OFB: Mission Completed!!!

Well, I got the Inspiration Board done...as you can see I'm still having trouble with my camera. I can't get it to center the board to get the whole thing in, and some pictures are a little fuzzy. But you get the idea. I will explain more about this board, since there are some things you can't see too well.

Let me start by re-posting the poem:

Multi-talented, love to create

Able to accomplish anything I set my mind to

Radiant and full of passion

Incredibly compasssionate

Empowered and loving it

For the first line, I have pictures of pen and paper, a singer (Jewel), a guitar, the words "I Create Music", and a handmade bracelet. I am a writer and make jewelry...and also sing, play guitar, and write songs.

For the second line, my pictures are of people hiking, skiing, dancing, and playing tennis. I've already started on some of these, and I will accomplish them!

The pictures for the third line are of confident and passionate people...some are generic, while some are celebrities: Marissa Jaret Winokur, Star Jones, Christina Applegate, and Jennifer Love Hewitt. These are women who don't let anything stop them from living their lives and going for their dreams. The large dancing picture is Julianne Hough, for two reasons. First of all, I write about dance. Secondly...that girl radiates confidence and can do anything!

The fourth line's pictures are a pair of hands holding a heart, and a shirt with Jesus on it...since He is the one who made me the way I am and helps me become more compassionate every day.

The pictures for the fifth and final line are a monarch butterfly, Jillian Michaels and Kim Lyons, salad, veggies and a woman in the warrior pose. I also pasted words: "Eat Smart", "I learned to push myself", and "I broke down my 'fat' walls". Reading these definitely makes me feel empowered!

Just looking at this board makes me feel stronger than ever. Thank you Michelle for this wonderful idea!!! xoxoxo

Operation Fat Blaster - This Week's Challenge Part 1

Our challenge this week from Operation Fat Blaster is twofold: First, we are to come up with an acrostic name poem, using qualities we love about ourselves. The second part is to get a poster board and write the poem on it, then find pictures from magazines that depict those qualities. I have the poem done, so here it is:

Multi-talented, love to create
Able to accomplish anything I set my mind to
Radiant and full of passion
Incredibly compassionate
Empowered and loving it

Now I have to get the poster board and find the pictures...I'm a magazine freak so I have plenty of them to look through! The idea is to keep the board somewhere we can constantly look at it, so we remind ourselves of our positives. I can't wait to get the board done so I can show it to you!!!

Motivational Monday!!!

Happy Monday everyone! Let me start off this post by saying that I'm so thankful that I can use my computer again. Yesterday a virus shut me down...it even disabled my antivirus software so I couldn't use it. I had to reload Windows, and thank God it works now, because I really needed to post this, plus I have 2 assignments for Ballroom Dance Channel today!

This morning when I went into my bathroom to step on the scale, I was a little nervous because I missed my workout last night due to the computer fiasco. The only thing I did was get up and walk around while I was waiting for various things to load or be scanned, because I got sick of sitting for such a long time. I did very well the rest of the week with exercise though, and also stayed healthy in the eating department. No diet soda again this week - just plenty of water!

Well, the number did go down on the scale...I am now at 206.8. I lost 1.4 pounds, and although I was hoping for more, this brings me to 5.2 pounds lost since starting Operation Fat Blaster. Using my friend Melissa's advice, I've been taking measurements as well. Today my waist is 41 3/4", and my hips are 48 1/2". In the last 2 weeks, I've lost 1 1/4" from my waist...and the same amount from my hips! It so nice to see the progress in more than one way, especially when the scale doesn't move as much as I think it should. Thank you Melissa!!!

My motivational person for this week is Kristin Steede from The Biggest Loser. She was an inspiration while on the show, and she looks gorgeous and happy! Not only that, she has her own blog where she keeps challenging the rest of us to do our best and live our lives to the fullest. Check out Kristin's blog at http://www.kristinsteede.com/blog/blog/ and I know she will keep you motivated!

Here's to another awesome August week...just remember, you can do more than you even realize you can. Believe and achieve!!!

I'm A Lover...AND A Fighter!!!

This post is dedicated to the people I've had in my life who've done rotten things to me, especially in regards to my weight. I used to let you make me feel depressed and think badly of myself...and that usually led to binges (especially on sweets), giving up on exercise, and laying in bed for much longer than I should have. It made me feel self-conscious around not only you, but other people...because I thought they might be thinking the same things about me that you did. I didn't always enjoy myself to the fullest because of this.

Some of you didn't want to be seen with me, and a couple of you even went so far as to tell my husband that you would like him to join you at parties and events, but that he should leave me at home because it was embarrassing to be seen with me. I am so thankful that I have such a wonderful husband, who stopped even having contact with you because of the way you were treating me. At times others of you would just stare at me like I was a freak or make snide comments about me. I would try to ignore it when your kids made fun of me, thinking that they were still so young and learning about how to act toward people. The thing was - you would do it too, so you were teaching them that ridiculing another person is OK. That was what REALLY bothered me!

Just recently, a couple more of you have decided that it's permissible to make fun of my weight, or the weights of friends of mine who are not even overweight. If you think this is still junior high school and it makes you better than us, you are very sadly mistaken. It just shows that you never grew up.

