I Need A Jumpstart

I've decided to shock my body, in a good way, of course. I'm really tired of being stuck at this weight and I'm ready to do what it takes to get things moving in the right direction. I love exercise and think its fundamental to any healthy lifestyle, but it can't make up for poor eating habits and consuming too many calories or the wrong types of food. I've decided to actually do The Belly Fat Cure, for a while anyway.  This morning I sipped this super yummy shake:  Earth Fare Show Me The Whey (natural vanilla flavor), 1/3 cup blackberries, 2T chia seeds, stevia packet.

My daughter is at home sick from school today.  I think all together I only got about 2 hours of sleep last night.  She's feeling a little better, so I'm hoping she'll go to school tomorrow.

Since my daughter was sick, I rescheduled my personal trainer appointment for tomorrow morning.  I was a little nervous about it, since I told him last week that I wasn't sore from our session.  I think he'll make sure I'm sore this week! I'm ready to shake things up with exercise too! Changing from 1 weekly session to 2, starting this week if I can schedule it in with work and sick children.

Since I need to track sugars and carbs, I'm using My Fitness Pal.  It's super user friendly and easy to use.  You can check out my food diary here.

Trying to make good use of my time today while Ashleigh is sleeping, working from home today.  I better get back to work, but wanted to check in with y'all and say hi.  Hi!

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Take care,

Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

Do You Want It?

In the last few weeks I'd lost my vigor for this lifestyle, and my "draw a line in the sand" healthy attitude had all but disappeared. Even my weight had started creeping up, but don't worry I'm not abandoning ship, and my weight is now creeping back down.  For me to lose weight it has to be a passionate belief in a way of living, eating, and exercising, or I can't be successful.  I have to believe in it to my core, and have clear guidelines to adhere to or I become tossed about like a ship in the ocean.  One of the main keys to my success, especially in the beginning was limiting starches in the evening.  In the last 6 weeks I've been experimenting with other things, which left me without clear structure in the evenings, and open to old patterns of behavior, the same ones that resulted in a weight of 190 pounds.

So now, what's a girl to do?  I could just give up.  If you read this blog regularly, you know that is not going to happen!  Or I could recommit to this lifestyle with newly defined objectives and goals, with a clear action plan of how to achieve them.  I also realize I need an updated definition of "why".  When I'm face to face with temptation, what's going to keep me out of that cookie jar at 11 P.M. when no one else is watching. The "why" can stop you in your tracks and make all of your dreams come true.  So for the sake of being transparent, I thought I'd just define all of these right here for all of my friends to see.

Why will I stay committed to living a healthy lifestyle?

• To live a long and healthy life with great quality of life
• To be a great role model for my 2 girls
• To be an inspiration and help for others to achieve a healthy life
• To feel great
• To have increased self confidence 
• To be a Hot Mama (just being honest) and feel sexy :)

Action Plan:

• Take responsibility and love myself enough to achieve it
• Base meals around protein, fruits, and vegetables (plant or animal protein)
• No/low starch after 3 P.M. 
• Eat often with a goal of every 3 hours
• No eating after 8 P.M. (For some this step won't matter, but for me late night eating is a big stumbling block!)
• If I fall short of these steps, don't give up, and recommit to this plan immediately
• Exercise 5 days per week: weight training, cardio, fitness classes

Do you want it?  I KNOW I do!  Now I know why and how to get it.  

If your weight loss has stalled, I recommend defining "your" why and how.  It just may be the extra little push needed to stick with your plan.  

Thanks for the support, it helps me more than you know.

Take care,

Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

2011 Is So Yesterday!

I think my motto for 2012 is going to be "Believe"!  Believe in God.  Believe in yourself.  Believe in your plan.  Believe you can accomplish your goals.  It all starts with believing, at least that's true for me.  I've been coasting for the past 6 weeks, but it's time to step it up.  I have to because I want to accomplish all of my goals, not just the first 30 pounds.

I'm going back to the basics, well sort of, by writing down a nutrition plan as well as an exercise plan.  That worked for me really well in the beginning.  I love coming up with the vision myself (I'm such a rebel) ;), working out the details, and using discipline to stick with it.  That's what it's all about with me! In the beginning I'd say, "I can stick with my plan today.  I can do this for one day."  Then I'd do it again the next day.

I'm facing some challenges in the next few months, but day by day I'll get there.  I'm confident of that.  Can you tell I'm exciting about the new year? I love new beginnings and thinking about today and the future.

Well it's really late here on the east coast, so I better not get too excited or I won't be able to sleep ;).  That would happen to me in the beginning, I would feel so passionate about all I was going to accomplish and what it would take to get there, I couldn't get to sleep until 3 or 4 am.  I love passion; life would be so dull without it, don't you think?

