4.30.2010

one more time with feeling

Forgive me for sounding redundant but I feel the need to once again clarify the point of this whole exercise. I know we are more than half way through here and I know I have been overly wordy (sorry, that's just in my nature) about what this whole thing is about but I have run into some speed bumps that have confused me. So I guess this is more for me than you but hey, you can post your success at the bottom of this rant for day 12 so there you go.

Anyway, it's late and I'm a touch peeved and I should probably sleep before posting but the problem is I won't sleep if I don't get it out. And since my husband is on call tonight and definitely won't be sleeping that means all of the driving to Disneyland will be left to me tomorrow. I gotta get it off my chest so I can sleep so listen up.

The point of this 21 day challenge was not to starve any of you, deprive any of you, hurt anyones feelings, push you beyond your limits or brain wash you into a diet. It was to help hold you accountable for your own eating habits. Whether they need a healthy boost with some extra veggies or a stiff shock with the zero sugar idea, it was to help. That's all. I thought that it would be nice to offer a support group and an incentive. I also thought it would be nice to coach you through and make sure that you truly challenge yourself. One of my besties who is doing this challenge originally posted her diet plan in the beginning. I called her out asking her for more and she politely declined my "invitation" to do more. She explained why her 21 day plan was right for her and why it would be an adequate challenge. I agreed with EVERYTHING she had to say and let her make her own decision. She has been successful and has even shown results on the scale and in the mirror. Good for her. For balancing the challenge with what works for her. Good for her for sticking to it and good for her for saying NO when I said MORE.

Have any of you seen the Shawshank Redemption? There is a line in that movie after Andy Dufresne escapes from prison that goes, "he crawled through a tunnel of es-ach-aye-tee and came out clean." That is applicable here in a sense. I don't want anyone to literally go crawling through poop. I do want everyone to come out of this clean. I want you to see a light at the end of a poop filled tunnel and fight hard through that dookie to make it there. You may get some in your eye, puke at the stench or have to stop and pinch your nose but keep going. Keep fighting. Keep holding yourself accountable and you will come out clean.

What is to happen when all of this is over? When the 21 days are done what will you do? Well shucks, I guess that is just up to you. Isn't that awesome?! It's your choice whether you fall back into your old ways, you find moderation and balance between a ton and none or you keep going on a hard core track. You choose.

Remember last weekend when it was Violet's birthday and I made the decision to indulge? Remember how for me that was justifiable grounds to splurge and enjoy good food in the company of people I love? You can do that too. Go ahead! I don't care! I want you to be happy. If you are miserable without your Diet Coke, please stop this silliness and drink a freakin' Diet Coke!

I was so stoked, surprised and inspired by Darise on Sunday when she passed up her Mother-in-laws homemade apple pie. Isn't that just awesome?! Then a couple days later, she ate Oreos. Oreos! She passed up the apple pie and ate the Oreos. Isn't that just hilarious?! I love it. It's perfect because it's real life. (Sorry Darise if this example makes you feel exposed but I figure you posted it in the public comments so it's fair game right? And besides, it's so rad. Just the realness of the whole thing. I mean that. We've all been there.)

Is any of this making sense? Can any of you honestly tell me that you are ready, willing and able to make it through the next few days? Can you? Do you even want to? Because I've got news, if you don't want to, no one is making you. I don't care as long as you are happy and satisfied. It's about you. Hmmm. That sentence sounds familiar. :) Please don't blame me. Please don't hate me. Please don't pass the buck and please, for the love of homemade apple pie, do what is best for you. I love you all and I want you to succeed.

4.29.2010

real age test

How old are you? Now how old are you inside? The Real Age Test takes approximately 5-10 minutes and can not only calculate your health according to your lifestyle, it can give you great tips as to how to live younger. I have taken this test twice and the second time around I am younger! The first time I took it I was 24 and my Real Age was 20.8. This time I am 26 and my Real Age is 19.4. Sweet hugh? I found this motivating and I think you should try it. (Beware of some of the questions, if you click yes without reading they can spam you stuff.) I bet all of you are much younger than your true age may suggest, especially with how clean you've been eating. :) And if that isn't motivation enough, consider this, you are more than half way through the challenge! Hooray for Spring diet cleaning!

p.s. To Heather, the beautiful bum face who called me out about my push-ups, I am not doing very well. At all. In fact, my last day was last week and I completed day 1 of week 4. I feel terrible that I let it drop and am recommiting myself now. Right here, right now. I have the website already pulled up and I'm rearing to go. Wish me luck that I can accomplish day 2 of week 4 after being dorment for so many days. Yes I can! Yes I can! And if I can't, I'll try again and again until I can.

4.28.2010

Ahem...

