Too Puffy Duffy

Pretty

2013-03-07T22:23:00.001-05:00

Losing weight gives me confidence, which makes me take better care of myself, which makes me feel good, and look good - which gives me more confidence!

What a beautiful catch 22.

Is This Thing On?

2013-02-27T16:38:00.001-05:00

Hello, Cats and Kittens.

Let's be real: losing weight is HARD. It's harder than, I dunno, ANYTHING I've ever tried to do.

I fall, stumble, disappear for ~~days~~ months at a time.

My weight went up - now I'm on my way to bringing it back down again.

Check out my ticker.

Love you all. Mean it.

Right Now. This Moment.

2012-04-05T09:43:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I get all tangled up in what I did yesterday that wasn't good enough. Or what I can do tomorrow to make up for it.

So today, I'm focusing on what I can do right now, in this moment, to better myself.

I'm going to forgive myself for yesterdays filled with mistakes.

And I'm not going to exhaust myself with obsessive plans for my tomorrows.

Doggy Diet

2012-04-04T09:17:00.003-04:00

If you saw my facebook post:

You know that Keith and I have two new additions to our little family!

El Jefe (or Tuggle) (or soon to be named), and Roxy!

I don't know if you can tell...but Boss is a little hefty.

And by that I mean...he weighs about 3 times as much as he should.

I feel so bad for him...he can barely walk!

So...we are on a doggy diet! We are all losing weight together.

We take Jefe for a long walk twice a day, and we have him on strict portions of weight control food. It's nothing drastic...but we are putting in the work to get the little guy healthy!

Jefe's current stats:

Current weight: 17.6 pound

Goal weight: 6 lbs.

Belly Measurement: 21.5 inches

Neck Measurement: 14 inches

Inches between belly and ground while standing: 3 inches

He's hoping to be bikini ready by next summer!

I'll update you monthly on his progress!

Three Month Weigh In!

2012-03-28T09:22:00.002-04:00

Three Months - 41 pounds gone!!!

1/4 of the way through the year and I am on pace to lose 164lbs this year which is 14 pounds over my goal.

I'm pretty proud of myself!

Starvation Mode: Real or not Real?

2012-03-27T13:41:00.001-04:00

Calories in - Calories out. The key to losing weight is to burn more calories that you eat.

Right?

But not too few calories...because then your body will go into "Starvation Mode".

That's what we have always been told. But does it really make sense?

Have you ever seen a starving obese person?

Do gastric bypass patients (eating 200-400 calories per day) suddenly stop losing weight?

I am doing a little research into "starvation mode" and trying to find out if it's real.

What I have found is that you really are not in danger of going into starvation mode unless you are 5% or less body fat.

Clearly, I'm not under 5% body fat.

Why am I doing this? Well, because I don't want to eat 2700 calories a day and lose 2 pounds per week. Do you realize that if I lost 2 pounds per week, it would take me SIX YEARS to lose the weight I want to lose?

That's insane, and frankly, I just don't have that kind of time.

So, I've done the research, now I'm going to do a trial.

For the next month, I'm going to eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day. And I'm going to let you know what I'm eating.

So far today I have had:

Coffee with 1 tbsp creamer and sugar: 80 calories

Cheese Stick: 80 calories

Large Banana: 110 calories

2 tbsp M&Ms: 105

Medium Apple: 80

For the rest of the day my plan is:

Wheat and Cheddar Crackers: 190

1 cup grapes: 62

Cheese Stick: 80

Chobani Champions: 100

Herbalife Shake: 172

That will be 1059 calories total.

So far, I feel great!

I very seriously doubt that my body will come to a screeching halt of weight lose.

Just a note for you worriers out there:

I am taking multi-vitamins, and if I start to feel sick, or ill in any way - I will stop my experiment.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional or expert of any kind. I am not recommending that any one follow this diet.

Better Sweaty Than Fat

2012-03-19T16:46:00.002-04:00

For the past week or so, I have been walking outside at work on my lunch break.

