12-29

Start this morn w/198.75. Coffee with the works,Eggs with ham, little butter, almond milk.

12-27

Today's food:
coffee (with too much sugar and creamer)
pistachios & green pepper
roll of butter rum life savers, almond milk & protein powder
apple
salad w/ yogurt ranch (probably 6 tablespoons?)
chicken
a teensy bit of yogurt (blech)
hot chocolate in milk
bubble gum (sugar free)

trying to get back down so I can wear my scrubs for the semester. Lol. (But seriously, I was 202 on 12/26, and 201 today, although I am in the middle of Aunt Flo.

New Approach?

The numbers aren't budging. I know exactly why, though. It's so hard to lose weight while you're going out with friends. My goal is to be 182 when school starts next Monday. Ambitious, I know. 2 pounds in a week. But I'm gonna do it!

I walked a lot yesterday after the treadmill, so I got a blister or 2. Soooo, this morning, I only hit the weights instead of the treadmill. I figure my feet could use a bit of a rest after that. (We went to an outdoor concert, which we ended up having to park a mile or 2 away... and then we went to a bar, which also required parking and walking. Stupid Brianna wore the wrong shoes, of course, so here we are. Blistered.)

So today's approach is to count all the calories. If I can't log it, I can't eat it. Haha. But seriously, I want to lose this extra baggage! Although, I love myself the way I am. I just want better for my body so i can live longer. I have a friend who has lost a ton of weight, is currently in the low end of normal for BMI, and has "17 pounds" until she reaches her goal body of actress Krysten Ritter. When she is trying to deny she has body dysmorphic disorder, she says "Well, I want those 17 pounds because then maybe I'll love myself!" and that, kids, was possibly the saddest thing I've ever heard. I told her that she should love herself before the 17 pounds, and that is what I'm trying to do.

So, love thyself enough to track thine own calories.
Yeah.

Almost the end of my summer.

Whew! Where did June go!? And may for that matter! Summer always seems to move so fast and so slow at the same time, ever notice that? I need to cram lots of fun into next week so I can feel like my summer was worth something.

In other news, I did backtrack and gain about 5 pounds of my loss back. That sets me at about 184, which I'm not thrilled about. I'd like to get rid of these four pounds quickly and get back on track to feeling healthier. More than feeling fat or anything, I feel like I failed by gaining a few pounds. That being said, my visit to Knoxville seemed like I was constantly in limbo. I tried to fill it with visits with friends and working at dad's office, but when it came down to it, I really felt like I wasted my summer, without having any real "vacation". So I think my malcontent lead to my eating, and I wish I could go back and do it again (preferably in Jamaica, haha).

But, there ain't no changing the past, so it's time to get back in the habit of eating healthy food that has been prepared at home especially to keep me on track! I'm never very good at losing weight and eating out unless I starve myself, so the best way to combat that is to keep food prepared here at the house so I don't have to worry about it! I also have been trying to do a lot of working out, which I attribute to Brit Headrick, because every day she was with me in memphis, we were in the gym for a minimum of 30 minutes. It was a really good eye-opener to show me I have time to actually do gym AND fun stuff every single day. It also got me back on the horse (so to speak) that I had fallen off of in May. So at this point, I'm just trying to get something done every day so that I feel accomplished and have a reason to eat healthy. Like just now I just completed 30 minutes on the treadmill and some weight lifting!

Alright, this was a very scattered post, but at least I got something on paper for this journal so I can start back on the weight loss.

BB1-Trigger Foods Challenge Week #2

The challenge:

Ok...so last week's challenge was INSANE! I have never felt like I have done so well because of the thought "Brianna will KILL me if i eat this and we have to run a mile!" It really worked! YAY! Anyways, so I got on the scale on Saturday morning and I had gone from 204.2 to 200.6...WOOHOO! In 5 days, I was able to lose that! Now comes the fun part...keeping it going momentum wise...and making up for Saturday's calzone, 3 glasses of wine, ice cream (a reasonable amount) and a rum and coke for a celebration party with some friends moving to Kansas! Good thing the challenge started back up today :) 

So this week: its the same challenge but we're gonna step it up...every mess up=1 mile AND 50 lunges at the workout! 

With that being said, my trigger foods have changed a tad:

ramen

cookies

brownies

candy

ice cream 

pizza (unless homemade because Matthew and I make some hardcore healthy pizza)

Fast Food 

Alcoholic beverages: more than 1 beverage in a setting 

No 2nd helpings at meals 

For my goals with working out, I have realized that I need to get better at working out in the mornings where I don't have to be at work until 10am. Matthew got me the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution. It's 30 minutes a day 6 days a week of cardio...its nothing CRAZY, but I can do anything for 30 minutes! So my goal is to be conscious of working out and making sure that I get this done at some point during the day! I'm excited of how the progress is going! 

I have felt so much better about myself this past week and want to keep going! Matthew got me a new bra (because where I have gained weight literally all of them don't fit anymore), a new shirt for work and a new workout outfit for my efforts! Such a better way to reward than with food :) I am enjoying these challenges and I've started the healthy wage challenge to win $100 :) :) 

Let's get this goin :) 

BB2 on super challenge!

First of all, I want to reiterate what I said via text to BB1 earlier - I am SO proud of her for getting the blog back up and running. A few weeks ago we both fell off the wagon, but I didn't push her about it and wanted to see if she'd get back into it on her own.. and she did! It was all her idea to post on here, and I  LOVE LOVE LOVE that!

Anyway, getting into the challenge. Here is my schedule for the week:

Monday: Exam

Tuesday: study

Wednesday: study

Thursday: Final exam!

