The Wrath

One thing I completely forgot about is how insanely sore you are after your first work out. I'm feeling it still. I didn't get to work out yesterday cause I was up at 6:45 to be at work by 8 and I didn't get done til 5. I had to pick up a gift, go home, change and went to a work party that I didn't get home from til 10pm. Not only did I miss all of the Ghost Adventures marathon they do every Friday, but I was exhausted. I came home and sat in front of the computer checking things over. I turned everything off and read my book til 12:30am. Not smart, with how early I was up. But I woke up this morning at 10am. Turns out getting 9 1/2 hours does the body good!

Another thing I've come to find is SELF magazine. I had gotten it only because Jillian was on the cover. (Yes, I do love Jillian Michaels - she's amazing). And I read through it and really liked it. Unlike Cosmo, which is out to get you to buy expensive make up to cover up the blemishes and all, Self is out there to get you healthy. Nearly on every page there's something about fitness, about what you can do to better yourself. Not to apply layers upon layers of makeup, but to help YOU get to be where YOU want to be. In the end, I got myself a subscription for SELF magazine, because of how much I liked it. As much as I used to like Cosmo, I really really like Self. I would highly suggest getting a copy of Self and see for yourself what it's about. I mean, magazines aren't made for everyone. It's what suits you that matters most, and I find that in SELF they offer that to everyone that wants to lose it.

During this whole time I've had this blog, never once did I feel like I been rambling on. I've really enjoyed talking about these kinds of things. Putting my ideas out there, whether people read them or not, they're there, and I honestly love it.

So what's on the agenda for today??? 

• Clean a bit
• Get a Jillian Michaels workout on
• Eat some yummies
• Go out and spend some of my gift cards
• Enjoy my new years!

I really do hope everyone has an AMAZING New Years Eve! Can't wait for what 2012 has in store for me!!

Don't Phone It In!

Yesterday my journey of losing weight. Today is the first day of many. I worked out for the FIRST time in a LONG time. It was amazing. I really forgot how much energy you have to give to work out. I haven't felt good like that in a LONG time. I've been wanting to be more mobile, as I said in yesterday's blog. But today was different. I struggled to get out of bed. I struggled with my insides screaming at me to go back to bed for another half an hour. But my mind won. I got out of bed, got into my Target bought workout clothes and put the work out dvd on. I worked out with Jillian Michaels with her "Ripped in 30" dvd. I also have a few other ones, but Ripped in 30 is my new favorite. She bases her system on the "3-2-1" system mixing cardio, strength and abs.

(borrowed picture from Amazon)

This is what I need. I need the variety, which is why I've always loved Jillian and her style of workout. This one is 4 weeks. And the great thing about this workout is that in each circuit, it's different. If you do push ups in one of the circuits, that's the ONLY time you see them in the work out. It's variety, which is key for me, because if it's the same thing over and over and over again, I get bored very easily. This is probably why I've gotten her other DVDs so that I can keep it varied. I also have her "30 Day Shred", "No More Trouble Zones" and her yoga one (which I find is insanely hard to do!). I know she has a new workout DVD on the market, so I'm definitely going to be checking that out, too. All I've been talking about is working out with Jillian! But that's good! I know she comes off as being a hard ass, but if you do her workouts, she gives you encouragement through-out it all. She just wants us to do well and be fit.

At the end of week 1 workout (which you do for 7 days to build yourself up), she states, "Some people don't show up in their own lives. They go through life day in and day out and don't show up." And I believe her. There are people that go through life wishing and hoping that things will get better and change, but nothing happens. Why? Because they don't do anything to change it for themselves. And I really do not want to be like that. I don't want to not show up for my life. I want to live it day in and day out with the people I love while doing the things that I love most. It's not going to be easy. No one ever said it would be, so if you've been told that - don't believe it. Life is going to throw you a lot of curveballs, and it's up to you to dodge them.

Until next time.

(For more on Jillian and her workouts, check out her website! Jillian Michaels )

A fresh start.

With so many things that have been going on in my life, with having switching part time jobs from Hallmark to a Bookstore (that I'm completely in love with), there's one thing that I'm not entirely pleased with. That's my weight. This isn't the first time I've tried to lose weight. But today, I want to share my journey and how far I've come in the past few years.

It was the summer of 2008 when I first really gained the weight. I was engaged at the time to a guy who had a job working security at the local casino. He worked nights and wasn't happy, so he interviewed for another job and put his two weeks notice in at that casino. It wasn't a smart idea, since the place he was going to work at didn't call him. Upon telling him to call, repeatedly, he finally caved in after weeks of saying, "Oh they'll call me." Turns out when he did call, they had forgotten about him. This was June 2008. Over the next two months, he didn't have a job. It was also during this time that I became incredibly unhappy with him and how everything was going. We ate Wawa pretty much ALL the time. (For those that don't know what Wawa is, it's a PA, NJ, DE, MD thing. (www.wawa.com) It's a great small market that I've grown up my entire life and have always loved it. But during that summer is when I gained all that weight. My highest was at 232lbs. I was not happy and everyone around me new it, but me. I was in denial and dove into food to make it better when it just made me incredibly unhealthy.

(A picture of me in July 2008)

It wasn't until that October where I realized how unhealthy I was. The owner of the horse stables that I rode at pulled me aside and said that I had to lose the weight or else I couldn't ride. It made me really sad. I had done a number to my body by getting that heavy. I didn't know where to start. A few of my coworkers were doing Weight Watchers, so I tried it out. Within the next four months, I lost 40lbs. I had cut out all that wawa that I was eating and ate things that were more healthy for me. I weighed between 192-195 by the end of February 2009. I tried to get it down more, but it was hard to do that. I didn't have the drive to do it.

This past summer, the 2011 PA Renaissance Faire started up again for its 31st year. I was more than overjoyed with that. It was then with all that walking I did, going there every single weekend (sometimes for both Saturday and Sunday), I was feeling more fit. I felt a lot better. At the end of the season, I got down to 178. I had dropped 10lbs in 3 months 'cause of all the walking and drinking lots of water. And now that I look at it, I know I can get it down more. With it getting colder out, I don't get to have a lot of resources, because joining a gym is too expensive for me right now. So with that said, I have a few things that I will be doing. I have workout dvds from Jillian Michaels that I'll be doing. I also have her Wii Fit game that I'll be pulling out again as well.

It feels odd to share this story with strangers, but I only hope that with me doing this I can gain some more perspective on my life. I don't want to be a lazy bones and not be active more. I'm done using excuses of me being too tired because of work (mainly since I work with children). But that's more of a reason to get fit so I can be more active and do my body right by being healthy.

I don't know about me posting what I eat as I know what I have to cut out. I know what I have to do and in order to do that, I just need to find that momentum and stick with it.

So watch out world! I will still be me, but a new looking me will be heading your way!!