Current Status: *Le Sigh* The World Cup comes to an end!

I promise this is the last post where I mention the world cup...for 4 years...if I'm still blogging in 4 years lol :) My friend Ashley aka Shoewhore told me that her friend Em reads my blog and likes it (sweet! Thanks Em!), but she doesn't understand a damn thing about soccer... it's ok. I understand. The off sides rule is confusing, and the fact that the reffing in this world cup has been a little...well a lot ridiculous, I can understand why you can't get behind the game. It's cool, maybe we're not all meant to understand. But check out this awesome quote that my cousin's fiance sent me from his friend... maybe now you'll get it:

"Twilight's like soccer, they run around for 2 hours, nobody scores, and its billion fans insist you just don't understand"

LOL!

See you don't have to understand completely, just appreciate the fine muscled specimens...um I mean the athleticism of the game... ;).

on to the post!...

Current Mood: Sorta sad that there's no more good soccer on regular tv (I'm one of those freaks that doesn't have cable!) for the foreseeable future...come on 2014!!

Current Weight: 183 (26lbs of loss since I started the blog - 92lbs of total loss!) I lost 3 pounds last week! :) It amazing what happens when I get strict with my diet..and by strict I don't mean starvation or giving up foods I enjoy, I mean a balance of proteins, fibers and starches and portion control. I've set a new goal to lose 20lbs once I get there I'll re-asses and see how much more I need to lose/tone from that point.

Currently Thinking about: My love/hate relationship with Spain! I hate them because they defeated Germany, I hate them because they played a boring 115 minutes of soccer against the brutal Dutch..who knew they had it in them ey??

Sing it! Everyone was Kung Fu fighting!! Those Kicks were fast as lightening!

But I love them because most of their line up is made of FC Barcelona players or soon to be Barca players...and I like Barcelona...you might as well say that Barca won the world cup.

Currently NOT Thinking about: How I still hate Spain because Germany in my opinion was the more creative team, better at passing, and they scored way more goals through out the tournament...but that yellow card against Mueller, I really think that made a difference in their semi final game against Spain. Mueller ultimately won the golden boot (on more assists) yet he had to sit out that game, Germany could have used him. Spain controlled the ball, they controlled the game, and even though the German defense held them at bay for most of the game it only took one corner to make a difference and I counted at least 7 Spanish men on defense at one point. UGH! I'm not bitter...nope not me... not at all. ;)

Keep your eyes on the one on the left... #13 Thomas Mueller, winner of the Golden boot at only 20 years old... the one on the right though, back off ladies I claimed him in 2006 ;) lol It's a long term celeb-crush...christ, I'm turning into a kickette! anyway, #3 Arne Friedrich, German defender who also scored a goal against Argentina! :)

Also...just for the memories... I wanted to post this video:




So long world cup... see you in 4 years!





Currently looking forward to: Starting half marathon training on Saturday!! Oh did I tell you I've decided to run the Baltimore half...? I haven't signed up yet, guess I should jump on that.


De jong Kung Fu fighting is from the dailymail
pic of the German boys from the dailymail

My New Diet...

Well it's official. I'm 17 again...

 I'll just come right out and say it...

I GOT BRACES!

Nerd Alert!

I went back to work after having them put on and one of my co-workers made fun of my voice... another asked me if I was invited to prom yet. Yep all the stereotypes are true, you spit, you slurp, and you spit and slurp while talking. I don't think I could have survived this in high school. I'm having a hard enough time a decade later. I gotta give props to all the teens who have these, cause these bitches HURT. I feel like I've been punched in the mouth.

I've been 17 again for only 3 days now... and food has not been my friend. The act of chewing hurts, and everyone at the dentist office says I should just enjoy some ice cream for the pain.

WHAT!!! NO. I can't develop an ice cream addiction for the next 14 months. Yep, 14-16 months of treatment time.... I'll be 17 for a while.

So basically my new diet consists of soft foods, oatmeal, yogurt, soups, eggs, pasta and rice. Chewing bread and chicken is pretty much unbearable right now even in super tiny tiny peices, but I've been told that it will get better. But even after it gets better I'm still restricted from eating certain foods...

