Wednesday Hop and Confessions

Wednesday already??? OMG, the week is flying by. It's really concerning because I have a new hire starting Monday and literally have nothing ready for her. I mean she has a desk and a chair, so that's a plus. I'll throw a pen at her and she should be good to go. :)

Well, It's tine for 2 of my favorite hops! Shoot on over to say heeeeeyyyy to Fitness Blondie and Vodka and Soda

 

 

I really love the Wednesday confessions so I'm gonna roll with it. I thought I would run out of things to confess, but apparently not. I keep a little list on my phone as I think of things. The list is long....

 

 

1. My dog doesn't like you. I think this is my PSA to the world. Not all dogs like everyone. It's not an innate dog trait that they come up to you for love and affection. If you're new, don't run up and pet my dog. Now, once she knows you, and sees you aren't trying to kill us, she loves you. Cleo also doesn't like men, she just doesn't. We got her from the SPCA when she was 7 months old and have had her for 2 years. I don't know what happened before she came to she shelter but it's apparently stuck with her.

Please, when you meet a new dog, don't run up and try to pet them. And please don't let your kids run up to dogs they haven't met before.



 

She's really cute though,
 

2. Well, that was a downer... OK, on to something a little more lighthearted. This weekend we went to a beer, bourbon and BBQ festival. There I learned that I'm not really a fan of Bourbon. It's OK, but I wasn't in love. But you know what I did love? MOONSHINE. Is it any surprise that this former WV gal loved her moonshine? Not really.

 

I thought it would be like the grain alcohol of days gone by, but it wasn't. It was so, so good.The Sugarlands Butterscotch Moonshine was AMAZING. I had many, many samples. Now I have to go to the ABC store and harass them to carry it.

3. I'm a sweaty gal at the gym. In real live I'm not one of those people who are constantly mopping themselves off or looking for a fan. I'm actually pretty cold most of the time. People around me are sweating like crazy and I'm perfectly happy. Now, at the gym, all that changes. I sweat, a lot. I always have a headband because without it I'm constantly wiping sweat from my eyes. I just don't understand the people who can walk out of a 60 minute spin class completely dry.

 

This one from lululemon is my absolute favorite and I also live these Biondi Bands. I have an enormous head and these ones don't squeeze my brain and they're super wicking.

4. I'm terrible with my right and my left. If you ask me which way to turn, I have to look at my hands and think about it. I always have. You'd think I'd get it right 50% of the time but I don't. It's more like 15%. I'm sure this is a sign of genius.

Or, Milk hand and cookie hand. 

 

5. I won't remember your name. I'm TERRIBLE with names, just awful. When I was a trainer, I would have people in class for 4 weeks, 4 WEEKS, every single day. They'd leave for a week, come back and I'd forgotten their names. I've seen like 4 people here at my new job that I KNOW I worked with at Wachovia. Heck, at least 2 of them reported to me and I can't for the life of me remember their names. Thankfully I was fat back then and I look different enough now that they wouldn't recognize me. This is also why I accept any and all LinkedIn requests. I figure you probably know me even if I don't know you. As long as your profile pix isn't a big penis, we can be buds.

 

 

 

 

That's all for me! Have a great Wednesday!

 

What do you have to confess?

 

Ever Had Moonshine? What'd you think?

 

 



Monday Awesomeness

Happy Monday!

It's the first of the month and that means it's time for the Secret Blogger Club! Thanks to The Blonder Side and Welcome to the Nuthouse for hosting! Don't forget to say hi to Kendall for co-hosting too!

This month's topic is "What makes you awesome?" This is actually a tough one for me. Not because I don't think I'm awesome. I think I'm pretty flipping amazing. I just need to figure out a way to type it up without it sounding bad. LOL, I might not be starting on the right foot here.

I was thinking about some traits that makes me, and other awesome people, pretty darn fantastic and this is what I came up with.

Don't take any passive aggressive BS. There's nothing I hate more than passive aggressive people. I'm a confronter. If I think there's a problem, I'm going to ask why. It's not going to be in an aggressive way but sniping behind each other's backs isn't any way to live. If after we talk it out you still don't like me or want to be friends, that's cool. Don't get me wrong, I can have my own bouts of passive aggressive behavior but it usually passes in a few days. Anything that lingers longer than that, I'll confront. Just say no!

