MIA

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog for the past couple of weeks! Its been hectic around here. My son has been sick and teething and then we went on our anniversary trip and I just haven't had any time to spare. So here is what is up!! I am down 39 pounds, I can't seem to break the 40lb. barrier! Its been the same for over 2 weeks now with small gains and loses, and I'm getting mad lol. But I know in time it will come off! So I am finishing up the Shred!! And took my after photos and wanted to share. Yes technically I have one day left but I am also starting Ripped in 30, and the last picture in these are my starting one for that. Overall I am so thrilled with my results from the Shred. I have lost 16 pounds and 19.35 inches!! I can't believe it. These are the break downs of my measurements:

Chest:4.25 inches lost

Thighs: 3.00 inches lost-on both

Waist: 2.25 inches lost

Hips:1.95 inches lost

Arms: 1.20 inches lost-on both

Neck: 1.00 inch lost

Calf's: .75 inches lost-on both

Totaling: 19.35 inches lost

I still can not believe I lost just under 20 inches in 30 days!! It seems insane to me that a month ago I had 19 extra inches on my body from mostly fat. It does make me curious as to how many I would have lost from the beginning of my weight loss. During the last 30 days I have dropped at least 1 pant size. I can't remember if I was in a stretchy 16 or 14. But I am now in a stretchy 12 with a little room to spare around the waist!! My belt which I was in the second hole when starting this, I had to poke a sixth hole in!! I can't believe what a difference this has made! And to everyone on MFP again...THANK YOU!! You have all kept me going!!

So Ripped here I come!! I hope to have similar results with it. I will post pictures again then, maybe even before we shall see.

The War!!

By:CelticWarrior on MFP~ has lost 117lbs. to date

What I have learned so far about losing weight and being successful. You have to prepare, you will be fighting on three fronts. You will be fighting your body to do something it doesn't wanna do, you will be fighting your cravings for junk, greasy and fast foods and you will be fighting a mental battle that will keep your mind from registering the progress.

So it does become hard to win this war but it is not impossible, like any war you must prepare yourself to go all in. Best thing I can tell you is if you tried diets in the past and it hasn't worked, use it as preparation for the war ! no matter how many times you failed,use it. You then know what your going into and can be better prepared. ( more prepared than I was, lol )

Your body is gonna give you hell to exercise, it is gonna fight you the whole way and not wanna do anything in the form of exercise you put it through, push through it, in a months time your body will adapt to the change and enjoy it!

Mentally your gonna look in the mirror and not see change, to combat that, get a measuring tape and measure body parts every month and then you can see how your body is really changing. Don't rely on your eyes because your mind plays tricks on you.

MFP should be your weapon of choice as well!

The better prepared you are the better chance you have of succeeding, body builders prepare for weeks to start training for competition.

These are things that seem useful to me and I hope they will be useful to you.

I absolutely loved this!! It is so true and is something I believe everyone needs to hear, especially those who are struggling! I wanted to post this so that when I have my bad days and weeks, I can look at this and remember to keep pushing on and be able to WIN THE WAR!!

P.S.~ The scale said I lost 2.2 pounds yesterday morning!

Haven't weighed today though, only need .8 to be to the doctor's high estimate!! WOO!!

WoWzers!

