Taking the holistic approach

Today I was working on that albatross I call a menu plan. While working on my menu plan I was reflecting on my food choices. I thought to myself it would be ideal to use foods in my plan that "look good on paper" you know the vegetables, white meats and minimally processed foods. But what I've found is that I have processed foods and larger portions. You know, sausage and pork rinds and "stuff" I'm not suppose to eat. I'm starting to realize that these foods are counter-productive to my weight loss plan. DUH! Like alcohol (yeah I had a wine-cooler last night, so what? ;-/ ) these foods stall my weight loss progress which frustrates then discourages me. So I'm working on re-vamping my diet which is a constant work in progress by the way.

Here are my revelations about processed foods and portion control.

Processed Foods:
Especially meats since that seems to be my downfall but applies to anything processed. It is filled with "stuff" that I can barely spell let alone pronounce. So if it is that difficult for me to say it then more than likely it is difficult for my body to digest it, so I shouldn't be eating it. I am going to make a better attempt of eating foods that are close to their natural state as possible

Portion control:
"Superskinny vs Supersized" have you seen this show? It is where a super skinny person trades their meals with someone who is super sized. Watching that show has really opened my eyes. My over all observation...and I'm generalizing to the utmost but at the end of the day its all about portion control. So going forward I am going to start eating about 75% of what I eat now and once I am used to that portion then I will cut it back to about 50% of what I eat now.

Minimizing processed foods and my portions are my focuses for the next 9 weeks as I am still working on my 10 week challenge. How are you with portion control and processed foods?  Post your comment below.

Motionless Exercise

You read that right folks. Motionless exercise. It may seem like a gimmick to separate you from your money but I am here to tell you that it works. Well I did it years ago and it worked for me back then and I am hoping it works for me now. I announced the other day that I was doing a 10 week challenge. It was just a way for me to challenge myself to lose approximately 20 pounds and/or go down to a size 14 but hopefully a 12.

{shapely secrets}

Well I want the odds in my favor...I want to ensure I get to a size 12/14 in 10 weeks. The other day I found a fitness system I purchased about 5 years ago. Its called 7 Shapely secrets. It is a 7 minute motionless exercise video.

It's basically tensing your muscles for 25 seconds per rep and there are 2-4 reps per set.  Think the strong man pose with your arms at a 90 degree angle. That is one of the advanced poses.

So I started today, here are my current measurements:

Size: 18
Weight: 221.8
Neck:14.75"
Bust: 48.5"
Waist: 43.5"
Stomach (you know the "mother's apron" or lovingly known as the "pooch":48"
Hips: 47"
Right thigh: 27.5"
Right Arm: 13.75"

I will take my measurements in 14 days to see how many inches I lose and if I lose a dress size too. If it works I will do two more 14 day rounds to see if I'm able to get to a size 12 in less than my 10 week goal. Wish me luck!

Fashionable Friday: Cocktail Dress

Hello all!!

I hope you are doing well. For the past few months I've been trying to decide what I would like to do for my mom for her 75th birthday. BTW if you ever meet her please don't let her know you know her age. According to her she is 26.

Anyway, I want to take her out to a really nice restaurant. Not sure where yet. She loves Caribbean and Hispanic food so rice and pork will have to be on the menu. Well I'm still in search of that place. I would like to wear a cocktail dress to the dinner so I thought this dress would be nice to wear.

{antonio melani}

What do you think? Post your comment below. Have a great weekend!!!

My 10 week challenge

Wow! I can't believe I've gone so long without blogging. I have to admit I had a couple of blog posts I was going to publish but I really sounded like a "Debbie Downer" so I didn't publish them. The past week plus have been a challenge for me. I had basically no weight loss progress and I had some challenges in my personal life that basically gave me writers block. Note to self: Writer's block occurs when I'm angry, so let's work towards being content regardless of what life throws in my direction.

I hope your weight loss journey has been a positive one this past week and a half. I promise to check out your blogs and see how things are going for you.

I was reading an article the other day that stated 10 weeks from last Monday, September 19th  is BLACK FRIDAY! OMgosh! Where has the time gone? 10 weeks until Thanksgiving? It can't be!!!! Well that gave me an idea. The idea to create the 10 week challenge. In 10 weeks I plan to lose enough weight and or inches to get into a size 14 but preferably a 12! "They" say that a dress size is equivalent to 12 pounds. So I hope to lose approximately 20-24 pounds within that time frame.