Tell me:  What's the top 1 or 2 things that have contributed to your weight loss success?

Well, goodnight everyone and Happy New Year.  I send my wishes for a happy, healthy new year, may all of your dreams come true!  

Have a great 1st.

Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

My Secrets To Losing 30 Pounds This Year and 2012 Goal Setting

I'm really exciting to see what the new year brings for you and me.  I'm sure there will be challenges, but so much fun to experience it all! I'm ready to accomplish my goals. Are you?


Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

My Very First Video Post and WIAW!

Instead of writing a blog post, today I spoke it.....

....so after watching that, it's no way to hide which part of the country I'm from, ha-ha!

Now for the party, over at Peas & Crayons, WIAW!


.... a sample of food from the week:

I LOVED the chocolate dessert above AND SO HEALTHY! It's a win, win!

What I Didn't Eat, but man did they look good:

My FAVorite recipe from the week!

Pollo al Limone (for all of us non-French speaking folks, lemon chicken)

ingredients:

1 chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds cut into 8 serving pieces (I used leg quarters, because they were on sale at Whole Foods)

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• Place chicken pieces, skin sides down, in a baking dish.  In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Pour over the chicken.  Let marinate for at least 1 hour.  (I marinated mine overnight).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roast the chicken for 30 minutes.  Turn the pieces skin sides up and continue to rest until browned and the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced, 30-45 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm.  Pour the pan juices through a sieve into a bowl and skim off the fat.  Pour the juices over the chicken and serve.  (Don't skip this last step, the sauce is yummy!)

Let me know if you try this recipe!  My youngest daughter said, "this is the best chicken ever."  Let me know if you agree.  

Notice I don't have a picture of the final product, oops, bad food blogger. 

............

Well I started by saying, I was vlogging tonight instead of blogging, but I did both! :)  

I never went to the gym because I've been working on this post all night.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day.  I'll pack my workout clothes and take them to work with me.  No excuses, right.

Tell me:     Recently was there an activity in your life that seemed difficult enough to cause anxiety or fear, but afterwards seemed relatively easy?

Thanks for listening and have a great evening.

Take care,

Cat

Make sure to check out my Facebook page: Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

Favorite Things Friday

This weeks favorite things:

Oh! So good!  I innitially tried this on Mary's Gone crackers, but would taste delicious on anything! Really, best almond butter creation ever! 

...baking cookies for friends and family 

...rocked it out at the gym in my Stay at Home Rock Star t-shirt.  Notice the  healthy after workout glow!

AN AWESOME DEAL!  When I was a single gal I used to think nothing of  buying something and not thinking twice about the price, like for this $300 leather jacket.  Now I shop around, use coupons, and look for bargains...like this SUPER AWESOME FIND!   I don't have the nickname, QUEEN OF RESEARCH for nothing.  So after looking, and looking, and looking for a leather jacket, in retail stores as well as the internet, I found this jacket which retails for $300 on sale for $120!   Yay! The selling point for me, other than the price is the flattering fitted scuba silhouette with princess seams.  I ordered it from Kohls with no shipping charges, BTW.  Yay! Can you tell I'm excited?

...pretty nails. although not a huge fan of the color, a little too much sparkle, I do love the name of the color, Miss Independent by Opi. Reminded me of a favorite singer, Kelly Clarkson.  I think for fall, the next color will be something really dark.

Before I started this weight loss journey I would have never looked for a leather jacket or painted my nails.  I'd think why bother?  I never felt sexy or attractive.  Now, only 25 pounds later, I have more self confidence and love for myself than I ever thought possible at this stage in my life.  With 40 to 50 more pounds to lose I know I'll get there and loving myself is key.

What were your favorite things this week?  Do your favorite things change as unhealthy habits have diminished and greater health is achieved?  

Make sure to check back soon, as the next post came to me as a bit of an epiphany.  I believe I've figured out the secret to successful weight loss for me and everyone else as well.  While my research in this area is not  exhaustive, the weight loss successes I've spoken with concur.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Success Is Worth The Sacrifice

 It was great to get back in the gym today.  The picture on the left is my heart rate, which normally I don't let get that high but it felt great so I just went with it.

I decided to do cardio today until I burned 500 calories.  Sometimes I'll do that if I have a little more time.

Then I worked chest and abs:  chest press, cable chest press, dumbbell chest flies, Britney Spears abs workout .  Followed by stretching.