No bagels or Pizza crust... which I understand now because it hurts to freakin' chew them! But Pizza is a weakness of mine so this will be a way for me to avoid it.

No sticky foods... that means no more sneaking a mini snickers bar from the office supply closet!

No popcorn... this breaks my heart! I was looking forward to enjoying a small bag of popcorn at the eclipse midnight show as a cheat treat... and now I'm denied!! NO POPCORN?!? CRIES!!!

No sugary drinks... No problem here... I rarely if ever drink soda or fruit juices. I'm a sparkling water gal.

No Hard Food... No carrots no apples, no corn on the cob! This makes me sad too, I love these foods, I can still eat them but they must be cut, sliced or taken off the cob. BOO!

So basically right now I've been surviving off of soft foods, and water. No snacks! This is one thing I'm happy about. I'm not snacking... on anything! I think because my mouth is so sore I don't even think about food, and also keeping these things clean are a pain in the ass...so if I'm going to eat I'm having a full meal! I hope this newly restricted diet helps me lose even more weight!

The only other downfall I've noticed is that I can't chew gum... and I thought oh well duh no big deal I'll just have mints handy...but I didn't think about what to do when it came to running. I chew gum when I run to help keep my mouth from drying out and I ran 5 miles yesterday and I really wished I had gum to chew on...but ok possibly TMI right now, you salivate a lot with these things in your mouth so it wasn't too much of a problem it was just... ew! Going to have to figure out what other runners with braces do for this problem.

So that's my new diet. :)

p.s. I graduated to salad for lunch today...however it took me forever to eat it and I had to have it in very small pieces and mostly only ate the leafy parts.... baby steps!

Current Status: I'm Having One of THOSE Days

You know... THOSE days. Those days where no matter what anyone says to you, you hate life... one of those days. Yup, that's right I'm not always Miss happy motivational Team Six Pack... my weight loss journey didn't transform me into some Type A energy freak... I'm still very much myself, and I have my bad days too. I just need my moment to be moody and then I'll get over it.

here is yet another segment on this blog where I rant/ramble:

Current Mood: Frustrated, angry, sad upset... something along those lines.

Current Weight: 192.5 (-16.5lbs since I started the blog)

Currently Thinking about: I lost our office biggest loser contest. I never blogged about it before because I didn't want to jinx myself AND then I forgot to talk about it. I plateaued hard core over the fall, even though I was still losing inches of fat the scale wasn't budging and it was frustrating. I was determined to break that plateau. Once the holidays rolled around, I snacked, ate more than I probably should... the scale was up a few pounds but I wasn't stressing because I knew I'd burn it off again. Everyone at the office kept pestering me to set up another biggest loser contest this year so I rallied the troops. It was just an added incentive for me because I really wanted to win this year... I wanted to prove myself. In Christmas 2008, despite losing 50lbs that year, I lost the office biggest loser contest to a freak of nature man who lost 11lbs. I lost 5.

This year we kicked the men out so the contest was more fair, and I was determined to win this time.

Want to know how much I lost... 6.5lbs.

Want to know how much I lost the contest by... 1/2 a pound!!

1/2 a FUCKING Pound!!!

Pardon my fucking French.

I was ok with losing the contest at first because I'm happy for anyone that loses weight and tries to live a healthy lifestyle, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to stay happy when the person who won started saying how she hardly worked out, wanted to give up and had binge weekends! WHAT!!!!!!!!!! I want to rip my hair out!

I worked out 5-6 days a week and I'm not talking piddling on the elliptical for a little while, I'm talking intense sweat drip down to the floor work outs! I got super super strict with my diet, tried removing different foods, but above all eating very healthy, I gave up sweets completely! I thought I was doing everything right, I was trying my hardest, but I still lost and that's why I'm feeling pretty hurt right now.