Friday: Weigh out of HealthyWage weight loss challenge. 

Prepackaged meals while I'm studying keeps me on track with foods like pasta, but we all know what my trigger foods will be: SUGARY SWEET SNACKS AND DESSERTS! Specifically:

Cookies, candy bars, kettle corn (especially the fresh stuff from Miss Cordelias, yum), ice cream (even the skinny ice cream sandwich I had to pass on tonight from my sweet boyfriend), fro-yo, powdered sugar (why do I do this to myself - i ate some straight from a bowl yesterday!), cupcakes (even though I'm going to attempt to make some birthday ones for a friend friday.. without eating any of them!). Fortunately, being stuck at home without most of these in my pantry or fridge means that I'm not going to have to work very hard to "stay away" from them.

Workouts will be the Zumba/Insanity/Jillian Michaels videos on MONDAY EVENING, TUESDAY EVENING, and THURSDAY EVENING.

We both agreed that when we see something like a cookie, we will immediately text each other about it. That will keep our hands busy long enough to get our brains in the right mindset to say NO to it. All it takes is a delay of a few seconds to keep strong!

I know how hard it is to jump-start a weight loss journey - that initial kick where you are craving sweets and haven't yet seen any results... it's miserable. I hope this gives BB1 the motivation to earn that successful feeling she's been missing for a while, and will boost her confidence to get her in the right mindset for a healthy lifestyle!

It's ON!!!

It's on!!!! 

Super Challenge Time

So Brianna and I had a nice little chat today...well mainly she chatted and I listened because I was the one doing the complaining of how miserable I was at my current weight/physical level and how I was struggling really bad finding the motivation to get back at it! So after some really, really, really, really tough love, a couple tears on my end (ok a few more than a couple because I know she (and my amazing husband) are right), and kind of a slap in the face...we have come up with a challenge!

This is it: 

Every single time Brianna and I eat one of our "trigger foods" during the next 5 days, we have to run a mile when she gets in town! *according to her, she is going to be veeeeerrrrrryyyy angry if she has to run 20 miles!* Also, to bump up the challenge too...every time I say that I feel like a failure we have to do 50 lunges! Needless to say, if I don't change my way of thinking, she is NOT going to like me at all!! 

What we are going to do is write down all of our "trigger foods" and when we eat them, we MUST mark them on a calendar! At that point, Matthew is to see it and tell Brianna, and then she will make me feel really guilty about it!!! And then the same goes for her and me telling James!

So this is what I have done so much far! I have put a couple friendly 'reminders' on my calendars and things I see each day! I'm attaching the pictures here!

My trigger foods are as follows:

cookies

brownies

cakes

pies

candy

ice cream

ramen

cheese (shredded from bag)

popcorn (more than 3 cups)

pizza

fast food

soft drinks 

I'm gonna ask BB2 to put her list of trigger foods on here and her thoughts regarding how we are going to work on this together! I need all the help I can get, because clearly I'm having some difficulty doing it on my own! Also, BB2 asked me when I am going to get my 3 workouts in this week...and I've had some time to think about it and this is what I have come up with: 

MONDAY: 6am spin class and walk at lunch

TUESDAY: walk at lunch

WEDNESDAY: 6am spin class and walk at lunch

THURSDAY: walk at lunch

FRIDAY: 6am spin class and walk at lunch

SATURDAY: 9:05 spin class

SUNDAY: 2pm spin class

*there is a potential for pop pilates/zumba on Tuesday and Thursday mornings depending on how things go!

If I don't get my butt back in shape, I'm NOT going to fit into my bridesmaid dress for Katie's wedding in 3.5 weeks and Kira's wedding in 2 months! 

BB1 peace out!

BB2 catchup and challenge for APR 14-20

Okay, so last week was a fail for me also - I didn't have any specific day where I blew my diet, but I was over on my calories every day and didn't lose any weight... and I was on the funkiest sleeping schedule ever, so I didn't even make a proper challenge blog. However, on thursday I got back on the bandwagon and have been keeping it together, doing exercise (mostly walking and a little weights) every day and keeping the food to a minimum. (it helps that yesterday i just didn't bring snacks to class, and today I've been busy cleaning my apartment from top to bottom).

So, I want to hear your thoughts on this week, BB1. Did you recover from the epic fail weekend? Or did you get discouraged and just keep eating bad? We've discussed before how a small setback does so much more damage because then you get depressed and can't even bring yourself to try anymore.

SOOOOOOOOO here's a two-parter journaling challenge for next week.
First of all, I want you to write down what you really enjoyed about those weddings that you've already been in. Was it seeing the bride and groom so happy? Was it being with your friends? (Did your dress-size really set you back emotionally, or were you not focused on it for most of the night because you were paying attention to what was really important?) I worry sometimes that you put so much pressure on yourself to lose weight for these weddings... I just want you to keep dreams that don't set you up for feeling like a failure.

With that in mind, I want you to re-evaluate your dreams and give me a list of goals you'd like to achieve by summer. Things like "I want to be able to run a 12 minute mile again" or "I want to find the secret key to fighting off my chocolate cravings" or "I want to have a list of healthy foods I can bring to family dinners so I have something to eat without blowing my diet every week". If you still want to be focused a little more on the weddings, maybe try for a goal like "I want to be able to dance for an hour with my husband without getting out of breath!" (I have no idea about dancing, that's probably a ridiculous time period... maybe like 20 minutes?)

As always, do one of the P90x or insanity videos and keep walking at lunch (proud of you for that one, girl!)

Actually...

I blew the entire weekend!!!!! Epic fail!!

Ooooooops!

Just gonna put this out there from BB1, I totally blew today!!!!!

