Project-Look Good Naked

So that's how that happened

2012-02-09T08:51:00.002-07:00

Alright, so I gained 2.4 lbs this week. Thing is, I didn't track anything I ate, but I sincerely thought I was doing pretty well. This morning for breakfast I had the "power breakfast sandwich" from Panara. It's 9 points. A little higher than expected, but not that bad, considering I get 37 points per day.

I'm committing to tracking everything this week, and so it began this morning. Finding out that my "healthy" breakfast was 9 points was a bit of a shock. If I would have estimated in my head I would have guessed 6-7. This made me think, what else did I eat that was not what I expected. Like I said, I didn't track anything, but thought I was making fairly good choices. Case in point: Another panara experience. The chipotle chicken sandwich. Honestly, I don't even know why I go to panara. I think it "looks" healthy but it's not even really that good. Anyone else feel this way? I've never left panara and thought, yeah that was great. Anyway, I digress.

The chipotle chicken sandwich. Here are the STAGGERING stats on this little enemy
Calories:1170-WOAH
Fat:52 gr
Protein:76gr-WHO NEEDS THIS MUCH? I'm not a weight lifter
Sodium:3000 HOLY SHIT
FIber 7gr

OK, so I didn't really think this was the BEST choice, but I've tried many of their salads and I usually get their Mediterranean sandwich sans cheese, which is just veggies and they are both not good and way too dry. This time I thought, I want something that tastes good and it's maybe an ok option. In weight watchers speak this sandwich is 31 points!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? Remember, I have 37 points for the whole day. If I'm eating something that's 31 points, it's never going to be this again.

Lesson: Don't eat it and THEN find out the points (unless it's something obviously low in points like a veg salad or maybe broth veg soup etc)

No wonder I gained weight this week! I think I was thinking I was making good choices when in fact I mine as well have been eating fast food all week! This blows.

Message-Received!

I said I would...and I did

2012-01-26T11:49:00.003-07:00

I weighed in this morning. Up 1.2 lbs.

Not as bad as I thought it would be, but still a gain.

I should know that losing weight in the real world doesn't always mean you'll be consistantly great every week. Especially when that week includes moving into a new home. Did I not mention that? Yep, we moved! We bought a house. It's been both exciting and pretty stressful.

We should have about one more week of chaos around here and then hopefully settle into our daily scheduled programing. Last night was a first step. We made a bunch of yummy bruscetta and drank some wine as a "welcome to our new house" dinner. It was just the two of us :)

Then in the middle of the night...that wine glass I left on my night stand got knocked off and spilled all over the hard wood floors and walls and there was glass everywhere! HELL-er! That'll wake you up :)

I'm just rambling now.
Signing off. 1.2 lbs heavier...still truckin'

Facing the music

2012-01-25T10:08:00.003-07:00

First-Thank you all so much for your support. Yesterday was a down day for me and you made me feel better.

So, my usual weigh in day for WW is Monday. I couldn't go this monday because I was busy getting the second round of a root canal done. Woh Woh! So then, I was gonna go Tuesday, and I didn't because I feel like I've gained and I don't want to face that. I don't KNOW if I've gained because i got rid of my scale. I'm totally flying blind here people! It's a good thing because I really am accountable in terms of ONLY weighing in at WW, but it's also very nerve wracking.

I'm going to just face the music tomorrow. I'll go and weigh in and hope for the best. If I've gained, then I've gained. I suppose I should stop living in this denial. (If I don't go weigh in, that means I haven't really gained?) ha! Yea right.

It's the same denial that got me in this place to begin with.

Feeling a little down

2012-01-24T14:28:00.002-07:00

Hello everyone...

Everyone who still occasionally clicks on this blog. I haven't regularly updated this in a long time for various reasons.
It got sort of boring for me
I fealt like I had nothing of value to say...so I just didn't say anything
I was busy
etc. etc. etc.

This isn't a blog post to say I'll be back blogging full force. It's just to let you know I'm still here. Still trying to lose weight. Still failing most days.

I've tried so many "plans" and failed at all of them so far. The plans work, but my brain doesn't most of the time. I hesitate to even tell anyone I'm doing weight watchers because I don't want to be seen as starting and failing yet another thing...so I just have kept my mouth shut. Wow, this sounds like a depressing blog post huh? It's the truth though.

The first week on WW I lost 5 pounds
The second week I lost .5 lbs
This week I didn't weigh in.
We will see what next week holds....

Why is it so hard???!!!!!! I know what to do, and more importantly I know what NOT to do. Yet I'm still stuck.
I lose steam so easily. It's frustrating and it's hard to believe I can ever lose weight.

Anyone else feeling this way?

Complete!

2011-10-12T09:50:00.002-06:00

Well I did it. I made it 30 days totally vegan. Well, actually it depends on who you ask. Some people consider yeast and honey no no's, but we didn't count that. We ate bread and honey for every meal for 30 days and SURPRISE, I gained 20 pounds!

Kidding

To review: Here were my goals and intentions at the begining of the 30 days

*To be willing to experience mental discomfort
My thought behind this was that this challenge was going to be pretty tough. I was prepared to face that and walk through it, but honestly, aside from really wanting a burger in week 4, it was pretty smooth sailing.

*To say no to any animal based foods that are offered to me
Yes, I did this. I think the only time any food was offered to me was maybe at costco, so I had no problem turning down that salty processed turkey lunch meat...thanks.

*To be open minded about new foods
I definitely was good at this. I could have been better, but I was still pretty good. I love butter, and giving it up wasn't necessarly hard, but still, finding a substitute was a little painful. Earth Balance is great. I'd tried it before but since it didn't taste exactaly like butter, I didn't use it. This go around I honestly didn't miss butter. We made garlic bread with Earth balance and fresh garlic and it was as good as the real thing. I also had tofu, seitan, veganaise and a whole lot of veggies. The biggest mental change that occured about being open minded is trying the food for what it is, and not what it's supposed to taste like. A veggie burger is never going to taste like a cow burger, it's just that simple. Seitan wings are not going to taste like chicken wings. Once you can get over this, you're able to taste the foods for what they are and really appreciate new things. I will say that I still could have branched out with new veggies. I'll continue to experiment :)

*To eat a plant based diet and avoid unhealthy "vegan" foods.
I think we did pretty good at this. I woldn't necessarly give myself an A+, but a good solid B+ for sure. The junkiest food we had was home made french fries and we made these vegan blondies that are really good. Before, I would have made a batch of cookies and they'd last maybe 4 days in the house...maybe. I made a batch of blondies in a 9x12 pan, nearly 2 weeks ago and we still have some left. That alone is a huge accomplishment for me.

*To have a healthier gut and eliminate bad reactions to foods
This is an interesting one for me. I'm lactose intollerant, but still occasionally had a piece of cheese on a burger or a sandwich. I NEVER ate ice cream, NEVER drank milk. This is to say I'm like super lactose intollerent. I thought by giving up ALL DAIRY, 100% and all lactose, that I'd be free and clear of any issues. NOPE. This is so frustrating for me, you have no idea. At this point I know for sure that there's something else going on besides my lactose issue. At least that's a step forward. It's one of a few things I think. Gluten (though I don't think it is), Soy (good possibility, but doesn't produce a reaction every time) Oils and fried foods (I think it's leaning towards this). I have a really sensitive stomach and it seems like a lot of foods could be the culprit. Who knows. It's just a matter of ruling out as many things as possible.

*To lose 15 lbs.
I lost 7. Not bad. I wish it was more, but even eating a healthy vegan diet doesn't mean weight loss. Obviously I need more portion control :)

*To feel less addicted to bad greasy sugary foods
I give myself an A+ on this one. I really feel a big mental change in this regard

Overall I really enjoyed eating vegan for the month. We tried TONS of new recepies and adapted our go-to stand by meals. We had 4 other friends try this too and we all agree it's way easier that we thought it would be. We all have said that we'd scoff if other vegans swore it was easy, being all...YEAH RIGHT, whatever. But the honest truth is that there's really something to be said about eating this way. If you can trust anyone about this being fairly simple, you can trust me. I'm the QUEEN of food issues and obsessiveness and addictive behavoirs so if I think it was easy, than chances are it's the truth.

The FUTURE!
Well, today is the first day after the challenge and I don't have any plans to go eat a steak...or even an egg for that matter. We have both agreed that because this is more of a health issue for us and not an animal rights issue, that really we will probably still eat meat very rarely. What's rarely? Our best guess is we will do 30 days on, one day off. Our one day off may just be going vegetarian and not necessarly eating meat. Who knows. I like the idea of putting some sort of structure on it, but only because I don't want to go back to eating meat every day. I feel like if we just said, we'll eat meat sometimes, then that "sometimes" may be once a week that will turn into once a day and before we know it, fast food is back in my diet.

Would I recommend this? YEP!
If you want more info, I suggest picking up the book The 30 Day Vegan Challenge.

It's honestly the first book related to diet that I've read pretty much cover to cover and absorbed lots of valuable things. I don't think I could have done it without that book.

OK, that's all for now!

Vegan Challenge: Day 28 of 30

2011-10-07T14:36:00.002-06:00

All this week I wanted a cheeseburger. More specifically a BBQ burger from Park Burger. If you're in Denver and haven't tried this, go now and eat one for me.

Yesterday I started thinking, maybe I don't want a burger, maybe I just want good fries! Are french fries vegan? I asked google and found lots of information.

Wendy's is the only one that claims to have vegan fries, which basically just means they are cooked in seperate oil from the things like chicken sandwiches. Mmmmm Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich. Sorry ya'll.

Turns out McDonald's fries and I think also Burger King Fries have meat flavoring added to them so they are most definitely NOT vegan. I should be totally disgusted by meat flavoring. What is that anyways? But the honest truth is that I really don't care what they season those SOB's in, they're fantastic!

Even though I could have gone to Wendy's I didn't. It wouldn't have been cheating, but it sort of is I think. So I went to the grocery store and bought frozen fries and did them up myself. I didn't have that many, just enough to satisify. And now...I'm good.

I'll report more on Monday about everything. Monday we will have completed the challenge!

30 Days Vegan! Whooo Hooooo let's go eat cow. Kidding :)

The green drink. Kid tested...kid tested.

2011-10-05T14:55:00.007-06:00

This morning I decided to try a green smoothie. This would have not only never been my "list of recipes to try" but it would have been on my list of recipes NOT to try. But people change, and this morning in an effort to get more greens in, I gave it a go.

I decided to try a recipe I found online that guaranteed that kids would drink this. I think that's usually a good place to start with a person like me. My litman's test is, will a 5 year old eat it/drink it? OK, than MAYBE it will work for me. This one time....Scott was searching for fish oil supplements for me because I can't take those horse pills. (Because again, remember I'm like a 5 year old)? So he talked to a clerk at whole foods who said that he squirted this liquid fish oil in his 5 year old daughter's OJ each morning and she was none the wiser. So scott thought he was free and clear. NOPE, it totally tastes like fish dude! AND...just one more thing before I get back to my green drink. If any of you fellow 5 yr olds out there can't swallow big pills like me, they make an adult gummy vitamin. It's my new thing. You're welcome

So, back to the green drink approved by children.

Ingredients:
1 apple
1-1.5 cups green grapes
1 banana
1 cup- 1.5 cups soy or almond milk, or regular milk
1.5 cups spinach
ice
** I added some honey for extra sweetness (I'm on that 30 day vegan challenge, but fuck bees) I'm not THAT hard core people.

Blend the shit out of it so all those spinach chunks go bye bye. Taste it and adjust if needed.

Tip: When you're drinking this, just keep saying this is healthy, this is healthy, this is healthy! Why? Let's just say...without the honey, it's a little "green" if you know what I mean.

I don't know HOW people get down drinks that have NO fruit. Maybe you have to work up to it? Maybe you just have to not be as sensitive as me. I like spinach too! I just like to eat it.

WOW, I'm totally selling this recipe huh? For reals though, try it. You may like it. 5 yr olds do!

Dirty Girl Colorado

2011-10-03T11:58:00.011-06:00

Last weekend I did something that pretty much goes against everything I stand for. OK, that's extreme, but I'm not the type of girl who enjoys "gettin' dirty" unless you count...nevermind :)

So a friend of mine said she was doing this event called the Dirty Girl and because I'm 50% pervert, my interest was peaked. It's a 5k with ob-stack-els thrown in. Oh, and you get really really muddy. Even though this isn't something I'd typically do, I decided to do it because it's an all women event and it's totally non-competitive. The obstacles were challenging, but nothing we couldn't handle. I totally underestimated how muddy we'd get. Serious yo. Muddd in ma butt. I'll let the pictures do the talking :)

This is a traveling event, so if it comes to your city, go for it!

30 day vegan challenge- half way report

2011-09-26T08:31:00.000-06:00

We're in week 3 ya'll!

The longer we do this the more nutty I get about telling people how awesome the vegan diet is. I'm starting to realize this diet gives you natural enthusiasm for "cornbread without any milk or eggs that tastes just like regular cornbread!!!!" EXCLAMATION POINT! When you realize that you can make things vegan and they taste just as good or nearly almost as good as the real thing...it's hard not to get jazzy. It's like I feel like I've found the holy grail of eating and I just want to tell everyone.

My enthusiasm may or may not be well received. I'm trying to keep it in check. Mostly because I realize I try a lot of new food plans. First there was body for life, then no sugar, now this... I realize that most people think this may be a phase, and they may be right. I have no idea. But for now, I enjoy it so whatever.

This week we ate

Museli with almond milk and sliced banana (breakfast)
whole grain wheat toast with flax and PB (breakfast)
veggie open faced sandwiches with peppadew peppers-my new fav. thing- (for lunches)
leftovers (lunches)
Aloo Matar (dinner)
Crockpot beans with brown rice and cornbread (dinner)
lots of big green salads (lunch and dinner)
eggplant bread lasagna (dinner)
Garbanzos-restaurant (weekend lunch)

I'm finding that I could be a little more experimental with veggies. The majority of my veggies are greens , onions, tomatoes, cucumber and peppers. To make up for my lack of loving things like Kale and swiss chard and other more scary veggies, I'm just making sure I get LOTS of green salads in. I've heard great things about kale chips so I think I'll try making those this week.

Stats: Pounds lost so far-7

As always, if you would like any recipes, just let me know :)

A family affair-Vegan in week two

2011-09-22T10:09:00.000-06:00

We are lucky enough to have some great friends who we strong armed convinced to do the 30 day vegan challenge with us. On Tuesday they came over we fed them Indian food and last night we went to their house and had this amazing potato/rutabaga/leek/mushroom dish with a cashew "cream" sauce. It was fake cream made from nutritional yeast (a first for all of us).

If you would have invited people over and fed them that dish there's no way they would have thought it was vegan and not made without loads of butter and cream. It was fantastic! Think potato au gratin. That's what it resembled, but better because it was made healthy! We also made a yummy green salad for roughage. For dessert Andrea made a chocolate pudding that Scott said was the best pudding he'd ever had. It was really fantastic. Basically just vegan chocolate chips (I think the only difference between vegan and non vegan is the machine they're processed on, not the ingredients). So chocolate chips (whole bag), 2 cups of chocolate soy milk, and half a brick of soft tofu. Andrea is a vita-mix whore so she processed it all up in that jet engine of a blender. It gets hot ya' know! Then we transferred it into dishes and let it set up in the fridge. YUM!!

Here's to feeding each other :)

Just call me Moby

2011-09-21T16:16:00.001-06:00

So today is day 10. 1/3 of the way through the 30 day challenge.

Lately I've been doing some poking around on google to see if I can find anyone else who's gone vegan cold turkey (or cold tofu) kidding. I haven't been able to find much, but what I have found are some serious opinions. Serious yo!

Look, we're not sending a rocket ship to the moon, we're just cutting out animal products. I've noticed many people are in one of two camps on veganism. 1) They think you're crazy and putting your health in serious danger, or 2) They are already drinking the kool-aid and are a little self righteous about it.

Let me say that I have had a few people think I'm crazy, but I haven't had any first hand experience with anyone that's self righteous...so far. Most of these things I've just read about online.

So, in the service of trying to stay as "neutral minded" about veganism and trying to just report the facts (as it personally applies to me) here's what I think so far.

1) I can't say I have boundless energy just yet. Some days I think I feel more energy, but I can't be sure if that's because of the diet or other things. Like caffeine, which I don't drink much of these days, but I will have a chai or coffee sometimes.

2) The biggest change I've noticed so far is how things "move" through the system. I totally feel like I shouldn't write this, but whatever. Oprah hosted a week long vegan challenge and if she can talk about "movings", so can I. And now I've probably alienated like 95% of the population since I'm eluding to the bowels and oprah in the same paragraph. You're welcome.

