Hey now, Hey now, my boyfriend's back!

It's been ENTIRELY too long since my last update, post, pic, etc. Things have been crazy around here. Everytime I want to blog, ten million other things have to be done. Well, thanks be to God, I am getting some things crossed off my "30 before 30" list. That is keeping me pretty busy! I finally have a good before and after pic to show, although my after pic isn't really finished yet. Did I mention that I have started my Master's Degree program? And I am teaching summer school? So yeah, like I said, it's been pretty crazy.

Where do I begin.....I know. I'll start with a weight loss update. I had a few slow weeks, but I am proud to say that I've hit all of my goals for the month of June already. No seriously, I set pretty conservative goals this time. I am OFFICIALLY out of clothes that fit...I can either go shopping or lose 5-10 more pounds. I have elected to lose 5-10 more pounds. I did, however, buy a couple of new sundresses to hold me over. THat's the one thing that you have to love about Texas weather; I may be hotter than (insert funny word here), but at least I can just throw on a pretty dress and hit the door. No point in wearing make-up. It just melts off my face anyway, lol! So here is the moment I think you have been waiting for. My total weight loss up to this point is exactly 29 pounds!! I am soooo excited I can hardly contain myself. Between that and all of the many things that God is establishing in my life (too soon to share, but just wait and see) I feel like I could do anything right now. Seriously, nothing is too hard for me or My God!!

School is wonderful. I am definitely still "Nerd Extraordinaire". I feel this compelling desire to do great on everything now so that if I run into any trouble later I have somewhat of a cushion in my GPA from all of the hard work that I did in the beginning. My professor loves me. She told me that she was "looking forward to having me again" in my 3rd class. She also told me "you will be very successful in this program because of your diligence". That literally made my day last week! =)

The boys are growing like weeds. I can't wait for them to get to visit my side of the family later on this summer. That is going to be the best present EVER! I have not seen my sisters in well over a year; they have never seen my youngest son in person. And to top it all off, my grandmother is even coming! This is big for me. I went my whole life, well the first 26 years, believing that she didn't like me and that she only loved me because she had to. Now that I have been delivered from that lie, I am super excited about the relationship we are now able to have, and I can't wait to see her and for her to see her great grandkids! Speaking of which, I have to go get them breakfast. We have a lot of moving around to do today. It's like they can smell me in the next room or something, lol. Now they're all crying for me. Gotta run.

Until next time.......

Update #2746378467348

I couldn't think of a catchy tune this week, but I feel like I have sooo much to share. For starters, I recently moved. With my ENTIRE kitchen boxed up, eating healthy was one of the toughest challenges I would face last week. I made it, though. Only because I was determined to do so much exercise that it would counteract all of the junk that I was eating. It worked....well kinda. I only gained 1 pound last week!! Who is excited by 1 pound of weight gain you ask? Me of course. Consider the following menu from my week o/gluttony: Saturday= CiCi's pizza, Sunday= Domino's Pizza, Monday= Domino's pizza, Tuesday= Subway AND McDonald's, and Wednesday= I honestly don't remember but I can guarantee it was something bad.

Through it all, running through the apartment complex, lifting weights (or boxes as they are commonly known), and consistently hitting 8000 plus steps a day seemed to really pay off. I am EXTREMELY proud to say to you that I am OFFICIALLY back in my old size 10 pants! I feel great, I look great, and I'm happy with what I see when I look in the mirror! What more can I say?! BTW, for those of you keeping track, I have re-lost that 1 lb from last week, so I am still at 24.6lbs of total weight loss. My goal this week, is to finally surpass the 25 pound mark. I know that I can do it! I know that you can too!!

Until next time.......

It's been a long time, I shouldn't left you...

Without a dope beat to step to..step to, step to , step to, step...baby girl! LOL. Okay so for those of you who didn't know me that long ago or simply have forgotten, there was a time in my life where I thought I was Aaliyah (Nesha can testify to that one, lol). I heard that song yesterday somewhere, and it kinda fit since it's been so long since my last entry.

I didn't write anything last week because I was so frustrated. I was almost ready to quit. It wasn't that I didn't lose any weight; it was simply that I missed my goal by 0.2lbs. I know right...who gets upset over 2 tenths of a pound?! Apparently me! Well, either way, it really bothered me. I wish that I could tell you that I decided to buckle down and work harder this past week...but I would be lying. As a matter of fact I did the exact opposite. I tried to eat horrible...but my body wouldn't let me.

