MOO 92 interview

Last week each of the MOOsers had an interview with Tod & Deveney from Moo 92. They were nice enough to give us each a copy. You can download mine and listen to it here-->> Christine's MOOser interview

I am hoping the other MOOsers will post theirs as well. I have links to each of their blogs listed to the right. Well- that's all for me for now!

So bad at blogging!

Again I find myself apologizing for not blogging in a really long time. I'm sorry. Now let's move on, shall we?

The past few weeks I have been quite busy, going to BBC, working and of course taking care of my little family. All in all life's been pretty good to me. I had a bit of a setback after cheat meals were introduced. I couldn't imagine such a thing would throw me so off course, but it did. I managed to work my way through it with the help of all of my good support people at home and my wonderful MOOser family. So a big thanks to everyone for that. Now that I am through it, I am completely willing and happy to accept a cheat meal once a week. Today being Mother's Day, I went out and had a nice breakfast with Alex and Liberty.

Here's the thing about cheat meals:

The foods that you used to love still taste good, but you don't really love them anymore. Or at least that is how it has been for me. You know, I have been thinking about french toast all week, and they were good, but it didn't throw me into any kind of foodgasm. And if it had, it doesn't last. I think my favorite part about the cheat meal is the mental processing of the meal, or should I say the lack of it. You just eat it. No measuring with utensils or scales, no worrying about percentages, you just eat it. It's easy. The ease of it all was how I got this overweight to begin with.

One new thing in my life is the scale... I am addicted. I might need an intervention. I have been weighing myself- A LOT! But, I have confessed my sins and we are moving on from that too. We are not supposed to weigh ourselves because the scale doesn't tell the whole story, the scale can be discouraging and all in all isn't a great tool to tell you how you're doing. The scale has become very big in my life over the past couple of weeks because it has been moving in a great direction. And at a steady pace. I have lost 38 pounds. THIRTY EIGHT pounds. I look at it, and I cannot believe it. Are you serious? I have managed to lose 38 pounds??? I think for once in my life I finally truly believe in myself. I can do this. I can lose this weight and I can change my life, my future, my husband's future, my daughter's future and the future of my child(ren) to come. That is simply astonishing. When I started this I really felt like it was so untouchable. And now I have a firm grasp and I won't let go. I set a goal for myself to lose 80 pounds by mid August. That gave me 25ish weeks from the starting point. I am 11 weeks down and almost half way there! That speaks volumes to me. If I stick with it, I WILL reach my goal and surpass it! The scale is motivating to me. If I see it move, I know what I have to do to keep it moving. If it's not moving, I know what I need to do to make it move. Ben has given us all of the tools to succeed. If they are used, there is no room for failure.

Another addiction that I have is the way that I feel. God, I really feel great. That in itself is very motivating because I also know in order to continue to feel like this I have to keep going. Life before BBC was very lethargic, sedentary and boring. That is not this Christine. I want to do things that I never wanted to do before. Or that I wanted to do and didn't because I was too tired, didn't think I had the stamina to do or was too embarrassed to do. The MOOser family is even going to be going rock wall climbing. How much fun is that? I am very excited for it. I even borrowed a child backpack carrier thingy from one of my MOOser sisters so I can take Liberty hiking. Now, I just need to find someone to go with me. I'm too afraid of things in the woods to go on my own like bear, deer.... turkeys. LOL! When I get scared, I get a little cardio sprinting in. Bonus!

I guess that will conclude my update for now. I think I am burning chicken! I probably ought to go check on that! Moral of the story: Christine's life is good, and it's getting better everyday!

Morning wake up crew in da house!

It was cardio today in MOOserville, and we were joined by Tod and Deveney from Moo 92. It was a lot of fun. We had our usual cardio interval training, but with more stations to accomodate for our visitors. The stations were alternating fire hose slams, bike, burpees, plate clean & press, frog jumps, banded high knees, and plate punches. We have a couple of new ones in there. One that we started this week was the banded high knees which we have a resistance band around our waist/hips attached to another band that is attached to the wall (or Ben). Today it was attached to the wall and unfortunately, when it was my turn for that exercise, I came out to far and the freaking thing snapped. The problem with it snapping is that poor Erica was across from me and she got whipped across the arm. I am so sorry Erica! I feel horrible. That had to majorly suck big time! At the end of class, Ben handed out some BBC t-shirts. The shirt that I got is not going to fit... right now that is. It's a size MEDIUM!!! It might be a couple of months before I wear it, but I will GET THERE!

