The Morning After CHALEAN

OMGoodness.





I am hurting.





That's a good thing, though. I'm kinda liking it.





It's been a while since I have hurt quite like this. And there is a feeling of accomplishment, knowing I cranked out 6 girlie pushups last night, when on Monday evening I could only do 4.





Sit-ups? They are another matter entirely.





So I have started this new program, called "ChaLEAN Extreme." It uses the idea that muscle burns fat. And I'm pretty sure that's true. Cause I can FEEL it burning. Even this morning!





The nice thing is that my hubby has graciously joined the program with me! We can do it at home, in the evenings, and we suffer together. It's a 90 day program, so we have 89 left to go before we can see the major results. But I can feel this process is going to make me stronger already. Major muscle groups are screaming at me.





The weight loss? I am not a loser. I have struggled to get myself back under 180 again. But yesterday my mom showed me some pics of myself before I started the diet 2 years ago, and I couldn't believe it. Here's one, and if you click on it, it will take you to see the others.

(For the record, I didn't widen this at all. I really looked like that.)

So I feel the fires of inspiration once again. I feel the urge to keep going.



I also feel the urge to down the legal limit of advil...

Surviving Technical Difficulties

So how does a girl manage a household whilst her husband is away singing and dancing at tech week and a weekend long performance of a musical?

SHE EATS. She eats a LOT.

And then Monday morning, and she steps on the scale for the first time in 5 days and her heart sinks.

181.

3 pounds MORE than when she started this contest.

Now, I could make all kinds of legitimate excuses. I was making quick and easy unhealthy meals, I was eating late (like after 11pm) when her hubby got home, "TOM" was close to arriving and I was a bottomless pit that was retaining back the Red Sea....

But I am not going to excuse my behavior. I was hungry. And I ate things that I shouldn't have. End of discussion.

So how does a person feel when she knowingly accepts that this setback is her own dang fault?

1. Guilty- much like on my own blog, I know that people are watching me, and feel that twinge of guilt that I have let people down. Totally fine. Nothing wrong with a little guilt. As long as I don't let it overtake my emotions and tell me I am going to feel.

2. Frustrated- this is the most natural human emotion. It is even more natural when I realize that this setback could have been avoided if I had simply behaved like a rational human on a diet and had even an ounce of will power and self discipline. (Which I obviously do not- enough said)

3. I FEEL REAL- this may surprise you, but I enjoy feeling normal. So very often I feel like a total oddball. It's nice to know that this is something all of you experience too! We move forward, take a step back, then move forward again. It's the dance of the dieter, and it does not happen to failures. It happens to EVERYONE.


I don't know if these words will help anyone out there, but there is nothing wrong with setbacks. Setbacks give us the opportunity to empower ourselves with resolve- determination- focus.

It also shows us where our weaknesses are. And so you don't feel alone, here are my weaknesses:
1. PASTA
2. Chocolate
3. Portion Control
4. Late night eating
5. Not eating every 3 hours like I am supposed to.

Does anyone out there share these weaknesses? What do you guys struggle with?

Me and my big BEHIND

I know. I am behind on EVERYTHING.

Behind on laundry.

Behind on videos and blogging.

Behind on losing weight.

I can’t seem to catch up lately.

Water consumption is up, coffee is slightly down (mostly cause I’m tired of drinking water) and I am feeling a bit frazzled.

Which is ok. I honestly thrive when I’m frazzled.

When I am stressed, I can kick it into high gear and whip some tail. So lets’ just hope that’s the case this week.

On the diet front- since my hubby is going to be extremely busy this week, we tried to cram in as much family time this weekend as we could. That’s a good thing, trust me. But we decided to have as many family meals as we could.

So, uh…. I gained. In fact, I will admit that this week’s weigh in looks worse than my week one weigh in. So this week?

I’m kicking it into high gear.

I can’t go walking because Matt will be gone in the evenings, but I can do DVDs at home.

And I got my ChaLean extreme. She was not joking about the extreme part.

Tonight I have to do the fitness test for it, but I’m also going to do 2 of my biggest loser videos.

Maybe even a Billy Blanks Ab workout- if I can still move.

Tuesday will be a rest day, then Wednesday I’m back on the horse again. I gotta look fly for this weekend when my hubs premiere’s himself in a musical. (Not really, but he is one of the leads.)

And my new goal dress is on it’s way. I can’t WAIT to get it. Nothing like looking at a dress you can’t fit into that you desperately want to wear to keep you away from eating junk!!

As soon as it gets here, I’ll post a picture!

Perking up on a Monday

Floating along....

