Latest blog entry
Guess where I am? Yep, Hollywood, Los Angles California. I’m so excited to be here. My job sent me here for a week long computer training class, but I’m staying for the weekend and spending time with my Aunt that’s an actress. Everyone in LA is such a character…. I’m still trying to identify who is a Drag Queen and curiously listening when everyone discusses their “positive energy” or their latest auditions. I’ve had so much fun already. I forgot to bring my camera cord to hook to the computer, so you guys will have to wait until I get back to see pics, but last night I met Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
! I even took a picture with him. I met him at M Cafe, a really nice vegetarian restaurant. I ate dinner at In & Out Burger, and only sampled the vegan food. That’s backwards, I know. It was so funny, my Aunt said “you know we do have weight watcher points here in Cali, they still count here too”…. After the restaurant we went to hear spiritual motivational speaker Marianne Williamson. This lady was awesome. You know that famous poem about ”Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…; Marianne wrote that. I always wondered where that awesome quote came from. Anyway, She packed the theater with several hundred people. She said that God made each and everyone one of us completely unique from one another, and that fact alone proves that we are special and can be perfect because God created us just like we are for a purpose. One of the most important things that she talked about was how we often look for earthly solutions to problems, instead of praying about it and relying on spiritual resolutions. I’m not trying to get all preachy on y’all, but I was really moved. If you look back over my posts, its seems like cookies are just such a huge downfall for me, and for about a week, I’ve been struggling with just completely eliminating them from my diet. I felt silly praying about cookies, but last night, I got enough courage to do so. I came back to my hotel room and threw the cookies in the trash!!! Just like the leader at the WW meeting, I actually threw perfectly good, fantastically tasting cookies in the trash. Now, I could lie and say it was liberating and felt good, but it honestly just felt like I threw cookies in the trash. However, when I woke up, I felt good about it. I cut out of my biggest food temptations. Just as I figured, when I went to computer training today, there were free soft chocolate chip cookies. I just shrugged my shoulders and thought, I’m so over cookies ruling me! I didn’t touch not one. 
Yesterday, I casually checked my blog stats expecting to see the normal couple hundred or so visitors. When I saw 1,034 hits in one day, I screamed. I literally screamed. Nyah came running in to see what was wrong. I told her ”Baby, I’m going reach my goal of 2000 hits in a day before you know it!” She gave me a crazy look, and walked away. I guess blog stats are a little complicated for even my dog. I’ll just pretend like it doesn’t freak me out to know that all these people are reading my blog and running to the sound of my voice. Anyway, I went to boot camp today. My cousin went with me again; class was super hard tonight. Lyle was busy, so we had a substitute teacher. He is the same guy that taught the class at 6AM that me and my little sister used to go to. I’m glad that I’m getting back in my workout groove…. But its something about cookies. I ate a whole row of the peanut-butter sandwich girl scout cookies. The whole row! This is precisely why I don’t keep this kind of food in my house. Well the good part is they’re almost gone. The lady at the weight watcher meeting said she threw her cookies in the trash. Hump…I guess I’m not there yet!
It’s ironic how I’m so far from being the The Biggest Loser
, but so close at the same time. Yesterday at my Weight Watcher meeting, I gained a devastating 2 pounds. I felt awful. The nice lady who weighed me in said it might have been my necklace, but I knew it was my lack of activity and my excess of junk food that was really weighing me down. I didn’t even want to stay for the meeting, but I knew I needed some kind of motivation to get back on track. The thing I liked best was when the leader emphasized that even if everything in your life is out of control (which I kinda felt like lately); you always have control over what you eat. Sometimes we forget the simple things to help us on the journey to weight loss…Today, while I was at work, I got another phone call from Lyle. I subconsciously had made up all kinds of reasons why I wouldn’t be able to attend the new boot camp session, but when he called again, I just couldn’t tell him no. I called my cousin again to join me since it worked so well this past weekend. To my surprise I had to beg him to go with me. He said outrageous stuff like, what if I have an asthma attack (he doesn’t have asthma), or what if I pass out, you’ll have to carry me up the stairs. He went on and on with these crazy scenarios of why he couldn’t go to boot camp. I showed up at his house anyway, and took him to class with me. Because I had to wait on him, we got there a few minutes late in the middle of suicide runs. Then we did some circuit training. Jumping jacks for 30 secs, leg lifts 30 secs, squat thrusts 30 secs, push-ups 30s, sit ups for 30 secs and more for a total of 15 minutes, then we ran for 3 minutes, and Repeated the15 minute circuit training. It was an extreme work out, I had sweat dripping in my eyes, and I just laughed when my cousin cut me that “I’m gonna get you for bringing me here look.” When class was over and we got in the car, he said the most shocking statement… “Let’s go to the gym.” WHAT?! Are you serious I asked? And he was! And we did! I’ve done back to back workouts before, but this was so unexpected. While a lot of people were at home sitting on the couch watching The Biggest Loser, I was doing my second workout at the gym. We got on the elliptical for 20 minutes and then I got the treadmill for 15 more minutes. By 9:30, I was exhausted. It’s a good thing, I had Beyonce’s playlist on my Video Phone
; She really sang through my Radio
and said, Hey Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)
, you’re a Diva
, and that really boosted my Ego
and made my Halo
shine!
