Counting down to Thankgiving

My, my, my time flies! It's almost Turkey day! I know I've neglected this blog and I know I need to keep checking in at least weekly but life has been way too busy... But I think the time from Thanksgiving to the New Year is the most challenging if you are not being mindful! Blogging helps with that for me so I will commit to at least weekly posts!

I'm opting to go back to a Paleo "diet" it's really the best eating plan I've ever done. The only downside is it requires a lot of preparation. It's not technical a bad thing but makes it hard to wing it or decide what to eat in the go.

On the up side you feel soooo good. No bloating or sluggish feeling. I honestly still have not gone back to yogurt. I still like cheese but use it sparingly.

We just got back from our honeymoon in Costa Rica! I ate soooo much rice and peas or pinto de Gallo!! So delish! But my body does not respect carbs lol even my husband said he's never seen me eat that much rice! Lol I happened to lose 6 pounds after the wedding but as of today I'm up 13!!! I swear it dont take much. So I'm back on My Fitness Pal as of today and I did well in terms of food

Breakfast
1fried egg, 4slices bacon and half an apple

Snack
Orange
Dark chocolate

Lunch
Chicken stuffed pepper
Dinner
Saucy shrimp, wedge salad and glass of red wine

Milestones, Marriage, Mammograms and (Power)Moves!

Its been a longgggg time! I knowwwww. Life has been good but way too busy even for me.

July 4th 2015 I got married! Beautiful ceremony on the most beautiful island with my beautiful friends and family members. I had a blast so did everyone else. Weight wise I've been even Steven since last year. I've really been off the wagon but not beating myself up my dress fit perfectly and I felt beautiful!

Two weeks prior to that I hit a major milestone. I turned 40! I feel like I have been waiting my while life to finally be 40! It's such a dope age. I remember turning 21 thinking more than half way to 40 now!! I'm just glad, blessed, satisfied that I'm in such a great place mentally, emotionally, physically and career wise! I have no complaints just lots of good feelings about all the time, effort and sacrifice to be here. I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest!

I was inspired to blog today because I went for my first mammogram today. It really wasn't that bad. It was uncomfortable but I went after learning someone I know who is in her 30s was diagnosed with breast cancer and has to have surgery last week. That freaked me out! She fit, healthy, works out, does service to the community and lives a good life. But that's the thing with cancer it doesn't care your age, race, soci-economic status, education or affiliation it can happen to anyone.

I went for my annual physical and got my blood work and aside from being overweight I'm in great health everything is within normal healthy ranges and even my cholesterol was a whopping 97! I swear I should be 115 pounds but I guess that wouldn't be fair lol

But I went today. And felt compelled to blog to ask every woman to get a mammogram and get tested regularly. Your health is your wealth!

On another positive note I went back to my personal trainer Charles "ChiZel It" Harris last Monday. I was sore alllllll week lol but it was good to get back to the gym.

I joined in on the #LinksFitBy50 challenge! The Links, Incorporated is a non profit women's organization that has a long list of notable women as members. It's not a sorority and its not a professional club either but it's definitely an organization about business in terms of service to the community in terms of meaningful programs and financial support. Very impressive. I'm honored to have been inducted and I'm looking forward to learning and growing in this new chapter of my life.

I'm working hard with Junior League and being President is more demanding and stressful than I could have imagined. It's non stop but I'm putting safe guards to my health in place. Cutting back on emails, meetings etc making things more manageable in light of my health, new marriage, other obligations and it's going to be an adjustment but I surely have time. One of the last President's used to say we are not carrying hearts around in boxes so basically keep that in mind when dealing with yourself and others because it's not that deep. I'm definitely understanding her point now more than before.

Well that's all for now! I will promise to do better. Please ladies do your self exams and if you are 40 go for your mammograms!!! Early detection is key!! The process takes maybe 15 minutes from check it to getting dressed. The tech took two images of each breast. The do squeeze your breasts in a clear plate like contraption. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would but it was uncomfortable and you have to hold your breath as they take the image she seemed to walk kinda slow back to take the pictures lol they are very hands on so don't be modest lol that goes out the window in there. But nothing like the horror story I built in my head. So all my 1975 and older folks don't delay!!!!

Why I can't stand Paleo...

Well it's been a minute!! I can't lie and say I've been hitting the gym hard and doing well since last year. In fact it's been the complete opposite and on March 1st I said get it together girl and get back on track.

