I'm official!

Today I passed my Certified Personal Trainer test! I'm official!! NOW WHAT?!? ;o)

Back from good times!

I just got home after spending 4 days in Utah. It was so fun to be with my family and I even got away with friends one night. It wasn't really challenging to make good food choices, I just had to make VERY REAL CHOICES!! I had to create good options cause they weren't just automatically there.

I had an opportunity to go on a girls night with my sisters and we ended up going to this HUGE trampoline place. Talk about a fantastic workout and a TON of fun! We worked really hard to get pics of us in the air... so so fun!!!

The girls night with friends was definitely fun! This is me with Damon before we went out.. can't you tell he is totally my kiddo?

This is my girls night outfit! Kind of fun stuff!!
So we went out to dinner at a chinese place and I totally embarrassed the girls I was with when I insisted on finding out what the crap I was eating. There were these white noodle things under my chicken and I was umm... not PLEASED! I didn't realize that my chicken wrap was goign to come out with deep fried, puffed up rice! UGH! I had to try to eat around the noodles and then the gals insisted we go to a new DESSERT BAR called "The Chocolate"!! The CHOCOLATE!?!? REALLY?!?!? I actually had to deal with a total social dilemna there. I just didn't know if PASSING on the dessert was really a choice I needed to make. Like was I isolating myself by not just having fun and giving myself a break?!!? As I'm sitting there contemplating if I really am sick in the head for not getting a 600 calorie piece of simple carb/fat packed deliciousness... in walks Tyson from the reality TV show, Survivor. I happen to be a HUGE Survivor fan and although Tyson isn't like a "fan favorite" he is from Utah. So... being from Utah you cheer for your home crowd. I've always enjoyed his crazy antics and was excited to see him back on this all star season! ANYWAY!! It was a fantastic distraction. I stopped focusing on the chocolate drizzled cheesecake and started trying to figure out if it would be "appropriate" to ask to take a pic with him cause HELLO... I HAD TO GET IT FOR MY BLOG!! I didn't really want to bug him while he was out with his friends BUT.. my friend is pretty fearless and got me this great pic opportunity!!

Turns out he's my friends cousin... the thought that he's just Brooke's cousin makes me think hmm... I SHOULD TOTALLY BE ON SURVIVOR!! Maybe that will be my next fun task to take on!!!
I also got an opportunity to workout with Lisa while I was there! I LOVE HER GUTS!! It was awesome, butt kickin' fun times!
Anyway... I'm excited to be home and able to get back on MY track! Hope you guys are doing fantastic! :o)

Just sayin' ;o)

In case you were wondering... my last post is sort of meant to MESS with DEBBIE! ;o) BUT.. since I realize that some people might think I'm insane I just want to clarify. I was not disappointed about the chip.. not a big deal. BUT... the fact that I put it in my mouth without thinking about it is a problem. I want each food choice, GOOD OR BAD, to be a conscious decision!!! I agree that one bite won't make me gain weight BUT one bite generally leads to more bites. I still maintain that the "one bite won't hurt" mentality is detrimental in weight loss! Please oh please... don't buy into it.

One accidental bite is an opportunity to learn.

One intentional bite is an excuse to eat badly because its "just one bite."

Yesterday was NEAR PERFECT

I only made one mistake. 1/2 of a french onion sunchip.. once it was in my mouth I was like DANGIT!! I quickly gave the rest of it to my child... but I totally didn't rush to the sink to spit it out! ;o) I chewed and swallowed and hmm.. that was so salty and delicious! Today... no sunchips for me! ;)

20 ozs water

BF:

1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup ff cottage cheese, 3 egg whites, 1/2 t smart balace (I LOVE THESE PANCAKES!!)

2 cups coffee

1.5T Sugar free french vanilla creamer

1cutie

Snack:

Protein Bar

1/2 of one french onion sunchip

20 0zs water

Lunch:

3 cups lettuce, 3 ozs chicken, 2T light sour cream, 1/8 cup shredded colby jack cheese, 1/4 avocado

20 0zs water

Snack:

4 ozs chicken,

4 ozs granny smith, no sugar added applesause

1 T mustard

1 cutie

2 cups coffee

1.5 T sugar free french vanilla creamer

(This snack was inspired by Debbie!)

20 ozs water

Dinner:

1.5 cups spaghetti squash with

1/4 cup spaghetti sauce, 2 ozs ground turkey, 3 mushrooms, 1 T light sour cream

20 ozs water

Exercise:

45 minute spinn class

45 minute weight training class

Weigh in for my kick your butt challenge!

So this morning this is my weigh in.. I'm not disappointed but realize that this is LESS than my ticker says. In order to reach my ticker goal I will have to lose 5.74%. So all you have to do is lose 5.75% and you have braggin' rights forever! ;o)

Kat and Em.. if you are in... for pride and glory and bragging rights.. you can send a pic of your weight with the date and a fork to kariscomp@yahoo.com. There is no money involved.. just a good ass-kickin' month! For those of you in the comp who have decided to take on this (near impossible ;o) ) endeavor. We can use your March 5th weight and go from there!) April 5th.. we'll see if I've done it! AND if YOU'VE BEAT ME!!

