Week 2 Day 5

So far so good with this challenge. I'm down 5 pounds. Some days it is hard to get to the gym because they do not provide childcare, one of the reasons it is so cheap ($10 a month). My mom is quick to watch Norah for me and I am so thankful for that. I really enjoy going to the gym and lifting weights. I feel strong and powerful. Then the guy with the ripped tank comes in and lifts 1000 pounds. He's wearing a bandanna AND a hat. I bet his head gets hot. I bet he is a hot head. 

There is this man that works out at the same time as me that is in a wheelchair. I don't know him, I've never spoken to him, but he is an inspiration to me. He is patient and takes his time going to the weight rack and grabbing 50 pound weights and setting them in his lap. He wheels back to his spot, turns around to face the mirror. He does one arm at a time, slowly and precisely until he is done with that set. Sometimes I think of any excuse I can "I'm too tired to workout. Norah is grumpy. I don't have enough time. etc etc." But the guy in the wheelchair makes time to take care of himself. He makes time to get to the gym. If he can do it, I can do it. And even though we've never talked, I know he thinks the Hot Head in the bandanna is a lunk too. 

Also included is my selfie. Notice the super cool dude in the tank with the tattoos behind me. Stop grunting while I'm trying to lift my 5 pound weights bro. 

Day 3

 I haven't worked out in over a year and after 3 days of intense exercise, I am completely worn out. Today was lower body/abs and I know I am going to have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. And bending down to pick up my baby. And sitting on a toilet, or any other chair. I have a love/hate relationship with the soreness. On one hand I hate it because, obviously, it hurts. On the other hand, I love it because I know that it means I am doing something good for my body. I have been working hard and eating right and a transformation is slowly taking place. 

I guess I will post my before pictures. They are lookin pretty rough. My brother reminded me how embarrassing it would be to post before pictures and not lose the weight. So here we go. Motivation!

Yikes. Maybe after I lose the weight, I will post the other ones. But for now, these will work.

Tonight's dinner! Pasta with turkey sausage, shrimp, orange and green bell peppers, onion, and a can of rotel. Delicious!I'm not so sure about that pasta. I meant to grab whole wheat (BFL approved) but grabbed this instead. Oops.

I'm off to bed. My little one FINALLY went to sleep. 

-Alli

I'm back and I'm better than ever!

That is actually false. I am not better than ever. Swap the word better, with bigger and that is more like it. I am at my heaviest ever and after having a baby, it shouldn't be a big surprise.

A lot has changed since I last wrote in this blog. I was three weeks into another BFL challenge when I found out I was pregnant. I was also three weeks into nursing school and this wonderful surprise ROCKED my world. I was in shock for the first couple of months (ok the whole 9 months) and I just let the blog (and my fitness) go. I ate fairly healthy and did mild exercise during my pregnancy. I would swim a few laps and go for walks but not nearly as often as I should have. I gained 33 pounds, which is within the recommended amount.

Long story short, I'm at my heaviest ever. I have lost about 25-30 pounds gained during pregnancy but I was at my heaviest when I found out. I keep fluctuating give or take 5 pounds. It's an endless cycle and I am ready for it to quit.

I will be posting before pictures later this week!

Worth every pound!

BFL + Nursing School

Let me tell you a little something about doing Body for Life while being in nursing school. The two don't mix. They don't like each other. BFL wants to love nursing school, but nursing school treats BFL like a red headed step child. What I'm getting at is, it's hard. I have missed more than one workout. I have missed more than two workouts. I have taken two free days in a row. But I am NOT beating myself up about it. There's no room for that.

My schedule is pretty rigorous. A lot of 5 am mornings. A lot of 9:30 pm bedtimes. Between being at school all day and then studying, there's not a lot of energy left over for working out. I'm doing the best I can to eat right and some days it is really tempting to drive through Taco Bell (oh how I love thee). But, I'm making it work. And I've lost three pounds! My pants fit better already :) still too tight, but better.

Last Thursday my BFF and my BFL partner came up to Denton and we did cardio together.

If you guys have any lunch ideas, send them my way! They can be anything really. I have to pack my lunch for school and there are like three refrigerators and 8 microwaves and a whole lot of Vera Bradley up there. So help me out :) love!!

Alli

First Day of Nursing School/Day 2 of BFL

Yesterday was my very first day of nursing school.