3) The second biggest change I've noticed is how good I feel after I eat. I don't feel like crap after a meal basically. I don't feel like I'm in a food coma. Now, I didn't feel like this after EVERY meal, but I noticed on a regular basis that after a meal I would just generally not want to do anything. I would, but I wouldn't like it.

4) I'm honestly feeling less controlled by food. Here's how I know. Just this morning I went to our favorite coffee shop, Pablos. If you're in Denver, you should check it out. Anyways, they have vegan pastries and we've had one once. They're good. Old me would totally have gotten one...even though I just had breakfast. New me was like, eh. I turned down a pastry people. Hell hath frozen over. (at least for now)

Overall I'm pretty jazzed. Still focusing on the 30 days and not really thinking too far beyond that. Will we continue? maybe. Will we eat a steak on day 31? maybe.
I'm excited to keep reporting on what I notice :)

Stay tuned... if anyone's listening.

30 day Vegan Challenge

2011-09-14T09:42:00.002-06:00

Hi Everyone,

I've started a 30 day vegan challenge. I'm on day three and all is well. I'm hugging trees and the animals are singing for me in the mornings.

For the next 30 days at least...I'll be posting about my daily menus and general thoughts about not eating animals.

If you're interested, you can find me over here

www.noanimalsplease.blogspot.com

See you there :)

Katy

Searching for me?

2011-07-05T14:10:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I'll look through my sitemeter to see how people find this blog. The other day someone googled

"naked photos of Keith Sweat"
-My blog came up. Somehow I don't think a weight loss blog was what this person was searching for? hmmmm.

I get a lot of naked searches and it always makes my Mormon sensibilities side giggle.

Any interesting searches pop up for you?

Working out NATURE style

2011-07-01T09:31:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I took a drive up into the mountains of Colorado for a hike. I really prepared too. I brought a backpack with a rain jacket, two bottles of water, a banana, a larabar, an extra shirt, extra socks, sun screen etc...

Inside, I think...that's too much stuff. But you can never be too prepared when hiking alone.

So, I drive up to the trailhead and start off. It's so pretty. I mean REALLY pretty. I'm taking pictures and videos when all of the sudden a SNAKE darts infront of me.

After almost wetting myself with fear, I start jumping around like a crazy person and picking my feet up really high when I walk. As if to say (stay the F away from me snakes) I got boots and they're made for stompin' snakes. I don't think that message came across too clear because 10 minutes later I saw another one!!!

All this coupled with the insane amount of bugs doing that low buzz in my ear was enough for me to head back to the car. Granted, I was out there for about an hour and 45 minutes, so all was not lost. But DAMN. Sometimes nature is just too naturey for me. Know what I'm sayin'?

Can't a girl get her hike on without fear of being snaked?

Here's the video I made for Scott

In the video I say "WHO'S AN INDOOR GIRL NOW HUH"? Because Scott calls me his "indoor girl", but then I'm like, whatever...I like to drink beer on patios. That's totally an outdoorsie thing to do. Right?

Healthy Recipes Blog

2011-06-30T08:49:00.002-06:00

Hey Everyone.

You've heard me go on and on about my sis Erin, right?

Well, she has a food blog now. She just started it yesterday, but she'll be sharing all of her amazing healthy recipes with everyone.
I call her often for dinner advise and she never lets me down.

Her blog is called 1 Meal at a time and you can follow her

HERE.

If at first you fail (for 11 years) try again, and again

2011-06-29T10:06:00.002-06:00

I started practicing yoga back in 2000. I was thin and strong. And still there were a LOT of poses I couldn't do. Not even close.

I've been practicing bakasana (crow pose) for 11 freekin years and have failed at it every single time.

UNTIL YESTERDAY

I finally got off the ground.

Yoga isn't about achieving the perfect form. It isn't about being able to do the physical postures. But wow it really felt great!
I learned that even if you can't do something you've been trying for eleven YEARS, doesn't mean you'll never get it.

I'm bothered about being bothered. Hmph

2011-06-28T08:56:00.002-06:00

Last night my husband bounds in the door around 9:30pm. Fresh from his run, with the Monday running club. Me? I'm fresh from my workout with the Bachelorette.

So, he comes in and is like. Wanna be the driver for the Wild West Relay? My guess is, you have no idea what this is. Let me tell you. It's pure insanity, that's what. It's 200 miles of running. Teams are made up of I think 6 people, and you run from Fort Collins CO, to Steamboat Springs.

What's MORE...is that it's a continous moving race. Meaning, you run, rest/sleep, run, rest/sleep, eat, run, sleep...you get the point. You run, then tag a teammate, rest, eat, then run again when it's your turn.

What's MORE...is that my crazy husband wants to do the whole thing barefoot. He's been a barefoot runner for the past few years or so, but he normally wears his Vibram five fingers. This time, he wants to go totally sans shoe. Crazy town!

Now, I know I'm not just sitting around like a bump on a log. I have a semi-thriving photography business and I'm starting to teach yoga again. Those things are taking up a lot of my time and I'm still finding time to exercise (almost daily) and make good healthy meals (most of the time) but DAMN!!! It's hard to not feel hard on myself.

Don't get me wrong. Honestly, I have no real interest in running a 200 mile relay, but I'm just really bothered that I CAN'T physically do it. I'm also really bothered that I'm bothered about this.

Why, people, why?

Yoga for fat people-UPDATE

2011-06-24T13:42:00.003-06:00

About a month or so ago I told you about my dream to teach the whole "yoga for the big gals" thing.

I'm on a studio schedule to teach a 6 week series of classes that's all about yoga for body acceptance. Yoga for fat people, although it seriously has a nice ring to it, isn't going to fly with me. I'm all about yoga being inclusive, and that's why I want to badly to teach classes that are accepting of people of all sizes. If I say ALL sizes, I really mean ALL SIZES and that most definitely includes size 0,2,4,6 etc...

So...the classes will be every Thursday from 7/14-8/18 7:15pm-8:30pm at

Here's the class description and logo I created

This 6 week series is designed for anyone who just simply wants to feel more comfortable in their own skin. We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with the idea that if we “achieve this”, or “look like that” we will become happy and fulfilled. Let's explore the possibility that you already have all you will ever need to live an authentic and content life. Even if you can't touch your toes, carry an extra 30 pounds, your house is a little messy and, like me, you sometimes prefer cookies over carrots.

Yoga isn't about perfection. It's about meeting yourself where you're at, flaws and all, and still showing up. Let's explore these ideas with humor, compassion and a little bit of sweat.

Throughout the 6 weeks we will discuss during classes..

Body Acceptance-A tool to move forward, not an excuse to stay stuck
Weight and Self Esteem
Adapting the physical postures of yoga to your body, and not the other way around

Bring your bodies, just as they are.
All are welcome!

OTHER NAMES THAT DIDN'T MAKE THE CUT
(thought of by my very funny friend Renee, who has a blog. Check it out HERE)
"Yogaga" (where you do yoga to Lady Gaga's Born This Way)
"Yoga Gabba Gabba" (where you do yoga and a guy in a red penis costume dances around you)
"Yoga Na Love This!"
"Frozen Yoga" (you all go out for ice cream afterwards)

Eating ENOUGH

2011-06-15T13:50:00.002-06:00

Just a quick little recap of the past two weeks with no sugar.

Week one- I lost 5 lbs
Week two- I lost 0 lbs.

WHAT THE FU##?

Now, I know sometimes people are like, I've lost nothing, I have no idea why...meanwhile they DO know why, it's because they're seceretly eating way to much, and just don't want to admit it. Well, I'm here telling you that week two was definitely spent staying VERY strick about what I took in. I think I overdid it a little much because I had a hard time hitting even 1100 calories a day. I think my body sort of went into shock and thus, I lost nothing.

This was upsetting to say the least. I feel like all that hard work in week two was for nothing honestly. But here I am, in the middle of week 3, keepin' on.

I'm making sure this week meals are more planned out and I'm hitting my goal of 1500 calories a day.

I'm tracking on an app called Lose it. If you're on it, stop by and say hi :)

my user name I believe is katysalsa. It's what I use for nearly everything.

c-ya!

Black Bean Quinoa

2011-06-10T09:27:00.002-06:00

Turns out I've already blogged about my black bean quinoa dish. Click HERE to see it.
Just omit the sugar. It's just a teaspoon and it makes no difference in the taste :) Also, it's good in a whole wheat tortilla. I still totally prefer chips, but ya know...gotta sacrifice to get this faux baby belly off of me

Have a great weekend everyone!

What do you eat if you don't eat sugar?

2011-06-09T16:24:00.002-06:00

I've had a couple requests to post what I'm eating, since I announced the no sugar thing. So for those people...your wish is my command :)

I've never posted about any sort of daily diet, because frankly I don't want the backlash of "don't eat this, eat that" , but I'll tell you just a little of what I've been doing...right or wrong.

First, let me say that I'm not only doing no sugar, I'm doing no refined carbs as well. The two sort of go hand in hand because if it's a refined carb, it likely has added sugar. I'm also doing no refined carbs because I feel like I could totally go overboard and I'm more than anything trying to avoid foods that I feel I could get out of control with.

SO...

Breakfast-

-2 eggs, overeasy with a couple slices of turkey or roast beef or ham on top. The only deli meat that I've found that doesn't have sugar is the Boars Head Natural.
-Banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter on it. Adams pb does not have sugar. It's the only one I can find.

Lunch-

Whole wheat tortilla (La Favorita) with some hummus and greens and some sort of meat. Cherry tomatoes and carrots.
Or I'll have a WW tortilla and peanut butter, but not if I've had the banana with pb for breakfast :)

Dinner-

Black bean quinoa which is so awesome. It's basically, quinoa, black beans, rotel tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, lime and some Mrs. Renfros jalapeno salsa. We've been making this recipe for years. If you want the full recipe, let me know.

Enchaladas- I made these last night as an adaptation of the Pioneer Woman's enchiladas. Pretty basic...ground beef or turkey, onion, corn tortillas, some doctored enchilada sauce and a little cheese on top. They were very very good!

Grilled chicken with a peanut cilantro dipping sauce with an avocodo and roasted corn salad. Both recipes taken from Mark Bitman's How to cook everything (best cookbook ever)

Pork Chops marinated in apple cider vinegar with chopped garlic, salt and pepper...then dipped lightly in whole wheat flour and lightly fried...served with a veggie, or potato with roasted red peppers and onions.

So, that's basically been it so far. I'm having trouble with mixing up breakfast and lunch. Dinners I can usually come up with something good. Like tonight I'm trying out some marinated grilled shrimp with beans and avocado served quesadilla style (with very little cheese) and some grilled corn.

Honestly my main problem has been not getting enough calories. Which, I can't believe I'd EVER EVER say that, but fruits and veggies just don't have a lot of calories in them, and since bread is out for me (except 1 ww tortilla a day) that's 110 calories, it's sort of a struggle to get enough. Which I'm sad to say has resulted in me losing NO weight since Sunday, and trust me, this isn't some sort of "I'm not losing weight, even though I SAY I'm doing everything right" sort of thing. I seriously am eating so healthfully, and yet NADA this week. All I want right now is a soda, or some chips or something really filling... But this is more than just losing weight for me at this point. It's feeling in control of food, and so far I feel very in control. So I'll keep at it.

I hope this helps :)

I'll have fries and a side of food addiction.

2011-06-07T08:51:00.004-06:00

There's really no eloquent or catchy way to start this post, so let's just dive right in, mm-k?

I believe 100% I'm a food addict. I don't care if that sounds dramatic. I don't care if people question the validity of it. It's true and I'm just really tired of pretending around everyone that food is a safe thing for me. Cause it ain't.

I once went to OA-Overearers Anonymous. It was held in a total "blood of Christ" church, complete with a scary Jesus hanging from crosses. The church was probably 150 years old and to top it off the OA meeting was held...wait for it...in the freekin' basement. Um, yeah are you feeling the anxiety? Ultimately, my first meeting was my last meeting. A little too much Christ talk for my taste. This is not to offend anyone, seriously. To sum it up, Jim Gaffigan says it best

Anyways...back to the topic Katy

Food Addiction. Some experts think it's not a general food addiction, but more of a sugar addiction. I sort of agree. Here's why.

I've never obsessed about carrots and hummus. I've never driven to store to get carrots, eaten the carrots in the car and discarded the plastic carrot bag so I could try and pretend it never happened and to hide the evidence. I've also never done that with Apples, grapes, oranges, zucchini, chicken breasts or lima beans. Aren't lima beans like the WORST of the WORST?

I have however done this with junk foods. Cookies, cakes, candy, fast food, chips.... EVERYTHING has sugar in it. If it's not a vegetable, a fruit, or a protein, it likely has sugar in it.

How do I know?

Because this last week I totally gave it up. We cleared our pantry and fridge last Monday and the only things that made the cut were fruits, greens, veggies, and things like chicken, fish and pork. Even MAYO has sugar in it!! The only condiment that was allowed was mustard. If you look in our fridge on the side doors where everyone keeps things like salad dressing, ketchup etc...ours is now bare, save it for a lonely jar of mus-tardo. If you're anything like me, your first thought was, sweet, so we're going to be eating mustard chicken? YUCK.

Truth is, it's been pretty good. I've had two detox moments that weren't pretty, but other than those short lived events a few tears I've been fairly normal.

I even lost 5 lbs this week. It's good to feel in control of myself. Here's to another week sans sugar.

Yoga for the big gals

2011-05-24T17:53:00.002-06:00

It's funny how things work sometimes.

Just a couple weeks ago I found myself surrounded by the fit and the beautiful in Scottsdale Arizona sweating my ass off in a yoga class that was super challenging. Something must of cracked in me during that class because since then I just can't get enough yoga. It's always happened this way though. I'll practice and teach for years and then I'll be like, meh, I wanna do something else. Then I'll get really into it again for years, then I'll cool off. I used to beat myself up for this, but it's just me. I'm sort of an all or nothing kinda gal. Sometimes it bites me in the butt, like when I let the laundry pile up the wall for a good 3 weeks and suddenly I'm at Target buying underwear and my husband is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because HE HAS NOTHING TO WEAR except this hideous martial arts jacket/shirt type thing I bought him years ago. I have no idea what I was thinking buying something with dragons embroidered on the back. Crazy town!

ANYWAYS....

So I've been going to these really kick your ass classes where everyone looks like they're under 22 and attend ASU which is like the school for hot young tan fit sexy ladies. I'm not joking when I say that literally everyone was hot and young. I was like the big pale 30 year old WOMAN. But whatever, I own it. I need to push myself out of my comfort zone in a serious way.

My last blog post Jill said that she wishes there was some sort of fat yoga. DING DING DING. I've been feeling this way too!
This has spurred me on to go out and create it! Truth is, I'm not 100% comfortable teaching at a studio that's run by skinny girls who just can't imagine that I could ever teach. I SHOULD be able to be ok with this, but I'm just not that evolved yet.

So over the past few days I've put the word out to a few spaces that could host yoga, and I've gotten nothing but a 100% positive response. I will most likely start out by teaching a series of 6 classes. Once a week for 6 weeks where we not only explore what yoga looks like for a larger body, but also how it feels, what comes up emotionally, what expectations we place on ourselves in terms of body image etc...

To say I'm excited is an understatement. Be the change you want to see in the world, right? I want a yoga community that really REALLY embraces women and men of all sizes and meets people where they are. I want to create a new consciousness around what yoga really is. It is not about touching your toes and contorting into postures. Yes, that can be fun and a good party trick, but it's not the meat and potatoes. The meat of yoga is acceptance...that and a WHOLE LOTTA OTHER STUFF. Stuff I can't wait to share.

So if you're in Denver, know of anyone who is who may be interested, pass along my info and spread the word.

More info soon :)

Keith Sweat

2011-05-19T15:30:00.002-06:00

This past week I was in Phoenix for some photoshoots. While I was in town I stayed with the sis for a night and we had some good girl time that included seeing Bridesmaids (HIGHLY recommend), eating at True Foods and taking a yoga class at The Village.

Some of you know that I used to teach yoga. In fact, I taught for about 4 years. You don't see too many big yoga instructors. We're a lone breed. I haven't taught since we moved to Denver over three years ago and I haven't really been too active in the yoga community in general for the past three years. It's all well and good. I may teach again some day, but right now I'm enjoying being a student.