Over the last few years, I have done a lot of praying and soul searching. God has brought so many awesome people into my life. He gave me the gift of those who show me that I am beautiful - inside and out - no matter what size jeans I wear, and I should live life to the fullest every moment and not let a number on the scale stop me. He also brought those of you helping me on my weight loss journey (whether you are from Operation Fat Blaster, Biggest Loser, Dance Your A** Off, or somewhere else) into my life to help me get healthy.

Of course I am eternally grateful for all of you who are such positive forces in my life...but I also want to thank those of you who did negative things. You thought you were going to bring me down for good, but I take what you've said or done and turn it into motivation. I feel like Christina Aguilera's song "Fighter" is my theme song, because you have made me work harder, be smarter and get stronger in all areas of my life. I take the negative and turn it into positive...I wish everyone would learn to do that. Thank you for the life lessons!!! xoxoxo

Operation Fat Blaster...Mission #3!

I am sort of completing my mission here...my camera and I have been fighting, and so far it's winning. I'm not able to take pictures with it and have to figure out what's wrong. Our mission this week is to post pictures of our kitchen: refrigerator, pantry, anything that shows what we are eating right now.

I Googled refrigerator pictures so I could at least put something up. This is the one that is closest to what my refrigerator looks like right now. Lots of healthy food, but kind of messy, and in need of organization. Let me tell you what I have in my refrigerator...green peppers, red peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, baby carrots, boneless chicken breasts, Fage Greek yogurt, peaches, 1% milk, jelly, water, red grapes, cantaloupe, and a bottle of white wine that's been there for a while. I'm sure we will use up the wine at out big Labor Day weekend party.

My pantry has some canned soup and veggies, several boxes of cereal, peanut butter, wheat bread, and some chocolate chip cookies that are for my husband and son...I'm not touching those! I have Zone bars in another cabinet in case I really need something sweet. (Not telling which cabinet...because I'm hiding them from my family!!!)

I am still going to try to get my camera to work, because I really would like to post a picture of my actual refrigerator! I just didn't want to wait too long to at least post this challenge in some way. So...what's in YOUR fridge??? ;o)

Magnificent Motivational Monday!!!

It's Monday everyone! That means weigh-in day for me, along with naming a motivational person of the week. If you are new to my blog, I have decided that no matter what number comes up at weigh-in, I will use it to motivate myself to keep going and do better. I also believe that Monday is a great day to name somebody to inspire us all for the week ahead.

I walked into my bathroom this morning, anxious and hopeful to find out what my good buddy the scale had to tell me. I stepped on, watching those digital numbers jump around until they finally landed at my weight. I'm happy to report that I lost 2.2 pounds! I now weigh 208.2, and it feels great to be under that 210 mark and into the 2-0's! I'm sure the elliptical challenge helped, along with the fact that we now have a Wii...my son saved up his birthday money and allowance and bought it himself. So far we only have the Wii Sports that came with the system, but I tried the boxing and it's a great little workout. I KO'd my first 3 opponents, and my arms felt like jello. I am still sore from it!

I also feel like I've had several little victories over the past week. Along with completing the challenge, I did not drink any diet soda at all. I stuck to water and drank plenty of it. I'm also proud of the fact that we went to a graduation party on Saturday and I did not stuff myself. I ate grilled chicken and veggies, passing up the fried chicken and greasy sausage. I allowed myself one brownie for a treat. It was so good...my friend's sister-in-law made them and I swear she could give Mrs. Fields a run for her money! I certainly would have eaten more brownies in the past, especially when they were as awesome as these. I enjoyed my one brownie and stayed away from them the rest of the night. It was wonderful to be able to control myself around sweets!

This week my motivational person is my friend Gayle Jordan. Gayle started her weight loss journey a little over a year ago, and so far she has lost over 65 pounds! She has been going for her dreams ever since, and had a great shot at becoming the Face of Fox at her local TV station in Virginia. She did not get that job, but she does not let that stop her. She is now a CrossFit trainer, helping others lose the weight and get in shape too. She is an amazing lady, and you can check out her website at http://removingmyfatsuit.com/. I promise you will be inspired!

Here's to a great week for all of us...and always reach for your dreams!!!

Mission Accomplished!!!

Remember my mission from earlier this week? I was challenged to do something new at least 3 times this week, and I chose the elliptical machine. The goal was 10 minutes on this piece of equipment that kicks my butt everytime I try to do it. Because of that, I've always stopped after only a minute or so on it. It always felt like that machine had my number...it was as if every time I looked over at it from the treadmill, it was taunting me and laughing, because I kept giving up on it. I tried not to look at it when I wasn't working out on the other equipment, so I wouldn't constantly think about how I spent good money on that thing but was afraid to use it.

This week I was determined that even if it did kick my butt, I was going to put up a good fight. The first day was Monday, and I went for 5 minutes, took a minute break, and then got back on to do the other 5 minutes. On Wednesday I went the entire 10 minutes without stopping. I was so sore all over, but it felt great...and it was SO worth it! I began to feel stronger, not just in my body, but stronger in mind and spirit as well.

Last night was the third time on the machine, and I definitely felt more confident when I approached it. As I got closer to the 10 minute mark, I started thinking that I needed to better my time, even if only by a small amount. I kept going and made it to a little over 12 minutes. That may not seem like a lot...but it is absolutely a victory for me!

I'm so thankful that I had this challenge...it made me face that old "I can't" mentality that has kept me overweight for years. What an awesome feeling to conquer that elliptical! I don't imagine it teasing me anymore, because I know now that I can do it!