Fit-ographer

I’ve had a few conversations and questions recently about my experience and/or opinion on some fitness  issues and I thought it would be good to share that here – in case it might help someone else!

How did you lost your “last 10″ pounds?

I actually lost my “last 10″ doing a combination of The 30 Day Shred, Ripped in 30 and weight lifting I learned from Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle… and of course calorie counting***.  One thing that helped me as I moved to more rigorous workouts was carefully calculating calories and not going TOO low (maybe only 300 under).  My weight loss had started to plateau and making sure I was eating enough for my activity level was crucial to getting “unstuck”.  I also introduced calorie cycling – instead of eating 1700 calories every day, I ate 1500/1500/1500/2000/1600/1600/2000 as an example.  This really helped to shock my fat burning back awake!
From what I learned in BFFM I did start to eat more whole foods (also termed “clean foods”) but I’d credit that for better body composition rather than weight loss as I’d lost the last 10 before I began that process.

***Despite what others may say, my actual weight loss I credit to calorie control, not exercising.  Exercise is important for overall health and gives you a higher calorie burn, but when you learn to adjust your calories this will make or break your weight loss efforts.  In other words, you should exercise for health and appearance but if you do not have control of your eating, you will not lose weight just from exercising***

I’ve read that cardio is the most important for fat loss and also that diet is most important – what is your opinion?

Diet is probably about 90% of your success in losing weight – you’ll hear me say that 100 more times I think :)  Diet alone though will cause your weight loss to come from muscle as well as fat.  And you need muscle in order to keep your metabolism higher.

Having said that, cardio is the quickest way to burn some major calories so it can certainly accelerate any fat loss efforts!   But cardio without any diet control won’t lead to fat loss either :)
So you need both  (actually you need a 3rd piece and that is muscle building exercises – some kind of strength training).

To keep muscle and lose fat it is smarter to eat 1700 calories (for example) and burn 300 of them off with exercise than to eat 1400 calories and not exercise – your muscles are getting more food, the fat is being burned off rather than starved off.

There are theories that too much cardio, especially long duration, thwarts muscle building efforts, so if muscle mass is important to you that might be a consideration.  Muscle is in fact one of my major fitness goals so I do not do long duration cardio – you’ll catch me running sprints (or HIIT) 2-3 times a week to rev up the metabolism and that’s it :)

Quick question, were you more strict on carbs or fat to get to the bikini pic (she is referring to this)?

That bikini pic was from a challenge I signed up for and I followed the food guidelines which are REALLY simple – calculate your calories and eat 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat.   I wouldn’t say that is strict with either one – just kept them in a specific proportion.
Sounds hard to calculate but with 40% there is a trick (and it only works with 40%)… if you eat 1700 calories, it’s 170 grams of protein, if you eat 1500 it’s 150 grams. (contact me if you need help calculating your percentages)

If you are scared about carbs – which is understandable the way they are shunned nowadays – know that it is not necessary to be scared of them!  The ebook I talk about in other posts (BFFM) was my first introduction to putting carbs back into my diet – I’d never cut them out completely but I was not eating potatoes or rice but was getting carbs from secret sources like packaged foods, etc. I’ve been eating them for over 7/8 months now (and I mean huge potatoes, not little tiny servings) and it’s not hindered my weight loss at all :)

Now having said that I do think it is wise to learn to eat “good” carbs and “good” fats – google that or reference this abbreviated list which I love…  and fats – there is such a thing as eating too little fat (which yoru body needs for many functions) so you want to keep tabs on that.  Don’t fill the void with fried chicken – try almonds or fatty fish :)

I want try a diet regimine for low fat/minimal carb like 30-35 grams per day.  What are your thoughts?
*related to above question, but more specific*

30 grams of carbs is VERY low (see above where my intake is more like 170)… BUT veggies have carbs so if you are eating lots of those then your tally should be more acceptable.
Personally I wouldn’t go that low BUT I weight train and exercise 6 days a week and my body needs carbs to get that done… need them for energy and brain function.  I also do not want to lose weight at the expense of my body’s normal functioning.