BB1 Update from last weeks challenge!

Here we go! :)

Ok so here are my results from the Insanity Fit test:

Switch kicks - 53

Powerjacks - 34

Power knees - 84

Power Jumps - 20

"Globe Jumps"/squat jumps? - 6(4 movements per count)

suicide jumps - 10

pushup jacks - 10 (I SUCK AT ANYTHING PUSHUP RELATED)

low plank oblique - 12 (I was still shaking from the push ups which made this part really hard)

So not too bad...creepy how close me and BB2 are in this! LOl Anyways, I managed to do the ab ripper x only 2 times this week...mainly for the fact of some serious sinus/allergy crap from those darn bradford pear trees! We really don't get along all that well! However, I have started walking at lunch with one of my coworkers and we are normally getting in at least 2-2.25 miles in 30 minutes at lunch. We do this in a run/walk combo :) It feels pretty good! Plus it wakes me up and gets my mind refreshed from the "classroom setting" we are in during training at Travelers! 

I definitely feel much better about myself! Feel like I have a little bit more energy and I'm a little more confident in how I feel I look! Which for me, is a good thing! So I actually ended up getting the Arbonne 7 day cleanse as a free product (yay for doing good on Arbonne). I plan on starting it tomorrow! I'll make sure to check back in and see how it goes! Looking forward to the challenge from BB2 this week! Can't wait to see what it is going to do! My PERSONAL challenge this week is to go to the gym BEFORE work at least 2 times! Considering I don't have to be at work until 10...it shouldn't be THAT difficult! 

Love always,

Brittany (BB1)

This week's workouts: from BB2

Party time! I actually exercised a lot this week, and it feels good! I've learned to love the soreness as my body goes through changes. It's awesome!

You saw my fit test results from insanity in the last post... then I did the second day of insanity workouts Sunday! It was incredibly hard, but worth it in the end! I've been sore from that all week (but in a good way).
Monday I ran 2 miles, which was a great accomplishment for me, because not only did I run faster and longer than I ever had, but I also felt like I could've kept going! It it amazing the little changes you can feel in your body when you exercise at a lower weight than before - it gets easier and you can do more! :)
Tuesday I took off because I stayed in lab and because I was sore! Haha. Wednesday, I did the ab ripper as part of this week's challenge from BB1. Thursday, I did some running (1 mile at mostly 5.0) AND the ab ripper... because I'm apparently a glutton for punishment. And now, it hurts to sit up... or sneeze. Or breathe. basically anything.

Also, I have an anecdote relating to the Arbonne cleanse program that I bought from BB1 a few weeks ago. It is supposed to be a 7 day cleanse that you dilute with water and then drink while you eat healthier. It has prunes, algae and seaweed extracts, and lots of other crazy things designed to help with a gentle cleanse... well, I tried to drink it last thursday during spring break, and I ended up not even finishing the first day because I got busy... but I haven't had a solid bowel movement in the last week, lol. It's like the cleanse that never ends!

I haven't figured out a challenge yet for this week, but I am definitely anxious to hear how BB1's been doing!

Aaaaand We're back :)

Here's to making April a much better month! 

Alrighty...so yeah as BB2 said in the earlier post...we were what you could term "lax" for the month of March. Which in hindsight, is probably why my bridesmaid dress for my wedding I was in this past weekend didn't quite fit the way I had planned (BB2...think Katie in my wedding)LOL. 

Anyways, with that being said...its time to GET AT IT! My next wedding is in June (Katie's) and then one at the end of June (which i'm not IN, but I'm doing stuff in it which means a really good looking dress must be purchased), and then Kira's in July (where I am the maid of honor and I MUST look good!), and then JULY 16 is our anniversary and we want to go somewhere and I want to feel hot and sexy! So with that being said...LET'S GO!

BB2, I totally accept your challenge for the Insanity Fit test! I have No idea where my results went from when I did it...but I shall do it tonight and post those results tomorrow :) Also, something I am excited about...I have a friend at work, Anna, who is in the same type of situation as me...wanting to desperately get back to the shape we were in a few years ago! So...we started walking on our lunch break! Where we work is near Cellular Fields in Farragut, like literally right next to it! So yesterday was our first day! We changed clothes at lunch, walked hardcore for 30 minutes, freshened up and then ate lunch! It was such a good feeling! I'm really excited about that! Now if I can only get my cute butt to the gym in the MORNINGS too...I will be on my way! But hey, baby steps right? 

I love the challenge this week! I want to add some abs in there too...I'm thinking lets do Ab Ripper X from P90X three times this week :) I'll attach the video below :)  

Let's PUPMP IT UP this week!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYAaJwHaMYA

*Disclaimer: this isn't the actual p90x video...I can't find it! But it works! :) 

Love always, 

Brittany :)

BB2 - new month, new outlook

Alright, so it's the last day of march. Both myself and BB1 have been... lax at best this month. I did manage to lose weight, but I haven't kept up with the blog. Blech.

I did, however, do a zumba DVD last week and I did the insanity fit test yesterday!

So here were my results:
Switchkicks - I counted, like, 90 or something, but I also got messed up counting AND my jumps were barely off the ground by the end. So I'm not really gonna count 90 as an official number.
Powerjacks - 50
Power knees - 69
Power Jumps - 25
"Globe Jumps"/squat jumps? - 9 (4 movements per count)
suicide jumps - 12
pushup jacks - 20
low plank oblique - 50

I would like very much for you to post your results from your insanity fit test a few weeks ago, and I'm gonna try day two today! So I think that should be this weeks assignment! And I promise to keep up better this month. We've gotta get this going again!