It's seems I'm on a two year record of living a healthy lifestyle day in and day out losing through out the year, but falling short in these contests. So I'm retiring from office biggest loser. I don't need this to give me motivation to lose weight...all it does is stress me out when I can't prove myself to be the biggest loser even though I know in my heart I truly am.

Currently NOT thinking about: How much I want to leave the office and go out to my car and cry for an hour maybe two.

Currently looking online at:

Anthropologie flipside blazer.

I was going to buy this with my winnings. I really wanted to rush over there right after work today, possibly even at my lunch hour and make this mine... It would look SO cute with jeans boots and a t-shirt underneath. It's destined to be in my closet next to my awesome sigur ros shirts. You will still be mine though cute, casual blazer. I just have to wait till I get paid tomorrow ;).

Currently looking forward to: A concert this weekend and my trip to Dallas in two weeks! Because I can say I've been to Tejas!..... and pronounce it like that: TEJAS!

Currently wishing that: My mood would improve... Just give me time.

Currently listening to: Chopin impromptu #4 in C Sharp... I need my happy classical music place.

Currently Realized: Fuck this. I have a half marathon to train for...and outdoor soccer is just around the corner!! Come on spring weather! I need you to warm up a little, melt the snow some more so I can go to my happy fitness place.

A Month of Work Outs

So this post was an entire month in the making :) I kept track of my work outs for the month of January... I extended it a bit beyond that though because for the beginning of the month I was out of town visiting family way down south...just across the border. Hey Miss Rebecca...I know you're reading :)

Just kinda hanging around down south for a few days.

Ok so here's my entire month of work outs after I got back from my lil trip on Jan 5th... including days I rested. Bootcamp work outs are 1 hour long and burn an average of 630+ calories depending on the work out. According to sparkpeople one hour of Spinning burns about the same around 620 calories. 1hr of Yoga class burns about 220 calories.... As for indoor soccer I guess on average I play 25 minutes or more of a game depending on how many subs we have, so that burns about 270 calories. I'll leave it to someone else to figure out the total calories burned... I wasn't a math major ;).

1/06 Wed - Bootcamp

1/07 Thurs - Bootcamp

1/08 Fri - Spinning

1/09 Sat - bike trainer 45min, upper body, abs

1/10 Sun - Treadmill 3.5 miles jog, abs, weight training

1/11 Mon - Bootcamp

1/12Tues - Bootcamp morning, and Indoor soccer evening

1/13 Wed- rest

1/14 Thurs - Bootcamp

1/15 Fri - Spinning, 1hr

1/16 Sat - Run 3 miles, kick soccer ball around for 1hr.

1/17 Sun - Rest (ladies afternoon spent trying on brides maid dresses.)

1/18 Mon - Spinning and Yoga

1/19 Tues - boot camp (bye week in soccer *sad face*)

1/20 Wed - Rest (massage for my shoulder)

1/21 Thurs - boot camp

1/22 Fri - boot camp

1/23 Sat - Run/walk (4 min run 1 min walk intervals - hills) 6 miles <--- this was killer!

1/24 Sun - Run, 3 miles (mostly flat)

1/25 Mon - Rest

1/26 Tues - Boot camp morning, and indoor soccer evening

1/27 Wed - Boot camp

1/28 Thurs - gym: treadmill jog 3 miles, abs, weights

1/29 Fri - Bootcamp

1/30 Sat - Rest - went to NYC to be a Jane Austen Fan Girl ;)

1/31 Sun - Gym: treadmill jog 2 miles, elliptical 10 minutes high resistance, abs

2/1 Mon - Bootcamp

2/2 Tues - Bootcamp morning, indoor soccer evening

2/3 Wed - 30 minutes on bike trainer, abs <- slacker day!

2/4 Thurs - Bootcamp

2/5 Fri - Bootcamp <- instructor tried to kill us today because snow storm we're having is going to keep us in this weekend.

I worked out 26 days last month. I decided to start tracking just to make sure I worked out at least 5 days in a week. I guess after all that working out you can see how frustrated I get with the scale. I'm constantly being told that it's a little bit of effort in the beginning a lot of effort in the end...but honestly I'm really enjoying all the effort I'm putting in. I love the feeling after a good work out. I never regret working out.