The only problem is that I really really hate being that out of shape student. I know no one wants to be that girl, but it's totally amplified when you have a teaching certification. It's 100% an ego thing. I recognize this completely, but it doesn't change the fact that I normally go to fairly easy classes just so I don't look like a fool. That is until I took a class I had no control over picking. Enter: the class I went to with Erin in AZ at the Village.

First of all it was in a heated room. Not hot like Bikram style, but pretty warm nonetheless. It was hard. One time in my peak of yoga fitness I took this Bikram Class and about half way through I nearly passed out because I was so hot. I actually had to leave the building to get some fresh cold air and I remember getting that nauseous, room closing in, buzzing sound. It's the sound of all your dignity leaving your body before you hit the pavement and someone is waking you up by slapping your face. I remember exiting the building, sitting on the bench just outside the front door and seeing the sign for the adjacent Sweet Tomatoes restaurant slowly close in on itself. Funny what you remember. Anyways, I didn't pass out, but I WAS.CLOSE! All of this is to say, me and hot yoga don't have a romantic relationship. Whenever I'm in a warm yoga room I get PTSD of the sweet tomatoes sign and my body says NO NO, RUN! You can imagine my initial panic that happened this past weekend. But I ignored it. And I'm glad I did.

I was dripping with sweat pretty much right away. My routine looked a little like this.

Inhale arms overhead
Exhale swan dive down
(wipe the sweat)
Inhale up half way for length
exhale forward fold
Chaturanga
(wipe the sweat)
Inhale updog
Exhale down dog
(sweat drips off of forehead on to mat)
etc...

Proceed 700 more times

Half way through I looked at erin and mouthed the letters O.M.G.

I finished the class though and my skin was glowing for like the next 4 days. It was like I'd been in a full body sauna for an hour and a half. I also realized that I am still capable of doing the hard sweat your ass off classes, and I remembered how much I really enjoy them. Sure, I have to stop and rest, and yes I can not do every single pose...not even close, but I'm there and I'm giving it my best. The ironic thing is that as a teacher I never ever ever ever looked at people who couldn't touch their toes, or do whatever pose was their ultimate challenge in any sort of strange way. I never honestly had any judgemental thoughts of "this person shouldn't be here" or anything else you'd imagine a yoga instructor thinking. Really, I was just glad they showed up...whatever stage they were at. So why would I think anyone else would be judging me? We really are our own worst critics.

So, today I'm taking a hard yoga class, because if I don't push myself no one else will. Unless of course you're going with Erin, then seriously bring like 5 towels is all I'm saying.

Onion rings are not the party

2011-05-03T09:58:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I counted calories and worked out hard for one whole HOUR on the eliptical. Is it me, or is working out for an hour, like the magic potion of workout times. 30min workout=feeling great, 60min workout=feeling like superwoman. I was all pumped to watch some good tv at the gym, but all they had on was the news and sports. I think I'm going to try and get them to turn on some good girl tv. I think it would go over well considering at least half the people at the gym are women. HGTV anyone? Throw me a bone people!

Yesterday I also had a good chat with Erin. Some of you may remember the many times I've talked about her. She's my best friend and we affectionately call eachother "sis". So the sis and I were chatting yesterday and she said a lot of things that stood out to me, but I'll just share two things.

1)Onion Rings Are Not The Party
We were talking about feeling deprived or eating out like it's your last meal. Erin is tall, thin and doesn't struggle with her weight, but she's reciently lost like 20 lbs because she was feeling too mushy and uncomfortable. She's not a food addict, but she still gets what it's like to really really want to eat the onion rings and say no in the name of a body you want. So we chatted about when you're out for dinner with friends and you're like, what's the BEST thing on the menu...like it's the last time you'll ever eat. As if the main event is the food, and not the company, and as if you'll have less of a good time if you order salmon and veggies, vs a burger and onion rings. Onion rings are not the party. I'm going to make a shirt and give you each one. It's a funny statement, but it's really true.

Which brings me to the second important thing that she said that woke me up a bit

2)I've not only been using food to medicate myself in a distructive way, but I've also convinced myself that food (good, healthy food) will make me better-happier. You know that book, food is your best medicine? Well, for me, food just can't be medicine. For better or worse. Now I know what the author of that book was trying to say, and I agree. But for me, I just need to get out of the mindset that food will cure ANYTHING. Food can help create physical health and help distroy it, but it's not medicine. Erin asked me when I feel most relaxed with food. Example would be: Do I feel more content when I eat a burger and fries, or a salad. The truth is, neither. I'm anxious around food in every way. I feel really relaxed WHILE eating the burger, and after...we know how that goes. Then, WHILE I'm eating the healthy meal, I feel anxious, angry, deprived, less than, and then after I feel better. Either scenario, food is never a pleasurable experience from start to finish. She guessed before I even said it that neither eating healthy or bad gave me any sort of long standing relaxed feeling, and suggested that since food is really something that I have a f'd up relationship with, it would just be more benefical to eat healthy. Sort of like, you're going to feel discontent somewhere along the process, so just choose the one that's not distructive. Maybe it was just the way it was presented, but it makes sense. This is almost exactaly like the time when I was woahing is me about how long it was going to take to lose weight. She said, the time is going to pass regardless of what you do, so you mine as well do it. Ah ha! You're so logical sis!

So to recap:

1)Onion rings are not the party-I'm trademarking this, haha
2)Food is not medicine
3)Time is going to pass regardless of what you do, what you eat, how you act. Make the best of it.

Signing out-
Katy

Weight

2011-04-30T16:57:00.004-06:00

It's time to start doing things the old fashioned way. Counting calories (and of course working out hard)

How many of you have been maintaining you weight for too long as well?
Let's start eating the elephant (as they say)

My first goal/reward I'm setting for myself is to lose 10 pounds and get to 220. I remember when I first hit 220 (on the way up) and I was so horrified thinking that 220 is like a football players weight, or a boxer's weight. I still think 220 just SOUNDS so freekin' big, but geez, I'm heavier than that! Either way, that's my goal. 10 pounds, and then I'm going to buy some cute new workout shoes. I'm really liking the ones below.

What's your plan?

How Katy got her groove back

2011-04-09T13:43:00.011-06:00

Well, we're back from Jamaica. We had an amazing time and I wanted to share a few thoughts (weight loss related)

The trip started out...shall we say, rocky! To make a long story short we showed up to the airport in the middle of the night only to find out they had no tickets reserved for us. About 7 hours later and many frustrated phone calls, we ended up having to buy 2 new round trip tickets to Montego Bay. This resulted in the airline losing our luggage when we actually arrived in Jamaica nearly 24 hours later. For any woman larger than a size 14 this strikes fear into hearts and poses the question...um WHERE am I supposed to buy clothes on a whim? If you're in the states, it's not an issue, but when you're in a country like Jamaica where it's pretty much nothing but poverty and resorts....not exactaly lots of shopping opportunities. I knew we'd have to buy clothing and swim suits from the gift shop of the resort. I KNOW anyone who struggles with their weight will feel the panic of that statement. " I have to buy clothing and a swimsuit from a resort GIFT SHOP" Shhhiiiiiitttttttttt

But this is where the story starts to look up.

You should have seen the clothing on the resort. A size large was like a generous small. The swimsuit section was like itsy bitsy bikinis. Even a woman who I'd guess was maybe a size 8 commented on the sizes. I was getting pretty anxious at this point. We had no idea when we'd recieve our bags and here I was in my pants and t-shirt wondering if this vacation would be ruined because I was too fat to fit into anything. I was starting to go into panic mode when the nicest woman working there insisted that I let her help me. I was like, I need a suit and all these are really tiny. She said in her thick Jamaican accent "Don't assume, Don't assume". Which made me chuckle. She then pulled out some one pieces that still looked REALLY small and but she insist I try some on. All but one fit. I was instantly at ease and I couldn't believe it. I had just bought a swim suit in a regular-ish size from a freekin' resort gift shop. She also managed to find me a cover up sun dress and a sarong and hat. She was amazing and so kind. That experience made me realize that even though I'm still big, I'm getting to be more on the NOT SOOOO BIG side.

Our luggage arrived the first day, thankfully.

On another positive note, I managed to not gain even one pound on vacation. Praise baby Jessie, I'm not quite sure how that happened. I had lobster, jerk chicken, beef patties and a lot of red stripe. I know people really try to stay on point on vacation, but I'm just not one of those people. I don't go nuts and make myself sick, but I figure even if I gain 5 pounds, whatever. It will be gone in a couple weeks max. So you can imagine my surprise when I didn't gain ANYTHING. I credit this to daily walks on the beach, and kayaking and to seriously relaxing.

Where's Lisa?

2011-03-28T21:46:00.002-06:00

Does anyone know why Lisa from "In weigh over my head" made her blog private? I enjoyed keeping up to date with her and I went to see how she was doing and her blog is private. I'd love an invite if anyone knows how to make that happen??

She was getting a lot of negative feedback from a LOT of bloggers. One in particular stands out. Regardless of how you feel about her weight loss approach or her progress, I really believe she didn't deserve such outright hatred. Hurt my heart.

So, lisa...if this gets to you, I'd love an invite to continue to follow your progress

projectlookgoodnaked@gmail.com

Thanks!

PS-Leaving for Jamaica in a couple days. So excited! Be back early April to tell you all about it :)

Swimsuit shopping & a giveaway!

2011-03-16T09:58:00.002-06:00

We leave for Jamaica in like 15 days. I've started to try and find the swimsuit that says I may be chunky, but I try and keep it contained. Swimsuit shopping isn't really fun for anyone, but I'm trying to make it less painful. I'm buying up every suit I can get my hands on, and then I'll pick my favorite two and return the rest. Have you visited hapari.com? No, my giveaway isn't with them, but you should check their stuff out. It's pretty cute and they have a plus size section. Woot Woot! I got THIS suit, but with the red and white polka dot bottoms.

Have you noticed nearly all plus size swim suites are either tailored to old people or the va va voom retro vixen type? I'm neither and I'm sort of annoyed that plus size stores think every girl size 16 and up is like a plump jessica rabbit. I'm so far from that. That's neither here nor there.

GIVEAWAY TIME!
$20.00 iTunes gift card

This is a personal giveaway and you have ONE DAY to enter. Contest is over midnight tonight.

To enter, "like" my business page and suggest a song for my website.
That's it? Yep, that's it.

Go to my facebook HERE

My Heart is in Moab

2011-03-10T12:57:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to think of something funny or witty to say today about weight loss but all I can dream about is Moab. I can't wait until May when we go again. That's all

HEAVY-A&E

2011-03-09T12:13:00.003-07:00

Do any of you watch this show? At first I was a little "meh" about it. I think because it was a little too real world scenario. They would spend 4-6 weeks at the weight loss facility, then do the rest at home. Most of them would lose weight, but when it comes to TV, we all want to see dramatic before and after's right?

Well, it seems like the show read my mind because now they're spending all 6 months at the "ranch" losing weight. It's much more dramatic and I think it's ultimately more helpful.

This week's episode really hit me. The girl was at a starting weight of like 255 I think and her boyfriend left her because he said he wasn't attracted to her anymore. (How does that NOT effect you?) Scott and have had some really frank discussions about weight. About MY weight in particular. I know my husband is more attracted to "healthy" looking women. This is not to be misunderstood as "fat" women. When we met I was around 175 which is my "healthy" weight. My heaviest was 257...right around the girl featured on HEAVY this week...which is not at all healthy or attractive, it's just plain fat. Today my weight is 225 (personal low since starting losing weight) GO ME. It's not anywhere near the goal of 175 and still pretty fat (let's be real) but it's a decent amount away from 257.

Being fat is hard. It's emotional and draining and overall just a clusterfuck or unpleasing stuff. More than that though, it can ruin relationships if you're not careful. Attractiveness is much more than physical. When I'm fat and not doing anything about it I'm depressed and grumpy and snappy and angry. I am not happy and dopey, but I am sleepy. Who wants to be around an angry fat woman? Not me!

If my relationship-o-meter is gaged by how many times my husband slaps my ass while walking by, or by giggling my boobs at random, then I think losing weight is helping. I hope it is, because he's the most important thing in my life and although I want to lose weight for me, I want it more for us.

Can I get a Holla back girls? Who's husband's do the boob tap? I know I can't be the only one.

You can see FULL EPISODES online here

VEGAS:Truth

2011-02-22T21:38:00.003-07:00

People tell me they like me for my honesty on this blog. So in the spirit of that honesty, here's how the week has gone so far.

Plan:To workout every day
Truth:Not happened yet and probably won't. I've been having to wake up at 6am anyways and the odds of me waking up at 5am. HA!

Plan:To not go off the deep end into the dark side with food
Truth: When subway costs you $12 and a noodle veggie chicken dish from the food court costs $19 there is no way you can go to the dark side without dropping serious cash. NO I will NOT have a $8.00 Amstel Light with lunch are you nuts? I've had one alcoholic drink. A Heineken that set me back $8.50 when I was watching Nigel Barker speak. PS-he's cute but not so awesome to listen to. Just a smidge full of himself. I've made healthy/semi-healthy choices about 70% of the time so far. The gyro and fries was not one of those choices.

Funny story about Nigel Barker. You've probably seen him on America's Next Top Model. He's a fashion photographer. So Sunday night there was this meet and greet/kick off of the convention. He was the speaker that night. Before the festivities we were all mingling. Just me and 16,000 of my closest friends. So I meet this guy who says he does fashion photography and how he's so excited to meet Nigel Barnes. He referred to him as Nigel Barnes like 10 times. I didn't have the heart to correct him so I just listened to him talk about NB and his love of cheesy grits. I saw him again walking around and he was like "aaaayyyyy" and put his hand out for a fist pump. So I said "ayyyyy grits!" I swear it was funny in my head. Also, I know I totally called grits out on my blog, but I totally understand what happened to him. I'm the queen of being like "OMG, I love Pink Floyd" and then someone's like, what's your favorite album and I'm like, ummmmmm the one with the rainbow thingie. It's ok grits, I got your back.

I called a man grits. See how I always tie things back with food?

Signing off from buffet land
(there I go again)

Buffets and bars and strippers oh my!

2011-02-18T09:33:00.002-07:00

Vegas! I'm going to Vegas this week and I'm so excited. I'm not going for a party, or to pretend I'm a stripper, or to get drunk and lose $2000, I'm going for work.

The good news is, is that I LOVE what I do, so it's more like...I'm going for WORK!

There's a massive photography convention, WPPI (wedding and portrait photographers int.) and I've decided that I'm going to spend the money and take myself on a little work vaca to hone my craft. I'm so so beyond excited. There are going to be some amazing photographers there and I can't wait to hear them speak.

I'm staying at the super LUXE Excalibur. You know, the one that looks like a children's play-school castle. It's cheap and cheap is the name of this trip.

I'll also be photographing a local family. They want to shoot around the vegas sign and I'm thinking that's such a cool idea.

Really, the only down side of the trip is that I'll be surrounded with tons of food and alcohol.
I literally have this sinking feeling in my chest just thinking about being around all that opulence and food and crap. I feel like an alcoholic about to walk into a 24/7 booze fest, except replace that analogy with food.

The thing I need to keep telling myself is that I have control over what I do. Bad food makes me feel bad. Not just physically, but more so emotionally. This is a week of positive things. Building my business, networking and meeting and talking to many of my photo heros! Food will not bring me down this week. I just can't let it.

I'll try to blog over this next week and check in with you all on how I'm surviving sin city.
Until then...wish me luck.

Cauliflower-Meh

2011-02-17T10:10:00.002-07:00

Can someone change my mind about this vegetable?

I have a head of it in my fridge and much like the butternut squash, I'm half expecting it to rot before I make something with it.

Everyone always talks about cauliflower mashed up like potatoes, but has anyone ever made it?

I need help people. Rescue me

recipes STAT.

And please don't say just steam it and eat it. Notgonnahappen.

Support

2011-02-16T09:58:00.010-07:00

I have the best friend in the world. I think the term soul mate is pretty cheesy, but seriously she's my soul mate. She's the Gayle to my Oprah. Why is she so awesome? For so so many reasons, but one in particular stands out. She's so supportive of me. She is my biggest cheerleader and fan and she's genuine about it. Yesterday we talked about losing weight, like we do a lot. Erin is tall, gorgeous and has an amazing body. Not too thin, just perfect. She works for it though. She doesn't eat crap, she works out, she eats small portions and it's on her mind a lot. Wait, it's on her mind a lot? That's the reaction I had. A little light bulb went off yesterday for me. I paint this picture in my mind that thin people, or in shape people don't have to struggle with being really really ridiculously good looking. No, she's not a food addict who's obsessive (like I can be) but it doesn't necessarily come easy for her either.