Household item!

Hey.. I haven't weighed in in a while! I NEED a household item!

ANYONE comment and leave a household item for me to use so I can post my weight for you guys! I know there has GOT to be a way to authenticate it!

THANKS! :o)

P.S. perfect day #1 looked like this:

20 ozs water

BF: 3 egg whites, 1/3 cup FF cottage cheese, 1/3 cup oats (all made into pancakes)

1 cutie

1/2 teaspoon smart balance butter stuff

2 cups coffee with 1.5 T creamer

Mid morning Meal:

I cutie

6 ozs sirloin, 3 mushrooms, 1/2 t smart balance

20 ozs of water

Lunch: 1.5 cups lettuce, 1.5 cups spinach, 4 ozs chicken, 1/8 cup shredded colby jack cheese, 1/4 avocado, 2 T light sour cream (this would be a salad)

1 cutie

20 0zs of water

Mid afternoon meal: Protein bar (20 G protein, 200 calories)

20 ozs of water

2 cups coffee

1.5 T creamer

Dinner: 1 zuchinni, 2 mushrooms, 4 ozs chicken, 1 t olive oil

15 ozs water

Plus an hour at the gym in the a.m. which included a 25 minute 5k! ;o)

Debbie mentioned something about beating me at my own game. Why not just play MY GAME?!?

How'd she do that?

Here are the rules I've been following to lose weight. These are NOT a diet.. they are my life and they work! ;o) I occasionally send this to friends so if it seems worded funny, that would be why! Most of the time.. people don't want to listen.. or think they have it all figured out. Either way, I thought the only way to level the playing field for you poor souls who have accepted the challenge is to SHOW YOU WHAT I'M DOING!!
#1- Drink 16 ozs of water first thing in the morning.. before ANYTHING else!
#2- Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up.. STICK TO unprocessed carbs (like oatmeal, WHOLE GRAINS, and combine it with a protein... egg whites are fantastic.. low in calories.. high in protein. ALSO drink 8 ozs of water with your breakfast.
#3- Eat 2-3 hours after breakfast. Same rules apply. Always combine a protein with your carbs so a snack could be an apple with [natural] peanut butter... I know there are calories in peanut butter but it's a great snack and it's actually good for you!!
#4- Lunch!!! WHOLE GRAINS!! NO LUNCH MEAT!! A chicken salad is great for lunch. Try it with balsamic vinegar dressing or splurge and do "light" sour cream. Fewer calories then dressing and it makes me feel like I'm eating Mexican food... which I LOVE!! PS WATER!!!!!
#5- Afternoon snack! This is a good time to do some sort of protein shake.. with 15 [unsalted as raw as you can get] almonds.

#6- Dinner! For the most part you can eat what your family is eating. AVOID overindulging at dinner... your goal is to eat 200-300 calories every meal so portion sizes are uber important. ALSO.. stick to WHOLE GRAINS!! If you are doing rice.. make sure it's brown.. tortillas and pastas should be whole grain... you can also substitute most noodles with squash! LOVE IT! WATER!!
#7 - DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!! AND a decent amount of protein as well... at least 60-80 grams!! ALSO... if you can AVOID processed carbs altogether you will be doing yourself a huge favor! I.E. NO SUGAR... and honestly, if you want to do breads, tortillas, pastas, your best option is to MAKE THEM YOURSELF. A great bread alternative is Ezekiel bread which can be found in the refrigerated section of any whole foods store.

#8 - Substitute meats for a LEAN option... ground anything should be turkey... Beef should be lean cuts... so no ribeyes, forget about breakfast meats... turkey is a better option but ALL breakfast meats are just a collage of preservatives, FAT and sodium... both are horrible for you.. (The day I gave up turkey bacon was a little traumatic... but I'm over it now!)

This is what I will be doing. This is what helped me lose those last 20 lbs. This is a way of life I am happy to live! :o)

On that note: I was IMing Amanda the other day and we were talking about the "one bite won't hurt" theory. I also noticed a few people who call me obsessive. ;o) Amanda has also noticed this. HERE'S THE DEAL... I'm not going to tell you one bite won't hurt because I KNOW that one bite can change everything. It's not just that one bite tends to lead to ten.. but one bite changes your focus. It changes the way you think about you.

It takes you one bite FURTHER AWAY FROM YOUR GOAL!

If you were a recovering alcholic I would NOT tell you that one drink won't hurt. I don't think that any of us are much different than this. We are addicted to putting crap in our bodies that is BAD FOR OUR BODIES!! We need to overcome this addiction. We need to stop feeding our addiction (literally). Sure you might relapse. But you need to learn from that moment and get back on the wagon. So.. if you really want to kick ass, you've got to change your focus. Stop feeding your addiction. Stop being a slave to your body. Take control! You are the only person standing in your way.