BAck from Cruise, starting a new Challenge

Hayyyyy!!!

I'm back from the cruise with some wonderful new workout moves and motivation that just can't be contained! I met so many wonderful people on the cruise and I was impressed by every single person. The energy everyone had was wonderful and I met a lot of new people that I can now call true friends. It was great to meet so many people that I've chatted with online. My roomie, Kate (Kajole) was the best. I haven't laughed so much in years. I got a great ab workout just laughing!!! It started from the moment Kate got to the hotel in Orlando, when the Hispanic front desk lady called me and told me that "Cake was downstairs." MMMMMmmmmm, I thought....cake! Now why would she tell me there was cake downstairs???? "Excuse me??" She continues,"your friend, Cake, is here. Shall I give her a roomkey?" In the background I hear this voice "ITS KATE!!!" LOL So, Kate is now lovingly known as Cake!

It only got better as the days went on. I have to say besides meeting everyone and getting to know everyone, the best part of the cruise was Thursday afternoon working out with the Champs. Donna Szabo and Fred Clement helped me out greatly and I really appreciate it. They, along with Mikko Manner, gave me some great new exercises to add to my arsenal in order to get some cut results for this upcoming challenge. I started today and added in a lot of the upper exercises Donna showed. I had to decrease my weights because man, it was tough!! I hope I don't let them down!

We all had a great time and I didn't want it to end. It's been difficult coming back home to an empty house (Sam is here, of course) after being with so many amazing people. I miss everyone already and have decided to attend the Tennessee meeting in October.

I hung out a lot with Kevin Machate, Dana D, Pip from Australia, Mikko and, of course, Kate. We ate breakfast and hung out with Porter several times and he truly is an inspirational person. I found out that Porter and I both are from Augusta, Georgia and graduated from the same high school!!! He lived in a house that was only 1/2 mile (if that) from where I grew up. Of course, he moved away in 1971 and we moved in 1970 I thought that was very interesting. He gave me a lot of good tips and was just very motivational. I appreciate every word he told me and it really made me feel like I was a winner....he made ALL of us feel like winners and I thank him.

I have a few pictures, but not many. My batteries kept dying and so I really didn't get any pictures of very many people. I'm relying on everyone else to send me photos.

OK, so here are my stats as of this morning for the beginning of this challenge:

wt: 138
bf: 18.7%
waist: 27
hips: 36.5
thigh: 22.15
calf: 13.75

My goals are:

1) Maintain weight
2) Get to 15% bf
3) Build upper body so it looks more balanced and toned
4) Lean out legs and build some muscle so they dont look so fat.
5) Dont miss any workouts
6) Eat clean

I'm hoping everyone will help me in staying motivated and know we ALL are winners..we are all Champions in my book!!!

I'm leaving on a jet plane.....

and then a big ole' boat! YAY!! I can't believe it's finally here. I'm leaving tomorrow at 5am (yikes!) to head to Orlando and then off to the Bahamas with my BFL friends! Yes! I am excited to be seeing people again that I know (Lori, Casey, and Kate) and to be meeting people I talk to all the time (Kevin, Shelly, Ray, Jams, Katie, Linda, etc etc etc.) The list could go on, but we don't have that kind of time.

I called Lori yesterday just to chat with her for a bit. I was going to Target to pick up a few items. We had a great conversation and I'm so ready to see her again!!

Well, the bad news is I'm still bloated and I've just really done horrible these last few weeks with eating. It's my own fault and I've really lost a lot of motivation for some reason. You'd think this cruise would have pushed me to get it together again, but I've just basically fumbled through the last 11 weeks. ELEVEN weeks?!?!?! I could have been super ripped by now. WTF am I doing?? I'm hoping after this cruise, I will have enough motivation to kick some serious booty and get really REALLY ripped. Confusing enough, while my eating hasn't been the greatest, my workouts have been pretty good. I actually lost a bit in my thigh (I couldn't believe it and kept measuring because I *KNOW* I must have made a mistake somewhere.) BUT, gained like an inch in my waist. Ahha!! Thats why those abs have gone into hiding. Which goes to show, like everyone already knows...abs aren't made in the gym, but are made in the kitchen!!!

Anyway, I need to go do a few last minute things. The bag is all packed, I have to take Sam over to my friend's house, where he will be residing for the next week, and then get some cashola! I feel kind of lost right now. Like something is missing, but can't figure out what. I hope I dont forget anything of importance!!! I'll post some pictures when I get back. Have a great week everyone!!!