It is a strategy that can be used for a short period of time, so it depends on how long you plan to stick to that (even bodybuilders who restrict carbs for contests generally restrict for 3 days and feed up 1, then repeat because it is just too taxing on the body). I also read that whatever weight you lose on extremely low carbs tends to be muscle and water, not much fat.

When asked what kind of diet I follow and I answer “high protein” people automatically assume I mean “lo carb” and that is not the case at all – I eat the same amount of each! :)

If YOU have questions we might add – feel free to contact me :)

Meet Jennifer… she was kind enough to answer (a long list of) questions about her fit journey!  I find it so inspiring to hear other’s stories of getting fit – really of changing their lives! I hope you do too…..

Share where you started…
I am not completely comfortable sharing my weight just yet but I will say I started at 38% body fat, and extremely over weight.

What lit your fire?  what told you something needed to change?
I have known for a while that I needed to lose some weight, we just couldn’t afford a gym membership, or so I thought, I tried to work out at home but with two kids under the age of 4 I never get any free time. So my husband and I went to Golds gym, and I started my workout journey. I had already been dieting and lost 13 lbs but I had much more I needed to lose.

Where you are now? (how long did that take?) And do you have before/after pics you can share!?
I am still in my journey, still have another 15 or so pounds to lose. But I have lost a total of 25 lbs since I started working out, and 38 since last summer. I started working out March 1st of this year so it has been a little over two months. I have lost 10% body fat and over 40 inches over all, and have started gaining muscle. I fit in skinny Jeans again but still have a lot more work to do.

What do you love best about your transformation?
Feeling sore, lol. I really do love that feeling cause it means that what I am doing is working. But I love how much more confident I feel in myself.

Any health benefits you’ve seen? any benefits for your family?
I have way more energy but I didn’t have any weight related health problems so there isn’t too much of a difference.

Now to the nitty gritty…what exactly did you do to transform?
I started off by taking the Les Mills classes at the gym to get my cardio in.  I still occasionally take a few, cxworx is my favorite it is great for toning your abdomen and back. Now I run or do the amt(kind of like an elliptical but you can adjust your stride so you can run full force or step like you are going up the stairs), then I move to free weights and the weight machines.

What did you eat (maybe a typical day’s menu)? What did you do for exercise?
Whole wheat always cereal, bread, what ever. Whole wheat is your best friend! I always eat a banana before I work out to avoid cramps. I purchased the “cook this not that” book and I recommend it to everyone! For someone like me that loves food like hot wings and Mac and cheese this is my best friend! It gives your all these healthy alternatives to meals you would normally eat and a list of what you should buy at the grocery store. I always read labels and buy low fat.

What might a typical day’s schedule look like for you?
Wake up, get my kids fed and eat breakfast, feed my dogs/let them outside, get dressed, go to the gym, cardio for at least 45 minutes, then weight training for an hour, head to the park with my kids for an hour, come home, make lunch, let suds out, lay my kids down for naps, shower, relax/ catch up on emails and return calls for an hour, kids wake up, let dogs out again, make them a snack, play games, play outside, etc., make dinner, clean up house, lay kids in bed, breath lol. Pretty much every day for me lol.

How did you deal with meal planning for a family? as we find often kids reject our new healthy foods like brown rice, fish and asparagus!
My youngest son has food allergies so we already ate pretty decent but he will pretty much eat anything you put in front of him lol. His brother though has started to try stuff and sometimes doesn’t like it so I always have something he can eat just in case but we are pretty strict on you have to eat your dinner so that only happens once a month or so and I typically have left overs of something he can eat or hotdogs or chicken nuggets just for a pinch.

What are your go to meals for the crazy days when you don’t have time to cook?
Since my son has severe food allergies I can’t really answer this one. I always have to cook no matter what.