A new photo for you!

Here it is. It's certainly not the best photograph of me, but I do think you can see a bit of a difference. Next time (in another 6 weeks) I will have to wear something other than all black!

Drum Roll Please

Alright, so maybe I don't need a drum roll, but overall my results are pretty good. I actually made it to boot camp today in time to be measured before the torture... I mean work out began. And man, didn't we work out today! I was sweating like a mad woman. So here are my measurement results:

Pounds lost: 21
Body Fat lost: 4.3%
Inches lost~
Hips: 4.75"
Waist: 0.75"
Thigh: 1"
Upper arm: 0.75"

Overall the MOOsers saw a lot of success in the measurement room! We had a lot of inches and body fat lost. We even saw some body fat loss percentages as high as 7%!!! That's simply amazing! I am proud of myself and very proud of my MOOser sisters for what we have accomplished! And we're still going strong!

No measuring for me today

I know yesterday I said that I would tell you how my measurements were today, BUT... I was late for BBC. I am always freaking late... My MIL takes care of Liberty while I am at BBC and this morning when I got there, she wasn't home. She left a note for me on the garage door, that of course I didn't see. So by the time I found her and got to camp, the girls were already warming up. So tomorrow I will get measured and follow up then...

I know I've been slacking...

but only on the blog. As far as BBC goes, there is no slacking! It's been a good past couple of weeks. It is amazing at what the MOOsers are accomplishing. This week marks the end of 6 weeks! I can't believe that we have been at this for 6 weeks already! I'm both excited and nervous, as I am getting measured tomorrow. I am anxious to see the difference in the measurements from our very first day. I am nervous at the same time that they won't be impressive. Either way, I will find out bright and early tomorrow morning! I have lost weight, and my clothes are fitting better, but I haven't gone down any sizes at all yet. I don't know if that is just because my clothes were way to snug to begin with. Although- I did have to ditch my workout pants and spring for some new ones. The others were just plain falling off when jumping rope, doing burpees, dragging Ben around... well pretty much all the time. I am hoping that Ben will take a 6 week picture, because I would like to be able to compare it with the picture from day one.

I guess that's all I have for now. I will let you know how tomorrow goes!

I'm so FREAKING EXCITED!!!

As you know, we are allowed to weigh ourselves once every 4 weeks. I have been weighing in at my doctor's office since I don't have a scale and that is the scale I had used when I started BBC. I really had it in my mind that I wanted to reach 15 pounds in the first month. I wasn't able to go at the end of last week due to my scheduling conflicts. So I sauntered in today greeted by my favorite receptionist Yvonne (shout out!), and she was happy to help as always! At first, I was a little disappointed, because in my head the miserable math skills that I have put me at 14 pounds. Ah, man... Not that 14 pounds is a failure by any stretch of the imagination, but I really wanted it to be 15! Then I got home, and I got thinking.... hmm... maybe you should check your calculations Christine... so I did. The calculator knows better than me. I have lost FIFTEEN pounds!!!!! WHAT?? I am really proud of myself today. Really very proud! I am on cloud nine!

A couple of recipes to try...

I received a Kraft food and family magazine in the mail the other day full of recipes. Some are not very supportive for the MOOsers needs, however, I found 2 that seem to be pretty decent (and sound yummmmmmy). I will definitely put the ingredients on my shopping list and try something new this week! I will look for a fat free dressing that is high fructose corn syrup free in place of the light ceaser that is recommended. Adding some chicken to the Spinach Pasta Toss will make it a complete meal!

Spinach Pasta Toss

Prep Time:

5 min

Total Time:

25 min

Makes:

6 servings, 1 cup each

What you need:

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained

2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked

1 cup water

1 pkg. (9 oz.) baby spinach leaves (7 cups)

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Italian* Three Cheese Blend

Make It!

BRING tomatoes, pasta and water to boil in large saucepan; stir. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat 10 min. or just until pasta is tender.

