Bump pain ..... lets talk about the GAIN

Monday was my official weigh in day. I set a biweekly goal on my Wii Fit and met it. I set the same goal, to lose 2 lbs, and went about my day. Well today I weighed in and the Wii Fit and myself were both shocked. I had lost the 2 lbs already. I met my goal in 2 days. I am now officially 10 lbs down and 4 lbs away from saying bye bye to my 80s. I am so excited. I have worked really hard and my hard work is paying off.

I would like to thank all of the people who continue to encourage me on facebook, twitter, myfitnesspal and via text. You all have no idea how much I appreciate your kind words and encouragement.

The V-word ................... Vacation!

My entire month of June has been dedicated to working out, eating right, working out and eating right. I've pretty much been home the entire month except for a trip to the beach here, a trip to visit my father there and/or a trip to the local movie theater. I tried to do as much as I could in June because I knew July would be a killer. Well July is almost here.

My first vacation of the summer begins tomorrow. I leave for New Orleans and will be there until Monday. Now I dont know how many of you have been to New Orleans before but let me tell you a secret ..... they have some of the best food ever! OMG, I have thought about their red beans and rice and bread pudding since last year. I'm sure the calories are out of this world .... isnt that how it always is when something taste good ;(

I'm taking my pedometer with me because I know I'll be doing a lot of walking. That's my exercise right there. I just have to practice restraint when it comes to eating. I'll be eating out for the entire 5 days. I'm going to have to make wise decisions. Thank God I have the Myfitnesspal app on my blackberry. That should keep me focused.

The bad thing is that I return from New Orleans on Monday and leave for Orlando on that Sunday :/ I'll be in Orlando for four days for my son's birthday. Yes another vacation which means another hotel and more restaurant food :/ The good thing is that just like New Orleans, I'll be doing a lot of walking so my exercise will be taken care of. I keep telling myself to not go overboard. I should be ok but we shall see.

1Love
KL

Pain .... Pain .... GO AWAY!

I'm sitting on my couch with tears running down my face ..... thats how bad it hurts tonight. I knew it was going to hurt. My legs have been throbbing ALL day but I still did my hip hop ab workout tonight .... two of them as a matter of fact. 50 minutes of intense cardio .... I know .... I'm CRAZY.

I'm still rolling with my No Pain, No Gain theory. The only thing is this theory sounds good when I'm saying it or even typing it but its another thing when I'm LIVING IT!

Thankfully for me tomorrow is my last day of hip hop abs. I am going on vacation for five days and will not be able to do any of the workouts. I will be able to exercise, just not with Shaun T. *exhales* I am so happy to be taking a break. Shaun is kicking my azz! lol

Jill Scott ...... you're my SHERO!

Has anyone seen Jill Scott lately? Doesnt she look amazing????? I think I utter those words every time I see her. Its not unusual for a celebrity to lose weight. Many have done this including Jennifer Hudson, Star Jones, Monique and etc. However this is the first time that I've seen a celebrity lose weight and felt inspired myself. I've always been a Jill Scott fan...I'm talking about since her lets take a long walk days...and Jill Scott has always been "plus size". I dont know her personally and I've never met her but she's always come across as being so cool and comfortable within her skin and that just made me love her more.



We live in a society that is obsessed with being thin and where the mere thought of being *cough* fat *cough* is frowned upon. Seriously how many fat jokes have you heard? How many times have you gone into a store and saw a cute skirt, shirt, dress and discovered that the store did not carry your size. Its not always a pleasant experience. There is always the pressure of conforming and meeting America's thin expectations. Thats why I think I've always loved Jill. She's always broken the rules whether it was vocally or physically.



Recently Jill has lost weight and I feel that she looks amazing(told you I say that a lot LOL) Whats even more amazing are all of the men and women on twitter and facebook that I see proclaiming their love for curves, their love for a woman who may not be a size 2, their admiration for her new look. I say KUDOS to you Ms Scott .... you look phenomenal and you dear are my SHERO for the month!

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After:

Inches baby INCHES!

I have just spent about 10 minutes running around my house singing Kanye West's Workout Plan LOL. I know I know ....CRAZY! But I have a good reason. For the past few weeks I have been losing pounds and pounds are good but my waist stayed at 40 inches. I remember reading You On A Diet by Dr Oz and him stressing the importance of losing inches, especially inches around your belly. A 40 inch waist is not only a no-no, its dangerous. A 40 inch waist puts you at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, and many other health related issues.

So while I was happy to be losing pounds and saying bye bye to the 80s I was still worried about that 40 inch waist. I weigh and measure myself daily and the scale was fine but the tape measure was becoming my enemy. Then something funny happened. The scale has stayed the same for the past few days but the other day when I measured my waist was 39 inches. I nearly cried. Today when I weighed, I was still at 186 pounds BUT my waist was 38 inches. I'm down TWO inches!!!!!! I am so happy. I am looking forward to not only dropping more pounds but MORE INCHES TOO!