It leaves me a smelly, slightly stinky mess at work.

Sexy, I know. WHY? WHY IS IT UPSIDE DOWN?!?!?

It's kinda gross and annoying to be that sweaty at work.

But I just realized something:

I would rather be sweaty than fat!

I would rather be a sweaty makingmycoworkerswishtheirwindowsopened mess, than be fat!

It's true, yall.

Raise Your hand if you are a 5K-er!

2012-03-17T21:17:00.000-04:00

I am officially a 5K champion, yall.

Last Sunday was the annual Hunger Walk in Downtown Atlanta.

Michael and Julie came with us and we had a GREAT time!

We got down there early for some pre-race festivities:

Julie, Michael, and I in front of the Hank Aaron wall.

Keith and I in front of the Hank Aaron wall.

Do you love the shirts? I love them!

Michael in the awesome Mustache thing.

Julie Mustached up!

I'm a little short!

Michael with the Mustache (What is WITH the mustache obsession, anyways?)

Julie's DELICIOUS sweet potato fries with Marshmellow topping. OMG.

No one performed...just local radio DJ's.

There were lots of food trucks. Next year we will eat down there.

Then, it was time for the race!

I love these pictures of the crowds walking!

See those runners on the left? They were already coming back towards us when we were about 10 minutes in. WHAT? Impressive!

This is where i had a come to Jesus meeting with myself. I wanted to stop SO BAD, and I almost took out the heifer on the left with the megaphone telling me to keep going. It was good times.

Is it just me or is this whole race uphill?!?

I'm smiling and strutting cause we are getting close to the end!

At this point I was so excited I could have cried.

WAHOO!!!

I'm actually really proud of my time! We walked about 2.0-3.5 MPH the whole time, and I'm honestly just proud of myself for finishing. It was really hard. A lot harder that I thought it would be.

Plus, I look sexy with that huge ring of sweat around my neck, right?
RIGHT?

Yea, I know.

Next time you see me, please be on the lookout for my new bumper sticker that will read "3.1".

Weigh Ins and Fancy Charts!

2012-03-08T09:40:00.000-05:00

I'm disappointed that I didn't lose weight this week. I mean, I know...gaining muscle...water weight...blah blah.

I don't wanna hear it.

To make weigh ins more interesting, I've created a few charts!

February Workouts

2012-03-02T14:01:00.002-05:00

Pink: Activity

Grey: Rest

Total minutes: 901

Total Calories Burned: 9953

Percentage of days worked out: 51% (this is horrible)

Thoughts:

I need to step it up a little. A lot.

Way vs. Excuse

2012-02-28T13:51:00.002-05:00

If you really want something, you will find a way. If you don't really want it, you will find an excuse.

Haters gon hate...

2012-02-27T15:08:00.002-05:00

Challenge and Weigh In

2012-02-27T14:55:00.001-05:00

So, I enjoy reading this guy's blog. He is very direct, to the point, and generally no BS when it comes to losing weight.

A few days ago he posted a challenge, and I wanted to do it. I didn't know what the prize was before I signed up - thought is would be a t-shirt or something, but I really didn't care about the prize - I just wanted a motivator.

It's a straightforward challenge: Drink enough fluids to keep your body hydrated at it's current weight, and eat enough calories to maintain your GOAL weight.

The challenge ends June 15th....and the person with the highest percentage of the weight that they want to lose, lost...WINS!

My starting weight for the challenge is 452 (the weight discrepency is due the fact that I picked my starting weight for the challenge based on my home scale, and I weigh at my shake ladies place for my official weekly weigh ins).

On Sunday, Allan posted the prize for the challenge:

THE PRIZE

The winner and a guest will receive

2 round trip tickets from anywhere in the Continental US to NYC

The flight is on Nov 28th

Accommodations at The Jewel Hotel for 3 nights

Party the night of the 29th during the

NBC/Rock Center Tree Lighting Event

Theater Tickets with me the night of the 30th

Return flight on the 1st of December

HOLY CRAP!!!!