What is your best strategy for dealing with cravings for the “bad” stuff? (chocolate, soda)
I was a soda addict! Like 4 cans a day it was so bad that when I stopped I had the worst head aches in the world! I took Tylenol to subdue them until finally they went away. I don’t really crave soda but I have to have gatorade while working out if I don’t I feel extremely exhausted by the time I am done. I tried doing just water but it didn’t give me the electrolytes I needed. As for chocolate I still crave it but there are healthy alternatives to making it. I make the best 200 calorie double fudge cupcakes, and it is a secret recipe but I cheat occasionally… but I cheat with limits and still count everything I eat.

Did you find ways to deal with stress without turning to food?
Working out relieved so much stress that I no longer felt the need to snack constantly. It also filled that empty spot in my day where I would just be lazy, I am so much more active now and feel million times better!

How did you get back on track if you had a not so great day with food/exercise?
Easter weekend I cheated so bad! So that Monday I worked out twice as hard and every day that week I worked even harder and then my work out has gotten even harder!

Any other advice you’d give for someone starting to get fit? or someone who’s lost motivation along the way?
It is hard, it’s not easy, it isn’t going to happen over night.  You will have good days and bad days but you have to keep going, the best thing you can do is plan your workout in the morning, get dressed to go to the gym and push yourself.  When you finally see a change your are going to feel so much better about yourself. You need to do it for you not anyone else.

UPDATE!!!
I got Jennifer to expand a little on my favorite parts of her story and frankly what I find to be the difference between an attempt at getting fit and actually getting fit… the FIRE!

***THANK YOU Jennifer for sharing!  Losing weight and/or changing your body is typically a very personal and emotional experience, and it can be far outside people’s comfort zone to share it publicly … I so appreciate it!! ***

I was on my way to trying my hand at a tuna burger, tasted for seasoning half way through and decided it was an awesome tuna salad!

12 oz can of tuna – I used albacore packed in water (adjust the rest if you have a smaller can)
1/2 cup cottage cheese
squeeze of mustard
garlic, salt, pepper to taste
paprika for looks or red pepper for heat :)

Yes kids it really is that easy :)  Mix together, put on (whole grain) bread, lettuce, onion, pickles to dress and yum yum!
You can use greek yogurt if you like but all I had was vanilla and that didn’t sound ok :)
Awesome that I can have this without mayo – luv it!

For my ingredients I calculate about 1/3 of this batch to be 130 calories (without bread) and 27 grams of protein

For a tuna burger I was going to try adding egg whites and maybe some oatbran if I felt it needed it, then heat in pan til browned and egg white cooked.

GIVEAWAY for Fit-ographer FANS!!

Win a GYMBOSS INTERVAL TIMER
Congrats Kyla!!

The GYMBOSS is a small, easy to use, dual-mode, repeating interval timer.    Useful for lifting, running, cycling, kettlebell, martial arts, HIIT, Tabata …any type of interval or timed athletic training.  More accurate and convenient than a stopwatch or a watch.  And YOU set the interval – which I found not to be an option on a lot of timers (including the built-in treadmill intervals).

Think plyo too!  Have you tried to look at your watch during mountain climbers or jump squats?  I am using mine for sprint intervals and to make sure I don’t rest too long between weight sets :)  You set the intervals and it beeps (or vibrates) for ya – so you can get your eyes off the clock and focus!!

Think you don’t have enough experience to need an exercise timer – I did the couch to 5k program when I learned to run and this would hae been VERY helpful to push myself!

Comes in 6 colors (my fav is Pink!) and has a handy clip to attach to shorts, shirt, armband, or prop on a shelf!

Get yours at Gymboss

***Enter to WIN your own Gymboss***

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While you may see it promoted on facebook, this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered on or by facebook. You are providing your information to the Fit-ographer blog and not to Facebook. By participating in this promotion you agree to a complete release of facebook from any claims.

