bye bye ass and thighs.

Since I have been steadily losing weight one things seems to be that my buns and legs are getting thinner then the rest of me. Its nice. I love how my legs and buns are starting to look. I need some tips on losing weight in my belly which is my problem area. What should I be doing at the gym or at home that will help shed the pounds in the middle. I am not comfortable doing tummy exercises in the gym so anything  I can do at home would be so helpful.

I am so proud of some of my most recent accomplishments. First, I have been doing some type of activity that burns calories each day. Even when I don't make it to the gym I am still walking, or riding a bike or whatever I seem to get myself into these days. Last night at grad night I ran a bit with the students and even pushed the wheel chair most of the night and wasn't tired, or sore or anything. my feet hurt, thats my fault. I often make horrible shoe choices... my back hasn't felt better in a few months. i can feel how strong my body is getting and it is wonderful. My endurance alone is mind blowing. I can run and move better then I have been able to in years and I am so proud of myself.

GOals....accomplished.... well, almost. :)

Well, I was looking over my goals and I am almost to my next big weight loss goal which is another 20 pounds by june 1st. (remember, these are all tentative and I won't be disappointed if they aren't met within time) these goals I gave myself and with that freedom comes flexibility. :) I am now 5.6 pounds away from losing 50 pounds, which is a huge goal for me!!! I am right on track and couldn't feel better!!! Between vemma and walking I am a machine. I will start back with a regular gym schedule now that I will have extra gas money for that. I miss the weight machines, but so stoked that it doesn't take a gym to do cardio! I am now at the weight I was before I lost my job 3 years ago!
My back is doing so much better today too. I have been taking it easy and am now ready to get back in action. I also can't wait till saturday when I get to go see a dodger game and feel the difference it will be in the seats. I am noticing that more. I feel so much thinner over all that even sitting in places where the seats where tight, they are now loose and I KNOW, it will only get better from here. :)

My next big number goal is 15 pounds by august 1st. I know that is totally possible, especially with how summer is looking with lots of walking and swimming, i am sure there will be more then just 15 pounds that go floating away. I can't wait also for my body shaping that will help build my muscles and kick up the weight loss, or at least help me lose inches! I don't care about numbers so much anymore as I do what size clothes I'm wearing. There isn't anyone in the world, that I know of that can look at me as say,
"oh, you weigh this much" it is obvious when you wear an XL over a SMALL. It's all about perception. I do look at weight loss to make sure I am on the right track, however if my clothes are getting smaller that is the real goal.

got to take a walk yesterday for the first time in a week after hurting my back. It was so nice to be outside and doing something I love.

FOOOOOOD!!!

Many have asked, so here it is. Recipe for pulled steak tacos in a cabbage leaf!

Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage
1 london broil or type of meat.
1/4 cup shredded cheese light.
1 Tomato
1 Avocado




1. Take any cut you life of london broil or any other type of meat.
2. Season and brown in a pan for 3 mins each side.
3. Place meat in crock pot on low for 4-6 hours or until tender and cooked.
pull meat apart.
4. Pull core out of cabbage and detach the leaves keeping them whole. (sometimes this takes time)
5. In a "shell" place meat, cheese and nuke in Micro for 20 sec to make cheese melt and soften the cabbage a bit. (optional)
6. Add tomatos and avocado.
7. enjoy.

The calories mostly come from the meat, cheese, and avocado.
Keep it low in cals by using less cheese and lean meats!

I hope everyone enjoys this. I will be posting more recipes as I come across them!

VEMMA to the RESCUE!

I am totally hooked on this stuff called Vemma. It has to be one of the best weight loss supplements around. It has tons of protein and vitamins in it that help you feel full and satisfied even through out the whole day. I have been taking this stuff since thursday of last week and I have lost 3.1 pounds. I have been watching my carb intake. Making sure I drink enough water and walking a bunch. These are all the things I was doing before, just now i am fuller, longer and don't need to snack as often. I fully stand behind this product and love the effects and how I feel after I've taken it.

True Testimonial: Last tuesday i had really horrible sleep the night before, tons of homework and was feeling just run down and awful. around 3:30pm sharon asked me how I was feeling and I told i just didn't feel like myself. she gave me a Bod*e Burn and within 10-15 mins I was feeling 100% percent better. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical about all of this and not sure I wanted to take something to help me lose weight since i have been doing really well already, why add something that I am not sure how it will help me. I haven't wanted to take any type of diet pill because I know that if I am going to lose weight, I am going to do it on my own. No gimmicks, no cheating. Not to say that you can't use something as a booster, however I wanted to know that I could do it on my own and learn how to eat and exercise of my own free will.

This system works. I have seen the results in my own life in less then a week and I am in love.
If anyone is interested in getting started, let me know. I would love to help you get the body you want in the time you want.

karilee.jones@gmail.com

it's almost June??