Oh and the picture is for me to try and get my photo on my profile!! LOL

OOOHHHH THE BLOAT

Someone PLEASE make it go away! I have had the worst stomach bloat over the last 3 days. Its killing me! If this doesnt go away before the cruise, I'm gonna smack someone!!!! This is terrible. I know I've had a few bad weeks eating totally clean, but you can tell this is NOT fat. My ab muscles are shoved forward and you can still see them. This leads me to believe the bloat can only be from.....yep, you guessed it...constipation! Ugh!!! The "C" word horrifies me! The thing I dont get and never will:

Why is it that you totally change your lifestyle of eating, exercise, drink 50 million glasses of water and yet, you still remain constipated?!?! You'd think, by changing all of that and eating well, losing weight that your body would really start kicking in and making things work the right way. I know the subject is one people dont like to discuss. My being in the medical profession, this subject doesn't bother me to talk about at all. Patients come in every day talking about constipation. My advice is almost always DRINK MORE WATER. Most of these people drink 2 glasses of water a day and they think thats enough. But, when you are already drinking over a gallon a day, taking fiber supplements and doing everything you are supposed to do....what do you tell them then???

Blah....oh well. I just hope and pray its all better in the next 4 days so I can wear my bikini with pride and comfort on the cruise.

My Parents...

I'm so damned proud of them. Have I told you guys that yet? LOL Yesterday, my dad was online and he showed me their 4 week pictures. Yup, they have officially finished 4 weeks on their challenge!!! Today is the end of week 4 but they didnt know if they'd be home or not to take pictures, so they did it yesterday. My mom is a bit disappointed because she doesn't see a change. I, on the otherhand, can see a big change in both of them. My dad's belly has deflated (this is the only place he was big) and my mom has gotten smaller everywhere. Her face is smaller, her arms look smaller, her belly looks smaller, even the big divots in her shoulders where her bra cuts into her is almost GONE! So, today, my mom is online and she says somewhat disappointed, "you didn't ask me about our weighin today." OOH shit, I forgot! OK, so this past week, my dad lost 6...SIX pounds and my mom lost 3! My dad has lost 17 lbs and my mom 10 lbs in 4 weeks!! My mom says "dont worry...I am not giving up! I know I'll see a difference sooner or later!" Yeah mom!!! You tell 'em! She's already gone down 3 shirt sizes (2X to an 18/20!!)

Have I said how proud of them I am? I really am!!! I would have never expected them to get into this as much as they have. Both of their cholesterol has gone up and my dad is THIIIIS close to getting put on medication. He's worried about eating 6 whole eggs in the week, but refuses to just do eggwhite omlettes! I'm hoping his 17 lb weight loss will help, inspite of eating 6 whole eggs! ;o) When I think back onto my transformation essay, I said I wished my cousin would do BFL. I originally thought about putting my mom, but I think I just never would have thought she would do it. How wrong was I????

Anyway, I'm sure you are tired of reading about my folks! They mean the world to me, so sorry if I bore anyone with details. As for me, today was FINALLY a great eating day for me. I stuck to my plan and well, it all went well. Totals to follow. I'm finding that drinking those CoffeeHouse Advantedge RTDs (cafe caramel) is really helping me through those 2pm cravings. We only have 1 week left before the cruise. I'm sorry to say, I dont think MUCH will change in the next week, but hopefully I can keep myself from porking out too much before I get there. The next week I WILL eat dead on. I have a dinner meeting tomorrow and Tuesday night, but wont eat until I come home on Monday and Tuesday will just have a plain piece of grilled chicken on some lettuce. Gosh, I still have to get more clothes!!!! Lori, Help me!!!!!

OK so thats about it. Nothing else new and exciting. Hopefully my first full day as acting office manager will go smoothly. Pray for me!!!

Totals: 1334 calories
Fat: 26 g
Carbs: 119 g
Protein: 159 g

8 DAYS TO GO!

OK, so with 8 days until the cruise, why am I struggling with my eating? Its just ridiculous!! I have 1 week to make some kind of change....and I will do it! I will! I still dont have all my clothes so will have to do some shopping tomorrow and get a few more tops. I keep plugging along. I'll just have to realize I amnot going to be in the best shape possible but at least I'm so much better than I was before.