This is not something I should write about but ya know the dirty little secrets are just important as the prim and proper ones :)  confession – I am not perfect – I eat m&ms… I did not eat them for the better part of a year (which helped curb my cravings a LOT… lets call that detox),  BUT when I have calories left over and I just feel like being “bad” I eat m&ms.  They are not my favorite candy BUT they are extremely easy to count and dole out however many I have a budget for.

And today at Target they had single serving packs (which is really 2-4 servings for me) for 15 cents – thank you Easter bunny!!!  I bought more than a person should be embarrassed about buying – it will probably last me a year until my kids find the stash… But I love it because even 10 little m&ms can feel like such an indulgance and if that’s all I put in my bowl (often with oats or high fiber cereal to up the volume) I do not feel deprived at all!

Let me reiterate – I count those calories just like I do my chicken and salad and dressing – they are NOT freebies ;)  I am so thrilled to have found a way for me to have a treat now and again without jeopardizing my goals.  At first I really thought that chocolate and beer and chips and fried chicken would be forever banned from life (and it would be great if I actually did that but…) BUT I’ve learned that I can incorporate those things as treats, planned and accounted for, withOUT losing myself or my focus on goals.  Some goals I have are a little more hardcore and they certainly will be banned when I am working on those but you get the idea :)

Of course treats cannot be a daily thing, and I am glad I banned these things for a few months while I figured that out… but now it seems so liveable and manageable in a long term sense, and I wanted to share that with you.  When you are sitting in a puddle of tears lamenting about how you’ll “NEVER get to taste cake again, NEVER have fun again, oh nevermind it’s too hard I’m giving up”… the future is not that bleak and the new lifestyle isn’t so bad ;)

Oh my gosh – detour from the surgery posts for just a minute!
I forgot to post about my Warrior Dash!  It was such a proud moment -  I signed up for this 5K muddy obstacle race as a surprise for the hubby many months ago … intimidated because I had not yet even learned to run at that time!  But hubby does marathon and sprint races so I was trying to do something “together” :)  It looked like such fun and with my fitness journey taking me to weight lifting it turned out to be right up my alley with the obstacles :)

I’ll admit when we signed up I thought the obstacles were just “for fun” – but those things were no joke!  If you lost footing after climbing up a 20 foot wall you were gonna hit the ground – many a mudder was flat on their backs too :( ouch!

The Warrior Dash has an atmosphere all it’s own so it was really energizing (and a little strange) to be amongst the LARGE athletic crowd (over 7000 people went thru that course!)… and I was gonna be really happy if we finished and hubby was neither embarrassed nor pissed at me for being so slow :)  We surprised ourselves and finished in 46 minutes!  not nearly at the front but hey we got in the top 20%!!!  and we (meaning the hubs) only took a nose dive off one obstacle!  Luckily it was water, not mud or fire :)

They travel all over the world and it is such a well organized and established event I highly recommend signing up for one in your area if you can!  You and the hubs or your gaggle of girls – it would make a great day out!!  THE big thing is to run in costume and since our race was on St Pattys Day I cannot even count the number of leprachauns I saw that day!   – I wasn’t ready for that – maybe next year!

we didn’t have any cameras there during but ran into some friends afterward :)

I wasn’t sure how much I’d be willing to share publicly about my recent surgery and down time… but after what I’ve been through this year (and the last 2 weeks), I can tell you that any stigma/embarrassment I had in my own mind about  “costmetic” surgery has been beaten out of me!

So you’ll probably get the full scoop over the next few posts, but as this is one of my first days sitting upright in a chair, this one will be short ;)

I can start by saying that while my surgery was cosmetic in nature, the way you feel about your body  – especially after having put in so much hard work is anything BUT cosmetic.   And I know full well that I did every ounce of anything I could have done without surgery BEFORE surgery.  ***

The difficult thing is that it is elective – you aren’t gonna die or shorten your life by NOT having it done -  but I can tell you this…  afterward your body does not care if it was “elective” or not!  Including 3 surgeries and 2 babies, this is physically the most difficult thing I’ve ever been through  – I am down for the count for 6 weeks (which I have to admit I didn’t quite believe when they kept telling me beforehand… ya know I pictured getting caught up on soaps and all the reading I piled on my Kindle for my “downtime”… neither has happened so far :)  my big accomplishment today was a small 30 minute nap on my BED instead of my recliner… )