Excuse me? Where are you? I love you. I miss you. I want you back. If you fell off the wagon today, get back on right now. Not first thing in the morning. Not after your last cookie. Now. xoxo

4.27.2010

success!

Motivation for today, success! The word, SUCCESS. All of you have obtained it and keep grabbing more each day. You are successful. You are healthy. You are winning and you are choosing to do it all on your own. You. Congratulations on your success. I love it.

4.25.2010

sweet success

Doesn't your success taste almost as sweet as your favorite dessert? I mean really, do we even need the sugary concoctions when we can get such gratification from rocking this 21 day challenge? No. The answer is surely no. :) Congratulations to all of my successful challengers and congratulations to those of you who have slipped and come back. It's good to make this a daily fight if for some reason temptation gets the best of you. I KNOW everyone is going to come out the other end of this feeling clean, mean and accomplished.


As you all know last night was Violet's birthday party. A few of my friends were discussing their "trigger times" or the times of day that they feel the most temptation to binge on sweets. Here were some of the most common times of day:

Anytime between the hours of 2-5 p.m.
This is because everyone experiences a natural slump in energy during this time of day. I think we crave sweets because we want a pick me up.

The evenings between 8-bedtime.
I think this is because we are three things, tired, thirsty and sitting down. Our hands aren't moving, our minds are moving slowly and (most of us) are finally kid free.

Anytime you are thirsty.
Have you ever woken up from a nap and wanted a giant bag of gummy bears? Or been driving home from the gym only to stop at a Circle K and buy a huge freakin' slurpy instead of a giant water bottle?

After a meal.
I don't know if there is a biological reason for this or if it's because us fat Americans like a sweet dessert after a salty dinner? Whatever the reason, it is a common pitfall for many of us.


Ask yourself when and why you crave sweets. Once you have it identified, take control. Help yourself know what you really need before you sugar yourself up. I know that not all of you are warding off sweets but this can be a helpful tidbit to anyone. Or at least I hope it's helpful. Do any of you have other trigger times? Lemme know.

4.22.2010

daily dose

Here is your motivation boost for today.

I have a birthday party planned for Violet this weekend and I have invited a few of my closest friends. There will be cake and treats and junk and goodies. Tonight at the gym I talked with a couple of the friends who will be in attendance at this feast and you know what those Hard Cores said? Nugh ugh! Not gonna happen! My husband can eat my cake but I will not partake!

Pure craziness. The next time you feel like cheating, remember what you're up against down here in Tucson. Pure desert grit right there. I guess I'll only make one dozen cupcakes rather than two?

As for me, Saturday will be a sweet, simple carbohydrated day. :) I choose my battles and this one is easier left to the Hard Cores to fight. Love it. Love them. Love all of you.

p.s. Would you all please stop thanking me! It's so nice but turn that gratitude around and thank yourself! You guys are rocking this thing!!! I'm rubber, you're glue....

4.21.2010

keep it up

Nice work for day 2 my little chickadees. (I can say little because you are all shrinking by the second!) Again, I was a proud woman last night as my Blackberry went bananas with all of your success.

Motivation for today.

Whenever one of those horrible, can't help but ogle, makes you never want to eat again Victoria's Secret Commercials comes on, Michael and I have the same conversation time and time again. We talk about how if my job was to look like that, I mean my actual LIVELY HOOD, was to look like a Victoria's Secret model, I still couldn't do it. You thought I was going to say I could do it didn't you? Well you're wrong. Even before having two kids, I would have never cut the mustard.

This is an excerpt from an interview with Heidi Klum done by Marie Claire magazine:

“I always think, Look at how people were before they were pregnant,” Klum says. “If you were a toned, healthy, energetic person, most likely you will be like that again.” Cold comfort to the untoned and unhealthy, but the straight dope is sort of refreshing. “A lot of people come to me, and they’re like, ‘Will I look like you after I have the baby?’ And I say, ‘Well, how were you before?’ You can’t kid yourself.”

It's true isn't it? We are all different and very few of us have ever or will ever look like Heidi Klum no matter how hard we try. But that's okay because this challenge isn't about that. Make this challenge about you and you alone. Make it about your personal best. Not Heidi Klum's personal best, not the personal best of Skinny Butt Magee who lives down the street, not even the personal best of your sister who's always been smaller than you. You. Just you. It's all for you and about you. Doesn't the limelight feel nice sometimes? :)

4.20.2010

one proud hen

Oh dear. I didn't realize how happy I would feel after hearing everyones success stories. I can't even begin to describe my elation! I am like a proud mama hen with all my darling chicks! Congratulations for sticking to it and for making it so easy. Yes you can! Yes you can!

