Gold Star Day

I woke up this morning and got on the scale, and I was floored, shocked, amazed and disappointed.  I saw a number that I haven’t seen in a really long time.  I started praying to God to help me.  This weight loss thing can be so hard sometimes.   I know that I have a gift of helping people with their journey, but its so frustrating that my progress made a U-turn and is running in the wrong direction.  I started panicking, telling myself; I’ll never be able to make my fitness DVD, will my blog readers and runners start to think I’m a fraud?  And then I had to catch myself.  That downward spiral only goes down and nothing good comes from it.  I prayed God just help me with today.  I started remembering what my weight watcher leader and my Hollywood Aunt always say, just take it ONE DAY AT TIME.  I realized, that no, Running Into Shape is not a disaster because I gained a couple pounds and yes, they will still read your blog and  yes your family still loves you because you’re human, and we make mistakes.  I prayed again “Okay God, I’m serious, help a sista out, I can’t do it by myself.”  Instead of hitting up the deli shop at my job for a quick muffin, I took a vitamuffin top (100 cal) and a weightwatcher yogurt….(amaretto flavor, so delicious)…. Then I told my co-worker first thing, I’m eating a salad & water for lunch, nothing else, not negotiable.  She’s working on her weight too, and she signed up Lyle’s Boot Camp class with me!  I am so excited to have another workout buddy.  You know I live for a plan, so I found my next 5K.  It’s called the Sista Strut to help bring awareness to the startling number of women of color with breast cancer in my area.  It’s a walk, but it’s not until October, so I hope to run the whole thing.   

After work, I came home to let Nyah out and get dressed for class.  I picked up my co-worker friend and we were on our way.  We were just about 3 minutes late and already missed 3 exercises.  Lyle is serious about his class.  We joined in the jumping jacks and squat thrusts.  Then, he had us lay the mats on an incline and do sit ups and pushups and repeat.  That little hill made it that much harder.  But thank GOD, for a cool day, it was only in the 80′s with a cool breeze.  I’ll take that over ridiculously hot days we’ve been having.  Class was so nice to do with a friend, and have that extra encouragement during the suicide runs and planks.  I guess God was listening this morning, because I had a Gold Star day!

What Did Carli Eat Today?

B-Vita Muffin Top, WW Amaretto Yogurt (actually quite filling combo), Green Tea w/ Splenda

L- Fried Chicken Salad w/Fat Free Italian Dressing, Small breadstick & Water

D- Subway Sandwich & 13 animal crackers (I counted a serving)

Weight Watchers Works!

I keep reminding myself that The Weight Watchers works!  It’s worked for me in the past and it will work again!  Jennifer Hudson has done an amazing job changing her eating habits and getting healthy.  You can click HERE and HERE to read all about it!

My Bucket List

This morning I woke up and saw an article about former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s  bucket list.  You know what a bucket list is, just like that cute little movie “The Bucket List“ with Morgan Freeman.  It’s a list of all the stuff you want to do before you die or in other words, “Kick the Bucket.”  I have a list of short term goals like, make my 5K to 10K podcast, make my Fitness DVD, pay off a credit card etc, etc.  But I’ve never made a list of cool stuff I want to experience.  So I started one….here are a few…

Anyway, writing out my bucket list gave me a whole list of reasons to keep living life to the fullest, because there’s so many things I haven’t experienced yet.  Today was a good day to make my list, because in my weight watcher meeting yesterday, we talked about setting attainable goals so that you have something to look forward to.  I told the leader about my recent frustrations, and she told me the simplest phrase that everyone has heard a million times.   “Take it one day at a time.”  I’ve always been a Big picture person (Egypt? Guinness Book?) But, with this whole weight loss thing, I can’t just say, I want to lose 100 lbs.  I have to make smaller goals like, I want to track my points/calories TODAY, I want to work out TODAY.  And that’s just what I did.  I followed the weight watcher motto “Bite it, Write it.”  I wrote down everything that went in my mouth.  AND I went to boot camp class.  It was so hot and humid, just being outside breathing in the thick muggy air was workout. Feeling a cool breeze was just a silly thought and far from reality.    We started out the class with Lyle’s favorite, the suicide runs.  Then jumping jacks, and push-ups and planks.  Then he asked, “are you ready for the workout the start?” right before he told us to run a lap around the field.  Let me tell y’all out of all the times I’ve worked out, I’ve never sweated this much…ever.  There was literally sweat on my eyelashes, that’s how much was pouring down my face.  I kept swatting at my shoulders, at what I thought was a gnat or a mosquito, but was really just sweat beads rolling down.  It was so gross, I mean my hair looked like I just got out the shower….  The running lap was followed by all kinds of leg lifts and ab exercises and at least 3 more laps.  I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes at him a couple times.  I didn’t care if I was the last around the track today, my main goal was not to pass to out.  Well, I finally finished my “victory lap” which was more like a crawl, and came home feeling like a champ! 