***I also know that the measure of a person is not about your size or your shape or the wrinkle of your skin or the way your “girls” hang … and I feel the need to remind myself of this as much as to remind everyone else… IF you will feel “better” if you lose a few pounds then work toward the goal, IF you will feel “better” if the “girls” aren’t pointed directly south and you can feasibly do something about it, then do so.  But these things will not magically make you or anyone else feel different about YOU … in all decisions I hope that none of these things become a measure of who you are and whether you are worthy or special or wonderful :)   I promise it was not for me – it was a little extra something that I wanted for me***

Since January of 2011 I lost 60 lbs and, as I explain in my intro post, much of that has to do with food – exercise certainly helps but you cannot out-exercise a box of donuts ;) (actually it’s pretty difficult to out-exercise one donut if we are being honest…)
BUT an important component of getting healthy, burning calories, toning and shaping my body and building VERY important muscle is the EXERCISE, and I was asked on Fit-ographer facebook page what sort of workouts I did when I began… so I thought I’d lay out my Workout Journey!

Working out is a journey too – just as with food – I was not ready to jump in the deep end with all the good for you food (like whole grains and not cooking from a box), I had to ease into it as I read and learned and tried new things, which gradually changed my taste buds (really! who would have thought my fav breakfast would become oatbran!?)

SAME thing with exercise – I was not ready to commit 6 days a week to the gym, was intimidated by the weights in the gym, watched some popular exercise DVDs and said “no way in hell my body is gonna do THAT!”  I had to ease into it… NOT saying I only did what was comfortable for me, but I took baby steps over the line of comfort or what I “thought” I could do.  In fact, most things I had to try on a “dare” – granted, I dared myself but still…

My workout journey:

• Jan – April – the beginning – 3 to 4 days a week I got on the elliptical for about 15 minutes and then did some simple strength exercises (mostly the machines for thighs, hamstrings, inner thighs) for an additional 10 minutes.
• May -August – my introduction to Jillian Michaels and what it means to push yourself (and sweat!) – 30 Day Shred twice thru, followed by No More Trouble Zones and Ripped in 30
• September – October - facing one of my fears as a challenge to myself- Learned to run using C25K online,  “off” days were some more Jillian
• November – present (I entered a weight lifting transformation contest with some other girls so I quickly learned to use the weightroom – scary, but I found my new passion!) 4 days a week lifting weights (good ol squats, bench press, lunges, shoulder presses with dumbells and bars) and 2 days doing intervals on treadmill (sprint/walk/sprint/walk)
  This book brought a whole new understanding for me as far as working out and eating goes… (AND they host a twice a year contest that I mention above!)

Now don’t take this to mean this has to be YOUR journey – you can do what you enjoy and what excites you, and you may have to try a few things to find this.  And it may change over time!   My mantra used to be “my body just isn’t built for running” … and then I ran…  I NEVER saw myself being a bodybuilder but I fell in love quickly once I tried it ;)

Having said that – did you read my post on EFFORT?  Whatever it is you try, I really do think that if you expect it to make changes to your body and your health, it has to take effort.  A stroll around the mall is great and better than sitting on the couch, but it is not exercise ;)
(and I say that with a compassion and understanding that you cannot fathom…because for many years I uttered too often “we walked around the mall for like 2 hours – that’s my exercise for the week” – I’ve learned this year, there’s a difference…)

It feels a little more real today ;)
I HAPPILY waited at the drivers license office for 1.5 hours today {along with crying kids, smelly adults, and questionable wardrobes} for my NEW LICENSE!