I think one of the excuses we tell our selves when trying to lose weight is something along the lines of "yeah but I have it harder because of X". The reality is, yes you may have it harder than someone else, but ultimately the work is the same. You still have to eat healthy, not too much and move your butt. Weather you want to lose the last 5 lbs like Erin, or lose the last 50, like me, the road is essentially the same.

And now for some pictures through the years. I wish I had some old Jr. High gems of the two of us, but I can't seem to find any. Thanks sis for always being there. PS-it totally looks like we're getting married in that last picture.

One week to turn it around

2011-02-14T10:06:00.002-07:00

I've been back to blogging for a week now and I just wanted to say thank you to all my followers who have been supporting me and welcoming me back. It really means a lot to me

Just how much? 5.6 pounds!!!! That's the most I've ever officially lost in one week. I'm so happy.

Have a great Valentine's day everyone. My husband send me this picture, this morning. Funny, right?

Butternut Squash Soup:take 1

2011-02-11T09:56:00.008-07:00

Since the beginning of the year we have been using this awesome service called Door to Door organics. It's like a crop share but funner! (name that vague movie reference)

Every week we get a box delivered to our door with fruits and veggies. The best thing about this service is that unlike a traditional crop share where you just get whatever you get, you can totally customize the box. You can say you want all local produce, all organic, all veg, all fruit, or you can substitute things out.

If I had seen that one week we were getting a butternut squash, I'd probably have subbed it out for something non intimidating like tomatoes, but alas, I forgot. So for the past 2 weeks Mrs Butternut has been sitting atop my microwave patiently waiting for me use her. That doesn't sound good... Patiently waiting for me to chop her up and cook her. Yeah, that's even worse. Anyways, the truth is that I was just waiting for it to rot so I could feel less guilty about throwing it away. But last night I finally made something out of the intimidating butternut squash! SOUP

Here's my sort of step-by-step ala Pioneer Woman attempt at making soup

Step 1: Not pictured. Assess the situation. Butternut squash looks like a falis. I'm sorry, I just woke up from a Mucinex induced sleep coma.

Step 2: Skin & gut the Squash. This step-not gonna lie- might just be the reason I never make this soup again. Skinning is a bitch and if anyone knows an easier way to do this, let me know.

Step 3: Dice the squash into cubes and throw some EVOO and S&P to taste. Bake @ 400 for about 20-30 minutes or until tender.

Step 4: Blend or Food process with chicken stock or veg. stock it until it looks like thin baby food. PS, I'm totally making my own baby food when we have kids. It's so simple and all natural and cheap and you can make a ton. Check back with me after we actually have a baby to see if I'm doing it.

Step 5: Put squash/chicken stock into pot and add more stock if it needs it for texture. Next you can add more s&p to taste, or add nutmeg or whatever your little heart desires. I added cayenne pepper and it was awesome. Just a touch though, or it will send you through the roof.

Step 6: Not pictured. ENJOY!

The great debate: Pounds vs Inches

2011-02-09T09:36:00.002-07:00

Remember a few days ago when I was like, I'm back!!! Remember also when I told you I hadn't gained any weight since I last left you? Well, that's true I havn't gained any weight back, but I have gained inches. If you've been with me for a while you'll remember back in early 2010 I did body for life. If I remember correctly I lost 15 lbs and 15 inches. I think that's right because I remember being semi-dissapointed that I only lost 15 lbs, but I felt like that was sort of balanced out by losing 15 inches.

Well guess what, nearly all 15 inches are back on. Since I've been back blogging, I've been very aware of my food intake and all that comes along with "looking good naked". I took my measurements and I'll be dammed. The size of my body is nearly the same as it was a year ago at this time. I was frustrated and a little upset, but I think it proved to be a good lesson for me.

Weight is not everything. Yes, I know you know this, but let me say it again. Weight is not everything.

Would you rather be 10 lbs heavier than you are right now, but be a size smaller too? I would. Not that I want to think of being 10 lbs heavier, but you get the point. For me, being one size smaller would mean being able to shop in "most" stores. That would be life changing. I wouldn't be relegated to Old Navy, Target and Macy's.

So this time, I'm going to focus on the scale (becuase I can't NOT do that, let's be real) but I'm also really going to give credit to inches lost and energy gained. I want to feel awesome again. I want to feel like I can flip a monster truck wheel. I figure if I can feel like that again, and keep that feeling, than the pounds and inches will work their way off this body.

Ben Davis-Weight loss

2011-02-08T09:24:00.003-07:00

Last night my husband got an email about helping this guy with a running tour in various states. This morning I emailed him asking him what we could do.

Need some inspiration? Watch this. And stay tuned for an update on how to help.

How much protein can a wood chuck chuck

2011-02-04T14:11:00.002-07:00

I think I've been in denial about protein. I know we need it, especially for weight loss and intense workouts, but I've never really been one to track the grams I'm getting. Just for kicks, I asked Scott to tell me the formula for calculating how much protein you should be getting. I have a tendency to ask others to do things for me I could clearly do for myself. It's endearing, isn't it?

Here's the formula

Weight/2.2
Take that number and multiply it by .8 on the low end if you're totally sedentary, or 1.8 if you're very active.

Here's how it breaks down for me

230/2.2=104.5
104x.8=83
104x1.8=187
So I should be taking in between 83-187 grams of protein a day. HOLY PROTEIN, right?

I feel like I've had a lot of protein today so far with My greek yogurt and blueberry b-fast and double turkey burger lunch and I've only still had 60 grams.

I'm definitely not sedentary (except for when I watch Tyra-my dirty little secret) but I'm also not EXTREMELY active either. I'm shooting for 100 grams of protein a day and that seems like I'll have to invest in a pig farm to be able to keep up my protein habit. I think the reason this is so shocking to me is because I'm not a huge meat eater. Until this week where I recommitted myself we never ever bought meat to prepare in the house. We're not vegetarian, although we have been in the past, we just mostly eat meat when we eat out and not so much in the home.

How do you get your protein? Meat? Meat substitutes? Eggs? Yogurt? Beans? What else?

Thoughts on stuff. And stuff like that

2011-02-03T21:08:00.002-07:00

Hi Everyone! I've decided to add blogging back into my life again. At first I was like, blogging, we're through. But not in a mean way, in a it's not you, it's me way. But here's the thing...

You know those cute lifestylie blogs where the young women go on about their beautiful lives and their perfect families and such. Some of you are like, yeah I know and I hate those blogs. Some of you are like, yeah I know, and I read those blogs. Some people think they're fake and that their lives can't possibly be that charming. However you feel about those blogs, here's the thing. When you have a blog, you really look for things to write about/showcase during the day. For the cute lifestyle bloggers, they look for the good and cute and pretty things about their lives. It doesn't mean their lives are always perfect, but if you're looking for good and cute and pretty, you're more likely to find it.

Stay with me, I promise I'm circling back around :)

When you have a health blog/weight loss blog, it's on your mind. The blog doesn't necessarily hold you accountable, but at least it's on your radar. This way when you're driving around and you see a gas station and you're all, ohhhhh YEAH let's get a donut, you remember you're a weight loss blogger, not a food porn blogger. Having a weight loss blog keeps you in check in a way. Statistics show weight loss bloggers eat 1/4 of the oreos they would have normally eaten had they not blogged that same day! Do you believe me? You shouldn't, I totally made that up.

Number of times I said Blog/Blogger in this post-16
Number of pounds I lost while on a blog hiatus- 0
Number of reasons I need blogging...and YOU in my life- 489

So, I'm here again. Is there anybody out there? Will you take me back?

Daily Inspiration

2010-11-17T09:17:00.003-07:00

A little over a month ago I had the amazing oportunity to attend a full day conference hosted by Bill Phillips. It was pretty powerful.

The day was filled with so many inspirational stories and people. One of the speakers was Shane. Here's a brief video of his story.

VIDEO

Lurking just under the surface

2010-11-16T10:27:00.002-07:00

You know those women who always look great. Their hair and make-up always looking awesome, their houses always clean and tidy. On the surface they seem to have it all together. I wonder what's really going on underneath. I know it could be a million different things but most of the time I really think they just really have their shit together.

Recently, Anne of Smaller Fun Pants called me bold. A couple weeks before that I was flat out asked where I get my confidence from and was told I was so self assured. Self assured? Confident? Bold? What they don't know is that I struggle often to keep it together, to not let the crazy leak out too much. The truth is, I can be a massive procrastinator, a major perfectionist and I have certifiable OCD. No, really, I do. Maybe some day I'll talk about my OCD, but today is not that day.

A few years ago that crazy that I try and keep at bay...well it unleashed it's fury for like 3 years. And now, some days I feel like that's who I really am, I'm just covering it up by trying to keep a clean house, exercise and have a successful business. Some days, it's exhausting. Yesterday was one of those days.

Do you have that voice in your head telling you to just give up? I do. Some days I can barely hear it, some days it's all I hear. I'll drive past a fast food place and hear, just eat it...just give up. I'll get a business inquiry and I'll think...respond tomorrow. I feel like there's a war going on inside my head sometimes.

I just would like to get to a point where all the things I want to be...actually ARE somewhat second nature. Right now though, I feel like a fraud.

Have you been here? Have you felt what I'm feeling?

I'm back!

2010-11-15T12:27:00.002-07:00

Hello blog world, nice to see you again!

There's this funny thing...called time management. I thought I had it. I thought I was pretty good at it, but it turns out that area of my life needed a little overhaul. To catch everyone up to speed, I quit my job to persue my photography business full time. That was about a month ago. Since then I've been overwhelmed with clients. Shooting at least one session a day, sometimes even 3 a day. I'm so very very VERY greatful for the business, but it has turned my life a bit upside down.

Now though, I'm intimately familiar with my google calendar and I've decided to schedule in everything that's important to me. Near the top of that list...blogging!

Full disclosure time:

You know how I was all NO SODA, NO THIS, NO THAT etc. Well, er, um...yeah. Let's just say I've had a couple cheeseburgers and a few sodas. That's not code for like 10 cheeseburgers and 20 sodas by the way. Damn if that soda just sneaks back up in there. It's just so good when it hits your lips. My working out schedule has been all over the place. I think over tha past month I've averaged like 3 times a week, maybe 2? It's something, but it's a far cry from 6 times a week like I used to clock in. All that chaos though, is in the past.

I'm going to workout in the mornings since now I don't have to be at work at 7am. It's a luxury I dreamed of as morning after morning I'd wake up to the alarm at 5:45 and now I'm going to make morning workouts happen. I started today actually and it was great. Frist-the gym isn't nearly as crowded at 9am, and second there's actually a tv playing female frienly shows. This morning I watched Tyler and the Neely's on the Food network and it was so so much better than watching the 6:00 news or football. I want to poke my eyes out watching college football. FAIL!

After working out, I came home and made some eggs for breakfast and started working. Much better than just waking up and running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

So, all in all...I have a plan now. A plan that includes scheduled workouts, healthy meal plans, working AND blogging!

Thanks for hanging in there with me everyone. I appreciated your emails and comments even though I couldn't respond to everyone. let's get this weight loss train back moving!

See you tomorrow.

The Fat Girl's guide to the flop sweat

2010-11-01T09:12:00.002-06:00

Read about it over HERE.

Overwhelmed

2010-10-20T15:22:00.002-06:00

I've been a bit overwhelmed (in a good way) with a ton of photoshoots from my living social deal I ran on monday. Booking, calling, emails, scheduling, shooting, editing...it's all a bit much and so the ole' blog has taken a back seat.

KNOW THIS

I love ya' and I appreciate everyone who reads my blog, who comments, who supports me and encourages me. Really, I do!

I've had some amazing things happen the past week and i can't wait to share them with you. I told you briefly about meeting Bill phillips, but then last night a series of very wild and random events led me to get to see Michael Beckwith speak for free and it was totally life changing as well. Lots of nuggets of inspiration I want to share with everyone.

So, I'll see you very very soon. Just as soon as I can come up for air!

Today is the DAY!

2010-10-18T10:11:00.002-06:00

Today is the day...for a couple things. Both are equally exciting in different ways

1)Today is the day I start an 18 week challenge on www.transformation.com. More on that tomorrow!

2)Today is also the day my business Golden Paisley Photography is being featured on Living Social here in Denver. I would be so grateful if you'd spread the word to any friends or family you may have here in the Denver Metro area. The deal is only good for 24 hours, but you can redeem it anywhere between now and 6 months from now.

If you're not familiar with Living Social, it's just like Groupon. If you're not familiar with Groupon...you need to sign up for both! Fantastic daily deals to be had!

I know, I know...this is sort of shameless self promotion, but my business is my baby right now and I just have to share it a little on such a big day for me!

See you back here tomorrow for a week FILLED with inspirational stories. I saw Bill Phillips this weekend and let me tell you...life changing!

I'm off to meet the wizard

2010-10-15T13:11:00.003-06:00

Some of you who have been with me from the beginning know that for 3 months I did the program Body for Life. I had a hard time committing to anything more than a day and here I was essentially turning myself over to healthy eating and intense work outs for 3 months. It was grueling. I woke up nearly daily @ 4:30am for the morning workouts. I pushed myself physically and mentally harder than I ever had before and I came out the other side feeling reborn. Too much? Seriously though, reborn is how I felt. I felt alive for the first time in a long time. What I thought was going to be an intense physical and mental test turned into a total mental transformation.

Bill Phillips is the creator of Body for Life and he's since gone on to start a new program called Transformation. I find the name very fitting. Every year Bill Phillips runs the Denver marathon, and this year, the day before the race, he's giving a full day inspirational seminar here in Denver. The seminar is tomorrow and I'm so excited to meet the wizard. Best part? For me, it's free! I'm a member of his online community and so me and Scott get to attend this $300+ day o' fun for F.R.E.E!
He's just plain and simple a great human being, and I can't wait to meet the man who helped me turn my life around.

I've had plenty of bad days since ending body for life. I've even had many bad weeks. But my focus, although not spot on every day, has not changed. That being of health and happiness and most of all not lying down and giving up on your life. Sometimes the progress has been so slow it's hard to even count it as progress, but I know I will reach my goals even if I have to fuck up and fall flat on my face like dread lock dude from the biggest loser.

For me, this is one of the most exciting times in Denver. The air smells different. The leaves are changing and falling and the Denver marathon (now, the Rock n' Roll Denver marathon) is fast approaching (Sunday). Scott isn't running it this year, but he has the past 2 years. We still have a few friends who are racing and I can't wait to put on my coat, grab a chai latte and cheer my heart out. It's becoming a tradition and I love it. Now, this year I'll add something new...meeting the man!

This weekend will be a great one. I can feel it in my bones. I'm totally a bill phillips groupie drinking the kool-aid

Food Matters

2010-10-13T16:23:00.002-06:00

Hello, my name is Katy and I have a food documentary addiction. Actually I have a documentary addiction. I thought I may have a problem, but then it was confirmed when a couple weeks ago Scott and I watched I think we're alone now. I honestly have no words for this film. It was both disturbing and hilarious. But anywhoo, on Monday, we started to watch a film called Food Matters. We only got about 30 minutes into it because I started in on a tirade about drug companies, doctors and food marketing. Here's a snipit of my rant.

First off, politically (ahhhhh scary word) I'd classify myself as a Libertarian. I generally think that government should stay away from many things. I'm not a crazy conspiracy theorist and typically I'm pretty level headed when it comes to politics. When it comes to food and health though, I sort of lose my shit. Here's why. I totally turn into a conspiracy theorist when it comes to drug companies. Part of me really feels that drug companies are wanting to keep us sick and fat. Their business is in selling drugs and sick people don't need drugs. See where I'm going? The next layer is with doctors. My doctor is fantastic. He's more than fantastic. He's the superman of doctors. But not all doc's are like this. Many doctors seem to have no interest in the actual overall health of their patients. You go in with a pain in your neck and walk out with an Rx. for pain killers. OK, you still with me? I'm going to sound like such a nut when I say this next thing...but whatever. I'll redeem myself later. I really feel like some food companies market their foods and process their foods in order for us to become addicted to them.

Let me reel you back in now.

Remember when I said I'm for limited government intervention? That's because I believe 1000% in personal responsibility and accountability. I know, I'm a total contradiction right about now. I just feel like, when the government is subsidizing shit food it's taking away our right to choose (in a way).

As far as doctors are concerned, I can see it both ways. I understand why, when it comes to health, many doctors are just simply turning to pills instead of getting rid of the root cause. I worked with a man who was very very overweight. Every month he went into his doctor and every month his doctor told him he needs to lose weight. Did he listen? nope. So when he goes in complaining about (x) that's weight related, the doctor knows he can't do much more than give him another Rx. and hope for the best. Doctors can only do so much. They can't MAKE someone healthy, but I do think that some don't promote health through nutrition and weight loss enough. What do you think?