Today was not a stellar day. I ended up eating 2 cups of fiber one cereal. Well, at least I might crap myself to death! And that was mid afternoon, not breakfast. Its just been very strange.

Anyway, in other news:
The office manager at our office got fired on Friday. So, I am now the acting office manager! YIKES! I don't mind the paperwork, paying the bills and doing time cards, but, its just trying to keep things running smoothly with everyone (there are 11 women total and 3 men.) I just pray they find the replacement soon but someone who will do a good job. I certainly don't want to do this forever!!! My mom was like "so I guess you can't go on your cruise." WTF? Are you kidding me? HAHAHAHAHAHA I said "ummm, yeah. Let them try and stop me!"

Update

OK, so I'm updating after not doing anything for a few days. Well, actually nothing new has occurred and I'm just slowly plugging away until the cruise. I think we are actually down to 9 days!!! WOW! You'd think, with 9 days until the cruise, I'd be really trying to watch my diet....

YEAH RIGHT! Today, I ate 3 big fat cookies. Yup...and you know what? I ate 3 of them yesterday, also! I know, I know....BAD BAD me. I think, I've not been eating enough in general, so I've been craving crap at about 130-2pm. I've actually LOST weight eating cookies. How the HELL does that happen??? This morning, I felt the best I've felt in a long time. I weighed 138.2 and my abs looked really good actually. But, of course, tonight...after eating 3 more cookies, everythings a wash! LOL Its not funny, but heck, what else can I do but laugh at myself.

OK, so I bought this dress from JCPenney. I'm not so sure about it, but I'm wearing it on the cruise. I think I'll wear it the first night at the meet and greet and to dinner. I'm still looking for clothes and a nice dress for the captains dinner, but no luck. I will say, I found this really pretty dress at Dillards....$120!!! But, get this....size 4! FOUR!! Thats right, I said 4!!! but, I dont think I am willing to pay $120 on a dress...even if its a size 4!!! *sigh* SO, I keep looking.

I saw Lori posted a new pic on her tracker profile. All I can say is WOW! I can't believe she is 16% BF. I showed the picture to Kevin and he guessed, at the most 13%! She really rocks!!

Just Stuff

OK, so today was a pretty good day. Besides some minor Chinese damage after I ate my own cooked lunch, everything else was totally clean. Even with the chinese disaster, my totals were still right there. I had a really GREAT LBWO this morning and even thought about going back and doing more, but decided not to overdo it. I was feeling SOOOOoooo lean this morning, and that damned chinese food has bloated me. I dont know why I was so hungry!! My stomach was growling and growling and I felt a bit nauseous, so went to the breakroom to find something that perhaps I might have brought and there it was.....Sesame Chicken! I tried just eating some broccoli from teh Mongolian beef, but that chicken was calling me! SO, I ate 1 piece...then I thought well 2 wont be too bad. Before I knew it, I'd eating like I dunno 10-15 pieces!!! LOL Oh well. I suffered for it afterwards. Bloating and severe stomach pain! Thats what I get!!!

Hey, I got those AdvantEdge Coffee RTDs. I got the cafe caramel and man, it's really good. I drank one warm just to see and it was good. So, I cant wait to have a cold one and see what it really tastes like. Not bad nutritional values either: 110 cals, 3g fat, 15g protein and 3 g carbs. I got them from some website where I paid $41 for a case of 24. Then, tonight, I was poking around the BodyForLife website and clicked on the ON SALE items and wtf.....you can get a case for $28! Then, when I actually clicked on them to order, it subtracted another $3! So, I got 3 cases for $77!! $1/drink is not too shabby I think. Wish I had seen that *before* I bought the other case for nearly $20 more! Oh well....they still taste good.

Nothing else new. Was actually a boring day, busy at work, but no real excitement tonight. Guess it can't always be exciting.

Total: 1536 calories
Fat: 37 (22%)
Carbs: 156 (39%)
Protein: 148 (39%)

Note to special friend (you know who you are, you secret blog reader):
I can't say I'm glad you are doing what you are doing, but I certainly understand. I will stand behind you and support you as much as possible. You know I just worry about you. I *AM* proud of you and dont you EVER doubt that!

Todays totals

OK, so I've done well today. YAY! One day down and 13 more to go. I am hitting these last 2 weeks really hard and hopefully, I'll be down 2% BF before the cruise. I know, its a stretch but I think I can do it! I just have to keep it going and hit the gym hard. GO ME!