My old license is 12 yrs old and happens to be from THE year that my weight issues started – I could not wait to get rid of that picture! (excuse the ill-advised perm…)

The workers at the DL office have earned their stereotype of being rude and unhelpful – except the lady at my counter :)  She made my day – they ask for height and weight (not sure why because it is not reflective of how you might look in another 5 yrs!) – and for the first time I wasn’t embarrassed to say it outloud!
I am assuming my previous weight was already in there – or else she just noticed the difference in pictures… either way she commented on how much weight I lost and took my picture TWICE and fixed my hair (a little – cuz it’s still pretty scary looking) cuz she didn’t want me to be stuck with an ugly pic for another 12 yrs – how nice is that?!

Really it just made my day – and I cannot wait until my replacement comes in the mail so I can start complaining about how my hair looks in my picture instead of … well… other things ;) – will share when I have it!
As promised – some improvement (and they made me look tan!) heehee

PS – side note – always a lesson to be learned… even in a busy, crappy day EVERYONE can take the time to do and say something nice to someone else.  This lady has every reason to rush through my particular transaction with 2000 other people waiting to be served, yet she took the time to say “hey girl, you look fab!” ;)  take that and run with it!!

I love the blog format because I can tell stories better and for convenience it gets delivered to your email so you can read at your liesure …

But I figured for facebook fanatics – a page might make it easier for some to keep up with Fit-ographer so come join us!  https://www.facebook.com/fitographer
PLUS it’s easier there to share links and recipes that I find on other sites, etc so you’ll get a little extra bonus feature :)
BUT facebook tends not to show every update, and it’s hard to find “old” posts,  so you’ll want to have access to the blog too!  make sure you  subscribe!

My name is Debi and I am an eating-out addict…
you might think that having lost a lot of weight and relishing in my new fit lifestyle that I do not eat out, except maybe for a night out on the town or a special treat – it’s far from true.
I eat out at least 6 times a week!

I honestly can’t figure out why – I have food at home, I like cooking, I don’t mind having to clean it up – one time I cooked dinner for my family before they left for an activity… I did not eat but waited until they left and went out on my own for dinner!  And it’s not like I eat at fancy places – I will often make special effort just to go to Subway. Nonetheless, I need to work on that bad habit…

When I started my weight loss journey I did not do this – I ate my meals at home because I knew that what I was doing was working, and I was afraid to mess it up.  Eating out got the better of me though (for the time being!) and to fit it in I had to learn how to make eating out work because I am on a path and I am not turning around!

Let me preface the advice part of this post by saying that I do NOT think this is good, in fact, for my specific goals it is BAD BAD BAD to put all that processed food into this body but I want to share with you anyway :) because I have managed to continue losing weight and bodyfat while eating out and … well… it might help you in your journey!  Besides this will leave NO excuse as to why you “can’t eat diet friendly foods” ;)

No matter where I might eat, I know what I will be getting.  Turkey, grilled chicken, grilled fish are the meat options; salad (let’s just call it lettuce), steamed veggies, plain baked potato, plain sweet potato are the side options;  other items might be salsa, fat free dressing, plain beans, sometimes whole wheat bread.

Before you start to complain I’ll list the places I eat regularly, and I promise this food is available at all of them:
Subway - any 6g fat or less sandwich, mustard and lots of veggies
BBQ restaurant – turkey and plain potato, sometimes pinto beans, salad if they serve it
Taco Cabana – bowl of grilled chicken, black beans, lettuce, pico and salsa
Chipotles - same as above
McDonalds - grilled chicken salad or grilled chicken sandwich
Wendy’s – same as above
Whataburger - same as above – they also have a fajita taco I have not tried
KFC - they have grilled chicken breasts that are quite tasty, their green beans are not too bad as far as sides go
mexican food - chicken fajitas and ask for a side of lettuce to make my own salad, pinto beans are good, refried not
Chili’s – grilled chicken or fish and steamed veggies (no butter)
Cheddar’s – same
IHOP - ate grilled fish here I think

one place I found that had absolutely no option for me was Church’s Chicken and the local pizza joint