Since a size 12 or 14 is a transitional size for me I thought I would need to purchase clothing in those sizes for the least amount possible. Any of you bargain hunters will know that the night of Thanksgiving to the next Friday morning offers some of the best pricing of the season. I've already invited a couple of my friends to join me and I am working on a game plan and strategy. I'm fortunate to live in a town that has a pretty decent outlet mall. Not to mention I worked in the outlet mall for many years so I know where to park and where to go during the "Midnight Madness" events. Planning this shopping trip has re-ignited my motivation. Let's just say that I had no motivation this time last week. I am keeping an online daily journal tracking my progress and journey. I may post it here on the blog but I really don't want to sound too bitchy or whiney so I will refrain from torturing you! :-)

I originally wanted this blog to focus on my weight loss journey but there are more facets to me than just weight loss and fashion. There are many things I would like to do to become the "ME" I've wanted to be. One thing is to become a web designer. I've been contemplating the idea for over 5 years. So I feel its time to spread my wings and fly towards that goal. I've enrolled in a class and I'm two weeks into it and I am so excited to be starting a new chapter in my life. I will post more as it comes but I wanted to update you on all that has been happening to me.

It's been a long day and I'm going to head to bed. I hope you all are doing well and I thank you for stopping by. Tell me what have you desired to become but were too scared pursue?...post it below I would love to find out!!! Toodles!

We will resume to our regularly scheduled programming shortly...

Hello all. I know I've been MIA for a week. It's been quite busy in my world and I just need to play catch up. I hope your weight loss journey is going well. I hope to be back on track by Wednesday.

Hugs and Misses!!
e.

Cheat Day

I am curious to know what is your opinion on cheat days? Does your diet allow it? Or have you elected to take it and accept slower weight loss?

I've been faced with a cheat day here and there. It seems like I have a cheat day once a week. Typically Friday or Saturday. I'm on the fence regarding whether or not it is worth taking one. The Atkins diet doesn't allow for a "cheat" day. But it seems like "life" gets in the way and I give in to a cheat day.

Yesterday my houseguest told me she wanted to treat me to dinner by ordering some pizza and wings. I have to admit that I really didn't take the right approach to ordering my meal. I was mesmerized by the fact that I was going to have pizza. Needless to say according to Dr Atkins my approach was all wrong. The only good thing was that the next meal (which was actually the next day) I got right back on track. Isn't that what it's all about? Getting back on track at your next meal?

Lately I've been quite frustrated with my slow weight loss progress. But having skimmed through my trusty Atkins book I find that my mindset of "sneaking" in carbs here and there is truly a big no no. It is basically telling my body "May day, may day carbs have invaded our sacred territory" and basically I need to go back to square one and "wean" my body off of those carbs that somehow "snuck" in (hey don't look at me! alright look at me). <<< The previous sentence was meant to be a run-on just to let you know. ;-)

So here I am stuck at 225.6. :-(

{via}

Feeling a bit like the cat in this image. Don't mess with me right now! I'm having a moment!

How is your journey going? Did you cheat today? Post a comment it will be our secret! ;-)

Fashionable Friday: Missoni for Target

The day is almost here my fashionistas! Mark your calendars...The Missoni brand hits the Target on September 13th!! I've been an admirer of the brand for many years but don't have the disposable income let alone the size to wear one of their famous sweater dresses. But that may change now that Target will be featuring their goods for about a month!

Here is what I would like:

{via}

The look is different from my typical preppy classic look but I would completely give it a whirl. Be sure to check out the entire collection featured on Fashionista.com

Have a great weekend!!!

I'm obsessed...

...with weighing myself! I find myself jumping on the scale several times a day to see how my weight fluctuates. Well this has officially driven me bonkers! The good news to report is that my weigh in this morning was the lowest to date...223.6!! Woo hoo! So with that being said I am going try and weigh in once a week. I can tell you that will be a difficult challenge.

I am still struggling with meal planning and sticking to the diet. I find myself taking the easy way out and ordering fast food chicken nuggets because its cheap and easy. I haven't had green veggies in a few days. My water consumption is better than it was a few days ago. I tell you this weight loss thing is baby steps and bruised knees and ALOT of mind over matter.

So how have you been doing with your weight loss journey? Are you obsessed with anything? Post below.