ADD 1/2 of spinach; simmer, covered, 2 min. or until wilted. Stir. Repeat with remaining spinach.

SERVE topped with cheese.

Special Extra

For a spicier dish, add 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes or hot pepper sauce along with the tomatoes.

Nutrition Information

Calories 210

Total fat 3.5 g

Saturated fat 2 g

Cholesterol 10 mg

Sodium 520 mg

Carbohydrate 34 g

Dietary fiber 3 g

Sugars 5 g

Protein 11 g

Vitamin A 70 %DV

Vitamin C 20 %DV

Calcium 30 %DV

Iron 15 %DV

Healthy Living Information

Good source of calcium

Good source of vitamin A or C

Diet Exchange

2 Starch + 1 Vegetable + 1/2 Fat

Chicken with Twenty Cloves of Garlic

Prep Time:

5 min

Total Time:

20 min

Makes:

4 servings

What you need:
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

20 cloves garlic, peeled

3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup KRAFT Light Classic Caesar Dressing

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It!

HEAT large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook 4 min., turning chicken after 2 min.

STIR in broth and dressing; cover skillet with lid. Cook chicken 3 to 5 min. on each side or until done (165ºF).

SPRINKLE with Parmesan; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 1 min.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Serving Suggestion

Serve with roasted vegetables and whole grain rolls.

Purchasing and Storing Garlic

Look for heads of garlic that are both large and plump with dry skins. Store in a cool dark place, such as on a pantry shelf, for up to 8 weeks.

Nutrition Information

Calories 220

Total fat 7 g

Saturated fat 2.5 g

Cholesterol 80 mg

Sodium 470 mg

Carbohydrate 7 g

Dietary fiber 0 g

Sugars 1 g

Protein 30 g

Vitamin A 0 %DV

Vitamin C 8 %DV

Calcium 15 %DV

Iron 6 %DV

Healthy Living Information

Good source of calcium

Diet Exchange

1/2 Starch + 4 Meat (L)

Nutrition Bonus

The Parmesan cheese provides calcium in this flavorful and fragrant chicken.

Number Five Alive

Today was actually quite a lot of fun at BBC. First we did some push presses (I think is what it's called.) Four sets of 8 reps each. We started out with no weight and added weights each set. Lisa and I ended up pressing 80 lbs and Erica did 85! We are such strong broads! (Missy wasn't here because she is gone on a business trip, we miss you Missy!) Then we did 'roll the dice' or something like that. Basically, Ben gave us each a die and we had to roll it to see which form of torture was in our future. Each number 1-6 represented a different exercise that we had to do 15 reps of. We also had to do 50 jumping jacks in between every 2 sets. I rolled freaking burpees 3 times!!! The last time I even kicked the die to change the number and it still went back to number 5, burpees! So I kicked it once more and it was still 5! And even though it sucked really badly, poor Erica got burpees what seemed like all but 3 times! I felt for her, I really did! It was a lot of fun though, it was cool to not know what was coming next.

Ben rounded out our morning beating by having us do wall sits and plank poses for SIXTY seconds! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!???! When did we transistion to 60 seconds? I think he had us do 4 or 5 sets of those. But whatever, we did 'em. We got there, kicked ass and looked good doing it!

PSA: Just for the record, Ben isn't really torturing or beating us! His workouts are intense but not abusive. We are seeing results! Plus, we all asked for this ass kicking!

Ahhhhhhh-maaaaaaaa-zing!

The title describes just how I have been feeling this week. It's craziness! I feel like I went to bed Sunday night, went to BBC on Monday morning and a switch was turned on. I have been feeling more energized since starting boot camp, but this week has been different. Monday I felt like I woke up... and started this whole new side of my life. I played and played with my daughter on Monday & Tuesday. To the point that she was getting annoyed with me. I think I had even had more energy than my 2 year old could handle! Every thing that came out of my mouth was a song. (Think: "Let's eat your lunch and then we'll take a naaaap!") Yes annoying, but lucky for you, you weren't with me unless your name is Aunt Karen (or Libby, but she doens't care)! Sorry AK! I had to warn my poor sweet Alex when he got home from work that I was in a terribly annoyingly good mood (and not to mess it up) and I think he saw a side of me that he has missed for a very long time! Although he most likely won't admit it! He must have called me a dork at least 15 times on Monday night. I remember I used to be this way. I was like this in high school. Rambunctious and silly and bubbly and full of life. What a feeling! I don't ever want to go back to the way I felt a month ago- EVER! The rest of this week so far has been a lot of the same, and man, am I loving it!?