So week 2 of the "Shred" done! And with great results I may add:) I lost.... drum roll please.... 5.4 inches and 5.2 pounds!! I am so so HAPPY!! The last two weeks have been slow weeks where the weight loss is concerned. So to wake up and see a loss of 5.2 pounds was awesome. Plus 5.4 inches I'm on top of the world! The "Shred" is still kicking my butt though. I took 3 days off over the weekend and am sure regretting it now. I still lost, but it seems harder than it was on Thursday. I still love how I feel after though, it gives me such a sense of accomplishment! I also received Jillian Micheal's Ripped in 30 in the mail a few days ago, and am hoping to start that sometime in April. It looks scary just from the pictures on it :s Hopefully that will give me the great results "Shred" has. I have my doctor's appointment Friday, hoping that the doctor will be just as pleased as last month. I still have 3 pounds to be at the high mark of what he predicted. Since Sunday I've lost 2 pounds, so will see if the loss will keep up for 1 pound a day. I don't know if its realistic though. I now have 7.4 to lose to be at my half way mark and 8.6 to be in ONE-DERLAND!! Next weekend is our anniversary and we are going away for a night, but we get a $60 food card to use from the hotel, so I'm alittle nervous over that. Because 4 days after is my mini-goal to be at One-derland and so I'm hoping I won't gain to much or at all. Very excited to get away even if its just for a night. I also realized today as I was taking my son upstairs that I didn't get winded walking up them. He weighs 25lbs. and it use to kill me to take him up them. I hated to do it. I was so excited when I realized I was breathing normally at the top!! Today has been a great day and so I had to share! I'm feeling much more confident, and I'm so happy with myself and for sticking with it this long! I've never lost this much on a diet before so I'm just proud of myself right now!

New Pictures!!

These were taken over the weekend. At 32.6 pounds lost!!

Don't mind the un-makeuped face!!

Two are slanted I took them with my phone, and I forget that they don't like to change to the right angle when I put them on the computer.

A Big Fat THANK YOU!

I feel like I need to dedicate a post just to all of YOU!!

I can't say this enough how amazing all my friends and family

both on MFP and also just in my good ol' regular life are!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

This past week sure has boosted my confidence.

Last Sunday we went to my parents house for dinner

and my dad told me how good I was looking, and that my face was coming back.

I know it sounds rude, but you have to know my dad!

It made me happy.

Then on Thursday it was my father in-laws birthday, so we went

out to eat with them. My husbands aunt that lives in California came out and surprised us all.

She told me how good I looked, and also commented on how pretty I was.

So when we got home I decided to take a new picture since my hair was curly.

I do not like taking pictures at all. I have one a few years ago that I just loved.

But I was at my smallest too.

When I took the picture I pretty much fell in love with it!

For the first time in over 2 years I felt like I looked pretty.

So since I liked it so much I decided to make it my profile picture on

MFP, Facebook, and I also put it on both my blogs.

I can't believe the response I've been getting over it.

I have gotten quite a few messages on facebook about it, one including my grandparents that thought it was an old picture of me from when I was at college.

They haven't seen me in about a month and a half and couldn't believe it.

Also I have gotten about 5 messages on MFP from random people.

And by random people I mean people who weren't on my friends list.

They all commented on how pretty I was and a

few about being an inspiration with my weight loss.

So I now have 5 new friends and they are all so sweet like everyone else on there!!

As well as all you other sweet friends of mine that commented.

Thank You all!!

To all my MFP friends I can't express enough what you all have done for me.

You are all the sweetest, considerate, nice, funny, inspirational, the list could go on and on,

people I have ever met.

I look forward to getting on the website everyday to see what everyone is up to.

You all keep me going and make me want to keep working my hardest.

I love reading your stories.

You are all so upbeat all the time!!

I never ever would have thought I could have made such great

friendships by joining a website.

I'm very very grateful I did. I don't think there is anyway

I would have stuck with it this long if it wasn't for all of you!!

I owe you guys everything with my weight loss!!

I can't say THANK YOU enough to all of you!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Only One Pound

Hello, do you know me? If you don't, you should. I'm a pound of fat, And I'm the HAPPIEST pound of fat that you would ever want to meet. Want to know why? It's because no one ever wants to lose me; I'm ONLY ONE POUND, just a pound! Everyone wants to lose three pounds, five pounds, or fifteen pounds, but never only one. So I just stick around and happily keep you fat. Then I add to myself, ever so slyly, so that you never seem to notice it. That is, until I've grown to ten, twenty, thirty or even more pounds in weight. Yes, it's fun being ONLY ONE POUND OF FAT, left to do as I please. So, when you weigh in, keep right on saying, "Oh, I only lost one pound." For you see, if you do this, you'll encourage others to keep me around because they'll think I'm not worth losing. And, I love being around you - your arms, your legs, your chin, your hips and every part of you. Happy Days!!! After all, I'm ONLY ONE POUND OF FAT!!!