So next there's the marketing and making food addictive. I think that this obesity epidemic needs to be solved. I don't think food or the marketing of food should be government regulated, but I also think that it becoming a grass roots effort is sort of a David and Goliath deal. How can we possibly make a change when kids are being fed (literally and figuratively) crap. Kids want sugar cereal because they see those images on TV. Kids want McDonalds because they see good ole' Ronald on the boob tube, then they get a taste for it and it's like f'in crack cocaine! Scott doesn't believe that anyone sets out to make their food addictive, it's just that people get addicted to it and then McDonalds can't make changes to their food without a public outcry. Fuck this salad, give me my big mack! That type of stuff. I get it, and I agree with him too, but it's just frustrating. I feel like we're in a constant uphill battle.

We vote with our fork with every meal, but is that enough?

Clutter

2010-10-08T12:02:00.002-06:00

I'm doing a fall cleaning today. This means I'm going to organize the closets, mop the floors, dust, bathrooms...basically just do a deep cleaning while organizing at the same time. I'm a purger by nature, I don't hold on to many things and this means meaningless crap doesn't build up too much, which is good. This doesn't mean I'm a neat freak though. I'm a purger with a messy habit. I may only have 15 pairs of shoes, but 10 of them seem to always find their way into the "death zone" as Scott calls it. Meaning, in his path down the stairs, in the path to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Any place where he can brake his neck. I hate when he jokes about it, but really, it's true.

In many ways I'm like Sarah-Cynthia-Sylvia-Stout. OK, not that bad, but I have been known to let the laundry pile up the wall...regularly. Not my best moments.

Here's what I notice about clutter. When the house is messy, I feel messy. I feel out of control, I want to do nothing. Scott and I both have a bit of a nasty perfectionist streak. Not the kind that obsesses about having ironed sheets and dollar bills, but the kind that get so overwhelmed that we have a tendency to do nothing. When I see a pile of clutter I can tackle it. When I see 7 piles, I just want to shut down. It's like, if I can't do it all right now, I want no part of it. Scott's dad struggled with this so bad, every year he'd start cleaning out the garage and only finish this small section, but that small section was pristine down the the garage floor.

When the house starts to get messy I notice Scott and I bicker more. When the house is cluttered I eat more and move less. It's like there's this psychic weight to the house when it's dirty and that weight somehow finds its way to my gut. Do you know what I'm talking about? Think about when your house is super clean and neat and you climb into bed into clean fresh sheets. Don't you just feel relaxed? I think having a orderly house can be so important for weight loss. Maybe not for all, but for someone like me who's highly sensitive to her environment, it's a must.

If you do only two housekeeping things a day, I suggest having a clean sink and a made bed. it's good for the soul :)

Now, back to picking up the 900 fur balls floating around in the corner of the wood floors! awesome.

Fat really does kill

2010-10-07T09:53:00.003-06:00

Two nights ago a close friend's wife died. She died in her sleep. He got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, came back to bed and realized his wife was dead. Just imagine that for a minute.

Are you horrified? Yeah me too.

Here's some back story for you. This guy, scott's friend, is fit. He takes care of himself, eats healthy, hikes etc. His wife...not healthy, very overweight, diabetes etc. He had multiple conversations with Scott about his wife and how he kept trying to help her lose weight. He was cautious because he didn't want to hound her or make her feel bad, but he was really worried she wouldn't be around long if she didn't get the weight off and get healthy. After a while, he just gave up because she simply refused to do anything about it. I'd say all these conversations took place about 4 years ago.

She ultimately died from complications due to her diabetes. I don't know the exact details right now. She was roughly 55 yrs old

I know fat people die every day. We all know this. For some reason though I feel like this really makes it all real for me. I now have a personal connection. I mean, she died essentially becasue she didn't care anymore and completely stopped trying.

I don't ever want to be like that. Denial is too powerful

Project Unhealthy

2010-10-05T07:56:00.002-06:00

Does anyone watch The Doctors?

I've seen it a handful of times. You know who the main Doc is? Travis Stork, the Bachelor from a number of years ago! He sort of bugs me though because he pronounces words like been, as in "I've been good", like bean. I've bean good. Bugs the crap out of me. But that's neither here nor there. I want to talk about the experiment he did. Project Unhealthy.

First off...project unhealthy-project look good naked! Hellr!

So the experiment was like a mini supersize me. The Dr. ate a horrible diet for 5 days and ended up packing on like 7 lbs or something like that, and raise his blood pressure by a lot! What I found most fascinating was how he talked about really being excited to eat shit food. He wasn't like how Jillian gets from Biggest Loser around crap food. She practically dry heaves. He would eat fast food, then 30 minutes later he'd feel like he was going to fall asleep. He felt like crap every time he ate crap food and then vowed to never do it again, but then 4-5 hrs later, he noticed himself wanting the bad food again! This isn't a new concept. We've all been there. But it is sort of neat to see a doctor really feel the addictive nature of processed food and sugar. It sort of takes some of the emotion and shame out of it. Like, hey, this happens to even healthy people! Even doctors! It's not just us fat people who feel like we have no self control sometimes.

What are your thoughts about it?

Restart

2010-10-04T12:15:00.002-06:00

I need to find my restart button. This is not to say I've fallen off any wagon, but it is to say that I don't feel that fire under my ass like I used to.

What do do?

Thoughts?

2010-10-01T08:51:00.002-06:00

So this past Monday was week 1 of 10 for water aerobics classes. First class was good. I was thinking it was going to be too easy, but I was wrong. It wasn't what I'd call hard, but I definately got my heart rate up.

My fellow women of the water were not as old as I'd imagined. Much to my dismay. Which made me think two things. 1) Maybe water aerobics is becoming more hip? 2) I'm getting old-er? I know I'm only nearly 30, but when I was 17 working at the pool TEACHING the water aerobics ladies, I thought 30 was old. So I had this moment of realization that although I may not be water aerobics old lady old, I'm at that age where it's acceptable to do the "rocking horse" (it's a water aerobics thing, you wouldn't understand) haha. I'm also of the age where I don't give a rats ass about wearing aqua socks. The bottom of the pool was really rough and to-up my feet. I was like time to go to the home land (TARGET!)

Is there a woman out there who doesn't live and breathe by Target?

The instructor for the class was pretty awesome. She was like really into demonstrating the moves, but not in the water, on the pool deck. Which FYI takes a hell-of-a-lot of skill.

Overall, water aerobics is just plain FUN. We laughed a lot.

The instructors in both these videos are great. They make me laugh, espcially the second one.

I've found the cure for overeating!

2010-09-30T17:04:00.002-06:00

I've found the cure for overeating! Start a business!

On Tuesday night I didn't eat dinner until 9:00 pm and I hadn't had anything to eat that day since lunch around noon. I went to this fun get together/meeting of the minds for local women business owners and it was a lot of fun, but I didn't get home until late that night. You know how people say they just forget to eat? Yeah, who are those people anyways? Not me, but lately I've just been feeling so energized and focused and excited about really putting all my focus into my business that I've not really been obsessive over food as I usually am.

It feels great. So great!

You know what else I've changed up round these parts? Not weighing every day. It's been really liberating actually. Focusing on how I feel, rather than having the scale dictate my emotions.

Oh yeah...and WATER AEROBICS! I'll have to tell you all about it tomorrow! stay tuned.

My swimming debut

2010-09-28T10:25:00.002-06:00

Remember how I said I was joining a swim team? Well I had my first official practice this past Saturday.

You know what I hate about speedo's? back fat! It gives even people with no extra flesh on their back, back fat. And NEW speedo's? Totally unstretched from the water and chlorine? Fagetaboutit. So right off the bat, I'm like, hi I'm Katy and please excuse my back fat. I'll just jump in the pool now to hide it.

So back to the story. So I get to the pool and I'm so excited. I met everyone and they were all really nice and helpful. I was told that I looked like I should be in the middle lane, which honestly in my head I was like SCORE! NOT the slowest lane! So I jump in and we start our workout. Which for anyone who cares was a 4400. FYI, that's a LOT. A LOT!

So we start swimming and I'm swimming with a girl who looks like she's fresh out of high school and super fit and I'm like, great. But actually I'm keeping up with her pretty well. Granted it was hard, but I hung in there. Then my goggles started to leak because the foam seal was falling off of the plastic. So I tried a different pair. Those didn't work either. I was about to have to call it quits when I borrowed an extra pair from a fellow swimmer. Thank god. I didn't want to be the girl who left 20 minutes into the practice. The practice was 1.5 hrs. WOW!

What happened after that was just a lot of laps. There was even some butterfly thrown in for good panting measure. I haven't swam a lap of butterfly in 11 years, but it turns out it's like riding a bike. Except my bike has an extra 70 -80 pounds on it now.

But after we were done I got some really great compliments which sent my self esteem through the roof. One woman was like, I can't believe you havn't swam in 11 years, you didn't look like it. Another said that she was amazed I finished the whole workout. And that most new people call it a day about half way through. I'm totally determined to do this! Even if I'm panting and have a red face.

(another woman said, you must be hot, your face is red) Gee thanks! I wanted to be like, well the pool is like bath water lady! But I don't think she meant harm. My face was pretty red after all.

PS-I was looking for a picture of someone doing butterfly and I cam across a chick with a butterfly tattooed ON her hooha! Not above it, like ON it. What do you think...should I post that? I can hear my husband saing (YES!) haha

BIG NEWS!

2010-09-27T16:02:00.003-06:00

I need to inturrupt our regularly scheduled blog to announce something.

I left my job today to go full speed ahead with my photography business. I know this blog is supposed to be about weight loss and stuff, but this is just too much a part of my life to keep it totally seperate. I've talked only very briefly about being a photograher, so I don't think many of you know.

I've been working part time at a really stupid, horrible, no good job for the past 2 and a half years. It's been sucking the life out of me and leaving me totally uninspired to create anything of value. I USED TO work in the housing/construction industry doing a project mgmt/desk job (totally not me, I know) and since the downturn of the economy, business has been well...slow to say the least.

Last Friday my boss was like...how about you take next week off. So I was like, the WHOLE week? We had no work coming in and he can't exactally pay me to twiddle my thums (aka blog) haha. Long story short, Scott and I decided it would be best for me to just quit and focus on my business full time. I'm thrilled, excited and a bit scared. Full time photographer? Yes please!

So this morning, I went in and was like, I quit bitches!!!! Just kidding. I was far more ruthless than that. Actually I was very pleasant and it went well. So now I'm a free agent. Whooo Hooooo!

So after I quit, packed up my desk and got home, I took a deep breath and got to work finally setting up a business Facebook account. You know what would be awesome? If you'd "like" me.

Don't be shy if you're not a Colorado resident. I travel often and am always looking for new clients in new cities!

Click HERE to visit and like me on facebook

Click HERE to visit my website

Thanks for indulging me in this (non weight) related post. I'm just so excited I could kiss ya!

Remembering my goals

2010-09-24T08:50:00.002-06:00

Are you like me? Do you set goals, get excited and then just plain forget when it comes down to making good choices? A few weeks ago or so I talked up a storm about going to Chicago for Christmas and how excited I was and how I wanted to go shopping and buy some fancy stuff and wear hats and go to a play and all those old timey things that I love. I talked about really wanting to be thin enough to shop at some regular stores and not have to shop at all the plus size section. I really want that this Christmas. That's the gift I want to give to myself. Why then do I seem to forget so easily that that's part of what I'm working for?

Yesterday I had to return a top at the mall and I stopped in at Macy's. They were setting up their X-mas decorations and it hit me that uh...hello, it's right around the corner and this weight isn't going to lose itself! Not only that, but I turn 30 on Nov 29th and I want to feel great for that too. Why do I seem to forget my goals so quickly? I feel like sometimes I just plain forget about the life I deserve to have.

Do you?

Soda or Pop? 3 week review

2010-09-23T09:00:00.002-06:00

Well it's been 3 weeks since I decided to give the no soda thing a go. Here are my thoughts.

I honestly feel no different. I wish I could report that I feel amazing without the sauce, but I feel pretty much the same. Maybe this is because I wasn't drinking a lot of soda before? Well, depends on what you'd call a lot I guess. I'd typically have one can a day, sometimes, none, sometimes a couple.

It also wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I didn't have headaches or any symptoms of withdrawl. I started to want a soda real bad after like a week or so, but didn't. This weekend while camping I had half of a rockstar cola which is like soda on speed. It doesn't really taste good, and the other half spilled all over the trunk of my car, so I took that as another sign that Utah hates me and my caffeine ways. Just kidding.

Mostly though I miss the carbonation. I gave up soda as well as anything carbonated. I figure those Izze drinks are nearly as bad when it comes to calories and sugar. Sure they're fizzy juice and 100% natural, but they still have like 24 grams of sugar in them. So aside from the half rockstar cola, oh....nevermind, I did have a can of Dr. Pepper once too (weak spot). Aside from that, I've had none. 1.5 cans in 3 weeks...progress, not perfection, right?

Even though I don't feel like it was the best decision I've ever made, I feel it's a pretty damn good one. And even though in general I don't feel any different, I'm still going to proclaim the soda free lifestyle. It's just better for my body even if my body doesn't know it yet.

Moab in Pictures

2010-09-22T07:40:00.003-06:00

Leaving Colorful Colorado!

Entering Utah, the land where crazy shit happens.

Like where bikes fall off the back of the bike rack you have attached to your trunk. My little orangie hung on for dear life, but she got a bit of road rash as you can see here. We're just thankful that she didn't fall off all the way and cause a 10 car pileup.

When we arrived at our campsite we noticed how large and spacious it was! Not close to your neighbors at all. Not at all close enough where you could hear them breathing in the middle of the night. Not close enough to hear them rummaging through who knows what for 45 minutes at 11:00pm. And certainly not close enough to the highway where the big rigs sounded like jets flying overhead. It was practically the 4 seasons!

This is Scott's WTF face. I mostly like his forearm in this picture

He beat his chest, howled and shouted "I'm a MAN" after I took this picture.

Race day! Our friends Mike and Kelly mapping out the course. This is where Mike is saying "now here is where Scott will get his second flat of the race...and here his third, and here his fifth, and sixth and yes...seventh flat tire.

Before the race. Always a smile on that man.

Still smiling. This was right after his 5th flat tire.

This was at the top of a series of hills BIG HILLS called "little nasty" and "big nasty" Sort of looks like the Grand Canyon from up here.

Right before this as I was driving up through the hills, I got yelled at. So, the whole time the race was on the road...a road with cars. This was not a closed course or anything. So you had to pass bikers continuously. Let's get this straight...I'm a bit of a biker myself. This is to say that I understand the rules of biking and passing and what not. So I'm driving behind this girl, about to turn at a switchback and I'm going like literally maybe 5 miles an hour because 1) tons of bikes and 2) side of large cliff and 3) it's a tight switchback. My plan was to pull off the road and take some pictures. So I'm behind this girl by like 10 feet and her team mates (Team in training from North Texas) were YELLING AT ME, saying "GIVE HER ROOM, GIVE HER ROOM." My windows are down and I was still at this point like 10 feet from the girl on the bike and about 10 feet from the yelling trio. So I'm like, oh hell no! So I pull over like I'd planned, get out of my car and walk over and calmly say, uh why are you yelling at me? Totally caught them off guard. They were like, you should give her ROOM! I said SHE HAD 10 FEET BEHIND HER and I was going 5 mph. I was PULLING OVER! They said nothing. What I gather from this is that North Texas women are a big on edge. Sorry ladies, but chill the fuck out!

Turns out Scott had a run in with the same 3 girls about 40 miles later. He was passing them on a downhill and didn't say "on your left" like you normally do. He didn't say this because he was passing really far over anyway...and let me just add that Scott is the "on your left nazi" meaning he says it all the time and gets antsy when I don't say it. So he's passing and the girls all yell "ON YOUR LEFT" at him. WTF North Texas? So scott yelled...I'll do it next time. hahaha. Good one babe.

Fast forward. Scott just had his 7th flat tire and had no more tubes and no more patch kits. He had to give up the ghost. This was on the drive down.

Pretty cool shot huh? The woman in blue I actually met on the course. She was not part of the actual event, just happened to be there and wanted to take advantage of all the biker energy and climb as long as she could. She used my cell phone and I gave her water. Pretty ironic I happened to snap this picture of her on the way down.

Kelly giving some love to Mike after he finished.