Kitchen Must Haves

I remember when I was pregnant with my son. I went to do my baby shower registry and was given a "must have" list by the lady. Throughout my life I've learned that there is a "must have" list for everything. There's a must have list when you're getting married, a must have list when you become a teacher, a must have list when you're going on vacation and so on and so forth.

Many people have asked me how I have survived going for so long with fast food and/or all of the yummy fattening not good for you stuff that I use to love. Well its actually quite simple. 1. I have my must have list and 2. I have my recipes from allrecipes.com. So here is my first must have list for my kitchen......enjoy :)




1. Kashi Go Lean Bars-- My favorite are the honey almond flax. They are so delicious and I usually carry one in my purse when I am on the go. If I get hungry and am on the road I whip that sucker out and eat it while drinking a bottle of water and I'm all good. They are affordable as well.





2. Fresh Fruit --- I've always loved fruit since I was a little girl but lets face it, fruit can be expensive. While its very healthy for you and allows you to get full with few calories its a burden for your wallet. Well I found a farmer's market down the street from my house and I've made it a rule to go once a week. Once I'm home I clean the fruit, chop it up and place it in plastic containers. That way whenever I get hungry I can go to the fridge and pull out a container. I also take the containers with me on the road.

3. Brown Rice --- I am a big rice person. As a matter of fact I'm a big CARBS person LOL I must have some type of carb per meal. The carb of my choice is usually some type of rice. Well I threw out all of the flavored rices ... the red beans and rice, white rice, yellow rice and etc and now my cabinet holds boxes of brown rice. Its easy to cook (10 minutes max) and its pretty affordable(1.89 at Walmart).

4. Frozen Veggies -- I can remember when I use to buy canned veggies. *sighs* That seemed so long ago. Veggies trapped in a can with god knows how much sodium. Then I went fresh and I have to admit I love fresh veggies but I decided to throw frozen veggies in the mix and I havent been the same since LOL Where do I start with the benefits? They are more affordable. I can get a bag of green beans for 98 cents at walmart and that bag will last for a minute. They are quick. They are low in calories. I have fallen in love with stir frying since I brought frozen veggies in the house. I dont think I'll ever go back to canned.



5. Diet V8 Splash -- I use to drink regular V8 all of the time and swore I was doing something good .... I mean its v8 .... it has to be healthy right? Wrong! Check the label. Regular V8 has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. Its full of calories and sugar. So one day I was in Walmart(my favorite place LOL) and I decided to try the diet v8. I checked the label and saw that it had no HFCS and was relatively low in calories. I really was not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. The diet v8 tastes better than the regular one. Who knew? I dont drink it all of the time, one bottle may last for two weeks, but I've found that when I'm craving sugar an 8 oz glass of diet v8 cures the craving. For someone who use to love sugar, diet v8 is a must have for my house!

What are some healthy "must haves" for your kitchen?

How did you get here?

My all time favorite song by Deborah Cox is Nobody's Suppose To Be Here? In the song, for those who are not familiar with Ms Cox, Deborah is asking love how did it find its way back into her heart. She was done with love and somehow it snuck back up on her. So the entire song consists of Ms Cox asking "How did you get here? Nobody's suppose to be here!"

Thats exactly how I feel right now LOL. When I finished my last blog post I was beat. I was so tired and I just knew that I'd be fast asleep by now. WRONG! As soon as I got up from the table a sudden burst of energy blew through me. It was weird. I figured I matter as well take advantage of it and get a little walking in. I thought about hitting the trail but was worried that by the time I got my son dressed, got in the car and drove to the trail, my energy may be gone :/ I didnt want to risk it so I popped in my Leslie Sansone's WALKING away the pounds, 5 mile walk dvd.

I said I'd only do 1 mile. Well as soon as the 1 mile was done a double energy boost hit me and before I knew it I was half way through mile 2. Thats when the burning started. My legs were on fire! I worked through the burn and before I knew it I was on mile 4. Then something crazy happened...the fire spread. My shins, thighs and buttocks were on fire. Now my shins and thighs have burned before(when I first started working out) but my butt has never burned. I so wanted to stop BUT I had come so far. What was the use in doing 4 miles if I wasnt going to see it out and do the entire 5 miles. I did stick it out and completed my 5 miles for the day! Woo hoo!

So thats 2 hip hop ab workouts done today and 5 miles too. I believe my total is at 58 miles done for the summer with 142 more to go! Yay me! Now its time for a shower, dinner and law and order :)