I was thinking about what I could post for motivation and then I thought of this little phrase that sometimes revs our engines. It goes, "I bet you fifty bucks....."

Well guess what, depending on what item of clothing you choose from ayayay, I am betting you almost 50 bucks! I hope that thought helps ignite the competitive spirit inside all of you. :) Just so you know, I would never bet against a single one of you. I know you can do this!

On a little side note, I have a calender where I am writing down every one who checks in each day. I am sure there is some kind of cool blog application thingy I could add where you could check in each day but you all know my technical abilities. Just call me Cave Woman Kat. For now, good ole paper 'n pencil 'ill have ta do. :)

4.18.2010

mmm mmm good

Did you know that sometimes, success tastes so sweet that you don't need sweets to cure your sweet tooth. Sweet. I bet that's what is going to happen to all of you.

Hooray for a challenge and hooray for already succeeding by taking the plunge! I am going to do my best to keep posting motivating tidbits daily as we go through this refiners fire.

Did you know that it takes 3500 calories to lose a pound?

Did you know that by adding your upper body into a workout you burn 20 percent more calories? (I'm not saying that everyone should start running like Phoebe but maybe just use your arms more intensely during classes or something. :) )

Have you ever craved Krispy Kreme at midnight, pregnant or not? Did you cave and fill that craving? Was the doughnut as good as you had imagined? That's what I thought. Sinning doesn't feel good does it? Wickedness never was happiness.

The next time you are going to indulge, consider the rarity of the indulgence. If you can buy/make it anytime of year then it's probably not binge worthy. Ask yourself, "is this Peep worth the calories? Don't they make these all year now instead of just at Easter? What is really in this thing? Would it ever rot if I left it sitting on the counter? Will I eat just one Peep and then be done or will all of these little yellow chicks eventually end up in ma bellay?" These questions are good to ponder. They are also good to answer. Don't forget the answer.


Hopefully some of these will help you to jump start your 21 day challenge. I can't wait to see who the winner is! I have this sneaking suspicion it may be all of you. :) xoxo

And p.s. don't forget your push ups!

4.16.2010

twenty one REVISED

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. There you go. Accountability challenge.

Every day for twenty one days you will fight for the good and against the bad so set your goal and post it in the comments. It can be no soda, no carbs (which I'm not a super fan of but it's your prerogative) no eating after 8 p.m., more solid servings of healthy fruits and veggies (fries don't count as a veggie), no sugar!!!! whatever it is, post it and do it. Report your daily success here and you can get one step closer to winning an item of clothing from ayayay. I know, I know, I am SOOOO not a giveaway girl. I really don't like them, especially on personal, measly blogs like my own but this is in the name of life and love and fitness and health so I'm doin' it. Incentive enough? Hope so.



So here's a rundown of the rules:

Post your personal 21 day diet challenge here by Monday and I will approve it.

Then starting Monday post a comment everyday that you succeed in your goal. This will count as an entry with a total of 21 entries possible.

If more than one of you make it to 21 then I will do a random drawing.

This whole thing is on an honor system so please be honorable and honest. If your goal is no soda and you have even a sip, that counts as a screw up. I'm serious!

Are we all clear? Is this good? Are you motivated? I can scratch this whole idea and figure out something else because frankly I wouldn't mind purchasing an ayayay item for myself. Lemme know watcha think. Oh and when you post your personal diet challenge can you leave me your email address just in case we need to discuss some things. Thanks! One last thing, you are more than welcome to tell your friends about this but it doesn't count as more entries or anything. This isn't a giveaway to get more readers it's a giveaway to challenge my current readers and friends.

One final word here, be ambitious.

And the revision begins here. So I know that technically I'm not requiring a whole lot of you but I thought that everyone would require more of themselves than this. I feel like no one is doing something that is really pushing their boundaries. I know I sound like a total turd but I want MORE! I really do. I don't think that not eating sweets after a certain time or only eating them once a day or only having one soda a day or eating an apple a day are good enough. You have an opportunity to collectively, as a group, support each other through a change. A heavy change. I can't remember exactly how much Weight Watchers costs but I'm pretty sure it's not free.

Maybe the problem is that I haven't committed to anything? Or that we have different goals? Maybe one person wants to be healthy and another wants to be skinny? I think that if you identify what it is that you want, then maybe you will be able to set a more specific, less wussy goal. I don't want anyone to starve and I don't want anyone to gain a complex but I do want everyone to confront themselves. To weed out the bad and add in the good. A CHANGE, not an edit or an alteration. CHANGE!

