Jan. 12, 2009

Today my dad and I measured ourselves. My dad lost 3 3/4 inches off his abs (his area of concern) and actually gained some in his arms and calves (which he sees as a good thing). He was really impressed and thinks his 2-week bet should continue indefinitely! :)

I measured, and was completely shocked! I've somehow managed to lose 13 3/4 inches! (1 3/4 off arms, 3/4 off waist, 3 1/2 off abs, 2 off hips, 1 3/4 off upper thighs, 1 3/4 off lower thighs, and 3/4 off calves). I can't wait until the inch loss equates to a size loss! As soon as my dad gets home from work this afternoon, we're gonna do Ladybug Standing workout.

BRING IT! =)

Tuesday, Jan. 6

Things have been going pretty good. Yesterday, I drank more water.

Sunday exercise -- took off
Monday exercise - MORE Step Away and 2 sets of Hoedowns

Today-
Breakfast: Irish oatmeal with a spoon of homemade strawberry jelly
Lunch: An overflowing lettuce sandwich and an apple (planned)
Dinner: Vita-Mix white bean-broccoli soup and an orange for dessert (planned)

I WILL skin brush when I get my shower today and do a PBS!!!

Saturday

I had the most fun time today catching up with friends. Even though I haven't seen them in over 4 years, it was as if we had never been apart. I'm so blessed to have friends like those 4 girls (1 couldn't make it). I have to get more information, but Rachel, the one girl, is going on a mission's trip to Romania in June, and invited the rest of us to join her. I think that would be amazing! We'll see.

Intake/Outake:

Breakfast: Rice Chex cereal with soy milk, 1 banana
Lunch: (Dunkin Donuts) veggie egg white flatbread sandwich and a blueberry coffee with cream and sugar; an ounce or 2 of 60% cocoa, 2 organic crispy oatmeal cookies
Dinner: some kind of organic fruit flavored corn and oat cereal (don't remember the name) with soy milk.

So, I didn't do so well on getting more veggies today, and I did have those 2 cookies and chocolate, but I didn't have any donuts (the rest ordered donuts after we had finished our sandwiches). I also didn't have much water, just a glass after my T-Tapp workout, since I was away for a lot of the mid-morning through mid-afternoon.

Exercise: T-Tapp MORE Instructional

Wow, my inner thighs are so sore (in a good way) from the lunges from yesterday's workout. I realllllly tightened all the muscles in my leg I could find. My bursitis in my shoulder started acting up just a tad this morning, but thankfully it's never been as horribly painful as it was the very first time I got it 6 years ago -- I was in tears after waking up in the middle of the night in soooo much pain, and would just hold my arm kind of in front of me because it hurt so bad. I'm so thankful it's not been that bad since. It's just enough that I think, "Oh, no, my bursitis is coming back?" but it's not bad enough to even take Tylenol or anything.

Okay, overall, I'm pleased with the day, and tomorrow I'll try to do even better. =)

Measurements/Pics

So here are my official starting measurements and photos. Ugh. Nothing like seeing yourself in an ill-fitting outfit and everything. And boy, have I got cellulite! Whoa.

Starting measurements: (Taken without sucking it, but not totally relaxed either (photos were taken pretty much fully relaxed)...like I would try to stand a bit more "in" if I were in public, and that's how I took my measurements, if that makes sense at all.)
UA (L): 12.75
UA (R) 13.5
Bust 35
Waist 32.5
Abdomen 37
Hips 43
UT (L) 24.5
UT (R) 24
LT (L) 20
LT (R) 20
Calf (L) 15.25
Calf (R) 15.5





Today's Intake/Outake:

A few bites of leftover sauerkraut/sweet potatoes, 1 bean brownie, a cup of gingersnappish herbal tea with honey, a banana, a mug of tomato soup with 3 saltines, 2 bowls of rice chex with soy milk.