BB2 hiatus update

Oh my goodness, it's been a while. I'm loving BB1's update though. The cleanse sounds reasonable, the working out sounds good, and I'm so glad you are having a better work experience!

I think I pushed too hard trying to do crazy paleo challenges and whatnot, so I completely fell off the wagon of using the blog and myfitnesspal to stay accountable. I didnt go crazy on food, I just didnt feel like logging everything. Oh, and the mad abs march didn't make it past March 2nd.


I did make myself pretty proud on St. Paddy's day, though...  I ran two miles straight (on the treadmill) at a 4.5 pace without slowing it down or feeling like dying! I started trying to run a mile senior year of undergrad at a 4.0 pace and was always dying to make it to the end, but that fell to the wayside when I gained my 20 pounds of dental school weight. I've started bumping up the pace since I actually managed to get rid of most of my gained Dental School weight, so this is a milestone for me. I'm hoping to be able to finish the color me rad 5k i signed up for for the first week of may.  It won't be pretty, but that's my goal.

However, i'll be traveling for spring break this weekend and part of next week, so I will let BB1 take the reins for this next challenge if that's ok!

Ooops! I'm back! :)

BB1 Back and ready to go! *Update from March 1 until now*

Okie dokie! So we kind of had a little hiatus there where I think we both fell off the wagon there for a moment. Not fall off the wagon like go crazy, but as in we didn't blog! So I'm back! So my plan is to catch up where I am as of now...since its the middle of the week...I'm not going to post a challenge for the half week, but I will come back and post on Sunday for a new one for the following week!

Update for the "find a detox and make up a workout" challenge!

I found a cool little detox that wasn't too scary! However, I didn't try it! It's more of a water cleanse! You take 60 ounces of distilled water, 2 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of sugar free cranberry juice and 1 tea bag (ginger root or some time of good detox type tea...we used a lemon ginseng with probiotics).THe plan is that you are supposed to drink this 60 ounce cleanse every day for 7 days and it is supposed to cleanse up to 5 pounds of just simple "CRAP" out of your body. I have been doing it for two days and it definitely makes you pee...but it also kind of makes you feel full so you aren't eating as much either! So thats good! I'll update with more later :) 

For the make up a workout part, I ended up doing kind of a mix of things. Where it has been really pretty and we have such a huge backyard, I ended up doing a workout of sorts with the doggies! Where I would run with them and then stop and squat to get the ball and things of that sort. It was actually a lot more physical than i thought running around with the dogs. However, I wore my heart rate monitor and in like 30 minutes I had burned like 250 calories just playing with them! I was like WOAH! 

Update on life so far: 

So March 7, 2013 was my last day at Aerotek! YAY! I had 8 glorious days off before I started my  new job at Travelers! I was able to really relax, got a massage and really just slept in, took naps and did what I wanted to do! It was amazing! Probably one of the best therapies in the entire world...just being lazy! Also, I was able to really focus on the things of my body that I didn't like and it be OK to get upset because I wasn't at work....but on the flip side...I was also able to focus on the things of my body that I really liked! It was kind of a reflective week! I was mentally preparing myself for starting my first week at Travelers. Which leads me to now. Today is Wednesday, midway through the week at Travelers and I can already tell a HUGE difference in my attitude in general! Its like I actually want to get up, want to go to work and just feel so much more energized! Plus at work at the moment, we are literally studying and learning to be licensed in property and casualty insurance, so its like I'm back in school which is a comfort thing for me! I am still getting used to the 10-7 gig, but its ok! I can so do it! Its nice that at 7:00pm...I"M GOING HOME! I love it! 

So that is what is going on so far with an update! I feel good! I still only have 1 pair of dress pants that fit at the moment which DOES NOT make me happy. However, I have done REALLY well so far this week (haven't gone to the gym but I did the pilates challenge MOnday and yesterday...today not so much...I have a headache that is making me sick to my stomach!) Nonetheless, I'm here and ready to go! 

Bri, hope to see your blog soon! I hope you have a great week! :) 

Love always,

Brittany 

Saturday, March 2: Paleo diet breakdown

Alright, this intended to be a journal entry of sorts to see how well I can pull off this paleo diet for a day. We'll see how it goes without my precious carbs.

------
Well, I just finished breakfast, and I've already screwed up. Lol. First off, this is really hard. I had to google my breakfast options because I couldn't think of any that weren't a grain. Haha. I settled on eggs, and I had to cheat to make them - I scrambled them in a small amount of olive oil (better than the butter I usually scramble eggs in). And I used salt on them afterward, because I just can't go without salt on eggs. That would've literally made me miserable. And then, I made my fatal mistake. I thought, for some reason, that juice was okay on the diet (dummy) so after drinking  a full glass of water, I followed with about 4 oz of v8 diet banana strawberry juice (it was the closest thing I've got to real juice, and I was kinda dying without sugar).

[[EDIT: Olive oil and salt are both okay on the paleo diet. a lot of "paleo" recipes I've been reading use olive oil and lemon juice for flavoring while cooking. Also, chicken stock in a pan is another option for cooking mediums. These seem counter productive while on a cleanse, but I'm also trying to drink a ton of water, so hopefully I'm flushing what I've eaten.]]

And now I'm dreaming of coffee with cream and sugar, and those vegetarian corn dogs I have in my freezer (they're SO GOOD) and the chicken & rice I have sitting in my refrigerator, and the goldfish in my pantry, and the popcorn that I was popping yesterday, and... I'm not sure I can do this. I think if I ever try this again, I need to have a solid plan for every meal - something pre-approved, and balanced so I can stick to it. I wish I'd had some oranges to supplement my breakfast. Fruits are a paleo approved item, although in moderation, since fruits were revered as a rare treat.