Just to make sure I was keeping my work outs top priority I was curious if my dorky little habits might have cut into any of my work out time.  Trust me ladies I understand more than anyone how easy it is to succumb to addictions of laying around and reading and playing on the computer all day. But still I kept my (sometimes lazy) dorky ass in check and made time for my work outs.

Just remember it's ok to get away from the computer and the books and go to the gym....they'll still be there when you get home.

And if that doesn't work invest in a  kindle (there's a or the ipad when it comes out! You can take your books with you if you need to...but honestly when I'm working out I'm pushing myself so there's no way I can focus on reading at the same time, so Mr. Darcy will have to stay at home.

Don't Beat Yourself Up

The alternate title of this weeks entry would have been how to gain five pounds in a week....but the reason I didn't have a post at the beginning of this week was because I needed to give myself a few days to cool off, clear my head, and try to remember that it's not always about the scale!

As I posted in the last entry I tried a week of low carbs to shock my system and start weight loss again. Well, this week was low glycemic.

The low glycemic diet allowed me to add fruits and whole grains back into my diet.

My daily range was 1700cal 148g protein, 191g carb, 47g fat

I could eat carbs again but I had a list that I needed to chose from, I couldn't just go balls out and eat what ever I wanted.

Acceptable carbs included fruit (except bananas, dates, figs), sugar-free applesauce, light yogurt, beans (all types, black, kidney, chickpea etc.), other veggies like squash, beets and artichokes, some grains - limited to one meal a day (100% whole wheat bread and tortillas, oatmeal, sweet potato).

Here's an example of meals I ate for Low Glycemic week:

Monday:
Breakfast
Hard Boiled Egg, 2 large
Cottage Cheese, 2% Milkfat, 1 cup (not packed)

Lunch:
Apples, fresh, 1 small (2-1/2" dia)
Baby Carrots, raw, 10 medium
Guiltless Gormet - Blackbean Chipotle Wrap,
Romaine Lettuce (salad), 2 cup, shredded
Cider Vinegar, 1 tbsp

Dinner:
Cauliflower, cooked, 6 flowerets
Chicken Breast, no skin, 4 ounces
Bread, whole wheat (including toast), 1 slice
Butter, salted, 2 pat
Cornbread, 1 oz (I cheated with this... sister made some corn bread and I love the stuff!!)
Milk, nonfat, 1 cup

Snacks:
Mixed Nuts, dry roasted (salt added)1/5 oz (I wasn't paying attention when I grabbed nuts for a snack...last week nuts were ok, this week I need to watch my intake because I could only have 47g of fat.)
Apples, fresh, 1 medium (2-3/4" dia)

Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Quaker Instant Oatmeal, prepared with water, 1 Packet
Quaker Instant Oatmeal, honey nut, prepared with water, 1 packet,
Yogurt, plain, low fat, 1 cup (8 fl oz)

Lunch:
Chicken Breast, no skin, 0.5 breast, bone and skin removed
Oranges, 1 fruit (2-5/8" dia)
Cauliflower, cooked, 4 flowerets
Bread, whole wheat (including toast), 1 slice Applesauce, unsweetened, 1 cup

Dinner:
Bread, whole wheat (including toast), 1 slice
Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter, 2 tbsp
Trader Joe's Chicken Tikki Masala (1 Tray), 1 serving (I screwed up here. I was tired, didn't feel like cooking so I had a frozen dinner which had white rice.

Snacks:
Cheddar Cheese, 1 oz
Dill Pickles, 2 spear
Apples, fresh, 1 large (3-1/4" dia)



Cons of this diet:
1. you give me an inch... I take a mile. I admitted last week to my carb addiction now looking back at what I ate it's no wonder I gained some weight back. Towards the end of the week I made a big batch of whole wheat pasta with roasted peppers and onions added to the sauce and sweet Italian turkey sausage... sounds yummy right? Well I made it with the hopes that my sis would eat the left overs, but I forgot sis was leaving town so I had multiple portions of left overs that I wasn't going to let go to waste.