So much has happened since my last post! Like ughhh I got engaged!!!! Lol I saw a draft entry entitled "First Time Bride" I guess I forgot to complete it so I will come back to that another time I suppose! It's been a rip roaring adventure. I love love love him and I love love love us! It's been everything I could imagine I'd want. So why has my working out and eating right routine slacked off? I don't know! He's been on a good roll after I introduced him to Paleo and I just fell way off. My weight stabilized and I guess I kept pushing the envelop to see what could happen.

What would life be like for me if I could just eat and drink what I want? How freeing would it be to have no worries about calories and carbs? Who would I be? I mean so much of my life has been spent on dieting and exercising or thinking about dieting and exercising or complaining about dieting and exercising lol How would I feel if it all just didn't matter?

That's why I can't stand Paleo...

Paleo reminds me I'm not special. See in the other areas of my life things just kinda happen for me not that I dont put in effort but not nearly as much as I have to put in when it comes to "living a healthy lifestyle" that's pretty normalizing to me in fact it's down right demoralizing when I generally feel pretty extraordinary in other endeavors.


That's why I can't stand Paleo...

Paleo tells me I don't get to cut corners.
Paleo tells me I'm forced to make the effort, go the extra mile, take the extra time and slow down...I don't like to slow down by the way :-D

So that's why I can't stand Paleo because it makes me be viligant when I want to be lazy.  Paleo tells me what I feed my body matters...how much I exercise matters...what I cook matters...

Ughhh Paleo! I can't stand you! But losing five pounds in five days tells me Paleo is like that annoying Professor who dares to care enough so she pushes you to your full potential... You remember the one you emailed years later to say thank you for being an inspiration. Yeah... So on March 1st after driving three hours in the freezing rain from William & Mary Law School after participating in an American Bar Assoication panel I went to the supermarket and stocked up on fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats and nuts to get back on track! After all that I came home started cooking soup soup and got on my treadmill...after taking off some clothing and dusting it off lol

It hasn't been a perfect six days... I've been cranky (apologies), I've had some carbs, and some cheese but definitely not what I would normally have.

I lost 5 pounds, feel less bloated, I'm drinking more water, sleeping better and I'm trying new recipes. All good things.

Paleo is a good thing...I woke up at 5am, brushed my teeth, got on the treadmill...for 70 minutes! Paleo encourages better behavior because your body responds so quickly. I woke up thinking all I got is 35 minutes in me but I took my iPad with me and I went on Instagram and looked at #Paleo and before I knew it I surprised my goal and it felt good.

I will do better with blogging! Promise!

Paleo Revisited!

Hey y'all! What a great weekend! I had the best workout Friday night with my trainer and a dynamic team of exercise experts! We did kickboxing, Zumba and a socarobics type class! I did just about two out of the three hours and felt good. Saturday I did Body Combat and it went well. Sunday the ManFriend and I hit the local high school track to walk!

I am back on Paleo and it's going well! I just opted on October 1st just because it was a new month! I lost a good bit of weight and wanted to capitalize on the momentum! Feeling good about it! I got a few emails about Paleo so I figured I would repost another quick and dirty Paleo guide! The quick and dirty is you focus on eating the way cavemen did by focusing on meats and veggies! So you will forego dairy... Yes no yogurt or cheese or other processed foods. Now there are a variety of versions of Paleo some do allow dairy and who is to say what's really right but I can tell you my stomach definitely was less bloated in a few days after eliminating dairy. The most challenging aspect is snacking. I've pretty much have used fruit for my sweet tooth and it's gone pretty well.

I am also back on My Fitness Pal. It's been helpful and encouraging.  I am cooking a lot more. I will check back in soon with some new recipes!

Photo from Friday night

Great workout! !! My winning 

Sorority who braved the event!

Back to the lab again!!!!!

OMG it is October 1st! OMG I have not posted since end of July! OMG so much is going onnnnnn! OMG!!!! Where did the summer go?! 2014 is flying by and I must say its been  a great year! If nothing is amazing happened to me for the rest of the year I have had a "Next Level Greatness" experience!