But, anyway... I'll keep trying. However, from this standpoint, even if I fall off the "wagon", I'll be landing on the relatively healthy (but not pure) foods that I've been using to lose weight all this time. It's nice to tighten the reigns occasionally to realize that all those diet sodas and fruit smoothies and healthy oatmeal carbs and vegetarian corn dogs are delicious treats themselves - things that I normally take for granted on my usual diets.

--------

So I've been looking around on paleo recipe sites, and I think I've found at least part of my lunch plan - zucchini cooked in a little olive oil and lemon juice. I'll keep thinking to dream up the rest.

-------

Made the zucchini for lunch. While it was cooking, I also decided to test out my PB2 - that's dehydrated and dried peanut butter. You reconstitute it with a little water and it becomes PB for a sandwich, but instead of 200 calories for 2 tablespoons it's only 45 calories! But anyway, i decided to experiment a little & dip some banana slices in just the powdered PB. It was delicious! (And yes, nuts are on the diet... in moderation.)  Maybe I will make it to the end of today! I've got corn on the cob to cook for dinner, and not sure what else but we'll see!

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Update: I MISS CARBS. THIS IS SO HAAAAAAAAAAAARD.

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Yeah, I caved. This may be the funniest post our blog ever gets. I just ate a vegetarian corn dog & a piece of toast with apple butter on it (my homemade, healthy apple butter at least.) The whole thing without carbs became such a big deal, which is not something that should happen on a cleanse. I should be focusing my mind to get through it and feel better at the end, but instead I was taking shortcuts the whole time, trying not to fall off the food wagon but really sabatoging the point of a cleanse anyway. Splenda with my strawberry snack, sugar free gum by the packful... it wasn't helping. The only really good thing I was doing was drinking water only. I think that's what I really need to do for my version of a cleanse. So, now I'm going back to my way of being healthy. At least I tried, lol. And it put me back in perspective. And the drinking water is what's going to make me feel more cleansed. :)

This is brianna, signing off for the evening. Probably gonna go eat some carbs.

BB2's recap & challenge for March 2-9

So, this week's challenge was a two-parter: (1) Find a detox cleanse, and (2)make up a workout that we can take with us each week. 

(1) I'm going to admit that I'm a little scared of a detox or cleanse. I think the best time to try one would be a weekend because I don't want to try to stay awake in lecture with no caffeine... but this weekend is a test weekend. So, after reading some interesting articles about cleanses (http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/fast-diet  ,  http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/clean-detox-manual  ,   http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/detox-diets-cleansing-body?page=1  ,  http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/24-hour-stress-cleanse ) i'm making up my own. I'm going paleo for a day - probably saturday. And I challenge you and Matthew to join me.

The basic idea behind the paleo diet is that "if the caveman didn't eat it, neither should you." However, that's way more complicated than it seems at first glance. Cavemen didn't have any real drinks (no coffee! and especially no creamer or milk) or grains at all. so it's mainly raw fruits and veggies, and water (or green tea, with no sweetener) or juice and some lean meats. Right now I'm a little lacking in the SNACKABLE fruits and veggies department, but hopefully I can correct that. (edit: I just did that! Got some carrots, corn, pears, apples, strawberries, yum.) It sounds like a good, manageable version of a detoxifying cleanse. If you want to do something like a 24 hour juice cleanse, I'd still recommend leading in with a paleo day and then doing the juice only, and then a paleo day to lead you out of it.

Oh, and one more thing - cavemen didn't have girl scout cookies. sorry. ;)

((stress bonus: detox bath? http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Detox-Bath ))

(2)Making up a workout. Boy, this is right up my alley! Well, first of all, I've been doing fab ab february almost every night (I think I forgot a total of 6 times). I want to continue, and I know there's a mad abs march! So let's do that every night! It's a great little way to get a little blood flowing, a few calories burning... and it has an easy checkoff sheet to keep track of your increasing challenges! A lot of times I ended up doing them really late in the evening anyway, so it would work well as an "end of the day" thing. 

Check it out! https://pinterest.com/allonsy44/monthly-fitness-challenges/

(from http://sportyafros.com/workouts/the-march-mad-abs-challenge/)

We can do it!

------------------------------------------------

But enough about last week's challenge - here's this week. Cut the stress snacking, and do the insanity fit test. 

 I feel like because you can see the light at the end of the (employment) tunnel, you can take on a bigger challenge - so let's find a way to cut out the stress snacking. I think we both need to work on a mantra to say to ourself when we want to stress snack. I think mine will be "I want to win this competition for myself, and I want to look and feel better!" I also think finding other ways to deal with the stress is great, and we've worked a lot on coming up with ideas, and now it's time to implement them! I'm going to use one of the techniques we talked about before this blog got started - I'm going to work on really valuing my body & treating it right (massaging in lotion or oil after showers to improve blood flow, say a daily body love mantra, and work on treating it right with food because my body is my temple. And also, summer is coming up!)

Also, workout challenge - keep it up with the daily exercises we came up with last week(mad abs march?), aaaaaaand I've got a new challenge video for you! I got "insanity" from a friend, and am gonna try my hardest to get my butt in gear and do at least some of it (I know 6 days a week with my school schedule isn't feasible), but our challenge is to complete the insanity fit test! Here's the video link: http://vimeo.com/44997921
In theory, with the video series, you take this test every 2 weeks to see how your progress is going. We just want to get an initial baseline to see what we can do - maybe we'll do this fit test again in May? Anyway, post your results on here for each one and we'll see how it goes. You'll probably beat me, Brit, because me and cardio haven't been getting along lately, haha. BUT GOOD LUCK!!!! :)

Challenge-Week of February 24-March 2 :)

Challenge Time:

Ok, sorry for the late delay in getting this up on the blog! I had an eventful Sunday and Monday over here in Knoxville. 

