Motivational Monday - 6/18/12

Honestly, this might be one of my favorite Pinterest finds EVER. I printed it and have it taped to my computer monitor at work. It's SO inspiring!

This time, I'm losing weight for GOOD. I will NOT gain it back, and I know that. I've figured out (most of) my flaws. The biggest one: I "secret-eat".

Hi, my name is Ali and I'm a closet eater.
"Hi, Ali"...
(lol)

I used to try and sneak food ALL the time...
I'd go pay for gas inside the store so I could get chips or cookies and my hubby would never know from the charge to our acct...
I'd use any cash I could get my hands on to buy fast food for breakfast, but then I'd still eat breakfast when I got to work also.

It's those things that I KNOW about myself now, and while I can't avoid the situation of having cash forever, I can control my actions now instead of letting my actions control ME. I also know that I NEED exercise in order to have consistant weight loss! And I'm getting better at it. For example:

I was woken up this morning when a water bug fell off the ceiling and onto my back with a "thud" while I was sleeping. Those of you who don't know what a water bug is, click here.... ***shudder***... If you live in FL, you know what they are - and no matter how much you spray your house for bugs, a few of those dang things will make it in - seriously - no matter what.

Anyway, I LEPT out of bed, screaming bloody murder "AHHHHHHH! OH MY GOD, GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!!!" to my hubby snoozing on the couch... He ran in there, checked the bed, sheets, pillows, everything, but to no avail. It was gone.

So we sat down on the bed - by the time my heartbeat returned to normal, it was 5:45am and there was no way I could go back to sleep at this point, but I don't have to leave the house till 7:10am. So I decided to go walk/jogging. I'm so insanely proud of myself! By 6:30 this morning, 310 cals were GONE. I might try waking up early every Mon, Wed, & Fri to work out. Why not?? I've got this!!! :^)       



Don't mind the bug in the after pic. He wanted to be in there too! LOL

$86,400

I saw this recently on an MFP forum (click here to view the original post) and had to post it here! It's such a great way of looking at things. I didn't write it myself, but I wanted to share with all of you!

Does any of this sound familiar?
I don't have time to exercise
I don't have time to walk the dog
I don't have time for me
I don't have time to cook real food
I go to McDonald's because I don't have time for anything else

Well imagine if I gave you $86,400, with the proviso, you MUST spend it ALL tomorrow, not ONE penny should be left by the day after. What would you do?

Besides scream "YIPPEE! I am rich"

You would probably sit down with a piece of paper, and plan out every last penny, then first thing tomorrow, you would get up, and start spending it.. right? You would possibly spend hours working out what you were going to spend it on, starting FIRST thing in the morning.

Well.. you have EXACTLY 86,400 seconds in a day. You will NEVER get those back, yet spend them without thinking about them. Instead of making excuses for not having time to do things.. PLAN. Get your family to plan their activity. Get a family calendar, and write on it... "MY WORKOUT TIME". Your health is worth the effort..so, stop making excuses!        

Motivational Monday - 6/11/12

Ok, people.... as a way to keep all of us on track, and also in an not-so-subtle attempt to get more subscribers (LOL), I've decided to start a weekly "Motivational Monday" post.

Because really.......who COULDN'T benefit from a little extra motivation on Mondays? haha

I looooooooooove this quote! It speaks right to me. And while I'm still not comfortable enough for the beach THIS summer... by NEXT summer, I want to ROCK a swimsuit.

Also, I love being covered in sweat at the gym. It's exhilerating!

I'm ready for it.

Let's do this thing.

FOOD penpals? I've got to be dreaming...

Somehow, I just stumbled upon this site where you can be a FOOD penpal!!! Click this link to find out how to sign up! It's only $15, but how freakin COOL!?

Holy cow! I've gone viral!

Well, ladies (and gents, if any see this).....it seems that I'm getting more traffic on my blog now. Which is friggin awesome, if I do say so myself!

I think a lot of people are traveling from Pinterest to my recipe blog, then clicking on the "Future Skinny Bitch Weight Loss Blog" tab that sends you over here. This section is way more intimate and personal than the recipe side, so be gentle! LOL

Since I'm getting so many new people stumbling across my site, I figured I'd do an intro. You can read back through old posts to see where I started and where I'm currently at with my weight loss, but I wanted you guys to know a bit about my personality too ('cause, ya know, it ain't all about looks...). So I asked a bunch of my friends (on the weight loss website I'm a member of, and in real life haha) how they would describe me. They made me laugh out loud at some of their responses. All their answers are below - the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Nicole said:
"You love quinoa! and I just now learned how to pronounce it because of your post :D"

Haha, actually, I've never tried quinoa,

but I want to! She thought this bc I

posted something about a guy on

The Bachelorette pronoucing it wrong, lol.

Amy said:
"Hmmmmm..... Let's see: Outgoing, hardworking, funny, compassionate, great cook, talented photographer, positive attitude"

This is so super-sweet.

I work my hardest

at being all those.

Amanda said:

"I know you are headstrong, determined, & a born leader. I know you love your husband and want the best for him. I know you are passionate about succeeding. I know you are so dedicated to beating this that you got a tattoo with your starting weight....then found out your scale went bad and have plans to correct the # on the tat! I know that you have strength I admire in that situation....if that had happened to me...I would be humiliated and soooo depressed. I know you are a hard worker and encourage those around you to do the same!!"

Wow, I love this. It's crazy how well

people can know you, who you've

never even met. I'm totally touched.