The personal goal of my current life is to up my water intake. We are now going to play the game of “Rosetta Stone- learning the language of the diet”

Statement: I am going to up my water intake.

Translation: For every 4 cups of coffee I consume, I must match it with 32 ounces of water.

Secondary meaning: I will be running to pee every 20 minutes.


Maybe I drink a little too much coffee. As a SAHM (stay at home mom) I guzzle the stuff like it’s oxygen. It’s Mama’s gogo juice. Her reason for waking up. (To be clear, my family is my reason for breathing. Waking up is an entirely different matter…)

Statement: Maybe I need to lay off the joe just a bit.

Translation: I drink entirely too much coffee.

Secondary meaning: My body is getting a whole lot more water than it is used to with the coffee matching system, because I don’t have any intention of giving up coffee- I'll consider reducing- but never removing.

Not that it’s a horrible thing. And I have tried replacing coffee with hot tea, chai, and other alternatives, but nothing perks me up in the morning like a cup (or 5) of my Resurrection Blend Coffee (made by Raven’s Brew) and helps me get the kids off to school on time.

With all the water, however, I have noticed an old problem rearing it’s ugly head once more.

Statement: For those of you who don’t know me well, I am “odorly challenged.”

Translation: 99.9% of products out there don’t work on my pits.

Secondary meaning: I STANK 100% of the time.


Embarrassing as it may be, it’s a good sign that my body is ridding out all the toxins and crap that I have put back in there since my plateau hit.

I don’t need to translate that one. You know what it means. It means that I got lazy and was letting the diet slide. Not good.

So as I am brewing the second pot of the day (my husband took a thermos to work of coffee, I didn’t drink the whole 12 cups. Just 6 of them…) and trying to enjoy the drudgeries of laundry, I wondered how everyone else handles getting their water intake up. Do you guys drink things like Crystal Lite? Any fun waters out there I should know about?

(Are there any that taste like coffee???)

Moving things around!!!

I was going to write a new blog post for today, but keeping up on two blogs is proving to hurt my ability to finish laundry.

So I'm sending you all to my other blog for today. I'll catch up with specifics later!

Time to eat again????

So I have been trying really hard to keep my metabolism up. I know that's the only way I can lose weight. Any time I have ever fasted (never could make it past day 2....) my body didn't react like you would expect it too. And while I know the celebration of the discipline of fasting does wonders for my faith and my spiritual life, my body does not like it.

And while I will eventually want to fast again, right now is not the time. I can spend that time in meditation and prayer instead.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because I am sick and tired of eating.

I feel like I am constantly grazing on something- high fiber crackers, pears, apples, bananas, sugar free chocolate milk, cheese....

I almost don't want to take another bite.

Yet my body is loving it! I am not giving myself time to let the metabolism slow down, and I'm burning calories all day long!

While I am not throwing myself into the exercise part as heavily as the other girls in the F2F contest are, I am happily embracing the diet- the way I did when I first lost all the weight- and seeing results.

On a side note, last night watching infomercials at 4am, I ordered a new program. ChaLEAN Extreme. Have any of you ever heard of it? Her theory is that long lean muscles will burn fat quicker than cardio. I'm with her on that one. I'd rather lift weights than do jumping jacks ANY DAY OF THE WEEK! So I will let you know when I get it and give it a whirl. It's actually a 90 day program, so I won't see the finished results until after this contest is over. But I should see good results by week 8 here! I'm excited!!!

I did it!

I finally got back down to 176! (uh, point eight, but still!)

So this diet thing is back on track. I have been trying to do all the right things, but Rachel (contestant #1) has been on me about not getting enough protien. If you have ever checked out my actual blog (Operation Shrink Charlie's Big Butt) you will know that I don't do high protien, low carb diets. Nope. Just a healthy smattering of everything good for you.

So in order to up my protien, I made sure I got good carbs in there too.

Yesterday, I had :

A protien shake (cause I am not a big breakfast eater)

High Fiber Maple and Brown Sugar oatmeal

A cheese stick (not low fat, just a regular old cheese stick)

Yougurts (I think 3)

A plum

Cheddar cheese rice cakes (half a serving)

These AWESOME SNACKS.... (2 servings)

And some turkey bacon. Mmmmmm... pretend bacon.......

I basically tried to eat all day long. Little bits here and there. I think it helps keep my metabilosm up to burn through the whole day. I also walked 3 miles, and cleaned house. (That burns a ton of calories.... trust me)

So it's all falling into place. I can't let my self get sidetracked by cookies or pasta anymore. Just whole grains, healthy choices, and moving my body a little more.

How is everyone else doing???