This week's challenge is two-fold: 

1) Research a good body cleanse to get rid of all the impurities in our bodies...whether its natural or whatever. This is mainly coming from the fact of well..I need one, and a good one to get all this crap out of my body and fast! 

2) Come up with 5 exercises that we can do on our own at home to help three parts of our body: arms, legs, abs! I want to get a core list of exercises that we can do before bed and in the morning to get our body moving and then for bed would be a bedtime routine (maybe a little less intensive but something to stretch it down and still build strength). This is something that we can do IN ADDITION to our normal workout...just to put that little extra *umph* in our day :) 

Also, I have some really good news! I HAVE A NEW JOB! I put in my two week notice here at Aerotek and my last day will be March 8, 2013. I will start my new job with Travelers Insurance as a Sales Rep on March 18, 2013. It's such a better environment....$30,000 salary, 5 weeks paid vacation, family oriented, set schedule, 3 months training, 2 months of semi training...its amazing! I cannot wait! I'm hoping that having a new routine and a set schedule will help me be able to get back in my weight loss and fitness mindset! :) 

Have a great week! 

Love always,
Brittany 

Last week update from BB2!

Okay, so here's a look at last week's challenges. I tried the yoga meltdown on wednesday and did the 30 day shred one again today! I didn't manage to do a workout every day this week, but that's also because I was trying not to lose weight this week, because friday I verified my weight for the weight-loss challenge I'm in. So I went in wearing a jacket, my scrubs and shoes and was full of food and water, and the guy said I weighed 197, which is ridiculous. I was 186 this morning with an empty stomach and no clothes. But it works to my advantage, not only with this weigh in, but also because that qualifies me as obese, so I can do a second, free challenge where if I go from an obese BMI to a healthy BMI in a year, they will give me 100 bucks just because! So if you go register at healthywage, get your weight verified (you can do it by video, and i bet matthew would help you, lol), and sign up for this free challenge, you've got nothing to lose (except weight!). 

Haha. but this week, from trying not to lose weight before the challenge started, I thought it'd be good to eat all the junk I wanted. I ended up being miserable most of the time and feeling guilty and gross.  It was the worst on thusrday, when James and I used my coupon for a free pizza from papa johns from guessing the superbowl coin toss. I felt so disgusting afterward, and even the next morning! I guess that's what a food hangover feels like.

For the stress eating, I would recommend if you don't have an air popper, you should get one and make your popcorn that way. It cuts down on a lot of calories - and if you're like me and use i can't believe it's not butter spray, then that's even less calories than you would be spending on butter and oil!. I understand that stress is a killer, and I wish I could help more. Maybe we'll have an upcoming challenge to deal with replacing stress eating with working out or something! (if you're game, that is.)

Anyway, I'm excited to see what you have in store for me! And make it hard! I gotta kick off this weight-loss competition right!

Love you too. :)

Update from BB1 :)

Brit here!

OK, so yeah I kind of forgot to post some stuff up here! I am so horribly sorry! IT was a really rough week yet again for me in general and life kind of took over! So i'm going to hit up what I've missed :) 

Jillian's Yoga Meltdown is amazing! I loved it! I was feeling really stressed all week and decided (after a minor confession needed of some oreos and peanut butter), to try it! I did it and holy cow it was so freaking hard! However, it really forced me to focus in on what I was doing to make sure I was doing it right and it got me into a good peace of  mind in general! :) I am still half way afraid to try the 30 Day Shred! I've heard horror stories about it! lol 

Anyways, I liked the youtube fit videos! It's amazing what you can find online these days that can really help you out! Sometimes it makes me feel like there are normal people out there that can do these so why can't I? I'm going to continue on with those there for sure!

Update on where I'm at: 

While I've done ok on the exercising part, well sort of...I haven't been to the gym but I've been doing stuff at home as much as I can...I have really been bad on my eating habits. Yes I am a stress eating machine...so when I get stressed I tend to want either chocolate or popcorn smothered in butter and white cheddar sprinkle topping stuff...and we're talking like make 6 quarts of it and eat it all! Which I realize is horribly unhealthy for me! So with that being said, today I started fresh! I managed to sleep from 8:30 last night until about 11am today (apparently I was really tired!). I got up, cleaned the house and then went to the gym and did an hour of a kick butt Zumba class where I burned 637 calories! I am sitting at 192.2 pounds at this moment with a BMI of 31.1 which means I really need to get my butt in gear! I have 4 weddings to be in that require me to be in dresses in front of lots of people...and 2 of them are in a month! So with that being said...Brianna, I'm going to come up with a challenge for us this week...I haven't thought on it yet....but I really want to come up with something really good! So I will post it tomorrow sometime and we can be on our way! 

Happy Saturday bestie! I miss you like a whole freaking lot! 

BB1-Peace Out :) 

Increasing the challenge for Feb 16-22!

Here is an optional add-on for this week's challenge! After eating a bunch of junk today, I was feeling pretty down and like a failure. (I mean, I maxed out on calories before 6 pm, and it was all on junk food!). So I decided not to let myself get too down, and instead changed into some workout clothes and let Jillian Michaels kick my butt for a while (day one of the "thirty day shred", one of the links I posted last time).

