Adios 2012

2012 was a crappy year! There is no way to sugar coat it. It was what it was and I'm glad its gone. One of the main reasons that it was so crappy was because I lost focus. When I started this blog in preparation of turning 30, I started it to change physically with weight loss, mentally and spiritually with a closer relationship with God. It seems that when I achieved my goals just a lilllll bit, I totally forgot about the blog and in the process my focus was lost. It seemed that everything that I loved and cherished was stripped away from me in a blink of an eye and I had no control whatsoever. My life was turned upside down professionally, romantically, financially, personally, mentally, spiritually, and so on. I was placed in a space that I was very unfamiliar with and it made my 2012 a living nightmare.  So I was more than happy to say GOODBYE to 2012.

The great thing about 2012 is that through all of the fire and ash, came a stronger person. I now know that I am capable of ANY and EVERY thing. Hell if I could survive what I went through, from being single & pregnant to being homeless to being bullied & blackballed,  I can survive anything. And that is why I am so excited about 2013. I'm taking everything that I learned from 2012 and applying it. I don't believe in resolutions so I refuse to make those. However I do believe in setting GOALS and my main goal is to get back to where I left off at when 2011 ended and 2012 began. I cant erase 2012 and even if I could I don't think I would want too. I know that God placed me in every situation for a reason even if I don't have complete knowledge of those reasons.  There is a blessing in every storm and a lesson to be learned.


My goal for this year is to LIVE! To CHANGE! To be BETTER! God aint bring me through those trials for nothing. I'm ready to GROW! So ADIOS 2012...........Lets do this 2013!!!!

A Day of Firsts

Today has been a day of firsts for me.... a day of change....and quite frankly a day of patting myself on the back. I started the day off by waking up at 7 am and heading to the gym. This was major for me because I am a mother of a newborn and I cherish every ounce of sleep that I'm able to get. My son work me up 10 minutes early because he remembered the conversation at dinner where I proclaimed that I would be returning to the gym....that kid and his memory. 


So I get up, get on my workout clothes and head to the gym. It was weird but when I got there I was very nervous. I was going to a new gym and did not know what to expect.  I sat in the car for like 2 minutes before grabbing my Ipod and walking to the gym. Half way there I realized that I left my towel at home...I threw up my hands, announced defeat and walked back to the truck. Halfway back to the truck I realized that if I went back home to get a towel, I would not return. I know me. I would probably come up with an excuse as to how I didn't have enough gas in the truck or something so instead I said eff the towel, turned around and entered the gym. We're not going to talk about how the gym was FULL at 7 something in the morning. Nor are we going to talk about how I was the only African American and the only young person in there ... nope we're not going to discuss that. We will only discuss that I did my time on the treadmill and bike, worked up a good sweat, had thighs that were on FIRE and felt great when I walked out. I felt great for the rest of the day. Talk about ENERGY! I was like this

and then some!

 
I had so much energy that after talking to my homegirl I decided that I wanted to take up running. I think the energy did something to my brain cells but once I made the decision, I went through with it which brings me to my second FIRST of the day......running! I was excited about running but realistic at the same time. I have not worked out in 9 months and I know that running is a BIG deal. Fortunately for me I had my family backing me and agreeing to run with me. So with much confidence and support I put on my workout clothes, laced my son's sneakers, packed the truck and headed to the park. My intention was to start out with a walk and increase until I was jogging but my son had other plans and I'm thankful for him. This little boy would NOT let me walk. He was like no way mom! You said you wanted to run, we're going to run! So I ran. I ran two laps which was equivalent to 1/2 mile. My chest hurt and I was breathing hard but I felt GOOD! Unfortunately Mother Nature did not agree with our little outing and it began to rain. Oh well. I think I did good for my FIRST run! I'm looking forward to doing it daily and increasing not only my pace but my mileage.

So here is to a day of FIRSTS! My first time at the gym in 2013 and my first time running. Yay!