Bike carnage....The End.

Taking Ownership

2010-09-21T08:47:00.000-06:00

There’s just something about starting with an empty shopping cart that’s ripe with potential. Will I fill it with processed foods, crackers, chips, soda and junk? Or will I fill it with fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains? I feel so successful when, while checking out, I can look in my cart and see so many healthy foods with lots of colors. I think a sign of a successful shopping trip is when you get home, put everything away, and still think…I have NOTHING to eat! What I mean by that is you have nothing already prepared…nothing easy. You have a lot of food, but it all needs to be made. Part of me hates that I have nothing already prepared, but I know in the long run, it’s the right thing.

I think so much of weight loss comes down to laziness. I know…how dare I say that. I know as “large people” the L word is so taboo. There’s a stigma against fat people saying that we’re lazy and that’s why we’re fat. So many people fight back with their list of to-do’s, what job they have, how many kids they have etc. Food is a good way to gage where we hold our priorities in life. Are we so tired that McDonalds is the go to choice? I know we can’t always make a home cooked meal, but can we do it 4 days a week? Probably, if we really wanted to. Or if we can’t make it ourselves, can we at least buy something healthy? I think we tend to put everything before exercise and healthy eating. Lately I’ve had so little tolerance for people who are just giving up. I’m talking about people who complain and complain about their life, their spouse, their weight, their health, their schedule, their job and yet are just too lazy or afraid to do anything about it. Complaining is just easier that action in the short term.

All of this is not to say at ALL that I’m perfect at this, far from it. Far far from it. But I just really have come to a point in my life, probably like you have too if you’re a weight loss blogger, where the status quo is no longer working and I’m done pretending that it is. This realization doesn’t demand 100% all the time, but what it does require is that you look honestly at your life and own it. If you don’t want to work out, fine, but don’t pretend it’s because you just had a long day. We all have long days. We all are tired at 4:45 in the morning. If you want to make it a Manwich night, by all means do so, but understand what you’re putting in your body and take ownership of it.

For years I was in denial about me being lactose intolerant. People would say, sounds like a lactose issue and I’d be all, no, me? No way. I clung to the term “irritable bowel” because for some twisted reason it gave me license to sort of stay miserable but keep the power to change it out of my hands. There’s no known cause of IBS, it can strike at any time and there is no cure. I took that to mean…it’s not this fried chicken sandwich with cheese on it, it’s my IBS! It’s not ME, it’s SOMETHING OUTSIDE OF ME!

Once I actually took all cheese and milk out of my diet I actually started to feel better. I no longer fear having the EP’s (Emergency Poo’s) and the V3’s (Violent 3’s). Basically, I don’t live in fear of shitting my pants anymore and let me tell you, that’s a fear that will send anyone into the flop sweat at the first twinge of the stomach rumbles. No bueno.

It’s like this…I love me some restaurant nachos and I love pizza, who doesn’t? But those things are like death for me so I don’t eat them. Or if I have pizza I literally scrape all the cheese off which is not fun, so I rarely eat it. Point is, I know if I do X, I’ll get Y. So why the disconnect with other areas of our lives? Are we so afraid to link lifestyle and food choices with obesity that we simply refuse to believe that it’s anything WE’RE doing, and automatically place blame on something else?

It’s not this burger, it’s the bun
It’s not this milkshake, it’s my IBS
It’s not my unwillingness to make time to workout, it’s my busy schedule.
It’s not this monte cristo, it’s my genetics.

Does this make you absolutely mad? I know I can’t be alone, right?

Have the burger, milkshake, monte cristo and don’t workout, but stop pretending that you have no control over your life. You do! We all do!

And I’m spent.

We're back!

2010-09-20T08:59:00.002-06:00

My bike fell off the back of the car, Scott got 7 flat tires on the ride, and we had the campsite from hell but we're happy and smiling and alive!

We even got a couple compliment at breakfast yesterday. A waiter said to us "I think it's so great that you're sitting on the same side of the table. I never see anyone do that anymore and I think it's fantastic!" I love it when strangers say stuff like that to us.

I'm sort of decompressing from the weekend but I have many pictures to share with you and LOTS of stories. So check back tomorrow!

I think Utah has an ex-Mormon vengeance for me...just sayin'.

Moab!

2010-09-16T07:48:00.004-06:00

This weekend Scott is riding in the Moab Century. For those who don't know, a century in biking terms is 100 miles. Yes, that's right, Scott will be biking 100 miles. The kicker? The first 30 miles are all uphill! I'm trying not to think too much about him riding that far in the 90 degree heat. We all remember how that 90 degree ride turned out for me...right? Fortunately, Scott is built to be a biker. He's tall, lean and just really a natural on his bike. God Speed my darling husband, God speed!

(image credit: poisonspiderbicycles)

We're also CAMPING while in Moab. Scott says "Kate's more of an indoor gal" and he's right. A month ago when I was hiking in Red Rocks, seeing that deer 10 feet from me I was thinking "THIS IS TOO MUCH NATURE!" I'm hoping that this will be a good camping experience. We're borrowing nearly every piece of camping equipment aside from our camping chairs which are like the Cadillac of camping chairs, trust!

Any camping tips you've got...let's GO, send 'em over!

Here's my list of things we need:

Tent
Tools to put the tent together?
Sleeping bags
pillows
sleeping pads
cooler with drinks and breakfast stuff
toiletries
bike clothes
hats
portable alarm clock
flash light-head lamps
matches
paper
sunscreen
Cadillac camping chairs
bikes
camera
directions to Moab KOA
Phone #'s
trash bags
toilet paper
shower flip flops
smores stuff
clorox wipes (duh)
baby wipes

Am I missing anything major...like my mind?
We leave tomorrow, wish Scott luck!

Snoooooooring

2010-09-15T09:30:00.004-06:00

Do you snore? I never did, then I gained wait and it started. For me, I've found the cure. No surgeries, no sprays, no breathe right strips. Wanna know what it is?

Hard EXERCISE!

No mamby pamby crap. Hard, sweat your ass off, huffing, puffing panting exercise.

At first we weren't sure if it was the exercise that was causing me not to snore. But now I know for sure because if I miss a few days the sawing logs starts up again. I didn't workout this weekend and started snoring, then yesterday I hit the gym hard for a spin class...and lo and behold NO snoring last night and I slept like a baby! I'm happy to not snore and get a more restful sleep. Scott's happy that he's not constantly telling me to roll over!

Fer yer health!

Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Carnivore

2010-09-14T07:48:00.007-06:00

My counselor calls most processed food paint. She tells her kids that too and now her kids are like "mommy, someone brought cake for a birthday party and there was paint on it!" It's funny, but really it's true. If yogurt is electric blue, then there's a problem! Like her, I'm the type of person who really spends a lot amount of time thinking about my diet. Not necessarily in a counting calorie type of way, but from a more holistic approach. I know, there's some serious irony going on when a fat girl, with a weight loss blog is talking about what we should and shouldn't be eating. I get it, it's not lost on me. Even though I have what some would call "a bit of a weight problem" I do try and eat healthy and I definitely think about what I'm eating, how it effects me and where it comes from.

I get my jollies from watching food documentaries and reading books about how the big bad evil corporations are making us fat. Just kidding about the evil corporations, I hate that "I have no control over my life" type of shit. And even though by in large I follow the "stay out of my business" type of mentality in regards to the government, I HATE how corn is so subsidised in this country. I think it largely contributes to the over processed stuff that we call "food." Seriously, corn, or corn syrup, or high fructose corn syrup is in EVERYTHING. Seriously, everything. And why wouldn't it be? Farmers are being paid to grow it and feed it to cows to make them fat. If it makes the cows fat then....? Stepping of my corn soap box and on to another.

At one point or another in my life, I've either been a vegetarian or a pescatarian (veg + fish) and I even had a very short lived (week) as a Vegan. By in large though, I've been a meat eating delicate little flower. I can't seem to make peace with any of these titles. It's hard to make peace with being a Vegan because I enjoy eating out and there are lots of things that have animal bi-products in them that you'd never even know. I have a hard time being a vegetarian because well, chicken fried chicken is just so fucking good! More than both of these things though, I have a hard time making peace with eating meat.

Right now in Denver there's this show with horses called Cavalia. As a general rule, if it involves ropes and animals, I want no part of it. Rodeos in particular, make me want to vomit. Scott said that he was amazed that I wasn't a vegetarian and now that I've let that marinate in my bones for a few weeks, I'm amazed that I'm not either. Which brings me to the point of this post...I'm thinking of going Vegan Lite. Lite, because I don't care if I eat honey and I don't feel like giving up my leather shoes and I'm not going to blast you with a PETA video if you want to serve me something with egg in the ingredient list. You may be asking...why not vegetarian Katy? To which I'd respond, well I can't eat dairy anyways because I'm lactose intolerant, and I really don't care THAT much for eggs.

I think that we've turned off that part of our brain that thinks about where our food comes from. I know I have. We forget that ground beef was once a cow standing knee deep in his own shit side by side with other cows in more shit until his he was kicked and prodded into the cow shoot to be hung up by it's legs to have his throat slit. Harsh? You should see the videos. These are not propaganda videos to get you to eat a plant based diet, this is the real deal. This IS what happens. It's simple supply and demand. America loves its beef and the faster and fatter you can grow them and kill them, the more money the company makes. The meat industry is doing well...and good for them. It's a business and business is good. That's not meant to be snide or anything, honestly. I just don't like that they're making money off the slaughter and torture of animals. If it literally hurts my heart to see someone riding a bull then why would I think it's ok to eat a burger? I mean, really! Think about that. It makes no sense. The only thing I can figure is that we just don't want to think about it. We pretend that our pretty packaged ground beef has always been pretty and packaged and pink. At least that's what I think when I'm making burgers. I totally lose the "this is a dead animal" connection.

So in light of all this, I think I'm going to maybe sorta give Veganism lite a shot. The hardest part I think will be the planning (and following through.) You've got to be prepared to cook at home a lotttttt, but really with the economy the way it is, we should be doing more of this anyways. I know there are many people who could care less about animal torture and while I think you're a soulless bastard (kidding) I get it. May people are of the mind that animals are here to eat. I get it. I'm not going to try this solely for the animal aspect, it's also very very VERY much for the health benefits. It's probably 50/50 actually.

Just think. In no time I'll be like the girl version of Moby! HA!

PS-Note to scott: That dead frozen cow carcass better be gone from the freezer by the time I get home...OR ELSE!

PSS- Scott had no idea that he's going to soon be a vegan.

PSSS- Who wants to meet me tomorrow for some ribs?

(image from planetpinkngreen)

PSSSS-Am I crazy?

Tour de Fat

2010-09-13T07:11:00.010-06:00

My outfit for Tour de Fat

Scott and I did an impromptu phone camera photo shoot in the booth of a restaurant after the ride. This pose is called? No idea

You can't really get the full effect of the mullet in this picture.

But here in this picture you SURE CAN. Scott said the mullet was "pure sexual power" whatta you think?

Flexin'

Senior Pictures!

Tour de Fat was this Saturday. If you don't know what it is, it's bike festival with beer and crazy people...lots of em'. The gist is simple, dress like a crazy homeless person and participate in a HUGE parade of crazy people on bikes through downtown. We had a blast

Regrets, ahh Ahh, AHH (name that tune)

2010-09-10T07:32:00.006-06:00

Regrets are a funny thing. Ultimately I'd say I have none because I'm pretty darn pleased with the state of affairs around my part of the world, but if I had the chance to do some things differently, I maybe would have.

At the tippy top of my list would be to go back and attend a 4 year university out of state and live on campus. Why? I dunno, too much Felicity watching maybe? I wish I would have been able to see the value in that experience when I was in High School. My parents never pushed college and while part of me wishes they would have been on top of me about it, I know I would have been all, don't chain me down MOM, I'll do what I WANT, I'll backpack through Europe even though I don't even own a backpack and I hate dirty small hotels! Tell me to do one thing, and I'll probably do the opposite. Ultimately I settled on attending a small art school and it's worked out pretty well for me so far. But that 4 year Notre Dame dream dies hard!

Right below the 4 year university is being really really ridiculously good at swimming. I swam competitively for years and got to be pretty ok. I wasn't super sweet great, but I wasn't dead last either. I knew I had a natural ability to swim coming from a father who had was seated 1st in the state of NY. I also was a bit cocky, thinking I knew I could be great if I REALLY wanted to turn it on. How shit face bold is that? Luckily for me, I never voiced that inner dialogue, but still. Truth was, I didn't want it enough back then...and there in lies the regret. I wished I would have tried harder and given myself the opportunity to be great. But I was more focused on sinning with boys.

Now...years later, I realize that even if I went back to school and attended a 4 year state university it wouldn't be the same. I'm an almost 30 something with a husband and I no longer get off on the idea of breaking my Mormon chastity vows and dry humping. (It doesn't count if it's over the clothes.) But swimming? Well, I've decided to give myself another shot. I'm not looking to try and become an Olympian or anything, but boy would it be nice to compete in a regional meet and place in the top 3. I have no idea if that's possible. I may feel like I'm really good and still be not good enough to beat (x) but I really want to try this time and see what happens. I've been toying around with the idea of joining a competitive masters swim team for a long time-years-and yesterday I finally did it. I'm thrilled at the idea of being good at something again (physically) without my foot injury holding me back. It's not easy being a cripple in Colorado where everyone is a svelte gazelle training for their next marathon and galloping up a 14er on a day's notice. But that's neither here nor there.

So, I'm going to give myself a shot at kicking ass. If you could have a do over, what would it be?

TV-Unplugged

2010-09-09T07:53:00.002-06:00

You know what’s better and more life changing than giving up soda? Giving up Cable. For realsies, you should give a whirl. I know it sounds scary giving up your Kate Plus 8, Cake Boss, Teen Mom and House Hunters but your ass will thank me and so will your pocket book. Who even says pocket book anymore besides Oprah? We save about $100 a month and that was just the “basic” cable more or less. No HBO or other movie channels. $100 a month people! Think of how many flies in the eyes babies you could be saving. Think of how much shit you could buy from HSN. Think of how much money you could donate to Sarah McLachlan’s ASPCA kitties! OK, is that enough TV reference for you crammed into one paragraph?

We still watch TV. We’re not barbarians! We just are really limited in what we watch now (because of the rabbit ears) and that’s a good thing in my opinion. If there’s nothing good on, we don’t watch TV. We all know how tempting watching Spanish speaking televangelists can be, but sometimes you have to pull yourself away from the tube and go for a bike ride. Actually LIVE life instead of watching others do it for you.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got 27 cable tv shows in my Netflix queue to watch.

image by capitalistbanter

Mama's joinin' water aerobics!

2010-09-08T08:20:00.004-06:00

Lord Jesus help me. I'm joining water aerobics.

Back when I was a young hot thang, I worked at a pool. I lifeguarded, taught swim lessons, coached a swim team, and yes, taught water aerobics. Never did I think I'd see the day where I'd be the overweight frump in a swim suit.with.a.skirt, but alas, never say never! Oh if my tan firm body could see me now! But, PS, my swim suit does NOT have a built in uniskirt but it DOES have bra padding! Girl's gotta have some support now.

Yesterday we got a flyer in the mail about group exercise classes starting in a few weeks. It's only 4 blocks from our house so it's easily walkable. 10 weeks of water aerobics are $80 which isn't bad. I figure if I want to be the jogger in a sports bra running effortlessly through the neighborhoods, I've got to own where I am now and start there. Even if that means owning my crippled foot and joining the aqua broads.

All joking aside, I'm actually really excited for it. Sure, it's probably going to be 75 year old women and the one token grandpa, but I don't care. I want to make friends with Betty and Pearl and exchange pie recipes and needlework patterns. I'm finding that a perk of growing up is not giving a crap what other people think and you know what? It's sort of liberating! You're free to fly your freak flag. I just didn't expect my flag to have a pool noodle and an aqua belt as the emblem.

Losing over Labor Day!

2010-09-07T08:26:00.002-06:00

So maybe this no soda gig is maybe a little bit sort of paying off? I lost weight over a holiday weekend. Hell, I lost weight over a weekend! Weekends aren't totally off limits, but let's face it, many of us probably eat a little bit more on Friday and Saturday nights.

On Saturday night Scott and I went to the Strannahan's Whiskey distillery for dinner. (they have a restaurant attached to the distillery.) I wanted the ribs but I told scott that he had to order them because I have this thing with ordering ribs. It just sounds so gluttonous and barbaric. "I'll have the baby BACK ribs please. And could you wheel them out in a stroller?"-Jim Gaffigan.