Umm...yea....I'd say that's some motivation!

Now...onto my weigh in:

33 pounds in two months! Pretty great...is it good enough to win a trip to NYC? I dunno...but I'm totally stepping it up!!!

Most exciting thing...16.5 inches gone around my belly! Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Time to kick it up a notch, Emeril style, ya'll!

21 Days of Pure Awesome

2012-02-19T19:14:00.004-05:00

It takes 21 days to form a habit.

I've been losing weight - sure. But I haven't really been FULLY committed. Just kind of been hem-hawing around. A cheat day here - a few too many days skipped at the gym. I'm not being hard on myself - I'm just being real.

There are 21 days until my hunger walk. So, I'm committing right now to 21 days of KILLING IT!

21 days of working out. (at least 30 minutes of activity)

21 days of staying EXACTLY on point with my calories and Herbalife. (no cheat days!)

21 days of perfection. (yup - perfection)

21 days of punch-you-in-the-crotch fantastic.

21 days of AWESOME!

#21daysofawesome

via pinterest

Weigh In!

2012-02-15T17:28:00.001-05:00

28 lbs in 6 weeks!!! That's an average of over 4lbs per week. Pretty great start, I'd say! :)

Martha Jane's Top 10: Rules for Gym-time

2012-02-10T09:39:00.001-05:00

10. Never wear light grey pants if you are a crotch sweater. No sweaty Camel Toe, please.

9. If I can see nipples - then, Dude, you are not wearing enough shirt.

8. Please, for the love of all things Holy - take a shower.

7. If you cannot life the weight you are holding without scream/grunting so loud that the whole place can hear you - it's time to take it down a couple pounds.

6. If you need to spit - BTW...WHY? WHY would you need to spit?!? - please walk the 10 feet into the locker room and spit in the sink, rather than the water fountain.

5. Staring at me will not make me do my sets faster. It just won't.

4. If you are able to talk on your cell phone (laugh, giggle, carry on) while on the treadmill - it might be time to go a little faster.

3. Standing in the weight section talking to your boyfriend will he lifts weights does not count as a workout, and it will not get you in shape.

2. Eating a DOUGHNUT (i'm not joking - I saw this) - on the treadmill might be a little counter productive.

1. It bears repeating - TAKE A SHOWER!!!

Weigh In February 9

2012-02-09T10:32:00.004-05:00

I know that I didn't do everything I could this week to loose as much weight as I could. So - I'm just moving forward, and doing everything I can THIS week.

Vanishing Tummy

2012-02-02T09:07:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, I was at the gym doing a weight workout...and when I looked up - I didn't recognize myself in the mirror for a minute.

It's the first time I've looked at myself and saw progress!

See:

I think my stomach looks SO much smaller.

It's very encouraging to see change...especially after I was slightly disappointed in my loss this week.

P.S. - Are you totally jealous of my super-awesome-stylish bandana?

Yea, I know.

Wordless Wednesday - Inspiration Style

2012-02-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

Images via Pinterest

61%

2012-01-31T13:20:00.001-05:00

My January workout details! Keep in mind that the calories burned are estimated based on what the treadmill says, and what I found online:

If you ca't read that - cause it's so super tiny - click it and it will get bigger.

Here are the deets:

I worked out for a total of 1345 minutes this month. (I'm taking tonight off because my knees are giving me fits.)

I burned a total of 12931 calories.

I completed a workout 61% of the days in January. Whoa! Amazing! And by amazing, I mean, way better that the 0% in December, and November, and probably October.

My average minutes per day (including days off) is 43.

My average calorie burn per day (including days off) is 417.

Considering last month I was having trouble standing up off the couch (not really. Well - kind of.)...I consider this a GIGANTIC success!

Weigh In Day!

2012-01-30T14:12:00.001-05:00

Thought/Feelings/Concerns:

I'm a little disappointed this week - even though that's a little crazy. 20 lbs in one month is amazing.