Exercise: Instructional #2 - -- Boy, I forgot how long this seems...seems so much longer than #1. My dad and I were so ready for it to be over about 1/2 way through! lol

Good: I did #2 today and felt really good.
To Work on: More water!!! Skin brush!!! More veggies!!!

Tomorrow I am meeting up with some old college friends for lunch at Dunkin Donuts, but I'll try to be good the rest of the day. I'm so excited to catch up with them, as I haven't seen them in a little over 4 years!

Here It Is! 2009!

So today marks the start of a new year, a new me in the making! :)

As soon as I can get the paper, I'm going to do the infamous "before" photos. I took my measurements last night so then I'll be all set for the start of my T-Tapp 60-Day-Challenge. I still have to decide which category I'll enter -- probably go with the Average to Lose/Health Improvement categories, since I'm in a size 12 and want to be in a size 6-8-10.

So, here's my intake/outake for Jan. 1, 2009:

• Oatmeal with raisins (old fashioned oats sweetened with pure maple syrup)

• a few bean brownies (yeah, not the healthiest food, but besides the butter, everything else really is fine -- black beans, carob powder, vanilla, eggs, honey, coffee substitute (Dandyblend).
• A salad (romaine, iceberg, carrots, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, raisins, just a sprinkle of bacon bits, Mrs. Dash basil tomato garlic seasoning, and tomato garlic vinaigrette.
• Right now, I have my "porkless" New Years Day pork and sauerkraut on the stove -- sweet potatoes, onions, apples, spices, and sauerkraut. I mean, you can't be a Pennsylvanian with German roots and not have sauerkraut on New Year's, right? ;) My parents are making the trad. pork and sauerkraut over mashed potatoes, but I think mine sounds pretty yummy as well.
• (if hungry later on) I'll have a Vita-Mix frozen concoction probably of frozen strawberries, bananas, and soy milk or something.

I forgot to count my water intake, but I don't think I've had more than 2 glasses of water so far. ....I've got to work harder on that!

I will be doing Instructional #2 today to kick start my YOU Super Slow class.

Introduction

I had a different blog, but decided to create a new one -- a fresh start so to speak. It's Christmas Day, and I think one of the best gifts I can give to myself is a healthy body and a healthy mind. I'm working on losing weight/eating good/T-Tapping, but also working on seeing myself as okay as I am. Not that I want to stay where I am *I don't*, but to be able to at least be okay with myself in the process. I was on a vacation to FL last week, and I did something very *oh-my-work-I-can't-believe-I-did-that* for me: I bought a swimsuit and actually went in the pool. Seriously, this is HUGE HUGE HUGE for me!!! I haven't worn a swimming suit probably since I was 11 or 12 or something *which is really sad actually* I won't say I was comfortable sporting something that covered so little of me, but I made myself do it, and I'm actually kind of proud of myself for doing it.

Okay, so here's a bit about what I'd like to accomplish. Right now, I'm about 160 pounds, 5'2.5", and wear a size 12 pants and usually a M top. I'd like to be anywhere from 120-140 (but really don't care) and a size 6-8 and toned, get rid of my thick arms, huge thighs, muffin top.

Has anyone watched "How to Look Good Naked"? I recently saw it, and thought it had a really good overall message. I think I'd be a prime candidate for it, lol. I'm working on changing my mindset though. It's just pretty difficult. Anyways, I'm going to try to stop focusing as much on my "problem areas" and list a few areas that I like: I like my hands -- I have long, slender fingers. My hair is okay, and I have kind of narrow shoulders (don't know if that's good or bad--if the rest of my body matched, I guess it'd be good, lol) :)

I am so excited because I will be doing an online class with Michelle from Jan. 1- March 31, and I'm also planning on doing the 60-day self-directed T-Tapp Challenge during this time as well. Oh, and my dad lost a bet with me, so now he has to do 2 weeks of T-Tapp with me :) We're gonna start today with Instructional #1.

I have much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for my health and that I have the opportunity to improve it. I'm thankful for T-Tapp and everyone who's been encouraging. This year will be the start of a new me!