I have really started seeing some results. So let me share some of these results with you:

Obviously my energy is crazy through the roof!
My moods have been great. I haven't even felt the need to lash out at Alex lately, and he's loving it!
I am playing with my daughter like mad.
My endurance and strength is up (quite a lot, I think) at BBC
My clothes are starting to fit a bit better
My posture has improved
When I sing, I can hold a note a lot longer (even when singing about lunch)
I can RUN up the stairs without getting winded
I don't feel as exhausted when I get home from a party
My shoulders are taking on a whole new shape
My side boobs are disappearing as well as my front boobs! Alex is not liking this one so much


And of course we are supposed to stay off of the scale, but I am naughty. Oh yes, that's right, I am naughty! (Who would have ever guessed that?!) I was actually busted by Mr. Ben Warstler himself as he has all of our log in information to fit day. I had innocently weighed myself last week and logged the number into my fit day account just to see how it looked on the weight goal graph, and then I removed it... Apparently while it was in there, Ben must have logged in and I was busted! So okay fine- I weighed myself. And I have lost 12 pounds so far. This week will end week 4 and I think we have permission to weigh ourselves, so of course, I will! When Ben and I were chatting about this today I told him that it doesn't even matter what the scale said because the way that I feel is and always will be more important than the number. I want to give Liberty a better Mom, that is the biggest goal. She's getting one!

Oh and by the way- I did 66 fire hose slams in 30 seconds today. That's freaking nuts! I'm still doing crappy on the burpees, but they're burpees. I'll get there... someday. The planks and I were even agreeing a little bit yesterday! Progress is being made!

Just one more thing...

I have been having a difficult time getting all of the calories that I need in a day. I am supposed to consume 1620 calories per day and I have been getting about 1500 or so. I just got done entering all of my food into fit day for the day and I am at exactly 1620 calories!

I love kettle bells! (Just ask the MOOsers!)

Hello to all of my groupies! Let's catch up on the past few days...

This past weekend at my husband's grandparent's house went fine. All of the usual goodies were there, but I packed a cooler and it was all good. I planned out Saturday and Sunday's meals on fit day before I left, so I just packed everything I needed. Right down to the Smart Balance spread for Sunday morning's toast. While the birthday cake was being eaten, I was proudly showing videos of our workouts from Ben's blog. I wasn't there for the worst part though, Saturday night playing cards and eating junk. I was out having a good time doing my thing at a party. So that ended up working out pretty good.

This week started out with Monday off since Ben was sick. Man, everyone is coming down with the bug that is flying around. As I type, my brother is even home sick right now. Even though we didn't have to go in I ran up and down my stairs 15 times to at least get my heart rate up. Tuesday was a cardio day and a little later in the morning Liberty and I went to Kindermusik. It was a lot of fun, but of course it's always fun! I was full of energy and it felt great. Wednesday we finally had Tonia join us for a workout! That was great. Due to her schedule, she is unable to be with us everyday. Ben did a great job making us work. We had 4 different stations, alternating between 2 exercises at each station with a one minute break after 6 minutes! One of them that we had to do were step ups. This is the one that I injured my knee on. My knee has been making a lot of progress, not doing too much modifications this week, but Ben did modify it for me by taking the step ups down a few inches. (Thanks Ben!) My favorite one of the day though had to be the kettle bell swings. My twisted sisters know which one I'm talking about! Today, well today was just fine and dandy. We were all chatting & joking around during warm ups. Ben was quick to shut us up since we could barely breathe (or at least I couldn't!) once we started the cardio he had planned for us! There wasn't much talking in between stations today, only heavy breathing and water drinking! We had 4 stations again, this time being the bike, fire hose slams, suicide sprints and burpees. Ben assigned us each a minimum number of reps he expected us to do within the 30 seconds. I managed to exceed the fire hose slams several times and the suicide sprints once. Let me tell you- that sprinting crap, that is not fun at all!