I can't believe it's almost June! Where has the time gone. half way through this year. I am almost to my half way goal for this year. I want to loose 100 pounds by december. I feel that it is doable. I know that if i don't reach that I am still successful as i have lost more pounds this year then before and my goal for this year was to get healthy, so here I am. I have been so successful, minor speed bumps here and there, however over all I am better off today then I was this time last year.

This is such a long journey that at times, it seems like I just want to throw in the towel and be done with it. Then I think of how far I have come and I can't do that to myself. I love how I am feeling and I know that it will only get better.

I have also decided to take the focus off the scale and focus more on how my clothes feel. I am more muscle then fat and it can be discouraging. I am going to only be weighing myself every 2 weeks from now on. I want to be able to see a bigger difference and checking once a week hasn't been showing me a change I want to see. I haven't been gaining, however i have been fluctuating between a few pounds, some of which i discovered is from not drinking enough water the last few days, and with the so cal heat I now I need to keep drinking more.

I am hoping that after trying my new eating plan and drinking more water after a few weeks i will start to see some results. Im going to be going to nothing processed unless absolutely necessary. I want to try to stay away from fast food and just eat healthy. Fast food is my enemy and weakness. I have been doing pretty well, however there are days when I just go for it and feel miserable afterward. I have started keeping shakes in my car and using those when friends want to go out to eat and I don't think Ill be able to find anything healthy there.

Its all a change of mind.

Good day all!

SUNDAYS FUNDAYS CHA CHA CHA!!

Happy Birthday Centerpoint.
What a great morning fellowshipping with other church family and eating!! I did pretty well this morning. Only had a hamburger, chips and a water. Not so bad.
I will have cake tonight, make no mistake of that. Im starting to feel a bit hungry. I grab so poco loco before church.
Finished my homework and am enjoying the weather outside while I blog. I love watching palm trees blow in the wind and soak up the sun.
Got to walk around and got some activity in so that was nice. Walk off the burger and chips. Is there a workout on MFP that counts for standing? I did a lot of that today. and talking. Im sure I burn a ton of calories talking!! :)
Have a great sunday!

starbucks saturdays.

I love my local starbucks. They are all so friendly. I also love that they have pretty low cal snacks. I can't get enough of the turkey and swiss sandwich these days. it is rather filling and only 360  and 33 grams of protein. so its a pretty good lunch. I may have had one for breakfast :)
i wish I could find the bread they use. it is so tasty. It's hard to find good bread that doesn't taste like cardboard and is still good for you. What is that about? whole wheat is supposed to be good for you? so then why is it so HIGH in calories? i guess the more important question I should be asking is why am I SO ADDICTED TO CARBS? even though with watching my calories I have been doing rather well with not eating as many and still not feeling deprived. :)

Success!!!

I am so glad that when I got on the scale this morning I had lost 7.6 pounds total from last friday. I knew there were are few things going against me the last few weeks, water gain, muscle, and of course that dreaded TOM. I was so discouraged that I didn't care what the reasons were I wanted those pounds gone and fast.
They are now gone and I have dropped into a new 10's place. So excited. Trucking along.

Trying to find the time in my busy saturday to go to the gym before going to a wedding and lunch and then grocery shopping. I might die from being pulled in so many directions. I guess it's just one day and I won't die from it. :)

sdjflsdkf(thats from Leo, he's saying Hi! as he steps all over my computer making this difficult.)

going to rewrite my goals tomorrow and make some short term ones. I feel most of them are too long term and that might be adding to my discouragement.

Made it through the volunteer dinner without blowing my calories or sanity. I did great. had a few tacos, and some sweets and managed to have self control when being stared in the face with cookies, cake and brownies and my baptist urge to eat and socialize. :)

I am .6 pounds away from being at 40 pounds lost! YIKES. that is so exciting and yet I find it hard to get rid of my "Fat" clothes. I know I need to. I love my clothes and hate giving them away. I have a home for them so thats not so bad. I just love them but can't wait to start buying new, smaller ones. I got so many complements tonight from other volunteers that I was grinning from ear to ear. It's nice to hear that others can see a change in me not only physically but also mentally. I am in such a good place that even when the devil thinks he's going to get me, I have another thing coming for him!
I love all the support I have that NOTHING will take this away from me. My journey is far to great to let little set backs get to me.

I think I'll go to micheals and get some charms for my new charm bracelet.  I can't wait for it to arrive!!!

Things are looking up.

Taking a break from homework to blog a bit.