Pros of this diet:
1. It's more realistic.

2. You eat a larger variety of healthy foods.

3. Once again it made me look at my carb addiction and it made me realize that while I can still eat carbs I need to make an effort not to allow them it to be a part of every meal I eat!

Results of this diet:
Truth. I gained some of the weight I lost on low carb week back. This however should not be viewed as a reflection of the diet, but just proves my theory once again that the low carb diet does not work. As I said before when you go off of it you gain the weight back! I talked to one of the girls at my bootcamp who is doing the same diet and started before me. She told me she also gained some weight back after she got off the low carb week. I felt better hearing this knowing it wasn't just me. She also told me that once she stuck to the low glycemic diet she did see the weight fall off again after a little while. Ahh, the joys of dieting. I swear it's a rollercoaster some days.

I allowed myself a cheat day on Saturday because I went to NYC to see this amazing exhibit at the Morgan library about Jane Austen...yes I'm still fan girling. I'm allowed a cheat day every two weeks so it was convenient mine fell when I went out of town. I had what I normally had for breakfast since I was on a bus to New York...I ate two cereal bars and an apple. I allowed myself a vanilla latte once I got to the city because it was ff-f-f-f-ffreeeeezing last Saturday!! For lunch I ate at Franchia a vegetarian Japanese tea house. I highly HIGHLY recommend it. Everything was delicious even the $5 cup of plum tea. I had crispy scallion pancakes and spicy Malaysian ginger "chicken" fried rice, I tried a sesame and seaweed porridge but it was just "eh" not bad but not great so I only had a few spoonfuls. The meal was more than filling, probably more than I should have eaten, but damn did I enjoy every bite!

However that was where the eating should have ended. But I was craving pizza. When I got back home around 10 at night I hadn't eaten since lunch except for some nuts and an orange on the bus. I wasn't really hungry, but I told myself on cheat day I was having pizza and damnit!! I wanted pizza! So I had pizza.

And boy did I regret it. But Sunday the scale had shot up, all the weight I lost the week before was back and then some. I was freaking out...did one cheat day hurt me that much??! Did I really eat too many carbs last week?? I hit the gym on Sunday and I've worked out every day since. I beat myself up for a little while about my weight gain...I just didn't know what I did wrong. But as I said above I talked to one of my fellow dieters/bootcampers and she assured me that the weight would probably come back off soon.

I am happy to report this morning that when I weighed myself that I was back with in 1-2 pounds of where I was at the end of my low carb week. It's difficult to tell on my dial scale.

Another Lesson I learned this week.

DON'T GIVE UP! I'm not going to give up, I'm not going to stop eating healthy (even if I thought about if for a split second then I said to myself..Um WTF was that thought coming from have you gone mental!?) No, not me I'm not giving up! I have to keep thinking of the bigger picture I might have a bad day and then a good day, but I know over all I always have more good days than bad. I'm healthier and happier than I was before so I'm just going to keep working hard at it every day.

I'm going to try my best to stop obsessing over the numbers and deadlines I've mentally set for me reach my goal and just remember that this isn't something that has an expiration date once I reach my goal. This is for life!


This week's work outs:

1/25 Mon - Rest

1/26 Tues - Boot camp and indoor soccer

1/27 Wed - Boot camp

1/28 Thurs - gym: treadmill jog 3 miles, abs, weights

1/29 Fri - Bootcamp

1/30 Sat - Rest - went to NYC to be a Jane Austen Fan Girl

1/31 Sun - Gym: treadmill jog 2 miles, elliptical 10 minutes high resistance, abs

Dear Santarob... I've been a bad girl today!

If you insist ;)

I've been a bad bad girl. Yesterday was our office staff party. I made ginger cookies since everyone brings a dish and I've never made these cookies before. They turned out relatively amazing. Minus the part where I swore repeatedly (see told you I was naughty) at the dough because it wouldn't cooperate with me and transfer the men onto the cookie sheet with out turning them into mutants and/or elasto-ginger bread men! Hence I made ginger snaps instead:

Cookies to spread holiday cheer in the office!