I woke up at 4:00 am, threw some turkey bacon in the microwave (LOVE turkey bacon), threw a piece of toast in the toaster, got ready while those two things cooked ate on the go and got on the train at 5:23. Whew.

I packed my lunch box full of healthy snacks, a good lunch and a protein shake (which was warm and gross by the time I drank it.)

I LOVE nursing school. The first day was great. I loved my classmates, I love all my professors and instructors, I love the new beautiful building, my schedule. Everything! Everything was perfect except one thing. I was miserable. The pants I wore were so tight they were cutting off the circulation to my upper body I'm sure of it. They didn't fit. They are a size 12. I bought them from Old Navy about two months ago to be my "fat pants" while I lose weight. I need new fat pants because MY FAT PANTS DON'T FIT! Both of my classes on Tuesdays are 4 hours long. I had to unbutton them every now and then. I'm tempted to post a picture of what it looks like and then take one at the end of BFL, but that might be crossing the line.

I want to be comfortable in my jeans. I want to feel confident in my clothes. and I want to have a cute butt when I wear my scrubs. Those are just a few of the reasons I am doing Body for Life.

Yesterday was my cardio day and having been up for almost 18 hours, I was not about to treadmill it up. I took pepper on a walk/jog instead. I did work up a good sweat.

Tonight for dinner we are having a pot roast. Got the recipe from my Eating for Life cookbook. And Pureed Cauliflower. Click on the link for the recipe. I added fat free sour cream to mine. It is a substitute for mashed potatoes and if you make them just right, they are amazing!

Thanks for reading :D

I Fail at Life!

I'm going to cut right to the chase. I failed. If you read my blog post about going to the wedding and how I was worried that I would fail. Well I did. Miserably. I gained twenty pounds. Ok well not at the wedding, but since then. I am OUT of control.

It's embarrassing. And it is no one's fault but my own. 

So I have decided to try this a third time. My best friend Treasure is joining me to be my accountability partner. I also have a buddy Andrea that is a great encouragement to me. She follows the Tone It Up plan.

I will post my stats and my pictures as soon as I get a chance, hopefully by this weekend. I am starting nursing school tomorrow. This is going to be difficult but I know that I can do it. I need all the support I can get! Love, 

Alli

Dinner of Leftovers

Who said leftovers had to be gross and dull? I hate to brag but I just made the most incredible pasta from leftovers.

Ingredients:
Half of a large can of diced tomatoes
3 pieces of turkey bacon
a couple dashes of italian seasoning
A large spoonful of fat free sour cream
a small spoonful of fat free cream cheese
pepper
garlic salt
BAM.

Basically I put the tomatoes in a skillet and let them cook for about 3 minutes with the Italian seasoning.
Then I added the bacon and let it cook with the tomatoes for like 10 minutes flipping the pieces over every now and then.
Then add the sour cream and cream cheese and stir until it is all mixed together
I added some crushed red pepper to make it spicy and I like it hot so.. there was a lot
Bring to a boil then lower the heat and let simmer for like 5 minutes

I already had some cooked noodles so I just poured it over that and voila!

Challenges

This week presents my first challenge(s) of my second round of BFL. Thursday after Dylan gets out of school we will be driving down to Austin where I will be dropped off at Fogo de Chao to join to rest of the Bridal/House party girls for a bachelorette party of sorts. Now, Fogo de Chao is a fantastic restaurant where I could justify myself eating a lot because it is PROTEIN overload. It is a meat smorgasbord. If you haven't been there or heard of it go here. But, I am going to sadly decline the red meat and just eat off the salad bar so I control myself. We are going belly dancing after dinner so that will be some good added cardio. I am packing my mom's zumba dance belly dance skirt so, ladies prepare yourselves for that.
Now, the plan is to push my free day back one day. Normally I do Fridays, but this weekend I am going to do Saturday. I plan on waking up Friday morning before the bridal luncheon to run. I need some encouragement in this because every time I have ever packed shoes and clothes to run I bail (ex. all the times I have tried to run at camp). I find some excuse to not get up and do it. But I was reading in my BFL book that there is never a good excuse to not work out. Cardio can be done anywhere, you just have to run.

 Saturday is wedding day! YAY! I couldn't be more excited for these two. It is going to be a full blown celebration and there will be LOTS of cardio that day. I will be eating cake. But I'm not worried.