What Did Carli Eat Today?

B- Oatmeal, yogurt, half of an apple

L-Turkey Sandwich and side salad

S- Weight Watcher Multi-grain Ranch Chips (delicious) & 2 twizzlers from a co-worker

D-Turkey Leg, Cream Style Corn, and Green Beans that Mama made &  left over Birthday cake

Super Sweet 16

Today is my little sister’s Super Sweet 16th birthday.   I got up this morning with a to-do list much longer than I would have preferred for it to be.  But I guess I’ll back track, for the last week I felt kind of frustrated.  That’s why my blog was pretty quite, I guess I just felt stuck.  I almost canceled my Weight Watchers membership. I felt like the plan just wasn’t working for me.  But the truth of the matter is that I wasn’t working the plan….  My Little Sister asked me to go to vacation bible school and I’m glad I did, because I got a good word that I needed.  We talked about the Spiritual Armor of God.  Specifically, that day we discussed the Sword of the Spirit.  We talked about using God’s word as our offensive weapon (the sword).  God gave us all of the tools that we need to fight back.  Everyone has their own issue; my issue of course is struggling with the idea that I have to battle weight for the rest of my life.  I still haven’t fully accepted that I have to deal with this forever.  But, I left church feeling refreshed and renewed that God will help me fight my battle.   So, this morning I got up and went to the gym, I hadn’t been to the gym since last week when I went with my Shopping Cousin.   As I walked up the stairs to the indoor track, I got winded and out of breath.  Oh crap, I thought to myself, that can’t be a good sign.  I did some light stretches and turned on my Week 3 podcast.  Even though I didn’t exercise for more than a week, I refuse to go backwards.  If Week 3 killed me today, it was just going to kill me.  The first 90 second run was easy.  After the 3 minute run, it started to get a little tough, but I didn’t care, I kept pushing, as I thought back to the days where, I would look down and couldn’t see my lap over my stomach, or got out of breath bending over putting on my shoes.  I can’t go back there, it was just too miserable.  I also thought about Roni’s post called “Why I Keep Trying.” I pushed all the way through the whole running routine with no extra walks.  Every time I heard “Carli” say “ready for your next run?” I would say out loud, “Bring it on Baby, I got you, I’m ready!”  When I finished, I felt so proud, it was like I never missed a day.  Then it was time to get ready for the rest of the day.  I invited my new guy friend to the party, you know the guy that I mentioned before, let’s call him Mr. Man.  So, Mr. Man rode with me over my parent’s house while I helped my little sister get ready.  My Dad opened the door.  Oh boy, I thought to myself, this will be interesting.  Unfortunately, I had the leave Mr. Man downstairs by himself with Dad while I went up to help my little sister get dressed.  I said “Daddy be nice.”  To which my Father sternly replied “What does that mean?”   I tapped Mr. Man on the shoulder and said “Good Luck!”   He survived, even though I fed him to the wolves, LOL.  I later found out they talked about football and Lebron and other boy stuff.  …Anyway,  My little sister did it so big y’all.  She showed up fashionably late to her glow in the dark party. She had a grand entrance with an escort and even a balloon drop.  Can you believe it?!  She looked so fabulous!  That girl was rocking some HOT stilettos high heels, but you know they came off before the end of the night after all the dancing she did.  My Mama was so awesome to pull off the party of my sister’s dreams.  There were tons of overly-energetic teens dancing all night. Even us “old people” had such a great time!  After the party, we went to Uncle Bill’s pancake house, a local 24 restaurant, perfect for a late night meal.  Me and my Big Little Sister, and  Mr. Man chaperoned my little sister and the 16 friends and who joined her after party.  I told the hostess table for 20 people at 1 o’clock in the morning, she replied “are you serious?”  Yep, I told her we were there for the post-party meal.  Everyone had a ton of fun cracking jokes and hanging out, and I didn’t make it to bed until 4 A.M.!  My little sister said it was the best birthday ever!

