workout pants.

This is what my morning routine is like:

5:00 - One alarm goes off. I go back to sleep.
5:30 - My alarm goes off. I take a deep breath and sit right up.
5:30-5:35 - The angel and devil on my shoulders begin to battle each other. The devil fights hard to make me lay back down. I listen to this argument considering both sides.
5:35 - The angel and devil are still at it but I am busy putting on my sports bra and sneakers amidst the negotiations and rationalizations from the devil. She tries to tell me that I can just drink lots of water today and stay on plan and go back to sleep. Even tries to convince me I might go later tonight.
5:40 - I flick that B word off my shoulder and head to the gym. :)
6:40 - I walk back in my apartment feeling fantastic and ready to conquer my day. Kick rocks with no socks, little devil. ;)

What the shirt says.

Here's to an awesome, healthy, fit, on plan, day!!

My Challenge For You Today: Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. (Example: You weigh 200lbs, drink 100oz of H20)

God Bless,
Krystle

Skinny Jeans Dreams

Non-Food Rewards

Off The Cuff

A little about Simply Filling and some other randomness

In the mean time!

My Fitness Journey To Date.

Quinoa Porridge Recipe

A little unexpected ice cream:: A life lesson.

A slew of things, a ton of awesomeness.

My New Tuesday Night Routiune!

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

Plateau: BUSTED!

Spontaneous decisions are the best decisions!

Am I The Only One??

Update.

Non weight loss blog: our hospital stay.

A Slew Of Things!!

HANDS IN!

Take a car ride with me!

Which do you enjoy most??

Sometimes the scale just doesn't give a damn!

Video Blog - Response to WEEK 1 of INSANITY!

A trip to NYC that I will NEVER forget!!!!

Stay Tuned....

The Results Are In...

"If your friends don't have the same goals as you......"

More of the 95 questions for Meaning and Happiness

What Does "Clean Eating" Mean to You??

HERE IT IS!!!!

What A Year, What A Year, What A Mighty FINE Year!!!

In 2012 let's not CHANGE, but IMPROVE!

Let's Be Fit - a childrens book!

A not so Merry Christmas.......but it could always be worse.

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude." -Denis Waitley

Quickie from my iPhone

Making new gym friends...

Chill...Girl, you got this!

Myth Busters!

"If what I am is what's in me then I'll stay strong, that's who I'll be."

If hunger is not the problem, then eating is not the solution!

New Gym Equipment!

No Love Like Self Love.

Cyber HIGH FIVE!

Thanksgiving Wrap Up / Inspirational Moments / Healthy Women On The Move!

Thanksgiving day/week survival plan

Live the life you love, Love the life you live.

My Moment Of Fame!

Failure is NOT an option!

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!

Now, you've seen it all!

The bday pics you've been waiting for! :) 24 years young and 88lbs lighter.

Go girl it's ya birthday!

My Love Affair With Weight Watchers - My 1st Video Blog

Halloween Pics & A few Things...

Did you ever wonder where the weight goes??? ;; Happy Healthy Halloween wishes.

and the WINNER is.....

Giveaway Reminder / Some Other Things!

GIVEAWAY!!!! Enter for your chance to win a S2H Step!

Because She's Krystle...

Be a better you today than you were yesterday.

My Morning Routine.