Today I had my kitchen makeover. Ben hauled his cookies waaaaayyyy over here and went through my cabinets, refrigerator and freezer. My to do list when he was done is this: get out tupperware and spices and put them away, (they're still packed from moving 6 months ago, eek!), rearrange my plate cupboard so that I have easy access to the smaller plates, plus maybe add some since Alex takes his breakfast to work with him on one everyday and they seem to disappear. In the cabinets, I need to rearrange my food so that it is in different places, like items grouped together and place the supportive foods where they are easy to spot and be grabbed first. He pushed Liberty's goldfish to the back of the high shelf so I guess no more fish for Lib until I take out the step stool! The babe will be getting some fruit for snack time instead. Which is great! In the fridge, it's a lot of the same. Grouping together proteins, fruits and veggies. Plus, he would like to see me doing something that Lisa has been doing right from the beginning. Lisa gets her food home from the grocery store and washes, cuts and portions her food so that it is all ready to go. She actually goes a step further and labels her tupperware! Everyone who knows me knows that I am way too unorganized to take it that far. So, it's all pretty basic stuff. Things that are easy to help anyone make easier choices in the kitchen. Keep the good stuff close at hand and shove your goldfish crackers to the back!

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!!! Our last workout for the week. Three weeks down, only 11 more to go!

I'm back!

I haven't written since the beginning of last week, and here it is already the end of this week! There was some things going on in the home life, so I decided to take a little break from my blog. But here I am! So what have you missed?

Luckily, Ben is great about keeping up with his blog. So you can read about all of the great workouts he has been having us do. Along with some pictures and video. Things have been going really well if you don't count the fact that I sprained my knee last Thursday. I didn't even know you could sprain a knee. Go figure. Something to do with my lateral collateral ligament, or something like that. I have been taking good care of it and it is healing up pretty good. Ben has modified the lower body exercises to accommodate healing. I feel like I have been missing out a little, but it needs to heal up and that's the way it goes. Since I injured my knee, I ended up back at the doctor's office and you know what that means.... the scale. It's been really good to me so far. I have lost 7 pounds!

This week we finished up our 2nd full week of having boot camp. I was disappointed to have to miss out on Tuesday because Liberty was sick. Being a mom is always first priority, so I took the day to take care of my baby. Now she is all better and back to being the naughty little toddler that I love so much :)

Today we had our first check in at Moo92. I was late, as usual, but still made it in time to be broadcast over the Northeast Kingdom. I don't think anyone heard us as it was quite early. We all had a little chat with Tod & Deveney about how things are going for us. I told them that it is actually starting to be FUN. Can you believe that? Me, thinking working out is fun... That's just funny! But it really is. I actually kind of like it. (Don't tell Ben!) Now, that doesn't mean for one second that it's easy. It is not easy at all. Everyday I struggle. Everyday is tough. But, everyday at 8 am when the workout is done and I am on my way to pick up my daughter from my mother in law, I feel great. I think about what I was actually just able to accomplish. It's an amazing feeling. And when I look in the mirror I am seeing the results of it. Maybe not a lot yet, but a little in my face. I am also noticing it in the way I feel when I move and in my energy level. I can see it in my fellow MOOsers as well. We are doing awesome! (Way to go girls!)

Tomorrow we have our weekly metabolism makeover meeting. I have lots to learn about eating still! The eating part is difficult. I have a hard time meeting my 1620 calories a day. It is, of course, because the foods that I am now consuming are very low calorie. 3 weeks ago 1600 calories could have been consumed in no time! I eat here and there throughout the day, working on an eating schedule. Then at 6 pm I realize that I still need to eat 700 calories after dinner! I have had some temptations, but nothing too serious. I pack food to take with me everywhere I go so I am ready if a craving tries to distract me. This weekend will be quite a trial of my will power. I am going to Alex's grandmother's house. I think we might even be spending the night. At Grammy's house there is always junk food redily available. Scotcheroos and golden nugget bars fill the freezer. Homemade cookies, bars & breads are just a tupperware container away. My mother in law comes from a family of cooks and bakers. Everyone looks the other way when it comes to what is in the food. As long as it tastes good, that's all that matters! And it all tastes good! I'm going to plan and prepare. I will have my food with me. My mother in law has been doing really great with the diet and exercise plan that she has been doing, so she and I will recreate the menu to suit our needs. It is Grammy's birthday- so there will be cake, and ice cream. I think I will slip away when it is served! I will check back in with you and let you know how it goes.

