Protein Shakes

I have been going to my gym for almost ten months now.... that's shocking!!  But it has taken me at least nine months to enjoy Protein Shakes.  I seriously hated them and the thought of having to drink one would turn my stomach.

But now I am enjoying them.  I am even willing to try new shakes.  My good friend Michelle is sending me some Visallis Shakes in the mail to try and may order them if I enjoy them.  But for now I am creating tasty treats in my own home basing my ingredients on my diet plan from the gym.

My two new favourites are:  Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cup and Vanilla Berry Banana Cup.

The ingredients are listed below in a single serving size but feel free to experiment, it's the only way to find how you like your Whey.......

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cup                                                                            Vanilla Berry Banana Cup

1/2 banana                                                                             1/2 banana

1 heaping tbsp of Peanut Butter                                             5-6 strawberries

1 cup 1% milk                                                                        1/8 -1/4 cup blueberries

1 scoop of Chocolate Protein Powder                                    1 cup 1% milk

2-3 ice cubes                                                                           1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

Blend for all it's worth and drink                                            2-3 ice cubes

                                                                                               Blend and Enjoy

It's only a number..

We had our weigh ins again this week.  Sometimes I dread these bi-monthly occurrences but they do help to keep me honest or more honest.


I need to create an excel sheet that will record my body changes in percentages.  I am really good with Mircosoft, but sometimes it's hard because I don't use Excel that often and sometimes my ideas are much more complicated than I initially think they are.  With this spreadsheet I would have actual stats to show me how well my workouts are going.  Also if I stick to my diet I would be able to see how much more the diet helps in the weight loss category because sometimes I am still skeptical at the diet component.


So here is what I found out from the latest weigh-in.  I am up 4 pounds, not good, but I am not worried until I see the differences in the measurements.  It is the inches where it counts.  So the bad news is I am up 2 centimeters in my chest, Jayzus, the one area I want to lose inches, I gain almost an inch.  I mean some girls may enjoy gaining inches in the chest, but I don't want to go up to an E cup. Like come ON!!!  The Ok news, I have not changed in inches thighs, glutes or neck or shoulders.  The good news, I am down  5 cm in my waist, this would be the smallest part of my waist, my calf is down 3 cm, and my bicep is down 1 cm.  


So here is my next goal.  I am going to book a photo shoot with a photographer, or if money is an issue I am going to set up a photo shoot with my friend where we do some glamour shots and do our hair and make up.  I want it to be an Old Hollywood shoot, so I have to get some ideas for hair and make up and then outfits.  But I think this would be great to keep me motivated and it will be a great  activity to do with my friend or friends that want to get involved with this.

Finding a new end date.

I have every intention to continue working out and watching my diet, but I have encountered a slight problem..... yup I find that I don't feel the desire to stay on the diet as strictly as before.

When I started my lifestyle lift, I had long term and short term goals, many of which have fell to the wayside at this point, but the weight loss one stuck.  I felt that I had let myself go since the passing of my father and the subsequent pregnancy etc, etc.  

Not that I had become Jabba the Hut, but I was four rolls short of this happening, seriously, it was not a great situation.  I happen to be one of those people that can put on weight, and I put it on fairly evenly through my entire body so it's not like one area becomes a problem and the rest still look great. No, as I put on weight I develop all the problem areas, belly, thighs, double chin, wingy arms, well you get the picture.

So then I decided I want to get in shape, for the long run, which is a more important factor than any other that I have come up with, to enable myself to have more energy and be healthy for my kids.  I wanted to enjoy their childhoods so that I could participate with them in their activities and not just be stuck on the sidelines watching because I had no endurance to keep up with them.  The shorter term goals had to deal with the wedding and wanting to look amazing in my wedding dress.

Now I am finding that I don't have the same will power to stick to my diet, because I don't have anything that I am working towards.  Just my long term goals, but there isn't really an end date in which I have to bee a certain weight/size by.  I talked with my trainer and she suggested trying to sign up for a bikini show, which is based on how you look and stuff, but I don't know that I am ready for that.  That seems like it might be a long way off when I look in the mirror, so I need something that may be in the middle of that.  She also suggested doing a Boudoir photo shoot.  Which is something I have considered, but now I have to decide how long I want to give myself to set up this end date. 

I have determined that I would like to lose another 15 lbs.  We were talking at the gym the other day that to loose a healthy amount of weight you should take your weight  multiply it by 10% then divide it by 52.  I think that was the formula and if I follow that formula, that would mean I need to loose 1 pound a week.  I don't know that that is the formula, but when we were figuring it at the gym that is what we came up with. 