Feeling Better

I’m feeling better, but still not all the way right, just about 88%.  (I don’t know how I came up with that random number, it just sounded right, LOL)… I have so much to say, I don’t know where to start.  I guess I’ll start with Monday.  I forced myself to go to my Weight Watcher Meeting even though I wasn’t feeling well.  I gained less than half a pound, which is relatively minor considering I cruised and boozed for a whole weekend and haven’t been able to work out.  But, I was very strict with my points when I got back from vacation….  Later, when I got home from the WW meeting, I saw my neighbor walking across the street carrying a giant trash bag over his shoulder Santa Claus style.  He had this crazy look in his eye.   And me being the nosy person I am, asked “Neighbor is everything okay?”  He said something, but with an ear infection in both ears it was hard to hear anything.  I asked again and he said “I’m about to start some Beef”  (which is ghetto terminology for a grudge or a fight with somebody.)  Then I asked “Beef with who?”  He explained to me that he caught his Baby Mama cheating, while he works hard every day to keep food on the table, and he proceeded to tell me that it was her stuff in the bag, that he was putting her out, and that he was going to pour soda on everything!”  I told him I was sorry about his situation and then he tried to hit on me.  Not literally y’all….  You know what I mean, he started flirting with me.  I politely declined, and he said “that’s okay, I’ll give you time to think about it.”  ….I went in my house and peeped though the mini blinds and by that time her clothes were scattered from the street to the porch.  Assumingly, drenched in soda.  I hadn’t seen anything this exciting on my block since that day, that girl demolished that cheating man’s car.  By the time I looked again, her cousin was helping clean up everything.   This morning, I saw the neighbor guy carrying a mattress.  I just smiled and waved and decided to mind my own business, like everything was normal.   Anyway enough ghetto drama, today it was soooo HOT outside.  Like, you know how the heat hits your face when you open the oven when you’re cooking?  That’s how it felt every time you stepped outside today.  So of course Me and my friend took our weekly walk indoors to the gym.  I knew I had to do Week 2 of my running plan.  After the first 90 second interval run, I was like Ha! I’m Carli to the Fierce, this is easy.  But after the 3rd interval run, I was struggling,…wondering where all my fierceness disappeared to.  My calves were burning and my ankle was hurting.  I tried to focus on the music, and write my blog post in my head to help me think about something else.  I finally finished all 6 intervals, and completed a mile and a half.  My friend was still walking, and I sat sweating in a chair and just watched.  I didn’t feel like doing anything extra.  But it did feel good to finally be back on my running plan.  I’m ready for the next day!

Cinco De Mayo

Happy Cinco De Mayo  Everybody!  I don’t really celebrate Cinco De Mayo, but I’m sure some of you celebrate, while others use it as an excuse to drink tequila shots.  I might have had a good time partying this past weekend, but I’m not grown enough to handle tequila shots…..But anyway, I was feeling unmotivated yesterday, so I skipped boot camp class.  I’m sure I’ll regret it tomorrow.  But today was okay, after work my friend and I went for a walk in the park.  I’m so proud of her for sticking to her walking goals.  We even picked up the pace a little bit.  I’m so glad that spring is here and we don’t have to worry about fighting the cold.  After we walked 3 miles, she had a sandwich from Subway, I ate a salad from a local Italian restaurant.  My salad was horrible.  Well, when you get used to eating a healthy salad, it’s hard to eat one slathered in creamy salad dressing.  I forgot to tell them to put the dressing on the side.  And then they have me 6 rolls, yes pieces pieces of bread. I didn’t eat the whole 
“salad” because I can’t begin to imagine how many points it was….oh well you win some lose some.   Well I’ve got laundry and dishes and other “fun” household chores, so I’m signing off.  Good Night!