This week and last I have felt out of sorts. I got a bit discouraged after that gain and I just can't seem to get over it. I have fluctuated weight since I started lose weight. It hasn't seemed to bug me until now. So, why in the last 4 months am I so upset about it? I can't figure out why. I have since lost that stubborn 5 pounds and still, i am a bit upset still. Maybe because this has been my biggest set back from the beginning? As a psychology student I sit here trying to figure it all out. Since friday I have lost 5.8 pounds. I got my eating back on track and working out harder then ever. It has certainly paid off.

Yesterday I was going through my storage unit and I found a bag of clothes that didn't fit any more and I couldn't bare to get rid of them. I put on a few things and the one I wanted to have more then ever was a dodger shirt I bought back around christmas time and now it finally fits. I was so STOKED. I put it on right away and was sad it wasn't warmer so I could strut around in it. Knowing that I can still wear some of my favorite clothes for a bit now that they fit was like shopping all over again. I got to have a great little heart to heart with a good friend of mine and it made my night. Having people that love me and care about me is incredible. Knowing there is someone else that has been through what I'm going through makes life easier and I'm glad to not be the one needed to relate and take care of everyone else.  I am so blessed with the best church family around.



Made the best, low cal lasagna last night. Crushed red peppers can really make a meal.

1 pound ground turkey
prego heart healthy sauce
1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese
1/4 parmesan cheese
12 whole wheat lasagna noodles (uncooked)

cook up the ground turkey with lemon pepper, crushed red pepper and garlic salt. to taste, i never measure spices. (I try to cook out all of the water so it doesn't water down the sauce.)
after the meat is cooked, I added in the sauce and let it simmer for about 10 mins. let all the flavors cook together.
In a crock-pot I pour in about a 1/4 cup of sauce without the meat. (i usually need to put some water in the jar and shake it, i use that sauce for the bottom of the crock-pot)
Each layer of lasagna has 3 noodles broken to fit the shape of the crock-pot. after the noodles, add a layer of meat sauce. then a thin layer of cheese. continue this 3 more times. at the top of the lasagna, add the rest of the cheese as well as the parmesan cheese. Cook on high for 2 hours or until you can pierce a knife through the lasagna without resistance. Once it's cook, keep on warm and serve when ready. it takes less then 10 mins to prep and can cook while you do other things. It was a huge hit last night. Our crock-pot makes about 14 servings which is about 1 cup of lasagna and its about 229 calories a serving. It is very healthy, and has little sodium and high protein. One thing I didn't do last night that I usually do is put veggies in the meat. i didn't think about it but thats another way to add good stuff to your food, and if you have picky kiddos, they never notice them when they have been through the food processor and cook down.  I hope you try it an enjoy!

I'll try to post other recipes when I think about it! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

It's been a few days since I have posted. I have been fighting a few pounds that have been looming over me. I know that I have been doing weight lifting and that adds weight, when you sit around and everyone around is dropping a pound here and there it becomes depressing. I can focus on the positive and move forward. I have been afraid to try on my smaller sized pants because these pounds have been haunting me and yesterday I bit the bullet and put them on. THEY FIT. I couldn't believe it. They are actually a bit loose on me. That makes me so happy, I have a goal outfit that I want to be able to wear to the hello kitty dodger game on july 1st and I can see that I am on the right track.

Working out 5 days a week and eating right is really the ONLY way to lose weight and be successful. I have had several people ask me about what I'm doing and how I am doing it and really it is common sense. I eat right,  I workout and I try to get enough sleep. besides starving myself and taking diet pills that is the only way I can effectively lose weight and keep it off.

I find that even on days when I don't eat so great, I am still no where near eating the way I used to. We all have our days where we fail. However, knowing how much support I have to keep me going is the only reason I have been successful. The key is to be honest with yourself. If you can't admit that you have a problem with eating, food, like any other type of addiction needs to be confronted with honesty and accountability. Having an accountability partner, someone you can call or text and be honest with about exercise and eating. Without this, most people, including myself have and will fail.

As someone that has struggled with their weight for the most of their lives, I completely understand how hard this process is. Losing weight is not something that happens over night. I didn't gain all this weight over night, I can't expect to lose it this way either. Wanting to wake up and be skinny only sets you up for failure.  It is hard to think that one day I won't look this way.
I have come to know my chubby figure and face for quite some time now. It is so strange to me to even see pictures from 40 pounds ago and seeing a huge difference. I don't know if I can or will ever see my self as a skinnier version. I want to think that I will, but it is hard to tell.

I even look at pictures of myself from years ago when I was thinner and I don't ever remember what that felt like. i know this is going to take some time. It will be interesting to see how others start to interact with me when Im thinner. I try to think that my personality won't change, how can anyone be for certain that they will stay the same. Situations change personalities and I would hate to think that I would be that type of person. I have my morals and my own beliefs that will keep me grounded.

I already have pretty high self esteem, it will be interesting to see just how much that increases with the change in my body.

Enough for now.
Have a great wednesday everyone!