1Luv
KL

My FIRST weigh in after the baby...plus a photo walk

So before I kick this blog post off, let me first go through the photos that will show HOW I got to this point and WHY I feel as nervous as I do. Ready? Here we go.

 

In January 2012, this is how I looked.....minus a few more pounds because this picture was taken in November.

 

This was me in March after my daughter was conceived.  Still smaller....and totally unaware that I was pregnant lol

 

 

Now because I was still considered "obese" my doctor was worried about my weight during my pregnancy. I blogged about this on my pregnancy blog. She did not want me to gain a lot of weight and therefore I really had to watch what I ate and etc. The first couple of months went great...in MY opinion. I rarely gained anything other than belly. Here I am 5 months pregnant

So I get to my final trimester and last month and turn into a beast. I cant stop eating. I mean I'm hungry ALL of the time! It was crazy. I went to the doctor's office once and learned that I had gained 9 lbs....in ONE week! I nearly cried. Here I was gaining a mere ONE pound a month and in 7 little days I gained 9 months of weight. I was devastated. My doctor insisted that everything was fine but all I kept thinking was that I was going to have to work really hard to lose it once the baby was born. By my last month of pregnancy I was looking like this.

The final day that I went into the hospital I had gained 25 pounds total, hit the 200 lb mark plus some  and was looking like this

Chilllddd I was so happy to get that baby out of me. I fought tooth and nail with my doctor for that induction. Had I not only God knows how big I would have gotten. I just could not control myself when it came to the food. So anyhoo I give birth to a 7 lb 3 oz baby and I pump (breast milk) to aid in losing my belly as fast as I can. I come home and even though I am a 1000 times smaller, I just don't feel right. I was self conscious and the people around me were not making it any better.  It seemed like every other day someone was telling me how BIG I was .... like I didn't just GIVE BIRTH....ya know HAVE A BABY! How did they expect me to look? Like Beyoncé? I think not. So while I should have been enjoying my time off and my new bundle, instead I was overly anxious about getting back in the gym and getting the weight off. I was overly anxious about exercising even though my body was telling me in several languages to sit my black behind down. So I said ALL of that to show you just how nervous I was when I walked up in that doctor's office for my 6 week checkup and official weigh in. Chile I was so nervous that my hands were shaking.  I was thinking the nurse was going to say 10054882 gazillion pounds but instead she said 190.

Lady repeat that for me and all of the audience members who are sitting in the back row and wearing hearing aids. 190!!!! Girlll I almost lost it in that doctor's office. I was biting my lip and blinking away tears. Gawd is good hunty. That's a mere 6 lbs away from the weight that I was in those first two pictures waaayyyyyyyy at the top of this post. 6 lbs? I could surely do that. I could do that with my eyes closed. I could do that with my eyes closed and standing on one leg. I GOT this! She then measured my waist and I came in at 37 inches. I gave God a hallelujah praise dance then. When I first started this blog I was well over 40 inches. I was at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, you name it and I was at risk for it. I eventually got down to a 34 inch waist and now this lady .... this lady is telling me that after being pregnant and birthing a child that I was a mere 3 inches away from what I use to be. Let me tell you again...GOD IS GOOD hunty! That was just the boost that I needed to get on my merry way and began Operation Get Fine and Be Divine!

Now lets get to work!

I'm BACK!

Hi sweetie pies! It's been a minute. As a matter of fact it's been an entire year but I"M BACK! My last post was in January 2012 and so much happened from now to then that kept me from blogging on this particular blog. First and foremost I became pregnant and mommy to a beautiful little girl. The pregnancy went hand in hand with this blog because it affected me physically, emotionally and spiritually. I cant wait to blog about my journey and my desire to continue to be

Stay tuned :)

A day of temptation!