 Today was an emotional day between taking care of closing out a business and all of the decisions and work it entails as well as other personal stuff too.  I still struggle with emotional eating, after all I would eat only healthy food all of the time if it were not an issue.  Tonight my emotions got the best of me and self control was low.  It was not a binge though, I don't do that.  I had some of the kid's candy, some Frito's, and some sierra mist.  The positive in all of this...yes there is a positive, is I didn't finish eating the candy I opened, nor the Frito's, nor the sierra mist.  I gained control.  I forgave myself.  Now I'm back on track even stronger than before.

When I began this post I wasn't going to mention the snacking, but as I typed I felt the need for transparency in the hopes this post will help others.  I think most people fail with weight loss because they fail to do what Dr. Oz calls a U turn (at the next available moment get back on track).  If left unchecked hours can turn into days and days into weeks, then you look around, weight has been regained and feelings of  self defeat surface.  It becomes even more difficult to start again.

This journey is such a learning process, not so much learning about weight loss, but learning about myself.  I will be successful or not based on my choices.  I can choose success or failure.  After experiencing some success, although I have so far to go, I can testify to this fact.  SUCCESS IS SO WORTH THE SACRIFICE TO GET THERE. 

I feel so blessed to have such great blog friends who send me positive, encouraging comments everyday and correcting comments as well.  Some very encouraging ones made my day today!  Thanks so much.  Hopefully I'm an encourager to you as well.  :)

I started this post to talk about working out today...man did it turn into something else. 

I'm back on track and ready for tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

Take care,

Week 10 Results and How to Break Through a Plateau

My weight has been up and down for the past month, so much so I wasn't making any progress.  I decided that HAD to change, so I became focused again on my goal, made a plan to get there, and stuck with it 95% of the time.  The results are a 4 pound weight loss for the week. Yay!  Now the challenge is not to get lazy and let old unhealthy habits creep back in to my life.

This is how I broke the plateau.  These were my ideal ways to eat and workout:

• Eat some protein at every meal or snack
• Eat a carb heavy meal in the morning or ONLY within 2 hours of working out, otherwise stick to protein and veggies. 
• Don't get too hungry.  I will inevitably lose self control if I get too hungry!
• Drink lots of water.
• No eating after 8pm
• Eat no gluten or dairy
• Workout with cardio and strength training 5 days per week.

These were my guidelines.  Sometimes I didn't meet them exactly, but I made the best choices I could.  My mindset was the closer I stuck to these guidelines, the better my result.  I forgave myself if I made a poor choice and immediately recommitted to this plan.  For me being able to immediately recommit to the plan was key to my success.  I love to experiment like this and study the result.

This week I'm going to relax the plan a little, but really the only difference being the way I eat carbs.  I'm going back to my original plan of limiting carbs after 3 pm, by avoiding or limiting starch at night.  It's worked for Candace Cameron Bure and it's worked for me.  

....my little kiddos at Halloween. Julia was the super hero, American Dream and Ashleigh was a pirate.  The small pic on the right was taken tonight while trick-or-treating in the cool rain.  They had a blast even in the rain!

I had excellent results losing weight this way.  Do you have any tips or secrets that helped you break through a plateau?  Tell me.  Don't be shy.

Remember you're worth loving yourself enough to stick with your plan, see things through, and get results.  We can do this together.

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Take care,

Bodyrock It Out!

I didn't have time on this busy Sunday afternoon to go to the gym for cardio and strength, so I improvised at home by walking/running outside for 30 minutes.  Our neighborhood is rather hilly, so it can be a pretty intense workout.  Then tonight after the kids were in bed I did a workout from bodyrock.tv, called Hot Fit & Tight workout.  It was super intense.

While I was working out doing reverse crunches under the sofa table, my husband came in & made me laugh so hard I just collapsed on the floor.  Just picture it...I was under the sofa table holding on to the sides, my knees bent at 90 degrees.  I was pulling myself up to the table and back down, up & down.  Well he came in & said, "what the hell are you doing?  Let me go get the video camera & record, the night my wife made love to the soft table!"   Ha. Ha.  I just fell in the floor, couldn't even finish the set.  After I finished I showed him this video...his response, "she needs a spanking."  Men. Gees.

These were my workout stat totals:

• Dynamic Squats - 137
• Reverse Pull Ups (modified)- 121
• Dive Bomber (modified) - 43
• Prisoner Get Ups - 20

This workout totally kicked my butt....I totally recommend it!  After the workout & stretching, the Black Eyed Peas song, "Just Can't Get Enough" was playing, so I burst into dance.  My husband just shook his head & laughed.  It would be so boring not to laugh & have fun along the way, right? I liked it so much I think I'm gonna incorporate dancing to one song per day...it really lifted my mood.  