It inspired me to try to get in to more workouts. I have not been inside the gym more than once since 2013 began, I think. My diet needed an overhaul to get me back in the game, but I feel like now I have a little less flab to flop around as I do cardio exercises, so I want to get back in it. So, for this week, I'm going to push myself to get a youtube workout in every day, preferably something around 30 minutes, and probably from this set of playlists! I really liked the accomplished feeling of completing a workout. It was great! Your optional challenge is to join me! And I'll try to post which one I did, hopefully you can do that too!
 http://www.youtube.com/user/BeFit/videos?flow=grid&view=1


Update on life - I'm 187 currently, which is a little up from a few weeks ago - I got down to 185 briefly. Still working on making it back down to that, but I'm going at a good pace for ME. I've never been able to really get past the 180 mark for me in a healthy way that would allow me to maintain, so I'm working toward that goal overall. I'm also going to join a challenge at school, which will allow me (in a team of 5) to get a chance to win $10,000. It would be super-freaking-fantastic to get some money for getting fitter. I'll post links and stuff when I get a chance and if my team actually gets signed up in time. :)

BB2's challenge for Feb 16 - 22!

Whoops! I'm a day late and a dollar short on this post. But that won't stop me! When I mess up (like I did this afternoon when I ate a whole bottle of sprinkles and a box of special k cracker chips) I have to remember to get up and dust myself off again!

Last week's challenge went well in the sense that I loooove that bedtime yoga. It went badly in the sense that I forgot to do it most nights, though. My sleeping pattern was very strange, and tuesday took the cake when I accidentally napped in the afternoon and then couldn't go back to sleep until 2! So, I think a personal challenge for myself is to be in bed by 11:30 with the lights out!


This week, I have exciting stuff! You get to choose between one of these workouts! They are each 30 minute videos that I haven't finished checking out, but they look pretty good in the first few minutes.

Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5nyrD4eM64

OR

Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, level one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pc-NizMgg8


I'd say try it at least once, maybe twice! And let me know how that (and last week's challenge) goes!

Love ya!

Happy Galentine's day!

Love you bestie! Happy Galentine's day! (visit the link to understand)

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kmallikarjuna/a-galentines-day-card-for-each-of-your-besties

Brit's Side of February 2 Challenge

Alrighty well...I hate to come straight up and say it but....this week's challenge I actually found WAY harder than I had anticipated it to be! Basically...this past week at work was probably the worst week that I have had since I started working for this company back in March of 2012. Things have just gone so downhill that its hard to find the strength to do much of anything. This is the low-down on the points of last week's challenge!

The challenge: my week in review

1) "explore the things that can stress you out very quickly and de-motivate you to do anything and write those down"

     -The things that unfortunately stress me the most are the things that I really at this current moment in time are things that I cannot control! It is the way that by boss treats me at work! It's degrading and horrible to say the least. So that is something that after much prayer and talking, that I am going to have to find the strength in God to be positive and be the light of Jesus in this place and rely on the fact that God is sovereign and HE will deliver me through this! 

     -The second thing that stresses me out is wrapped up in failure. Not necessarily a huge failure...but even the little ones...not doing something right at work, or not doing something the way that Matthew likes it and he noticed or just picking a stupid fight with Matthew because I am frustrated and then ruining the mood...all of these things really upset me! Another one along these lines are when I go to try and do something physical and I can't do it the way that I thought I would...I get really stressed out and really upset!
2) "explore the things that make you feel happy and like you are on top of the world"

     -Funny enough...completing a good, sweaty hour workout makes me feel like I have a little bit more control in the world! (the hard part is getting my butt to the gym to do said workout

     -Relaxing at the end of the day with the puppies and Matthew and just reading/watching TV and talking about the day/weekend/week and just being together!

     -Writing in my journal/prayer journal. I have so many things that are going on right now in my life that I want to write about...but just cant seem to find the time or sometimes even the words to try and talk about them with someone. I have so many emotions running through my head. Taking the time to sit in the peace and quiet and just write and pray to God really clears my head!
3) "find a way to combine emotional and physical health in one fell swoop"

     -One of the things that I really enjoy is being able to complete a workout with Matthew together! He really helps to encourage me and keep me going when I want to stop! 

4) "each evening before bed, spend 5-10 minutes reflecting on the day and the things you did really good at... and then congratulate yourself and really focus on those small things!"

     -I think that I could have done more on this this week...with everything so screwed up...I was focusing more on trying to put one foot in front of the other!

Next week's challenge: 

     I am excited to try the bedtime yoga! I am always really tight at the end of the day and have a really hard time unwinding and making my brain at least slow down enough to go to sleep! I just looked at the bedtime yoga and I think that it will be really helpful! You know me oh so well Brianna...the first thing I did today when I got stressed and upset about having to go back to work tomorrow was head straight for the frozen cookie dough in the freezer! I stood there eating it until I realized that well...I was only eating it because it is comfort food and I was stressed! So then I stopped...course by then the damage was done! :( 

     I honestly don't know what I would do without you being there to encourage me...even if you are across the entire state of Tennessee! Seeing these posts and knowing that you are reading them and thinking about me...helps more than you even know! I am happy to admit that at the beginning of last week I weighed 193...I weighed on Saturday and it was 190.6 pounds! So I definitely lost some weight....the goal this week is to lose 1-2 more pounds and NOT put that weight back on! I keep going between 188 and 193 and that is just not going to work! I am trying this new thing of getting up early in the mornings to go to the gym! Lets me clear my head before the day, not have to worry about going to the gym after a more than likley hectic day at work and it lets me go with Matthew...which is the best part :) With that being said, I'm off to watch The Walking Dead and get ready for work tomorrow! Praying this is a better week all together :) 

Challenge for the week of Feb 9-15 from BB2

Whew, what a week! Last week's challenge focused on honing in on those emotional setbacks and triumphs, and how we can use this information to improve our lives emotionally and physically. Good one, brit!