One trick you will need to learn is to ask them to leave off things you do NOT need – watch out for butter, cheese, mayo
sandwiches- specifically ask for no butter, no cheese, no mayo
potatoes - specifically ask for no toppings, none! – i have found bbq sauce, hotwing sauce, A1 to go well on my potato – these do have sugar and calories so don’t go overboard but they are much better than butter/cheese for you
cabana bowls – no cheese, no sourcream, in fact I ask them to serve everything separately so I can make my own bowl and put as much as I want…
steamed veggies – you have to specify no butter or it’s cooked in
salads - no croutons, cheese, sourcream, dressing – get dressing on the side and put it on yourself – salsa is even better!

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK – I specifically say sometimes “which dressing has the least calories?” so I get my point across that I am looking for a low-fat meal.  I ASK if they put butter on their bread to toast it, if they put butter in their steaming pot for veggies.  You would not believe how many places “oil” their buns before making sandwiches/burgers.  I am paying a lot of money to dine there, they better not mind answering questions!

As I mentioned – I am not here to encourage you to eat out or to eat fast food – BUT that is a common excuse as to why people cannot lose weight… they just don’t have time to cook or their busy schedule “makes” them eat at fast food places.  Well excuse no more because you CAN eat weight friendly (if not exactly healthy) foods almost anywhere :)

Going on vacation…It’s a topic that can incite fear or rebellion among people trying to “get fit”.

People see one of 2 options -
A. be “good” and have no fun
B. throw caution to the wind and have a good time, promise to make up for it later (but don’t)

The problem with A is … well… vacation is supposed to be fun!
The problem with B is it’s fun while it lasts and then you are filled with regret at how much farther away from your goal you are… sometimes spiraling into giving up all together :(

But the real problem is those are NOT the only options!!!

Case in point – hubby just surprised me with a trip to New Orleans for early Valentine’s!

he ate one, I took 3 bites and the rest went to beignet heaven :) so proud of hubby! (did I tell you it was LITERALLY freezing while we were there!)

Living this lifestyle for a while I already knew that a vacation wouldn’t be an issue for me… because I have learned these things:

Pick and choose – you do not need to indulge at breakfast, lunch, dinner AND the night life.  Choose which are the most “fun” for you and make that your indulgance – the rest of the time you need to behave.  On my trip I decided that the most “fun” for me was dancing and drinking adult beverages and a midnight stop for fried  food before heading home.  This meant that I ate my packed oatmeal and shake for breakfast, a lean turkey sandwich for lunch, protein bars for snacks and some meat and veggies for dinner.   For some people tasting the local cuisine is more interesting than the nightlife – so choose lunch or dinner to splurge on and be good the rest of the day.

This was my indulgance for the day :) nobody said it had to be classy!

Fun does not have to be about food – you can spend time with a loved one just as well over a chicken dinner as you can over a pasta/sausage/dessert dinner.  A 3 hour walking tour around the city (don’t forget to pack your snacks) is even more intimate than sitting in a loud restaurant – so do that instead!  Vacation is about spending time, not about  the food (unless you are at your one indulgant meal – and if so then you better savor every bite!) it’s about the time you are spending, the memories you are making.

the things you'd miss if food was your only "fun"

Bring your own options – our hotel had free breakfast and sometimes I can get away with that as they are starting to serve healthier options.  This particular spread did not have enough protein for my breakfast and the only oatmeal served was sugared so I was happy I made the time to fill up some baggies with my own breakfast.  And the snacks – every time we left the hotel I put some in my purse and am glad I did.  After walking around the city for 3 hours straight I was going to eat something – glad I had a plan!  Even on the car ride over there, hubby and I were eating cinnamon protein bars instead of snickers and funyuns from the gas station :)

Your body does not know it’s vacation – you don’t get a free pass from how your body will process bad foods or too much food – if you have a goal out in the distance remind yourself of how important it is to you, and not just when it is convenient or more “fun”.  I’ll tell you what was “fun”… fitting into my skinny jeans when I got home from vacation!!!