Believe in yourself! I firmly believe that with the right information, I can solve any problem. I'm not going to find a cure for cancer or perform brain surgery but if there's an obstacle, I truly believe it can be solved. If I can't, it just means I haven't figured out a way. I think sometimes people can get really comfortable and small issues bloom into insurmountable problems. Stop it and change your way of thinking!

You're responsible for your own destiny. Stop waiting for things to happen and MAKE THEM HAPPEN. The status quo is easy. It's easy to be fat. Yes, easy. It's easy to eat whatever you want and spend more time on the couch than up and moving. You know what's hard? Finding the time to fit in a workout when everything else is vying for your attention. It's hard to be "that person" who won't eat what's being served because it isn't on you meal plan. You have exactly one live to live. Live it in a body that will let you experience life to the fullest.

Love yourself and love others. Don't hold grudges, it isn't worth it. Kev likes to say that I'm an anti-girl because I never remember fights. I'm not the person who'll bring up some dumb issue from 12 years ago. First of all, I've already forgotten about it and it's just not important. Do yourself a favor, reach out to someone who you've had an issue with. Even of they don't respond, tell them that you're thinking of them and the past is in the past.

Except Guy Fieri. I'm holding what might now be a 4 year grudge against him. We were in Atlantic City and stopped at White House Subs, which are famous and amazing. The wait is always long and that's fine. But Guy Fieri and his entourage were in there and people were losing their minds. It took almost 45 minutes to get our subs and after we left town, discovered they were wrong. That's not like them at all and I blame Guy. I was waiting all trip for that sub and the Guy Fieri distraction made it bad. If you can't tell, I take my food very seriously. While we were there, JJ Walker came in as well and no one cared. His sub was probably wrong too.

Words to live by Guy, words to live by.

What makes you awesome?

Guy Fieri, keep up the grudge or let it go?

Starting Over

As you know, three years ago, I lost 50 pounds following the Jenny Craig diet. It worked well for me and I saw results that I hadn't been able to achieve with other programs in the past. I've been able to maintain it (for the most part) since then.

In February of 2013, I was laid off from my job, thankfully I was able to find a new position in 4 months, but unfortunately, my eating suffered. The next thing I knew, I gained back about 12 pounds. I tried a few different things over the last year but those 12 pounds have stubbornly held on.

I do want to put out a disclaimer that I don't weigh myself anymore. The scale makes me crazy and I refuse to let a piece of metal dictate how I feel about myself. Instead I evaluate how my clothes fit. I know how they fit at my lowest and I know the weight I was when I bought most of them.

I've decided to change things up and try a new approach. I've read a lot about people counting their macros and using the IIFYM method (If it fits your macros). The idea is that there are 3 macro nutrients, carbs, protein and fat. Based on your activity level, age, and body fat you calculate the number of calories and the macro break down you need to lose weight.

I went to IIFYM.com to calculate what I need to eat.

I entered my age, height and weight, my level of exercise and my body fat. I guessed on my body fat the first time I did the calculation, then on Saturday when I went to the gym I asked to use their body fat calculator machine. Annnnd it was 32%. According to the site, I need to eat 1708 calories today to lose weight, 2135 to maintain and 2349 and up will cause me to gain weight.

I chose the IIFYM plan and opted for one of the highest protein and fat options. Reason being, I know that I have pretty results when I keep the carbs a little lower. You could go with less fat and get more carbs, it just depends on what works for you, as long as you meet your macro distribution.

It then spits out your results. Based on what I chose, I need to eat 87.4 grams of carbs, 144.5 protein and 86.7 fats while keeping my fiber between 34 - 43 grams.

A few key points to remember, you can't eat any calorie you've burned through exercise. The calculation already accounts for that. Also, if you're familiar with a low carb diet, you know that many people subtract the fiber from the carb counts. That doesn't work here. A carb is a carb. When Kev was helping me set my guidelines, he was used to to low carb rules, so we needed to up it a little.

I also went out and bought a new food scale and a measuring tape and I'm using myfitnesspal app to track my food. There's a a code that you can run on your PC that adapts the website to allow you to customize the macro percentages on the page and when you save the updates, it translates to the food app.

Here are my measurements as of 7/12/14:
Waist - 35
Hips - 42.2
Arm - 13
Thigh - 24.25
Body Fat - 32%

Me after a sweaty Body Pump class for the starting pictures.

Time to get started!

Have you ever counted macros?

How do you track your food?


Monday Link up!