Sunday presents my second challenge. I hope to leave Sunday morning around 8 or 9 that way I can squeeze in my work out later in the afternoon. We will see how this all pans out.

Also, I have three tests next week. That alone terrifies me. Be praying for me this next weekend/week.

Wife Beater/Tank Top/Whatevs

So I decieded to share with you guys a few of my fitness goals. The reason I do this. What I want my end result to be. My ultimate goal in life... (fitness life). I will try to post a goal or two a week along with updates about my second round of BFL.

Goal # 1 (these are in no particular order but if they were, this would be number one)
I want to look good in just jeans and a tank top. Or shorts and a tank top. Whatever the bottom half of my attire may be, I want to feel confident enough in my body to wear a tank top. Whether it be around the house, or to the pool, whatever. My inspiration for this is Helen Hunt. She was smoking hot in Twister chasing tornados in a white wife beater.

See what I mean? What a hottie. I don't think Bill Paxton would have fallen back in love with her if she had been wearing a t-shirt or even a black tank. The costume designers really knew what they were doing. About the cargo pants, not so much. But who knew such a simple shirt would inspire such inspiration in me. Helen, you are my hero.

Also, Jessica Simpson looks pretty good in a white tank. 





My first step in achieving this goal is working on my love handles. My muffin top is NOT all that people. Don't let them fool you under this large t-shirt I am wearing. They came back this summer with full vengence. They think they are here to stay but they aren't. I have something to say to all those muffin tops out there, thanks for nothing, see ya never.

Alli

Also, for your viewing pleasure a short clip from 30 Rock.

Round 2

I am officially the worst blogger in the universe. Let's not stop there, we will go ahead and say that I am the worst Body for Life-er also. I quit 1 week short of my goal. I was extremely stressed due to finals and I threw the towel in. I continued to eat healthy but working out was not on high on my priority list.

I am sorry to those I have disappointed!

But the good news is... I am doing it again.

This summer I ballooned back up. I went to Midland for two weeks, then San Francisco for a week and let me just tell you a little something about San Fran. You don't consume anything but bread, wine, and fine cheeses. This does not work to your advantage. I gained 7 pounds on that trip alone. On top of that, all the yummy food I ate in Midland also took it's toll. Jorge's, Taco Villa, Luigi's. I really need to learn to control myself when I go home.

It bothers me that I let myself gain all my weight back (and probably plus some) but I don't want to dwell on it any longer. I made a mistake and now I will work hard to get my healthy body back again. I think one thing that went wrong was that after BFL was over, I didn't have a plan. I had nothing to fall back on. No structure for me = calories and no exercise. This time, I plan on trying the Tone It Up work out regime.

I haven't done my official weigh in or my before pictures but those will be coming later this week.

Thank you to all those who supported me and who will continue to encourage me! Let's do this!!

P.S. here are my before and afters from my last round of BFL

1 Whole Wheat Bagel without Cream Cheese Please

They put the cream cheese on my plate anyways.
I'm at Zera about to crack open my chemistry book and cram 3 chapters in before tomorrow's big test at 11 am. Please pray.

I had a mini crisis this weekend and flew home for 24 hours. I'm so homesick. I miss my family so much. There is nothing like being away from them. In the midst of my depression I made some big no no's that I am not proud of. Especially so close to being finished with my challenge. But I will not quit. As my mom always says, "Get right back on it."

The big no no's consisted of Jorge's, 3 free days, 2 missed work outs, and 2 pounds gained back. Ughhh. I know. It's bad. But I needed that family time. I flew, and it was literally a 26 hour trip, there was no time to work out. It was so nice to see the family and get to play with my niece. She is the most precious baby girl of all time. Seriously.

So Week 11 started yesterday. I can't believe it! I am trying to not get down about my recent set backs and press on! Hope everyone has a great week.

Allison Todd

Stressed Spelled Backwards is Desserts

I am stressed to the max. To the extreme. Trying to get into a nursing program is one of the most stressful things I have ever done. Normally when stressed I eat a lot. Now, I want to work out the stress. That is an amazing feeling. BFL not only changed my eating habits and work out routine, it changed the way I think about things. I truly hate missing a work out. I know that it is good for my body and that we weren't made to be lazy! We were made to work hard and be healthy! I am thankful for my healthy body and the knowledge of how to take care of it. :D

If you are tired of me taking pictures of myself, I'm not a narcissist I promise! I normally don't take this many pics of myself. I just wanted to be able to clearly see my progress. Plus, blogs are always more fun when there are pictures involved. 