Charmaine said:
"One word: DETERMINED."

You're damn right I am.  :^)

Sarah #1 said:
"You are kind, generous, and brave. Above all else, you are real with yourself and those around you."

The one thing I will NEVER be is fake.

This is me. The real me.

That's all I've got to be! 

Judy said:
"Organized, Hard working, Great sense of humor, loves to blog, has recipes on Pinterest, dog lover, great motivater. Wow, I have lots of impressions for never having met you in person!!"

Haha, she does, for sure.

And it's awesome. 

Sarah #2 said:
"Wonderful friend, loves dogs, loves mushrooms, a twin, hard worker, motivator, inspiration, likes to accessorize."

Sarah and I have known each other for

a while now, and she loves broccoli as much

as I love mushrooms - which is a LOOOOT!

And yep, I have an identical twin sis who

I'd do anything for. Love ya, Ames!

Alicia said:
"I'm still learning...but this is what I've got so far! You love your pups, you enjoy trying out new recipes and sharing them with people. You enjoy doing photography and blogging :) You hate cooked carrots but will eat raw ones with peanut butter (ewww haha) and you have a known addiction to Hardee's that you will soon be into a 12 step program for :) Love ya hun!!"

This was my fave response, I think.

It literally had me laughing out loud!

Alicia's one of my closest friends

and biggest supporters nowadays.

And it's true... have you guys ever

had a butter biscuit from Hardee's?

If you haven't, don't. They're crazy

good, and yes, I'm addicted.

HAHA!

And to put a face with a name, this is me! Hope to see everybody back here, and subscribe please! (top right of the page)

And just for fun, here's ZOMBIE Ali! :^)



Who's to say I can't do it?

Been 18 days since my last post, and I've lost another 6 lbs. Down to 348 now, AND I'm 11th place in my Biggest Loser competition. I just wanted to be in the top half of 30 people, so I'm really excited about that...

I've been making our dinners for the week on Sundays now, so that it's as easy as heating up leftovers during the week. This has really been working well for us. :) Last week, I did baked chicken, roasted potatoes, and broccoli and cheese for 3 days, and then we had salads for the other 2 days. (Our weekends are "play it by ear" usually.) Today, I've spent all day making dinner stuff for this upcoming week: twice baked cauliflower with cheese and bacon, stuffed zucchini boats, broiled pork chops, roasted potatoes, and roasted mushrooms/peppers/onion. These recipes and more can be seen at my recipe blog site. (I haven't posted these recipes yet, but will sometime tonight, lol)

Sooooooooooo....... me and Destinee have changed our plan regarding the 5k we were doing. We were going to do the Color Run in December in Orlando, but we've since found out that Color Me Rad is actually coming to JACKSONVILLE! So YAYYYYY! Only thing is.....it's in September instead of December, so that's three less months I have to train.

I tried to walk the 3.2 miles on the treadmill last Friday, but I got to 2.7 before my foot started hurting really bad and I quit. :( I'll try again this Friday.

This pic was me after the 2.7 miles. I was exhausted.....I burned 646 calories, according to my heart rate monitor, which is the most I've EVER burned since starting to workout & count calories. It was invigorating, and I'm still paying for it (and today is Sunday, lol). My left foot and calf are aching, but it's kind of nice.

So after losing 3.8 lbs this week, I've figured out that if I lose 3 lbs a week every week until the 5k, I could potentially lose 57 lbs....which would put me at 291. I can't imagine how much easier the 5k will be then. :)

My workout schedule is:
Monday - C25K training
Tuesday - weight lifting
Wednesday - C25K training
Thursday - weight lifting
Friday - walking the whole 3.2 miles (5k) trying to better my time each week
Saturday - weight training (if there's time)
Sunday - rest day

I did it for one week. Who's to say I can't do it for 19? :)

Starting Over...

Well, not "really" starting over....but it feels like it.

All along, I've thought my starting weight was 353...I even got it tattooed on my wrist, as a reminder that I NEVER want to go back there. So as of last Saturday lost a total of 26 lbs (had lost 45ish and then gained some back) and my current weight was 327.

However, we knew that our scale was off. Even when it told me I was 299, I couldn't weigh on the Wii scale or the dr's scale, both of which had weight limits of 330. So obviously something was wrong, lol.

Anyway, one of my dear friends (Suz - my inspiration!!!) sent us a new scale. It's awesome! It says the same number every time you step on it, and more importantly - when I compared the # to a recent dr visit, it's RIGHT!!!!! However....it says 357.

so.

I'm 357.

*sigh*

This feels like starting over....it's NOT, bc I know I've lost and kept off 26 lbs so far, but it FEELS like it.

On the plus side, when I entered my new starting weight and current weight into MFP, it "upped" my calories from 1650 to 1930! That was a bit shocking at first, but I've found ways (through extra fruit and peanut butter mostly) to "up" my cals to meet my goal. So since my starting weight on Saturday for the Biggest Loser competition was 357, I stepped on the scale yesterday morning to see if my higher cals were working.

They are.

354! I lost 3 lbs in 3 days!

Now THAT's what I'm talking about. Time to keep this up! I love re-motivation!!!

"If you don't like starting over, then quit stopping."



My wrist tattoo...it means "never again" in Latin, and the CCCLIII is my starting weight in Roman Numerals. However, it says "353", haha. We're going to add three X's at the bottom which will make it CCCLXXXIII....383. My new starting weight! :)