Totals today were:


Total: 1245 calories
Fat: 9 g (7%)
Carbs: 132 g (41%)
Protein: 154 g (52%)

WE FINISHED....

and we both are alive and uninjured. YAY!!! Our day started at 430AM this morning. We had to leave by 5AM to catch a bus downtown up to the start of the race. It was a beautiful morning, clear skies and about 68 degrees!! Humidity was not too bad, so I was really happy about that. Melissa found her cousin, Kurt (sp), and we waited for the start.

The gun went off, and there we went!! You all know that I didn't train as well as I should have for this race, so I was worried the entire way. I really wanted to get under 2hours, but if not, I wanted to beat my time from 2 yrs ago of 2:14:20. Well, I could tell after mile 4, I was in trouble!! My leg kept cramping up and well, lets just face it, I wasn't in the best shape for this run. I'm so used to doing my HIIT 20minute cardio, that long distance just isnt happening anymore. Anyway, no excuses. By mile 12, I was TIRED and crampy and well, only 0.4miles left to go. So, I tried to run faster, but nothing happened! In the end, I finished!! Thats the important thing.

Oh, my time? Well, it wasn't under 2 hours (damn! and I really wanted that chocolate basket Jennifer!!) but I did a personal best by 13 seconds. My time was: 2:14:07! LOL At least I'm consistent! Melissa finished in (we think) 1:55. She actually forgot to look at her time!!! Her cousin blew us both away with a time of 1:27! He rocked!!

Anyway, its all done...we're not hurt...we had an AWESOME time...and well, when you look at it, its another accomplishment that I am proud of! Thanks for all your support. The music helped me through the last half immensely. I thought of each of you when your songs came up and imagined you there with me..thinking

"Now what would Lori be saying to me right now" when Sweet Emotion came on

or

"Kevin would kick my ass if I walked while this song was playing" when Ready To Go started.

Thought about Kate making fun of me when her choice song of "Fighter" started playing and it ended appropriately with song choices from Suz2Lose ( I love that Thicke song!)

I kept thinking of all you guys and how you wanted me to do well and I just couldn't quit! Some of you might think this is strange, but I also thought about Julie Whitt. I never met her, I never spoke to her, I never even PM'd her. I really didn't know anything about her until after her death, but I thought about her that last 1.4 miles. I'm not sure why but it gave me a bit more energy at the end.

On that note, I'll end with a TGIO (thank God its over) and back to BFL for the next 2 weeks to drop 2% bf before the cruise! Love you guys!!

Updates

Well, I've been working out well, eating well....but nothing has changed. I'm so stinking bloated right now that I wish I could puke!!! This better resolve and quick!!! The 20K race is Saturday and I'll be PISSED OFF if I'm feeling crappy. Oh, and I looked up my number for the race and who's name did I just happen to see....my ex's. Great! Now I wish my abs were popping EVEN MORE!!! Damn it. I want to blow him away in the run, but my stupid trainings haven't been the greatest. I'm gonna try really hard though, I promise. I got everyone's songs loaded and will think about each of you as I push through it. MelissaB will be here tomorrow and we are gonna have some fun!!

My parents are finishing up week 3. They seem to be doing well. My mom went out on her own and bought some Chocolate Soy Protein--AdvantEdge. She got it from WalMart for $8!!! I'm gonna have to check that out. 170 cals, 20g carbs, 20 g protein. Way to go Mom!!! Her only complaint? Constipation!!! Don't I know that feeling! I told her to get some colonix!! LOL

Update on guys: OK, so everyone told me to give Sports Authority guy my phone number next time I spoke to him. So, the other day I decided to do it. I wrote my number down on a business card and thought if I saw him, I'd give it to him. Well, he found me. We spoke for a little bit and to make a long story short, he got my number. He called me that night and we chatted for nearly 3 hours! We met last night for a bit. He's really interesting and intrigues me. THEN, this morning, another guy calls me. This is a friend of mine who kept going back and forth "should I stay with the ex gf or should I break up with her??" Well, apparently, he's broken up with her....AGAIN, so now he's calling ME! Oh, and did I mention the THIRD guy who was texting me this morning. I went out with this guy for a short time about 1 1/2 yrs ago. Its like feast or famine!!! I'll take the feast, thank you very much. I'll keep you guys informed.