I was determined to get a full workout in today, even if it was disjointed.  Getting fit can be done if you want it bad enough.  Just have the WILL to do it.  One of my health goals this weekend was to fit in a complete workout, so not exercising wasn't an option.  

My nutrition was pretty good today.  We went to Quiznos for lunch & I forgot about not eating gluten until I was about a quarter of the way done eat my sandwich.  At least I ordered it no cheese.  I paid the price later though.  Then for dinner, I stuck with steak and steamed broccoli, very yummy.  I haven't eaten anything since, even though I'm hungry.  I just keep drinking lots of water.  I'm really hoping for a 4 pound weight loss, but the sodium today, may have changed that outcome.  

Did you workout today?  What did you do?  Inspire me.

Have a wonderful, healthy Monday.

Take care,

Halloween candy, oh my!

Since inheriting my father's hardware store I've spent lots of time in Warrenton, a pretty little town filled with lots of nice people, who have nothing but kind things to say about Dad.  I even received a hug today.  Townsfolk are genuinely saddened by my father's passing as well as the closing of his business.  

    

Looking back at my weight loss history I've noticed my plateau started about the time I started working and making trips to Warrenton.  I think at least 90% of the reason for this is not less exercise, but poor food choices because I wait too long to eat, get too hungry, and lose self control.  I'm not planning meals most of the time or having ENOUGH healthy food choices on hand.  Anyway, I have made better food choices this week and as of this morning my weight is 4 pounds down and I really want to maintain that through weigh in on Monday.  Today it occurred to me I've broken through this plateau (woo-hoo, yay) , IF I DON'T MESS UP!  I will erode some of that loss if I eat for the rest of the weekend the way I ate tonight.  Put it this way, Halloween candy was involved.       

For the remainder of the weekend I am going to:

• not eat anymore Halloween candy (because I've already treated myself)
• forgive myself - no ones perfect
• make sure healthy choices are readily available
• workout once this weekend.
• no eating after 8pm
• drink lots of water
• stick with dairy/gluten free
• taper off starch towards evening
• last, but definitely not least LOVE MYSELF ENOUGH TO TREAT MY BODY LIKE A TEMPLE. 

Daily Inspiration:

Thank you for all of the kind, generous comments lately.  Some of them I've thought...are you really talking about me?  Like when you walk in a room and a stranger smiles and you think they couldn't possible be looking at me like that, so you glance behind you and no ones there. Your comments have been such a blessing & kept me on track.      

I've learned this journey is a constant process of falling and getting back up.  Before I would fall and not get up for a long time.  Now I'm learning to stand back up, all while forgiving myself in the process.  Herein lies my current and future success.

Thanks for reading...sometimes I just start typing not knowing where the post is going, but always learning along the way.

Have an awesome, healthy weekend.

Take care,

Week 9 Results: Losing the battle, but winning the war

There's no easy way to say this...so I'll just state the facts.  I gained 2 pounds this week.  Overall I made good choices, but I've definitely let some bad habits creep back into my life.  I think the reason behind the weight gain involves those bad habits and extra sodium.  Plus I went out to dinner on Saturday and even though I avoided the bread basket and only had 3 bites of dessert, sugary after dinner drinks were consumed. O.K., 3 sugary alcoholic drinks!  Alright confession is good for the soul, right?  Now it's time to learn from not so stellar weight loss and  concentrate on nutrition and exercise goals laid out in this previous post .

I think for this week to get back on track, I'm going to journal food and exercise.  Then I can look back on it to see what works for me.  (yes I'm assuming I'll have positive results).  I will.

Today's Nutrition:

Meal 1:  Peanut butter, chocolate chip oatmeal, with Super Seed, vanilla, Sun Crystals

Meal 2:  3 slices turkey (Hormel natural, nitrate free) and cucumber from our garden with rice vinegar, turmeric, salt, pepper

Meal 3:  handful of raw walnuts and sugar snap peas

Meal 4:  chicken breast tenders, broccoli with butter, and rice with veggies

Today's exercise:

• 30 minutes on precor for cardio
• bicep curls with 20 lb. straight barbell (2 sets of 15)
• bicep curls on weight machine 30 lbs., then dropping back to 10 lbs. (2 sets of 15)
• Britney Spears' ab workout (dang, forgot the bicycle crunches)
 

• finished with stretching

 I'm really proud of my accomplishments today.  I stuck with my exercise and nutrition goals!  I received a nice note from a friend.  Life is good.

Daily Inspiration:

If you want something you've never had before,

you have to do something you've never done before.

-Author unknown

Today was a success.  Tomorrow I just need to repeat today...one day at a time...I'll get there.

Thanks for reading y'all.

Have a great Tuesday.

Take care,