So I was teased for a while that Scott would order 2 entrees and a dessert for him and he'd order the plate of iceberg lettuce for me, cause you know...I'm dainty like that.

Anywhoo, I'm glad I could enjoy rib fest 2010 and still come out with a loss. Hooray for no soda. Honestly, I really don't miss it so far.

How was your labor day?

Last night

2010-09-03T11:07:00.003-06:00

Last night I had a dream that Scott and I were at the movies and Scott thought it would be a good idea to wear a button down shirt and his undies and no pants. But he was wearing his vibram five finger shoes which I must say, really set off the outfit.

Then Miley Cyrus started dancing down the isles of the movie theater and my best friend turned to me and told me that she made Miley's shorts. Which were shorts with a skirt sort of thing on top. They were pretty poorly made and were almost falling off her but I was so thrilled for her that she dressed Miley Cyrus that I didn't have the heart to tell her the shorts were horrible.

I really have very strange dreams and I thought you should know what I drempt (dreamed?) about last night.

Have a good sode-free labor day! I know I will...day one DONE. No withdrawls, no hard feelings and no caffeine yet today and it's 11:20am. I think I'll be ok!

Soda or Pop?

2010-09-02T07:55:00.002-06:00

Yesterday my friend Sue, the headband lady, posted this article on her Facebook about soda. I wouldn't say I'm a soda junkie, but I do enjoy a good 6-10 pepsi, coke, dr peppers per day. And if that makes me an addict, well...

I'm kidding, but dammit if that roach coach that drives up at the office every day PROMPTLY at 8:37am, doesn't get me jonesing for an ice cold DP. And if I'm honest I'll fork over some change at least 3 times a week, sometimes 4. It's just a regular can size, not like I'm drinking big gulps. Oh hell, I'm a soda addict alright? I can't help myself, it just tastes so good when it hits your lips!

So that article made me say "Katy, it's time to give up soda." And my husband said, I'll do it with you! But he already doesn't touch the stuff, so I was like, thanks babe, you're so supportive!

I Katy, declare that I will NOT DRINK soda for 30 days. Really it should be 28 days. Isn't that the length of all addiction detox programs? Everything can be learned from Sandra Bullock.

30 days of Jillian's 30 day shred, and 30 days of no liquid candy! Who's with me?

I just need to let this out

2010-09-01T10:17:00.004-06:00

It should be said that I just spent the last 20 minutes writing a post about all the things I hate about being fat...all the things I hate about my body, all the things I hate about how my brain works. I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately.

Then I remembered the story I posted about the wolves and how which ever wolf you feed, grows.

So to try and offset the past 20 minutes of negativity brewing inside of me, I'm going to share with you the things I love about myself...right now, not 50 pounds from now.

1) I love that I have strong legs
2) I love my hair
3) I love my eyes
4) I love that I'm a great swimmer
5) I love that I'm a good friend
6) I love that I'm an over-sharer
7) I love that I don't really care that I'm an over-sharer
8) I love that I chose to seek counseling and make myself better
9) I love that I'm artistic
10) I love that I'm sometimes too emotional
11) I love that I can write about this weight loss journey
12) I love that I keep my husband on his toes, like how the other night I went into a 30 minute tirade about how women are so great and how we could rule the world if only we stopped picking at each other for 10 minutes. I got all women's lib on his ass and he was like woah who did I marry? He generally likes to keep me locked up in the kitchen making pies and doing laundry. All of this is to say that I love how I am passionate about certain topics. Topics like "turn the f-ing tv off if that ASPCA Sarah McLaughlin commercial comes on one more time" I can't handle animal cruelty, I'm half cat ya know.

I challenge all of you to write out some things that you love about yourself. Yes, it feels a bit strange, but I think that we all focus too much about what we're doing wrong or what we dislike about ourselves. Especially vulnerable are us weight loss bloggers. We spend a lot of our energy calculating just how much guilt we should be feeling for weighing X, not losing enough in a particular week etc. So, write out some things you love, and if you're feeling extra spicy...post it for the world to see!

Love,
Katy

30 day shred

2010-08-31T08:58:00.002-06:00

I know I had planned it out to do a spin class last night, but I picked up the 30 day shred DVD instead and did that. I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW, I already rebeled against my plan, but it was in a healthy way, not a bag of chips way.

The reason I bought the DVD is because I'm doing Syl's 30 day shred challenge, which starts tomorrow if you're interested.

So I get the DVD and there's ma' girl! I love Jillian, but I hate that ugly ankle tattoo. Who's with me? Turns out it's some sort of winged creature. The body of the winged thing is on the front of her ankle and the wings wrap around. I tell you, I've been trying to figure out that thing for years. Now I know. Thanks 30 day shred!

So I've heard that DVD is challenging, but I was sort of like pshaw, it's a DVD how hard can it be? Turns out, it's a challenge. The workout sets aren't anything super duper or new, but it's just that fact that you go from one to the other with no rest. The bad thing for me was that all the cardio exercises were jumping baised. This white girl is not a jumper. More than that though, it's like knives in my foot when I jump (because of my plantar fascitis) so I had to modify the cardio portion and Jillian yelled at me. She said "I have 400 lb people who can do jumping jacks, so can you." And I was all, NO I CAN'T JILL! and she was like yes you can! So I did one jack and it hurt really really bad, so I was like NOT HAPPENING. I think she's mad at me, but I'm not injuring my foot for someone who has a fairy tattoo. So I did what I like to call "fat jacks." I just made that up, you like it? Go ahead, use it. Fat jacks are like jumping jacks but you alternate extending each foot out to your side instead of jumping them both out at the same time.

So the 30 day shread is pretty awesome.

And speaking of bad tattoos, have you seen that tattoo removal kit they're selling at wal-mart? It totally reminds me of that SNL skit.

One week at a time

2010-08-30T10:39:00.002-06:00

I thrive when my 29 year old brain tells my 6 year old brain "this is what we're doing, deal with it." If I don't have a plan, usually I just plain ole' fail. A failure to plan is a plan for failure!

I hate that saying. It seems like a 1950’s woman in an apron should be saying that about making her husband’s meal schedule for the week, or laying out his socks. If she doesn’t plan accordingly, than what will she do if the boss suddenly pops over for dinner unannounced and there’s not enough creamed spinach and meatloaf?

But the truth is, for me, I really need to plan. I thrive on structure, even though my life and house are usually in a mild to medium state of chaos. We haven’t seen the bottom of the laundry pile in who knows how long. When I cook, tomato sauce ends up on the ceiling, even if I’m not using tomato sauce! When I brush my teeth, toothpaste runs down my hand and globs up in the sink and sprays the mirror. When I wash my face it looks like a tsunami hit the bathroom. You get the point. Really, I’m a walking tornado. You would think I would just accept my tornado-ness, but I can’t. I think it’s the perfectionist in me that lives in this duality. I love to makes lists, but rarely live by them. I can’t bother feeling restricted by rules (like flossing), yet I thrive when I actually follow through with my plans. I’m a total contradiction (insert bad female power country song here.)

Now I understand that I can still have my tornado like qualities and “don’t chain me down” mentality all I want and really live a pretty productive life. When it comes to losing weight, however, I feel like the free love mentality just leaves me stagnant.

So I'm going to really try and fight the urge to rebel against my own plan and actually set out some goals for the week. I'm getting anxious just saying the words "goals" and "plan" in the same sentence. I have joiners anxiety, even if the thing I'm joining is on my own accord and the club I'm joining is my own fan club. OK, here I go...let's just rip this off like a band-aid.

Monday-5:30 Spin
Tuesday-5:15 Yoga
Wednesday-30 day Shred
Thursday-Bike
Friday-9:00am Pilates

The thing is...this weight ain't gonna lose itself! Mama's got some Chicago dress shopping coming up, remember? And let's not forget the hats!

Something BIG...really BIG!

2010-08-27T08:27:00.002-06:00

Attention Blog Stalkers, lurkers & fans! Hi, I love you, it's ok to comment. It's especially ok to read this next blog and reply to it. In fact send it to your friends and family, spread the word, link me to your own blog, facebook, etc. I am very excited to announce that I am working on a project with my husband in which weight loss stories will be publicly featured! I wish I could tell you all the awesome details. You know I tend to be an over sharer, so for someone like me to withhold juicy information from you is like Chinese water torture.

Please read below and if you would like to send us your story, please do, we'd love to hear it!

Do you have a great weight loss story, or know someone who does? Did you lose 100 lbs, 20 lbs, 150 lbs? We want to hear about it! We are looking for inspirational weight loss stories to be publicly featured. It doesn’t matter how much weight you’ve lost, or what you look like, we’re looking for all sizes and shapes.

What are we asking for? We would like you to write out your story. Everyone has one, and we’d like to read yours. We want to hear about the challenges, struggles, plateaus, and the elation of fitting into those new jeans. Or in other words, we want to hear it all. Please try and limit your writing to no more than 5 pages. Please also include a recent picture of yourself.

If we like you and you like us and we feel you would be a good fit, we will contact you and fill you in with more of the details. At that point you’ll be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.

But for now, we’d love it if you’d tell us your story. And spread the word, we’re looking for a lot of people!

Note: We are NOT promoting or affiliated with a weight loss product or fitness plan of any kind.

Please email all stories and a picture of your lovely face to: projectlookgoodnaked@gmail.com

The Wolves inside you

2010-08-26T09:55:00.002-06:00

I saw this yesterday and thought how perfect to go along with my nature vs nuture reference I posted about yesterday.

The wolves inside you

An elder Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me... it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."
"This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too", he added.
The Grandchildren thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee simply replied... "The one you feed."

FINAL RESULTS!

2010-08-25T21:01:00.002-06:00

Congratulations Michael
You WON with a total percent of 13.63
GRAND PRIZE $150

Charlie came in 2nd with a total percent of 13.06
Second Place $60

Amy L came in 3rd with a total percent of 11.28
Third Place $50

Ginger was 4th with 11.23
$50

Thank you to ALL who stuck it out til the end! You really made this worth all the late nights calculating the percents. I'm so glad so many of you saw really great results. Keep on going! I'm calling the final pot at $310. Between the 2 people who never paid, and dropped out, and the money I lost using pay pal, and requesting a check etc..we lost about $40. Eh, live and learn right. Everyone did really well and for what it's worth, I'm proud of ya! This weight loss thing can be tough and I hope this provided some people with a little extra push. It's not about the money, it's all about the results!

To all the winners: Please email me your address so I can give you details on the prize $. I believe all of the winners are in the US, so that makes it easy.

LAST DAY!

2010-08-24T07:08:00.001-06:00

Today is the final weigh in day for the Virtual Biggest Loser!

Send me your weights today and the winners will be announced tomorrow.

Have a great Tuesday

VBL week ELEVEN!!!! ONE WEEK LEFT

2010-08-18T20:34:00.003-06:00

For the sake of time...and packing still left to do, I'm going to post the order like normal, but not write out all of the names of the people who did not submit their weights. If you don't see your name on the list, it means you either didn't submit it, or it didn't count this week because you didn't submit last week. By now...you get the gist.

Drumroll please..........

1) Amy L 3.27%
2) Michael
3) Cheryl
4) Sarah
5) Erin
6) Charlie
7) Sue
8) Allison
9) Ginger
10) Jennie
11) Jamie
12) Katy
13) Eric
14) Jill

So we're in our LAST week! A few things. Next week when you send me your weights. Remember to send me a picture of your feet on the scale and or a picture of yourself. You also may have noticed that a many people stopped weighing in after the first week. There were a couple though that I let in that never paid me, who said they'd get me the money, but never did and stopped weighing in a long time ago. That means, that money never made it to the pot. (frownie face) Also, since many of you used paypal, there was a fee that took out like 0.40 or 0.60 cents per $10, and on top of that there was a fee for taking out the money via check...gool ole pay pal! Anywhoo, that pot isn't exactally $350 like it "should be" for the 35 people who initially signed up. I'm going to pitch in a few extra bucks to make it an even number. But this is just a heads up incase there are any questions.

Good luck everyone! Remember, first 4 places get prizes, with 1st place getting the grand prize. Make this a good week. I know we're all running on empty right about now, but thanks to everyone who hung in there til the end.

And with that...I've got to start packing!
Adios

Oh, and Congrats Amy!!! What a big percent! Way to go.

Red Rocks Hike

2010-08-17T07:48:00.003-06:00

I'm not 100% certain that I've ever posted a real picture of myself on this blog. So, here I am!

This image is what comes to mind when most people hear Red Rocks...the jutting rocks.

I'm not sure if these were in fact dead sunflowers, or just flowers that looked like dead sunflowers. Either way I thought they looked pretty.

There was a rock in the middle of these two that was a circle. Pretty neat

Red Rocks state park is HUGE!

Me and a buck! I had to call Scott and say "are the boy deers called bucks?" haha. Me and this buck had a Mexican stand off for a good 10-15 minutes. I was so nervous I almost had the "nervous shits."

I guess Mr. Buck had the same issues I almost had. At first I was like, I should turn my head, so I did. Then I was like, I'm a photojournalist dammit! So I snapped a couple quick shots...for you! I mean, he was shitting for like a good minute. What was I supposed to do?

Anxiety

2010-08-16T08:17:00.002-06:00

Last Monday I was eating dinner at Mad Greens. Best salad place evah! So I'm eating and eating and enjoying my food and I realize, hey, I'm satisfied! So I thought I should stop eating. So I did for like 30 seconds. I looked at all the food left in front of me and in that moment I decided to ask myself, why do I still want to eat? So, I'm asking myself why I feel compelled to continue eating. The only thing I could come up with was "it tastes good." Annoyed that it wasn't something more profound, I continued to eat.

Last Friday I decided to try it again. I was eating lunch and about 3/4 of the way through, I realized I'd had enough. So I stopped, realized I wanted to still eat, and asked myself why. Here's a snipit of my inner dialogue.

Katy-you should stop
Crazy Kat-no
Katy-but you're not hungry anymore
Crazy Kat-I don't care
Katy-this is a chance to see what comes up
Crazy Kat-I don't care
Katy-You should stop
Crazy Kat-I don't wanna
Katy-Just put your sandwich down at least
Crazy Kat-ok
Katy-How do feel?
Crazy Kat-Fucking anxious!!
Katy-Why?
Crazy Kat-I don't know
Katy-Why?
Crazy Kat-I DON'T KNOW!

Here's what I didn't do-I didn't eat! I have no freekin' clue why I got so anxious. It was really uncomfortable and not fun, but I just made myself sit there in front of the food and not eat. After a few minutes the anxiety went away. Holy shit, it worked! So I threw my food away and got the hell out of there.

Here's the thing I forgot though. Even if I had come up with some answer to why I was anxious or why I still wanted to eat...I still have to make the choice to eat or not to eat. Food does comfort me. From what, I'm not 100% sure of. And while I think it's a totally worthy goal of trying to figure out WHY we eat, it still comes down to will we make good choices, or not.

Even though I'm not dead set on finding out the "why", I'd still like to see if I can gain some insight. Plus, if nothing else, feeling anxious and not eating over it made me feel like super woman for a few hours. And who doesn't want that feeling?

Has anyone out there gained any more understanding of why they eat when they're not hungry?

2010-08-15T17:38:00.000-06:00

The post about nothing

2010-08-13T10:08:00.002-06:00

-I hope I do something fun this weekend

-I have an appointment with my counselor today. I'm looking forward to it, but not, because it reminds me that I still need help. I wonder if I'll always need help.

-Our front garden got cleaned up yesterday and now we're not the worst yard on the block anymore. We're thinking of starting a vegetable garden on our back patio, except it's August, and soon it will be cold and what can you plant in the winter except root vegetables? Can you even plant those? So many gardening questions.

-I hate cleaning the kitchen. It's like, I clean it, and then I make dinner and it's dirty all over again! Oh boy if you saw my kitchen right now, you'd totally judge me.

-I go back and forth with the idea of having children. Most days I think I want them, some days I think, why would I want to disturb my life? Right now I feel like I really want a child. Something about approaching 30 and Scott approaching 40 is giving me a new perspective. Last night we laid there in bed coming up with funny names to name our potential boy. I said Frank, jokingly, and Scott said he'd call him Fronk and then we decided we'd speak to him only in a French accent and I told him I'd decorate his baby room with an Eiffel tower wall decal and with a faux french cafe decor. We both agreed that we'll regularly sing the David Bowie song "kooks" to our child.