All MOOsers have their own blogs now, so please check them out! It's fun to read what we all have to say! Links are posted here on the right!

Oh yeah- I almost forgot: please check out Ben's blog later tonight or tomorrow. I was unable to participate because of my knee injury, but I recorded Ben getting his ass dragged around by Missy, Lisa and Erica! It was priceless!

I love my automatic!

I sincerely think that after this morning's boot camp, if I had a standard vehicle, I would still be sitting in the driveway at boot camp! Wowzers! It was HARD! We started out with a baseball game. Sounds great right? WRONG! This is after all Ben's Boot Camp baseball! To get to each "base" you have to complete the following: First Base, 10 Burpees, Second Base, 10 wood chops, Third Base 10 squats, and Home plate 10 push ups! After getting to home plate, we placed a point on our score board and started back at first base. I don't even know at this point how long we played "baseball" for. It must have been at least 20 minutes! The first round, I didn't do so great, but the second round I pushed harder to not let down my teammate. I worked hard, and got it done, however there was NOTHING easy about it. Nevertheless, I am so proud of myself for getting through it. I was definitely wishing that I had on my purple bracelet today to keep pushing me, but where there wasn't a purple bracelet, there was Ben, and 3 other fantastic MOOsers!

After that "game" the abuse wasn't over yet! We did another circuit of exercises that was 30 seconds each, 5 seconds to get to the next one and 30 seconds at that station. 30 seconds may not be long, but just to try it out, put yourself in push up pose (no knees) for 30 seconds and hold yourself there. Go ahead- I dare ya! You will gain a new found respect for the second hand! For this circuit we did plank poses (as described above), wall sits, kettlebell lifts, and I can't remember what the last one was called, (squat presses maybe) but you do a mini-squat with weights and press the weights up on the upward movement. Ben had us using 15lb weights in each hand. I am sure that Ben will post all of these exercises on his blog, so make sure to check them out there, as he knows better than I do just what we did!

The Push: Clearly, all of this is a struggle for me. I have a lot of weight that I am moving around. Today, when I was doing the plank poses, as usual, I was having a hard time staying up. Ben placed his timer on the floor in front of me so I could see the time ticking down. It's amazing how that helped me. I would think "only 8 seconds left, 7... 6... 5...." and then I was done. Sure it was a painful 8 seconds, but it was DONE! The last time Ben placed the time where I could see it there were 18 seconds left. He announced that if I were to stay up in that plank pose until the time ran out then it would be our last time around. Talk about PRESSURE! It worked! I worked, and I stayed up for the full 18 seconds. It took every single ounce of strength and determination that I had, but I didn't let my girls down! We went through one more circuit and then we finally got to cool down!

Monday down, only 4 more days of boot camp this week! It feels great!

Inspirational...

I got up this Sunday morning feeling quite good only to open my email and feel even better! I want to encourage, and inspire through this journey and it has already begun! Check out this awesome email I received: (I hope she doesn't mind that I'm quoting her!)

So since having the baby 7 weeks ago, it was time to get my ass in gear. Although your workout sounds excruciating,(hats off to you) you were my motivation yesterday on my treadmill. I had 6 minutes left…6! I was ready to call it quits, but I thought of your journey and took a big swig of water and kept going. I thought OMG 6 friggin minutes you wuss, imagine what Christine is doing!

So thank you!

Reading that gave me such a warm fuzzy feeling!

I also want to give a HUGE shout out to Ben Warstler, our trainer. I don't think I have really thanked him yet. I mean, I have said "thanks" but what I really want to say is: Ben, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I may tell him that I hate him every now and then, but I really just hate the workouts! Ben is being very selfless in this process. We might whine and complain about being there 6 days a week, but he is also there! He is taking time from his family to make our lives with our families better! I don't think I could ever thank him enough!

A bit of an emotional day...