Pink Panties and a Cosmo

I had such a fun weekend!  On Friday night I went to a get-together, not really a party.  We had my favorite frozen cocktail “Pink Panties“  I’ll give you the recipe under 2 conditions….1) You acknowledge that this delicious adult beverage is not in any way shape or form healthy, low fat or wholesome and 2) you don’t tell anybody you heard about it from me…. Now that we have that understanding,  First, you fill the blender about 80% full with ice, then add 1 can of frozen pink lemonade, then fill the same can with vodka and pour into the blender.  Then blend, pour and enjoy!…After indulging in a few pink panties, I didn’t roll out of bed until 11 AM on Saturday, just enough time to shower and make it Girls Spa Day and happy hour.  All 7 of us ladies met at the nail spa.  I had a pedicure last week, so I just got fill-in on my nails and my eyebrows waxed. The nail tech was such a flirt, he said “I know you, where have I seen you before?” I replied “I’m not sure, this is my first time here.”  To which he replied, ”Oh I remember, I’ve seen you in my dreams!”  LOL!  He was working hard for his tip.   I got a pretty gold color on my nails, but I felt so Plain Jane and boring.  All of my friends, got orange,  lime green, hot pink and even yellow.  I don’t think that I could ever be that daring and bold.  After the nail spa, we went to a  local restaurant bar & grill.  I really didn’t need anymore alcohol, but it was girl’s day, so I had a Berry flavored Cosmo.  After that I was done.  That was more than enough drinking and empty calories for one weekend.  We had so much fun!  Even though it’s girls day, you know all we did was talk about men.  You can’t live with them, and can’t live without them….  After happy hour, I went shopping with my shopping cousin.  I did really good, I only bought a white fedora hat that I plan on wearing during my cruise to the Bahamas next month.  I was supposed to go with her and watch the Mosley v. Mayweather fight, but I was too tired.  I did more than enough for one day.  When I woke up this morning,  I thought wow, I can’t really blog about drinking, partying and shopping.  So, I decided to get up and go work out.  I took Nyah to the park and we walked and jogged for about an hour.  I’m hoping that things will at least balance out on the scale tomorrow.  But if not, at least I already know that I got back on the healthy eating track.  For breakfast I had a toasted VitaTop muffin top. It was surprisingly good, and only 1 weight watcher point (100 cal, 2 fat and 5 fiber).  I hope your weekend was just as fun, and little more healthy than mine.

Chicken and Waffle Breakfast

This morning started off with an all you can eat Fried Chicken and Waffle breakfast at church.  I was so apprehensive about it.  I’ve done a really good job of keeping my points these past few days, and I was so scared I might go overboard and eat too much.  My Big Little sister was hosting it, otherwise, I would have skipped it all together.  I took my time in the buffet line and tried to make good choices.  I ate 2 wings, turkey bacon, eggs and one waffle.  I skipped the grits, pancakes, sausage, croissants and orange juice.  The weight watcher program works if you work it.  You can eat everything, just in moderation.  It felt so good to feel in control, especially in a setting like that.  The rest of the day was super busy and I ate at the closest fast food place, Jack in the Box.  I didn’t have time to look up points, so I relied on the menu and the healthy dining symbol.  I got the steak teriyaki bowl.  I figured anything is better than a burger and fries, right?….. WRONG! When I finally got a chance to look it up, I discovered that it was almost 800 calories!!!!   I was so mad.  In what world is 800 calories “healthy dining”???  It tasted good but it wasn’t worth all those points.  I only had 3 points left for dinner.  I drank a lot of water and ate a Healthy Choice frozen meal.  Which ironically enough is actually a ”healthy choice” I ended up only using 2 of my weekly overage points.  Not so bad considering I was bamboozled by Jack in the Box.  Lesson learned, look up the points BEFORE you eat it.