Onward and Downward!

Struggles

2012-01-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

It's important to me that you know that this is hard. Losing weight is hard. Changing your life is hard.

Sometimes it's day by day - but most of the time it's a minute by minute struggle. It's deciding to make the right choice every single minute of everyday. And the truth is - sometimes I fail. Sometimes I don't feel like drinking water - so I skip it. Sometimes I feel like eating extra at dinner - and I do. Sometimes I just HATE the gym - so I skip it.

Those times are VERY rare though. I find myself spending a lot of time trying to convince myself to make the right decision. And MOST of the time it works.

It's a constant struggle.

The truth is though - every time I made the right decision (no matter how small) - I feel more empowered to make the right decision the next time. And the next.

And it's worth it.

(pinterest)

Things I Tell Myself During My 60 Minute Workout

2012-01-25T09:59:00.000-05:00

1 min - I can do this! I think this feels easier today!

2:30 min - This is awesome - I am probably like 1/4 of the way done!

2:31 - oh...

15:00 - I'm only doing 30 minutes today, 30 minutes is totally acceptable.

21:00min yea - def only doing 30 minutes
29:00 - ok...I'm gonna do 35 minutes.
31:00 - damn..I should have stopped at 30.
35:00 - ok, maybe I will go to 45.
37:50: I'm probably already to 44 mins!
37:52: oh...
44:00 - ok...finish this
47:00 - come on! you can do anything for 13 minutes
50:00 - I'll be done in no time!
52:00 I'm probably at 58 mins already!
52:01 - oh.
58:00 - I'm quitting!
58:01 - NO! you can do anything for 2 minutes and 29 seconds!
59:00 - this is the longest two minutes of my life
59:30 - I can do anything for 30 seconds!
59:50 - AHH!
60:00 - Yes! I totally nailed it!

This is how my workout goes... Every. Single. Time.

I tell you this because it's not easy! Some of you say that I inspire you, or that you wish I had my drive. Here's my secret - I don't have a secret. I struggle. I struggle HARD!

But here's the truth - I have never been disappointed in myself for finishing a workout. You just gotta dig deep - even when it hurts...

Just. Don't. Quit.

EVER!

Nothing worth having ever comes easy.

Weigh In Time!

2012-01-24T09:11:00.002-05:00

Thoughts:

Really - just so stinkin proud of myself. I'm really doin it, y'all.

Week 3 - To-Do list Checkup!

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

2012 to-do list:

fit into size 28 jeans - on track!

finish quilts - not started :(

read 20 books - eeks...not started

go up stairs without getting winded - on track - sort of. This has been a little discouraging. I'm killing it at the gym...but still huffin and puffin up the stairs.

fit into size 3x bathing suit from Wal-Mart - on track!

drink 130oz of water at least 6 days per week - this has been a breeze for me (so far)! I love me some aqua.

no soda - check! - not even craving it (thank goodness).

lose at least 150lbs. - on track. 12 lbs down this year - 26 total!

paint bedroom furniture white - this will probably be in the summer :)

look great everyday - put more effort into hair, makeup, etc. - umm...yea...about that ....

plant a garden spot at Mom and Dad's - can't wait til it's time!

add 3 more veggies to my 'like' list - I'm thinking about roasting some brussel sprouts this weekend. I'll keep ya posted.

climb Kennesaw mountain at least 15 times - none yet. I think next Sunday is the day for the first time. Depending on weather.

run for 10 minutes in a row - no running yet - but the walking is going great!

Goal this week:

My step counter from my goals for week two is not really working correctly - but...I still got in 10k + steps each day at least 5 out of 7 days that week. I'm sure of it.

As for this week - I have two goals.

1. To walk 3.2 miles on the treadmill at least twice in preparation for the Hunger Walk.

2. Read The Help. I have it - just gotta make time.

P.S. Check me out with all that new space between my tum tums and the steering wheel. I mean - I kinda rock (just sayin).

Have a great week!