I guess before I get into today's emotional day, I will comment on yesterday's kick ass workout. When I say kick ass, I don't mean it was awesome, I mean it kicked my ass! I actually found it to be a bit more "fun," if you can really call it that, than our first class. Luckily for me, Ben has already blogged about it so I will let you read it directly from his blog. There is even a little video snippet there for your viewing pleasure! Oh the joy! Let me tell you, I was in some serious pain last night. I wasn't quite sure if I would be able to get comfortable enough to go to sleep. But I was, and I slept like a baby. You know, the good kind of baby! I managed to make it through the entire hour without running to the bathroom to vomit! Yes, SUCCESS! I was, however quite nauseous during the resting periods. Ben gave us an awesome nutrition tip that focused on how to burn more calories without doing anything extra! It's called the Thermic Effect and you can also read that on Ben's Blog. Read it, it has some great, smart and useful information.

After my ass-whoopin' at the gym, I headed to a doctor's appointment for a follow up from last week. I don't own a scale but the doctor's office of course forces us to step onto the dreaded thing. Ben tells us not to weigh ourselves, It's not all about the scale and it will discourage us, but I am so excited about this I have to share... from Friday last week to Friday this week, I lost 3 pounds. Now, I know that is most likely water weight, but I don't care! It's weight! It is just proof to me that I am doing something right. Not only that, but I didn't start the nutrition and workouts until Wednesday. That is both motivational and exciting!

Today we had our first Metabolism Makeover meeting. I had to be in Derby for 8 on a Saturday morning, but there was no workout, so no problem! We discussed ways that different things can affect your metabolism, both positively and negatively. We also discussed the different weight loss programs and fads out there and why they don't work. It is so amazing seeing it all in this new light. A big focus today was our goal tracker. The goal tracker is simply a sheet of paper that each MOOser needed to fill out stating our goals, reasons, how we will achieve them, obstacles, solutions to obstacles, who will help us out along the way, when we will start, when we want to meet our goals (short and long term), and also how we will reward ourselves for making progress toward our goals. This is where it became emotional.

I won't disclose what the other MOOser's goals are because those are personal, and I don't feel it is my place to expose them. However, I will certainly share mine, because the more I am saying it, the better it sounds, the better it feels, the more sense it makes. Plus, I know that YOU are the people that gave me this fantastic opportunity, so why not? I kind of feel like I am at that place (all of you mothers out there will know exactly what I mean) where you are a first time mom, and you're worried about everyone seeing your stuff when you give birth. But then suddenly you're there. And you just want to do it, and it hurts and sucks, but now you don't care who sees your stuff because it's going to get you where you need to be. This is me showing my stuff to get me to where I need to be. Only this time- I have all of my clothes on!

Initially I had written that my goal was to become a healthy and attractive weight/size (because we know we can't count solely on the scale). But ultimately my goal is to know that if I want to take my precious daughter, Liberty to Santa's Village, I can hop on the ride with her and not worry if I will fit. I don't want to have to stand on the side lines while Alex and Libby live their lives without me. I want to give Alex back the wife he once had, that was bubbly, energetic and full of life. A short term way of knowing that I am progressing toward my goal will be when I take Liberty to her weekly Kindermusik class and I am able to get up and down off of the floor and dance around comfortably and easily. That is my 6 week goal. I will BE THERE! My long term goal for 6 months is to lose 80 pounds. It might sound like a big dream, but why not? Every Goddess knows how important it is to go for our dreams! Dreams cannot be caught if you don't chase them! Something else that is very important to me is teaching my daughter the healthy way to live, so when she is 29 years old, she is not going through what I am!

My celebration and reward for making my goals will of course be hopping onto that ride this summer at Santa's Village, and never hesitating.... It might sound simple to people who have never been in my shoes, but to me it's the world. SHE is my world & HE he is my world. And it's time I give them what they deserve. ME! In return, I will have THEM!

My Before Picture...

I figured I should throw this in there, eventhough I really don't like it! It will never be the same again!