Getting bored

Today during my lunch break my coworker mentioned that I shouldn't have gotten off the Atkins diet since it has help me shed almost 15 pounds. She also mentioned the reason why I'm not sticking to my diet is because I haven't mastered the art of menu planning. Oh how I hate that word! I am not sure why. Under normal circumstances I love to plan. I just feel like a complete idiot coming up with a meal plan. Seems like when I attempt to make a meal plan something changes...circumstances, spontaneous combustion of the brain events that force me off my meal plan, or just plain lack of funds because our food budget is primarily for the family not just for me. So I have alot going against me with this whole "meal planning" business.

So here I am again about to make another attempt at menu planning...please if you are reading this, please post your advise below. I need ALL THE HELP I can get!!!  Planning based on the things I CAN'T have seems easier than planning for the things that I can have. I know menu planning is crucial because the  "I-think-I-know-how-many-carbs-guess-timation" strategy of daily net carbs is way off, hence the slow weight loss progress.

Anyway, I am getting bored with the limited food choices that are available to me. I seem to have gotten myself into a rut with the foods I eat. I tend to eat the same things over and over again. And making the investment to change my pantry foods to Atkins friendly foods is a very big investment that I can't do at the moment. I guess I must take baby steps. I am challenging myself for the next two weeks to look for low-carb recipes and create a meal plan with those recipes. Wish me luck because I am going to need it. I really thought this journey would be alot easier, guess I was wrong. Here's to staying focused without getting bored.

No more "White" after today.

Happy Labor Day!!!! First I want to thank Jane from Running to Shed the Fat Suit for nominating me for a Liebster award. It is truly an honor to be nominated and I thank you so much for thinking of me Jane.

You can read about the criteria on her blog. So today is officially the LAST day a fashionista can wear white without the fashion police coming out and accosting her for such a fatal mistake. I feel like living in Florida we have clearance to wear white all year long.

{white fashion}

I am not particularly concerned about wearing white after today, I'm particularly concerned about consuming "white" foods. Not sure what I'm talking about?

You know the culprits:

• white flour
• white sugar 
• white rice 
• white potatoes 

Those foods are major culprits for spiking your blood sugar to epic levels. I've been having a particularly difficult time eliminating these "white" demons out of my life.

My goal is to eventually eliminate them from our home but it will be a challenge getting the hubby and mini ME to join in. Have you eliminated the "whites" out of your diet? How did you do it? Was it cold turkey or gradual? I need a bit of help because I find myself back sliding often and it is sabotaging my weight loss progress.

I am considering changing diet plans and doing the PCOS diet. It is still low carb high protein diet like Atkins but it allows me to have whole grain sooner than Atkins will. It is a bit more lenient and I feel like I will be more than likely to stick to the plan because there are more choices to choose from than Atkins. I think I gave Atkins a fair shot for the past 6 plus weeks and it is time for me to move on. At least for now...I may return Dr. Atkins.

I am off to work on a meal plan (yeah the bane of my existence) for the week. And you might be thinking... Did she complete last week's meal plan? That would be a NO. Here's to refocusing and moving forward! Have a great week!!!

Something New: Nutritional Yeast

Happy Sunday!!!

I hope your Labor Day Eve is going well. The family and I attended church in the morning and ran errands in the afternoon. I have to say I scored big time at my local CVS. I saved more than I spent and I love trips to the store that saves me money!

I am going to try hard not to write too much, but I had to ask you a question. Have you ever heard of nutritional yeast? Well I found out about nutritional yeast when we had a going away lunch for a co-worker. We went to a local restaurant and I had a blackened salmon wrap with a garden salad.

{via}

The garden salad I had was your typical lettuce leaf, shredded carrots, shredded cabbage, and cucumber. What made this salad different was the nutritional yeast dressing. At first I thought the dressing was a type of mustard dressing. But the flavor wasn't exactly mustard...it almost had a meaty flavor sort of. All I know was that it was DELISH! That is when my co-worker made the comment "it's nutritional yeast!"

I almost choked. What in the world is nutritional yeast? Well apparently in the vegan world that is what is used as a salad dressing and who knows how many other things. Apparently nutritional yeast is rich in B vitamins! All I know is that I am going to have to invest in a jar. I was surfing the web for a recipe and I found this one. I haven't tried it but I plan on it. Maybe that will be a tasty Tuesday blog post.

So have you had nutritional yeast dressing on your salad before? What did you think? I would love to get your opinion. Post your comment below! Here's to a 3 day weekend!!!

Fashionable Friday: Welcome Fall...er sort of!

Being a blog junkie I frequent quite a few blogs. I've been so inspired by all the fall looks being published that I had to jump in and participate!