Hello my name is Carli, and I’m a soda addict! The first step is admitting it right? I already have enough addictions (food and shopping) and now I get to add soda to list. Ugh, I can’t believe it. I knew I liked soda, and I knew I drank it pretty much every day, but I didn’t realize I was addicted to it. Not until those ladies called it liquid Satan in their book and I continued to drink it. I thought I was safe and I proudly declared, “I drink diet.” But nope, diet soda is just as bad, if not worse with all of its cancer causing agents. It was such a wake up call. So I decided hey, I’ll just quit drinking that crap, no big deal right? Day 1 being clean and sober was Sunday, no problem, I even drank water with dinner. But yesterday whew! It was awful. I had a headache, I was grouchy and sluggish and irritable. I said no way can this be from not drinking soda. So I Googled caffeine withdrawal, and found that my issues, among others were side effects that occur when you stop drinking coffee and soda. I was still in disbelief, so what did I do? I drank a soda after lunch. My headache went away and I was more alert and awake. That’s when it really became real, I’m addicted to caffeine. I also read online that caffeine addiction is one of the most acceptable forms of addiction in our society. The mandtory morning cup of coffee has become common place for many people. I felt this was something I have to conquer. Roni (my blogging & running role model) only drinks water, and my Mom quit drinking soda a couple years ago. My Mama said her doctor told her to stop drinking soda to alleviate her knee pain. When I asked her yesterday, she said it worked, her knee doesn’t hurt anymore! I had no clue that was why she stopped drinking “liquid Satan.” Anyway, I went the gym after work. I forgot my knee brace (which maybe I won’t need any more since I’m kicking the soda habit.) I went up to the track and put on my Week 3 podcast. The first half wasn’t too bad at all, and I laughed that I actually put the 80’s hit “Push It” by Salt N Pepa 
on the play list. One of the ladies who were walking around the track, slapped me a high five during one of my running intervals, and later told me she was doing the couch to 5K plan. Of course I had to let her know where she could find a much cooler podcast than the one she was listening to. The last half of the routine was a little lot harder, I kept saying “talk to me, Miss Carli, tell me it’s time to walk.” Then finally it was over. I took a 10 minute break and then hit the eliptical hard and heavy for 15 minutes. Moving on to Day 2 of Week 3.
What Did Carli Eat Today? NO SODA! Yay!
B- Fiber One Muffin & Low Fat Yogurt
L- Tortilla Soup & Side Salad
S- Apple
D- Weight Watcher Smart One Pizza (not nearly as good as the Lean Cuisine Pizza) and ½ cup of Kashi 7 Whole Grain Pilaf. 
I used to laugh at people who ate food that looked like bird seed, now I’m one of them. I boiled the pilaf in fat free chicken broth instead of water for flavor, and mixed in some salsa when it was done. It was kind of like Spanish Rice. It was very filling.
How was my day? Not too shabby. I went to weigh in today, and had no clue what to expect. I kinda kept points this week, but I was mindful to not going crazy with food. To my surprise I lost 2.6 pounds! Wooo-whoo! I needed that after my dreadful weight gain last week. Today, the meeting leader gave an analogy about a car with a flat tire. She said “just because you have one flat tire, you don’t go and flatten the other 3. You fix the flat one.” Sometimes with weight loss, we have one little mishap (like gaining 4 pounds in 2 weeks), and let it ruin our whole program. Just because I had a setback, I couldn’t let it ruin my program. After all, I didn’t gain all of the weight back, and I can still fit my clothes. I felt proud that I was able to get out of the rut and keep on trying. I felt so good that I came home and worked out. I got Leslie Sansone’s: 5 Day Slim Down 
Walk at Home DVD.
It was kinda fun, walking with Chatty Cathie. She talks so much, I don’t think that lady stops talking at all during the entire routine. It actually has a good effect though, because you’re so busy trying to listen to what she saying that you don’t realize how much you’re actually working out. I did the 12 minute speed mile which added extra leg and arm exercises. It got my heart pumping, and I was on the verge of breaking a sweat. It’s definitely one to add to the DVD collection.