As far as  last week's challenge update:
1) "explore the things that can stress you out very quickly and de-motivate you to do anything and write those down"
-not seeing success where I have put in work (or being disappointed with myself when I can't keep cravings under control)
-being nervous when I think about having to work in clinic this semester
-coming home exhausted at the end of the day, and feeling like I should be entitled to a few hours of relaxation, even when I don't have that time (and any gym time feels like more work)


2) "explore the things that make you feel happy and like you are on top of the world"
-catching up on my favorite t.v. shows
-comfort food
-achieving goals and accomplishing things.
-enjoying quality time with friends and family

3) "find a way to combine emotional and physical health in one fell swoop"
-watch my favorite tv shows on the treadmill, haha!
-work out with someone I love and that will motivate me while also keeping me company and give me a little much needed social interaction. (I actually did that today! took the boyfriend with me to the gym and he kept me going enough that I ran a mile without stopping for the first time in a couple of months!)
-develop better comfort foods (I've been working on this one - I've got a couple of recipes up my sleeve that I love! Including my air-popped caramel corn for my sweet tooth, or healthy baked apples-and-sweet-potatoes, which is a great and filling side dish!)
-set small, accomplishable goals that make me feel better about my health and wellbeing every day. This is the first step (for me) to keep from getting discouraged and giving up. (For this, I've actually been doing fab-ab february every day! It started off easy, and now I just don't want to give it up because I would love to be able to do a 2 minute plank!)

4) "each evening before bed, spend 5-10 minutes reflecting on the day and the things you did really good at... and then congratulate yourself and really focus on those small things!"
-done. :)

It's really nice to brainstorm what I could be doing differently to keep myself on the right track. This week was horrible eating wise, which took my weight up a couple of pounds. It seems like if I stay on the right track and only screw up once or twice in a week, I still manage to lose weight - but if it's a week like this where I screw up every night, my body knows. So, gotta do better next week!


Speaking of next week.... 

I know you've been incredibly stressed by your job lately, and I wish I could magically fix that for you (or at least be there for you a little better). I think a bit of bedtime yoga might help you unwind at the end of the day as you are getting ready for bed, because I know if I'm stressed or if my brain just won't go to sleep, it helps me to complete this relaxing routine. http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/workout/yoga/poses/yoga-routine-before-sleep/

I like to do that routine with the lights low & a little soothing music on, and then right before I do my last breathing exercise, turn off all the lights so I can literally just roll over and go to sleep at the end.

Additionally, knowing that your job is stressful and knowing how you and I both have a problem with stress snacking, I decided to do a little research:

http://www.snack-girl.com/snack/stress-eating-solution/
http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2010/12/stop-stress-eating
http://stress.about.com/od/dietandsuppliments/a/emotional.htm

So, this week your challenge is pretty simple. Try out the yoga once or twice - if it doesn't work for you, google "bedtime yoga" and find one that does, and then try that once or twice. Oh, and read those stress-snacking articles. And feel better, because you are loved and valued by all the people that really matter.

Challenge for Week of February 2 :) from BB1

A New Way of Thinking...

Alrighty! How did last week's challenge go? Well for me...I really enjoyed watching the clip that encouraged us to do something that is really hard for us 2x a week for 1 minute! I chose push ups...I still hate them, but I have a newfound respect for them because I was able to persevere and push through! For the recipe challenge, Matthew and I found a few recipes that we are going to put on the menu this month! One is a healthy stuffed bell pepper and the other is a weight watchers chicken parmesan casserole!! Sounds Yummy right? Ok, for the emotional wellness side of the challenge from last week...Matthew and I spent some time and made our menu for this upcoming week as well as planned out when we are going to work out...as well as some fun things we could do together that were cheap! We found a greenway and park near our house that has a place for the dogs to play while we can walk or do some stationary type exercises (thing lunges, sit ups, push ups, jumping jacks, etc)! We both love to watch the puppies play and why not burn some calories while the dogs are too? :) 

Well that is my update on last week's challenge! You can give your thoughts Bri in another post if you would like!

Challenge Time:

As I'm sure you can tell from the blog post...this week's challenge is going to focus more on the self-respect side of being healthy. There are so many different types of "being healthy": physical, spiritual, emotional. This week, I struggled with all three. However, after really taking the time to buckle down and focus on what the root was...I found it was mainly an emotional health problem. With that being said, this week's challenge will focus on helping me, and everyone, begin to learn to RESPECT themselves...even when they screw up! 

This is a website that I have found pretty helpful when it comes to emotional health and relieving stress. 

http://www.help-yourself-stress-relief.com/what-is-emotional-health.html

One of the things that I have come to realize is that I stress out very easily and very quickly. I can go from happy to depressed in about 2.2 seconds. Also, I have found out recently that when I get stressed out, I have a serious case of 'acid refulx' or something that pops up in my throat and makes it hard to breathe, eat, drink, or focus on anything except for getting rid of the burning sensation in my throat. 

My challenge this week is as follows:

*explore the things that can stress you out very quickly and de-motivate you to do anything and write those down 

*explore the things that make you feel happy and like you are on top of the world

*find a way to combine emotional and physical health in one fell swoop. 

     *EX: while on the treadmill, listen to some soothing music or a motivational speech that lifts you up

*LAST THING:

     *each evening before bed, spend 5-10 minutes reflecting on the day and the things you did really good at...and then congratulate yourself and really focus on those small things! 

My goal for this challenge is to be able to keep this up and have it become a habit to reflect on the day as it passes and to celebrate the small things in our lives! This is the beginning to truly being happy with ourselves!