I though this was so funny, and quite true- so I stole it off one of my MFP friends status! Yes I love losing more than one pound and always want to lose more than one, but lately I've come to love just losing even one pound. All last week my scale didn't move-or it did but it was up and down within the same pound. I thankfully woke up Monday to a .2 pound lose and then Tuesday I lost 1.8 pounds!! I was very pleased. I had lost 4.5 inches though!! It is my TOM so I'm not expecting alot of lose this week even though I have around 5 pounds to lose to be at what the doctor predicted I could lose by the 18th! 8 days = 5 pounds lost, we'll see if I can do it! What I'm even more excited about though, and as you can see on my ticker, I'm only 8.6 pounds away from hitting my half way mark!! I would like to lose another 10 pounds after my goal, but for right now we'll go with the doctors advice. I also tried to do Level 2 of the "Shred" tonight, and oh my Hell!! For right now, I think that I'm going to skip a few of the cardio parts and do them at the end of the workout or make up the calories with the elliptical or glider. I do love how I feel after getting done with it, but man its tough. I'm weak in my arms, and so having to hold myself in a plank while doing plank jacks, thrust, push-ups(and not the girl ones) and the other moves is very difficult. And I won't even go into the standing leg raise with an arm press that you balance on one leg!! Thankfully it will pay off and hopefully in a few days I'll be able to do more of the cardieo moves during the workout. So that's my little update!

Healthier Peanut Butter Cups

I feel like everyone that loves Reese's or Peanut Butter M&M's should have this recipe! Its awesome. I saw it on MyFitnessPal's message board and decided to try it. I'm so happy I did, its the perfect little treat.

I made nine for one batch-but only used 2.5 Tbsp. of Peanut Butter.

This is the easiest recipe

Ingredients needed:

Mini Cupcake liners

8oz. Lite or Fat Free Whipped Topping

*I used Lite

2-3 Tbsp. of Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

1 Tbsp. Chocolate Syrup

*I used Hershey's Lite

Instructions:

Mix Whipped Topping and Peanut Butter together until

all the Peanut Butter is mixed in well.

Pour equal amount of mix into cupcake foils on a flat cookie sheet or muffin pan.

Drizzle Chocolate Syrup over each Cup.

*I just mixed the Syrup in with the mix.

Freeze for 6-8 hours.

*Mine at 8 hours were still a little soft

And then Enjoy!!

HERE IS THE BEST PART!!

Nutritional Facts:

Serving: 1 cup

Calories: 47

Fat: 2.5

Carbs: 4

Protein: 1

*if you make more than nine each cup will be less!

Now mine don't look nicey nicey at all. I was in a hurry when I made them.

But here is the finished product!!

They taste just like Peanut Butter M&M's just with out the candy coating.

Is it just me?

First off, I'm confused with my body right now.I haven't lost any weight in the past week, I took my measurements Monday and again today to see if any of them had changed. The only one was my thighs and they were almost an inch less each! I didn't measure around my boobs, but lets face it they are disappearing. Last Saturday I bought a pair of capri's from Old Navy that I really wanted to be able to wear by my sons birthday 4/16. They are a size 12, I've been wearing my 14's for about a month or so now. When I tried them on it took me 5 minutes to get into them. The old laying down flat and zipping up trick, and I had a horrible muffin top and I mean HORRIBLE. So tonight we went to Sam's Club and I bought a pair of jeans that were also a 12, thinking I'd try to be in them next month. They are the same brand as the 14's I have now and they still fit pretty good. We get home, and I decided to try them on to see how far I have to go to get in them. Well they FIT!! And they fit comfortably. So I decided to try on the capri's I bought last week and they fit alot better. Hardly any muffin top, but they are tight around my calfs. They do sit lower than my pants, I like higher raises. But I was in shock that they fit. A week ago I was doubting I would get into them by my sons birthday and now they fit? But how?? No weight loss, no inches lost around my hips or waist, oh and did I mention I still weigh 214lbs. Last time I was in a 12 was before I got pregnant and I was barely getting into them, and I weighed 20lbs. less. I think I can see a big difference in my abdomen. What do you think??? Also any ideas why this would be possible??