I truly believe that I am starting to experience the change that I wanted to see. I wanted so badly to change my beliefs about eating, and now here it is manifesting right in front of me. Even when I wanted to eat junk, and lazily go about my day something wouldn't let me. Some of you may think that something was my will power, but I know that it wasn't. It was nothing but the Holy Spirit. The Word tells us that He will never leave us or forsake us, and I am living witness to that this week.

I am happy to report that since my last entry, I have been more successful in my weight loss endeavors. Last week (when I was complaining) I lost 2.4 lbs. This past week I lost an additional 4.6lbs. This brings my total weight loss count to 24.6lbs!! I'm so excited. All of my clothes are too big. In fact, some fortunate person is going to be rocking some new duds soon; I gave away everything that I could not fit!! That was really hard for me, but I am proud of myself for letting go of my "fat clothes". It means I don't have any room to gain any of this back.

On an even more exciting note......I will be starting graduate school in less than 2 weeks!! I'm so excited! All of my materials have arrived. This is it. I can't believe it's finally happening. But I'm glad that I got these good eating habits down before it was time to do this. Otherwise I may have ended up in a really bad place.

I'm now the weight I was after I had my 1st child. Next stop..pre-baby weight. Not too far past that though. That would just make me look kinda "cracky"!!


Until next time.........

Awwwwwww Bounce........awwwwwwww Skate!!

OMG!! I forgot how much fun roller skating could be. I went to a birthday party last Saturday, and it took me back....way back....back into time. I'm talking circa 1994-1996. That's right, 6th grade; back when we went roller skating EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND; back when we thought we were cool because when we hit 8th grade our parents let us stay for the 8pm-12am session! It was so exhilarating! And then I went home......and then I realized that I had completed an Insanity workout that morning. That's when it all cam tumbling down like a pile of bricks. What was tumbling you ask?? Me, onto the couch, onto the bed, onto anything that could hold my weight. My legs were on fire! But it was such a great burn. All I could think about was how now I could have an extra hamburger off the grill at Michael's birthday party on Sunday. That made it worth it. Now here we are; it's Monday, and guess what! My legs, thighs mostly, are still sore. I know one thing though...it better show up on the scale on Thursday!

That brings me to the real point of this blog. My current weight loss total is 17.4 lbs!! That is So exciting! I have set a new goal: to lose between 6-8lbs more by June 1st. I'm secretly hoping for 8-10lbs, but I felt I should set an attainable goal and not get too crazy. What if this high I'm on wears out and my numbers start dropping?! Gotta be careful not to set myself up for failure. Plain and simple, I need to lose a pants size by the end of the month. That will be tricky since I carry most of my weight from the waist down. But anyone can fit a dress...it's pants that show the true measure of progress.

One last thing. At Saturday's party, I saw the parent of one of my old students. It's probably been about 8 months since we have actually seen each other and one of us wasn't sitting down. When she saw me, her face lit up. The first words out her mouth, after Hello and my name (LOL) were "WOW! You're losing so much weight! You look amazing!" That absolutely made my day. I don't understand how I can be down almost 20lbs and the ppl that I see everyday (i.e. those I work with) don't bother to mention it. I have several theories about why (some of which include ingesting MASSIVE amounts of 'hater-ade'), but in the middle of forming my last one I decided that I don't care. I am growing up ppl! No longer does the opinion of unimportant ppl matter to me. What does matter is that the ppl I love and the ppl who love me have noticed a positive change in my life.

BTW, for those of you who love to hear me sing, I'll try my best to come up with a catchy yet clever tune for my next post =D

Until next time.......

Day 13 & Day 14

Day 14 was by far my favorite day so far....it was a day of rest. It was a much need rest, especially considering the fact that day 13 was a beast. I am proud to say that after I watched my Colts blow the Superbowl, I still managed to pull myself together and get a workout in. It was hard, but it was a good way to blow off some steam and stress. Not only did I have the complete Pure Cardio workout, but he added in another workout as well. Abs are not my thing, not lately anyway. In high school and college that was a different story, but now, 3 kids later, they don't mean as much to me. I can say this, I was definitely excited by the changes I can see in my body in just 2 weeks. This workout is no punk!! It was worth the money, though.