So yea, I over ate yesterday... and then today there were left overs and it seems I made too many cookies because my chewy delicious ginger cookies were still left!! I kind of have a problem with ginger snaps... I kind of love them... hardcore.



So I kind of ate several of them today along with some other left overs, please don't be angry Santaward! I'll try better tomorrow!

-Team Six Pack

p.s. Can I still stay on your "naughty" list though ;)

*ahem* ANYWAY! ;)

So today and yesterday were a diet bust! I still worked out Sunday (running/weights), Monday (spinning) and today (bootcamp). I'll try harder with my diet tomorrow to try and get back on track! Unfortunately there's another holiday party to attend Thursday! Help! I really do hate this time of year!



[Super awesome/hilarious "Naughty" Rob pic from 2 sisters blog!]

Who am I? Who are you? Time to be Brutally Honest!

Name: Team Six Pack
Age: 27
Birthday: May 13th (That's right, I share a birthday with Stephen Colbert!)
Current Weight: 209lbs
Height: 5'9"

Weight on April 6, 2008 the day I decided to make a change: 275lbs.

Hello out there to whoever is reading.  I am writing this blog with the hope that if you're a follow dork like me and you've been struggling with your weight like I have my entire life you might be inspired or motivated to make a change as well.

It only takes one person to make a difference and it takes one step to start weight loss!!

Here's a little bit about me. I have been over weight my entire life. I don't remember a time when I was small. Genetics was not on my side, I was the only chubby child in my family. Growing up with two rail thin siblings was not easy. I was tipping the scales by the time I graduated high school close to 300 pounds. (5'9").

When I went to college my weight dropped drastically because my diet changed and being away from the large meals and junk food at my parents house helped. I transferred and went to a college in a large city and didn't have a car. So all that walking to get here and there brought my weight down even more. I think my smallest in college was 225.

Unfortunately, after I graduated I couldn't stay in that environment of constant walking and moved back into my parents house (in a suburb) to find a job and help get my feet back on the ground. I didn't even realize what I did to cause this, but in two years my weight jumped back up to 274lbs. None of my old "cool" jeans fit, and neither did my favorite shirt. I started buying knits that I could stretch out. I even said (out loud to a friend) at one point that I could never be skinny, I didn't think it was possible so I would just have to learn to be happy how I was. Looking back I have no idea why I was so self-defeating with out even trying, but I'm realizing now that negativity was just a very large part of my life and I hope to eliminate those feelings bit by bit.

This is me at a friends wedding in 2006 almost a year after I finished college.
I was a size 20-22. :(

I visited my doctor last April and shared my concerns about my weight and also my concerns for the future. If I didn't lose weight now what was going to happen to me? Would I always be like this? I was constantly reading articles about future health risks to myself if I remained the way I was. So that's what made me decide that I need to take control of my life and change my habits.

So I'm still in the middle of this crazy journey but I feel like I've made many steps to far. I feel better, healthier. I still doubt myself sometimes, but I will only look forward from now on. I won't ever revert back to how I used to be. My first goal was to lose 85 pounds and see how I look at that point and decide if I need more work. I've decided now after 65lbs of loss I can shoot for 100lbs or more. Wish me luck! I also want to live a healthier, natural and more active lifestyle.

This is me in June of 2009. I've lost 65lbs, and I'm a size 14-16!! :)

That's me rock climbing something I never dreamed of doing a year ago!
Never Stop Reaching for the Top!

This blog is going to be about what it takes to reach your fitness goals! I'm only halfway there, but I'll reach the top one day! I'm going to talk about what I've done so far with my diet and exercise to lose weight and what I'm going to continue doing to reach my full fitness potential. I hope maybe I can meet some folks with the same goals and we can all support each other!

So if you're reading this blog I want to hear from you... I want to know who you are! We can't kid ourselves about weight loss anymore, I did that for 26 years of my life. It's going to take hard work and determination, but I'm proof that it's not impossible!!