-The night before last I woke up all flustered because I thought a fly had flown into my ear. I was about 99% certain that it was going to burrow itself so deep it'd end up somewhere in my brain. I woke scott up and was like, GET UP a fly just flew into my ear. He was like, you're crazy, no it didn't. So I said, for REAL, GET UP! So we went into the bathroom and he looked and there was nothing. Unconvinced, I took tweezers to my ear (gently) and pulled out nothing. Then put a q-tip in there, still nothing. I'm now like 85% sure nothing is in there. Yes, I admit, part of me is scared there's a bug in my ear. I haven't web-md'd anything yet though...so you see, progress is being made!

-The other night, I was eating and realized I was satisfied. I said to myself "stop eating now." So I stopped and thought, why do I still want to eat? I sat there, for a good minute thinking about it. All I came up with was "it tastes good, so I want to continue." WTF people? Sometimes I feel so out of control.

What is it about markets?

2010-08-12T07:53:00.002-06:00

What is it about a good open air market that makes me want to put on an apron and give even the worst vegetable offenders a try. There's something very human about a good market. Don't you think? Makes me just want to be as healthy as I can possibly be.

Here's a picture I took while in Mexico

Week 10 Results-Congrats Eric!

2010-08-11T20:27:00.003-06:00

1) Eric 1.55%
2) Michael
3) Ginger
4) Charlie
5) Sue
6) Erin
7) Jenni
8) Amy
9) Jamie
10) Allison
11) Katy
12) Jill
13) Anne
14) Alissa
15) Sarah M

Did Not Count/Did not weigh in

17) Kristen
18) Annie
19) Al
20) Lizbeth
21) Sarah H
22) Matthew
23) Lisa
24) Missa
25) Ron
26) Heidi
27) Tricia
28) Sharolyn
29) Jennifer
30) George
31) Sherri
32) Ken
33) Amanda
34) Missy
35) Danielle
35) Cheryl M

Hey Eric, maybe you can get a headband from Sue, and bust it on the PV Golf course?! Stylin'
www.headbandlady.com

Congrats Eric

Thoughts on goals, and designer jeans

2010-08-11T08:39:00.003-06:00

I don't care what you say, I fully expect my life to be better when I'm thinner. If I didn't, then WHY would I be trying to lose weight?

I've had mixed emotions about goal setting for a long time now. Well, goal setting in regards to weight loss. I can't tell you how many times I've told myself that I wanted to be "X" size or "Y" weight by a certain time frame or event.

Scott and I are spending Christmas in Chicago this year. I'm beyond excited. I love Chicago more than any other city and I think Christmas in Chicago is so romantic in a 1940's, men wearing hats (not the band), women dressing in fur and red lipstick, sort of way. I plan on doing a lot of kissing, Manhattan drinking, fire gazing, Christmas light watching and just overall nuzzling. Can I do this at the weight that I am? Yep. Do I want to? Nope. It's like somehow I feel like my experience will be diminished in some way if I'm fat.

I don't believe the lie that life will somehow be magically delicious if I'm thin, but in a lot of ways I think it will be better. I know, I know...I'm not supposed to say that, but I think it's true. Because, truth is, life IS easier in many ways for thin people. Take shopping for instance. This weekend we were dreaming up things to do while we're in Chi-town and I was all, we should wear hats! And Scott was like, ok. Then I was like, I want one with one of those net things in front, and he was like, a veil? Then he suggested going to a haberdashery in Chicago. Do you all think hats are as awesome as I do? Something old timey about them... makes me want to do old timey things.

So one day when we're in Chicago we're going to buy Scott a new suit, me a fancy dress and go to a haberdashery and get hats...a net one for me please, Ahem, a "veil" excuse me. Then maybe go see a play.

But here's where the potential problem lies. It's not super easy for girls "just my size" to find fancy dresses on a whim. I'm a 16 on a good day, 18 on a regular day. Where am I going to shop? Old freekin' Navy? I don't think so. I'm not expecting to go into any store and be able to fit into everything, but I also don't want to be limited to the Plus size section of Macy's or Old Navy. Nothing says disappointment like traveling to Chicago, walking down Michigan Ave and buying clothes at Old Navy or worse...Target. Sort of like eating at Chili's on vacation when you have a million new restaurants to try.

So my "goal" is to be in a normal size by Christmas. I'm thinking 14 is as realistic as it's going to get for that time frame. I'll even settle for 14 on a good day, 16 on a regular day, although the smaller I am, the easier it will be for me to shop. I'm so motivated by shopping and clothes. Some people are motivated by climbing mountains and running marathons, I'm motivated by designer jeans. Shallow? Maybe. But I'm not a shallow person, I just prefer to dress like one.

What motivates you? Do you think that goal setting is healthy, or do you think that in a way we're setting ourselves up for disappointment?

Week 9 Results-Congrats Ginger!

2010-08-10T19:40:00.003-06:00

1) Ginger
2) Michael
3) Amy
4) Sarah M
5) Katy
6)Jamie
7)Sue
8)Jenni M
9)Allison H
10) Jill C
11) Erin
12) Anne
13) Jennifer
14) Eric
15) Charlie
16) Alissa

Did not count/Did not weigh in

17) Kristen
18) Annie
19)Al
20)Lizbeth
21)Sarah H
22)Matthew
23)Lisa
24)Missa
25)Ron
26)Heidi
27)Tricia
28)Sharolyn
29)George
30)Sherri
31)Ken
32)Amanda
33)Missy
34)Danielle
35)Cheryl

Congrats Ginger!!! Remember these are LAST week's results, this week's results will be posted tomorrow once I get everyone's weight. Remember to send it in! As you can see, the list of people who aren't sending me their weight or are not consistant is growing, lol. We have two weeks left. I know 12 weeks is a long time, but it's time to give yourself one last push. We can do it!

Ginger, contact sue @ www.headbandlady.com for your free head band!

You should try this

2010-08-10T09:27:00.003-06:00

Everyone knows that we should be getting our daily Omega 3's and fish oil, but if you're anything like me, you can't stand taking giant horse pills or choking down the actual fish oil itself. YUCK!

That sentence should be my admission into HSN! Look how natural I can be whilst selling product!

Seriously though, this isn't a product review I was asked to do, this is my "for real passion!" Since we've been together, Scott has been sort of my live-in nutritionist. Telling me what I should try, making me eat my broccoli, buying my vitamins etc. Based on our relationship now, you'd never guess that in the beginning I was the one getting him healthy and off of his bachelor diet of Chili-Mac. One time I went out to get us sandwiches and he just said get me whatever...so I got him what I normally got. Which had regular toppings of lettuce, tomato, onion etc. He said that he'd NEVER had a sandwich with "veggies" on it! Now he's like the spinach Nazi. I totally created a health monster, but all is well.

So for years now, we've been playing this game called "take your fish oil." Which usually results in some form of gagging from me (6 year old girl style) and him finishing off the bottle of whatever we just spent $40 on. So last week when he came home with "Barlean's Omega Swirl-Smoothie taste & Texture" I was all, uhhhhhhh, a fish smoothie? You've got to be out your damn mind boy! But he insisted that the friendly sales associate assured him I'd like it. Sort of like the last time some friendly sales associate assured him I'd drink the fish oil if I put it in OJ. Notsomuch.

He got me the Lemon Zest flavor so I was like, great lemon fish! Then I tried it and oh my god, it's so great! Absolutely NO FISH FLAVOR. NONE! No oily texture either. The lemon is really really good tasting. Tastes like the filling of a lemon custard pie. No lies here people, this is coming from me, not some crazy person who insists tofu tastes like chicken or carob chips are a suitable replacement for chocolate.

So if you've been trying to get fish oil into your diet, try this! I really promise you, you won't regret it.

Back from the dead

2010-08-09T11:34:00.003-06:00

I wanted to let everyone know that I'm back from the dead. I swear, I've never been THAT sick for THAT long. I still am not 100% by any means, but I don't feel like total shit anymore, so there's that.

I'll finally be getting around to posting the VBL results from last week...today. Thanks for hanging in there and being patient.

Be back to my regular blogging self this week!

Weigh In Day

2010-08-03T12:06:00.002-06:00

Remember, today is VBL weigh in day. Send me your numbers!

PS. Still at home sick. Blogging is just not in the cards today.

Random.org WINNER

2010-08-02T12:08:00.003-06:00

I went to www.random.org to pick a winner of the givaway.

Random number 6 was chosen, so that's Happy Fun Pants! Congrats!!

You will soon be the proud owner of a new shiny stick of deodorant.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some coughing to do...I've been sick for the past 3 days with some crazy cough that's threatening to take over my throat and lungs.

Be back soon

Oprah gives away houses and cars, I give away deodorant sticks

2010-07-30T07:45:00.002-06:00

About a month or so ago I was contacted by America's Nutrition to see if I was interested in doing some product reviews. Pretty cool huh? At first I was like, is this for realz? Turns out it was! They told me I could look through their products and choose some I'd like to try. One of the things I wanted to try was one of those crystal deodorant stick thingies. Technical name Thai Crystal. Have you tried it? Guess what, it totally works!

Now you may be saying to yourself, may work for her but not for me. That's what I thought too because Scott's used that deodorant for years but he's like one of those non-sweaty, non-stinky types. You know, the type of person who gloats at the fact that if they-oops-forget deodorant for the day, they just don't smell. Yeah, I'm not that type. So needless to say, I was skeptical.

I've used it for a good 2-3 weeks and have not even had one hint of odor since, even after putting it on in the morning, changing clothes after work, changing into gym clothes, working out etc...and I've been checking! Another perk-My red razor burn bumps that I sometimes got after shaving...GONE! I'm honestly more excited about having totally bump free underarms than anything else. ANOTHER perk-The thing must last for like a year or even more. Scott's had his teeny tiny one for at least a year and the one I got is really big. Not like anyone's deodorant bills are through the roof, but hey.

The folks at America's Nutrition told me to be honest, so I was prepared to be like eh, it's ok. But now I'm like a Thai Crystal spokeswoman!

To visit their site, click HERE
To buy the Thai Crystal, click HERE

To enter my first.ever.fancy.givaway to win your very own Thai Crystal, leave a comment and make sure you're a blog follower. I'll announce the grand prize winner Monday and then you'll have like a lifetime supply of deodorant!

VBL Week 8 Results

2010-07-29T18:30:00.003-06:00

Congrats Alissa! You won with a 1.72% weight loss for the week!

Having some techical issues with getting the results posted in order of weight loss, but I wanted to at least post the winner!

We're in the home stretch now and I know more than anyone it's getting tough to stick this out til the end. We have 3.5 weeks left, let's finish as strong as we possibly can!

Buck up campers. You know what always makes me feel better? Orange Mocha Frappucinos!
name that movie.

Stop by tomorrow for my first ever blog giveaway!

Blog Award

2010-07-28T10:49:00.003-06:00

Thank you to

http://www.transparentjoy.blogspot.com/

http://www.365daysofwhat.blogspot.com/

http://www.georgiabe.wordpress.com/

For awarding me with the Versitile Blogger Award!

The Rules

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Share seven things about yourself.

3. Nominate seven newly discovered blogs.

4. Let your nominees know about the award

Here are 7 things you may or may not know about moi.

1) I tried Veganaise for the first time a few days ago. Scott even preformed a "pepsi/coke" blind taste test on me and I guessed wrong. He loooooooved that I guessed wrong because I was all ew, veganaise, sick! Turns out...not so sick.

2) If I could be anywhere in the world right now, I'd be in Jamaica, lying in a hammock with my husband, drinking a Red Stripe. More specifically, I'd be HERE in Negril.

3) I'm a purger not a hoarder. On the purging scale of 1-10 I'm a 9. I need to start thinking about what we keep because at this rate, I'll end up giving away my wedding album.

4) I drive a VW Passat and before that car, it was a VW Passat. I love that car. Can you tell?

5) I have a pretty large vintage camera collection. Since I'm a photographer, I totally get my jollies finding cool old cameras. I mostly buy them baised on how cool they look and I really try and hang with the people who know all the specs and stats of the cameras but inside my mind goes numb.

6) A couple weeks ago I had a dream I was breast feeding my cat. But she wasn't actually a cat, she was like my daughter and it was totally not weird. I was like, here I am with my daughter/cat suckeling off my teet. Except in real life...as in right now, I totally understand this story is like super weird and I don't even know why I'm revealing it to everyone. But since we're going there, also in my dream I ended up spraying scott in the face with breast milk, for fun. Then I woke up and told him about it and I think he was a little freaked out. Not about me spraying him-I think he liked that, but about the fact that I had a fucking cat/daughter whom I was feeding from my boob! I have really really weird dreams, really often. It's my thing.

7) I'm sort of addicted to wipes. Clorox wipes, pledge wipes, windex wipes but not baby wipes. Cause I don't have a baby.

I nominate

http://www.p90xonegirlsstory.blogspot.com/

http://www.clydesdaleproject.blogspot.com/

http://www.anewmejourney.blogspot.com/

http://www.imjustanotherfatgirl.blogspot.com/

http://www.lockthefridge.blogspot.com/

http://www.misssarahlou.blogspot.com/

http://www.headbandlady.blogspot.com/

http://www.losingethel.blogspot.com/

This is what I fealt like last night

2010-07-28T09:51:00.004-06:00

I was working out with my resistance bands last night and this image totally came to mind.

The thing about working out at home is that it's totally not sexy. I mean, I'm not one of those women who glam it up for the gym, but I was wearing cut off night pants, my nice top I wore to work that day and my walking boot. It felt wrong. Maybe next time I wear a gray sweat suit and a red bandana. Might get me in the mood a little more.

Lafngirl, this one's for you!

2010-07-27T14:27:00.000-06:00

Battle of the Bands

2010-07-27T07:47:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we purchased resistance bands. Do you use these? I've only ever dabbled in using them in random group exercise classes that involve moves like the Jersey fist pump. But yesterday we got a whole set of bands that look just like this.

We were on our way to the gym last night and I had a mini melt down. Actually more of a medium melt down if you ask my husband, but who's asking him? I think it was a combination of a few things. 1) It's friggin' hot 2) My soul is being sucked out through my foot 3) The gym is getting old. So I did what any rational almost 30 year old woman would do. Bitched and moaned and got cranky and started crying cause my foot hurt. Wait, did I just actually tell you how much of a pain in the ass I was yesterday?

Mostly, I was just upset because I couldn't stand the thought of walking around the gym in my boot with the nagging pain and trying to navigate the recumbent bike and the gym equipment with my Franken-leg. How's THAT for the most awesome run-on sentence ever?

So you know why my hunk of a straight razor shaving husband did? Went out and got me a set of resistance bands so we can start doing some home workouts. Isn't that nice? He tried to make my life a little easier even after I went to crazy town.

The moral of the story? Set up a mini home gym for those days when you have a medium melt down

P.S.-VBL contestants, remember to send me your weights today

These shoes better cook me dinner and pay my bills

2010-07-26T08:07:00.005-06:00

Have you seen these shoes? They're called MBT's.

They're like boats, right? I don't find them particularly cute but boy are they magic! After I got my shot on Friday my foot doctor told me to go check these out, so the next morning I was at the mall. Give me any excuse to go shoe shopping and I'm on it!

I ended up getting this pair because they were by far the cutest ones they had...but that's not saying much. I've officially reached the age where foot health and shoe comfort trump sexy. Well...most of the time. My every day shoes have to be comfortable because foot pain=cranky Kat.

These shoes are great because they never put any direct pressure anywhere on the foot. The pivot point is at the arch of the foot, so your arch is always supported and the ball and heal of the foot just rock back and forth on the pivot. Genius!

When I went in to the Walking Store (best shoe store ever) there was another man with a boot and 3 others with Plantar Fascists looking for relief. There's like this instant camaraderie with others who have suffered with PF. They had 2 MBT rep's at the walking store and both suffered with PF for years and both have been cured with these shoes. One woman worked for Nike before and after wearing her MBT's for 2 months with no pain, she called up the company and was like, I need to work for you! So they hired her. Sweet huh?

So anyways, I totally fell in love with this ugly shoes and bought a pair. They are the most expensive shoes I've ever owned but I think they will be really worth it.

Here's hoping!

The Shot

2010-07-23T16:33:00.003-06:00

I'm back from my shot. I took some advice and asked my husband to go with me. He calmed me down a lot, but I was still pretty anxious and my bp was 137/87 and my heart rate was HIGH oh so HIGH, but whatever. I know that it's totally white coat syndrome and that my blood pressure is normal during every day life.

PS, my doctor is great. Seriously great. We tell everyone about him. I've had many doctors, it's not so much the doctor that makes me anxious, it's getting my blood pressure taken, because that's what spawned all this mess back in 2005.

Thanks for all the advice and support, you guys are great.

Let the healing begin