Quick catch up I had umbilical hernia surgery in September so I haven't blogged much because I haven't worked out much. That was a terrible experience! The Dr. made it seem very basic, in and out, and 1-2 days recovery! Bulllllll!!!!! I was laid up for almost 3 weeks! Had I known I would not have done it. But the hernia was getting bigger and bigger and I couldn't really workout without some discomfort and I like lifting weights and that just aggravated the problem so I had to get it right.

The upside was I lost like 14 pounds in 3 weeks! Praise Jesus! I had no appetite and I lived on sugar free ice pops and really just wasted away. Not that I am complaining! It broke my long running plateau. And to be fair I shouldn't call it a plateau. I been eat and drinking whatever I like and not working out so basically I was maintain meanwhile I should have been grinding.

But it is October 1st and I am getting back on my grind. Starting with my Personal Trainer's event this Friday!!! If you are in the area come on out! Its open to all! It will be a great mix of  kickboxing, zumba, and high impact cardio! If you are a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha there will be two special raffles just for us!! Don't miss it!!!

Today I decided to do Paelo. Just today. We will see about tomorrow. I plan to do some form of intentional exercise every day. Today I plan to do 100 squats while at work and depending on the commute home I will do the treadmill!

I have some serious events coming up this holiday season and I want to be fierce-er lol that means ballroom gown shopping and I can't wait!!!

I hope you all have been well!!!! I;ve had a few other things happening I will update in a few weeks but keep in mind the song "All Eyes on Me" :-)

Have a great 1st Day of the month! Time for new goals, new attitudes, new meals, new mindset!!!!

Therapy in a jar....

I been on the go with a capital G but it's all good I'm getting back into my routine!  Boule 2014 was wonderful and I enjoyed spending time with my sorors and the ManFriend.

My weight loss is at a stand still and so is my motivation.  Which was perfect for me to discuss it rather than ignore it...I had a good session with my therapist and we discussed my attitude about exercise. I told her I have these moments of utter frustration and I guess envy for people who seem to lose weight without much effort.  She suggested I re frame that because exercise is simply good for my health not just good for weight loss and I should consider that it's merely my perception that others have it easy when in actuality everyone must work at it to some degree.

She makes it sound so easy... like Therapy in a jar (that jar is real by the way lol its in her office)

I suppose she is right...but it doesn't feel that way. I'm still struggling with making better choices more consistently and that's frustrating too.

On a positive note I did a good job today I cooked breakfast and dinner last night and packed my food so all I had to do was grab and go this morning.  I filled my water bottle up at home and by 10 am I was already at 60 oz!

I stuck with my planned meals and instead of butter popcorn I had unsalted almonds for a snack.

On the way home my mind kept saying get some ice cream... then it went to get a blizzard. ..then get a cheeseburger. .. utter madness.  I drove straight home and had my treat for the week some Trader Joe chocolate with PB. It did the trick and the cravings stopped.

I just had dinner and I'm on the way out to a baseball game. Didn't do the gym and didn't do T25 or treadmill at home. Not even mad that it didnt happen but I will take the mini victories today brought. :-)

On The Run

Well I went to see Jay X last night oh and his wife!  Whewwwww! Tall know I love me some Jigga! They put on a great show. Not a concert a full blown theatrical production! Impressive! Everything from the wardrobe to the set which was really a digital masterpiece to the song selection and arrangements! #Flawless

I had a great time! I really must day what truly impressed me was the message they are sending a young couple in love working hard and enjoying life. So many other images out there devalue marriage and having children in wedlock it's nice to see multimillionaires doing it and making it look "cool" it can only help society especially the younger generation!  All around good stuff. They ended the show with lovely images of their life and travels and family pictures with Blue Ivy and it was heart warming. Love The Carters!

 Anyway back to me lol I am behind on updating my T25 progress. I was down another pound after week 3 and I will take it. I missed one workout but food was a lot better and I didn't stress myself out with being overly crazy about what I was doing

I didn't start week 4 and I really don't have a reason.  I slept in late on Saturday until a Junior League event at 12 noon at the same winery I had my 35th Birthday party! It was a great group and we had lots of fun. I made it a Sassy Summer Celebration!  We can dressed in sun dresses and derby hats and fascinators! We looked cute! See pictures to prove it below lol

All in all a good week and I have a meeting tonight so I will start Week 4 Day 1 tomorrow after work! My big sorority conference is next week and I'm looking forward to it. I just have to unpack from my last trip lol 

Any hoo I will check in soon!!!