Today was the first day of the Clean Eating Bootcamp and it was funny because today was full of temptation for me. Everyone has a kryptonite. A kid's kryptonite is often candy. A woman's kryptonite is often shopping. A man's kryptonite is often a beautiful woman. You get my point. MY kryptonite is FOOD! I love it...I do...and I fully embrace that yes this is my weakness.

I was full of cravings today. From fish & grits to brownies & ice cream....if I craved it, I ate it. I didn't have any will power so my food journal consists of potato wedges, homemade macaroni & cheese and orange juice. All things that are no-nos when you're trying to lose weight. *rolls eyes* It wasn't the best of days but as I end it I find solace in knowing that I was only 63 calories over my goal intake. That's not bad right?


That being said I'm glad that the only rule that I'm focusing on with this bootcamp so far is drinking water. I was able to do that successfully. I took down 48 ounces which is equivalent to 6 cups. Pretty good. They recommend 8 cups so I was two cups off. Not bad. Hopefully by the time the second rule comes out I will be back at my job. I tend to do better with eating and exercising when I'm not lounging around the house in pajamas all day.

Day 2 of the bootcamp is tomorrow and I'm scheduled to go out of town. Yikes! We shall see how this goes.

BootCamp.....Rule #1

There are several publications that I enjoy reading. Some make me vomit because I simply cannot handle the information that is given but others are quite informative. Recently my favorite site, A Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss,  decided to bring in the new year with a bootcamp. I misunderstood her AFTER I had decided I would do it. I was excited until I read its a HEALTHY EATING boot camp. I thought it would only be about exercise. Lord help me. lol I have a group of people of Facebook who have said they are going to do it with me. May God be with all of us lol. That being said....here's rule number 1. Good luck ladies :)


That being said, here’s the first rule for the boot camp: before you go to drink any juice or soft drink, vow to drink two cups – that’s 16 ounces – of water first. If, after 16oz. of water, you still want the sugary drink, then go for it. But you must always drink the two cups of water, first.

Got it? Who’s in?

(Excerpted from What Time Is It? Clean Eating Boot Camp Time! | A Black Girl's Guide To Weight Loss)

7 lbs later

It seems like ages ago I was bragging about leaving the 80's behind and welcoming the 70's. It wasn't ages but it was two months ago and now I find myself back in my 80's and waving at the 70's. I've had a lot to happen in the past two months. Let's see. I turned 30! Woo hoo! I'm officially in the 30 and above club and I love it. The week leading up to and following me turning 30 consisted of alcohol, alcohol and well.....more alcohol. I really celebrated and well we all know that fitness, weight loss and alcohol do not go together.

My birthday happens to be a few days before Thanksgiving. I went all out for Thanksgiving. We had a FEAST and everything was delicious. Every cook put their foot down and well anything related to fitness or eating right went right out of the window. It's the holidays....you're suppose to eat good right? *shrugs* Well I did and I just vowed that I would get it together after the holidays.

Well Thanksgiving is followed by Christmas and between holiday parties at my job, going out of town on vacation and Christmas dinner..... well lets just say I won't be making any more excuses. I'm pretty sure you see how this all went down. Just know that today when I weighed in, I was 7 lbs heavier :(  It hurt my heart to have to type in 184 on myfitnesspal but I know that I will take it off.  The most important thing to me is that I enjoyed myself, I had a fantastic holiday break, I'm HAPPY and I'm even more focused on taking it all off.

So I'm back on my grind. The holidays are over and I'm ready to give it all that I have. My son received a Kinect for Christmas and me and my girlfriends worked out on it today. 60 minutes, 563 calories burned, and TONS of fun. I see I'm going to enjoy this :) I also start the Black Girl's Guide to Weight Loss' Bootcamp tomorrow. I will be posting it on here. I'm excited. I've never done a boot camp before. It sounds fun but we shall see.

I've had a lot of people to contact me about weight loss, my blog and my journey. I had no idea so many people were interested :) So now I AM BACK! Lets get it!

1Luv
KL