Taken: 2-28

Taken 3-4 (pants)
Taken: 2-28

Taken: 3-4 (pants)
Taken 3-4 (capris)


Also, as my reward for my 30lbs. lost besides the pants, my hubby bought me two new pairs of sneakers. One is a Nike dual-air pair, they are so cute!! White with neon green and dark grey. The other is the Reebok easy-tone, which we found at Ross. They were marked $50, but when we were checking out they rung up as $20! The cashier just looked at them and said oh well! So awesome!! Also day 5 of the Shred kick my a**! Yesterday didn't until the bicycle crunches, but today it seemed from the squat presses I couldn't catch my breath and my legs were shaking. I'm wondering if its because of all the walking around shopping today in my shape-ups. I'm not sore either. Hoping with in the next five days it gets easier before moving on! I hate Jillian right at the end, but as soon as I sit for a minute I realize how good it feels. Maybe thats why I bought her Ripped in 30 (new out 3/1) and her 6pack in 6weeks. The Ripped in 30 is suppose to be even harder than the Shred, we'll see how I do with the 3rd phase of the Shred. If I can get through it I might go right into Ripped and do that and the 6in6 every other day with it. We'll see, I'll update on that later!

First experiences with the Shred

WOW!! I have gotten through 2 days only 28 to go! Yesterday when I was done yes I was tired and sweaty, but was on cloud 9 that I was able to get through it. I didn't think it was as difficult as people had made it out to be. Then the soreness hit! About 3 hours after, and it was even worse this morning. I got my courage back up to do it again. During the warm-up you do jumping jacks, which killed me yesterday and today I was able to get through them without any problem. I started thinking this might be easier than yesterday. Boy was I wrong. As soon as I picked up my hand weights I started to die. Every sore spot I had hurt and it was so hard to lift the weights. Plus, I started getting horribly thirsty. My husband watched it as I did it, and couldn't believe didn't get a break during it. He called Jillean the devil, and said she was trying to kill people. I thought I was dying, but found myself defending her, and saying how she was just trying to get people healthy! Couldn't believe I said that. Two months ago I would have been thinking like my husband, and wouldn't have even attempted this. Now I pushing through it and actually wanting to do it. I'm hoping the soreness will subside soon. I'm hoping to switch levels every 10 days like it recommends. I want to do all the exercises at the advanced level before moving on, right now I can only do a few.
On another note, I'm going to experiment alittle. I'm going to try to eat as many grams of protein as I do carbs while still not going over my calories. My mom swears by it, so I'm hoping it'll work for me. I got some Whey Protein tonight, but am nervous to do it. I've heard mixed things on it, and am just hoping it'll work the way I want it too. I'm hoping and praying this doesn't back fire on me and make me gain weight. I'm going to give it a week and see how it goes.
Also, I got my HRM yesterday. And I'm in love with it. I love know exactly how many calories I'm burning and to see what my heart rate is doing at certain times. I didn't realize it came with a chest strap, but am so happy it did! It isn't uncomfortable at all, and I know for sure what my body is doing. With the Shred it said I've burned 475cals. yesterday and 400cals. today, alot of people with HRM's have been under 200cals. and when I saw that before getting mine, now having it and knowing I'm burning more is awesome!! I'm sure as it gets easier I won't burn as many. I'm looking forward to the day where it will be easy to do.