Ok so last summer I bought some capris that were WAY to small. It hurt to wear them. I bought them with the hopes that they would eventually stretch. They didn't. I lost a little bit of weight and they eventually fit but look at them now!

Also, I am trying to raise some money to go Bowl for a ministry that I support. If you would like to read more about it or if you are interested in helping click this link Bowlfest 2011

Thanks for reading!
Alli

Breakdown

I had the most pathetic breakdown tonight. Let me start by saying that I am a sappy, emotional mess these days. I miss my family back in Midland/Odessa so much. I really let it get me down when I shouldn't. Need to learn to move on, but that's for another blog another day.

Dylan went out with his friends tonight and I wanted to stay home and have a "me" night. I did my cardio and sat down, wrote my blog and then started watching some TV. I called Pita Pit, then called and cancelled my order and decided to eat the leftover pizza in the fridge. Mistake. Big Mistake. There was just one piece but I shouldn't have done it. This is what I do when I'm depressed, I eat my feelings. It really is a big problem. This summer when we first moved here and I was sad, I ate a whole cake by myself. Dylan and Sarah probably had one piece each but I ate the rest by myself. This is why I weighed 180 pounds this summer.

I then made myself a PB&J. With reduced fat PB and lowfat sugar free Jelly. I should have stopped there but I didn't. I wanted some McDonald's french fries. I battled myself with this for a few hours. Finally around 9:30 I went to Micky D's and ordered a medium fry and a small chocolate shake. As I type this I get a little sick with myself. Well when I went to pay, my card didn't work.

This is the pathetic part: I cried. I drove away and I cried. I just wanted some friggen fries. I called Dylan crying and I'm sure he thought I was a crazy person. Who cries because they couldn't get fries?

About 30 minutes later, 3 of my sweet sweet friends showed up at my door with fries. I would've cried if I hand't already been crying.

It was a sweet gesture that I will be punishing myself for tomorrow. Week 10 starts Monday and I am going to go harder than I ever have! Maybe even add 10 minutes more to my cardio.

Thanks for reading and encouraging me. It really does keep me going. Love, Alli

Never Again

I'm still alive! I promise I haven't quit. I have been so busy these past few weeks and it just seems like I never have a second to slow down to even do laundry, much less write in the blog. But I've been feeling guilty so, here I am! I have a scary picture for you all... Here it is.

My shorts from last summer. When we went to Cambodia, I had to get new shorts because none of my other ones fit. Size 12. They look much larger.

I will never again let myself get that out of shape and that overweight again! Yuck.
/
Week 10 starts Monday. I am scared! What will happen when it's over? I don't want to quit working out. I want to keep losing, toning and being happy with my body.

I've only missed 2 workouts, both cardio. Can't miss anymore, we are in the home stretch!

These are my confessions

So... my eating hasn't been as strict as it should be. I had two free days in a row. I felt horrible and guilty. But after some advice, I put on my big girl panties and I dealt with it. Here is a tip if you plan on doing BFL: Plan your meals and have time for groceries. It is so much harder to do this when you don't have groceries at home. I have compromised meals because of this. Dylan and I are having a grocery store date later this evening and I can't wait! It's been too long since I've made a good healthy meal.

I was feeling pretty defeated by my Jorge's.cupcake splurge and then I took another pic. I don't know if you saw it below but check it out. You might be as shocked as I was.

wow wow wow wow wow. it's working!!!!! Can't give up. Sarah has decided to do an extra week since Spring Break was a set back. I think I might do an extra week too. We will see. Thanks for reading! 

I should be studying

But I am waiting for Sarah to pick me up so we can go do our LB work out. Please pray for us! We both have big tests tomorrow. :D

So here are some pics while I wait. We are in Week 8 people!

"Looks like you guys got some sun today" Don't worry it's healing. 

 Oh hi abs! Nice to see you again. It's been a while. 

Nice to meet you bicep! I don't think we've ever met! 

By the way, I was definitely not holding my tummy in this one. Embarrassing. It looks better than that I promise.