Here is me, mine, what I will do. I have lost quite a bit of weight lately and it's wonderful but my belly, she still ain't tight enough. They say that abs are made in the kitchen and I really believe that. As much as I believe in "calories in, calories out" for weight loss, I think if you want to cut your belly muscles you have to weed out alot of junk. I am vowing to cut out simple carbs. That means no more mac n cheese, no more french fries, no more Chick-fil-a chicken sandwiches and no more Reeses puffs for breakfast. Even though I am still able to keep my calories in check while consuming these foods, I am positive that they are what's keeping my kangaroo pouch full. So there. I'm doing it too and I don't even win anything in the end.

Give me more! Challenge yourself. If you are truly scared to fully give up something for 21 measly days, then you may want to reconsider your whole world. Food isn't everything. It's good but we CAN go without certain foods for 21 days. I would rather have you set your goals too high and fail a couple of the days then choose something TOTALLY DOABLE and totally weenie. Do I hope you will make it all 21 days and then continue? Sure. Of course. Absolutely! Am I going to monitor everyone to make sure it keeps going? No. Of course not. Are you crazy?

Now gear up and go get em. You can do anything for 21 days! Anything! Yes I can! Yes I can! Say it over and over.

4.14.2010

friendly advice


I was on the phone with my bestie the other day and she was lamenting the fact that she hadn't lost any weight over the last week despite hard effort. We were going over her diet and exercise regimen and decided that her diet was the culprit for her inability to shed it. Out of nowhere I found some sage advice. I told her that if you make changes, change will happen. It sounds so simple but more often than not we forget how simple shrinking ourselves really is. And maybe that's what makes it so hard?

This week (or the next time you decide you want to minimize) try thinking of making a change. Leave it at that and nothing more. I will change the size of plate I eat off of. I will change my Froot Loop breakfast into a whole wheat toast breakfast. I will stop eating after dinner no matter what. A little change can have a big impact so make a change to see a change.

4.09.2010

some extra bits

First I want to explain a few things about my push up training. I just finished week three and am about to start week four. But because of my other workouts, I won't start until Monday. I just can't pump out the five sets after teaching a full class that includes anywhere between 24-48 push ups. I'm sorry I have to take my "weeks" slower but I really do want to succeed at this. I know I will fail if I try and combine the 100 push up program with my already full regimen. SO there's that. The next little thing is this. If any of you are struggling with your push ups or can't seem to pump out the sets required of you on a specified day you know what to do right? You just repeat that day the next time you get down to do your workout. Since it's all about slowly building up to being able to do 100 consecutively you have to take it at your own pace. Just because the website specifies a certain amount doesn't mean you have to do that many if you can't keep good form while doing them. You can't cheat your way through this thing so modify, modify, modify.

The next tidbit is about dieting. I know I need to offer good tips and dieting tools right here on this bliggity blog. The trouble is, I am the worst dieter on the face of the earth. I shared my fruit "trick" here a few days ago and I don't think anyone took me seriously. Let me tell you something you will take serious, Diet is 80 percent of weight loss. There is no miracle pill (unless that is a caffeineated multi vitamin made by One A Day which I am not promoting to all of you Mormon readers out there) or miracle hormone injection (cough* cough* HCG). There is an age old saying that women hate to hear. It goes like this: calories in, calories out. That is the secret. You can cut out carbs, trim the fat, up the fiber or drink more water but the truth is, to lose weight, you have to spend more than you gain. You need to create a calorie debt! How awesome that you get to go into debt over something without feeling guilty! Hooray! Ya, I think I'll look at it that way from now on. :)

My last tidbit is this. What do you want from me? I want to give you what you want. Don't get me wrong, this blog is totally for my own satisfaction but half of that satisfaction comes from my readers. So what can I do more for you? What do you want to know about that I know about since, according to my favorite sister in law, I am a know it all. :) I did get a little suggestion to explore apposing muscle groups and how they interact and I can do that. Other than that, I don't know what I can do. So tell me before I run out of ideas and leave this blog dormant for another 7 or something months. I love you. All of you. And I feel your love when you tell me about your push up success. Thanks for reading, thanks for motivating and thanks for sticking with me. Ugh! Ugh!

4.08.2010

extra! extra!

I had the honor of writing a little diddy for the fabulous Jen of Have Your Cake. Her blog is fresh and thought out and I love her daily blurbs. She is honest and to the point about mantaining a healthy life style without being intimidating. Check it out! www.havyourcake.blogspot.com

4.06.2010

ayayay'm in love


Pretty sure most of you if not all of you know about this athletic clothing line I'm so excited about. It's a company out of SLC that sells the most adorable, high quality and fun exercise gear ever. I am so infatuated that I could go into debt just to own a full ayayay wardrobe. I know their website has been acting a little funny lately but their online catalog is up and running. Check her out. There is something for even the most conservative girl out there.