Therefore, it can be determined that if I want to lose 15 pounds I  should give myself 15 weeks to obtain my goal.  Thus, by Christmas I should be at my goal weight.  But then what goal do I put for myself, do I set up a Boudoir photo shoot as my reward for reaching my goal weight?  Should I set it up for before Christmas on the 22 or should I set it up for just after New Years?  Or just before New Years? 

I am leaning towards doing a Boudoir shoot, so I can pretend I am a model, and maybe I can be discovered.  Then I can reset my short term goals to maybe do a small bikini show, but I have to set my mind to this goal.  I can't just make the goal, but not actually set up the shoot, because if it's not a concrete possibility in my head I won't do it.

Any ideas or suggestions from my readers would be greatly appreciated!!!!

so here's where I am at....

I have given myself four weeks to get into shape, and lose ten pounds.  Now that isn't my final desired weight for my life, but it's the weight at which I would like to leave Canada before my wedding.  So I had four weeks to get to work and work out in order to accomplish this goal.

I have been working out and I have made some motivational pictures and posters to hang up so I know the desired look I am working towards.  I have been good on my diet, there have been a few, oops-ies, but nothing that has totally derailed me.  Nothing I don't think a little extra effort can't burn off. 

Awhile ago I posted some dreaded bikini shots of me, the front the rear and the side view, I had Adrian take them again so that I could have a visual comparison.  I am down five pounds in the after pictures but you wouldn't be able to tell, at least I don't think you can.  That and the lighting and distance of the pictures was changed so it's hard to say.  I am going to retake them tomorrow so I can get a better sense of what's going on.  I know that I had my measurements and I am down a total of 6 inches as well.  So there are changes happening, and they should be visual, but I think I need another pair of eyes to tell me what they think.  I could be dreaming it all, but I don't think I am.

So here are my pictures for you to see.  Let's see if we notice anything.

So this is the whole shot with all six photos side by side, I will now put up three more pictures with each view on it's on page.

Besides the love handles I don't see much difference but that could be on account of the lighting, angel and the fact that I have a great tan now is really coming through.

Here are the dreaded first set of bikini shots

I am trying to be brave and not worry about what my insecure voice is going to say once i put this out there.  It's one thing to put up shots of yourself in gym clothes but it's quite another to put up bikini shots when you used to be over 200 lbs.  yes I said it that was my top weight when I decided enough was enough.  I have lost 20 lbs of fat but gained some lean muscle mass, so my weight isn't down 20 lbs but it's close.  I have lost more since these photos were taken a total of 3 lbs. So I think my next shots that I will take tonight will maybe show some of these changes.
 So here are the front, side and rear view of me.  I am going to do another blog here soon and show and progression of pictures, from when I started to now.

Running, running anywhere

I am starting to enjoy running again. I have gone out twice (well I know it's not much but still) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself both times.

I have done a 4 km run and 5 km run.  The 5 I did last night and it took me 30 minutes, I am terrible at telling time when I am working out and I couldn't tell if it was longer or shorter than 30 minutes. I have decided that next time I go out I am going to plan out my route so that it's longer.  Maybe 7 km and build myself up to 10 km by the time my friend Alex gets here, then I can try to take her on a run with me.

So that's what I did yesterday, and today I went for a walk.  It took us an hour to walk to the library and back.  It was a good walk, like 4 miles, which is like 9 km.  I enjoy walking to the library, I get books and I get to be outside with lil man enjoying the summer weather.

I don't know what day it is of 55

But I am back.  My access to a computer was limited while I was in Saskatchewan, well it wasn't limited I just chose not to access the computer.  And my mother's wifi is so hidden I can't ever find it, so I didn't feel like sitting upstairs at night after they had gone to bed to update my blog.  There it is I was being lazy....

However I did go for a run on Friday, a long run too and on Saturday and Sunday I went for long walks with friends.

Eating not so great, but I am ready for the next 4 weeks to bust my ass in the gym and with my nutrition.  I have a new nutrition plan and I am going to bust my ass to lose these last ten pounds.  Ten pounds and I should be in good form for the wedding, I can even work on losing another 4 pounds while traveling down to the wedding.

I know I can do it and I am going to look amazing for the beach and my wedding!! And for the fall!!  I am not going to be lazy or use any other excuses I am going to do this and I am going to see some amazing results!!!