Spring Break

My last post was such a downer. I apologize for my bad attitude! I also want to apologize for not posting at all over the break. I meant to, but I have been so busy! It feels like I'm just getting a little break.

My break has been really great though. I haven't missed a work out. I even woke up twice at 5:30 am to go to Gold's Gym with my brother! It is actually kind of nice to get it all out of the way early in the morning and leaves you free for the rest of the day. I don't think I could do it regularly though, so props to you Cameron!

The only thing I'm worried about is my eating. I have been eating right, just too much. I went to Midland for a few days and loaded up on some Jorge's the first day we got there. It was so delicious and I appreciated it more after waiting so long to have it. I even ate well when we went to Aubelo's and it wasn't my free day. I haven't really cheated at all. The other night I had some chips when I shouldn't have but, oh well.

I even went on a hike on my free day! Impressive I know :D

I will update a longer post on Monday I promise! Enjoy the last few days of the break!

Vent

I am frustrated. Really extremely frustrated. My scale has not budged in weeks. I am at 157.2 and I'm not happy about it. My goal weight is 140. I weighed 140 in high school. I weighed 148 at my wedding. Actually, I really just want to be healthy. I want to be happy with the way I look. And I'm not yet.

I missed a cardio session. Had a little sinus episode and it would have been a bad idea to work out. I still have it today and I'm contemplating what to do. I could run, but should I? Will I make it worse?

I am also stressed. I have two tests the week after Spring Break, one of them being on Monday. I shouldn't go anywhere. I should stay home and clean and study and relax.

It is going to be great to see family, don't get me wrong.

I'm just in a fowl mood and it is affecting everything. I'll try to be more positive next time.

Alli

BUSY BEE

Sorry I haven't posted. I have been so busy as of late. School is busting my butt right now, but it will be worth it in the end. I promise to post a good, long, meaningful, picture filled post tomorrow. But for now. A post work out treat:

Banana Goodness
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 small banana
1 tablespoon reduced fat crunchy peanutbutter
a handful of ice cubes
and go.

That is my go to smoothie :D

Protein bars, shakes and smoothies are used to their best advantage within 30 minutes of a work out. A little BFL wisdom for ya.

Can you believe we are in our 6th week? I can't. 6 to go! I can't wait!!!

Baby Got Back- Part 1

I don't think I can ever remember a time in my life when I was happy with my body. Even in high school when I weighed 140-145, I thought I was fat. I was by no means toned, or in shape. But I was not fat. I am famous for the phrase, "I will start my diet tomorrow." My friends could be millionaires if they had a dollar for every time I have uttered those stupid words.

This problem is deep rooted in insecurity and comparison. I have a serious problem comparing my body to others. I think this is something all girls and women go through. We compare our bodies, our clothes, our lives to one another. It's unhealthy and leads to some serious self worth issues. When we should have our identities in Christ, we instead place them in ourselves and our desire for what we should look like/own/etc...

Not where I meant to head with this post. Ok moving on. So, I worked at Hollister for a good 2 years of my life. Good can also be substituted in that last post for awful. No really, I liked it. Gave me a great excuse to listen to crappy punk rock music and I smelled like "Jake" everyday.

So, one year the crew decided to have a softball team. This happened to be the year that I was at my most insecure. I wasn't clinically bulimic but I was vomiting after every meal to try and shed a few pounds. I remember being so desperate to just good the food out of my body that I would hide in alley's after lunch and make myself vomit, and then continue on my way. Horrible horrible habit. Thank GOD it only lasted a few months.

Anyways, so the softball team was called the "Swamp Donkey's." I have no idea what that even means, but everyone got nick names to have printed on the back of their shirts. This sweet girl who was my friend, and had an enviable body got the name "Great A" printed on hers... meaning great ass. Mine said, "Fat Ass." They didn't even have the decency to just put the "A", no no, they put the whole word. I weighed probably 138 pounds, I was NOT fat. Ok so maybe my butt wasn't as tight as hers, but she played soccer. Of course it wasn't. Needless to say, I was offended (nothing against this girl, love her to death).

To be continued...

p.s. This is me and Sarah, my BFL partner. This is from Spring 2007. I am wearing my "Swamp Donkey's" shirt. I'm pretty sure I deleted all pictures with the back of the shirt on them.