Holy Cow! Day 1

So, I'm like blown away about how many people read blogs!  I never guessed anyone would read this stupid little thing, but holy cow, it's cray cray.  I have received so many positive emails, messages, and texts it's unreal!  Thank you all for your encouragement. Now I REALLY feel like I have to do this!

I also feel like I need to explain something.  Although I have a degree in Language Arts and taught English for a few years, I am NOT a writer.  I am not eloquent, creative, or talented in any way.  But if you're looking for sarcastic, honest, and whiny- I'm your girl.  No but really, I've already spotted many grammatical/spelling errors and they are reallllly bugging me, but I'm not going to fix them.  This is just supposed to be fun for me.  So please don't make fun of my writing mistakes behind my back even though I laugh out loud in my husband's face when he messes up!! ;) (love you, Nate)

Ok, so moving on to the real reason I'm doing this. Day 1 was so much easier than I thought it would be.  I held back a little too much because I thought it was going to be so intense I would die.  But it really wasn't.  I think I'm actually quite prepared to do the workouts after doing the Jillian Michaels DVDs for four months.  So that was encouraging!  And I'm so glad Nate is doing this with me.  It makes getting up at 5 a.m. a whole lot easier.  I am definitely tired right now, but it will just make it easier to go to bed tonight.

I had eggs and kiwi for breakfast, paleo granola and carrots for lunch, an apple for a snack, and I'm making grilled chicken, sweet potatoe fries (with coconut oil), and asparagus for dinner.  Easy as pie.  Oh, I want some pie!

Here's the paleo granola recipe.  It is really good.  I baked it a touch too long, so that's the only thing I would change.  The instructions said to bake for 20-25 min and it didn't look done to me so I left it in for 35 minutes.  I would say 25 minutes probably would have been perfect.  I had this for lunch with coconut milk.  I have always loved cereal so this is a great substitute. 

http://paleomg.com/paleo-granola/

Thanks again to all that have been so kind and encouraging!

Today we bought a pull-up bar, most of the weights we'll need, and all the paleo food we can eat.  The paleo diet is going to be the hardest part by far.  No dairy, grains, or sugar.  Shoot me in the face now.  So because our world is going to change tomorrow, we had McDonald's for breakfast. spaghetti for lunch, Five Guys Burgers and Fries for dinner, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert.  I feel sick!  But I won't be able to have those glorious foods for 90 days so I had to get it allllll in!!

Here are my measurements:

Weight: 131 lbs
Chest: 34 in
Waist: 28 in
Hips: 37 in
Right thigh: 22 in
Left thigh: 22 in
Right arm: 12.5 in
Left arm: 12.5 in

After taking the photos, I have decided NOT to upload them yet!  Wow, it was not fun to see, but hopefully everything will change soon!  If I see a big enough improvement after the first 30 days, then I will post the before pics.

My goals: TO FINISH all 90 days.  To stick to the diet no matter how hard it seems.  A good friend of mine just starting competing in bikini fitness competitions and I asked for her advice. She said that the diet is the hardest part but it is what changed her body the most.  I believe it, because for 4 months I've worked out consistently, but my body hasn't changed enough because I still ate what I wanted for the most part.  I am determined to eat right!

So by the end of the 90 days, I want to weigh 120 lbs and feel good in a size 4.  I have to because I'm in my little sister's wedding August 17th and my dress is a size 4!!!  I don't have any other goals in mind regarding my measurements cause I don't really know what's a good number.  I just need them all to go down!!

Tomorrow at approximately 5:15 am we will begin our journey.  Yikes.  I'm nervous and kind of excited! :)

Why am I doing this?!?!



On our honeymoon



I'm asking myself if I've gone mad...but really, I WANT to do this.  I've wanted to do this for long time, but I finally have the motivation to actually follow through. 

Here's a little background info for those that are wondering...

I have always had a smaller frame and stayed pretty active.  I cheered, danced, and did gymnastics through high school.  So my average weight was about 115 lbs during college.  I was never satisfied with my body, but I also didn't work out all that much.  I would get into the habit of working out, but after a few months would take it out of my routine and it didn't really affect my figure too much.

I was in the best shape when I got married. Like most brides, I worked out, tried to eat right, and lost weight for my wedding day. At 23 years old, I was about 110 lbs. and felt comfortable in my clothes and felt healthy.  However, soon into our marriage, my husband got a new job, and we had to live 2 hours from each other.  This caused me to eat out a lot, which in turn helped me put on 10 lbs very quickly. I was running and training for a 5-mile race, but I could not keep the weight off due to all the chipotle and panera I was consuming.  I also lost my period and was having major hormonal issues, and I could not stop gaining weight.  So, I got up to about 125 lbs, then saw a natural doctor and he helped get my cycle back to normal, and then BAM- got pregnant unexpectedly with our first child!

39 weeks pregnant with baby #1 (168 lbs)

I got up to a whopping 168 lbs with the pregnancy and I was HOT!  No, not at all actually.  I know that some women look absolutely beautiful while pregnant.  I am not one of those women!!  I got huge...everywhere.  I didn't acually know how big I was until I saw pictures.  I was embarrassed.  I never wanted to be that big again.  I gaind 43 lbs with my daughter, and I naively thought I would be back down to a size 2 and 115 lbs in no time.

38 weeks pregnant with baby #2 (157 lbs)

HA- I was wrong!  I worked out pretty consistently for about 5 months and got down to 135 lbs, but never lost any more weight.  I stopped trying to lose the weight and I was ready to accept that I was just going to be 20 lbs more than I was before my child...and then BAM- got pregnant with baby #2!  I wasn't even done nursing my first child and was pregnant again.  But, this time the weight didn't go up right away.  I was so very sick for over 20 weeks with my son that I lost about 7 lbs and got down to 128 lbs.  But, by the end, I delivered my son weighing 157 lbs.  Not AS bad as my first pregnancy, but still so far awy from where I wanted to be.

After having my son, I waited 7 months to start trying to lose weight.  I got down to 135 lbs again without really trying.  But, I still wasn't comfortable at that weight, so on January 2, like every other American, I made the resolution to lose the baby weight.

For four months, I have worked out 4 days a week using Jillian Michaels DVDs and I feel good.  Good, but not great. So, here I am, mother of two, and a totally different body than I used to have.  My daughter is now 2.5 and my son is 11 months old.  I don't want to have another baby for at least 2 more years.  So it's time.  It's time for me to get this weight off and feel GREAT about myself again.

I want to be comfortable in my clothes.  I don't want anything hanging over my pants.  I don't want to have to hide my stomach in big shirts anymore.

So because I am a goal/task-oriented person, I thought P90X was a great choice.  It's rigorous, but there is an end-date.  I can do 90 days.  I can do it!  So, a few more days of eating whatever I want and being a fat kid, and on Monday the torture begins.  I'm excited!

Tomorrow I will post my start weight and other measurements...and maybe some pictures.  I'm not sure if I'm ready to do the pics or not!!  But, feel free to follow my journey!!

Getting started...

I have decided to start blogging.  Not for anyone to read really, but to help motivate myself on this journey I'm about to begin with my husband.  We are going to start P90X on Monday, April 30th and I DON'T want to give up!  Sooo...I thought if I HAD to share about it, even if ONE person reads this, I will be obligated to finish! 
So feel free to follow along, check in periodically, or just wait for the end results.  I might complain, brag, or be annoying...who knows!  But I am DETERMINED to be different by the end.  And I'm soooo glad my husband Nathan has agreed to do this with me!