Apparently, I'm a puker... (warning for those with weak stomachs)

Today was the first class. I wore my "they're real and they're spectacular" t-shirt, with instructions to Ben from my husband Alex to sculpt my body, but leave the boobs alone! So to the workout: OMG, are you kidding me??? It was extremely difficult. But, I got through it. I was a little disappointed in myself because I was unable to complete pretty much everything, but Ben promises that will change. Of course, I lost probably a good 5-7 minutes (1 hour workout) of working out due to 2 bathroom trips. The first one to almost puke, and the second to let it all go. I don't think I have EVER vomited so much at one time before. We were warned to eat breakfast, and I did, but my little breakfast was no match for the intense event that was to follow. One of the other MOOsers found herself in the bathroom for several minutes dry heaving. When I signed up for this I had visions in my head of treadmills and elliptical trainers... oh no, was I wrong! There is only one cardio machine in the building! This is ALL resistance training, with some good old fashion cardio. We started out with 'stretching' which consisted of high knees (bringing your knees to your chest one at a time in a jumping motion), leg pulls, leg lifts (those were the best), mountain climbers and jumping jacks. Stretching... what? I thought that was the workout!!! We then did push-ups, kettlebells (weighted 'bells' that you squat and swing), squat presses (holding 10 lb weights in each hand squat, then raise the weights over your head), and rowing (holding onto a bar from underneath with your feet on the ground and pulling yourself up). We continued to do these throughout the class, in intervals at 30 seconds, then timing ourselves to match what we could do in the 30 seconds. We went on to do some plank poses and sitting against the wall followed up by stretching. Needless to say- the longer the class went on the more and more difficult these tasks became.

We were given a fitness tip for the day- this one was all about water. Ben says that we need to consume half of our body weight per day in ounces of water. ie, a person who weighs 200 lbs should drink 100 ounces of water a day. Talk about spending time in the bathroom! I'm not sure if I should drink more today to compensate for all that I lost earlier!

I'm definitely feeling some pain, but I know it will be worth it in the end. Funny thing is, my chest hurts more than anything I think. I feel like I have smoked a pack of cigarettes. Most likely from the grunting and yelling I did to push through the pain! Pretty soon it will be naptime for the baby in this house, and I am planning to join her!

I can't wait to be a skinny bitch!

I am a big MOOser, or at least I hope to be! I entered a weight loss contest. (To find out more about the contest click here.) I decided that I would start blogging (something of which I know nothing about), so that those of you who want to follow my progress can. I am hoping to do well enough to actually inspire someone. I know I can, and in fact I will!

I have so many wonderful people supporting me that I feel like I would let everyone down if I fail. There were a lot of people who tried out for this contest, so just the fact that I have this opportunity pushes me to be motivated. I definitely feel like I am under a microscope, and I am so grateful for that! It is the accountability that I need to make this transition successful!

Last night was the first meeting of the 5 contestants with our trainer Ben Warstler. From what I have heard, he is a pretty tough cookie. I guess it's not called Ben's Boot Camp for nothing. The first meeting was pretty straight forward. We scheduled our work outs and Ben took our measurements. I was surprised and pleased to find out he does not have a scale at the studio! In fact, he doesn't want us weighing ourselves more than every 4 weeks. However, I just had a doctor's appointment last week so I am quite aware of my weight... I am not willing to give you that information right now though! Maybe when I have lost a hundred pounds or so I will be willing to share!

We were sent home with a binder for the Metabolism Makeover program and some homework. One of my new daily tasks is to enter all of the foods I eat into this pretty cool website. It adds and keeps track of your calories for you. It also shows the percentages of your carbs, protein and fat, which is good because apparently that is the whole secret to the metabolism makeover- that and some hard core work in the gym. Ben emailed me today with my new nutrional numbers. My calorie intake is not to be more than 1620 (I can live with that), carbs at 45%, protein at 35% and fat (my favorite of course) at 20%. I'm at the end of day one and I have consumed 1531 calories, carbs 42%, protein 32% and fat at a whopping 26%. The percentage thing is a bit tricky. Ben said it would take about 3 weeks to figure it out really well. At one point in time today I was exactly where I was supposed to be, but one food item really changes the figures.

Tomorrow morning is our first workout. 7 o'clock is going to come early. I have to eat breakfast before I go. We were warned that if we do not eat a little something we would definitely throw-up!! I will let you know how it goes. I plan on napping when my 2 year old does tomorrow afternoon!

Before I finish for tonight I just want to end by saying thank you to all of you who voted for me to get me into this competition. All of my family, friends, fellow goddesses, adoni and customers. Because of YOU, I am able to have this opportunity to change my life...