And here it is :)

It will take a bit to organize a coaching program the way I want, but I am well on my way to being a weight loss coach!!! :)

Soooo I’ve been really good about making fitness and eating goals for myself and following a well-researched action plan to reach that particular goal… there are slip-ups and misunderstandings about how to best get to a particular goal, but each day one step after another I find myself closer and closer….

Except I realize today that I had set 2 other goals for myself and am not “finding” time to work toward them :(  We all know how “finding” time goes… and we all know what it’s like to look up 5 years later and say “remember when I said… a long time ago… how I was going to do this and this and this…”

Well I am gonna follow my own advice on working toward goals (and the advice of several good books I’ve been reading lately!)

goal should be written, said outloud, real
A.  be certified as a weight management coach

B.  be a certified photographer

goal should be measureable
this one is easy – both goals require passing a test and getting a certificate! pretty measureable

deadline should be reasonable, goal should be big!
A.  weight management coaching – goal was to get this done over the next few weeks (BUT I put my goal in writing last week and lo and behold I got it done and am now certified!)

B.  I have to take some set up images that are outside the norm of what I do for sessions so I need to do this outside of a session – I am going to give myself 3 weeks to take new images and then another 2 weeks to select the entire portfolio that I will be sending in for judging (which includes examples of past work as well)

goal should be backed by a purpose bigger than the goal
A.  I want to help others start feeling better about themselves and I need to be certified so that I can start doing that as part of my daily life … and this thought hits me right in the heart  (paraphrasing cuz I can’t find the darn quote that put that thought in my head!!!) – your light is brightest when you share it with others – and I want to make sure my light never burns out!

B.  I want to show to myself and my clients, not that I’ve been judged a “good photographer”, but that I have the committment to my craft to put myself through the certification process, to continually educate myself and not stand stagnant

make small action steps that get you closer to the goal
A.   last week I put my goal in writing and then planned to load my course onto a portable computer so that I would not have access to WIFI as an excuse not to use little bits of extra time to study (done and it worked!).  My plan was to use spare time, such as the time spent waiting for kids to do their after school activities.

B.   action steps include planning out what images I will be taking and what extra equipment is required to accomplish them, gather equipment, set up between sessions and use my daughters as models so that I cannot use “no model” as an excuse to delay the project… further steps include looking through images and selecting potentials so that when I need to make my portfolio I will have a specific bundle of images to select from and not be overwhelmed and procrastinate!

And there you have it – goal setting and taking steps!!!  I’ll report to you the status of both these goals in the coming weeks…

What are you waiting to do?  Go make your goal and plan now!!!!!

I am reminded this week that my journey (and my “new” life) has been for more than appearances – for more than a better self-image, self-respect, self-confidence.  Those are important things, don’t be fooled, and they come with achievement and setting and reaching goals more than they come from the mirror or the section of the store you can shop in…

BUT a deeper and more meaningful purpose for the life I aim to continue living is health.  And a recent trip to the doctor reminded me of that!

5 years ago I was diagnosed as having “borderline high” cholesterol.  It was explained to me that often diet and exercise do not correct this condition so I was urged to take medication.  When I started my fat loss part of my journey, all the changes were too much for my liver so we suspended the cholesterol medication (processed by the liver) to give it a rest while I continued to lose weight.  It had been 6 months so I went for a follow up to guage my need for the medication.

I fully expected for my cholesterol to be genetic and was prepared to go back on my medication without an argument so I really didn’t even have fingers crossed for the result  I got – I was elated for the surprise though!!!  …  the doctor’s call that I no longer needed medication!!!  I went from about a 235 down to a 185 in total cholesterol :)   Not just happy but encouraged that my new lifestyle has fixed more than my pants size!!!!!

Go forth and be fit -  be healthy !!! and have faith that in your quest for a better body, the insides are thanking you too!!!

**now what to buy with all this money I’ll be saving each month…. hmmmmm…. a new fitness book???**