My knees are not very happy with me right now. It's funny how they never gave me any problems before...I guess jumping 200lbs up and down everyday isn't really their idea of fun! LOL! I have taken a few days to rest them. I wrestled with it for quite some time, saying that i was a wuss and that I was making excuses for myself. Then I realized that all that was the enemy; I have to take care of my body or I will not be able to continue doing this madness. Then I will have no one to blame but myself. So I will start back up either this evening or tomorrow (Thursday) evening. My fit test is the next workout. Hopefully my number will have improved; if you consider the fact that my last numbers were "0" for the last 3 exercises I guess I have no other way to go but up!

I have not had as much time to blog as I would like to lately; grades are due. It's that end of semester crunch. As soon as I get done with the Fit Test, I'll be back on to let you know my results!

Until next time....

Its a Thin Line Between Love and Hate: Insanity Day 8

I am proud to say that I am back on the wagon, and right now I am loving it. I would be remiss if I did not say a special thank you to my husband, Maurice for helping to motivate me to get back on the wagon yesterday, or the train as he calls it. Though I must say, we have come up with a great new way to keep me motivated; its called $156. It goes something like this: me-I'm too tired, him- are you $156 worth of tired? OR me-I don't feel like it. I have too much to do, him-do you have $156 worth of stuff to do. You get my point right? If for no other reason, I have to finish this program because I spent my hard earned money on it; $156 of it to be exact. So back on the wagon I will stay!

I have come to the conclusion that Insanity/Shaun T and I have a love/hate relationship. When I am thinking about how much my body is improving and changing, I love him. When I am in the middle of the workout, I hate him. When I woke up this morning and got into these jeans (pics to come soon), I loved him. When I walked from my car to my classroom and felt it in every muscle in my legs, I loved him AND hated him at the same time. This is one crazy roller coaster that I am on.

I did so much better on Day 8. Although the power and resistance workout leaves me feeling the worst, soreness wise, I must say that it is my favorite workout so far. I feel so accomplished when I do it. Last night, for the first time, I DID WALKING PUSH-UPS! That right...me...walking push-ups! Last week I could not do a single push-up, not even the regular way. Yesterday I did 12 walking push-ups. To say that I was proud of myself is accurate yet still a gross understatement. I am thrilled with my progress, and I cannot wait to see more! I have to get back to school work now. My break is almost over. Tonight, I believe is pure cardio, which means I'll be puking on the patio again =)

Until next time......

Oh No; I fell off the wagon

So what started as one day off for my anniversary turned into two days off. I didn't eat bad or do anything crazy; I just didn't plan my time well so I didn't get to work out yesterday. I am a little disappointed; well let's be honest, I am a LOT dissappointed. I must have beat myself up last night for over an hour. Then I came to the realization that if God can forgive me, I have to be able to forgive myself. I know that the enemy would love for me to condemn myself and quit. But that's not happening. I am back on the wagon; I have planned accordingly.

On a side note, I have noticed that it seems to be easier to do things when my life is hectic and fast paced than it is when I am off and I have nothing to do. Why is that? Whatever the case may be, you'll here from me later. Insanity Day 8 is serving up at 5:45pm tonight.

Until next time.....

I had an excuse...but not a good one!

So I still have not started the Insanity. As the title says, I had an excuse but not a good one. I have begun to eat healthier, and I now park waaaaaay far away from my classroom and walk about 1/4 mile to get to and from my classroom. That's a start. This warm weather has really begun to help me get motivated so I promised myself that I would get it going. Whether it's the Insanity or just hitting the track after school, I am determined to start doing something. I just found another blog on here and it made me SUPER motivated. If she can do this, I can do this! To prove my seriousness, I will be posting pics of myself throughout my journey. 50lbs in 52 weeks...here I go.

Until next time....

JUST DO IT!

When God tells us to do something we should do it. Simple right? It seems simple enough, but more often than not we don't. I am included as a member of the guilty party. God has been telling me to start a page/group on the social networking site that I use for months. In the beginning, I kept telling myself that I was making it up. God wouldn't tell me to do that...or would he. About 1-2 months ago, He told me again; this time, I took it more seriously, but the fear of what other would do or say stopped me. Would they laugh? Would the join/follow the page? Well today, I finally decided to stop making excuses and do it. (That's my mantra for the next phase of my life...No More Excuses). I will admit, the fear was not completely subsided; it was more like a nervousness. But I have decided that I would rather God be pleased with me than my peers. It's funny, only because I learned that lesson (AGAIN) watching Veggie Tales with my children! Now I'm not saying that it is easy, but what alternative do I have. I am trying to set a good example for my children; trying to teach them that when God tells you something, you should worry or care about what anyone else does or thinks. Hopefully, they'll pick this lesson up along the way. And I can be an example for them along their journey.