Living in Florida we don't experience fall weather until about December...maybe. I miss living up north and going for drives to see the leaves change. I would give anything to take a deep breath of cool, crisp, clean air. Kicking piles of leaves, apple picking, and hay rides, that's my idea of fall.

Source: polyvore.com via Leeann on Pinterest

.

Source: polyvore.com via Erika on Pinterest

What are you most looking forward to now that fall is almost upon us? Post below.

Have a Happy Labor Day!!!

I over did it!

I was a bit adventurous to say the least when I planned on alternating my Couch to 5K program with Chalean Extreme. If you are not familiar with either programs here are brief descriptions of both.

Couch to 5k (c25k): Helps sedentary folks train to compete in a 5k race (and live to see the finish line without passing out) in 9 weeks.

Chalean Extreme: Creator of Turbo Jam/Turbo Fire is an intense weight training circuit that is 3 months of alternative weight training, ab training, and cardio all rolled into one. It is produced by the folks who make P90x.

I love Chalene more than Jillian Michaels because she is much more uplifting without being too syrupy like a stepford wife. To me Jillian is like a military drill sargeant and I don't like that type of motivation because if I wanted to be treated like I was in the military I would have joined the military. Chill Jill! LOL

On Tuesday I did Chalene's Burn circuit 1 day 1 (she changes up the routine each day and week to prevent plateauing). I used the same weights and did all the exercises I normally do, but something was different this time. My left knee felt a little weak when I was doing the lunges and squats (you do A LOT of them BTW). I kept on and I completed the exercise. This morning after dry brushing (yep still doing it!) and then taking a shower I noticed that my left knee was a bit swollen. By mid-morning it seemed to cut off the circulation to my lower leg so I took Tylenol. That was a waste of time. At lunch I went home and took 2 Aleve and that doesn't seem to be helping any either. Oh I hope I'm not dying or having a heart attack...but aren't you suppose to smell toast burning or something? Ugh!

Well needless to say I didn't workout last night nor will I workout tonight. I am going to take it easy and use an ice pack to see if the swelling goes down a bit. We are going to Disney this weekend since we signed our souls to the devil are annual pass holders. You know what that means...walking, standing, and sweltering in the heat, not good for these 40 year old knees!


Here's to being an over achiever!

Progress: First 6 weeks check in

I've been trudging along doing the Atkins diet and I have fallen off the wagon many many times. Well this Saturday is my first "check in" with me. Back in July when I started my weight loss journey with the Atkins diet I developed a 6 week check in plan. The 6 week check in plan occurs every 6 weeks, duh.

Instead of looking at my weight loss goal in one big 100 pound chunk I thought I would break it down in 6 week increments. In 6 weeks my goal is to lose 12 pounds. I think a goal of losing an average of 2 pounds per week is a good goal without being too unrealistic. So this Saturday I should be 213 pounds. Ask me what my current weight is...wait for it...wait for it...224.4. I am 12 pounds away from my goal. I hope to be 220-222 by the end of the week. We will see.

My SWOT for the past 6 weeks was the following
Strengths:
Continuously being mindful of sticking to the plan.
Even when I fell off the wagon I got back on at my next meal instead of throwing my hands up and giving up all together.
Keeping the end in mind.
Knowing that I want to be a size 4/6 before I turn 41 next year and knowing I will feel better physically really keeps me motivated. Not to mention the diminishing love handles helps with motivation too!

Weakness:
Giving in to cravings.
Not drinking enough water (although I am much better than I was).
Not having a meal plan to help stay on eating plan.
Not having a food journal

Opportunities:
Create a 1 week meal plan and graduate to a 2 week meal plan.

Threats:
Carb loaded snacks at the office.
Carb loaded sides at dinner time.
Not having convenience foods available.

Next 6 week's goal date:
Plan:
To develop a week to week meal plan and post it on the fridge and my google calendar
To drink one 24 ounce bottle before lunch time drink a second 24 ounces of water after lunch but before the end of my work day.
Eat more veggies at every meal
Create a work out plan; AND STICK TO IT!
Re-read Atkin's book (take notes this time)

We will see how things go this next 6 weeks. I would like to fit into a J. Crew size 14 by October 15th. I've calculated and it would require me to lose approximately 21.5" from my bust, waist, and hips collectively. You know what that means...time to start doing weight/resistance training. Remember while muscle is heavier than fat it takes up less space. So I'm off to get my hand weights. I see tricep curls in my future. Here's to your next successful weigh in!